Chapter 35: Christmas Party Panic

Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. Wow, a Christmas chapter, just in time for Christmas. Talk about timing. I'd like to thank masters123lfm for helping me come up with this one. I hope you like what I have planned. Please Review and Enjoy.

We found ourselves in the last class before everyone could leave for Winter Holidays. In Charms class, we see Prof. Flitwick teaching a charm with Slytherin and Gryffindor.

"Good morning Class today we will learn a very useful freezing charm called Glacius. " Flitwick said using a charm to light two pots on fire on the table. "Now let's see who would like to demonstrate?"

Scanning the class Prof. Flitwick saw a few students especially Hermione raising her hand. "Ahh Mr Snape and Ms Greengrass mind to come here for a moment and demonstrate?"

"Sure," Daphne said standing up.

"Why not?" Sam shrugs joining her.

"So who wants to go first?" Flitwick asks.

"Ladies first." Sam gestures.

"Wow, such a gentleman." She rolls her eyes amused and steps forward.

"A Chivalry act like a Gryffindor and the humility of a Hufflepuff 5 points to Slytherin." Flitwick chuckles amused.

However, some people were not amused.

'Ugh, disgraceful. How did he even up in Slytherin?' Malfoy thought.

"Alright, Ms. Greengrass watch me and recite the spell," Flitwick said showing her the proper wand movement.

"Glacius!" Daphne said casting the spell and the entire flaming pot froze up.

"Of course, the former Ice Queen would master this spell." Sam chuckles making her blush.

"I grew out of that name long before I learned this spell," Daphne said stepping back and allowing Sam to step forward.

"Alright Mr. Snape like this," Flitwick said showing him the motions.

Taking a deep breath, Sam released the spell. "Glacius!" Firing the magic, he froze the pot just like Daphne did. "Wow cool." Sam jokes.

"Splendid work both of you. 5 points to Slytherin for the both of you," Flitwick said as they made their way to their seats.

"Oh please that spell was mediocre at best." Malfoy mocks as Sam walks past him.

"You know Malfoy normally I would tell you how wrong you are but since it's the holidays I'm gonna let you have this because you don't have anything going for you so you think you can bring me down to your level." Sam mocks leaving Malfoy frustrated.

"You'll pay for that Samuel," Malfoy said.

"Put it on my tab." Sam brushes off.

Growling Malfoy was about to let him have it when Prof. Flitwick shot red sparks out startling them.

"If you want to settle your differences do it anywhere but not in my class, 10 points will be taken from Slytherin from each of you for this childish and intolerable behavior," Flitwick said.

Soon the class was dismissed and Malfoy and his goons walked in one direction. Sam was walking out with Harry, Ron, Barnaby, Hermione, and Liz. And the boys were still laughing.

"That was bloody brilliant." Barnaby laughs.

"You put Malfoy in his place the day before the holidays." Harry chuckles.

"Any chance you can do that for me every year? You can make it my Christmas present." Ron asks.

"Can't believe you lost points for sticking up for yourself," Liz said.

"I don't care. He had it coming." Sam assures.

"Maybe, but do you need to keep making an enemy out of him?" Hermione asks.

"Hey, it's not my fault he's the worst," Sam said.

Walking out Daphne watched them and smiled softly.

"He is something. Not afraid to tell it like it is." Daphne said when her sister walked over.

"Hey, Daphne." She said startling her.

"Astoria? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for our trip home?" Daphne asks.

"Done that already big sister," Astoria said before glancing over at Sam. "But why are you looking at that Loser Samuel? He is a peasant who associates with muggles and squibs. He's not worth the time."

"Sam is not like that and you have no right to judge him or the people I hang out with. Now if you excuse me I have to go pack." Daphne said leaving.

Glancing one more time at Sam, Astoria tilts her head. "What does she see in him?" Astoria asks confused.

At Hagrid's Hut, we see Eric and Cole packing up to head home.

"You sure you don't want us to stay?" Eric asks.

