Chapter 10 : Christmas holidays

The Christmas holidays were fast approaching as the month of December had just started and it was felt among the students. They were more excited than usual and more likely to be distracted during class.

It was the first time since the beginning of the school year that they had the opportunity to return home to spend Christmas with their families. Professor McGonagall had even passed a list during one of her Transfiguration classes on which students wishing to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays had to write their names on. When Akira received the list she was surprised to find that no first years had planned to stay in school.

She was therefore the first to write her name because she hadn't planned to return home for several reasons. Firstly because she lived too far away - Konoha was at the opposite of the world from Hogwarts - and secondly because Christmas meant nothing to her. Indeed, this holiday wasn't celebrated in Konoha and every year around this time, she worked in the hospital as usual. So it was just a day like any other and besides, apart from her father who was never at home, she had no family to celebrate this kind of event with.

So she had decided to spend two quiet weeks at Hogwarts and she was going to take the opportunity to discover a little more of the secrets of the castle since there would be fewer people around.

"Are you staying at Hogwarts too ?" Arcturus asked her in a low voice as she handed him the list.

"Yes, I live too far away to be able to return home."

"It's understandable. I'm staying because I don't think my family will want to see me again anytime soon after I was sent to Gryffindor. But it doesn't matter. I've heard that Christmas at Hogwarts is magical with all the Christmas decorations they put everywhere and we'll have another feast on Christmas Eve. And above all, we have no more classes !"

When the holidays finally arrived, the students were busy packing their suitcase on Friday evening after class ended as they were due to board the Hogwarts Express early the next morning. The weather was rainy and cold and somewhat depressing which denoted with the festive spirit of the students. They were really looking forward to returning home. Akira had settled into an armchair by the roaring fire and was completing an astronomy assignment so she wouldn't have to work while on holiday. Regularly, she would look up to see Gryffindor students rushing in the common room as they gathered their things to put in their suitcases.

"Akira !" Ana called out at her as she made her way to Akira in the midst of the chaos. "I heard that you stayed in school during these holidays. So I just wanted to tell you that since the school is deserted during this time, students belongings to Quidditch teams can practice freely on the pitch. Well, it wouldn't be bad if you took the opportunity to practice flying a bit. But I'm not forcing you to anything of course, it's just so you don't lose hand."

"Thanks for the tip." Akira told her as she felt that Ana wanted her to practice even though she wouldn't say it explicitely. "I would go for a flight as soon as I get the chance."

"Great, but don't forget to take advantage of your holidays to rest too. And don't work too hard for school." She advised her as she glanced at the homework Akira was completing. "Holidays are there mainly to have fun."

She then left to finish preparing her suitcase.

By Saturday morning, the school was empty of almost all of its students and this was mainly seen in the Great Hall during meals. It was always empty apart from one or two students. Even the Professors weren't always there and Akira wondered if they had also gone home for the holidays.

But much to Akira's despair, Filch and Peeves never took a vacation. They were always lurking around the school while looking for a student to torment, so Akira was careful to avoid crossing their path.

This was a problem because Akira had hoped to use the holidays to explore the school and find hidden rooms, but with these two being everywhere, her movements were limited. Filch had even caught her once she came in the Entrance Hall from the Grounds in her muddy shoes. She had explained to him that it was normal to have her shoes in such a state with the rain falling continuously outside but Filch didn't wanted to know. He'd given her two evenings of detention to clean the entire school floor and as soon as Peeves heard of it he took delight in spilling all the ink and sticky liquid bottles on which he could put his hands.

Apart from "fun" detention hours, there wasn't much to do at Hogwarts and Akira spent most of her days sitting by the fireplace watching the rain fall outside. Even though it sounded a depressing way to spend the day, Akira found it cozy and calming to stay warm imagining it was so cold outside.

Arcturus then offered her to teach her how to play wizarding chess to pass the time. After a game or two during which he explained the rules to her, she managed to understand how to move the chess pieces and she even won some match. She suspected Arcturus of letting her win every now and then because she knew he was the best player at his chess club.

In return, Akira dragged him to the Quidditch pitch so that he could help her practice even though he wasn't very keen about that.

"But you know I suck at flying so its even worst if I'm trying to play Quidditch." He told her as she handed him a broom belonging to the school.

"See it more as a favor you do me because I don't have anyone else to train with."

"It's not true. I heard that Danyl stayed in school for the holidays..."

