Chapter 12: First Christmas at Hogwarts
I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter
While the rest of Gryffindor house had gone back up to the castle to celebrate, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Daisuke and Demi-Veemon had gone down to Hagrid's hut for a bit of peace and quiet and to discuss what had gone on during the match. "Here you are Harry." Hagrid said, handing the boy a cup of strong tea.
"Thanks." Harry said softly, sipping the tea as the others sat around the hut.
"It was Snape, he was cursing your broom. Hermione, Daisuke, and I saw him do it. He was muttering and wouldn't take his eyes off you." Ron told his friend.
"Rubbish, now why would Professor Snape curse Harry's broom?" Hagrid asked the kids with a frown, the four were silent exchanging looks while thinking about what to tell him.
Harry took another sip of his tea and decided on the truth. "I think he was trying to sneak past that three headed dog on Halloween while the other teachers were off looking for the troll, he got bit and that is why he's been limping for a while."
Hagrid's eyes widened and he dropped his teapot in shock. "How do you know about Fluffy?" he asked them with narrowed eyes.
"Fluffy?" Ron asked in shock.
"That thing has a name?" Hermione asked.
"Its name is Fluffy?" Daisuke and Demi-Veemon asked.
"Of course, he has a name, he's mine. I bought him off a Greek chappie I met down at the pub last year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the…the…" Hagrid trailed off before he said anything else.
"Yes?" Harry asked with an inquisitive look.
"Shouldn't have said that." Hagrid muttered before pointing at the four kids. "Don't ask anymore questions, no more questions. That's top secret that is!"
"But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy is guarding, Snape is trying to steal it." Harry told him.
"Rubbish." Hagrid scoffed. "Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher." Hermione stood up with a frown and shook her head.
"Hogwarts teacher or not, he tried to kill Harry earlier! I know a jinx when I see one and Snape wasn't blinking." She told him with a frown.
Hagrid frowned as he pointed at the four kids and one Digimon. "Now you listen to me, all five of ya, you're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. It is dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel." He told them sternly before his eyes widened at his slip up.
"Nicolas Flamel, who is that?" Daisuke asked, tilting her head, looking at Hagrid who looked furious with himself.
"Forget what I said and forget about that dog. I mean it." He told them. Soon, they finished their tea and said their goodbyes to Hagrid before they headed up to the castle.
"Who do you reckon Nicolas Flamel is?" Harry asked the others.
"I don't know." Hermione answered softly. "But I think we'll need to find out." The others nodded and hurried back to the castle intent on beginning their search the next day.
It was soon the middle of December, the entire castle awoke one morning to find the grounds covered in a thick layer of snow, the entire lake had frozen solid and most of the students remained inside where it was warm.
Daisuke saw a few of the owls that had been brave enough to push through the strong icy winds were being nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could set off again, Demi-Veemon and Salem spent most of their time in the Gryffindor Common Room where the roaring fire was always going keeping the room nice and toasty.
Down in the dungeons during Professor Snape's classes were the worst during this time, it was so cold down there, the students could see their breath rise into the air like a mist. Daisuke was miserable during those lessons, and she stayed as close as she could to her cauldron while she made her potion.
"R…r…remind me…t…to ask my…p…parents…f…for self-warming robes next year." She said through chattering teeth to Harry who was her partner for the lesson, the young boy nodded and patted her on the back comfortingly as he continued to crush spines of lionfish for the potion.
"I do feel terrible for those who won't be going home for the holidays, it must be such a shame for them to know that their families don't want them." They heard Draco say with a mocking tone from across the classroom, Crabbe and Goyle chuckled at the comment though nobody else did.
Ever since the Quidditch match, Draco had been trying everything to goad Harry into doing something that would get him in trouble, but nothing he did worked, so he just settled for hurling insults about how Harry didn't have any real family.
