Capítulo 403: Chapter 403: Granger Clock (Edited)
The chocolates were like the scarf, full of sentiment but lacking any skill. It was clear that Hermione had attempted to decorate some chocolates but had failed.
Tom wanted to pick one up and try it, but he hesitated. He closed the chocolate box and, with his left hand holding the box of chocolates and his right hand holding the scarf, he smiled foolishly.
Once Tom had calmed down a bit, he began to open the other gifts. Dumbledore, as always, had given him a pair of woolen socks. The Grangers had given him a dental care set, including an electric toothbrush, although unfortunately, such electronic devices couldn't be used at Hogwarts.
Tom didn't receive many gifts, and after opening these three, the pile of gifts had considerably diminished. Beneath the Granger's dental set, there was a new mischief product invented by Fred and George, which came with various desserts made by Mrs. Weasley.
After putting away the gifts, Tom took the gift he had prepared and left the room in search of Hermione.
He found her sitting sleepily at the dining table with a cup of hot chocolate in front of her.
"Merry Christmas!" Tom thrust a small gift-wrapped box into Hermione's hand.
"What's this?" Hermione lowered her head and toyed with the ribbon on the box. "Are you satisfied with the gift I gave you?"
"The texture is very good, but aren't Christmas gifts supposed to be the ones Santa Claus puts in stockings? If you can follow tradition and put the gift in your own socks and hand it to me, I'll be happier."
"Oh my, my parents are at home, can you control yourself a little?" Hermione shivered, and the ribbon she was about to untie got stuck.
Hermione: o(≧口≦)o
She sat pouting, gritting her teeth and loosening the ribbon a bit, then peeled off the gift box, revealing a pair of black silk gloves lying quietly inside.
Hermione took out the gloves and found that they weren't the usual short gloves but rather long gloves that covered the forearms.
The tips of the fingers were slightly lighter, making them appear more transparent, while the back of the hands had an embroidered black flower, making the back of the hands look darker. Despite being black, there was a sense of depth to them. What was most wonderful was that the flower design was simple, making the gloves exquisite but not overwhelming.
Hermione tried putting on one glove, and the texture of the gloves was smooth and silky; her hands and arms slid in smoothly. Once worn, the gloves fit snugly, perfectly hugging her arm and making it look slimmer. Additionally, the black fingertips made her fingers appear longer.
"They're very beautiful." Hermione extended her hand in front of her and admired it.
She soon controlled her emotions and took off the gloves, placing them back in the box and storing them away. She didn't want her father to see the gift Tom had given her, fearing it would cause problems again.
A little while later, Mrs. Granger also came out and set several plates on the table. It was a carefully prepared breakfast.
Bacon, fried eggs, sausages, buttered toast, and milk, a classic British breakfast.
"You can start eating. There was an issue at the clinic, and your father went to take care of it," Mrs. Granger explained patiently.
It turned out that the door of the Grangers' clinic had been knocked down by a drunk driver last night. After causing the accident, the driver not only didn't exit the car but accelerated and crashed into the clinic, leaving everything in a mess.
Mr. Granger received a call from the police in the morning and hurriedly went to the accident scene, leaving Mrs. Granger at home to look after the children.
Tom's plans were suddenly disrupted. According to the original plan, he was going to deliver the gifts to the Grangers once everyone was present, but he never expected Mr. Granger to go to the clinic early in the morning.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to go ahead with the plan and deliver the gifts. After all, he couldn't show up on Christmas without any presents.
So he took out a second gift box and handed it to Mrs. Granger.
"Thank you!" Mrs. Granger excitedly opened the gift box and found a strangely shaped clock inside. Fortunately, in the UK, there is no taboo about giving clocks as gifts; otherwise, Tom could have been expelled from the Granger household.
The design of this clock is very peculiar. Although it also has three hands with strange shapes, they are not the traditional hours, minutes, and seconds hands but rather three golden hands with magical powers. Each of them is engraved with the name of a Granger family member: Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, and Hermione.
The clock face has no numbers but instead has words indicating the places or states each family member could be in, such as "home," "school," "work," or "on the way." In the position where the number 12 would typically be on a conventional clock, it reads "mortal danger."
When Tom was customizing this clock, he considered including his own name as a kind of secret, but after much thought, he decided to give up that idea. After all, this was the Granger family's clock, with the names of their family members, and he wasn't one of them. It would be too strange to add his name without further ado.
At that moment, the hands for Hermione and Mrs. Granger always pointed to "home," while Mr. Granger's hand was at "work." With a quick glance, Mrs. Granger roughly understood the purpose of this clock.
She couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "It's amazing! I really can't imagine how it works. Does it need to be charged?"
Of course, magical objects don't need to be charged. They operate thanks to magic. When their magical energy is depleted, they stop working until a wizard recharges them.
Mrs. Granger hung the clock on the wall with great joy, in the most prominent spot in the living room.
After hanging the clock, the hand representing Mr. Granger jumped from "work" to "on the way." Less than half an hour later, the familiar sound of a car engine was heard from outside the window. Mr. Granger had arrived home.
The hand moved to "home," and the next moment, Mr. Granger, visibly tired, entered and slumped into a chair. Mrs. Granger, attentive, brought him a cup of hot chocolate.
He drank it hastily, and the weariness on his face eased.
"Damn it!" he cursed. "The clinic is completely wrecked. A renowned Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he's driving drunk on Christmas Eve! Luckily, we had insurance for the clinic's belongings, but the cost of insurance for next year will skyrocket!"
"Don't worry; let the Minister take responsibility for the compensation," Mrs. Granger reassured him gently as she placed a breakfast plate on the table.
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