Hogwarts: Me? Fight Voldemort?

Jimmy chuckled awkwardly, "Is it too late for me to say this now?"

"Is it the kind of magic that can turn stones into gold?" Uncle George was intensely curious about alchemy and Jimmy's gift. He frowned and hesitated for a while, but decided to save the surprise for the actual Christmas. "Never mind, it'll be more meaningful to save the gift for tomorrow... Ugh, you've kept me up tonight, Jimmy."

"Thank you, Jimmy. Since it's a gift, let's save it for Christmas. I should get ready for dinner now. Jimmy, you and Hermione can go upstairs and tidy up the guest rooms."

Aunt Mia was equally curious, and she also chose to save the gift for tomorrow, though she wasn't as extravagant as Uncle George.

"I'll help you carry your luggage upstairs." Uncle George volunteered for the job, putting Hermione's suitcase into the Unmarkable Expansion Charm Box and carrying it upstairs excitedly.

Hermione's emotions came and went quickly. She grabbed Jimmy and excitedly ran upstairs, saying, "Come on, you live next door to me."

Once back in this familiar environment, she was in a state of excitement, talking even more than she did at school.

Hermione had never had any friends come to her house before, or rather, she had never had any friends at all before. Jimmy was the first, and she wanted Jimmy to feel at home.

Jimmy let Hermione pull him upstairs. There were only four rooms upstairs: a master bedroom, a second bedroom, a study, and a guest room.

Because they rarely have guests, the bedding in the guest room was all newly bought. The room wasn't big, and it had been tidied up a few days ago, so there was no need to tidy it up again.

They just need to take out what they need, such as a cup and a toothbrush.

Besides a change of clothes, Jimmy's suitcase also contained some handicrafts he had made using the Cutting Charm. He had made these after learning the Cutting Charm and planned to take them to a pawn shop to sell them for pounds and then use the money to buy snacks and Galleons.

There were also some of Hermione's books and newspapers in the suitcase, for Uncle George and Aunt Mia to read.

Would you like to come and see my room?

Hermione excitedly grabbed Jimmy and, without waiting for his reply, led him to the next room to show off her collection.

A bookshelf crammed with all sorts of books, books Hermione has read since childhood. There are all kinds of books, but most of them are popular science books, and a few novels.

"This is the first book I ever read, the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was a birthday gift from my dad. He said I could learn a lot from it, so I've been reading it ever since. I can even recite the contents of the book."

Oh, there's no need to make it sound so terrifying!

Just looking at the book, which was as thick as a child's fist, Jimmy was already starting to feel sleepy.

Hermione opened the drawers and cabinets again, taking out various certificates and medals she had packed when she left home. "These are the awards I won in various competitions, but I still prefer to receive the Hogwarts Contribution to the School Award. They may not be as good as yours."

"Don't be like that, I'm scared." Jimmy wiped away imaginary sweat and comforted him, "You don't need to compare yourself to me. We're not good at the same things. Your talent lies in memory and application. At least in that respect, I'm definitely not as good as you."

If he hadn't known that Hermione's actions were unintentional, he would have suspected that Hermione was trying to increase his strength.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, I'll submit it first.

Hermione pursed her lower lip, then smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'm just... happy. No friends have ever come to my house before, and I don't even know how to keep you company. Read a book?"

"Let's skip reading and chat instead, it's a rare holiday."

Jimmy pulled out a chair stored under the desk and sat down, grinning, but in his mind he was planning to get Hermione to work again.

Chapter 60 Unwrapping Gifts

After some casual conversation, Jimmy successfully persuaded Hermione to help him sell handicrafts.

Jimmy gave Hermione one of the wooden figurines he had carved based on her, and it looked quite nice on her desk.

The wood carvings created by the cutting spell are lifelike and exquisite; once painted, they look just like real people.

Hermione really liked the wood carving, which was also part of her payment for the work, done to avoid splitting the money with her.

Jimmy wasn't sure if the pawnshop would accept his wood and stone carvings. Although he was very confident in his magical wood carvings, if they didn't accept them, he would have no choice but to sell them as handicrafts at a street stall.

