Chapter Seven: Holiday Break
The holiday seasons had finally arrived, and that meant that the castle would mostly be empty. Among those who were staying was Harry, while Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony were all returning home for break. The latter three already had their things packed, and were carrying their trunks and cages down to the Great Hall, where they'd say their goodbyes to Harry for the break.
"Who knows, maybe he will know something about our mystery man." said Tony.
"Our dads are Muggle archaeologists, Tony, I don't think they'll know who we're talking about." Riley pointed out. "We'll just have to scan through our books, and see if we can find anything on him, while Harry search for clues in the school."
"Let's keep our fingers crossed, boys." Hermione said, looking between them. "We're bound to find something about this person."
They stopped when they finally reached the entrance to the Great Hall, and looked inside. Prof. Flitwick was materializing Christmas ornaments for the already decorated tree that Hagrid had brought in moments ago, while Harry and Ron were seen playing a game of chess at a table nearby. Ron had just taken another piece, when Harry was making his next move. Hermione led Riley and Tony over to where their friends were sitting, when Ron declared his next move.
"Queen to E5." he spoke.
The five of them watched as the red queen piece moved forward on its own, and stood up, grabbed her chair, and swung it into the white knight piece, breaking it apart.
"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione exclaimed, surprised.
"Not to mention that just gave 'demolishing your opponent' a whole new meaning." Tony told her, also surprised.
"Can't argue with you there, Tony." agreed Riley.
"That's wizard's chess." Ron explained, as he picks up the remains of Harry's knight.
He then saw that the three behind Harry were all with their trunks.
"I see you've all packed." the youngest Weasley male observed.
"I see you haven't." Hermione retorted, noticing that Ron had yet to pack his things.
"Change of plans, my parents went to Romania to visit my brother, Charlie. He's studying dragons there."
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute." Tony intervened, curiously. "Dragons?"
Ron nodded in confirmation, and Tony turned to look at Riley.
"How cool is that?" he asked.
Riley stared at his best friend, nervously for a moment, then slowly turned to look at Ron.
"Your brother doesn't give free samples, does he?" he asked.
"Nah, it's not allowed." Ron replied, casually.
"Moving on, guys, Ron can help Harry now if he's going to be here." announced Hermione. "He's going to the library to look up information on Nicholas Flamel."
Ron didn't look too happy about that bit of news.
"We've looked a hundred times!" he groaned.
"Not in the restricted section." Hermione told them, quietly. "Happy Christmas."
With that, she turned to leave, leaving her friends behind.
"I think we've had a bad influence on her." Ron muttered to his friends.
"Think that's bad?" asked Tony. "We're not getting left off the hook at home either."
"Come on." Riley said, turning away. "We better get moving. See you after the holidays, guys."
"See you." Harry called, as he watched his two friends leave.
Riley and Tony left the Great Hall, and followed Hermione, who was standing by the doorway waiting for them, outside to the carriages. The carriages took them to Hogsmeade, where they would board the Hogwarts Express. Throughout the trip back to King's Cross Station, the trio were reading their books to search for any mention of Nicholas Flamel, but to no avail. Then, just four-fifths of the way there, Riley's face brightened up.
"I just thought of something!" the male Gryffindor gasped. "My brother graduated from Hogwarts last year!"
"Your big brother attended Hogwarts?" asked Hermione. "Wait, does he have all of his school books still?" she added, realizing where this conversation was headed.
"He should. Which means, we could find what we're looking for in those books."
The train pulled to a stop a little while later, and students started departing from the train to meet with their families. The three Muggleborn students got off the train, and saw their parents standing together and talking. One of the women, one with long dark brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail, turned to them, and smiled.
"Hermione!" she called.
Hermione rushed over to her, and hugged her tightly.
"Hello, mother!" she greeted.
Riley and Tony pulled their trunks along behind them, and went to join the adults waiting for them, then Riley stopped, feeling someone was watching them. He turned around, and saw a man with long, platinum-blond hair standing on the platform, dressed in black robes with a cane in his hands. His piercing grey eyes bore straight into Riley's blue eyes, as they stared each other down, and the older man was looking at the boy with a look of disgust which subconsciously made Riley's eyebrows twitch with anger. Only after Prof. Cross had grasped his son's shoulder had the two broken eye contact.
"Son, Mr. and Mrs. Granger were talking to you." he called.
Riley looked up at him, and saw that Hermione, her parents, and Tony and his father were all looking at him, concerned.
