Harmonizing with Him

Chapter 13

Hello, my lovely readers! Long time no see :DD First of all, thank you for the love you show this story - it keeps motivating me to update faster <3 Second of all, thank you for patiently waiting for this chapter! Just to assure you all, I will NOT abandon this story. The updates can be late because I study and work simultaneously, hope you'd understand :)

Also, this is a prettyy long chapter! But the more, the merrier, right? :DD

Without further ado, have fun reading!

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The air was different. Everywhere one went, sounds of jingles and sights of mostly red, green and white decorations could be heard and seen. Nature's cotton falling from the sky collided with the objects that only came out once a year. Scents of cookies and other delicacies wafted from the lodgings of people. And everyone appeared to be in great spirits.

Christmas was finally here.

It was a well-known fact that Hogwarts always adorned itself in the most magnificent enrichments whenever Christmas arrived. And this time around, it was no exception. In fact, it was done with even more consideration. Since the Ministry was now operating at Hogwarts, they wanted to make sure that they decorated the castle more marvellously than the Hogwarts staff themselves.

Therefore, when Christmas was only a week away, Professor Umbridge could be seen ordering house-elves around, in her attempts to turn the castle into a palace full of the holiday spirit.

Her efforts did not run futile, because Hogwarts experienced its transformation in all its splendour. With the hallways being laden with lights and tinsel, wreaths and ornaments decorating every doorway, and the Great Hall boasting four magnificent pine trees that were turned into beautifully adorned Christmas trees, it was clear that Umbridge had really outdone herself, even if it was the only thing she had done that satisfied the majority of the castle.

The few students who stayed back for these holidays got to experience all the magical endeavours, but for the very first time, Harry Potter was not one of them.

He had boarded the Hogwarts Express in winter. Sirius had invited him to spend his Christmas holidays at the Grimmauld Place, making it the first truly intimate godfatherly thing he had done for his godson.

Everything was planned out carefully, of course, as Sirius was still a convict in the eyes of the Ministry, and his house was the Order's top-secret meeting place.

The whole process went like this – first, Sirius asked McGonagall, when she visited his house for a meeting of the Order, if Harry could spend Christmas here with him. The Grimmauld Place was completely safe, and since it was the secret place of the Order, it was even more protected.

McGonagall, feeling sorry for both the man and the boy, had immediately gone to Dumbledore to discuss this with him. The headmaster had agreed at once, as he believed that Harry was in dire need of having a breath of free air and a chance to recollect himself before he could take on his Occlumency lessons.

Once the headmaster's approval was issued, a note was sent to Harry, apprising him of the invitation. It also included Ron and Hermione, but seeing that both of them had declined, it made things easier for the Order.

According to the structured plan (it was all explained in the note), Harry was to tell anyone who asked that he was going to spend Christmas with the Weasleys. And at King Cross, Mr and Mrs Weasley were supposed to pick him up, in order to erase any suspicion from the students who were related to the authoritative sector of the Ministry (the relatives of Death Eaters were to be avoided at all costs).