I woke to a silence that seemed even deeper than usual. Probably bolstered by the knowledge that several hundred students had vanished overnight. Not vanished, of course. Simply gone home for the Christmas holidays.
Even so, the silence surprised me. Only after it settled over the castle did I realise how accustomed I had become to being surrounded by people, even in the relative quiet of the Slytherin common room.
Last night all I could hear in the common room was just the faint crackle of the fire and the distant sigh of the Black Lake pressing against the walls of our common room.
It was Christmas morning or, as I had heard an increasing number of older pure-blood students insist throughout the previous week…Yuletide.
Apparently "Christmas" was considered the Muggle term, while many of the older magical families still preferred the older name.
I found that explanation insufficient so I asked Tweak about it and she guided me to the sixth floor where one of the older paintings told me, that a Yuletide was a celebration of winter solstice and Christmas was a christian way to get pagans to get on board with the religion.
There was probably considerably more to it, but somewhere around the origins of mistletoe he stopped answering questions and began delivering a sermon. I took that as my cue to leave.
I dressed, sorted away the previous day's notes and washed my face in an attempt to wake properly.
As I finished, the familiar pop announced Tweak's arrival.
She carried a tray that looked entirely too large for her. She was even wearing a similar tea towel as other Hogwarts elves,
"Good morning, Master Alexander."
"Good morning, Tweak." I said looking at her attire with evident confusion.
She set the tray down with practiced ease and glanced at me and shrugged
"I also took a holiday sirsi, even decided to speak proper elf to blend in" she winked with both eyes, that or just blinked slowly.
I chuckled "That may be so, but I suspect this is one of those two-birds-with-one-stone situations?" I said and looked at her with a smirk
" Not that a proper elf such as yourself would spend her holiday practising infiltration. Even when taking a holiday at home? " I asked and her sputtering was all the answer I needed.
I looked at the huge tray and ignored her vehement denial. The tray was filled with eggs,fresh bread and some porridge swimming in honey.
She had a platter of bacon and even two apples accompanied with a small jug of Orange juice.
I looked from breakfast to Tweak.
"…am I expected to feed several classmates?You do remember there's hardly anyone in Slytherin dorms now but me?"
"No, Master Alexander sir."
She folded her hands primly."Tweak is feeding one bottomless pit only"
I raised an eyebrow.
"I use a considerable amount of magic daily." I said defensively "I also move a lot."
"You do." She acquiesced
"…Very well." I sighed
Experience had taught me there was little point arguing with either Madam Malkin or Tweak when the subject was eating.
Both appeared convinced I was perpetually moments away from starving to death.
Admittedly…I felt hungry,embarrassingly so.
By the time I finished the last piece of toast, the tray looked almost disappointingly empty.
Tweak seemed quietly pleased, almost smug at that point.
With no lessons for nearly two weeks and perhaps a quarter of the students still remaining within the castle, the coming days represented an opportunity that simply did not exist during term.
Freedom,not complete freedom, naturally but much more than I have normally. I did not need to disguise myself to wander around to seek my interests.
But the endless flow of curious students wandering the corridors had diminished dramatically overnight.
That alone opened possibilities.
There were hidden classrooms I wished to further study and the library would likely be almost deserted and fully at my disposal.
Perhaps I could finally read in peace now that the likelihood of someone interrupting me had dropped dramatic
There were several passages I wished to map properly and few I suspected led to other house's common rooms.
My experiments with sympathetic links required uninterrupted hours before they yielded anything useful. Even that was only a hypothesis rather than a conclusion supported by evidence.
Lastly, my latest hobby, divination. That still stubbornly refused to make proper sense to me. I had yet to find a single book explaining a practical guide to useful divination magics, it had to exist did it not? Why else so many properties are warded to be unplottable or otherwise magically observable.
Also somewhere beneath all that…I rather wished to simply wander around and admire the huge castle. Hogwarts without its students was still Hogwarts but perhaps, for the first time, it might permit itself to be explored instead of merely navigated from one place to another.
I was about to collect my satchel, but then I remembered that I really had nowhere to go, I could just leave it here and wander the halls as I wanted. So I lowered it back down to my table.
"Any plans for today, Tweak?" I asked curiously
"I has shoppings to do sirsi."
"Shopping?" I asked a bit puzzled
"Tweaks tailor is needing measurements to get new work outfits done."
I blinked "Again?"
"Tweak has high standards." She sniffed importantly
"…Of course you do." I said with a small chuckle.
She gave an approving nod and with that she vanished without so much as a pop.
I pulled on my robe and tapped the mirror to get out of the room, I managed to get only a few steps in the publick common room till I froze in place.
My bed appeared to have… vanished and in its place sat a surprisingly respectable mountain of wrapped parcels.
I stood staring at the mountain for several long seconds.
"…Tweak." I muttered bewildered
A soft pop answered almost immediately.
"Yes, Master Alexander sir?"
"I believe someone has mistaken my bed for a post office." I said and pointed at the packages.
Tweak glanced at the parcels.
"No sirsi,tis to be your present."
"…No? My presents?" I repeated dumbly
"They are all for Master Alexander, sir." She said with an empathetic nod.
I looked again. There had to be at least twenty parcels. Some scarcely larger than a matchbox and others wrapped in expensive green and silver paper.
One looked suspiciously as though it had been wrapped in yesterday's Daily Prophet, so I picked up the nearest one to make sure there wasn't some other Alexander whose packages were accidentally brought here.
Mr Alexander Hawthorn
There was no surname mistake. No misunderstanding or an unfortunate coincidence involving another Alexander.
"…Oh."
I decided to resist the temptation to begin opening every present immediately.
I managed that for perhaps five seconds.