"I'll be fine boys. Besides I need to stay and keep watch over Buckpeak. We might be getting a letter from the Ministry over the break." Hagrid said.

"Let us know the second you find out," Cole said.

"Appreciate it boys, but don't let me ruin your holidays," Hagrid said.

"If you say so," Eric said zipping up his bag and heading out.

Pausing Cole walks over and holds out a present.

"Merry Christmas," Cole said.

"What's this?" Hagrid asks.

"It's a present, for being such a great help." Cole smiles.

As Hagrid opens it he sees a wooden clock with a dragon sitting atop the clock with its tail hanging down the side.

"Sam told us you liked Dragons, so we looked around and found this. Do you like it?" Cole asks.

"I-I love it." Hagrid smiles for the first time in a while.

"Merry Christmas Hagrid." Cole smiled as he made his way out.

Looking at his gift, Hagrid placed it by his bedside table.

'Those boys are alright.' Hagrid thought.

Soon the day came when students could go home for break and thanks to Sirius Black and the Dementors that was almost everyone in the whole school.

After giving his gifts to his friends, Sam and his friends boarded the Hogwarts Express to home.

The beautiful winter scenery was a nice change of pace, but the Dementors on the outskirts of the station did not make it better. It made everyone as eager to get as far away from the school as possible.

At the orphanage, Martha was keeping an eye on the kids who were decorating the halls for the holidays.

"Alright be careful up there," Martha said before turning to see Zanna standing in front of her father sitting in a chair.

Taking a deep breath, she removes her top hat and pulls out a rabbit.

"Tada." Zanna smiles.

"Impressive." Giovanni smiles.

"Oh yeah, Sam is going down tonight." Zanna smirks.

"Uh, this isn't a competition right?" Martha asks.

"Not for us. But Zanna wants to try and outshine Sam at the big performance. I think it's cute she's this determined." Giovanni said.

"By the way thanks for the tickets," Martha said.

"Think of it as my Christmas gift." Giovanni chuckles when the door opens revealing Newt in winter wear.

"Hey look who I found lurking around the Train Station," Newt said as Sam, Eric, and Cole came in.

"Boys." Smiling Martha walks over and gives them all a hug.

"Hi, Martha." All of them cringed trying to breathe.

"So Newt are you staying for the holidays?" Martha asks.

"Love to but I can't. I have some family things to take care of." Newt said before glancing at the boys. "Oh and uh I'll look into that thing you told me about. Maybe I can find something to help your teacher."

"Much appreciated Newt," Cole said as he left.

"What's going on with your teacher?" Martha asks.

"Oh, it's nothing. He's just trying to figure out a way to help a certain magical beast and we asked Newt if he knew any solutions to help him." Sam said quickly.

"Well, you boys unpack and get ready. Everyone's excited for the show." Martha said walking away.

Curious, Zanna looks over. She knew what was going on Hogwarts but why wasn't Sam telling Martha everything?

"Ah, Sam good to see you," Giovanni said walking over.

"Hey, Mr. Bezel," Sam said.

"I'm glad you're here. I want to see if your magician's outfit fits. Follow me." Giovanni said leading him to the back.

"Wait outfit?" Sam said surprised.

"Can't have you performing in just a hat. Zanna has her outfit, I need you looking your best for the show." Giovanni said.

"Wait you have one too?" Eric asks looking at Zanna.

"Oh yeah, Dad's got it all planned out. The only question is which new magician with the audience love more?" Zanna challenges.

"Oh boy." Eric and Cole mutter.

Pausing Zanna looks to see Martha is busy and leans in.

"By the way what was with Sam earlier? He acted weird when he brought up Hogwarts. I mean I know a lot of stuff is going on but…" As Zanna looks at their faces her eyes widen. "Wait does she not know?"

Quickly grabbing both boys, led Zanna outside.

"Listen Martha cannot know about the horrible things going on," Eric said.

