bacchusnovels Chapter 490 Christmas Morning
Chapter 490 Christmas Morning
Chapter 490 Christmas Morning
After a long time, when Daphne stepped into Sean's office again, she felt a sense of disorientation.
That despicable man sat upright in his chair, watching her arrive with a beaming smile.
Daphne walked straight up to him and, under Sean's incredulous gaze, quickly unbuttoned her coat.
Although Sean's expression was full of surprise—Daphne could feel those eyes staring at her intently, with a kind of unsettling eagerness.
"Enough nonsense." Daphne threw her coat on the ground and began unbuttoning her shirt. "You called me here just for this, didn't you?"
Sean shook his head, looking completely innocent.
"I just asked you to come and talk to me about some things."
"Things?" Daphne scoffed, unbuttoning the last button. Her white shirt slid down her shoulders, bunching at her ankles. She stood her ground, meeting his gaze without flinching. "Your mind is full of filthy thoughts; what serious matters could you possibly have?"
"Oh, I was actually thinking of talking about the Christmas ball." Sean stood up and took a step closer to her. "But since you're so eager—"
"Stop pretending!" Daphne interrupted him, reaching out to yank open her trousers, which fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Sean's gaze lingered on her, his eyes gradually growing deeper.
Daphne knew what he was looking at—she was wearing a pure white lace lingerie set today, a stark contrast to her black hair.
"You're right, I do have a lot of...dirty thoughts." His voice was low and hoarse, "but now they're becoming clearer."
He reached out, his fingertips lightly brushing against her bare abdomen. Daphne instinctively flinched, but he seized the opportunity to lean forward. The next moment, his hand was completely covering her waist.
"Have you thought about what price you're willing to pay?" His lips almost touched her ear, his warm breath spraying onto her sensitive earlobe.
Daphne swallowed hard, forcing herself to remain calm: "What do you think I can offer in return?"
"Many," he said. "For example, your pride, your dignity, the principles you've always upheld..."
His fingers slowly traced the curves of her body upwards, sending shivers down her spine wherever they touched. "And, your most precious first time."
Daphne's eyes widened.
"Impossible!" she exclaimed, clutching her chest tightly.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Unexpectedly, Sean suddenly laughed, his finger hovering in mid-air. "I meant your 'first time,' Daphne. Just your first time dancing with me."
Daphne stood there, stunned, unable to react for a moment.
"However, since you oppose my suggestion, we'll have to suffer a bit before we discuss dancing again—"
(There's an extra chapter, I'll add it later.)
On Christmas Day, everyone gets up very early.
Sean was no exception.
He was shaken awake from his sleep by Tonks, his eyes still blurry.
He didn't know when it started, but he and Tonks started sleeping together a few days a week.
Tonks pointed to the mountain of Christmas gifts piled up beside the bed—this year's gifts were more numerous than in previous years. In addition to familiar friends, there were book fans from all over the world, and even many officials from the Ministry of Magic, although Sean had only visited the Ministry of Magic a handful of times.
But who would forget their director during the important Christmas holiday?
What if—everyone else gave a gift, but he didn't? Wouldn't that be extremely awkward?
Sean was already used to these gifts.
Since he graduated, the number of Christmas gifts he receives has increased exponentially with each passing year.
This was especially true during the years when he was still hanging out in the Muggle world.
As people age, they come and go in their lives, but for "big shots," their interpersonal relationships don't fall into the "come and go" situation—that is to say, their interpersonal relationships only increase with the years—and most people want to climb up to this level of relationships.
Sure enough, Sean even found the Zhang couple's Christmas gifts among the pile of presents.
He really liked the few bottles of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
As for the gifts Sean gave out, there was no change compared to last year.
It's still the same old thing.
For example, the gift given to Tonks was fully "used" and "tested" on her last night.
It's a wonderful gift.
Compared to Sean's pile of gifts, Tonks' gifts were rather few.
Only a handful—most of whom were classmates who were still studying at Hogwarts at the time—are now working in various fields of the wizarding world, and each has a bright future.
She casually flipped through the items until she opened one of the gifts, at which point her hand paused slightly.
"A gift from Miss Granger?"
Meanwhile, Harry's dormitory was also thrown into chaos.
The reason is—
When Harry woke up, he saw a pair of big, round green eyes staring at him, the eyes shining in the darkness.
The thing was very close to him, almost nose to nose.
"Dobby!" Harry cried out, quickly moving away from the house-elf, nearly falling off the bed in his haste. "Don't do this!"
"Dobby is so sorry, sir!" Dobby shrieked in alarm, leaping backward and covering his mouth with his long, thin fingers. "Dobby just wanted to wish Harry Potter a Merry Christmas and brought a present, sir! Harry Potter said yesterday that Dobby can come see him anytime, sir!"
Harry felt nauseous when he thought about what happened yesterday.
To keep his promise to Hermione, he and Ron spent over ten hours yesterday discussing house-elves' rights with her, almost without stopping.
They even proposed a plan for Shan Shan to use all her work time for studying.
This terrified Shining.
However, after all this effort, it wasn't entirely fruitless.
After repeated "persuasion" from the three people, Sparkle finally decided to learn from her senior, Dobby.
Seeing Dobby so close to him, Harry felt dizzy.
"Oh no, it's nothing, it's nothing, really." Harry hurriedly adjusted his posture, patted his face, trying to shake off the drowsiness. "Dobby, you did a great job last night, I mean, you really didn't have to come so early."
Dobby's eyes lit up. "Good morning, sir! Dobby has always felt that Harry Potter is too busy to make his own present, so I decided to come early this morning to wish you a Merry Christmas!"