Besides, you can't just bring wood carvings directly in a suitcase, can you? If an ordinary person saw him constantly taking things out of his small suitcase that were clearly too big to fit, wouldn't that scare them?

Therefore, Hermione was a good source of labor; he could bring the suitcase to the vicinity of the pawn shop, and then take the items out in the alley and carry them together with Hermione.

The atmosphere at Granger's house on Christmas Eve didn't change because of the addition of an outsider; in fact, it became a bit more lively because of Jimmy's arrival.

The family of three, along with Jimmy, ate roast goose for dinner, shared dessert cake by candlelight, and then sat together on the sofa to watch the news on TV.

This Christmas Eve was the most turbulent since the end of World War II, because the television news was not broadcasting normal programs, but rather analyses of the current situation of the Far Eastern superpower.

As time went on, the international situation became increasingly clear.

Uncle George sighed, but also with a touch of pride for living in the Western world, "I never imagined things would turn out this way. It's still better here."

Jimmy was also saddened, but he disagreed with Uncle George's assessment that the place was good.

But Uncle George seemed to be getting carried away with his talkativeness, and he started discussing the current international situation with Jimmy.

Sure enough, no man can resist the allure of such a grand topic; when it comes to important matters, men always have a lot to say.

Once the topic was brought up, Jimmy immediately perked up and started talking at length.

The analysis from a futuristic perspective made Uncle George's eyes light up. For a moment, he forgot about Jimmy's age and chatted enthusiastically with Jimmy, still not wanting to stop even when it was time to rest.

Christmas Eve passed in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. The next morning, Jimmy was woken up by Hermione, who barged into his room.

"Get up and have breakfast, open your presents! I'm waiting for you downstairs, hurry up and get up."

Jimmy rubbed his eyes, got up, and looked at Hermione, only to see the brown-haired man disappear through the door. He yawned before slowly getting up to go to the public restroom to wash up.

The room was filled with the aroma of breakfast, the same old things: bread, ham, bacon, milk, some soybeans, and leftover roast goose from last night.

Only Aunt Mia was in the restaurant. When she saw Jimmy come out, she smiled and pointed towards the living room, "Good morning, Jimmy. Hermione and the others are in the living room opening their presents."

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Instead of going to the living room, Jimmy went to the bar to help set the plates on the table and place the cutlery and glasses.

Aunt Mia tossed the shredded meat with olive oil and other seasonings, then took off her gloves and reached out to pat Jimmy's head. "Thank you, you're so thoughtful. Let's go open the presents together, I think they're all waiting impatiently."

When they arrived in the living room, Hermione had already helped distribute the gifts, and there were several owls waiting in line outside the living room window.

Jimmy received many gifts; boxes of various sizes were piled up almost like a small mountain. The owls outside were also there to deliver gifts to him.

"Jimmy, you have so many gifts!" Hermione's voice was tinged with envy; her gifts were only from a few friends and her parents.

Uncle George and Aunt Mia were both surprised, but Jimmy was not.

"Because I gave gifts to almost all the students at the school, these were their return gifts."

As expected, there were still too many gifts. Jimmy gestured with his hand, and the gifts were piled up to his chest.

"I went upstairs to bring the suitcase down, otherwise it wouldn't fit."

They turned around, went upstairs to get the box, and started unpacking the gifts together.

Uncle George and Aunt Mia also opened the two gifts Jimmy had given them. Jimmy's gift to Uncle George was a metal arm guard that wasn't very useful but was very exquisite.

The only purpose of the intricate gear structure on top is to make it spin freely after being fully wound up, while the real effect is to pop out a flat, glowing rod from below the wrist. It is more of a decorative item than a practical one.

"Wow! This is amazing! Did you really make this, Jimmy? I love it! It's a work of art!"

This extremely simple alchemical creation excited Uncle George so much that he kept popping the glowing stick back and forth, having a great time.

The gift for Aunt Mia was a pair of delicate silver crescent-shaped earrings, designed to emit a subtle fragrance, the scent of which depended on what fragrance Aunt Mia usually carried.