Harry wasn't that worried about going home for the holidays, when Professor McGonagall came around the week prior to take the names of the students who would be staying for the holidays he instantly put his name down. Ron and his siblings did the same, his parents were going to Romania to visit Charlie who was studying dragons.
After the potion class had finished, Daisuke, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were walking out of the dungeons when their path was blocked by a huge Fir tree that Hagrid was dragging into the castle. "Hey Hagrid, need some help?" Ron asked, poking his head through the branches to look at the smiling groundskeeper.
"Nah, I've got it." He replied, tugging the ropes he had wrapped around the tree, but it refused to budge.
"Move along will you, some of us have places to be." Drawled the voice of Malfoy as he and the other students caught up to Harry and the others. "Are you trying to earn some extra money Weasley? Hoping to be a gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts? That hut of Hagrids must seem like a palace compared to what your family is used to."
Ron's face turned bright red in anger but before he could lunge for the Slytherin, Daisuke caught his arm and pushed him back gently. "I think Ron would make an excellent gamekeeper; it would certainly be a better job than whatever you end up with Malfoy. Maybe you'll inherit your father's job as the Minister's best boot licker." She said with a sickly-sweet smile that caused Draco to scowl at her as Ron, Harry and Hermione shared a smile and they all quickly moved past the large tree and walked off.
"Thanks." Ron said softly.
"Don't mention it. I just wished you wouldn't rise to his insults all the time; you know he does that because he knows you'll react. He doesn't get in trouble because he's not the one trying to physically hurt someone." Daisuke gently admonished her friend with a smile.
The four friends soon walked into the Great Hall and took in the beautiful decorations as Hagrid caught up to them dragging the tree behind him. "Ah Hagrid, the last tree. Put it in the far corner will you." Professor Flitwick instructed as he and Professor McGonagall continued decorating the hall.
The Great Hall looked spectacular mistletoe and holly lined the walls, twelve towering Christmas trees surrounded the room, some decorated with ornate golden baubles, some with glittering candles and some covered in shiny icicles.
"Oh, this is amazing." Daisuke whispered with a bright smile.
"You said it." Harry whispered back.
Hagrid grunted as he set the last tree in the far corner as instructed before he glanced at the four kids, specifically Hermione. "How many more days have you got until your holidays?" he asked.
"Just one. Which reminds me." The bushy haired girl chirped before turning to her friends. "We should head to the library; we've got half an hour before lunch."
"Oh yeah, you're right." Ron muttered, looking at the trees some more.
"The library, just before the holidays? Bit keen aren't ya?" Hagrid asked them, following them out of the Great Hall.
"Oh, we're not working. We're searching for information about Nicolas Flamel." Daisuke chirped with a bright smile.
"You're what!?" Hagrid unintentionally bellowed, drawing the gaze of a few passing students and Professor McGonagall and Flitwick from the Great Hall. The giant gamekeeper ushered the four to the side and looked down at them all. "Listen here, I've told ya before. Drop it. It's nothing to you what that dog's guarding." He whispered.
"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is. Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble." Harry said with a cheeky smile.
"Yeah. We must have looked through hundreds of books already, come on, give us a hint." Ron said with a grin.
"I'm saying nothing." Hagrid grumbled.
"Well, more work for us I suppose." Daisuke sighed with a dramatic pout; the four friends rushed off to the library while Hagrid looked disgruntled with himself.
It wasn't a lie when they said they had been searching through hundreds of books for Nicolas Flamel, ever since they heard the name from Hagrid, they had been searching for every book they could to find out who this strange wizard was. How else were they going to find out what Snape had been trying to get his hands on back during Halloween?
"Anything useful in that book?" Daisuke asked Ron, glancing at the red haired boy as he finished another thick tome.
"Nothing. And this is the third time I've checked Great Wizards of the 20th Century." He answered with a huff before picking up another book and beginning to read that one.
"He's not in Notable Magical Names of Our Time either." Harry said, setting the book down before opening another book.
