AN: So here's chapter 9. This is the Christmas chapter, and yes, there is gift giving. I hope you all like Snape's gift (I thought it might suit his personality ;D). I have posted a Jily (James Potter x Lily Evans) oneshot, so please go read that story, and review it. I changed the way Harry found the mirror, but don't worry, he still finds it. Enjoy the chapter. You know what to do, Read and Review.
By the way thank you to the Guest who told me that Hermione went skiing in Europe instead of Vermont. I just picture her skiing in Vermont, but I will change that. Also, you were saying how the previous chapters and the current chapters don't add up. For me, when writing, I enjoy having the characters not know everything, therefore, there is a reason why the Potters, Benjamin and Dumbledore don't recognize who Harry is immediately.
Also to the person who said that Snape was a bad choice for Harry's godfather, I think that Harry wouldn't mind Snape as a godfather, considering how he acts. Snape doesn't act to Harry in this story as he acted towards Harry in the real story. That is the way he acts towards Benjamin.
And, yes, I do realize that a resorting is "impossible", as Sirius's parents would've wanted him to be resorted and such, but I feel like Dumbledore would do what he thought was best for the Greater Good, and he believes that the Chosen One needs to be in Gryffindor in order to uphold the hero image.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, and it never will be.
Christmas was almost upon them. Harry soon realized this mid-December. His mind had been so preoccupied with school, Quidditch, and the mystery of the trapdoor. He and his friends had searched for the name of Nicolas Flamel throughout all the books in the Hogwarts library. Luna had eventually been the one to realize who the mystery man was, with the help of Hermione. It would seem like Mary and Molly solved the case. Harry laughed quietly to himself, remembering the events of that day.
Flashback
Harry, Neville, and Luna were waiting for Hermione, who had left the library in a hurried excitement.
"I've found the answer." Luna titled her head, smiling at the boys in front of her. They were slack-jawed and stared at their blonde friend with wide eyes.
It was at that moment when Hermione burst into the library exclaiming, "I'm such an idiot," only to be quickly shushed by Madam Pince, the school librarian. She ran towards them, hugging a large, tattered book to her chest. "I took this book out of the library a week ago for a bit of light reading." Hermione told her friends as the book thudded against the hard surface of the wood table. Harry nodded approvingly while Neville mouthed light to Luna. She started to flip through the pages of the book frantically, running her fingers along the pages. "Nicolas Flamel, now 665 years of age, is the only known maker of…"
"…the Philosopher's Stone." Luna finished for her, her dreamy voice no louder than a whisper.
"The Philosopher's Stone?" Neville asked. Harry only grimaced. His "teacher" told him tales of said stone, and he knew of only one person who would need such properties.
"It creates the Elixir of Life, making the drinker live longer. The owner of the stone, so long as he has it, is basically immortal." Harry said in a grave manner, his lips turned down forming a frown. "You can guess what I'm thinking."
"Voldemort." Hermione gasped, terror sneaking its way into her voice. Neville started to shiver uncontrollably and Luna's eyes snapped out of their daydream as her lips parted allowing a strangled gasp to leave her mouth.
End Flashback
It was also during that time, when Christmas, or Yule as most wizards preferred to call it, was brought up. Neville was going home to spend Christmas with his parents, Nan, and hopefully a baby sister (Alice Longbottom was pregnant when Neville left for Hogwarts). Luna was going on an expedition with her father to search for Black-winged Hodgies which were, according to Luna, very rare creatures that couldn't stand the heat. Hermione had told them that she was going skiing in the Alps with her parents, which they apparently did every other year. Harry was just staying at Hogwarts. In fact, he jumped at the chance.
