The Truth | Draco Malfoy

Chapter 14: Christmas

Hogwarts Ground – Later – Day

Harry, Ron, Hermione walk with Hagrid towards his home, a wooden hut on the edge of the Dark Forest as they tell him their theory.

"Rubbish! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid denies.

"Who knows? Why was he trying to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween?" Harry questions.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asks, not realising that they didn't actually know anything.

"Oh, Hagrid." Lily shook her head slightly and placed her forehead into her hand.

"I love Fluffy." Jean 'whispered' to her mother.

"Fluffy?" Ron gasps.

"That thing has a name?" Hermione gasps.

"Fluffy is not a thing!" Scorpius yelled. "He's a Cerberus and he loves music."

"Course he's got a name. He's mine. Brought him off an Irish bloke I met in the Pub las' year. Lent him to Dumbledore to guard the..." Hagrid stops when he realises what he says.

"You can trust Hagrid with your life but not with your secrets." Harry whispered to Zoe, making her laugh.

"Yes?" Harry says, wanting Hagrid to say more.

"Don' be askin' me anymore. That's top secret, that is." Hagrid denies.

Harry tries to convince him. "But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it."

"Codswallop! Snape's a Hogwart's teacher." Hagrid refuses believe.

"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid. I've read all able them. you've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking." Hermione boasts.

"Counter-spells also require constant eye contact, but you refused to believe that Papa S was trying to save him instead." Zoe said, glaring at Hermione.

"Of course, I didn't believe that a Slytherin was trying to save a Gryffindor." Hermione scoffed.

"Now listen o me." Hagrid demands. "All three of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that shouldn'y be meddled. It's dangerous. What that dog's guardin' is strictly betw'n Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flame." Hagrid stops, furious with himself, then turns for his hut, where Fang, an enormous black boarhound, greets him.

"Nicolas Flamel. What does that name sound familiar?" Harry whispers.

***

Hogwarts Castle – Day

December. Snow falls, dusting the castle turrets and blanketing the grounds. Hagrid drags a giant Christmas fir toward the castle, Fang trotting by his side.

"I love Hogwarts at Yule. The castle always looks beautiful in the snow." Zoe whispered as she laid her head on Draco's shoulder, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and brought her in closer to him.

Great Hall – Hall

Nearly Headless Nick swoops about a towering Christmas tree, running garland over the limbs, while Peeves plucks ornaments from the branches, hurling them to the floor.

"Listen up!" Professor McGonagall yells. "As the lake is frozen, all students going home for the holiday will take a flying sleigh to the departure platform. Earmuffs are strongly recommended."

Harry and Ron pay no attention to the students bustling about them, sitting alone by the window playing Wizard Chess. Unlike Muggle Chess, these figures are alive. Presently, Harry's bishop looks cross. "Don't send me there! can't you see his Knight? Send him. We can afford to lose him." The bishop points to a pawn. Harry sheepishly complies.

"I don't like chess." Jean said, crossing her arms. "Scorpius cheats."

Scorpius gasped dramatically. "I do not. I am simply amazing at it." He acted offended, making Jean giggle at his dramatic behaviour.

"Queen to pawn six." Ron yawns as his queen steps forward and – with extreme prejudice – disposes of the pawn. Hermione, huge trunk in tow, arrives just in time to witness the carnage.

"Oh my god! That's barbaric!" Hermione gasps.

"That's chess." Ron shrugs. "I see you've packed."

"I see you're not." Hermione says.

"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there." Ron explains.

"You can help Harry then. He promised to keep looking in the library for Nicolas Flamel over the holiday."

"We have looked. A hundred times."

"Not in the Restricted Section." Hermione says as she exits.

Ron turns to look at Harry. "I think we've had a bad influence on her." He says.

***

Boys Tower Dormitory – Morning

Camera pans a stack of packages at the foot of Harry's bed. "Happy Christmas, Harry!" Ron yells. Harry rubs his eyes, sees Ron wearing a maroon sweater over his pyjamas. Ron tosses him a present.

"I've got presents." Harry whispers, not expecting Ron to hear him.

That hurt James and Lily to hear. They made a mental promise to spoil Harry on holidays.

"What's you expect?" Ron asks. "In your hand's from Hagrid. And by the looks of that lumpy one, Mum's sent you a Weasley sweater." Harry opens Hagrid's, finds a wooden flute. As he blows it, Hedwig cocks her head. It sounds like an owl. Harry takes up the next parcel. It's very light. He reads the note attached.

'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it as returned to you.' Harry reads out loud.

"Wait." James said. Everyone looked at him. "That doesn't make sense." He said, pointing at the scene of Harry holding the cloak.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I see what you mean." Sirius commented, seeing the same thing James did.

"See what? Talk to us!" Albus Severus and James Sirius yelled in unison.

"Dumbledore shouldn't have the cloak. It's meant to be in the vault." Remus explained.

"It was in the vault. I remember putting it in the section of stuff that I was going to pass down to my children – family heirlooms." James continued. "There's no way he could have entered the vault, only blood can."

"He made himself young Potter's guardian (illegally) and he had Potter's vault key since he had given it to Hagrid. That meant he put himself in charge of Potter's vault since he was about to set up the future transactions for himself, the Weasels and the muggle-born. All that means he had access to the vault and the cloak." Lucius said.

Harry tears the paper away, finds something shiny and translucent slithers to the floor. "It's some kind of... cloak." He says.

"Well, let's see then. Put it on." Ron says. As Harry takes the cloth, we hang on Ron, watching, then: "AHHH!" He screams as he sees Harry's head is floating in mid-air. Ron looks on in awe.

"Harry, do you know what this is? It's an invisibility cloak. They're really rare. Who gave you this?"

"There's no name... it just says, 'Use it well.'" Harry shrugs, looking at the note. The scene fades to black.

A/N: Next chapter is going to be Zoe's Christmas. I was going to put it in this chapter but I wanted to publish this sooner and I think the plans I have for next chapter needed a chapter on it's own.