Finally, by mid-December we received snow. The entire grounds were covered and it just kept coming. Everyone was excited, wrapped up in blankets and drinking hot chocolate by the fire. Sitting on the edge of the window ledge studying for our Potions exam, I looked around and smiled at how this scene looked like it was taken straight out of a fantasy. Syrus was curled in my lap and Hermione on the floor beside me while the boys were loudly talking with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas on the other side of the room.
Later that day I had been walking past the courtyard and past the twins who were relentlessly throwing snowballs at Professor Quirrell's turban. Of course, only as I passed them did another teacher see this and think I was involved. Luckily Quirrell, who must have noticed the twins but decided to ignore them, and the twins stood up for me and I was let go but somehow with a warning. A warning for what? Seeing my brothers? Right.
"I do feel sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." Draco taunted, looking straight at Harry, who just seemed to ignore him. He seemed to be even more ruthless to him and even to me now that Gryffindor beat Slytherin in the Quidditch match. He seemed to have been even more jealous than he was when he first found out we were on the team. I shivered, attempting to pull my robes closer to my body to keep in warmth, I even scooted up against Hermione, who only gave me an odd look but turned her attention back to her ingredients for the potion we were making. It didn't take long for us to realize how cold Hogwarts got outside of our common rooms and the Great Hall, and Potions were in the dungeons, making it that much colder. "I don't know how the Slytherins deal with the cold down here," I muttered to Hermione.
Harry wasn't going to go back to the Muggle world for Christmas, shocker, but neither were the Weasleys. Our parents decided to take Ginny, who certainly rubbed it in my face the fact she every chance she could, and go to visit Charlie in Romania.
As we were leaving the dungeons, we came across a giant fir tree that was blocking the corridor, and underneath that large tree were large feet. I grinned. Christmas trees always got me excited, they were beautiful, and even though the Weasley's didn't have the money for the best, we always decorated them with homemade ornaments.
"Hi Hagrid, want any help?" Ron calledout to th man. I looked at him as if he were crazy. How could WE help him with THAT?
"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron." We heard back from the tree.
"Would you mind moving out of the way?" I turned around to see Draco with his famous sneer on his face and I rolled my eyes. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be groundskeeper when you leave Hogwarts? That hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your families used to." Ron and I lunged toward him but Hermione managed to catch me and make sure I didn't move. How is she so strong?
"WEASLEY!" I guess it was a good thing that she did, because not a moment later Professor Snape glided up the stairs and made his way to us.
"He was provoked," Hagrid tried to reason finally coming out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insulting his family."
"Be that as it may, fighting is against school rules, Hagrid. Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley. Be glad it isn't more. Move along, all of you." He declared and left, with Draco and his goons following behind and roughly brushing shoulders against Harry. I scoffed.
"I bet you he'd change his mind if someone said that to his family," I said, still glaring in the direction the teacher had disappeared to.
"I'll get him," Ron growled. "I'll get him..."
"I hate them both. Malfoy and Snape." Harry chimed in, causing me to nod. Sure, Draco never was too rude to me, but that didn't excuse his vile behavior to my friends and pretty much everyone else in the school.
"Come on, cheer up! It's nearly Christmas." Hagrid said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks great."
"It's been decorated?" I asked, excitedly. Hagrid nodded, smiling down at me. "Nearly all set. Yeh like Christmas I take it?"
"Of course! It's my favorite besides Halloween unless I'm nearly being killed by a troll." I added, grinning at Harry and Ron, both of which sheepishly smiled back. Even Hagrid chuckled a little.
By the time we got to the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were both almost finished with the decorations. We looked around with our jaws on the floor. The room looked amazing. Holly and mistletoe were hung around, and 12 decorated trees littered the outer isle of the room. The trees were decorated differently, some having sparkling icicles and others having hundreds of flickering candles. Some were decorated in rainbow bulbs, some representing each house, some in silver and gold bubbles, and the largest tree had only four colors on it, red, green, yellow, and navy blue.
"When the twins said I'd love it here during Christmas, I didn't fully believe them," I whispered.
"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree! Put it in the far corner, would you?" Professor McGonagall called out, smiling wide.
"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked us.
"Just one," Hermione answered, turning to us. "And that reminds me, we've got half an hour before lunch. We should be in the library." I nodded.
"Oh yeah, you're right!" Ron and I said back, then glaring at each other slightly.
"The library? Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?" Hagrid interrupted. I shared a knowing glance with Hermione but Harry obviously didn't get the memo.
"Oh, were not working. Ever since you mentioned Nikolas Flamel, we've been trying to find out who he is." He said happily.
"You what?" Hagrid asked, sounding borderline appalled. "Listen here- I've told yeh- drop it! It's nothin' to you what that dogs guardin'."
