During their Thursday afternoon free period, Harry, Othniel and Tallulah visited Professor Lupin as they've grown accustomed to doing. He offered the children treats and puckerberry juice, which they accepted without hesitation.

"How have your holiday breaks gone?" Lupin asked as the firsties munched away on their snacks. "Did you get anything special for Christmas?" He pointed at Harry and winked. "Don't answer that one – I already know what you got."

"I don't know if you call it 'special', but I got some clothes, some money, and some fancy colored pencils," replied Tallulah with a shrug.

"Colored pencils, eh? Do you have a flair for art, perhaps?" murmured Lupin.

Tallulah let out a nervous giggle. "I don't know if you'd call me an artist, but I like to sketch and doodle a bit. I have a couple of sketch pads I like to practice on." Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink. "You might think this is a bit silly, but I still enjoy coloring books… they do have some more advanced ones that take a while to finish."

"I don't think that's silly at all," chuckled Lupin. "Especially if a relaxing activity like that helps you unwind after a stressful day. And what about you, Othniel?"

Othniel snickered. "I actually got an electronic gaming system. I totally didn't expect that…"

"Awesome! What did you end up getting?" asked Harry.

"I got a Sega Game Gear," Othniel said with pride, but his expression then darkened a smidge with disappointment. "I wish I could play it at the castle, but the batteries keep dying after like five seconds, so I gave up after swapping them out after the third time. I get the feeling that they don't like electronics here."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'm not sure what it is with magic and electronics, but I don't think they mix. Both my uncle and my godfather told me to keep my Game Boy at home." He offered his friend an apologetic smile. "I wish I had known you were getting a Game Gear, dude. I would have told you to keep it at home!"

"It's not a big deal," admitted Othniel. "I don't have much time to devote to gaming during the term anyway. This summer, on the other hand…"

Lupin and the three children exchanged light-hearted banter for the better part of a half hour, before the professor suddenly remembered the time and had to excuse himself to get ready for his next lecture. "Tallulah? Othniel? I'll be seeing you tomorrow for sure. And Harry? Could you stay behind for just a tic? I have something for you."

As Othniel and Tallulah waved goodbye to their professor, Harry hung out in his Defense professor's office until the coast was clear. Lupin grabbed a small leather-bound book off his shelf, with several bookmarks sticking out of the pages. He blew off a light coating of dust before handing it to Harry. "This isn't just any book, Harry. It's a personal diary from Thaddeus Forristall, a prominent historian of the wizarding world. Like myself, he was educated at Hogwarts, but his speciality was North American and Asian wizarding history."

Harry looked at the diary in awe. The pages were yellowed with age, though the magical ink looked as new as the day it was written. "This book has to be at least fifty years old," he surmised.

"Try closer to a century," chuckled Lupin. "To give you an idea, he was off bushwhacking in Burma when Albus Dumbledore was but a schoolboy." He tightened his lips. "Despite his significant contributions to the wizarding world, over the last thirty years of his life, he developed a rather unhealthy obsession with the Orb of Exuberance. He had gone so far to teach himself Parseltongue – at least enough of the language to open the same passageway you just so happened upon – but came up just short of claiming it for himself. From what I've read in his journal, the Orb presents itself only to those it deems worthy."

Harry's eyes widened. "So, what happened to Forristall? Did he meet the same end as Elder Gomer?"

"That, nobody can say for sure," sighed Lupin. "He somehow vanished from the face of the earth about sixty years ago. It's reasonable to assume that his obessesion with that infernal artifact gradually drove him to madness, but how he met his end – and where – is a complete mystery."

"So… what about Professor Haatali?" asked Harry, scratching at the back of his neck. "Have you heard anything from him yet?"

"It won't be today I'm afraid," Lupin replied. "He's aware of your predicament, but he needs more time to fully focus on the next steps. When he's ready, I'll let you know."

The next morning was Friday, and Harry's face glowed with excitement when he spied Ana sitting at the breakfast table, her nose buried in a textbook as per usual. "Good morning, Ana," Harry greeted as cheerfully as he could.

"Well hello there Harry," squeaked Ana as she gently lay her book face-down on the table, offering him a bright smile. "TMIF!"

