Chapter 5 – The Christmas Interlude

Amelia Bones was having a strange morning. She had come in a little later then usual. She had been pulling several late shifts the past couple of weeks in preparation for her holiday vacation time. It was the first time Susan was coming back from Hogwarts and Amelia wanted as much time as possible with her beloved niece.

After sleeping in later then she had planned to, she rushed off to work. Having skipped breakfast, she quickly grabbed a bagel from a coffee shop in muggle London before taking the hidden elevator down to the Ministry atrium. She had been in such a rush she didn't even read her morning paper or correspondence.

As she walked towards the wand checkpoint, her tired but keen eyes began to notice something was different. People were staring at her, some even pointed her out while others began excitedly talking in hushed whispers. Now this wasn't entirely surprising, as both the department head of the DMLE and a prominent member of the Wizengamot, she was fairly used to the public attention. This however was different.

As she continued to the wand checkpoint her mind began going through a mental checklist of potential reasons for the added attention. 'A new high-profile case perhaps?' Unlikely, she decided, as she continued to casually observe her onlookers. They didn't seem scared or angry in fact it seems to have a more excited mood to it. 'A political scandal perhaps?' No, she decided that would have at least some looking angry and it didn't match the excited tension she was detecting.

As she reached the wand checkpoint, she was only mildly surprised when the guard stared at her clearly lost in thought.

"Is something wrong?" she asked authoritatively, her right eyebrow firmly quirked.

"Oh no - I'm sorry Madam Bones," the guard mumbled clearly embarrassed at being caught out. He quickly completed his wand check and presented her with her usual badge.

As she walked to the elevator mind still whirling with various potential reasons for the odd behavior she ran into Arthur Weasley.

"Morning, Madam," he said tipping his head politely in her direction. As they boarded the elevator, Amelia secretly hoped he wasn't going to pester her about some more minor cases she didn't have time for.

Instead, when he opened his mouth something far more curious came out.

"Quite the story in the paper this morning."

He glanced at her with a slight concerned look in his eye as he continued.

"I'm glad she's okay Madam, she sure got lucky he was there."

The elevator dinged and Arthur nodded his goodbye as he got out on his floor.

Madam Bones was able to quickly connect the dots, it seems there was some sort of high-profile case in the paper after all. It also sounded like one of her Aurors had been there to save the day.

She would need to get to her office and read the paper for the public perception and to get a full report before she would be pestered with questions. Questions she didn't have answers to yet.

As the elevator reached her floor, she quickly marched her way towards her office doing her best to give off an aura that she was too busy to be interrupted.

As she approached her young female secretary's desk, she noticed she was reading a magazine. Her secretary also noticed her arrival and quickly put the magazine down and began informing her of todays schedule as well as handing her the correspondence and paperwork that needed her attention.

After finishing her report, she glanced back at her desk before saying.

"Susan's so lucky, I'm glad she's safe and sound."

Amelia was startled, why was her niece being mentioned? What did she mean safe and sound?

As she saw her secretary once again glance at her magazine on the desk she quickly marched over and grabbed the magazine flipping it over to look at the cover.

As she took in the picture of her niece, she couldn't help but offer a little gasp.

There was her adorable little niece, the girl she had raised since her parents passing and was her daughter in all but name. What made her gasp was that her niece was currently in the arms of Harry Bloody Potter. Susan was clearly shocked and blushing, her hands grasping at his shoulders as Harrys own were protectively wrapped around her niece's waist. Their noses were mere inches apart and the entire picture was surrounding by a pink sparkling heart.

Quickly looking over the mushy titles that filled the page, the one that caught her eye the most was.

"The Boy-Who-Lived Saves Susan Bones life, but will he save her heart as well?"

As she glanced up from the magazine to demand an explanation from her secretary, she saw she had received a memo and was reading it.

Her secretary looked up and spoke

"It's from Minister Fudge: he's requesting an emergency meeting with you as soon as you're available. Apparently, he wants to discuss today's headline."

Amelia gave a groan and quickly ordered her secretary to fetch her a newspaper while she wrote a note to delay fudge as long as possible.

As she glanced one more time at the magazine cover, she knew Susan and her were going to be having quite the long talk when she got home tomorrow.

As Hermione got off the horseless carriage with Neville getting ready to board the Hogwarts Express, she couldn't help but sigh. Looking back at the castle she already missed her friends. As she was unloading her school trunk from the back of the carriage, she suddenly heard Neville give out a loud painful grunt. Quickly turning around to look towards the sound she saw Neville sprawled on his back, hand gripping his face. It looked almost as if Neville had run face first into a brick wall.

