Chapter 71: Christmas Presents

Chapter 71: Christmas Presents

"Felix Harp found the idea feasible." Through this simple attempt, Felix saw even more possibilities. He believed that with enough effort, he could achieve a level of enchantment akin to the slumbering guardian statues in the castle.

However, he didn't believe he could create something as intricate as the Sorting Hat or a magical diary.

The latter was different, of course, being a Horcrux that contained a fragment of Voldemort's soul. But the Sorting Hat? Its predecessor was merely a hat of Godric Gryffindor, not specifically crafted for sorting students.

In Felix's imagination, perhaps during a shared afternoon tea, the four founders had questioned each other's "talent selection methods." To resolve their disagreements, they decided to use a "wisdom-infused magical creation" for sorting.

And thus, the Sorting Hat came into being. The Sorting Hat had endured for millennia, always present. It could communicate with people, possessed its own memories and personality, and in a sense, calling it a true lifeform wasn't an exaggeration.

This brought to mind magical portraits that could also interact with people.

Some simple portraits, like Sir Cadogan within the castle, possessed limited intellect and couldn't engage in complex, organized conversations.

During his school days, Felix had experimented and found that the boastful knight could only provide seven distinct responses, such as bragging about his glorious feats or challenging to a duel.The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.

Yet some portraits exhibited a remarkable level of magic—they could interact intricately with the outside world and retained a considerable amount of memory.

To his knowledge, this included the portraits of past headmasters within the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, as well as portraits of some ancient pure-blood family ancestors.

This was because the portrait's owner imbued them with significant memories and magic, allowing these portraits to retain a personality similar to their original selves. But only similar; they weren't true life forms.

The greatest distinction lay in the fact that the personality of the portrait wouldn't change over time. It remained fixed at the moment of its creation, much like a complex interactive program.

This was fundamentally different from the Sorting Hat...

"The Sorting Hat undoubtedly conceals greater secrets!"

...

Dawn of Christmas arrived. Felix Harp emerged from his room dressed neatly. Underneath a small Christmas tree in a corner of his office, a pile of variously shaped Christmas presents had accumulated.

Roughly estimating, there were nearly a hundred of them.

"A highly effective Veritaserum, you've truly outdone yourself, Professor," Felix said with amused delight. "I hope you'll also appreciate my gift." Felix had given Snape a set of Muggle primary and secondary school laboratory equipment, including measuring cups, scales, and droppers.

He thoughtfully included a copy of "Code of Conduct for Chemical Experiments (Children's Edition)," replete with illustrations, to ensure the professor wouldn't find it incomprehensible.

Many of the young wizards at Hogwarts had also sent gifts. His assistant, Miss Granger, sent him a deep green knitted scarf. Harry Potter sent a large bag of chocolates, and Ron Weasley sent a box of buzzing Honeydukes candies.

The most amusing gift came from the Weasley twins. It was a pair of wooden figurines hugging each other—a couple. They seemed rougher in texture than Hagrid's short dagger, and their facial features were merely painted on. Following the instructions, Felix tapped the head of the male figurine, and it yelped, after which the two figures began to perform a shaky, awkward dance.

Though the twins explained it as an African "Round Dance," Felix chose to outright ignore that.

Aside from these, some lesser-known young wizards also sent gifts. Justin Finch-Fletchley, for instance, had sent a splendid feathered quill pen, equipped with multiple functions.

Felix spent an hour to complete his letter-writing and gift-responding duties.

He entered the Great Hall, where scattered young wizards occupied four elongated tables.

On the Christmas trees, adorned with silver frost, hung various fascinating trinkets. Magic-imbued mistletoe and holly garlands dangled from the ceiling, releasing magical snow that drifted down.

Professor McGonagall and a few other professors were busy decorating the Great Hall.

"Need any help?" he asked.

Professor McGonagall straightened up, "Oh, no need, we're nearly done." She waved her wand, attaching a long ribbon of colorful fabric to the Christmas tree. Turning to him, she said, "I quite liked your gift, Felix."

Felix smiled. He had given Professor McGonagall a half-human-sized magical puppet, intricately designed with a variety of circuits that allowed it to take on two forms—besides its humanoid form, it could transform into a majestic lion.

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