I have no notices whatsoever at the beginning of this chapter except: School starts in less than two weeks!!! (sobcry)
Chapter Ten: Christmas and Whatnot
"Sonna cool na kimi wa plastic!!" was Jeanna's reaction for the next three weeks towards Harry. Finally, after Christmas break started, when it was only the four of them in the Common Room, Harry finally screamed at her:
"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"
Jeanna just smiled and replied, "You're cool like plastic." Harry stared at her. "Why am I cool like plastic?"
She just smiled and turned back to her game of Gobstones with Ron. Harry continued to stare at her as Hermione softly cleared her throat to attract Harry's attention. "What?" Harry asked her.
"Well, I visited Japan once with my parents when I was ten," Hermione said. "And from what I remember, there was a really popular singer whose name was Gackt." She paused to see Harry's reaction. He was still staring at her, so she continued. "I think that's a lyric from one of his songs."
"Yeah, it is," Jeanna said, getting sprayed in the face by a gobstone. "It's in the song Vanilla." She wiped off her face with a nearby towel and threw a gobstone at Ron as she said, "I don't care much for games that squirt me in the face." But other than this outburst, it was quiet.
Most of the students had gone home for Christmas. Harry was a bit disappointed when he received a letter from Lily at the start of the Christmas Break. It read:
Dear Harry,
Thanks for writing such a long letter to us after your first Quidditch Match! It sounded really exciting! Your father and I (and Brooke) all wanted to come, but some work came up at the last minute and we had to come right away. I also want to say that you must stay at Hogwarts over Christmas Break. I know you wanted to come home, but your father and I have a lot of work that is to be done and Brooke is going to the Weasley's house to celebrate with Ginny. Don't worry, we'll still send you presents! Love, Mom, Dad, and Brooke
Harry, the night after the first Quidditch Match, had written his parents a full-length retelling of the entire Quidditch match. He had also thanked them for the Nimbus 2000. He did not tell them his suspicions about Snape and Fluffy. His parents would tell him that it was none of his business, so he did not write to them about it.
To his delight, Jeanna and Ron were staying. Jeanna's excuse was that she didn't want to face her parent yet and Ron's was that he didn't want to be stuck at the Burrow. But Hermione was going home, and to Harry's disgust, was assigning them jobs to do while she was gone.
"You need to keep looking in the library for anything on Nicolas Flamel!" She urged them as all three of them walked her towards the horseless carriages.
"Fine, fine, fine," Jeanna said, quite annoyed.
"Try to find a way into the Restricted Section!" Hermione said as she clambered into the carriage. "Don't ask a teacher, otherwise we may be caught!"
"OK!" Ron said quickly, grabbing a hold of the door, ready to close it.
"Ask your parents if they know a Flamel," Harry said. "It should be safe to ask them."
"Very safe, as they are both dentists!" Hermione said as she waved goodbye through the now-closed door.
Christmas Eve came quickly and Ron, Jeanna, and Harry all were succumbing to boredom. They had no choice but to continue their search for Nicolas Flamel, but without a note from a teacher, their searches were cut short by Madam Pince. She would breathe down their necks until they would set a book down and leave.
"What we need," Harry said to the other three as he was sprawled on the Common Room floor, "is a good long search without Madam Pince breathing down our necks."
"Yeah," Jeanna said lazily. She had thrown all of the library books down on three separate tables. She herself had pushed three comfy chairs together and was sprawled on them.
"It would be a lot easier than bringing them all here!" Ron said, who had a large book propped up next to the fireplace and was laying on his stomach, reading the same line over and over again. He slammed the book shut in agitation as he threw it onto an empty table.
"And why has this day been so long?" Jeanna said, propping herself up on one of the armrests. "I mean, I know it's Christmas Eve and all, but why? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO LOOOONNNNGGG???" she cried dramatically.
"Give it a rest!" Ron said.
"No!" Jeanna cried childishly. She jumped up out of her seat and began to run up the Girls' dormitory stairs. As Ron followed, however, the stairs changed into a slide and Ron slid down it.
"If you two are done playing childish games," Harry said to them. "then I'm going to bed."
Harry quickly walked to his dormitory, changed and laid down in his bed, waiting to hear Ron's footsteps. But he never heard him because he had fallen into sleep a few minutes later…
The next morning, Harry woke up with a loud yell in his ears. "Oy, presents!!" Ron cried at him.
Harry opened one bleary eye and noticed a good-sized fuzzy pile of presents. He then sat up and put on his glasses. Ron had already opened up a good amount of his presents.
"Open them up, Harry!" Ron said, stuffing a Chocolate Frog into his mouth.
Harry grabbed the top present which was wrapped in thick brown paper and written on the top was, To Harry from Hagrid. Merry Christmas! Harry opened it up and inside was a hand-carved wooden flute. Harry blew into it—it sounded like an owl. Harry set the flute aside and kicked the wrapping on the floor as he grabbed his second present.
"I think I know who that's from," Ron said. As Harry opened up the box, Ron groaned, "Oh no, she's made you a Weasley sweater! Hey, wait a minute, how does she know you're my friend?"
