To tell the truth, Solim had never celebrated Christmas.
He often wondered why wizards even bothered to observe the holidays of ordinary people. What puzzled him even more was that even Schuyler would take fifteen days off for it.
Before attending Schuyler, Solim had no concept of Western festivals. But once he began studying there, he quickly came to appreciate one thing about Christmas: it meant a full fifteen-day break—no soul-crushing lectures, no Cruciatus Curses, no surprise attacks, and no need to sleep clutching his wand at night.
For Solim, those fifteen days were the most relaxing time of the year.
Yes, to him, Christmas was simply a time of peace—a reprieve from the Imperius and Cruciatus Curses.
As for the famous savior, this might well be his best Christmas yet. Judging by Harry's previous experiences, every Christmas in past years had been more of an ordeal than a celebration. So long as he wasn't with the Dursleys, Harry didn't care how he spent the holidays. He had even cheerfully signed up for detention.
But he wouldn't be alone. His best friend Ronald and his two—well, three—older brothers were also staying behind to spend Christmas at Hogwarts. Not to look after Harry, of course. Their parents had gone to Romania to visit their son and brother, Charlie Weasley.
While Harry and Ron wandered the nearly empty school, Solim had returned to Selwyn Castle—though he would never call it home.
Selwyn Castle stood near the Isle of Man, hidden under powerful enchantments. Passing ships instinctively steered clear, ensuring it would never be discovered by Muggles. The island itself, known to wizards as Neastor, did not appear on any Muggle map. In Greek, Neastor meant "unknown"—a fitting name for a place accessible only to members of the Selwyn family and a select few others. For most of the wizarding world, everything about this island was shrouded in mystery.
Solim wasn't very familiar with the place, having spent most of his time buried in studies or spell practice. Still, he knew well enough that wandering too close to the castle uninvited could be dangerous.
Compared to Hogwarts, Selwyn Castle was far less majestic. It lacked the soaring towers and vibrant life of the school. To an ordinary onlooker, it would appear exactly like the lair of some fairy-tale villain: even on a sunny day, the sunlight never touched its walls.
The British Isles rarely saw bright weather, but even when the sky cleared, the castle seemed cloaked in perpetual shadow. The surrounding landscape glowed with color, but the castle itself stood in stark monochrome—cold, lifeless, and still.
And this, bleak and forbidding, was where Solim lived. He would continue to do so until he was strong enough to protect himself.
Solim stood before a statue at the crossroads—the first patriarch of the Selwyn line. The statue's base was covered with dense inscriptions recounting the founder's life story. Similar statues lined both sides of the long road leading to the castle: each one depicting a notable member of the Selwyn family.
Villains steeped in infamy, heroes who had made remarkable contributions to wizarding history, eccentric scholars obsessed with the study of magic—all were represented here.
To the Selwyns, fame mattered more than morality. As long as a family member had made their name known in the wizarding world, their likeness would be immortalized along this path.
The family's ancient lineage came with one peculiar consequence: the number of statues kept increasing, and so the road itself grew longer. The enchanted pathway never became crowded; instead, it magically extended with each new monument.
If one were to walk the distance on foot, it would take half an hour to reach the castle gates.
Seated in the carriage, Solim stared absently at the statues outside his window, his thoughts elsewhere—specifically, on how to sneak into the basement unnoticed once he arrived.
The castle housed not only his father's family but also several of his uncles' families—nearly thirty people in all. Counting the wizards of other surnames who had passed the family's rigorous entry tests, there could be over fifty residents in total.
Excluding those outsiders, Solim could count on one hand the number of Selwyns who treated him decently.
He had no desire to return.
The family's history and atmosphere reeked of darkness. Most of its members were steeped in cruelty—a product of both their lineage and the brutal education of Schuyler.
Their idea of a greeting was to hit you with a Cruciatus Curse or Imperius Curse when you weren't looking—what they called a joke.
Indeed, for wizards trained at Schuyler, a bit of Cruciatus pain was nothing. They were all well accustomed to it.
As for the Imperius Curse—well, trying to control a Schuyler graduate with that spell was wishful thinking. They could shake it off in an instant, often retaliating with an Avada Kedavra before the caster even realized it.
Years of survival at Schuyler had left these wizards resistant to pain and immune to coercion. It was no wonder that so many of them were a little unhinged. In truth, given the Selwyn environment, producing a normal wizard would have been the real anomaly.
