I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Hello everyone. Hope all are doing well and having a nice start to the end of the year. If you have been reading my other stories, you will know that I am doing an Advent Calendar for fanfiction from today to Christmas Day. It will be a mix of my usual updated stories, but I wrote this one specifically for the Calendar and the time of year. I sort of wished I planned it more better, but I literally thought about it the first week of November. I stopped working on my current project and managed to do this in about 3 weeks. I was going to wait to start this, but a bit of a lovely Christmas miracle happened last night. The wonderful and talented Babbling Brook, the artist that I commission all my covers from, did this cover in less than two weeks and it literally was sent to me last night. Which was all I needed to start it today. There will be 12 chapters and this my unapologetic tribute to the holiday season, with some of my favorite tropes in it, and hopefully a bit of a ham-fisted message seeded throughout. Hopefully it'll scratch that itch if you also enjoy it too. This is something simple and sweet and I hope you all enjoy it.

As always, thank you for your time. I write for all of you. I want to know how much you all mean to me and how I appreciate your time and attention. Thank you for being a part of my fanfiction family.

Without further ado, let us start the Advent Calendar and celebrate the holidays together!

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The North Star

Chapter 1 – Glimmering

The North Star, also known as Polaris, is the brightest star in the Ursa Minor constellation. It can be seen with the naked eye and is actually a triple star system: Polaris Aa, Polaris Ab, and Polaris B. Due to its fixed position, it was used for navigation to help travelers find their way and eventually becoming a symbol of hope, guidance, direction, and stability.

When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world. – Harold Kushner

-0-0-0-

It was very quiet.

Snow fell down onto the silent ground below. Everything was covered by a layer of soft snow that was growing deeper and heavier with each passing moment. The air was still with barely a breeze or wind, resulting in the snow falling almost straight down. The falling snow shrouded everything, obscuring edges and angles, covering outlines.

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was not just a school, but a castle as well. Built to withstand sieges and times of battle, the large stone structure was not immune to the snowfall. The roof was covered, the battlements and the towers liberally daubed. From a distance, it looked like the castle was frosted and coated with soft sugar. The lights within the castle, shining from windows, made the snow glow and even though it was night, the grounds were lit up with ambient reflected light.

The Black Lake, a giant lake that bordered the grounds of the school, had not frozen over. The waves moved languidly, as if it too did not want to break the gentle quiet and peace that ringed around the school and the grounds. The Forbidden Forest did not live up to its name at that moment, looking mildly discouraging with the trees also covered by the soft snow.

Harry Potter was alone on the grounds that night and he was perfectly fine with that.

The young man had snuck out of the castle, with it being after curfew and technically speaking, he should not be out of the Gryffindor dormitory or common room. That said, Harry had a passing relationship with rules where he acknowledged their existence but was never one to allow them to hold him back too much. Under his invisibility cloak, he had left the tower, walked to the ground floor, and left the castle completely, content to walk over the silent grounds by himself.

He looked behind him and smiled, seeing his footsteps vanish. With the snowfall, his footprints would have been covered soon enough, but a handy little charm made them vanish a bit more swiftly. That, coupled with the falling snow, hid his path as he wandered around.

He sighed, looking out over the quiet landscape. The sixth-year student had gone through a lot recently and he needed the solitude to reflect and to marshal his thoughts. He snorted softly as he meandered in body and mind. This year had honestly been quite nice and calm for once, compared to all his others.

For example, he had not had to confront a troll or stop a possessed professor from stealing the Philosopher's Stone. He had not had to endure months of people thinking he was responsible for siccing a monster on Muggleborn students and did not confront said monster and almost died because of it. He was not the target of an escaped criminal from Azkaban and did not have his soul nearly sucked out by Dementors multiple times.

He was not trapped in a tournament that had nearly killed him, not vilified by fellow students for doing something he did not do. This year, he managed to not be kidnapped and used for a dark ritual to bring back the Dark Lord that was responsible for murdering his parents.

Even better, one Delores Umbridge was not at the castle this year and she was not doing her best to torture Harry and to ruin their lives and education. He flexed his right hand, looking at the scars that were etched into the back of it. It had also been months since his disastrous decision to infiltrate the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic and walk straight into a trap. A trap that resulted in the injury of his friends that followed him, his godfather being in a coma in St. Mungo's hospital.

