p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span lang="EN-US"Chapter 9. Christmas like never before/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, November/December 1993/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The first quidditch match of the season turning into a disaster by accident caused quite an uproar, more so amongst Gryffindors. Fortunately, by Halloween things settled down, with both the students and the professors returning to their usual routine of lessons, homework and training. With suttle improvements, such as the dungeons being warmer and the corridors sparkly clean, everyone was happy and looking forward to their midterm exams. Only one person, watching everything from a distance or through his trusty elf, had more than joy on his mind./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"To say that Sirius, seeing Hogwarts modernize, didn't feel happy, would be as far from truth as the moon is from the earth. In contrary, he was on a cloud nine the first time since his accident. Many unfortunate events that, if no one took action, would have created dangerous situations or even resulted in unnecessary deaths, now were never to happen. Firstly, Buckbeak the hippogriff was now safe, for even though Slytherins had been furious with the creature rightfully attacking Draco Malfoy, they would find themselves unable to talk about it with their parents, or any adult for that matter, for a year. No one, even Dumbledor, suspected one overeducated elf and a special forgetfulness potion targeting only certain memories or instructions, not that said elf would confess about being involved. then Sirius' friend Remus Lupin, current professor of Defense against the dark arts, had undergone litteral metamorphosis. Gone was his old self cladin rags and bruding over his own misery; the new Lupin, even with his scarred face, looked more like a confident auror than a werewolf, having enough rest, regular meals, and constant supply of Wolfsbane potion. No, it was not hippogryffs or werewolves that troubled the double-minded wizard, only one third-year Gryffindor, namely Harry Potter. As Sirius could assume from his conversation with the boy just after the disastrous game, something kept happening at first matches of the season, and that something always included him. Fortunately this time, with Sirius being exhonorated before school started, it was only a bludger, not a gang of dementers, that made Harry fall. Even though his accident resulted in just a lost game, no one could tell for sure the next one would end so lightly. No, there wouldn't be next one, for Sirius wouldn't allow it. remembering his own words about James Potter, "even if something kept happening for six years in a row, he would have bought anew broom and continue playing for his seventh" switched a proverbial lightbulb in his head. now that's an idea", - he muttered. "the thing is, I don't know a thing about broomsticks of this time." the only option was to go straight to Quality quidditch supplies and select the best broom on the market which, if he wasn't mistaken, should be the Firebolt. Then a trip to (his?) mother Anna Maria Longhurst, a recently graduated charms genius from Uagadou, just about now being on the run for reasons unknown (she never talked about it, nor did Marcus push the topic) was necessary. No matter how protected the broom, she would put any additional enchantments needed, such as an anti-summoning charm with the option to exclude the owner, anti-jinx protection, again with the ability to exclude a selected person (Marcus himself had Jonathan Greenbush keyed in to cast a hurling hex every now and then, for training purposes), and of course an emergency sticking charm activated by either wind or the riders command. Also, he could make the broom fireproof, waterproof, unbreakable… the possibilities were endless. But at first he needed to buy a Firebolt, which wasn't any problem, what with his vaults being full of gold, and more importantly, him being allowed into these vaults. The other part though… only one person, not a wizard but anyway, could sense his mother's location. Sighing, Sirius called: "Alexa! I have a task for you…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"November came and went, with students learning, professors teaching, and everyone being just their normal selves. The castle grounds changed from muddy to frozen, from leaf-littered to snow-covered; even inside, changes were apparent. all the fireplaces burned overtime, being restocked day and night, a stark contrast to previous years of budget cutting even for firewood. It seemed that the headmaster, no matter how reluctantly, came to terms with Alexa the house elf working as a caretaker. also, now absolutely free Sirius Black was constantly present either on the school grounds or in Hogsmeade, observing the life of his revealed godson, Harry Potter. Sometimes on Saturday or Sunday, he would somehow sneak the boy out with no one the wiser, and return at dusk. Surely, the strange elf was very involved in all this, but Dumbledor had no power to stop the creature not absolutely loyal to Hogwarts. It seemed as if he had lost the larger part of his control over the castle, what with all the reports and improvements done by the mysterious caretaker? Little did he know that said improvements were only the beginning, and Christmas will really show what the elf is capable of./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Finally, the 25supth/sup of December came. To