[HP Comprehensive UK and US] Platinum Stark

The last day of school arrived happily, and the excitement of the little wizards reached its peak.

The timetable wisely places the last class in the morning, which means that the entire afternoon is time for free arrangement.

The train home leaves from school at 10 o'clock on Christmas Day, and they will put the Christmas gifts for their friends under the big Christmas tree in their respective lounges tonight.

Alicia was also very excited. She hadn't seen her mother for several months and the girl missed her terribly.

But before that, she had to prepare gifts for each of her friends. As for Draco, they would exchange gifts at home.

Pansy, Theodore, Daphne, Crabbe and Goyle, as well as people from other pure-blood families, such as Selwyn, Flint and so on.

The girl carefully checked the gifts and names on the list, and after confirming that they were correct, she put them aside, intending to take them with her when she went out.

She had already prepared the gift for the godfather, and she didn't want to miss out on the Dark Lord's part either.

Whether he throws away the gift after receiving it is one thing, whether she gives it back is another.

After finishing her preparation, the girl took out a piece of letter paper and began to write the letter seriously.

Of course she wouldn't forget Tony on such an important holiday.

“Dear Tony,

Merry Christmas!

Trust me, you will be surprised by your Christmas gifts this year..."

“…By the way, we will have about two weeks of vacation. If you are free, you can come to England to see me—we will not return to school until after New Year’s Day.

Looking forward to meeting you!

——Always waiting for the arrival of Jingaleon

Alicia"

Phew, it’s done!

Alicia rubbed her sore shoulders and used a levitation spell to send the piled gifts together to the Christmas tree in the lounge.

She was holding a light blue box in her arms. Theodore, who was sitting on the sofa, could tell at a glance that the girl's gift was not for Professor Snape.

Probably to send it out.

He called the girl softly and asked gently, "Xia, sending a gift to a friend? Why don't you go together? I also want to go out for a walk."

Alicia subconsciously pulled the gift box closer to her chest. She couldn't think of a way to refuse and could only stand there awkwardly.

Under normal circumstances, the considerate Theodore would considerately choose to stay here when seeing her body language like this.

For some reason, Theodore today seemed not to notice her invisible rejection.

The girl's expression froze for a moment, and then she bluntly rejected Theodore: "No, I can do it alone."

It would be too much to pursue it further.

The boy bent his fingers, his heart sank, but he didn't show it on his face: "Okay."

He forced a smile and watched Alicia leave the lounge.

Draco, who had just come out of the dormitory, saw that Theodore was not in good condition. He sat directly in the middle of the sofa: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Theodore did not take the opportunity to inquire about the girl's social life.

He has always been very sensible.

Just as Alicia walked towards the Owl Tower happily, the atmosphere in the United States across the Atlantic Ocean was extremely heavy.

Tony was standing in the middle of the living room with a numb expression. An hour had passed since he sent away the group of agents in suits.

He didn't move for a whole hour until the ringing of the phone woke him up.

It was Potts, his father's employee.

Tony hung up the phone sluggishly and turned it off. He lost all his strength and half leaned against the wall, sliding down to the ground.

The man could no longer feel the coldness coming from behind him. The gradually sinking sun outside the window rudely shot the last ray of light into his eyes.

Tears fell mechanically from his eyes. There was no great sorrow as he had imagined, nor any feeling of the earth collapsing.

But why was he crying?

"Mr. Stark, we regret to inform you that your parents encountered a car accident on the way to the designated location..."

Tony couldn't remember what the next words were. Only this sentence kept looping in his mind over and over again, like a radio with a broken off button from the last century.

Rhodes walked in at this time.

His best friend was sitting on the floor in a daze, his eyes empty and dull, with visible traces of tears.

Rhode sighed and tried to steady his voice as he said, "Tony, I took the initiative to postpone the company's affairs to tomorrow for you, as well as the press conference. If..."

His words were interrupted.

"It's a secret mission, right?" Tony seemed to realize something when he saw Rhodes. He stood up quickly and nearly fell to the ground because he moved too quickly. "The car accident was fake, and the notices from those people were also fake. You're afraid that I won't cooperate, right? Tell me, tell me, I promise... I promise I won't..."

"Tony." Rhodes supported his shaking body. He opened his mouth, as if he didn't know how to start, but had to speak. "I'm sorry, but... I'm sorry."

The light in Tony's eyes dimmed instantly. He tried to find some reasons to refute, but those reasons couldn't even convince himself.

That news is true.

His parents died in a car accident, not due to human error or even a crash.

They said there was a problem with the brake system.

He swept Rhodes' hand away, and his voice suddenly became extremely hoarse: "Get out."

Before he finished speaking, he turned around.

Rhodes sighed again. He knew that Tony needed time: "Contact me anytime."

"Clap."

The door behind him was closed again, and the whole room fell into silence.

It was the sound of the door closing that brought him back to the day before, when his parents left here.

He also turned his back to the door and listened to them leaving without even turning his head.

Maria’s warm hug, earnest advice, and repeated comfort and encouragement kept replaying before my eyes.

and his father, Howard Stark.

"Tony, put it down, don't touch that!"

"Get out, who let you in?"

"If you ever think about having a party again, get out!"

Tony laughed unconsciously, and tears welled up like a dam breaking.

He barged into his father's laboratory without hesitation, but his vision was blurry.

The man fell to the ground, his exaggerated laughter and crying voice blended into his voice: "No, no, you should yell at me to get out now."

Why didn't his father let him leave here?

It shouldn't be like this.

It shouldn't be like this.

Why didn't he say goodbye to them properly, why didn't he dissuade them from staying, and why was he still arguing with them until the last moment.

It shouldn't be like this.

Mom said she and Dad had agreed to come back tomorrow to have dinner with him.

He knew that it must be his mother who tried hard to persuade his father.

What did he say then?

"If he doesn't want to come back, then don't come back. He's been gone for so long, and one more day won't make a difference."

Maria’s helpless expression seemed to be right in front of me.

"Hey, Tony, come on, trust him once, he won't let you down."

"Tomorrow is Christmas, Mom, didn't you say he would come home?" Tony said in a low voice to the laboratory table not far away.

His voice was so low that it was almost inaudible.

"Why can't you guys go home?"