The Daily Diviner - Issue 2

[The Daily Diviner]

Looking Back at 2019
Feature
Written by BeanCheese
Edited by Musiueq
​

This past year has been filled with exciting updates and additions to Potterworld, from the Department of Leisures and Games’ ravishing revamp to stunning new store items! Potterworld has changed greatly during this past year, so let’s look back at some of our favourite updates and what you might have missed!

In-Game Updates
The Revelius update is a popular topic to discuss; when the second part will be released, what will be expected to see, what happened in the first update and so on. Part one of the Revelius update was released to the public on August the 4th, making many changes. Talents have been reworked, the Spell Teacher has come back and sells spells that can’t be given through leveling, spell reworks have occurred, all players now have a hundred health and talent, etcetera. We have yet to find out the date for part two, but should be released soon!

Not too long after this, LabyMod became an allowed modified client on the server on September the 15th, allowing players to add friends by the mod, give other nicknames that only you can see, wear special cosmetics like capes, and the list goes on! All features that are not allowed have been blocked, except for the voice feature of the mod. Many people who have used LabyMod in Potterworld have thoroughly enjoyed using it and say it makes the experience even more enjoyable!

Let’s also not forget about an addition many players have been eager to see- the player reset! It was first brought in-game on October the 13th, and it entailed that you could get the reset for free in the store once a month. If you want to buy it in less time, it’ll cost you more than it would if you waited. Unfortunately, it had to be disabled the next day due to some bugs. If you use this, all your data resets, so you start again as a first-year without any items but you will keep store purchases. This is a great way to learn everything again if you have come back from a long hiatus and want to remember what it was like at the beginning or feel like there is not much more for you to do.

Events
On February 9th, the first event in 2019 arrived at Potterworld- the Valentine’s event! You could collect love letters all around Hogsworth and later on trade them for and you could try and complete the love course parkour which would give you the spell ‘Amor Vita’, and there are even more wonderful things you might get the chance to try out next year. It even lasted an extra two weeks, until March the 8th, so we could get to enjoy it longer!

Nine days later, the St Patrick’s Day event came to Hogsworth- with a new game. On March the 16th, along with the event, you could play Quabbleball. You can find Quabbleball in /games. Once there are eight to fourteen players, you get teleported to the lobby and you can choose from either the green or red team. Once everyone is in a team, you have to choose your position and the game begins! There was also; a 20% sale, numerous tasks to challenge yourself to with unique rewards, a beautifully decorated courtyard, and so on.

The first ever Spring Festival was released on April the 13th, created by our wonderful Game Design team. You could take up the challenge of 22 riddles, search for Easter Eggs around the castle, participate in house point competition, and collect many available rewards like the Spring Bunnies spell, 5 different Spring Scarves, and an Easter Basket!

For all you Star Wars fans, the May the 4th event had begun on that very day and lasted until May the 18th. You could also join the exclusive /games like Star Battle and Star Racing to try! Instead of earning Event Tokens, you’d earn Star Tokens and could use those to buy six different sabers, four blasters, two hats, and an emote pack! On the following weekend, a Star Battle tournament was held between fierce competitors, but the winners were DanikAvery, Danneman01, and __Rosetta__. If you love the Porg, then you’d certainly have been head over heels for the new pet in the store, also courtesy of this event. For a limited time only, you could purchase a Porg in /store or participate in the giveaway that would allow you to win the pet for free! A lover of the films or not, this was certainly one of our favourite events.

Potterworld’s biggest event of the year was released the day the May the 4th event ended; The anniversary event! Every week until July the 8th you would get to revisit an event from the previous year and complete the quests and games. Whilst the events were happening, you could also participate in a house competition, a writing competition, and a skin competition.

After over a month without an event, the Fantastical Carnival arrived on August 17th! In this event, you could try and complete a rainbow maze and do a dropper and parkour to collect tickets to buy many prizes from the stalls, like plushies and food. The quest’s objective was to feed the adorable animals by making food for them, which was also a part of the daily reward. Each day, the ‘Rewards’ NPC would give you tasks to complete and would reward you with carnival tickets!

