Chapter 696: 696: The Wick Family

Christmas arrived as promised.

This year, the Wick family had made thorough preparations.

Mrs. Wick looked helplessly at her husband, who was camped out in front of the fireplace.

"Even if a meteor hits the Earth this year, I'm not leaving!" Watson declared with absolute conviction.

After having his heart thoroughly broken by his family last year, the old man was determined not to miss out on the wizarding world again this Christmas.

The windows of the Wick residence had been opened, and the Christmas tree stood right in front of them.

Several presents had already been piled beneath the tree.

Watson sat on the sofa, bouncing one leg as he glanced at his watch, then at the phone placed nearby.

Finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

A sleepy Ariana came downstairs, rubbing her eyes, while Watson stared at his daughter with burning anticipation.

Still half asleep and barefoot, Ariana relied entirely on instinct to walk over to Mrs. Wick and opened her arms to hug her mother.

"Oh, Ariana, my little princess."

The mother's heart almost melted.

Mrs. Wick kissed Ariana on the cheek, tapped her nose with one finger, and smiled.

"You have to wash up first before you can open your presents."

Ariana nodded and turned toward the bathroom.

The little bear jumped down from her arms and ran ahead to open the door for her.

After Ariana finished washing up, a few strands of hair had been dampened by the water and were sticking to her cheeks.

Her hair was very long, reaching all the way to her waist.

She did not like tying it up and usually wore it loose.

But with Ariana's delicate features, even that hairstyle suited her perfectly.

Stretching lazily, she glanced at her wrist.

She had forgotten to put on her bracelet.

The little bear ran upstairs and brought it down like it was presenting a treasure.

"Thank you, Little Bear."

Ariana smiled sweetly, picked it up, and rubbed her cheek against its soft fur.

Kiki stared at the little bear and made an indistinct huffing sound.

Watson watched his daughter with an expectant expression, even though he was trying hard to look unconcerned.

But the way he kept glancing toward the Christmas tree betrayed him completely.

Ariana walked over barefoot across the carpet, sat beneath the Christmas tree, and picked up a present to unwrap.

This one was from Watson.

After being rejected so thoroughly last year, Watson had learned from the experience and changed his strategy.

This gift was his masterpiece.

Once the wrapping was removed, a small yellow bear was revealed.

The brown bear looked at the yellow bear, then turned its head toward Watson.

Its expression did not change at all, yet somehow it seemed to convey a strange feeling.

Ariana looked at the yellow bear, placed it on the floor, and never touched it again.

Watson clutched his chest.

"Why?"

Mrs. Wick sneered.

You big dummy~

The presents were opened one after another.

One pink gift box had a note saying it had been sent from Russia.

Ariana shook it.

The inside seemed to be padded with foam, so there was no sound.

When she opened it, a pink bow came into view.

Mrs. Wick immediately closed the box again and smiled as she stroked her obedient daughter's hair.

Looking closely, however, there was a slight distortion in her smile.

Last year, she had written to those brothers of hers and told them to send something suitable for a girl.

And this was their answer?

A girl's Barbie-pink...

Glock.

She suddenly understood why none of her older or younger brothers had managed to find girlfriends.

Watson gnawed at his fingernails, staring wide-eyed as Ariana opened the present Basil had delivered that morning.

His posture had shifted from sitting on the sofa to hovering on the edge of the seat, leaning his whole body forward.

The wrapping was slowly torn away.

Inside was a book with a white cover stamped in gold.

"Practical Illustrated Magic?"

Watson slumped back onto the sofa in disappointment.

Hidden beneath the sofa cushions was a complete set of wizarding clothes, all ready to go.

Mrs. Wick came downstairs and saw her husband's devastated expression.

From that alone, she understood that John apparently had not invited Ariana over this year.

Just then, Ariana flipped through the book.

Three gleaming golden tickets slipped out from between the pages.

For the first time, Mrs. Wick discovered just how agile her husband could be.

Watson sprang off the sofa in one swift motion and flung the cushion behind him.

He put on the entire wizarding outfit in less than ten seconds.

"Let's go to the wizarding world!"

Watson held his wand in his left hand, while Kiki sat on his right arm like an ornament.

Mrs. Wick: "..."

You planned this in advance, didn't you?

Along with the golden tickets, a piece of paper had also fallen out.

Ariana blinked.

"Take the tickets and hold Ariana's hand."

Mrs. Wick read the words aloud.

