Harry Potter gets smart and takes control - The Goblet

Chapter 45 Yule Gifts

Harry's heart sank when he read the letter. He really wanted Hermione to have a good time at the Yule Ball. She'd deserved it. He was also really irritated at the staff of Hogwarts for being so unreasonable.

"Winky," he called softly.

The little elf popped in, "little master?" She asked curiously

"I'm not little," he corrected but then asked, "Can you give Hermione a message for me?"

She nodded.

"Can you tell her, I'm safe in Nocturne, and the bindings are off. It worked. If she wants me to come over so she can have a friendly ear, and some company, I can. I'm more than happy to."

Winky repeated the message back to him and then popped away.

Harry let out a sigh of relief and went to work, finishing cleaning the kitchen.

He couldn't really focus on the task any more. He was tired now, ready to sleep for the day, but also anxious about Hermione. He didn't like seeing her so upset.

Eventually he put his cleaning supplies away, trudged quietly up to his room and warded it, before climbing down into his trunk. He felt safer behind two layers of wards and had an proximity-alert ward on the door. He didn't feel safe sleeping outside of heavy wards anymore. Not with a mad-man out to get him, and everyone else keen to cheer him on. Not in a new place with strange people.

Yawning, Harry headed over to have a shower, looking forward to the hot water on his aches.

He startled slightly when he stepped out of the bathroom and spotted gifts under the small tree.

Even after three years of Hogwarts Christmases, it still felt odd to participate in and to receive gifts. He was pretty tired but couldn't resist grabbing a couple to take over to his bed. He crawled under the blankets before he opened any.

Mrs Weasley had knitted him a green jumper with a dragon on it (possibly a Hungarian Horntail) and a large number of mince pies. He loved her mince pies. They were under a preserving charm, and were still hot, fresh out of the oven. He bit down into one and hummed as he enjoyed the spicy sweetness.

They wouldn't last very long.

Fred and George had given him a bulging bag of Dungbombs, that Harry was seriously considering putting in Dumbledores office, or coaxing Dobby to do for him. Or... maybe he could give them to Peeves...

Perhaps he could use the Dungbombs to bargain with Peeves to create chaos for Dumbledore and the Gryffindors... Now that was a thought, he hummed biting into another Mince Pie.

Hermione had sent him a Homework planner. Every time he opened a page it said things like 'do it today, or later you'll pay' and 'dotted your I's and crossed your T's now you can do whatever you please.' He grinned at it. It was a very Hermione gift. But it was also a handy one. It had space for his schedule and all his assignments and even had space for him to plan out his day in great detail. He was rather relieved to get it. He had been admiring her neatly organised planner for a while now. His own ratty notebook that he'd been using to schedule was both almost full and falling apart. This would be brilliant.

The last package he opened before he slept was from Dobby and Winky. Dobby seemed to have given him a pair of mismatched socks that appeared to be hand-knitted. One was red with broomsticks, and the other was green with Snitches. While the colours were a bit garish, he was touched that the elf had knitted them just for him. Winky had given him a nice matching pair of sensible black socks. He smiled. He was suddenly very glad he'd thought to make protection bracelets for both the house-elves.