Christmas is just around the corner. The school is lit up as if all the students and teachers at Hogwarts are determined to bring out the best of the castle this Christmas.

They constantly show a desire to impress Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's guests, while the handrails of the marble staircase are covered with everlasting icicles, and the twelve Christmas trees that are customary in the auditorium are adorned with all sorts of knick-knacks, from glittering holly to live golden/owl chirping alive. The armor was enchanted, and whenever someone passed by, they would sing Christmas carols.

On Christmas morning, the teachers and students who remained in the castle to attend the dance were excitedly unpacking the gift boxes that were piled up under the Christmas tree.

Harry discovered that in addition to the Dursleys' record-breaking broken tissue, he had received several unexpected gifts—Dobby, the house-elf, had given him a pair of hand-knitted wool socks with an asymmetrical left and right foot, and Professor McGonagall seemed to be intending to show sympathy and encouragement for being selected for the dangerous Triwizard Tournament at such a young age, giving him a golden snitch-shaped water glass. Whenever Harry was about to drink water, he would point to a large pot filled with pumpkin juice or water in the distance, and the golden snitch cup would spread out a pair of wings, fly over and fill itself up before flying back - of course, Harry would have to use his agility as a Seeker to grab it in mid-air in order to drink the water or pumpkin juice it contained.

He then found a gift box with a card signed with Lily Evans' name on it. He immediately sat up straight and quickly opened the box.

Inside was a new pair of glasses that were almost identical to the ones he was wearing now. Attached to the card is a description of the gift: it is a pair of glasses that are permanently "waterproof and moisture-proof" and can automatically adjust their prescription as the wearer's vision changes, so that they always achieve the best vision correction results. And if the wearer wishes, it can also be firmly attached to the wearer's face, and will never fall off even if the wearer rolls over his head and feet in mid-air.

Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville all let out a sigh of amazement when they looked at the card, and they all thought that Professor Evans had thought it out too well - Harry had two more games to go, and judging by his first battle with fire dragons, the next two games wouldn't be too easy - maybe some other mysterious creature or giant or something! A pair of glasses with so many beneficial spells would definitely be very helpful in the game!

"Wow," Ron said in an envious tone, "Professor Evans is too attentive. Brother, you have to give her a gift in return. ”

"Oops!" Harry was trying on new glasses, which were meek and firm on the bridge of his nose after he had ordered them, no matter how hard he shook his head, and when he heard Ron's words, he hurriedly climbed out of bed, opened his suitcase, and rummaged through it.

"I didn't expect her to give me a present...... And Professor McGonagall's gift! Hey, what should I do for them?"

The boys threw away the gift box they were opening and gathered together to help with ideas. After more than an hour of tossing and turning, they finally settled on two things.

Dean quickly pulled out one of his latest paintings from his suitcase: Harry flew around the Hungarian tree wasp on a fire/crossbow/arrow, and this one was bigger and more beautiful than the ones that hung in the Gryffindor common room on the night Harry passed the first game—Dean used the hour to quickly add to the corner of the canvas the stands where the Gryffindors were sitting, and the stands were covered with golden-red flags. Banners and a group of excited lion cubs, and Professor McGonagall in the middle of them, looking up at the sky and clapping her hands encouragingly.

"Oh my God, it's so flattering. Ron watched Dean put the last touches on the canvas while muttering a line of slogans in artistic font that read "Go Gryffindor!" in fine art font.

But the gift to Professor Evans is not so easy to decide. After the five boys chattered and discussed for a long time, Harry finally gritted his teeth and picked up the small model of the Hungarian tree bee on the bedside table and put it in a gift box.

He was a little reluctant to give up on this little dragon, after all, it was a souvenir for him to pass the first level, even if he graduated from Hogwarts in the future, he was old, and he had children of his own, he could still point to this little dragon and say to his children: Look, Dad used to participate in the Triwizard Tournament when he was at Hogwarts, and he defeated a terrible Hungarian tree hornet in the first level!

However, he didn't prepare any gifts for Professor Evans in a hurry, and as a fourteen-year-old wizard, how could a boy of his age have something suitable for such a female elder at hand. And compared to the Golden Snitch Cup given by Professor McGonagall, Professor Evans's new enchanted glasses were obviously prepared for his next two levels, and they were more thoughtful. So Harry also thinks that the gift given to her should not be sloppy.

He reluctantly handed the box to Ron's piglet, and sighed as he watched the pig fly out of the way with its staggered fall.

But his melancholy vanished unexpectedly around noon. Because Dobby slammed back into his dorm room, holding the box of gifts he had sent out in the morning.

"Professor Evans asked Dobby to give the box to Harry Potter!" it screamed, and Ron and Neville, who were still in the dorm, looked startled.