The fact that the trap had also resulted in the destruction of Voldemort's body and his subsequent flight and the capture of the vast majority of his followers was a small comfort to him.

So all in all, this year was much better than previous years. Save for the fact that he was currently in the middle of his two best friends: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, fighting while having his own arguments with the both of them. He was wrestling with his feelings regarding other matters as well, not to mention he still keenly felt the guilt for Sirius Black's condition at the hospital. He had dueled his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange and had fallen to a dark spell. He was not dead, thankfully in a stable sort of condition, but still in the coma.

All those thoughts and feelings had given Harry no peace and he had to escape the tower. He had hoped the quiet night and the snow would help him and it did. He could breathe a little more easily out here. He finally stopped walking and looked up at the sky. Most of it was obscured by clouds but then, as if waiting for his attention, a tiny break opened up, revealing the night's sky. Stars twinkled in the inky-black night and a sliver of the moon appeared, shining bright.

A smile grew on his lips as he looked up at the stars. A sense of peace filled him and his thoughts stilled. He stood there for a long time, unaware of the passing of time save for the continually falling snow. Eventually he heard something, drawing his attention. Normally the sound would be incredibly quiet, almost unheard. Yet in the quiet of the night, without other noises, he could make it out. It was also a familiar sound and he turned his head and smiled as he saw a shape draw closer. He held his arm up and waited.

Hedwig swooped in and landed daintily on his arm. His snowy owl shook herself, shaking snow everywhere yet somehow missing him, and fluffed her feathers before smoothing them. She looked around, body still but head turning all around, to examine the surroundings before she turned back to him. Large amber eyes peered at him intelligently and she cheeped at him, tilting her head.

"I'm okay," he said. He did not understand her literally of course, but Hedwig had very expressive eyes and facial features as well as a talent for communicating through body language. Years of closeness and genuine love between the two meant that they could communicate perfectly well despite not speaking the same language. He sighed at her flat look. "Mostly."

She waddled up his arm and sat on his shoulder, fluffing up and pressing against his neck and head. She preened his hair lovingly before she barked softly.

"Just thinking." He looked up again at the small patch of clear sky and the twinkling stars, smiling when Hedwig looked up with him. "It's beautiful tonight."

Hedwig hooted.

"Not as beautiful as you of course," Harry added, smiling when she hooted smugly and tugged on his hair lovingly. He hummed at her inquiring look. "Just needed a moment of quiet. It was loud in the tower and there was a lot of arguing and rough feelings."

Hedwig rolled her eyes and made a rude wing gesture that was accompanied by tail feather flicking that made him laugh.

"It's not entirely on them," Harry said softly. "I don't think I've helped any either with using the potions book or pretending on using the Liquid Luck." He softened when Hedwig cooed gently at him, nuzzling him with her soft feathers. "Just saying, fair's fair."

He reached into his pocket and took out a small mirror, looking at it with regret. He felt Hedwig climb off his shoulder and slide down his arm, sitting on the mirror and looking at him eye to eye. She cheeped at him again, shaking her head.

"I know," he sighed. "But, if only I used this. Maybe Sirius wouldn't be in a coma."

Hedwig bonked her head against his, forehead to forehead, barking gently.

"You're right, of course." He waited for her to climb back up to his shoulder and slipped the mirror back into his pocket. He continued to walk slowly with Hedwig swaying with his movements on his shoulder. The night deepened and he shivered slightly when the temperature grew colder.

Hedwig hopped onto his head and plumped down. She then bit onto a lock of hair and tugged it gently but insistently, tugging him back to the castle.

"I guess you're right," Harry sighed. He turned away from his path around the grounds and slowly started walking back to the castle. It was late and it was only getting colder, though her sitting on his head was welcome warmth. He took his time however, and Hedwig did not prompt him to hurry. Boy and owl slowly made their way back up to the school through the falling snow.

-0-

"May I join you?"

Harry looked up and nodded. "Of course, Luna." He scooted over on the bench and Luna Lovegood sat beside him, smiling brilliantly at him. The younger Ravenclaw girl was a bit of an oddity still to him. She still had that dreamy air about her, that strange sense of not being all there and yet overly so somehow. Yet she had been one of the ones that had followed Harry willingly last year and he was very fond of the odd girl.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Well, thank you," she said. "I'm having a nicer year this year. My things have not gone missing at all this year." She looked at him, the dreaminess becoming more concrete for a moment. "I have you to thank I think?"