"The dementors, Black, the fact that a student is suing our mento for an accident that he caused if Martha knew about even one of those things she might pull us out." Cole lists.

"But don't you think she should know?" Zanna asks.

"Zanna please, Martha is only slowly opening up to the magical world. We jumped in headfirst with Sam so we knew what we were getting into but she doesn't. Sam's been struggling with that for years. During his second year, he would send us and Newt letters begging for info on the Basilisk but more than anything not to tell Martha because he knew she wasn't ready for all this." Eric explains.

"He can't keep lying to her," Zanna said.

"We know, but this is something Sam started so it's only right that he be the one to do it," Cole said.

Hearing the loyalty these two shared for Sam, Zanna couldn't help but be impressed. "You know for No Majs you two are really good friends."

"No Majs?" Eric asks.

"It's another word for Muggles," Zanna said.

"So you'll keep this between us?" Cole asks.

"Magicians never reveal secrets," Zanna smirks miming zipping her lips.

Breathing relieved both boys smiled.

"Thanks, Zanna," Cole said.

"We can talk more about this later. Now I have a magic show to prepare for." Zanna grins.

Soon it was Christmas Eve, and true to Giovanni's word he had set up a fun magic show in the city square where the good behavior kids of the Seven Stars Orphanage got to go with Martha and got some seats along with the other fans.

Around the show, we see a nice bonfire for roasting marshmallows and chestnuts, a big Christmas tree, and some other games going on.

In the back, Zanna stepped out wearing a black magician's tux over a white shirt with a black bowtie, a black top hat, stockings, and a black skirt.

"Wow Zanna, you look real professional," Cole said.

"Thanks, first time out of the assistant's dress so I wanted to make sure I looked the part," Zanna said taking out a black wand. "So where's the competition?"

"He's right here," Eric said stepping out. "Come on out."

"I don't know. I feel weird." Sam said on the other side.

"Come on, it's no weirder than if your school robes in public," Eric calls out.

Seeing he was right, the door opened and everyone was surprised.

Stepping out, Sam was wearing a red sleeveless magician's vest over a white long-sleeve shirt with blue stars on the sleeves, a black tie around his neck, black pants, a red and black top hat on his head, and green diamonds painted under his eyes.

"Oh man, I feel like my stomach is doing somersaults," Sam said.

"Wow. You look good. Strange but good." Zanna said.

"Your dad thought red would suit me better," Sam said.

"The face paint was my idea. A little extra flair." Eric said proudly.

"Wow, Sam you look pretty good in red," Cole said.

"Maybe I should have tried my luck as a Gryffindor." Sam jokes.

"Hey here's your wand," Cole said handing it.

"That's not my real wand right?" Sam asks.

"Don't worry we got your real one right here," Cole said gesturing to his pocket before handing him his magician's wand.

Peeking outside they saw Giovanni do his final trick.

As he stepped into a box, several swords were stabbed through it much to the audience's horror.

Afterward, the box was spun around 3 times before it opened revealing Giovanni completely unharmed causing the crowd to cheer.

"Thank you, thank you. You've all been a wonderful audience. But in the Spirit of the holidays, I have decided to give a very special present. You see there are two young upstart magicians, both gifted in the magic arts. So tonight I am giving them a chance to wow you with the abilities they've shown to me. Please welcome the Enchanting Zanna Bezel and the Sensational Samuel Snape!" Giovani declares.

"That's your cue." Cole smiles.

"Break a leg," Eric said as they both stepped forward onto the stage.

Making their way out in front of the crowd, Sam gulped nervously. This was WAY different than birthday parties or showing tricks to his friends.

Looking to Giovanni the man hinted to breathe.

Deciding he might need some help Zanna stepped forward.

"Thank you all for coming! Now I know you're all excited after the amazing tricks by this man here, but let's end it on a fun note. For my trick, I'd like a volunteer." Zanna said.

Looking around Zanna picks a young girl who makes her way on stage.