"Oh, definitely," agreed Harry. His smile practically doubled in size. "Oh, I've got to show you something. Professor Lupin let me borrow it for the weekend, and he suggested that we look at it together, if you have an hour or two…"

Ana cocked her head a few degrees, then giggled. "You've got me curious, Harry. Whatever Professor Lupin let you use has got to be wicked cool."

Harry simply smiled and nodded, before cupping a hand over Ana's ear. "It's a book he got from the library's restricted section," he whispered. "It's a hand-written journal by Thaddeus Forristall – apparently he was a notable wizarding historian from back in the day – and apparently, it's got some information about some of the secrets the Orb holds. Professor Lupin says that it's not an easy read – he even recommended that you and I read it together as you can sort of 'dumb it down' to the lay person – not that I'm dumb or anything…"

Ana's face virtually glowed. "That sounds incredibly fascinating, Harry. I'd love to read it with you… maybe this evening if that works for you?" Her cheeks then flushed a bright pink. "And I'm flattered he thinks that highly of me…" She winked at Harry, before whispering in his ear. "Sooo… d'you want to take that invisibility cloak of yours for a test drive tonight? We can meet in the common room maybe twenty minutes after lights-out, and we can maybe read it in the choir room?"

"I have Astronomy tonight at ten," Harry said. "It'll probably be at least eleven by the time I get back upstairs, though I'm sure you'll hear Tallulah and her roommates scuffling around in the girls' dorms so that can be your cue to know that I'm ready. If it's easier, I'll let you hold on to my cloak until then… you might need it to sneak into the common room."

"Oh shoot, I forgot about that," Ana grumbled. "And are you sure about that? It's a priceless heirloom and I feel kinda bad taking it from you…"

Harry looked into Ana's eyes. "I'm offering it to you because I trust you," he said firmly. "I'll hand it to you after class this afternoon, and you can just keep it safe for a few hours."

"Okay, Harry," Ana whispered with a nod. "Thank you." She then threw him a sneaky smile. "While I can't wait to see what's in that book, I really can't wait to write back to Daphne. I'm sure you understand."

"I won't keep you," chuckled Harry. He cocked an eyebrow. "Speaking of Daphne, she hasn't asked about me yet, has she?"

Ana shook her head 'no'. "She hasn't, and like I said before, I won't mention your name unless she specifically asks. I'd like to think she has enough sense not to make a big deal about the Boy-Who-Lived – after all, it's been a month since I sent her that group photo of us, and you haven't been hounded by the wizarding world's equivalent of the paparazzi since then." She let out a devious snicker. "It's also safe to assume that she probably has a bit of a crush on you, rather like a teen idol in the no-maj world."

"No thanks," Harry replied in the most deadpan manner possible. "I'm sure she's a nice girl and all, but British witches… aren't my type."

"How do you know she's British? She could be Irish, maybe even Australian!" Ana exclaimed with a lopsided shrug. "For what it's worth, Daphne's a very cute witch – she hit the genetic jackpot for sure. But if you're not into British witches, then maybe it'll be a wizard that could suit your fancy."

"Really?!" Harry spat. He rolled his eyes so hard that if they weren't securely held in their sockets, they might have threatened to fall out.

Ana shrugged again. "I'm mostly messing with you, Harry, but seriously, even if you end up with someone other than a witch, it's really not a big deal! All I want is for you to be happy…"

Harry sighed as he shook his head, and went back to his breakfast.

That evening, during Astronomy, Professor Forkgrinder went over constellations with his first-year audience. With a quick swish of his wand, he telekinetically manipulated a star chart to highlight three stars which lined up horizontally in a nearly-straight line.

"All right, class," he began in his usually excited-tone, "can anyone name the three stars which comprise Orion's Belt?"

Many of the students looked at each other with blank expressions on their faces, others looked toward Tallulah, who answered Forkgrinder's questions with more frequency than anyone else in the class. "Harry? Othniel?" she squeaked. "It'd make our house look good if someone besides me answered the professor's question…"

"Anybody?" Forkgrinder beckoned. "Come on, don't be shy… I didn't assign that much reading over the holiday break, you know. Tell you what, I'll sweeten the pot. One house point per correct star, and five if you get all three in the right order, from left to right. How's that sound?"

Othniel tentatively put his hand up. Forkgrinder's face brightened with anticipation. "Ahh, Mister Beckett!"

