CHAPTER 28: Christmas Day
When Harry emerged Ginny grabbed him quickly by the arm and led him away from the group. "Let's get back to Hogwarts, it will take me a while to get ready." She leaned in even closer and whispered, "plus, I have to give you my present."
Without really thinking Harry levitated his trunk, now full of unwrapped presents, and pulled it into the emerald green fire with him to return to Hogwarts.
As he stepped out of the fire he saw Ginny standing in the middle of the common room with her hands behind her back. They looked at each other for a minute, neither making the first move. Finally Harry gave in and slowly made his way across the room to her. They both smiled at the fact that she had gotten him wrapped around her little finger. She brought her hands from behind her back to show Harry a rather small jewelry box which he took and inspected before opening.
"It's an earring, I was going to get you a ring but the shop owner told me magic rings can interfere with the casting of spells. Besides I thought you'd look much cooler with an earring, just look at Bill." She said simply, taking the small earring out of the box for him. There was a square red ruby set in gold, not overly lavish but it was impressive nonetheless, it would match with his dress robes as well.
"This is incredible, Gin. But what'd you say about magical properties?"
"That earring has a charm built into it that will allow you to regenerate your magical power faster. It makes it nearly impossible to suffer magical burnout. With all of the training and fighting you'll be doing I thought it would come in handy." Harry took the earring and went to put it in his left ear. "Wait! I'm going to have to pierce your ear first. Hold still this will hurt for a second." She pulled out her wand and put it up against his earlobe. She muttered something under her breath and Harry felt a searing pain in his left ear for a split second, then it was gone. "There you go, let me put it in for you." Ginny took the earring and, carefully as to not disturb Harry's new wound, put it on him. Harry conjured a muggle mirror so he could look at himself without being scolded by doing something so irresponsible. The red and gold looked good on him, almost natural, contrasting perfectly with his black, untidy hair. Bill would be proud.
After a quick kiss and a promise to replace his would be present, Harry left the youngest Weasley alone to get ready for the ball. How girls could possibly need seven hours to get ready was beyond him. He decided to take the time going through his new house on his own, but he was afraid to apparate their in case everybody hadn't cleared out yet. After flooing back to Godric's Hollow Harry realized that it was a smart idea, Remus was sitting in the corner reading a rather large parchment.
"Oh, hey Harry. I was just looking up some of your relatives on your family tree to see if I can trace the bloodline back to Merlin." Harry nodded solemnly. "I could use a break though, how about I show you how to use that motorcycle of yours?"
Remus led a grinning Harry out the front door and into the driveway where Sirius' motorcycle was waiting. Remus gave Harry a few safety tips and showed him how to start the bike and change gears. Harry caught on fast but he hadn't even reached the hard part yet. "Why don't you take it out for a spin and see if you can get a feel for her before I teach you how to fly it?" Remus suggested. "I've seen you control a broomstick, a motorcycle isn't too much different. You still shift your body weight to change direction quickly, but this will be a lot heavier and harder to control at first." Harry barely heard the werewolf as he jumped onto his bike. He put his dragon hide jacket and helmet on and took off down the street. He had no trouble changing gears and controlling the bike as long as he was going relatively straight, but he was having some trouble with hard turns, he was in constant fear of tipping over and falling off. When Harry voiced his concerns to his guardian Remus simply laughed.
"You'll find, Harry, that Sirius wasn't as cool as you'd think. The bike is charmed to make it very difficult to tip over, he always had the same fear you did, only he was more afraid of embarrassing himself in front of some girl." Harry laughed but didn't tell his former professor that he shared the same fear as Sirius. The next time he went out, however, he had no problem leaning the motorcycle into the turns. He came dangerously close to scraping his knee on the pavement when he turned particularly fast, imitating some of the racers he saw Dudley watching on the telly when he was little.
When Harry got back to the driveway Remus was laughing hysterically. "Wipe that grin off your face you're not that good, its mostly the bike doing the work." Harry couldn't help but keep smiling as he tossed his helmet at Lupin, who caught it easily. "What in Merlin's name is that, Harry?" He asked, the laughter suddenly stopping. He approached quickly and looked closely at Harry's left ear. "When did you get an earring?" Harry just smirked.
"A few minutes ago. Ginny gave it to me, like it?" Remus inspected it for a few minutes before responding.
"It works for you. So you and Ginny then?" Harry blushed and turned away. "If you're going for a cool image you've got to stop blushing, Harry. But be careful with her, Harry. If you take things too quickly you'll scare her off, just make sure you always know what she's thinking."
"Is that because you don't want me to hurt her or because you're afraid I'll suffer from the Weasley temper?"
