On Tuesday morning, I discovered an unexpected benefit to being summoned before the Wizengamot.
The next day, you didn't have to appear before it again.
I took my time getting up. The Ministry could still send letters, but the next hearing wasn't until summer. For now, at least, no one expected me to spend the morning explaining why I wanted to live in my own home.
Richard had promised another game of chess. Frederick wanted to see my notes at last, and I intended to visit Roland.
First, though, I went down to breakfast.
Anunu had made pancakes with jam. When I sat down, he poured my tea and placed three envelopes beside my plate.
"Post for Master Oliver."
Thankfully, none bore a Ministry seal.
The first was from Hermione, the second from Blaise. I recognised the handwriting on the third before reading the name.
Draco.
Before leaving Hogwarts, I'd given my friends an address for their letters. "Peverell Estate" was enough. The owls found the postbox by the road, and the enchantments checked the mail before bringing it into the house.
I could receive letters without explaining to everyone where I actually lived.
Very convenient.
Hermione wished me a peaceful Christmas, mentioned her family's plans, and asked whether I'd read the book we'd discussed before leaving school. At the end, she added that she expected a reply.
Of course.
Blaise wanted to know whether I'd survived the journey and whether Draco had found anyone willing to listen to him talk about his Nimbus. He also asked if I intended to return to school in January.
After the last few days, I thought that was a fair question.
Draco's letter was the longest. Lucius had arranged several gatherings before Christmas that his son was required to attend, which was apparently making his life very difficult. Then Draco moved on to Quidditch and the spells he wanted to practise when we got back.
Beneath his Christmas wishes, he'd added:
And try not to disappear again. I'm not finding out what's happened to my friend through the Prophet a second time.
I laughed.
"Something amusing?" Evelyn asked from the portrait beside the door.
"Draco's reminding me to stay out of trouble."
My grandmother smiled.
"Sensible advice."
I put the envelopes aside and reached for another pancake.
Then I remembered presents.
I looked at the calendar.
The twenty-second of December.
Damn.
Last year, the parcels at Hogwarts had come as a surprise. This year, I knew I had people to exchange Christmas wishes with.
It was about time I gave that some thought.
"Anunu?"
"Yes, Master Oliver?"
"I need to go shopping."
The elf immediately straightened.
"Anunu can buy everything."
"I know. But I'd like to choose it myself."
Evelyn put down the book she'd been looking through.
"Presents?"
I nodded.
"For how many people?"
I started counting.
Draco. Blaise. Hermione. Harry. Luna. The twins.
And there were others.
"More than I thought."
"Then start with a list."
Before tackling the shopping, I sent another short message to Dumbledore. After yesterday's hearing, I had no intention of forgetting our agreement.
Then I sat in the drawing room with a sheet of parchment on my knees.
Draco Malfoy.
What did you buy someone who probably received most things he wanted?
A broom was out of the question. He had a Nimbus 2001, and even if he hadn't, I wasn't buying him a broom.
He'd been asking me about duelling for weeks. He wanted to practise and eventually try his luck in the underground club.
I made a note beside his name.
For Hermione, it had to be a book. The problem was finding one she hadn't already read.
Harry could use something for our practice sessions. For Blaise…
I smiled.
Perhaps a guide explaining why betting on duels was unwise.
He would probably take it as a challenge.
I spent longer on Luna. I remembered her notebook full of Plimpy drawings: sketches, dates, directions of movement. Some of the pages had buckled from the damp.
Something for her observations by the lake.
Preferably waterproof.
At Fred and George's names, I turned the quill between my fingers for a while. Finding something they would like shouldn't be difficult. Finding something they couldn't use to cause a disaster was another matter.
"You look as though you're solving a problem," Richard observed.
"I'm trying to choose a present for the Weasley twins."
"That may indeed require some thought."
I added Ron, Theodore, and Neville. Not everyone needed an expensive gift. I simply wanted to remember the people I didn't spend every evening with as well.
Richard examined the length of the list.
"Consult Joseph about the budget before you buy anyone a shop."
"I wasn't planning to buy a shop."
"A promising start."
Anunu took us to Diagon Alley, appearing in a quiet spot away from the main crowd.