Othniel put on his figurative thinking cap, before offering a hesitant "Alnitak?"

"So far, so good, young man," confirmed Forkgrinder. "One house point for the Horned Serpents so far."

Othniel looked upward in thought, digging through his memory banks. "Alnilam?"

"He shoots, he scores," Forkgrinder exclaimed with no shortage of excitement. "Two down, one left."

Othniel's faced scrunched so tightly he looked like he was sucking on a lollipop as sour as battery acid. "Min… Mintaka?"

"Well done, Mister Beckett," Forkgrinder said in a surprisingly calm tone. "Five points to the Horned Serpents in total." He quickly reverted to his usually-excited state. "So you're probably asking, Professor Forkgrinder, why are we going over the constellation of Orion this week? I'll tell you why – January is the prime month to see Orion in all its glory." He turned sideways to get a glance at a magical sundial. "And as it's about ten forty at night, it's early enough in the evening to still be seen at its peak. Let's take a good look at the mighty hunter of the night sky – everybody up, and to the observation deck!"

About twenty minutes later, he dismissed his class with a hearty "Keep looking up!"

Harry, Othniel and Tallulah huddled together as they made their way back toward the castle, their boots making crunching sounds in the freshly-fallen snow. "Correct me if I'm wrong," Tallulah said, "but I think that's the first time you got us house points for stepping up in the classroom, Othniel. Keep up the good work!" She took a mittened hand and gave one of Othniel's hands a quick squeeze. Othniel felt his cheeks suddenly able to tolerate the chilly arctic winds that have been whipping at it.

"We're proud of you, dude," added Harry. "You've come a long way since the start of term. I don't have to drag you out of bed to make it to physical training, and lately you actually seem to want to be in our study group."

"Maybe I'm giving serious consideration about wanting to join the Horned Serpent Quiz Bowl team next year," Othniel half-joked.

"I wouldn't go that far," Harry laughed.

Five minutes later, the three made it upstairs in the Horned Serpent common room. To Othniel and Tallulah's surprise, Harry stayed behind while they went to their respective dormitories.

"Aren't you going to get changed for bed, Harry?" asked Tallulah as she looked over her shoulder. "It's after lights-out…"

"I will in a few minutes," Harry replied with a nod. "I need to take care of something really quick first. I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

"Have a good night," Tallulah murmured as she headed toward her room.

Harry hung out by the fireplace for several minutes. The fire was still going strong – he had to admit that the heat felt good on his cold face and hands. Mount Greylock certainly had far harsher winters than western British Columbia, that's for sure. Even the mittens and watch cap he wore only offered moderate protection against the elements – perhaps enough to stave off frostbite and hypothermia, but certainly not enough for his extremities to actually feel warm.

The crackling, dancing flames put Harry in a bit of a lull – indeed, he was fighting the urge to fall asleep, and might have nodded off if it weren't for a sudden whisper: "Harry! Harry! Are you ready?"

Harry shook his head to stay awake. "Ana?" he whispered back. He knew it was Ana, but he couldn't see her. He then realized that he had given her his invisibility cloak for safe keeping earlier in the afternoon. She opened the cloak up, revealing her Garfield nightgown. "Oh shoot," Harry grumbled. "I need to get the diary. It's in my room. I guess if we're careful, we can sneak in together…" He huddled under the cloak with Ana, and guided her to his dormitory room.

"Let's see," he whispered as he opened the top drawer of his dresser. "Now, this cloak is only supposed to hide us visually, so other people can still hear us if we're too loud… ahhh." His fingers felt the unmistakable soft texture of a leather-bound book, and stuffed it inside his winter jacket pocket."

Ana bit her lip. "That's the right book, I hope. I'd hate for us to go all the way downstairs and for us to read a wizard's cookbook.."

Harry pulled the book from under his coat and let Ana look. "I can barely see anything," she whispered, "but just by touching the pages… it feels old. And goodness, how many bookmarks did Professor Lupin stick in this thing?"

"That's the one," Harry replied, resisting the urge to chuckle. "So, are you ready to head to the choir room and see what secrets this Forristall guy is about share with us?"

Ana giggled ever-so-softly. "Definitely, Harry… but the real question is, are you ready?"