The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

After checking Charlie's agency agreement, Mr. Popescu lightly clicked his wand. The list was slapped against the filing cabinet, and then several large drawers flew onto the counter.

"Let me see... Weasley, W..." Mr. Popescu muttered softly, put on a pair of white gloves and leaned down.

As soon as he put his hand in, all the items in the drawer floated and slowly rotated in front of his nose.

"A package, oh, it's signed. From Molly Weasley." Mr. Popescu said, lifting the conspicuous large package and placing it on the counter. "Three letters, two from England and one from England." From Bulgaria. Here, two more packages...three. A subscription to Quidditch Today, do you want to renew next year? Two books, from the Welsh Green Dragon Sanctuary. A postcard, from Egypt, signed Bill. Another package, from the 'Popular Potions' potion shop, labeled as a flammable liquid..."

"Ah, Fierce Potion, prepared for those dragons that cannot breathe fire well." Charlie said clearly, "I thought they had forgotten our order."

Mr. Popescu carefully placed the package on the counter at a discreet distance from the other letters.

"This is all the letters sent to you."

"Great." Charlie said happily, grabbing one of the packages that said "Squeeze with Caution" and opening it, "What is this? Oh, I know who sent it."

He put his hand into the box, and a loud trumpet sound suddenly sounded from the box. The other guests on both sides turned their heads in surprise and stared blankly at the package in Charlie's hand.

"I knew it," Charlie muttered.

He took out a very exaggerated purple-red hat, the brim of which was decorated with a golden trumpet that would chirp loudly when anyone's hand touched the brim.

Charlie lifted it and looked at it.

"It's not bad, I can wear it when I celebrate next time." He said, "It should be good to match it with the pair of boots he gave last year." He glanced at Anthony and explained, "Those boots can spit fire and sneeze."

"You mean the boots that lit your letter last year?" asked Mr. Popescu.

"That's the one," said Charlie. "You have no idea how much our magic fire-extinguishing devices love them."

He reluctantly stuffed the hat back into the box. During this period, because he kept touching the brim of his hat, it kept making high-pitched protest sounds, causing several owls to impatiently crawl out of the wooden door and vigilantly see what was going on.

Charlie collected the remaining packages and letters, apparently intending to unpack them when he returned to the reserve. At the same time, Mr. Popescu had placed a mountain of parcels addressed to Andrea and Delma on the counter. Charlie swept them all into the bag without even trying to see if there was a "No Collision" sign on the package.

Then it was Anthony's turn. Most of what he received were packages and only two or three letters, none of which came from the Ministry of Magic. What a joy.

In addition to colleagues and friends who also sent gifts to each other last year, Mr. Linde also sent gifts for him. Several of the packages were unsigned, but he guessed that one of the smaller packages came from Dumbledore because the wrapper had "Henry Anthony" written in long diagonal letters within circles.

Like Charlie, Anthony packed up the mounds of bags on the counter and prepared to open them when he returned to the reserve.

He collected Hagrid's Christmas gifts by the way, and watched as Charlie asked Mr. Popescu to send Andrea and Delma's things "just like last Christmas", and he also carried out a bulging cloth bag.

"Do you need to send Christmas gifts to anyone else, Henry?" Charlie stared down at the list of recipients he had written, and thoughtfully stroked his chin with his quill, "I suggest you send them out now. .”

"I've already sent it." Anthony said leisurely, "This is the benefit of living in Hogwarts."

He had already asked Coco before setting off. With the help of house elves, his colleagues should have found his gifts in the pile of gifts at the bedroom door this morning, and the owl that once flew among the long-horned dragons in Romania should also have received seven dead ones. mouse.

Coco promised to send out presents to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Lynde before Christmas, and firmly, and somewhat offendedly, refused the one meant for him. But he accepted the greeting cards and gift wrapping paper. Anthony also prepared a "Toad Croak" for Neville.

"Did Fred and George get A's on all their exams last year?" Charlie asked suddenly.

Anthony recalled: "Well... no. One of Mr. Weasley's Herbology is P."

"It must be Fred," Charlie said, crossing Fred's name off the list.

He took another piece of paper and started writing on it.

"Dear Fred:

"Hope everything is okay for you. It's such a shame, you know what Mom said. I'll send George a bigger one so you can share it. Merry Christmas!"

"Love you, Charlie

"Again, Merry Christmas, George, I know you're watching too. Say hello to Percy, Ron and Ginny for me. I hope you're enjoying your detention Christmas break - without causing too much trouble for Dad. Angry mummy trouble. Eat more Christmas pudding for me.”

Charlie put down his quill, folded the letter, and handed it and the list to Mr. Popescu.

"The letter is addressed to Fred Weasley, and the others are the same as Andrea and Delma, one each. Oh, wait." He opened the bag, squinted his eyes and looked inside for a while, and took out a piece Huge black and green scales, "This one's for George Weasley."

Mr. Popescu took the three bags deftly and poured out the contents with a splash. The counter was suddenly covered with scales of all sizes, each one shining with a cold, dark green light. All courtesy of Romanian Longhorns.

Charlie met Anthony's gaze and shrugged: "Yes, I know. We are a group of fire dragon researchers who lack creativity."