Garlands hung above the shopfronts, and enchanted decorations turned over the heads of passers-by. Outside a sweetshop stood a small snowman singing so loudly that I understood several customers' sudden urge to hurry inside.
I unrolled my list.
"We'll start with the bookshop."
Flourish and Blotts smelled of paper and wet coats. Books were being wrapped in red paper at the counter, while two wizards between the shelves debated whether one man's grandson would prefer an atlas of spells or an encyclopaedia of magical creatures.
For Draco, I found an introductory duelling manual. It didn't contain any particularly impressive spells, but devoted plenty of space to footwork, maintaining distance, and common beginner's mistakes. Moving illustrations showed how a slight change in stance could make dodging easier.
I read a few pages and took a copy.
For Harry, I chose a collection of defensive magic exercises. I knew some of them, but there were others we could use once we returned to school.
Hermione was harder.
After twenty minutes, I was holding three books and still couldn't decide.
"Anunu can carry all of them."
"It's not about carrying them."
The elf looked at the stack.
"Master Oliver can buy all of them."
That didn't solve the problem either.
Eventually, I chose a history of practical Transfiguration. The author described early experiments and explained why some apparently simple transformations had proved so difficult.
Hermione ought to love it.
And if she found mistakes in the footnotes, that would give her something else to do.
For Blaise, I picked up a book about famous wagers and disastrous predictions. One wizard in it had lost his house because he hadn't believed his cousin could turn a teacup into a frog.
I hoped Blaise would learn the right lesson from that story.
Though I wouldn't put money on it.
I found Luna's present in a stationery shop.
The notebook had a pale blue cover and pages charmed against moisture. The shopkeeper sprinkled water onto an open page. The drops rolled off without leaving a mark.
"I wouldn't recommend throwing the whole thing into a lake, though."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Some customers try."
His sigh suggested he wasn't referring to an isolated incident.
I added pencils with strengthened leads. Luna would be able to sketch outdoors without worrying about every drop of water or accidentally broken tip.
For the twins, I bought two identical sets of precision measures, small phials, and tools for working on tiny magical objects. Remembering the foam from one of their experiments, I thought more accurate measurements might benefit everyone.
Theodore got a pack of cards with moving illustrations, Ron got chocolate chess pieces, and Neville got plant labels on which he could record watering dates.
By the time we left, Anunu was carrying several parcels and apparently feeling none of their weight.
I checked the list.
Almost everything.
"We still need a present for you."
The elf stopped so abruptly that I turned.
"For Anunu?"
"Yes."
"Anunu doesn't need anything, Master Oliver."
"Good. Then we don't have to buy something useful."
For a moment, he tried to work out what I meant.
"But Anunu has everything…"
"Then we'll find something extra."
He didn't argue again. He just looked at me, then at the shop windows, as though considering for the first time that something behind the glass might be for him.
I found the book in the next shop.
Baking and Desserts for the Wizarding Kitchen.
Dark red binding, gold lettering, and moving illustrations showing each stage of the recipes. On the page I opened, a tiny cook tossed a pancake.
It landed on his head.
He peeled it off with a gloomy expression and started again.
I smiled.
The shop assistant explained that you could change the number of portions beside each recipe, and the quantities would adjust themselves.
I bought the book and asked her to wrap it.
Anunu watched the parcel.
"What's inside?"
"You'll find out on Christmas Day."
His ears twitched.
"Anunu will wait."
It sounded more like a resolution than a promise that it would be easy.
Before we went home, I bought wrapping paper, ribbons, and cards. I also chose a few things for the portraits at the bookshop.
A collection of new chess problems for Richard. A book of embroidery patterns for Evelyn. A review of recent research into spell mechanics for Frederick.
I suspected the last of them would get more pleasure from criticising the authors than agreeing with them.
But the point of a present was to make him happy.
Back home, I spread everything across the study table.
Only then did I realise how much there was.
Wrapping the first book went well enough. The paper ended up crooked on the second. By the third, I was considering magic, despite not knowing the appropriate spell.
I looked at my wand.
Then at the book.
"Anunu, could you help?"
The elf glanced at the crumpled paper, took a fresh sheet, and soon had a neatly wrapped parcel in front of him.
