Chapter 13
Holidays at Hogwarts
After going to visit Wood, the holiday season crept on Harry and his fellow classmates. He took a trip to Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione on a frosty weekend in December. Christmas cheer flooded the air of the miniscule village. Hermione and Ron still had to buy presents for their families. Harry figured he would go off on his own to find Ron and Hermione's gifts later. For now he was helping them pick out gifts.
"What do you think Mum would like that she doesn't have already?" Ron asked Harry. "And what about Dad? I could get him something Muggle related, but where do I find a non-magic shop in the middle of a magic community?"
"You should have thought of that before now," Hermione said disapprovingly. "I have some Muggle things that I'm sure your dad would like that are in my trunk. I'll show them to you when we get back to the castle. What about my parents, though?"
"How about a self-scrubbing dish sponge?" Ron asked as they passed by a magic trinket store. "Mum has one of those and finds it ever so handy. Especially when Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred, and George are home."
"That's an interesting idea...as long as they don't use it when company comes over to our house." Hermione ushered them all into the store. "Can you think of the look on visitors' faces upon seeing a sponge cleaning the dishes all by itself with an unseen force moving it along?"
Hermione picked up the sponge and they continued on through the store.
* * *
Two hours later, Hermione had decided on a self-filling flower vase for her mother (she thought a sponge wasn't enough) and a hammer that would hit the nail heads by itself for her father. She said magic greatly intrigued her parents. Ron still hadn't come up with anything for his mother.
"Mum has everything she could want!" he exclaimed, collapsing in a chair in the crowded Three Broomsticks pub. "What am I supposed to buy her for Christmas?" he asked Hermione.
Harry appeared with three butterbeers in hand. "Why don't you buy her some fragrant lotion or some other thing like it? I know girls like that kind of stuff. I saw a shop for it just over there." She pointed out the window to a dainty frilly shop Ron and Harry hadn't noticed.
Ron gave Hermione a disgusted look as she took a sip from her butterbeer. "And how am I supposed to pick out something like that?"
"It's easy. All you do is look at everything in the store until you find something you know the person you're buying for will like..." she paused at another look from Ron. "OK, OK, how about I buy your mother's gift and you two can go do something else for a while. Ron, you can pay me back when I've picked something out." She drained the rest of her butterbeer and stood up to walk out of the store.
"Be sure it doesn't exceed nine Sickles and two Knuts!" Ron called after her retreating form. "I don't have any more than that."
She nodded and walked out of the pub.
* * *
Back at the common room, Hermione showed Ron some of the Muggle things she had found in her trunk: a couple batteries, a CD, and some hairspray ("This is what Muggles use instead of potion on their hair?" Ron asked. "Weird."). Ron chose to give his father the batteries and hairspray.
"Thanks a bunch for that Muggle stuff, Hermione," he said as the three friends assisted Ron with tying his parcels to Pigwidgeon and a couple school owls to fly off to Ron's family.
"It wasn't a problem. I wanted to get rid of that stuff anyway."
"Stay still, Pig," Ron muttered when his owl kept on fidgeting while Ron tied the parcel to the owl's body. "I hate Christmas!" Ron exclaimed as his owl flew high in the air excitedly with a package only half attached to him and it fell to the ground.
* * *
After the next week of classes, the students were off for the holidays. Hermione went home over Christmas along with most of the school. Harry and Ron were the only boys left in their dormitory for the few weeks. Ron explained that his parents would be at Grimmauld Place anyway, and they would be coming and going so it would be pointless to go home over the holidays.
"Grimmauld Place feels more like our home than The Burrow nowadays," Ron told Harry during one of their wizard chess games in an empty Gryffindor common room their first day off. "I don't want to see the state of our house. I'm sure the gnomes have taken over the garden now."
"I'll be living there this summer," Harry told Ron. He hadn't mentioned Sirius' will to anyone until now. He found it too painful.
"Really?" Ron asked in awe as he moved his queen to capture Harry's bishop. "That'd be awesome to have your own place at the age of sixteen..."
"It won't really be my own place," Harry said. "Members of the Order will come and go all the time." Harry's knight captured Ron's queen with great satisfaction.
