Another Hogwarts Tale

One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke up to find itself covered in snow.

The lake froze over and the Weasley twins were punished for hexing some snowballs, which then flew after Quirrell and smacked his turban.

The few owls who managed to make it through the blizzards to deliver the mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could make the return flight.

They all couldn't wait for the holidays to finally start.

While the fires roared in the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall, the corridors had grown freezing cold and a biting wind rattled the classroom windows.

Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath drew in a haze above their heads, and they sat as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they’re not wanted at home."

As he did so, he looked over at Lucy and Harry. Crabbe and Goyle giggled.

Lucy, stirring her cauldron, ignored him.

Ever since the Quidditch game, Malfoy had been even more hateful than he used to be. Outraged by the defeat of the Slytherins, he had tried to spread merriment by suggesting that next time a white-mouthed frog should play the Seeker instead of Harry.

Then he realized that no one found it funny.

Everyone was amazed at how Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick.

And so the jealous and angry Malfoy had gone back to taunting Harry about having no real family.

Oddly enough, Malfoy mostly left Lucy alone, although whenever he teased Harry, she told him to shut up.

It was true that Lucy and Harry would not be returning to Privet Drive over Christmas.

Last week Professor McGonagall had stopped by and put the students on a list who would be staying over the Christmas holidays and Lucy and Harry had gotten in touch straight away.

They were not at all sorry for themselves; this would probably be the happiest Christmas of her life.

At least until now. Because at some point, Lucy hoped, she would celebrate her Christmas with her own family.

Ron and his brothers also stayed because Mr and Mrs Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.

When they left the dungeons at the end of potions class, the corridor was blocked by a large fir tree.

Two huge shoes sticking out at the bottom and a loud snort told them Hagrid was behind her.

"Hi Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I’m all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy’s cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose - that hut of Hagrid’s must seem like a palace compared to what your family’s used to."

Ron lunged at Malfoy and at that moment Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin’ his family.”

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn’t more. Move along, all of you."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"I'll get him," Ron said through gritted teeth behind Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him -"

"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."

"Harry, I've been thinking the exactly the same thing", Lucy agreed.

"Come on, cheer up, it’s nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an’ see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So, the children followed Hagrid and his tree into the Great Hall, which Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were festively decorating.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree - put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked fantastic.

Garlands of holly and mistletoe hung along the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees were scattered around the room.

Tiny icicles sparkled from one side; hundreds of candles flickered onto the other.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" asked Hagrid.

"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me - Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Yeah, right, you're right," said Ron, taking his eyes off Professor Flitwick, who was bubbling golden balls from his wand and scattering them across the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him beaming. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we’ve been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?" Hagrid looked at him shocked. "Listen here - I’ve told yeh - drop it. It’s nothin’ to you what that dog’s guardin’."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," Hermione said.

"Unless you’d like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must’ve been through hundreds of books already and we can’t find him anywhere - just give us a hint - I know I’ve read his name somewhere.”

"I'm saying nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron.

They left the scowling Hagrid and hurried into the library.

