Chapter 47: A Gift—The Book of Friends
Time at school flew by heart-breakingly fast; almost in the blink of an eye, it was time to leave.
As the first-year students lined up to depart, following Hagrid, the few who chose to stay behind stood by the windows, watching them with envy. In truth, Wade also envied those students—they could freely stay at school for two weeks, practically having the library and Potions Class all to themselves, and could consult with professors anytime, almost like one-on-one tutoring.
Wade sighed.
If Fiona hadn't been looking forward to his return home for the past month, Wade would have genuinely wanted to stay at school.
Of course, coming home felt good too.
After being away for half a year, his parents' accumulated longing and love almost exploded the moment they saw him. Fiona hugged him at least ten times a day and would lovingly kiss his forehead at random intervals. Ferdinand was a bit more reserved, but he also frequently ruffled his hair and patted his shoulder.
In the few months at school, Wade had grown three centimeters taller. Because he climbed stairs all day and would exercise for ten to thirty minutes after sitting for a long time, his body had become stronger over time, and he even had visible abs.
But all these positive changes were summed up by Fiona in two words: "He's thin."
His mother touched Wade's face, saying with concern, "Didn't you eat enough at school? Just wait, I'm going to prepare a huge feast for you today!"
She rolled up her sleeves and got busy.
Wade looked in the mirror—the eleven-year-old boy's face still had a bit of lingering baby fat, looking slightly round, with a healthy rosy complexion.
Ferdinand sat beside Wade and asked with a very serious expression, "Wade, you only ever reported good news in your letters. Now tell me the truth—did anyone at school make things difficult for you?"
Wade replied just as seriously, "No—that's true. Ravenclaw itself is a house that avoids conflict; most students only care about ability, and not many care about bloodline. And I'm first in my year in several subjects. Professor Flitwick, our Head of House, really likes me, and Professor Murray, he dedicates two hours every week to teach me Alchemy and even invited me to his private party before the break."
"That's good then. Sounds like you've met some good teachers." Ferdinand smiled. "Are you happy at school?"
"Of course," Wade said, smiling. "Very happy."
...
Before Christmas, Wade mailed all his gifts. Waking up the next morning, he came downstairs to see gift boxes piled under the Christmas tree.
Fiona came over, hugged his head, and kissed his forehead hard, saying happily, "Thank you, dear. I love the gift you gave me."
Wade had given her a bottle of beauty potion he had brewed himself, a finished product approved by Snape.
Ferdinand also nodded. "A great magical razor. But does the parchment you put in the gift box have any special purpose?"
"This is an Alchemy creation I completed independently—the Book of Friends," Wade said with a touch of pride.
He took out a self-bound notebook from his pocket. On the cover, "Book of Friends" was written in both Chinese and English. When opened, the very first line above the horizontal rule on the first page was "Family" handwritten. To the right, in smaller font, was "Name," followed by a horizontal line.
Wade took out a Quill and gave one to each of his parents, then picked up his own and wrote his name on the right side.
"These three Books of Friends are connected. Like this, write your name, and then I'll write what I want to say here—"
He wrote a line in the blank space below the horizontal line: "Merry Christmas."
Fiona gasped. On the parchment in her hand, a line of text appeared:
[Wade: Merry Christmas.]
"Oh, I see."
Fiona quickly wrote her name in the top right corner, and then below it, she wrote: `[Merry Christmas, darling.]`
The same words appeared on both the father's and son's parchments.
Ferdinand understood. "Like a forum?"
Home computers had been around for many years, costing only a few hundred pounds, and the Greys had naturally bought one long ago. They were no strangers to computers.
"Yes, it's like an internet forum," Wade said, spreading his hands. "Because the medium is just paper, it seems a little magical. It can't transmit video or sound, so it's actually not as good as the internet, but it's not affected by magical magnetic fields. This way, even if I'm at school, you can contact me anytime."
More accurately, the Book of Friends was a magical version of WeChat. However, since things like MSN Messenger, WhatsApp, QQ, and WeChat hadn't been developed yet, Wade's Book of Friends seemed quite advanced.
"I have to say, this is the best Christmas gift I've received this year, Wade," Ferdinand said, his eyes sparkling. "But even better than that is that you've truly gained knowledge at Hogwarts—I'm proud of you, son."
Fiona quickly became like most people experiencing communication software for the first time, addicted to "online chatting." Even though Wade and Ferdinand were less than two meters in front of her, she communicated entirely through the Book of Friends.
Soon, text began appearing on other pages of Wade's Book of Friends.
The second page was connected to the SSC members.
[Michael: Hello?]
[Padma: Merlin, I really see what you wrote.]
[Hermione: Can you all see what I wrote too? Oh my god, it really appeared! How did you do it? I haven't seen a similar spell in any books!]
[Padma: Forget the books, Hermione, it's Christmas today, we should be happy.]
[Michael: Wade, I thought you were just starting to learn Alchemy! You should have told me sooner that you made something this amazing!]
[Theo: I read the instructions and just figured out how to use it—it's incredible! This is the best magical item I've ever seen!]
[Ryan: ...Too shocked to say anything. Just writing something to prove I saw it.]
[Neville: I accidentally fell off the sofa, and my grandmother thought I received some dark magic item and almost confiscated it.]
[Wade: Merry Christmas, everyone.]
His single message seemed to ignite a fire, with messages from everyone pouring in one after another. They quickly discovered that the space each line of text could occupy was limited, and each message would disappear after about one or two seconds. At most, fifteen lines of text could be displayed on the page at the same time. "Net chatting" was forcibly speed-limited, preventing situations like "999+" unread messages appearing in just a few minutes.
Within a few minutes, they quickly learned how to send emojis without being taught, and it seemed they wouldn't stop anytime soon.
Wade flipped further back; the third page was the House-elf page. The House-elves he was close to had all received one. They cautiously tried writing on the parchment and wrote many words of gratitude to Wade.
Following were Professor Murray, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor McGonagall, and Snape. Apart from Snape giving a "barely usable" evaluation and Professor Murray reconfirming an invitation for two days later, everyone else highly praised his ingenious idea and offered to help him with his studies during the holidays.
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read ***+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский
Or Translate for free at : https:// randomtranslator.com/translate
Join our Discord: https:// discord.com/invite/XXUR9nkjwa
-----------