"Are you out of your mind ? I can't train with a player from the opposing team !" Akira replied, slightly shocked by the idea.

"Well, your training would be more constructive with him than with me because there's absolutely no way that I let go my broom with one hand to catch the Quaffle."

"Make an effort, I learnt to play chess so you can learn to play Quidditch."

"It's not the same !"

"In addition, it will allow you to improve your flight technique and you will be more comfortable during flying lessons."

"Yeah, you've probably got a point." He finally admitted.

Despite his reluctance, Arcturus accompanied her onto the pitch. Akira had managed to grab a Quaffle that was lying around the changing room for practice and she took off into the air without a problem followed by Arcturus who was holding on to his broom firmly. Seeing that he didn't seem very comfortable with the idea of gaining altitude, she descended to his level which was only three meters above the ground.

"It's always better than nothing." Akira thought as they started to pass each other the Quaffle but it was a complete disaster.

Unlike Akira, Arcturus wasn't used to catch a ball in midair so it often crashed to the ground and he always had to descend to get it. Once he tried to make an effort by releasing both hands from his broom to grab the Quaffle but as soon as he got it he slipped to the side, fell off his broom and crashed face down into the mud as Akira landed beside him.

"Are you okay ?" She asked, helping him up as she fought back from laughing.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine." Arcturus replied, trying to brush the mud out of his eyes. "The mud cushioned the shock. However, I can't manage my flight and the Quaffle at the same time."

This remark gave Akira an idea.

"Maybe you don't need to handle the flight." She told him with a smile. "Since you are a Muggle sports fan, I think you should know what soccer is ?"

"This cool sport where you have to kick a ball with your feet ? Yes, I know what it is but I don't see how it will help us here."

"You will just have to kick in the Quaffle to send it very high in the air and I'll take care of catching it." Akira explained to him while giving him the ball.

"I see. Good idea." Arcturus told her with a smile. "Besides, if I practice kicking I might be able to join my neighborhood soccer team this summer."

"It's a win-win." Akira told him, taking flight.

The rest of the training went a little better. Arcturus was much more comfortable on the ground. He managed to hit the Quaffle with force which made it launch high into the air with great speed so it became much more challenging for Akira to catch it.

At the end of the day, they returned to the castle completely exhausted and chilled but nonetheless happy that they had been able to find a method of training that both suit them.

As Christmas approached - it was taking place on the Friday of the first week of holidays - the school began to be completely decorated for the occasion. Hagrid had brought huge trees from the Forbidden Forest which had been decorated with Christmas baubles and garlands in the colors of the four houses so in red and gold, blue and bronze, yellow and black and green and silver.

In the rest of the school, various decorations were hung all over the place and suits of armour began to sing Christmas carols. Even Peeves - whom Akira had accidentally bumped into since he had led her life hard during detention - had put on a Santa hat.

The atmosphere at school had turned festive and that denoted from Akira's spirit. Indeed, she didn't feel in the mood to celebrate anything because of the awful event that had taken place in her past. She had never told anyone about it at Hogwarts but Christmas Day happened to be the day her mother tragically died. Even though it had happened when she was four years old, she had been deeply affected by this sudden loss and thought about it every year as that date approached.

In order to not ruin the party for the others, she was trying to take it upon herself and put on a good face but it wasn't easy and Arcturus began to notice that something was wrong.

"You miss your family ?" He asked her on Christmas Eve as they were playing chess.

"Why are you asking that ?" She asked him as she had just managed to take his queen from him.

"Usually that's what happens when you are away from your family during this time of the year."

"We don't celebrate Christmas in my village." She explained to him. "This day doesn't really mean much to me so I can't miss my family."

"You never celebrate it ?" Arcturus asked her in dismay. "You have never helped to decorate your house or bake cookies or even receive gifts ?"

"Wait, what ? Are we getting gifts ?"

"Note, we don't really celebrate Christmas either in my family." Arcturus admitted to her without answering her question about gifts. "It's been a long time since we decorate anything, we never baked cookies and I only get weird gifts that I don't like but I always found that there was something magical in the air. It's the opportunity to be together with people you love and to please those around you."

"And you, do you miss your family ?" Akira asked him in return.

"It depends who. I miss my two little brothers very much so I sent them gifts by owl this morning but the rest of my family is quite… special. You can't say that I love or hate them, but I feel like we are better off when we don't see each other too often."

"What do you have as a family that makes you say this ?"

