Dark Holidays at Hogwarts

You awoke to a small pile of presents on Christmas morning. Your usual holiday gift from the Ministry was clothes which - to them - meant they wouldn’t have to spend additional funds on clothing you over the course of the year. And while the Ministry gift was notably absent this year, you were pleased to see an assortment of differently shaped and tastefully wrapped gifts. The Ministry probably figured that you could buy your own clothes now that you had access to the money in the Gaunt Vault at Gringotts.

The passing Potions grade was a pre-Christmas gift for your Slytherin year mates. But since you had gained a reputation over the first term as ‘the lucky Chocolate Frog guy’ it seemed like a fairly simple and straight-forward idea to send most of your year mates a small bundle of Chocolate Frogs. You were briefly tempted to not sign the card for Daphne’s gift as a harmless holiday mystery for the annoyingly curious girl but Gemma’s disturbing warning from the last Quidditch match rang fresh in your mind.

“That Greengrass girl is a tenacious little thing. So I want you to pretend that she and her friend Davis are a pair of starving dogs. If you had ignored them… they would’ve eventually moved on and went to find food elsewhere. But instead, you’ve been throwing them scraps. Now that they know they can get food from you… they’re going to keep coming back. It may not seem like they’re a life-threatening problem just yet......but if you keep pushing and taunting them… those starving dogs are eventually going to snap. And when they do they’ll chase you down, pin you to the ground, and devour you!”

That disturbing mental image of BEING TORN APART BY STARVING DOGS was still a source of nightmares for you. So you decided to dodge that potentially deadly spell and not tempt fate by throwing the troublesome girl anymore scraps.

You returned your attention to the assortment of sweets that you got in exchange from your house mates. Pansy got you Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Crabbe and Goyle both sent you Jelly Slugs, Theodore Nott had apparently been listening when you mentioned your fondness for Sugar Quills, and surprisingly Daphne and Tracey had gotten you some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Although, you were unnerved to find that Daphne’s box appeared to have been previously opened. Every Flavor Beans were always a gamble and the thought that the candy could have been tampered with ultimately convinced you not to press your luck so you passed on partaking in Daphne’s potentially poisoned present. Thankfully, you were still carrying around a bezoar that you replaced every month but it was still one of those things that you had for the sake of safety while hoping you never actually had to use it.

A shudder went through you and you pulled yourself out of the morbid thoughts of being mauled by starving dogs and eating tainted candy that Daphne invoked and once again turned your attention back to your Christmas gifts.

Millicent, Blaise, and Draco were the three exceptions from the sweet exchange. You got your roommate and fellow Quidditch reserve a Practice Snitch and it appeared that he had been thinking along the same Quidditch-themed lines because his gift contained a pair of quality Keeper gloves that looked and felt a great deal better than the school ones you had been using during Quidditch practice. They certainly fit better. Hopefully, they’d be up to the task of protecting your precious potion-making hands when Flint’s brutal practices started up again next term.

You grinned when you saw that Blaise’s present was a long tube. You honored your agreement at the last Quidditch match and got your fellow Tornados fan a Blythe Parkin poster and it looked like Blaise upheld his end of the deal and did the same. Your grin quickly blossomed into a wide smile when you opened the tube and pulled out a large roll of paper which you unrolled to reveal that it was indeed a Blythe Parkin poster. Your favorite professional Quidditch player was wearing her pale blue Tutshill Tornados robes and her signature leather helmet and was clutching a wriggling Snitch in her hand while her teammates hoisted her up on their shoulders fresh off of a Quidditch victory.

