Over the next two days, people were permitted to wander about as they saw fit. It was just as well, because there was a gaping hole in everyone's schedule. Umbridge was removed as a teacher, unable to be let go from Ranger custody, not to mention not being able to leave the Great Hall, and Lupin wasn't about to leave Harry's side for anything. People wandered aimlessly, discussing the books and all that Harry had seen and done. Some people even went to Hogsmeade to do a bit of shopping, to get their minds off of Harry's horrible home life and all the danger he seemed to find himself in, but found themselves buying something from Honeydukes for Harry when he woke up. The pile was growing steadily larger with each passing hour. As well as the numerous vases of get well flowers from female admirers.

Seeing Harry in that coffin-like pod was a little frightening. His hair was suspended by the water and his eyes were always closed, but they twitched if you looked close enough. And if you had the misfortune of watching too long, a yellow light would come on and Harry, inside the thing, would have his whole body twitch violently. Sirius just about lost his mind when he saw it for the first time.

In the meantime, while he was sitting beside the pod, Dr. Clark met and acquaintanced himself with the rest of the teachers of the school, as well as some of the guests. He was very popular with the Muggle Studies students and especially with Mr. Weasely. Despite Dr. Clark being worried about Harry, he couldn't help but laugh good-naturedly at Mr. Weasely's enthusiasm.

It was lunchtime when the constant red light turned slowly to green. The Doctor hurried over and pushed several different buttons. Keeping a close eye on the monitors. The water slowly left the container, and when it was gone, the Doctor opened the chamber, he took the wires and other monitoring paraphernalia off the boys chest. Harry's eyes flickered and slowly opened. The Doctor removed the oxygen mask and helped the boy out of the pod. Harry was almost completely limp, he was so weak that he could barely stand.

"Alright lad, take a deep breath, how do you feel?" said the Doctor supporting his full weight.

Harry gulped in breaths of air. "A lot better than I did before I went in there. But I'm still so tired." he said almost collapsing to the ground.

"I thought you said he wasn't going to have any side-effects!" shouted Ron.

"So I did, ask the woman what she used for the Leechhold potion." said the Doctor to Lionus.

"Why doesn't he ask her, himself?" whispered Blaise to Draco.

"He's the most lethal member of the Rangers. You say the wrong thing to him, and you're a criminal, you're dead in five seconds. No warnings." said Lionus, catching Blaise's question. "We like them to see Devil's Garden before they die." he said with a smirk.

Lionus then walked over to Umbridge, "What ingredients did you use in the potion, woman?"

"What if I don't tell you?" said Umbridge smugly. Lionus didn't answer, but he did take out a small object out of his pocket, it was a circular device with a giant glowing button. He pushed it and a thin needle shot out and embedded itself in her arm.

Immediately, she writhed in agony and the Great Hall was filled with her painful screams. He pushed the button again after five minutes.

"You'll get that again if you don't tell me and again if you lie to me. What were the ingredients?"

She gasped, "What was that?" she said weakly.

"I don't answer your questions, you answer mine. What were the ingredients?" he said quickly.

"All right, all right, it was one of his owl's feathers, a strand of hair, and an emerald." she said quickly.

"Is that all?" asked Lionus.

"Yes." she said, then without warning, she began screaming.

"I told you, don't lie to me! What else was there?" he said dangerously.

"...huff...huff...hair," she gasped. "a...huff...phial...of...his...blood...huff." No more screams came.

"See how easy that was?" said Lionus with an evil smile. "Well Doc?"

"Well in that case, he'll be weak for an hour or so. Let's let him rest a bit more, he's all yours gentlemen." said the Doctor, who was kneeling on the ground, Harry's head resting against his chest.

Sirius hurried over and picked him up. The three men walked over to the bowl and sat down in it. Snape was about to hand them a strengthening potion to Remus when the Doctor stopped him.

"He won't need that. Give him some time, he'll be right as rain momentarily." said the Doctor kindly.

Harry was fast asleep, the Doctor said that he needed plenty of rest, but moving him too far would have been a bad idea. So, while everyone finished their lunch, Harry slept soundly in Remus' lap.

After lunch, it was decided that while Harry rested, the rest of the school would continue on with the book. Dumbledore volunteered to read the next chapter. He cleared his throat and stated loudly.

"The next chapter is The Mirror of Erised."

"What is Erised? Is that a place?" asked Dennis.

"It's 'desire' spelt backwards." said Luna serenely.

"Oh." said Dennis, he leaned towards his older brother and whispered. " She's smart."

Christmas was coming.

"I remember the first Christmas we had with Harry, we had to do it a two weeks after December the twenty-fifth, just so he could come." said Dr. Clark with a small smile.

"Why was that?" asked Blaise.

"Something about his cousin's aunt. She didn't like him being out of her sight. Then we found out that anything he got for Christmas we would have to keep it at Jim's house or my apartment."

"Why? Why wasn't he allowed to take his stuff home?" asked Ron.

"His uncle threw away all of his presents, new clothes, toys, everything. Tried telling the proper authorities, never got anywhere. So we just decided to keep next year's Christmas stuff at Jim's.

"Well, the that year, Holly built a small gingerbread house with him, he had a lot of fun dismantling it afterwards. I took him out to build a snowman and Jim got to play Father Christmas for him. Never saw a kid so happy." said Dr. Clark smiling down at Harry with suspiciously wet eyes .

"You guys did a lot for him." said Sirius quietly, feeling a little guilty for not being there.

"He deserved it, every minute." said Dr. Clark.

Sirius and Remus smiled down at Harry. He certainly does.

One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasely twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

Ron blinked, he walked up and looked at the book in Dumbledore's hands and reread the last part. He looked over to Hermione and started snorting with laughter. Hermione also tried hard to hold in her laughter.

"Hey! It wasn't funny! Quirrell almost killed us! Never saw him so angry, kinda out of character for him," said Fred indignantly.

"I think he would have hexed us if it weren't for Professor McGonagall stepping in and giving us detention." finished George.

"Remember that later. The whole 'out of character part'." said Hermione clutching the stitch in her side from her held in laughter.

The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

"Hedwig wouldn' let me touch 'er, Harry had to come calm 'er down." said Hagrid with a slight smile.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms.