Daisuke nodded and looked around the library, there had to be thousands of shelves, thousands of books, hundreds of narrow rows to search through, and that was just the part of the library they were allowed to search.
The Restricted Section was exactly what its name implied, restricted to all students, the only way to access it was to have a handwritten note signed by a teacher. It contained books which taught dark magic read only by the older students who studied advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts, so there wasn't a chance they could get in there without being caught by Madam Pince, the librarian who Jun had said once chased Fred and George out with her feather duster when she caught them trying to sneak into the Restricted Section.
Five minutes later, the four left the library and were off to lunch. "You'll keep looking while I'm gone, won't you?" Hermione asked them.
"Of course, we'll have more time to do so once on holidays." Daisuke answered with a smile.
"And you can ask your parents if they know who Flamel is, it should be pretty safe." Ron piped up.
"Of course, very safe. Since they're both dentists." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes and Ron sheepishly chuckled at that.
The next morning, Hermione was lugging her suitcase past the Great Hall with all the other students heading home for the holidays, a few ghosts were floating past singing some carols and she saw Harry and Ron sitting at one of the tables with Daisuke beside them, the young girl watching them play a game of chess.
Hermione walked over to them, dragging her suitcase along and she stopped next to them. "Knight to E5." Harry said, his chess piece moving on its own to the spot on the board.
"Oh." Demi-Veemon chirped, the young dragon sitting on Daisuke's head wrapped up in a hand knitted beanie, boots, mittens, and a scarf to keep him warm.
"Queen to E5." Ron said with a confident smirk, his chess piece moved along the board and Hermione's eyes widened as Ron's queen swung its chair at Harry's knight smashing it to pieces and then moving into the spot.
"Aw nuts." Demi-Veemon groaned on Harry's behalf.
"That's totally barbaric." Hermione spoke up, making the others look at her.
"That is Wizard's Chess." Ron replied with a grin before noticing her suitcase. "Heading off to the train now?" he asked.
"That's right. I just came to say goodbye and wish you all a Happy Christmas." Hermione answered with a smile. "Now don't forget to look for information on Nicolas Flamel while I'm gone." She then whispered.
"We won't don't worry. We've got all of the holidays to search. We'll probably be able to check every book in the library with that time." Daisuke said with a giggle.
Hermione nodded and then left quickly to catch up with the other students, wanting to not miss the train.
The holidays went on, eventually it was Christmas morning and Harry was asleep in his bed before hearing someone shouting his name from the Common Room. "Come on Harry wake up, Harry wake up it's Christmas!" the voices of Ron and Daisuke caused him to spring up in his bed, he quickly put on his glasses and rushed out of the dormitory and down the stairs in his pyjamas.
"Happy Christmas Harry." Ron said, the boy wearing a maroon hand knitted jumper with a yellow R on it.
"Happy Christmas Ron. What're you wearing?" Harry asked with a confused look before seeing Daisuke wearing a similar jumper that was blue in colour and had a silver D on the front.
"Mrs Weasley made them, and it looks like you've got one too." Daisuke answered with a bright smile.
"I've got presents?" Harry asked in a whisper with wide eyes.
"Of course you do silly. What, did you not expect us to get you something?' Daisuke asked with a laugh.
Harry smiled and rushed over to his pile of presents and began opening them, the first one he did was from Hagrid and inside was a hand-carved wooden flute. He blew it and it sounded like an owl, he put it on the armchair and picked up another present, this one from his Aunt and Uncle it was nothing but a fifty pence piece.
"That's friendly…" he muttered sarcastically. He tossed the coin to Ron who began looking at it with intrigue.
"Weird, this is money muggles use?" he asked in astonishment, making the other two giggle, Demi-Veemon and Salem were resting by the warm fire as the opening of presents continued.
Harry opened his next present, it was a hand knitted jumper similar to what Daisuke and Ron wore, his was emerald-green with a golden H on the front and he also had some homemade fudge as well. His next present was from Hermione, a box full of chocolate frogs.