Since you were such a diehard Blythe Parkin fan, you were quickly able to deduce that this was a post-match celebratory shot from the 1993 season of the British and Irish Quidditch League. The main tip-off was the white Nimbus Two Thousand that Blythe was holding in her other hand. She started flying on that at the start of the current season. You further narrowed down the setting of the post-match picture when you spotted a speck of orange in the bottom right corner. Upon closer inspection, which meant your face got really close to Blythe who gently swayed back on her teammates’ shoulders, you realised that the speck of orange was part of an orange robe being worn by a dejected Chudley Cannons player so that told you the picture was taken back in October after the Tornados’ crushing 410 to 70 win over the Cannons. The huge victory gave the Tornados a massive boost in the League standings.

“Hey there, Blythe,” you greeted your favorite Quidditch player as she waved her hand the wriggling Snitch in it. “I know just where to put you. Right on the wall next to my bed.”

You pinned your new Quidditch poster to the blank bit of wall in between your bed and the window over your and Draco’s back-to-back desks that looked out into the Black Lake. You looked over your shoulder at the door and realized that the spot would allow you to see the Blythe’s poster every time you walked into the room. It was perfect.

There was still a wide smile on your face when you sat back down to open Millicent’s present. As you hinted at the last Quidditch match, you sent your best friend a black beanie with cat ears and white cat paw mittens. You chuckled to yourself as you pictured Millie and Mittens with matching ears and paws.

But that silly gift felt horribly inadequate when you opened the flat rectangular package Millicent sent you. It contained a simple framed photograph of a witch. She had coal black hair that fell to the back of her shoulders and smokey grey eyes that held a dangerous spark of fire in them. She had a stocky, powerful build and you watched as she crossed her arms under her chest and gave a smoldering glare. But then her expression changed and your breath caught in your throat when you recognized her smirk as the same one you saw whenever you looked in a mirror. You knew right away that the imposing witch in the picture was none other than your mother - Octavia Bulstrode.

You felt tears burning in the corner of your eyes as you reached down and softly stroked the framed photograph. For so long all you had to go on was a name. You didn’t even have that when it came to your father. But now you were finally looking upon the face of your mother. She wasn’t quite what you expected but it was, at long last, one more piece for the incomplete puzzle that was your mysterious birth.

Millicent included a note so you hastily wiped your eyes and picked it up.

‘Dear Marvolo,

I asked around about your mother and was able to get this from the family.

Here’s what I was able to find out: Octavia Bulstrode was a pureblood witch, born on October 24nd 1953 to Marshall Bulstrode and Primrose Bulstrode nee Parkinson (I’ll leave it up to you whether or not to tell Pansy). She started at Hogwarts in September 1966 and graduated June 1973. Her wand was a sturdy 10 inches made from ash with a dragon heartstring core. I’m told that she had a talent for fire spells.’

You fought off a bittersweet smile as each new detail painted more of a picture of the witch whose photograph was resting in the box on your lap.

‘This next bit is hard to say and may be hard for you to hear but a true friend tells the truth… even when it’s uncomfortable. Octavia Bulstrode was a **** Eater. During the First Wizarding War, she used her fire spells to burn buildings… and some of the people inside them. She died in an Auror strike team ambush on April 20th 1981.

I hope this can at least answer some of your questions and give you some closure.

Happy Christmas,

Millie’

It felt like a heavy weight was on your chest. Like a deadly serpent was coiled around your heart. You knew that your parents both died during the First Wizarding War but you never really stopped to consider what side they died on. In hindsight, it should have been glaringly obvious. Your prized ancestor Salazar Slytherin was known for being one of the most traditional wizards when it came to blood purity. Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt were demented madmen which was the result of the Gaunt Family’s devotion to keeping the line pure. And then, of course, there was your genocidal Dark Lord of a cousin who shall remain nameless. Considering all that, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that your mother was a **** Eater. And if she was a **** Eater, then it was extra likely that your mysterious father - the one who was actually blood-related to the aforementioned blood purists - was also a **** Eater.

