A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Many young wizards at Hogwarts also gave him gifts. His assistant, Miss Granger, gave him a dark green knitted scarf, Potter gave him a large bag of chocolates, and Ron Weasley gave him a box of honeydew melons.

The most interesting gift was the one the twins gave together: two wooden couple dolls embracing each other, looking even cruder than Hagrid's dagger—the facial features were all painted on. Felix tapped the male doll on the head according to the instructions, and he cried out in pain. Then the two dolls started trembling and dancing a zombie dance.

Although the twins explained that it was a "waltz" from a small African country, Felix completely ignored it.

In addition, some junior wizards whom I had only met a few times also sent gifts. For example, Justin Finley sent a gorgeous quill pen with multiple functions.

It took Felix an hour to finish writing the letter and the reply.

He entered the hall, where a few young wizards sat scattered around four long tables.

A dozen or so Christmas trees covered in silver frost were adorned with all sorts of novel and interesting trinkets, and ribbons made of mistletoe and holly hung from the ceiling, while enchanted snowflakes fell in a flurry.

Professor McGonagall and several other professors were busy decorating the auditorium.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

Professor McGonagall straightened up. "Oh, no need, it's almost done." She waved her wand, hanging a long, colorful ribbon on the Christmas tree, and turned to him. "I love your gift, Felix."

Felix smiled. He gave Professor McGonagall a half-human-sized magical puppet with more than a dozen complex circuits, which gave it two forms—in addition to its human form, it could also transform into a majestic lion.

Chapter 71 Luna Lovegood

Felix leisurely ate his breakfast as young wizards arrived one after another, their faces beaming with smiles as they chatted and joked with each other.

The entire auditorium was filled with a lively atmosphere.

After leaving the Great Hall, Felix headed towards the Forbidden Forest, where he encountered Hagrid, who was coming to the castle.

"Hello, Professor Haip," Hagrid greeted him warmly.

“Hello, Hagrid. I received your gift, and I love it,” Felix said, especially its material.

"Ha, I'm glad you like it. By the way, the automatic mop you gave me is quite useful; it cleaned the house like new," Hagrid said gruffly. "I didn't have to worry about it at all; it can even clean itself."

After exchanging pleasantries, Felix arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He intended to gather some chestnut branches; his stock was running low.

But halfway there, he frowned.

On the snow-covered ground, there was a straight line of footprints leading towards the Forbidden Forest.

Felix measured the size of the footprints and concluded that they belonged to some young wizard who had violated the prohibition. He followed the footprints.

Felix walked through the snow, the only sound the crunching of the snow and leaves beneath his feet. Before he knew it, he had reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

However, this place is quite remote, located in the northwest corner of the Forbidden Forest, which is quite close to the main gate of Hogwarts—this is the route young wizards take to Hogsmeade Village on weekends.

Felix stopped in his tracks. Everything around him created a silent atmosphere—white snowflakes fell from the sky, and when he looked up, it was as if countless ice crystals were flying towards him.

All was silent, and the vastness of the world seemed to leave him all alone.

"Hissing~"

A black creature that looked a lot like a horse poked its head out of the Forbidden Forest. It glanced at Felix with its silvery-white eyes, sneezed, and then flapped its large, black, bat-like wings and retreated back into the forest.

"It's a Thestral." Felix was somewhat surprised.

This is a rather rare magical creature, and many wizards classify them as special invisible beasts—only those who have experienced, witnessed, and understood death can see them.

This trait has given them a bad reputation; Thestrals were once considered an omen of bad luck—comparable to the omens of death a wizard might have upon encountering a large black dog. But they are actually quite docile animals.

Felix became even more curious, so he ventured deeper into the Forbidden Forest and, after about two minutes, came to a clearing.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, a little girl stood amidst a dozen or so emaciated Thestrals, clutching a handful of dry grass and offering it to the mouth of the nearest Thestral.

He also heard her humming softly, which sounded quite pleasant.

Felix waited until she had finished feeding the withered grass in her hand before walking over, his footsteps waking the little witch.

The girl raised her head. She had a head of messy, waist-length golden hair, and very light-colored eyebrows and eyes.

When he got close enough, he discovered that the little witch had stuck her wand behind her left ear, wore aviator glasses, and had a necklace made of corks from butterbeer around her neck.

At that moment, her eyes were fixed on the person who had suddenly appeared.

A strange feeling welled up in Felix's heart. The eccentric little wizard... could it be Ravenclaw?

"What's your name? Which academy are you a junior wizard from?" Felix asked.

“Luna,” she said in a voice that sounded almost like singing, “Luna Lovegood, that’s my name. I’ve seen your open lectures; you’re a professor.”

"Yes, obviously. Miss Lovegood, which house are you from?"

"Ravenclaw said that extraordinary wisdom is the greatest wealth of mankind."

Felix understood, just as he expected... He said in a stern tone, "Why did you venture into the Forbidden Forest alone? Don't you know it's dangerous here?"

“They’re not dangerous,” Luna said absentmindedly. “Thestrals are friendly. Would you like to feed them?” She suddenly squatted down, brushed aside the snow, and grabbed a handful of half-green, half-yellow hay.

