Chapter 618
Christmas Gift Box
Chapter 618 Christmas Gift Box
On the last morning before Christmas, when the snow had just stopped, Neville stood on the stone steps in front of the hall, his breath forming clouds of white mist in front of his face.
"I can't believe it!" Michael put his hands in his pockets and said in confusion, "Tomorrow is the Christmas ball, and you're going home at this time? What's so urgent that you can't even wait one night?"
Neville pursed his lips and smiled, his eyes sparkling. He stroked the handle of the suitcase, glanced at Wade, and said softly:
"I...something urgent happened at home, I have to go back..."
Not far away, old Madam Longbottom was talking in a low voice with Professor McGonagall. She was wearing a hat decorated with a stuffed vulture and had a very serious expression on her thin face, which made several junior students passing by unconsciously detour around her.
"By the way, Harry." Neville turned his gaze and said to Harry, "Please apologize to Ron and Ginny for me, okay? I wanted to say it last night, but I was busy packing up when I got home and forgot..."
"What did you do to apologize for?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh, I... I invited Ginny to the dance together, but now I have to cancel the appointment." Neville said guiltily: "If she can't go to the dance, it will be my fault."
"In that case, don't rush back!" Michael muttered, feeling sorry for Neville missing the dance.
"Yeah." Wade agreed, "In fact, two or three days at night won't have much of an impact."
"I know... I know that one or two days won't have much impact on them... but I can't wait any longer, and neither can my grandma..."
Neville said, his voice so soft that it seemed to be blown away by the cold wind.
Then Neville smiled hopefully and said, "I hope everything goes well... I'm just sorry for Ginny, she's looking forward to the ball..."
Theo scratched his hair and said, "Actually, I didn't invite a dance partner because I felt it was too much trouble. No one cares about me anyway... Ah, I mean, if Miss Weasley doesn't mind, I can take her to the Yule Ball."
"That's great!" Neville smiled gratefully.
"...We have to get there before ten o'clock." Mrs. Longbottom said to Professor McGonagall, "I have already made an appointment with the healer at St. Mungo's."
"Merlin bless you, I hope everything goes well." Professor McGonagall looked very gentle at this moment, which surprised all the students.
"Come on, kid." Old Lady Longbottom patted Neville on the shoulder as she walked past him with her handbag slung over her shoulder.
Neville waved to his friends who came to see him off, picked up his suitcase and quickly followed his grandmother.
In the snow, the grandfather and grandson walked towards the gate with one step deep and one step shallow. Their figures leaning on each other looked weak and determined.
Ryan suddenly sniffed: "Strange, we are separated before. We are separated every holiday, why do I feel so uncomfortable this time?"
"It's probably because it's too cold, my nose is running!" Michael complained, "We're all going to be back together in half a month, why are you making it like a farewell? Hurry, hurry back to the castle! It's freezing outside!"
As he spoke, he ran back to the castle first, and everyone followed with laughter.
"Weid," Hermione leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Do you know why Neville suddenly wants to go home?"
"Well, I know." Wade also whispered: "But this is Neville's privacy, I can't tell you."
"Okay." Hermione sighed: "Actually, when I heard them mention St. Mungo's just now, I roughly guessed it... I also think it's better not to say it."
Vader nodded slightly.
As he was about to enter the door, Wade couldn't help but look back -
Neville carried the suitcase in one hand and carefully supported his grandmother with the other. Old Lady Longbottom looked particularly thin, but Neville's back looked straight and calm.
Although the round-faced boy usually looked silly and like a child, at this moment, he was a man who could support his family and stand on his own. …
Early on Christmas morning, Wade was awakened by the sound of ping-pong.
He suddenly opened his eyes and drew aside the curtains, only to see several house-elves carefully placing Christmas gift boxes. But he did not know what was rushing around in the boxes, making a loud noise.
"Mr. Weed Grey is awake!" Zoe screamed, "Mr., open the presents quickly, or the room will be flooded!"
This was not an exaggeration at all. Gift boxes of all sizes had already piled up to the ceiling. If it weren't for the house-elves working hard to maintain it, Wade's bed would have been filled with gift boxes long ago.
Wade immediately grabbed the magic wand and waved it, and the many shaky gift boxes finally stabilized as if they were stuck by invisible glue.
Zoe jumped back and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good... I've only seen Mr. Dumbledore receive so many presents before."
"Too many gifts are not necessarily a good thing." A voice suddenly sounded in the room: "An unknown person sending Christmas gifts may not be out of good intentions."
The oldest house-elf at Hogwarts appeared in the room, and when his stern gaze swept over them, Zoe and the other two all tensed up.
"Mr. Ralph!"
Several house-elves saluted hastily, then disappeared from the spot with a snap.
"Good morning, Ralph." Wade smiled and said, "Professor Dumbledore, do you want to see me?"
"No, he guessed you might get a lot of presents this year, so let me take a look."
As Ralph spoke, he stretched out his slender fingers and danced lightly. The sticking spell that Wade had just temporarily cast on the gift boxes was immediately destroyed. Many gift boxes made clattering sounds, as if each box contained a wild boar that had just been awakened.
Then, twenty or thirty gift boxes bounced out of the queue and landed in front of Ralph. They made a ringing sound for a few seconds before they quieted down.
"There's something ominous about these boxes," Ralph said. "Believe me, I have plenty of experience identifying this."
"I certainly don't question your judgement."
Wade put on his clothes and got out of bed. He walked to Ralph's side and looked at the gift boxes he had picked out with great interest. He asked curiously, "But can I see what's inside?"
Ralph looked at him tolerantly and said, "Some boxes are best not opened, or you might be in trouble the moment you open them. But some of them can open your eyes."
He selected a gray-purple box, opened it, and inside was a bloody dead cat;
Open another one, a box full of pale fingers;
The third box opened, and a spurt of Babo tuber pus gushed out, which Ralph casually returned to the bottle as is;
The fourth box looks like a translucent crystal ball at first glance, but when you look closely you will find that there is a fist-sized dead head inside the crystal ball.
Vader: “…”
Seeing that Ralph was about to open the fifth one, he quickly said, "Okay, okay, you don't have to open the rest!"
He was disgusted by these "gifts".
"Then I'll take these things." Ralph said politely, "Next time when you open a gift box, even if it's sent by someone you know, please be careful."
"I see." Wade sighed and asked casually, "Can you find out who sent these gift boxes? I don't think they were careless enough to write their names on them?"
"Indeed not." Ralph said lightly, "But don't worry, kid, Dumbledore will find out."
(End of this chapter)