Several of the packages positively demanded investigation. One hummed faintly beneath the wrapping paper. Another smelled unmistakably of cedar and old parchment. A third occasionally shifted on its own, as though whatever lay inside objected to remaining still.
I picked up the first package, and opened it. The first package came from a first-year Hufflepuff whom I had helped find a misplaced Charms textbook. He had sent me a bag of Honeydukes pepper imps together with a note.
Thanks for helping me find the book! Merry Christmas!
Another contained nothing but a neatly copied Cleaning Charm on fresh parchment. The accompanying note apologised that the sender couldn't afford anything more substantial.
Personally…I considered a spell one had copied by hand considerably more thoughtful than purchasing a box of sweets.
A Ravenclaw second-year student had enclosed a small stack of enchanted index cards that automatically sorted themselves alphabetically.
Oh that seems like it's going to be very useful.
One anonymous parcel contained an assortment of homemade fudge.
Given that I could not identify the sender…I resolved to let Tweak inspect it before I tried it.
She looked mildly offended that I would suggest there was something wrong with them but did so anyway. It was just fudge, very good fudge too.
Next I picked a dark green package that somehow felt luxurious,added with the perfect ribbon on top. I suspected the package came from Mr Whittemore
Inside was a beautifully bound blank notebook, without any embellishments on the covers.
I suspected it was expensive, not because there were any jewels on it. There was none, but expensive because of the craftsmanship and the spells added that I could feel humming even without my mage sight.
The first page already contained writing.
Mr Hawthorn,
Every worthwhile exchange deserves a proper ledger.
I found this among my family's stationers and thought it might prove more fitting than the assortment of mismatched notebooks you've been carrying all term. I look forward to many more conversations, and exchanges on the oncoming cemesters.
Have a very merry Yuletide and happy new years
Lawrence Whittemore of the noble house of Whittemore.
I ran my fingers over the paper. It was smooth and somehow magical which meant excellent quality.
I smiled. It was nice to get gifts one actually needs and not just something for the sake of gifting something.
Also it was nice that Lawrence had noticed the battered state of my old ones. That means he'd been paying attention and not just pretending to do so.
If Lawrence's package was emerald green and subtly luxurious Ms Belladonna's was poison green, and easy to guess it was from her since it radiated magic with waves.
As I turned my attention fully to it the ribbon untied itself and then the box unfolded into another, then another. One released glitter that immediately vanishes.
First one contains a note saying:
Wrong box.
and the other
Still wrong.
I opened perhaps six tiny nested boxes before reaching the final one.
Inside that one…
I found a silver bookmark enchanted to quietly point toward whichever point on the page I had most recently been reading before the mark was placed.
The note read:
You looked far too serious all term so consider this festive revenge.
Melissa Belladonna
I sighed but couldn't help the little smile, She did seem like a trouble maker underneath all the decorum.
Tweak giggles behind her hands
The next package was a smaller one, with a card saying it was from Ms Greengrass and Ms Davies jointly.
Inside of the festive Gryddindor red package was a green scarf, high quality by the feel of it and an enchanted handkerchief embroidered with tiny silver serpents.
When pulled out, it cleans the things its owner needs cleaned,such as stained books, ink and perhaps the owner's glasses if need arises and it automatically cleans itself and returns to the pocket it is retrieved from.
Very practical,I approved.
The note said.
We couldn't decide which one of us should give you something or if neither of us should, we compromised and both gave tiny ones together.
Merry Christmas Mr Hawthorn
from
Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davies
I blinked
well thats one way to solve an argument.
Next my eyes found a package that was rather lumpy.
Inside was a thick hand-knitted scarf in dark green with silver stripes—not House colours exactly, but close enough that it would never embarrass a Slytherin.
A pair of matching mittens rested beneath it.
falling out of one mitten, was another tiny parcel that was pulsing in all the colors of the rainbow. I approached it carefully, and when I was about to pick it up the parcel exploded open.
Not violently but certainly dramatically.
A tiny paper dragon shot around the room breathing harmless vapor while roaring with its tiny voice:
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE MAD HATTER!
Tweak ducked as it passes by and I watch it circle around in bafflement
Eventually it landed, and I noticed it landing perfectly on a deck of enchanted playing cards I'm certain weren't there before. I notice a note and pick it up
Mr Alexander Hawthorn,
Fred and George have spoken very highly of you, which usually means I ought to be worried.
They also informed me that you would be remaining at Hogwarts over Christmas. Every young wizard deserves something warm at Christmas, whatever House he belongs to.
I hope these fit, Merry Christmas.
Molly Weasley
Below it, in handwriting squeezed into the margin: We wanted to send you something ourselves…
Mum insisted on making you something
So we sent them all together by sending our package to home to be put inside hers.
—Fred & George
I quietly unfolded the scarf.
The wool is thick and no doubt warm in the Scottish winter. I could picture already how someone had sat in a chair by a fire and made this specifically for me.
Somebody I had never even met had spent several evenings making sure an eleven-year-old boy she would likely never see stayed warm during Christmas. I could feel my throat closing up suddenly for some reason, then I noticed a small post script.
P.S.
Don't let Percy see the dragon, we made it out of his homework.
I chuckled to myself and took the cards and went through them to see if I could spot something that makes them special.
I noticed that every king has Filch's face and the queens are Professor Snapes.
I smiled wider at that, I believe I can get some damage done with the cards, and the dragon was quite an amazing piece of enchanting. I would try to keep it in my room as long as possible to see how long the enchantments last on a parchment.
I noticed another pretty messy package on the edge of the bed, it was wrapped with three different papers and an amount of string that suggested a dangerous fugitive was in this one.
One of the corners was patched with newspaper, so I slowly opened the package. Inside lay a leather field journal.
Handmade as far as I could tell from the seams that weren't even on all sides.
The cover was stamped with words:
Observations of the Deep Wilds.