"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," Hermione told him, fluttering her lashes at him in an attempt to get her way. I had to partially hide behind Harry so Hagrid couldn't see my grin.
"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry told him hopefully. "We've must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere. Just give us a hint, I know I've heard his name somewhere."
"I'm sayin' nothin'." He told us with a flat look, causing us all to drop our shoulders in defeat.
"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," Ron said as he dragged me and Harry out of the room and to the library.
"I was really hoping he'd have given in by now..." I whispered to the three, each nodding. Hermione didn't seem to mind that we were spending so much extra time in the library, though. It had been weeks since Hagrid mentioned Flamel and yet we still haven't found out anything about him. Harry kept insisting he had heard of the name but the rest of us weren't sure how since we didn't and Harry didn't read more than the required text and Flamel sure wasn't in a Quidditch book. "He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century or Notable Magical Names of Our Time..." I listed a few names of important books we had searched.
"Nor was he in Important Modern Magical Discoveries and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. With how large the library is, it could take us forever to find him." Hermione responded, almost sounding excited as she took out a list she had made, ripped it in half, and we both headed off toward sections we hoped he'd pop up in.
"What are you looking for, boy?" I heard a hoarse voice loudly whisper, shaking my head when I noticed Harry had been staring into the restricted section that required a note. We knew better than to ask her about the name since everyone already suspected we were up to something and decided to play it safe. Hermione had given it a try to keep her preoccupied but since the old woman knew everything about every book in the library, she was never distracted for more than a few minutes at a time.
After a while, Ron and I joined Hermione and left the library to meet Harry in the corridor. He looked hopeful but we only shook our heads as we headed back to the Great Hall.
"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" She asked the three of us but mainly kept her eyes on me. I nodded. "And owl if you find anything, of course."
"Of course," I say, grinning at her and giving her a big hug. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you to keep me sane," I say, teasing the boys.
"And you could ask your parents if they happen to know who Flamel is," Ron suggested, ignoring me, causing me to roll my eyes. "It'd be safe to ask them."
"Very safe, as they're both dentists." She responds, grinning at him as well. "Oh, Sam! I checked this out for you." She turned to me, handing me an older-looking book titled, Montgomery Family Line and Their Not-So Secrets. I quickly hid the book in my bag and thank her, excited to finally be getting some answers.
Later that night after most students have left, I moved my stuff into Ron and Harry's room. Neville had told me I was welcome to stay in his bed as long as the sheets and pillowcases were clean by the time he returned, which I was extremely grateful for. Being alone in my dorm didn't sound like a great time all holiday. The boys and I ate a bunch of snacks and after they had fallen asleep, I crawled out of bed and went into the common room to read the book Hermione had given me. I rubbed my hand across the deep purple stained leather, the letters all painted gold and the Montgomery crest in the middle. I had been waiting for this my entire life yet I was scared to even open the first page...
"Sam?" I heard whispered behind me, causing me to jump and let out a yelp. When I turned around, it was only Harry behind me with his hair even more of a mess, his striped pajamas wrinkled, and he was rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes. "What are you doing up?"
"Harry, you scared me!" I told him, but he didn't move subjects. "Hermione found a book on my family..." I sighed, looking away from the boy and into the fire, still gripping the book against my chest. I felt a dip in the cushion beside me.
"What does it say?"
"I don't know... I haven't opened it."
"Why not?" He asked.
"I'm scared," I admitted in a whisper. I could basically feel the confusion rippling off of him so I turned to face him. "My family isn't- wasn't normal."
"Is this about the tattoos?" His question makes me jerk my head up at him, almost scared of what he'd say. No one but my family and Hermione knows about my marks. "I've noticed, I think they're pretty cool," Harry told me, and because of the fire being the only source of light, I didn't notice his face heating up. Luckily that meant he didn't see mine as well. I gulped.
"Yes. For the most part but that's not all. They were all obviously witches and wizards but the marks aren't the only thing that's different. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I can sort of tell if something will turn out good or bad. Like when Ron and I sat next to you on the train here or when we left for the duel, it sounds crazy, I know..." I scoffed.
"As crazy as magic being real?" he asked with a grin. He had a point.
"You don't think I'm a.. freak?" I hesitantly asked, scared of the answer. He only shook his head. "Percy thinks I am..." I told him. It was something I haven't said since I first moved in with the Weasleys. Harry put his arm around my shoulder.
"I don't. Plus I'm your friend. I'll be by our side no matter what, deal?" I smiled at him and nodded, not trusting myself to say anything. Harry withdrew his arm and gestured at the book with his eyes, making me sigh again.