"Have you done this before?"
"Anunu has wrapped the family's presents for many years."
"Right."
I should have thought of that.
I left the awkward parcels to him and worked on the cards.
For Draco's book, I wrote:
For our practice sessions after Christmas. We can talk about brooms afterwards. Oliver.
Blaise received a warning:
Read this before you place your next bet. Or at least afterwards.
I told Harry we would try some of the exercises at Hogwarts. For Hermione, I included Christmas wishes and an answer to her letter.
I paused over Luna's notebook.
I thought this might come in handy for your next observations by the lake. I hope the Plimpies cooperate.
The twins received identical cards asking them not to blow anything up before the end of the holidays.
We checked the addresses, then Anunu helped me send the parcels through the wizarding post.
When I returned to the study, only the presents for everyone at home and scraps of paper remained on the table.
I hoped everything would arrive in time.
On Wednesday, after breakfast, Anunu took me into the drawing room.
A Christmas tree stood beside the window, nearly touching the ceiling. Open boxes of decorations waited on the floor.
"When did you have time to bring that here?"
"This morning, Master Oliver."
I walked around it, taking care not to step on a box. Most of the ornaments looked old, but Anunu had carefully cleaned and arranged them.
I picked up a little hippogriff. It stirred its wings and bowed its head.
"I like this one."
"Master Roland was very fond of it."
That didn't surprise me.
I hung the hippogriff on a branch. It adjusted its feet for a moment, then settled.
Richard appeared in his portrait.
"A little crooked."
I stepped back.
"The ornament?"
"The tree."
From this angle, the trunk did seem to lean towards the window. Anunu adjusted it while I held the branches away from the frame.
"Now?"
"Better."
Evelyn joined us. Rather than inspecting the tree, she asked to see the ornaments in a flat box.
Inside were silver stars made of thin metal. When we hung the first one, it began to turn slowly.
"We used those when Elias was little," she said.
I turned another between my fingers.
"They're in good condition."
"Anunu looked after them."
The elf straightened without pausing in his efforts to untangle a garland.
We spent the next hour decorating. Evelyn recalled who had owned which ornaments, and Richard occasionally disputed her account. With a few, she admitted she couldn't remember.
When we finished, firelight caught the silver stars, and the hippogriff on its branch spread its wings as though it wanted to admire our work too.
I stood beside Anunu.
"Good job."
He nodded solemnly.
Richard studied the tree for a moment.
I gave him a warning look.
"I'm not saying anything," he assured me.
Later, I found Roland and told him about the trip with Fred and George.
At the mention of the unicorn, he abandoned everything else.
"Five hairs?"
"Yes. We found them on the ground."
"And the animal itself?"
"Between the trees. At a distance. We didn't approach it."
He nodded and began asking about the place. Had we seen hoofprints? How dense were the trees? Had the unicorn noticed us?
I couldn't answer all his questions.
I was trying to remember how far we'd been from the edge of the clearing when Evelyn appeared in the next frame.
"Are you talking about the Forbidden Forest?"
I hesitated.
"Yes."
Her gaze settled on me.
"You promised you wouldn't go back."
"We stayed well away from that place."
"Oliver."
She didn't raise her voice.
That was worse.
I sighed.
"I know. I didn't only promise to avoid the Scar."
"Exactly."
Roland said nothing. He didn't try to rescue the conversation with another question.
"I'm sorry."
Evelyn studied me for a while.
"I don't want you making promises just to stop me worrying. If you agree to something, I'd like to be able to believe you."
I looked at the edge of the frame.
I could have said again that we'd only been looking for hairs, that we hadn't gone near the Scar, and that nothing bad had happened.
None of it changed what I'd promised.
"You're right."
She waited a moment, then nodded.
Roland only resumed his questions once Evelyn had sat down.
"Do you remember which way the unicorn went?"
I told him as much as I could. This time, I didn't fill in the gaps with things that merely seemed likely.
I learned more from the conversation than I'd expected.
And I really wasn't planning to return to the forest for a while. If I changed my mind later, I would at least have to be honest about it.
On Christmas Eve, the house smelled of baked apples and spices.