Lucy stayed behind in the Great Hall with Stella, Louisa and Ophelia. The friends wanted to spend as much time together as possible before the holidays started.

~~~~

Once the holidays started, Ron, Harry and Lucy were just too busy to think about Flamel for long.

Lucy and the boys each had the whole dormitory to themselves (Lucy was allowed to stay at the Gryffindor-girls dormitory). Which Lucy had to get used to first as she had never slept in a room alone before.

There was also a lot more space in the living room than usual, and they were able to occupy the good armchairs by the fireplace.

There they sat for hours, munching whatever they could stick on a toasting fork: bread, pancakes, marshmallows, and plotting how they could get Malfoy expelled from school.

It was fun to think of, even if it wouldn't work.

Ron also taught the twins wizard chess.

It worked just like Muggle chess, except the pieces were alive, so it was almost the same as leading troops into battle.

Ron's chess set was very old and battered. Like everything else Ron owned, it had once belonged to someone in his family - in this case his grandfather.

However, the old chess figures were not a disadvantage at all.

Ron knew her so well that he could always easily get her to do exactly what he wanted.

Harry was playing with chessmen that Seamus Finnigan had lent him, and they didn't trust him at all.

He wasn't a good player yet (nor was Lucy, but she spent most of her time watching her brother and Ron).

The figures kept calling out advice to Harry, albeit conflicting ones, which confused him greatly: "Don’t send me there, can’t you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him."

On Christmas Eve, Lucy went to bed looking forward to the food and fun of Christmas Day; She wasn't expecting any presents at all.

When she woke up early the next morning, the first thing she saw was her cat lying on her legs

Then her eyes fell on a stack of packages at the foot of his bed.

She grabbed the stack of presents and ran into the boys' dorm, followed by Newt.

"Merry Christmas, both of you!", the girl rejoiced.

With that she woke up her brother and Ron.

"Merry Christmas," Ron said sleepily.

"You too," said Harry. "Look at this! Lucy and I got presents!"

"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, starting his own pile, which was quite a bit larger than Harry and Lucy's.

The two stacks of twins were the same except for one packet.

Lucy picked up the top packet.

It was wrapped in heavy brown paper and had in Hagrid's handwriting ‘for Lucy’ scrawled across it.

Inside was a roughly carved wooden flute.

Apparently, Hagrid cut them himself. Harry blew into his - it sounded a little like an owl.

A second, tiny packet contained a note.

We have received your message and are enclosing your Christmas gifts.

From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

Two fifty pence pieces were taped to the note with tape.

"That's nice," said Harry.

Ron was intrigued by the fifty pence.

"Weird!" he said. "This shape! Is that money?"

"You can keep mine," Harry said, laughing at Ron's delight. "- and who is this from?"

"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, pointing to a rather lumpy package on Harry's stack and blushing a little. "My mom."

Lucy, who had placed her pile of presents on Harry's bed, also had one such package.

"I told her you didn’t expect any presents and - oh, no," he groaned, "she’s made you Weasley sweaters."

The twins had torn open the packages and found a thick, hand-knitted sweater each in emerald, green (Lucy's had an L knit and Harry's had an H) and a large box of homemade cookies.

"Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine is always maroon."

"That's really nice of her," Harry said, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.

Harry's next package also contained sweets for him and Lucy - it was a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione.

Stella, Ophelia and Louisa had also sent Lucy some candy for her and her brother.

A package for both was now left. Lucy's was a small square package.

Lucy picked up hers and started unwrapping it.

Newt made it more complicated than it was as he settled comfortably on Lucy's lap and snuggled up to her.

"He seems to like the sweater too," Ron commented, and all three laughed.

It was a necklace.

The pendant was in the shape of four animals. A deer, a cat, a dog, a wolf and another animal. But the last animal broke off and Lucy couldn't see it.

The black-haired girl thought this necklace was beautiful and she took a closer look at the necklace. It was finely worked and golden.

Lucy put the chain on and only then noticed the card, which was sent with the gift.

In tight, convoluted handwriting, the card read:

This necklace belonged to your mother. She would have wanted you to have it.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

Harry then picked up his and fingered it. It was very easy. He unwrapped it.

Something fluid and silvery grey slid to the floor, where it lay in shimmering folds. Ron's eyes widened.

"I've heard of those," he said in a low voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that’s what I think it is — they’re really rare, and really valuable."

"What is it?"

Harry picked up the glowing silver piece of fabric from the floor. It felt odd, like water woven into cloth.

"It’s an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I’m sure it is - try it on."

Harry threw the cloak over his shoulders and Ron let out a yell.

"It is! Look down!"

Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He rushed over to the mirror. Certainly, his reflection looked at him, but only his head, the body was completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection disappeared completely.

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry stripped off his robes and picked up the note. In a tight, intricate handwriting he had never seen before were written the following words:

Your dad left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A

Very Merry Christmas to you.

As with Lucy, no one had signed it. Harry stared at the note. Ron admired the cloak.

"I’d give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What’s the matter?"

"Nothing," said Harry. He felt strange. Who had sent him the cloak? Had it really once belonged to his father?

Before he could think or say anything else, the dorm door flew open, and Fred and George Weasley burst in.

Harry quickly put the cloak away. He didn't want to pass it around everywhere.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look-"

Fred broke off his sentence as Newt surprisingly jumped into his arms.

He started petting Newt and then continued talking.

"- Lucy and Harry have a Weasley sweater, too!"

Fred and George wore blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F embroidered on it, the other with a G.

"Lucy's and Harry's are better than ours, though," Fred said, holding up Harry's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you’re not family."

Lucy's cheeks turned slightly red, and she tugged at her new sweater.

"But the sweater looks good on you," Fred added afterwards, noticing Lucy's insecurity.

He let the cat back onto the floor, which jumped back onto the bed and made himself comfortable.

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George asked, changing the subject. "Come on, put it on, they’re lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron said half-heartedly, pulling the sweater on.

"You haven’t got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don’t forget your name. But we’re not stupid - we know we’re called Gred and Forge."

"Well Lucy and Harry both have initials on their sweaters too," Fred said. "Although it wouldn't be necessary. You can tell the two apart."

"What’s all this noise?"

Percy Weasley poked his head around the door with a disapproving look. Apparently, he was halfway through unwrapping the presents, because he, too, was carrying a balled-up sweater on his arm, which Fred snatched from him.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we’re all wearing ours, even Harry got one."

"I-don't-want" Percy said, choking as the twins forced his sweater over his head, bending his glasses in the process.

"And you’re not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

They hadn't slipped Percy's arms through the sleeves of his sweater, and tied up like that, they took him on their shoulders and marched him out.