The pages are thick enough for ink, charcoal, pressed leaves and small sketches.
Tucked inside is a note with messy handwriting
Alexander,
Reckon every proper wizard ought ter keep notes on the things he finds.
This one's sturdy enough fer the Deep wilds if yeh ever need it and me thinks yeah do.
Merry Christmas.
Hagrid
I slowly run a hand over the leather and immediately realised that Hagrid made it himself, and that somehow made it priceless to me.
I look around and the room has become remarkably untidy.
Paper and boxes everywhere.
Books,sweets and Little enchanted trinkets that I have been gifted when a thought hits me and fills me with quiet dread.
"…Tweak."
"Yes master Alex sir?"
"…How many presents did we send?"
She shakes her head in a disappointment,
"Tweak knew that master Alexander sir would not realize, so Tweak went and started to make proper things to each person Tweak deemed would send master Alexander sir a gift at Christmas. So we sent approximately the same number as master sir got, perhaps a few more"
I looked horrified.
"We did? Where did you get the gifts? Is there anything left of my funds?" I asked in a mix of relief that I did not just make a major faux pas and a panic of losing all my hard earned money.
She smiles and nods proudly.
"Most gifts are handmade by Tweak and Hogwarts elves, but a few Tweak found in the come and go room. Master can later delve in there too when he's better at magic and not so easily influenced by the tricksy old things in there."
"Really you send everyone something?" I asked surprised
"Tweak has had months to prepare and compile a list of candidates, so yes everyone. I even sent Mr Malfoy a book called Magical intent and structure from your trunk that had a note in it saying 'for assholes' did Tweak do good?"
I tried my very best not to start laughing my head off since that was quite a good one from my spymasters part and managed to only smile as I said " You did excellently Tweak thank you very much"
She nodded happily and added very quietly.
"This year Tweak helped but next year, master Alexander sirsi should make or find the gifts himself."
I tilted my head " make them? Is that the norm in the Wizarding world? I seemed to notice much of the gifts I received were bought but quite a few were also made? Is it important?" I asked seriously as Tweak vanished the wrapping paper and empty boxes.
She nods.
"The best gifts are always made, not bought, master sir. Buying is for strangers and only when the needed item is out of your power to make."
I looked back over the scattered presents, and thought that she was correct.
The sweets would disappear and seasons would eventually end.
Nearly every gift that had made me stop and smile…had been made to me by the person gifting it.
Hagrid's journal. Miss Belladonna's bookmark. Even Lawrence's enchanted ledger, despite almost certainly being purchased, had been chosen specifically with me in mind.
The copied spell and the enchanted cards that I wasn't still clear about what they would do exactly but was eager to find out, and others that I found most intriguing were all self made.
I nodded slowly. "I think I agree. The finest gifts aren't necessarily the most expensive. They're the ones someone invested a part of themselves into."
Without ever intending to, I appeared to have become someone people thought about.
I remembered Christmases at the orphanage. We would have a cardboard box filled with donated toys and such that were wrapped by the staff and the oldest almost adult children who had no place to go yet and who preferred to help out.
All of us children, lining up on the huge sack beneath the tree. The younger ones always got to pick first,to ensure they got something at least. If enough remained, then the older children received something too.
Donations were simple and used, but when you have nothing, something is enough.
Soft packages were preferred, such as a pair of wool socks or a knitted scarf. Worse was some second-hand puzzle usually with a piece or three missing.
Last Chrismas… I had gotten a notebook. Before that I had simply gotten nothing since there were more younger children.
There had never been wrapping paper or ribbons, just old newspaper and twine.
Certainly never my name written carefully on something someone had chosen or made for me specifically.
Those presents belonged to whoever happened to receive them.
These…These had been chosen with me in mind.
I sat down slowly on the edge of the mattress and looked at the gifts I had gotten in silence.
Breakfast was almost peaceful.
The Great Hall looked enormous when occupied by barely a few dozen students and the staff. House tables had disappeared and only a single round table was occupying the center of the room, where everyone from students to teachers were eating, although now there were only a few students and a couple of teachers.
I blinked as I saw how many had actually gone home.
"So few?" I muttered to myself and joined the table and politely took off my hat.
Professor Snape was sitting just a few seats on my left and his glance was enough to imply I could easily take the place of the potato his fork was just viciously spearing.
"Merry Christmas, Professor Snape," I said politely as I sat down.
He chewed and looked at me for a while without saying anything, then swallowed " Happy Yuletide Mr Hawthorn, and let me thank you about the ingredients you sent me as Christmas gifts, as well as inquire how you came by them? I was under the impression there were perhaps a dozen ounces of that ingredient remaining in Britain. As far as I know, none is being sold."
He said in a voice that was utterly void of any inflection or anything even remotely close to happiness.
I was in the middle of picking up ham and almost missed my plate as I heard what he said.
Tweak! What on earth have you given to him?
I managed to catch the ham and went on to pick up some turkey as well as salmon" I'm glad you're happy about the gift you received, it is my pleasure professor. I have many acquaintances who also have few of their own so I just asked for ingredients worthy of a potions Master and those were the ones I got"
I invented keeping my eyes firmly on the food, as if deciding if a few more potatoes would be good for me or too much.
"Hmm, is that so? Well I have come to hear that you are indeed a person to ask things in Hogwarts, which is… noteworthy all things considered." He said with his toneless almost flat voice
"Since you appear intent on educating yourself beyond the curriculum, this should suffice as a return gift." He handed me a scrap of paper and I took it carefully, still not looking at him directly.
"That pass is valid until the end of the next term. Do not waste it, and do not show it off to anyone?"
he said firmly and I looked down at a handwritten permission slip for me to study the restricted section of the library.
