Chapter 113: Home, Christmas Gifts
The Grafton residence.
Penelope, wrapped in a dressing gown, sat at her desk. One hand pushed up the bridge of her gold-rimmed glasses, the other flew across page after page, signing and annotating.
Every other Christmas Eve, she set everything aside to spend the entire night with her nephew. Leonardo had been raised almost entirely by Penelope; unmarried and without children of her own, she had long since regarded the boy, orphaned so young, as her son.
But his letter a few days earlier had said he might not be home for the holidays.
So after observing a few small rituals for the evening, Penelope returned to work. She had been busy lately, especially since Leonardo had left for school. Family matters were one thing. More pressing was a gathering storm in Eastern Europe that tugged at the world's balance. Leonardo had mentioned it idly before leaving, and here and there in his letters afterward. She had not thought much of it at first, but as events unfolded, she could almost "see" the scale of the storm now.
"That colossus is really going to come apart…"
Coo.
With a soft call, a gray-brown owl—ordinary at first glance—swept into the room.
Penelope barely looked up; letters to and from Leonardo often arrived this way. She pulled open a drawer and took out a box of treats kept for her feathered couriers.
But this owl did not dive for the food. It settled on the desk, tilted its head, and simply watched her.
Seeing no envelope or parcel, Penelope hesitated. "You are not just a normal owl, are you?"
She had gotten used to assuming any owl was a messenger from that world. Perhaps this one was a mistake. Then she noticed its eyes—a rare dark green.
Just like her nephew's irises since his magic had awakened.
That piqued her interest. She even wondered if she should keep the owl.
"I wonder if little Leonardo is happy at that magic school."
"My little treasure has grown up and does not want to come home for Christmas anymore."
"Eleven already. In two or three years, I can start looking for a fiancée for him. The Grafton family…"
The owl quietly turned its head away—then kept turning, a full hundred and eighty degrees, as only an owl could.
Should he change back yet?
Aurelius had carried him home by Apparition to give his aunt a surprise. Now he had heard… all of that.
And had she not stopped calling him "little treasure" when he turned six?
Penelope was still weighing which young lady might suit her nephew best when the owl hopped off the desk, blurred midair, and—
"Leonardo!"
Her pen fell to the carpet as her nephew appeared before her—transformed from an owl. The same handsome, boyish face, the unforgettable dark green eyes. His hair was longer now, falling past his jaw where once it merely brushed his ears.
He opened his mouth to wish her a merry Christmas and was swept straight into her arms.
After a single second of hugging, he mumbled, "Auntie, I am eleven, not six."
Penelope released him, pinched his cheek, and smiled. "At six, you were my little treasure. At eleven… big treasure?"
"Er… if that makes you happy."
Color rose to Leonardo's face. "Merry Christmas, Aunt Penelope."
"Merry Christmas, Leonardo."
They moved to the tearoom, where the staff had already set out light refreshments and tea. Loxia, the maid in charge, was curious when Master Leonardo returned, but since the mistress had not said, she did not ask.
"Merry Christmas, Loxia," Leonardo said.
"Merry Christmas, Master Leonardo."
He drew a lipstick from his pocket—a magical lipstick he had brewed through potioncraft. Safe to ingest, light and long-wearing, usable even by Muggles.
Loxia accepted it with both hands and glanced at the shade through the translucent casing. It looked too bold for daily work. But she was delighted anyway; Master Leonardo always gave small gifts for holidays. She could wear this on an evening out with friends on her next day off—
She blinked. The color had changed. It was now the shade she wanted most.
Catching her expression and the shift in hue, Leonardo smiled. "What is it? Like that shade better?"
A blush touched Loxia's face—caught out by her employer, seeming ungrateful for the first color. She was embarrassed, but not afraid. Master Leonardo did not scold over trifles. She let the puzzle of the changing lipstick drift by. Rich people's luxury toys, perhaps.
Leonardo waved gently for her not to worry and nodded for her to withdraw.
When only the two of them remained, Penelope could not contain her curiosity. "That color-changing lipstick… magic as well? And you changed from an owl back into yourself, just like Professor McGonagall when she visited. Is magic really so marvelous?"
Leonardo nodded. "The lipstick is a potion application. Potions cover a very wide field in the magical world. And transforming into an animal falls under Transfiguration…"
He outlined the basic ideas, and Penelope listened with real interest. For a young wizard, secrecy did not apply to a guardian—after all, a guardian needed to know where the child was schooling and what he was learning. In a house with a large staff, the Secrecy laws were more lenient. One must not tell non-guardians directly that magic existed, but small magical items in the household were tolerated.
That was why Leonardo had given Loxia the magical lipstick. He also trusted his aunt to give her the right instructions afterward.
Besides, people's tolerance for the extraordinary these days was high. Loxia would likely write it off as some high-end tech, not a fairy-tale thing like magic.
After chatting about school, Leonardo began producing box after box of gifts. All magical Christmas presents for his aunt. While she opened them, smiling, he served as a dutiful, thoughtful guide.
"Auntie, when you are overloaded at work, brew a cup of this. It restores energy."
"If you cannot sleep, dissolve one of these under your tongue."
"This one brightens and evens the complexion—though you hardly need it."
"And this…"
"Do not worry. Everything I brought is safe to use even without magic."
Halfway through, Penelope tapped her brow lightly, a small frown forming. "Oh no. I did not know you were coming home, so I sent your present to Hogwarts by owl."
"It is all right, Auntie. I will see it tomorrow when I go back. Though… can I have a hint?"
Penelope opened another of his gifts and said, almost offhandedly, "A contract. You like books."
"I built you a library."