"Aren't you also looking forward to my gift?" Harry retorted.
Since Harry only had the bedside lamp on, he couldn't clearly see Cassandra's expression.
But Harry had an intuition that Cassandra's face suddenly felt some unusual warmth.
"Alright, stop talking about useless things." Cassandra retrieved a gift from somewhere and handed it to Harry. "Your Christmas gift is right here—-I hope you won't be like a child, eagerly expecting Santa Claus. I believe I've told you before that there's no such thing as Santa Claus in this world..."
Enough.
Harry suddenly remembered a scene from the first year that was almost identical...
"You seem to really expect that so-called Santa Claus." Little Cassandra looked down with an arrogant expression at the pitiful Little Harry squatting on the ground, "Poor little Muggle, tricked by someone and still believing in the existence of Santa Claus to bring you gifts?"
"Santa Claus definitely exists!" Harry countered.
"Oh? Really?" Cassandra's lips curled, "Ah, if you would close your eyes, maybe that foolish Santa Claus would appear right in front of you~"
What Cassandra didn't expect was that Harry actually closed his eyes.
This fool...
Cassandra couldn't help but smile, placing the prepared gift in front of Harry.
"Well, open your eyes." Cassandra said, "It seems that foolish Santa Claus has arrived and given you a gift—"
...
"Of course, there is." Harry said.
He stood up, and in Cassandra's incredulous gaze, hugged her.
"Thank you, Cassandra." He said, "I knew, in the first year, that gift was from you... but at the time, I... well, didn't quite dare to say it."
Cassandra's gaze softened, yet she still remained arrogantly poised.
"Is that so?" She said sarcastically, "I thought you could only see the smiles of newcomers without noticing the tears of those gone~"
"So you secretly cried behind the scenes?" Harry let go, surprised, looking at Cassandra.
This he truly didn't know—not that he didn't know; rather, he couldn't have imagined it in a million years.
Who would've thought those words would instantly anger Cassandra.
She stomped heavily on Harry's foot and stormed out of the bedroom angrily.
Leaving Harry rolling on the bed clutching his foot.
This time it really hurt; Harry felt his foot was about to be stomped off.
No doubt, the recent hug was taught by Little Sirius.
It was indeed useful, but Little Sirius hadn't taught him to be tactless.
So... hmm...
It had backfired.
Seems like he should seek further guidance from Little Sirius, Harry thought dejectedly, especially since things had been going so smoothly at first, and even Cassandra...
As he was pondering, Vivi suddenly entered his room.
"What's going on with you?" Vivi asked with a charming smile.
Harry rubbed his foot, grimacing as he said, "Nothing, I just kicked the table."
"Then you need to be careful." Vivi said concernedly, "That kind of pain isn't pleasant."
After she spoke, Vivi walked over and sat next to Harry.
Just as Harry was about to say something, he noticed Vivi suddenly stopped and sniffed his body, frowning.
"You have Cassandra's scent on you." She said conclusively.
"Oh." Harry acknowledged coolly, not finding it odd, "Yes, Cassandra just came by and gave me a gift."
"What gift?" Vivi didn't dwell on Cassandra's visit but focused on the 'gift.'
Harry took out the gift and handed it to Vivi.
All secretly taught by Little Sirius—
Vivi was very pleased with Harry's attitude; she didn't take the gift but said to Harry in a light-hearted manner, "This is something Cassandra gave you, so you should open it—and I'll get to see what she gave you."
Harry nodded and opened the gift.
The item inside made him a bit stunned.
It was a photo from the summer holiday of the second year when they went to Vienna, with Cassandra in the center, the gracefully poised Lady-in-waiting Vivi, and the bashful Little Harry beside her.
"It's us three." Vivi's frown relaxed suddenly, recalling the scene when Cassandra and Harry spoke for her.
However, what she didn't anticipate was that this gift was also meticulously chosen by Cassandra—or rather, it wasn't Cassandra herself who chose it, but her father, Mr. Septimus Malfoy, who persuaded her several times, even dictating the details—when to deliver it, what to say when delivering it...
They say a parent's love plans far ahead for their child, and Mr. Septimus was truly worried for his inept daughter.
If Cassandra could just restrain her contradictory feelings a bit, he wouldn't have to worry endlessly about her even after his death...
"Really nice." Harry said with a cheerful smile looking at the photo, "I'm going to treasure it... see, we were so young back then..."
"You're still young now, we all are." Vivi corrected Harry's words sternly.
Harry didn't find anything wrong and continued to pick up other gifts saying, "Since you're here, help me unwrap some gifts—there are a lot of them, I just opened a gift from Hagrid, which was an ounce of Eight-eyed Giant Spider Venom, and a copy of 'Demons' Monster Book.' I placed the book over there... oh, Lady Death also gave me a gift."
"Lady Death?!"
Vivi couldn't help but ask, truly surprised that Lady Death would give Harry a gift.
"Yes." Harry took a small, mysterious, black box from the pile of gifts.
"What is it?" Vivi asked, interested.
"No idea." Harry shrugged, then said, "There's a little note here, let me see..."
He picked up the small note, which said:
[Harry:
Merry Christmas.
This is a Desire Gem; as its name suggests, it can fulfill your innermost desires.
Use it wisely]
(Vote for me)
(The next 8000 words are an additional update for last month's wish 46000/50000)