A Christmas at Home
"It's Christmas," was the first thing Percy said the moment he got out of bed.
Harry, who was sitting on his own bed, blinking slowly while nodding off as he tried to wake up, opened his eyes wide at the sound of his brother's shout.
Before he could complain about how loud Percy had been, Percy was already running, barefoot, straight out of his room and into the living room.
"Percy, put on your slippers," Sally's voice was heard from the living room, as if she had already anticipated it.
Meanwhile, Harry got up with slow movements, still a little drowsy. He put on his slippers, rubbed his eyes, and walked calmly down to the living room without any rush, letting the warm atmosphere of the house finish waking him up.
The air inside the house was filled with the scent of freshly cooked food or dishes still being prepared, mixed with the soft smell of pine from the Christmas tree.
There, Percy was already kneeling in front of the Christmas tree, staring at the huge number of presents piled underneath it, his eyes shining with excitement. Sally, for her part, seemed to have been busy since very early in the kitchen, with Lia's help, preparing a large amount of food for the Christmas dinner, since all the family's friends would be coming later.
Meanwhile, Mor was sitting calmly, drinking tea, watching Percy open presents with a faint smile on her face. Harry felt a small pang of happiness in his chest; not because of the presents themselves, but because of the simple feeling of being there, at home, all together.
"Merry Christmas, Mom. Merry Christmas, Aunt Mor," Harry said quickly as he arrived.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," Sally replied at once, without stopping whatever it was she was whisking.
Mor did not return the words, as every year, and only smiled at Harry. He was already used to that; it was the same every Christmas.
"Harry, here, this one's for you," Percy said as he approached with a small wrapped box. Then he ran over to Sally with another similar box for her.
He looked genuinely excited; maybe that was why he had been the first one to wake up and had burst out of bed like that. When they saw the tag, both immediately understood that it was from Percy.
"Oh, sweetheart, you didn't have to," Sally said quickly, with a truly happy expression, as she set the bowl aside and opened the box.
Harry opened his as well, curious to see what his brother had given him.
Both of them pulled out what looked like some kind of ring, one golden and the other silver. They were larger than normal and engraved with runes all around them.
"They're wand keepers," Percy said at once. "If you put them on your wands, no matter where you leave them, they'll come back to you," he explained proudly.
Those were the items Percy had chosen after winning the tournament Einjard had invited him to take part in. Although there were many truly amazing things in the Gringotts vault, many of them were also dangerous; these, on the other hand, were genuinely useful for both of them.
"Thank you, sweetheart, I really like it a lot," Sally said as she took out her wand and properly fitted the wand keeper between the handle. The wand glowed faintly as she did.
"How did you get these? They're amazing," Harry said, clearly pleased with the gift.
"It's a secret," Percy replied with an arrogant smile.
Harry rolled his eyes and, without saying anything, ran to grab two boxes from under the tree. He handed one to Sally and the other to Percy.
"Here are my gifts," he said as well, with a bit of pride.
Percy looked at Harry and opened his box quickly. Inside was a pen that looked quite expensive. Percy's expression froze for a moment. Then he looked at Harry, forcing a smile.
"Thanks… I like writing," he said.
"Take the cap off," Harry told him, clearly amused by Percy's reaction, which he had already expected.
Percy obeyed and removed the cap from the pen. At that instant, the object began to change shape rapidly, growing in his hand until it transformed into a shining bronze sword, very familiar.
"This is… Riptide," Percy said, recognizing it instantly as the sword they had seen before in the Veil. His expression was pure excitement; he had loved it from the very first day he saw it. "How…?" he asked at once.
"It's a secret," Harry replied, repeating exactly what Percy had told him earlier. Harry smiled when he saw him like that; very few things managed to leave Percy speechless, and knowing that he had been one of them gave him a quiet sense of satisfaction.
Then Harry looked at Sally, who was watching her sons with love, wearing a genuinely happy smile, before opening her gift.
When she took it out, what was inside was a small golden sphere. As she held it in her hand, two tiny wings sprouted, and the sphere began to fly around Sally.
"It's the first snitch I ever caught. I asked Professor McGonagall if I could keep it," Harry said with a smile to his mother. "Aunt Mor enchanted it so it wouldn't escape like it normally should."
Sally smiled, deeply moved. "I love it," she said, knowing it was something truly worth treasuring; the first match won, the first snitch caught. On top of that, it looked beautiful as it flew around her.
"Well, go open your presents. I'll finish preparing everything for noon. Everyone will be coming," Sally said quickly, gesturing to give them their freedom.
There was no need to say anything else. The two of them ran off to see the rest of the presents.
And so they buried themselves among the boxes and began opening them one after another, having fun as they compared each other's gifts.
For example, Neville had given them both Chocolate Frogs. Hermione, on the other hand, had given Percy a book on troll alchemy and Harry a book about the history of Quidditch.