"Let's just say if you do anything to really hurt her, Harry, then you'll deserve every second of the temper, plus the rest of the family ganging up on you. It may be good that Sirius isn't here for this talk, he'd be a bad influence on you." Harry grinned but felt awkward at the same time. He wasn't sure whether it was because his ex-professor was having a fatherly dating talk with him or because he almost agreed it was good that Sirius wasn't here. "Don't get me wrong, girls loved Sirius. It's just that their entire families, including father and older brothers, would do anything to get rid of him. He also developed a peculiar ability to break a girls heart and move on, a flavor of the month type of a deal. I remember after your mom and dad started dating Lily would tease Sirius mercilessly about not being able to settle down. At times it even seemed like he wanted to, but those thoughts were swept away by the next gorgeous girl he saw. He told me, when we were both cooped up in Grimmauld place for a while, that aside from coming up with the idea to use Wormtail as your parent's secret keeper, the biggest mistake he ever made was not settling down. He assumed the marauders would always be around, then Peter betrayed us and your parents died. Sirius got shipped off to Azkaban where he came to realize nobody was left to care about him. He had nobody left, no reason to get out, until he realized that you were in danger. But even when he escaped and convinced both of us and Dumbledore all he had left was old Black Manor, a house he had vowed he'd never return to. Even with you and me around he still felt alone, and he couldn't exactly find a woman to settle down with once he escaped because Fudge made sure people knew who and what he was." Remus finished his story with a tear running down his cheek, he obviously hadn't meant to get into it but once he got started he couldn't stop. Harry realized that a few tears had run down his own face and wiped them away quickly. "So how about I show you how to fly this thing?"
For the next two hours Remus showed Harry how to fly the motorcycle, including using the cloaking device and accelerator that Sirius had been working on while stuck at Grimmauld place the previous year. Sirius had always planned on giving the bike to Harry, but with so much time on his hands had decided to make a few upgrades first. After promising not to do any flying around town Remus allowed Harry to take the bike and explore his new home town.
Harry found that it was a very quiet, peaceful town. He didn't see any spying neighbors, which was a huge jump from Surrey. He even saw a lot of muggles his age, perhaps he wouldn't be so lonely during the holidays anymore. After looking at all of the muggle shops along the main street in town Harry returned to the house to find Remus sitting in the same chair as when he first arrived. After a brief tour of the house, which turned out to be more like a mansion, Remus promised to show him a few of the wizard hangouts around.
"There are wizarding places here?" Harry asked skeptically, not having noticed any of them.
"Of course, this is Godric's Hollow. Who do you think it was named after?" Harry's jaw dropped as he recognized the name, causing Lupin to break out laughing. "Come back before the second term starts and I'll show you, I have to be getting home now and you should be getting ready for the ball." Remus turned towards the fire before Harry grabbed his arm.
"You can stay here whenever you want, Remus. I know you have your own house now but, well, the offer stands." Remus nodded and thanked Harry, promising to take him up on the offer in the near future before stepping into the fire to return to headquarters.
When Harry got back to Gryffindor Tower he still had about two hours to kill before he needed to get ready for the ball. He decided that he would make a quick stop in Hogsmeade to see if he could find a last minute present for Ginny. He wanted to make sure it was a good present though, maybe a necklace or some sort of jewelry.
After making sure nobody was around Harry dissaparated and appeared seconds later in an alleyway in Hogsmeade. He pulled the hood of his cloak up so he wouldn't be recognized by the casual shopper. When Harry reached the store he had in mind, Jezzabell's Jewelers, there was a notice on the door that read 'Closed for Christmas, Diagon Alley Branch will remain open.'
Harry looked around again before dissaparating with a loud pop. When he appeared he took a quick look around Diagon Alley to get his bearings. He knew Jezzabell's was right near Ollivander's, and figured if he had enough time he may even see Ollivander about his new wand.
When Harry pushed the door open and walked inside the jeweler's he was nearly attacked by a middle aged witch with too much make up and perfume. The woman introduced herself as Jennifer, the manager of this particular branch.
"Are we looking for a last minute gift for a girl then?" She before he could even introduce himself. Harry was actually happy about this because things would take much longer for the boy-who-lived than it would for some mysterious stranger.
"Er-Yea, actually. She gave me this earring and I realized my present wasn't nearly good enough." Harry said, showing the woman his earring.
"OH!" The woman said with a start. "I do remember selling this earring to a very pretty young redhead, is that your girlfriend?" Harry blushed.
"Yes, as of a few days ago." The woman put her hand to her chest and sighed.
"Ah, young love." Harry was getting slightly uncomfortable with the way the situation was heading, luckily the shopkeeper noticed. "It's lucky I remember this particular girl, this way I can help you pick her out a proper piece of jewelry. If you'd like something with magical properties I have just the thing." She said leading him towards a glass case before he could even respond. She unlocked the case and took out a thin gold chain with a small heart at the end of it. Harry could see that it was perfect already, beautiful but not too gaudy. "This is a lovely piece, complete with a type of tracking charm that can let you know when she is in trouble. If you'd hand me your earring I'll connect them so if your girlfriend is in a troublesome or dangerous situation your earring will heat up."
