Until the 17th century, "Roman Empire" remained the official designation used by Western historians for this empire. In 1557, the German historian Hieronymus Wolf, while compiling the "Manuscripts of Byzantine Historians," introduced the term "Byzantine Empire" to distinguish between classical Greek literature of the Roman period and medieval Greek literature of the Byzantine Empire.
"True enough." Pabi thought for a moment, then couldn't suppress his innate British talent: "But I would refer to a certain period in France as the 'Vichy Regime'."
This joke was something Pabi heard Vivi say one day when poking fun at France.
Just at that moment, Vivi, who was standing on a stool decorating the window, suddenly slipped and fell into Harry's arms.
"Shameless," Cassandra muttered under her breath.
There were two reasons: as a grown witch, Vivi should use magic spells to adorn the house, rather than clumsily standing on a stool to decorate like a Muggle woman.
Secondly, Cassandra knew Vivi's flying talents were second only to Harry's, so how could such a nimble and balanced woman fall from a stool?
What a joke! Cassandra would rather believe there are no ghosts in the world!
Pabi covered his mouth and chuckled quietly from the side.
The sky outside was growing whiter, seemingly about to snow.
As noon approached, the whole house was newly adorned. The ceiling was full of holly and gold and silver streamers, magical snowflakes piled brightly on the luxurious Persian carpet, and a large Christmas tree brought by Little Sirius obscured the family tree. It was decorated with living elfs, and even the little elfs heads on the hall walls wore Santa hats and beards.
"Quite amusing, isn't it?" Little Sirius said with a smile, embracing Miss Fari's shoulder as he glanced at the heads with Santa hats.
Miss Fari's cheeks were flushed, as if she had drunk too much eggnog.
"I think Miss Fari is moving up in rank," Harry whispered to Vivi, "Maybe next time when you, as the Minister of Magic, see her, you'll have to call her godmother?"
"During work, you refer by title," Vivi replied with a smile, not giving Harry a chance to tease her.
By the way, they also hung Christmas decorations on Walburga's portrait.
Walburga was a bit reluctant at first, but when she saw it was Vivi decorating, she gladly accepted it.
As she put it, having Miss Grindelwald adorn her portrait is a blessing!
The house-elves prepared a sumptuous Christmas Eve dinner, bringing everyone together, chatting about cheerful things without touching on anything unpleasant.
After dinner, Harry sat in the living room for a while, then returned to his room.
Creak—
The door to his room opened, and the girls streamed in.
"Tomorrow's the holiday," Pabi bounced behind Harry, suddenly hugging him from behind and asking, "What do you plan to give me as a gift?"
Harry really wanted to say the coach's violating rule! No crashing with the Ghost Flying Ball—but this wasn't a Quidditch match, and Quidditch indeed allows ball collision—of course, Pabi wasn't a Chaser.
"I can't tell you beforehand, Pabi, it's tradition," Harry replied and patted Pabi's waist.
"Alright then," Pabi released Harry's arm, bounced towards the large bed, and flopped down.
"Ah!" She rolled happily on the bed, "So comfortable, ah—"
Cassandra turned her face aside, clearly disgusted.
Vivi watched Pabi with a smile, looking quite doting.
"By the way," Vivi said to Harry, "I already talked to Jemma about that thing, and she... um, seemed a bit happy."
"I trust your handling," Harry nodded.
The next morning when Harry woke up, he found his room piled with gifts.
There were many gifts, but all for him alone, as the other three girls, though in his room, had their gifts delivered to their own rooms.
First was Vivi's gift, a statue of a boy riding a Fire Crossbow Arrow with a Princess Crown in hand.
This small statue immediately took Harry back to Christmas of 1888.
That's when he first met Vivi, helping her out of a predicament.
Harry smiled, noticing the statue grinning back at him, looking a bit amusing.
He really liked the gift and placed it in the most prominent spot on the bedside.
Next was Cassandra's gift—again a robe, which he couldn't resist sniffing, filled with Cassandra's fragrance.
No doubt, another second-hand garment.
The scent was so ingrained.
He placed the clothes on the bed and opened Pabi's gift.
Pabi's gift was her co-edited "Where to Find Magical Creatures," and a unicorn tail hair, likely one she produced herself.
Not bad, Harry smiled and set the gift aside.
Annie's gift was a hand-knitted cardigan, suitable with a shirt underneath the school robe, missing the "H" that Mrs. Weasley might weave, but the gold and red were pure Gryffindor colors.
Little Sirius and Lupin gifted Harry a beautifully illustrated book: "How to Become a True Seeker," featuring animation diagrams of various feints, especially with a 'Lansky Feint,' illustrated by Victor.
Harry flipped through the book, feeling very satisfied with the gift.
Though he possessed some natural talent as a Seeker, it was still a far cry from mastery.
In this area, Harry remained humble, believing in the relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Hagrid gifted him a fur pouch with fangs, likely an anti-theft feature. Harry thought there was a good chance the bag might bite off fingers when money was put inside.
This pouch... Though it seemed interesting, he wondered if enlarging it and throwing it would show a resemblance to Biting Kale?
Would have to try it out when the chance arises!
Hermione's gift was a small Fire Crossbow Arrow model, flying around the room, a delight to Harry.
Ron gifted him a large box of Flavored Beans, while the Weasleys' gift was knit sweaters and meat pies, with a large "H" on them.
Notably, this time there wasn't just one for Harry, but also for Vivi, Cassandra, Pabi, Annie, and even Little Sirius.
Kreacher's gift was an ugly painting; Harry suspected it was drawn by the aging elf himself.
He opened all gifts, sorted and packed them, listening to Little Sirius singing "God Bless You, Merry Animagus," heading down the stairs with crisp footsteps behind.
The sound seemed to be Miss Fari's high heels.
Oh, no wonder Little Sirius was so cheerful.
"Opening gifts?" Vivi asked with a smile over Harry's shoulder.
"Yes." Harry nodded and took out the sweater meant for Vivi: "Here, this is from Mrs. Weasley—for you, V for Vivi."
"What a lovely sweater." Vivi admired the garment, saying, "Is it knitted by Mrs. Weasley herself? I love it."
"Of course it is," Harry replied with a smile, "I was surprised when I first received a sweater from Mrs. Weasley during my first year—but since then, she knits the same sweater for me every year."