"Sorry, Aunt Petunia."

Chapter 20: The Mundane Manuscript Mystery

Harry, as promised, was buried in letters by the end of the Winter Break. Most of them were just simple notes, telling him of what his friends were up to.

Hermione’s letters included summaries of the new book she’d read, and, when Harry asked nicely, explanations for the bits of their homework he’d had trouble understanding. She seemed happy that he’d had it practically finished already.

Neville got some new plants for the holidays, one of which was a Devil’s Snare copycat. He’d be taking a couple back to the dorms, eager to share them with Professor Sprout.

Draco’s longest letter was full of complaining about his father not buying him a Nimbus 2000. Harry wrote him back, saying that if they had such different brooms, how would they know which one of them was objectively better at being a Seeker?

Somehow, that had worked, and the rest of his letters contained no more complaints.

The train returned on January 2nd, allowing the students the rest of that Saturday and the entire Sunday to acclimate again, before being thrown straight back into schoolwork.

Harry didn’t mind - it gave them all the time to catch up properly. And with most everyone out on the grounds and playing in the snow, they could invite Draco into their common room again.

It was warmer than in the library, not to mention that the armchairs were far more comfortable.

Also, Draco had gotten a whole new set of Exploding Snap cards, and Madam Pince didn’t take kindly to anyone playing that game anywhere near her books.

Those cards left multicoloured marks every time they exploded, and soon they all looked like how the Weasley Twins had when they were still being followed by those snow clouds.

That was how Professor McGonagall found them when she entered the nearly-empty room to hang something up on the noticeboard.

“How lovely to see you all together,” she commented, passing them by. “I hope you’ve finished all your homework?”

“Yes, Professor,” they chorused.

“Mister Weasley, Mister Longbottom - I didn't have the chance to tell you before the break.” Professor McGonagall paused, turning slightly to face them, causing both Ron and Neville to tense. “I was very impressed with your wandwork before the holidays, and Professor Flitwick said he saw the improvement as well. Well done!”

The two boys breathed with relief. Getting a scolding from Professor McGonagall was far more likely than a praising, especially for them.

“Oh!” Hermione said, throwing herself over the armrest of the sofa to get to her bag. “Would you mind terribly, Professor, if I turned this in early-”

Handing in a scroll even thicker than her usual ones, Hermione beamed at the teacher.

Professor McGonagall stared at the roll impassively, letting it unroll all the way to the floor… And then some.

“Miss Granger,” she said.

Hermione’s face fell.

“I know, I know, fifteen inches,” she muttered, grabbing another, way smaller scroll out of her bag. “Here you go.”

Professor McGonagall accepted the shorter scroll, pocketing both of them.

“You’ve piqued my curiosity,” she said in answer to Hermione’s questioning look. “But in the future, I’ve heard that Quirinus has had the most wonderful idea…”

“Yes, he already told us,” Harry said. “When Hermione tried to hand in an eight-feet-long essay.”

Hermione scowled, folding her arms across her chest.