Dumbledore took the blanket and lightly tossed it over the sleeping figure.

Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

"Why don't you put up some warming charms?" asked Professor Flitwick.

"You know that large hole I covered with a new bookshelf in my classroom?" said Snape calmly.

"Yes?" said Professor Flitwick.

"That's why." said Snape plainly. "Last time someone used a warming charm, they ended up in the dungeon down the hall."

"I remember that, almost all of his bones were broken." said Madame Pomfrey.

"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."

People turned to stare at Malfoy, who was shifting uneasily.

"How did you know he wasn't welcomed at home?" asked Colin suspiciously.

"I didn't really." he said shamefully.

He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them.

"Good Harry, don't give into people like that, it only gives them satisfaction." said Dr. Clark with a broad smile, ruffling Harry's messy locks.

Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next.

"How would that make people laugh?" asked Fred.

"Beats me." said George.

Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny,

"Good! We were afraid someone actually found that funny." sighed George.

because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick.

"I didn't see it, and I'm impressed, was scared out of mind, but impressed." said Lupin smiling down at Harry.

So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

"He had one, it was just a bit...scattered." said Dr. Clark sadly.

It was true that Harry wasn't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas.

"And you never will again." said Dumbledore looking down at the sleeping form.

Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had signed up at once.

"Almost knocked into me, he was running so fast." said Percy thoughtfully.

Professor McGonagall looked down. "I should have noticed." she said bitterly.

"Don't blame yourself Minerva." said Professor Sprout kindly. "He hid his life away from even his closest friends."

He didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had.

"That hurts." said Dr. Clark sadly.

"You were gone, and I couldn't go to Mrs. McFinn's, I was trying to forget." said Harry sleepily.

"Mornin' cub!" said Sirius brightly.

"What do you mean? I thought you said that you still saw Mrs. McFinn!" said Hermione quickly.

"Let me guess, It's Holly's mother, right?" said Dr. Clark solemnly. Harry nodded.

"What's her mom got to do with anything?" asked Ron.

"Holly's mom is on the fast-track of the elite social circles. She never approved of Jim, thought her daughter should have married someone of equally high breeding, or of royal blood. I remember the time Harry met her. Right before Jim passed away, the Queen threw a Garden Party, and she selected decorated Police Officers to be honored guests.

"Jim was one of the most decorated officers on the force at the time and so he received an invitation. Holly thought a really nice party would be wonderful to take Harry to, so we rented a small suit for him, Jim and I and we all went.

"Well when we got there, Holly saw her mother and wanted to run for it, she didn't know that she was there and wanted to leave almost immediately. However, Harry saw the lilies and took off like a shot. You always had an attachment to those things, especially the Tiger Lilies." he said down to Harry, who was yawning hugely.

"It was too late anyway, Holly's mother saw her and walked straight over. Ignoring Jim and I she tried dragging her over to talk to some rich, single, male friend of hers. I will never forget this for as long as I live: Harry came running up and held out a lily for Holly. Her mother FREAKED, started shrieking about ruining the royal flowers and summoning the guards as if she owned the place. Who'd a guessed, that the Queen herself came up from behind him and told her that she said it was alright. That it was a gift for Holly. Holly's mother looked as if a train had hit her dead on. Holly took the flower, she was nervous as hell. Holly's mom wouldn't look at Harry at all that day. Or any other day, that I remember." said Dr. Clark laughing.

The school stared at Harry. "You met the Queen? Face to Face?" said Hermione weakly.

"Accidentally." said Harry modestly.

"Do we get to hear about this, so called 'accident?'" said Ron slowly. Harry looked away, his face red. "Guess not now anyway. You keeping track Hermione, of all the things he's gonna tell us later."

"That one is going on the top of the list." said Hermione writing quickly on a long piece of parchment.

Ron and his brothers were staying too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasely were going to Romania to visit Charlie.

"At least you got to come visit me two years later." said Bill smiling.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

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

"What could you do to help?" asked Zacharias snidely.

"Ron's really good at the Levitation spell, he can lift things over eighty pounds with no strain, or have you forgotten the troll already? He was more than capable then handling a tree." said Harry stretching his thin frame.

Zacharias gave a small snarl. "What does weight have to do with anything?"

"Try lifting something." said Harry simply.

Zacharias looked around and smiled, he stood up and swished and flicked his wand toward the loveseat that Hermione and Ron sat in, it trembled a bit, but it wouldn't move. His smile faded quickly.

"Hagrid, do you mind if we use you for a demonstration?" asked Harry.

"Nah, I don' mind." said Hagrid, a little confused.

"Ron?"

Ron, without standing up, used the same movements, and Hagrid's chair levitated five feet off the ground. He then set the chair down gently.

"The more you practice that spell, lifting different things, the heavier the object you can lift. Most things require two wizards to lift, Ron's worked so hard that he can lift things all on his own. No help required." said Harry proudly. Ron blushed.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"T'was nice o' you ta ask tho'" said Hagrid, still looking over at Ron with some pride.

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them.

"Aren't you the polite one?" asked Katie with an upturned nose.

"Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasely? 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."

"Can I offer a blanket apology too?" said Draco warily. Harry had to look up to look over him, he nodded.

"For what though?" he asked.

"For all the things I say about his family." he said quietly.

"Go for it." said Bill plainly.

"I apologize for every mean thing I say about your family." he said humbly.

"All right. We accept your apologies. Unless there is a big one that needs some considering, then we'll let you know." said Charlie wisely. Draco agreed to the terms.

Ron dived at Malfoy

"Get him Ron!" yelled the twins.

just as Snape came up the stairs.

"AACCK! NO! ABORT! ABORT!" they cried after what Dumbledore had read. They covered their eyes and dived for the floor, even Snape couldn't suppress a chuckle while everyone else laughed.

"WEASELY!"

Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"Wasn't quick enough." the twins whimpered.

"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, Hagird," said Snape silkily.

"It is against the rules, but what do you expect an eleven year old boy is to do, when someone insults his family?" asked Tonks with a look of disgust on her face. Her usual bubblegum pink hair had turned red and wavy.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Weasely, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

"And for insulting Ron's family, what did Draco get as punishment?" asked Luna serenely.