Naturally, Solim's relatives weren't fond of him.
The adults rarely spoke to him; when they did, it was usually to hurl some vile insult. Only in the presence of Solim's grandfather would they restrain themselves.
His peers were far less cautious.
They delighted in tormenting Solim—ambushing him in corridors, dueling him for sport, mocking him relentlessly. After he humiliated one of them in a black-glove duel at school, they eased off a little, but not by much. At least, they stopped using their wands on him directly.
"Oh, Solim, you're back!"
At the sudden voice, Solim's hand twitched toward his wand—then relaxed.
"Cheetos? Oh, yeah, I'm back. Unfortunately," he said with a shrug.
A white, semi-transparent figure emerged from the stone wall—a ghost.
Solim got along better with the castle's ghosts than with its living residents. Though even among them, a few still looked down on him for being an illegitimate child. All of the ghosts were former Selwyns—ancestors of the family who still lingered in spectral form.
"Be careful," Cheetos warned. "Adelaide and his brothers are thrilled about your return. Go through Laboratory No. 3—no one was there when I passed by."
He floated ahead, motioning for Solim to follow.
"How's life at Hogwarts?" Cheetos asked.
"Not bad. Actually… it's good," Solim replied, though his left hand remained tense, ready for trouble.
"Yeah," the ghost chuckled, "anywhere's better than this miserable place."
Cheetos was one of the few spirits Solim trusted. They got along easily, perhaps because Cheetos had once been a Schuyler student himself. He had been expelled before graduating, though he never said why, and Solim never bothered to ask.
"Elrond's in his study," said Cheetos, gliding through a wall. "Go on your own—I'm not going there."
Elrond was Solim's grandfather.
Among all his relatives, only Elrond and Solim's younger sister, Sirna, treated him with genuine kindness. But Elrond's position in the family was… complicated.
He had two brothers—Lesotho and Breed—both brilliant and powerful wizards, the kind who could stand beside Dumbledore or Voldemort in reputation. Lesotho served as the head of the Dangerous Placement Committee under the Wizarding Council, and Breed managed the Committee's Logistics Department. Most of the family's elders worked under their command.
Elrond, by contrast, was no great wizard. Though far stronger than the average spellcaster, he was considered a disappointment in Selwyn eyes. So much time and family resources had been invested in him, and yet he had failed to reach the "great wizard" rank. His father and grandfather—Solim's great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather—sometimes returned to the castle. Both were still alive, thanks to the sort of dark arts that prolonged life unnaturally.
They, too, mocked Elrond whenever they saw him—just as the rest of the family did behind his back.
And with Solim's squib sister and illegitimate birth added to the mix, their branch of the family was treated as a disgrace. In a family like Selwyn, it was a wonder the three of them were even tolerated.
Solim, for his part, felt nothing for the others.
He cared only for his grandfather and sister. The rest might as well have been strangers.
Elrond was no master of potions, nor was he particularly skilled in combat. His alchemy was… moderate—though, by outside standards, he could easily be considered a master.
His true talent lay in curse-breaking.
In the original books, only one curse-breaker was mentioned—Bill Weasley. Among the Selwyns, however, curse-breakers held low status. Despite being indispensable to every wizard, they were looked down upon, much like ancient physicians once were—necessary, but never respected.
Curse-breakers studied the theory of spells and magical sigils more deeply than anyone. They could dismantle enchantments, invent new spells, and refine existing ones. Without them, modern spellcraft would never have evolved as it had.
It was Elrond who had taught Solim the Fierce Flame spell he once used against a troll.
Now, standing in the dim corridor, Solim called for a house-elf to guide him. It wasn't that he didn't know the way, but several magical mechanisms in the basement had to be temporarily disabled—something he couldn't yet manage himself. The elf could handle it instead.
"All right, you can go, Zim," Solim said, setting down his trunk and preparing to knock. "Oh, and fetch Sirna for me—but make sure no one else sees her."
The elf vanished instantly. A moment later, the door swung open.
"Come in," said an old but lively voice. "I was just counting the time—you should be here about now."
Standing in the doorway was an elderly man, vigorous despite his years. His hair was black, like Solim's, though shorter and neater.
Solim's own hair brushed his shoulders—a novelty for him. In his previous life, he had never been allowed to grow it long, either at school or at work. Now, the unfamiliar weight of it amused him.
"Come in, boy," said Elrond warmly. "Tell me everything—how's your time at Hogwarts been?"
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