Chapter 89

"Thank you," she said, accepting the package and, not being one of those fussy people who simply remove the tape and leave the paper unblemished, tore the wrapping paper to pieces from the middle outwards in about a third of a second. Then she gasped. Inside, in a tiny box, was a tiny, fine (admittedly, somewhat lopsided looking) fragile-looking silver lily that could be attached to clothes by means of a minute pin on the back of the stem. An actual silversmith would shudder at the sight of Milo's somewhat crude handiwork, but, all told, it was pretty well done given that Milo didn't actually have in ranks in any form of Craft.

"I made it by heating up a Sickle until it was malleable enough to sculpt," Milo said. "Couldn't have done it without those dragonhide gloves we have for Herbology and Potions."

"It's beautiful," Hannah said, somewhat breathless. No doubt her perceptions were somewhat addled by her traumatic day, sleep deprivation, and whatever was in the potions that Pomfrey had prescribed for her, as the silver lily was could only be described as beautiful when using the loosest possible sense of the word.

Milo shrugged, somewhat embarrassed.

"That's not really the point," he admitted. In truth, he'd made it out of silver so it could be used as an improvised weapon against Devils if necessary (it never hurts to be prepared, after all) but Milo decided, for some reason, against saying so at that precise moment. "If you tap it and say 'I'm bored,' it'll—actually, just tap it and say that you're bored and you'll see."

Looking at Milo curiously, Hannah complied.

"I'm bored," she said, tapping the silver pin.

Nothing happened.

"Oh, right, you have to be wearing it first," Milo said. "Forgot about that part."

Hannah, looking extremely curious, pinned the lily to the front of her robes.

"I'm bored," she repeated, with another tap. Suddenly, a small, fluffy, impossibly cute—in fact, almost sickeningly so—brown and white hamster appeared in her hands. "It's so cute!" Hannah squealed in the manner of little girls everywhere as the hamster scurried up her arm, chirping in a manner that would make real hamsters feel like they had to go and watch Die Hard while doing one-handed push-ups just to counter the sheer adorability. The hamster didn't have fat so much as it had pudge, fur so much as it had fluff, or eyes so much as it had big, glassy, shiny windows to your very soul. Simply seeing it required a Will save, or you were compelled to want to hug it (okay, not really, but it may as well have).

Milo was particularly proud about his little invention, which was simply a tricked-out Wondrous Item of Unseen Servant and Minor Image (both of which he had had to research specifically for this task) and a little Detect Thoughts. The Servant, which was a formless, invisible blob capable of moving around and exerting a limited amount of force, was surrounded with an illusory body of an animal chosen during item creation (in this case, a hamster), the specifics of which were chosen by using a brief Detect Thoughts-like effect on the pin's first user to find the form that user would find to be maximally cute. The Servant was then ordered to play with the user until dismissed, unless otherwise commanded.

"This," Hannah said, the hamster running up her arm to the shoulder, "is the best Christmas present ever."

"Thank you! Er, or you're welcome. I'm not actually sure which is applicable here," he admitted.

"I believe both are perfectly acceptable," Hannah said, stifling a laugh.

"You just tap the pin and say 'Bye' and it'll go away until you reactive it," Milo explained. "It can do other stuff, if you tell it to, like carry or clean things."

"Things like Hogwarts statues?" Hannah asked eagerly.

"Things exactly like Hogwarts statues," Milo said.

"Thank you," Hannah said again. "Really. I mean it, you clearly put a lot of effort into this. I was just going to get you a big pack of Every Flavoured Beans, 'cause of how much you enjoyed them on Hallowe'en, but now—"

"Every Flavoured Beans?!" Milo's face broke into a huge smile. "I love those things."

Hannah hesitated for a second.

"Okay, then I'll still get you a big pack of Every Flavoured Beans. I've got them up in the girls' dorm... I didn't give them to you already, because, er... well. It doesn't matter now, actually." She must mean the week or so she wasn't talking to me 'cause I asked her about the lake, Milo thought. People are strange. "You can have them in the morning."

"Sweet," Milo said.

"No pun intended?" Hannah asked.

Milo groaned.

"Bye, hamster," Hannah said, tapping the pin, and the impossible cute critter vanished. Hannah hesitated for a moment, then said "I'd go over and give you a hug, or something," she looked somewhat embarrassed, "except that I don't think my legs really want to respond."

"That's okay," Milo said, feeling somewhat awkward. "I'll take a rain cheque."

"Good, good," Hannah said, and an awkward silence, punctured only by Neville's calm and consistent snoring, descended for a beat or three as Milo decided there was absolutely nothing more fascinating than his fingernails and Hannah examined the pin.

"So, how about—" Milo said, while Hannah said "I think we should—" at the same time. They both, then, paused for the other to continue.

"You go first," they said simultaneously. They both looked around the room, for a while, waiting for the other to continue.

"I was going to say we should maybe go to sleep," Hannah said.

"Same," agreed Milo.

"Okay, goodnight!" she said, and rolled over to face away from him.

"Goodnight."

People are weird, Milo thought again—and not for the last time, at that—and rolled over to do the same.

o—o—o—o

"So, you have defeated my minions!" Thamior the Thaumaturge spat, reaching for his pouch of fell spell components. "But—do you really think you can challenge me? You fools! For it is I, the Dread Ma—"

"Wait—Thamior?" Milo said as his companions reached for their weapons, "I'm confused."

"That is only natural, seeing as how you are a fool, fool!"

"It's just that I thought Thamior was a male name," Milo said, his tone kept carefully neutral.

"Which is fitting, seeing as how I am, in fact, male," Thamior said, slightly confused—and evidently irritated at being interrupted in the middle of his monologue.

"But you're an Elf," Milo said.

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