Chapter 26
Seren’s classes were much more peaceful after the sudden parent-teacher conference. McGonagall seemed to be rather tense around him and a bit jumpy, but at least she was alive. He’d managed to befriend a Cerberus on Halloween and had asked the giant that had brought them to the castle their first day if any of the teachers owned a Cerberus. It turned out that the Cerberus belonged to the giant who introduced himself as Hagrid. Hagrid had been ecstatic that he understood that his pet was jut misunderstood and told him that he'd named the Cerberus Fluffy. Seren could certainly understand why as Fluffy had such soft short, yet fluffy black fur. He was planning on asking his parents if they could get him one too and he knew he could get both his parents to agree. Seren had begun helping Hagrid with some of the other misunderstood creatures Hagrid took care of and was ecstatic that the school had a herd of Thestrals as they were creatures with a close connection to death. He was in such a good mood over the fact that he could study the herd at Hogwarts for his grimoire that he decided to introduce his friends to Fluffy.
His friends hadn’t been as pleased to see the Cerberus as he’d been, they had screamed when Fluffy had begun to growl which he had honestly thought was a bit rude. He knew that Fluffy could be a bit intimidating to most humans at first, but if they at least tried to get to know the Cerberus then they would find that he was a bit of a softy. He acted more like a puppy once he realized they weren't attempting to steal whatever treasure he had been tasked with guarding. His friends were baffled when he revealed that Fluffy was actually much smaller than the average Cerberus and that he had obviously been the runt of the litter which led to Hermione wanting to know all about the different breeds that were kept as pets in different countries in the wizarding world. She had practically lived in the library for a few days before they finally managed to drag her away from her books.
The weather grew colder and colder with the mountains around the school becoming an icy gray and the ground covered in frost every morning throughout November. Quidditch season had begun and Seren had found it interesting. The entire school was seated in the stands high in the air around the Quidditch pitch, many of them with binoculars so they could see better. The Weasley twins’ friend Lee Jordan was doing the commentary for the match while Professor McGonagall monitored him as he was quite biased when he worded the play-by-play of matches. Seren had asked Vortex to record the match so he could show I.M.P later on, knowing both Blitzo and Millie would love how bloodthirsty and violent the game could get. His father had told him that he'd invited Blitzo and the other members of I.M.P to go to the Harvest Moon Festival with him while Octavia spent time with their mother.
By mid-December, Hogwarts was covered in several feet of snow and the lake had frozen solid. Seren was annoyed by the fact that the drafty corridors became icy while the classrooms were so chilly that you could see your own breath. Thankfully, Seren had had practice keeping toasty with icy weather due to his uncle’s palace being made of ice and surrounded in an eternal winter landscape. He didn’t understand why the school couldn’t do something to help keep the students warm as they had the means to do so. He had told his father about it and his father assured him that he would speak to Professor McGonagall about it when she came to work for them in Hell. The staff were soon busy decorating for the students that had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the winter break. More than a dozen Christmas trees decorated the Great Hall, some decorated with sparkling icicles while others were decorated with hundreds of candles. Professor Flitwick had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of a Christmas tree.
Ron had shown him the wizarding world’s version of chess and Seren had been delighted by the chess pieces coming to life as well as offer advice to the player using them. He’d ended up ordering a custom-made set with hell-born designs for the chess pieces with Blitzo as the queen piece armed with a pair of pistols riding on a hellhorse from the wrath ring and his father as the King dressed in an elegant cape that had tiny stars twinkling within it. Millie and Moxxie were the knights armed with guns while Loona and Vortex were the bishops, claws ready to tear into their opponent. The rooks looked like their family palace and the pawns were in the form of small imps. He was sure his father would love his gift and Seren planned on giving it to him in secret so that his mother didn’t kick up a fuss about it.
Eventually his friends and his own curiosity about the trap door that Fluffy was guarding became too much and they decided to try and see what was actually inside it. Seren, knowing that Cerberus’ were very susceptible to music, brought out a wooden carved flute that had been given to him by Hagrid as thanks for helping him out with misunderstood animals. He began to play a beautiful melody to lull Fluffy to sleep while his friends watched amazed as Fluffy’s eyes began to slowly droop at the first note he played. Slowly Fluffy tottered on his paws and fell to his knees before slumping to the ground fast asleep away from the trap door. They went through the trap door and landed on some sort of plant that began to twist snake-like tendrils around them. The more they strained against it, the faster and tighter the plant wound around them.