The first years who stayed were amazed at the amount of food laid out for dinner. Turkey and roasts, potatoes boiled, fried, or mashed, vegetables of every kind prepared every way, cranberry sauce and gravies, and breads to fill a bakery. Scattered through the platters of food were dishes containing crackers and other party favors. Unlike the mundane copies, these crackers contained fantastic, sturdy toys, firecracker illusions, and numerous odd surprises. Harry popped one only to have it explode with a loud BANG! rather than the pop he expected. Out of it came an admiral's tricorn and three live white mice who did the 'Three Blind Mice' routine before scurrying off. Dumbledore traded his wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet as he laughed at a joke told by Flitwick. Staros got a pirate's cap and eye patch that he put on, spearing his food with a knife and saying "Arrrgh!" a lot. Blaise received a monk's habit and he was goaded into wearing it by the others even as Ron ended up with a nun's habit instead, to which his brothers tried very hard to get him to put it on saying they would make a lovely couple and earning the twins a death glare from Brother Sullen as Blaise was dubbed.
Flaming puddings followed the feast. As everyone tried the different puddings, some only a few bites as they had already stuffed themselves silly, Percy nearly lost a tooth to a silver sickle in his bowl. Hagrid was downing Christmas mead in large flagons, getting redder in the face with every cup. At one point he leaned over and kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek. The normally stern professor only giggled and blushed, much to the students' shock. Of course, they also soon realized she'd had a few glasses of wine herself. Even dour old Professor Snape seemed to relax a bit, not making snide comments as usual or glaring at anyone, but he still let his dry wit free with the occasional joke or sarcastic riddle.
After the marvelous meal, everyone headed back to their dorms to relax. Some, like Ron, were barely able to move after eating so much. Many of the younger students had gotten very sleepy with stuffing themselves like the turkeys they had devoured. Sleep soon followed as people went to bed at different times. All save Harry.
Harry too had stuffed himself on foods he had only dreamed about, but a nagging feeling wouldn't let him sleep. It wasn't until he climbed into bed that he realized what it was that had been bothering him. His father's invisibility cloak.
Harry pulled the cloak out from the hiding place in his bed he had found for it. He let his fingers trail over the material as he wondered, 'This was my father's… MY father…'
Emotions he couldn't identify welled up in his chest and a tear fell down his cheek. He caught the errant bit of water as it fell from his face and stared at it in his hand. He hadn't cried in ages. Not since Vernon had beat him for 'the insufferable blubbering and snuffling' that kept him awake one night. It had been years since he'd let a tear fall.
Shaking himself from his musings, he remembered the note. He pulled it out of his shirt pocket where he'd stashed it earlier.
'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it returned to you. Use it well.'
…Use it well…
Harry was suddenly very wide awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him. With this cloak, he could go anywhere, well, maybe not the girls' dorms as he was pretty sure there might be charms that could even find him under his cloak. There might be a few other places with special locks or whatever, but pretty much everything else was now his playground!
Ron grunted and rolled over. Harry wondered if he should wake Ron and share the adventure this was sure to be. He was just about to go and nudge the other boy when he looked down at the cloak again. His father's cloak. His cloak. Long suppressed feelings pushed ever so slightly forward. Feelings of want and desire mixed with the longing for his family that he'd managed to keep buried for so long he wasn't sure what he was remembering. No, this one time, he would not involve anyone else. It was his cloak and he wanted, just for a while, to feel like he was following what his father would do.
Creeping out of the room, down the stairs and into the common area, he looked around to see if anyone else was up. The coast clear, he quickly donned his cloak and made his way out the common room door.
"What? Who's there?" demanded the Fat Lady… 'Winifred, must remember, her name is Winifred'. Harry said nothing and just quietly closed the portrait door and walked down the corridor. Winifred glanced groggily around and, seeing no one, went back to sleep.
Where should he go? Harry suddenly stopped. For the first time in many, many years, he was doing something because HE wanted to and he just realized, he had no idea WHAT to do. Thinking over the areas that he knew about in Hogwarts, he grinned as he thought of one place he could check out that he wouldn't be able to enter otherwise. The Restricted Section. After all, it was all for a good cause, they still needed to know who Flammel was.
Harry quickly hurried down the corridors, carefully keeping the cloak wrapped tightly around him. Before long, he had entered the library which was pitch black and not a little scary. Picking up one of the lamps, he turned the runed knob that lit it and started looking down the rows of books. The lamp, casting light, looked like it was floating in mid-air with only the smallest part of his hand showing. Even though he could feel his arm holding the lamp up, the fact that the cloak hid it completely made it a little creepy.
Making his way towards the back section, Harry was soon greeted by the sight of the enclosed area known as the Restricted Section. The bookshelves were all turned in such a way as to present a wall towards the outside with a short gate and a sign being all that actually prevented entry. Lifting the latch, Harry walked into the eerie, forbidden area.
At first glance, Harry didn't know what the big deal was. The books in here pretty much resembled the books out there. Then he got closer to the shelves and started seeing the details of the books. Most had strange lettering along their spines, those that had titles anyway, and seemed to be written in foreign languages. Many of the books had only a single copy, that single copy invariably being dark bound, sometimes lined with runes, other times covered in iron clasps. Some of the books were bound in a smooth leather that gave Harry shivers to look at. One book was covered in blotches that he swore was blood. He quickly looked somewhere else for his information.