Draco and Snape didn't answer.

"You say that the other teachers are unfair towards the Slytherins, but you seem to be the only one who is unfair." she said calmly.

Snape stared at her with a frown on her face. Luna, however, switched her attention to something invisible flying over her head.

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

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him-"

"Ron, don't make threats like that!" chided Mrs. Weasely.

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

Dr. Clark looked down at Harry. "Harry...we talked about hate. Do you remember?"

"Yes, I do." said Harry guiltily.

"Then why do you hate them?" asked Dr. Clark.

"Right now they sound like really stupid reasons." said Harry honestly, but not meeting Dr. Clark's eyes.

"Do you still hate them, then?" continued Dr. Clark. Harry shook his head.

"Good boy. You can dislike people all you wish, but someone so young shouldn't be hating people already." he said with a smile.

"I hate Voldemort." he said simply looking up at him.

"I don't know who that is." said Dr. Clark, with a confused look on his face.

"He was the one who killed my parents." he said.

Dr. Clark stared at him, then looked over to Sirius, who nodded. "...you can hate him all you want, then." he said rubbing Harry's head.

"You love contradicting yourself, don't you?" said Harry with a small smile.

"From where I am sitting, I can reach behind your knee still."

"Point taken, please continue reading." said Harry quickly. Dumbledore tried not to laugh.

"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 three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

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

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"Will the Great Hall be decorated for Christmas this year?" asked a first year Hufflepuff excitedly to his friend.

"It's decorated every year. You'll love it." said Sirius smiling broadly.

"I hope I'm around here to see it too." said Dr. Clark hopefully.

"You are always welcomed here, Dr. Clark, a gift, for taking care of Harry." said Dumbledore kindly.

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

"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, like Harry and Ron are going to want to go to the library a DAY before holidays." said Charlie and Bill, shaking their heads.

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron,

"What the...who are you and what have you done with our little brother." said Bill standing and pointing his wand at Ron, who started laughing.

tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand was trailing them over the branches of the new tree..

"That reminds me, Harry do you know any decorating spells? Cause I'm a Prefect, I have to help decorate the school." he added glumly.

"I know a few, write down what you had in mind and I'll come up with something."

"Thanks, mate. I think Hermione would like to sit in with that little tutoring class as well." said Ron looking at Hermione, who appeared very excited.

"I thought you knew some decorating spells already?" said Harry stunned.

"I want to know if you have some decorating spells I don't know!" she said quickly.

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

"I was thinking along the line of possessed." said Bill with a laugh. Harry heard Ginny groan, since his second year, she was always a little nervous around that word. Harry sent her a reassuring smile over to her.

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

"Okay, I can understand that then." said Bill brightly. "You had me scared there for a moment."

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

"It's only to satisfy our curiosity." said Harry brightly over to Hagrid.

"We weren't even thinking of invading that dog's personal space again." said Ron with a smile.

"You had better not." said every single adult in the school. Except for the Rangers, who weren't around soon enough to hear about the dog, and the Teachers, because they knew that they indeed go visit that dog again.

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

"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 can't believe it was right FREAKIN' there and I didn't see it." said Harry angrily.

"Mate, I had been looking at it for years, never dawned on me either." said Ron consolingly.

People looked at them wonderingly. What were they talking about?

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

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

"Sorry, Hagrid." said the three of them.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal?

"Nothing, as it turns out." said Harry looking over to Snape.

The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry.

"Looking back, there was no way in," Ron looked over to his mother quickly. "blazes, he would be in in there." he said shaking his head.

And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

"It'll take you forever to find him!" cried one of the second year Hufflepuffs.

Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random.

"Wise decision Mr. Weasely. He is mentioned in several different books, you could get lucky." said Professor Dumbledore.

"However, we didn't get lucky." said Ron glumly.

Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there.

He is, in a majority of those books actually, he is mentioned." said Dumbledore approvingly. "However, I fear you aren't able to go examine those."

Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he'd never get one.

"Not until second year anyway." whispered Ron to Hermione, who giggled.

These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Actually Mr. Potter, with you taking your W.A.N.D.S test, you have free access to those books now." said Professor McGonagall.

Harry's eyebrows raised, " Really?"

"You'd better get out, then. Go on-out!"

"Nice to know we can just browse and find something new to learn." said Ernie with smirk.

Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, Harry left the library. He, Ron, and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.

"She would tell people what you were looking for. If she feels that it isn't part of your curriculum, she will ask teachers what you needed it for. Unless you have a note." said Professor Sprout.

Harry waited outside in the corridor to see if the other two had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful.

"Nice of you to have faith in us." said Ron smirking.

They had been looking for two weeks, after all, but as they only had odd moments between lesson it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.

"Won't happen, she never leaves those books, except to eat, sleep, or to use the restroom." said Professor Flitwick.

Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined him, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"I was hoping they would keep looking." said Hermione with a small smile.

"We did, for a while." said Harry guiltily.

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists." said Hermione.

"Nicolas is known in both the wizarding world and the muggle world. They could have heard of him." said Dumbledore helpfully.

"Wish I did ask them, then." said Hermione, pouting.

Once the holidays had started, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think about Flamel.

"Okay, so we didn't look much longer." said Ron shifting uneasily.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

They had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire.

"Now, that's where you can always find them." whispered a sixth year Gryffindor.

They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-bread, English muffins, marshmallows-and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.

"I think Harry made sure they wouldn't work." said Ron thoughtfully.

Malfoy, as well as everyone else turned and stared at Harry, who was looking innocently up at the ceiling and whistling.

Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered.

"Well seasoned." said Harry loudly with a smile.

Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family-in this case, his grandfather.

"We had cousins and uncles that wanted that chess set, Grandpa wouldn't give it to them, they had to beat him in order to get it. Ron was the only one, and he was eight years old!" said Bill proudly.

"What made that old chess set so special?" asked Colin excitedly.

"It's The Chess Master chess set. It's the oldest chess set in the world, and the most valuable. If you wished to purchase it, instead of winning it in a Chess Master Duel, the board and the pieces are worth about twelve million galleons." said Harry, flipping through his little black book once again.

