Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 120 Yes, I did it all.
On Christmas Day, it snowed outside from the early morning. The owls were exhausted and had to deliver presents all night in the heavy snow before they could rest for a while after dawn.

When Xilun woke up, he saw an owl that had delivered a gift sleeping right there in his dorm room, with a long package on its claws.

Xilun glanced at the address above.

It was a Christmas gift from his grandfather in Romania.

With such a long journey and heavy snow, it's no wonder the owl was so exhausted.

Sheren found an empty box, poured in some of Tom's snacks and water, and placed it next to the owl so it could eat when it woke up.

Then Xilun took the package down and opened it... Inside were several dragon blood tree branches of varying lengths.

Sure enough, the package from Romania—he should have guessed it was this—and Siron happily accepted it.

These dragonblood branches arrived at just the right time; Hagrid had given him a large bag of staff core materials, which would come in handy.

Speaking of Hagrid, his gift was a large bag of homemade toffee syrup, which tasted pretty good, but was too sweet and a bit sticky.

When Siren arrived at the common room, he saw Hermione and Harry unwrapping their gifts by the fireplace.

"Merry Christmas." Hermione handed Siren a beautifully wrapped box containing a book titled "The Transformation of Objects: Risks and Coping Strategies."

“You’ve been reading books about Transfiguration, and the people at Flourish and Blotts recommended this to me.”

Ron's gift was a Quidditch picture book with animated characters. When Celen opened the first page, he saw a person riding a broomstick, swooping down and then suddenly stopping just before touching the ground.

A line of gold text appeared beside it... [Lonski feint, used to deceive the opposing seeker and create an illusion to gain an advantage.]

This looks like a compilation of Quidditch highlights.

Harry gave him a set of tools, including carving knives, drills, and the like.

“Thank you,” said Siron, taking out his own gifts as well—Harry, Hermione, and Ron all had the same wand stickers made with their photos.

A set contains seven cards, and more importantly, these are specially made so that they won't fall off the wand even after being stuck on for two months.

“This is fantastic!” Hermione immediately stuck it on her wand, right next to the original Lockhart gold sticker.

As a Lockhart admirer, Hermione naturally bought the book "I Am Magical," and it was even a hidden edition with a gold sticker.

Harry and Ron liked it too.

These stickers are all the rage in schools now, but everyone else has professors and magical creatures. It feels really special to have a sticker that's uniquely yours.

It's like finding your own card inside a Chocolate Frog.

Of course, Siren's stickers are not as famous as Chocolate Frog cards, but the meaning is the same.

Moreover, it's a very prestigious thing to do.

“If you’re willing to sign it, maybe Ginny and Colin will be willing to pay a hefty price for it,” Siron said to Harry with a smile.

“No.” Harry shook his head, looking at the sticker of himself holding a wand, and asked, “Was this taken at the Dueling Club?”

“Yes, these are all,” Celen said. “When Lockhart was taken away, I borrowed a camera and took a few other photos.”

"Colin Crevey's camera, and I even promised to give him a signed sticker of yours, but he never came back to ask for it back."

“Because Colin isn’t interested in me anymore,” Harry said, his tone light. “I haven’t seen him on my way to class in ages. I guess he must have found out that I, the savior, am a fake and is very disappointed.”

“How could it be fake?” Ron said. “Everyone knows you defeated Mystic, there’s no doubt about that.”

“Everyone knows, except me.” Harry chuckled. “I have no idea how I defeated Voldemort…”

"Please, don't say that name." Ron shuddered, nearly dropping his wand.

"Sorry," Harry said, speaking completely off the cuff, not expecting Ron to react so strongly.

“If you knew what he did, you would have done the same thing as me,” Ron said to Hermione, who was looking at him. “It was truly horrific. Most people don’t dare mention his name and just call him the Mysterious Man.”

Hermione frowned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Ron.

Although she couldn't understand why, the reluctance to call Voldemort by name was indeed the reality for many wizards, including some professors. Only a very small number were exceptions.

For example, Harry and Siren also heard the name, but they remained calm.

“Speaking of which, where are Fred and George?” Celen looked around the common room.

“They went out, saying they were preparing a surprise for tonight’s Christmas dinner,” Ron said, pulling out a wizard’s chess set. “I bet they’re up to no good. Want to play a game?”

“No need.” Xiren declined his invitation, sat down in another armchair, and began to process the branches he had collected over the past few days.

By the time he had finished crafting the cane from all the branches, it was already evening.

Far fewer people chose to spend the holiday at school this year; professors and students combined couldn't even fill half a table. But the Christmas atmosphere was still the same as in previous years.

The auditorium was filled with a dozen Christmas trees covered in silver frost, and the ceiling was adorned with ribbons made of mistletoe and holly, along with enchanted snow, warm and dry, gently drifting down from the ceiling.

Because of the small number of people, Hagrid rarely appeared in the auditorium. He sat on the teachers' side, looking worriedly at Siron not far away.

When Dumbledore entered the Great Hall, he immediately stood up. “Headmaster Dumbledore, the newspapers are full of nonsense. Shiron is a Gryffindor; how could he possibly be the heir to Slytherin?”

