Chapter 66: Going Home for the Holidays
Ethan, holding a piece of bread in his hand and tearing it apart, asked, "By the way, Draco, are you going home tomorrow too? You said at the start of the term you'd help me check the origin of my bloodline. Is there still no news?"
Draco's face turned slightly red. In fact, Lucius had written to him long ago, telling him that the Malfoy family didn't have such a magic artifact. But to save face, he kept putting it off. Now that he was asked again, he had to bite the bullet and continue to patch up his lie.
He paused and hesitated: "Well, I'll ask my father again when I go home for Christmas. The letter wasn't very clear."
However, these days were coming to an end. He had already thought it out. When he returned to school, he would lie and say that his family's magic artifact was accidentally destroyed and couldn't be brought to school for him to use.
Moreover, Ethan himself said that Dumbledore was also helping. Presumably, his family's contribution wasn't really essential anyway, which made him feel even less guilty about lying.
"Okay." Ethan didn't push the issue any further. He had brought it up this time only because the look Draco gave him just now felt a bit off, as if there was some inexplicable sense of superiority in it, a hint of disdain.
Early the next morning, Ethan dragged a trunk full of candy purchased with Hagrid's help and left Hogwarts with Hermione.
The weather was already very cold, but due to the ban, the hand warmer Hermione had made had to be left in the dormitory because the flame couldn't be replenished.
Stepping through the thick snow, his face was red from the cold.
He blew on his hands to warm them while chatting with the girl. "Hermione, when will you be able to add the Warming Charm to clothes through Alchemy?"
Hermione was a bit frustrated too. "I'll study it again when I come back. There are still some minor flaws."
The Warming Charm was a spell they had found in the library specifically for coping with the cold winter.
After using this spell, clothes could retain a certain amount of heat, allowing them to wear fewer layers and move around less awkwardly.
But the shortcoming of this spell was obvious too—the duration was very short, only about an hour. For a long class like Potions, they had to secretly renew it halfway through.
Hermione's Alchemy study was not going very smoothly because her research direction did not overlap much with the Weasley twins', so even with their help, her progress was still bumpy.
The Levitation Charm clothes she originally wanted to give Ethan as a surprise hadn't been made yet, and the current Warming Charm clothes were stuck in the same place.
"It's too bad Hogwarts doesn't have electricity. Otherwise I could get a small electric heater."
Hermione wished for that too. After more than four months of living there, she knew Hogwarts quite well by now. "Too bad. Hogwarts rejects these technological products."
The two crossed the Black Lake, arrived at the platform at the school gate, and boarded the Hogwarts Express.
There were many empty seats on the train this time because many students had stayed at school, including Harry, Ron, and the Weasley twins.
Harry didn't want to go back to his aunt's house. As for the Weasley brothers, it was because their parents had gone to Romania to visit their brother Charlie.
After putting the luggage away, he closed the compartment door. "Do you want to go to Diagon Alley during the holidays to buy some things?"
"You're going to Diagon Alley?"
He nodded. "Mm. I reached an agreement with the Weasley brothers to withdraw some Galleons for them as a deposit. Also, I want to buy some beauty potions for Mom. She said last time she estimated she'd be using them more often and ended up buying too few."
He asked again, "How about it, wanna go together?"
Hermione considered it for a moment. "Hard to say. I don't know how my parents plan to spend Christmas. If they plan to travel, I probably can't go."
"Alright." Ethan regretted that he might have to go shopping alone.
The two took a nap on the train, and soon it arrived at the station.
When they got out, they saw their respective parents waiting.
The four adults, who had met over the summer, were chatting together as they waited.
The pair dragged their trunks over. "Mom, Dad."
"Seems like you've grown taller, but thinner." His mother cupped his face.
"Not thinner. The food at school is quite good. Maybe it's because I grew taller, so I look a bit thinner." Ethan knew exactly how thin he was and explained helplessly.
Sofia hadn't seen him in over four months. "Really? I still think you look thinner. I need to take you out for some good food while you're home."
Father Albert watched Sofia nag with a somewhat helpless expression, exchanging a look with Ethan.
Across from them, Hermione was much the same.
After a long time, they said goodbye and went home.
The first thing Ethan did when he got home was to let Edward out.
After being cooped up in the cage for half a day, the first thing it did upon returning to this room where it had lived for more than two months was to fly to the shelf to find the dried fish, owl treats, and other food Ethan had stored.
After putting the luggage away, Ethan took out a large pile of candy and went downstairs.
He put the package on the table. "The candy you wanted should last you a while. If it's not enough, I'll send more after I return to school."
"Great. Your mom loves these candies, especially the Peppermint Toads. The effect is peculiar; she loves it the most."
"You say it as if you don't like it." Sofia rolled her eyes at Albert.
"Like, of course I like it." He laughed it off.
Ethan liked this family atmosphere very much. Watching his parents bickering lovingly, he also had a smile on his lips.
He spent the few days of Christmas holidays very comfortably.
In the morning, he slept in after a long time, living a life of being waited on hand and foot.
On the day before Christmas, he went to Diagon Alley alone.
He came this time not only with two hundred ounces of gold but also with the Daily Prophet clipping he got from Hagrid to prove that Gringotts was not as safe as the goblin said when he opened the account.
Although the goblins argued strongly, they finally waived his annual custody fee.
Although Ethan was somewhat dissatisfied with this compensation, seeing the goblins about to turn hostile, he finally backed down.
He left eighteen hundred Galleons this time, a thousand of which was the investment promised to the twins, and the rest was to buy some gifts and Mom's beauty potions.
Today Edward had been extremely busy. Except for the gift for Hermione which Ethan delivered personally, everyone else's gifts were delivered by Edward flying back and forth.
For Harry, it was a bag of Diagon Alley candy. Ron's was the same, just a different flavor. The three roommates received the same gift as well.
For Snape, it was a silver cauldron. For Professor McGonagall, it was a green handbag. He also bought gifts for several other professors one by one.
Especially Dumbledore. He remembered he needed woolen socks. Although he didn't know why he wanted such a gift, Ethan still bought a pair of thick purple woolen socks for him.
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