Chapter 9: Christmas

Before long, Christmas had arrived. One morning in mid-December, the entire school woke to find the grounds covered in multiple feet of gleaming, white powder. There was a thick sheet of ice covering the Black Lake and Fred and George had gotten detention for bewitching snowballs so they bounced on the back of Quirrell's turban. Technically Lucas helped them, but he was more sneaky. The few owls that had managed to brave the stormy weather to deliver post had to be nursed back to full health before they could fly off again.

Nobody could wait until the holidays. While the Slytherin Common room and the Great Hall, had great, roaring fires, the draughty halls had become incredibly icy and harsh winds clattered the classroom windows. The worst was the Potions classroom, where their breaths rose in a cold mist in front of them as they kept close as possible to their hot cauldrons. It made Lucas nostalgic for Camp Half-Blood, where bad weather never penetrated the magical borders unless they wanted it to.

"I do feel sorry," Blaise said, one Potions lesson, as they tried to follow the instructions for their potions as best as they could, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

The Slytherins laughed, but Lucas rolled his eyes and continued measuring his powdered spine of lionfish, resisting the urge to give him a few broken bones. Blaise had become increasingly nasty after the match, and Lucas was finding it harder and harder to restrain himself. Upset that Slytherin had lost the match, he tried to get everyone to laugh by spreading a rumour about how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry's position as a Seeker. Then he soon dawned on him that nobody found this funny because they were all in awe about how Harry had managed to stay on his broomstick. So poor, poor Blaise, who was furious and resentful, had gone back to taunting Harry about not having a proper family.

True, Harry wasn't going back home for the holidays. And neither was Lucas. Of course, Blaise didn't know that, but Lucas wasn't planning on telling him. If Harry wasn't going back home, Lucas wasn't. He wasn't going to go back to Camp Half-Blood and unintentionally get Harry killed. Besides, the Weasley twins and their brothers were staying too- their parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley were going to Romania to visit Fred and George's brother, Charlie.

At the end of Potions, Lucas followed Harry and Ron out of the Dungeons, where a ginormous fir tree was taking up the corridor in front of them. Two large feet stuck out behind it and a large puffing sound told Lucas all he needed to know. The person behind the tree was Hagrid.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, poking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm alright," Hagrid replied. "Thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Blaise's voice came from behind them, and Lucas sighed. Perfect. Just what he wanted. "Are you trying to earn yourself some extra money, Weasley?" he continued. "Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose- that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron launched himself at Blaise just in time for Snape to see as he came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron quickly released his grip on Blaise's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," Hagrid explained, his huge, hairy face popping out from behind the tree. "Zabini was insulting his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," Snape said smoothly. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you." Snape walked off.

Lucas sighed. He couldn't believe he was just about to do this. "Next time you should aim for the stomach."

He pushed past the tree, grinning broadly at Blaise's stunned face and Harry and Ron's surprised expressions as he barged into the library quietly. He had promised to help Hermione find out who Nicolas Flamel is, and he intended to keep that promise. However, it still came with its complications.

First of all, it's very difficult to find someone you don't know anything about. Lucas knew that he was famous- that much he was sure of, but he didn't know what Nicolas Flamel had done to make himself famous. He had already checked Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Notable Magical Names of Our Time, Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. Of course, there was also the fact that the library was ginormous- tens of books, thousands of shelves and hundreds of thin rows.

After two full hours of searching to no avail, Lucas decided to go to Professor Binns, who taught History of Magic. Binns would most likely bore him to death, but Lucas couldn't see any other way to get information- he was getting tired of searching endlessly through books.

Lucas knocked on Binns's office door. Lucas was dreading this visit, but he didn't know what else to do. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, Lucas heard Binns's voice.

"Come in."

Lucas took a deep breath and opened the door. It was nice, and not what Lucas had expected. It had a warm fireplace, with two bookcases and a teacher's desk. Binns was hovering slightly above the chair by the desk.

"Professor?" Lucas asked.

Binns glanced at him. "Mr. Maben."

