Harry fell asleep on Percy's shoulder, curled up under the blanket. It was warm and cozy. He did not even notice how strong hands lifted him and carried him to the bedroom.
Potter woke up from the sun's rays playing on his face. He groaned softly and turned away from the window.
"Are you finally awake?" A strange hissing voice sounded right in his ear. Harry turned around and saw a snake in front of him.
"What are you doing here?!" the boy sighed. Fortunately, there was no one else in the room except Ron; otherwise he would have raised everyone's ears.
"What's wrong?" The younger Weasley nearly fell out of bed in surprise.
"Hagrid's snake," Potter pointed to the bedside table, on which a white snake sat as if nothing had happened.
"How did he get here?"
"I would like to know myself."
"I got under your robe and into your pocket. It was so warm in there," the reptile hissed.
"Were you with us all the time while we were walking?" The snake nodded, wagging the tip of its tail.
"What did he say?" Ron yawned widely, leaning back against the pillow. His red hair was disheveled from sleep and looked very comical.
"He's been with us since we left Hagrid. He hid in my pocket and sat there all the time while we were walking."
"We need to return it to Hagrid. I think he's worried," Weasley muttered sleepily, stretching out on the bed like a big ginger cat.
"No I do not want to. I want to stay with you," the snake quickly shook his head, "I like Hagrid, but I want to stay."
"He wants to stay."
"In terms of?" Ron almost fell out of bed a second time.
"He liked us," Harry shrugged, "I'll send a letter to Hagrid so he won't worry."
"Do what you want, just let me sleep a little more," Knot curled up under the covers and dozed off again.
Harry put the snake on his shoulder and took out his writing instruments. He quickly wrote a couple of lines for the good staircase, he called Hedwig to him.
"Here, take this to Hagrid," Potter stroked the owl's feathers gently and released it through the open window. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Name?" The snake tilted its head to the side.
"So Hagrid hasn't thought of a name for you yet?" the reptile shook its head, "I'll have to think about it."
"Harry, your hissing makes me unable to sleep."
"Sorry."
"Do not mind it. Just don't talk to him when we're not alone. I'm afraid we won't have any problems because of this."
"Sorry."
"By the way, what's his name? Hagrid must have given him some totally inappropriate name." Ron dangled his legs off the bed.
"Apparently, I haven't had time yet," Potter patted the snake on the scaly head, "We need to think about it."
"What about Annie?" the trinity sat in a large hall and went through all the possible names. There was no one else at the Gryffindor table besides them. They came too early.
"Nope," the kite hissed. He didn't want to be alone, so he climbed into Harry's robes and promised not to go out without permission.
"He doesn't like it," Potter sighed. They offered several dozen options, but not one reptile liked it.
"He doesn't like anything," Ron shook his head, resting his head on his folded hands.
"Then how about…Kai?" Hermione suggested.
"Kai? Hmm ... Kai," the snake seemed to savor the proposed name, "I like it."
"Finally," Harry nodded wearily, "he likes Kai."
"Excellent…"
"Hey, what are you whispering about?" The twins crept up on them, scaring the hell out of them.
"Merlin… Fred, George stop sneaking up on us forever."
"Come on, little brother. So what are you up to?"
"Nothing. Just chatting." Hermione smiled innocently. The twins glared at the trio skeptically, but simply let it go and settled down next to each other. They were soon joined by Percy, Oliver and Ginny.
"After breakfast, I want to see you three in my office," Snape approached them. It didn't bode well. The trio nodded weakly.
"What does he want?" Percy asked the undergrads.
"We would also like to know."
"Then, let's meet as usual after lunch." Let's think about what to do, "everyone nodded in agreement and went about their business."
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked dejectedly towards the dungeon. Snape didn't seem overly pleased, though it was hard to tell from his stony face. Finally they came to a familiar door and Potter knocked weakly on the door.
"Enter!"
The trio slipped inside the office and, as always, dejectedly stood in front of the Potions master's table. It seemed like they had done it a million times already.
"There is no need to make such faces, unless, of course, you want to confess something to me?" Snape folded his hands in front of him.
"We did nothing of the sort, sir."
"Of course not," Severus snorted, "so we need to talk. Every year I go to Malfoy's for Christmas. As my wards, you must also go."