Without Harry noticing, the days passed, and it soon became the day before Christmas holidays began. After the last class of the day, Potions, Harry hugged Hermione, Neville, and Luna goodbye before they went to Hogsmeade. He lightly brushed tears from his eyes as he saw them leave. His friends were gone, and he was heading back to an empty Common Room; he was the only Gryffindor staying over the break. He sighed and dragged his feet to the Common Room, oblivious of the sympathetic gazes directed at him from the portraits. Eventually, Harry reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," he said, walking through the entrance and plopped down on one of the many plush red chairs.
"Hi Harry!" A deep voice exclaimed from behind him.
Harry jumped out of the chair, clutching his chest; his heart was pounding out of fear. He caught sight of pale skin and black hair, allowing him to calm down. "Please never do that again," Harry gasped.
"Come on, Harry. Where's your Gryffindor courage?" the man asked. "Besides, what did you get me for Christmas?"
Harry shook his head, laughing. "No hints for you today, Mutt. You're just going to have to wait and see."
The man sat down on a chair and pouted, "Harry, just one hint."
"No. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to my dorm." Harry's voice held mock anger as he frowned playfully at his "Uncle" Sirius. He stalked off and walked up the stairs towards his room. Harry was about to go into the dormitory when he saw a glint of gold in the corner of his eye. It was a nameplate. The boy approached it cautiously. The first four names were normal. They read Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan, and Ronald Weasley. The last one had the name that caught Harry's attention. That name. The name that followed him everywhere. The name Benjamin Potter.
He ran into the room and punched his pillow multiple times, not even bothering to try and stop the flow of tears coming from his eyes. He flung his now tear-stained pillow across the room. It just wasn't fair. If he went to Dumbledore and asked for a re-sort, he wouldn't grant it. He tried to put his brother out of his mind and enjoy the holiday spirit, but even still, that night was the re-starting of the cycle of Harry Carter crying himself to sleep.
A week passed by, and it was Christmas Eve. The halls of Hogwarts were a sight to see. Trees around every corner, tinsel decorated the walls, and sprigs of mistletoe hung from the ceiling. Harry even caught sight of Marcus Flint from the Slytherin house and a Hufflepuff girl snogging under one.
He had sent Hedwig out earlier that morning with Christmas presents for Hermione, Neville, Luna, and the old man, in hopes she would reach them by Christmas.
Christmas Eve flew by without many festivities; Christmas was a different story. Harry woke up early, not expecting the small pile of presents that awaited him. There was one from Remus and Sirius, Severus, his teacher, and one from each of his friends. He opened Remus and Sirius's first. He tore open the red envelope and quickly read the card.
Dear cub,
Happy Christmas.
Love Padfoot and Moony
Short and to the point, Harry grinned. His fingers picked at the tape holding the gold wrapping paper together. He finally managed to open his present. Inside of the box, he saw a new Wizards Chess set. Harry smiled, and instantly knew that the gift was Remus's idea. However, a scrap piece of parchment fell out of the chess set. It was blank, and Harry didn't know what to do with it. He decided that he would visit Sirius and Remus the following day. The next present he opened was from Severus.
Harry,
You know I'm not one for festivities, (Harry let out a snort) but Happy Christmas. This book helped me quite a bit in sixth year, and even though you will not be able to practice or accomplish the material, you are able to read it. It is my own copy, so please don't lose it, or worse, let an insufferable Gryffindor brat see it.
Severus
Harry let out a gasp when a battered sixth year Potions textbook fell into his lap. He opened the cover and read Property of the Half-Blood Prince. Knowing the value of his gift, Harry immediately put the book in his trunk for safekeeping.
He received his own pair of Spectrespecs from Luna, who claimed that they would allow him to see wrackspurts. He also received a charm that would, as Luna said, keep away the nargles. From Neville he received a number of Chocolate Frogs, and a Herbology book. Hermione's gift to Harry was a large book. The title of said book was The Complete Series of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. He opened the book and a ripped piece of lined paper fell out.
Harry, the note read, in purple pen no less.