Harry looked up from the copy of The Quidditch Team in England and Ireland that Hermione had given him, and was immediately shocked to find that the box was the one he had given to Professor Lily Evans in the morning. He immediately became nervous, threw away the book, took the box from Dobby's hand, and opened it, only to find the small Hungarian tree bee dragon that he was so reluctant to give away was bouncing around in the box, occasionally spitting out a small flame.

"Oh, what's going on?!" Ron and Neville gathered around, staring at the little dragon in amazement, watching it struggle to climb out of the box and fall onto Harry's bed with a thud.

Dobby screamed, "Here's Professor Evans' letter to Harry Potter!"

Harry hurriedly took it and unfolded the parchment that had been folded in two. On it are lines of neat and delicate handwriting.

"Harry:

Thank you very much for the Christmas present. I have to say I never expected to get this...... It was very good, too good to have imagined. I'm not giving you those glasses to ask you to bear with it, but to wish you all the best, both in the game and later in life. This little dragon is a testament to your bravery and wit as one of the warriors of Hogwarts, and you'd better keep it for your son as a memento, okay?

As for this year's Christmas presents, I think you might as well owe them first. By the way, since I was a student at Hogwarts, I've dreamed of being able to get the Golden Snitch caught by the winning side in front of the arena as a gift after a great Quidditch match.

Merry Christmas to you.

Lily Evans"

Harry let out a breath, not knowing if it was gratitude, guilt, surprise, excitement, eagerness, or something else. Ron and Neville were also so shocked that they didn't come back to their senses for a long time.

In the end, Neville stumbled to say something as a summary of today: "Professor Evans is so nice, although sometimes she does things that people can't understand...... But she's always been a true Gryffindor—"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and grinned.

※※※※※※※

The long-awaited night has finally arrived. The doors of the Great Hall slowly opened in front of the people, the walls of the Great Hall were covered with glittering silver frost, and the ceiling was a starry night sky, and hundreds of mistletoe sprigs and wreaths of ivy hung from it. The four academy tables were gone, replaced by a hundred small tables lit with lanterns, each with a dozen or so people seated next to it.

The four warriors and their dance partners lined up and entered the Great Hall, passing through the applauding students on both sides of the row, to the front of the guest of honor.

Dumbledore smiled happily, but Karkaroff had the same expression on his face as he saw Krum and Hermione getting closer. Ludo Bagman slapped his classmates as enthusiastically as his classmates tonight, wearing a bright purple robe with a large yellow star on it. Madame Maxim stripped off her usual black satin uniform and wore a lilac flowing robe.

However, Mr. Crouch did not come. In the fifth seat at the table sat Percy Weasley, who, almost as soon as Harry was seated, eagerly told Harry that Mr. Crouch had promoted him to be his personal assistant because he valued him so much, and that Mr. Crouch was unwell tonight, so he had come to the ball as his representative.

In order to get rid of this boring conversation as soon as possible, Harry quickly ordered Hungarian beef stew as the main course of dinner.

He noticed that Dumbledore had ordered pork chops for himself. Professor McGonagall seemed to hesitate at her plate, and leaned over to see Snape, who was grim-looking and slicing a new veal steak from his plate, and Professor Lily Evans, who was sitting on the other side of him——, discussing what to order for the main course.

Harry felt a little lost for a moment.

He remembered that the gloomy Snape and the bright Professor Lily Evans had almost never sat together—there was a pattern to the number of seats at the facad's desk, and he remembered that Professor Lily Evans used to sit in an inconspicuous position, quietly enjoying the food at the table.

But her seat was conspicuous today—perhaps because she was outfit more conspicuous today! Harry swore that the gown on her was more dazzling than anyone could have imagined—on the side of the Hogwarts professors at the long table, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, then Snape, and then Lily Evans! Even Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were still at her hands - what was going on?

Harry was sure that Professor Evans wasn't a showman, so that was the arrangement for tonight?Why did you put her in such a position?Harry noticed that the Headmaster of Durmstrang, Karkaroff, was also staring at the Hogwarts professor's seating arrangement, and kept a surprised expression, both of his eyes protruding from their sockets.

Of course, in this unprecedented high-profile situation, Professor Lily Evans undoubtedly handled it much better than Harry himself. She sat peacefully in the seat next to Snape, calmly slicing the beef on her plate, and eating it with great grace in small bites. When Professor McGonagall tried to speak to her again, she put down her knife and fork in her hand, leaned slightly in that direction, bent her left arm on the table, and her left hand holding her chin in a weak position, listening quietly to Professor McGonagall's words, occasionally scribbling a few sentences, and occasionally smiling.

Harry thought she was doing really well. Of course, Snape, who was sandwiched between her and Professor McGonagall, didn't look so good. He quickly finished the steak and glared at Lily Evans viciously. However, she ignored his malicious gaze, and after eating the main course, she enjoyed a crème brûlée with a very happy expression.