You let out a long sigh. Learning that your own mother was a terrorist and likely a murderer in the name of blood supremacy put a damper on your holiday spirit. A part of you wondered if you would have been better off not knowing. It would’ve been simpler and less devastating to remain ignorant of your mother’s true nature. But… ignorance wasn’t a valued trait among Slytherins. It was better that you found out early on rather than have someone drop the revelation on you at a later date and use it as a weapon against you. And like Millicent said, now you at least had some closure on the matter. This latest addition to your family legacy did nothing to change the fact that you came from one of the darkest families in Wizard History. Your mother was now another family member that you had to set yourself apart from in order to restore your family legacy.

You looked over at the Quidditch poster you mounted on the wall and once again thought of why the Tornados’ Seeker was your favorite Quidditch player. Blythe Parkin stood apart from the other Parkin Quidditch players as the rebel of her Scottish family by playing for an English Team. Despite being born in Scotland and coming from a rich Scottish legacy, Blythe moved to England to fully commit to playing for the Tornados. Scottish fans booed her as a traitor to her birth country and claimed she was throwing away her family legacy when she played away matches. But when the Tornados played at home, the English fans lauded her as a trailblazer and a hero who wasn’t tarnishing her family legacy but building a whole new chapter upon it as she guided the Tornados to victory after victory in the League. It was those same fans who were pushing for Blythe to represent England in the 1996 Quidditch World Cup.

It was all a matter of perception. Some people might see you as the descendant of blood purists, madmen, **** Eaters, and murderers. But others that were closer to you saw you as a hardworking student striving to do his best and create his own chapter in his long and storied family legacy. Eventually, if you accomplished enough great feats and collected enough accolades, people’s perception of you would change. They’d see you as a hero and set you apart from your dark relatives and ancestors as someone to be celebrated rather than feared. The name Gaunt would be lauded by others once again and would finally be something to be proud of... thanks to your new legacy.

Your eyes were drawn to your final present. It was a small square box that was wrapped in deep emerald green paper and tied with a silver ribbon. You appreciated the Slytherin colors but you were a little perplexed when you realized there was no note or card or even a simple tag saying who it was from. You picked up the box and shook it but it felt weightless in your hands. Maybe it was spelled that way? You turned the small box over in your hands and tried to guess what was inside. Each of the four sides was no longer than three inches and the box was barely an inch high. Those were the dimensions of a bracelet. It could be a jewelry box. You suddenly felt a little nervous about shaking it.

With much more care than before, you untied the silver ribbon and carefully unwrapped the dark green paper. You pulled off the lid and blinked in surprise when you found - not a bracelet… but a simple square of two inch by two inch parchment nestled neatly on some soft black padding. There was some very tiny writing on the parchment so you picked it up out of the box and held it close so you could read it.

‘It looks like you can keep a secret.

Hopefully, you can keep this a secret too.

Thanks for the banner.

Happy Christmas’

There was only one person you had given a banner and you remembered that same person swearing you to secrecy.

“You saw nothing. Got it?”

Your hand started to tremble as you looked down into the box and realized that the black padding the note was resting on wasn’t padding at all.

“I didn’t realise you were into that sort of thing. You’re a little young to be interested in girls’ knickers.”

You fished the folded fabric out of the jewelry box and it came undone to reveal a triangle of soft black lace. Your mind flashed back three months to a treasured September memory that hadn’t faded in the slightest.

A purple light flashed from your wand and knocked a girl backward off the chair she’d been standing on. Time seemed to slow down as her heels clipped her bed and caused her legs to flip up while the rest of her continued to fly backward. Your eyes went wide when you were granted a brief split-second look between her splayed legs and up her skirt at her skimpy black knickers.

Your throat felt extremely dry when you realized that those same skimpy black knickers were now in your hand.

Thankfully, you were alone in your dorm room. You went to your trunk at the foot of your bed and shifted around the clothing and school supplies to fish out the spare pillow case that you hid at the bottom. You brought the pillow case around to the side of your bed and dumped your colorful collection out onto the covers.