He then opened several presents from Daisuke's family, a broom cleaning kit from Jun, fudge brownies from Natsumi, Quidditch books from Daisuke and Demi-Veemon and a photo album from Alexander.
He'd go through the album later, for now he wanted to see what his friends got for Christmas. He began eating the fudge from both Mrs Weasley and Natsumi as Ron opened one present to find a Chudley Cannons Jersey and his eyes widened in shock.
"Fred and George did tell me how that was your favourite team." Daisuke said with a soft smile as she opened another present of her own.
"Thanks." Ron said with a small smile.
Daisuke nodded as she opened a tin box to find cookies baked by Mrs Weasley. She also got chocolate frogs from Ron, a dark blue scarf, beanie and gloves from Hermione, a pair of boots from Jun, a book from her parents that they said in their letter would help her with trying to control her vision like dreams.
She also got a new collar for Salem; it was black with a silver star charm which she quickly placed on her pet who purred and nuzzled her gently.
She also received a bag from her parents, it was the size of a small satchel made of a sandy coloured fabric with the straps and flap being a light brown. A dark blue gem was embedded in the strap that went over her shoulder and the flap had a light silver clasp.
In the letter that came with the bag, her parents explained it was a bag that had an undetectable extension charm on it allowing her to store all manner of items inside it without it being too big and cumbersome for her to carry around.
Their letter also told her that her friends from the DigiDestined had also sent their presents to their house, and she'd be able to receive them once the term ended. According to the letter, she had received a guitar from Matt along with a case from Tai. Sora, Kari, Yolei and Mimi had gotten her some new clothes, Ken got her a new photo album. TK and Cody had got her a new cookbook, Joe got her a new medical book and Izzy's present was a new laptop.
As she put all her presents in a pile, she saw Harry opening his last present and the three kids saw it was something fluid and silvery grey that fell to the floor out of the wrapping paper.
At the sight of it, Ron gasped in surprise. "I know what that is, it's an invisibility cloak! Quick try it on."
Harry obliged and he picked up the fabric and wrapped it around his shoulders and Ron let out a surprised cheer while Daisuke's eyes widened in shock. Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone.
"My body's gone!" he cheered, spinning around a few times as his head seemingly floated in mid-air.
"Those are really rare, and really valuable." Ron explained, picking up the piece of paper which had been sent with the cloak. "Who sent it to you?" he asked.
The three read the note together, there was no name on it. "Your father left this in my possession before he died. Now it's time it was returned to you, use it well." Harry read softly.
"Well, at least it is from someone your father trusted. That's a good thing, right?" Daisuke asked. The two boys nodded before Harry removed the cloak just in time as they heard another door open before they saw Fred and George rushing down the stairs.
"Oh look, Harry's got a jumper from mom too." Fred said with a grin. "It's a lot better than ours." Both he and George wore blue jumpers with a gold G or F on the front. "Seems she puts more effort in when you're not family."
"Oi, you both know that your mother puts great care in all your jumpers." Jun said, the young woman walking into the common room with a small frown, she too wore a knitted jumper which was light pink with a white J on the front. "Percy, you had better get your butt out here, don't spend all day in your room." She called up the stairs.
The others heard some brief grumblings from the eldest Weasley as he walked down the stairs, his glasses askew as he fidgeted wearing his own Weasley jumper that had a P on the front. "And we're not having our meals with the other prefects either. Today is a time for family, got it." She said to Percy as he reached her, he grumbled but slowly nodded, she smiled and led him out of the common room by his hand leaving the others alone.
Later that evening, the group were all together in the Great Hall for their Christmas feast, Harry had never seen such a wonderful array of food before. There were a hundred fat roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes and every other food imaginable for a Christmas meal.
