The wheelchair-bound warrior is speedrunning Hogwarts.

"And then... I came back to see you."

Harley's voice stopped there. She raised her head, forcing her eyes open. Her usually clear green eyes were now filled with drowsiness and longing.

Vera's heart skipped a beat.

“Vera,” she murmured softly, “I had a dream last night…”

"Hmm?" Vera gently combed her black hair, patiently waiting for what was to come.

Harley frowned, hesitated for a long time, and then shook her head: "Never mind, I don't want to talk about it."

She definitely didn't want to tell Vera about dreaming about taking a bath with her!

“Okay,” Vera didn’t think too much about it and tried to help her lie down. “Then let’s sleep a little longer.”

But Harley still shook her head, burying her face in her shoulder for a while, before suddenly raising her head and saying with a determined look that seemed to come out of nowhere, "No, it's Christmas today, we have to at least open the presents!"

Is this the kind of energy a child has? Can they switch modes in a second?

Vera didn't understand, and she was greatly shocked.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade her otherwise, Vera had no choice but to push her wheelchair to the foot of the bed and gaze at the beautifully wrapped gifts in a daze.

"Aren't you going to open them?" Harley had already gotten out of bed barefoot, looking at the huge pile of gifts with some envy.

Vera's gaze swept over one of the most beautifully wrapped gifts, then she turned to Halle and said:

"I see you have a few gifts by your bedside, aren't you going to take a look?"

Harley's face showed a blank expression again. When she turned her head and saw that there were several gifts lying next to the foot of her bed, her eyes lit up instantly.

"I get a gift too?" She practically skipped over, carefully picking up the gifts. "Who's going to give me a gift?"

Vera smiled at her and said, "Why don't you just open it and see?"

Harry nodded and couldn't wait to start tearing open the packaging.

Vera, meanwhile, took the opportunity to slip the gift—a carefully wrapped box with a dark green ribbon, adorned with a gold-embossed card signed "Narcissa Malfoy"—under the covers.

It's a holiday, and I don't want Harley to see a surname that would spoil the mood.

Harley quickly opened the gifts. The first one was from Hagrid—a handmade wooden flute, crudely made, clearly crafted by Hagrid himself.

Then Hermione gave her a big box of horseshoe-shaped chocolates.

And two pounds coin from my aunt and uncle.

It is worth a little more than fifty pence in the original story, but not by much.

The last package was small and light. When Harley opened it, a silver-gray fabric fell out.

"Vera, it's the same invisibility cloak as yours!" Harley exclaimed, stroking the smooth surface of the cloak with a mixture of surprise and delight. "Who sent this?"

Vera hesitated for a long time, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say that her dress really couldn't compare to the one Harley was holding.

Just then, a small note floated down from the invisibility cloak, on which was written:

"Your father left it to me before he passed away, and now it should be returned to its rightful owner. Merry Christmas."

No signature.

Harley just stared blankly at the note, not even noticing that the Invisibility Cloak had fallen to her feet.

Seeing her like this, Vera could only pretend to be oblivious, slowly pushing her wheelchair closer to her, and softly asked, "What's wrong?"

Harley looked up, a complex light in her eyes: "This is my dad's stuff... Someone returned it to me."

Vera gently took her hand: "That's a good thing, Harry. It means that people still remember your parents."

“Yes!” Harley nodded vigorously, clutching the Invisibility Cloak tightly to her chest. “I’m going to take good care of it.”

“Of course,” Vera smiled and changed the subject. “Now, let’s look at my gift.”

She pushed her wheelchair to her pile of gifts, picked up the top package, unwrapped it, and found a bottle of exquisite silver ink inside.

“This was a gift from Hermione,” Harley explained. “It seems like it was prepared a few days ago.”

Vera gently stroked the ink bottle, opened the postcard that came with the gift, and saw Hermione's neat handwriting:

“I had been thinking about what gift to give you, and one day I suddenly remembered the silver ink I saw on my trip, so I asked my parents to send it to me.”

Ink isn't expensive, but I hope it helps you record more precious memories. Merry Christmas! —Hermione

"How thoughtful." Vera smiled and set the ink aside, then continued to unwrap the next gift.

The next package came from Hagrid and was a large box of homemade rock crust cakes.

Vera and Halle glanced at it and then tacitly placed the box aside.

If this stuff didn't have an expiration date, they could keep it forever.

Ron gave them a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, while Fred and George received a color-changing quill pen as a gift.

“This is very interesting,” Harley said, picking up a quill and trying to write a few words. “The words I write change color randomly!”

Vera smiled and nodded, continuing to open the next package—it was a gift from Snape: a potion?!

"Wow, Professor Snape is giving Christmas presents?" Harry exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.

Vera looked at the label on the bottle: "'One dose daily, continue taking'... It really is just medicine."

The house-elves probably made a mistake when sorting the gifts, which is why they put the medicine bottle in the pile of gifts.

After carefully categorizing and placing the gifts in front of her, Vera turned around and saw Harley looking at her expectantly.

Like a kitten waiting to be fed, its eyes are full of expectant light.

She couldn't help but smile faintly, slowly pushing the wheelchair forward until she stopped in front of Harley. Looking into Harley's tense yet expectant eyes, she finally smiled and spoke:

“The gift has been under your pillow for a while now, Miss Harley Potter.”

Yeah, I just slipped it in when Harley woke up.

Harley turned around in surprise and rummaged around on the bed for a while, and sure enough, she found a palm-sized box under the pillow.

She carefully took it out and saw an orange-red ribbon tied to the beautiful wrapping paper.