I nodded mutely a few times then I gave a smile and looked up at him." Thank you so much Professor Snape, I really appreciate this"
He wasn't looking in my direction at all and simply kept eating as if nothing had happened, so I followed suit and ate my second breakfast silently rescinding the curses I mentally sent towards my too industrious elf.
By late morning,as I wandered around the castle I thought I should feel so much more relaxed, since there was barely anyone around.
For some reason though, the lack of noise and other students kept making me nervous instead. It wasn't fully quiet in the hallways, I think Hogwarts was incapable of silence.
Portraits continued their conversations, and at times talked to me as I passed by and enchanted suits of armours occasionally shifted their weight or yawned for some reason I did not care to ponder about.
One suit of armor was even quietly humming a Christmas carol entirely off-key as I walked by.
Distant ghosts drifted through walls discussing matters centuries out of date.
The castle breathed and existed as it always had but the students and in a way the life of the castle was gone.
I wandered without a destination. For perhaps the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, I wasn't thinking about who might round the next corner.
No real need to stay on guard for groups of older Slytherins.
No crowds requiring careful navigation or need to judge expressions of people watching me or alter my pace to fit the fictional student I was pretending to be.
I simply…walked, no predatory stalking charm active. I hadn't even bothered restraining my aura. It had settled naturally into a compact shell around me, as though habit had replaced conscious effort.
I also just kept my mage sight active and admired the magical intricacies of Hogwarts castle,
It felt luxurious,I also discovered little hidden things just by watching.
One magically hidden window alcove, overlooking the frozen Black Lake, The mana signature was different from Hogwarts' own.
Student perhaps?
I stopped in front of it to admire the snow-covered grounds below. The Forbidden Forest stood motionless beneath a blanket of white. Even the Whomping Willow seemed… calmer somehow underneath a thick snow blanket.
Beautiful
The thought appeared unexpectedly.
I stood there for several minutes. Looking out of the magically hidden window, then a thought struck that I was watching through the enchantment, but if there were someone else here to see, I was probably looking pretty stupid staring so intently at a wall.
I chuckled at the thought since I was indeed alone, well there was only a castle older than memory resting peacefully beneath the winter sky and me.
Then my gaze fixed on a movement in the snow, a gaggle of kids was having a snowball fight. Two of the kids charmed a couple of snowballs to hit and bounce off from the back of Professor Quirrell's turban who was walking by.
Those had to be the Weasley twins.
I thought to myself in amusement, as poor Professor Quirrell ran inside the castle to escape the snowballs.
By dinner time the Great Hall felt more cosy than usual, only a single long table curved gently around the central fire with enough seats for us all, in the middle a fire was already burning without smoke and crackling merrily, but I noted it did not even char the logs it was burning.
Tonight…It felt alive.
A dozen towering Christmas trees stretched nearly to the enchanted ceiling, every branch heavy with floating candles, crystal ornaments, enchanted birds and tiny golden stars that drifted lazily between the needles.
Garlands hung from every stone pillar and on the trees, snowflakes drifted beneath the enchanted sky before dissolving a few feet above the tables. The floor was covered with snow that proved neither cold nor wet beneath one's feet.
In essence the great hall looked like we were dining in the middle of the forbidden forest. Someone—probably Professor Flitwick or Professor Dumbledore—had enchanted the walls until they resembled the shadowed edge of the Forbidden Forest.
It felt more like Yuletide to me than Christmas, not that I know much for either, but Christmas to me was more bright, this was more primal somehow.
I love magic
There was no separation between students and teachers, let alone houses. People sat next to whoever happened to sit where they pleased.
Before I had fully decided where to sit, someone waved enthusiastically at me.
"Alexander!"
One of the Weasley twins and the other immediately mirrored him.
"Over here!"
The first one continued, "There are still empty chairs."
"Mostly because Fred keeps stealing them." the other pointed at his brother.
"I distinctly remember George…
No, I'm almost certain it was George…being the chair thief?." claimed the first one looking at his brother confused.
I accepted the invitation since it seemed the path of least resistance. I just shook my head and looked around the table. Before I had even settled into my chair properly, several silver platters appeared with loud pops.
Roast turkey.
Potatoes.
Honey-glazed carrots.
Yorkshire puddings.
Gravy.
Ham.
Whole grilled chickens and many different casseroles,enough food to satisfy several Quidditch teams.
Harry Potter already occupied one side of the table next to Ron Weasley, looking far more relaxed than he usually did around crowds, loading his plate merrily talking with his friend.
Conversation drifted naturally everyone including the teachers seemed to have relaxed quite a bit and I could not see anyone moping around.
The twins supplied approximately ninety percent of the noise around my side of the table.
Harry laughed more than I had ever heard before.
Terry contributed surprisingly dry observations that occasionally made both twins pause before laughing a second later.
I mostly listened and nibbled everything in reach of my hands. Listening was educational after all.
After a while a loud crack like a cannon firing echoed through the Hall. Professor Dumbledore had opened one of the enormous Christmas crackers that several trays held floating around the table and was pulling on his head a bright red cap making him look more like Santa Claus.
Then he pulled out an even bigger one inside his cloak pocket.
"I require volunteers!" he announced cheerfully, as he held it up and watched as several hands rose up immediately.
The Headmaster ignored all of them,instead he pointed toward Professor Flitwick.
"You there boy."
Flitwick looked resigned.
"I suspected this might happen." he muttered
With considerable effort—and assistance from Professor Sprout—they pulled opposite ends.
The cracker exploded like a small cannon and a cloud of glitter erupted toward the enchanted ceiling.
Hundreds of brightly coloured paper birds burst into existence, immediately beginning an entirely respectable performance of God Rest Ye Merry, Hippogriffs.
No one questioned the altered lyrics.
Professor Dumbledore bowed to the applause as though he had personally composed the birds,which I suspected he indeed had.
