Harry and Brooklyn's brother relationship grew stronger over the next few months, making Brooklyn the happiest gargoyle there since they first met.

Now, in mid-December, Brooklyn had many other reasons to be happy, because he woke up to see beautiful snow on the ground and covering Hogwarts like a blanket, shimmering in the beautiful sunlight like many tiny crystals.

Christmas was coming, too. Brooklyn was excited about this holiday just as much as Halloween, even though he missed the feast. He made a vow not to miss this one.

Harry and Ron had asked Brooklyn what Christmas had been like for him in Manhattan, and he explained in great detail how the city came to life during this time of year.

"They always lit up this giant Christmas Tree near Rockefeller Center. My clan and I always went to watch them turn on the lights. This tree was probably bigger than Hagrid's!" Brooklyn proclaimed.

They both smiled at his description of that.

Before the holidays began, Harry informed Brooklyn of news that he had received from Hagrid (who shouldn't have said that) while he was... well ...moody.

Brooklyn was extremely interested in this mystery man that came up, Nicholas Flamel. And that the three headed dog christened 'Fluffy' was also another one of Hagrid's pets.

They tried looking through the library to find out about Flamel, but nothing. Hermione was especially annoyed because the library almost never fails her until now.

And now, on the week of Christmas break, Brooklyn, Harry, and Ron were sitting at one of the long tables in the Great Hall; enjoying the snacks that were laid out and playing an interesting chess game called Wizard Chess.

Brooklyn was having fun watching his brother getting bested by Ron twice. And now he was going to try again.

The gargoyle himself tried to play but eventually decided that strategy games weren't his area of expertise after witnessing his King piece's head getting chopped off by Ron's knight. Brooklyn needed to take five after that gruesome display.

Hermione came in, carrying her trunk and ready to head home for the holidays, right on time to see Ron best Harry, again.

Brooklyn nudged Harry in the arm with his elbow. "He's got you again!" He teased, with Harry glaring at him, but in a fun way.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes at the brother humor.

Ron noticed her. "Well, I've seen you've packed," he observed.

"See you haven't," she retorted back.

"Well, change of plans, my parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother, Charlie. He's studying dragons there."

Brooklyn was interested. "I didn't know you had a brother that worked with dragons! I thought they were dangerous!"

"Well, they are, but Charlie's been doing this since he left Hogwarts, so he's the dragon expert in the family. He would like to meet you, though. Because you almost look like a dragon."

The gargoyle looked a little embarrassed. "Er, well, let's not go that far in comparisons." Harry gave a laugh at that. "I can totally see you breathing fire!"

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Lovely, you two. Since I'm not going to be here, you'd three better get busy looking for Nicholas Flamel," she said in her usual bossy tone.

Brooklyn himself was feeling bored of visiting the library day after day. If they didn't find out who this Flamel guy was, he was going to jump off a cliff!

"Come on, Hermione! It's Christmas! Let us enjoy it! Also, we've pretty much covered the whole library and nothing!" Ron complained. Brooklyn nodded in agreement.

Hermione suddenly leaned in mysteriously. "Not in the Restricted Section!" she whispered. Then she simply left them all looking bewildered.

Brooklyn felt his nerves growing again. He never set foot in the Restricted Section of the library before, and never planned to do so. He shuddered at the idea of Demona getting her hands on any of those books, which he heard had all kinds of dark magic. It would be complete chaos if she ever did!

Ron looked over at Harry. "I think we've had a bad influence on her!" he muttered.

Brooklyn, a while later was taking some alone time for himself walking down the hallways, thoughts of home hitting him again. Don't get him wrong, he thought Hogwarts was amazing, but he was feeling homesick again for his clan.

He suddenly saw Nearly Headless Nick floating a few feet away from him. Brooklyn didn't speak with the Gryffindor ghost much since their first encounter, but he seemed to be a pretty nice ghost when you get to know him, despite being dead.

"Hey, Nick," Brooklyn greeted in a halfhearted voice.

"Hello," the ghost replied in his usual airy tone. "How goes things?"

The gargoyle shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Just deep in thoughts. You?"

"Oh, nothing much. I feel Christmas really lifts people's spirits during certain times, but not so much for myself."

"Guess so," Brooklyn answered, not really wanting to tell Nick what was bothering him. He didn't feel like confiding to a ghost about his dark angsty thoughts. He saw the sun beginning to set. "Got to go. See you later, Nick."

"Farewell," he answered as he floated away.

