AN: Written for: International Wizarding World Championship
School: Ilvermorny
Prompts: Main: [Action] reading beside a fire; Others: [Platonic pairing] Ron Weasley and Harry Potter
Theme: Hagrid's Flute
Year: 1
Wordcount: 1421
The Golden Snitch:
[Challenge] Back to School: One winter cloak (black with silver fastenings) – Write from a Gryffindors POV
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Assignment #10
[House]: Gryffindor
[Subject/Task No.]: Magical Literature By Gab/Task #12 — Death: Write about gifts being given or exchanged
[Title]: Special Gifts
[Summary]: Hagrid is busy making Harry's Christmas present and hopes he'll like it. And a surprise visit for his birthday makes the Christmas season even better.
Thanks to Mason, my fabulous beta :)
Hagrid was sitting on his armchair near the crackling fire. It was night time on the grounds and no one was awake but him, not even the birds. Fang was asleep, too, but his ears were twitched from time to time when he heard Hagrid's voice.
The giant's big hands carefully whittled the first hole into the wood. He had finished the overall shape of the flute; now it was getting more difficult. The spaces between the holes had to be exactly calculated. And he mustn't carve the holes too big, or Harry's tiny fingers wouldn't be able to cover them.
Hagrid had been thinking about using magic to make the flute, but he had decided not to. After all, he was not allowed to perform any magic and it didn't feel right to break that rule for Christmas. And he still had plenty of time. Christmas was twenty days away and the flute was going to be ready by then. Hagrid couldn't wait to see Harry's face.
When he finally went to bed, it was 3 o'clock in the morning and Hagrid's eyes were getting so tired that he could barely see where he was supposed to make the holes. But he was happy with the progress he had made. And tomorrow was going to be his birthday.
Hagrid hadn't expected any visitors for his birthday; he knew that Harry was very busy with school at the moment and Dumbledore was helping out at the Ministry. After he had taken breakfast with the staff in the Great Hall, he returned to his hut to continue carving the flute. He knew that there was always a lot of work for him before Christmas, so he wanted to use every free minute for the flute before things got busy.
Humming, he sat down in his armchair and took up the knife. Fang was lying on his feet, keeping them warm.
Hagrid was so absorbed in his work that the knocking at the door made him jump. He looked up. "Come in," he called, quickly putting the flute behind his back. He expected Filch or one of the teachers, but to his surprise, it was Harry and Ron who entered the hut.
"Happy Birthday!" they said in unison, sitting down on in the chairs around the table. Both were carrying wrapped presents.
"Thanks," Hagrid said, his hands still behind his back, hiding the flute.
Harry looked at him in a suspicious way. "What have you got there, Hagrid?"
"Oh, nothin'!" he said quickly. "Why don't yeh two fill some water in the pot, and we'll have a cup of tea?"
"Sure," Harry said. Him and Ron turned around, giving Hagrid the opportunity to hide the flute beneath a blanket. Harry gave him the pot, and Hagrid put it over the fire.
"So," he said, leaning back in his armchair. "How come yeh're here at all? Shouldn't yeh be in the Great Hall, eating lunch with everybody else?"
"We should," Harry said, grinning at Ron. "But we grabbed some sandwiches which we ate on the way down here. We wanted to see you and we've got classes all afternoon."
"Hermione's on her way too," Ron added. "She was busy talking to Professor Flitwick, so she told us to go ahead. She should be here any minute."
"And then we've got about 40 minutes before we've got to head to the castle again," Harry added.
Hagrid was touched. He couldn't recall the last time that he had celebrated his birthday with his friends.
"That's nice of yeh," he said.
The two boys placed the packages on the table.
"Here," Harry said eagerly. "We've got presents for you."
Hagrid opened the first parcel, which was from Ron, when there was a knock again and Hermione entered the hut.
"Happy Birthday, Hagrid," she said panting. Apparently she had run all the way from the castle down here. She too was carrying a little parcel in her hands. "Sorry I'm late."
"Nice to see yeh, Hermione," Hagrid said and offered her a chair. "Yeh're not late at all. Just in time for the tea." He went to the fireplace to take the pot of boiling water and poured the water into their cups. Then he took up the package again. Inside he found a bag of cookies.
Hagrid beamed. "Thanks, Ron," he said. "They look delicious."
"They are," Ron said. "Mum made them. I hope they're still good, they arrived a couple of days ago." He blushed.
"I'm sure they'll be great, Ron. Thank yeh." Hagrid got a plate where he put the cookies and placed it in the middle of the table.
The next present came from Harry and it contained different kind of herbs and tea. "Too bad I've already made different tea," Hagrid remarked. He put the herbs on the shelf and then turned to Hermione.
Her package was the largest, and it wasn't hard to figure out that it contained a book.
"It includes the most famous Muggle Christmas stories," Hermione explained when he had unwrapped the package. "I hope you'll enjoy it. They're really good, I think."
"Thanks, Hermione!"
They started to drink their tea and eat the cookies which luckily tasted just fine. The minutes passed way too fast and when Hagrid looked at the clock, he was shocked to see that their lunch break was almost over.
"Yeh'd better hurry, or yeh'll be late for class." He got up and opened the door. Before they left, he said to them, "Thanks, yeh three. I don't think a birthday could be any better."
Harry hugged him, and then the three friends hurried up the way back to the castle.
It wasn't until the next day that Hagrid had the time to work on Harry's Christmas present. He was a little worried that it wasn't going to turn out the way he hoped. The flute looked very pretty, but when he tried to play a melody, it didn't sound right. He hoped that it was going to be better when all the holes had been carved.
He finally finished his work a couple of days before Christmas. It had been difficult to refine the holes, but he had managed. Only when he was able to play different melodies that didn't sound off key, he was satisfied.
He wrapped the flute and for Hermione and Ron, he made some rock cakes and put them in bags. On Christmas Eve, Hedwig flew pass his hut, among with some other owls, and Hagrid called her. He tied the packages onto her legs and gave her some treats.
"Merry Christmas, Hedwig," he said. "Bring this to Harry for me, will yeh?"
She nibbled his finger impatiently, hoping for more treats. Hagrid laughed and nudged her beak. "I'm sure Harry'll have many treats for yeh tomorrow morning." Her glare was sulky when she turned away and flew up to the castle.
Hagrid smiled and went back inside.
"Merry Christmas, Fang," he said to his dog. He went to the cupboard and took out some meat. "Here you go." Fang jumped to his feet and scarfed down the piece of meat. He was finished within seconds and gave Hagrid a pleading look.
Hagrid chuckled. "That's enough, Fang. Yeh'll get more tomorrow."
He sat down on his armchair and took out the book Hermione had given him to his birthday. He hadn't had the time to read any of the stories, because he had been busy. It always took a lot of time to decorate the Great Hall but it was worth the effort. Now he was relieved that he had nothing to do but to sit here.
He got up and put some wood into the fireplace to make sure it didn't burn out. Then he sat down again and opened the book. He was relieved to see that the letters were printed rather big. As much as he loved stories, he thought reading was an exhausting occupation. There were even some illustrations.
Once he had dived in the story, he almost forgot that he didn't like reading much. It was funny to see what the Muggles came up with in their freetime. It was so different from the stories he remembered from his childhood.
Before he put out the fire and went to bed, he thought about Harry again and whether he would be happy about the flute.
He closed his eyes with a happy smile on his face. It was a great Christmas this season.