Ron cursed under his breath. "Should have seen that one coming. I've been teaching you too well. Still, even with the Order there, it'll be your house. You'll have the final say in things."
"Sirius left it to me along with his other possessions in his will." Harry's head sunk. He hadn't seen Sirius since that night he came to Privet Drive to bring Harry to Snape's house.
Ron looked at his best friend with sympathy. "You really miss him, don't you?"
"More than anything."
Ron heaved a great sigh. "Well, he'd sure be proud of what you've already accomplished this year. I mean you've kept up your grades even though you have those Auror training sessions every week and Quidditch...you being Captain and all. He'd be impressed."
Harry looked at his redheaded best friend and smiled. "Thanks, Ron."
"Any time, mate. Now let's get down to supper. I'm starved."
* * *
The House tables had vanished and a large round table stood in the middle of the Great Hall. Dumbledore was already seated and talking in a fast hushed voice to Snape. Dumbledore looked up upon Harry and Ron's entrance and stood up to acknowledge their presence. "Harry, Ron, how good of you to join us. Many students have decided to go home for the holidays, so we'll eat meals at this table instead. I believe we did the same thing a few years back, if you remember. If you'd sit down, I'm sure the rest of the students soon will join us. Harry, next to me, if you will?"
Harry and Ron walked over to Dumbledore where Harry sat on his right side and Ron next to Harry. "Professor?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Which teachers are staying here over the holidays?"
"Well, there's Severus here, Hagrid, Sybill who won't be joining us for meals, and me."
"What about Tonks and Professor McGonagall?"
"Both called to duty for the Order over the holidays. They will return when school is back in session."
"I read in the Daily Prophet that the Auror situation is getting worse," Harry said.
"It has been steadily worsening over the last six months. I want you to know something. Voldemort may be gaining power and influence with his supporters, but he is still weak. He is not physically prepared for his Final Battle with you just yet. That will still take some time."
"So he's frightened to fight me?"
"Frightened, no. Acting on instinct, yes. Voldemort isn't stupid. He knows he has to gain his strength before dueling with you for the last time."
"So I should attack him now, when he's weak."
"No, Harry. You aren't strong enough to duel with the Darkest wizard of our time yet either. The good news that comes from this is that we have a little bit of time to train you more. I know for certain that the battle will occur next year. It will be a duel of two of the strongest and brightest wizards of this century. For now, though, we have to deal with the losses of many magnificent Aurors."
By then, more students were walking into the Great Hall. The headmaster cut their conversation short, and the meal commenced.
* * *
"Harry! It's Christmas!" Ron shouted excitedly through a mouth full of Chocolate Frogs. "Presents!"
Harry groggily sat up in his four-poster and put on his glasses. Sure enough, there was a small pile of gifts at his feet. He kicked off his blankets and looked at his pile. "What'd you get?" he called over to the general vicinity of Ron's bed. It was strewn with wrapping paper.
"Some sort of rock cakes from Hagrid, Chocolate Frogs from Tonks..." He stuffed another Frog into his mouth. "...Quidditch book from Hermione, homemade cookies and another maroon sweater from Mum, and thanks a lot for this chess set. It must have cost you a fortune!" Ron held up a box with hand crafted chess pieces in it. Harry had found it in Hogsmeade.
"It was nothing and didn't cost all that much," Harry said. His best friend gave him a look. "Really. You deserve it."
Ron's face turned from one of puzzlement to one of gratitude. He ripped the packaging off of the set and looked at it with admiration. "This sure beats my old set," he muttered. Harry laughed and turned to his own packages.
He had received the same as Ron from Hagrid: a rather large box filled with rock cakes, which he avoided. Mrs. Weasley sent a care package with many different kinds of Christmas cookies and one of her classic bulky sweaters. Harry's was navy blue. Tonks had sent a book of famous Aurors. He set the Auror book down carefully and continued with Hermione's gift. She had bought him a book filled with ideas for Quidditch plays. Harry flipped through it to find diagrams and examples of the different kinds of moves for the whole team. He showed it to Ron who was ecstatic. "That's perfect! Even though Hermione does buy us books every Christmas, she sure knows what kinds of books we would like." Ron grabbed the book and started glancing through it muttering, "This is brilliant..."