Brooklyn returned to the Common Room around 8:30 and turned in with Harry and Ron, who were the only ones so far in the dormitory along with maybe one or two other boys that had decided to stay for the holidays.

It was now Christmas Eve, and Brooklyn wondered if his family was still looking for him.

He stared out the window for a while, watching the snow, and then finally laid down onto his cot.

Brooklyn sighed softly. "Merry Christmas, Brothers," he murmured sadly before falling asleep.

...

"Harry! Brooklyn! Wake up!"

Brooklyn's eyes blinked open in surprise, the windows shining white from the snow outside. The gargoyle then knew: it was finally Christmas! He and Harry grinned at one another as they raced out of their bed to the top of the stairs seeing Ron standing near the Christmas tree.

"Merry Christmas, guys!" Ron greeted. Brooklyn raised his brow at the maroon sweater.

"Erm, Ron, what's with the sweater?" He asked, trying to be as polite as he could. Ron tugged on it. "Mum always makes us a sweater every Christmas."

"That's nice," Harry said.

"But she forgets that I don't like maroon. Well, anyway, there's presents for the both of you."

The two brothers glanced at each other in excitement at this. Their first Christmas together and they both got presents!

Harry grinned at Brooklyn. "Race ya!" he challenged. Brooklyn smirked as they both ran down the stairs. Brooklyn of course won since he was ten times faster at running than a normal human.

Harry panted, out of breath. "Guess you can open yours first, since you won."

Brooklyn shook his head. "No, Harry. It's your first presents. You should start."

"I insist! Just open your presents already!" Harry begged, displaying Bambi eyes. Brooklyn rolled his own. Whoever invented Bambi eyes should be dragged out into the street and shot, he thought, chuckling as he grabbed one that felt cushiony.

Brooklyn read the to/from sticker: To Brooklyn, Love from Mrs. Weasley. Smiling, he ripped the paper open with his talons to reveal a ruby sweater with a Phoenix on it. There were even holes in the back for his wings! How she even guessed his size was a mystery.

Wow, she really does like me, he thought, feeling warm inside. He decided to try it on, just for the heck of it. It managed to slip on fine, and Brooklyn had to admit he didn't look too bad.

"She must have really liked you to make your sweater nicer than mine," Ron muttered. Harry smiled at Brooklyn. "It looks nice, Brook!"

"Thanks, I think," Brooklyn replied. Let's just hope Lex and Broadway don't see me wearing this anytime soon!

"Brook, how were you able to fit into clothes before? Because of your wings, it must be hard," Ron asked curiously.

"Well we've never needed clothes, really, but me and my clan found ways to do it if we had to use them. Not just from making holes in shirts and coats. For example, when I first test drove my bike, I wrapped my wings around my body in a way that made it look like I was wearing a black shirt and pants, like so..."

To demonstrate, Brooklyn took off his sweater first, then he folded his wings in that special way. After, he put his arms on his hips, grinning a little in his biker pose. Harry and Ron's mouths fell open. It really did make him look cool!

"That's wicked!" Ron commented, as Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I think I looked cool this way, too, helped me blend in for a time with the other humans," Brooklyn said, unfolding his wings from his body.

Harry then grabbed his first present wrapped in silver paper. After opening it, a strange wavy cloth fell to the floor.

"Is that a cloak or something?" Brooklyn asked in confusion. Harry picked it up. It was also silver colored with patterns of stars.

"Sure looks like it," Harry responded, glancing over it in confusion.

"Try it on!" Ron encouraged. Harry obliged, throwing the cloak over his form, and Brooklyn nearly had a heart attack when Harry's body vanished and only his head remained!

"W-what? What kind of cloak is that?" he exclaimed in shock, eyes round in disbelief. Ron was more astonished than him.

"That's an Invisibility Cloak! They're supposed to be extremely rare!" Ron explained, staring in awe at Harry's floating head, which was starting to really creep Brooklyn out.

"Is there a note?" Brooklyn asked, peering through the wrapping paper.

Ron looked around and spotted a piece of paper on the ground near the wrappings. Picking it up, he gave it to Harry, and they read the note together.

Your father left this in my possession when he died. It is time that it was returned to you. Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas To You.

There was no signature. Brooklyn couldn't quite figure this out. Why would Harry's dad leave an invisibility cloak for him? And who sent it?

For now, they set the cloak aside to discuss it later and opened the rest of their presents, revealing another Weasley sweater for Harry that had a lion on it, and Brooklyn received a book, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them from Ron.