The evening grew warmer, and the fire kept crackling in the middle merrily. After everyone had eaten to their fill massive platters of marshmallows and sharpened sticks appeared all over the table.
Apparently this was an annual tradition, judging by how nobody hesitated one bit.
Everyone started grilling theirs and adding topping on the table to their liking, some drizzled chocolate on them, others just put theirs between crackers and ate as is.
Professor Dumbledore added everything he could get to fit in his marshmallow sandwich including peach slice and cinnamon.
I grilled a few myself and ate in contentment as I watched around people having a good time. I also found myself watching the professors almost as often as the students. Even they seemed to have relaxed and joined in the holiday cheer.
Professor Sprout laughed with Hagrid over something impossible to hear across the Hall.
Professor Flitwick had somehow acquired three absurd hats stacked atop one another, and was having a sword fight with two marshmallow sticks while eating one himself. I couldn't even see his wand anywhere, he waved the fingers of his right hand and enthusiastically explained which one of the sticks were winning to Mr Boot sitting next to him.
Professor Snape drank hot cocoa and dipped Christmas cookies into it. I could have sworn the corners of the man's mouth twitched upward exactly once before vanishing again. Perhaps an illusion.
Suddenly Hagrid stood up,his tankard empty and his cheeks considerably redder than when dinner had begun.
He went around the table with surprising care for someone his size.
Professor McGonagall who had just gotten up herself turned just in time.
"Oh, Hagrid, what are—"
He leaned down and placed a quick, entirely innocent kiss upon her cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Minerva." He rumbled happily.
Silence. Utter silence.
From the corner of my eye I could see the Twins looking at each other in horrified excitement, already anticipating the oncoming chaos.
Professor McGonagall blinked once then giggled and swatted his side gently.
"Oh, honestly, Rubeus."
Then she reached up and patted his shoulder until he bent down to her level.
"Merry Christmas." she said and kissed his cheek in return.
Professor Snape slowly lowered his cocoa mug with the expression of a man questioning every decision that had led him to this exact moment.
The twins burst into barely controlled laughter.
Harry grinned.
Even Terry looked faintly amused.
I simply watched, amused and slightly bewildered. I had never imagined Professor McGonagall capable of giggling, yet there it was.
It occurred to me that I knew almost nothing about the people who taught us magic everyday.
As though deciding the atmosphere had not yet become sufficiently ridiculous, Professor Dumbledore rose once more.
"My dear students."
Everyone looked toward him.
"My beloved colleagues,I regret to inform you…"
A dramatic pause.
"…that there remains a severe shortage of festive headwear."
Before anyone could respond, he produced an armful of Christmas crackers from somewhere inside his robes.
I deliberately chose not to speculate where.
"Prepare yourselves!"
He bellowed like a duelist just before pulling out his blade and the Headmaster began distributing them personally with oddly accurate throws.
One landed in my hands almost at the same time as another struck Fred squarely on the forehead.
A third bounced off Professor Snape's head and landed in his hands, whether intentionally or accidentally remained impossible to determine.
"Pull!" Dumbledore commanded.
The Hall erupted in overlapping cracks.
Paper crowns.
Tiny enchanted toys.
Impossible whistles.
A dancing spoon.
A rubber dragon that insisted it was real.
My own cracker produced an elegant silver crown shaped like intertwined oak leaves and a tiny carved owl that fluttered once around my head before settling contentedly on my shoulder.
The twins were already wearing three hats each.
Mr Potter had somehow received a bright purple crown two sizes too large.
Dumbledore himself wore a spectacularly ridiculous hat topped by a live golden canary that periodically burst into song for no discernible reason.
He looked utterly delighted.
I found myself thinking, not for the first time, that Albus Dumbledore was either one of the wisest men alive…Or completely insane.
On Christmas day I decided to be fancy and used my new crown instead of my usual hat. I found I liked the oakleaf design and the owl carving. Although the owl was sleeping now its head underneath its wing, which was all kinds of confusing for a decorative bird to do.
I took the opportunity to abandon most of my projects and plans, for the simple joy of wandering around. Yesterday's small taste of it had lit a fire burning in my soul that I could almost certainly call wanderlust or need for adventure.
Something that before yesterday, I never had thought would be associated with me.
The castle felt like it creaked occasionally, not from age, but almost as though it was shifting its weight magically, like the oncoming new year was something even the castle was preparing for.
Portraits chatted with one another through their frames, some seemed to be in the state of ongoing celebration from last night, and very vocal about it.
The walls themselves radiated quiet layers of ancient enchantment that I had begun only slightly to distinguish.
I walked slowly, even slower than yesterday. My mage sight remained open as I stared at the walls and the mesmerising dance of the mana in the wall and in the air.
I think the castle itself is preparing for the new year, like its loosening muscles just before the spring.
I was amazed,since normally I limited myself to using my mage sight sparingly since the charm was always active, and the double drain on my mana was an especially stupid idea when there are people around who are far too interested in inconveniencing me at the best, or hurting me at the worst.
Also too many magical signatures at once became distracting, almost painful to try and see through but today… The castle belonged to perhaps thirty students and a dozen teachers.
The difference was remarkable. Individual enchantments stood apart instead of blending into one enormous blur.
A staircase glowed with centuries of reinforcing charms. An old tapestry concealed half a dozen privacy wards woven so seamlessly into the fabric they appeared almost natural.
My wandering path eventually carried me away from the library where I was before trying out my new pass to just glance at some of the volumes in the restricted section.
I was halfway down a deserted corridor when I suddenly froze in place.
Something…No,not just something.
A pulsing nexus of mana,deep and ancient.
Unlike the steady glow of Hogwarts' wards,this magic seemed almost Infinite, like a spiral looping in on itself and twisting bizarrely.
My breath caught. It, whatever it was, lay just beyond the wall to my left.