"Sorry." he apologized, sheepishly.
Soon, Riley, Tony, and their fathers got into Prof. Cross' car, and they headed off toward the Cross family's home, and Tony saw Riley was staring intensely at the seat in front of him.
"Hey, ease up, Superboy, don't go burning a hole in the seat with your heat vision." he joked.
"Who was that guy you were staring at anyway?" asked Prof. Gabriel. "He was giving us the stink eye earlier before the train showed up."
"I don't know." replied Riley. "But I don't like the way he was looking at me. It's the same kind of look Malfoy and his goons give us sometimes."
"'Malfoy'?" repeated Prof. Cross. "Isn't he the boy you two were writing to us about?"
"Yeah, he's a snobby rich kid with an attitude problem." explained Tony. "He calls me, Ry, and Hermione this really awful name all the time in my dorm, and Prof. Snape can't do much about it 'cause the dad's loaded with cash and helps the school out a lot. Riley's even taken to calling him 'Lex Luthor'."
Riley looked up to see his father and his friend's dad smirking, and looked between them.
"He is!" he exclaimed, dramatically throwing his hands in the air. "They're so much alike! They're rich, they're annoying, they think they're untouchable, and they have a problem with popular good guys!"
"Son, I think you've read way too many of your grandpa's comic books." chuckled Prof. Cross.
"Speaking of books, dad, do we still have Deran's old school books?"
"Why, do you plan on studying during break?"
The two eleven year olds in the back seat looked at one another, wondering if they should tell their fathers about the reason, but decided against it.
"Yeah, we wanna try and out-ace Hermione on the next test." Tony lied, casually. "We made a wager with her that we'd score higher than her next time."
"She's the smartest student of our year." explained Riley. "And Tony and I were joking about how if we studied hard enough that we'd get a higher grade than her, and she overheard us talking about it, and so we made a bet."
Prof. Cross and Prof. Gabriel shook their heads at the children, small smiles on their faces. Finally, the car pulled into the driveway, and the four males exited the vehicle, and headed into the house, where Dr. Cross and her youngest son, Evan, were waiting.
"Riley! Tony!" cheered Evan.
He rushed over to the two wizards and hugged them, while Prof. Cross and Prof. Gabriel placed their coats on the coatrack.
"Did you bring anything for me?" asked Evan.
"Yes, we brought you some magic candy." replied Riley. "How would you like to try a piece of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?"
"Oh, no." groaned Prof. Cross.
"Didn't Minerva and Albus mention those?" asked Prof. Gabriel.
"Yes they did, and they aren't exaggerating when they say 'every flavor'."
Riley handed Evan a green bean, and watched as he casually tossed it into his mouth, then began to chew it. Slowly, the seven year old's expression changed from curiosity to disgust, then finally one of disgust, then he finally ran out of the room.
"What flavor was that?" asked Dr. Cross.
"Broccoli." replied Riley. "Ron's brothers showed me a chart on how to tell the flavors by the colors. So, mom, where are Der's old school books?"
"I left them in a box up in the attic, I was planning to send them out to him in a few weeks."
The adults watched as Riley and Tony quickly took off up the stairs, then looked at each other, stunned.
"If Evan shows the same gifts as Ry and Tony, we're sending him to that school with them." declared Prof. Cross.
On Christmas Eve, Hermione and her parents arrived to the Cross home to go caroling with the Crosses and the Gabriels, and Hermione walked up the stairs to Riley's room to go get her friends. Upon reaching the door, she heard the sounds of music playing in the room, and opened the door to find Riley sitting on his chair, and Tony laying on the bed, both with open heavy-looking school books in their hands. Riley was reading a book titled "Standard Book of Spells- Grade 6", and Tony was reading "Wizards are from Neptune, and Witches are from Saturn".
"Any luck?" she asked.
"Zip." replied Tony. "Gone through all the books, and no mention of our mystery man. But did you know that they make books on relationships in the wizarding world?"
Hermione just raised her eyebrows in surprise, indicating that she did not know that.
"Let's hope that Harry and Ron managed to find something." she said, slowly walking to the side of the room.
"Here's hoping." muttered Tony.
"I'm done for the night." grunted Riley.
"Same here."
While the boys were stacking their books back on Riley's desk, Hermione stood in front of a bookshelf and studied the contents. One shelf was stocked with cassettes and CDs by various artists, such as Bon Jovi, Dio, Michael Jackson, Queen, and Della Reese. The shelf beneath it was stocked with vinyl records and video tapes, and below that were Riley's novels and comics.
