Tonks had quietly tugged Harry's trunk around beside his bed and was currently watching her friend sleep. The rest of the boys in Harry's dorm had gone home for the holidays, leaving him alone in the room. Tonks didn't feel this was very healthy for the boy - especially given how gloomy he had been acting ever since the first snow had fallen.
She had considered simply pouncing Harry and telling him to hurry and wake up... but given the history she knew between he and his relatives, the idea didn't hang around too long. The truth was, she was getting quite worried about her friend. Harry had been getting so much better after he had been pulled away from the Dursleys... only to have the memories come crashing back during what should have been one of the happiest times of the year.
It just wasn't fair, and Tonks had said so to Solieyu on numerous occasions. The long-haired boy had agreed and mentioned that he was going to get something for Harry for Christmas. Tonks had replied that both she and her mother were, as well. Past that and the odd gift from a brave admirer, Tonks wasn't sure how many presents Harry would wind up with. Harry wasn't exactly on good terms with the three other boys in his dorm. Neither Terry nor Gary spoke to Harry directly when they could help it. And Tonks didn't even keep track of what the third one's name was, so she assumed that a gift from him was out, as well.
With a sigh, Tonks leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her hands. She had been sitting around for almost an hour, as Christmas was the one day she had never slept in on. It wasn't pretty watching Harry sleep, as the boy didn't seem to rest well under the best of circumstances. For reasons he wouldn't tell her, Harry seemed to have a lot of nightmares. He seemed to have gone through nearly half a dozen or so since Tonks had arrived.
After nearly ten minutes of sitting and waiting patiently - something that Tonks wasn't well known for - Harry finally woke up. Tonks would have been happy, save for the fact that it wasn't a pretty sight, either. From the position he had been sleeping in, on his back, Harry had sat bolt upright, eyes wide. For a moment, his eyes darted around the room, not really taking anything in. His breathing was rapid and shallow and he seemed to be almost drenched in sweat.
Tonks was all too aware of how Harry tended to wake up from nightmares after the few she had witnessed back at her house, so she knew exactly what to do. She was going to sit where she was, make no sudden movements, and wait for Harry's brain to register that he had only been dreaming and that he was safe at Hogwarts.
It didn't take long. Harry's eyes eventually slid shut for a few seconds as his breathing stabilized. He rubbed at the center of his chest for a moment before reopening his eyes.
"Happy Christmas?" Tonks tried, softly.
Harry blinked and turned his head to face the girl, who was still dressed in her pajamas. She and Harry had tended to lounge around her house until noon in their pajamas, so it wasn't anything new to either of them. If anything, seeing Tonks in casual clothes almost seemed to help ease Harry's slightly haywire brain. He let out a long breath of air when he realized that she was actually sitting nearby and that it wasn't his imagination playing strange tricks on him after waking from a nightmare.
"What're you doing here?" Harry asked after his brain also realized that Tonks sitting on his truck wasn't a normal occurance.
"Waitin' for you to wake up." Tonks said, shrugging. "Been here awhile. I woulda tried wakin' you up, but..."
"Yeah, good idea." Harry replied, slumping forward a little and running a hand back through his hair. "Did you say it was Christmas?"
Tonks rolled her eyes. "No, I said I was off snogging the Grande Royal Ponce in a broom closet earlier. Yes, it's Christmas, you silly sod. Now c'mon, we've gotta go open presents! I've been waitin' here long enough!"
Harry only blinked again. "We've got to open presents? What do you mean?"
"Oh, honestly, Harry... Sometimes you're thicker than whatever Malfoy puts in his hair. I mean you've got presents and I've got presents and we should go open them!" Tonks said, hopping to her feet and hauling Harry's trunk back to the foot of his bed.
"I have presents...?" Harry asked, sounding entirely confused.
"Am I gonna hafta drag you downstairs?" Tonks asked, walking back around and putting her hands on her hips. "Or can you manage on your own?"
Harry looked as if he was working something out in his mind. It also looked as if he were adding 2 and 2 and getting 5 as an answer.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake..." Tonks murmured, walking over and grabbing Harry by the arm. "Up you go! Come on! Can't spend all day looking daft in your bed, Harry!"
"O...Oi!" Harry said as he was dragged to the edge of his bed, where he promptly fell to the floor. Glaring at Tonks' feet, one of which was tapping impatiently, Harry grumbled, "I will get you for that, you know."