Harry sighed softly. The last thing he wanted was to spend Christmas with Draco and the rest of the Maofoi.
"But, sir, can't I stay at the castle?"
"Listen to me, Potter. But Draco expressed a desire that in addition to you, your friends also come. He wants to talk."
The guys froze, not knowing what to answer. It was strange, very strange. Maybe Malfoy wanted to take that first step, but the prospect of spending Christmas with him was not fun, to say the least.
"We need time to think," Harry muttered.
"You will go anyway. Your friends must decide what to do. You have time to think until tomorrow. Now go. I need to work."
"I have to work," Harry mimicked Snape as they walked a good distance from the dungeon.
"Eh ... You're out of luck, friend. Spending Christmas with Malfoy sucks." The kids left the castle to take a walk down to the lake.
"Are you leaving me?"
"Harry, just…" Hermione sighed, "let's talk about this later?"
"Okay."
Percy sat by the lake. His tattered robes, boots, and socks lay beside him.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" The trio ran up to the older boy. Now they noticed that there was a hole in the ice.
"A gang of hooligans from Ravenclaw threw the valuables of several undergrads into the lake. I got almost everything with the help of Accio, but I could not get the watch and the medallion. I think they are on to something."
"Do you want to dive in and check it out?"
"It's not difficult," Percy shrugged, "the children were very upset, so I asked them to return to the castle, promising that I would get their things somehow."
"Are you sure everything will be all right?" Hermione seemed very excited.
"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've dived to the bottom of the lake. Charlie taught me. He adores fantasy creatures almost as much as Hagrid. So in his fifth year, he decided to dive into the lake to study the squid. Even learned a spell that allows you to breathe underwater for a while."
"Don't worry about such trifles," Ron gulped lightly, throwing his hands behind his head.
"Look after your things, okay?" the three children left on the shore silently agreed.
"Be careful."
"Of course," the older boy smiled, he was amused by the groundless worries of the children. He took out his wand and quietly whispered a spell.
"One two Three." As soon as he jumped into the hole, he was enveloped in a soft, pleasant cold. The shirt and pants immediately absorbed the water, but they were almost not felt on the body.
"Four five six." Percy felt the water fill his ears and nose, and he was gradually being pulled to the bottom.
"Seven, eight, nine." Finally, the headman could open his eyes and look around. Now he saw everything as well as on land a few seconds ago. The guy's lungs began to burn unpleasantly and the pain slowly spread throughout his body.
"Ten." the first breath under water was always terribly painful and not pleasant, but it was manageable. The hands, neck and cheeks of the young wizard were covered with small scales.
The bottom of the lake was covered with dozens of species of algae. Very quiet, but beautiful songs were heard in the distance. Percy hoped he wouldn't have to go down to the mermaid city. Although these creatures were friendly, they did not want to disturb them once again.
The young magician carefully studied the area, he was so focused on the search that he did not even notice how they crept up to him from behind. Someone grabbed his shoulder. Weasley almost choked in surprise. Right in front of him stood a young mermaid. On her shoulder was a basket for collecting medicinal algae.
"Hey," Percy breathed. He knew a few words in the language of mermaids.
"Hi," the mermaid giggled, "what are you doing here?"
"I… The medallion…" the headman tapped the middle of his chest with his fingertip, "I fell down," and pointed to a thick crust of ice above it.
The mermaid thought. She tilted her head to the side, and then she seemed to have a fever. Grabbing Percy's hand, the creature swam in an unknown direction; the boy had no choice but to follow her.
They stopped in a clearing dotted with various lake flora. Something flashed at the bottom; the young man carefully parted the leaves and saw a pocket watch. The gold chain tangled with the silver chain of the medallion and got stuck in the seaweed.
"Thank you," Weasley stuffed the find into his trouser pocket.
"Please," the mermaid grabbed his hand again, "I will see you through."
They parted at the very hole. The bright light was blinding, so the boy had to close his eyes again. As soon as his head appeared above the water, the scales fell off and turned into dust.
"Finally." Harry and Ron helped the senior out of the lake. And Hermione cast a drying spell.
"You didn't have to do that," Percy smiled, straightening his tousled hair as he sat on the cold ground. He felt tired after the dive. He needed some rest.
"You've found?" Weasley nodded, pulling a watch and locket from his pocket.