say it was different from every previous Christmas would be an understatement of the thousand years. In addition to the usual mistletoe everywhere, the twelve Christmas trees in the great hall and common rooms, and the royal feast, something way bigger awaited the students. also, there were way more children staying for the holidays than usual, as if they knew or at least suspected something. Even more suspitiously, all the gifts from outside were absent from the common rooms, but it made the children even more eager to head for late breakfast./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Upon entering the great hall, most of the first-years and even the majority of older students stopped in their tracks, too amazed to continue. The entire hall, except for tables, was covered in snow, with more falling from the ceiling. Icicles hung from the trees, walls and even the mistletoe, giving the place a festive look. The feast laid on the fortunately snowless tables was also a sight to behold: whole roasted pigs, stuffed turkeys, fish from the great lake, bowls and bowls of green salads, loafs of bread the size of a small trunk amongst other things. Even the skeptical Slytherins couldn't resist the temptation to stuff their faces as if it was no tomorrow, what they, following the example of other houses, eagerly did. Even the professors were too preoccupied to tell them off, instead just enjoying the moment, when the bells started ringing merrily. From somewhere outside, a choir could be heard singing Christmas carols. The sound drew nearer, til the doors of the great hall swung open silently, letting the… half of Hogwarts house elves, clad in travelling coats and lead by Alexa, in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Everyone stopped with forks midway to their mouthes, waiting for no one knew what. Suddenly, a chime reminiscent of a choir tuner sounded from nowhere, and the same full four-voice choir started singing again:/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Wassail, and wassail, all over the town/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Our cup, it is white, and our ale, it is brown/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Our cup, it is made of the good ashen tree/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And so is the malt of the best barley./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"For it's your wassail, and it's our wassail,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And it's joy be to you, and a jolly wassail./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, are you all within?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Pray open the door and let us come in/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, a-sitting by the fire/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Pray think upon poor travelers, a-traveling in the mire./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O where is the maid with the silver-headed pin/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"To open the door and let us come in?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, it is our desire/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"A good loaf and cheese, and a toast by the fire./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"There was an old man, and he had an old cow/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And how for to keep her, he didn't know how/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"He built up a barn for to keep his cow warm/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And a drop or two of cider will do us no harm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The great dog of Langport, he burnt his long tail/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And this is the day we go singing wassail/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, now we must be gone/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"God bless all in this house till we do come again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The hall fell into stunned silence. The children, more so from magical families, were too amazed to voice their opinions throughout the song. Did the headmaster order the elves into a choir of all things? How on earth did these creatures learn to sing in the first place? Only after the performance, when professor Flitwick nodded knowingly to the hall and almost flew to the entrance to shake Alexa's hand, a realization dawned on everyone, and the chaos broke loose. Outraged shouts of "what's the meaning of this?!" "preposterous!" "how dare you mere elves?!" and similar, mostly from purebloods, erupted like a volcano. The muggleborn crowd though, stood up as one and approached the singers to thank them properly with sweets and treats, both muggle and magical. Even more unbelievable was Dumbledors reaction – he apologized to professor Flitwick and Alexa! "Filius, dear elves, I am really proud of you. Excuse me for not believing you back in September. It was for your own safety." This switched on another proverbial lightbulb in everyone's head – a story about the underground house elf choir was indeed true. And the head of Ravenclaw house, of all people, was responsible./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Flashback/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Headmaster's office, Hogwarts, September 5supth/sup 1993/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Albus Dumbledor was again slumped on the chair in his