"Gotta catch me first." Tonks said, smiling pleasantly down at him.
And with that, the chase was on. Having an advantage, Tonks sped out of the dorm room. Harry, after scrambling to his feet, rushed after her, barely managing not to run headfirst as Tonks slung the door to the room shut on her way out.
"Get back here!" Harry cried as he tore out of the room. By this point, Tonks had made it down to the common room and was maneuvering herself around the large couch by the fire, keeping it between herself and her pursuer.
"Not on your life! Here, catch!" Tonks replied as Harry burst into the common room, as well. Before Harry could close the gap between them, she had tossed a small, wrapped package at him. Seeker reflexes kicking in, Harry ducked and grabbed at it before it could pelt him in the head. He started to fling it back at Tonks, but stopped when he saw who it was to - him.
Brows came together and Harry stared down at the wrapped present as if it were the strangest thing he had ever seen in his life... which probably wasn't far from the truth, Tonks reckoned.
"Like I said earlier, Happy Christmas!" Tonks said, cheerfully, flopping down beside the large christmas tree that had been set up in the room. As she sorted her gifts and Harry's into two piles, she blinked.
"Harry?"
The boy in question looked up. "Huh?"
"Come over here..."
Tilting his head, Harry did so, sitting down nearby. "What is it?"
"Did you get me something?" Tonks asked, looking as confused as Harry had just moments before. "Usually I get one or two things from mum, some bit of junk from dad..." Tonks growled out the word darkly. "And something from my cousin, Aggie... But I've got six gifts here..."
"And two seem to be from me?" Harry supplied, finally understanding. With a smile, he shrugged and continued, "I sent a note to your mum, asking her how I could get you something. She wrote back and sent a few catalogues with the letter. I looked around, circled the two things I wanted to get you, and sent her a reply with the money they would cost."
"You sneak! Mum didn't tell me any o' this!" Tonks gaped.
"Well, yeah, that was kind of the point." Harry said, rolling his eyes.
Swatting Harry playfully on the arm, she smirked. "Well, we're even, then. I got you two things, too. And mum got you something, from the looks of it! This one..." Tonks looked down as she continued sorting gifts, "Is from Leon... and this is-- oh, ew-- this is from Cho Chang!"
"Isn't she that second-year that kept making googly eyes at me that one night in the Great Hall?" Harry asked.
"She does it in more places than that...remember what I toldja down by the lake? Anyway, looks like you have a few more presents that me!"
"So I noticed..." Harry said, voice getting quiet. "Tonks... well, you know how I am around this time of the year."
"Yup. I thought you could do with some real Christmas presents for a
change." Tonks said, smiling. "And before you go thanking me, don't.
It's what friends are for, isn't it? I wouldn't be a very good friend
if I didn't get you anything. Here, open the smaller one first!"
Though there were a few other Ravenclaws staying over the holidays, Harry and Tonks seemed to be the first ones awake. Christmas did fall on a Sunday this year, after all, and most people were still sleeping in. A sizable pile of presents for them still sat under the tree.
Tonks was practically bouncing in place as Harry looked at the box that almost smashed into his forehead earlier. It wasn't very heavy, and shaking it yielded no clues as to what was inside. Giving Tonks a strange look, Harry tore through the wrapping paper. Having never done it before, Harry found it to be rather fun.
Harry opened the box that was underneath the paper...and promptly came face to face with a single earmuff. As Harry groaned, Tonks dissolved into giggles.
"Sorry, Harry, I had to! Now that lone earmuff your relatives gave to you can have a best mate!" Tonks said through her laughter. She had to duck a moment later as Harry, who was trying not to smile, lobbed the thing at her.
"Ha-ha." Harry said, dryly. "Very funny. Alright then, open the larger of my two presents to you!"
Tonks was tearing through the wrapping paper before Harry fully finished his sentence. When she pulled the top off the box underneath, it was her turn to gape and Harry's to start laughing. Staring back at her from inside the box was a large, rainbow-colored clown wig.
"Turnabout, my dear Tonks, is fair play." Harry stated, quickly leaning over to avoid getting beaned with the wig.
"Looks like we both had the same idea on joke gifts, then." Tonks said, shaking her head. "My other one's a real present. How about yours?"
"Real, too." Harry said, grabbing the wig and trying to put it on his friend's head. This earned him another light swat.
