The fireplace crackled warmly in Tom's little cabin. A mix of kids and adults crowded around, watching as Tom twisted and reshaped himself inside a swirling cloud of smoke.
"You're actually into this kind of thing?" Dumbledore asked, glancing at Nicolas with mild surprise.
"Of course," Nicolas replied with a fond smile. "He's my best student. And honestly, it's fun. Just like Tom said—Christmas really does need a proper Santa Claus."
"Exactly," Dumbledore agreed, his expression softening. "The kids are going to lose their minds when they see this."
"So you're really letting Tom's golem take over for the owls on Christmas Day?" Nicolas pressed. "What if something goes wrong?"
"You don't trust him?"
"It's not that," Nicolas said, shaking his head as he watched Tom work. "I've never seen talent like his. In less than a month he's already outgrown anything I could teach him. If he builds it, it'll probably work. But as headmaster, you should still have a backup plan."
"You're right," Dumbledore nodded, then smiled gently. "Luckily Hogwarts has Minerva. She'll make sure everything's covered."
Minerva McGonagall, standing nearby, gave a long-suffering sigh. She was seriously considering handing in her resignation.
Still, duty called. She started mentally listing contingency plans—maybe just make Dumbledore deliver the gifts himself.
On the other side of the room, Fred and George were pinching their own cheeks while staring at the heavy money pouch in their hands.
"George… are we dreaming?" Fred asked.
"I don't know, Fred. This is enough to buy a decent shop in Diagon Alley. It feels way too good to be real."
The pouch held their cut of the profits from the Santa golem project. What had started as a small side hustle had exploded into an official Hogwarts contract after Dumbledore got involved and decided the owls deserved a Christmas break.
Tom had split the earnings with them—half as thanks for their help and as an investment in their future. In return, they'd promised him a percentage of their future profits. They'd even tried to give him thirty percent instead of the ten he'd asked for.
Ron finally snapped. He smacked their hands away. "Will you two stop pinching my face already?!"
"Oh," George said innocently. "We were pinching Ron's face? No wonder it didn't hurt."
"Exactly," Fred added. "We thought we were dreaming. Why didn't you say something if it hurt, little Ronnie?"
Ron rolled his eyes and stomped off to complain to Harry. His brothers were the worst.
A moment later Tom stepped out of the smoke, wiping his paw across his forehead with a satisfied nod.
[That should do it. It's only the prototype, but it's got all the core functions. Should work fine even in the Muggle world.]
The smoke cleared, revealing a perfect Santa Claus golem—red hat and suit, fluffy white beard, warm smile. Tom had added one personal touch: a tiny cheese-shaped ornament on the tip of the hat. With the thick white trim around it, it almost looked like moldy cheese, but nobody would notice if the fur stayed fluffy.
Ariana's eyes went wide. "Whoa… this Santa looks exactly like my brother!"
She wasn't wrong. The face, the beard, the build—it was basically Dumbledore in a Santa suit.
[Well… yeah,] Tom admitted, scratching behind his ear. [I modeled it after him. Santa doesn't have one official face, just the round belly and long white beard. I wasn't about to make up some random face, so after thinking it over I just used the best model I could find.]
Ariana opened her mouth to argue, but Dumbledore raised a hand, still smiling at the golem. "It's fine, Ariana. I actually like it. Bringing joy to children as Santa Claus… it suits me."
McGonagall, ever practical, cut in. "And its capabilities? We need to know it can actually do the job."
[Oh, it's perfect,] Tom said proudly. [It can teleport using a custom sleigh setup. Sit in it, give it a reindeer, and it can jump straight to any location. I built in a little intentional drift so it still has to come down the chimney the old-fashioned way.]
McGonagall frowned. "That's charming in theory, but what about Muggles seeing a flying sleigh? The Ministry won't be pleased."
[Why would that be a problem?] Tom blinked. [Only kids with pure hearts or who really believe in Santa can see him. Everyone else won't even notice he's there.]
Hermione looked worried. "What about my dad? He told me Santa isn't real, but last week he wrote asking if there were Santas in the wizarding world."
[Easy fix.] Tom pointed at a small pouch hanging from the golem's belt. [I added a visibility tool just in case.]
Hannah leaned in. "Wait… is that just regular flour? You asked the kitchens for some the other day. Don't tell me—"
[Of course it is. Flour is an excellent visibility agent!] Tom said confidently. Every time he or Jerry accidentally went invisible back in the day, flour always gave them away. Perfectly logical.
[It also has a built-in introduction function,] he continued. [Wizard parents might think it's a thief if a random Santa suddenly appears in their house. So it introduces itself.]
The golem spoke in a warm, cheerful voice: "Hello there! I'm Santa Claus. You've had a tough year. This is a Christmas gift from your friends at Hogwarts. Don't open it early now~"
[What do you think, Professor?] Tom asked, practically glowing with pride.
Before McGonagall could answer, George leaned in excitedly. "Add a confetti function! When they open the present—boom, the whole room fills with streamers!"
Fred jumped in. "Or make it say something funny if the box is empty. Like, 'Haha, you got pranked! All you get this year is this rock!' That would be brilliant!"
Tom's expression went flat. He pulled out a roll of tape and sealed both twins' mouths shut without a word.
Confetti was one thing. Fred's idea was straight-up demonic. Tom had standards.
McGonagall sighed. "I have no more suggestions, but can it actually locate the students?"
[Simple,] Tom said. [Just give my owl George the location. He'll guide it.]
George, who had just peeled the tape off, pointed at himself in horror. "Me?!"
[You?] Tom gave him a once-over and wrinkled his nose. [Can you fly or even find your way? I'd rather let the golem run there itself.]
"Then why say my name?!"
[I meant my owl.] Tom rolled his eyes. [My owl is also named George. With him around, Santa won't get lost.]
McGonagall looked doubtful about overworking an owl, but after some debate the group compromised. George escaped forced reindeer duty. McGonagall recruited a few adventurous owls instead to ride along as living GPS units and decorations.
And just like that, Hogwarts break finally arrived.
On the platform, Harry hugged his friends goodbye. Ron, Ariana, and Tom stood nearby—wait.
"Hold on—Tom, why are you here?" Harry asked, eyes wide as he watched Tom boarding the train with Hannah. "You said you weren't going home for Christmas!"
[I'm not going home,] Tom replied matter-of-factly. [But that doesn't mean I'm skipping the train ride. It's one of the few times a semester I get to ride the Hogwarts Express. I'm not missing it.]
The real reason? No snack cart at school, and third-years and below couldn't visit Hogsmeade. Tom could teleport there, but a cat wandering around the village would draw too much attention. He usually had older Hufflepuffs grab things for him, but they always ended up feeding him instead. He had money now—he wanted to spend it himself.
So he was riding the train and hitting the trolley hard.