Impossible. Surely it's not here, something this powerful could it be the Philosophers stone the Gryffindors said was hidden in Hogwarts? wasn't it supposed to be on the third floor?
No enchantment I had yet encountered possessed that much magical weight, for the lack of a proper analogy. the ambient mana seemed to rotate this nexus of power lazily as if without actually meaning to do so.
For a long moment I simply stood there, staring through solid stone at this thing,the wall itself preventing me from seeing clearly what it was.
Only the radiance of it reached me and it resembled neither spellwork,enchantment like I have come across so far, or proper wards.
Rather…It felt like trying to understand an ocean while seeing only a single wave. Depth and width beyond comprehension as far as the eye could see.
Well with the difference of course that all of this magic was originating from a single focal point.
I slowly approached the wall and the sensation strengthened,my heartbeat quickened in excitement and curiosity. Pure, irresistible curiosity.
"…Tweak." I whispered and the elf appeared beside me almost immediately, without a sound leaning her back to the wall, back in a spy outfit.
"Yes, Master Alexander?" She rasped a whisper her hands in her pockets and hat pulled down low
I never looked away from the wall.
"What is behind this wall?" I whispered back, not daring to speak louder for some reason.
Tweak followed my gaze.
"Oh."was the only thing she said.
"You know what it is?." I whispered my eyes still on the wall and the thing behind it.
"I do." She whispered solemnly
"And?" I asked
Her ears twitched underneath her hat "I am afraid I cannot answer that" She said firmly
I frowned."You cannot? or may not?"
"I may not." She affirmed
Interesting,not unwilling but forbidden. By whom? Hogwarts and the Headmaster?The castle itself?
I considered asking another question but though better of it
"May I investigate on my own?"
Tweak smiled.
"I believe that is precisely why it is here, to be found safely by those who can find it." She whispered
"…That is not much of an answer." I accused her.
"It is the only one I may give." She shrugged and lit one of her cinnamon vanilla sticks although now she seemed to have wrapped it in a festive green leaf, making it look much more authentic,what is imitated to be somehow.
For a moment there was silence, then I ripped my eyes off the thing behind the wall, and started to search for an entrance to it, possibly hidden by complex magic.
"I shall assume there is a well hidden entrance or perhaps one masked to look like something so ordinary nobody would be interested in going near it."
I muttered
"There is." came an amused voice next to me.
I looked down at her and she looked back with perfect innocence.
I sighed and looked around pulling the mana out of my eyes so the simple corridor was easier to see the hallway as it was, and found to my embarrassment what appeared to be a simple door just like a dozen like it to an empty classroom a few feet on my left.
I couched " Like I said Tweak very cleverly hidden" I added with serious nod
" right you were master Alexander, your wit is truly without an equal"
I ignored the sarcasm and tried to open the door but it was locked, so I whipped my wand out and cast " alohomora" and tried again and this time It yielded beneath gentle pressure.
The hinges made no sound even though the room beyond was quite dusty.
Large enough to store forgotten furniture from half the castle.
Old desks stood stacked against one wall and broken chairs occupied another.
A suit of armour lacking both arms leaned drunkenly beside a wardrobe whose doors refused to remain shut.
None of it mattered.
my eyes were already fixed upon the object standing at the far end of the chamber.
Large ornate mirror.
No…Not merely a mirror. The thing was nearly as tall as the room itself.
Its frame seemed to be old and a bit dulled but fully golden, there was some text above the mirrors surface that said " Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi"
I could not make heads or tails about it and moved on to the rest of the mirror.
The surface reflected the empty room exactly as a mirror should from looking at it from the side,
Yet my mage sight…my mage sight almost recoiled. The magic surrounding the mirror possessed no beginning and no end.
I could not trace its structure since it kept twisting in on itself and reflecting out. I could not identify its purpose either since I did not dare to stand in front of it, not yet.
For the first time since arriving in the magical world…
I looked upon something and possessed absolutely no framework through which to understand it, no hypothetical or even a guess what something like this could be used for.
A smile slowly spread across my face.
"…Now this…"
I took one careful step forward.
"…is worth studying closer."
I stopped three paces from the mirror's side, not daring to directly go in front of it yet.
I studied the golden frame and the nonsensical written text above it first.
Old enough that it seemed to have smoothed the edges of the frame to a dull and round centuries ago.
The carved ornamentation was unlike any magical script I had yet encountered. Granted I have not encountered many but the fact still stood. Mirror had two clawed feet keeping it standing, they looked to be either hippogriffins or some creature similar.
I couldn't recognise any runes on the surface but as the card project had revealed that did not mean anything.
I opened my mage sight again, now closer to the object I wished to stay cautious and fed only the tinies of trickles of mana into my eyes.
Close up the mirror did not radiate magic in the way enchanted objects normally did. Rather it seemed to exist within magic,as part of it than merely containing it like most enchanted artifacts did.
It was like a sun in a way, it did not radiate magic that was just a by-product much as light and heat was with the sun. Yet magic flowed through and around in a constant looping radiance mesmerising the senses.
I frowned. How would one examine something like this?
I circled behind it slowly, still exceedingly careful not to stand in front of it since I did not know what it did.
who knows it might be a portal to Tir Na Nog or something.
I thought remembering the old tales Matron Mary told us about the land of the ever young.
Ever since joining the magical community I have been going through all the tales and assessing how much is forgotten lore of a world hidden from the muggles and how much is just stories. Until I get a defined answer to one way or another I will stay cautious and open minded.
I looked at the frame from the other side now, hands itching to touch the surface but touching unknown magical artifacts, before understanding them was generally regarded as poor choice for your continued survival not to mention education as a whole.
I settled for another slow circuit behind the mirror, feeling it and the room more with my senses and less with the magical sight, since the sight was next to useless this close to the mirror that seemed to be made of magic.