Do you love Butterbrew? If so, then the Butterbrew Festival may just be your cup of tea! On September the 21st, the Butterbrew Festival came to Hogsend with new challenges and collectibles. You could play minigames and earn Event Tokens, which you could trade for unique collectables available at different shops. One very challenging game in the event was the Butterbrew Trial Challenge! Once you completed the Butterbrew Trial Challenge- if you could- you would have been able to receive the one of a kind 2019 event scarf.

Halloween is one of people’s most favourite holidays, so of course, Potterworld’s Halloween deathday party is another event we all love. The event lasted from October the 19th to the 31st, leaving you plenty of time to give the games a go. Instead of receiving Minigames Tokens from completing the minigames in /games, you would get Boo bucks, the event currency, or you preferred to give the scavenger hunt a go, which involved you looking for special objects that had belonged to friends of Basically Beheaded Benjamin, if you found the items you’d get to keep them! Did you find any of the items?

Our last event of the year is Winter Waltz! Starting from December the 1st and ending on the last day of this year and decade, this event has had many new additions. The main activity is to forge Bluefyre, which can be done by collecting the four ingredients; Bluefyre ashes, Bells of Dourmstrad, Enchanted Icicles and Cursed Ice Shards and clicking the furnace! You can use Bluefyre to unfreeze specific locations around the castle such as the Great Hall and Library. There are plenty of other things to do as well, like trying out the escape room, giving the history test a go, you can use the Bluefyre you forge to unlock rewards you can buy with snowflakes. You can earn those snowflakes by giving one of many minigames a try. These games are shown in the daily task board just outside Dourmstrad! People have said this was one of their favourite events for the never-ending fun and the variety of different things to do. Which event was your favourite?

The New Website
After much hard work, the staff team released a new website on August the 11th! This website was established for a few reasons, like being limited to what can be done on Enjin and the new possibilities a new website creates. The website is in beta, but there is still so much you can do! If you do ‘/link’ in-game, you’ll be able to link your Minecraft character to the website.

In the new website, there have been many new features added. One new thing is that once you log in, at the top right you'll see a button saying your username. If you hover over that you'll get four options to choose from. If you click ‘My Character’ you’ll get to view, as said, your character. You’ll see your username on both website and in-game, your Minecraft skin, your ranks, and spells you have, which is useful to check your information or check others! The format of the website is completely new, it’s been made so everything can be accessed easier and, as a bonus, looks amazing.

Of course, not all of the website is different, and some parts have only been improved. There still are the wonderful forums where you can check for news, sell or buy unwanted items, advertise role-plays, or head down to the rainbow road for games like ‘Count as high as you can before a staff member comes on’. You can also still post on your profile, create and add a signature, apply for positions, and so on.

Many have found the website addicting and exciting for there are many fun things to do. If you go to ‘forums’ you’ll see many threads with four subsections. The threads are pretty self-explanatory with their name, like ‘News and Updates’ is a good place to go if you’ve taken a hiatus for the game, to keep yourself up to date with everything or to read the latest issue of the Daily Diviner! You can also go to players’ profile and click the ‘start conversation’ button to talk to them if you can't go in-game or use Discord.

Discord Updates
Discord is the main form of communication with the people of Potterworld. It’s a useful application that allows you to talk to members of Potterworld whether they’re online or not and you can easily check for updates this way! Over the past year, some talented staff members have worked hard to bring us new updates to the Discord server.

On March the 18th, The bot managers released a lot of new features to Discord. The Potterworld Discord bot is able to help you in many ways. In #bot-commands type ‘!help’ and a list of commands will appear, like you can do ‘!nc’ to check when the next schedule class is and ‘!spell (name)’ to check information about the spell. As well as this, if you wanted to join a voice channel but could not speak or want to send something only the people in said voice chat can see, there was a text channel added for each voice channel! You’ll have access to the text channel once you join the voice channel, but will not be able to see any previous messages and only the people in the channel can see the messages sent.

With Discord bringing us Server boosts, we’ve been able to change a lot with all the boosts received. The discord server is currently at level two, meaning some of the things the discord server can have is; everyone can send more powerful files, better audio quality, a beautiful server banner and a hundred more boost than the original fifty, and with all the emoji slots left, do feel free to suggest any emojis on uservoice!