Dobby the house elf had knitted Harry a crudely made scarf with broomsticks all over it. Ron's gift to Harry was a small Foe Glass. "Thanks, Ron!" Harry called to the other side of the room.
"For what?" Ron's head popped out from behind his curtain.
"The Foe Glass."
Ron looked at Harry, puzzled. Finally, he redeemed himself. "Oh, yeah. No problem. It isn't the most expensive in the world, but I was thinking that when you're an Auror it could come in handy."
"So this is the start to my collection of Dark Detectors like Moody's?"
"I suppose so."
"It's perfect. Thanks again."
Ron didn't say anything. His face just turned a red so bright that it matched his hair.
* * *
Soon the holiday season was over. The rest of the students returned a couple days before classes started back up again. "Have a good break?" Hermione immediately asked jovially as she bounced into the common room coming back from the holidays.
"Yeah, we did," Ron answered.
"Not many students and teachers around, I'm assuming?"
"Nope," Harry responded. "Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, and Trelawney were the only faculty members here."
"What about Tonks?"
"She had some work to do with the Order. I think she'd be back by now."
Hermione updated them on her break. She had kept busy with visiting relatives and spending time with her family. "Have you guys finished McGonagall's essay yet?" she asked.
"What essay?" Ron asked while yawning.
"The essay that we were supposed to write over break about the ignorance when it comes to Animagi registration."
"Oh, that essay. Haven't started it yet."
"What do you mean you haven't started it yet?!" Hermione shrieked. "Ron, that essay is supposed to be three rolls of parchment, at least. McGonagall hinted that it is worth a lot of points."
"Calm down, Hermione," Ron said. "Don't worry, I'll get it done before Monday."
"These are N.E.W.T. classes, Ron. They aren't to be taken lightly. Now get to writing that essay."
With that, she stomped up the stairs to her dormitory, Crookshanks at her heels.
"She's just full of holiday cheer, isn't she, mate?" Ron asked miserably as he picked up a roll of parchment and a quill to start writing.
Holidays at Hogwarts
After going to visit Wood, the holiday season crept on Harry and his fellow classmates. He took a trip to Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione on a frosty weekend in December. Christmas cheer flooded the air of the miniscule village. Hermione and Ron still had to buy presents for their families. Harry figured he would go off on his own to find Ron and Hermione's gifts later. For now he was helping them pick out gifts.
"What do you think Mum would like that she doesn't have already?" Ron asked Harry. "And what about Dad? I could get him something Muggle related, but where do I find a non-magic shop in the middle of a magic community?"
"You should have thought of that before now," Hermione said disapprovingly. "I have some Muggle things that I'm sure your dad would like that are in my trunk. I'll show them to you when we get back to the castle. What about my parents, though?"
"How about a self-scrubbing dish sponge?" Ron asked as they passed by a magic trinket store. "Mum has one of those and finds it ever so handy. Especially when Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred, and George are home."
"That's an interesting idea...as long as they don't use it when company comes over to our house." Hermione ushered them all into the store. "Can you think of the look on visitors' faces upon seeing a sponge cleaning the dishes all by itself with an unseen force moving it along?"
Hermione picked up the sponge and they continued on through the store.
* * *
Two hours later, Hermione had decided on a self-filling flower vase for her mother (she thought a sponge wasn't enough) and a hammer that would hit the nail heads by itself for her father. She said magic greatly intrigued her parents. Ron still hadn't come up with anything for his mother.
"Mum has everything she could want!" he exclaimed, collapsing in a chair in the crowded Three Broomsticks pub. "What am I supposed to buy her for Christmas?" he asked Hermione.
Harry appeared with three butterbeers in hand. "Why don't you buy her some fragrant lotion or some other thing like it? I know girls like that kind of stuff. I saw a shop for it just over there." She pointed out the window to a dainty frilly shop Ron and Harry hadn't noticed.
Ron gave Hermione a disgusted look as she took a sip from her butterbeer. "And how am I supposed to pick out something like that?"