What made that strange was that Neville was sprawled out a few feet in front of the carriage with nothing for him to have run into.

"Oh, my goodness Neville!" she said rushing over. Upon closer inspection she noticed blood was gushing from between his fingers. Clearly his nose was broken or at least was gushing out blood. Hermione quickly called out for help and an older Hufflepuff prefect came over.

"Crap looks like we got another one," he said as he pulled out his wand and began casting some sort of spell on Neville.

"Another one?" Hermione asked shocked as Neville's nose set itself and stopped bleeding.

"Oh yah," the prefect replied far to casually for Hermione tastes. "Happens every year, usually it's because first years don't know about the thestrals or the older students that forget."

"What's a thestral?" Hermione asked as the prefect helped Neville stand up.

"Oh, well they are like skeletal winged carnivorous horses that are invisible to anyone who hasn't seen death." The prefect replied as if what he had just said wasn't terrifying.

Hermione turned and looked at the empty spot in front of the carriage in an equal mix of wonder, fascination and horror.

"So wait, if students keep running into these creatures then why use them to pull the carriages?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," he replied with a shrug before continuing "Why is there several trick stairs that sometimes work and don't based off the lunar calendar? Why is the third-floor corridor now a death sentence for any student who enters? Why is the school built next to one of the most dangerous magical forests in all of Europe? Why do the staircases themselves move randomly even when people are walking on them?"

The prefect finished his little rant with a huff of frustration and a slightly glazed look in his eye before continuing.

"Like most of the random dangerous things in Hogwarts, I find it's best not to think too deeply about it."

He then turned to Neville and said "Okay well according to the rules we have to observe you for the first few hours of the train ride to make sure your okay. So, you're coming with me to sit in the prefect's carriage.

He quickly gathered Neville and his belongings up before marching him to the train. As Hermione glanced back at the carriage then back at the school, she decided that somethings might be better left unsaid about the magical world when she saw her parents this holiday.

As she boarded the train alone now, she couldn't help the small pang of loneliness as she found an empty compartment. She had gotten so used to spending time with Harry and Ron it felt weird to be sitting alone again.

As she settled down in the compartment for what was sure to be a long and boring ride, she heard a knock at the door. Looking up she saw it was Lisa Turpin and Padma Patil, some of the Ravenclaw students from her study group. She quickly stood and opened the door for them.

"Hi Hermione room for two more?" asked Lisa smiling.

As Hermione nodded her assent and helped them load their trunks into the compartment, she couldn't help but smile and think.

'Maybe this train ride won't be so lonely after all.'

Molly Weasley hummed happily as she was baking some Christmas pies in the kitchen. She, Arthur and her youngest daughter Ginny would be leaving tomorrow to visit their second oldest son Charlie in Romania. She was a little sad that she wouldn't be able to host all of her family this year but with Bill busy with his curse breaking expedition in Egypt and Charlie away from home for the first time with his new job. Molly decided she wanted a chance to visit her second oldest son and make sure he was taking care of himself.

Just as she was placing another pie into the oven, she heard a tapping at her kitchen window. Looking up she saw it was an Owl with the morning paper and a magazine tied to it's legs.

After collecting the paper and the magazine she placed them down on the table. Reading the label on the brown protective packaging over the magazine she could see it was labelled Witch Weekly.

"Ginny!" she called up the stairs to her youngest. "Your magazine is here!"

As she went back to the oven to check on the pie, her daughter came barreling down the stairs. She snatched up the magazine before offering a quick thanks and charging back up the stairs.

Softly laughing at her daughter's eagerness and seeing that the pie was baking fine she decided to take a break. Sitting down in her chair she unrolled the daily prophet and was greeted with the heroic Christmas tree rescue.

'Oh, my goodness,' she thought as her eyes scanned the page and image. Quickly she flipped to the other pictures and immediately got worried. Her youngest daughter had quite the little crush on Harry she sure hoped this didn't upset her.

As if fate had itself heard her last thought, it was at that very moment she heard a blood curdling scream of despair from the stairs above.

'Oh boy,' Molly thought.

'I better get the tissues and ice cream.'

Poor Susan Bones was having the worst train ride of her entire life. Ever since Harry Potter rescued her and those damn articles came out the next day, she hadn't a minute of peace. She had been able to hide in her dorm room for the last day at Hogwarts, but on the train she had no where to hide. Girls from every house had found their way to her and Hannah's compartment. Some wanted to be 'friends' but most came asking embarrassing questions.