We hope you’ve enjoyed this year and all the new things brought to you! There have been some planned updates for 2020 that have already been announced such as the Revelius Update part two-What are you looking most forward to? Unfortunately, that is it for this article, I wish you all a happy New Year and a great year! See you next year!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Winter Waltz, Worth Our Time?
Editorial
Written by ShaneChi
Edited by Cweamish
​

The Winter Waltz began as a formal event attended by the three schools Hogsworth, Beauxbois, and Dormunstrad, hosted during the Triwizard Tournament. However, since the tournament’s permanent cancellation in 1995, the Winter Waltz has become an annual tradition. It is hosted once a year at one of the three schools involved, with the host school alternating every year. This year, Hogsworth students sailed across the sea to visit the mysterious Dormunstrad in an unknown region of Scandinavia. While the students get to experience new cultures and meet new people, parents of our wizarding youth have expressed some concern towards their children experiencing a school with such a dark reputation. Some have even gone as far as to call the worth of the event itself into question, and that is what shall be decided today.

To decide whether or not the Winter Waltz is worth our time, we have to compare both the pros and the cons of the event. The obvious benefits include allowing our youth to experience more culture and meet new people across the world. This is very useful for many students' futures, especially those who wish to take up posts requiring travel or diplomatic skills. Despite this, it is true that other schools, Dormunstrad in particular, have some questionable ethics. In particular, their teaching of the Dark Arts is highly concerning. Exposing our children to this could be harmful to their education and implant negative ideas in their minds. The travel of the event also requires students to lose time that could be dedicated to their studies, which is another valid point of question against the Winter Waltz. However, that is not to say that students must abandon their studies, nor that they will be guaranteed to return as dark wizards. They have means to bring their academics with them, and even some professors accompanied the students on their journey to ensure the learning continues. It has also helped students learn more varieties of magical arts, not necessarily the Dark Arts, that they were conscripted to assist in the forging of Bluefyre to help unfreeze Dormunstrad following an unknown incident unleashing ice upon the school. There are many mixed views on the Winter Waltz, but as we compare and contrast these opinions we can begin to unravel whether or not it is worthy of our attendance.

In general, there are many solid arguments from both sides of the Winter Waltz debate. However, it is overall more beneficial that Hogsworth students attend the event. Between the new skills they learn and new friendships they forge, our children come out of the Winter Waltz as more capable and intelligent wizards and witches. With ways to counteract the downsides and countless benefits that come from it, there is truly no good reason why students shouldn’t participate in this event. Despite this, all that truly matters is a good celebration of the holidays, which is why, wherever you stand on the matter of the Winter Waltz, the Daily Diviner wishes all of its readers a happy holiday season and a joyous new year to come!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Winter Games
Games and Sports
Written by BaffledRabbit
Edited by Musiueq​

Snow falls on Hogsworth school again as the holidays arrive once more; which means the icy seasonal minigames are back as well. Race your friends down snowy slopes on a quick wooden sled or pelt them with magic snowballs by opening up the minigame menu with /games. There, you’ll find the three winter minigames brought back to you this Christmas; sledding, snowballing, and wand spleef.

If you’re a fan of dueling, try your luck in the Snowballing minigame where you can cast icy spells at your friends. Duel it out in the beautiful halls of the new Ice Castle map, built by the amazing Architect Team. The Ice Castle Map is an outstanding new feature which includes grand and royal rooms to behold.

If you’re not in the mood for a snowball fight, try out Wand Spleef - an exciting alternative to the more combat-driven Snowballing. You’ll use magic spells, not to attack your friends, but to cause the ground beneath them to disappear, sending them falling into the void until you’re the last one standing. Compete in another all-new map, the lovely Christmas Village. Also built by the fantastic Architect Team, the Christmas Village map displays heartwarming Christmas sights and is filled with festivities.

Not such a fan of casting spells? Maybe a race would be more your speed: try Sledding! Slide down the mountainside on a high-speed sled, avoiding icy obstacles as well as traps thrown at you by other racers. Discover hidden shortcuts and explore the ever-expanding tunnels that lie within this map. Whilst competing, take in your frozen surroundings.