I opened the cover to the first chapter, titled "The Montgomery History". Underneath it said,
The Montgomery family is one that held their secrets close, that is until we managed to track down someone who was willing to fill us in on what we have never known before. The Montgomery family can be traced as a very distant relative to the Merlins. It's said that they changed their name because those with dark magic would track them down to do their bidding and if they refused, they would be tortured and killed.
I flipped the pages as I read, stopping at the chapter, "Their Power".
There is a reason those from the Montgomery family tended to become Aurors and why those of the dark arts would do anything to get the power in their grasp. The Montgomery line, unlike the Merlins, is rumored to have those being able to tell the future. They are also more likely to become skilled in Legilimency.
I continued to scan a few more pages until one mentioned Runes.
A Montgomery doesn't need to become skilled in Occlumency due to the fact that when they are born, a ceremony is done to introduce the child to the family ancestors. The family crest then appears at the base of the child's neck as a sign that their ancestors have accepted the newborn into the family. Once that appears, the family will cast a permanent spell and mark to block out those who are trying to read their minds. It is said that even if the mark is disfigured, the spell remains.
After digesting all of this so far, I could hear soft snores beside me. I looked over and smiled at Harry sleeping on the shoulder, snoring. It made me realize just how tired I was as well. I shook Harry awake and helped guide him back up to the bed, placing the book under my mattress before I laid down and fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of memories from before my parents had died.
Although it was sad not getting to see Auther and Molly over the holidays, the boys and I made do. I spent a lot of time reading various books, learning more about the marks on my body, for instance how the one that looked like a cursive "r" meant strength, power, and courage (to which the twins put together their shared brain cell and explained how it was probably due to getting sorted into Gryffindor), playing pranks with said twins, and being extremely entertained watching Ron attempting to teach Harry how to play Wizard chess. I tried to help out once but I am absolutely dreadful at the game and Seasmus's chess pieces quickly directed their frustration from Harry to me.
I woke up early on Christmas morning and went to my dorm to grab the few presents I had managed to get sent here, and a book before I made my way down to the common room and curled up on the couch in front of a fire with a blanket and read while I waited for everyone else to wake up.
By the time Harry woke up, Ron was already sitting in front of the Christmas tree opening presents.
"Merry Christmas," Ron and I sleepily called out, directing my attention to the stairs. Harry's face lit up.
"You too! Will you look at this? I've got some presents!" He gasped, noticing some of the wrapped packages had his name scribbled on them. I smiled at him.
"What did you expect, turnips?" Ron sarcastically asked him, to which I lightly kicked the back of his head from my seat. He only glared at me but turned his attention back to his pile of presents. I lowered myself to the floor and joined Ron as Harry walked up to us, smiling wide when I ripped the wrapping off the messily wrapped box that held a homemade lavender knitted sweater with a large silver "S" on it and a box of homemade fudge from my parents and Ginny. Another that had my name written neatly, which turned out to be from Hermione, had one book of Potions and another on Transfiguration and two chocolate frogs. Bill had gotten me a leather journal, Charlie a pair of earrings with a small dragon tooth on each, Percy had gotten me a chocolate frog, the twins gifted me a few joke items from Zonkos and a homemade extendable ear, and Harry and Ron had both made me a card each with adorable letters. The last present had my name on it but nothing else. It was a sleek black packaging with a silver bow on it and when I opened it I gasped. Both boys turned to look at me but I didn't notice, instead, I was staring at a beautiful, small, and delicate golden snitch on a gold chain.
"Woah, who sent you THAT?" I looked up at Ron.
"I have no idea. There's no note or name." He just "Huh"d and went back to his presents.
"That's friendly," Harry spoke up, creating an awful noise from the hand-widdled flute in his hand. "From Hagrid." He added, smiling before moving on to a small package that contained a small round coin. Ron and I looked closer at it.
"Weird!" We said at the same time. "What a shape! This is money?" Ron continued, completely transfixed with the coin.
"You can keep it," Harry laughed, flipping the coin to Ron, who examined it closely. "Hagrid, my aunt and uncle, so who sent these?"
"I think I know who that one's from." Ron groaned, turning pink at the lumpy present with wrapping paper that matched most of ours. "Our mom. I told her you didn't expect any presents and- oh no..." Harry briefly looked up at him confused as I lightly laughed.
"She's made you a Weasley sweater," I informed him, pointing down towards the sweater I was wearing. Inside the box was an emerald green sweater as well as his own package of fudge, which means half will probably be eaten by Ron. "Evey year she makes us a sweater."
"And mines always maroon," He groaned again, and I kicked him again.
"That's really nice of her." Harry finally said, and after a minute he moved to the next package that was full of chocolate frogs. I grinned as he opened the second to late present to see a single chocolate frog, a note saying the frog was to replace the one he lost on the train, and a broom polishing kit. He smiled wide and suddenly jumped up to give me a large hug. Once he sat back down he opened the last box and something silver fabric fell out, attracting Ron and I's attention. We both gasped.