Stacks of wizarding Christmas crackers were on the tables; these were not like any ordinary muggle ones. Daisuke and Harry held one between them and soon pulled it apart and it broke apart with a loud blast like a cannon and a cloud of blue smoke engulfed them both. Several live white mice emerged from the smoke along with a rear admiral's hat which Daisuke quickly put on Harry's head and gave the boy a salute and he broke out in laughter.
At the head table, Professor Dumbledore now wore a flowery bonnet instead of his usual hat. The elderly wizard chuckling at a joke Professor Flitwick had told him.
Puddings soon replaced the rest of the food and the group all shared some with bright smiles, though Percy almost broke his teeth on his slice when he bit into a silver sickle that had been baked into it.
Daisuke and Demi-Veemon giggled at the sight before both saw Hagrid, whose face had become bright red from all the wine he had drunk suddenly kiss Professor McGonagall on the cheek, the normally stern witch blushing and giggling at the show of affection.
Later that afternoon, everyone was outside having a snowball fight, Daisuke, Harry, Ron and Veemon against Jun, Percy, Fred, and George.
"Justice will be swift, justice will be painful, it will be delicious!" Daisuke shouted as she threw the first snowball at her cousin, Ron, Harry and Veemon cheering loudly as they joined in, and an all-out war of snowball fights began between the eight of them.
At the end of the day, they returned to the castle, dripping wet from the snow, cold and exhausted. They had some turkey sandwiches and crumpets that were sent up to the common room and after that, they all retired to their dormitories to go to bed.
As Harry laid down on his bed that night, he couldn't sleep. The message that came with the Invisibility Cloak kept him awake, who sent it to him? And how did they know his father? He pulled out the cloak from under his bed and felt the fabric in his hands.
He needed to try it now, he got out of bed and silently put the cloak over his body, in an instant he was gone completely invisible under the cloak. "Use it well…" he whispered, remembering the words on the note. He quietly left the dormitory, walked down the stairs, crossed the common room, and walked out through the portrait hole startling the Fat Lady awake.
As he headed down the stairs, he got an idea. With the Invisibility Cloak he could explore the entire castle without anyone ever knowing he was there, especially the Restricted Section of the Library. He could read all the books there to find out who Nicolas Flamel was, he'd have all the time in the world.
Soon, he reached the library that now was dark and eerily quiet. The moonlight shining through the windows, and he carefully walked towards the Restricted Section and opened the gate quietly and stepped through.
He lit a lantern to help him read the titles of the books as he searched down the rows of books. "Famous Fire Eaters…Fifteenth Century Fiends…Flamel…where are you Flamel?" he whispered before he set the lantern down and pulled out a book, it was rather heavy and coloured black and silver with no title. He slowly opened the book and a fearsome visage of a human face rose out of the pages with a blood curdling shriek, he slammed the book shut and put it back in the shelf, the shriek echoing through the library.
"Whose there!?" a voice called out, he tensed, his blood going cold at the voice. It was Filch! Quickly, he dashed out of the Restricted Section, knocking over his lantern shattering the glass when it hit the floor.
He almost bumped into Filch in the doorway and he ran out of the library and down the corridor. By the time he stopped running, he was lost, he had no idea where he was, he stood in front of a suit of armour, he knew one was by the kitchens, but he was five floors above surely.
He heard voices up ahead, curious he crept towards them before stepping back when two Professors came around the corner, it was Snape and Quirrell, the Potions Professor pinning the timid and nervous Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts to the wall. "Severus, I…I don't know...wh…what you…mean." Quirrell stuttered out.
"You don't want me as your enemy Quirrell." Snape said coolly.
"Wh…what do you mean?" Quirrell asked again.
"You know exactly what I mean." Snape said, he then turned his head and looked directly where Harry was standing, the young boy covered his mouth to hold in his breath as the man reached out to him before pulling his hand back and glaring at Quirrell. "We'll have another chat soon, once you've decided where your loyalties lie."