Victory in any of these lovely minigames will reward you with Snowflakes. Be sure to collect as many as you can, as you’ll be able to use them to buy some fabulous holiday-themed items at the Winter Waltz! Such items include spectacular rewards like a Cowboy Santa Hat, a Sled Broom, a Snow Beanie, Reindeer Lights Antlers, and many more breathtaking collectibles. So, go get started and save up; these games will only be around till the end of the month. Enjoy the icy fun and exclusive rewards, and have a happy holiday!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Enjoying the Holidays on Potterworld
Lifestyle
Written by kvmw
Edited by Cweamish
​

IT’S THE BEGINNING of the holiday season. School is out, and you now can freely—or rather, as often are your parents let you—spend your time on Potterworld. As you all well know, the server has many locations, but which of them is best for the winter holidays?

Broomsticks Inn is a famous place for wizards and witches to create memories, particularly those that occur in the winter. For you, it can be the creation of many important memories as well! Broomsticks Inn has a warm, comforting ambiance that comes from the many fireplaces and tables laden with delicious food and drinks—the perfect place for a meetup with your friends. Order a Butterbrew and gather around for a night of joy and fun!

Another location isn’t one you would expect—Hogsworth school itself! The castle is always decorated to fit the Christmas spirit, so why not take advantage of that? During the holiday season, classes are off, giving you plenty of time to explore the (unrestricted) sections of the castle! Hogsworth holds many secrets, so how many can you find? And after a long day of secret-hunting, you can relax in your common room, which is bound to have some Christmas festivity going on—and if it isn’t, you can be the one to begin one!

Our final location is one that you need Fire Dust to access—the Dwelling! Home to the famous Weasley family, it is well known that some of Henry Porter’s best Christmases were spent there. Spend an evening dining in the Weasley’s kitchen, well built for a party of any size—granted, you may have to find a cook with nearly as much prowess as Mrs. Weasley—and fill up! Sing Christmas carols in the living room, play make-shift Quabbleball in the lawn, and dress up the Ghoul in the attic—you can do all this, and more! And finally, as the day ends, drift off to sleep in one of the many cozy bedrooms the Dwelling holds.

So here are three locations perfect for the holiday season—but don’t just limit yourself to these! An important part of the holiday spirit is being with friends and family, so gather up those you love and explore Potterworld together: that is the true holiday spirit!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

A Magical Christmas: Part 2
Original Works
Written by kvmw
Edited by the DDLPs​

Joshua had visited the orphanage multiple times within the last week—whether it was to help hang up the Christmas lights, decorate the Christmas tree, or update Aunt Lisa on his progress, he had been very busy. He only came home for dinner, eating lunch at the orphanage, before going right back to complete some other task

His mom didn’t complain, and neither did his dad. They knew how important the orphanage was to their son, but sometimes, they wished he take a little longer during dinner time. He was always in such a rush.

This time, as he walked out of the door, he was thinking about the annual snowball fight the children held. He had to leave because of dinner, but he was willing to bet that Johnny had won. That child always had some clever trick up his sleeve.

Indeed, when he walked into the orphanage, a small blue cupcake sat in front of the ecstatic boy. The other children stood around him, some looking a little miffed as he took a large bite of the cupcake, nearly finishing the entire thing.

“Johnny!” Aunt Rose scolded. “Don’t eat it so quickly!“ She turned to Joshua. “Hello, Joshua. Here to help again?”

“Of course,” Joshua said. “I have the dress Aunt Lisa was looking for.” He produced a sparkling, beautiful dress that looked far too expensive for something found in a week.

“Joshua!” Aunt Rose almost sounded offended, but Joshua knew she was only concerned. “How much did that cost?”

“Not that much,” Joshua said. In reality, it had cost nothing, but she didn’t need to know that. “I promise, Aunt Rose,” he said, in response to her disbelieving look. “Is Aunt Lisa in her office?”

“Yes,” Aunt Rose said, still looking doubtful. “Really, Joshua…”

“Thanks, Aunt Rose!” he said, hurrying out to escape her gaze.

“Hello, Joshua.” Aunt Lisa looked up from her book. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s excellent,” he said, showing her the dress. “Look!” He turned the dress inside out, focusing on the dress. The beautiful blue dress became a dress made of rags, and Aunt Lisa looked at Joshua strangely.

“How have you done that?”

“I... found it,” he said, evading the question.

Though Aunt Lisa still looked doubtful, she did not press him. “Wendy is playing the role of Cinderella. Mark is playing Prince Charming. Johnny, Lucas, and Irene are playing the step-siblings. Felix and Joy are playing all the extra roles. Does that sound good to you?”