Percy made a slightly annoyed face; but since it was a gift, he could not throw it into the fireplace. Or could he. He thought that while staring intensely at the house's fireplace.
"Stop thinking nonsense, it's a gift from our friend," Harry said quickly, as if reading his thoughts, while opening what seemed to be a present from Ron. Inside were several sweets, along with a letter saying that his mother wanted to give them something too, but that they did not have to use it if they did not want to.
Harry did not fully understand that until he saw the wrapped gift that came from Molly Weasley. When he opened it, two hand knitted sweaters appeared; one green and one blue, with an H and a P respectively on each one.
"Wow," Percy said, looking at the sweater with a big P in the center. "I think… it's our style," he added with an amused smile.
The next gifts were from Sirius. Percy immediately pulled out what looked like a short sword, black in color, that gave off a very bad feeling. Beside it there was a card that read:
"I found this while taking out the trash at my place. I think it's cursed, so I'm giving it to you. Merry Christmas."
Which made Percy set it aside almost at once, not wanting to touch it too much. He really liked swords and was already starting a small collection, but that did not mean he wanted to have a cursed sword anywhere near him.
Mor, who was sitting relatively close and watching them, looked at the sword for a moment with interest.
"Well, a sacrificial sword. It's been a long time since I've seen one," she said while calmly making it float toward her, examining it closely.
That only increased Percy's desire to refuse Sirius's gift under any circumstance.
Meanwhile, Harry opened his present. Inside, he found a photograph of Sirius, Remus, James, and Lily, all wearing wide smiles. However, one of the corners was cut off, as if someone were missing. Probably Peter.
The card said:
"Hagrid asked me if I had any photos of your parents to give you, so I searched the whole house and found this one. It was the day your mother agreed to go out with your father. We had to commemorate the moment; it really took him a lot to win her over. Merry Christmas."
Harry ran his thumb along the cut edge of the photograph without saying anything. Seeing those familiar faces and remembering that night in front of the Mirror of Erised, he could only smile as he looked at his parents there.
The next gifts were from Mark and from the Knights. Almost all of them were similar for both boys. Mark had given them notes on potions and magic, filled with comments written by himself, explaining that they were improvements over what they would learn at Hogwarts, with several remarks that were clearly arrogant. The Knights, for their part, gave them curious toys and several training books.
There were also etiquette books for Percy. Three identical books, from three different people, as if they had all agreed to send him a message. Percy looked at them suspiciously.
Maybe it was a code. Or something secret. For a second, he wondered if everyone saw him the same way; he did not like the idea at all, so he decided to ignore it.
Harry picked up the next gift. He was genuinely happy to see how many presents they had. In previous years, they had also received many things, but this time there were a few more, since there were also gifts from the friends they had made at Hogwarts. That made everything feel even more special.
Meanwhile, Percy opened the gift Grover had sent him. It was a strange card game called Mythomagic. The first card he saw was a minotaur wearing underwear.
Percy blinked several times, completely confused.
He did not notice that Mor's gaze, from nearby, had turned completely serious as she looked at the cards in Percy's hands. She narrowed her eyes briefly, as if recognizing something.
Harry read the card attached to the next gift he had picked up.
"Your father left this with me before he died.
It is time for it to return to you."
Harry opened the gift and pulled out what looked like a long silver cloak, a very light gray, as if it were made of liquid silver. The fabric was extraordinarily fine and light, so much so that it felt more like a veil than a garment. When Harry touched it, he noticed it was smooth, cold, and slippery, as if it were not normal fabric. It had no noticeable weight and did not wrinkle.
At the sight of the cloak, Mor stopped paying attention to the cards in Percy's hands and spat out the tea she was drinking, earning confused looks from both boys.
Mor cleared her throat quickly. In all the years she had known the children, she had never shown that level of surprise, not enough to spit out her tea.
"May I see that, Harry?" she asked as she stepped closer.
Harry nodded without any problem and handed her the cloak.
Mor stared at it for several seconds. Her expression showed genuine surprise; her mouth was even slightly open.
"What is it, Aunt Mor?" Harry asked.
That pulled Mor out of her thoughts.
"Ah… oh. It's an invisibility cloak," she said quickly. "If you put it on, you become invisible," she added as she handed it back. Mor looked away for just an instant, as if she had thought about saying something more… and then decided not to.
Harry did not notice. Neither did Percy.
Harry put it on his shoulders immediately, leaving only his head visible. Now he looked like a floating head in the middle of the living room.
"Awesome," Percy said excitedly, before asking for it and putting it on as well, laughing when he saw himself invisible.
Mor let out a quiet sigh as she recognized that fabric, watching the children play without a single worry. It was better not to tell them anything. At least, not now.
…
N/A : Well, this has gone on long enough. It will be better to return to Hogwarts in the next chapter.