The other Weasleys that stayed joined them a few minutes later, resulting into Fred and George commenting on Harry and Brooklyn getting sweaters and just enjoying Christmas morning together.

Brooklyn so far had to consider this the best Christmas ever. It first followed them all being outside in the fresh air, building snow forts and having a furious snowball fight. Fred and George had both argued about Brooklyn being put on their team.

Then they came inside, cold, and wet, but were welcomed with the wonderful smells of Christmas dinner. The tables were piled so high with turkeys, cake, and other glamorous foods that would make Broadway cry.

Brooklyn had eaten almost everything off the table and joined in with Harry and Ron by pulling Wizard Crackers. They were nothing like those cheap Muggle ones you buy in the store. These exploded like firecrackers, and all sorts of items came out.

He received a red scarf, a pack of wizard cards, and a Gobstone's play set. He spotted several white mice that came out of the wizard crackers as they disappear off the table, and the gargoyle had a feeling that they were going to be Mrs. Norris' Christmas dinner.

The friends then made their way back to the common room, too tired to speak or do anything else.


Later that night, everybody was asleep except Brooklyn, who felt something calling to him. He gazed at Harry, sleeping in his bed, and wondered if he should wake him, but no. This was something just for him to do.

Taking a breath, he quietly made his way out of the common room, trying not to wake anybody.

Brooklyn wandered the dark hallways, his night vision allowing him to see things better, and to keep his eyes out for any suspicious activity.

Suddenly, he found himself standing in front of a doorway he'd never seen before. Heart thumping, Brooklyn pushed it open.

He found himself standing in an abandoned classroom, with chairs and desks piled up to the side. Looking around, Brooklyn spotted something that stood out from the rest of the room; a mirror. A tall mirror just standing there.

He cautiously walked toward it, for this was Hogwarts, and you never know if something was dangerous or not. He glanced up at the strange text lining the mirror frame.

First, he glanced behind the mirror, but saw nothing, even reaching out and touching the frame carefully; nothing dangerous happened. He scratched his head. What is this mirror doing here?

Deciding it was better than nothing, Brooklyn ended up looking into the glass. He jumped and covered his mouth to prevent himself from screaming out in surprise and wake everybody, for he definitely did see something in the mirror!

His own scared surprised face was in the mirror, but also was his clan all around him! Brooklyn turned behind, but they only seemed to be in the mirror itself. He panted shakily from his shock, lowering his hand from his mouth, looking into the glass again.

There was Goliath, obviously, along with Hudson, Lexington, Broadway, Bronx, and Angela all waving at him. What had happened? Had somehow some other strange magic from Puck trapped them all in here?

But it wasn't just the ones he knew now, even Demona was in there. Brooklyn growled seeing her, but something was different, for her eyes weren't so cold, wrapping a loving arm around her daughter and Goliath. He guessed this was the old Demona, before her heart turned dark.

Along with Demona, what he didn't expect at all, was the rest of them, those Lost Ones from the Viking Massacre. Brooklyn felt himself breathing heavily with emotions, reaching out with his hand, seeing the rest of the family alive and not smashed. It caused tears to come down his face from this. He even spotted a pair of gargoyles that looked like him.

They never really acknowledged their real rookery parents except Goliath and Angela, but it made Brook feel warm at seeing two other gargoyles with his similar face. The couple waved to him.

He waved, too. "Hi, guys..." Brook said softly in a sniffling voice to his clan, feeling homesick again.

The red gargoyle continued to stare at his family for quite a long time, longing to see them again for real more than ever. Brooklyn didn't know how long he had been standing there, a few hours, maybe.

But then, some small sense of self seemed to reawaken Brooklyn from staring at the mirror, though he wanted to keep looking at them. He didn't want to leave.

You have to leave! This isn't safe for you! The voice in his head protested. Brooklyn gave a heavy sigh, trying to find the strength to pull himself away from the mirror.

"I'll come back," he promised, body trembling before finally turning away and headed back to bed. He was unaware of Harry under the cloak going past him to the mirror.


Ever since he had been going to that mirror, Brooklyn had been thinking about nothing but seeing his family in it again, despite it giving him nightmares about the others being destroyed by Hakon.

It appeared that Harry had also seen that mirror, too. For he was lost in thought like Brooklyn was.

"Guys, you need to eat something," Ron said. Brooklyn had told them about his own encounter with the mirror and both he and Harry were talking about their families ever since then.