Quirrell gulped nervously before both were interrupted by Filch who came running down the corridor carrying Harry's shattered lantern. "Ah Professors." He said, catching his breath. "I found this in the Restricted Section." He held up the lantern. "It's still hot, that means a student is out of bed."
Snape and Quirrell shared a look before they both ran off with Filch to search. Harry slowly backed away before seeing a door behind him, he pushed it open and walked into what he saw was a disused classroom.
The desks were all stacked up against the far wall, there was an upturned paper waster bin in the corner and against the wall across from him, there was something he knew didn't belong in a classroom.
It was an ancient, ornate mirror. It had clawed feet and a gold frame, as he walked closer to the mirror, he saw words inscribed in the arch at the top of the mirror. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." The words were.
As he removed the Invisibility Cloak and stood in front of the mirror, he tilted his head curiously before two people appeared behind him as if stepping through a veil of fog. His eyes widened as he stared at them both, one was a woman with fiery red hair and a gentle smile, her eyes were a brilliant shade of emerald-green, the same colour as his eyes.
The man beside her looked just like Harry, only older, a bit more muscular and his glasses were like his own and it hit him in an instant when he realised who the two people were.
"Mom…D…dad?" he whispered; the two figures nodded lightly. He reached out placing his hand on the mirror as the image of his mother set her hand on his shoulder and he reached for it but felt nothing, turning around he saw he was alone in the room despite what the mirror showed.
He picked up his cloak and put it back on before rushing out of the room, the door slamming shut as he ran through the castle back towards Gryffindor Tower.
Soon, he rushed in through the Fat Lady's Portrait and entered the common room, he rushed up the stairs and headed into the boy's dormitory. "Ron, Ron wake up! You have to see this!" he urged quietly as he could muster with all his excitement.
He shook the red haired boy awake who grumbled and opened one eye as he removed the cloak. "What's going on?" he groaned, holding his arm over his eyes. "What time is it?" he groggily asked.
"I found something, come on!" Harry whispered, pulling him out of his bed despite his protests and the two headed down the stairs to the common room only to stop on hearing someone following them.
"Harry, Ron, what're you doing?" it was Daisuke, the girl was in her dressing gown and was frowning at both her friends while Demi-Veemon was in her arms. "It's late, you'll get us all into trouble."
"But this is important. I saw my parents!" Harry whispered excitedly, making both his friends share a wide-eyed look.
They quickly left under the Invisibility Cloak and soon were back in the classroom. "What is that?" Demi-Veemon asked, looking at the mirror as they removed the Invisibility Cloak.
"Come on, come meet my parents." Harry said, leading them over to the mirror and he pushed Ron to stand in front of it. "See, there's my mom and my dad."
"That's me!" Ron blurted out, his eyes going wide as he stared at the mirror. Harry blinked and looked at his friend confused. "I…I'm Head Boy…Captain of the Quidditch Team, holding the House Cup…bloody hell. Do you think this mirror shows the future?"
"How can it? Both my parents are dead." Harry answered sadly, making Ron wince slightly.
"Sorry." He muttered softly.
"Why don't I have a try?" Daisuke suggested, she handed Demi-Veemon off to Ron who stepped back as she stood in front of the mirror.
She saw herself surrounded by her friends and family, all of them smiling brightly at her which made her smile also. Above them however, she saw four people she didn't recognise. Two males and two females, and a bunch of others but she couldn't tell due to how blurry and shadowy they looked.
One of the men had dark hair with fair skin and was holding the hand of the woman with dark hair and fair skin.
The second man had blonde hair with fair skin holding hands with the woman with dark hair and dark skin.
The woman with fair skin winked at her as the four all smiled at her.
"Who do you see?" Ron asked.
"My friends and family, but also people I don't know." Daisuke answered.
"Any idea?" Harry asked her.
"None." She answered with a shake of her head. "Come on, let's go back, we've spent enough time out of bed already." Her friends nodded and they donned the cloak again before leaving the room and shutting the door behind them quietly.
The end of the chapter
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