Angry Birds at Hogwarts (Year 1)

Chapter 7: Presents

"Red you didn't have to." Charlotte was wearing a purple butterfly hair clip with flapping wings that Silver had gotten her, and a box of Licorice Wands that Chuck got for her open and held between her legs. Licorice Wands were Charlotte's favorite.

"I wanted to." Red stated like it was the simplest thing in the world. He was holding out a folded piece of paper, "It's for all of you." Since he hadn't been able to buy a present, Red had made one. He'd stayed up late almost every night since he started his stay with the La Vitesses, except for the night he and Chuck stayed up together so they could play a few extra games like Gobstones and Wizard Chest. All of those other nights, Red stayed up and did his best to perfect the drawing he had made. The red head had poured his heart and soul into each line, each color, and each bit of shading. Now he hoped his efforts paid off.

"Well, thank you." Charlotte took the drawing as Oscar, Silver, and Chuck crowded around to see what it was Red had drawn.

"I bet it's amazing." Silver exclaimed from her spot in between her mom and dad, "Red's a really good artist, he even makes his own Developing Solution to make his drawing move!"

"Well let's have a look at it then, now I want to see it even more." Oscar still spoke in his calm, intellectual tone, but now there was a hint of excitement. With careful hands, Charlotte unfolded the drawing, revealing the masterpiece. It was a drawing of all four members of the La Vitesse family. The drawing looked so good that if you weren't looking closely, you might mistake it for a photo. All four members of the family were sitting underneath one of the trees that grew on their property, laughing in the gentle rays of the afternoon sun. The Developing Solution Red used was a little more potent, because the family in the drawing moved more fluently, and you could see the leaves in the tree moving gently in a light breeze. Chuck, Silver, Oscar, and Charlotte all gasped in unison at the drawing's beauty.

Below the drawing was a sentence written in small print, "Thank you for giving me a real Christmas - Red" The silence that sat in the room lasted a little to long, making Red uneasy.

"I-if you don't like it, you don't have to-"

"Red," Oscar spoke in a voice just above a whisper, "It's spectacular. The only magic you used was the Developing Solution?" Red nodded, pleased that they liked his gift. Charlotte raised her wand and muttered a spell, soon a wooden picture frame appeared in her hand. Before long the drawing was framed and up on a wall.

"Oh, you don't have to-" Red was cut off by Chuck.

"How many times do you have to be told by everyone, you're an amazing artist Red, we want your drawing on the wall." Chuck was now standing next to Red with his hands on his friend's shoulders.

"Thank you, Chuck." Red was glad he had Chuck in his life. Ever since they had become friends, Red had felt so much happier so much more often. It was great to feel this happy.

"Oh wait!" Chuck exclaimed as he dove under the Christmas tree. He stayed on his belly as he rifled through the presents they hadn't opened, searching for a special one he'd hidden in the back.

"I was gonna make this the last present, but after seeing what you made us, I just couldn't wait anymore." Chuck handed Red a gift wrapped in metallic red wrapping paper, a green bow on the top. It was about the size of a medium packing box. Trying his best to hide his eagerness, Red ripped open the present, everyone else who knew what it was watched with smiling eyes.

"Chuck...it's..." Red felt tears stinging the back of his eyes. It was an art set. There were five colored pencils that faded between different colors. Red had heard of these pencils. They were charmed to change into what ever color you said, and would get darker if you told it to shade. There was also five drawing pencils with different sized lead to make lines with different thickness, an eraser that could erase any lead, no matter how hard the line was drawn, or if it was colored pencil lead, it also didn't leave eraser marks. A small pad of special drawing parchment was underneath the pencils.