In the end, Tonks had gotten a large book on strange dark creatures from Harry. He bought it for her on the grounds that she always seemed to actually sit down and read when the book concerned creepy and odd things. She also ended up with a dark-blue sweatshirt that changed to whatever color her eyes were and a small pile of sweets.
Harry ended up with a book from Tonks, as well. It turned out to be rather thick and was on the subject of Metamorphmagi. In addition to general background information on just why they were so rare, it had an entire section on how to see if you were one. Included were how to start off, how to change eye color, hair color, and to adjust one's height and weight at will.
In addition, Harry received a sweater just like Tonks received, along with a note encouraging him in his Metamorphmagus training.
The gift from Cho Chang had been rather strange - it was a photograph (of the wizarding variety, of course) that kept winking and blowing kisses at Harry. Tonks spent a good hour after seeing it describing how insane the girl was.
Finally, and strangest of all, was a package that was unmarked save for a little note attached to one side that read, 'Your father left this in my posession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it all.'
"Who's it from?" Tonks asked quietly.
"Dunno... It didn't say." Harry replied, frowning deeply. "It said that whatever's inside belonged to my dad, though."
Intent on finding out what was inside, Harry ripped through the ornate paper. Inside was something silvery gray and very silken. Harry slowly removed the item from the box, standing up as he did so.
"Wow..." Tonks whispered.
"It looks like a cloak..." Harry said, frowning even more. "Why would someone send me a cloak?"
"It's not just any old cloak, Harry!" Tonks said in an excited whisper. "That's an invisibility cloak, that is!"
"An invisibility cloak?" Harry repeated.
"Yeah! Try it on!" Tonks said, hopping to her feet as well.
Harry did so, slinging it around his shoulders. Tonks let out a little squeak. "Ooh, it is! Oh, Harry, those are rare! And the note said it was from your dad? Really?"
Harry looked down at himself... or, rather, where the rest of his body was supposed to have been. As far as he could tell, everything from his shoulders to his feet had vanished under the silky cloak. "Whoa..." Was all the boy could muster as he walked over to a mirror on the other side of the room. Tonks trailed behind him, squatting down at one point and giggling.
"This is weird. I can see right through where your body's supposed to be!" She said, looking 'through' Harry and at her own reflection in the mirror.
"You'd better not let on to anyone you have this." Tonks continued after a moment of thought. "I know a lot of people who'd want their very own invisibility cloak. I'm sure Malfoy would love gettin' his slimy mitts on it if he could."
"Yeah, you're right..." Harry said, pulling the cloak off and carefully folding it up as it had been in the box. As he was putting the top of the box back on, a thought came to him. "Tonks...?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Mrs. Norris can see invisible things?"
It took a moment, but Tonks' eyes lit up brightly. "Ooh! With this and the silencing charms...!"
"Yeah. We could have free rule over the castle at night. Even if Mrs. Norris gets in our way, we could just sneak around her or something." Harry said, grinning. "Maybe now we'll be able to see what's up with Leon. No one's sick for that long without a reason for it."
"Yeah... Try not to let him find out about it, alright? For that matter, don't let any of those thickheaded prats in your dorm find out about it. That idiot Terry would probably use it to sneak back into the room with that dog was in." Tonks said, making a face at the memory.
"Don't worry. I'll keep this thing nice and safe..." Harry said, smiling. "Come on, I'm getting hungry. How about you?"
"Now that's a silly question to ask." Came Tonks' reply.
After putting their things away and changing into more casual clothes, (complete with their new sweaters) Harry and Tonks made the walk down to the Great Hall for some breakfast. As they went, Harry asked if they could go somewhere afterwards to have another training session. Tonks, who had all but kissed Harry at the end of November when the boy had turned his eyes a brilliant blue, was all for it.
"The change doesn't feel nearly as weird once you get used to doing it. I don't even notice anymore." Tonks said, hands in the pockets of her jeans. "But yeah, your eyes are gonna feel funny for awhile. I guess you got a headache that last time 'cause it was the first time you ever did such a good job. You know, I've been thinkin' about a way to spook Malfoy."
"Oh?" Harry asked, interested. "And that would beee...?"
"Well, we wouldn't be able to until you advanced a bit more, but... You know how the git likes sneaking up from behind to try takin' potshots at us?"
"Yeah...?"
