"Ah, Rhea, could you let go of your poor, frail old professor's arm?" Severus said with a stern face, though Rhea had already learned to interpret her teacher's meaning quite well: not explicitly saying no meant yes.
Rhea directly hugged Severus from behind, pressing her stiffening body against his back and familiarly rubbing her face and body against him. Because she was hugging him from behind, she missed the slight flush on Severus's cheeks.
Rhea called out to Bidodo, who instantly appeared beside her hand.
"Hello, esteemed Mr. Snape. I am Miss Rhea Walker's house-elf, Bidodo. Thank you for taking care of Miss Rhea. Bidodo is an all-purpose household and domestic house-elf."
Severus gave a faint, detached "hmph" and headed through the fireplace to find Dumbledore, though his back was rather stiff and his departure somewhat hurried.
"Dumbledore, what do you want?"
"Oh, dear Severus, I don't need anything in particular. I just wanted to ask how you and Miss Rhea Walker have been getting along this past year," Dumbledore said with a mischievous smile.
"Obviously, her talent, as you have seen, is truly flawless. Did you call me here just to ask such a tedious question?" Severus was furious, but since it was Dumbledore, he couldn't curse him out.
"Severus, calm your mind. This is just a normal way for an old headmaster to show concern for a young girl." Dumbledore was determined not to admit he was simply curious about their progress. In the entire year, the girl had acted purely as an assistant while farming goodwill with all the other professors—it was completely absurd!
Severus let out a cold "Hmph," which was nothing if not a silent accusation.
Dumbledore offered Severus a cup of sweet honey tea, but Severus refused with a twitching expression.
"If you have nothing else, I still have to go grade the papers of those brainless little Trolls," Severus said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, run along then, Severus. Give Miss Rhea my regards."
Severus headed down to the dungeon with his temper at rock bottom to grade essays, leaving goodness knows how many poor Gryffindors to suffer the consequences. Meanwhile, the Weasley brothers, unfortunate enough to encounter Professor Snape while staying at school over the holidays, were docked twenty points from Gryffindor simply for speaking too loudly.
After Severus left, Rhea had Bidodo clean the house, cook, tidy up the courtyard, and finish setting up the Christmas decorations. Then, Rhea teleported to the Walker family vault, found a branch petrified in demon-hemostatic sap, and used her magic to shape it into the form of a wand. She also checked the family library, gathering a selection of books on Potions to present to her teacher together, as a token of gratitude for accepting Bidodo's thank-you gift.
Returning to Spinner's End, Rhea rewrapped the gift, leaving only for her teacher to unwrap the surprise she had prepared for him tomorrow.
Next, she took the fireplace to the dungeon. Severus merely raised his eyelids slightly and paid her no further mind as Rhea went around visiting the other professors to deliver her Christmas gifts in advance.
Rhea arrived at the door of Dumbledore's office, and it swung open automatically. Seeing Dumbledore standing by the window, staring out in a daze, Rhea remained silent.
"Miss Rhea, you're here. Is something the matter?" Dumbledore asked, turning around after a moment.
"Sir, I'm here to deliver a Christmas gift. I'm sure you'll like it," Rhea said with a smile.
"Oh, woolen socks! To be honest, I am thrilled to receive this gift. Let me see... the socks seem to contain a magical power. What kind of power is this? Truly, this is the first time I've encountered such magic," Dumbledore said in surprise, wondering if this was Rhea's power. The first time he met her, he had sensed a terrifying, abyssal beast slumbering within her—a truly horrifying strength.
"It is my honor that you like them. Think of it as an enchantment with numerous built-in features. The most basic ones are spotless cleanliness, eternal novelty, and adaptive body-temperature control. As for the rest, I hope you never have to find out. Oh, and each person can only bind a single pair of socks!" Rhea said with a shrug and a mischievous smile. As for the gift, it was a pair of woolen socks crafted with magic and loaded with various life-saving functions—designed entirely to ensure that both old Dumbledore and Professor Snape would live forever.
"I see." Dumbledore had a lingering sense that Rhea knew something—why else would there be two pairs of socks? He looked somewhat dazed, to the point that he completely forgot to ask about the progress of their relationship.
Sensing it was time to leave, Rhea said, "Merry Christmas, sir," and went off to find Severus.