"Now I want you to tell me what you love about the holidays. Do you love singing carols? Shopping? Or maybe decorating the house and tree?" Zanna asks.

"The tree." The girl said.

"Me too." Zanna smiles before taking out a deck of cards and a marker. "Now I want you to pick a card and then write your favorite ornament on the card.

She picks one and scribbles something on it.

Taking the card back, Zanna shuffles it into the deck before tossing the deck in her hat.

"Now let's get this all mixed up," Zanna said before dumping the contents on the table. "Now do you see the card you wrote on this pile?"

Examining it carefully, the girl shook her head.

"It's not there?" Pausing Zanna peeked inside her hat. "Come on don't tell me it's stuck." Smacking the back of the hat multiple times she reaches in and pulls out a gold Christmas star with her card stuck to it. "There it is." She smiles making the girl squeal and the crowd cheer.

"Whoa," Sam said impressed.

"Here, every tree needs a star on top of it," Zanna said handing the tree to the girl before sending her off.

"That's my girl," Giovanni mumbles before clearing his throat. "Alright, folks let's give her a round of applause!"

As the crowd applauded her, Zanna walked over to Sam and gave him a smirk.

"Don't choke." She said as he stepped forward.

Taking a deep breath, Sam stepped forward.

"Alright for my trick I'm gonna ask that my volunteer be a little older," Sam said before looking at the mother. "Ma'am come on up."

Smiling she joined up on stage.

"Tell me I bet holidays can be stressful. Always running around buying gifts for family and friends." Sam assumes.

"Yes, they are." The mother nods.

"I bet. Having to get tons of presents like this." Reaching around Sam pulls out a wrapped present and puts it on a spinning table. "Don't you just wish you could find the right present? One that's perfect for everyone.

As Sam spins it around the present rotates but to the audience's surprise sees a second one appear next to it.

Spinning it in the opposite direction the second present disappears and the first gift changes into a small box. "Hmm, not much of a gift. Let me try this again."

Spinning it again, the gift grew until it was twice the size.

"Now ma'am please open the gift and see what's inside," Sam instructs.

As she opens the box, the mother looks to see a Christmas cookie of a present inside making the audience laugh.

"Would you look at that? You had present inside the present." Sam jokes making Zanna snicker amused.

As the crowd applauded him one guy who was adding wood to the bonfire didn't realize he was walking through a snowball fight and one stray snowball hit him in the face causing him to stumble.

In the confusion, he bumped into a kid who was roasing marshmallows and their flaming stick landed on the tree causing it to erupt in flames.

As people started to panic, everyone gasped to see the tree was catching fire.

In the confusion and horror, people started to freak out and run around.

Looking at this situation, Sam saw the tree begin to weaken. If it collapsed it would cause a complete disaster.

Running backstage, he grabbed his wand from Cole.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Cole asks as he runs back out.

"Glacius!" Sam yells casting the spell he learned earlier and froze the flames putting them out and turning the tree white like snow.

Pausing in horror, Sam, Zanna, Giovanni, Eric, Cole, and Martha realized what just happened as the audience looked at Sam.

"Uh…tada," Sam said trying to play that off like a trick.

There was a brief silence before one member of the audience started clapping resulting in the whole crowd cheering.

"What a trick!"

"I don't know how they did it but it was amazing!"

"It looked so real!"

Gulping nervously Martha was glad Sam avoided a disaster but something told her he wasn't out of the woods just yet.

After the show, they scrambled into an empty building.

"What were you thinking?!" Eric asks.

"I don't know! They were in danger and I panicked!" Sam said.

"Sam you can't use magic outside of school. You're underage." Zanna said.

"I know!" Sam said.

"They saw you using magic!" Cole said.

"I know!" Sam panics.

"Okay! Okay! Stop!" Giovanni said quieting them down. "Alright, they thought it was part of the show so maybe we can write the off as a flashy illusion. But I bet the Ministry has already prepared your letter for this."

"Wait what?" Sam gulps.