~~~~

Lucy had never eaten a Christmas meal like this in her life.

Fat roast turkeys, mounds of roast and jacket potatoes, platters of cute cocktail sausages, bowls of buttered peas, silver tureens of thick, creamy gravy and cranberry sauce—and stacks of magic crackers scattered across the table.

These fantastic crackers were nothing like the muggle puny ones the Dursleys bought, with the little plastic toys and crumpled paper hats.

Lucy pulled a wizard cracker with Fred, and it not only popped but went off like a cannon and enveloped her in a cloud of blue smoke while from inside shot out an admiral's hat and several live white mice.

Over at the high table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flower-embellished bonnet and was chuckling happily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read to him.

The turkey was followed by a flambéed plum pudding. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle hidden in his portion.

Lucy, Harry and the Weasleys were spending a happy afternoon having a wild snowball fight outside on the school grounds.

Frozen, wet and gasping for breath, they returned to the fireplace in their common room, where Harry inaugurated his new chess set with a hair-raising loss to Ron.

He might not have lost so miserably, he supposed, if Percy hadn't tried so hard to help him.

After tea - there were cold roasts, pancakes, biscuits and Christmas cakes - everyone felt too stuffed and tried to do much before bed.

They just watched Percy chasing Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower for stealing his prefect badge.

It had been Harry's happiest Christmas ever. But all day long something had been floating around in the back of his mind.

Only when he was lying in bed did he have the peace to think about it: it was the cloak that made you invisible and the question of who had sent it.

Ron, stuffed with roasts and cakes and occupied with nothing of great mystery, fell asleep as soon as he closed the curtains on his four-poster bed. Harry rolled onto his side and pulled the robes out from under the bed.

That was from his father… his father's cloak. He let the fabric slide through his hands, more fluid than silk, lighter than air. Use it wisely, the note said.

He had to try - now. He slipped out of bed and wrapped himself in the cloak. Where his feet had been, all he could see now was moonlight and shadows. He felt strange.

Use it well.

Suddenly Harry was wide awake. Hogwarts was completely open to him in this cloak. Enthusiasm flowed through him. He could go anywhere, anywhere, and Filch would never find out.

Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him up? He decided against it and crept into the common room.

He stole out of the dormitory, down the stairs, through the lounge, and climbed through the hole behind the portrait.

"Who's there?" the fat lady quacked. Harry said nothing. He walked quickly down the corridor.

Where should he go? Heart pounding, he paused and thought. And then it occurred to him.

The forbidden section in the library. There he could read as long as he wanted, as long as he had to, to find out who Flamel was. Wrapping the Invisibility Cloak tightly around himself, he walked on.

The night in the library was pitch black. Harry felt creepy. He lit a lantern to light his way through the bookshelves.

The lantern seemed to be floating in mid-air, and although Harry felt he was carrying it, the sight sent shivers down his spine.

The forbidden section was at the back of the library. He stepped carefully over the cord separating this area from the others and held up his lantern to read the titles on the spines.

They didn't tell him much. The peeling and fading gold letters formed words in languages Harry didn't understand.