Daphne’s mint green knickers were the first to draw your attention. That seemed fitting since they were the ones that started your collection.

Then there were two plain white cotton knickers belonging to Tracey and Millicent. The main difference between the two was that Millicent’s knickers were notably a few sizes larger than Tracey’s.

Next there were the plain pink cotton knickers that you extorted out of Granger. Thus far they were the only ones from a non-Slytherin.

And then the two final items were Pansy Parkinson’s precious pink and purple panties. They were made of a soft, silky, high-quality material that set them apart from the others. A day ago, they were the pride of your collection.

But not anymore. There was an almost reverent smile on your face as you set your latest treasure down on the bed in the middle of the others. The lacy black material made them stand out much like Pansy’s did but the skimpiness of their cut and shape made it clear that these knickers belonged to an older girl.

It was strange to think that you only started ‘collecting’ a month and a half ago. But now your little collection was seven knickers strong and you actually felt a small swell of pride when you looked at them all together. Your latest acquisition was the crown piece of the collection and it was also the source of the wide smile that you doubted would be leaving your face anytime soon. You scooped the seven knickers back into the pillow case and then returned your treasure to its hiding place at the bottom of your school trunk.

There was a spring in your step as you made your way out of your room. You paused in the boys’ hallway and took note of how empty the Slytherin common room was. Everyone seemed to be having a lie in on Christmas morning. Your house was the one where the vast majority of students came from prominent magical families so many of your housemates opted to go home for the break and spend the holidays with those aforementioned families.

Two other first years opted to spend the holidays at Hogwarts so you went the extra six steps across the hall and knocked on their door. It didn’t take long for it to be pulled open which revealed that the two boys were both awake and still opening their presents.

“Morning fellas!” you called out with a wave, “Happy Christmas! And thanks for the Jelly Slugs!”

“Happy Christmas,” Goyle replied from where he stood near you by the door.

“Thanks for the Chocolate Frogs!” Crabbe added from further in the room. The candy wrappers scattered around the floor told you that the duo had been eating their gifts after unwrapping them.

Gregory seemed to think the conversation was over and let go of the door to return to his pile of presents. You stepped forward and blocked the door and causally leaned against it while staying in the doorway. It was odd to have Crabbe and Goyle around without Malfoy. “Er… tell me, why did you guys decide to spend the holidays at Hogwarts instead of home with your families?”

You vaguely remembered the two laughing when Draco was mocking Potter about not having a family that wanted him home for the holidays. You happened to be in earshot and made a point of clearing your throat and their mocking laughter immediately stopped.

“The Christmas Feast!” Vincent answered excitedly, “My Da told me it’s the best one of the year aside from the Welcome Feast, the Leavin’ Feast, and the Halloween Feast. The food’ll be much better here than at home.”

“Yeah, we want to be here,” Gregory explained, “I’ve been lookin’ forward to the Christmas Feast since Halloween.”

“Ah, well, that explains it then,” you reasoned. Crabbe and Goyle were always big eaters. It went quiet for a moment so in an effort to be decent company and a good conversationalist you came up with another topic. “Er… speaking of food, I see you two got mostly snacks for gifts. Did you get anything else that was noteworthy?”

“Mum and Da sent me a new set of Gobstones,” Vincent replied.

“Same,” Gregory grunted. Maybe their parents went shopping together? “But everybody else got us candy.”

“Not that we’re complainin’!” Vincent chimed in before he tossed a Chocolate Frog into the air then caught the whole thing in his mouth. “Wha’ b’t ‘oo?”

“I got my fair stare of sweets too,” you responded after taking a second to mentally translate the muffled question. “But my favorite gifts were the ones that weren’t candy.” There was no way you were telling them about the present that had put you in such a chipper mood but there were others you could mention. “Blaise got me a Blythe Parkin poster and Millicent sent me a picture of my mother Octavia Bulstrode.”

“Oh, right, I keep forgetting you two’re related,” Gregory recalled.