"Does he smell good?"

"Do you have a crush on him?"

"Have you kissed?"

"Is he an amazing kisser?"

"How long have you been dating?"

These horribly embarrassing questions went on and on and no matter how much she denied and told them otherwise they never seemed to believe her.

Hannah was no help either, to busy teasing Susan or pointing out her embarrassed blushing face.

She had never been so relieved as when the train pulled into platform nine and three quarters. Finally, she could get away from the teasing and endless questions and just enjoy a peaceful holiday with her favorite (and only) aunt.

As she rushed off the train with her compartment in tow, she finally spotted her aunty in the crowd. Charging ahead Susan almost didn't notice her aunt's odd posture. Aunt Amelia was standing there staring at her with her piercing eyes, her arms were crossed, and her toe was tapping. Gripped in her hand was a rolled-up magazine.

Standing in front of her aunt Susan got nervous and was about to ask her aunt why she was acting so weird when it happened.

Her Aunt unrolled the magazine presenting the picture to her. The picture in question being of Harry and herself inside a pink sparkly heart.

Cheeks instantly flaming once again, she gaped at her aunt who gently but firmly took her arm to side along apparate and said.

"You've got some explaining to do."

Harry was sleeping in his warm four poster bed. He had been up late last night chatting with Ron, Percy and the twins by the fireplace in the common room. They had an amazing Christmas eve dinner and enjoyed talking the evening away, telling funny stories, swapping treats and playing games. Even the normally stern Percy seem to relax and enjoy time with his brothers and Harry.

The only thing putting a damper in Harry's mood was poor Hagrid. Ever since the Christmas tree accident poor Hagrid had shut himself away. He apparently blamed himself for nearly getting multiple students hurt and was inconsolable. Harry felt even worse because he hadn't even known until Hagrid didn't show up for Christmas eve dinner. Harry felt guilty and decided he would visit Hagrid the next day and try to get him to come to Christmas dinner.

As Harry felt a light tugging sensation on the sleeve of his arm, he started to stir awake.

"Sir," Harry heard a squeaky voice say. "I'm sorry sirs, but I be needings to talks to you."

Opening his eyes and putting on his glasses, Harry was surprised to see some sort of small wrinkly creature. It had large bulbous eyes and a long-crooked nose. It's ears were pointy, and it wore a pillow case that had been stitched into some sort of garment with the Hogwarts crest stitched onto the front.

"What are you?" Harry asked dumbfounded. Before realizing what he said might be very rude and correcting himself with "I mean who, who are you?"

"OH I be's a Hogwarts house elfly, Tippy tis the name," said the elf proudly.

Harry was going to ask more questions, but the elf was quicker.

"Tippy be sorry sirs, but he was unable to fits your Christmas gifts at the foot of your bed as is traditional."

"I have presents?" Harry asked shocked, he had never had a Christmas gift before.

"Oh yes sirs, very many sirs, we could not fit them, so they are waiting under the tree in the common room."

Before Harry could ask anything else the elf snapped his finger and disappeared much to Harry's amazement.

Harry got up and got dressed and then went to wake Ron.

After finally convincing Ron to wake and explaining the strange encounter Harry and Ron grabbed his presents and carried them down to the common room so they could open their gifts together. As Harry rounded the corner he was stunned.

The elf wasn't kidding when he said Harry had lots of presents. Nearly the entire wall surrounding the Christmas tree was buried in presents, parcels, oddly shaped boxes and piles upon piles of mail.

It wasn't until mid afternoon that Harry and Ron were able to make their way down to visit Hagrid. Both carried arms full of sweets, candies and other assorted treats they planned to offer Hagrid. Despite the rather large amount they carried they had barely made a dent in their now massive candy supply.

As it turned out many wizards & witches from around the world had decided they wanted to send something small to Harry and that usually turned out to be candy. This turned out to be useful for Harry as he was able to use said candy to bribe the twins and Percy into helping him sort through all the mail and gifts.

Percy had taken over sorting the mail into various piles. Which ones needed a response, if they came with a gift or not, which ones were dangerous, etc.

The Twins took over opening up any small package that seemed like candy, treats, little toys, or Knick knacks. They too sorted them into piles, foreign candy to one pile, the best candy to another, the toys into a big pile.

Finally, Ron and Harry took turns opening all the gifts that were slightly bigger then average or came in oddly shaped packages.

His many gifts would be hard to list, but besides the mountain of candy, dozens of small souvenirs and toys there were some stand outs.