Some books had no title at all. There was a dark stain on one book that looked horribly like blood.

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up.

Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought he heard a soft whisper coming from the books, as if they knew someone was here who wasn't supposed to be here.

He had to start somewhere.

He carefully placed the lantern on the floor and searched the bottom row of shelves for a promising-looking book. A large black and silver band caught his eye.

He pulled the book out with difficulty, for it was very heavy, placed it on his knees and opened it.

A piercing, blood-curdling scream broke the silence-the book screamed!

Harry slammed it shut, but it kept screaming, non-stop, in a high pitched and eardrum-splitting sound. He stumbled backwards and knocked over his lantern, which went out immediately.

In a panic he heard footsteps coming down the aisle outside - he stuffed the screaming book back on the shelf and ran away.

He met Filch just at the door. Filch's pale, confused eyes looked right through him and Harry sidestepped Filch's outstretched arm and ran on, down the corridor, the screams of the book still ringing in his ears.

He froze in front of a large suit of armor. He had fled the library in such a hurry that he hadn't looked where he was going.

It was completely dark around him, and perhaps that was why he didn't know where he was. Armor stood near the kitchens, he knew that, but he must be five floors above.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody’s been in the library Restricted Section."

Harry felt the blood rush out of his face. Wherever he was, Filch must know a shortcut, for his soft, oily voice drew nearer, and to his horror it was Snape who answered, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can’t be far, we’ll catch them."

As Filch and Snape rounded the corner in front of him, Harry froze into an icicle.

They couldn't see him, of course, but the corridor was narrow and if they got any closer, they would crash into him - despite the cloak, he was still flesh and blood.

He backed away as quietly as he could. To his left, a door stood ajar. That was his only hope.

Holding his breath so as not to move her, he pushed his way through, and when he'd managed to get into the room without Snape and Filch noticing, he felt easier.

They just walked by, and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps fading.

That had been close, very close. It took a few moments before he got a better idea of the room, he was hiding in.

~~~~

It looked like an unused classroom.

Tables and chairs were stacked along the wall, and in the dark, he could also make out an upturned wastebasket.

But against the wall across the way was something that didn't look like it belonged here, something that looked like someone had just put it there to get it out of the way.

Standing on two clawed feet, it was an enormous mirror reaching to the ceiling and framed in ornate gold.

An inscription was stamped on top of the frame:

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

Now that Filch and Snape were no longer heard from, Harry's panic subsided, and he approached the mirror to see himself in it and yet saw nothing.

He had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from screaming.

He spun around.

His heart was pounding even faster than it had at the screaming book, because he hadn't just seen himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.

But the room was empty. Breathing hard, he slowly turned around and looked in the mirror.

There it was, his reflection, white and fearful on his face, and there, behind him, a good ten others reflected.

Harry looked over his shoulder, but still no one was there.

Or were they also invisible? Was he really in a room full of invisible people, and was it the nature of this mirror that it reflected them, invisible or not?

He looked again in the mirror. A woman standing immediately behind him smiled at him and waved.

He stretched out his hand but found nothing.

If she were really there, he would touch her, they were standing so close together in the mirror.

But he only felt air- she and the others only existed in the mirror.

Although he also saw his sister standing next to him. But she wasn't here.

But it wasn't just Lucy he saw.

It was a very beautiful woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes- her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, moving a little closer.

Light green - exactly the same shape, but then he saw that she was crying; smiled but cried at the same time.

Two, slim, black-haired man appeared next to her.

The smaller one stood next to the woman. He had wavy chin-length hair and had a small smile on his lips that reminded Harry of his sister.

The second one wore glasses, and his hair was quite a mess. It stuck out at the back of his head, just like Harry's.

Harry was now so close to the mirror that his nose was almost touching her reflection.

"Mum?" he whispered. "Dads?"

They just looked at him and smiled.

His entire family smiled, and they waved at Harry, and he stared back, hands pressed flat against the glass as if hoping to just fall through to them.

He felt a mighty pang in his body, half joy, half terrible sadness.

He didn't know how long he had been standing there.

The reflections didn't fade, and he didn't look away for a second until a distant sound brought him back to his senses.

He couldn't stay here, he had to sneak back into bed. "I'll be back," he whispered, taking his eyes off his mother's face and walking out of the room.