"Well, what if we both turned our eyes a bright red and spun around to growl at him when we heard him comin' up? He'd probably squeal like a baby an' run off!" Tonks said, smiling sweetly.
"Knowing Malfoy, he'd more likely wet his pants and faint than run
off, but... I like. Maybe we could get Fred and George in on the act,
too. Have them waiting in the direction we wanted to get Malfoy to
bolt down... There are charms to manually change your eye color,
aren't there?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, but they're kinda tricky, I think. Mum always told me I'd be a great Auror if I wanted, since I'd end up bein' so good at disguising myself..."
"Auror?"
"Hm? Oh, right... Um, Aurors are kinda like Muggle police. Take down dark wizards, idiots dealin' with illegal stuff... that kinda thing." Tonks explained.
"Ahh..."
"Uh-oh. Don't look now, Harry, but your own personal milksop's downstairs. Looks like he's givin' Hermione what-for, too." Tonks said with a frown as she peered down the main stairway.
"Damn." Harry growled, eyes narrowing. "He's almost as bad as that
idiot Malfoy is! I dunno how many times I've warned him to lay off,
but..."
"Gonna do something to...'remind' him?" Tonks asked, false innocent dripping in her voice.
"Oh, I certainly am. I know just the thing, too." Harry said, smiling darkly as he rushed down the rest of the stairs.
"Voco Araneus!"
Tonks promptly collapsed in a giggle fit.
As Harry had reached the bottom of the stairs, he had drawn his wand and aimed for Ron's head. He then cast a spider-summoning charm and, within a second, a massive spider had landed on Ron's head. Ron, in turn, had let out a shriek like a little girl and ran around, flailing like an idiot, squealing for someone to get it off of him.
As Tonks laughed herself silly, Harry rushed over to Hermione, asking her if she was alright.
"I-I'm fine." Hermione said, voice quiet. "I'm glad you showed up..."
"He hadn't been at it for long, had he?" Harry asked.
"No, he just started before you two showed up." Hermione replied. "You shouldn't have done that." She indicated the still-frantic Weasley. "You aren't supposed to use magic in the halls..."
"It was for a good cause." Tonks said, bounding up and wiping her eyes. "Maybe now he'll knock it off. I've seen Harry summon bigger than that thing."
"And what, exactly, is going on out here?" Came a voice from behind Harry, Tonks, and Hermione. Turning, the three saw Dumbledore and McGonagall descending into the Entrance Hall.
"Ron here seemed to need reminding that he shouldn't yell at those different from him, sir." Harry said in his politest voice.
"IT'S CRAWLING DOWN MY SHIRT! GET IT OUUUUUUUUT!" Ron cried, flinging himself backwards against the front doors of the school in a poor attempt to squash the spider that was now wandering around his back.
"Fred and George told me he didn't like spiders." Harry continued, calmly. "So I summoned one on his head. Perfectly harmless, I assure you. But... I feel it got the job done."
"I dare say it did." Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye. The headmaster turned to Ron and, with a short wave of his head, Ron seemed to calm down instantly.
"And I dare say that he's trying my patience!" McGonagall said. The Transfiguration professor stormed across the Entrance Hall and looked down at Ron. "How many times must you be punished before you realize that I will not tolerate anyone from my house acting so poorly to another student? Much less one from the same house? I would have thought that cleaning the prefect's bathroom would have taught you a lesson. After you finish eating, meet me in my office."
Finished with giving Ron an earful, McGonagall turned and walked toward Hermione, her demeanor shifting as she did. "Miss Granger,are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Professor." Hermione said, eyes downcast.
Looking at her for a few moments, McGonagall eventually nodded, turning her head to look at the pair of Ravenclaws. "Ten points to Ravenclaw for helping a student in need... and five from Ravenclaw for using spells when you're not supposed to."
Looking over her shoulder, McGonagall sighed and muttered, "And five points from Gryffindor for being thick-headed. Honestly, Mr. Weasley, I never thought I would say this, but why can you not act more like your older brothers? None of them have given Miss Granger a hard time."
Ron mumbled something under his breath, not meeting his head of house's face.
"Well, now that we have had a show, I believe breakfast is waiting for us all." Said Dumbledore. "Shall we go?"
With Hermione in between them as they went, Harry and Tonks steered their friend into the Great Hall. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Ron followed, with McGonagall asking Ron what his excuse was this time for being so rude.
