Christmas was fast approaching. The common rooms and the Great Hall all had roaring fires, the corridors were covered in ice and frost, and the bitter wind rattled the classrooms. Worst of all was Mr. Snape's class, in which you could literally see your breath, and everyone decided to keep near their cauldrons. "I do feel sorry," said Draco during potions class one day, "for those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." The rest of the goth gang chuckled. They had been worse than usual since Slytherin lost the match, though Enid, a Slytherin herself, hadn't been bitter at all. Everyone was looking forward to going back to their parents for Christmas.
At the end of Potions class, when everyone left the classroom, Hagrid had a rather large fir tree that he was carrying through the corridor. "Hello Mr. Hagrid, would you like any help?" asked Ron, who couldn't see a thing past the branches. "No, I'm fine, thanks, Ron," replied Hagrid. "Excuse me, are you trying to earn some extra money for your family? That hut of Mr. Hagrid's is like a palace compared to what you're used to," insulted Draco. Ron was furious, and Mildred and Hermione had to hold him back from causing a fight then and there. They then went to lunch, and they saw the wonderfully decorated great hall, and with Hagrid's christmas tree it looked even better.
Unfortunately, the day soon came when they all had to go home for Christmas. It was quite an emotional goodbye at Kings Cross when all their parents arrived. Hermione, Mildred, Maud, and Enid were delighted to discover that they all lived in London, and decided to use the Tube as often as possible to visit one another. Harry was a resident of Godric's Hollow, a small village near Penzance, so his journey would by far be the longest, as Hogwarts was situated quite near to Inverness. Ron lived in the Burrow in Ottery Saint Catchpole, which itself is near to Ottery Saint Mary, so his journey would be of similar length.
Over the break, Harry practised his wizard's chess and playing his flute, which he actually quite liked considering he had to for a class. The winter concert that year had seen him play simple songs like Frére Jacques and Hot Cross Buns, for he was only a first year and still needed to develop musically. Among the presents that year were a flute practise book from Hagrid, 50 galleons and an invisibility cloak from his parents, a Weasley jumper and some fudge from Ron, an assortment of candies from Hermione, the complete first season of Game of Thrones from Mildred, a silly wig from Maud, and a teddy bear from Enid, who had wanted to send him a real bear but couldn't as Harry wouldn't have nearly enough room for one in his backyard. It was a very merry Christmas for all, and Harry and Ron resolved to go to London for summer break to spend time with their friends in person.