Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1406: Christmas and Visiting

In the dark doorway, the girl curled up on the steps, humming a ballad softly.

It was a ballad from Norway, with a slow melody that carried a faint trace of sorrow.

Coupled with Elaine’s uniquely slightly husky voice, it felt as if one were being drawn into a beautiful painting.

Unfortunately, Elaine didn’t remember the lyrics and could only hum. She loved singing, but couldn’t remember the lyrics of any song.

Hermione and Ginny were much better than her in this regard.

Their styles were also different. Ginny knew a lot of Wizarding songs, most of which were cheerful and mostly songs of the Weird Sisters. This type of song suited her very well. Hermione was familiar almost exclusively with Muggle songs, many of which had become popular in recent years. They had relatively soothing tunes, beautiful melodies, and nice lyrics.

If Elaine’s melodies were like paintings, then Hermione’s songs were like stories.

The styles were different, but the common point was that they were all pleasant to hear and created a wonderful atmosphere.

The songs sung by Hermione, Elaine and Ginny left a deep impression on Evan, and he felt that this year’s Christmas Eve was especially meaningful.

Because he stayed up too late, he was woken up the next morning by the sound of Harry and Ron unwrapping their Christmas presents.

“Merry Christmas, Evan!”

“Merry Christmas!” Evan rubbed his eyes and sat up.

The light inside the house was a little dim, and the tiny window was almost completely obscured with snow.

The gifts under his bed had piled up like a small mountain. He had no idea when they were delivered, as they were clearly not there when he came back last night.

“What were you talking about just now?” Evan asked.

“About Lavender’s gift to Ron,” said Harry with a grin.

Evan looked at Ron, who was sitting bolt upright in bed in front of the window, holding what appeared to be a thick gold chain.

Dangling from the chain in large gold letters were the words: My sweetheart.

This was really an unusual Christmas gift among students!

“She can’t honestly think I’d wear it…” said Ron, sounding revolted, shoving the necklace out of sight under his pillow. “You two better not tell anyone, especially not Fred and George. I just don’t get it; how could she think I’d like something like that.”

“It’s actually a pretty nice gift, though the style is a bit … bold.”

“Honestly, Ron, have you ever let it slip that you’d like to go out in public with the words ‘My Sweetheart’ round your neck?” Harry asked with a smile.

“No, absolutely not. Things between us haven’t progressed as far as you two seem to think,” Ron protested.

“Yeah, you only went so far as snogging,” said Evan.

“Spending every possible minute snogging,” Harry added. “Yeah, real slow progress.”

“Evan, how far have you and Hermione gotten?” Ron quickly changed the target.

“It’s probably just kissing, but it requires Hermione’s permission, not as casual as you and Lavender,” said Evan, thinking of the previous night — singing in Ginny’s room and the moment under the covers with Hermione. Just before they left, Hermione had secretly given him a quick kiss.

That was all. The progress was actually quite slow…

After checking the Christmas presents, Evan and the other two went downstairs.

The girls got up even later than them and didn’t come until lunch time, looking like they hadn’t slept well yet.

As they sat down to Christmas lunch, everyone was wearing new sweaters, which Mrs. Weasley had given them as Christmas presents.

Everyone except Fleur (on whom, it appeared, Mrs. Weasley had not wanted to waste one) and Mrs. Weasley herself, who was sporting a brand-new midnight blue witch’s hat glittering with what looked like tiny starlike diamonds, and a spectacular golden necklace.

The necklace was as thick as the one Ron got for Christmas, but it was definitely solid gold.

“Fred and George gave them to me! Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Beautiful!”

“Quite nice.”

“Suit you very well, Mrs. Weasley.”

The group chimed in with compliments. Fred and George had been making a lot of money recently, which had significantly improved the Weasley family’s financial situation.

During this year’s Christmas holidays, Evan had noticed many new things in the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley no longer mentioned her past hopes of Fred and George working at the Ministry of Magic. The twins had proven themselves, and these changes were things a Ministry job could never have brought, especially after what had happened with Percy. In fact, Percy’s name seemed to have disappeared from the household; no one brought him up.

At the dining table, they chatted idly about Christmas presents, Hogwarts happenings, and even the Homeland of the House-Elves.

Bill and Fleur sat near the fireplace, openly displaying their affection. Fleur was feeding Bill bits of turkey off her own fork, and the rest of the people were staring at them.

Mrs. Weasley snorted in annoyance. She still hadn’t accepted Fleur as her future daughter-in-law.

She was about to say something to ask Fleur not to do it, but immediately she rose from her chair in a panic, her hand pressed over her heart, and stared out of the kitchen window.

“Arthur!” cried Mrs. Weasley. “Arthur — it’s Percy!”

“What?” Mr. Weasley looked around.

Everybody looked quickly at the window; Ginny stood up for a better look.

Elaine also looked around curiously. She had never seen Percy, but had only heard about him from the Weasleys.

There, sure enough, was Percy Weasley, striding across the snowy yard, his horn-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight. He was not, however, alone.

“Arthur, he’s — he’s with the Minister!”

And sure enough, Rufus Scrimgeour was following along in Percy’s wake.

More than two years ago, Evan had seen Scrimgeour and spoken a few words to him after the Quidditch World Cup incident caused by the vampire attack. He looked much older than he was then, but still very energetic. He was wearing slightly tattered wizard’s robes, his mane of graying hair and his black cloak were flecked with snow.

Before any of them could say anything, before Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could do more than exchange stunned looks, the back door opened and there stood Percy.

There was a moment’s painful silence. Then Percy said rather stiffly, “Merry Christmas, Mother.”

“Oh, Percy!” said Mrs. Weasley, and she threw herself into his arms.

Rufus Scrimgeour paused in the doorway, leaning on his walking stick and smiling as he observed this affecting scene.

“You must forgive this intrusion,” he said, when Mrs. Weasley looked around at him, beaming and wiping her eyes. “Percy and I were in the vicinity — working, you know — and he couldn’t resist dropping in and seeing you all.”

But Percy showed no sign of wanting to greet any of the rest of the family.

He stood, poker-straight and awkward-looking, and stared over everybody else’s heads. Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George were all observing him, stony-faced, especially the twins, who looked as if they were grinding their teeth in fury.

Anyone could see that the Minister’s visit was planned and deliberate.

As Evan had guessed the night before, Scrimgeour’s real targets were him and Harry!

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