“The circum... “ you trailed off and remembered you were talking with two students who didn’t share your vast vocabulary. “Most of the information about my unusual birth was buried by the Ministry. I managed to wheedle out my mother’s name a few years back.” Your Serpent’s Gaze was involved there. “I still don’t know who my father is and he’s the actual descendant of the Gaunt line. But now I at least have a picture and a face as well as some other details to go with my mother’s name. I’ll admit that she’s not quite what I imagined but she feels like an actual person now… even if she was a **** Eater.”

“You mean an ‘accused’ **** Eater,” Crabbe corrected you once he swallowed his frog.

You blinked and realized that Crabbe and Goyle’s fathers were both ‘accused’ **** Eaters who managed to get off. Much like Lucius Malfoy. Their parents had likely drilled that ‘accused’ bit into their heads before they left for Hogwarts so they didn’t accidentally incriminate anyone.

“Well… she died in a raid by an Auror strike team and was likely wearing **** Eater robes at the time,” you responded, “No real way to fight accusations at that point.”

“You uh… okay with that?” Gregory questioned.

“I’m coming to terms with it,” you admitted with a grim nod, “As descendants of Salazar Slytherin, my family always had a strong stance on blood purity. It shouldn’t surprise me that includes my mother too.”

Something suddenly flew at you. Your quick Keeper instincts kicked in and you managed to catch it before you got hit in the face. You opened your hand to reveal the Ice Mouse that Vincent just chucked at you. You idly wondered who sent him that.

“No sulking on Christmas!” Crabbe called out.

“Thanks,” you said with a wry grin after the surprisingly thoughtful move. “Let me know when you guys are done unwrapping and we can break in those Gobstones sets of yours out in the common room.”

You left the room and felt like a snake as you dangled the little candy mouse over your mouth by the tail and then dropped it in. A cold sensation filled your mouth and you grinned as your teeth started to chatter and squeak. Crabbe was right. Even if you just learned that your mother died as a war criminal, there was no sense in being grim or sad on Christmas.

And miracle upon miracles, it turned out that Crabbe and Goyle were right about another thing… the Christmas Feast was AMAZING!

A hundred fat, roast turkeys, platters of boiled potatoes and buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce, and stacks of wizard crackers covered the tables.

“Wow, when you’re right, you’re right,” you remarked as you entered the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle behind you. You imagined this was what it felt like to be Malfoy with the two large boys following him around all the time. It made you feel oddly empowered and especially important to have an entourage.

You made your way around to the far side of the Slytherin table which gave you a view across the Great Hall at the other tables. The Great Hall was barely even a quarter full but you spotted a messy head of untamed Potter hair surrounded by a collection of redheads.

Crabbe and Goyle each dragged over a tray with an entire roast turkey before they sat down across from you.

“You’re both going to eat an entire turkey on your own?” you questioned.

“Yup,” Crabbe answered with a proud smile. “Less people here means we can eat as much as we want without worrying about it.”

“I’d worry about getting sick if I tried to eat that much,” you admitted. “But I guess that sort of ambition is why the two of you are in Slytherin.”

The two large and apparently starving boys grinned and took that as a compliment before they grabbed knives and began to carve their respective turkeys. Maybe it was their violent nature shining through but they seemed oddly skilled at butchering the cooked birds on their plate. You took a couple of pointers from them before you went and cut a more modest leg and breast off of another turkey then loaded up your plate with the various fixings that were nearby.

You were initially concerned that you might be sick watching the two each wolf down a massive bird but it wasn’t like they were just shoveling it down or stuffing entire gobs of turkey in their mouth. No, when Gregory and Vincent tucked in and began to eat the feast they’d been looking forward to for nearly two months, they did it at a slow but steady pace that didn’t waver one bit. They took their time and savored the taste of each bite. They ate with an enthusiasm that showed they genuinely enjoyed what they were doing. No one was getting hurt and it wasn’t like anyone else was starving because they’d taken such large portions so you couldn’t find it in you to hold it against them.

