Harry stared at the signup sheet to stay at the castle feeling dread.
He wanted to go home for Christmas.
He wanted to have a Christmas tree in the dining room, and for the Research Facility's hallways to be decorated with tinsel. He wanted to make cookies with Terrance and Jerome and for them to burn because they all forgot to watch the time while they were busy watching a Christmas movie in the dining room. Then they would make a second batch and obsessively watch the time to make sure they didn't burn.
He wanted to decorate the cookies and leave them out with a cup of milk.
He wanted to wake Jennifer up in the early morning from where she slept on the couch in the observation room next to his room and then open present after present from every researcher that worked in the building, and several that were labeled as from Santa, even though he didn't really believe in Santa anymore.
He wanted to bounce around in the kitchen as the cooks prepared for the Christmas Party.
He wanted to run shrieking through the Christmas Party with the other kids, hyper as can be because they had all been allowed too much sugar.
None of that could happen though. He'd be stopped if he tried to go home right now. So he had been instructed to stay at the castle for Christmas in an email that had blinking Christmas lights around the border.
Slowly, unhappily, he printed his name on the list.
Ron clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder, "You're staying too, huh? All of us are staying too, Mum and Dad and Gin are visiting Charlie in Romania."
Harry nodded unhappily, "What about you Hermione?"
Hermione chewed her lip nervously. "Oh I'd love to stay for the library and to try to figure out who Nicolas Flamel is," she nearly wailed, "But mum and dad have forbidden it!"
Harry rolled his eyes. Ron had snuck out to duel Malfoy in the middle of the night and Hermione had followed to try to stop him. Somehow they'd ended up in the forbidden third-floor corridor and seen a three-headed dog. While talking about it one day they'd been overheard by Hagrid who'd told them that it was strictly between the Headmaster and Nicolas Flamel. Since then Ron and Hermione had been obsessively researching it.
Harry had enough going on between his four clubs, homework, and his other extracurricular activities that he never joined them. He had no idea why they were so obsessed with it. Kids his age were weird.
Then again, he thought eyeing the couple that was making out on the desk near them, kids of all ages seemed to be weird.
He sighed despondently again and Hermione huffed at him, "Why not just go home if you're so upset about having to stay?"
Harry glared at her, "I've been told to stay here."
"But why? I get why Ron's parents-" before she could finish her thought Harry stalked off to the library to find more books to scan. He was almost through the entire top half of the first bookcase in the A section. They at least had moved on from the Abbey of Thelema to Abramelin oil.
While Hogwarts may have looked magical all set up for winter break Harry was in no mood to appreciate it. He realized that he was being a bit of a git, everyone avoiding him was clue enough, but he frankly didn't care.
He'd been upset ever since he'd learned that he wouldn't be able to see the people he saw as a family for seven years and that upset had just grown more and more as time passed. Now that he was at the first break when he should have been able to see them it was even worse.
With that in mind, he threw himself into his tasks. First, he finished up his homework by the end of the first day. Then he set himself up in a dusty corner of the library where no one ever went and started pulling books off the shelf and scanning them (he was in the back of the T section so he was scanning books about something called Therianthropy). As they scanned, mercifully quietly, he studied Mandarin.
And that was how he spent his holiday, only stopping to stuff his things back in his dorm, eat his meals, then go right back to it.
He was so intent on his actions that he didn't even realize Christmas was upon them until he woke up to find a veritable mountain of presents on his bed and falling off of his bed.
There were forty-nine researchers at the research facility, three doctors, three chefs, 3 kitchen assistants, and ten managers all of which he had received presents from, along with one from the Prime Minister.
It took him all morning to get through them and when Ron woke up part way through he gawked at the pile. He could understand why, sixty nine presents and a stocking filled with candy took up a lot of space. It made him feel warm inside.
"Cor Harry! With how you were moping I didn't think you'd get any presents! Did you get one from everyone in the school?"
Harry shrugged as he unwrapped another robe, "This is from my family."
Ron shook his head and began to open the three presents that were on his bed, looking uncomfortable. When he opened the chess set from Harry he gave him a weak smile, "Thanks, mate."
"No problem," Harry muttered distractedly as he opened a children's book that was entirely in Mandarin Chinese.
After Ron was done he shifted around uncomfortably on the bed, slowly eating his fudge as he watched Harry.
Harry wasn't even halfway through but he sighed unhappily, "Want to go down to breakfast?"
Ron shrugged, "Don't you want to finish opening them?"
"Well, yes. But you look like you want to go eat breakfast."
Ron shrugged and Harry began to move things around so that he'd have room to get out of bed.
Breakfast was a grand affair but Harry couldn't appreciate it as all he wanted to do was get back to his presents. They pulled crackers, the Headmaster wore a bonnet he got out of one, and Hagrid kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek. Harry couldn't care less.
Eager to get away he left as soon as he could and went back to opening his presents.
A lot of people had taken advantage of owl ordering forms that he'd picked up on one of his trips through Diagon Alley and he ended up with a wide variety of robes, magical trinkets, and supplies he'd need for school. He also got a large stack of books in Mandarin Chinese, several copies of various Christmas movies on DVDs and flash drives, and a few toys.
Finally from the Prime Minister he received a box of chocolates, from Ron's mother he got a handknit sweater and some fudge, from Hagrid he received a hand-carved flute, and from an unknown benefactor he got an invisibility cloak that supposedly had belonged to his father.
He spent the rest of the day watching Christmas movies on his laptop, after pulling the curtains of his bed shut. He didn't go down for either other meal, instead subsiding on a large amount of candy he'd been gifted, much of which was magical in nature and either tasted strange or caused strange magical effects. His favorite was the lollipop that turned his skin the same color as the lollipop for as long as he was eating it. He spent nearly an hour striped red and green.
Despite not getting to be with his family it was a good day.
Until it could be checked over by an Enchanter he was strictly forbidden from using the Invisibility Cloak by Jennifer. It made sense as they didn't know who it was from so he asked around during meal times and learned that the Professor of Ancient Runes, Professor Babbling, had been an enchanter for nearly thirty years before being a Professor. After explaining the situation she happily agreed to look over the Cloak for him, but warned him it would likely take most of the semester. He agreed to that easily.
"You just gave it away!?" Ron exclaimed as Harry struggled through a book of Magical Chinese Fables in Mandarin.
Harry sighed at Ron still harping over it, "Yes Ron. As I've explained three times now, I have a lot of enemies who could be trying to curse me. The fact that they didn't sign the letter makes it even more suspicious."
"I guess," he muttered sulkily.
Harry rolled his eyes and then focused on the Fable before him.
"Why are you reading that backward?"
"Mandarin Chinese is read right to left."
"Why?"
"Because that's how they do it."
"Why are you reading that?"
Harry sighed and checked something with his dictionary, "Because I'm trying to learn Mandarin Chinese, and reading practical but simple texts helps with that."
"But why are you trying to learn it?" Ron pushed. Harry suspected that he wanted to play chess.
"Because I'm trying to learn all of the top five languages of the world by the time I turn eighteen."
"Why?"
Harry rolled his eyes and checked the dictionary again, not bothering to answer.
"Play chess with me."
"Ask your brothers."
"No, they'll just annoy me. Please."
"Let me finish this chapter and I will."
"How long with that be?"
Harry sighed, "A while."
"Why?"