"Malfoy, Sir," Lucas corrected, though he knew it wouldn't change anything. When it came to names, Binns was almost as bad as Dionysus. "I was wondering if you could tell me about Nicolas Flamel?"

Binns stared at him. "Of course," Binns replied. "Nicolas Flamel is an extremely famous alchemist and the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, a substance that can create the Elixir of Life and turn any metal into gold. He was born in the year 1326 and attended Beaxbatons Academy of Magic, where he proceeded to become one of the most famous alchemists to ever exist, and he is currently the oldest wizard in history, at 665 years."

Lucas nodded. "Thank you," he told Binns. "It really helped me."

Lucas turned and left Binns's office, making a mental note to inform Hermione of his discovery the next time he saw her. The dog was probably guarding the Philosopher's Stone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time the holidays came, Lucas almost forgot that he was here on a quest, but he couldn't help it. He had the dormitory to himself and the Common room was practically empty. Apparently, everyone in Slytherin had decided to go home for the holidays. Not that Lucas cared. Well, it got a bit lonely at times, but Lucas never liked the Slytherins anyway. Besides, he had set up a lovely surprise for Blaise that Lucas was sure Blaise would (wouldn't) like.

Lucas also took the empty Common room to his advantage. He had charmed the chairs to turn red and gold and changed the banners hanging around the Common room to Gryffindor banners. He turned the green lamps to radiate gold light, giving a red hue to the Common room that blended with the green light that came from the Black Lake. It lifted his mood greatly.

On Christmas Eve, Lucas went to bed that night anticipating the food and fun. While they did gifts at Camp Half-Blood, they never actually celebrated it. What he wasn't expecting, however, was a reasonable size pile of presents at the foot of his bed.

Lucas scrambled out of bed and quickly pulled a pair of jeans on, complete with a green sweater. He didn't like Slytherin, but that didn't mean that green wasn't a nice colour.

Lucas picked up the package on the top. It was wrapped in silver wrapping paper, with owls adorning it. Written very neatly in Ancient Greek was To Lucas, From Annabeth. Below it had the words Hermes Express stamped on. Inside it was a book on architecture. A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definite Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture.

Lucas chuckled. Of course, Annabeth would send a book about architecture. She was obsessed with architecture.

The second one was wrapped in a wrapping paper that changed colours. Black to violet to dark purple to dark blue and so on. Instantly Lucas knew that it was from Hecate. There was a wand in it, with a note wrapped around it, which Willow stole and started playing with.

Lucas laughed. "Give it here, Willow," he said, taking the note from her.

A spare wand, just in case yours snaps. I made it myself. Red oak and thunderbird tail feather, 11 inches, nice and supple.

The next one contained sweets- a large box filled with cauldron cakes that were sent by Hermione.

There was only one package left. Lucas unwrapped it to find a crystal ball in the package. It glowed silver briefly, then showed a vision of Harry entering a room that held a magnificent mirror with a gold frame.

Lucas glared at the ball. The package said it was from Connor and Travis, but why did they have to send a crystal ball? Lucas knew it was a joke, but that didn't help him calm down.

Lucas huffed. "Finestra," he muttered, pointing his wand at the ball. His wand gave off a blue light and the crystal ball shattered into minuscule pieces.

Lucas shoved his wand into a pocket in his sweater and picked up the extra wand. As soon as it touched his hand, it turned into a rune with the word Μονομάχος carved on it. Duellist.

Lucas's eyes widened. "Cool," he said. "But seriously? Duellist?"

Sighing, Lucas put it in his pocket alongside his other wand and headed towards the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lucas had never had such an extravagant dinner in his entire life, much less a Christmas one. There were 100 big, fat, roast turkeys, huge piles of roast and boiled potatoes, plates of fat chipolatas, huge bowls of buttered peas, silver boats filled to the brim with gravy and cranberry sauce and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the tables. These crackers were nothing like the ones Muggles used, with their tiny plastic toys and feeble paper hats. Lucas watched Harry pull a cracker with Fred (there was only one table because almost no one had stayed for the holidays) and it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them with blue smoke, while a Rear Admiral's hat and several live, white mice came out. Upon the High Table, Dumbledore had changed his pointy wizards' hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling heartily at a joke Flitwick had just read to him.