"It's easy. All you do is look at everything in the store until you find something you know the person you're buying for will like..." she paused at another look from Ron. "OK, OK, how about I buy your mother's gift and you two can go do something else for a while. Ron, you can pay me back when I've picked something out." She drained the rest of her butterbeer and stood up to walk out of the store.
"Be sure it doesn't exceed nine Sickles and two Knuts!" Ron called after her retreating form. "I don't have any more than that."
She nodded and walked out of the pub.
* * *
Back at the common room, Hermione showed Ron some of the Muggle things she had found in her trunk: a couple batteries, a CD, and some hairspray ("This is what Muggles use instead of potion on their hair?" Ron asked. "Weird."). Ron chose to give his father the batteries and hairspray.
"Thanks a bunch for that Muggle stuff, Hermione," he said as the three friends assisted Ron with tying his parcels to Pigwidgeon and a couple school owls to fly off to Ron's family.
"It wasn't a problem. I wanted to get rid of that stuff anyway."
"Stay still, Pig," Ron muttered when his owl kept on fidgeting while Ron tied the parcel to the owl's body. "I hate Christmas!" Ron exclaimed as his owl flew high in the air excitedly with a package only half attached to him and it fell to the ground.
* * *
After the next week of classes, the students were off for the holidays. Hermione went home over Christmas along with most of the school. Harry and Ron were the only boys left in their dormitory for the few weeks. Ron explained that his parents would be at Grimmauld Place anyway, and they would be coming and going so it would be pointless to go home over the holidays.
"Grimmauld Place feels more like our home than The Burrow nowadays," Ron told Harry during one of their wizard chess games in an empty Gryffindor common room their first day off. "I don't want to see the state of our house. I'm sure the gnomes have taken over the garden now."
"I'll be living there this summer," Harry told Ron. He hadn't mentioned Sirius' will to anyone until now. He found it too painful.
"Really?" Ron asked in awe as he moved his queen to capture Harry's bishop. "That'd be awesome to have your own place at the age of sixteen..."
"It won't really be my own place," Harry said. "Members of the Order will come and go all the time." Harry's knight captured Ron's queen with great satisfaction.
Ron cursed under his breath. "Should have seen that one coming. I've been teaching you too well. Still, even with the Order there, it'll be your house. You'll have the final say in things."
"Sirius left it to me along with his other possessions in his will." Harry's head sunk. He hadn't seen Sirius since that night he came to Privet Drive to bring Harry to Snape's house.
Ron looked at his best friend with sympathy. "You really miss him, don't you?"
"More than anything."
Ron heaved a great sigh. "Well, he'd sure be proud of what you've already accomplished this year. I mean you've kept up your grades even though you have those Auror training sessions every week and Quidditch...you being Captain and all. He'd be impressed."
Harry looked at his redheaded best friend and smiled. "Thanks, Ron."
"Any time, mate. Now let's get down to supper. I'm starved."
* * *
The House tables had vanished and a large round table stood in the middle of the Great Hall. Dumbledore was already seated and talking in a fast hushed voice to Snape. Dumbledore looked up upon Harry and Ron's entrance and stood up to acknowledge their presence. "Harry, Ron, how good of you to join us. Many students have decided to go home for the holidays, so we'll eat meals at this table instead. I believe we did the same thing a few years back, if you remember. If you'd sit down, I'm sure the rest of the students soon will join us. Harry, next to me, if you will?"
Harry and Ron walked over to Dumbledore where Harry sat on his right side and Ron next to Harry. "Professor?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Which teachers are staying here over the holidays?"
"Well, there's Severus here, Hagrid, Sybill who won't be joining us for meals, and me."
"What about Tonks and Professor McGonagall?"
"Both called to duty for the Order over the holidays. They will return when school is back in session."
"I read in the Daily Prophet that the Auror situation is getting worse," Harry said.
"It has been steadily worsening over the last six months. I want you to know something. Voldemort may be gaining power and influence with his supporters, but he is still weak. He is not physically prepared for his Final Battle with you just yet. That will still take some time."
"So he's frightened to fight me?"
"Frightened, no. Acting on instinct, yes. Voldemort isn't stupid. He knows he has to gain his strength before dueling with you for the last time."