"Let's say that we don't share the same opinions and that creates tension between us. Just the fact that I was sent to Gryffindor after they all joined Slytherin doesn't make it any easier. You heard it yourself with the Howler my mom sent me after the Sorting Ceremony."

"By the way, I've been wanting to ask you something for a while. What exactly is your family doing ?" Akira asked him directly.

Since the beginning of the year, she had heard horrible stories about the Black family that everyone seemed to consider as disreputable people, but Akira had never dared to ask Acturus if it was really the case.

"What exactly do you mean ?" He asked her, frowning.

"Well, I have heard several rumors saying that your family isn't really liked by other wizards. There were even some people who said that they had all joined the forces of evil and that your father..."

"Huh, that…" Arcturus cut her, looking away. "That's correct, I admit that my family doesn't have a very good reputation and not just because they've all been to Slytherin because good people can also be sent in this house. In fact, my family is pretty narrow-minded about accepting Muggles into the wizarding society. They believe that magic should only be reserved for pure-blood wizards and that muggles shouldn't be able to learn to master magic. Other wizards - including me – don't share this opinion so my entire family is considered dangerous with our backward thinking. Some of my family members have even gone further by martyring Muggles whom they consider to be inferior beings and they have gone to jail for that."

"And is that what happened to your father ?"

"No, not exactly." Arcturus told her, looking gloomy. "For my father, he was wrongly accused and sent to Azkaban – the prison for wizards - for a crime he didn't commit. He never hurt Muggles or anyone."

"So to summarize." Akira announced to change the conversation subject which seemed to be very sensitive. "Your family don't want people like me to learn magic ?"

"Exactly." Arcturus said while regaining his composure. "This is completely stupid, eh ? Either way, no one chooses whether or not to have magical powers. Fate decides and no one can do anything about it. Besides, just as there are Muggle-borns like you, there are also Squibs. These are people who come from wizarding families but have no magical powers."

"So that's why you don't get along with your family ?"

"Indeed, I don't really share their point of view - I like everything that is Muggle related - and they don't share mine. It often creates tension so I prefer to be forgotten for a while, for example by spending Christmas in Hogwarts rather than getting back home."

Akira had always considered her own story to be tragic with the death of her mother and her father never caring for her but Arcturus's life seemed far more chaotic. He had to fight against his entire family who were being cruel against Muggles. Akira didn't dare imagine what they had done to Arcturus in the past so that he wanted to put some distance between him and them. Akira at least got along pretty well with her father and she always had Matsuo and Tatsuno by her side while Arcturus seemed pretty lonely, especially since he hadn't found any ally in Gryffindor apart from Akira that didn't put him at the same level as the rest of his family.

The fact that Arcturus was so manhandled but still managed to show a big smile boosted Akira's morale a bit.

It was almost time for the Christmas Feast. Both Arcturus and Akira went to the richly decorated Great Hall. As only a dozen students remained at the castle, they gathered on one table even though the Slytherins stood a little apart from the others. Akira found herself sitting between Arcturus and Danyl, the Ravenclaw Chaser. She was slightly uncomfortable being next to him when the Gryffindors had been so cruel to the Ravenclaw players during their first match but Danyl didn't hold it against her.

He knew that she was planning on joining the Chaser position next year because apparently the news had spread around the whole school and instead of being distant or cold to her, he began to talk with her about Quidditch. He was very enthusiastic when he talked about the best match he had seen and he didn't hesitate to give her useful tips that he had gathered with his years of experience.

Arcturus even took the opportunity to suggest that Akira and him practice together so that he could stop being Akira training buddy. Danyl thought that this was a great idea since all of his Ravenclaw teammates were also gone for the holidays and he couldn't find anyone to help him train.

The dinner took place in a cheerful atmosphere and ended with the opening of wizard crackers full of gifts of all kinds and even living animals. Akira would have liked the party to continue during the whole night but after dinner all the students went to bed being to tired to do anything else.

Akira had a hard time falling asleep that night. It had been a long time since she had had this fun and she had even forgotten the sadness she felt when thinking about her mother's death but now she was lying in bed, alone in her dormitory, it all came back to her. Unable to sleep, she picked up a book at random and went down to the common room where small flames were still glowing in the fireplace. She sat down at a table facing a window and began to read a little. She read some pages before sleep overtook her.