office, trying to take in every strangeness happening in his beloved school. The unbelievably educated elf with an impossible name was just elected as the head of the cleaning crew. Afterwards she managed to implement even more changes to the castle, without asking for help or money. The firewood purchase form showed numbers quadruple to those of previous years, the corridors and even not so frequently used spaces were sparkly clean in spite the lack of capable hands. Little did he know that additional firewood was bought by Sirius Black, who decided to put his money to good use, and the revoked "no magic in the corridors rule resulted in such a cleanliness, for any student capable of casting Scurgify or something similar, was now encouraged to just do so whenever needed. This resulted in Alexa having more free time, supposedly to achieve her goal of teaching all the elves proper English. Rumors flew around that the creatures were even singing in the kitchens, both in English and long-forgotten Elvish. If that was true, sooner or later the primal instinct will drive the elves to sing in public. "it's not happening any time soon", - Dumbledor assured himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Given permission to enter, in strode professor Filius Flitwick, carrying some sort of written form and list of names. Behind him trailed alexa, holding a folder of musical scores./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""good morning headmaster", - the diminutive teacher spoke. Apologies for disturbing you this fine morning, but Alexa here would like to speak to you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""good morning Filius, Alexa. how is the beginning of year going?" – Dumbledor replied, trying to hide his annoyance of being disturbed on Sunday, bewilderment about a house elf entering the normal way instead of simply popping in, and curiosity about the papers. What could be so important for a professor to also get involved? Alexa's answer though was not what he expected:/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""as smoothly as it can with so many pureblood traditionalists around. They cannot come to terms with me being the castle's caretaker, let alone having knowledge of about NEWT level. All complaints aside, today I have a request. Me and master Flitwick here decided to organize a choir, and would like to ask for permission."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The last words made Dumbledor's heart skip with joy. reassembling the school choir was what everyone needed, for even institutions as dark as Durmstrang had one. It seemed that Hogwarts, since Finius Negellus Black dismissed singing as being too muggle except of the silly school song, was known as "the silent school" amongst foreign magicals. It should end, now. And it appeared that two individuals behind his back planned everything, even composing a list of potential candidats. Of course the educated elf had to outrun him, the head of this castle, and probably organize an audition for all the years, if the parchment now lying on the desk was telling something. There were fourty or so names, but something was wrong about them…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""excuse me, but I see no students on this list", - Dumbledor tried to keep his annoyance at bay again. Who would create an alphabetical list of house elves, let alone present it as a possible choir? Or did the rumors about singing elves carry some truth?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""I also didn't understand it til I heard with my own ears what our little fellows are capable of", - Flitwick seemed unfaized. Did he know something? Of course he did, he was part-goblin for crying out loud. It was a public secret that elves were related to goblins maybe more than veela to humans, and more than half of them (no one cared for exact numbers) were natural singers. It seemed that Alexa managed to somehow wake their inate talent, and being showy by nature, the creatures decided to unite into a choir./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Dumbledor was at a loss how to proceed. If he signed the list, the pureblood traditionalists would skin him alive for allowing the elves so much freedom. If not, he risked experiencing full wrath of Sirius Black, who was somehow involved in all this mess. Either way having Alexa as a leader, the elves would revolt and bond with Sirius, or any muggleborn or half-blood that offered support. The only way was to pretend nothing happened, even fake not believing the creatures, while making it possible for Filius to supervise the singers. Deciding to be as careful as possible, for the portraits were now all wide awake, he mumbled something suspitiously like "I don't believe a word of what you said, Filius, there will be no elf choir", while discretely hiding the list in his desk drawer, to be signed later./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"End flashback/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""apology accepted", - one of the elves spoke. "thank you headmaster, for keeping us safe, now we must be gone." With that, the creatures joined hands, all fourty somehow managing to make one long chain, and disappeared with a single pop./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Just after the initial shock of seeing the house elf choir receided, the doors of the great hall swung open again. In walked father Christmas himself. Even if the professors and some seventh-years recognized