She turned her light-colored eyes to him, and Felix noticed that her voice had almost no pitch, but with its ethereal quality, it gave the impression that she was singing.

"No," he said.

So Luna turned around and, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, fed hay to a baby Thestral. It appeared to have just learned to walk, its somewhat stiff limbs lowered, and it licked Luna's fingers with its tongue.

She hummed a strange little tune softly, and snowflakes fell on her clothes, accumulating into a thin layer.

Felix calmed down and didn't try to break the atmosphere.

"Are you feeling better?" Luna said.

"what?"

“You were just harassed by a swarm of horseflies,” Luna said sympathetically.

"I—what did you say?"

“Hush flies…they sometimes float into your ears and mess with your head,” she said. “I think I just heard one buzzing around here.”

Felix didn't believe such creatures existed, but he asked her with great interest, "Could you elaborate on the harassing horsefly?"

Luna looked surprised, adjusting her toad-like glasses with one hand as she looked at Felix from behind them.

"Harassment flies... well, they're usually invisible, but when they want to do something to your brain, they glow red with excitement."

"So, you saw it?"

“That’s right,” she said with absolute certainty, as if stating some kind of truth.

For the first time, Felix became suspicious. He looked around but found nothing.

After a while, the two returned to the castle together.

As they walked, he asked Luna, "Didn't you go home for Christmas?"

She said calmly, "My father is rushing to finish his manuscript for the Christmas special issue, but we've agreed to look for the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast during the summer vacation."

Another unfamiliar name. "Your father is—"

"Xenoflius Lovegood, the editor of The Quibbler."

Felix said nothing; he knew the reputation of this newspaper.

Standing at the castle gate, Felix said to her, "I won't deduct points this time. Go, find your friends, and have a wonderful Christmas."

“I’m very happy right now,” Luna said with a cheerful smile, then she looked thoughtful. “You’ve reminded me of a Gryffindor freshman I met before. She seemed very friendly. Maybe we can be friends.”

“Really? You can give it a try,” Felix said casually, offering encouragement.

“I remember she was carrying a rooster,” Luna said lightly. “But who doesn’t have a strange quirk?”

“What did you say?” Felix raised his voice, but quickly softened his tone again. “Do you know her name?”

Luna shook her head, two strands of hair fluttering on her forehead. "But her hair is beautiful, like a dancing flame."

Chapter 72 Christmas Dinner

Felix was surprised by the unexpected gain.

Combining Malfoy's words, he realized that the diary hadn't been brought to school by Malfoy—he was just an unlucky guy who found it after the second attack.

Now, he can finally be sure.

Felix nodded, turned and left, when he suddenly heard Luna's ethereal voice behind him—

"Christmas presents."

He turned to look at her. "What?"

Luna said in a serious tone, "I suddenly realized that I haven't prepared a Christmas present for you yet. We met in such a hurry." She calmly rummaged through her pockets and, under Felix's slightly strange gaze, pulled out a strange-looking bracelet.

She said with considerable regret, "I made them myself; I was planning to make a pair." She held out her hand and handed them to Felix.

Felix didn't know why he reached out and took it, but he did.

Luna skipped and hopped away.

When Felix returned to his office, he was still holding the bracelet in his hand. He leaned back in his chair, thinking seriously about how he should reciprocate.

I feel that ordinary gifts don't quite suit her style...

Finally, he pulled out a copy of "A Collection of World Jokes" from his collection, and for some reason, he felt it suited the little witch named Luna quite well. Watching the owl disappear into the distance, he refocused his attention on the new intelligence.

Gryffindor, fiery red hair, a first-year student—these characteristics combined almost convinced him that he was a Weasley, whose family was quite famous for its red hair.

He had also heard from his assistant that Ron's sister, the youngest member of the Weasley family, was starting school this year.

So, how did this whole thing end up being related to the trio again?

He recalled that he had indeed encountered the red-haired little witch a few times earlier, in rather sensitive locations—either near Hagrid's hut or in an abandoned girls' washroom.

Felix pondered this; it was another direction for his investigation. He was eager to know who had brought the diary, and whether he had any similar, extra copies—the younger version of the Dark Lord was very cautious, refusing to discuss his relationship with Slytherin, which put some of his ideas in a difficult position.

As darkness fell, Felix arrived at the auditorium. From a distance, he could see the brightly lit and beautifully decorated hall. In addition to the ones he had seen in the morning, there were more than a dozen lanterns floating around the ceiling, constantly throwing colorful fireworks from mouth-like openings.

He spotted the trio, with Ron waving excitedly at him—Felix guessed it might be because of the gift he'd given him, but he didn't have time to think about it further. Dumbledore was greeting him, so he went over.

The headmaster was dressed formally and quite humorously tonight. His long beard was tied up with purple and red ribbons in the shape of a gourd. "Felix, Happy Holidays."

"You too, Headmaster Dumbledore."

Dumbledore blinked and said softly, "I received your gift. It's very nice. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but just from the title, I know it's worth reading."

I'm glad you like it.