Crabbe and Goyle’s high spirits were infectious and you found yourself enjoying the meal as well. They sometimes paused in between mouthfuls to recommend a side dish or tell a dirty joke but slowly and surely ate their way through an entire Christmas turkey. Someone like Pansy probably would have been disgusted and vocally complained but you were genuinely impressed by their resolve and how they each managed to polish off a ten pound turkey.

“Wow,” you said as you gave a polite applause. “I mean, you said you’d do it… and you did. I am legit… er… really impressed, for real.”

The duo grinned like they were unused to receiving praise then Goyle smirked and asked. “Wonder what’s for dessert?”

“You mean you STILL have room!?” you exclaimed.

“There’s always room for dessert,” Crabbe added with a solemn nod.

“Well… before that… why don’t we pull some of these Christmas crackers,” you suggested as you grabbed one of the paper crackers off of a nearby tray. Goyle reached his long bear-like arm across the table to pull the other end.

These weren’t the simple paper crackers that the muggles used. No, Wizard Christmas crackers were a lot more over the top and had much better prizes inside. There was a loud bang like a cannon and the three of you were engulfed in a cloud of blue smoke. You waved your arm and, when the blue smoke eventually cleared, you saw a pair of chocolate frogs go hopping across the table and you were left holding a fancy blue and gold striped headdress.

“You REALLY ARE the lucky Chocolate Frog guy!” Vincent exclaimed as he snagged one of the chocolate amphibians and stuffed the wriggling frog into his mouth.

Gregory followed suit and made short work of the other one. “Wuzzat?” He mumbled around the frog in his mouth as he pointed at the elaborate headdress you were holding.

“Come on, guys, you know your history,” you lightly chided the duo whose surprisingly detailed notes were helping you pass History of Magic, “This is a headdress worn by the Pharaohs of Egypt. It’s basically an ancient Egyptian crown.”

“OH!” Vincent said as recognition flashed in his eyes, “Y’mean the ones that got buried in the booby-trapped tombs filled with treasure that the goblins had two rebellions over?”

“Right, those blokes were somma the earliest wizards,” Gregory recalled, “They planted wicked traps in those tombs... like blood boiling curses!”

“And head shrinking!”

“And there was the bewitched weaponry!”

“And the poisoned snake pits!”

Most people assumed that Crabbe and Goyle were as thick as a pair of rocks. But when it came to a subject that they were interested in - like food or the more violent side of Wizard History - they really knew their stuff.

“And I’m pretty sure frogs were one of the Plagues,” you added as you drew from your own knowledge of some of the earliest recorded uses of magic, “And it’s funny you should mention snakes though… look at this…” you pointed to the forehead of your Pharaoh Headdress to draw attention to the golden serpent that adorned it. “It figures this one was at the Slytherin table.”

You sat up a little straighter and felt like you had just been coronated as you donned the fancy Pharaoh’s Headdress.

“I’m next!” Goyle announced as he grabbed a cracker and pulled it with Crabbe. Another loud BOOM rang out and you were once again covered in a cloud of smoke. You were vaguely aware of other similar ‘explosions’ ringing out around the Great Hall as others pulled their own Christmas crackers.

The smoke cleared and you spotted a couple of Jelly Slugs twitching on the table that hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. Goyle was holding a lime green bowler hat.

“Oh, it’s like the one Minister Fudge wears,” Gregory realized.

“You’ve met the Minister for Magic?” you inquired.

“Nah, but I’ve seen ‘im before at a party at Malfoy’s,” Goyle answered as he popped the lime green bowler onto his head. “He was wearin’ a hat just like this one.”