Ron had mumbled something, to which McGonagall said, "A little louder, Mr. Weasley?"
"I said because she's been spending time with Harry!" Ron said, just loud enough for the pair of Ravenclaws and Hermione to hear him.
"It's none of your business who she spends time with." Tonks said. "Leave her be, you big git."
"That's enough, Miss Tonks." McGonagall said, eyeing the back of Tonks' head. "I can handle Mr. Weasley on my own, thank you."
"Sorry, Professor." Tonks said, making no effort to hide her smile.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Thanks a lot, you two! We appreciate it."
"Think nothing of it!"
"Wish we could have seen the bit with the spider."
"It would have been glorious!"
Harry rolled his eyes and waved to Fred and George Weasley as he and Tonks headed back for Ravenclaw Tower. The twins had come down late for breakfast, only to hear the entire story of what had happened to their little brother straight from McGonagall herself. Afterwards, Harry had caught up to the duo and asked if they would help keep 'remind' the other Gryffindors that they shouldn't judge other people. Being who they were, the twins readily agreed, a certain gleam in their eyes. To Harry, it seemed as if they wanted to try that spider summoning hex on anyone who even looked at them funny.
But a pair of guardians were better than none, and the twins escorted Hermione back up to their own tower.
"I think that Ron's obsessed with you, mate." Tonks said, patting her now-full stomach.
"I think you're right." Harry replied, dryly. "Maybe we should have him and that Cho Chang girl face off to see which likes me more."
Tonks snorted.
"What're we gonna do with the rest of the day, anyway?" Harry asked.
"Dunno. We could always play a game of chess or something." Tonks suggested. "I'm pretty bad at it, though. Had a cousin who always tried teaching me how to play, but I'm rubbish at the game. Got some Exploding Snap cards in my trunk, though..."
"We could always start on our new books." Harry suggested, smiling
crookedly. Before his friend could try pouting her way out of it,
Harry quickly added, "Maybe if I read up a bit more on the subject, my training'll come along faster..."
At this, Tonks' eyes lit up somewhat. "Well, if that's the case, then it's for a good cause! Anything you don't get, just ask me, alright? Haven't read that particular book, but I think I know a thing or two about the subject."
Harry grinned. "Works for me. Even if I am coming along, it's too slow for my liking. Here it is, Christmas, and I can only change my eye color... and even then, only after a lot of concentration. Wish I could do it as fast as you can..."
"Ah, it'll grow on ya." Tonks said, patting Harry on the back. "I was just a natural, I guess. And you had a slow start, anyway. I'm not exactly professor material, ya know."
"I think you've been fine at it so far." Harry said. "The only reason I even managed to change my eyes is because you wouldn't let me give up..."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Ahh, hello, you two. Another Christmas, is it?"
Harry and Tonks looked up, nodding at the portrait guarding the entrance to their house's common room. The old wizard in the painting had several magical snowglobes around his favorite chair. In each, a little wintery scene played out over and over.
"Harry's first real Christmas." Tonks replied, looking over at her friend.
"Oh? And why is that?" Walter asked.
"Relative problems." Harry said, making a face. "Let's just say that we've never exactly gotten on famously..."
"That's putting it lightly." Tonks muttered.
"Ah, well. Family is family, in the end." Said the portrait. "You must cherish what you have while you have it. One day you may wake up to find that it is no longer there."
"Wise as ever." Harry said. "Though I don't think I'd miss the Dursleys. Pixydust."
"Indeed." Walter said, his portrait swinging open. "And a Happy Christmas to you both."
Wishing the painting a good day, Harry and Tonks ran back through the pathway and into the common room. A few students were puttering about here and there, most still in their pajamas. As usual, Harry headed for his chair, Tonks following behind him.
"Wonder what McGonagall's gonna do with Ron." Tonks wondered aloud a moment later as she got comfortable on the chair's arm.
"Maybe she'll grow a sense of humor and make him spend the rest of the day trying to fill Filch with Christmas cheer." Harry said.
"Oh, I'd love to see that..." Tonks giggled. "Can you imagine that old crab walking around with ornaments dangling on his robes and singing Christmas carols?"
Snorting, Harry shook his head and grabbed his new book on Metamorphmagi. "I think if I did, I'd either die laughing or gape in abject horror."
