Ever since Hagrid had mentioned Nicolas Flamel, the five first years went looking for him in books because they were trying to figure out what it was that Snape was trying to steal. They just weren't sure where to look and they weren't sure what it was that he was famous for. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Centuray, Notable Magical Names of Our Time, Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardy. Hailey was sure that their problem lied in the fact that the library had ten of thousands of books, thousands of shelves, and hundreds of narrow rows.
One morning in mid-December, Hailey woke up to find that Hogwarts was covered in several feet of snow. Michael was happy that the lake was frozen solid since he seemed to be a little paranoid that something lived in there and was waiting to grab a student and drag them underwater. The Weasley twins had gotten in trouble for bewitching snowballs to follow Professor Quirrell around and bounce off the back of his turban.
The few owls that had battled their way through the stormy sky had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid, before they could fly off again.
It seemed like everyone was eager for the holidays to start. The Great Hall had a roaring fire and the halls were drafty and icy.
The worst of all was Potions in the dungeons where their breath rose in the air in a mist and they huddled close to their hot cauldrons.
"I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." Malfoy said, looking at Hailey as he spoke. Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy had chuckled at that. Hailey ignored them in favour of measuring out powdered spine of lion-fish. She knew that Malfoy was bitter about losing to Ravenclaw on the very first game, and tried getting everyone laughing over the idea that a wide-mouthed tree frog would replace Hailey as a Seeker. The Slytherins were the only one to find it funny but the other Houses seemed more impressed over the fact that Hailey had held onto the broom.
Draco went back to taunting her about how she had no proper family and Pansy went back to trying to trip her in the hallways and knocking ink bottles onto Hailey's parchment in the library.
The week before the holidays, Professor McGonagall had made a list of students who were staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Hailey had signed up at once, not wanting to go back to Privet Drive. This may be the best Christmas she ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying at Hogwarts, too, because their parents were going to visit Charlie in Romania. Mandy, Michael, and Hermione were going back home to visit their families.
The Ravenclaws left the dungeons and headed to the Great Hall where Ron and Hermione were waiting for them. There was a large fir tree in the corridor. There were two large feet beneath the tree and there was loud puffing, telling them that it was Hagrid.
Ron stuck his head between the branches. "Hey, Hagrid, want any help?"
Hagrid replied, "Nah, I'm all right, thanks Ron."
"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Malfoy asked in a cold drawl. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose—that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."
Ron grabbed the front of Malfoy's robes and Snape came up the stairs. Snape looked at them, "Weasley!"
Ron let go of Malfoy's robes.
Hagrid stuck his face out from behind the fir tree, "he was provoked, Professor Snape. Malfoy was insultin' his family."
"Be that it may be, but fighting is against Hogwarts rules," Snape said. He looked at Ron and Michael, "Five points from Gryffindor for Weasley and five points from Ravenclaw for Corner."
Michael was confused, "What did I do?"
"You saw that Weasley had attacked Malfoy and you did nothing to stop it." Snape said, eyeing him, "Were you expecting one of the girls to grab him? Be grateful that it isn't more points. Move along, all of you." He walked away and Malfoy laughed. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle roughly pushed by the tree, scattering pine needles.
Hailey looked at Michael who held out his arms. He looked at his arms and looked at Ron who seemed to have a good inch or two on Michael. Hailey was a little surprised that it was the first time she noticed the slight height different. Michael asked the others, "How does he expect me to grab Ron? Look at my arms, they're like noodles!"
Hailey patted Michael's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll probably get stronger in maybe a year or two."
Ron didn't seem to hear them as he was grounding his teeth at Malfoy. "I'll get him one of these days. I'll get him."
"I hate them both," Hailey said to Ron.
"Don't let him get you down. Cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," Hagrid told the group. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks like a treat." The five followed Hagrid and the tree to the Great Hall. It looked like Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were still hanging up Christmas decorations.
Professor McGonagall looked at Hagrid, "Ah, put the last tree in the far corner, would you?"
Hagrid went to do as he was told.
The hall had festoons of holly and mistletoe hanging on the walls. There were twelve towering Christmas trees standing around the room. Some were sparkling with tiny icicles and some were glittering with hundreds of candles.
"It's beautiful," Mandy said in awe.
They followed after Hagrid, who was asking, "How many days do you got left until yer holidays?"
"Just one," Hermione said. She looked at the others, "That reminds me—we all have half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."