This book is one of my favourites. In the muggle world, people believe magic is fiction and they write books about it. This series was my first introduction to magic, before I knew it was real. My favourite is either The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or The Silver Chair. The real reason I picked this series for your gift is because the main characters remind me of us. All four of us. Me, you, Neville, and Luna. I'll leave you to your own opinion though. Happy Christmas Harry.
Your friend, Hermione
He smiled at the gift, and decided to read some of it later. There was one more gift for him to open; it was from his teacher.
Somewhere
An old man laughed as he opened his Yule present. His blue eyes sparkled with merriment. Harry did always make him laugh.
Old Man, he read
Happy Christmas, or Yule. I just thought that I could inflate your ego some more with this present. I hope you like it.
Harry
His wrinkled fingers slowly opened the parcel on his lap. Inside the box was a small plush doll of Merlin. The starred hat, white beard, blue eyes, the whole shebang. He smirked. Little did anyone know that somewhere that somewhere in the world, Merlin had just laughed.
Hogwarts, Harry's Dormitory
Harry opened his gift from Merlin, and scanned his eyes over the note.
I found this in a muggle store not so long ago. I'm not quite sure what it is. You can ask that muggleborn friend you told me about. She would know what it is. Happy Yule.
Merlin
He opened his gift, and there was a big black box that looked like a videotape. There was a picture of a boy trying to pull a sword out of a stone, which surprisingly fit with The Sword and the Stone.
Longbottom Manor
Neville was playing with his month old baby sister, Hazel, when he was visited by Hedwig. He settled his sister on his lap before he untied the wrapped parcel on the owl's leg. It was from Harry! Neville had already received a gift from both Luna and Hermione. The note attached to Harry's gift was peculiar. Not as much as Luna's, but still odd.
To Dr. John Watson,
Happy Christmas. I look forward to solving our case.
Sincerely, Mr. Sherlock Holmes
He opened the parcel, curious as to the meaning of the note. The parcel contained two books. Muggle books at that. The meaning of the note was divulged when the titles of the books were revealed. The books were Sherlock Holmes books. They were A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four. Neville grinned. The books were his first muggle objects, and even though it wasn't as interesting as Herbology, Neville was willing to give Sherlock a try.
The Alps, Hotel, Room 215
A bushy haired girl was lying in a hotel bed, her eyes closed and her hair tangled. When she opened her eyes there was a snowy owl staring at her. A loud scream escaped her lips, but luckily her parents were already downstairs eating breakfast.
She gasped, "Hedwig! You scared me." Her only reply was a hoot from said owl. "Great, now I'm talking to owls." Ignoring her muttering, Hedwig stuck out her leg. Hermione, still grumbling, untied the package around the owl's leg. It was from Harry obviously. There was no letter attached, but Hedwig was Harry's owl after all; who else could it be from? She unwrapped the present, and found a book with a yellow sticky note on it. It read, for the time we spoke on the train. The book was called The Meaning of One's Magical Aura. Hermione hugged the book and started reading it right away. Skiing could wait.
Lovegood Household
"Do you have everything you need, Luna?" Xenophilia Lovegood asked his daughter. For, they were going on a trip to find Black-winged Hodgies the next day, and they couldn't forget anything.
"Yes," Luna smiled at her father. It was at that moment when Hedwig came into the house. "Hullo Hedwig." Luna said to the bird. She patted the owl's head and, in return, the owl cooed. "Is this from Harry?" One bob of the owl's head was all she needed.
Luna unwrapped the parcel happily. There was a note from Harry that read, to keep the wrackspurts away. She smiled and took out her gift. It was a bracelet with bells of different sizes. She quickly put it on her wrist. No wrackspurts would get her now.
Hogwarts
After opening his presents, Harry walked through Hogwarts to the Great Hall. All of the people in the portraits were wearing St. Nicolas hats – which Harry thought was funny – and were singing Christmas carols – which Harry found annoying.
