The result of his gift to Snape Harry got to know in the next potions class. Snape didn't sneer at him anymore and even gave him some advice on doing things better. After class, most of the Gryffindor half cornered him outside the classroom.
"What did you do with Snape?"
"Yes, ...he was actually nice to you."
"How did you tame him?"
Harry snorted. They let it sound like Snape was some big evil monster that was untameable.
"Woah, the only thing I did was being nice to him and thanking him for some help he gave me. It also seems to help that I'm quite good at potions" Harry replied.
Loki coughed which sounded conspicuous like 'bribery'.
With that, Harry was the new hero of Gryffindor. It spread like wildfire that he was the one and only one of them to get Snape to be actually nice.
Time flew by. Days went into weeks, and soon the first snow fell.
It was the last History lesson before they had their test to see whether Loki could teach them properly. So Loki decided not to confuse them with more information and do something else instead...he gave them a Q&A in the last lesson to eliminate any confusion. They were prepared a good as possible. Therefore, he told everyone that they would meet on the grounds this day and to wear warm clothes.
"Since you're well prepared for the test on Thursday, I don't want to confuse you with unnecessary information. I thought why not doing a practical test about what you learned," he told them with a grin.
Some looked at him in utter confusion while others had an inkling about what was to come.
"Snowball fight! Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor. Let's see what you remember about war tactics!"
With a snap of his fingers, and two snow fortresses appeared behind him.
The Gryffindors had a feral grin on their faces before they started to attack the Ravenclaws who quickly sought shelter in their fortress before starting a counterattack. A few minutes later and the war was in full swing while Binns and Loki stood at the side watching them. This was until Harry threw a snowball straight at Loki's head who looked into another direction at that time.
"Oh attacking the judge? That calls for revenge," he said, wiping the snow off his head.
Afterwards, he rapidly shot back three snowballs at each team because some of the Ravenclaws started to attack him too.
Loki quickly conjured up a third smaller fortress for himself before starting attacks on both teams.
Half of the lesson was over, and there seemed to be no end to their little mock war. Even some of the students who had a free period joined them. Right then McGonagall, who also had a free period, came around to see what was going on and what that ruckus meant. She stood right next to Binns when suddenly a stray snowball initially intended for Loki, hit her.
Neville, who was the one who threw it, took a sharp breath when he saw whom he hit before quickly ducking down because McGonagall shot a ball back with a flick of her wand. After that, she was fair game for everyone.
Though the transfiguration teacher she was, she neither hid behind a fortress nor used ordinary snowballs. She transfigured the snow around her into different snow-animals that attacked the students from any possible angle. When a snowball flew into her direction, she quickly transfigured it too and sent it back. Some of the students later admitted that they only threw balls at her to see what she would do with them.
On the other hand, Loki took that as a challenge. He and McGonagall quickly found themselves in a match about who could come up with the most creative snowballs.
McGonagall even transformed a snow-dragon that instead of breathing fire shot snowballs while flying over them.
Loki countered that with the Balrog from the Lord of the Rings. The thing made quick work of the dragon with its whip.
She snickered while transfiguring a bridge with a small Gandalf who in proper style, shouted "You shall not pass" before slamming down his staff so that the bridge crumbled. He, as well as the Balrog, ended as a pile of snow on the ground.
They all would have missed lunch hadn't McGonagall at some point put an end to their fight and told them that the lesson was long over. They all went back to the castle a bit exhausted and wet to the bones but all around happy.
Loki left the fortresses be and only dismissed his which earned him a questioning look from McGonagall.
"Aren't you going to dismiss the others too?"
"Why? They don't bother anyone and others can use them in their free period or during breaks" he replied on which McGonagall nodded.
"I thought you were supposed to teach them history?" she continued while they walked back to the castle.
"But that was a lesson, practical usage of theoretical knowledge. I have to admit that you're a true master of your art" he said and it wasn't only sweet-talked. "Nice dragon you transfigured."
"You're not that bad yourself. The creatures you made were quite impressive too. Though I have to admit that I didn't recognise all of them."
"Perhaps you should attend my lessons about supernatural beings, then" Loki laughed.