"Oh, right." Ron said, watching golden bubbles appear out of Professor Flitwick's wand. The professor was trailing the bubbles on the branches of the new tree with his wand. The five started heading out of the Great Hall with Hagrid following with them.
Hagrid seemed confused, "The library? Just before the holidays? A bit keen, aren't you?"
Mandy held her blue and bronze tie over her shoulder to show Hagrid. "Three of us are Ravenclaws. Going to the library is our domain." She looked at Hermione and Ron. "I guess that makes you both honourary Ravenclaws. I think."
"Oh, we're not working. We finished that. We've been looking for Nicolas Flamel ever since you mentioned him," Hailey said smiling.
"You what?" Hagrid exclaimed. "Listen here—I've told yeh to drop it. It's nothin' to yeh about what that dog's guardin'."
"We just want to know who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all," Michael said, shrugging.
"Unless you want to tell us who he is and save us the trouble," Ron said.
"We nearly looked through the entire section in the Ravenclaw Tower and we already looked through hundreds of books," Hailey said. "I know I read his name somewhere, I just can't recall where."
"I'm sayin' nothing," Hagrid replied.
"It's fine. We just have to find it for ourselves," Ron said. They left a disgruntled looking Hagrid and hurried to the library.
Hermione had taken out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search for and Michael went to help her gather the books. Ron went down a row of books and started pulling books off at random. Mandy decided to go with Ron's idea and went to pull the first books off of a few shelves.
Hailey went to the Restricted Section, wondering if perhaps Nicolas Flamel was in one of those books in there. She knew that she would need a specially signed note from a teacher, but she wouldn't get one since there were books containing powerful Dark Magic in there, which would never be taught at Hogwarts. The only reason those books were in there was for older students that were studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"What are you looking for, girl?" the librarian, Madam Pince demanded.
Hailey looked at the woman who was brandishing a feather duster at her. Hailey looked around and back at the librarian, "Uh…uh…some books about…gargoyles?"
Madam Pince eyed the first year and pointed to a row. Hailey went over and gathered two books A History of Gargoyles by Geraldine Goggard and Gargoyles Revolt of 1692 –1771 by Patience von Brunei.
Hailey went to the table where her friends were sitting at and set the two books down. Mandy looked at the books and arched an eyebrow. Hailey shrugged, "Long story."
About five minutes later, they left the library with nothing on Nicolas Flamel. Hailey wasn't surprised since they have been looking for two weeks and Madam Pince breathing down their necks wasn't helping. They went off to get lunch.
"You both will keep looking while we're gone, right?" Hermione asked, "And send us an owl if you find anything."
"You can ask you parents about him," Ron said, looking at the three. "It would be safe."
Once the holidays started, Hailey was kind of having a good time to think about Nicolas Flamel. Sue Li and Hailey had the dorms to themselves. Sue Li had stayed behind because her mother just had given birth to Sue Li's brother and sister, and her parents were going to have their hands full with two new babies, so she decided to stay at Hogwarts so they can focus on the twins. Cho Chang had also decided to stay behind along with Marietta Edgecomb. Apparently, the two second year girls had decided that they were going to make up plans for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, since Cho Chang was a substitute Seeker.
Ron had decided to teach Hailey about wizard chess, and had taken her to the Gryffindor common room, but Percy the Prefect had threaten to tell Professor McGonagall for letting a Ravenclaw in the Gryffindor common room so Ron decided to teach Hailey about wizard chess in the halls and even the Great Hall during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The library was out because Madam Pince said that the library was for studying or doing homework, not for games.
Wizard chess was like regular chess but the pieces moved and Hailey felt like she was directing troops into battle. Ron had told her that he got his set from his grandfather, but the old chessmen wasn't a drawback since he knew them very well and didn't have trouble getting them to move where he wanted them to go.
Cho Chang had let Hailey borrow her set, but Cho Chang's set didn't trust Hailey and she realized that she didn't play chess very well. The chess pieces kept yelling instructions at her like: "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him; we can afford to lose him."
On Christmas Eve, Hailey had gone to bed, looking forward to the next day to be filled with food and fun.
The next morning, when she woke up, she was surprised to see that she had a small amount of presents.
Sue Li was already awake and was eating something. She looked at Hailey and nodded at her, "Happy Christmas."
Hailey smiled, "Happy Christmas." She went to the pile of presents, "I got presents!"
Sue Li looked at Hailey a little confused, "Were you expecting rocks?"