…

After returning to the reserve, Charlie and Anthony made an appointment to meet in the afternoon and went to find Andrea and Delma. Hagrid's door was still closed, and there was a faint sound of snoring. Anthony's gift still lay quietly on the ground.

He picked out Hagrid's gifts, placed them next to the telescope and books, and returned to the bedroom holding his own gifts.

The Wraith Chicken squatted peacefully on the bedside table, squinting his eyes and taking a nap. The wraith mouse and cat have woken up and are exploring the bottom of the dormitory bed together.

"Merry Christmas." Anthony said to the two dusty heads sticking out from under the bed, closed the door with his shoulders, and put the gifts on the small table in the room.

The wraith mouse ran out and climbed onto the chair with difficulty. It stood on the armrest, raising its nose and sniffing the gifts curiously.

"Gift time!" Anthony said to the mouse, picking up a package. "Let's start with Arthur and Molly."

The cat's head shrank back. There was a rustling sound from under the bed.

The package contained a large package of broom-shaped gingerbread cookies and a brief but warm letter of Christmas greetings, no doubt Mrs. Weasley's idea. Anthony ate a piece of gingerbread and immediately decided to ask her for the recipe when he returned to England.

Mr. Weasley enclosed a postcard with a sphinx on it.

"It's amazing how Muggles build huge statues of the Sphinx! Bill said I had it all wrong, but he couldn't explain it. Anyway, I thought you'd be interested in this."

In another unsigned package, Mr. Weasley sent him a car tire alone.

A note was taped to the tire: "Don't tell Molly I sent it to you anyway. Merry Christmas. Arthur."

Anthony pinched the tire. The tire was deflated, and there was dust and yellow sand in the deep grooves. There was even some rust on the bracket. It looked like it had been removed from a jeep that had been scrapped for a long time. He smiled and put it aside, deciding to give Mr. Weasley a model car next time.

Among his colleagues, Professor Sprout gave him more herbal tea, Professor Bubbaji gave him a pair of gloves and a set of O.W.Ls Muggle Studies questions, and Professor Flitwick gave him a Bottle of ink that changes color during writing. Professor McGonagall's gifts were a more advanced explanation of the theory of transfiguration and a toy mouse that could run around the room. The wraith rat looked at it in confusion.

What he didn't expect was that he actually received a Christmas gift from Snape - a very small stone-like thing in a small glass bottle. There is a "Merry Christmas" slogan with silver letters on a green background hanging on the bottle, which gives off a certain cold, perfunctory, mass-produced atmosphere.

He found Snape's message on the inside of the wrapper (a piece of parchment): "Bezoar. S. S."

"Okay, thank you," Anthony muttered. He didn't have a gift for Snape, which meant he needed to return the favor as soon as possible.

Dumbledore gave him a set of cookie cutters that could change shape and make a sweet and clear sound like bells when they collided with each other.

Lupine also sent him a Christmas present: a stack of coupons for Florin Fusco's ice cream shop. He's working there part-time for the time being. Anthony put them away, mentally reminding himself to make up for Lupin's Christmas gift.

Linde gave him a pair of cool windproof glasses and invited Anthony to his home again in the letter.

"I think Mary -" Mary was his wife, "- hopes you can provide some solutions to the troubles I may encounter in advance, but I doubt that even magic will be able to do this. I am about to go out. Collecting specimens - yes, again - so she was a little concerned. Considering what had happened to me, I have to admit that her concerns were very valid.

"As Professor Sprout told me, I know that the professors at Hogwarts are very busy and it is difficult to be distracted after the semester starts, but if you are willing to join in, or you happen to know someone who is free and interested, Trustworthy wizard, please do tell me, I will be very grateful. This time it will not go too far, just within the UK."

Anthony thought for a while and planned to consult his colleagues before giving an answer. He had a vague idea that he might be able to recommend Sirius or Lupin, but on the other hand, he wasn't sure whether they would be interested in specimen collection, and a werewolf didn't sound like the best traveling companion for a Muggle botanist - especially Considering Lind's luck.

He hesitated while opening another unsigned package. A cardboard cutout of a fish falls out, its ink eyes looking comically at the ceiling.

"Dear Henry:

Hope you receive this letter. Last night, Nico caught a fish of this size, (another handwriting read next to it: "Without the help of magic.") and he wanted me to inform as many people as possible who knew of the adventure he was taking. (Another handwriting: “Adventure is boring as hell. England is no better than France, if not worse. Fishing is good.”) We were ready to return to France for roasted snails. Merry Christmas to you and your pet chicken.

Sincerely, Perenal Flamel”

Anthony picked up the cardboard fish and gestured with its length amusingly. An idea suddenly crossed his mind.

He grabbed the pen and wrote: "Dear Madame Flamel: I am very happy to receive your letter. I hope you can receive my reply. Please congratulate Mr. Flamel for me. That is indeed a big fish." .I would like to express my sincere thanks for all the help you have provided me and the chicken, which has not had any problems so far. Enclosed is a picture of the hole it pecked.

"Besides that, I would venture to ask M. Flamel if he is interested in herbarium collecting? I have a friend who is about to set off and is looking for traveling companions, and every time he goes out to collect, it is an adventure."