People stared at Ron. Ron and his family were staring at Harry, his mouth agape.

"W-W-What?" said the Weasely family, their voices combined were barely over a whisper.

"He's right," said Dumbledore with a broad smile. "That board is the most sought after chessboard in the world. It's a priceless treasure. Your Grandfather Bilius won it from me, almost three-quarters of a century ago. It was my most prized possession, and I lost it. He was a marvelous player, and for an eight year old to beat him, and, in a certain aspect, myself, you must be incredibly skillful." said Dumbledore beaming over to him. Ron blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"I always wondered why he made a speech the every time we played, especially after I beat him that one time."

"That's right, beating you in a friendly game won't get you the chessboard, you have to win it in a proper Chess Master Duel, and you have to make the traditional challenge. Your Grandfather always was one for the theatrics." said Dumbledore fondly. "Despite it's worth, I don't recommend selling it."

"We'll never sell it." said the entire Weasely family proudly.

However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all.

"They never are." said Ron proudly.

Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.

"That in itself is a great feat, Mr. Weasely. It took myself ten years for them to trust me. Even longer for your Grandfather." said Dumbledore.

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

"They just barely trust me." said Seamus quietly.

He wasn't a very good player yet

"I still suck at the game." said Harry with a smirk.

and they kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing. "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him."

"I had to tell my chess pieces to shut up a few times when I first got them. They learned real quick that my plans were better than what they had in mind." said Ron with a snigger.

On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all.

"Why not?" asked Draco.

"Well, the only time I received any real presents were when I still had the McFinn's and Dr. Clark around, ever since I lost both them, I didn't have anyone that cared about me. So I didn't expect anything." said Harry. A few people looked towards their Housemates sadly.

When he woke early in the morning however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

The students began to cheer, but Harry stared at them.

"What got into the lot of you?" asked Harry in confusion.

"You got presents! After so many years of nothing, you got presents!" said a first year excitedly.

"You lot are mental." he said shaking his head.

"Merry Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe.

A few girls wolf-whistled and then giggled madly. Sirius couldn't hold his laughter in.

"What's so funny?" said Harry with a low growl.

"You're starting to be a chick magnet with the girls." said Sirius in a giggling whisper.

"Do yourself a favor Harry, don't take any advice from him, in the ways of women. Unless you like getting slapped." said Remus muttering over to Harry. Sirius frowned and crossed his arms.

"You, too," said Harry. "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!"

"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's.

"I think a turnip from the Dursleys would be a bit much, compared to their past presents." said Harry with a small smile. Some of the school students, teachers, and guests growled when they heard that. Sirius and Remus made a mental note to make his next Christmas better than ever before. Dr. Clark gave Harry's hand a gentle squeeze.

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawl across it was To Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it-it sounded a bit like an owl.

"I still have it." said Harry, reaching into his knapsack, that was sitting on the floor, and pulling out the flute. It was indeed hand-made, and the bottom of the flute was carved in the shape of an owl. He put it to his lips and began to blow. He was right, it did sound like an owl, but it had a tune to it.

Out of nowhere, Hedwig fluttered down, and landed on his knee and hooted along with the flute. The females in the Great Hall, except for Umbridge who was too busy glaring at Harry, cooed. It went on for a good three minutes till Harry finished with low note. The school applauded. Dr. Clark stared at the bird, "I had never seen an owl act like that." he said to Remus in a whisper.

"She's special." said Remus simply.

"You're telling me." he said keeping an eye on Hedwig.

"She won't bite, Dr. Clark. Hedwig, come here." he said holding out his arm. Hedwig fluttered up to the held out arm and nipped his finger affectionately.

"Hedwig, this is the Dr. Clark I told you about." said Harry. Hedwig, hopped over to Dr. Clark's leg and looked up to him. She got very close to his face and he leaned back a bit. "Hedwig, give him a bit of space." said Harry laughing quietly. "He's never met a owl before, let alone a beauty such as yourself, you are a bit overwhelming." he added silkily.

She puffed up importantly and settled herself down on his knee. Waiting for him to stroke her feathers.

"Stroke her head, that's what she's waiting for." he whispered to Dr. Clark. He slowly moved his forefinger down her feathers and she hooted happily. She turned her head around and nipped his fingers.

"So far she likes you." said Harry with a smile.

A second, very small parcel contained a note.

We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

"What message did you send?" asked Sirius and Dr. Clark incredulously.

"I just wished them the best of the season." said Harry simply.

"How can you wish them anything after all they've done to you?" asked Bill in shock.

"I just thought..." he said helplessly.

"You really are too noble." moaned Remus smiling.

Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

The Muggleborns stared at the book. Even Dumbledore mouth was distorted into a scowl.

"That's not a Christmas present! That's a five year old's allowance!" cried Hermione.

"It's more than what Potter's worth." said Umbridge loudly.

SNAP! CRACK!

Umbridge was on the ground clutching her cheek and the Ranger, who was standing guarding over her, was clutching a blood red whip.

"I told you once before. Be silent."

Harry nearly wrenched his neck as he snapped his head up to where the sound came from.

"Dumbledore, sir?" said Harry quickly.

"What is it, Harry?" said Dumbledore, a frown still on his face.

"I know what she used, during the incident, besides the cudgel." he said earnestly. The school became quiet, then students began to mutter and growl.

"Harry, I told you, try not to remember..." started Dumbledore soothingly.

"It was a whip." he replied quickly. After he said that, he rubbed his back suddenly, it felt as if something were slowly cutting into back. But nothing was there, and his back didn't feel as if there were any open wounds.

The school became as silent as a tomb. The three men in the bowl and Dumbledore stared in horror at Harry. He then turned towards the Ranger standing over Umbridge. "Would it be possible to hit her a thousand more times?" he snarled angrily.

"Not in front of the students we won't, but I'll add it to the list I'll give to Hexting." said Lionus with a sneer. Dumbledore nodded and continued. Remus pulled Harry back down, so that he was lying across the men's laps again. Hedwig flitted up and landed on Harry's knee again.

"I'm fine, I don't hurt anymore, Remus." Harry said indignantly.

"Don't care. You aren't moving out of arm's reach anytime soon." he said firmly.

"That's friendly." said Harry.