Christmas pudding soon followed the turkey. Percy, who was Fred and George's brother and the Gryffindor Prefect, nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle that was embedded in his slice. Lucas watched in disbelief as Hagrid got redder and redder from drinking wine, finally kissing McGonagall on the cheek who blushed and giggled, her top hat crooked.

When Lucas left the table, his pocket was full of things from the crackers, such as one of the live mice that he planned to give Willow later and leprechaun gold.

Lucas spent the rest of the afternoon in the Forbidden Forest, where he met a centaur by the name of Firenze, with who he sparred until he was drenched in sweat. Then he walked a bit closer to the edge of the forest, where he was hoping he would find a rainbow to make an Iris Message.

"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Show me, Annabeth Chase, at Camp Half-Blood." Lucas tossed a drachma into the rainbow in front of him.

Immediately, Annabeth's image appeared in the rainbow, along with her surroundings. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book (most likely architecture), in the Athena Cabin. Cabin #6.

Lucas waited, trying to see how long it would take for Annabeth to notice him. Not long. After two minutes, Lucas gave up on waiting.

"Annabeth," Lucas said.

Annabeth instinctively pulled out her knife and nearly disconnected the call. "You scared me!" she scolded him, once she had calmed down.

"Sorry," Lucas apologized. "But, I've been standing here for the last two minutes."

She raised her eyebrows. "Just for two? Wow. How's the quest going?"

Great. It was bad enough that Lucas failed to convince Harry to not go looking for Philosopher's Stone. Now the whole camp knew that he was on a quest.

"Fine," Lucas replied. In his opinion, it really wasn't, but he had managed to keep Harry alive for three months, which Lucas considered an achievement, with all these dangers lurking around Hogwarts.

"What is the quest, anyway?" she asked.

"It's a- well, I have to protect a mortal," Lucas explained. He figured as long as he didn't tell her about the Wizarding World, it'd be fine. Hecate had only told him not to tell anyone of his status. Which he broke in the first two weeks, but...

"A mortal?" Annabeth looked genuinely surprised, which Lucas figured was a first.

"Yeah. A mortal. Not to mention I have to go to this boarding school in Scotland that's shaped like a castle for some weird reason."

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "A castle?" she shrieked. Lucas could practically feel her excitement.

He shook his head. "It's not that great," he said. "It's freezing inside. Not to mention it's huge. There are seven floors, total. I mean, it looks amazing, but there are some bad parts about it. They use quills. And candles. And parchment."

Annabeth gaped at him. "No technology?"

"Nope," Lucas replied. "I mean, I don't really care about the technology part, seeing as it's like sending up a flare to your enemies, but why can't they have a heater?"

Annabeth laughed. "You only have a sweater on," she pointed out.

"I was doing laps," Lucas defended. The truth had cast a Hot Air charm on himself before sending her an Iris Message. That and he had been sparring with Firenze.

"Well, I have to go," Annabeth said. "Archery's next."

"Alright," Lucas replied. He swiped his hand through the Iris Message, disconnecting the call.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. At least, by demigod standards. After a dinner full of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifles and Christmas cake, Lucas didn't feel like doing much but reading up on transfiguration. It wasn't his best subject, so it was probably for the best that he took advantage of the empty (but Gryffindor-themed) Common room to his advantage.

Then he accidentally fell asleep, which wasn't nice at all. In different circumstances, Lucas might've enjoyed the sleep, but that would be with dreamless sleep. At least this was less eventful than usual.

It was more like a movie. He was alone in a deserted corridor, but he could hear loud footsteps running down the corridor. Occasionally he would see a flap of fabric, showing small feet that clearly belonged to a first year. Lucas didn't know too much about magic artifacts, but if there was one, it would mean that someone was using an invisibility cloak.

A door swung open (possibly opened by the person running) and Lucas entered through the door. Well, technically the dream forced him to enter, but he still entered the room.