Each of them took one ticket.

The couple stood on either side of Ariana and held her hands.

Watson struggled to contain his excitement and asked, "What next?"

Mrs. Wick flipped the paper over and looked at the back.

"That's it."

The family of three looked at one another in confusion.

Just then, Ariana heard a sound and turned to look at the book.

It had started trembling.

Mrs. Wick instinctively reached for the nearest owl stand to use as a weapon.

The next second, the book flew open.

Countless sheets of paper burst out and wrapped around the three of them.

A powerful pulling force appeared, and the family vanished from the house at the same time.

The papers all flew back into the book.

Then the book vanished with a whoosh.

Not long afterward, the doorbell of the Wick residence rang.

Outside.

Greg recalled the conversation he had had with his superior.

"Listen. You need to get closer to Watson Wick."

"But boss, ever since last Christmas, Watson Wick has been wary of me. I don't even know what I did."

"Don't give me that damn nonsense about him being wary. Are you a woman? You need to approach him yourself. Go over on Christmas with a roast turkey. Remember, get close to him. You're his best friend!"

The memory ended there.

Greg stood holding a platter of turkey, feeling like an idiot.

He was certain the agents inside the field vehicle disguised as a mobile food truck were laughing themselves sick.

He rang the doorbell.

No response.

Greg rang it again.

Still nothing.

After several attempts without any response, he frowned.

"Excuse me."

He spotted a muscular young man jogging past and quickly called out to him.

"Do you know where Mr. Wick went?"

"Mr. Wick?"

Dudley paused.

"I haven't seen him leave all day."

"He hasn't left? All right, thank you. Maybe he left earlier for something."

Greg looked at Dudley's boxer-like build and smiled.

"Are you a boxer?"

"Yes, but I need to get to training."

There was a family gathering that evening, but Dudley still had to finish his training for the day first.

After Dudley left, Greg's expression changed instantly.

He pulled out his phone and made a call.

Setting the turkey aside, he moved around to a side window and peered inside.

The Wick residence was empty.

"Damn it."

Greg connected the call.

"The targets have disappeared. Search Privet Drive!"

None of the agents had a good Christmas that day.

...

Silverhand Amusement Park.

The family of three appeared there.

The people around them did not seem particularly surprised.

"Nice Apparition!"

A bearded wizard passing by laughed at Watson.

Watson looked at the wand in his hand, then at the enormous amusement park stretching endlessly before him.

The book floated down in front of them and opened and closed like a mouth.

John's voice came from it. "Sorry. I can't spend Christmas with you this year."

"It's John."

Watson looked fascinated.

He reached out and poked the book.

It dodged him.

John's helpless voice came from it.

"Dad, stop poking it."

"Oh."

Watson awkwardly withdrew his hand.

"This is Silverhand Amusement Park. You can enjoy yourselves here as much as you like. And Ariana, you can try using magic too. There are several games inside designed to guide young ones in controlling their magic."

After John finished explaining a few things, the book's "mouth" closed.

It drifted unsteadily into Ariana's hands and settled there.

"Little Bear, can you hold onto this for me?"

The little bear opened its arms, and Ariana handed the book over.

The moment the book touched the bear, it was sucked into the pouch on its stomach.

"This is a wizarding amusement park?"

Watson was immediately full of enthusiasm.

Like an overgrown child, he pulled his family over to the entrance and joined the queue.

When it was finally their turn, the ticket inspector said politely, "Please show your tickets."

"Tickets? Oh, right. These."

The gleaming golden tickets appeared in front of him.

The inspector's polite smile instantly broke.

"T-These are...!"

He looked as though he had encountered a major emergency.

"I've worked here for a year, and this is the first time I've ever seen someone with a golden ticket!"

Panic and excitement appeared on his face as he hurriedly called over a colleague.

"Quick, take a picture of me! I might never see another one in my life!"

He was beside himself with excitement.

His colleague took a photo for him, then immediately wanted one as well.

And so Watson stood there watching as more than a dozen employees took turns holding his ticket and posing for photographs.

He could not help falling into deep thought.

Eventually, they finally made it inside.

Golden ticket holders did not have to pay for anything.

It was the first time any of the three had visited, and it felt as though they had stepped into an entirely new world.

Food and drinks were all free.

While they were eating at a restaurant surrounded by star-shaped decorations, a suspicious-looking golden head slowly peeked out from behind one of the stars.

Its gaze landed on Ariana.

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