On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all. When he woke up early in the morning, however, the first thing he saw was a note on the side table with his name on it. He put on his glasses and grabbed the note. He read it and smiled. He went to the restroom to freshen up and went downstairs. What he saw was something incredible. He saw the Cullens and Ron near the Christmas tree, waiting for him to come down to start opening presents. "Merry Christmas, Harry," Ron said.
"You too, Ron," he replied. "Merry Christmas, everyone." Everyone replied their well wishing to Harry. He stood next to the tree and saw a pile of presents with his name on them, "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!"
"What did you expect, turnips?" asked Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's. Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute.
"Hagrid sent his present here? How did he know where I was staying for Christmas?" Harry asked.
"We told him," Ella answered. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it – it sounded a bit like an owl. A second, a very small parcel contained a note.
We received your message and enclosed your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunuia. Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece. "That's friendly," Harry said. Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence.
"That's weird!" he said, "What a shape! This is money?"
"Yes, it's money that muggles use," Ella said.
"You can keep it," Harry said, laughing at how pleased Ron was. "Hagrid and my aunt and uncle – so who sent these?"
"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mum. I told her you didn't expect any presents and – oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley sweater." Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge. "Every year she makes us a sweater," Ron said, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."
"That's really nice of her," Harry said, trying the fudge, which was very tasty. His next present also contained candy – a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.
"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is – they're really rare, and really valuable."
"What is it?" Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to touch like water woven into material.
"It's an Invisibility Cloak," Ron said, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is – try it on." Harry threw the Cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell. "It is! Look down!" Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanish complete. "There's a note!" Ron said suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"
Harry pulled off the Cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:
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.
There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the Cloak. "I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?
"Nothing," he said. He felt very strange. Who had sent the Cloak? Had it really once belonged to his father? Harry looked at Ella questioningly.
"Harry, someone delivered it here. We really have no idea who knows that you're saying with us during the holidays. I didn't know about the Cloak until now," Ella responded to his unspoken questions. "There is something that I have that once belonged to your mother. It's her gift to you. She asked me to hold onto it and give it to you during your first year at Hogwarts." Carlisle approached her with a box. "Thank you, Carlisle," she replied as she took the box from Carlisle and presented it to Harry. Ron stayed quiet and watched the scene unfold. Harry took it and eyed it a little bit. He sat down to open the present. He didn't want to tear it apart. It was a little bit of his mother that he wanted to keep. Ella glanced at Edward and smiled because she couldn't help but smirk as he did this. When he finally got the wrapper off the box, he opened it and saw that it was a journal. He took it out of the box, flipped through it and saw his mother's handwriting. He scanned one page and realized that it held his mother's private thoughts. He closed it and held it close to his heart. He looked up to Ella and his eyes were watering, "Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you for giving me a little bit of my mother."
"You're most welcome, Harry," she said softly. He stood up again and hugged her around her waist as tight as he could. She hugged him back. He was grateful for something that resembled his mother and be able to find a way to get to know his mother. After opening the presents, Harry and Ron went outside to play in the snow. The spent the rest of the day doing various activities.
Christmas had come and gone but the term hadn't started yet. The Cullens were meeting up with Dumbledore and McGongall to discuss things. Both of them were considering that maybe Ella could take fewer responsibilities and spend more time focusing on Harry since she had informed them that something was going to happen to him during the 2nd half of the term. The rest of the Cullens picked up where Ella wouldn't be able to do. Edward felt that he wasn't doing much during the 1st half of the term and was grateful for more things to do. Now Ella was just focusing on assisting Dumbledore and Harry. Dumbledore motioned for Ella to follow him since they noticed that he had found the special mirror. "Back again, Harry?" He stood up as he heard his voice and saw Ella standing next to him. "I see that you, like many before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised. I trust by now you realize what it does," he said and noticed that Harry still hasn't fully figured it out yet. "Let me give you a clue. The happiest man on earth would look in the mirror and see only himself exactly as he is."