Hailey took the top parcel which was from Hagrid. It was wrapped in brown paper and had: To Hailey, From Hagrid scrawled on the top.
She unwrapped it to see that it was a wooden flute that she was sure that Hagrid whittled himself. She set it to the side and noticed a small lumpy package. It also contained a note that said: We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. She unwrapped it and noticed a fifty pence piece and a pair of Dudley's old socks. She set the two objects on the bed and saw there were a few more presents. She was started to feel a little overwhelmed with the presents.
She took out a box from Mandy and opened it. There was a letter from Mandy and three books that looked new from Roald Dahl which was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, and Matilda. She looked at the letter.
Hailey,
When I reread Matilda over the holiday, I was reminded of you and how you came from a terrible family and how found out you have powers/witch. I hope Matilda will become your favorite book and I hope you relate to Matilda's journey with a terrible family, a horrible principal/teacher, and newfound friends. By the way, Matilda would so be a Ravenclaw.
I chose Charlie and the Chocolate because I figure that if Charlie can have an adventure in a chocolate factory, well you can too.
I chose The Witches because it's always fun reading how Muggles have different views on what we're really like. Either way, it has witches in the title and from what you told us, the Dursleys frowned down on it; so you deserve every bit of magic in your life.
I hope you enjoy them.
Your friend,
Mandy
Hailey set the books and letter down on the bed. She went to open Michael's present. In the Oz series, there were fourteen books in total. The books were tied together with two strips of dark blue ribbon. Some were hardcover and paperback. Some books looked like it had more pages than others. It looked like the seventh book was longer than the rest.
It had a note on it that said: Happy Christmas on it.
There were three more presents left. One present contained a box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. There was a very large and lumpy package from Ron's mother, Molly Weasley. It also got a note from Molly saying: Ron told me that you weren't expecting presents today. So I made you this sweater.
She found a thick, emerald green homemade sweater and a box of homemade fudge that was tasty. Hailey put the sweater one and hoped that no one would confuse for a Slytherin. She picked up the last parcel and it felt very light. It had no note or letter so she unwrapped it and something fluid and silvery gray slithered out landing on the floor in gleaming folds.
Sue Li gasped and dropped some candy on the ground. "I read about that," she whispered. "If I'm correct on what it is, then it's really rare and really valuable."
Hailey picked up the shiny, silvery cloth and noticed how it felt strange; like water woven into material. "What is it?"
"It's an Invisibility Cloak." Sue Li said, looking excited and eager. "Try it on." Hailey put the cloak on around her shoulders and Sue Li stood up from her bed. "It is. Look down."
Hailey looked down at her feet but they were gone. She went to the full body mirror, but her head was floating in mid-air. She pulled the cloak over her head and she couldn't see her reflection. She thought it would be hilarious to try and sneak up on Sue Li as a prank. She started to move towards the girl, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Sue Li was looking at something on the ground. "There's a note! It had fallen out when you picked it up!" She looked around, "Hailey?"
Hailey touched Sue Li's shoulder, causing her to scream in surprise. Hailey started laughing and removed the cloak. She finally calmed down and smiled, "I'm sorry. It was too good to pass up."
Sue Li looked at her, "It's fine. I would've done the same thing." Hailey went to the note while the other girl went to admire the Invisibility Cloak. Hailey looked at the note which was written in very narrow, loopy handwriting that she didn't recognize.
Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.
A Very Happy Christmas to you
Hailey was confused. Many thoughts ran through her mind. This cloak belonged to my father? What did he use this for? Who sent this to me? Who had this cloak and what did they use it for? How do they know I'm in Hogwarts?
Someone grabbed her arm and she screamed in surprise. She turned around seeing no one. She looked around, "Really Sue Li, really?"
Sue Li removed the cloak, "consider it revenge." She looked at the expression on Hailey's face. "What's wrong?"
Hailey shook her head, "Nothing. It's nothing."
When Hailey waited for Ron on the bottom of the stairs, Fred and George were dragging Percy, who had his arms pinned to his sides with his sweater. Ron was followed after his brothers. Fred was a blue sweater with a yellow letter F on it and George had one with the letter G. Ron was wearing a maroon sweater.
Fred or George looked at Hailey. George said, "Oh, look, Hailey got a Weasley sweater too. There's no letter on it. I suppose Mum thinks that she doesn't forget her name, but we're not stupid. We know that we're Gred and Forge."
