Flick and Swish || A Harry Potter Anthology

Second Place - Christmas With a Twist

Written by eglantinedoe

The crisp morning air and chirping of birds had awakened Ghislaine two hours prior and now she is in the kitchen with her close friends, Luna and Cho. They became friends when they first got sorted into Ravenclaw three years ago and now they are inseparable.

They have been baking cookies and desserts for the Christmas Eve Party that will be held in a few more hours. The smell of freshly baked cookies prompted a trio from the outside to peek through the kitchen window.

"Come on in guys! It's cold outside and we've prepared some hot chocolate for everyone." Ghislaine had seen them peeking through the window and the trio nodded, coming inside to enjoy the warmth and delicious hot chocolate prepared by Ghislaine.

After a couple hours of chatting and preparing for the party, they all sat down in the common room waiting for everyone else to arrive when Ron suddenly said something that caught everyone's attention.

"Has anyone here caught Santa Claus in action before?" Ron looks around excitedly.

"As far as I know, I believe everyone here has never seen Santa Claus before. That old man sure knows how to hide from people for as long as he existed." Everyone else nodded to Cho's statement while Ron seemed to be thinking of something.

"Ron, surely you're not thinking of staying up and catching the old man?" Hermione deadpanned.

"You know it! So who's up for it?" Hermione rolled her eyes but nodded like everyone else.

Hence, Operation Catching Claus commenced with Ron being the leader once everyone else on the guest list arrived. When the clock hit midnight, everyone went into their positions. Nothing happened for the first few hours, so some of the guests decided that it was pointless to wait any longer and went back to their own dormitories, leaving only the golden trio, Luna, Cho and Ghislaine.

Another few hours passed and when Ron was about to speak up, suddenly Santa Claus stood in the common room, all dusty from the chimney soot.

Everyone was shocked but also excited. Ron was frozen in place because he couldn't believe what he saw. No one dared to make a move when suddenly Luna stood up and emerges from her hiding position.

"Santa?" Luna looks up to Santa Claus as he is much bigger than her. Santa Claus dust away all the soot and looks at Luna before replying to her. "Why yes, Luna dear. Ho! Ho! Ho!" He coughs before handing her a present. "Here's yers, sweet child!"

"Thank you so much, Santa!" Luna smiled at him and Santa nodded.

After placing the gifts for everyone else, Santa Claus bid Luna goodbye and went back up the soot. After recovering from the shock except for Ron, everyone else came out of their positions and started looking for their gifts while talking to each other happily. Ron on the other hand, was too shocked to even say anything but when Hermione smacked his head, the pain brought Ron back to reality and he finally was able to talk.

"I-That was Santa Claus! Bloody hell! I couldn't believe my eyes!" Everyone else just agreed with Ron.

Once they all have opened their gifts, the golden trio decided to head back to their dormitories. Unbeknownst to Ron, Hermione, Harry, Luna, Cho and Ghislaine winked at each other, signifying their success in making Ron believe that they actually caught Santa Claus in action.

The dusty Santa Claus was actually Hagrid as they had asked him to disguise as the bearded man a few days prior because they know Ron would came up with an idea of catching Santa Claus and as for Ron, that night was the best Christmas gift he could've ever asked for.