In the morning, William woke up from his slumber, not naturally, but because he was being crushed awake.
When he lifted his head, he found Bobo Tea's plump body weighing down on his chest like a massive boulder.
Steady as a rock… that phrase couldn't describe anyone better than Bobo Tea.
At that moment, William really wanted to perform a stunt and throw Boba Tea off him.
He carefully pulled his numb arm out of Hermione's embrace, shifted Bobo Tea to a different spot, and finally managed to get up from the sofa.
He picked up the thick blanket that had fallen to the floor.
Thanks to the heating charms William had set up, the house wasn't cold at all. However, with the snowstorm raging outside, it wasn't exactly warm enough to sleep without a blanket at night.
The problem was that Hermione was a restless sleeper. In her half-asleep state, she kept cocooning herself in the blanket, leaving William completely uncovered.
Throughout the night, William had to get up three or four times… each time he fetched a new blanket, Hermione would steal it and pin it beneath her.
In the end, he resorted to pulling Bobo Tea out of its cozy bed to use the fat orange cat as a weight to pin down one side of the blanket. Only then did Hermione stop hogging it.
The price of this clever plan, however, was waking up with Bobo Tea on his chest, giving him the eerie sensation of being pinned down by a ghost.
William tiptoed out of the living room, freshened up, and began making breakfast.
By the time he was done, Hermione was already awake. She tidied up the living room cheerfully before joining William to open Christmas presents.
Hermione didn't have many presents as she didn't have many friends. After opening her meager pile of boxes, she eagerly helped William open his gifts.
She immediately ignored the chocolates. After all, no one dared to eat those anymore. Just last year, Ron had fallen victim to some love potion-laced chocolates.
And it wasn't just because of the love potion. Even if the chocolates were free of any additives and labeled as "perfect for growing teenagers," William wouldn't dare eat them.
Cedric had gifted William a wand, a piece made from Whomping Willow wood with a Basilisk horn core, measuring eleven and three-quarters inches, with good flexibility.
William waved the wand, and with a bang, a flock of small birds fluttered out from the tip and flew out into the snowy landscape beyond the window.
Not bad.
It felt much more comfortable and powerful compared to the unicorn-hair wand he had made previously.
Of course, it couldn't compare to something crafted by Ollivander, but as a backup wand, it was more than enough.
Why demand perfection?
To thank Cedric for the wand, William had prepared a special surprise for him.
Cedric was sure to love it, after all, the packaging was labeled with "computer accessories" and the like.
In his past life, William had worked part-time at a shipping center, and whenever he saw such parcels, he would handle them gently and respectfully. When the recipients came to pick them up, they would exchange knowing glances and smile like seasoned veterans.
Fleur had sent him a wooden puzzle model of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic to help him familiarize himself with the school's layout.
William loved putting together models, he had built replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge before. Of course, after finishing them, he would stomp them to pieces just to enjoy the violent beauty of destruction.
Everyone knew those structures existed solely to be destroyed.
William had sent Fleur a voice-conveying conch he had crafted himself so they could communicate without writing letters, think how much paper they could save!
After opening a few presents from friends, William's attention was drawn to Annie's gift.
Her package was the largest.
As expected, Annie was the only one who truly cared, she knew how to send the most valuable gifts to her dear brother!
All that doting on his little sister hadn't gone to waste after all.
William tore open the box, only to find another box inside.
"…"
Matryoshka dolls?!
A sense of foreboding crept over him as he continued to open layer after layer, seven or eight in total, until finally, he pulled out a small card.
The card had just one short line:
Merry Christmas. Annie Stark.
"…"
William was speechless.
Hermione bent over laughing as she waved the gift Annie had given her, a DIY photo album filled with pictures from their summer holiday.
There was even a group photo of the three of them together.
Hermione had given Annie a giant teddy bear matryoshka doll.
Why the unfairness?!
William made up his mind: next year, he'd send Annie the cheapest Christmas card he could find.
He moved on to open Dumbledore's gift, something he looked forward to every year.
Since the headmaster had hinted at it, William, of course, gifted him a woolen hat, imported from France, pure white, soft, and warm.
When William opened the box from Dumbledore, he found a picture frame inside. A strange, empty frame.
William knew exactly what this was.
Sure enough, after a moment, Dumbledore appeared in the frame.
Every headmaster had their portrait created while they were alive, which they would train and "teach" so that after their death, the portrait could take its rightful place in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore had already begun preparing his portrait and had gifted William a frame linked to it.
Now, whenever William had questions, he could consult the portrait, making communication much easier.
It was actually a thoughtful gift.
William decided to place the frame in his study on the third floor.
After sending Professor Snape Christmas gifts for three consecutive years, it seemed that the professor was finally moved. He had sent a gift in return this year!
No more dung stones, instead, there were two drops of Felix Felicis.
Well, a potion was fitting for a Potions Master.
But seriously… just two drops?!
Forget about a whole cauldron, couldn't he have at least sent a small bottle with enough for a day's worth?
William doubted those few drops of liquid luck would last more than a few minutes before wearing off.
William searched through the pile for a while but couldn't find a gift from Hermione.
Annie had sent a mere Christmas card, had Hermione decided not to give him anything at all?
"I did give you something!" Hermione insisted.
"When did you give it?"
"Last… night." Hermione blushed all the way to her neck, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What did you give me?"
"I'm not telling you. But I gave it. That's that!"
Hermione stubbornly insisted she had given him a gift but refused to say what it was.
William was utterly baffled.
Was the gift… carbon dioxide?
William, on the other hand, had given Hermione a golden wristwatch. The watch had three hands, each representing William, Hermione, and Annie.
The face of the watch was marked with locations like "Dormitory," "Great Hall," "Classroom," "Library," "Safe," and "Home."
It was essentially a magically enhanced safety watch, able to indicate whether someone was safe or not.
One side of the watch's strap was magically expanded using an Undetectable Extension Charm. Inside the watch, there was also a voice-conveying conch from Nicolas, enabling long-distance communication at any time.
Making this watch had been an arduous process, William had completed it almost entirely under Nicolas's guidance.
He had only made three watches, one for Hermione, one for Annie, and one for himself.
He had initially planned to sell them, but it seemed that mass production would be impossible for the foreseeable future.
With his current alchemy skills, large-scale manufacturing was out of reach.
As William was explaining the functions of the watch to Hermione, there was a knock at the door.
It was Luna!
Luna stood at the door, holding a small umbrella and riding her unicorn backward as she wobbled across the snowy yard.
Once inside, Luna handed them a basket.
"These are pastries I made. Merry Christmas!"
Luna's baking skills were exceptional, and she had even shaped the pastries into cute cartoon faces.
Despite her usual dreamy demeanor, Luna was impressively talented.
"Oh, by the way, a woman named Rita Skeeter came to my house today," Luna said nonchalantly.
"Rita Skeeter?" William frowned.
"Was she causing trouble for your dad?" Hermione asked, concerned.
During the summer, Mr. Lovegood had written an article about Rita and Lockhart that ruffled quite a few feathers.
"No," Luna shook her head, her expression cryptic.
"She came to ask about William."
William raised an eyebrow. Was Rita Skeeter, who was usually obsessed with scandalous stories about Newt Scamander and other famous figures, now shifting her attention to him?
Her tastes sure changed quickly, how did she go from "heavy drama" to "slice-of-life" in such a short time?
Poor Newt Scamander was probably crying his heart out in the restroom.