"Honestly I'm surprised it hasn't gotten here yet. They're usually fast about this." Giovanni said.

"Because I wanted the pleasure of handling this." A familiar voice said.

Freezing up, they saw Prof. Snape had apparated down the hall across from them.

"Prof. Snape. M-Merry Christmas. I thought you were staying at Hogwarts." Sam said.

"I was until we got a message that one of our students used magic to save a group of muggles." Reaching into his robes, Snape pulls out a letter. "And I found this. Open it."

Slowly Same opened the letter and sadly they all knew what it was about.

Dear Mr. Snape,

We have received intelligence that you cast a Freezing Charm in front of non-magical users. As you know, underage magic is not permitted. However, our reports show that circumstances and pure luck of situation made the containment easy. So we are letting you off with a warning. Any further use of magic outside of school could result in expulsion from said school. Enjoy your holidays.

Signed the Improper use of Magic Office.

"You were seen! Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have risked the exposure of our world and for what?! A cheap show." Snape said.

"Severus I think—" Giovanni said.

"You have no ground to stand on Bezel. You've been pulling this charade for years." Snape said.

"But he helped those people they were going to get hurt," Zanna said.

"Silence." Snape hisses making everyone but Sam step back in fear. "And since you are in my house, any reckless actions you take ultimately reflect on me."

"So you're saying I should have let that fire go out of control?" Sam asks.

"Muggles have their way of dealing with these things. But you seemed to think you could do better. If the wrong people were in that audience, you and everyone you love could be in danger." Snape said.

"But…no one was. I mean if you look at it this way. I kinda found a way to do magic in public and the muggles we're none the wiser." Sam said but Snape just glared daggers at him. "I'm in lots of trouble, aren't I?" Sam asks.

"What do you think?" Snape asks.

"I think…I'm going to stop talking now before it gets worse." Sam gulps.

"Too late." Snape declares.

Soon Sam was outside the orphanage shoveling and salting all the pathways by himself.

Dressed in winter wear, Sam was still shivering as he was scooping as much snow as possible as it came down.

"You couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to punish me?" Sam asks looking to Snape who is standing by the door watching him.

"Think of it this way. You'll fall asleep much easier tonight. Maybe next time you'll think twice before using real magic in a magic show." Snape said.

As his teeth clattered Sam got back to work.

"Uh, professor?" Turning around Snape saw Martha opening the door dressed in a nightgown showing she was about to call it a night. "Can I have a word with you?"

"I suppose," Snape said before turning to Sam. "If I come back out to see you haven't much progress I'll make you do it all over again."

"Yes sir." Sam panics getting back to work.

As he continued shoveling, Sam couldn't help but think about his talk with Aberforth.

'Why do you do these things? What is your reason for stepping off the sidelines?' Aberforth's words rang in his head.

Frowning Sam still didn't know the reason why. Thinking back to the magic show, Sam recalled how people reacted to it. The fear and terror on their faces as the fire spread. He wanted to stop it before it got worse, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out the reason why he did it.

"Ugh. Why is this so hard to answer?" Sam asks slamming the shovel down on some ice and breaking it.

Inside, we see Eric and Cole from their room watching Sam hard at work.

"I didn't know wizarding laws were this bad," Eric said.

"We can't keep relying on Sam like this. If he gets busted again he could be expelled. And then we'll be expelled." Cole said. "Hagrid may have gotten a way out but I don't think Sam's that lucky."

"I gotta look into these laws, we found some loopholes with the games, books, and candy there's gotta be something in there we can use," Eric said.

Even though they weren't being punished both muggle boys knew that for Sam's and their sake, they needed to be more careful outside of Hogwarts.

Little did they know on a lower level Zanna was watching Sam shovel away and felt bad for him.

Entering Martha's office, she walked over to her desk.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Martha asks.

"I'm fine," Snape assures sitting down.

"Very well," Martha said getting down to business.

"If you're going to question my methods for punishing Sam—" Snape starts.