"'Abject horror'? Oi, enough big words." Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "I either need to start reading as much as you to get my own vocabulary up there with yours... or I need to carry a dictionary around with me."
"Sorry. Come on, let's settle down and spend the rest of the morning going through our books." Harry said, wiggling back against the chair to get comfy.
"And if we both space out and no one snaps us out of it for lunch?" Tonks asked, picking up the book Harry had gotten her.
"I'll conjure up some apples for us to eat on the way down, then. I've gotten good at that. Wish I could conjure up something other than apples, though... I'm getting a bit sick of them, truthfully. Maybe I should look around the library for food conjuring charms." Harry said, tilting his head slightly.
"Or you could just ask Professor Flitwick." Tonks said, raising an eyebrow down at Harry, who had the grace to blush a little.
"I would've done that eventually." He muttered.
Tonks patted Harry lightly on the head. "Of course you would."
"Oi, knock it off!" Harry said, swatting playfully at Tonks' hand. "...You know, as long as I'm going to look into making food pop out of thin air, is there anything small that you'd like me to learn to conjure? Wouldn't hurt if we could both get something we actually really liked when we were hungry and late for a meal..."
Tonks leaned back in thought. "Hmm... Well, I like sucking on a lemon once in awhile..."
"A lemon? You have to be kidding!" Harry exclaimed.
"Why? I like the sour flavor!" Tonks said, puffing up.
"Yeah, but still! You like making faces from actually biting into one?"
"I'm all about making faces, Harry." Tonks replied, dryly. "Or haven't you figured that out yet? Bit slow on the draw, are we?"
Harry glared at her. "Oh, be quiet." He mumbled, flipping open his book. As Harry began to read, Tonks grinned down at him, then looked up to see a handful of the other Ravenclaws present staring at them with odd looks on their faces.
"Oi, shove off! Gonna watch us read all morning?" Said Tonks, making a dismissing gesture with her free hand. "Honestly, some people..."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"I really hate this weather." Harry muttered to himself as he gazed out a corridor that was open to the outside. It was painfully cold and snow was lazily falling, melting when it drifted into the corridor and touched the stone floor.
It was past curfew now - almost midnight, in fact. But wanderlust had struck Harry and, as something in his mind wouldn't let him sleep, he decided to roam the castle to clear his head. He had been out of the Tower for at least half an hour and so far the stroll wasn't helping as much as he had hoped.
He had a few simple silencing charms cast over him. He had also decided that it was as good a time as any to test out the invisibility cloak he had received that morning. It felt weird knowing that, unless there was some way of detecting the invisible, no one would find him out. Not unless he did something stupid, like bump into someone, anyway.
After another half hour, Harry was wandering around a hallway he didn't quite recognize. A door was slightly ajar from the other end, however, which was what caught his attention to begin with. Moving towards it, Harry could see a faint light coming from within, along with voices speaking in hushed tones.
Drawing as close as he dared without running the risk of having someone come out and plow right into him, Harry pressed up against the wall and listened.
"...--estly don't believe him sometimes!" -- That voice was Professor McGonagall's. She sounds rather exasperated.
"What did he do?" Came a squeaky voice that could only belong to Professor Flitwick.
"Well," McGonagall said. "You know how Hagrid likes his mead. He got more than a little drunk and began singing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs!"
"Is that what I heard this evening?" Flitwick asked.
"Most likely." McGonagall said. "And you know that Hagrid's never been able to keep a secret very well. Albus just doesn't seem to understand that fact. Hagrid means well, of course, but he'll tell you anything when he's drunk."
"And that is when he began spewing about information on Flamel?" Came a new, third voice. This time, it was Snape's icy tone that filled the calm night air.
"Indeed." McGonagall replied with a sigh. "He said this and that, telling anyone within range that Dumbledore always trusted him with special assignments - going after Harry Potter, going to Gringott's for him... Well, he just so happened to start mentioning Nicolas to a nearby witch, who looked as though she were about to turn and bolt at any moment."
"Idiot!" Snape hissed. "If he's to be allowed out to roam Hogsmeade on his own like that, he shouldn't be allowed to imbibe anything that might render his judgment even worse than it normally is!"
"Now now, Severus, you mustn't be so harsh." McGonagall said. "We all make our mistakes now and again. You, above all, should know that."
There was a pause in the conversation before Flitwick spoke up.
