Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 341 Christmas Gift
Despite the teachers assigning a lot of homework to fourth-grade students during the holidays, almost no one except Hermione was interested in doing their homework after the semester ended.

The week before Christmas, everyone had a great time playing together.

The number of people in the Gryffindor Tower was almost the same as before the holiday, and the tower seemed to have shrunk because the people living inside were much noisier than usual.

Fred and George's canary cookies sold very well; in the first day or two of the holiday, people would suddenly grow feathers all over their bodies.

However, the Gryffindor students soon learned their lesson and became very wary of the food handed to them, lest there was a canary biscuit hidden in it.

Of course, this did not prevent them from suffering misfortune, because, according to rumors, George and Fred were researching a cookie that could turn people into toads.

Christmas arrived with a heavy snowfall, with snowflakes fluttering down on the castle and grounds.

Beauxbatons' light blue carriage looked like a large, frosty pumpkin in winter, and the gingerbread house next to it, sprinkled with icing sugar, was Hagrid's little cabin.

The gunwales of Durmstrang's ship were covered with a layer of ice, making them smooth and shiny, and the sails were also covered with a layer of white frost.

The house-elves in the basement kitchen were busy cooking, preparing a variety of hot stews and sweet puddings.

On Christmas morning, Harry woke up early and immediately looked around—

Harry found a delicate little box on the headboard of his own bed.

The small box was wrapped in light blue gift paper with a starry sky pattern, and a note was attached to the box:
Merry Christmas, and may wisdom and reason always be with you—Tiera

Harry excitedly and carefully unwrapped the package, opened the box, and took out the contents—

It was a deck of twenty-two palm-sized cards, made in the style of wizarding playing cards, with a Tyrell depicted in the picture frame of each card.

Some of the Tiera wore triple crowns, held scepters of the cross, and wore bright red papal robes; their names on the wizard cards were written as "V - The Pope".

Other playing cards depict Tiera with a human head and a serpent's body, holding her own tail in her mouth. At each of the four corners of the card are a lion, an eagle, a bull, and an angel, all with Tiera's face. On top of the human-headed, serpentine Tiera lies a winged sphinx with Tiera's face. The card's name field reads "X - The Wheel of Fortune".

Other playing cards depict Tiera hanging upside down from a tree, arms outstretched, his body forming an inverted cross, while countless sharp spears pierce his flesh. The name column reads "XII - The Hanged Man".

Other cards depict an angel resembling a Tiera blowing a trumpet, with countless Tiera rising from countless coffins below, looking up at the sky. The cards read "XX - The Judgement".

Besides these, there is Tiera sitting on a chariot in a rust-colored robe; there is Tiera in a colorful theatrical costume carrying luggage, about to embark on a long journey; there is Tiera dressed in women's clothing, sitting on a throne, wearing a crown of golden olive branches, surrounded by barley, mushrooms, and rice paddies; there is Tiera draped in a black robe, with half her face a skull, carrying a scythe...

There are twenty-two cards in total, ranging from 0 to XXI, from "The Fool" to "The World." Every card, whether depicting a person or another animal, features Tiera's face.

This includes the little dog following the Fool, which is also Tiera's face; the lion in the Strength card; the two warhorses in the Chariot card; and so on...

Each Tiera on every card has its eyes closed, giving the otherwise ornate deck an indescribable eeriness.

"Merry Christmas, Harry." As Harry looked at the cards one by one, Tyrell returned from washing up and said with a smile, "May madness be gone, and may wisdom and reason always be with us."

“Uh…what?” Harry asked, puzzled.

“It’s alright,” Tyella said with a smile. “Merry Christmas, Harry. Do you like this Christmas present?” “I love it!” Harry said with a smile. “Thank you, Tyella! I really like this present!”

“I’m glad you like it,” Tierra said with a smile.

“Oh, right, I also prepared a present for you!” Harry said, reaching for a gift box from his bedside table. But suddenly, as Harry turned around, his gaze fell upon Ron's bed. Beside Ron's pillow was an identical gift box with a note attached that read:

Merry Christmas, and may wisdom and reason always be with you—Tiera

……

As the sun rose, the students and teachers of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons gradually awoke from their slumber.

Throughout Hogwarts Castle, students, teachers, even dormitory supervisor Fitch, librarian Mrs. Pince, Mrs. Pomfrey from the school hospital, Mrs. Rosie, and Nicholas Flamel's alchemical droid, all found, after groggily waking up, a beautifully wrapped little gift box on their bedside table or beside their pillow. A note was attached to the box, which read:

Merry Christmas, and may wisdom and reason always be with you—Tiera

……

Harry, Ron, and Tyella met in the Gryffindor common room.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione." Tyrell asked with a grin after seeing Hermione, "Do you like my Christmas present?"

"Hmph..." Hermione put on a sour face, glanced at Tyella, and didn't say anything.

Harry also had a sour face—

Harry started to feel a little unhappy after seeing that Ron, Neville, and Seamus all had the same gifts as him on their bedside tables.

Upon learning that the Weasley twins and others had received the exact same gift as him, Harry's unhappiness instantly turned into a "sullen face."

"That's awesome!" Ron exclaimed, completely oblivious to the situation, with the tarot deck tucked into his pocket. "That's so cool! You're a genius, Tierra!"

“Hehe, I’m glad you like it,” Tierra said. “May madness be gone, and may wisdom and reason always be with us.”

"Wh-what?" Ron asked, puzzled.

Hermione looked at Tyella with some confusion.

“No, it’s nothing,” Tierra said with a smile. “It’s just a sentence I read in a book, and I think it makes a lot of sense.”

“Let’s go have breakfast,” Tierra added. “Don’t forget we have a Christmas ball tonight. We need to fill our stomachs so we don’t have to worry about the girls tonight…”

Tierra glanced at Hermione, "So that we won't be too tired to dance with the girls and hunks tonight."

There will be another update in a little while!
Thank you Mad Hatter for voting for January!
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(End of this chapter)