"So then, it shows us what we what… whatever we want," he said as he looked back at the mirror.
"Yes and no," he said. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts. Now you, Harry, who have never known your family, you see them standing beside you but remember this, Harry. This mirror gives us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away in front of it… even gone mad. That is why tomorrow, it will be moved to a new home," he said and Harry looked at him somewhat surprised. "And I must ask you, not to go looking for it again. It does not dwell on dreams and forget to live."
"Harry, have you gotten the chance to read through your mother's journal?" Ella asked as they walked away from the mirror. There was a reason as to why Dumbledore asked Ella to join him.
"Yes, I've read bits and pieces," he answered.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"I'm having a bit difficulty reading through all of it because it hurts to know that my mother went through so much for me and I couldn't do anything," he responded.
"Harry, you need to understand this," Ella said, stopping both of them. She leaned down enough to grab his shoulders and shake him gently, "You couldn't do anything. You weren't born yet when the things that she wrote had happened. You weren't alive yet. She wrote them down because she wanted you to know what kind of person she was. That's why she wanted me to give you her journal. She wanted you to get to know her. She wanted you to know her enough so that you can love her now." Harry's eyes were welling up. "Oh, Harry, I know that you miss her, she's your mother. I do miss her too. She made me promise to watch over you Harry when you started to attend here in Hogwarts. And now that you're here, I can protect you. But if you're being secretive around me, I can't protect you in the way that only I can. Think about that, Harry." Then she led Harry out of the room. "This is where I leave you. Remember, Harry, that I'm here for you and think about what I said." She left him to his thoughts. She headed towards her living quarters. She needed some peace and quiet to think about what just happened. When she got inside, she was surprised to see Edward there. "I thought you were helping McGongall with her lesson plans."
"Dumbledore came to us as we were going to her office and asked me to support you. He told me briefly that you were talking to Harry about his mother and I knew immediately, so I came here," he said.
Since she was half-human, she was able to produce tears, "Edward, I'm so tired! I don't know what else to do! I'm trying to protect him but it just seems that he doesn't want my help. What am I supposed to do?" she wailed as she collapsed into his arms. He just held her as she continued to cry.
"I'm here," he knew that he couldn't say anything about her relationship with Lily because he wasn't there for the most part. All he could promise was that he was going to be there and support her. What they didn't know was that Dumbledore had brought Harry to their cabin and made Harry listen to what she was saying.
"I hope that listening to her cry over you will wake you up, Harry," he said and left him there. He stood there unsure of what to do.
He wondered if he should go and talk to her or leave. Since he was there, he decided to talk to her. He went up to the door and knocked. The door opened slightly as Edward peeked out, "Hello, Harry. How can I help you?"
"Mr. Cullen, could I speak to Miss Cullen? It's important that I have a word with her," Harry said.
"Hold on, Harry. Let me ask her if she's up to…" he didn't finish his sentence because Ella had opened the door.
"Come in, Harry," Ella said. This was the first time that Harry went into the Cullens' living quarters and wasn't surprised that it was very homey. From what he could remember about their other home in London, that was more open and seemed to express the family as a whole. The house they're living in seemed different. Harry felt like he stepped into a fairytale cottage. The floor was crazy quilt of smooth, flat stones. The low ceiling had long exposed beams that someone as tall as Hagrid could surely knock his head on. The walls were warm wood in some places, stone mosaics in others. The beehive fireplace in the corner held the remains of a slow flickering fire. It was driftwood burning there – the low flames were blue and green from the salt. It was finished in eclectic pieces, not one of them matching another, but harmonious just the same. One chair seemed vaguely medieval, while a low ottoman by the fire was more contemporary and the stocked bookshelf against the far window reminded Harry of movie sets in Italy. Somehow each piece fit together with the others like a big three-dimensional puzzle. There were a few paintings on the walls. Priceless originals, no doubt, but they seemed to belong here, too, like all the rest. It was a place where anyone could believe magic existed. It was a place where you just expected Snow White to walk right in with her apple in hand, or a unicorn to stop and nibble at the rosebushes. Edward and Ella exchanged looks. "Edward, not now, please!" Edward nodded. Harry stood there feeling awkward in their presence. "You can sit down, if you like, Harry," she said as she pointed to their dining table chairs. Harry sat down on one of the chairs. Ella sat opposite him and Edward stood behind her. "What is it that you wanted to tell me, Harry?"