Hailey had giggled and then led her to the Great Hall. She told Ron about the Invisibility Cloak on the way to the Great Hall and her idea of using it to go in the Restricted Section of the library. Ron saw that there wouldn't be any harm in doing that.
For Christmas dinner there were a hundred fat roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce – and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. The wizard crackers were nothing like the ones that the Dursleys usually get, with little paper hats and plastic toys. Hailey pulled one with Cho Chang and instead of a bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and it engulfed them with a blue smoke while the inside exploded an admiral's hat and several live mice. Hailey took the admiral's hat and gave it to Cho Chang, who put it on her head.
Hailey looked at the High Table to see that Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick read him.
Flaming Christmas puddings followed after the turkey and Sue Li nearly broke her teeth on a silver Sickle that was embedded in her slice, although Hailey wasn't sure what a Sickle was doing in there.
Hailey watched as Hagrid grew redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, to Hailey's amazement, blushed and giggled, her top hat lopsided.
When Hailey left the table, she had gotten a lot of things from the crackers like: non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and a new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and Hailey had a sick feeling that those mice would end up as Mrs Norris's Christmas dinner.
Hailey had participated in a snowball fight with the Weasleys, when Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecomb, Sue Li, Terry Boot, some older Ravenclaws, and a few Hufflepuffs had decided to join in.
Then Hailey ended up going up to the Ravenclaw Tower, which sadly didn't have a fireplace like the Gryffindor common room. She managed to get warm and then broke in her new chess set by losing spectacularly to Cho Chang. She suspected she wouldn't have lost so badly if her chess set actually trusted her.
After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, it seemed like everyone was to full and sleepy to do anything, so they all went to bed.
Hailey thought it was the best Christmas day she ever had, but something kept nagging at her. When she got in bed, she remembered that it had to do with the Invisibility Cloak. She reached under her bed and pulled the cloak out. She ran her hands through it. It was smooth as silk and light as air.
Who sent this to me? Was this really my dad's? Hailey thought and looked at it. The note had told her to use it well. She had told Ron that she planned on going to the Restricted Section of the library, since the note said 'use it well' after all.
She left the common room and went down the tight spiral staircase, going to the library, nearly jumping at every noise, worrying that Filch or Mrs. Norris would jump out at her.
When she got in the library, it was pitch-black and eerie, so she lit up a lantern to see. She started making her way to the Restricted Section holding the lantern. It looked as though it was floating in mid-air, even though she was holding it and it was kind of creepy.
She went to the Restricted Section of the library, which was in the back and stepped over the rope that separated it from the rest of the library.
When she held the lantern to the spines of the books, she saw that some didn't have any titles, some had peeling gold letters in foreign languages, and one had a suspicious dark stain on it that looked like blood.
She heard what sounded like a faint whispering in the books and she felt a prickling sensation on her arms, like she got goose-bumps.
These books know that I don't belong in here, she thought. She set the lantern down and looked at the books. She found an interesting one that looked silver and black. She took it out and opened it. A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek pierced the air and Hailey realized that the book was screaming at her!
She closed the book, but the high, unbroken note still pierced the air, even as she shoved the book back in the shelf. She stumbled back and knocked the lantern over. It went out and she ran past Filch, who didn't see her. She ran, not even knowing where she was going, but she wanted to get away from Filch and the screaming book. She was a Ravenclaw, so what made her think that doing that was a smart move? Maybe that was some Gryffindor trait? She wasn't sure but she stopped in front of a tall suit of armour. She looked around. She knew there was a suit in front of the kitchens, but she was sure she was five floors above the kitchens.
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night. Someone was in the library—Restricted Section," Filch said.
Hailey was sure she paled at Filch's voice, since it sounded like he was getting nearer.
"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far and we'll catch them," Snape said. Hailey was horrified at her his voice and they turned the corner. The corridor was narrow and she was sure they would knock into her. She noticed a door which was ajar and she slowly backed up and managed to squeeze through it, trying not to move the door. She got through it and leaned against the wall, holding her breath, waiting until they left. She exhaled and looked around at the room she was in. There were desks and chairs against the walls, along with an upturned wastepaper basket. Facing her was a magnificent mirror as high as the ceiling, an ornate gold frame, and standing on two clawed feet.
This is a strange place to put a mirror. Why put in a classroom and not the lavatories? Hailey thought and looked at the mirror. She knew what she would see; a pale, scrawny, knobby-kneed, messy haired girl. That is, if she could see her reflection in the mirror with her wearing the invisibility cloak.