"So I should attack him now, when he's weak."
"No, Harry. You aren't strong enough to duel with the Darkest wizard of our time yet either. The good news that comes from this is that we have a little bit of time to train you more. I know for certain that the battle will occur next year. It will be a duel of two of the strongest and brightest wizards of this century. For now, though, we have to deal with the losses of many magnificent Aurors."
By then, more students were walking into the Great Hall. The headmaster cut their conversation short, and the meal commenced.
* * *
"Harry! It's Christmas!" Ron shouted excitedly through a mouth full of Chocolate Frogs. "Presents!"
Harry groggily sat up in his four-poster and put on his glasses. Sure enough, there was a small pile of gifts at his feet. He kicked off his blankets and looked at his pile. "What'd you get?" he called over to the general vicinity of Ron's bed. It was strewn with wrapping paper.
"Some sort of rock cakes from Hagrid, Chocolate Frogs from Tonks..." He stuffed another Frog into his mouth. "...Quidditch book from Hermione, homemade cookies and another maroon sweater from Mum, and thanks a lot for this chess set. It must have cost you a fortune!" Ron held up a box with hand crafted chess pieces in it. Harry had found it in Hogsmeade.
"It was nothing and didn't cost all that much," Harry said. His best friend gave him a look. "Really. You deserve it."
Ron's face turned from one of puzzlement to one of gratitude. He ripped the packaging off of the set and looked at it with admiration. "This sure beats my old set," he muttered. Harry laughed and turned to his own packages.
He had received the same as Ron from Hagrid: a rather large box filled with rock cakes, which he avoided. Mrs. Weasley sent a care package with many different kinds of Christmas cookies and one of her classic bulky sweaters. Harry's was navy blue. Tonks had sent a book of famous Aurors. He set the Auror book down carefully and continued with Hermione's gift. She had bought him a book filled with ideas for Quidditch plays. Harry flipped through it to find diagrams and examples of the different kinds of moves for the whole team. He showed it to Ron who was ecstatic. "That's perfect! Even though Hermione does buy us books every Christmas, she sure knows what kinds of books we would like." Ron grabbed the book and started glancing through it muttering, "This is brilliant..."
Dobby the house elf had knitted Harry a crudely made scarf with broomsticks all over it. Ron's gift to Harry was a small Foe Glass. "Thanks, Ron!" Harry called to the other side of the room.
"For what?" Ron's head popped out from behind his curtain.
"The Foe Glass."
Ron looked at Harry, puzzled. Finally, he redeemed himself. "Oh, yeah. No problem. It isn't the most expensive in the world, but I was thinking that when you're an Auror it could come in handy."
"So this is the start to my collection of Dark Detectors like Moody's?"
"I suppose so."
"It's perfect. Thanks again."
Ron didn't say anything. His face just turned a red so bright that it matched his hair.
* * *
Soon the holiday season was over. The rest of the students returned a couple days before classes started back up again. "Have a good break?" Hermione immediately asked jovially as she bounced into the common room coming back from the holidays.
"Yeah, we did," Ron answered.
"Not many students and teachers around, I'm assuming?"
"Nope," Harry responded. "Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, and Trelawney were the only faculty members here."
"What about Tonks?"
"She had some work to do with the Order. I think she'd be back by now."
Hermione updated them on her break. She had kept busy with visiting relatives and spending time with her family. "Have you guys finished McGonagall's essay yet?" she asked.
"What essay?" Ron asked while yawning.
"The essay that we were supposed to write over break about the ignorance when it comes to Animagi registration."
"Oh, that essay. Haven't started it yet."
"What do you mean you haven't started it yet?!" Hermione shrieked. "Ron, that essay is supposed to be three rolls of parchment, at least. McGonagall hinted that it is worth a lot of points."
"Calm down, Hermione," Ron said. "Don't worry, I'll get it done before Monday."
"These are N.E.W.T. classes, Ron. They aren't to be taken lightly. Now get to writing that essay."
With that, she stomped up the stairs to her dormitory, Crookshanks at her heels.
"She's just full of holiday cheer, isn't she, mate?" Ron asked miserably as he picked up a roll of parchment and a quill to start writing.