Harry didn't know where to start, so he just said, "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing for?"
"Dumbledore came back to talk to me after you left and brought me here and I heard you crying. I didn't know any better," Harry said.
Ella closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. When she opened her eyes, Harry saw her eyes brimming with tears, "Harry, you don't need to apologize. Like you said that you didn't know. I don't know any better myself, either, Harry. This is all new to me. Just know and remember that I'm here for you and together, we can figure things out and fight whatever comes our way. That's the promise I made to your mother but I think if anything I need to apologize for you," Ella said.
Harry was a bit surprised, "Why? You didn't do anything."
Ella nodded, "Yes, I did. I should let you go out and explore and learn without my hovering over you, Harry. I shouldn't try to make you do anything that you don't want to do."
"You mean, you've been following me by astral projecting and using the invisibility charm?" he asked. They spent one day together at the beginning of the year, she was telling him what she can do as well as Edward telling him what he can do as well. Ella nodded. Harry didn't know how to respond to that. No one has ever done that to him, let alone for him. "Does that mean you know that Ron, Hermione and me are trying to find information about him?"
Ella knew who he was talking about, "Yes, but Harry, I didn't tell anyone because I'd rather have you tell me and others on your time, not mine. There were times where I wanted to inform Dumbledore about what you know but it's not my place to do so."
"Mr. Cullen, did you read my mind as well?"
"Yes, I did but I did the same thing as Ella did. I wanted you to be the one to tell us and Dumbledore. It really isn't my place to do anything, just because I can read your mind…"
"Or by my hearing about it during your so called secret meetings with Ron and Hermione," Ella said.
"Are you going to stop us?" Harry said. He looked so downhearted.
"Well," Ella started off but looked at Edward for help.
"We need to tell Dumbledore, Ella," Edward said. "We're bound to him as his assistants."
"I know that, Edward," she paused. "But I'm also bound to him through his mother. Can't you see the dilemma I'm in?"
"Mr. Cullen?" Harry said.
"Yes, Harry."
"I'm sorry for putting both of you in this situation. It is not my intent to put both of you into this situation. If you could permit Hermione, Ron and myself a bit more time to figure out what's going on, we'll tell him ourselves. All I'm asking for is a bit more time to fully understand what is going on," Harry explained.
"I know that you want to figure things out, Harry. We want you to, but think of this. What happens if Professor Dumbledore comes up to both of us and tells us that we should have stopped you and told him what is happening, what then?" Edward asked.
"I'll talk to him. I'll convince him somehow. All I'm asking is some time to figure out what's happening."
"How about this: we agree to give you a couple of weeks to find out what you can, if there's nothing to gather, then we all tell him together?" Edward asked.
Harry thought about it and it sounded reasonable, "Thank you, Mr. Cullen. I appreciate you helping out. I'll do what I can and do my best to not get all of us in trouble." With that said, Edward accompanied him to his dormitory. For some reason, Ella insisted that Harry not be left alone at night. She's been getting this nagging feeling that something was going to happen and she knew that Alice was frustrated because she has difficulty seeing past witches and wizards.