~~~~

"You could have woken me up," said Ron, looking crossly.

"You can come tonight, I’m going back, I want to show you the mirror. Lucy wanted to see the mirror, too."

Harry had, of course, first told his sister about the mirror and what he had seen in it.

"I'd like to see your mum and dads," Ron said eagerly.

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you’ll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."

"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer-"

The conversation continued, but Harry was too distracted. All the time he thought about the mirror.

~~~~

Because Lucy and Ron were also under the cloak that night, they had to walk slowley.

They tried to find Harry's way back from the library and wandered the dark corridors for almost an hour.

"I’m freezing," said Ron. "Let’s forget it and go back."

"No!" Harry hissed. "I know it’s here somewhere."

They passed the ghost of a tall witch heading in the other direction but saw no one else.

Just as Ron started complaining that his feet were freezing, Harry spotted the armour.

"It's here - just here - yes!"

They pushed open the door. Harry slipped the cloak off his shoulders and ran to the mirror.

There they were. Mom and Dad beamed at him.

Lucy ran after Harry. She finally wanted to look in the mirror.

Her twin brother took a step to the side and Lucy now stood in front of the mirror.

Next to her was Harry. She looked around confused, but her brother wasn't standing directly next to her, but next to the mirror.

Behind her suddenly stood a woman with green eyes and the dark red hair and two man with black hair.

"Mom… Dad… Paps…"

But her parents were not alone. Her whole family stood there in the mirror and. They smiled and waved happily at Lucy.

Her mother put her hand on Lucy's shoulder.

A tear ran down Lucy's cheek. She quickly wiped the tear from her face and continued to look in the mirror.

The eleven-year-old had no idea what to think now. It was the first time in her life that she saw her family.

She blinked a few times and then turned to Ron and her brother with a heavy heart.

Lucy stepped aside so Ron could see in the mirror as well.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?" Lucy asked, now standing next to Harry.

"No - I’m alone - but I’m different - I look older - and I’m head boy!"

"What?"

"I'm... I wear a badge like Bill used to do, and I hold the House Cup and the Quidditch Trophy, and I'm captain too!"

Ron could hardly take his eyes off the fantastic view.

"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? All our family are dead - let me have another look -"

"You had him to yourself last night, give me a bit more time."

"You’re only holding the Quidditch cup, what’s interesting about that? I want to see my parents."

Harry and Ron pushed each other to stand in front of the mirror.

"Don't push me -"

Lucy wanted to end the argument, but before she could take a step towards the two boys, she was stopped.

A sudden noise outside in the hallway put an end to their argument.

They hadn't realized how loud they were speaking.

"Quick!"

Ron threw the cloak over the three of them and at that moment Mrs Norris' bright eyes darted through the door.

The children stood dead still and asked themselves the same question - did the cloak work on cats too?

It seemed like forever, but then she turned and disappeared.

"This isn’t safe - she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on."

And Ron pulled Lucy and Harry out.

~~~~

The snow had not yet melted the next morning.

"Want to play chess, Harry?” said Ron.

"No."

"Why don’t we go down and visit Hagrid?", Lucy tried.

"No… you go…"

But even then, Harry didn't react. He kept looking into the fire blazing in the hearth.

"I know what you’re thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don’t go back tonight."

"Why not?", the black-haired boy wanted to know.

"I dunno, I’ve just got a bad feeling about it - and anyway, you’ve had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can’t see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?”

"You sound like Hermione," the black-haired boy replied simply.

"I'm serious, Harry, don't go," Lucy said.

She didn't trust the mirror. The mirror didn't do him any good.

A few days later I found a book with something written over the mirror.

The name was Erised, and it shows people not what is, but what they desire most.

No wonder some people go crazy after looking inside.

Lucy snuck into the common room that night to wait for Harry.

The girl bit into another cookie and turned the page in her book as Harry snuck into the dorm too.

He removed the cloak before sitting down next to his twin sister.

"Dumbledore got me. The mirror will be moved to another location," Harry murmured.

The black-haired girl looked sympathetically at her brother. Then she put down her book and hugged him.

"It's better this way, Harry."

"You are right."

"I am always right," said Lucy.

Harry knew that was true. For a while, the twins sat together in the common room. They said nothing until they wished each other good night and went to bed.