It was a fascinating looking mirror, and something made her want to look at her reflection, but she already had a close call with Snape and Filch. She didn't want to waste time until they came back.
She left the classroom and started heading back to Ravenclaw Tower.
The next morning, she told Ron about what happened in the library and the close call she had, but for some reason, she wanted to go back and look at the mirror. She couldn't describe it, but she felt a sort of pull with the mirror.
"Who cares about some dusty old mirror? Do you want to play a game of wizard chess?" Ron asked, looking at his friend.
"No, I'm good," Hailey said. It was aggravating her on why the mirror had some strange hold on her.
"How about we go down to visit Hagrid?" Ron asked.
"No, you can go," Hailey said.
Ron looked at Hailey's pale face, "Are you okay? You look odd."
That night, Hailey put on the Invisibility Cloak on, and started trying to find the room that held the mirror. She tried to tell herself that it was a dusty mirror, but she couldn't figure out what the allure of it even was.
She finally found the room and removed the cloak. She walked to the mirror and then looked around. She was surrounded by people and looked in the mirror again. She was surrounded by people in the reflection, but there was no one in the room.
She saw herself, pale, shaking, and her hair very messy. There was a woman standing next to her. The woman had dark red hair and beautiful emerald green eyes. She was smiling and waving. Hailey noticed that the woman was crying, but she was smiling.
There was a tall, thin black haired man was standing beside the woman. He put his around the woman's shoulders. The man wore glasses, but Hailey noticed that he had hazel eyes, just like hers! They were smiling and Hailey smiled too, noticing that she had the man's smile, too.
"Mum? Dad?" She asked, but the people were smiling, regardless. She stepped back and sat down on the floor. She pulled her knees up and stared at the reflection. Her parents were just smiling. She felt a ache and terrible sadness at seeing them.
"Back again, Hailey?" A voice said and Hailey stood up, turning around to see Professor Dumbledore. He wasn't in the room when she walked in.
"I—I didn't see you, sir," Hailey replied, feeling her face warm up. She tensed up knowing that she was caught out of bed. Would she get detention?
"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," Dumbledore replied, smiling. Hailey relaxed a little and Dumbledore got off the desk he was sitting on. "Like hundreds before you, I see you couldn't resist the temptation of the Mirror of Erised."
Hailey looked at the mirror, "I didn't know that it was called that."
"I expect that by now you know why it's called that?" Dumbledore asked and Hailey looked at the gold edges of the mirror.
She saw an inscription: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whoshi and looked at the mirror. If it was written on a mirror, that means it's backwards, right? Hailey frowned, "It shows you what your heart's desire? The Mirror of Desire?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "It shows you the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You never knew your family, so it shows you them standing round you. However, this mirror, will never give you neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they seen or been driven mad not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."
Hailey nodded, "I understand."
"The Mirror will be moved tomorrow, Hailey. I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?"
Hailey went to pick up the Cloak and looked at Dumbledore. "Can I ask you something?"
"You've just done so," Dumbledore smiled, "You may ask me one more thing, however."
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?" Hailey asked.
"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks." Dumbledore answered and Hailey stared him. "One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People insist on giving me books."
Hailey nodded and dusted off the cloak. "I understand, sir." She looked up at the man and started heading to the door. She knew she asked a personal question, but she understood that Dumbledore wasn't being quite truthful.
A/N: I know Ron wasn't in it and I know it took place over two days, but I would've thrown Sue Li in the Mirror scene, but it wouldn't have worked. There was Ron but she can't really go in Gryffindor Tower since she doesn't have the password. If she did, she would've assumed that the boys' staircase to the dorm would've turned into a slide, like in Ravenclaw Tower.
I also got to thinking about the common room, since in the seventh book, Luna let Harry in the Ravenclaw common room by answering the riddle and they were allowed in. I got to thinking that it would be possible to let your friends in other Houses in the common room, but I'm sure they would get in trouble anyway because I guess you have to be in your house's common room.
I had looked up Ron's height on the Harry Potter wikia and it puts him at 5'9 and I looked at Michael's page on the wikia and it doesn't have his height. I had to look at the Dumbledore's Army picture on the Harry Potter wikia, and it looks like Michael is taller than Ron, so I'm pegging him at 5'10. I figure that since it's said that Ron is tall in the book, I'm putting Michael as a little shorter than Ron, until the second book.