Harry felt a surge of unease. He recalled the "rules" and "traditions" he had explained to Gilgamesh and Dobby the night before, and his lips twitched slightly. "Thank you, Dobby," he said with a forced smile as he accepted the oddly shaped little package. Inside was a strange booklet with the title "The Self-Cultivation of House-Elves" on the cover.
"What is this?!" Harry touched his forehead, staring wide-eyed at the booklet.
"This is a gift for Mr. Harry Potter." Dobby's tone was full of pride. "Dobby has heard of books like this. They talk a lot about how house-elves can improve themselves, learn what they like, have more choices, and even protect themselves with magic!"
L
Harry understood instantly.
Harry took Hermione's "blinking" transformation plan to heart, and the results were already evident.
"Well, thank you, it's a really special gift." Harry looked down at the booklet, a sudden headache creeping over him. "But Dobby, could we slow down a little, a little? I have some things to take care of."
Dobby remained unmoved, completely absorbed in building the "New World," barely noticing Harry's exhaustion. "No, sir! Dobby must remind you, sir. You need to look into the treatment of house-elves, especially those in the kitchen, like Sparkle!"
Harry's head started spinning; he'd been dragged into this before it even started. Just as he was feeling a bit awkward, Seamus came to his rescue, "Is someone attacking you, Harry?"
"No, it's Dobby," Harry whispered. "Go back to sleep."
"I'm not sleeping anymore—presents!" Simon said, seeing a large pile of things at the foot of his bed.
Ron, Dean, and Neville all suggested that since they were awake, they should get out of bed and check on everyone's gifts.
Harry turned to look at Dobby, who was standing nervously by his bedside.
"Can Dobby give his gift to Harry Potter?" Dobby asked tentatively in a high-pitched voice.
“Of course,” Harry said. “Well—I have something to give you too.” This was a lie; Harry hadn’t prepared a gift for Dobby, but he quickly pulled a pair of crumpled old socks from the box by his bedside.
These were his oldest and ugliest pairs of shoes, a dark yellow color, which originally belonged to his Uncle Vernon.
The socks were so wrinkled because Harry had been using them to cover his viewing mirror for over a year.
Now, he pulled out the endoscope, handed it to Dobby, and said with a smile, "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them up—"
Dobby's reaction was completely unexpected by Harry.
Its eyes lit up, and it almost jumped for joy. "Socks are Dobby's absolute favorite thing, sir!" it exclaimed, taking off its mismatched socks and putting on the pair Harry had given it. "I have seven, sir—but, sir—" It pulled the two socks up to its trouser legs, then suddenly its eyes widened in surprise. "The shopkeeper made a mistake, Harry Potter! They gave you two identical ones!"
"Oh dear, Harry, how come you didn't notice that?" Ron grinned as he climbed out of bed. "Hey, Dobby—here—take these two socks and mix and match. This is your sweater." He grabbed a pair of purple socks from the pile of wrapping paper on the bed, which he had just unpacked, along with the hand-knitted sweater that Mrs. Weasley had sent.
Dobby was so happy she almost cried. She bowed deeply, tears glistening in her eyes. "Sir, you are so kind!" she shrieked, bowing deeply to Ron, her eyes filled with excitement and gratitude. "Dobby knew you would become a great wizard, because you are Harry Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby never imagined you would be as generous, noble, and selfless as Harry Potter, willing to help house-elves."
"It's just a pair of socks." Ron smiled shyly, his ears slightly red, but he was also very happy. "Wow, Harry—" He unwrapped the gift Harry had given him; it was a Charlie Hebdo hat. "That's cool!" Ron haphazardly pulled the hat over his head, creating a fierce struggle between the hat and his hair.
"Dobby has to go, sir. We're already in the kitchen preparing for the Christmas feast!" Dobby said as he hurried out of the dormitory. As he left, he waved to Ron and the others, like a reluctant child, watching his departing figure with a hint of joy.
Compared to Dobby's mismatched socks, Harry's other gifts were undoubtedly much more upscale—of course, the Dursleys' gift was another story.
It was just a tissue, which was probably the lowest price ever recorded—Harry guessed they still hadn't forgotten the time he squeezed the fat tongue toffee.
Hermione gave him a book called "The Quidditch Teams of England and Ireland," which seemed like enough for him to read for a long time in his spare time; Ron gave him a bulging bag of dung bombs, which, although not very practical, made him laugh out loud; Sirius gave him a lightweight pencil sharpener with various gadgets for unlocking and untying knots, which Harry was particularly pleased with—it was not only a tool but also a symbol of "freedom"; Hagrid gave him a big box of candy with all his favorite flavors: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frog, Super Bubble Gum, and Buzz Bee Candy. Seeing these familiar packages gave Harry a warm feeling of comfort.
As for Professor Phillips, he also gave him something—one of which was maintenance tools for the rocket crossbow.
Of course, Mrs. Weasley would send a package every year as usual, containing a new sweater and a large pile of meat pies she had made herself.
The contents of this package seem to never change from year to year, but every time Harry sees it, it always warms his heart.
As Harry sorted through his gifts, he exchanged a meaningful glance with Ron. The two prepared to go downstairs for breakfast, walking all the way to the common room, where Hermione was already waiting.
This time, Hermione didn't mention the house-elves at all—perhaps because she seemed distracted by the upcoming Christmas ball that evening.
The three of them spent almost the entire morning in the Gryffindor Tower, where the students enthusiastically discussed the Christmas gifts they had received.
At lunchtime, they went to the auditorium and enjoyed a sumptuous Christmas dinner.
There were at least a hundred golden, crispy turkeys on the table, piled high with Christmas puddings of all sizes, and heaps of Kribitch Wizard Cookies.
It was afternoon, and there were less than eight hours until the Christmas ball.