After the initial work, Christian slowed down to enjoy his break. He left the remaining story for later and did not even start enchanting the Dueling Disks. He spent his free days with his family. Everything was uneventful until Christmas, with only two "major" things happening.
Firstly, Christian and Tiara had to force Eleanor to shut down her phone as she was on it for hours despite being on a break. Secondly, Arielle and Sullivan had to cancel their early arrival; they were supposed to arrive on the 23rd and spend Christmas, but now, they would come on the 25th.
On Christmas Eve, Christian walked to his mother's room and knocked.
"Come in — Zed? Do you need something?"
"I'm giving you your present early," he replied, showing the square box in his hand.
"Oh, is there a reason you can't give it to me tomorrow?"
"The gift is a little sensitive," replied Christian as he opened the box, revealing a necklace attached to a white stone containing a white-gray fog inside.
"This is?"
"It's a necklace that stores life energy," explained Christian. "If the same thing happens and no one is near, this stone should buy you enough time to find a forest or animal to use the Life-Draining Spell."
Tiara looked at the necklace for a few long seconds, "I love it. Help me put it on." Christian helped her put it on. "I don't think I need to remind you never to part with it."
Tiara chuckled, "I won't, sir."
Christian smiled, "It's late, so I won't say long."
Tiara watched him leave, and her smiling demeanor disappeared as soon as he closed the door. She held the necklace and observed it.
"Zed, what have you done?" With her knowledge, she understood how exceptional this magical artifact was. It's one thing to absorb life energy, but another to store it perfectly for an extended period. This kind of magic cannot be learned from Hogwarts library, even from the forbidden area.
"Zed, Zed, please don't make me regret trusting you," she muttered before turning off the light and sleeping, or at least trying to.
Christian woke up early the following day for Aunt Arielle and Sullivan's arrival. He rushed into her embrace as soon as she stepped out of the fireplace.
"Your mother is really not feeding you well. How can you be so skinny?"
"Don't blame me; blame the school," said Tiara, not accepting this responsibility.
"What about Eleanor? Even she looked way too thin," said Arielle.
"That's just stressed," replied Eleanor, kissing her on the cheek.
"Uncle Sullivan," saluted Christian.
"You're way taller since I last saw you," said Sullivan as he shook Christian's hand.
"Don't worry about my height. I'm ready for my revenge," announced Christian, making Sullivan chuckle. "So, you're prepared to be embarrassed a second time?"
"We'll see."
The family had breakfast before opening presents. Aunt Eleanor was first, and she handed Christian a well-wrapped present, which turned out to be a first-edition book about Occultism, more specifically, about summoning demons.
"This book was written in 1456, way before the International Statute of Secrecy was established," explained Eleanor. "So, there is a chance it might be a genuine book."
"I love it."
"Let me read it first to determine its validity," said Tiara, taking the book away. Christian thought this was an odd reaction, but he did not focus too much on it. "What about the second one?"
"For your second gift, I bought you a horse ranch."
"A horse ranch?"
"Yes, a horse ranch with more than 20 horses of different breeds," nodded Eleanor.
"Why would I need or want a horse ranch?"
"I remember you going horse riding when you were seven and loved it. So, I bought you a ranch to experience the feeling again."
"This gift doesn't count," said Christian.
"Why not?"
"Our agreement was a meaningful gift. This one sounds like something simple and easy to do because of all the money you make. So, I want something meaningful, even if you just make it by hand."
"Fine."
"Are you two going to fill us in on your little pact?" asked Tiara.
"No, that's our secret," said Christian, and Eleanor agreed.
"It's my turn," said Arielle, who handed him his gift, which turned out to be a book. "I wrote all my experiences with wandless magic into this book; I hope it's helpful."
"It definitely will be," said Christian with shining eyes. His mother bought him many books from Uagadou and the African wizarding world, but he values this book because of its personal nature.
"I guess it's my turn," said Sullivan. "Firstly, I would love to thank you."
"For what?"
"Last year, after you gave me that ring, I had the idea of equipping everyone in my squad with similar items and suggested this to my boss. He agreed, and since then, casualties have decreased by 42%; it's because of this idea that I was promoted so quickly."