"You've got to be kidding me." moaned Hermione.

Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence.

"Weird! he said, "What a shape! This is money?"

"You are so your father's son." said Mrs. Weasely fondly. Ron beamed and accepted the hug from his father. Malfoy looked on, with a peculiar expression on his face.

"You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was.

"Do you still have it?" asked Mr. Weasely. Ron dug into his pocket and pulled it out.

"I keep it for luck." said Ron.

"May I borrow it?" said Mr. Weasely to his son. Ron nodded and Mr. Weasely walked back to the sofa he shared with his wife.

"Hagrid and my aunt and uncle-so who sent these?"

"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mom, I told her you didn't expect any presents

"So you knew he hadn't received anything, in the past?" said Hermione looking at him in anger.

"I...he told me...I didn't know it was that bad." Ron said in a defeated voice.

and-oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasely sweater."

"What is wrong with them?" asked Bill wonderingly.

"Just... didn't know if he would like something homemade."

"I was happy just to see a parcel with my name on it to be perfectly honest, I didn't care what was in it. Turned out to be a wonderful gift." he said happily.

Mrs. Weasely blushed.

Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green

"MOM! Green isn't a Gryffindor color!" scolded Charlie.

"It went so beautifully with his eyes though!" said Mrs. Weasely defensibly.

"It still does." said Harry absently.

"What?" asked Dr. Clark.

"I still wear it." said Harry.

"This was when you were eleven, how can you still fit into it? Wait a minute, never mind, I forgot how skinny you are. That damned pod showed me just how thin you are. Harry, I could see your ribs!" admonished Dr. Clark fearfully.

"Looks like you will have to make some the ribs you made the summer I Iast saw you. Those 'stick to your ribs' ribs." Harry said brightly.

"I think I'll have to make you your own batch." he said with a small smile.

and a large box of homemade fudge.

"The fudge was delicious by the way Mrs. Weasely." beamed Harry.

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

"I thought you liked maroon." said Mrs. Weasely, a little confused.

"Um...mom...I like maroon." said Charlie.

"Oh dear, Ron, what color is your favorite?" said Mrs. Weasely sheepishly.

"I like red." Ron said quietly. Mrs. Weasely quickly wrote it down on a piece of parchment.

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

His next present also contained candy-a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione.

"Those didn't last long when Ron found them." said Harry laughing.

This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it.

Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds,

"What, wait...is that..?" asked Lupin quietly.

Ron gasped.

"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavor Bean 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 the shining, slivery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"It is..!" whispered Sirius.

"I'm lost." said Dr. Clark. All the other students in the school, as well as a few guests were as well. Those that knew James Potter personally, knew what it was.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," said Ron,

A gasp breezed through the hall. "Those things actually exist?" breathed Dr. Clark.

a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is-try it on."

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.

"It is! Look down!"

Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

"Who gave that to you?" asked several students in amazement. Harry didn't answer them. He looked over to Sirius and Remus curiously and saw that both of their eyes were shining and tears were trickling down their cheeks.

Dr. Clark also noticed the current emotional state the two men beside him wore. "What is wrong with them?"

"The cloak belonged to my father, they were his best friends." whispered Harry. Dr. Clark nodded and patted both of them men on the back.

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

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

Your father 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.

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the cloak.

"I'd give anything for one of these." he said, "Anything.

"So would we!" said the Twins.

What's the matter?"

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

"Yes...yes it did." said Sirius faintly.

Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasely bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak quickly out of sight. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.

"Gee, thanks for sharing. We would have liked to use it a few times, would have made pranking so much more awesome." said Fred and George with a pout.

"Thank you Mr. Potter for not sharing it with them." said Professor McGonagall.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look-Harry's got a Weasely sweater, too!"

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

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

"Oh I do not!" said Mrs. Weasely.

"It was thicker than ours." said Fred.

"Well...he was so skinny...I thought he would get cold." she said quietly.

"Oh...well...then...never mind." said Fred.

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"They are." said the Weasely children and Harry.

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"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."

"They love that joke as well." said Mrs. Weasley shaking her head.

"What's all this noise?"

Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving.

"Who are we disturbing? There was nobody else there besides us!" said Ron throwing up his arms.

He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.

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

"I-don't-want-" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

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

They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.

"That must have been embarrassing for you." said Luna dreamily.

"Like you haven't embarrassed us when we were younger." said George to Percy. "God, you would try and pull us all around the place when we were at other people's houses and telling people we were holy terrors."

"Well, you were!" said Percy defensively.

"Yeah, but mom at least let them figure it out for themselves. More fun for us!" said Fred indignantly.

Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner.

"Don't be insulted, wait till you hear about it." said Harry quickly up to Dr. Clark.

A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas;

"I remember when you made them with Holly on when we celebrated Christmas. Those were the best chipolatas I had ever had." he said licking his lips. "Never thought sausage and bacon could taste so good."

tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table.

"Wizard crackers? They anything like normal, um...Muggle?...Christmas crackers?" asked Dr. Clark.

"These are way better." said Hermione excitedly.

These fantastic party favors were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside.

"Yeah, that sums it up about right, you mean that wizard crackers have something else inside?" asked Dr. Clark.

"Yeah, they have a lot more." said Harry brightly.

Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice.

"Yeah, that is a little more than what our crackers contain. They don't carry live animals." said Dr. Clark with his eyebrows raised as he stroked Hedwig's feathers.

"Hedwig was happy, she caught a few of those" said Harry smiling.

Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

"I'm finding out very quickly that you march to the beat of a different drum, Professor." said Dr. Clark laughing over to Dumbledore.

"I pride myself on that, and please, call me 'Albus'." said Dumbledore reaching over and shaking Dr. Clark's hand.

"Then you can call me 'Sam'." said Dr. Clark.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice.

"Ouch!" said a few students.

"After I saw that, I cut my turkey into very small pieces." said Harry trying not to laugh.

Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

All the students gasped. McGonagall...giggled? Professor McGonagall blushed, as did Hagrid. The people who weren't there, and those that were there, but didn't notice, pouted. They would have killed to have seen that!

When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit,

"What did you do with that stuff?" asked Hermione.

Harry smiled mischievously, "I used both on Uncle Vernon."

