Chapter 75. Birthday
After turning it over in his hand for a while, Severus shook his head and simply tossed the ring into his wallet.
"I'll figure it out later." Smiling, he stroked the owl's head and headed for the door. "Come on, I'll feed you."
Hoot! Hoot! As if understanding him, the owl happily rubbed against Severus's cheek. It still remembered the delicious fish it had been given a week ago.
"What a sly one!"
When he finally stepped into the house, Severus looked toward the living room. Everyone was there, even Eileen, who had asked to stay home.
"What is going on?" Severus took off his shoes and walked calmly toward the group, pushing open the living room door as he did so.
~ Pop! Pop!
At the loud pops, the startled owl took off from his shoulder with a frightened hoot, and the surprised Archmage was showered with confetti.
"Happy birthday!" all three shouted cheerfully, making Severus freeze for several seconds.
"Birthday?"
"Today is your birthday! Your mom told us! You shouldn't have hidden it!"
"And it's true. Today is already January ninth, which means that ring is most likely a gift from Malfoy." Grinning, he finally understood, though the lack of a letter was still strange. "Thank you. Honestly, I completely forgot about it." He stroked the delighted house-elves' heads, looked warmly at Nagini, and then turned to Eileen with a much more thoughtful gaze.
"Come on, thank your mom. She is the one who remembered!" Nagini wrapped her tail around his palm and pulled him toward the phantom.
For the first time since losing his family, Severus felt something like awkwardness.
"Um, thank you." He nodded with a strained smile. Eileen's eyes seemed to come alive. The earlier coldness faded, replaced by warmth. Smiling gently, she drifted closer and kissed his forehead.
"Happy... birthday."
"Cat got your tongue?" Nagini nudged his side, and when he finally came back to himself, he smiled bitterly. For a moment, Severus saw his mother's face, looking at him with the same tenderness as on his last birthday.
"... Thank you."
Noticing his strange expression, Nagini was a little surprised, and then, remembering Severus's story, she felt guilty.
"I can't wait to try the cake," Severus added with forced cheer to break the tension hanging in the air. He stroked Nagini on the head and looked at the house-elves. "Sit at the table, too."
"We wouldn't dare!" Nelly exclaimed, horror on her face, and Tobby nodded silently, sharing the sentiment.
"It's an order!"
"Y-yes!" they answered in chorus, but they only sat after Severus sat down first.
The cake wasn't very big, just an ordinary medium-sized one, but it was delicious. Few could compete with house-elves in cooking. After blowing out the candles, Severus cut it into four equal pieces and placed them in front of everyone. Then, taking a fifth plate, he touched the pocket watch hanging from his neck. A few seconds later, a fifth piece of cake appeared on it. Everyone was surprised because it was slightly transparent, but Eileen clearly liked it.
The next hour passed quietly. The house-elves were afraid to speak, few could understand Nagini, and Eileen had trouble speaking, but Severus still tried to keep some conversation going. Overall, it was pleasant compared to the last thirty holidays he hadn't celebrated at all.
That day, Severus decided to set aside the matter of the armor and spend the rest of the day with those closest to him.
As evening approached, Shafiq dropped by. He congratulated Severus in person and handed him a small box stuffed with letters, along with gifts that had arrived at the shop. There was a bit of everything: expensive robes, artifacts, rare ingredients, books, and more. Among them were a couple of cursed items with no return address. That was somewhat disappointing, but he would dispose of them in Knockturn Alley later, so he didn't give them much thought.
In the pile, he also found the letter from Malfoy that should have accompanied the ring. Someone had simply forgotten to include it. He also found a letter from Bella that, to his surprise, contained warm wishes and even a gift: a bracelet that delivered electric shocks whenever the wearer grew cheeky or arrogant.
He also liked Regulus's gift: a school robe made from expensive fabric, enchanted with curse-reflecting and self-cleaning charms. Severus had always worn the most ordinary robe and had never thought to charm it, so the gift was perfect.
Besides that, someone had sent him the latest model flying broom, a "Nimbus 1001." Severus stashed it at the bottom of his trunk, just in case. He still very much wanted children in the future, and he didn't trust the charms meant to protect that place at all. No one was immune to accidents, especially of that kind. Still, Severus wasn't in a hurry to sell the broom, because he already knew who he'd give it to.
Of course, he also had a lesson with Slughorn, and he didn't skip it even on Christmas. Slughorn congratulated him and had sent a rather rare book by Flamel, "The Laws of Alchemy." Severus had asked about the French wizard more than once, so the professor gave it as a gift, thinking Flamel was his idol.
All in all, the evening was great fun, especially writing replies to everyone.
Monday came again, the day he had to return to his studies. Putting on the new robe, which adjusted itself to fit him. Severus moved Eileen into the necklace. Then, letting Nagini climb onto him, he called the house-elf:
"Tobby."
Tobby appeared beside him and bowed silently. Severus snapped his fingers, and a moment later they arrived at Hogwarts, straight into Severus's room.
"Home, sweet home," the Archmage sighed, walking to the window. A beautiful view of the castle grounds and the nearby village lay beyond it.
Still, although the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons, the view here looked as if the room were on the top floor of Hogwarts. The charms Severus had seen before in the chief goblin's office turned the window into a kind of screen, displaying a view from elsewhere in the castle.
He tossed his robe onto a chair and sat on the bed.
"Severus."
"What?"
"Will you answer one question of mine?"
"Ask away." He nodded with interest.
"You have a huge amount of galleons. With your knowledge, and seeing how much you read, I can confidently say you could outclass any teacher, not to mention your combat skills. So why are you still staying here?" Nagini asked in bewilderment. She had been racking her brain over this for a long time and couldn't understand it, so she finally asked directly.
"It's very calm here, and I won't be able to study properly with Slughorn once I leave," Severus answered without thinking, looking at her. "I'm interested in runes and spells, and there are two real masters here. I also want to uncover all the secrets of this castle. Isn't that a good reason to stay another year and a half? It's not that long."
"Hmm, I still don't understand you." Nagini swayed side to side, but nodded anyway. "All right, it's not my business. Maybe it's for the best. It's much safer here than outside."
Severus didn't answer. He simply turned to Tobby.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, Master! I will not let you down!" Tobby exclaimed, thumping his chest.
"Good. Glad to hear it. Get ready. At six o'clock, we begin our performance."
Then, taking out a cauldron and a small table, Severus conjured ingredients onto it. He also pulled several hairs from his head and laid them on a glass plate.
"What are you doing?" Nagini asked, rising from her thoughts as she stared at the ingredients in surprise.
"A potion that will let us be in two places at once," Severus answered calmly, noting that the water was starting to boil. "You probably don't know this, but they have started suspecting me." He extended his hand and removed one of Nagini's scales, having used pain-relief charms in advance, of course.
"Hey!"
Because of you, by the way." He smiled and poked her displeased face.
"Me?"
"Yes. Lately we've been watched too closely, by both Death Eaters and the Ministry. After capturing one from each side, I learned they suspect there is no teacher. They think what happened in the cave and all those gangs were just staged performances to scare everyone, and it's all because of your coloring." Stirring the liquid in the cauldron, Severus dropped a leech into it. "But you can understand them. They don't want to believe such a terrifying wizard exists, so they invent all kinds of nonsense."
"Sorry."
"You take everything too much to heart." Severus smiled warmly at the saddened Nagini and stroked her head. "On the contrary, you've helped me a lot with this."
She tilted her head in confusion.
Now I can clear up this misunderstanding, so they won't even think twice about whether he's the same person as me.
Seeing the bloodthirsty grin on his face, Nagini understood there would definitely be casualties today.
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