The Tree of Blacks (English version)

In the Owlery

Trying not to let her reluctance show, Alya grabbed the package and stood still, staring at it doubtfully. From the fine wrapping alone, she could tell that it was certainly not a small gift bought in some little shop in Hogsmeade.

"Open it!" urged Nott, eagerly, not ceasing to flash her perfect, gleaming teeth with a smile.

Alya began to unwrap the emerald paper, from which a glittering silver box emerged. The girl opened it and a wonderful iridescent bracelet appeared before the young Black's incredulous gaze. The jewel presented the features of a silver snake, of refined and elegant workmanship; the two ends of the bracelet reproduced the likeness of the reptile's head and tail respectively, and on the top of the head, two small emeralds had been set, as well as the snake's eyes, which glittered brightly under the greenish light emanating from the black chandeliers of the room.

"Stretch out your arm," Maynard urged her promptly, growing more and more full of himself.

Alya obeyed, extending her hand towards the chest. With a sudden flick, the bracelet hovered in mid-air for a brief second, spreading its coil like a snake, then twisted around Alya's slender wrist, fitting perfectly around her circumference.

With an enchanted gaze, Alya gazed at the elegant jewel that now delicately encircled her arm.

"It is white gold. Very fine and skilfully worked," Nott was careful to point out. Nott had observed with minute attention all the movements of the bracelet and the various shades of astonishment that had coloured the girl's face.

"It's lovely, Maynard, I mean it." murmured Alya, as she brushed her fingers over the cold precious surface of the serpentine jewel, feeling increasingly guilty for not having considered buying her boyfriend even a chocolate from Mielandia. The romantic streak seemed to be completely alien to her.

"I had it specially sent to me from Italy. From Florence, to be exact." continued Nott, sporting all her rich snob air. "Have you ever been to Florence, Alya?" he then asked, addressing the maiden.

Alya shyly nodded her head: she was totally inexperienced and unprepared about foreign travel. Her family had never crossed the borders of Great Britain.

"Well, I have. Several times, in fact. I used to go there every summer with my parents as a kid," Nott explained, proudly strutting. "It is a magnificent place, every nook and cranny is imbued with art and magic. Italian magicians possess the rare ability to combine these two elements sublimely."

Although annoyed by the boy's ostentatious arrogance, Alya listened to him filled with interest and curiosity. Tales about foreign and distant countries fascinated her beyond measure.

"There is a bridge in Florence, called Ponte Vecchio, dotted with small, old shops, dedicated to the creation of jewellery. Most of them are run by ordinary Muggles, but there is one in particular that belongs to an ancient lineage of wizard-goldsmiths. It is said that an old ancestor of the family had the honour of studying the art directly from the Goblins, and that this knowledge of the craft has been passed down from generation to generation, right up to the present day," Maynard recounted, giving himself airs of an expert.

"My father and the head shopkeeper are old friends. When I wrote to him what I had in mind for this day - yes, I told my parents about us, don't roll your eyes - my old man wasted no time and immediately got in touch with his magician-goldsmith friend, commissioning and having sent directly from Florence the bracelet you are now wearing,' Nott concluded, with a smug expression.

"I see you spared no expense," Alya commented, with veiled irony. A part of her was beginning to feel uneasy. She had made up her mind about Maynard, and over the months she had realised that the scion of House Nott never did anything for nothing. He tried to take advantage of every situation. And that gift was just too pretentious not to sense that Nott was up to something.