Howlers and Special Christmas Gifts

Ten of the Galleons were given to him by Harry, and Ivan was puzzled at first, but then he realised that Harry must have remembered that he was short of money.

As it was a gift, Ivan eventually accepted it as insurance.

The rest of the presents were signed by Hermione and consisted of all the notes she had taken since she started school, as thick as a book.

Ivan smiled at the fact that the girl had the same idea as him.

The two round, unidentified objects were sent by the Weasleys, without any description, although Ivan thought they looked like dung-balls used for mischief in the book.

Ron gave him a bag of sweets that were cheap, and Ivan tried to see how they were different from the others, but to no avail.

"I didn't know you'd give me something so interesting. I thought it was a bag of sweets too." Ron, who was flying the new wizarding flag with Harry, noticed Ivan's actions and his freckled face turned red.

"It's nothing, and it's a great gift. It's enough to last me a few days." Ivan waved his hand quickly, indicating that he didn't mind, but the other high-quality gifts made him think that Ron's gifts were different.

"And Ron, your sweets are really good." Harry opened one of Ron's sweets and popped it into his mouth. His expression changed slightly when he bit into it, but he still smiled happily.

Ron was finally able to calm down from his awkward situation.

He had no choice. Before he went to school, Mrs Weasley only gave him two Sickles as pocket money. No matter how he tried to save them, they were almost gone.

After consoling Ron's fragile mind, Ivan turned his attention to the last present, which was a Christmas present from his mother, Alicia.

It was a shimmering, crescent-shaped pendant with an envelope attached to the bottom. The design was different from the others, and it moved of its own accord. Ivan could tell that something was wrong.

It was a Howler!

Sure enough, the letter flew into the air and began to scream.

"Ivan Harls!"

"Who gave you permission to sign an application to stay at Hogwarts without permission? Not even a letter of enquiry before Christmas! I've been waiting for you at the station for five hours… five hours! If I hadn't sent a letter to your damned Headmaster, I'd have thought you were missing or dead at Hogwarts…"

The high-pitched, high-pitched voice echoed throughout the small dormitory. Even when Ivan covered his ears with his hands, he could not hear anything.

The screaming went on for half an hour, until Ivan was finally silenced by a torrent of abuse and a warning that the crescent pendant on the table must be kept with him at all times and that it must not be removed without her permission.

Harry and Ron were also shocked by the letter, and when the screaming stopped, Ron rubbed his ears and thought he was going deaf.

"Ivan, who sent you this Howler? It's as loud as my mother," Ron said.

"Of course it's my mother." Ivan sighed helplessly. He had been wondering why he had forgotten something. It turned out that he had forgotten to send a letter to his mother, Alicia, whom he had never met, at Christmas.

However, he could not be blamed for this. After all, Ivan had been hiding from him for a long time. How could he possibly initiate contact?

"Your mother wasn't very nice to you? Like my uncle-in-law?" Harry asked sympathetically. In his opinion, the only other possible reason for staying on for Hallowe'en was because Ron was temporarily absent.

"It's just a minor disagreement, nothing that drastic." Ivan shook his head. He hadn't figured it out himself.

In fact, after learning Occlumency, Ivan was able to organise the remnants of memories in his brain, which, while incomplete, yielded valuable information.

For example, his home was located in a Dark Arts shop in Knockturn Alley, owned by his mother, Alicia Harls.

In addition to her considerable mastery of the Dark Arts, she also created a variety of powerful and bizarre Dark props…

Not bad, a dark magical prop… not a normal magical prop,

In the words of Alicia Harls, it's Knockturn Alley, where normal things can't be sold… and where life can only be sustained by screwing with something that is dead and cursed…

Ivan also learned how he started his career with the creation of magical objects, and was able to learn a great deal about it just by listening to it.

As for his father, in Ivan's memory, Alicia hardly ever mentioned him, even when he annoyed her with his questions.

The memories of Ivan's friends and others about his mother, Alicia, were not as clear.

Ivan's only saving grace was the fact that, as far as he could remember, Alicia's wrists were as white as chalk, and there were no so-called Dark Marks, which meant they were not from Voldemort's side.

Even so, there is no absolution for a Dark Wizard…

Ivan looked nervously at the crescent-shaped pendant on the table and wondered if it was enchanted with some dark magic to give him an over-the-distance punishment.

After all, they were family, right?

Ivan swallowed hard, and finally guessed that it was a tracker… or perhaps a locator that could pinpoint his location…

This was Ivan's guess as he placed his hand on top of it and looked at the system's magical inventory, which Ivan had been using as an Identifier ever since he found out how to use it.

[Magical Item: Crescent Necklace

Magic: Stronger

Description: This is a magical object made from the blood, sweat, and tears of a large number of precious metals. It can block a fatal attack for the bearer, and will self-destruct when its magic is exhausted.

Note: It can only be activated by a high-intensity fatal attack, which contains more than just magical energy…"

Ivan stood there for a long time in a daze. Finally, he sighed and hung the crescent-shaped pendant around his neck.

For some reason, he wished there was a Dark Art inside…