I looked down to the floor and found no binding circles or active ritual arrays.
I could feel no residual curse signatures, which Tweak had taught me to recognise as a first priority a few weeks after the school started.
If the object possessed defensive enchantments, they were hidden far beyond my ability to perceive.
"Fascinating." I muttered aloud.
It contains as much or more magic than the whole of the Hogwarts castle yet it seems to be doing nothing with it. Perhaps it's not in use as of now.
I pondered for a while then I decided to take a calculated risk and I stepped in front of it.
His own reflection looked back, sort of. There were still only one pair of shoulders.
One face and One body. My own greyblue eyes and dirty blond hair, but it was considerably longer.
So was the man,and the man he was. I recognised him as me since it wasn't the first time I saw an older version of myself.
His robes were different, no longer school robes of black. His robes were a patchwork of colors that seemed to blend into each other and felt magical in nature.
Layered garments embroidered with patterns too intricate and magical to come from any modern tailor shop.
Especially since I could see a few slowly moving runes floating through his robes sleeves, one happened to bounce back from the silver thread from the cuffs where unfamiliar geometric designs were traced around the cuffs.
He did not seem proud or arrogant, simply certain of who he is.
Greyblue eyes regarded me from within the mirror, as if actually seeing me watching him,as if remembering this moment happening a long time ago.
Behind him stood shelves of books,thousands of them.
Not a library but a life's work quantified. Tables around him were covered in strange instruments and half-finished constructions.
Some of the objects seemed to blur the line between craftsmanship and spellwork.
I could see Wands,Staffs.Carved stones levitating in a quiet circle.
Metal rings sat on the table, rings etched with impossibly fine lines glowing faintly.
it was a workshop.
No…not just a workshop but a sanctum.
My reflection reached down where the mirror's surface ended and picked up a simple wooden ring.
Freshly carved and unfinished.
With slow, deliberate care, the older Alexander traced a fingertip across its surface and the wood answered.
Runes lit up and awakened one after another beneath his touch. He did not carve the runes, he just willed them to be.
The ring settled down from the glow, now complete.
Satisfied, the older man smiled faintly and put the ring aside then looked up at me once more.
We stared at each other for a while without words.
Then I quietly observed,
"I do believe this mirror does not do much reflection, at least not in a proper way its kind usually does" I said to myself as much as the older me in the mirror who nodded amusedly.
"No."
The voice behind me carried warmth, amusement, and the faintest trace of curiosity.
"I rather suspect it does not."
I turned around, surprised, and it has been a while since I have been properly surprised by anyone. Professor Dumbledore stood in the shadow of the pillar next to the old chalk board.
His silver beard reached nearly to his belt, though it appeared impeccably cared for rather than wild. They were today deep forest green with red berries flashing to visibility and off as he moved, as if leaves moved by the wind.
Bright blue eyes regarded me.
Not merely bright but alive and curious.
His half-moon spectacles caught the afternoon light as he regarded both me and the mirror behind me with equal interest.
"I wondered," the Headmaster said pleasantly, slowly stepping closer to where I was standing "who had discovered one of Hogwarts' more reclusive residents."
I inclined my head politely and said "I assume you were informed."
"I was." He nodded and came to stand next to me in front of the mirror. The older me gave him a nod and a smile then turned his attention back to me.
"The room is warded." I hedged
"It is, indeed" Professor Dumbledore said genially
I nodded at that. "A sensible precaution."
"I have always thought so." He said happily and for several moments neither of us spoke.
His eyes wandered over the forgotten furniture with the familiarity of someone returning to a place he had not visited for many years.
Then he looked once more at the mirror.
"And what," he asked softly, "do you believe you have found Mr. Hawthorn?"
Alexander considered the question carefully.
"I don't know."
The old wizard smiled.
"A most promising beginning."
Dumbledore's blue eyes had drifted to the mirror as was mine and we both looked on in silence for a while. Then he turned his attention back to me.
"You have been here…"
He glanced at the undisturbed dust around the room.
"…approximately six minutes and in all that time…"
The Headmaster smiled.
"…you have not once attempted to touch it."
"I know almost nothing about it." I said defensively
"A refreshing attitude." He said and started to dig something from his robes pocket. "I prefer my limbs attached." I said simply.
Dumbledore chuckled."As do I aha here we are" he pulled a small bag of hard candies " care for a lemon drop?
I looked at the bag he was offering then at the headmaster and accepted one " thank you Headmaster, " and looked once more at the mirror and my older self chuckled to himself. Well to me but same difference.
"It showed me something. It was… peculiar"
"I imagine it did." Dumbledore said and popped one lemon drop into his mouth "Well a mirror showing anything but your reflection is by definition peculiar" he said philosophically
I hesitated a bit but decided to ask anyway.
"Should I tell you what I saw?"
Dumbledore regarded me thoughtfully.
"Would you like to?" He asked gently, eyes twinkling curiously.
I considered the question for a while and glanced at my older self in the mirror, he was in the process of making another ring.
"No." I decided
"Then I see no reason why you should."
That…Was not the answer I had expected.
"I had assumed you would ask."
The old wizard smiled at me and glanced at the mirror once too then looked back at me.
"Some conversations are held between a person and a mirror."
His gaze lingered upon the ancient glass.
"And it is poor manners to interrupt either participant."
I found myself studying the Headmaster instead.
"You know what it does." I stated
"I do." He admitted
"Is it dangerous?" I asked
"It can be." He said honestly
"Then why not destroy it?"
Dumbledore was silent for several heartbeats then finally he shook his head.
"No,it has its uses"
I frowned at that but continued" Perhaps it's worth hiding then?"
"I thought I had."
My lips twitched.
"So you did, bravo"
The old wizard laughed quietly. "Touché, Mr. Hawthorn."
