"This is actually a privilege. Christmas at Hogwarts is a time-honoured tradition. The biggest celebration of the year." Dumbledore said.
"Then why are you getting a team of delinquent students to do the work for you?" Barty asked.
"A team of delinquents plus Ophelia." Regulus corrected his friend.
"It is for rehabilitation. Having students learn lessons by helping around the school instead of punishment." Dumbledore lied.
Though he was convincing, they all knew they just needed a group of available students to do a bunch of busywork.
"The use of magic is not permitted for these tasks. You will have to do everything by hand." Headmaster Dumbledore added.
All the students groaned at the fact that they would have to do everything the hard way.
"This should all be completed by tomorrow night. Professor McGonagall will be supervising you. Good luck."
Dumbledore walked away, his cape flowing up and down for each step he took. It always made students laugh, seeing how unnecessarily dramatic it looked.
"Hurry now, children." Professor McGonagall said. "Start with the tree decorations. Professor Flitwick will tell you where to put the ornaments."
The children sighed and walked towards the tree that was displayed in the Great Hall. It was a tree very well deserving of marvel, but it was nothing compared to what it would look like once fully decorated.
"Over here, children." Professor Flitwick instructed. "Here are all the decorations, everyone will grab one ornament at a time, and I will tell you where to hang them."
The students all crowded around the boxes full of golden ornaments and each chose one to hang on the tree. Most students simply chose the ornament on top to get it over with, but some students — Ophelia, specifically — took a moment to choose a pretty ornament that she would like to see on the tree.
The students lined up beside the boxes and Professor Flitwick used an Accio charm to roll over a ladder that could reach the top of the gigantic tree.
"Be careful around the ladder, students. It's very dangerous." Flitwick said.
"He would know all about ladder use, wouldn't he? He needs to know about it." Barty muttered, cracking a joke about Flitwick's height to Regulus.
"That's really rude, Barty." Ophelia pointed out.
Barty knew it was rude, that's why he said it. He simply rolled his eyes and looked away from Ophelia. The boy hated being called out, but everyone around him knew Barty was a stubborn child, and there was practically no changing his ways.
"Now, who would like to go first?" Flitwick asked nicely.
No one raised their hand, as no one wanted to do any actual work, even though they all had two full days of manual holiday labour ahead of them. Since no one was volunteering, Ophelia reluctantly raised her hand.
"Wonderful!" Flitwick said. "Miss Potter, come up to the ladder and place the bulb on that branch."
To get to the tree, Ophelia walked around the other students in detention, all of which are much taller than her, a twelve year old girl standing at one and a half metres high. She climbed up six rungs of the ladder to reach the branch that Flitwick pointed to.
She gently placed the glittery, golden bulb on the branch of the evergreen in the Great Hall, then quickly climbed back down to the ground.
Once she reached the floor again, Professor Flitwick took a step back to admire the tree. After a deep breath, presumably to take in the ornament, he turned to face the students again.
"Isn't that magical? The first ornament of the year." Flitwick stated, to which the students responded with silence. "Everyone, please give Miss Ophelia Potter a round of applause as congratulations."
Most of the detention students stayed completely silent, being too cool to participate in anything. After a second of silence, Regulus started clapping for his friend. The rest of the hall continued an angsty silence for a few more seconds, but then they all started clapping and cheering along with Regulus.
Ophelia started to blush as she walked from the bottom of the ladder back to her friends. Once she reached Barty and Regulus, she composed herself and tried to stop blushing.
"Thank you." Ophelia said quietly to Regulus when she arrived again.
"No problem, Lia." He winked with a slight smile.
YOU ARE READING
𝓟𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓸𝓫𝓲𝓪 || Regulus Black
Fanfiction❝We have each other. That's all we need for now.❞ Ophelia Potter and Regulus Black have been best friends ever since they made a pact to stick together at age ten. They bond over magic, family, and friends. They've stuck together through thick and t...
