Gray, ready to go, let out a soft hoot, rubbed affectionately against Leonard's fingers, ate two nuts, and took off.
The clever owl didn't need Leonard to guide him and soon slipped into the night.
Leonard didn't get to see that poetic scene. He wasn't a Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor, after all. Hufflepuffs living underground didn't get a night sky.
He stretched, loosened up his limbs, and stood from the spot beside the fireplace.
At some point, a lavishly decorated Christmas tree had appeared there. He glanced at it and sighed. Holidays that required socializing were exhausting. Dragging his tired body back to the dorm, he dropped onto his bed.
A night of good dreams.
He slept until he woke up naturally. Yawning, Leonard climbed out of bed.
He headed to the washroom, finished his morning routine in record time, looked at his reflection—gray hair, silver-gray eyes—and, satisfied he still looked great, left the dorm.
Hufflepuff, being the largest house, naturally had plenty of students staying for the holiday. It was still early, but the common room already had many students opening gifts.
"How'd you sleep, Leonard?" Hannah Abbot, who had also stayed, walked over.
"Not bad. You?"
"I slept well. And thanks for the gift—I really like it." Hannah held the talisman Leonard had made. "Is this really unicorn hair? It feels so soft."
"Of course. I picked it up in the Forbidden Forest. Don't tell anyone." Leonard lowered his voice as if sharing a secret.
"The Forbidden Forest?" Hannah blurted, then quickly checked her surroundings. No one was paying attention. She turned back, eyes wide. "You actually went in?"
She was tempted. Unicorn hair meant unicorns, and she wanted to see one for herself.
"Yeah. It was fun, but it's dangerous. I wouldn't recommend it." Leonard put on a spooky tone. "There are spiders in there the size of carriages."
Hannah went pale on the spot. Any thought of visiting the Forbidden Forest evaporated instantly. Most girls hated spiders.
"Forget the forest," Hannah said, taking a deep breath as her color returned. "It's snowing outside. It started last night, and there's already a thick layer. Want to go take a look?"
"Snowing?" Leonard immediately thought of his little unicorn and hoped the heat-giving plants were keeping it warm.
"Yeah. Lots of people are already heading out. I'm going too." Hannah waved. "Oh, and there are several gifts for you under the Christmas tree. Don't forget to open them."
She hurried off. In the short time they'd talked, half the common room had emptied.
Everyone loved snow. Hard to blame them—snow on Christmas wasn't common.
Leonard yawned, shaking off the last bit of sleep, and walked to the Christmas tree. A pile of presents was stacked there, and one box clearly had his name on it.
A total of nine gift boxes: Harry's, Hermione's, Neville's, the Weasley twins' joint gift, Ernie's, Justin's, Susan's, Hannah's, Midgard's, and of course Padma's.
These gifts fell neatly into two categories: books and everything else.
Harry sent Wanderings with Werewolves, a book with a man wearing an over-the-top grin on the cover, written by Gilderoy Lockhart. It was, indeed, next year's soon-to-be-doomed professor's "masterpiece," one of this year's bestsellers. It wasn't cheap, the content was decent enough, and Leonard hadn't read it yet—perfect gift material.
In the book, Gilderoy Lockhart recounts spending a month living with a Werewolf, including a moonlit encounter.
Though Lockhart was a fraud whose only real skill was the Memory Charm, his writing wasn't bad. If you ignored the self-admiring drivel sprinkled throughout, the prose and content were surprisingly engaging.
It could even pass as a knightly adventure.
And every now and then, it offered flashes of real expertise—after all, the original author had lived with a Werewolf for a month and even knew magic capable of turning them back into humans. A pity Lockhart erased the poor man's memory.
Hermione also gifted Leonard a book, The Complete Guide to Household Magic, which documented every sort of domestic spell, including how to animate your furniture so it could clean itself.
It leaned heavily into comedy, and Leonard could practically feel Hermione's frustration woven into the pages.
Neville sent a potion-making notebook filled with the insights of an unknown potioneer.
It was thoughtful and more useful than most of the other gifts by a fair margin.
The Weasley twins, unsurprisingly, sent a modified portable swamp. Its specifications would require an in-person briefing.
Ernie also sent a book, though Leonard couldn't see the title at first because it was transparent.
It took him quite a while to break through the advanced Disillusionment Charm layered over it. Once he did, he discovered the title: The Invisible Book of Invisibility. It contained the basic principles and casting techniques of the Disillusionment Charm.
Perfect for April Fools' pranks, though one had to wonder what kind of hole the author had in his skull to write something like this.
Anyone who could even read this book already had expert Disillusionment skills. Why would they need beginner fundamentals?
Not very practical, but definitely entertaining—worth keeping for the novelty.
Justin gave Leonard a fountain pen, which he hadn't expected, though thinking about it, it made sense.
He was used to quills, but he had to admit a fountain pen was far more convenient than dipping into an ink bottle every few lines.
Susan gave him a set of Gobstones, a game similar to marbles except the loser gets blasted with foul-smelling liquid from the enchanted stones.
Hannah gave him a set of wizard chess.
The two really were close friends—matching gift themes and all.
Midgard's gift was no surprise: a flying broomstick, definitely not a cheap knockoff of the Nimbus 2000.
It wasn't inexpensive, but for Leonard and Midgard, it barely counted as extravagant.
Last was Padma, who sent Leonard a box of chocolates.
Only, these chocolates had a small problem...