Disclaimer: Not mine, I only own the plot of this fanfic and Carya, some parts are copied from the book, you might notice that some people got into different houses than in the books by JKR; this has only minor reasons, but I need them to be where they are now ^_^
Author's Notes: Well, I think I'm somewhat back to my own self now. Though it might take a while to get over everything. I'm sure many of you know what this feels like. I hope you'll like this chapter although it is damned short (not even 3000 word at all!!). And I already have a few ideas for Chapter 09, which will most likely be called: The Mirror of Erised or Your greatest Wish?. ^_^
Well, now on with the story.
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Chapter 08 - Christmas
Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. No one could wait for the holidays to start.
While the Slytherin common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.
"I do feel so sorry," said Ron Weasley, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
He was looking over at Ginny as he spoke. Carya and Harry growled. Ginny, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. Ron had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Gryffindors had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next.
Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Ron, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry and Carya about having no proper family and Ginny for being a 'slimy Slytherin' and 'a disgrace for their family'.
It was true that Harry and Carya weren't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas but that had other reasons. Although they didn't have real parents any more, they Dursley's treated them like they were their own children. If that wasn't a 'proper family', then what was it? Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and the twins had signed up at once.
They didn't feel sorry for themselves at all; They just wanted to stay with their friends. Ginny and Hermione were staying, too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were still upset about Ginny and the Granger's would fly to New York to attend a dentists conference there. Draco on the other hand had to go home for Christmas. His parents wanted him there. It was nothing they could've changed.
The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.
"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.
"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me - Harry, Carya, Ginny, Draco we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."
"Oh yeah, you're right," said Carya, tearing her eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.
"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall.
"Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"
"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."
"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here -- I've told yeh -- drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."
"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.
"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere -- just give us a hint -- I know I've read his name somewhere."
"I'm sayin' nothin, said Hagrid flatly.
"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ginny, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.
They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what was guarded by Fluffy? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book.
He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.
Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.
He, Ginny, Carya, Draco and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk someone hearing what they were up to.
Once the Christmas holidays had started they all had a fairly good time. Unfortunately Ron, Percy and the Weasley twins were staying in Hogwarts too because their parents were visiting Charlie Weasley who worked with dragons in Romania.
On Christmas Eve, Harry, Carya, Ginny and Hermione went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun. When they woke early in the morning, however, the first thing each of them saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of their beds.
"Merry Christmas," said Carya sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe.
Since Harry was the only first year boy staying in Hogwarts she had no problems with sneaking into the boys dormitory. Ginny was with her.
"You, too," said Harry grumpily. He had never been that much of a morning person.
Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was
To Harry, from Hagrid.
Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it -- it sounded a bit like an owl. Carya told him that she got a small wooden harp that made sounds like a small bird from Hagrid. A second, parcel contained two letters. One for Harry and one for Carya.
We received your message and enclose your Christmas present.
Buy yourselves something you really want when you get the chance.
From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.
"That's nice," said Ginny, "What is that? Money? Looks weird. I've never seen paper money." She continued and shook her head in amusement.
Harry's next present contained candy -- a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. The next ones were a book on Quidditch from his sister and a bag of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans from Ginny. Carya had gotten the same from Hermione and Ginny. Harry had given his sister a book on potions since she really liked that subject.
This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ginny gasped.
"I've heard of those," she said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs she'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is -- they're really rare, and really valuable."
"What is it?" asked Harry.
He picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.
"It's an invisibility cloak," said Carya, a look of awe on her face and Ginny only nodded. "I'm sure it is -- try it on."
Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ginny gave a yell. "It is! Look down!"
Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in mid-air, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.
"There's a note!" said Ginny suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"
Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:
Your father left this in my possession before he died.
It is time it was returned to you.
Use it well.
A Very Merry Christmas to both of you.
There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ginny was admiring the cloak.
"I'd give anything for one of these," she said. "Anything. What's the matter?"
"Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange. Who had sent the cloak? Had it really once belonged to his father?
Then Carya asked: "May I try it on too?"
"Sure," Harry said and handed the cloak over to his sister.
Ginny had hardly gotten any presents at all. A woollen handmade sweater from her mother and a small box of candy from her father. Carya got her a book about charms and Harry gave her a big size box Chocolate Frogs. But the best one she had received from Draco. It was a tiny glass statue of a dragon. The attached note said:
Merry Christmas, Ginny!
Hope you like it.
Draco
And like it she did. But they all were still wary about Draco's family. They didn't know if they could fully trust him or not. Suddenly there was a soft hissing heard from Harry's bed. Ginny and Hermione jumped up in surprise.