“Yeah,” Joshua said. “Do you need help setting up the stage?”

Aunt Lisa tutted. “Joshua, Joshua. I appreciate you always helping, but it’s Christmas! Spend time with your family, not just with us! Your father and mother haven’t seen you in a year, and yet you spend all your time with us? Stop being a bad son and go home.”

Joshua turned red. He hadn’t realized it was the holidays—well, at least, not truly. He had been so focused on making the children’s holidays’ special that he forgot all about his parents. Many people weren’t lucky enough to return to their families on the Christmas holidays, yet here he was, arriving home late every night.

He made a noise of acquiescence and left Aunt Lisa’s office. He wandered along the streets, looking around as he walked through the snow. He barely noticed his socks becoming soaked as he absorbed the scene around him—the setting sun painting the sky varying shades of pink and orange, an owl hooting in the distance, the shops decorated with festive lights.

He realized he had yet to buy a present for his parents, so he turned back to a little shop he had seen along the way. The shop was full of antique things—his parents loved those kinds of things. As he stepped inside, he sighed as a warm breeze brushed his face.

“How may I help—Joshua?” Joshua looked up in surprise at his name and his face slowly broke into a grin as he realized who it was. “Mina?”

Mina—her full name was Wilhelmina, but no one could say it—was an acquaintance from Hogsworth. They had never really talked, but he recognized her as the Unmagical Studies prodigy of the school. “I didn’t know you live here!”

“I don’t,” she said, smiling. “But I’m studying Unmagical Christmas traditions, and this is one of the most popular shops in town. My aunt actually lives here, but I haven’t seen her in ages. She’s a Squander, and for some reason, my mother hates her. Don’t know why.” She waved her hand, as if brushing the thought aside. “But I’m getting off topic. Are you looking for anything?”

“No,” he admitted. “I was hoping you—well, rather, anyone who was here—had a suggestion? It’s for my parents, and they like antique stuff, so…”

Mina thought a little. “Do they like television?”

Joshua shook his head.

“Do they like taking pictures?”

“A little, but mainly of me. And I’m not home that often…” They shared a knowing smile.

“How about music?”

He thought about it. Every Christmas, his father and mother would sing Christmas songs together—classics like Silent Night, Jingle Bells, All I Want For Christmas Is You. Even during the rest of the year, music was always playing in their household. “Yeah, they like music.”

“Great!” Mina pulled him over to a record player sitting in the middle of the shop. “This record player, also known as a turntable, is something called Bluetooth. I’m so happy that nothing else in this shop is Bluetooth. It’s so strange! Why is it called Bluetooth? Does it have to do with blue teeth?”

Joshua laughed. “You know, I never knew why it was called that. It just... is, I guess. But the record sounds perfect! How much is it?”

“45 pounds,” Mina said.

Joshua went through his pocket and pulled out a 50-pound note. “Here,” he said. “Keep the change. Have a good Christmas!” he said, attempting to lift the turntable. It was a bit heavier than expected, so he pulled his wand, making sure no one else was around.

“Joshua!” Mina whispered, half-alarmed. “You can’t—”

“I turned 17 a week ago,” he said. “Reducto.”

The turntable shrunk in size—it now fit in Joshua’s pocket. He put it there, waved goodbye to Mina—who still looked shocked—and walked away. He hummed a song to himself as he strolled down the street, in a better mood than before.

When he arrived home, his parents looked up in surprise. “Joshua!” his mother said. “We weren’t expecting you back this early!”

Joshua once again felt a flash of shame, but pushed it down as he spoke. “Well... I decided that since it’s Christmas, I should spend time with my family.”

His parents’ faces immediately broke into grins, and his father gestured to the couch opposite them. “Sit down, Joshua. We can light the fireplace if you want.”

“That would be nice.” He sat down awkwardly, unsure of what to say. His father stood up to turn on the fireplace—it flickered into life, red and orange flames dancing across logs.

“So, how is Hogsworth?” His mother asked, as he also said, “I’m sorry!”

His parents looked surprised. “What for?” his father asked.

“For... not spending time with you,” Joshua said, looking down at his lap. “I’ve been at the orphanage the entire break, and I’ve barely talked to you guys. And I just... felt bad.”