Harry shrugged. "All I did was tell Professor Flitwick and passed a message through Padma."

"Message well received," Luna said happily, leaning against Harry slightly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling at her. "Is everything okay?" he asked, noticing how she was looking at him intently.

"The wrackspurts are a bit thicker around you today," Luna said, her voice a little unfocused. "Actually, they have been for some time now. I've been meaning to ask how you are."

"Oh, well, alright I guess," Harry said, shrugging lightly again. He smiled weakly at her continued close look at him. "Just, things are still a bit tense up in the tower between Ron and Hermione."

"Ah, I can see that," Luna nodded. "Ron can be funny but says unkind things and Hermione has a very narrow view of things."

Harry nodded in agreement. "You're not wrong. And it's not just them. I feel like there's a lot of tension and stress going around."

Luna nodded again. "Well with You-Know-Who out in the open, even with him on the run, it makes for a bit more tension. People are scared and nervous." She sighed gently. "A pity. I do like the holidays and this time of year. Nargles are afraid of holly and tinsel and the wrackspurts get dizzy around bells. Plus the snow keeps them chilled of course."

"Of course," Harry agreed, smiling a little.

"Maybe the decorations will help lift spirits," Luna said. "And other holiday things. They sometimes do."

"I do like when they decorate the school and the Great Hall," Harry said. He watched as Luna murmured an incantation and tapped herself with her wand. "What's that?"

"It's a charm Daddy taught me," Luna said. "It's a Desiring Charm."

"That sounds…odd," Harry said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Luna giggled, eyes bright. "It isn't anything terrible, don't worry. Sometimes I have trouble deciding what I want. So the charm reveals what I want to me and if it is something I want, I get it."

"So it can reveal something you don't want?" Harry asked, slightly confused.

"Sometimes! Sometimes it reveals what you should want instead of what you want, or sometimes what you need and we know need and want aren't always the same thing. It can be a bit fickle that way. But it's often more right than not."

"Huh, that's neat. How specific does it go? I mean in helping you decide on what you want?" he asked. "Like, for serious things?"

"Not typically. Usually little things like what you want to eat or drink or what to wear," Luna said. "But it being magic, sometimes it reveals more than you think."

"What were you trying to decide?" Harry asked.

"If I wanted pumpkin juice or another fruit juice for lunch," Luna said. "I apparently want water instead though and that does sound refreshing."

"How does the charm determine that?" Harry mused.

"The spell draws on your surface thoughts," Luna explained. "The thoughts closer to the surface of your mind I mean."

"Following you there."

"And then it follows the threads to your magic and helps make the determination for you," Luna said. "I believe it's a form of divination magic but a lot less woolly." She blinked at his chuckle. "You don't believe me?"

"No, I do," he said, smiling. "Just that you and Hermione both called parts of divination woolly."

"I'm glad we can come to an agreement on some things," Luna said with a trifle amount of heat in her tone. She shook her head and returned to her usual dreamy self. "I think it's mostly for fun, but it's still a good spell to reveal certain truths and wants. As well as help when you're especially indecisive."

She blinked at him again. "Would you like to know what you want to drink at lunch?"

"Sure, why not." Harry watched her murmur the spell again and tap him gently with her wand. "Well?"

"Black tea, two lumps of sugar, a splash of cream that does not exceed a teaspoon," Luna said confidently.

"That's…that actually sounds really nice right now," Harry said, blinking as well. "Huh. That is handy." He furrowed his brow a little.

"Oh, I think I see the beginnings of a thought being formed," Luna said, looking closely into his eyes. "It's rather delightful to see it happen in real time."

Harry smiled again. "Could you teach me that spell please? Also, do you have to think of a question for it to answer when you cast it?"

"You usually do. I've tried to cast it without one in mind and the results are rather nebulous sometimes," Luna said. "And of course I'll teach you. Some magic is better once you share it."

That made the thought in his head grow even more and his smile grew the bigger for it. "Thanks Luna. You're a great friend."

Her overlarge eyes opened wide and she looked at him with shy shock. "We're friends?" she asked, her voice small.

"Of course we are, I haven't made you feel otherwise, have I?" Harry asked, concerned.

Luna shook her head, her pale blonde hair flying all over. "No! I mean, no you haven't, but it's wonderful to hear it being said out loud. Sometimes I think I hear things but I don't know if I really heard them."