"How will I know where she is?"
"It's part of the tracking charm, only because it is in a piece of jewelry it's much more subtle. The earring will send small pulses hardly detectable by you over the heat it gives off, but it will actually imitate certain brain waves and describe where she is. It's a complicated process, based much on muggle science, Mr. Potter." At this point Harry looked up quickly.
"You recognized me?" Harry asked pulling back his cloak.
"No, actually, I recognized the earring. The reason I remember that young red head so clearly is that she asked my opinion and told me it was for Harry Potter. It's not exactly every day a pretty young woman asks what would look good on one of the most famous faces in the wizarding world, you know." Harry nodded, unsure of what to say. "Hand me that earring of yours and I'll complete the spell." She took the earring and disappeared into a back room for a few minutes before coming back out and handing him his earring and a small, wrapped box. "I took the liberty of wrapping it for you, no extra charge."
After Harry had paid for the rather expensive necklace he headed outside and checked his pocket for the wand permit Dawlish had given him. He proceeded down the street two stores before he got to Ollivander's shop. Just as he had assumed, Ollivander hadn't taken Christmas off, Harry even had the distinct feeling that the old man wouldn't have anyone to spend it with anyway.
"Ah, curious that you would be back again, Mr. Potter. I wouldn't have thought you one to break your wand." Ollivander said mysteriously as he came down from behind his tall desk.
"I didn't, actually." Harry said, handing him the permit so he wouldn't have to elaborate.
"I see, I see. May I be permitted to ask one question before fitting you for your new wand?"
"I don't see why not, sir." Harry responded with a confused look on his face.
"I assume you need a new wand because this one wouldn't fight it's brother, correct?" Harry nodded. "Can you describe the priori incantatem for me? I've been wondering what would happen when the wands met." Harry smiled before launching into the story. He recounted how the wands met and they were lifted off the ground into a glowing net like structure. Harry heard phoenix song and forced the beads that had formed on the beam connecting the two wands back into Voldemort's wand. Then he described the different sounds and people that emerged from the wand, Ollivander listened excitedly, occasionally scribbling a note on a piece of parchment. "Oh, how I wish I were there to witness it, Mr. Potter. You see that event is a very rare one, as most magical creatures only give one wand core."
"Do you have any idea what my new wand could be?" Ollivander looked at his shelves full of wands before turning back to the customer.
"No, actually. I can make some guesses but it is very difficult to ascertain a wizard's second wand. However I will tell you this, I've told you that the wand chooses the wizard, but I didn't tell you the whole story. The reason a wand will choose a particular wizard is because that wizard has an affinity with the magical beast. Sometimes this is a general affinity, for example if a wizard can control or work with any dragon. Other times this is a more personal relationship. I dare say that both you and You-Know-Who have a relationship with Dumbledore's phoenix, and that is why your wand's work so well for you. Perhaps you have an advantage because you have a stronger relationship with the bird, but I wouldn't know that." A thin smile had formed on Ollivander's face, telling Harry that he did indeed know.
"Can any magical beast give a wand core?"
"Well, in a sense, yes they can. However the more rare and more powerful the beast the better the wand will be. For example, if I could get my hands on a stinger or a horn from a chimera it would be quite powerful in any wizard's hands. The problem is it's nearly impossible to find, let alone slay a chimera." Harry suddenly had an idea.
"What about the fang of a basilisk?" Ollivander was taken aback by this, and didn't bother to hide his surprise.
"Yes, indeed a basilisk fang would work wonders ground up and put in a wand core, but I'm not sure it's even possible to get my hands on one."
"What if I told you I killed a basilisk in my second year, and I could get a fang for you? Would you be able to make it into a wand core?" Ollivander was nearly jumping up and down he was so excited.
"Yes, yes of course I could. You say you've slain this one yourself? I'd say that is one powerful connection you have with this beast."
"I speak parsletongue too, so I've got an affinity with all snake creatures." Ollivander nearly fell over in excitement.
"If you can get your hands on this fang, and you promise to tell me the whole story about how you came by it, then I will make this wand for you free of charge." But Harry had a better idea.
"I'll pay for your wand, but can you do me a favor?" Ollivander nodded excitedly. "Come up to the castle for the feast tonight, I'll have the house elves set you a spot on the teachers table." Ollivander stopped bouncing.
"As a favor? To you? Why would you want me at the ball tonight, nobody has ever invited me to a Christmas dinner."
"Because you are doing me a favor by making this wand for me, and I wish to return the favor. I spent Christmas locked in a cupboard for the first eleven years of my life, so I don't think anyone should be alone for the holidays." Ollivander was moved to near tears. "Besides, the fang is at the castle." Ollivander suddenly brightened up and promised Harry to meet him there. As Harry walked out he hoped Dumbledore wouldn't mind, but didn't exactly care.