CH25 - I've Got Presents?!

The dawn of December 25th came late in the morning, revealing the view of the heavy snowstorm raging on outside. A perfect white Christmas.

Snuggling more deeply into his duvet, Edmund yawned lazily, content to lay in bed for a little while. The white noise of the wind whistling and the snow falling was comforting to him, and he was happy to bask in the silence. Eventually, his bladder forced him to leave the comfort of his sheets, and he threw off the covers to head to the bathroom.

Edmund was in the middle of brushing his teeth when he finally realized the importance of the date. He halted his movement abruptly, as a drop of toothpaste fell from his slack-jawed mouth onto his pyjamas. Washing up hastily, he ran into the common area, heading straight to the tree that stood next to the fireplace.

Under the unmoving eyes of Helga Hufflepuff, Edmund gathered up the gifts wrapped under the tree and sat down on the couch. He made himself comfortable, before tearing into the presents with glee.

The first package addressed to him had his name written on it in elegant cursive, and was from Hermione Granger. It seemed he had created a good impression during their short period of acquaintance. Lifting it caused a shaking sound to come from within, and he quickly uncovered a variety box of sweets called "Honeyduke's Finest." The candy had a piece of parchment attached to it, which contained the details of a library search spell. Edmund was used to the Room of Requirement organizing everything for him, so such magic had not been a priority for him. Still, when he had to peruse the school library, which was always messy due to incorrect shelving by the students, this would be very useful indeed.

Although he had not known whether the girl would send something to him, he had also gotten a gift for her in return. More specifically, a book titled "A Treatise on Relations Between Wizards and Magical Beings: A Review of Treaties, Laws, and Conflict." It was a dry piece of literature, but something that was right up the equal-rights-crusading Hermione's alley.

The box of chocolate from her was joined by two more from Jennifer and Chelsea, who had included greeting cards wishing him happy holidays. The exchange was an equal one, as he too had only gifted them with sweets.

Next was a delivery from Ben, who had thoughtfully sent him a training snitch. Edmund's practice on the broom had continued unerringly throughout the term, though he struggled with creating an unpredictable circuit to follow every time. The snitch would solve that problem handily, pushing Edmund to his limits due to its erratic movements.

Ben had been delivered an owl-ordered supply of gillyweed from Edmund who knew that the boy lived by a lake. For muggle-borns, showing off magic to their family was a challenge while they were minors, and this was a viable workaround to that. While silent most of the time, Ben was the adventurous sort, and would probably get a kick from exploring the depths of the waters by his home.

Jeremy had sent him a small book, less than thirty pages long. The value of it, however, was more than most of the largest tomes Edmund had ever looked upon. For these thirty pages contained an introduction to the intricacies of spatial magic, authored by Jeremy's father himself. Mr. Todd had shown him an incredible amount of generosity through this gift, though Edmund was sure it was Jeremy's persuasion that had gotten him this reward.

Regardless, Edmund was grateful for his friend, and he hoped that would be reflected by his Christmas offering. Jeremy would be receiving an antique quidditch play simulator he had discovered only recently in the Room of Lost Things. While not as well enchanted as newer, more expensive models available now, the simulator must have been incredibly expensive when it was first created, some ninety years ago. Jeremy was a diehard Puddlemere United fan, and he would be happy to see that the team was on top of the league even back when the set was first constructed.

Luna's gift to Edmund had been the most predictable, but he was still appreciative of it. People would probably look at him funny for the lifetime subscription to the Quibbler, but he cared little.

In an attempt to show his acceptance of her quirks, Edmund had made her a necklace of corks, charmed with anti-theft properties and minor jinx protection. The artifact was more of a mish-mash of various spells than proper enchanting, so its effects would be rather weak. Edmund had gotten the idea from the shield clothing line that Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes would have invented at the advent of war. In his mind, any protection was better than none.

Hagrid had gifted him an old notebook encompassing spells that a wizard living alone in the woods would need to survive. Most of the magic within was highly specific and meant for single-purpose use. Although, that also meant they would be more efficient at their task. A wood-cutting spell was much less useful than a general-purpose cutter. However, if one needed to chop trees for a prolonged period of time, learning the specialized spell would in the long term help conserve magic and make the job easier.

Busting out his knitting skills once more, Edmund had worked hard to create a massive pair of woollen gloves for the half-giant, made primarily of camouflage patterns. It was unlikely that anyone would ever mistake Hagrid's gloves for their own, but Edmund had also sewn Hagrid's name in yellow and red yarn into the inner lining. The man had a lot of house pride, and he was always happy to show it.

For McGonagall, Edmund had desired to make something that she could look at and be reminded of him, and his gratefulness to her. So, implementing the exercise Voldemort had drilled into his head, he had transfigured a stone replica of Hogwarts small enough to fit on a shelf. The work was not up to his very best quality, as Edmund did not want to alarm the older woman. Furthermore, McGonagall would have no way of knowing the product was the result of a single spell that took only an hour. She would likely assume he had transfigured many small pieces over the course of several weeks.

Opening her gift, he found an intricately designed alarm clock. The clock's inner workings were visible to him thanks to a glass casing, and they revealed an array of metallic cogs working together seamlessly, beautiful in their complexity. The note he found inside instructed him on how to operate it, and mentioned its easy-wake functionality. Edmund had anxiety upon hearing his alarm just like every other person in the world. This clock one would change its ringtone every day, helping with his nerves.