him immediately as Hagrid from his impossible height, first and even some second years, more so the muggleborns, stared wide-eyed at the representation of childhood itself. Wearing black furry boots with some enchanted snow sprinkled on, a red coat and hat, having his beard charmed white, and carrying an impossibly large sack on his shoulders, he looked exactly as the children remembered from their muggle school years, plus the frost-covered cane which, as would be revealed later, contained some movement-activated charms. While the children watched with barely held joy, the now so real person of their dreams flicked his cane upwards casually, and a miniature blizzard started swirling around the tables, made of the same enchanted snow the hall was covered in. another flick, and the stars on all the Christmas trees glowed brightly for a second, before releasing a shower of colored sparks. Then with the usual "ho ho ho!" to the young and greting to the professors, non Hagrid levitated the sack off his shoulders./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"To say that everyone, from the most skittish first-year to the most experienced NEWT student was happy at the end of the day, would be telling nothing. Father Christmas (Hagrid) not only stayed in his character the entire time, but managed to involve the entire school. Moments after putting down his sack, he was overwhelmed by students eager to get their presents. Fortunately, tapping the cane on the ground restored the order reminiscent of muggle schools, by creating a circle of ice, where only up to five children could enter at the time. even if at the beginning, wizard-raised students were at a loss what to do, they soon were approaching Hagrid alongside muggleborns, receiving gifts for a wide variety of funny tasks, from singing to dancing to a creative spell or three. The gifts also weren't the same: while first-years received mainly rock cakes (having the educated elf for support, Hagrid finally managed to learn proper baking), older students were enjoying their new black or gold-colored quills (staying mainly in his royal phoenix form, Sirius collected enough of his fallen summer feathers to be wittled), or in case of Quidditch players, new equipment. That was why no one questioned Harry Potter receiving something suspitiously like a broomstick, a Firebolt to be precise. That was how, not even needing to set foot into the castle, Sirius did accomplish his task of providing his godson with a broom identical to his own Firebolt extreme, with detailed instructions and list of all the additional charms. That was why that certain Christmas would be remembered for years, even though the wassailing elves, gift-giving Hagrid and much much more will remain as a way to make Hogwarts a really magical school./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, November/December 1993/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The first quidditch match of the season turning into a disaster by accident caused quite an uproar, more so amongst Gryffindors. Fortunately, by Halloween things settled down, with both the students and the professors returning to their usual routine of lessons, homework and training. With suttle improvements, such as the dungeons being warmer and the corridors sparkly clean, everyone was happy and looking forward to their midterm exams. Only one person, watching everything from a distance or through his trusty elf, had more than joy on his mind./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"To say that Sirius, seeing Hogwarts modernize, didn't feel happy, would be as far from truth as the moon is from the earth. In contrary, he was on a cloud nine the first time since his accident. Many unfortunate events that, if no one took action, would have created dangerous situations or even resulted in unnecessary deaths, now were never to happen. Firstly, Buckbeak the hippogriff was now safe, for even though Slytherins had been furious with the creature rightfully attacking Draco Malfoy, they would find themselves unable to talk about it with their parents, or any adult for that matter, for a year. No one, even Dumbledor, suspected one overeducated elf and a special forgetfulness potion targeting only certain memories or instructions, not that said elf would confess about being involved. then Sirius' friend Remus Lupin, current professor of Defense against the dark arts, had undergone litteral metamorphosis. Gone was his old self cladin rags and bruding over his own misery; the new Lupin, even with his scarred face, looked more like a confident auror than a werewolf, having enough rest, regular meals, and constant supply of Wolfsbane potion. No, it was not hippogryffs or werewolves that troubled the double-minded wizard, only one third-year Gryffindor, namely Harry Potter. As Sirius could assume from his conversation with the boy just after the disastrous game, something kept happening at first matches of the season, and that something always included him. Fortunately this time, with Sirius being exhonorated before school started, it was only a bludger, not a gang of dementers, that made Harry fall. Even though his accident resulted in just a lost game, no one could tell for sure the next one would end so lightly. No, there wouldn't be next one, for Sirius wouldn't allow it. remembering his own words about James Potter, "even if something kept happening for six years in a row, he would have bought anew broom and continue playing for his seventh" switched a proverbial