I turned to look in the mirror and the older me,leaning slightly closer to the glass as I did.
"So this present…"
I searched for the correct words.
"…a hypothetical? a possibility?" I asked,curious about how it works.
"No. it says what it does, right there" Headmaster said with a pondering expression and a nod towards the mirror as he dug out another lemon drop. "It presents something rather more troublesome than that." He added and plopped a lemon drop in his mouth.
I turned back to the mirror and looked at the text. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." It still made no sense to me.
"Is it some other language, or a code?" I hedged a guess.
Professor Dumbledore hummed, not really agreeing or disagreeing. " Well it's, in a way, a very silly joke" he said finally and pulled a wand from his robes pocket and flicked it and the chalk began writing on the chalkboard.
"You see it's a mirrored writing, and the spacing has been tampered a bit, I have always just assumed the joke was to have mirror-writing on top of the mirror. to have a solution so close yet so far, especially in this case since this particular mirror does not perform its basic duty that well." He said in a very practiced lecturing voice as the chalk wrote " I show not your face but your heart's desire"
The room fell into silence.
I was thinking about the implications, what it would mean that apparently my heart's desire is to study magic for the rest of my life.
Professor Dumbledore kindly hummed to himself and let me think in peace.
"Who would make something like this? something that shows you what you desire the most in the world. Seeing something like that could make a man go mad." I asked finally, looking at Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah, well that is the question isn't it. Sadly the answer is, I don't know. As far as I am aware, nobody knows." he said with a jovial smile." The knowledge of who made it,why and when, has either deliberately left from the history books,or it was never known in the first place." he said looking at the mirror ponderously.
Then he looked at me " Yes as you so astutely mentioned,people have gone mad looking into it,so I have to ask you not to seek it again. I have every intention of moving it to another location soon. So perhaps it was a fate working to reveal what it is you desire"
Fate, that one again. Perhaps I need to start really looking into the divination magics and see if there's something to be done with it. Professor Dumbledore might be a bit mad but he's no doubt absolutely brilliant too, and he seemed to believe in concepts such as fate and chance.
I bowed my head slightly in thought, and then decided to fulfill a silent promise of mine.
"Thank you Professor."
Dumbledore blinked, surprised."For what?"
"For allowing me to study here."
I answered simply and that seemed to take the old wizard entirely by surprise once again.
"I don't believe," he said gently, and "that I deserve any credit for that my boy."
"You are the Headmaster." I said to him genuinely puzzled.
"I am." he confirmed with a twinkle in his eye.
"I received my letter and the invitation bore your office insignia and your name"
Dumbledore's smile became almost apologetic.
"I fear Hogwarts may have taken liberties with its name."
I waited him to explain
The Headmaster clasped his hands before him.
"Children often believe the Headmaster personally invites each new student."
"I had assumed as much." I nodded in affirmations.
"In truth…"
His eyes drifted upward for a moment, toward centuries of history resting somewhere above the castle.
"…that decision belongs neither to the Headmaster nor the Ministry of Magic."
"It does not?"
"No."
"There exists a book,you see. A very old one accompanied by a quill still older. Together they record the names of magical children in all of the British isles and Ireland." He said his eyes far as if seeing the two magical artifacts at work.
"They have done so for longer than anyone now living remembers. When a child's magic becomes… undeniable…The quill writes their names down and the book accepts it." He took a small break and looked at me once more.
"So when the proper time arrives…the castle extends its invitation. The headmaster and the deputy head are little more than scribes who write their names down on the letters and do the rest of the administrative parts, but no, we do not choose those who are allowed to learn here."
"So…" I said hesitantly trying to wrap my head around the new information.
"The castle invited me." I asked
"In a manner of speaking." Professor Dumledore said with a nod.
"You merely fulfilled the duty of welcoming me." I checked
"I have the privilege of signing the letters nothing more,nothing less" He stated firmly
I nodded slowly.
"I see." and I found that I genuinely did.
Not merely the mechanics but philosophy.
The Headmaster did not choose who was worthy but Hogwarts did, and it did not belong to the headmaster it was more like the other way around. He served it.
I inclined his head once more.
"Then…"
Dumbledore waited patiently.
"…please accept my gratitude on behalf of Hogwarts."
-Albus Dumbledore pov-
Albus Dumbledore simply looked at the boy standing before him.
The children thanked him,as well as their parents thanked him at times. Former students occasionally returned decades later to express their appreciation for the schooling they had.
But no one…not one, had ever separated the man from the office like that, really understood that he was a servant of the ancient castle not its master.
The gratitude wasn't political or flattering. It did not seem even personal.
It was sincere thanks for the opportunity to learn about wonders of the world of magic, something he himself could easily appreciate.
This first year Slytherin student who For one impossible moment he was reminded of another brilliant Slytherin boy who had once stood before him.
Especially with all his smarts and tendencies to stay at his own company.
This student who unlike Tom, had no problem at all speaking to him like an equal without angling to leverage it later on.
Alexander Hawthorn simply wished to thank the institution that had opened its doors to him and, in the absence of the castle speaking for itself…
He thanked the man entrusted with its care. Something warm settled quietly behind the Headmaster's eyes.
"It has been," he said softly, "many years since anyone thanked me quite like that."
Alexander looked mildly embarrassed.
"I meant no novelty."
"I know." I said
"I merely wished to express my appreciation." He continued firmly, the silvery crown glinting in his hair and the owl ornament waking to look around.
"And you have." I smiled at the child. "I shall endeavor to remain worthy of accepting it."
He nodded seriously then turned around and left the room the tiny ornamental owl hooting around him.
I glanced at the Mirror of Erised once more. It reflected only an old wizard smiling quietly to himself, standing once more in the classroom where he had taught for so many years.
For one brief moment at least…