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Before this, Robert had never known that Ron's voice could be so penetrating—it was clearly audible from several dormitories away.
It seemed Hedwig had not disappointed Harry's expectations and had flown back in time for Christmas.
This way, he could accept the seven Galleons Harry gave him with a clear conscience.
Strictly speaking, this was Harry's second wand and wasn't eligible for a discount. But since it was for Ron, Robert didn't make a fuss about it.
He simply mentioned it in a letter to his grandfather, asking him to list this wand under Ron Weasley's name.
That way, they could conveniently claim the wand subsidy from the Ministry of Magic later.
In any case, they weren't losing anything.
Five minutes passed, and Ron was still shouting from the other side of the dormitory.
Robert ignored him and continued opening his own gifts.
The second long, slim box was from his grandfather. Inside was a section of yellowish-brown wood with a layer of brown, grid-like scales on the surface—resembling snake scales at first glance.
Robert carefully held the branch in his hand. Cyathea spinulosa—also called snakewood. Though it looked like a tree, it was a type of fern.
Because of this unique nature, Bowtruckles were almost impossible to find on snakewood. Only a very few such trees might, by chance, earn their favor and become magical wood fit for wand-making.
It's worth noting that Salazar Slytherin's wand was made of snakewood.
And something that came from his grandfather as a Christmas gift certainly wouldn't be ordinary snakewood.
Robert rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It seemed his grandfather had once again found something rare while he was away at school.
Once the holidays ended, Robert knew he'd have to find another excuse to visit the warehouse.
While musing on this, he opened the third package...
It was a large bag of candy from Hermione—not Honeydukes sweets, but Muggle candy in five or six different flavors.
There were also five Galleons from Harry (a simple but truly heartfelt gift).
In addition to that, Ron had given him a quill, Neville a chocolate frog card, and Seamus a packet of dried fish snacks for pets—complete with a cartoon cat on the packaging.
Robert doubted Tom would eat that kind of junk food.
Professor McGonagall also sent a gift—a full twenty issues of Transfiguration Today magazine.
Robert was rather puzzled by how accurately the Professor had reciprocated his gift.
He hadn't told her in advance about the wand he gifted her, and yet she had responded, being the only professor who gave him a gift in return.
Was it house-elves? Or some kind of name magic?
Robert didn't dwell on it too long. He casually grabbed a magazine and stepped out of the dormitory.
Outside, Fred and George were egging on their younger brother to put on a dark purplish-red sweater.
They themselves wore the same style of sweater—only blue—with two extra letters on the chest.
George's had a yellow "F" and Fred's a yellow "G."
Mrs. Weasley must have designed them like that to tell them apart, though clearly the design was useless; the twins deliberately wore them inside out.
Robert walked past the group and headed to the common room.
He planned to see if anyone was at Hagrid's, and then head over to the Great Hall.
However, just as Robert descended the spiral staircase, he suddenly froze, staring in disbelief at the middle-aged man with glasses seated in one of the armchairs.
For a moment, Robert thought he hadn't slept well the night before and was seeing things.
Otherwise, why would he see his father in the Gryffindor common room?
This must be a hallucination...
"Hey, Robert! What are you standing there for?" the man smiled and waved.
"No… it's real!"
"What's real?" Ryan Ollivander smiled and adjusted his glasses.
"What, are you surprised to see me?"
"Very surprised," Robert said. "Wait—if you're here, then Mom isn't...?"
"She's by the girls' dormitory," Ryan said with a smile.
"Alright..."
Robert took a deep breath, needing a moment to accept that his Christmas gift was, apparently, a visit from his parents at school.
Then he couldn't help but mentally review everything he'd done recently—only after confirming there was no danger of a parent-teacher meeting did he relax a little.
"Why did you come?"
"Consider it making up for lost time. After all, we weren't around when you started school," Ryan said.
"It's rare for us to be back in England, so of course we came to see you. Since you're not coming home for the holidays, coming to school is the next best thing. Oh, and your mother's here too."
As he spoke, Robert's mother, Lila Ollivander, walked over from the girls' dormitory and pulled him into a hug.
"Darling, don't mind your grandfather's old-fashioned thinking," Lila said, kissing Robert's forehead.
"I've looked into it—Gryffindor is actually quite a good house."
She clearly remembered the letter Robert had sent at the beginning of the school year.
"You said it was a reckless and impulsive academy, but that was years ago. Not everyone is Godric Gryffindor. Is Minerva reckless and impulsive?"
"My grandfather doesn't really mind it that much," Robert said, trying to defend him a little.
"But how did you get in?" Robert couldn't help asking the part he found most puzzling.
"I thought Hogwarts doesn't usually let parents just walk in, right?"
"It's not usually allowed," Ryan said, "but we have other ways. We've been friends with Pomona Sprout for many years.
Coming to visit an old friend for Christmas? Dumbledore wouldn't refuse that."
"Of course, we also came to see you," Lila added.
She glanced around the layout of the common room, then turned to Ryan and whispered,
"You were right—this place really is a bit less elegant than Beauxbatons."
"I heard that," Robert said, twitching the corner of his mouth.
In truth, before he decided to attend Hogwarts, the issue of his schooling had been a frequent point of family debate.
His grandfather had firmly supported Hogwarts, while Lila believed Beauxbatons was superior and had rallied Ryan and Robert's grandmother to her side.
Finally, there was his aunt, who championed Ilvermorny.
These three camps argued endlessly every time the topic came up.
In the end, Robert himself chose Hogwarts, putting an end to the war of opinions.
"I've already started school. I can't just transfer to Beauxbatons now, can I?" Robert spread his hands, hoping to end the conversation.
Just then, several of the Weasley siblings and Harry came into the common room.
They, too, were surprised to see Robert's parents there.
But the smart Weasleys didn't ask questions. Fred and George even warmly greeted the couple and offered to act as guides.
However, Ryan and Lila politely declined the offer.
Instead, they brought out the Christmas gifts they had prepared and handed them out to everyone.
A dried Bubble-Pod.
The object would bounce and roll uncontrollably upon hitting the ground—essentially a magical version of a bouncy ball.
It was considered a relatively trendy toy among wizard children.
The one Robert received was also a bouncy ball, demonstrating that his parents had been quite fair in their gift-giving.
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