lightbulb in his head. now that's an idea", - he muttered. "the thing is, I don't know a thing about broomsticks of this time." the only option was to go straight to Quality quidditch supplies and select the best broom on the market which, if he wasn't mistaken, should be the Firebolt. Then a trip to (his?) mother Anna Maria Longhurst, a recently graduated charms genius from Uagadou, just about now being on the run for reasons unknown (she never talked about it, nor did Marcus push the topic) was necessary. No matter how protected the broom, she would put any additional enchantments needed, such as an anti-summoning charm with the option to exclude the owner, anti-jinx protection, again with the ability to exclude a selected person (Marcus himself had Jonathan Greenbush keyed in to cast a hurling hex every now and then, for training purposes), and of course an emergency sticking charm activated by either wind or the riders command. Also, he could make the broom fireproof, waterproof, unbreakable… the possibilities were endless. But at first he needed to buy a Firebolt, which wasn't any problem, what with his vaults being full of gold, and more importantly, him being allowed into these vaults. The other part though… only one person, not a wizard but anyway, could sense his mother's location. Sighing, Sirius called: "Alexa! I have a task for you…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"November came and went, with students learning, professors teaching, and everyone being just their normal selves. The castle grounds changed from muddy to frozen, from leaf-littered to snow-covered; even inside, changes were apparent. all the fireplaces burned overtime, being restocked day and night, a stark contrast to previous years of budget cutting even for firewood. It seemed that the headmaster, no matter how reluctantly, came to terms with Alexa the house elf working as a caretaker. also, now absolutely free Sirius Black was constantly present either on the school grounds or in Hogsmeade, observing the life of his revealed godson, Harry Potter. Sometimes on Saturday or Sunday, he would somehow sneak the boy out with no one the wiser, and return at dusk. Surely, the strange elf was very involved in all this, but Dumbledor had no power to stop the creature not absolutely loyal to Hogwarts. It seemed as if he had lost the larger part of his control over the castle, what with all the reports and improvements done by the mysterious caretaker? Little did he know that said improvements were only the beginning, and Christmas will really show what the elf is capable of./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Finally, the 25supth/sup of December came. To say it was different from every previous Christmas would be an understatement of the thousand years. In addition to the usual mistletoe everywhere, the twelve Christmas trees in the great hall and common rooms, and the royal feast, something way bigger awaited the students. also, there were way more children staying for the holidays than usual, as if they knew or at least suspected something. Even more suspitiously, all the gifts from outside were absent from the common rooms, but it made the children even more eager to head for late breakfast./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Upon entering the great hall, most of the first-years and even the majority of older students stopped in their tracks, too amazed to continue. The entire hall, except for tables, was covered in snow, with more falling from the ceiling. Icicles hung from the trees, walls and even the mistletoe, giving the place a festive look. The feast laid on the fortunately snowless tables was also a sight to behold: whole roasted pigs, stuffed turkeys, fish from the great lake, bowls and bowls of green salads, loafs of bread the size of a small trunk amongst other things. Even the skeptical Slytherins couldn't resist the temptation to stuff their faces as if it was no tomorrow, what they, following the example of other houses, eagerly did. Even the professors were too preoccupied to tell them off, instead just enjoying the moment, when the bells started ringing merrily. From somewhere outside, a choir could be heard singing Christmas carols. The sound drew nearer, til the doors of the great hall swung open silently, letting the… half of Hogwarts house elves, clad in travelling coats and lead by Alexa, in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Everyone stopped with forks midway to their mouthes, waiting for no one knew what. Suddenly, a chime reminiscent of a choir tuner sounded from nowhere, and the same full four-voice choir started singing again:/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Wassail, and wassail, all over the town/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Our cup, it is white, and our ale, it is brown/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Our cup, it is made of the good ashen tree/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And so is the malt of the best barley./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"For it's your wassail, and it's our wassail,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And it's joy be to you, and a jolly wassail./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, are you all within?