Christmas cheer, and beatings

Harry was back at the cottage, the short time at the academy studying the basics had given him many ideas, it was time to move on from potions for now and start on something new, he spent some time living at the house on his land which had been furnished with all the mod cons, t.v., computer, internet (dial-up ugh!) and they gave him some ideas most were very cheesy but one did give him a very compelling idea He-Man, specifically the transformation, it was over the top as kid shows tend to be but it did give him the idea.

His foci were useful for magic but provided no real defence or protection, the ability to change clothing was appearance only, he could look like he was wearing full dragon-hide armor but it was still ordinary clothing, but with a few switching spells and some effects maybe a transfiguration or two he could make something that would allow him to swap his ordinary foci for ones mare suited to combat, he'd need to study the basics more but he was sure he could come up with something, he would need something to enchant but that could wait until he could realistically start making it.

Nick and Elle stepped out of the emerald flames and into the Evans Cottage, it was such a cosy place, neat and tidy but welcoming, they were about to call out when they heard Harry talking and went to see who he was talking to,

"I have grandparents now Silky, it's incredible to think I now have family who love me, it's something I have wanted for so long be never thought I'd be able to get, even when I had you it wasn't the same you were made to be family you didn't choose to be. You'll be happy to know I didn't provoke Vernon I didn't tease or insult him, i just stood there and he started ranting at me he brought it on himself, if he had behaved like a civilized man he'd still have a job and not be blacklisted and have a criminal record, I never wanted revenge but justice feels leagues better. You'll love my grandparents Silky, they are the best, Nick is like me and inventor at heart, he loved my Blighted Boil Cloud even pointed out why it was as strong I should have spotted the mistake myself but sometimes you can't beat experience, but to be honest I keeping it the way it is but make sure to only use it on those who deserve it,"

Nick and Elle approached looking a little curious before Harry noticed and introduced them, Nick looked at harry and gave him a sad smile while Elle did her best to stop bawling, Nick and Harry led her inside and harry provided a drink he bought from a mundane shop a raspberry and apple juice with quite a kick which seemed to help calm her down as she really enjoyed it.

After Elle had regained her composure they wished Harry a merry Christmas and gave him a hug, Elle then went into the kitchen and began cooking while Nick gave him their present,

"So, are you getting bored of playing with potions yet?" Nick asked,

surprised Harry replied "Yes I am, how did you know?"

"We inventing types usually get bored fast, when you find yourself getting bored put aside what you're working on before it gets' uninteresting and find something that catches your interest," Nick produced two identical pocket watches, "this is your gift, they are both mechanical and so wonk break due to magic, they are perfect for enchanting, lots of little parts you can put simple enchants on, unfortunately since runes can only be so small only simple... what?" Nick asked at Harry's grin,

"come with me, i want to introduce you to something called a laser engraver,"

Nick followed Harry into his mundane house and was awed at the advanced muggle tech there, harry showed his using the computer what a laser engraver was and it's potential for runecrafting, before Nick could say anything Harry yelled,

"DIBS!"

Nick scowled, "that's not fair! this is so exciting and I want to-" Harry cut him off,

"Nope I called dibbs and it's mine, you can use it when i'm bored of it and no telling anyone except Elle!" he grinned

"spoilsport!"

Nick was even more frustrated to know that Harry wouldn't begin his experiments till the summer holidays as he didn't have the time, when they went back it took seconds for Elle to spot he was pouting and Harry explained he had shown Nick a shiny new toy then said 'maybe later if your good' Elle found it hilarious and the christmas dinner she had made was one of the best meals Harry had ever eaten.

The Weasley household was chaotic at the most sedate of times and so christmas was absolute pandemonium, at least after everyone had got up, Molly Weasley would get up much earlier to begin her massive amount of cooking and preparing, Ron was asleep as was Ginny and Percy, however the twins had woken up shortly after their mother as they had decided a gift as good as the one they had for her was too special for opening during the normal chaos and so the krept downstairs as to not wake anyone else, they were surprised to see their father sat in a chair reading the paper,

"up early boys? problem?"