"Calm down, Hagrid. Of course I trust Mr. Ollivander." Dumbledore waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down, and glanced at Siren as well.

However, Siron didn't notice their actions at this moment. He just stared expressionlessly at a copy of the Daily Prophet on the table. The front page had a clear picture of Lockhart when he was first discovered, along with the words on his body.

A murder chamber has been discovered at Hogwarts; what is Dumbledore hiding?

Strange things have been happening at Hogwarts lately. Gilderoy Lockhart, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, seems to have discovered the truth, but he was mysteriously attacked after contacting this newspaper.

According to insiders, the Chamber of Secrets inscribed on his body may be a secret weapon left by Salazar Slytherin to purify the school and eliminate all those unfit to learn magic (students from Muggle families). However, Hogwarts seems to be intentionally concealing this astonishing news.

……

Hermione brought the newspaper that afternoon; it was a long article, but she had marked the important parts with a quill pen.

According to sources, the attack is linked to a boy from a family with a long tradition of wand making, who seems to have a connection to the legendary Chamber of Secrets.

……

“We’re too scared to go back to school,” a young wizard cried. “He told us to shut up and threatened to make sure we could never use our wands again.”

Does this mean he's the one who opened the locked room? Did he kill Gilderoy Lockhart? Will he continue killing?

"Dumbledore knew all this, yet he did nothing. Even when students were injured at school, he turned a blind eye," an angry parent stated. "He is utterly unfit to be the headmaster of Hogwarts!"

……

Siren glanced at the signature—Rita Skeeter. She hadn't shown up since Tom kicked her out last time, and he never expected her to reappear in front of him in this way.

Moreover, no one knows where they received the information, but they actually believe that he is the one who opened the secret room.

“Sirion, you…we’ll clear your name,” Hermione said. “You’re a Gryffindor, how could you possibly open Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets?”

“Yes, and you were the first one to be attacked,” Harry said from the side. “Although it wasn’t mentioned in the newspapers, many of us know it, including the professor. You couldn’t possibly have released a monster to attack yourself, could you?”

"Say they're purging wizards from Muggle families? That's utter nonsense!" Ron took a big bite of his Christmas pudding. "If even Ollivander is unfit to learn magic, then Hogwarts might as well just close down!"

Everyone felt that Xilun couldn't possibly be the one who opened the secret room; the newspapers were just making things up.

Xilun didn't speak, but glanced at the top picture again. It was very clear, and the angle was just right to show every word on his body. It was obviously the work of a Hogwarts student who had sent it to the newspaper during the holidays.

“Silon, what do you think about us publishing a clarification article?” Hermione asked. “I’m going to write to the Daily Prophet right now!”

“No, there’s no need to clarify.” Sirius stopped her, his finger lightly tracing the photograph in the newspaper. “Perhaps I really can open Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets?”

“What are you talking about?” Hermione frowned. “This is not the time for jokes.”

"A Gryffindor opened Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?" Fred across from him couldn't help but laugh out loud. "That's the funniest joke I've ever heard."

“Then why not let more people hear it?” Siron said with a smile. “Alright, I’ll lay my cards on the table. I am the heir to Slytherin.”

The Weasley brothers laughed even louder, their exaggerated laughter drawing everyone's attention.

"Do you know where the secret room is?" George asked, feigning ignorance.

“Of course I know,” Siron said. “I also know that entering the Chamber of Secrets requires a very special method, a special ability that only Salazar Slytherin and his successors can master.”

"What kind of ability is that?" Fred asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Siron said. “Because Salazar is wrong. Every wizard is entitled to learn magic, not just pure-bloods.”

"Therefore, I have decided to completely destroy the Chamber of Secrets before the start of the school year, as the heir to Slytherin."

"As heirs to Gryffindor..." Fred and George suppressed their laughter, trying hard to maintain a serious demeanor.

"We'd be happy to help."

“If you’d like,” Siren waved his hand, “please write these words down for me and send them to the Daily Prophet.”

"no problem."

"Leave it to us!"

Fred and George laughed and immediately found parchment and quills, and began writing letters between the pudding and pie.

"Wait, wait a minute..." Hermione suddenly realized and quickly said, "You guys aren't serious, are you?"

“Otherwise?” Siren blinked. “And it was you who suggested that I write a letter of clarification to the Daily Prophet.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Hermione shouted. “This is not the time for jokes. Have you thought about what will happen if you can’t keep those promises…”

"Finding and destroying the secret room before the start of the semester is simply impossible; even the professors can't do it. You'll become a laughing stock."

“What does it matter?” Siren said nonchalantly. “Only joke magazines would put Rita Skeeter’s ridiculous article on the front page. What’s wrong with me telling a joke in a joke magazine?”

“A joke magazine? Isn’t it the Daily Prophet?” Ron asked instinctively, then it took him a while to realize… Siron was implying that the Daily Prophet was a joke.

“That’s right, it’s just a joke.” Fred and George were so excited that they forgot to eat their Christmas pudding and ran straight out of the castle.

They need to think carefully about how to be a "well-informed person who is willing to remain anonymous".

……

(End of this chapter)