I looked into the kitchen. Anunu stood at the counter, surrounded by bowls and serving dishes. When he saw me, he covered one with a cloth.
"That isn't ready for tasting."
"I hadn't even asked."
"Anunu knows that look."
I drew back my hand.
"Do you need help?"
He considered it, then entrusted me with carrying a box of decorations to the dining room. Apparently, I still wasn't qualified for more important kitchen duties.
We didn't need many place settings, but we arranged the frames around the table so the portraits could join us. Anunu adjusted everything several more times.
That evening, the conversation turned to Christmases past.
Roland told us about a journey home from Wales during which he'd almost missed Christmas.
"Because of the dragons?" Richard asked.
Roland looked offended.
"The weather."
Frederick glanced at him from the next painting.
"And the dragons?"
There was a brief pause.
"They had no direct bearing on the delay."
Richard laughed.
"So there were dragons."
"There are sometimes dragons in Wales, Richard. I don't know why that surprises you every time."
I listened with my legs stretched towards the fire. Evelyn tried to establish how many days Roland had actually spent travelling, but each number started another argument.
No one needed documents or explanations from me.
I could simply listen.
When I went to bed, the first parcels were already under the tree. Anunu firmly informed me that they were not to be opened until morning.
I didn't argue.
On Christmas Day, bright sunlight reflected off the snow and woke me.
I lay under the covers for a moment before remembering what day it was.
Then I smiled and got up.
Hedwig was perched on a branch outside. When I opened the window, she turned towards me.
"Merry Christmas."
She hooted, flew inside, and settled on her perch. A bowl of treats stood beside it.
Anunu had remembered her too.
I dressed and went down to the drawing room. The voices fell quiet for a moment as I entered.
"Merry Christmas."
Evelyn answered first. Richard raised a hand, Frederick nodded, and Anunu appeared in the doorway looking as though he'd been waiting for me to come down for ages.
There were far more parcels beneath the tree than there had been the night before.
"Post arrived all through the night," the elf explained. "Anunu put everything here."
I examined the labels.
Draco, Blaise, Hermione, Harry. A small parcel from Luna. A suspiciously elaborate package from the twins.
I sat on the rug.
Draco had sent an elegant wand-care kit.
If you're going to keep practising, at least look after your equipment. Merry Christmas. Draco.
"Practical," Evelyn remarked when I showed her the contents.
"Draco thinks so too."
Blaise had given me a collection of logic puzzles, including several about wagers and wizards trying to outwit their own spells.
I shook my head, smiling.
"I gave him a book about disastrous bets."
Richard laughed.
"Clearly, you both thought the other needed help."
Hermione had chosen good ink, quills, and bookmarks you could label with short notes. In her letter, she suggested that with so many books, it was about time I organised my notes.
Hard to argue with that.
Harry sent Chocolate Frogs and a notebook for our practice sessions. He said I would need somewhere to record his mistakes once we were back at school.
At least he had a sense of humour.
Luna's parcel was the smallest.
Inside was a handmade bookmark. She'd drawn a Plimpy on one side and written on the other:
For Oliver. This Plimpy shouldn't wander off the page. Merry Christmas. Luna.
I studied the creature. Its head was tilted slightly, and it looked exceptionally pleased with itself.
"We'll see," I murmured.
Evelyn asked me to show her the drawing.
"From the girl you watched creatures with?"
"Yes."
She smiled and turned her attention to the other presents. I slipped the bookmark into Blaise's book so it wouldn't get lost among the wrapping paper.
That left Fred and George's box.
Their card said:
Don't open too close to your face.
I held the parcel at arm's length.
"Anunu, step back a little."
Richard leaned forward with interest.
"What's inside?"
"I know who sent it. I'd rather open it first and find out afterwards."
Frederick raised his eyebrows, but didn't object.
I lifted the lid.
There was a crack. Coloured sparks shot above my head and formed the words:
MERRY CHRISTMAS, PEVERELL!
Then they broke apart into tiny stars.
One landed on my nose and vanished.
I laughed. So did Richard, considerably louder.
Inside the box were sweets and a second card.
Thanks for your help this year. We're working on something better for the next one. Fred and George.
"I'm not sure whether to be pleased."