"I think my parents know your dad or something," Harry said as he gazed at the green sweater with an H on the front. Also enclosed in the box was a case of homemade fudge.
The next present he unwrapped was from Hermione. She had gotten him a large box of Chocolate Frogs. Ron had gotten him a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. His parents had gotten him Quidditch Through the Ages, a box of homemade goodies, and a small broomstick service kit. Brooke had sent him a small mixture of assorted wizard candies. Jeanna had gotten him a book on jinxes titled Jinx or Hex? A Complete Guide to every jinx known to wizards. Finally, Harry picked up the final present. It was extremely light.
Harry carefully opened it up. Something fluid and silver fell out of it onto the floor where it shimmered. Ron and Harry both gasped. "If that's what I think it is," Ron said, "they're really expensive and really rare."
Harry threw it over his shoulders and looked down; he couldn't see his feet. He rushed over to the mirror and all he saw was his head floating in midair. "It's an Invisibility Cloak!" Harry said, amazed, throwing it off.
"A note fell out of it." Ron said, pointing to a folded piece of paper on the floor. Harry read it aloud:
This used to be mine, Harry. Your mother didn't want me to send this to you, but I did after she had sent the other presents. Use it well.
A very Merry Christmas to you.
Dad.
"So, that was your dad's?" Ron asked, still amazed.
"Yeah," Harry said, stunned. This was his dad's cloak. As he finished tucking it away in the bottom of his trunk, the door swung open. Jeanna stood frozen for a moment. As swiftly as possible, she jumped over Ron's pile of garbage and jumped on his bed once; she then hurtled herself over to Harry's bed and jumped on his bed, flopping down on after a few jumps.
"Merry Christmas!" She said excitedly to the two boys. "Thanks for the Chocolate Frogs, you guys!" Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed. They both had gotten her the same present.
"What did you guys get?" Jeanna asked them.
"Harry got a Weasley sweater!!" Ron said quickly. Jeanna arched an eyebrow as Harry muttered, "Nothing."
"Thanks for the book!" Harry said to Jeanna.
"Yeah, and thanks for the Charms book," Ron said. "Mine is falling apart and most of the text is faded."
"Yeah, well," Jeanna began, "I also got it for you because you need to learn your Charms. And furthermore—" Jeanna stopped in mid-sentence. She was staring at Harry's trunk. A corner of the Invisibility Cloak was still sticking out. "Is that—?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "An Invisibility Cloak. It was my dad's. He sent it to me without my mom knowing."
"Cool." Jeanna said. Her eyes lit up. "You know what?" she said excitedly.
"What?" the two boys said unenthusiastically.
"We can use this to go into the Restricted Section of the library without anyone knowing!" All three of their eyes lit up.
"Yeah!" Ron said.
"Let's go tonight!" Harry said. The other two nodded.
"But for now, so we don't arouse suspicion," Jeanna said, "we should make our way down to the Great Hall for the mini Christmas Feast." Quickly, they changed into their robes (although they weren't necessary during breaks) and headed down to the feast to eat…
That night, after many a snowball fight earlier that day, Harry decided to make his way to the Restricted Section of the Library. With a quiet good luck from Ron and Jeanna (who had opened the portrait for him), he headed towards the library, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over himself. Careful not to trod to close to Mrs. Norris or any of the portraits, he slowly made it to the library.
As quietly as he could, he opened the door a crack to see if Madam Pince was still in the library or not. Luckily, she was no where to be seen. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the unlit rows of Restricted books. He held the lamp close to the books, but the titles told him nothing. Their peeling gold letters made it hard to read what they said. Harry began to hear a faint whispering coming from somewhere near him. He soon realized that it was the books, but he figured he was just imagining it all.
Finally, giving up looking at the titles, he set down the lamp and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. Pulling out a rather large black and gold book, he opened it up. But he had no time to look at what it said inside. A blood-curdling scream was emitted from the book that echoed through the library.
Swiftly, Harry slammed the book shut and jammed it back into place. It was still screaming just as loud. In his hurry, he had knocked over the lamp and it had broken the bulb. He left it there as he ran towards the entrance of the library, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over him just in time. Filch had just entered the library and was guarding the entrance. Harry managed to slip under Filch's outstretched arms and began to run down the corridor. He ran several flights of stairs and stopped at a suit of armor. His blood drained out of him as he heard Filch talking. He must know a shortcut! Harry thought.
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library—Restricted Section."
To his horror, it was Snape who replied, "Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll find them."
Harry slowly walked past Snape and Filch in the opposite direction and as he turned a corner, he ran full-speed to the Fat Lady Portrait and ran inside. Jeanna and Ron were asleep by the fire. Harry hadn't the energy to wake them up. He simply plopped into the chair next to Ron and, watching the fire die out, fell into blissful sleep…
And no I'm not doing the Mirror of Erised because I couldn't think of something Harry really wanted. But it will still be at the end with Quirrell……I think. Hmmmm……(ponders what to do). And inu87yasha (and others), GO READ THE NEW FIC! You haven't reviewed. Only two people have. (throws jonessoda to the two people who reviewed)