After classes were dismissed for the day, students were gathering around the Great Hall, attempting to study; however, instead of doing their studies, they were surrounding the Cullen family. Jasper and Ella were playing an elaborate game of chess, utilizing eight joined chess boards and their own complicated rules. Dumbledore was there and he had managed to magically visually project the chess match without intervening the game, so that all students were able to watch the chess match. The students were wondering how the game was won and they couldn't tell who was winning. Edward and Emmett were arguing or as they would like to call it, doing commentary during the match. The students were laughing at what was being said as they tried to watch the match. For some reason, Harry could tell that Ella was winning because of her facial expressions and knew for sure when she said, "Check." For the next few minutes, all were quiet… all anyone could hear were the breathing of the students. Jasper tried to find a way to get out of winning. He thought he had something and moved his knight. Ella leaned down and saw what he did and looked over the chess board and realized that Jasper just made the wrong move. She smiled all knowingly and moved her Queen over to Jasper's King. "Checkmate!" Jasper was stunned and looked over the board and groaned. The Gryffindor house cheered for Ella. Hufflepuff groaned because they were cheering for Jasper.
"Hufflepuff, that's okay. I'll get her next time," Jasper said, trying to calm down the House. He turned to Ella and said, "I want a rematch!" Hufflepuff chanted after him.
"I look forward to it! And the next time we play, I'll make Gryffindor proud by beating you," Ella challenged. Gryffindor cheered behind her.
"What about Ravenclaw?" a student asked.
"Or Slytherin?" another shouted out.
"Unfortunately, they don't know our rules," Ella said. "Jasper and I have tried to explain it to them but they never understood it. So if you want to blame someone… blame the assistants for they never learned our glorious game. Isn't that the truth, Jasper?"
"That's right. So Hufflepuff and Gryffindor are two very special houses," Jasper said with pride. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor cheered whereas Ravenclaw and Slytherin booed.
Dumbledore managed to settle everyone down and made sure that the students were doing their homework. Hermione had walked into the Great Hall and walked straight to Ron and Harry once she spotted them.
She put a thick book on the table and said, "I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."
Ron was a bit surprised, "This is light?"
Hermione ignored his comment and flipped the book open to a certain page and began reading, "'Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone.'"
Ron and Harry looked at each other and said, "The what?"
"Honestly, don't you two read?" she asked and continued reading, "'The Sorcerer's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It'll transform any metal into pure gold and produces the Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal.'"
"Immortal?" Ron said.
"It means you'll never die," Hermione immediately answered.
"I know what it means!" Ron snapped back.
Hermione kept on reading, "'The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist who last year celebrated his 665th birthday.' That's what Fluffly's guarding. That's what's under the trap door. The Sorcerer's Stone." They took the rest of the day processing the new information. It wasn't until the next day that Harry had an epiphany and went to Hagrid's hut with Ron and Hermione following close by. While they were talking to Hagrid about what they learned, they were surprised even more when Hagrid accidentally informed them of how to calm Fluff down. Later that night, they were at Hagrid's yet again when they found out that he had a dragon egg and wanted to see it for themselves. After seeing it born, they saw Draco outside of Hagrid's window. They knew that they were immediately in trouble once they saw him running back to the castle to tell on them. Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to leave and face the consequences.
As they were getting close to the entrance of the Main entrance, McGonagall, Ella and Draco were waiting for them. "Good evening," McGonagall said. "Follow me." She turned and led them down a hallway to her classroom. She stood behind her desk, Ella standing next to her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing across from McGonagall. Draco was standing off to the side. "Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken."
All three of them were shocked, Harry said, "50?"
"Each. And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all four of you will receive detention," McGonagall explained.
Draco thought he misheard and approached the desk and asked, "Excuse me, professor, perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said the four of us."
"No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy. You see, honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will join your classmates in detention." Draco scowled at that thought. Harry was somewhat thrilled that Draco was also getting detention as well. "Ella, go get Filch." Ella nodded and walked off to find Filch.
The next night, Filch led all four of them to Hagrid's house. While they were walking, Filch said, "A pity they let the old punishments die. Was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, I miss the screaming. You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the Dark Forest. A sorry lot, this, Hagrid. Good God, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?" Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco were wondering what had happened.