Eventually he got to the Great Hall, and it was a sight to see. There were evergreen trees in every corner, making the Great Hall smell like pine. Top to bottom, the trees were covered in bobbles, tinsel, and strings of popcorn. The teachers were in the holiday spirit too. Dumbledore wore red and green robes that were even more flamboyant than usual, Lupin had antlers on his head, Black was wearing an elf-hat with the ears to boot, and Snape wasn't commenting on how stupid they all looked.
Harry sat down at the table, for there was only one during the holidays, and started eating a variety of foods. He was soon joined by two Ravenclaws, Penelope Clearwater and Cho Chang. Harry didn't strike up conversation, and neither did they, so they ate in a comfortable silence. However, Harry still had one eye on the Staff table. He watched Hagrid call for more and more wine until he leaned over and kissed McGonagall on the cheek. What was even more surprising, was that all the old Transfiguration professor did was blush and giggle; her pointy hat fell and became lopsided on her head. Harry snickered at the display.
His gaze turned to his two godparents and honorary uncle Sirius Black. Harry hoped that they received their gifts that he had left on their desks. He got Severus a magical projector that contained the first season of Muggle drama show, Grey's Anatomy. Harry thought he would enjoy it. The boy bought his other godfather, Remus, a can of dogspray, and a Defense book from his Gryffindor vault. For Sirius, he got a tin full of dog biscuits, and a pranking book from America that he bought in the summer with Merlin.
Suddenly, Harry was stuck with a thought. With everyone busy eating in the Great Hall, nobody would be patrolling the castle. It was a perfect time to explore. After all, what was the point of having a big castle if no one was going to have an adventure?
So, he ran back to the Gryffindor dorms, grabbed his treasured invisibility cloak, and went off, searching for excitement. He started first at the library. In all the books he had read, every library had some sort of secret room. Luckily for Harry, Madam Pince was on holiday, so the library was abandoned. Black and eerie, Harry cautiously explored the library. He had used a lumos spell under his cloak, which aloowed him to see a rope in front of him. He came to the conclusion that behind the rope had to be the Restricted Section.
Harry stepped over the rope slowly, hoping not to trigger any alarms or barriers that might have been set up. Various books aligned the shelves. The spines were worn and covered in dust. The titles written in gold lettering were faded, and some weren't even visible. There was an odd red, green, yellow, and blue book that looked out of place among all the black and grey covers. He pulled it, trying to make out the title of the book. The bookshelf started to quake, and Harry jumped back, startled at the sudden movement.
The bookcase opened just a crack, which allowed him to slip into the mysterious room. The room was small, and in the shape of a square. It wasn't completely empty, but it practically was. There were four chairs. One red, one green, one yellow, and one blue. Along with the chairs, there were four black drapes hanging on the wall behind each one. In the middle of the four chairs, there was a round wooden table. Surprisingly, on the table was a piece of parchment. The precise writing read, Come back with the others.
Harry could only think that they meant Luna, Neville, and Hermione. He took out a ballpoint pen from the pocket if his robe and, for some reason, wrote back, I will. The parchment floated for a minute, and vanished with a poof.
Now that the parchment was gone, Harry's attention was drawn elsewhere. Across from him stood a door. He walked closer and closer, one foot moved in front of the other. The door called him, beckoning him like a ship to a lighthouse. His hand grasped the doorknob, and he turned it, opening the door.
Harry stepped into the adjoining room. It was beautiful. The white walls gleamed like polished marble. The floor was sparkling as if stars were embedded in the material. In a hidden corner stood a mirror. The top right corner of the glass was cracked. The golden frame glittered from the brightness of the walls surrounding it. The writing on the mirror said Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafre oyt on whosi.
The sentence sent his mind reeling. The gears in his head turned, and set his train of thought started to move. Then the gears clicked into place. The words were engraved on a mirror! The words were a mirror image! Spelt backwards the words read, I show not your face, but your heart's desire.