There were also many scrolls and what looked like boxes labeled as books or scroll collections. Knowing that scrolls would be harder to keep in order and prevent anyone from knowing he was here, he stayed away from those for now.
Having stood for a while examining the books, Harry noticed that in some places, he swore he could hear whispers, probably coming from the books themselves! Starting to worry about what he may be getting into, Harry decided to flip through a couple books and see if there was anything on Flammel and then get the heck out. A black bound volume with silver clasps drew his attention. It had no title and Harry struggled to get it off the shelf. Putting the lamp on a nearby table, he grabbed the book with both hands and pulled it down.
Harry propped the book against the shelf he had removed it from and undid the clasps. The book suddenly flew open and a bloodcurdling scream nearly made Harry wet himself. The BOOK was screaming! The sound near driving him to his wits' end, Harry snapped the book shut which managed to muffle, but not stop, the horrid screams. Stumbling to hold the book, he backed against the table and the lamp fell, breaking and snuffing it at once.
In a panic, Harry stuffed the screaming book back onto the shelf and dashed out of the section. He had just made it passed the gate when Filch came around the nearest row. Ducking under Filch's outstretched arm holding another lamp, Harry only barely escaped running into the man as he ran from the stacks and out of the library.
Not paying attention to where he ran, Harry started to get a little worried for a different reason. Now that the book was far behind him, he was calming down enough from that to notice he had no idea where he was exactly. He stopped next to a suit of armor, one of dozens of suits of armor in the castle, and tried to figure out which way to go. Footsteps and vague voices made him pause.
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night. Someone's been up in the library, restricted section."
Harry pulled his cloak closer to him as he recognized Filch's voice. The old caretaker must know some shortcuts as Harry had been running near full tilt to get here, and the man was only walking along, getting closer. Who he was talking to was answered shortly as Snape's soft voice replied, "The restricted section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."
Harry looked around for a place to hide as the two men came around the corner just ahead. While they couldn't see him, he was still solid and this was a rather narrow corridor. They'd for sure find him if they kept coming like they were. Harry began to back away slowly, looking for any means of escape. To his left was a door standing slightly ajar. Hope!
Harry darted over to the door and as carefully as he could, tried to squeeze through the opening without moving the door itself. He just barely made it right before Snape and Filch walked by. Harry leaned against the wall next to the door and tried to control his breathing so he wouldn't make any noise while listening to the two men's footsteps fade away into the darkness.
After he was sure they couldn't hear him, Harry let out a loud sigh of relief. Taking a few moments to catch his breath, he looked around the room to see if he could figure out where in the castle he was. It looked to be an unused classroom, one of many scattered all over the various wings. Briefly wondering why there were so many unused classrooms, Harry wandered around. Against one wall were stacks of desks and chairs. Along another was a dusty series of chalkboards and an overturned waste basket, quite empty. A shift in the clouds brought light through the large windows, letting Harry know he was along the outer wall at least. Then he saw it.
Off to one side, like someone had just shoved it there to get it out of the way, was a large, ornate mirror. Easily seven foot tall, with a gold colored frame, the mirror stood on a stand with large, clawed feet. An inscription curved around the top over the glass. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
Harry walked towards the mirror, trying to figure out if the words were magic, another language or something else. As he drew closer, he looked at the mirror's silvery glass. He stopped moving, his breath caught in his throat. At first glance, he thought he saw people. Quickly looking behind him, he saw he was still alone. Wondering what was happening, he moved closer to get a better look.
He saw himself standing in the middle of the mirror. To his left was a tall, red headed woman whom he felt an odd connection to. To his right was a man who looked like an older version of himself. He waved his hands behind him but felt nothing. If this mirror showed invisible people, he would have felt them, the reflection showed him they were that close. Stepping closer, he looked at the two more carefully.
The woman was beautiful. She was smiling at him with a look of tired patience. Her hair was a dark red, long, past her shoulders. He features were soft, angelic. Her eyes... they were HIS eyes! Quickly looking at the man, Harry saw the same sharp chin, the same wild, untamable hair, and glasses! The man seemed to smile as if knowing Harry had figured something out.
"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?" The woman smiled, nodding and the man waved.
Harry was practically nose to the glass by now, his fingers trailing along to smooth surface as if trying to find a way to the other side. He looked past the two figures before him. Behind his father, another man and woman stood. She had a proud, aristocratic bearing he had seen of the Royals when he caught them on the telly. The man stood just as proud, but had a more relaxed feel. Behind his mother were another pair, this time wearing obviously muggle clothing, the woman with a long neck like his Aunt Petunia, but a nicer face, like his mother. The man wore a suit of older style, but other than being slightly overweight, looked like many of the kindhearted businessmen that ran newspaper stands and outdoor groceries everywhere. Other figures less distinct stood behind those four.
Harry was seeing his whole family, for the first time. Tears fell freely as he stood before the mirror, memorizing the faces of his parents and grandparents. Feelings he couldn't identify clashed in his chest. Something like fear, another thing like joy, another like sadness, all warred within his heart.
A distant noise brought his attention away from the glass long enough to realize it was near dawn. Shaking himself, he looked one last time at the figures in the mirror before whispering, "I'll come back," and tearing himself away, hurriedly left and made his way back to the dorms.