"Can I open it now?" Harley asked, her fingers gently tracing the ribbon.

Vera nodded, watching as she eagerly and carefully unwrapped the package. Inside lay a small, but exquisitely crafted, Quidditch broom model.

"This is... a Nimbus 2000 model?"

Harley's breathing quickened as she carefully picked up the palm-sized broom model, her eyes sparkling.

Vera smiled and explained to her, "Yes, it's a 1:20 scale model, which I specially ordered from Quidditch Boutique."

Harry stroked the delicate patterns on the broom handle with delight, then turned and excitedly hugged Vera: "Thank you! This is the best gift I've ever received!"

Vera was jolted back slightly by the sudden hug, but still smiled and patted her back: "Be careful, don't crush the model."

Harley finally let go, her eyes shining as she continued to examine the model: "It's amazing! Even the details of the broom branches are so perfectly done!"

Vera sighed silently as she watched her excited expression.

In the original story, Harry's Nimbus 2000 was damaged during the third-year competition due to interference from Dementors, causing Harry to fall. In the end, even the broom itself was blown by the wind to the Willow of the Brawler and destroyed.

Although Sirius Black later bought a newer fire bolt after escaping from prison, Vera knew the significance of her first broom to Harley.

So, regardless of whether this will happen in the future, she wants to give this thing to Harley in advance as a memento.

Harley carefully placed the model on the bedside table and turned to say, "I'll keep it safe!"

“Hmm,” Vera smiled, “Now that the gifts have been opened, shall we go to bed?”

"No need, I feel great right now! I want to eat something right now!" Harley waved her hand excitedly and ran off to wash up.

Vera watched her energetic back and shook her head helplessly.

Even though I've become like a child myself, I'm not as energetic as Harley Quinn...

No wonder he became a savior.

She pushed her wheelchair to the window and looked out at Hogwarts, which was covered in a blanket of snow. Snowflakes were still falling, and the castle's spires shimmered in the morning light.

When should we go to the Forbidden Forest again? We need to find a suitable time.

I wonder how Quirrell will be after what happened last night.

Soon, Harley finished washing up and pushed her along towards the auditorium.

At Hogwarts, Christmas is celebrated with a lunch and dinner, so the breakfast is similar to what we usually eat.

As soon as Vera arrived at the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins, who had just been talking to their brother, immediately peeked over.

“Miss Black, Merry Christmas!” Fred winked at her.

“We really like the gift you gave us,” George followed up, lowering his voice. “As agreed, all your future purchases here will be on the house.”

Vera raised an eyebrow and smiled: "You're welcome, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

Harley, standing nearby, asked curiously, "What gifts did you give them?"

“Just a few books that provide inspiration,” Vera shrugged.

George exaggeratedly clutched his chest: "Oh, these aren't just any ordinary books! They're practically a prank manual tailor-made for us!"

“Yeah,” Ron said, munching on a steak, “Now they can develop new gadgets to prank people again.”

As their younger brother, Ron was often the one who took the lead.

Harley suddenly realized, "No wonder they're so happy..."

Vera gently stirred the pumpkin juice in front of her, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Those books were actually found in the Black family's library—as a pure-blood family, the Black family also collected many strange and wonderful magical books.

While many of them contain dark magic and lengthy family trees, there are also a few books of lighthearted, mischievous magic.

She strongly suspected that Sirius had collected them intentionally during the Marauders' era.

So she had Kreacher make a copy, packed it up, and sent it to the Gemini.

Since I don't need them myself, and Sirius hasn't returned yet, I might as well hand them over to the right people.

As a condition of the agreement, Vera, being the Weasley twins' biggest financial backer and having provided such significant assistance, can freely use their gadgets in the future.

After a fairly harmonious breakfast, Harley excitedly suggested taking a walk by the Black Lake to digest their food.

"It seems like it's still snowing lightly outside," Vera said hesitantly, looking at the snowflakes falling outside the window. "Won't it be too cold?"

“No problem!” Harley said enthusiastically. “We can wear thicker clothes, and Black Lake in the snow must be beautiful!”

Seeing the expectant look in her eyes, Vera finally nodded.

Although she could probably guess that Harley didn't want to go to the library, which was why she chose an outdoor spot.

It's a big holiday, so let's not say anything even if we see through it.

Chapter 114 It's normal for good friends to hug each other.

Vera was a little distracted during breakfast because she hadn't seen Quirrell that morning.

But as the two returned to their dormitory, wrapped themselves in thick scarves and gloves, and were about to leave the castle, they saw Quirrell hurrying back from outside, the hem of his robe covered in mud and snow.

It seems that he stayed outside all night after escaping from the Forbidden Forest last night, only returning after confirming that Hogwarts was still peaceful.

“Professor Quirrell?” Harley greeted him instinctively. “Merry Christmas.”

Quirrell was clearly startled and stammered, "Merry, Miss Potter, Miss Black..."

His eyes darted around, and he hurried past them, not daring to meet their gazes, bringing with him a gust of cold wind.

Vera turned her head to look at his left arm, which he had instinctively covered as he left—the spot where she had left the wound on Quirrell the night before.

Harley watched his retreating figure, puzzled. "Did he just come back from off-campus? Vera, what do you think he did?"

Watching Quirrell's hurried departure, Vera murmured, "Who knows?"

"It'd better not be anything bad," Harley scoffed.

She still harbors those doubts about Quirrell.

Vera smiled without saying a word, and gently patted her hand: "Never mind that, aren't we going to Black Lake?"

“Ah…” Harley blinked and looked back again.

Well, she did have the urge to follow them and see what was going on.