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Pray open the door and let us come in/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, a-sitting by the fire/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Pray think upon poor travelers, a-traveling in the mire./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O where is the maid with the silver-headed pin/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"To open the door and let us come in?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, it is our desire/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"A good loaf and cheese, and a toast by the fire./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"There was an old man, and he had an old cow/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And how for to keep her, he didn't know how/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"He built up a barn for to keep his cow warm/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And a drop or two of cider will do us no harm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The great dog of Langport, he burnt his long tail/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"And this is the day we go singing wassail/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"O master and missus, now we must be gone/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"God bless all in this house till we do come again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The hall fell into stunned silence. The children, more so from magical families, were too amazed to voice their opinions throughout the song. Did the headmaster order the elves into a choir of all things? How on earth did these creatures learn to sing in the first place? Only after the performance, when professor Flitwick nodded knowingly to the hall and almost flew to the entrance to shake Alexa's hand, a realization dawned on everyone, and the chaos broke loose. Outraged shouts of "what's the meaning of this?!" "preposterous!" "how dare you mere elves?!" and similar, mostly from purebloods, erupted like a volcano. The muggleborn crowd though, stood up as one and approached the singers to thank them properly with sweets and treats, both muggle and magical. Even more unbelievable was Dumbledors reaction – he apologized to professor Flitwick and Alexa! "Filius, dear elves, I am really proud of you. Excuse me for not believing you back in September. It was for your own safety." This switched on another proverbial lightbulb in everyone's head – a story about the underground house elf choir was indeed true. And the head of Ravenclaw house, of all people, was responsible./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Flashback/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Headmaster's office, Hogwarts, September 5supth/sup 1993/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Albus Dumbledor was again slumped on the chair in his office, trying to take in every strangeness happening in his beloved school. The unbelievably educated elf with an impossible name was just elected as the head of the cleaning crew. Afterwards she managed to implement even more changes to the castle, without asking for help or money. The firewood purchase form showed numbers quadruple to those of previous years, the corridors and even not so frequently used spaces were sparkly clean in spite the lack of capable hands. Little did he know that additional firewood was bought by Sirius Black, who decided to put his money to good use, and the revoked "no magic in the corridors rule resulted in such a cleanliness, for any student capable of casting Scurgify or something similar, was now encouraged to just do so whenever needed. This resulted in Alexa having more free time, supposedly to achieve her goal of teaching all the elves proper English. Rumors flew around that the creatures were even singing in the kitchens, both in English and long-forgotten Elvish. If that was true, sooner or later the primal instinct will drive the elves to sing in public. "it's not happening any time soon", - Dumbledor assured himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Given permission to enter, in strode professor Filius Flitwick, carrying some sort of written form and list of names. Behind him trailed alexa, holding a folder of musical scores./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""good morning headmaster", - the diminutive teacher spoke. Apologies for disturbing you this fine morning, but Alexa here would like to speak to you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""good morning Filius, Alexa. how is the beginning of year going?" – Dumbledor replied, trying to hide his annoyance of being disturbed on Sunday, bewilderment about a house elf entering the normal way instead of simply popping in, and curiosity about the papers. What could be so important for a professor to also get involved? Alexa's answer though was not what he expected:/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""as smoothly as it can with so many pureblood traditionalists around. They cannot come to terms with me being the castle's caretaker, let alone having knowledge of about NEWT level. All complaints aside, today I have a request. Me and master Flitwick here decided to organize a choir, and would like to ask for permission."