Pandro's "borrowed" gift from Santa Claus is truly mysterious; it seemed like just a paper box, yet it somehow possessed an "invincible" quality.
No wonder Pandro had that smug look, as if to say Ian would never open the box without asking him. The Little Wizard indeed felt helpless about opening it.
"What on earth is inside this?" As the saying goes, the more you can't get something, the more fixated you become. Ian felt like he had a thousand Animagus-transformed Professor McGonagalls scratching at his heart.
However.
Whether it was hands or magic, they both seemed powerless before Santa's gift box. Ian even tried using a power saw that supposedly guarantees equality on the street. Yet, it remained solid as new, completely motionless, even the ribbon on the box was pristine as ever, silently mocking him as the box's response.
Ian no longer yearned for what was inside; he just wanted to know what on earth was in there.
"Do I really have to ask Pandro for help?" Ian, sweating profusely, tossed aside the sulfuric acid bucket. Even pouring a bucket of concentrated sulfuric acid didn't corrode Santa's gift box.
The acid was smoking.
That was a chemical reaction with the floor.
Yet, Santa's gift box seemed like it had merely been splashed with clean water; the surrounding floor was pitted and reeked, but it stood there, quietly beautiful.
This gift box seemed to perfectly illustrate that things not of this world are unaffected by worldly rules. If there were enough of them, they might even work wonders in building a space elevator.
"I don't need your gift!" After Ian kicked the gift box away, he hesitated for a moment, then ran over, picked it up, cleaned it, and put it back in the money bag. It felt like, despite all his concubines, Santa's gift box was the unattainable white moonlight.
The room, in fact, was still filled with many other gift boxes, all moved from the head of Ian's bed in his dorm. Even though there weren't many people staying behind, many still sent him gifts.
The belated Christmas did not disappoint the Little Wizard's expectations, and the gathered gifts were truly spectacular; describing them as a small mountain wasn't an exaggeration.
At least it's bigger than three to five Ians combined.
"This is the best proof of my good relationships." Ian counted the gifts he received; aside from Ravenclaw College, there were gifts from little wizards from other colleges too.
This was probably related to Ian's habit of casually offering pointers to classmates during lessons; he even received mutant biting cabbage seeds from a brave little witch from Hufflepuff.
Clearly.
The advice Ian gave really helped the Little Witch succeed in her experiments. Who said there are no other geniuses at Hogwarts? I think Hufflepuff might really bring forth another plant-version Newt Scamander.
Of course.
Provided that this open-minded little witch from Hufflepuff, whom Ian couldn't persuade otherwise, doesn't end up as dragon stew after graduation.
"Only one gift from Slytherin? They're all indeed bad! They didn't compensate me by Christmas!" Ian noted in his mental little notebook and continued unboxing.
Christmas gift boxes must have inspired mystery box designs; regardless of necessity, the anticipation before opening them authentically allowed Ian to enjoy the festive pleasure.
The largest gift box was from Hagrid, who chose not to use traditional wrapping but instead placed Ian's gift inside a huge barrel.
"Hopefully, a fantastic beast won't jump out of it, will it?" With a nervous heart, Ian opened the barrel, and thankfully, Hagrid wasn't as fond of surprises as he imagined.
Inside the barrel was a collection of simply processed materials, including the incredibly rare unicorn feather and the frog brains Ian had asked Hagrid for many times.
The gift from the Half-blood Giant matched his rugged image, but clearly, Hagrid had put a lot of thought into it, as gathering so many materials from the Forbidden Forest wasn't easy.
Ian could almost see Hagrid regularly entering the Forbidden Forest to gather items for him.
"I hope he likes my gift too." Ian carefully stored each material; his gift to Hagrid was a complete series of alchemy Fire Dragon figures.
Though each Fire Dragon figure was merely palm-sized, they could move, breathe fire, and interact. Out of personal interest, he even included several models of dragons that don't exist in reality.
A Frost Giant Dragon that spews frost, a Bone Dragon that emits blue flames, and a particularly cute Little Fire Dragon Charmander Pokemon, surely these would be right up Hagrid's alley.
"Once I perfect my skills, I'll sell Wizard Combat Pets in Diagon Alley and completely change the future combat system of wizards!" Ian gave gifts to almost everyone he knew, and any Little Wizard with whom he had exchanged nods at least three times got one.
It wasn't that the Little Wizard was overly generous; it's just that for him, creating some not-so-difficult alchemy works was cost-free, allowed him to practice, and helped him maintain good relationships, making it a triple win situation.