Christian remembered the Weasley Twins doing something similar: They sold pins bewitched with the Shield Charm to the British Ministry of Magic. "Although this was not my intention, I'm glad I helped."
"As for my gift, it's a Cursefollower," said Sullivan, showing Christian a metallic paper crane.
"Cursefollower? Never heard of it."
"Our congress has a Real-Time Hex Indicator Map, which tracks the casting of hexes throughout the country. However, this thing is too widespread and cannot be too accurate. So, the Cursefollowers were created for more pinpoint accuracy. They can find most curses within a hundred-meter diameter."
[AN: The map is real, but the Cursefollower is not.]
"Interesting. I wonder what spell is used to make this thing," commented Christian as he observed it. "Thank you. I love it very much." His mother's gift to him was the same as his birthday: a book about the anatomy of magical creatures (different from the first), and this one seemed more detailed.
Christian expected many of his upcoming gifts would follow this line, but he did not mind. He knew how difficult it was to acquire this knowledge and the risks involved. He also knew how important it would become once he started developing his new field of Transfiguration.
Finally, it was Christian's turn, and he started with Eleneaor, giving her the Sneakoscope he specifically bewitched for her—a pair of contacts. Besides the spell used to make the Sneakoscope, he added Legiligemcy to the item to send the information into her mind. In other words, once someone with ulterior motives approaches, the Legilimency in the artifact will show her a red color in her mind instead of actually lighting up red.
"This is for you, Uncle Sullivan."
"Two rings?"
"The one I gave you last year should expire in a few months, so I am replacing it. The second one contains Anti-Curse Spell and is also one of my best works." Christian was not boasting, as this ring was made with knowledge from the Dark Lord, so its ability to block curses is genuinely incredible.
"Thanks," said Sullivan, immediately putting it in his right hand since that's not the one he holds his wand with.
"Now, for you, Aunt Arielle."
Arielle opened her gift and immediately placed her hands above her mouth. She gently caressed the picture frame, muttering, "Mama, Papa, Granni." Tears streamed down her face. "How did you…" Their family died early and suddenly, so there were very few photographs of them.
"It was Zed's idea," said Tiara. "I used my Mind Palace to remember them. Then, with the Mindscribe Charm, I had a decent enough drawing for an artist to make this portrait."
"Thank you," said Arielle in tears. Although this was a regular painting that did not move, she was more than happy. After many years, she had long since forgotten their voices and begun to forget their faces.
"If you want to remember them, you should try Zed's Mind Palace," suggested Tiara, and Arielle nodded. She knew about the spell but had never tried it herself. However, her husband had mastered it, and she could learn from him.
"Speaking of, this Mind Palace is a brilliant invention," praised Sullivan, who wanted to change the subject so that his wife would not become depressed at the thought of missing her family.
"I concur," said Eleanor. "I was surprised when Christian said it would work for me, and I did not believe him. But using it for months has improved my memory tremendously."
"Really? I did not know that."
Everyone chatted briefly before Christian opened the gifts from his friends and teachers. The majority were books, and a few candy bags. Of course, he also sent gifts to others.
He gave Harry a locket with a picture of his mother and father; this gift was a little troublesome, as his mother had to secretly visit the Dursleys and get the picture from their mind. He gave Hermione an enchanted quill that produced its own ink and wrote based on her thoughts. She loved his and always wanted one. Ron received a new wizard chess set since his original one was inherited from his siblings and was old.
Christian sent Professor Flitwick a book about fencing, and the two once discussed how this Muggle Sport contained skills that may be transferable to wizard dueling. He gave Professor McGonagall an album full of cute cat moments from Jim's memories. His girlfriend liked funny and cute cat videos and would send him dozens of them daily. Christian compiled the best of them, which did not reveal anything about the future, into an album, turning them into magical moving pictures.
He even sent a present to the headmaster: a pair of woolen socks and some of the best sweets his aunt could buy. He sent Hagrid a book on how to be a teacher. Christian wrote it based on a book Jim once read called "Teaching for Dummies." He edited most of the passages to fit more into the magical world.
The only teacher who did not receive a gift from him was Snape.
Christian did not forget his Muggle acquaintances. He sent gifts to Professor Hallmark and his other language teachers. Although communication had reduced because of school, he would still occasionally send a letter.