When Kyle woke up the next morning, he found a mountain of presents piled in front of his bed.
Most were snacks — chocolates and candies — and there were even more than he had expected.
"A good student is certainly popular." Kyle mused as he set these aside and continued unwrapping the remaining gifts.
Hagrid's gift was the largest, resembling a wooden barrel wrapped in thick parchment.
"I hope it's not from a Mooncalf..." Kyle nervously opened the package.
Fortunately, it wasn't what he feared — Hagrid had given him a Cloak Plant, with the wooden barrel serving as a makeshift flowerpot. The plant's leaves still bore drops of dew, suggesting it had been freshly dug from the Forbidden Forest.
Kyle had given Hagrid a set of dragon models — the kind used for drawing lots in the Tournament. They could move, fly at low altitude, and breathe fire. The half-giant would surely love it.
Cedric's gift was a set of "Quidditch Through the Ages" with Chudley Cannons players' signatures. Kyle looked at the signatures with distaste and set the book aside — he didn't like that team.
His gift to Cedric was also Quidditch-related: his long-treasured signed bat from the Wimbourne Wasps. He had specially written to Mrs. Weasley to have her mail it over, because no one was at home, making it a truly heartfelt gift.
This earned him quite a lecture from Mrs. Weasley, who scolded him for not coming home during the holidays and promised to properly discipline him during summer break.
But Kyle wasn't worried. Mrs. Weasley was easy to placate — an apron made by himself, plus a nice report card, and everything would be fine.
Kanna's gift was a pair of knitted gloves with his initials on them.
To Kyle's surprise, the young witch's handiwork was remarkably good. He quite liked them — they fit perfectly and matched well with Mrs. Weasley's sweater.
He had given Kanna an anti-theft handbag, which would be very useful for her.
Fred gave him a bottle of vanishing ink, while George provided a Chocolate Frog card album with clear sleeves — perfect for storing collected cards.
Kyle gave them a copy of "Basic Alchemy", a textbook from Beauxbatons School of Magic. Since the twins had been inventing joke items lately, this book would surely help them.
His lovely roommates had also remembered him: Michael gave him an elegant golden brooch, and Ryan a wizard's chess set.
To Kyle's delight, he even received gifts from the professors.
Professor Flitwick's gift was especially precious — his own school notes from first to third year, two thick notebooks filled with his understanding of charms.
Kyle felt a twinge of guilt, as his gift to the professor was just a simple pear wood amulet.
In fact, he had given gifts to all the professors:
Professor Flitwick's amulet;
Professor McGonagall's Golden Snitch-shaped hat pin;
Professor Sprout's tool maintenance kit;
Professor Oren's walking stick;
Professor Binns' newspaper clipping "Europe's Three Major Magic Schools: Professor Treatment Edition";
Headmaster Dumbledore's book "100 Ways to Knit Wool Socks".
And of course, Professor Snape, who had been taking good care of him lately. To show his gratitude, Kyle sent him a whole box of Potter-brand Hair Smoothing Shampoo.
He didn't sign this gift or use Stella — instead, he found a random school owl to deliver it to the Owl Post Office in Diagon Alley, which then forwarded it to Snape.
Though the process was complicated, it would be worth it. Surely the brooding professor would be touched when he received this gift.
After carefully storing Professor Flitwick's notes, Kyle opened his final gift, which was from his mother.
It was a silver ring decorated with a crescent moon, with a short note beneath:
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
This is a magical item that can cast the Apparition spell three times. If you're in danger, just channel magic into it while focusing on your destination, and it will take you away.
Note: It won't work inside Hogwarts Castle, but it will once you're past the main gates. You can also use it to go home during holidays if you don't want to take the train.
Hope you like this gift, dear.
Merry Christmas.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Is this an upgraded Portkey?
When Kyle put the ring on his finger, it automatically adjusted to fit perfectly. He tried moving his fingers and found it completely comfortable.
He really loved this gift. He had always wanted to learn Apparition, but due to his young age, neither his father nor Newt would teach him. This ring was arguably his most satisfying Christmas gift in eleven years.
If only it had more than three uses — thirty would have been better.
After cleaning up the dormitory, Kyle went to the common room where he found Kanna on tiptoe, digging through a large flower pot.
"What are you looking for? Need help?" Kyle asked.
"No need, I found it." She pulled out a dirty pouch from the flower pot and turned to say, "Thank you for the Christmas gift, I really needed it."
Kyle watched as she took two Galleons from the pouch and put them into the handbag he had given her, asking puzzled:
"Are you still losing Galleons lately?"
"No." Kanna shook her head and said, "But I lost two Sickles yesterday afternoon."
Isn't that the same thing?
Kyle frowned, "What about your roommates — did they all go home?"
"Yes, they all left. I'm the only one in the dorm now." Kanna said excitedly, "But they sent me gifts — hair clips from the Muggle world, they're really pretty!"
Kyle rubbed his forehead, about to say something, but Kanna had already rushed back to the dormitory. She returned moments later with a wooden box in her hands.
"Look, aren't they pretty?" Kanna handed the box to him.
It contained seven or eight colorful hair clips, which were indeed more stylish than those in the wizarding world.
Kyle wasn't interested in these accessories and was about to return the box after a cursory glance.
But then he noticed a small bottle beneath the hair clips. Curious, he moved them aside to get a better look.
"What is thi—holy crap!" His hand trembled, nearly dropping the box. Breaking into a cold sweat, he quickly set it down on the nearby wooden table.
After taking a moment to collect himself, Kyle carefully reached for the bottle.
✭✭✭
T/N: If you want more chapters like this, check out my Patreon! Take a look at my other translations too, you might like them!
For just $1.50 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1305453