"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony," Hagrid said, a bit emotionally.
"That's good, isn't it? He's with his own kind," Hermione said.
"What if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby."
"For God's sake, pull yourself together. You're going into the Forest. Got to have your wits about you," Filch scolded.
"The Forest? I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are… werewolves," Draco said. If all things, he didn't want to go in there but he didn't want to show that he was actually frightened.
"There's more than werewolves in those trees. You can be sure of that. Nighty-night," he said and left.
"Right. Let's go," he said and he lead them into the forest. They stopped after walking for about 5 minutes. Hagrid put the lamp down and touched some kind of silver-like water.
"Hagrid, what's that?" Harry asked.
"What we're here for. See that? That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been hurt bad by something. So it's our job to go and find the poor beast. Ron, Hermione, come with me. And Harry, you'll go with Malfoy."
"Okay, then I get Fang," Draco said.
"Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward."
They split up and Draco immediately started to complain, "Wait till my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff."
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared."
"I'm not scared, Potter. Do you hear that? Come on, Fang. Scared!" he walked off.
Harry walked towards him and caught up. All three of them paused, Harry noticed that Fang was acting a bit off, "What is it, Fang?" They all saw a shadowy figure leaning down on a helpless unicorn. Draco screamed and ran away. Fang had ran after Draco. Harry stood frozen in his spot. His scar was hurting him. He stepped backwards a few times before falling down. He couldn't scream or anything. Before he knew it, he heard hoof beats and something had flew over him and managed to scare off figure away.
Ella had ran to where Harry was with Edward close by. They saw Firenze coming out of his hiding place and said "Harry Potter, you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The Forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you."
"What was that thing you saved me from?" Harry asked, calming down enough to talk. He was relieved to see Ella there.
"A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking its blood will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. For you have slain something so pure, that the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life. A cursed life," he answered.
"Who would choose such a life?"
"Can you think of no one?" Firenze asked.
"Do you mean to say that, that thing that killed the unicorn… that was drinking it's blood, that was Voldemort?"
"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?" he asked, leaning down to Harry's eye-level.
"The Sorcerer's Stone," he automatically answered.
"Harry!" Hagrid answered. Harry turned around and saw that Draco was there with the others. "Hello there, Firenze. See you've met our young Mr. Potter. You all right there, Harry?" Harry nodded.
"Harry Potter, this is where I leave you. You're safe now. Good luck," he said and left.
"Ella, Edward, could you take everyone back to the castle? I'll take care of the unicorn," Hagrid said.
"Of course, Hagrid," Ella answered as Edward nodded. "All right, everyone, let's go." They started walking towards the castle.
"Is the unicorn dead?" Hermione asked.
"I'm afraid so, Hermione. Just wish you didn't have to see a dead creature like that," Ella answered. Hermione shivered at that response.
"But why would someone want to kill it?" Ron asked. No one answered it. Ella, Harry and Edward knew who it was. Once they got into the castle. James and Victoria were there to escort Draco back to the Slytherin dormitory while the rest of them walked towards Gryffindor. Harry felt comfortable enough to tell Ron and Hermione what he learned as they walked towards the common room.
Hermione was confused, "You mean, You-Know-Who is out there right now in the Forest?"
"But he's weak. He's living off the blood of the unicorn. Don't you see? We had it wrong. Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants it for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again. He'll come back," Harry answered.
"But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to kill you, do you?" Ron asked.
"I think if he'd had the chance, he might've tried to kill me tonight," Harry answered.
"And to think, I've been worrying about my potions final," Ron proclaimed.
Harry looked up to see Ella and asked, "What is it?"
"Edward and I were close to where you were, he wouldn't have tried to kill you tonight, Harry. Edward isn't affected by Voldemort's power like we are. Edward would have gotten to you before he did," Ella said.
Hermione decided to add, "Hang on a minute. We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared? Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore is around, Harry, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore is around, you can't be touched."