While riding in Hogwarts Express, Ariane watched vast snowy land as the train passed through the snow. Midnight was snoozing on Ariane's lap, enjoying herself in indoor warmth.
"Anne, would you mind if you wait for us at the platform? We can ask our parents about the visit," said Brian.
"No, of course," replied Ariane. "Mama will be there too."
"I bet Mama would want to celebrate Christmas with you all," said Claudia. "And I hope the house is big enough for fifteen people."
"I'm not sure, but I think there are some enlargement spells my parents can perform, but I really don't know if that's possible. Holding fifteen people in the living room is difficult."
"Seventeen, actually," said Hugo. "Joanne has two sisters. The eldest is Year 5 and the other one is Year 3."
"Is your brother coming?" asked Claudia. "Or he's staying in Egypt?"
"Dunno, I've sent the owl, I think he can come, he mentions that he is coming from Egypt after he has cleared the tomb."
"I want to hear his journey, I bet it's like Journey to the Centre of the Earth."
"What?" asked Claudia.
"A muggle book," replied Ariane. "It's interesting, I have it in my room, if you want to borrow it. I think you will love it a lot."
"I really want how muggles think," said Claudia. "Sometimes I really can't figure out why muggles think in such a strange way. They even think ghosts are horrible and will make them crazy, and they even claim the giant kelpie in Loch Ness is a dinnersore—"
"Dinosaur," Ariane corrected her.
"Whatever, I just cannot see why they can't think like us."
"Because they don't have magic in their blood and of course they won't believe."
The train hooted and decelerated. Ariane quickly got her trunk and headed out of the train compartment. She looked sideways and found her parents smiling proudly at her not far. She dragged her trunk and Midnight rested herself onto her shoulder, meowing gleefully.
"How's my little treasure doing?" asked Mr. Larsen, offering to help carrying his daughter's trunk.
"Great, I never dream of being in such a school," replied Ariane.
"Come on, let's go," said Mr. Larsen.
"Hold on, I need to wait for Joanne and Brian."
She looked into the crowd, and found her friends walking towards her with their parents. Joanne's sisters had similar appearance as her little sister, having the same ginger blonde hair and brown eyes.
"Mama, this is Joanne Nassou and her sisters. This is Brian Barney," introduced Ariane.
"Joanne, is she the Ariane Larsen mentioned in your letter?" asked Mrs. Nassou.
"Yes, Mommy," replied Joanne sweetly.
"It's a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Larsen," said Mr. Barney. "Mr. Edwin Barney, Department of International Magical Cooperation."
"Level 5, isn't it?" said Mr. Larsen. "We must have a chat—"
"How about on Christmas Eve?" piped Joanne. "We can celebrate together, and we'll have fun and lots of talk."
"Why not, is that alright for you, Mr. and Mrs. Nassou?" said Mrs. Larsen and gave Mrs. Nassou a piece of paper. "This is our address."
"Nairn? I guess we can take the plane to Inverness Airport and go to Nairn then"
"What's an airport?" asked Brian.
"I'll explain everything to you with Joanne on that day," said Ariane. "We'll tell you everything."
"Okay," said Brian.
After bidding farewell, Ariane and her parents apparated back to their home. Midnight went straight to Ariane's bed and curled herself at on the pillow, snoozing soundly.
Buying presents for wizards and witches was difficult for Ariane, she did not know if she should buy muggle products or wizarding items. She wanted to give her friends something special, but she could think of nothing that she was sure her friends did not have or had the knowledge to use them. Finally, she decided to buy things in Diagon Alley.
She bought a bunch of Chocolate frogs for Claudia and Hugo. Thinking that Brian was raised in the wizarding world, she bought him Treasure Island, which was commonly sold in Scottish bookshop. For Joanne, she got her a wizard chess set. She bought Joanne's sisters some snacks as she did not know their favourites.
At the night of Christmas Eve, everyone arrived and opened their presents while enjoying themselves with delicacies and beverages. Ariane helped herself eggnog while her father was drinking deep with the parents.
"I brought some pumpkin pastries and chocoballs," said Brian and the children enjoyed the snacks.
"Oh, here're the presents…" said Ariane and delivered them. "This is for Claudia…Hugo…Joanne…and Brian."
"Thanks, Anne."
They exchanged gifts and unwrapped them immediately. It was curious that Claudia and Joanne got her magic books. The Tales Beedle the Bard was from Claudia and Encyclopaedia of Mystic Creatures from Joanne. Joanne's sister bought some snacks for her as a sign of friendliness.
"All wizarding children read this book," said Claudia. "It's interesting."
Hugo bought her a Notable Magical Names of Our Time at the Flourish and Blott's in which he pointed out that Ariane was mentioned in a few pages. Brian gave her a Christmas cracker, and he told her the present was completely random, turned out the gift as a homework planner.
"Have you started revising?" asked Joanne. "I've been thinking how to make my pin perfect."
"Try to make it beautiful and have decorations on it," suggested Hugo. "Brother says that Professor McGonagall will add marks if you make it pretty."
"Perhaps I should add a cat decoration on it," said Joanne. "She seems to like cats a lot."
"I might as well revise Potions first," said Hugo darkly. "I don't think Snape would give me a pass even if I answered all correct."
"I think you should think about this after you see Dan got a zero in Potions," said Brian.
"He's good at Charms, he can make a pass for sure for the overall."
The families celebrated for the whole night, having a lavish feast and chatted a lot. The party ended at midnight, when Joanne started yawning and fell asleep in her parent's arms.
After everyone had left, Mrs. Larsen waved her wand and the mess vanished. The dishes were automatically washed at the sink and everything was back to normal.