He waited for his parents to admit that he had, in fact, barely talked to him, but his mother merely smiled. “We understand, Joshua. The orphanage is like your second—or maybe third, now that Hogsworth exists—home. But you’ll always have a place here, at your first home, so don’t forget.” She winked.

Joshua’s face broke into a smile. “Thanks.” He suddenly remembered his turntable and pulled it out of his pocket, along with his wand. “Engorgimus.” The turntable returned to regular size, as he said, “I got this for you guys. You know, for Christmas. It’s Bluetooth, and since we’re always listening to music…”

His mother’s face brightened, and she stood up to hug Joshua. “Thank you for this, Joshua. You didn’t have to, you know.”

“Compared to the sixteen other presents you’ve given me, this is nothing,” he said, laughing.

As the night wore on, he remembered all the things he loves about his parents—their witty jokes, their interesting habits, their obvious love for each other and himself. As the fire burned lower and lower, they continued to talk into the night, until he fell asleep in his armchair, feeling warm and loved.

 

[The Daily Diviner]

A Magical Christmas: Part 3
Original Works
Written by kvmw
Edited by the DDLPs
​

Joshua felt the same feelings—warm and loved—as he watched the children run off the stage and into his arms. The play had been a massive success: the dress transformed successfully, the children (mostly) remembered their lines, and his father showed up.

All in all, it was perfect.

“You guys did amazing!” Joshua said as he hugged them. “Mark, I didn’t expect you to actually kiss Wendy.” He winked at Mark, who turned a bright red. “You’ve grown up so much!”

“I’m only 14, Josh,” Mark whined.

“That dress was really awesome!” Wendy chimed in, steering the conversation away from the kiss that happened. “It felt almost magical!”

Joshua laughed, albeit a bit awkwardly, and patted her shoulder. “Anything for you, Wendy.”

He talked to each of the other children—He told Johnny, Lucas, and Irene that if he hadn’t known them, he would have thought they were very cruel. He told Felix and Joy that they were amazing, and that they should go into acting.

Aunt Rose had hustled most of the children off to bed—Johnny had asked to stay, saying he had something to ask Aunt Lisa. Now, only those three remained, and Joshua was the first to speak. “Um...should I go?”

“I don’t think so,” Aunt Lisa said. “I think Johnny has something to say to both of us.

Joshua looked at Johnny. He blushed, and produced a letter from his pocket. Immediately Joshua’s eyes widened.

It looked exactly like a letter he received six years ago.

“Johnny, you’re going to Hogwarts?”

“So that is where you’ve been going!” Johnny shouted. “I knew it!”

“How—”

“I’ve had this letter for two weeks,” Johnny said conversationally. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. I wasn’t even sure what this Hogsworth thing was, until I realized that Josh was gone for nearly the same amount of time!”

“Then why Aunt Lisa?”

“She’s already seen it.” Johnny blushed. “I think she saw it—sorry, Aunt Lisa, but you’ve been looking at me strangely for the past two weeks. I wasn’t sure if you saw it, but I was willing to take the chance.”

Aunt Lisa sighed. “Should I have not have seen it, or understood what it was, you would have been a great bit of trouble, Johnny.”

“What—” Joshua looked at Aunt Lisa. “You know about Hogsworth?”

“I’ve suspected it for a while,” Aunt Lisa admitted. “From the way you avoided questions about where you were going, the period of time that you’re gone, you saying their food was better than Rose’s. It’s obvious to anyone who knows about Hogsworth.”

“Then you’re a witch?” Joshua asked.

“I’m a Squander,” Aunt Lisa said. “My sister is a witch, however. Her niece was the one who told me that you were a wizard.”

“Mina?” Joshua’s eyes widened. “You’re her aunt?”

Aunt Lisa nodded. “My sister doesn’t know she’s here—she doesn’t really like me—but Mina begged me to let her stay, so I’ve let her borrow my shed. But she’s working most of the day, which is why you’ve never seen her.”

“I guess it really is a small world,” Joshua said. He slowly realized the heavy weight in his arms, and realized Johnny had fallen asleep.

“I’ll take him back,” Aunt Lisa said. “Thank you for all your help, Joshua. You’ve really made this Christmas special.”

“Wait.” Joshua had just realized. He looked at the clock, and saw it had just struck midnight. “It’s Christmas!” He jumped up—he almost felt like a five-year-old again.

“It’s Christmas!”