"What does this mean? Did someone just give me a house?"
Ian pulled the item out of the gift box.
It had intricate patterns and a bit of an openwork design—one look and you could tell it wasn't young; quite the antique, actually. Under the light, there was even a touch of that glossy patina old things get.
It was a key.
...
The corridors of Hogwarts were unusually quiet.
You could even call them a bit deserted.
Because of Christmas, most of the little wizards chose to go home, so there weren't many left at the school, and even those mostly preferred to huddle up in the blissfully warm common rooms.
When Ian slipped out of the Room of Requirement, he exhaled a huge cloud of white mist.
Now, there wasn't the usual sea of bustling students; no laughter echoing out from various classrooms and corridors, no flying practices or matches up in the Quidditch Pitch. The halls, towers, and lawns outside Hogwarts Castle all looked especially serene under the gentle winter sunlight.
Honestly, on days like this, there weren't many little wizards who'd bother coming to the Great Hall to eat. Still, right at the entrance, Ian ran into someone he knew.
"Miss Greengrass! Where's my Christmas present?" Following the "nod three times and you're acquaintances" rule, Ian had sent a gift to Daphne Greengrass, who was as wary of him as if he were a Nundu.
Unfortunately, he hadn't received anything in return.
"Are you trying to make my warm face stick to your cold butt?" The little wizard was not amused, and his words made Daphne Greengrass and her friend Gesha Selwen both shiver a bit.
"I… I did give you one! It's in Qiu Zhang's box." Daphne Greengrass hurried to explain, leaving Ian standing there so dumbfounded it was like someone just hit pause.
"That Christmas card in there is your gift?" Ian racked his brains, then his eyes went wide. "You're a Pure-blood Clan heir and all you gave me was a Christmas card?"
He really sounded a little indignant.
"Isn't it possible… that my dad just stopped giving me money…" Daphne Greengrass forced a smile, but it honestly looked way more tragic than just straight-up crying.
To prove she was telling the truth, she pulled out her Money Bag, and the contents really were a bit pitiful—just a few copper Knuts and not even a single Silver Sickle could be found.
"I can't even afford a gift box…"
Daphne Greengrass sounded genuinely sincere and helpless. This little witch, who'd been cursed with bad luck all term for calling Ian a Mudblood, was truly down and out.
"Don't tell me she's not willing to lend you money? Fake bestie?" Ian shot a look at Gesha Selwen, who was desperately trying to hide her head like an ostrich—and immediately went for her own Money Bag.
But she was scrambling so hard she dropped the bag on the floor, though it didn't make any sound at all. When Gesha Selwen finally opened it, it turned out to be even sadder than Daphne Greengrass's.
Totally empty.
"Really, we're both out of money. My family stopped sending me any at all too." Gesha Selwen and Daphne Greengrass both just looked absolutely destitute in that moment.
"So you're the famous broke sisters of Hogwarts, huh." Ian couldn't help but sigh. He fished out two copper Knuts from his Money Bag and tossed one to each of the little witches.
"This is a reminder fee. Don't forget to remind your families to fork over my compensation nice and early." With that, the little wizard dumped the bankrupt duo and strode into the Hall.
"Liquidating assets takes time…"
Daphne Greengrass added.
But since she said it so, so quietly, Ian probably didn't catch that at all. If he had, maybe he wouldn't wonder why they got cut off back home.
Clearly, Dumbledore wanted a full-on Pure-blood Clan bloodletting.
"He actually gave you a Christmas present?" Gesha Selwen finally spoke up after Ian's silhouette totally disappeared. She eyed Daphne Greengrass with an odd expression.
As if she'd just caught her best friend joining the club behind her back.
"I heard he gave gifts to loads of people… Maybe it's his way of buying popularity?" Daphne Greengrass's line of thinking was aggressively Pure-blood Clan style.
"Then why doesn't he want to buy me over? My family isn't any weaker than yours…" Gesha Selwen had no interest in Ian's attention—she just felt her family was being snubbed.
Daphne Greengrass had no idea how to respond.
"So, what did he give you?"
Gesha Selwen was dead curious and kept pressing.
Daphne Greengrass sighed. "I didn't dare open it. Little Grindelwald was giving me such a weird look, I was scared if I opened it I'd just catch a faceful of Killing Curse."
Her words made Gesha Selwen's eyes widen to saucers, and she even sucked in a breath.
"He hid a Killing Curse in your present? Merlin! Not even the Black Demon King was that scary!" Gesha Selwen's gasp was nothing short of genuine terror.
"..."
Daphne Greengrass was silent for a long moment, and just as Gesha Selwen tentatively suggested taking the gift box to complain to the ever-neutral Head of Hufflepuff House—
"I never said the Killing Curse would come from his present…"
Daphne Greengrass finally couldn't help replying.
"?????"
It took Gesha Selwen a few seconds to process that, and then she suddenly understood. Turns out, what Daphne Greengrass was actually worried about was the Killing Curse courtesy of Ian's best friend.