Frederick looked at the spot where the last sparks had faded.
"They haven't set anything on fire yet. A promising start."
I reached for the parcel containing the dark red book.
"Anunu."
He came over at once.
"Your turn."
He accepted it with both hands, untying the ribbon as carefully as though it were part of the present too.
When he uncovered the book, he looked at me, then opened it.
The painted cook was taking a cake out of the oven.
Anunu leaned closer.
He turned a page. Then another.
"It shows how to make them."
"And you can change the number of portions."
He found the right place, touched it with a finger, and watched the quantities in the recipe change.
His ears slowly rose.
"Thank you very much, Master Oliver."
He hugged the book to his chest, then opened it again almost immediately.
"Anunu could make…"
He glanced at the sweets already on the table and hesitated.
"Tomorrow?" I suggested.
He nodded.
"Tomorrow."
We seemed to have reached an agreement.
Then I brought out the books for the portraits. Anunu placed them on a reading stand in front of the frames and helped us show them the pages.
Richard stopped us at one of the chess problems.
"Don't show me the solution yet."
He studied the position. Frederick glanced over his shoulder, but my grandfather immediately pointed to his book.
"You have your own."
Frederick turned his attention to the research collection. He read the first page of an article, asked for the next, and only then frowned.
"I'd like to see how they conducted the experiment."
That sounded promising.
Evelyn chose an embroidery pattern and asked us to leave it open on the table in front of her portrait.
They couldn't simply take the books into their frames. We would have to show them the pages as they read.
I thought that was a good enough reason to spend some time together.
For Christmas dinner, Anunu had made turkey, potatoes, vegetables, and several side dishes I hadn't tried before.
The portraits gathered in the dining room. Richard and Evelyn took the frames nearest the table, Frederick sat opposite, and Roland arrived with several more distant relatives.
For a moment, I wondered how I was supposed to behave.
I was the only human at the table. Everyone else sat in paintings while Anunu moved between the kitchen and dining room.
Even so, it would have been hard to call the meal lonely.
Richard recalled Christmases when a young Elias had tried to hide stolen sweets from his portrait.
"He thought that if I wasn't looking straight at him, I couldn't see what he was doing."
"Sometimes you pretended not to," Evelyn pointed out.
"I didn't want to spoil his fun."
"You could have told me."
Richard busied himself with his cuff.
Roland described a winter journey to Scotland. Edmund challenged the date, Joseph disputed where he claimed to have stayed, and Roland insisted that, as the only person who'd actually been there, he ought to have the final word.
No one considered that a sufficient argument.
I listened and helped myself to more potatoes.
There was no point joining a dispute that had apparently been going on for decades.
After dinner, I settled beside the fire.
Hedwig flew down from upstairs and landed on the back of my chair. I stroked her feathers, and she half-closed her eyes.
My presents lay on the table. Luna's bookmark poked out of the book beside Draco's box.
Anunu sat on the rug with his own book. Every so often, he leaned so close to an illustration that his nose almost touched the page. Then he turned it and started again.
Evelyn was talking to Frederick. We'd left his book open by the frame, and he kept glancing at the article, apparently trying to balance the conversation with the urge to check something in the text.
Snow fell outside.
I thought about last Christmas at Hogwarts. The Great Hall, the noise, and the parcels I hadn't expected.
That had been a good day too.
This was different.
"Happy?" Richard asked.
I looked at him.
"Very."
He smiled and said nothing for a while.
Then he glanced at the chessboard.
"One game?"
"It's Christmas."
"I noticed."
"And you still want to beat me?"
"Oliver, why would I deny myself a little pleasure today of all days?"
I laughed and pulled the table closer.
Anunu marked his place in the book so he could help set up the pieces. Frederick announced that he wouldn't offer advice, although no one had asked him yet.
I didn't believe him.
From the next room came Roland's voice, apparently still trying to convince Edmund of his version of events. Evelyn shook her head and returned to her conversation.
I looked at the board.
Today, I didn't have to search for documents, answer officials' questions, or prepare for a duel.
I could sit by the fire and decide which pawn to move.
And tomorrow, if I wanted, I could do exactly the same.
I made my first move.