The first notable gift was from Ron's mother Molly Weasley. The woman had hand knitted an emerald, green sweater for him that matched the ones she made for her sons. While the Weasleys all made jokes about them being itchy and tacky, Harry loved it. The fact that his friend's mom would go out of her way to make him such a sweater made him feel warm inside. He proudly wore it as he opened his other special gifts.

His next notable gift was from Hagrid. The man had carved him a flute from a special magical tree that only grew in the forbidden forest. Supposedly according to the note Hagrid had attached to the package the flute had the ability to calm many kinds of magical creatures. Harry thought this too was special. Not only as a gift from his first friend in the wizarding world but also having been handmade. It was also potentially useful he thought remembering their dangerous encounter with the three headed dog in the third-floor corridor.

His next large gift was from the Nimbus broom company. They had sent him one of the largest packages. Inside the large box were all sorts of broom accessories. From broom cleaner, to tail clippers and wax, even an enchanted cloth that would clean the broom for you. Finally, there was a full set of resizable quidditch pads made from fine leather and with the prominent Nimbus logo embossed on each piece. There was a nice formal Christmas card and attached to one of the gifts was a small note that read. "Thanks for making our Christmas!".

Harry wasn't entirely sure why they had sent him the gift, but Percy had cut in with a suggestion after observing his new quidditch pads.

"Probably want you seen wearing their logo during your next big quidditch win" he stated. "Someone as famous as you wearing their logo might mean big business for them."

Harry wasn't entirely sure he liked that, but he did appreciate the gift non the less.

His next special gift was from Hermione. It was a study binder for the next semester. Apparently, she had spoken to some 2nd year students and had secured all their notes from the previous year and had compiled them so that way they would have a heads up start for the next term. She also attached a chocolate frog box. Harry really wasn't sure when Hermione had the time to do this in secret with all the studying they had been doing for their final exams, but he certainly appreciated it.

His next notable gift came from Susan & Amelia bones. The Christmas card looked a lot like the other family wizarding world Christmas cards he had seen. Susan and a stern looking woman he assumed to be Amelia Bones were posing and waving in front of a fireplace covered in Christmas decorations.

The note inside was short and to the point, it read:

"Merry Christmas Harry Potter,

We both want to wish you a wonderful holiday season. The house of Bones is in your debt. You have saved my beloved niece and in doing so have saved the house of Bones. Should you ever need anything that is both within the law and in my power to provide, you need only ask. Enjoy the rest of your school break and I look forward to your continued accomplishments in the coming years.

Sincerely,

Madam Bones.

PS hopefully these will help you in your future endeavors, they are standard issue for all Aurors."

Inside the package was a dragonhide wand holster. The twins helped put it on as Ron read out the instructions. As Harry flicked his wrist as the instructions told him to do, he sent his wand flying across the room and nearly took one of Percy's eyes out. After a few more practice flicks he was able to get a hang of it and reliably send his wand from it's holster on his forearm and into his hand.

His final notable gift wasn't so special because of the gift itself but rather because of the sender. In fact, he hadn't even been the one to open it first and probably wouldn't have noticed it from the others except for the fact that Percy Weasley let out what could only be described as a fan girl squeal.

Looking up from the gift he was opening Harry was met with a flushed Percy rushing over to hand him a letter. The envelope seemed normal enough except for the large red and gold wax seal upon it's front. Looking at the card itself it seemed like a normal family Christmas card with a picture of a portly man wearing a Christmas sweater and bowler hat. Next to him was a nicely dressed if slightly frumpy woman. They were smiling heartily and waving towards the camera.

Opening the card, the message was also a rather generic Christmas message that was obviously printed into the card. It was only at the end that a small unique note was written in what he assumed to be the man's hand.

"Merry Christmas Harry,

I hope this holiday season finds you well. I have heard of your many great exploits since your return to the wizarding world. I wish to offer my most sincere congratulations and hope you enjoy a well-deserved Christmas break. Should you ever wish to speak to me or would like a new pen pal, my office and / or mailbox is always open. I shall be following your career with great interest.

Sincerely,

Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic & Order of Merlin Recipient first class.

PS Enjoy the fudge, it's an old family recipe and my wife baked it just for you."

Sure, enough the small package the envelope had been attached to contained a tin of Christmas Fudge.

Harry was unsure as to why Percy Weasley was freaking out over a simple Christmas card and a tin of fudge, but guessing it had something to do with the man's tittles he decided to ask.

"What's a Minister of Magic? Oh, does he work at the ministry to?"

