Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

After lingering at Sandringham House for another half hour, Humphrey kept it brief, sharing some of his insights with Henry, and mentioning that he would communicate with Sir Arnold to conduct some practical exercises during the remainder of the holiday.

The next morning, when Henry came downstairs, the restaurant was already bustling with activity.

William and Harry sat at the children's table with boiled eggs and roasted tomatoes in front of them.

William was poking at a boiled egg with his fork, but the egg rolled around in the plate, refusing to let him get a hold of it. Harry, his face covered in food, was trying to reach the ketchup from the corner of his mouth with his tongue.

"Henry!" William put down his fork as soon as he saw him. "Come on! What are we playing today?"

"Eat first." Henry sat down next to him and took the breakfast plate handed to him by the waiter.

Diana came out from the direction of the kitchen, carrying a plate of freshly baked toast.

She smiled when she saw Henry.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"fine."

"That's good." Diana placed the toast on the table and sat down next to him. "By the way, some things have arrived from Kensington Palace."

Henry looked up.

"What is it?"

"It seems to be your Christmas present," Diana said. "It was sent from all over the country. Mr. Burrell sent it over this morning, saying he was worried you might not receive it at Sandringham House."

It must have been a Christmas gift from my classmates.

He put down his knife and fork and stood up.

"Where?"

"In the living room," Diana smiled. "Don't worry, they won't run away."

After dinner, Henry brought his two younger brothers to the living room.

There were more than a dozen packages of various sizes piled on the coffee table. Some were wrapped in kraft paper and tied with hemp rope; some were wrapped in colorful gift paper and tied with ribbons; and some were simply boxes with a parchment label on them.

The largest package was almost the size of a small coffee table, wrapped in coarse burlap, with a few straws still stuck to it.

Lucy was already standing beside her, her big eyes sparkling.

"Your Highness," she whispered, "Lucy has tidied you up."

Henry nodded and walked over to the pile of gifts.

The first thing that caught his attention was a small box wrapped in dark green velvet cloth, embroidered with the Slytherin silver snake motif.

He picked up the box and unwrapped the velvet cloth.

Inside was a small, palm-sized silver photo frame containing a moving photograph. The background showed the classroom on the second floor, with several small figures sitting on chairs.

Henry looked closely and realized that the figures were himself, Draco, Pansy, and Daphne.

In the painting, he is drinking tea, occasionally looking up and nodding towards the viewer outside the painting.

A line of text is engraved on the back of the picture frame:

"To Henry—Slytherin will always be your home. Merry Christmas. Sincerely, Draco."

"Wow! This photo is animated!" William exclaimed in surprise from behind.

"Magic, isn't it amazing?" Henry reached out and patted his brother's head. He carefully placed the photo frame aside and picked up the second package.

The package was wrapped in silver-green gift paper and tied with a silver ribbon.

Upon opening it, I found a hand-knitted scarf inside—dark green with silver-gray trim, exactly the same color as the Slytherin robe.

The scarf feels soft and warm to the touch, with a small "S" embroidered on the edge.

There was a card tucked inside.

Your Highness:

My mother taught me to knit this. She said that handmade Christmas gifts for friends are the most heartfelt. This is my first time knitting, so it's not very good, but I hope it will keep you warm during the Scottish winter.

Merry Christmas.

—Daphne Greengrass

He continued unwrapping his gifts. Pansy gave him a compilation of Quidditch tactics from various teams in recent years, clearly prepared with care; Harry gave him a model of the Golden Snitch, suspended in mid-air like a maglev; Ron's gift was homemade cookies from his mother, which Henry tried and found quite delicious; Hermione's gift was a book about dueling.

Further on, one of the packages was wrapped in kraft paper and tied with a Hufflepuff yellow and black ribbon.

Upon opening it, one finds a handmade little basket made from a repurposed Honeydukes candy box.

The basket was stuffed with all sorts of candies—chocolate frogs, sizzling honey candies, sour popping candies, bubble gum, and a big bag of Honey Duke's Christmas limited edition products.

It was a gift from Hannah.

As he continued unpacking, gifts appeared—Susan's, Justin's… In short, everyone Henry knew gave him a gift, even Flint and Miss Farley, the prefect.

The largest package was a gift from Hagrid; when he opened it, he found a cushion inside.

It looks a bit rough, and the weaving technique is clumsy, but the material of the cushion, the glossy and smooth texture... it looks quite stylish.

"Is this a cushion?" Diana asked curiously, leaning closer. "It looks to be of very good quality. Who gave it to you?"

"It's Hagrid."

Henry picked up the note, which was written in crooked handwriting and had many misspelled words, but it didn't stop him from understanding it.

The gist of it is that this is a cushion woven from unicorn tail hair that he found in the Forbidden Forest, and he hopes Henry will like it.

He put the cushion under his bottom and sat down; it was indeed very comfortable, warm and cozy.

"Look at you," Diana said, reaching out to ruffle Henry's hair. "Does that feel good?"

"Yes," Henry said with a smile, "it is made of unicorn tail hair after all."

"A unicorn's tail hair..." Diana repeated, then suddenly realized what Henry was talking about. Her eyes widened. "What did you say? A unicorn? Do unicorns really exist?"

"That's what Hagrid said, after all, there do seem to be unicorns in the Forbidden Forest." Henry chuckled, lifting his bottom and handing the cushion to his mother. "They're naturally shy and usually avoid contact with humans. The book says they usually only befriend those with pure hearts—according to Hagrid, they usually trust witches more than wizards."

"Judging from what you've said, this Mr. Hagrid must be a noble person." Diana took the unicorn cushion and stroked it with obvious affection.

"You really like this cushion?" Henry asked with a smile.

"Hmm..." Diana nodded; after all, it was a unicorn...

Even the British royal family has never seen such a legendary creature!

"Since you like it, then it's yours, Mom," Henry said.

Diana was clearly tempted, but since it was Hagrid's Christmas gift to his son, she felt a little embarrassed.

(The crossdressing scene will be included in the chapter illustrations updated on Monday.)