The whole school sucked in a lungful of air.

"Harry, he beat the living S*&^ out of you! Why would you even think of using that stuff on him?!" asked Sirius staring at Harry in shock.

"I had a secret weapon at the time." said Harry with a smirk.

"What weapon could you possibly have against a man that almost beat you to death!" asked Dr. Clark worriedly.

Harry slowly took out his wand twirled in around his fingers. Not saying a word.

"Oh...that is a suitable weapon. But Petunia did grow up with Lily, she would have known that magic can't be used outside of school." said Sirius warningly.

"How does he know?" asked Harry.

"Beats me." lied Remus, he hated to do it, but he promised Snape that he wouldn't tell Harry anything about Severus and his mother.

and his own new wizard chess set.

"They're starting to trust me, cause they know that Ron's too good for me to handle. Sometimes they help me narrow the score a bit." said Harry.

The white mice had disappeared and Harry had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris's Christmas dinner.

"And Hedwig's apparently." said Dr. Clark, warming up to the owl at last.

Harry and the Weaselys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds.

"Which we won." said Fred and Ron at the same time. They glared at each other.

"I think Hagrid won that one." said Harry smiling over to Hagrid.

"That wasn't fair, his snowballs just about knocked us out of our socks." said the Weasely's pouting playfully.

"Just about? I had to actually dig for one of mine!" said Harry laughing. The school joined in.

Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.

"No offense Percy, but never let him help you play, he's the worst one in the family." said Bill fondly.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor Tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.

"That was one of the funniest things I had ever seen." said Harry thinking fondly back to that evening. "Never knew that Fred and George were such acrobats."

It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever.

"I guess I can let that one go." said Dr. Clark. "We didn't have you on Christmas day."

Yet something had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Not until he climbed into bed he was free to think about it: the Invisibility Cloak and whoever had sent it.

Ron, full of turkey and cake and nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he'd drawn the curtains of his four-poster. Harry leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the cloak out from under it.

His father's ...this had been his father's. He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it well, the note had said.

"It's the first thing I had of my dad's." said Harry quietly.

He had to try it, now. He slipped out of bed and wrapped the cloak around himself. Looking down at his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a very funny feeling.

Use it well.

Suddenly, Harry felt wide-awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him in this cloak. Excitement flooded through him as he stood there in the dark and silence.

"If it's the excitement I know it is, this is isn't the first time you've had it." said Ranger Lionus.

Harry looked over to him quickly. People looked at him in puzzlement, what was he talking about?

He could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch would never know.

Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him? Something held him back-his father's cloak-he felt that this time-the first time-he wanted to use it alone.

"I wouldn't have woken me either, mate." said Ron understandingly.

He crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room, and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. Harry said nothing. He walked quickly down the corridor.

Where should he go?

The students yelled out several different places at the school he should visit. A seventh year boy yelled out a certain place and got smacked soundly by the women around him.

He stopped, his heart racing, and thought. And then it came to him. The Restricted Section in the library.

"Oohh! Good choice! Find out who Nicolas Flamel is!" yelled a few first years.

He'd be able to read as long as he liked , as long as it took to find out who Flamel was. He set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around him as he walked.

The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.

"Just thinking of it gives me the creeps." said a second year.

The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, he held up his lamp to read the titles.

They didn't tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry couldn't understand. Some had no title. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.

"I say, pick up any book but that one." said Colin looking a bit green.

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

"Harry, I want you to take a 'Sensing' test sometime soon, you show amazing promise." said Dumbledore, looking over to Harry.

"Oh he'll take it." said Lupin smiling down at Harry, who nodded.

He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting looking book. A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.

"Bad feeling alert." said Ginny almost completely covering her eyes.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence-the book was screaming!

"OH S*^$! GET OUT OF THERE!" shouted Dr. Clark. Harry stared at him.

"You cursed, you never curse!" said Harry with his eyebrows raised.

"Hey, I'm human." said Dr. Clark shrugging.

Sirius, Harry, and Remus stared at him.

"What?" asked Dr. Clark.

"You sound just like me." said Remus while Sirius was trying not to laugh.

Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note. He stumbled backward and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Panicking,

"Harry, you panicked?" said Dennis in disbelief.

"I was eleven and the book was screaming at me! I think panicking would be the logical response to this scenario." said Harry defensively.

he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside-stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran for it. He passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through him, and Harry slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor,

"That was a close one!" moaned George.

the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears.

He came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armor. He had been so busy getting away from the library, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. Perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recognize where he was at all. There was a suit of armor near the kitchens, he knew, but he must be five floors above there.

"I take it there's no window near you." said Ron.

"Why do you say that?" asked Hermione.

"He can tell where in the castle he is exactly by looking outside." answered Ron.

"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 drain out of his face. Wherever he was, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror, it was Snape who replied. "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

"Why did you want Filch to come straight to you?" asked Sirius questioningly.

"You'll find later." said Harry, before Snape could answer.

Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see him, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into him—the cloak didn't stop him from being solid.

"Glad you learned that right away, wish we did." said Sirius pouting.

"We kinda ran right into a suit of armor and nearly got ourselves caught." said Remus, answering Harry's unasked question.

He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it,

"Trust me, Harry, you're so skinny, you could fit in a keyhole." said Tonks plainly.

and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past, and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in.

"You must have been freaking if you now decided to look around the room." said a third year Ravenclaw.

"Kinda like the corridor with the dog." said her friend.

"I would rather forget that dog." said Sirius, turning pale.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket–but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

Very astute, Harry. I was just preparing to put it down in the chamber,thought Dumbledore.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

"What does that mean?" asked Fudge absentmindedly.

Dr. Clark looked down at Harry and noticed, he was fingering the small glowing phial around his neck.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just remembering." said Harry, still fingering the phial absently.

His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. He stepped in front of it.

He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself from screaming.

There wasn't a head that wasn't facing Harry and staring at him. Harry didn't take notice of them, but was focusing his attentions at the ceiling.

"Harry, what the hell made you almost scream! You don't even flinch when we set off Filibuster fireworks!" said George.

"And right beside you," said Fred.

"Without you noticing!" they said together.

