Julian finally started opening his own presents while Ron and Harry watched with open curiosity.
First was the sweater Mrs. Weasley had made him. Cobalt blue.
Julian pulled it on with a smile, then reached for the next package, Hermione's. Like the others, it was candy, chocolate frogs. He unwrapped one and ate it immediately.
Daphne's gift came in a small package holding a neat little box. Inside it was a tiny white spark, and Julian recognized it instantly.
A cold fire flame seed.
...
Cold fire was a strange magical flame that formed in extremely frigid environments when a magical fire went out in exactly the right way. It was still one of the easier flames to obtain, thanks to a wizard who'd discovered how to create it artificially, but it was a wonderful gift regardless.
Julian stored it in Greed right away.
Tracy's gift was more chocolate frogs, and Julian was still pleased to get them.
Flitwick's present came next, a tome of crafting-related spells.
That was precious information, and Julian was eager to dive into it, but he held off and stored the book in Greed for later.
...
Hagrid had also sent Julian a gift, a bundle of demiguise fur.
Ron and Harry looked baffled until Julian explained that demiguise fur was used to make invisibility cloaks, like Harry's.
Julian knew Hagrid hadn't bought it. Like Harry's gift, it would have been collected personally, likely from the Forbidden Forest, which had a small population of demiguise within it.
And contrary to what people assumed, Hagrid was very wealthy, after years of collecting and selling discarded materials from the forest.
...
The last gift made Julian pause.
It was from Dumbledore, which surprised him, considering how tense things still were between them.
Inside was a quill made from a red-and-gold feather Julian recognized instantly as one of Fawkes's.
A note was attached. Julian read it quietly.
{Fawkes and I wish you the happiest of holidays and hope to see the marvels held in your future.
-Sincerely Albus Dumbledore.}
Julian checked the quill cautiously for any strange magic.
There was none.
It was a simple quill in function, though nothing about a phoenix feather was truly simple unless you were Dumbledore.
Julian stored it away, then stood.
"Hurry up and get dressed so we can go get breakfast," he said with a grin.
Ron and Harry scrambled for proper trousers.
...
The twins were already waiting in the common room, along with Ron's older brother, Percy.
"Oh?" Fred said with exaggerated surprise. "Would you look at that. Our favorite firstie and Harry both have Weasley sweaters, and even Ronikins has his own on."
Julian knew it was Fred because this twin had a ring on his left hand and the letter G on his sweater.
The twins had a habit of swapping identifiers like that, to the point that if you could sort out which was which, you could always rely on it afterward to know who was Fred and who was George.
"I take it you two were pleased with your gifts?" Julian asked, wearing a knowing smirk.
"Very much," George said eagerly. "Oh, the things we will accomplish!"
Ron looked suspicious. He knew his brothers, and the only thing that made them that excited was pranks.
...
He didn't get to press it, because Percy finally showed up without wearing his sweater, even though he was holding it.
The twins practically bullied him into spending the day with his family instead of vanishing off with the other prefects. To be fair, Percy didn't really fight them on it either.
Breakfast was special. The Great Hall had been decorated with Christmas themes everywhere, and even the enchanted ceiling showed floating holiday lights overhead.
Everyone was in a good mood. All the professors, even Snape, seemed slightly more receptive to the cheer of the day.
...
For Snape, Julian had created a book containing nothing but potion recipes lost to time, pulled from the "ancient" section of the library. The gift clearly pleased the man, because Snape was nowhere near as moody as usual.
Flitwick was flying loops overhead with his enchanted chakram, laughing like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And McGonagall had gathered an audience, using her Playmaker ring with obvious joy.