MTLNOVEL Chapter 81: A Celebration Overshadowed
December 25, 1995 – 0:500am Christmas Day. The Trunk. No rest for the wicked. Evan and Sensei began their practice session with a warmup followed by stretching. They worked on balance, unbalancing an opponent, and using leverage. Sensei said balance was not only of the body, but of the mind and the spirit. Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate said once centered, if you 'plant roots' like a tree, not even a hurricane can blow you off your feet; and so, Sensei taught Evan 'how to plant roots'. As Instructor Fairburn at CTCRM taught them, other martial arts, like Systema, work best by throwing the opponent off balance.
At 7:00am, Hermione woke up and was jumping up and down, ready to open presents. Dobby and Winky had gone out the day before and got them a Christmas tree for the Trunk. Now, that tree, fully trimmed, had a pile of presents underneath. She really didn't want to wait until her parents came out for breakfast, but it just wasn't proper. So, she went to see what Evan was doing.
As Hermione made her way to the training room she heard the sound of something crumbling and falling to the floor. She opened the door quietly and stepped in. Sensei was standing near Evan. Evan was standing near several piles of bricks. Sensei point to one of the bricks in a pile. Evan focused his concentration and his breathing, then suddenly extended his arm, hitting the top brick with the palm of his hand. The brick Sensei had pointed at exploded, but none of the other bricks shattered – just the one Sensei had pointed at. It was incredible! Sensei pointed to another brick, the bottom-most brick. Evan focused his breathing, he focused his mind, he focused his energy, and then hit the brick with the intent of sending his energy into the bottom brick, exploding it. Again and again they practiced. Finally, at 8:00am, they were done practicing. Evan looked up and smiled at Hermione. "Good morning Hermione! Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas Evan. Merry Christmas Sensei" she said as she walked toward Evan, ready to give him a hug. Instead she said – "Go have a shower Evan. You Stink" she laughed.
At 8:30am they were waiting by the tree, a small breakfast buffet on the table: toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, clotted cream, kippers and for desert mince pies and apple-cinnamon tarts. Beneath the tree were presents for Dobby, Winky, Sensei, Hermione, Dr & Dr Granger, and Evan. For Evan, it was the first time experiencing a family Christmas, and he felt all the excitement of a child. It was hard to keep him from jumping in his seat.
Dobby got a pair of Yoda socks from Evan, a Yoda T-shirt from Hermione, and Yoda oven mits from Drs Granger. Winky got a paint-by-numbers set from Evan, a set of colorful fabric paints from Hermione (to accessorize any dresses she might want), and a kit to make her own fluffy house shoes (as elves were sensitive about getting clothing, with exception of Dobby!). Sensei found an oblong box with his name on it – and a Goblin-made sword inside (Evan had found it in his vault). The sword was charmed to be ever-sharp and un-breakable. A small box containing a pocket watch also had his name on it. Hermione told him he could contact Evan and Hermione using the watch. It was already paired with theirs. The Drs Granger found an envelope with their name on it. Inside was a two-way ticket to Paris and an open-reservation package deal for one week at a French Riviera Spa and Resort. Hermione had severalpresents: a Sweet 16 bracelet from her parents, a book about Quidditch from Ron Weasley, a potted Devils Snare from Neville (in a box, since it liked the dark); a military romance novel from Luna; and a gold necklace with gold pendant from Evan. Hermione immediately leapt to Evan and gave him a long and strong hug. Evan whispered to her that he had bespelled the pendant so that if Hermione felt in danger, she could activate a strong shield charm by grabbing the pendant. It should last for one or two moderate-strength spells he said. Evan got a collapsible steel baton from the Drs. Granger, a knit cap of soft wool from Hermione, and a scroll of an old Ninja technique from Sensei. The technique taught how to climb a wall like a spider. After opening the presents and finishing breakfast, they watched the annual Queen's Speech.
December 25, 1995 – 07:00am CTCRM, Commander's Office – a Christmas Present box with a small card, containing a spelled pocket watch, lay on the Commander's table. The pocket watch was paired with Evan's. Another box, the size of a book, was found on the table with the General's name on it. Inside was a book about the History of the Black Family in England. Inside was a family tree that showed the General's name circled. A note inside the book stated that the General had a cousin Sirius, who was alive, but currently 'under the spell of Dumbledore'.
A present was found on the beds of each of Evan's team mates in the CTCRM dorms. They were each gifted a high-quality high-carbon steel folding knife. Unbeknownst to them, the blades of these knives included small etched runes for ever-sharp, non-rust, and non-breakable.
December 25, 1995 – 7:00am Christmas Day. Ministry of Magic. The Minister was looking at his Christmas gift – one-page ads in The Prophet, The Quibbler, and English Wizard Times (a new publication). In this ad was published the warning of pending abolishment of the magical Magna Carta and the reasons behind the warning. It summarized the attacks at Scotton, Gandy Street, Goathland, Miss Granger's Residence, and Christ Church. It stated that due to inaction by the Ministry of Magic against the terrorists known as Death Eaters, the Ministry of Magic put the magical Magna Carta as risk, and they had 30 days to rectify the problem. Minister Fudge would have been happy with a lump of coal in his stocking that holiday.
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