Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor

Chapter 25

During the next quidditch match before Christmas, Hufflepuff faced Ravenclaw and Harry was happily able to relax and simply enjoy the match. Although the players looked like nothing so much as colorless blurs darting to and fro on the pitch, Harry found that Lee Jordan's hilarious commentary provided him with plenty of information to follow the route of the game. Harry sat with his friends in the frosty stadium letting off steam, yelling at the top of his lungs at the two teams, thinking with a grin in particular about the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang, and her shiny, flowing black hair.

One morning at breakfast as the owls swooped overhead dropping letters on students' plates, Ron jumped to his feet in excitement, a freshly opened letter held tightly in his upraised fist. Harry pulled him down to a sitting position again but had hard work of it to get him calmed down enough to tell him what the fuss was about.

"Mum's invited you to come spend Christmas with us at the Burrow," Ron finally told him.

Harry jumped to his feet excitedly. "Brilliant!" he exclaimed with delight.

At last, he and Ron sat down again to resume their breakfasts. Harry noticed Hermione sat very still and quiet next to him.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"It's all jolly well for you two, having such fun over the hols," she said sourly. "I mean it's fine seeing Mum and Dad and all that but they're so dull."

"Oh, stow it," said Ron with feigned disgust. "You're invited too."

"What?" squealed Hermione. "Why didn't you say so, you git?" she leaned over Harry to punch Ron who cheerfully returned the gesture, Harry leaning back as far as he could to avoid the flying fists.

"Okay, okay," he said, laughing. "You're going to get Professor McGonagall over here if you two don't shut up." To his surprise, Hermione grabbed him around the neck in a joyful hug and dropped a little kiss on his cheek.

"Happy Christmas, Harry," she said and he grinned.

The next two weeks were spent in such a flurry of finishing classes, packing and doing extra homework to leave the break free for as much fun as possible that Harry hardly noticed the enchanted snow in the Great Hall or the scent of fir from the twelve Christmas trees Hagrid brought in from the Forbidden Forest. Peeves, the Poltergeist, who had lain low most of the year due to a nasty run-in with Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, worked up enough holiday cheer to whoosh around the halls singing "Deck the halls with guts and eyeballs," to the mirth of the first-year boys. All over the castle excitement reached a fever pitch for the Christmas holidays.

Up in his dorm, Harry tossed his yet-unopened box of Exploding Snap cards into his trunk along with his Nimbus 2000. The morning they were to leave he coaxed Hedwig down from the owlery with a treat, although she hooted and ruffled her feathers at suffering the indignity of being caged for the trip.

As if to match the mood of the happy students, the sun shone on the Hogsmeade station where the gleaming engine of the Hogwarts Express chuffed and steamed. As usual, Harry squinted against the light, hoping today of all days he wouldn't get a headache, but his spirits were too high to be so easily dampened. He was reminded just how much he had learned that semester as he walked with his friends easily down to the station, climbed the stairs and entered the train without once tripping or running into anything. Using his cane felt, if not exactly natural, at least quite a bit more practiced and even when he had to close his eyes for a while against the light he still felt fairly confident in moving around. Grinning to himself, he told himself to remember to thank Professor Lupin for the lessons.

Never had a south-bound train ride seemed so much fun. Usually, Harry's heart was heavy whenever he left Hogwarts, knowing that he was bound for Privet Drive. But this time, the rhythm of the train, instead of taking him to the Dursleys with its grim clacking now sang a joyful cadence of holiday and anticipation. In almost no time, the train whooshed to a stop at King's Cross. Ron, leaning over Harry to peer out between the closed curtains over the train's window, yelled, "There's Mum! And Dad's there, too!"