"I know exactly what you mean," Harry said sympathetically.

-0-

Hedwig woke up from her nap with a yawn, stretching her wings and ruffling her feathers. She was sitting on her favorite roost in the school Owlery and she clacked her beak in satisfaction, enjoying the plentiful warming charms the school maintained for the owls' health and comfort. She turned her head to the door and brightened, flapping over as Harry appeared.

"Hi girl!" Harry greeted as Hedwig flew to him, landing on his shoulder and nuzzling him. He sat down in an alcove and pulled out a pile of bacon butties. He smiled as the owl hooted happily and took a sandwich from him, munching on it with delight. He waited for her to finish the first one and start the second. "I wanted to ask you something."

Hedwig hooted through a muffled beak and hopped onto his lap. She continued to munch and looked up at him inquisitively.

"I was hoping you'd help me with something in the coming days. It'll be a lot of work on your part, but it's not post delivery," he said.

She tilted her head, intrigued. She looked at the small mirror that Harry revealed. It was only a few inches in diameter and ringed with a wooden frame. A small buckle was at the top and it hung from a silver chain.

"Luna taught me a fun spell earlier," he explained. "It's a spell that helps a person decide on what they want. You can establish a question for the spell to determine too. I did some reading and a lot of the mirrors that help people dress and things have a really similar charm and runic array on them. So I went to Professor Babbling and she helped me make this."

Hedwig flapped her wings, applauding with them and cheeping proudly at him.

"Thanks! So for this mirror, if you focus it on a person, what will show up in the image will be what they want for Christmas. It can save the images of a few people too and then I can go back and look at them and then erase them."

Hedwig nodded, suitably impressed. She frowned slightly at it and then looked at Harry, one eye narrowed and the other open.

"I just thought with how tense things are around the school and castle, it'd be nice to do a surprise thing," he said. "Like, I vaguely remember something the Dursleys did for ages. It's an advent calendar and every day you open a small box or door and there's a treat or something. It's to count the days down to Christmas. December is about to start and I thought it'd be fun to include treats and things and for a few people, a gift."

Hedwig narrowed both of her eyes at him. She waggled her rear dismissively at the castle below them and resumed staring at him.

Harry sighed. "I know," he said softly. "But, I was thinking, if I did this, maybe it'd take my mind off things and people will be happier." He smiled when Hedwig cooed at him and nuzzled him sweetly, cheek to cheek. "That's what the season's for, right? Spreading cheer and goodwill?"

She gave him a doleful look, blinking slowly and soulfully at him.

"I do want to do this," he insisted. "And like I said, maybe it'll help cheer me up too. I shouldn't give expecting to get. That's not right. But if people are all around happier, that's a good thing, right?"

Hedwig sighed but nuzzled him again and gently bit his nose. She plumped in his lap and tilted her head again, barking a question.

"Well if you don't mind helping me, you'd wear the mirror and help get people's reflections. You'd be like a Christmas elf! But an owl."

She squinted at him, tilting her head the other way.

"I did say it'll be some work," Harry nodded. "But you're the best flyer and you're really sneaky and good at observing." He smiled again when she nodded with robust self-assurance. "But if it's too much for you, I could ask one of the house elves. I mean, they're already elves so-" He sputtered when she headbutted him directly and tugged on his hair, flapping her wings.

"I didn't say you couldn't!" he protested as she scolded him, tugging on his hair in between indignant barks. "I'll get you a nice Christmas hat to wear when you go about. Would you like that?" He smiled as she nodded, barking happily.

"Thank you," he said as she nuzzled him. "And to show you how it works, let's try it on you." He aimed the mirror at her and she struck a dramatic pose, making him laugh. The mirror reflected her image for a moment before shimmering. Harry looked at it blankly, seeing his reflection. "Did I mess it up?" He angled it a few ways and realized no matter how it was angled, he was still in it.

He blinked a few times and hugged Hedwig tightly. "I love you too, Hedwig," he said thickly and Hedwig cooed and fluffed against him. He blinked away a happy tear. "I guess it works!"

Hedwig nodded before she struck another pose. The mirror's surface shimmered again and then a picture of a bacon butty appeared.

"Well good thing I have plenty here!" Harry laughed and he cuddled with the owl as she ate another sandwich in his lap. He took a deep breath. "I think this will be great," he said with feeling.