"Seriously guys, I feel something bad about that mirror. You both shouldn't see it again!" Ron begged, but Brooklyn didn't listen as he decided to leave.

"Just need some air," Brooklyn muttered, as he left Harry and Ron to their conversation.

He walked out into the hallways, thinking about the mirror again. He had been going to see it whenever his nightmares bothered him.

Still... perhaps Ron was right. Perhaps the mirror was worsening his nightmares instead of helping them? He groaned, scratching the wall with his talons, struggling with his decision.

Maybe, just one more night. He finally decided. Brooklyn felt he needed to see the mirror more than Harry, anyway.


Later that night, Brooklyn returned to the mirror, his heart soaring with happiness at the sight of them again! He sat down in front of it. Nothing can take him away from this. Nothing. Even if he broke his promise to himself.

He continued to stare hungrily into the mirror at everyone, lost in his happiness and longing.

"Back again, Brooklyn?" said a voice behind him, making Brooklyn jump.

It was only McGonagall, dressed in her bathrobe and hairnet, smiling at him. Brooklyn felt himself flushing with embarrassment, he probably looked ridiculous from a bystander.

"Professor! I-I can explain—." She held up her hand.

"You're not in trouble, Brooklyn, it is the holidays. But it seems like Potter, you discovered the Mirror of Erised."

Brooklyn tilted his head curiously, wondering what that meant, causing her to chuckle at his curiosity and confusion.

"The Mirror of Erised shows your most deepest desire. For you, Brooklyn, you see your family, right?"

Brooklyn nodded, looking down. "Yeah, I-I still miss them," he mumbled sadly.

"It shows what we want, but it can't grant your wish to be with them again, since it is what you desire."

Brooklyn slowly felt anger and passion rise. "I can't stand it, McGonagall! I'm the Second in Command! My clan needs me! I can't just lounge here do nothing and wait on Dumbledore to get me back to them! I won't rest until I am back where I should be, which shouldn't be here!" He roared suddenly, and his face soon looked quite deranged, hands balled, eyes glowing an intense white and teeth were bared.

McGonagall's eyes had sadness and worry in them, already seeing the mirror affecting the young gargoyle, for he already had forgotten about his accepted mission to protect Harry. She had to help him.

"Brooklyn, listen!" She exclaimed, putting a careful hand on his shoulder. "This mirror is destroying whatever patience you have inside. Just try and remember your mission, who you vowed to protect in your heart. He wouldn't want to lose you to desiring reflections in an enchanted mirror."

Something in her words brought some sense back to Brooklyn, and he blinked a few times, feeling some of his anger leaving. What was happening with me? He thought, a hand on his head and chest and panting in fear. Have I been turning into Demona? What if I hurt McGonagall because of this?

Then a small, horrible images hit Brooklyn, seeing himself acting like her, killing innocent people, performing terrible dark magic and science along with other unspeakable horrors to get his way. He would have become just like her, who threatened to kill her own kind just to destroy humanity for revenge.

He shivered all over. He definitely didn't want to become another Demona! McGonagall put a comforting hand on Brooklyn's shoulder.

"It will all be well in the end, Brooklyn. Sure, you can't see your family as soon as you'd like, but don't give up hope that you will see them again. But now, you need your rest and return to bed."

The red gargoyle turned back to the mirror one last time, tears in his eyes as he gazed once more at Goliath and the others. He finally pulled himself away as he muttered a good night and thank you to McGonagall and headed back.

...

As he entered the dormitory, Brooklyn spotted Harry tossing and turning, and immediately went to him, shaking his brother gently.

Harry gasped in fright as he woke, then calmed down as he saw Brooklyn.

"Nightmares, huh?" Brooklyn asked. Harry nodded, his body trembling. "As long as we're away from that blasted mirror, we should be fine," Brooklyn suggested, giving Harry a small hug of comfort.

As he turned to his own bed, Harry spoke.

"Brook? Is it-okay if you sleep with me tonight?" Harry asked timidly. Brooklyn's heart melted from this, he couldn't say no and nodded.

He climbed into the bed, which thankfully was big enough for the both of them. Brooklyn put both arms around his brother, and also used his wings as a blanket, holding him close and ensuring he was comfortable. Harry sighed sleepily in his protective arms and Brooklyn felt his own eyes closing, a small smile on his beak.

The two bond brothers fell asleep, both having deserved a peaceful night together for once.