"I've heard of those! If that's what I think it is then it's really rare and really valuable!" Ron told him.
"What is it?" Harry asked, examining it, confused.
"It's an Invisibility Cloak!" I told him, getting excited when I saw a part of his hand disappear. "I'm sure it is! Try it on!" I demanded.
"It is! Look down!" Ron yelled at him, pointing down at Harry's feet which were now completely invisible."There's a note! A note fell out." I looked over Harry's shoulder as he read the note. In neat and loopy handwriting said,
"Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.
A Very Merry Christmas to you."
"Huh. Interesting." I said out loud.
"Man, everyone got cool presents except for me," Ron muttered. "I'd give anything for one of these. Anything. Hey, what's the matter?" Ron looked up from the cloak to see our faces inspecting the note.
"Nothing." He replied, confused, at the same time I said, "No one signed it." Ron was about to say something back but right then the door to the common room opened and two redheaded twins came running in as Harry hid the cloak under a pillow. I sent him a weird look but he only shrugged slightly.
"Merry Christmas!" The twins yelled at us and tackled me in a hug. "Hey, look! Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!" George followed up, pointing down at his and Freds' blue sweaters with large yellow "F" and a "G" on them.
"Harry's is better than ours, though," Fred pointed out, "She obviously makes more of an effort if your not family." I nudged him, rolling my eyes. "Hey! Yours was, too, the first year you lived with us." He defended, laughing.
"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" Fred asked, turning his attention to his little brother. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm!"
"I hate maroon," He groaned back as he begrudgingly put it on.
"You haven't got a letter on yours," George pointed out. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid! We know we're called Gred and Feorge." I slapped my forehead with my palm, rolling my eyes.
"They make this joke nearly every year." I laughed.
"What's all this noise?" A serious voice demanded, changing the mood drastically as Percy stuck his head into the room with his very own sweater in his arms.
"P for Prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours. Even Harry got one!" Fred told him as he and George started toward the boy.
"I- don't- want-" Percy tried, but the twins just ignored him as they forced the sweater over his head.
"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either. Christmas time is for family." George told him, not giving him a chance to speak before they marched out of the common room locking their arms with his.
Almost immediately after stepping into the Great Hall, our mouths began to water. The Christmas feast was somehow even more spectacular than the start of year one, although the boys told me the Halloween feast was pretty grand as well. On the decorated tables were more roast turkeys and roasts than I cared to count. Boiled, mashed, and roasted potatoes sat in piles, gravy boats were being passed all around, an array of vegetables, goblets of pumpkin juice and sparkling cider, and even large stacks of wizard crackers were placed every few yards. Harry and Fred had opened a cracker together and out popped a large admiral hat and a dozen live mice ran away. The headmaster had switched his usual hat for a flowered bonnet that he had managed to get, George and I opened one that caused an explosion of glitter with a pink princess-style hat I had only ever seen in storybooks. George took one look at it and tore it from my hands and put it on, making everyone laugh.
At the head of the room, all of the professors laughed and joked around, minus Snape who did seem a little more cheerful than usual but that didn't mean much, their cheeks tinted pink from the alcohol they were drinking. Hagrid even kissed Professor McGonagall's cheek and instead of her normal serious behavior, she giggled! I have got to remember to write Hermione and tell her what she's missing! I laughed to myself and watched as Percy tried to bite into a slice of pudding but nearly broke his tooth due to a hidden sickle inside.
The rest of the day consisted of multiple snowball fights, warming up in front of the fire, reading my new books, watching Harry play with the new wizarding chess set he had managed to get from a cracker, and being entertained as Percy chased the twins all over Gryffindor Tower because they had managed to take his Prefect badge. That night, Ron had passed out almost instantly while I was writing in my new journal and Harry inspected his invisibility cloak. Suddenly, he got up and put on his slippers, and headed to the door.
"Harry, are you okay?" I asked, groggily, due to the fact I had almost been to sleep.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. I think I'm going to try out my new cloak for a bit." He told me.
"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked, just in case. He shook his head.
"No, I'll be okay for tonight. Thank you though. Go back to sleep... I'm sorry I woke you." I just waved him off.
"I wasn't asleep yet, don't worry. Be careful, okay? If someone sees a floating lantern, they might get suspicious." I joked, laying my head back down on my pillow as Harry quietly shut the door behind him.
Overall, Christmas at Hogwarts was something completely unexpected and magical. The Weasleys continue to show me that family is more than blood and days like these, with loved ones all around me, show just how true that is. I thought as I drifted off into a deep slumber.
Okay, guys! That's it for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. If you did, please like and comment. I hope you're having a great day/night!
xx