Chapter 58: Shopping and Sending Gifts
The rooms at the Three Broomsticks far surpassed those at the Leaky Cauldron. Just the size of one room could perfectly outshine old Tom's. Furthermore, Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully decorated all the rooms with various Christmas ornaments, including a small two-foot-high Christmas tree at the foot of each bed.
In such a cozy and quiet room, Ino felt a wave of relaxation. He stood up and moved to the window. Hogsmeade under the night sky looked even more stunning.
A myriad of colorful magical lights swayed in front of the shops.
This rare beauty held him at the window for a long time. It's like how people often yearn for excitement and joy but don't realize that quietly watching from the sidelines is an invaluable experience.
Participation isn't important; what matters is the experience and feeling.
At this moment, he seemed to understand why the old matron at the orphanage always smiled while watching the children play. It wasn't about killing time; it was about a different kind of experience.
...
He didn't know how long he stood by the window. Only when the lights on the main street began to go out did he turn and move toward the bed.
Sitting on the bed, he slowly opened his suitcase.
Unlike the previous double extension, this time the suitcase opened into a deep abyss.
Ino stretched one leg into the case, feeling like he stepped onto a real staircase, and then he began to descend slowly.
From the outside, it looked like the suitcase was slowly swallowing him whole.
In fact, this was the result of Ino asking Dumbledore for help before the holiday.
The Extension Charm, being an advanced spell that even touches on spatial secrets, isn't something one can master in a short time. Ino knew this well.
Moreover, even if he could barely use it, he wouldn't dare to extend his own suitcase.
Safety was one concern, but he also had to prevent it from being discovered, as the Ministry of Magic explicitly forbids unauthorized use of the Extension Charm.
Thus, his own attempt and asking Dumbledore to help were worlds apart.
In the latter case, as long as he didn't shove the suitcase in Fudge's face, Fudge would choose to overlook it, even if it was right by his feet.
After all, the same mistake yields different results depending on who makes it.
...
A dozen seconds later, Ino arrived in the expanded space inside his suitcase.
It wasn't as exaggerated as Newt's city-like space.
However, after Dumbledore's modifications, it now had nearly ten thousand square feet of space, roughly the size of two to three basketball courts.
Though the space wasn't huge, it was sufficient to build a small house, plant some flowers and fruit trees at the entrance, and still have enough room.
Of course, none of that was his current concern. His purpose this time was merely to fetch a bedtime reading.
The book on sunlight that Pansy had sent before the holiday.
The reason this book intrigued him was because of the unparalleled significance of sunlight in Western stories and folklore.
Concepts like light, hope, justice, courage... in short, sunlight symbolizes too many things.
...
Time flew by, and a whole night passed in a blink.
As the sky gradually brightened, the first rays of morning light caressed the window frame and quietly filtered into the room.
From the warm bed, Ino slowly woke up.
Opening his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the room bathed in a faint dawn light. The tranquility and beauty of the scene brought him into deep thought.
Last night, he stayed up late to finish reading the book, which was less than half an inch thick, and he gained some understanding of the Sunlight Charm.
Roughly speaking, this spell was more like a variant of the Patronus Charm, requiring a very specific emotional state to cast.
The tranquility and beauty of dawn, the intensity of midday sunlight, the nostalgia and sorrow at sunset.
In short, this spell constantly reflects a wizard's emotional changes. Interestingly, dark wizards also cannot cast this spell.
...
After a brief moment of thought.
Ino, while watching the morning light entering the room, slowly picked up his wand.
"Solarium!"
As the words fell, the tip of his wand flickered like an old filament bulb with unstable voltage, flashing on and off for a few seconds before it gradually brightened.
Perhaps influenced by the environment, or maybe by his nature, the light at the tip of the wand was a soft dawn glow.
It was bright, gentle, and warm, much like the sunlight before 8 AM, pleasant to look at without being harsh on the eyes.
After a while, Ino dispelled the spell, then sat up from the bed. He stretched lazily and moved toward the bathroom to start his morning routine.
After all, his suitcase might be expanded, but it still needed to be stocked with the necessary items.
While he didn't plan to buy anything flashy, candies, snacks, dried food, herbal seeds – all these could be prepared in advance.
...
Half an hour later.
Ino, carrying his suitcase, left the Three Broomsticks alone.
Unlike last night's leisurely stroll, today he had a plan, so he walked briskly along the wide street.
Honeydukes, Scrivenshaft's, Dervish and Banges, the Apothecary...
Shopping and window shopping truly are two different experiences.
From the moment he stepped out of the Three Broomsticks until he finished buying everything, less than two hours had passed.
During this time, he bought a large quantity of long-lasting sweets, various books, parchment, ink, different fruit tree seeds, and a whole bag of fresh mandrake leaves.
As for important flying tools, forget about flying carpets; the whole of Hogsmeade didn't even have a place that sold flying broomsticks. The only broomstick he saw was in Zonko's Joke Shop.
A toy broomstick called the Whizzing Broomstick, priced at 23 Galleons.
When a wizard tries to ride it, the broomstick would quickly flip over, making the rider head down, and it also had five prank modes like spinning wildly, sudden braking, and throwing the rider off.
For safety reasons, this broomstick's flight height was only a mere three meters.
Although he didn't find the desired items, he saw all sorts of intriguing novelties.
It also gave him a new understanding of magical pranks. Luckily, wizards are tough; otherwise, any of these items brought into the Muggle world would at least cause serious injuries.
Meanwhile.
After buying everything, Ino arrived at his final stop, the Owl Post Office.
Christmas gifts must never be forgotten. Even though he was off-campus and didn't know how many gifts he would receive, he had many to send out.
"Malfoy, Dumbledore, Pansy, Hermione, Neville..."
Ino calculated in his mind while pushing open the door to the Owl Post Office.
However, upon opening the door...
He was greeted by hundreds of innocent big eyes, instantly giving him the feeling of walking into a magical zoo.
The room wasn't very spacious because both sides of the walls were lined with shelves full of owls. From large eagle owls and barn owls to nimble little screech owls and snowy owls, there were at least a hundred or two.
Upon hearing the door open, all these owls tilted their little heads in unison, curiously observing the visitor.
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