Magic (5sos/l.h. Hogwarts AU)

Chapter 10

~A/N~ Editing Leila is crying these characters are in year 7 I hate it it's also so much fluff because they're not old enough to battle or date
Enjoy the chapter!
Leila xx

Naadiya wasn't very happy about my decision to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, to say the least. Barely a day after I sent the letter to my family telling them, I received one back from my twin saying what a selfish idiot I was for leaving her with Zara and Sofiyah. Calum found this hilarious, and I told him if he died it would be hilarious. That shut him up.

Luke was also going to be staying, as his parents had their annual holiday to Australia, during which Luke would have to stay with his grandparents. Apparently their house smelled like cheese so he was going to stay with us instead.

The day before Christmas, Michael and I visited Hagrid to give him our Christmas presents. Luke couldn't come as he had detention for not doing his Potions homework and then standing up for me when Snape made some comments about muggleborns. I felt like it was my fault, even though Luke reassured me that it wasn't.

Knocking hard on Hagrid's door, we eagerly awaited the company of our half-giant friend. Michael had realised that Hagrid really wasn't anyone to be afraid of, and quickly took to the kind man. We hadn't had much of a chance to visit him during December, so there was a lot of catching up to be done.

"Leila! Michael!" our friend bellowed as he opened the scratched wooden door and welcome us into his cosy hut. "Come in, 'av made yeh tea 'n cake!"

I gulped apprehensively. Hagrid's cakes were like rocks, completely indigestible, no matter how much you dipped them in tea. Michael however, didn't know this and brightened up considerably at the mention of baked goods.

"So, 'ows yeh term bin?" asked Hagrid, pouring water from the copper kettle into three mugs. "Anyone givin' yeh grief?"

Hagrid chuckled at this, but faltered when Michael and I exchanged a dark look. "Who?"

"Malfoy," Michael said. "He's been bullying Leila ever since she got here."

"Ah," agreed Hagrid, not seeming surprised. "Dark lot, the Malfoys. Lucius Malfoy used to be a Death Eater. Some say 'e still is."

"What's a Death Eater?" I asked, the term unfamiliar to me.

"A follower of You-Know-Who," Michael whispered, looking around scared as though just saying that meant that Voldemort would sweep in and kill us all.

"I wouldn't be surprised if young Malfoy follows in 'is father's footsteps," murmured Hagrid. "Seems to be on 'is way already."

***
I woke up the next day to an empty dormitory. Lavender, Parvati and Hermione had all gone home for the holidays, leaving me quite lonely, until I remembered that I had been invited to spend Christmas in the boys' dormitory with Luke, Michael, Harry and Ron. I may not have known Harry and Ron very well, but got them presents all the same. It would be awkward to open presents with them and not get them anything. Thankfully, Michael had told me they got things for me too, feeling the same as me.

Throwing on a white dressing gown given to me that used to belong to Zara, I sprinted down the stairs and up the ones to the boys' dormitory. Luckily there weren't many people staying in Gryffindor for Christmas, so no one was in the common room to see me in my nightclothes.

"Morning!" I shouted, flinging open the door to find everyone already awake, sitting in a circle on the floor with all the presents in the middle.

"What took you so bloody long?" cried Ron, pulling me down into the circle and handing me a huge present.

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"Eight," said Michael, leaning his head on my shoulder.

"Then how did you expect me to be awake?!" I exclaimed.

"It's Christmas," Luke said, like that explained everything. "Now shut up and open your presents."

This activity turned out to be even more fun than I imagined. It was like opening presents on my birthday, but sharing the experience with my friends, so we all got the same joy. Fred and George joined us at some point, and by the end of the hour I had a huge pile of things in front of me. I received a box of Dungbombs to use on Zara from Fred and George, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from Calum, a Wizard's Chess set from Ashton, Omnioculars from Michael, Hogwarts: A History from Hermione, a box of fudge from Hagrid, toffee from Ron, chocolate frogs from Harry and a mood ring from Luke (not one of those muggle ones that doesn't work, an actual magical one). When I put it on, it turned electric blue to show I was excited. It wasn't wrong.

Breakfast was brilliant, with hot chocolate, croissants, a basket of Christmas biscuits and plates and plates of mince pies. Fortunately there was a thick layer of snow sitting like a blanket on the grounds, but while everyone else went outside for a snowball fight, I went back to the library to look for more information about Nicholas Flamel or Fluffy, the three headed dog. I wished Calum was there - he seemed to love reading, especially about magical creatures so sometimes joined me in my information gathering sessions.

Madame Pince eyed me suspiciously when I entered the library, no doubt wondering why I wasn't celebrating Christmas with the rest of the school, but I was on a mission. Deciding to start with a book about powerful witches and wizards, I pulled a large book off the shelf and began to read. An hour later, after three books, I was halfway through a giant, dusty novel when I found something that was actually useful.

The ancient study of Alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his 665th birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (658).

Almost bursting with excitement, I ran over to Madame Pince to take out the book, who promptly scolded me for my disorderly conduct, but I could've cared more. All I was focused on was showing the extract to Hermione, who would definitely be as excited as I was, if not more.

When I got back to the common room, I found Luke and Michael dripping wet, faces red and lit up with happiness.

"Where were you, Lei?" Luke panted, using the nickname he had taken to using. I shivered inside every time he said it - outside of my family, I had never had friends who gave me nicknames.

"In the library."

"You should've come outside with us, it was so much fun!" yelled Michael, causing Percy Weasley, the annoying Prefect, to shush him loudly. In return Fred and George pulled his Prefect badge off him and ran off, chuckling loudly. Percy immediately jumped to his feet and started chasing the two, cornering George who chucked it to Fred, who passed it to me without a second thought.

"Here, Leila, catch!" And before I knew it a Prefect badge was hurtling through the air towards me. Now on the one hand, Percy was a Prefect with the ability to punish me and I didn't want to get into trouble, but on the other, I needed a bit of fun and this was my opportunity. I decided to ignore my sensible side for a bit and started sprinting off with the badge, throwing it back to Fred when Percy seemed to be gaining on me.

Luke and Michael were laughing their heads off from the corner, and I smiled as wide as my mouth would let me, muttering to myself, "This has been the best Christmas ever."