She loved the shimmering light of the crescent moon earrings, loved the tiny, almost invisible threads suspending several diamond-shaped glass pieces, loved the sparkle they emitted under the light, making her eyes sparkle as well.

Although Aunt Mia is called "Auntie," she is still very young. She has no worries about food or drink and no unruly children to take care of. Now at thirty-four, her face is still smooth and delicate, and her body is still tender and juicy...

cough!

Jimmy turned his gaze to Hermione, whose reaction was similar. The gift she unwrapped was a white headband, which, apart from being exquisitely made, didn't have any special effects. However, the material was quite unique; it was unicorn tail hair from Hagrid.

It's beautiful; it allows Hermione to tuck her messy, frizzy hair behind her ear so it doesn't obstruct her view.

I haven't been studying alchemy for very long, and I haven't made many special tools, but I have learned a pretty good material processing skill.

The precision of the cutting spell is comparable to that of modern machine tools, enabling many of Jimmy's ideas to be realized.

"Thank you, I love this gift!" Hermione put the headband on her head, which at least made her unruly hair, which couldn't be straightened, a little more comfortable.

Jimmy also opened the gifts Hermione and Uncle George had given him. Hermione had given him a red scarf that wasn't very well woven, and Uncle George had given him a beautiful pen.

"I made this myself, so it might not be that pretty..." Hermione looked at the scarf with holes big enough for a finger to pass through, feeling a little awkward. Compared to Jimmy's gift, this scarf was indeed not as good.

Jimmy didn't mind. He wrapped the scarf around his neck and said, "It's warm, that's enough. And Uncle George's pen, I really like it."

He never likes to say thank you to people he's close to; it makes him feel distant.

"I'm glad you like it." Uncle George was still fondling the arm guard in his hand, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I should have prepared a better gift for you."

Jimmy quickly replied, "I'm already very grateful that you let me stay for a week during the holidays."

Chapter 61 You can only earn it once.

After breakfast, Hermione and her family helped Jimmy unpack his gifts. They unpacked a lot of candy and snacks, and Jimmy picked out a few more important gifts to unpack himself.

For example, Professor McGonagall's gift to Jimmy was a new quill pen and a self-refilling bottle of ink, probably because she noticed that Jimmy was still using a ballpoint pen he had found.

Jimmy actually wanted to follow local customs and use a quill pen, but a quill pen costs 1 gallon!

He'd rather use that Galleon to buy snacks than waste it on a single feather!

Professor Flitwick also gave Jimmy a gift: a box of cookies, along with a thoughtful little note saying they were savory.

Thank you, Professor Flitwick, for the savory biscuits. Jimmy ate a few and then put them aside.

Surprisingly, Professor Dumbledore also gave him a gift—a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans…

Harry gave him a book of household spells, Ron gave him some cheap snacks, and Neville gave him a box of chocolate frogs.

Draco understands me best; he gave me 20 Galleons. I'll have to look after him when I get back.

Jimmy happily put the 20 Galleons into his pocket and shared the snacks he had opened with Uncle George and Aunt Mia. He knew he couldn't finish them all by himself, so he would have to share them eventually.

Christmas morning passed by amidst the surprises of unwrapping gifts. After a short rest after lunch, the Queen delivered her televised address in the afternoon.

When I went out for a walk that evening, the news on TV reported the collapse of the Eastern European building; the red giant had disintegrated.

This news made the Grangers abandon their plan to go out, as they feared the chaos would spread to Britain, although this fear turned out to be unnecessary.

The profound changes will take at least a month to unfold, and ordinary people in Britain will not perceive anything at all; at most, it will become a topic of conversation during their leisure time.

On the third day, Jimmy and Hermione took a bus out to pawn their wood and stone carvings.

The pawnshop was the one Jimmy knew, right next to the secondhand market.

After arriving nearby, they pulled Hermione into a small alley and packed all the items they wanted to sell into boxes.

Jimmy was also carrying a backpack filled with heavy stone carvings, and he and Hermione carried the box toward the pawn shop.

"Good weight!"