"Nice collection." she commented.
"Thanks." replied Riley. "Some of those are Tony's and Evan's, too."
"Yeah, you won't see me singing and dancing to Michael Jackson when I think nobody's looking." Tony cracked, turning away from his friends.
Riley's face reddened within microseconds, as Hermione slowly turned to look at him, trying not to laugh.
"Tony!" whined Riley.
"Smooth Criminal here would be moonwalking and spinning as he got ready for school," Tony continued, grinning. "I should've asked Harry and Ron if he still does it."
"No, I don't! And stop teasing me about it!"
Hermione smiled at the two boys, then turned and walk out of the bedroom door, leaving them to their arguing. Dr. Cross, who had pulled on her winter boots, looked up at her from the couch.
"Are they coming?" she asked.
"They'll be a while." replied Hermione. "They're having another argument."
"What about this time?"
"Riley and Michael Jackson."
Dr. Cross rolled her eyes, and stood up, walking towards the staircase.
"If you're not down here in the next thirty seconds, boys, there will be no hot cocoa later!" she called up to the two eleven year old boys.
"We'll be right down!" Riley and Tony responded, simultaneously.
After a while of Christmas caroling, the three families returned to the house, shivering from the cold. The first thing they saw was a pair of brown shoes set nearby the coat rack, which had a single dark gray overcoat hanging on it.
"Who's here?" asked Evan.
Riley's face brightened in a second, as he quickly kicked off his shoes, then ran into the living room, where an elderly man with short gray hair cut in the same way as Riley and Prof. Cross' was standing in. He was dressed in a white dress shirt, and a dark blue suit with matching pants, with a pair of white cotton socks.
"Grandpa Neil!" the younger boy exclaimed.
"There's one of my favorite little troublemakers!" said Neil.
"Hey, we didn't get into any trouble this year!" Tony defended, as he walked into the room.
Neil simply laughed as he pulled the two boys into a big hug. Evan and Hermione walked towards the room, and watched as the older man released the two children.
"'Didn't get into any trouble this year'?" Neil repeated, surprised. "I find that hard to believe. What sort of mischief are you two up to?"
Hermione forced herself not to say anything, she did not want to risk the old man getting a heart attack by telling him and the other adults that they had fought a troll on Halloween, and then there was the matter of the enigmatic Nicholas Flamel. Instead, she decided to change the subject.
"So, you're the grandpa that Riley's told me about." she spoke. "The one behind his addiction to comics."
"Guilty, miss." admitted Neil. "You must be a school friend of theirs?"
"Yes, I am Hermione Granger."
Neil walked over to shake her hand, and smiled politely.
"Pleased to meet you." he responded. "Oh, and speaking of comic books though. I picked up some more for you, Riley, since you seem to like them so much." he added, walking back over to the couch, where a paper bag was seated on.
Tony rolled his eyes at the sight of his best friend's excited grin. Riley rushed over to his grandfather and took the bag from him, then started digging into it for a comic book. He pulled out a small book with a picture of a man in a black cowl and cape on it, fighting against a green-haired clown in a purple suit with an evil smile.
"This hero is called 'Batman', and he often fights alongside Superman." explained Neil. "People call him 'the World's Greatest Detective'."
"God help me." muttered Tony. "Superboy's got a new hero to look up to."
"Jealous?" asked Riley.
"Boys." sighed Hermione.
Mr. Granger poked his head around the corner and called for his daughter, letting her know that they were getting ready to leave.
"I'll see you guys on the train." said Hermione.
"See you." agreed Tony.
"Have a good Christmas." added Riley.
They watched their friend run off, then Riley opened his comic book to read from it. Tony watched as he scanned the pages, and shook his head.
"Oy." he muttered.
I apologize for taking so long, but writer's block struck again. So, in the risk of sounding like Zim: "CURSE YOU, WRITER'S BLOCK! CURSE YOU!". I apologize for the short chapter as well. So, this chapter reveals a little bit more about Riley and Tony, and debuted the appearance of Riley's grandfather from America, who is behind his addiction to comic books. I'll update as soon as I can. I promise that this time, it will be shorter than last time.
Disclaimer: I own the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys,...okay, you guys get the picture.
Update (2/10/16): Okay, to the anonymous reviewer, I apologize for not doing thorough research on Nicholas Flamel myself. I planned on them not finding out anything this chapter.