He didn't want to stand in front if the mirror. He didn't want to see his heart's desire. Harry knew what it was. None the less, he stepped in front of the mirror. Harry might have been expecting the image, but still, reality hit him like a brick.
In the glass stood his parents. Lily with her scarlet red hair, and James with his warm hazel eyes. His hands were gripping mirror Harry's shoulders. Around him stood Severus, Sirius, and Remus. However, there was a new addition to his desire. Now, with their arms wrapped around mirror Harry's shoulders, stood his friends. The four of them were together. Him, Hermione, Luna, and Neville. Another important detail. His brother was nowhere in sight.
Harry took all of this in at once. It became too much; the will overwhelmed him, consumed him like a lion consumed its prey. He collapsed to his knees, his shoulders shook with grief. Merlin knows how long he stayed there in that position, with his lip quivering and tears streaking his pale cheeks. For, when he left, under the invisibility cloak of course, he knew it was past curfew. There was no noise in the halls.
In an attempt to avoid Filch, the demon caretaker, he ran down the halls, and didn't stop running until he reached the Gryffindor Common Room. The password was quietly spoken, and he entered the abandoned Common Room. He threw off his invisibility cloak and sighed. His so called family didn't want him, so why did he wish for them to? Was he still the little boy that he was when he was five? Still desperate for love and attention. He was a boy who grew up too fast. He learned the harshness and cruelness of the world too soon.
Harry dragged his feet up the stairs to the first year boys' dorms. He walked over to his bed and collapsed, not even bothering to change into his pyjamas. The moment his head hit the pillow, he fell powerless to the tug of sleep.
Over the course of the remaining days of the break, Harry continued to visit the mirror every night. He forgot about the mysterious blank parchment that fell out of his chess board. He forgot about the Chronicles of Narnia. He forgot about The Sword and the Stone and the Half-Blood Prince. All of his thoughts were about the mirror.
Every night he passed through the mysterious room with four chairs to get to the mirror. Every night he would sit on the cold floor, hugging his knees, looking at his family and friends, wishing for his dream to become a reality. His heart-strings were constantly being pulled at. His eyes had a leak that could not be fixed. However, as the end of the holidays drew near, something different happened.
One night, Harry went down to the mirror like every other night. He sat on the floor, watching his mirror family with sad, wide eyes filled with longing. He sat there until a man put his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry jumped up in surprise. It was Dumbledore.
The old man sighed. "Harry, do you know what this mirror does?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"It shows my heart's truest desire," Harry replied quietly. It shows me my family.
Dumbledore looked surprise. "How do you know that, my boy?"
"It doesn't take a genius to read backwards, Headmaster." Harry scoffed. What did the man take him for? An idiot?!
"That's true, Harry. To you, who claims to have never known family, you see one."
How did he know? Harry thought to himself. Practically reading his thoughts, Dumbledore said, "I don't need a cloak to become invisible."
Harry thought for a moment, and tried to find a reply to that statement. Then, he found one. "What do you see in the mirror, Headmaster?"
"Why, I see myself holding a thick pair of socks." Dumbledore answered without fail.
"Thank you for that interesting view of things, Headmaster. I'm off to bed." Harry turned around and was about to exit, when Dumbledore intervened.
"Harry, my boy. The mirror is being moved to a different location tomorrow," the Headmaster said, "Do not go looking for it. For it does not do well to dwell on dreams."
Harry turned to look at Dumbledore. "It does if those dreams give you happiness." The old man looked at Harry, his eyes still twinkling. "Now as I said before, Headmaster. Goodnight." With that, Harry stalked off, his robes trailing behind him, as he made his way back to his dorm. However, that was not before he slipped a broken piece of the mirror into his pocket. The Headmaster watched him disapprovingly, but the twinkling in his eyes never dimmed, as he watched the depressed Gryffindor leave.
AN: I hope you all liked the chapter. Please review. Don't forget to read my oneshot called Feelings and Quidditch.
