1

It was the 1st of December, and Severus Snape, Hogwarts' resident potions master and double agent, was in a bad mood.

For five years in a row the last month of the year had been made exciting by advent calendars, given by Santa, the Dark Lord and Hogwarts Castle itself. This year was going to be boring and bleak for who would give him another Advent Calendar?

Santa had said he never sold to anyone more than once and him giving Severus a second calendar had been an unheard of exception. The Dark Lord had wanted to show off and he was certainly not going to do it more than once. And why would the castle want to repeat last year's performance. No, there wasn't going to be any calendar this year.

His robes billowing behind him ominously, the dark clad wizard made his way up the dungeon corridors to the Great Hall for breakfast. Surprisingly, the house tables were full in spite of the early hour. Snape growled and continued his dramatic stroll up to the head table. Even the teachers were all assembled, Dumbledore was smiling benignly at his potions master as the man sat down in his usual seat and reached for a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Severus," the headmaster smiled merrily.

"Good morning, Albus," Snape stifled a yawn. "Am I late? Have I missed an announcement? Why is everybody here this early?"

"Alas," Dumbledore bit the head off a gingerbread man, "it's obvious! Everybody wants to know whether you are going to share an advent calendar with us this year!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint…" before Snape could continue his apology, a bell appeared at the table, right in front of his plate, and in a rain of sparks, a scroll materialised on said plate. The scroll was made of heavy parchment and was tied with a ribbon of yellow and silver silk. There was a blue wax seal on it and the seal showed a golden reindeer.

READ ME OUT LOUD was written on the scroll in an ornate script.

The students whispered excitedly when the scroll appeared and the whispers turned into outcries of excitement when there was another shower of sparks when Snape broke the seal. Nevertheless the potions master had the full attention of the student body as soon as he rose and started to unroll the parchment. Everybody waited with baited breath what the letter was about.

"Dear Severus," Snape read in the voice he reserved for telling the first years what his subject was about. "For five years I enjoyed watching over you as you opened your advent calendar to await my arrival. It was a delightful pastime for me as well as for you and all of Hogwarts. The thought that there won't be another calendar this year saddened me but I already made a huge exception for you by giving you a second box. I discussed the case with my elves and since they enjoyed your little adventures as much as I, they helped me come up with a solution."

Here the potions master had to pause. Did it mean what he thought? Did he dare hope? Was there going to be another calendar?

"I agreed with them that it is not against the Only One Calendar Rule if I take a leaf out of your castle's book. There will be no calendar, but there will be 24 little gifts. Every day at 8am sharp, the little bell I sent you will ring and once it has done so, one of the people present at the Great Hall at the time will find the date on one of their socks. They must take off the sock right there and then and will find their present in it.

Merry Christmas

Santa

PS: The bell will stop working if it is removed from the spot I put it.

PPS: It chimed already. Everybody should check their socks!"

The students scrambled to do as Santa had said. Boys and girls alike dove under the tables to check their footwear. The teachers checked more discretely by lifting the hems of their robes and looking down.

"Hahaaaaaaaaa!" It was Albus Dumbledore himself who cried out triumphantly. He showed a measure of flexibility entirely unexpected for a man his age by putting his left foot on the table without leaving his chair. And really, on his sock there was a big golden "1". "It wasn't there when I put them on!" he cried excitedly and pulled off first his ankle boot and then his sock. He wiggled his toes merrily.

The students watched eagerly as the headmaster put his hand into the sock and with an outcry of delight pulled out a small silver star. The old wizard held the star up high for everybody to see. As soon as it was lifted, the star pulled free and circled first the headmaster's head then McGonagalls who sat beside him, and then made its way through the Great Hall, circling every single head in the process.

Everybody who had already been visited by the star had a bright red knitted hat with a white fur tuft on top on their head.

Dumbledore clapped his hands happily. "What a pleasant gift! How about we put it to good use and cancel the first lesson in favour of some playtime in the snow?"

Snape was going to protest but then he remembered that he was supposed to teach his most hated class in the morning – the one with Potter and Malfoy in it – and stayed quite. Instead he snarled "May I suggest that everybody wears fresh socks to breakfast until Christmas?" over the cheers of the students.

"I dearly hope they heard you," muttered Minerva McGonagall as they left the Great Hall together.

"I dearly hope they do as I told them," Snape replied.

Together they walked outside to supervise the children playing in the snow. Even Snape had to admit that a crowd of mini-Santas was cute.