(Y/n) had an awesome summer, yet he couldn't wait to return to Hogwarts. Little did he know that a monster was lurking throughout the castle, in search of prey and maybe we wasn't just a normal boy.
Also all rights to J.K. Rowling and Bethesda.
So far (Y/n) had a quiet Christmas break. It was Christmas Eve, yet he felt pretty burned out for no reason. The train ride home was uneventful (apart from Nevil losing Trevor again) which was a little disappointing as he was hoping to chat to Hermione. But she seemed to be enveloped in her book, (Y/n) suspected she was still upset at him for stealing the strange book from the restricted section. Still (Y/n) was glad to have a break from what was happening at Hogwarts, he hoped Harry and Ron would have some time to themselves before their elaborate scheme tomorrow. (Y/n)'s parents were a little surprised when they picked up their son from the train station, only to sleep on the car ride back.
It was a long ride home to the Phoenix family manor, the family would only go there for the holidays or to host large dinner parties. It was a large 14th-century gothic building located in the north of Scotland within the Grampian Highlands, a large plot of 300 acres was awarded to Conrad Alaric Phoenix after he ventured into the surrounding highlands and slaughtered a dangerous winged beast, he was given the title of Thane, a Scottish lord. Over time the Phoenix family built their home until it manifested into a large castle.
In all honesty, (Y/n) was a little scared of the place, it felt unnaturally cold compared to the quaint two-story house the family lived in Surrey, it was too much of a hassle for a family of 3 to live in such a big place. As such, when (Y/n) was 4, the family chose to move closer to London, making it easier for Lara to focus on her work and help (Y/n) grow in a more normal and comfortable environment.
The speckled marbled floors echoed throughout the vast empty corridors. The house elves were always thoroughly excited when the family returned and never failed in putting on a feast. What was interesting is that tending to the families beck and call and cleaning wasn't the house elve's main duty. Their main service to the Phoenix family was to guard the castle from any thieves. The 80 house elves mainly served as sentries rather than cooks, but that didn't mean they ensured the castle was clean. To ward off any thieves, they constantly kept it alight and active.
The family history was made up of academic warriors who prospered in their fields, often predicting or preventing disasters. As such, the Phoenix family had an extremely secure vault (only second to the Gringotts bank) that stored all their secret discoveries over the past centuries. Some of these were extremely dangerous magical items, all of the books and theses published by the family as well as the family's library, the most restricted and valuable in the world. (Y/n) had only been in there once when his father wanted him to explain the importance of the family's legacy. As (Y/n) made his way through the large manor, taking it all in as the Head House Elf Felix had already apparated his suitcase upstairs to his unnecessarily large master bedroom. As he made his way past the dining room (Y/n) stopped and stared at the large stone carving.
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It took up the entire wall, it was about 50 metres long and 4 metres tall. It was a mystic stone wall that was supposedly carved by the first Phoenix about 1200 years ago. It was rediscovered by Conrad Phoenix who worked effortlessly to move into his newly constructed castle about 800 years ago. It certainly was a talking piece, although there wasn't a lot known about it. Not even (Y/n)'s dad knew much about it, it was simply known as The First Prophecy. He didn't know why but (Y/n) felt drawn to it. He would sometimes wake up at night and go to the dining room to stare at it, only to be found by the house elves who insisted he go back to bed. It was mesmerising, enchanting almost. Sometimes, he could feel as if it was calling out to him as if it wanted him to read it.
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Over the next couple of days (Y/n) was "encouraged" by his parents to attend various dinner parties and functions which were endlessly dull for a 13-year-old. Still, (Y/n) went and put on a smile and shook some hands. As he lay in his bed, tired from the function he had just attended, his mother knocked and entered his room, "(Y/n), I hope you aren't too tired, I'm going to need you to help me with tomorrow's Christmas lunch." Now this caught (Y/n)'s attention, the family had never had a quiet Christmas at home, they always attended the Minister of Magic's Christmas party (which was the worst of them all in (Y/n)'s opinion). He shot from his bed "So are we having a quiet lunch at home?" (Y/n) asked full of hope. "Nope, we're doing something even better." His mum replied with a sly smile. "We'll have Christmas lunch with some new family friends, and don't worry. They aren't any ministry morons, your father and I can only handle meeting so many of them..." she said with a smirk as she left (Y/n)'s room. (Y/n) smiled, it sounded a lot better than he thought, at least he could meet some new average people and make some friends. (Y/n) gleefully left his room and went down to the kitchen to help his mum, he looking forward to tomorrow's lunch.
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Hermione was sceptical of her parents. The other day they went Christmas shopping and when they returned Hermione was curious why there was so much food in the fridge. Sure, her grandparents were coming, but this was more food than they could eat. But that wasn't the only odd thing. Earlier that morning, the entire family got together and under the direction of her mum, they cleaned and decorated the entire house. Her dad picked out a nice bottle of red wine while her mum set the dinner table. There were three extra plates and sets of cutlery Hermione thought. It was clear her parents were hiding the fact that they invited three guests over for Christmas lunch. Hermione had even guessed that one of the guests was going to be a kid around her age because she saw her mum pull out some board games from behind the bookshelf and set out various Christmas novelty games in the lounge.
So as Hermione was helping her mum peel potatoes on the kitchen bench, she decided to confront her about it all seeing as they had no intention of telling her. "So who's coming for lunch tomorrow?" she nonchalantly asked. Monica Granger smiled at her daughter, "It's a surprise, they're some new friends we've made while you've been away at Hogwarts." Monica explained. This frustrated Hermione, her parents were toying with her. She continued peeling the potatoes but did so with a pout as she began thinking about whom it could be. Wendell Granger smirked when he saw her daughter's reaction from the lounge as he had just finished decorating the Christmas tree. "Has she figured out who it is?" He asked his wife. Monica smirked, "Not yet honey." She replied. Monica turned to her slightly annoyed daughter, "make sure you wear your best for tomorrow darling!" she exclaimed with glee as her parents chuckled. Now, this irked Hermione, she couldn't wait to see who was coming for Christmas lunch tomorrow.
Sorry for the delay, just so you guys know I added a bit more content to the "Caught in the Act?" Chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