The final gift was from Cecilia, whose package he had almost missed due to its relatively small size. Unwrapping it, Edmund found a long sterling silver necklace, ending with a rectangular locket with rounded edges, almost like a dog tag. Noticing a hinge at the top, Edmund fiddled with it for a couple of seconds. With a click it snapped open, revealing two sections within. One of them was animated, constantly transitioning between various pictures of Edmund's time at Hogwarts. There were many he remembered posing for, but many were also candids. Colin Creevey's work if he was correct. There were photographs of him sitting with Hagrid and Luna by the fire, McGonagall and him talking in the halls, Cecilia and his dorm mates sitting with him in the library doing homework, and countless more he was going to have to explore later. The other side of the locket had an engraving that read "To protect you from the cold..."

Edmund smiled to himself, running his fingers through the grooves of the lettering. Their minds worked in similar ways it seemed. Edmund had gone simpler due to his financial issues, merely enchanting a photo frame to flip through images he had fed into it. He hoped she too would find their swap amusing.

Tucking his new belongings away, Edmund rushed to McGonagall's office to see whether she had received her present. The woman had made a mean eggnog a few weeks ago, and he would take any excuse he could get to have some.

*-*-*-*

- (Scene Break) -

*-*-*-*

With how high up north Hogwarts was located, the hours of daily sunlight were incredibly low, especially considering the winter solstice had only just passed. That was why, at 5:00 PM, it was pitch black when Edmund snuck out of the Hogwarts grounds.

He headed for the trees, his eyes locked on the sky.

'Are you there?' Marvolo asked sharply, the slightest bit of strain in his voice.

'Almost a hundred meters into the woods, just like you said,' Edmund confirmed.

'Anyone around?' Marvolo questioned him.

With a wave of his wand, Edmund cast Homenum Revelio. The spell was not foolproof but was difficult to avoid. Essentially, the caster sent out a pulse of magic in all directions around them, fading with distance. All living beings caught within range would feel a sensation of a shadow passing over them and be reported back to the user. If one were far enough, they would not be noticed. Furthermore, if one disguised their magical signature, it would be up to the caster to distinguish the living being from an inanimate magical source. Thus, the ability of the spell depended strongly on the ability of the caster. Edmund was not an expert yet in its use, but nor was he a novice. Practicing it in the Forbidden Forest, which was teeming with life, had quickly given him a lot of experience.

'No one,' Edmund responded after a few seconds of analysis.

'I see you,' Marvolo grunted before he cut off.

Between the branches towering over him, Edmund caught glimpses of a pair of bright red eyes moving rapidly in his direction. With a quiet screech, a massive golden eagle broke through the ceiling of leaves above Edmund's head. Flapping its wings powerfully to slow down, the eagle rested its talons on a fallen tree, its massive claws encircling almost a third of the trunk. With an imperious look in his direction, the eagle raised one of its feet, attached to which was a small package.

'Possession?' Edmund asked as he warily moved to the fearsome bird of prey.

'Similar, but not quite. Possession requires the spirit to leave the original body and inhabit another. I have merely split a wisp of my consciousness and placed it within this creature,' Marvolo explained.

'How? I've never heard of anything like this before. Familiars are reported to share a certain connection with their bonded, but nothing on this level,' Edmund curiously queried.

'You would not have. Dividing one's mind like this is excruciating business, and hard to get a feel for in the first place. One mistake can shatter your brain forever, and so the risk is not worth learning the skill for most,' Marvolo answered with a hint of pride.

Edmund had to use his occlumency to prevent his thoughts from immediately jumping to the forefront of his mind. He understood where and how Voldemort may have gained such practice: his horcruxes.

The diary, his first horcrux, likely only contained Voldemort's soul. It, along with the Gaunt family ring were created when he was younger and less knowledgeable. Hence, when Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore destroyed them, he had been none the wiser. But then, how had Voldemort felt the loss of the other horcruxes so clearly? This might be the answer.

Voldemort must have imbued his remaining phylacteries with not only his soul, but also a fraction of his subconscious. Thus, when they were destroyed, he also felt the connection with a small portion of his mind being severed.

It was only a theory, but it fit the evidence and the anomalies.

Mentally pushing his musings to the back of his mind, Edmund refocused on his task. As soon as he removed whatever was attached to the golden eagle, it took off without a backwards glance at him.

Opening the package the tiniest bit, he was hit with a waft of several strong smells. Coughing into his sleeve, he reclosed the box, storing it in his robes.

'Is this all?' Edmund questioned.

'Yes. This ritual requires no sacrifices, as it is only meant to anchor your soul more strongly to the earth, to the very source of magic. The fuel will be provided by the earth itself. All you needed was material to create your ritual circle, and now you have that too,' Marvolo lectured.

'A mixture of ash and blood of various magical creatures, yes, I remember. I just wanted to confirm," Edmund said shakily.

'Are you scared?' Marvolo asked.

'Yes,' Edmund admitted without hesitation.

'Good. Fear is good. Fear will keep you alive,' Marvolo praised. 'I have confidence in your ability. We will talk next after the ritual, which I am certain will proceed without issue.'

'Alright,' Edmund answered, and the connection snapped shut.