The room looked like an abandoned classroom. There were dark shapes of desks and seats stacked against the wall and an upsidedown wastebasket, but there was something set on the wall that was obviously something that didn't belong there.

It was a grand mirror, with an ornate gold frame and clawed feet on the bottom. It had a message carved into the frame around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. I show not your face, but your heart's desire.

  Lucas watched the person become visible as the invisibility cloak slipped off, and Harry inched closer to the mirror.

  Lucas willed himself to go towards the mirror, and what he saw surprised him.

  He probably shouldn't have been surprised. It was called the Mirror of Erised. Written properly, it would be the Mirror of Desire. But he didn't expect this.

  It was their old house in Westport, Connecticut, back when he and Luke still lived with their mother. It was exactly as Lucas remembered it, with the weathered porch, the chipped paint and the hills surrounding it, with a few trees dotted around. The only difference was that there was a picnic table on one of the hills, with his mother's cooking.

  Lucas bit his lip. His mother's cooking wasn't the best- mostly consisted of burnt food, but sitting around the table, was himself, Luke, his mother, and his father, Hermes. For once, his mother didn't look like she was about to spew green smoke. He instantly knew that the mirror was showing him his greatest desire- for his family to be whole.

  "Mum? Dad?" Harry whispered.

  Lucas flinched. Too caught up in the mirror, he had forgotten that Harry was there. It was almost laughable. The idea that he, who was severely ADHD, therefore had stronger battle reflexes than the average demigod, being startled by a mortal, was almost laughable. 

  The next few minutes was torture. Lucas didn't know how long he had been watching, watching Harry stare at his reflection and whatever the mirror showed him. Part of it was because he couldn't move. Part of it was because absolutely nothing was happening. After a while, Harry muttered a quick "I'll come back," and left the room, which ended the dream.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, Lucas tried to keep a close eye on Harry. He knew that the excitement from seeing his greatest desire would be too much for Harry to handle. Harry would go find the room again. Heck, Lucas would, too, if he knew where it was. 

  Lucas shook his head, clearing his head of his thoughts. He stole a glance at the Gryffindor table. Everything seemed normal. Ron was stuffing his face with food as usual, and Harry seemed to be engaged in conversation. Nothing suspicious yet. Except for the fact that Harry wasn't eating, of course.

  Lucas finished the last few mouthfuls of his meal, then left the Great Hall. He didn't think the Mirror of Erised would do anything to Harry. It wasn't like it was going to come alive and attack him.

  Lucas groaned as he entered the Slytherin Common room. "Oh Styx," he muttered. "I shouldn't have thought that. Number one rule: Don't ever assume you or someone else is safe, and never tempt the fates by thinking it."

  He sighed and plopped himself on one of the seats brooding. Only later did he realize that he never checked if Harry was still alive. Styx.

A/N

  Finished! This one took a bit long, mainly because I couldn't think of a way to wrap the chapter up. Hope it's okay.

  At the start of the chapter, when Lucas gives Ron advice on fighting, it was Lucas's idea of lashing back at Blaise. I've already established that Lucas has a rebellious streak, and no matter how much Ron annoys him, his hatred of Blaise overpowers it.

  When Lucas goes to Binns, he did so because he was desperate. I had planned out that Lucas would inform Hermione of who Flamel is, instead of Neville, so this seemed like the most logical way. I seriously doubt anyone would want to be around Binns, much less Snape.

  During the Christmas presents, I had a hard time figuring out the presents. I figured Annabeth would send Lucas something bookish, and it just so happened to be an architecture book. For Hecate's gift to Lucas, I originally wanted Lucas to have a wand with a different core than the ones Ollivander uses, but since Ollivander only uses phoenix feather, unicorn hair and dragon heartstring, I instead chose for Hecate to give it to him. 

  I wanted more of Annabeth in this book, since she doesn't have a major role until the end of Lucas's third year, where the Sea of Monsters takes place. 

  As for the dream, I wanted to show Lucas's deepest desire, and make some of the events Harry encounters known by Lucas.

Thanks for reading!