The Granger family and Tom returned home on December 23, and the next day was Christmas.
They spent all day tidying up the house and putting Christmas decorations all over the house The highlight of the decorations was, of course, the Christmas tree.
Mr. Granger and Tom put all sorts of little lights and bells and other trinkets on the tree. Just then Hermione pulled a movie disc out of the TV cabinet under the living room television.
"Hey! I haven't seen this before." Hermione held up the disc, looking at it curiously.
"What?!" Mr. Granger stood up immediately, walking quickly behind Hermione, "Oh, it's this one, I got it at the video store a while back, it's an old one, I saw it when I was a kid."
"What a beautiful thing to live? what kind of name is that?" Tom walked over, glanced at the title of the movie and couldn't help but groan, Hermione didn't say anything, but seemed to agree.
Mr. Granger sighed, kids these days hadn't even seen "How Beautiful It Is to Live."
"So, what's the movie about?" Hermione asked.
"It's a good movie, it's about the Christmas season-" Mr. Granger said.
"It's very appropriate," Hermione's voice interjected.
"George is trying to commit suicide because he is very unhappy with his life, and then God comes along and shows George what it's like to be in a world he was never born into, and shows him that he has actually saved a lot of unfortunate people in his life" Mr. Granger continued.
Tom and Hermione were silent for a while.
"Can you imagine what the world was like when you were never born?" asked Hermione to Tom as she picked up a Christmas bonnet.
"Absolutely." Tom nodded confidently.
"Tell me?" Hermione's curiosity piqued.
"A world without me...," Tom sighed, "You're probably going to Gryffindor, right? After all, I remember you saying at first that you thought it seemed like the best House, since Dumbledore graduated there."
Hermione nodded, she thought Tom was right.
"But there isn't as much of a learning environment as in Ravenclaw, you might have a harder time meeting like-minded people, and they might dislike you for always going around wanting to answer every question in class and being too brusque when instructing others." Tom said.
Hermione frowned, thinking to herself, "Aren't you also too quick to answer questions and you're pulling all sorts of little tricks?
Tom changed the conversation, "But you'll make friends for sure, it's just a matter of when and how often, but then you'll probably go on adventures with them, breaking hundreds of school rules throughout the school year..."
"Stop, stop, stop, stop! You're way out of line." Hermione puffed out her cheeks: how could she break hundreds of school rules in just one school year? Couldn't you make up a story that made sense?
Then they went on to imagine what life would be like without Hermione, and the only thing they agreed on was that no one could ever answer questions with Tom in class again.
While they talked and laughed, Mr. Granger set up the Christmas tree. Mrs. Granger also prepared Christmas dinner, and the four of them sat down together at the table.
Mr. Granger held his daughter in his left hand and Tom in his right, and began to pray. Prayers finished, they began to enjoy their dinner. Although it was not as amazing as Christmas dinner at Hogwarts, it was very tasty.
Traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey, with roast potatoes, brandy cream gravy and cranberry sauce on the side, a big pot of stew and smoked salmon next to the turkey, pie with various fillings is naturally Indispensable, and raisin pudding for dessert, were definitely on the menu. Mr. Granger also opened a bottle of glögi for the occasion.
Glögi is a red wine from Finland that became popular in Europe as a perfect accompaniment to Christmas, with black currants, apple juice and cinnamon stick, and it has a strange taste: it must be served warm.
Of course, just as every Beijin citizen's fried noodle recipe is different, every Finnish family's glögi is different, and the Granger family adds more almonds and extra raisins.
Of course, never have too high expectations for turkey. The turkey was not the usual woody meat, even the chicken breasts were more tender and had a strange flavor, which Tom was not used to eating and only ate a little as a courtesy, but the accompanying smoked salmon was quite tasty. The fish was tender and creamy when raw, but when cooked, it was quite dry and didn't have that "moist" feel.
After dinner, everyone watched a few movies and went back to their rooms to rest. The night passed quickly and on Christmas Day, Tom woke up to three gift boxes at the foot of his bed. One was a box of chocolates in the shape of Hermione's horseshoe, the second was a dental care package from the Grangers, and the third was something more unexpected: it was from Dumbledore.
Tom unwrapped it and inside were six small treats and a piggy bank. Unlike Muggle piggy banks, however, this one laughed when tickled and spit coins out of the opening in its back, already stuffed with dimes from every country by Dumbledore.
Tom took a bite of the treat that had been sent to him, and it tasted good, but it almost broke his teeth: it really was wrapped in a coin.
It seemed that Dumbledore had actually remembered what he had seen in Erised magic mirror, and this time someone had given Tom money to eat the coin. And Tom actually gave Dumbledore a pair of woolen socks with a phoenix embroidered on them!
Next door, Hermione was also opening presents. She had a few more presents, but they were basically from relatives and, like Tom, she had no friends at school close enough to give herself Christmas presents.
Hermione was soon unwrapping most of the presents, and at the bottom was a small, thin package that Hermione picked up and checked that it was from Tom. She was a little curious and a little excited: what was Tom going to get her?
Hermione nervously opened the package and discovered a small, delicate book. Hermione opened the book and saw that it contained several fairy tales from the magical world, all hand-copied and neatly lined up on the paper, so that not even a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder could find fault with it.
Hermione was a little touched, Tom knew she liked to read, so he copied a book and gave it to her.
"This is the best Christmas present ever ...", she said as she hugged the book tightly, her eyes a little wet.
...
"Dear compatriots and friends, as a result of the recent establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, I announce my resignation ..."
"This country is losing its mind, we cannot go on like this, everything must be changed for the better."
"...our country will become a prosperous society, my best wishes to all of you!"
Yuri jumped on the TV, kissing the screen frantically, "This is the best Christmas present!".