"um, no dad but we have something special to give mum and thought she'd appreciate it before the rest of the family woke up," twin one spoke,

"It's not going to explode or turn her into a chicken is it?" he said with a small smile,

"dad you wound us we would never... pull the same prank twice... but honestly this isn't a prank we worked hard to get her this," twin two protested... weakly,

Arthur just chuckled and waved them on and held his breath slightly just in case.

Molly was fluttering from one pan to another when the twins began speaking, she was too busy to turn around for now,

"Morning mum, merry christmas," they chorused,

"mornin boys, want to help set the table? it's a little early but might as well get it done while there is time,"

they began setting the table, "Mum we have something for you,"

"oh do you?" her voice trying not to drip with sarcasm,

"Yes mum, we worked hard for this, after all you work hard for us and we wanted to show how much we appreciate you,"

"ok then just give me a moment," she put two pans in place and waved her wand before turning around, "ok boys I have a few minutes before I have to stir everything,"

the twins walked up to her and knelt holding up a small silver and gold wrapped box which their mother carefully picked up like it was going to explode... again, she quickly cast a few spells while they still had their heads down and was surprised to see it seemed to be just a normal gift,

"We figured you'd want it before everyone got up so you could have a look," a twin explained,

she carefully unwrapped the quite beautiful paper which disintegrated into a cloud of glitter before vanishing, her expectation of a prank fell fast as she saw the logo inside and he breath caught as she lifted the glasses up and carefully put them on,

Fred/George Weasley: Healthy appeared when she looked at each boy, even the specs couldn't tell them apart? she quickly walked over and looked at her husband and it said Arthur Weasley: gnome bite right leg, she quickly grabbed his leg and checked almost tipping him out of the chair much to his shock and confusion, after cleaning the bite with a quick spell she shot upstairs and looked in each room, Percy Weasley: healthy, Ginny Weasley: healthy, Ron Weasley: mild obesity Ron would be unhappy as he spent the next week or so eating vegetables, Peter Petigrew: prolonged Animagus transformation, muscle weakness, malnutrition...

Molly was no slouch after catching gnomes for years and having two dedicated pranksters' as sons, her reactions and spell skills were shockingly good, and also this was a full grown MALE wizard in the bed of her unknowing second youngest, by the time the aurors arrived Pettergrew was beaten, hexed, had broken bones, and had been castrated BEFORE her was stunned.

Harry had talked it over with his grandparents and he still got a thrill to think of them like that, and he had decided that after signing a contract he would teach Brice and Fleur how to become true animagi. Nick was still working on the energy stones for the Kingdom potion although they were simple to produce there was the fact they could become unstable easily unlike a philosopher's stone, they held a tremendous amount of raw magic and could potentially explode and so Nick had said he would only produce two until he could find a way to make more without risking blowing up an area the size of London, the only reason he was making two was that he had already started before he found the dangers of making the stones.

In the short time he had before he had to return to the academy he continued to research a new idea he had to make a small item he could use for instantly changing outfits, it was surprisingly tricky as the first time he tried Nick had to cut him out of his clothes as they appeared on his body the wrong way around and distorted to fit his trousers had his left leg and left arm in them and had changed to fit perfectly as had the rest of his clothes so there was no real way to take them off, he was just glad he hadn't tried this with his Foci clothes as he wouldn't have been able to remake them in time, he had also discovered that his casting had suffered due to using a wand exclusively, his gesture casting using the other foci was slightly harder and less powerful, he decided that the wand would be used in emergencies only and would start using the dummy he had made in classes.

It was time to head back to the academy and Harry left one final gift for his grandparents, wrapped in gold and silver paper were a set of Foci clothes for the both and instructions on how to use them, he had popped them under their homeward protkeys for them to find when they came back to the cottage, he wondered if they would be able to use them considering how long they had been using wands but decided it was worth a try.