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"The last words made Dumbledor's heart skip with joy. reassembling the school choir was what everyone needed, for even institutions as dark as Durmstrang had one. It seemed that Hogwarts, since Finius Negellus Black dismissed singing as being too muggle except of the silly school song, was known as "the silent school" amongst foreign magicals. It should end, now. And it appeared that two individuals behind his back planned everything, even composing a list of potential candidats. Of course the educated elf had to outrun him, the head of this castle, and probably organize an audition for all the years, if the parchment now lying on the desk was telling something. There were fourty or so names, but something was wrong about them…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""excuse me, but I see no students on this list", - Dumbledor tried to keep his annoyance at bay again. Who would create an alphabetical list of house elves, let alone present it as a possible choir? Or did the rumors about singing elves carry some truth?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""I also didn't understand it til I heard with my own ears what our little fellows are capable of", - Flitwick seemed unfaized. Did he know something? Of course he did, he was part-goblin for crying out loud. It was a public secret that elves were related to goblins maybe more than veela to humans, and more than half of them (no one cared for exact numbers) were natural singers. It seemed that Alexa managed to somehow wake their inate talent, and being showy by nature, the creatures decided to unite into a choir./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Dumbledor was at a loss how to proceed. If he signed the list, the pureblood traditionalists would skin him alive for allowing the elves so much freedom. If not, he risked experiencing full wrath of Sirius Black, who was somehow involved in all this mess. Either way having Alexa as a leader, the elves would revolt and bond with Sirius, or any muggleborn or half-blood that offered support. The only way was to pretend nothing happened, even fake not believing the creatures, while making it possible for Filius to supervise the singers. Deciding to be as careful as possible, for the portraits were now all wide awake, he mumbled something suspitiously like "I don't believe a word of what you said, Filius, there will be no elf choir", while discretely hiding the list in his desk drawer, to be signed later./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"End flashback/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US""apology accepted", - one of the elves spoke. "thank you headmaster, for keeping us safe, now we must be gone." With that, the creatures joined hands, all fourty somehow managing to make one long chain, and disappeared with a single pop./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"Just after the initial shock of seeing the house elf choir receided, the doors of the great hall swung open again. In walked father Christmas himself. Even if the professors and some seventh-years recognized him immediately as Hagrid from his impossible height, first and even some second years, more so the muggleborns, stared wide-eyed at the representation of childhood itself. Wearing black furry boots with some enchanted snow sprinkled on, a red coat and hat, having his beard charmed white, and carrying an impossibly large sack on his shoulders, he looked exactly as the children remembered from their muggle school years, plus the frost-covered cane which, as would be revealed later, contained some movement-activated charms. While the children watched with barely held joy, the now so real person of their dreams flicked his cane upwards casually, and a miniature blizzard started swirling around the tables, made of the same enchanted snow the hall was covered in. another flick, and the stars on all the Christmas trees glowed brightly for a second, before releasing a shower of colored sparks. Then with the usual "ho ho ho!" to the young and greting to the professors, non Hagrid levitated the sack off his shoulders./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-US"To say that everyone, from the most skittish first-year to the most experienced NEWT student was happy at the end of the day, would be telling nothing. Father Christmas (Hagrid) not only stayed in his character the entire time, but managed to involve the entire school. Moments after putting down his sack, he was overwhelmed by students eager to get their presents. Fortunately, tapping the cane on the ground restored the order reminiscent of muggle schools, by creating a circle of ice, where only up to five children could enter at the time. even if at the beginning, wizard-raised students were at a loss what to do, they soon were approaching Hagrid alongside muggleborns, receiving gifts for a wide variety of funny tasks, from singing to dancing to a creative spell or three. The gifts also weren't the same: while first-years received mainly rock cakes (having the educated elf for support, Hagrid finally managed to learn proper baking), older students were enjoying their new black or gold-colored quills (staying mainly in his royal phoenix form, Sirius collected enough of his fallen summer feathers to be wittled), or in case of Quidditch players, new equipment. That was why no one questioned Harry Potter receiving something suspitiously like a broomstick, a Firebolt to be precise. That was how, not even needing to set foot into the castle, Sirius did accomplish his task of providing his godson with a broom identical to his own Firebolt extreme, with detailed instructions and list of all the additional charms. That was why that certain Christmas would be remembered for years, even though the wassailing elves, gift-giving Hagrid and much much more will remain as a way to make Hogwarts a really magical school./span/p