"You'll find out soon enough." he said calmly, his fingers never left the phial.

He whirled around. His heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed—for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.

"You got caught? That's what made you freak?" asked Fred in disbelief.

But the room was empty.

"Huh?" but you said that the mirror showed a whole bunch of people." said George, looking confused.

Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror.

There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least ten others. Harry looked over his shoulder—but still, no one was there. Or were they all invisible, too? Was he in fact in a room full of invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?

"Who were they, Harry?" asked Ginny looking over at him, she had a look of worry on her face.

"If they hurt you, I'll hunt them down myself." snarled Sirius.

"They would never hurt me. Even if they were able to, they wouldn't." said Harry calmly, he had a small smile on his lips.

" 'If they were able to?' What are you talking about." asked Sirius.

He looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air–she and the others existed only in the mirror.

Mrs. Weasely dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, she had an idea of who it was.

She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes—her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass.

Snape paled, while Remus's hand flew to his mouth in shock. It's Lily, he's seeing Lily for the first time.

Sirius' mouth opened in shock.

Bright green—exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time.

Sirius then pulled Harry up by the arms and pulled him into a hug. "It's okay. I've got you." he whispered.

"I know, I'm alright." said Harry allowed himself to be dragged over to Sirius' side and buried himself Sirius' arms.

The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as Harry's did.

Sirius and Remus bowed their heads. Dr. Clark looked on in confusion.

"It's Harry's dad, their best friend." whispered Ron to Dr. Clark. He nodded and gripped Harry's free hand.

Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

A few girls blew their noses quickly.

"Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?"

"It's okay Molly," said Mr. Weasely, trying to console his wife who was crying into his chest.

They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror, and saw other pairs of green eyes like his,

"Your mother's family." whispered Lupin.

other noses like his, even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees—

"I think the man you're seeing is your grandfather." said Sirius putting his head on Harry's.

Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life.

"Harry..." said Ginny quietly. Harry smiled at Ginny from the arms of his godfather. "I'm alright, Ginny."

The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them.

Sirius gripped Harry tighter. "Harry...don't think about it. I'm begging you, don't...even...think about...it" said Sirius almost bawling.

"Think about what?" asked Harry curiously.

"Ki...hurting yourself." he said changing the direction in which he was going, swiftly.

Harry shook his head. "I gave it a thought once, but I can't even contemplate it now."

"Harry!" wailed Hermione and Mrs. Weasely. Dumbledore gripped at his heart and almost dropped the book. Dr. Clark looked grief-stricken over at Harry. The students stared at Harry in disbelief. Some were holding each other in fear.

"I just said that I wouldn't do it! I only gave it a fleeting thought, that's why I won't sing you the song, I wrote That is what it was about." he said looking over to Dumbledore. The teachers and the guests looked horrified over to the teen.

"Harry," croaked Dumbledore. "do you wish to talk to someone about this?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm feeling a lot better, this was months and months ago."

"I would feel a lot better if you would talk to someone about this." he said earnestly. Harry thought carefully and then nodded.

"I guess I could use a bit more venting." he said with a smile.

He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.

Remus buried his face in his hands, Dr. Clark patted his back gently.

How long he stood there, he didn't know. The reflections did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. He couldn't stay here, he had to find his way back to bed. He tore his eyes away from his mother's face, whispered, "I'll come back," and hurried from the room.

"Oh! Harry don't! Please!" moaned Mrs. Weasely.

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

"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mom and dad," 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 us any old time." said Bill with a smile.

"You can see them any old time," said Ron.

Bill high-fived his youngest brother.

"Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people.

"That was a gentle way of putting it." hissed Hermione.

Ron looked down shamefully.

Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"

Harry couldn't eat.

Remus picked up a large chocolate bar from the small stand beside their chair, which was over-flowing with all the chocolate from his fellow students, and passed it over to Harry.

"Where did those come from?" asked Harry taking a bite of the bar, while he was still in Sirius' arms.

"Admirers." said Remus simply.

He had seen his parents and would be seeing them again tonight. He had almost forgotten about Flamel. It didn't seem very important anymore. Who cared what the three headed dog was guarding? What did it matter if Snape stole it, really?

Neville blinked heavily. "You actually gave up trying to defend something or someone?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd."

"You were staring into space and getting paler and paler. You looked as if you were losing weight right in front of my eyes." said Ron looking over to Harry sadly.

Madam Pomfrey looked over to the boy devastated.

What Harry feared most was that he might not be able to find the mirror room again.

"I didn't know you were that enthralled with the mirror." said Dumbledore a tear sliding down his crooked nose.

With Ron covered in the cloak, too, they had to walk much more slowly the next night. They tried retracing Harry's route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.

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

"Yes! Go back to bed!" moaned Charlie.

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

They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction,

"That sounds like Helena." said Luna dreamily.

but saw no one else. just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armor.

"It's here—just here—yes!"

They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror.

"Usually he looked around the place, doesn't matter what room. He didn't care if someone else was in the room at all." said Ron.

There they were. His mother and father beamed at the sight of him.

See?" Harry whispered.

"I can't see anything."

"Ron can't see them? Why is that?" asked Ginny.

"Look! Look at them all… there are loads of them…"

"I can only see you."

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am."

Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn't see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pajamas.

Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" he said.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

"No—I'm alone—but I'm different—I look older—and I'm head boy!"

"What?" asked the students.

"What?"

"I am—I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to—and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup—I'm Quidditch captain, too."

Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry. "Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"Not if it showed Potter's family, it doesn't" said Blaise quietly.

"How can it? All my family are dead—let me have another look—"

"You had it to yourself all 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."

"Don't push me—"

"Kinda reminds me of 'Return of the King' said Hermione quietly.

"What do you mean?" asked Malfoy. "What 'King'?"

"It's a Muggle book. It's part three of 'The Lord of the Rings'." said Hermione.

"What does that have to do with Weasely and Potter fighting over the mirror?"

"Two of the characters fought over a ring. One person ended up getting his finger bitten off." she explained.

"A ring? They fought over a ring?" said Malfoy in disbelief.

"The ring was the deciding factor between a world full of peace, or a world full of slavery and war." explained Harry.

"You read that book, Harry?" asked Hermione smiling broadly.

