On Christmas Eve, Karl arrived at the Owlery in the West Tower of Hogwarts Castle with many packages.
These were Christmas gifts he had prepared for his friends, which needed to be mailed by the Young Wizards.
The weather in late December was already very cold, but the Owlery was quite warm inside.
As soon as Karl entered, he attracted the curious gaze of the owls.
He took out a large bag of pre-torn fresh meat, "Are there any Young Wizards who want to take on a task? I have food here!"
Before he finished speaking, Karl was surrounded by these fluffy, plump little creatures, their large eyes full of anticipation.
"Very good! Full of spirit!"
After feeding them, Karl selected owls of different sizes based on the size of the packages.
These gifts were prepared a few days prior, when Professor McGonagall took him to Hogsmeade VillageVillage.
As the only all-Wizard village in Britain, Hogsmeade Village Village felt very novel to Karl.
Among them, the most impressive was definitely Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks pub.
As soon as this lady met him, she started giving Karl a language lesson.
She vividly explained what it meant to be charming and graceful.
With such looks and figure, it was no wonder she could make so many Young Wizards at the school remember her.
Of course, this definitely did not include Karl, because he was face-blind.
Well, the self-defined kind.
In addition, Karl had some regrets that he couldn't meet the owner of the Hog's Head Inn, Headmaster Dumbledore's brother, the guardian of goats, the seemingly illiterate person with an extraordinary memory, the first boxer among ancient and modern Wizards, the bane of nose bridges—Aberforth Dumbledore.
Most of the gifts were Christmas specialty candies purchased from Honeydukes Sweetshop; Young Wizards all liked these, at least Shabi, Stebbins, Audrey, Katie, Cormac, and others did.
The Weasley Brothers' gifts were Dungbombs, Belchmint, and other prank items sold at Zonko's Joke Shop, as well as Unicorn hair Karl had obtained from Hagrid.
The two of them had already started learning to make their own magic items, and these hairs would definitely be good materials.
Originally, he wanted to buy them with Galleons, but Hagrid angrily refused, wanting to give them directly to him.
However, Karl knew the value of Unicorn hair and was unwilling to accept.
Finally, Hagrid came up with a solution, stating that as long as Karl helped move twelve fir trees from the Great Hall back to the Forbidden Forest after Christmas, he could have the Unicorn hair.
Karl agreed to this plan, and at the same time, he noted Hagrid's generosity in his heart, deciding to help him solve a few troublesome matters in the future.
For example, Hagrid's unauthorized feeding of the Norwegian Ridgeback next year, and the incident where a Hippogriff named Buckbeak injured someone after Hagridbecame the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures.
Cedric and Cho's gifts were the latest edition of "Quidditch World Cup Tactics" published by Obscurus Books, hoping it would improve their game level.
Of course, when mentioning Quidditch enthusiasts, one cannot forget dear Professor McGonagall.
Karl specifically asked Judy to get a precious "Commemorative Album of Past Quidditch World Cup Champion Teams," believing Professor McGonagallwould definitely like it.
Because of this album, Prefect Judy even made an outrageous request to him.
She expressed hope that she could choose a Christmasgift, wanting Karl to design a unique and beautiful dress for her.
Karl racked his brain over this matter, and finally had to draw a simple sketch of a horse-face skirt, leaving the rest for her to imagine.
As for Headmaster Dumbledore, his gift was the simplest.
He directly bought several pairs of wool socks at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, but Karl chose the brightest and most exaggerated colors, and they would scream if they got too smelly.
Hmm, hopefully, this sound won't be heard in public.
What bothered Karl the most was what gift to give Nina, because he couldn't find any clue.
Nina liked to read, but not just any book; they could generally be divided into three categories.
The first category was historical books about Druids, and Nina had certainly read everything Karl could find.
The second category was books about Magical Creatures, but the most authoritative in this field, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," was written by the old alumnus Newt, so Nina probably knew it by heart.
The third category was about secrets of the Wizarding world, and Karl had no idea where to find such books.
In desperation, Karl could only ask Professor McGonagallfor help.
It turned out that Professor McGonagall's suggestion was very reasonable, advising him to consider Nina's Magical Creature companions and try to choose some gifts for them.
Karl suddenly realized, and promptly contacted Shabi, buying many toys, medicines, medical instruments, and tools specifically for Magical Creatures from his family's shop.
At the same time, he also found Stebbins and asked Madam Malkin to make several clothes suitable for Puck's size.
The result was that Nina's gift was only a greeting card, while Eve, Lucy, Seth, Milo, and Daisy received very generous gifts.
So much so that Karl had to have several owls work together to mail them, and the greeting card was given to the owl that delivered his acceptance letter.
The little fellow still remembered him, flying to Karl's shoulder and affectionately staying with him for a long time.
Having entrusted the task of delivering Christmas gifts to the owls, Karl had completed his most important task for the day.
He then rushed to the school's Great Hall, and together with other Young Wizards staying at school, helped the Professors finish the decoration work.
...
As night fell, the Professors and students of Hogwartswent to sleep with joyful hearts.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating the arrival of Christmas, especially the Christmas feast to be held in the newly decorated Great Hall.
As the new day approached, Karl, under the cover of night, went to the tapestry on the eighth floor of the Castle.
He glanced at the marauder's map, confirming that everyone, including Headmaster Dumbledore, was sleeping soundly in their rooms.
Karl silently chanted, "I need the Room Where Things Are Hidden," and after three passes, the entrance appeared.
He walked into the Room of Requirement and gently closed the door.
It was a vast space, silent in the darkness, appearing somewhat eerie.
It was filled with thousands of miscellaneous items, things hidden by Hogwarts students over a thousand years.
They were either stacked like high walls and towers, or scattered on the ground like rubbish heaps, with messy passages winding through them.
"Where was ravenclaw's diadem again? The old man's bust on the large cabinet?"
"It would be too troublesome to search through them one by one, it's better to just flip the tables."
In the darkness, Karl whistled the classic tune from Kill Bill and walked inside with light steps.
His wand spun and waved in his hand with the whistle, as if conducting an orchestra playing a magnificent movement.
Wherever he passed, violent black Fiendfyre burned wildly, quickly turning into a monstrous sea of fire.
Karl elegantly waved his sleeve, and a large number of boggart-like monsters appeared in the sea of fire, roaring and charging forward.
Senior Tom, where are you?
Come out and greet your guest!