Chapter 54 – Christmas Eve
"He's always been arrogant—looking down on everyone," Fred said with a careless shrug.
"But to be fair, he looks down on everyone equally. Muggles, wizards—it makes no difference."
"Of course," he added, "that only applies to people he considers talentless. The problem is… he is genuinely smart, so he's always had that extremely punchable attitude."
"Now I get it," Russell nodded.
Slytherin was indeed full of students who had been sorted in purely because of bloodline—complete wastes of space, like the two human trolls who followed Malfoy around.
With a personality like that, conflict was inevitable.
"By the way, Russell—want to come spend Christmas at our place?" Fred asked.
"If my dad knows you grew up in the Muggle world, he'll go absolutely mad."
"He's even got a Muggle car at home," George added proudly. "Keeps it as a collectible."
Before Russell could reply, Cedric chimed in as well.
"You could come to my place too. I'll take you goblin-hunting. Those little fellows are quite entertaining."
Russell smiled.
"Thanks—but I already have plans."
They all knew he was on his own, and each of them wanted him to feel a bit of warmth and belonging. He appreciated it more than he could say.
At last, their final lesson before Christmas ended, and the students boarded the train with their luggage.
The train was noticeably less crowded than at the start of term—many students chose to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays.
If it weren't for the Addams family, Russell probably would have stayed too.
He'd left Ice Cream with Hagrid.
Frankly… Hagrid spoiled him too much. Every time Russell saw the little creature, it looked rounder than before.
"Goodbye, Cedric. Fred. George."
He waved and then headed toward the station exit alone.
Both of his roommates had chosen to remain at school—probably planning to make the most of their freedom.
Just as Russell raised his wand to summon the Knight Bus, he felt a pair of hands land on his shoulders.
He turned.
Wednesday stood behind him on tiptoe, arms stretched straight forward like a zombie.
Farther back, he spotted Gomez and Morticia, smiling and waving at him warmly.
A sudden tightness rose in Russell's chest.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"Uncle Gomez," he asked after they'd settled into the back seat, pulling snacks from his suitcase to share,
"how did you know I was coming back today?"
Morticia smiled softly.
"Don't forget… I once studied at Hogwarts too."
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Russell knew perfectly well that ordinary snacks would never satisfy the Addams family's tastes, so everything he'd brought had come from Hagrid instead.
Aside from rock cakes, there were roasted acromantula eggs and several kinds of dried mushrooms from the Forbidden Forest.
Russell, truth be told, was more curious about the acromantula itself—but he'd eaten the eggs often enough.
The taste was… unusual. A faint meaty richness, like an egg that contained no yolk—only white.
These eggs had long since lost all vitality.
Dead embryos, as it were. Otherwise, Hagrid's acromantula "friends" would never have given them away so easily.
"How is it?" Russell asked, carefully wiping crumbs of egg-white from Wednesday's lips.
"Not bad," she replied and took another bite.
Morticia turned her head slightly, smiling.
"So, how is life at Hogwarts? Professor Sprout has praised you several times—she says you help her so often that she almost feels embarrassed refusing."
"To be honest… the magical world is wonderful."
Russell began recounting everything—from his first day at school all the way to the incident before Christmas. Wednesday listened with rapt attention.
"Someone stole your potions?" Wednesday frowned, her expression darkening.
In her mind, she was already planning how to hunt that person down in the next term.
"Yes—but fortunately, only the troll potion was taken. After that, I started carrying all of them on me."
He pulled out the dragon-hide pouch.
"Thank you… for all of this."
Wednesday glanced away slightly.
"I sewed it myself."
"The Extension Charm was my contribution," Gomez added proudly.
"Pretty good, isn't it?"
The Undetectable Extension Charm was advanced magic, strictly regulated by the Ministry.
Strictly speaking, the pouch itself was contraband.
"I couldn't be happier," Russell replied.
Wednesday's gloomy expression softened into a faint smile.
Gomez drove straight into the estate grounds.
"Stay here for a few days. You don't visit often enough," Gomez said, carrying Russell's suitcase inside.
"And you can practice magic here without worrying about the Ministry knocking on the door."
Russell considered it.
"…Then I'll accept your hospitality."
"Russell, you're back!" Pugsley cried excitedly from the corner, where he seemed to be tinkering with something.
"Perfect timing—you can join tonight's seance!"
He lifted an ancient-looking candlestick and polished it lovingly.
"A seance?"
Russell quickly learned that Gomez had an older brother who had stormed out of the family twenty years earlier and never returned.
The seance was an annual ritual meant to locate him.
Night fell.
Outside, thunder roared and rain lashed the windows, lightning cutting the sky apart.
"What a dreadful night," Gomez sighed dreamily, wearing his elegant purple suit, one arm draped around Morticia.
"I know, darling," Morticia smiled serenely.
"Perfect weather for a seance."
Originally, Wednesday and Pugsley had wanted to hold a metal antenna outside in the storm for fun.
Russell stopped them.
He felt that even for wizards, surviving a direct lightning strike would be… unlikely.
To the slow accompaniment of the butler Lurch's piano, the seance began.
In addition to Russell, those present included the family lawyer, Tully Alford, and his wife, Margaret Alford.
"Sing, O spirits… hear every restless soul," Morticia intoned solemnly, holding a strange bronze idol.
"On this night every year, we summon Fester Addams,
a lantern for the dead… passed down through generations."
She placed the statue on the table.
"Everyone… close your eyes. Join hands."
They did.
And suddenly—
Margaret cried out.
"My hand!"
Russell opened his eyes—
And saw that Margaret had ripped Esmeralda's hand clean off.
It was still twitching.
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