"I did, that trilogy was some of the other books in my room. My favorite character was Aragorn."

"I like Legolas!" said Hermione.

"Go figure." he said with a smirk, Hermione blushed.

A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion.

"It wasn't a discussion, it was borderlining fistfight." said Harry with a laugh.

They hadn't realized how loudly they had been talking.

"Quick!"

Ron threw the cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. Ron and Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing—did the cloak work on cats?

"It does." said Remus.

After what seemed an age, she turned and left.

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

And Ron pulled Harry out of the room.

"He wouldn't move, not for anything." said Ron quietly.

The snow still hadn't melted the next morning.

"That tells you just how upset he is, he isn't describing what is going on outside as much as usual." said Neville.

"Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron

"No."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"

"No… you go…"

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

"Listen to Ron! Don't go back." said Fred.

"That thing isn't good for you!" said George.

"Why not?"

"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."

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

But Harry only had one thought in his head, which was to get back in front of the mirror, and Ron wasn't going to stop him.

Remus groaned again, and Sirius held onto Harry tighter.

That third night he found his way more quickly than before. He was walking so fast he knew he was making more noise than was wise, but he didn't meet anyone.

And there were his mother and father smiling at him again, and one of his grandfathers nodding happily. Harry sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. There was nothing to stop him from staying here all night with his family. Nothing at all.

"Please tell me someone stopped you soon, and that you still aren't seeing that mirror." Dr. Clark pleaded.

"Someone did." said Harry with a smile.

Except—

"So—back again, Harry?"

"Who the hell is that?" asked Mr. Weasely.

Harry felt as though his insides had turned to ice. He looked behind him. Sitting on one of the desks by the wall was none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Thank goodness!" yelled a few students and some of the adults heaved a sigh of relief.

Harry must have walked straight past him, so desperate to get to the mirror he hadn't noticed him.

Dr. Clark looked over at Dumbledore, and raised an eyebrow. "I think I would have noticed you immediately, Albus."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"I—I didn't see you, sir."

"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore,

"I don't think it was him being invisible, that made him miss you." said Kingsley.

and Harry was relieved to see that he was smiling.

"So," said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Harry,

"You went and sat on the floor, Sir? said a first year staring at the Headmaster.

"That is why he's the best Headmaster, ever." said the people taught by the venerable old man.

Dumbledore smiled appreciatively.

"you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

"I actually meant 'delights' in a sarcastic way." he said quietly.

"I didn't know it was called that, Sir."

"But I expect you've realized by now what it does?"

"It slowly kills you." whispered Sirius hugging Harry.

"It—well—it shows me my family—"

"And it showed your friend Ron himself as head boy."

"How did you know—?"

"Good question. How did you know?" asked Bill.

"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently.

"You were there, then?" asked Ron.

"I was, I placed an 'Alerting Charm' on the room, and I came swiftly when you entered the room. I thought it was someone who wished to view the mirror for another purpose. I breathed a little easier when I saw it was just two students out of bed." he said with a very small smile.

"Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"

"I show not your face but your heart's desire." said Luna and Harry, though he spoke very quietly.

"How do you know that?" said Terry Boot to Luna, he didn't hear Harry say it as well.

"The mirror said it. On the top. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohshi. Write it out and look at it." said Luna dreamily.

Terry wrote it down and looked at it hard. Then his eyes grew large.

"Holy..." he whispered.

Harry shook his head.

"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, "It shows us what we want… whatever we want…"

"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.

"And yours is your family? Oh, Harry!" whimpered Mrs. Weasely.

You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them.

The Weasely children all looked at Ron in shock, Ginny patted her brother's back. "You are the best, Ron. Remember when I was getting picked on when I was six? I came running to you and you socked that bully right in the jaw." she said brightly. "And you always have my back, when I really, really need you." she added happily. Ron smiled.

However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth.

"It gave me some truth, though. I got to see my family. And I even saw Officer McFinn in the back." Harry said, looking over to Dumbledore.

"Yes, but it showed them, physically, around you. That is not a truth." said Dumbledore sadly.

Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.

"Harry was almost done wasting away." said Remus.

"The mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again.

"I'm begging you not to go looking for it again." said Sirius crying silent tears.

If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared.

"He planned on it happening again?" said Hermione whispering over to Ron angrily.

Dumbledore hung his head in shame. "Never again, never again." he muttered to himself.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?"

"One gets the feeling he gave it to Harry." said Professor McGonagall to Professor Flitwick.

Harry stood up. "Sir — Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?"

"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."

"It's..." started Umbridge but flinched and silenced herself when the Ranger held up his hand and was prepared to backhand her.

"Good, you're finally learning." he said with a low growl.

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"That's a personal question, Mr. Potter." drawled Snape.

"I was curious." Harry said simply.

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."

"What?" said the students trying to hold back a snigger.

Harry stared.

"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

"So since then, have you gotten socks?" said Dr. Clark.

"As a matter of fact I have, another anonymous gifter has sent me socks ever since as well. Would that possibly be you, Harry?" said Dumbledore.

"Boys don't knit socks." said Draco with smirk.

"Holly taught you how to crochet, did you make the socks?" asked Dr. Clark with a smile over to Harry.

"Maybe..." said Harry with a blush.

It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful. But then, he thought, as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal question.

"Yes it was." said Mrs. Weasely.

Sirius released Harry from the embrace at last and Harry leaned heavily on Sirius.

"That was a hard chapter to read." said Remus, wiping the moisture from his eyes.

The afternoon was waning on, but the sun was far from ready to set.

They all looked over at Harry in a worried sort of way, but Harry ignored them.

"Are you sure you are alright. Do you want to stop the readings for the rest of the day?" said Madam Pomfrey hurrying over to the people in the bowl.

"No, I'm fine, I've slept enough this week." said Harry with a slight smile. "I'm fine." he stated once again when she leaned over and peered into his eyes.

"So do we continue on then?" asked Charlie a little hesitantly.

"I think so." said Dumbledore looking over at Harry. "Who would like to read next?"

"I'll read sir!" said Neville.

"All right then, I hope you have a better time of reading it then I did." said Dumbledore kindly, levitating the book over to Neville.