Percy Weasley face turned a rather bright shade of red, and he appeared to be lightly gasping for breath as if he was struggling to breath. He opened his mouth several times before apparently deciding he needed t sit down. As he turned on his heel towards the chair his foot slipped on a stray piece of wrapping paper and he fell hard, his head hitting the wooden chair he was aiming for with a crack.

"PERCY!" They all screamed.

Luckily after carrying Percy to the hospital wing Madam Pomphrey was able to fix Percy up in a jiffy. He would have to stay under observation until dinner and it was then that Harry and Ron strategically chose to make their trip to try and cheer up Hagrid.

After a bit of cajoling and maybe a few guilt trips they were finally able to get Hagrid to let them in for some Christmas tea.

After thanking him for their gifts and delivering to him the sweets they had brought. Harry immediately noticed something besides Hagrid's sad mood. Hagrid's hut was hot, like really hot, it was down right stifling. Looking around Hagrid's hut he immediately noticed that the fireplace was roaring with a pot over it.

"Hagrid" Harry asked as he pulled off his winter cloak and sweater. "Why is it so hot in here? Are you sick?"

"Oh er no I'm not sick it was jus a-bit drafty is all," he replied, his beady black eyes not so subtly looking at the pot.

"Just a bit drafty?" Ron asked, "Any hotter and the whole bloody house will be up in flames!"

Hagrid was blushing.. or maybe he was just flushed from the heat it was hard to tell. Anyway, he seemed to be shifting nervously which seemed better than the sad face they had come upon but wasn't quite what Harry was aiming for. Deciding to get back on topic he asked why Hagrid hadn't been coming to any holiday events.

"S'all my fault Harry," he admitted with a sniffle "I was so tired and distracted those poor students were nearly crushed."

Hagrid pulled out what looked like an old tablecloth to blow his nose and dry his wet eyes.

"Hagrid it wasn't your fault," Harry assured "Dumbledore even said so himself after his investigation."

"Dumbledore's always bin awful nice tah me Harry," Hagrid replied.

"And look what it's gotten him, a bad grounds keeper who nearly got children crushed."

It was then that Ron decided it was his turn to try and cheer Hagrid and said.

"But they weren't Hagrid, Harry was their to save them." ignoring Harry's wince Ron then continued. "And what's had you so tired that you think it's your fault?"

Hagrid's wet beady eyes once again glanced at the pot and Harry now knew that something involving that pot was the problem.

Standing up and marching over to the pot and purposefully ignoring Hagrid's warning he took off the lid and looked inside.

It was an egg... although that seemed like an understatement as it was easily the largest egg he had ever seen. Even larger than the egg he had seen in the ostrich pen when he visited the zoo with his cousin.

"Hagrid? Are you cooking a giant egg?"

Hagrid seem flustered and was nervously trying to come up with something to say when Ron stormed over and glanced into the pot before letting out a shocked gasp.

"Bloody Hell, I know what that is! It's a dragon's egg!"

As Harry made his way up the stairs to his bedroom, he couldn't help but sigh. It took a lot of convincing and pleading but they finally were able to convince Hagrid that the egg had to go before it hatched. Ron was currently at the owlery scratching a note out for his brother Charlie. It probably wouldn't happen until term started but hopefully, they could get the egg to a dragon reserve before it hatched.

As Harry entered the dorm room, he noticed that his bed curtains were closed. Confused he walked over and opened them only to discover a lumpy brown paper package lying on his bed. On top was a simple note that read.

"Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well and be carful who you share it with."

Confused by the cryptic message and desperately wanting to own something of his fathers, Harry tore open the package. Inside he found a blackish silver cloak with very fine symbols woven into the smooth fabric.

Carefully as if it might break if he wasn't gentle, Harry placed the cloak around himself. As the cloak surrounded his body Harry felt a warm feeling in his heart. Finally, he owned something from his father. As he turned to look at the mirror, he let out a shocked gasp for the only thing in the mirror was his floating head. Harry immediately reached out of the cloak and watched fascinated as his hand appeared seemingly out of thin air. It was some sort of invisibility cloak!

Harry couldn't help but grin at his reflection in the mirror.

"Magic is wicked!' he thought with great happiness and excitement.

Authors note:

I'm Back! I mean it's only been a week but still..

Anyway another interlude chapter and a longer one at that. Nothing quite like writing a Christmas chapter in late June. Over 100 hundred followers! I still can't believe it! A big thanks to Cheerful Chatter for looking through this chapter for spelling and grammar mistakes.

I look forward to reading your reviews and remember to favorite and follow! It's this support that gives me the passion to keep writing.

Stay Magical!