"So... then what happened, Minerva?"
"Ah, yes... Well, as I said, he began speaking of Nicolas and Gringott's and almost said what he brought back to Hogwarts with him. It was all I could do to silence him... and that was no easy task, I assure you. I called for Albus in the fire after that. He managed to sober Hagrid up and we headed back for the castle."
"Did Albus say anything to Hagrid on the way?" Flitwick asked.
"Only that he should be more careful in the future." McGonagall said. "I tried to speak up, but you know how Albus can be. If he wants the final word, he'll get it one way or another."
There was another pause in the conversation. Finally, Professor Snape
spoke up. "As much as I would love to continue speaking about our
resident drunkard, I should get back to the dungeons. I still have
essays from my first and second-year Slytherins to mark. Good night,
Minerva, Filius."
"Good night, Severus." Came McGonagall's and Flitwick's voices.
Harry sucked in a sharp breath and pressed himself flat against the wall, breathing as softly and shallowly as he could manage. Moments later, the door to the room was pulled open and the Potions Master slipped out, closing it behind him. For a moment, the man seemed to pause. Brow creased, Snape looked up the hallway, then down it.
Muttering something under his breath, Snape began gliding down the hall, shaking his head slightly as he went. Harry thought he heard the man mention something about being overly paranoid.
Once he was sure that he wasn't going to get spotted - not that it
would be an easy task, mind - he started back towards Ravenclaw Tower
as fast as he dared. He didn't want the cloak to slip off or begin
billowing enough to expose a shoe. When he reached Walter's portrait,
he whispered the password and slipped inside while the old wizard
was still too groggy to work out what was going on.
Harry slipped his cloak off quickly once he surveyed the room to make sure that no one would see him. Folding it up, Harry quickly drew his wand and removed the silencing charms he had activated before sneaking out. Quietly making his way back to the first years' dorm, Harry entered and put his cloak away in his trunk.
As he started changing into his pajamas, Harry couldn't help but wonder just what on earth the professors had been talking about. He knew that many of them also took the holidays off, but he had never really put much thought into it.
And what were they talking about? It seemed as if Hagrid, in his drunken state, had begun speaking of a man. Assuming the man hadn't been named strangely, the name had been 'Nicolas Flamel,' if Harry had heard correctly. What was so important about Nicolas Flamel that would require McGonagall to silence Hagrid and then call for Dumbledore himself?
Climbing into bed, Harry's brain began working out what he knew so
far. One, Hagrid had gotten something from Gringott's. Thinking back,
Harry remembered running into the large man (almost literally) down
in the tunnels when he had first travelled to Diagon Alley. At the
time, Hagrid had mentioned being there on business from Dumbledore. Whatever it was, it wasn't to be told to anyone, since he had said
it was a secret.
Two, Hagrid had let slip Flamel's name in Hogsmeade - whatever that was. Probably a pub or something, Harry figured. In any case, the name was enough to warrant a silencing and a call to the headmaster. Therefore, Nicolas Flamel probably had something to do with whatever Hagrid had retrieved from Gringott's.
Three, there was a massive, three-headed dog in the third-floor corridor. A dog that, as Harry had learned, had never been there before that year. Ergo, logic dictated that whatever Hagrid had gotten out of Gringott's was most likely being guarded by the giant beast.
That left only one question - just what was the object in question?
As this question lingered in his mind, Harry felt himself being slowly embraced by sleep. Thinking that he would have to run a few things by Tonks when they were both up the next day, Harry let his eyes slid shut. Within seconds, he was fast asleep.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: And there we have our Retransmuted version of Christmas! You know, I didn't realize until I started the bit where Harry was roaming at night, but I completely forgot to include the discovery of the invisibility cloak! So I went back and stuck the scene in at a spot I felt it would fit best.
And there, folks, is the plot! Took me long enough to get around to it, huh? As I started the bit with the teacher's lounge, things just sort of flowed. And, with Harry being in Ravenclaw and thus being a bit quicker on the draw than a Gryffindor!Harry or a Slytherin!Harry might be, he began piecing the puzzle together as soon as he could.
The hunt for Flamel begins next chapter! Leon will return, a certain Quidditch incident will take place, and Harry gets pushed over the edge by a certain Weasley boy. What does he do to get Harry so angry? Well, you'll have to come back and check for yourselves, because I'm not saying a word!