Jelly Slugs, unlike Chocolate Frogs, aren’t enchanted to hop around, so Crabbe and Goyle didn’t have a problem picking them up and downing them. You weren’t in a snacking mood so soon after finishing your dinner but you were impressed that your two companions were still able to put things away after those turkeys.

“Now it’s my turn,” Crabbe resolved as he grabbed a Christmas cracker from a nearby tray and pulled it with Goyle. Another loud cannon blast went off.

When the smoke cleared for the third time, you saw three little white mice scampering across the table and Crabbe was holding a Pirate Captain’s Tricorn. “COOL!”

One of the mice came closer and seemed especially interested in the contents of your finished plate. You looked down and realized that these mice weren’t Ice Mice. Unlike the last two Christmas crackers that contained sweets, the third one had real live mice inside it.

You didn’t really like the idea of a live rodent eating off of your plate and you remembered that you were wearing a Pharaoh’s Headdress that was decorated with a golden serpent so you let out a loud, threatening hiss of Parseltongue to scare the mouse away. §FOOD!§

The mouse didn’t understand the Parseltongue but it did recognize the hiss of a deadly predator. It let out a scared squeak and fled from your plate in blind terror.

BANG!

The mouse hadn’t made it far before Goyle smashed it with the bottom of an empty metal tray. Gregory grinned as he scooped up the dead mouse and offered it to you. “Want it?”

“Er… that’s not candy,” you pointed out, “What am I supposed to do with a dead mouse?”

“You’ve got an owl, don’tcha?” Vincent asked, “It’s Christmas for ‘im too, ain’t it?”

You thought of your ashen feathered barred owl. He hunted for his food during the year but he’d likely enjoy the snack.

“Oh… thanks,” you replied, “I’m sure Iago will love it.”

“Can we watch you feed ‘im?” Goyle requested with a brief blood-thirsty grin.

“Sure, why not,” you agreed as you wadded the fresh snack up in a napkin then slipped it into your pocket. “We’ll go after the feast is over.”

“Speaking of, where’s dessert?” Crabbe wondered.

It didn’t take long for dessert to appear and it turned out to be flaming pudding. At Crabbe and Goyle’s encouragement you wound up having a second piece along with them. But despite eating a half a dozen pieces of pudding between the three of you, none of you got the lucky sickle in the batch. You overheard someone over at the Hufflepuff table saying that one of the Weasleys at the Gryffindor table nearly broke his tooth on it. So much for the lucky coin being an omen of good fortune.

“Alright then, Captain Crabbe, Minister Goyle, let’s head to the Owlery,” you called out once the meal was done.

“Aye-aye… er… Pharaoh Gaunt,” Crabbe replied with a tip of his pirate hat.

“Oi, if I’m gonna be Minister then you’ve gotta teach me somma them posh an’ fancy words,” Goyle requested as he adjusted his lime green bowler.

“Sure,” you agreed with a good-natured shrug, happy to share your vast and versatile vocabulary. “Let’s start with ‘indubitably’.”

“In-doo-what?” Gregory repeated.

“In...doo..bit...ah...bly…” you sounded out the five-syllable word. “It’s a really fancy and snobbish way of saying ‘without a doubt’ or ‘of course’. So if I were to ask ‘Are you gentlemen ready to head to the Owlery?’ You would respond with…?”

“Oh… er… indoobidably,” Goyle responded.

“Close enough,” you said with a nod as the three of you left your seats.

You once again experienced that air of importance as you left the Great Hall wearing an Ancient Egyptian crown while flanked by Malfoy’s usual bodyguards who you mentally dubbed your ‘Captain of the Guard’ and ‘Minister for Defense’.

To be honest, you weren’t sure what to expect when you first learned that you’d be spending Christmas with Crabbe and Goyle. But the two large boys were both full of Christmas spirit and made for better company than you initially expected. And it was a far step away from spending another Christmas alone in the Gaunt Shack.

Marvolo Gaunt House Point Ledger

Current Total: +66

Points awarded by: SS, RH, QQ