She woke up a few hours later and glancing at her watch found it was ten past twelve. It had been ten minutes since Christmas began and especially it had been seven years since her mother had died. Saddened by that idea, Akira closed the book she had fallen asleep on and got up to walk back to her dorm but as she stood up, she glanced out the window and froze in place. Large snowflakes were falling outside and covering the whole Grounds with a thick white coat. Akira had seen snow before - it had snowed in Konoha on occasion - but never so much and above all it was the first snow of the year. There was something hypnotizing about those white flakes that fell silently in the dark night.

She opened the window and leaned out to try to catch a snowflake but she was too far away. Now fully awake by the biting cold from outside, she ran into the deserted dormitory to grab her white hoodie and started running around the school at full speed until she reached the huge oak door of the ground floor. She opened it silently and went outside. She stood there for a while watching the snow fall. Then she stepped forward and reached out a hand to catch some flakes that crashed into her hand before slowly melting. She then decided to venture into the snow after putting on her hood.

Several inches of fresh snow had already accumulated on the ground and Akira was delighted to make tracks in the pristine powder. She even managed to throw snow balls in the Great Lake and after a while, she made up her mind to go back inside the castle when her clothes were completely soggy from the flakes falling on her. She made her way to the Gryffindor common room, being careful to not slip with her wet shoes, and she went under the covers of her bed to warm herself. Finally, tomorrow was going to be fun.

And it was. Akira was surprised when she got up early in the morning to find that a gift was at the foot of her bed. She grabbed the rectangular packet of kraft paper and turned it in her hands. According to its shape and weight, it must have been a book and that theory was confirmed when Akira opened it.

A little note fell on her bed and said "Just because I'm not a big fan of this sport doesn't mean I can't give you something related to it". Akira then found out that it was the book "Quidditch Through the Ages". She had spotted it at Flourish and Blotts when she was buying her school supplies but she hadn't bought it because it wasn't on the list of school supplies for the first years and also because she didn't known at that time what Quidditch was exactly. But now that she had joined the Gryffindor team, this gift was of special value and Akira couldn't help but turn its pages quickly to have a look.

The note received with the book was unsigned but Akira could easily tell that it was from Arcturus. However, her heart felt heavy at the thought that she hadn't bought him anything for Christmas but at the same time it wasn't completely her fault because she didn't know it was customary to give gifts at Christmas. She wondered if she couldn't find a last-minute gift to give him and that's when her eyes fell on the watch she had on her wrist.

She bought it a long time ago to stop being late all the time when she had to work in the hospital. It was the perfect gift for Arcturus who was a fan of Muggle items. If he wasn't using it to check the time, he could always take it apart to see how it worked. Having nothing to wrap it up, she simply hung up a piece of parchment with a note on it before dressing up warmly and heading downstairs to the common room. Arcturus was still not awake – as always when it's so early in the morning - so she left his present prominently on a table before going to have breakfast in the Great Hall. Arcturus joined her a few minutes later with a big smile as he held his gift in his hand.

"I've always dreamt of having a watch like this !" He told her as she helped him hang it on his wrist because he failed to do so. "In the wizarding world, we only have pocket watches which are not practical to carry. In addition, there is always the risk of losing or damaging them. But with this little wonder, I will always have the time right in front of my eyes."

"And I can't wait to immerse myself in the Quidditch book you gave me. I had a hard time not spending the day reading it completely right away."

"It's true, you like it? I'm happy because I bought it when we were on Diagon Alley seeing your interest in Quidditch but I didn't think back then that you would have joined our house team during our first year. I hope it can still teach you a couple more things about that sport even though you're now playing with the pros."

"I have only flipped through it briefly but I can assure you that it contains a lot of interesting information that I never learnt on the pitch."

Happy with their respective gifts, Akira and Arcturus went outside to have a snowball fight with the other students that were enjoying the freshly falling snow and they didn't get back to the Gryffindor common room until the sun had completely disappeared. They appreciated to warm themselves by the comforting fire while watching the snow which continued to fall outside, letting all their problems behind them.

Hello dear readers and Merry Christmas !

It's about time that the Christmas holidays take place in Hogwarts after all the courses and homeworks the students had to do. That kind of holiday is perfect to relax and spend time on your hobby for which you can't devote time during the rest of the year.

Even though Akira and Arcturus couldn't spent Christmas with their respective family, they can still have fun in Hogwarts and there is still the New Year's party to come with its lot of surprise and New Year's resolution to take.

I will cover that event too so you can expect an other chapter for next week.