"What was that?" Hermione asked with a slightly quivering voice.
Harry and Carya looked very uneasy now. "Eh, ... that ... well ..." Harry started.
"I think we should tell them. Wait a moment, I'll be right back," Carya told them and left for the girls dormitory. When she came back she was holding a small basket.
"Well, you see, we didn't want anyone to find out that we had them because it isn't exactly allowed. But we have more than one pet. I know Hermione, that's forbidden but we couldn't leave them at home. ... They're ... well, they're snakes," Carya explained and their two friends looked shocked.
The twins carefully lifted their pets onto their laps and Ginny as well as Hermione could get a good look at them.
"Please don't tell anyone, okay? Not even the other Slytherins know about them. Can you promise us that you won't tell?" Harry asked.
"You had that animal in our dorm for almost four month now and didn't tell me? Oh forget it, I should have noticed. My bed's directly beside yours. Don't you trust us?" Ginny inquired slightly hurt.
"It's not that Ginny, really. Please believe me. I was afraid you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore if you found out I liked pet-snakes and even HAVE one. I didn't want to hurt you, really!" Carya said, "The same goes for you Hermione. We do trust you two. It's just. People always assume the worst about something like that. Do you remember what the other houses said when Harry, you and I were sorted into Slytherin?"
"And how hard we had to fight to convince the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that we're not evil or dark or something like that? Do you remember that?" continued Harry, "It's not that easy, we just didn't want to loose you as our friends."
"Harry, Carya, you could never loose us as your friends. We are family, aren't we? I was startled at first when I heard the hissing but now I actually think that they are beautiful. They match your eye colours. Was that intentionally or is it a coincidence?" Hermione reassured them and Ginny nodded at the appropriate places.
"It has been half intentionally. They had just hatched and actually are still babies but we liked them the instant we saw them. So we bought them and Snape didn't say we couldn't. I think he knows," Harry said and stroked the snake in his lap carefully.
They smiled at each other now and after promising that they wouldn't tell anyone the snakes were put back in their respective baskets and the four friends went to breakfast. They were early and only the headmaster and professor Snape were sitting at the table. There was only one table because there were so few students left. The kids quickly ate breakfast and hurried outside.
They spent the time with snowball fights and were soaking when they came back. After a quick shower and changing into dry clothes they met in the library. It was real luck that Madam Pince liked the four so much. They never mistreated her precious books and were always quiet and polite in her library. So she allowed them in there over christmas.
This time Hermione could not hide her astonishment about the three Slytherins. "Are you three sure that you're sorted into the right house?" she asked smirking slightly and when the others looked confused she added grinning, "From your behaviour right now one would think you would do better in Ravenclaw. Not even most of my housemates study this much."
That got her three almost identical trademark Slytherin smirks in return. It almost seemed as if you got the ability for that once you get sorted there.
"Why Hermione, are we observant today," teased Ginny.
"You should know that we only do this for gaining knowledge and as you know..." said Harry.
And Carya continued still smirking, " ... knowledge is power. And that of course is what the average, ambitious Slytherin is trying to achieve."
After that they all burst out in laughter and Madam Pince smiled at them. She was happy that they had fun and since they were the only ones in the library right now it wasn't necessary to tell them to be quiet. The whole afternoon was spent there studying and doing homework that was due after the holidays. Soon it was time for diner.
The Potter twins had never in all their life had seen such a Christmas dinner. Christmas at the Dursley's had been great but this was heaven. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce -- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table.
These fantastic party favours were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursley's usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Hermione and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice.
Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him. Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided. Not even the presence of the Weasley kids from Gryffindor could ruin their Christmas.
When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and his own new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and Harry had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris's Christmas dinner.
Harry and the girls spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Slytherin common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Hermione. (Since there were hardly any Slytherins staying over Christmas they allowed Hermione to come into their common Room).
He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Ginny hadn't tried to help him so much. After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and listen to some stories the older Slytherins had to tell. Hermione had left them after dinner and went to her own common room.
It had been Harry's and Carya's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of Harry's mind all day. Not until he climbed into bed was he free to think about it: the invisibility cloak and whoever had sent it.
Carya and Ginny, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother them, fell asleep almost as soon as they'd drawn the curtains of their four-poster beds. In his dormitory Harry leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the cloak out from under it. His father's... this had been his father's. He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air.
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Review Responses in Author's Note!
Please Read AND Review.
Thx ^_^,
Carya