"Oh, I don't mind that. He broke an important law. If you punish him, he knows not to do it again. Kids need to know this stuff." Martha said.

"So why did you call me here?" Snape asks.

"I just wanted to give you this." Martha reached into her desk and pulled out a small thin present. "It's a thank you present."

"For what?" Snape asks curious.

"Sam writes here a few times and almost every time there's a mention of you in it." Martha smiles surprising him.

"He does?" Snape asks.

"That boy looks up to you. And that fact that when he got in trouble you came all this way shows a part of you cares about him too." Martha said.

"You break the rules, you have to be punished. You can't risk the safety of a magical world like that." Snape said.

"If you say so," Martha said before walking over to a window. "You know Sam doesn't know this but one time when he was a baby…he was almost adopted."

Hearing this Snape looked over intrigued by this.

"I mean they seemed like a good family. A new couple eager for a child, I was happy, but deep down I felt something was off. And eventually, I knew why. They filled all the forms, passed everything test, but by the time it was over they never came for him." Martha frowns.

"What?" Snape said not expecting that.

"They backed out at the last minute. They said that they managed to get pregnant and felt they didn't want to adopt him anymore. I yelled at them for 20 straight minutes before throwing them out." Martha said tightening her fist.

"Some people don't deserve to be parents," Snape said.

"No arguments there. Every Adoption Day I watch these kids do their best to look nice and be their best. Sometimes I think people just look at them like they're just items you buy at a store and can just return them if they don't want them anymore. They don't truly understand how important it is for these kids to have people love and care about them. Make them feel like they have a home. Feel safe." Martha said.

"You've done well. No one around Hogwarts seems to mind and they could have turned out worse." Snape said.

"I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for Sam. I just hope you understand how helpful you are." Martha said.

Simply taking her gift, Snape tucks it away in his robes. "Happy Christmas."

Walking out the door, he is surprised to see Sam sitting down exhausted. He was about to scold him but noticed he had finished shoveling and all the paths were clear of all snow and salted.

"All done Professor. I promise I won't make that mistake again." Sam apologizes.

"Go inside and get some rest. You've been punished enough for one night." Snape gestures.

"Thank you." Nodding Sam made his way inside.

Taking one more glance, Snape left the orphanage to go back to Hogwarts.

Making his way back inside, Sam immediately made his way to the fireplace to try and warm up.

"Well, you look like you've seen better days," Zanna said walking over to him.

"I thought you left," Sam said.

"Dad's gathering up the last of his things. So I've got a few minutes." Zanna said.

"Ugh, can you make fun of me later Zanna? This has been a long day and I'm too tired for this." Sam said.

"Yes what you did was stupid and you're lucky you got off easy," Zanna said making Sam roll his eyes. "But that was brave risking your wand to help them."

"Huh?" Sam said as Zanna sat next to him.

"You didn't even care about the consequences and yet you helped them. That was pretty amazing. You're alright Sam." Zanna smiles.

"Wow, that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Sam smiles making her giggle and playfully nudge.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm still a better magician than you." Zanna smirks.

"Well here." Walking to the tree, Sam grabs a small present and hands it to her.

"What's this?" Zanna asks.

"Even though we're not the best of friends your dad has been good to me and my friends so I got you something," Sam said as she opened it to reveal a red and gold Gryffindor bowtie.

"What the?" Zanna pauses.

"I know you said you were considering Hogwarts but I think a little red would go well with your magician's tux. And I don't why but I can see this as your house if you ever come." Sam smiles.

Taking off her black bowtie she puts the red one around her neck.

"How do I look?" Zanna asks.

"Magical," Sam said making her giggle.

"I'll take it. Merry Christmas Sam." She said.

"Merry Christmas Zanna," Sam said.

From down the hall, Giovanni was watching this and had a smile on his face.

This Christmas didn't go the way they had expected but in the end, they were able to end on a nice note. Little did they know at Hogwarts their friends had their surprises.