"Cool."
"It wasn't difficult," the boy leaned back in the snow, covering his sensitive eyes from the bright rays of the sun, "Take them to their owners, they should be waiting for me in the courtyard."
"And how are you?"
"I'm tired, I need time." Percy rolled onto his side and nuzzled into his robes. His red hair, after drying, resembled a lion's mane.
"Send, he'll be all right," Ron pulled his friends towards the castle.
As Percy had said, they found the owners of the things in the courtyard. On a bench in the far corner, a dark-haired freshman was crying, a badger embroidered on his robes. An older brown-haired man from the same faculty tried to calm him down. On the next bench, a freshman from Ravenclaw was sad, Penelope Clearwater, the head of the faculty, was sitting next to him, and what surprised the trio especially was Ginny. She tried to cheer up the girl.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione," Ginny ran up to them, "what are you doing here?"
"Percy asked me to tell you something," Harry smiled slyly.
"Is he really…" the girl sighed softly when she saw the nod of her friends.
The sophomores approached the owners of the things. Hermione walked over to the blonde, while Harry and Ron walked over to the crying brown-haired boy.
"It's yours, right?" The freshmen immediately cheered up.
"Mom's locket. Thank you."
"Grandpa's clock. Thank you very much," the boy from Hufflepuff hugged the guys.
"It's okay for you. Thanks to my brother." Ron awkwardly patted the boy on the back.
"Jay, let them go," a curly-haired boy approached them, "You forgive my brother. He loves to cuddle."
"Everything is fine."
"I'm Rolf and this is my second cousin Jadan. Thank you for your help. He loves this watch very much."
"And I'm Luna," the girl smiled, putting the medallion around her neck.
"Percy did all the work. You need to thank him later."
"Your brother is incredible." The four couldn't help but giggle.
"It's true, Percy is a good brother," Harry smiled.
"What will happen to the bullies now?"
"They will be punished and monitored so that they do not bother the younger ones anymore."
"That's good," Harry nodded in satisfaction, the events reminding him of how Dudley and his gang had taken the few possessions he had from him. Therefore, he wanted the hooligans to answer for their own.
"We've got to go," Hermione glanced at the huge clock tower, "Ginny, are you coming with us?"
"I'll see you later," the Weasley's only daughter waved goodbye to Luna and hurried after the trio.
"Who is your new friend?"
"Luna Lovegood. She's cute, if a little weird. Because of this, she is constantly offended by these idiots," the girl angrily stamped her foot. Fire flared in her beautiful brown eyes.
"Calm down." Her older brother gently squeezed her shoulder and the fire immediately disappeared.
"If suddenly, something like this happens again, tell us okay, we'll think of something?" Harry smiled slyly and looked at Ron. He also smiled, it looked a little creepy.
"I'll go to Percy's and bring him some food; he stayed on the shore, didn't he?"
"When we left, he was there."
"Fine, see you at dinner." The kids said goodbye and Ron suggested going to the astronomy tower to discuss what to do with Snape's proposal. And so they did. As soon as they climbed to the top, an owl flew up to them, which they immediately recognized.
"It's Oscar," Potter said as the owl perched on the railing with a letter in its beak.
"What is he doing here?"
"Let's see," Harry took the letter from the bird. On the envelope was written:
Potter and his annoying friends.
"That idiot hasn't changed a bit," Ron snorted, looking at the letter over his friend's shoulder.
"That's all Malfoy." The boy tore open the envelope and took out a slip of paper.
Potter, you and your friends should come to my house for Christmas. I need to talk…
"I could at least try to be polite."
"What did you expect?" Malfoys always see themselves as arrogant, arresting, crotchety asses.
"So what are you going to do?" Harry leaned on the railing. The cool wind burned his cheeks, but that didn't bother him much. Oscar sat on his shoulder and began to rub his feathers on the boy's face.
"I don't know," Ron sighed and looked at Hermione. The girl bit her lip thoughtfully, peering at the letter "after my dad got into a fight with Malfoy, I don't want to get close to him at all."
There was a long silence, the children each plunged into their own thoughts, while enjoying the light breeze.
"Okay, I agree." Granger was the first to break the silence.
"Eh ... Then I'll go too. I don't want to leave you alone with Snape and Malfoy. I don't trust them..."