He had attacked the others with the various creatures he told them about. He even let them mostly behave like the real ones, but that actually hadn't helped the wendigo that attacked Harry...the boy was just faster.
Loki wished her a farewell before he went to Harry and Neville.
"Mate, that was probably the best lesson we ever had" Dean commented still having a red face from the cold.
Again Loki made it to the top topic of the day.
McGonagall later sat in her office, pleased with herself and the day. The snowball fight had been a pleasant distraction, and she had to admit that Loki gave her quite a challenge. It had been a long time that she could show off like today and she liked it. Teaching was enjoyable and all but from time to time, one needed proof of their abilities and to be honest, it was fun.
This evening Neville approached Loki with a request.
"Uhm Loki...I have a question" he began but was interrupted before he could continue.
"I think I know what you want. All I can say about it is that I will have a look at it, but I cannot promise you anything."
Three days later was the History exam everybody looked forward to and dreaded the same time. But when they got the sheets, some even banged their heads on the table. Loki had been right. Those questions were so easy that even a stupid idiot who didn't pay attention could have answered them.
In the end, everybody baring one, Ron, who made out of Ug the Unreliable, Ug the Reliable...got a perfect score. Only to distinct him for this one mistake, Ron got an E except for the O he would have reached even with the one mistake.
With that, the first-year History class got the best scores ever recorded in Hogwarts' history.
McGonagall would have been proud didn't that bring the consequences that now the entire rest of the school, this time even including Slytherin, again stormed her office. They demanded Loki as their teacher since he proved that he was competent.
So now on Saturday after the students who went back home left, she stood in Dumbledore's office.
"Albus we have a problem" she began.
"You're right we have a problem Minerva...how could you let that happen? Do you know how that looks in front of the School Board? A first-year takes over the lessons, and in the end, the entire class gets perfect scores..." he rambled, but McGonagall only pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Are you insane? How many times did I tell you that Binns is a bad choice as a teacher? I told you again and again, but did you listen to me? No! This is entirely your own fault. What should I have done, in your opinion? The entire class refused to go to his lessons. Yesterday, every single prefect stood in my office demanding that Mr Laufeyson teaches them. Every. Single. One!" she retorted.
"You could have talked to me. We would have found a solution."
"Solution? You had years to find one, and what did you do? Nothing!" McGonagall growled.
"And what do you suggest should I do?"
"Let Mr Laufeyson teach History. He more than proved that he is competent."
"He is a child for Merlin's sake."
"Then see how you clear this mess up because I'm not going to help you" she retorted before leaving Dumbledore's office. She had to talk to Loki.
A day later she and Loki sat in her office. She told him about the problem and that Dumbledore would be more likely to bury his head in the sand than doing anything.
Loki thought about it before an idea struck him.
"I have an idea, but that will only work when Binns plays along..."
McGonagall raised an eyebrow, and so Loki explained his plan and how to arrange it best so that Dumbledore would have no other possibility.
It was Christmas morning. Harry and Neville were still sleeping while Loki raided the chocolate stocks in the common room. While usually, Neville would have gone home he decided to stay. So he told his granny that he was in a unique learning group and to study further he wanted to stay. It wasn't a complete lie; however, he was also not entirely accurate, but he wouldn't tell her. His granny, who supported everything that would make her grandson the powerful wizard she hoped Neville would be, gave her permission. If Neville had been honest, he would have said that he just had no interest in the boring social meetings over Christmas.
So they were both asleep as well as Ron. He also stayed because his parents were on vacation with his sister.
Loki suddenly burst into the room, seemingly on a sugar high.
"Uh...Loki did you eat the entire chocolate in this castle?" Harry groaned while Neville only grunted.
"Pretty much, yeah. Now come on it's Christmas, and there are presents for you," Loki piped overly joyful.
Harry, who figured that Loki wouldn't let him sleep anymore, sat up while Neville pulled his sheet over his head only to get it yanked away by the trickster.
"C'mon I wanna sleep...we've holidays" he mumbled.
"Grinch" Loki turned around and rushed back downstairs.
Harry looked after him shaking his head while he got up himself. He didn't bother getting changed yet, and so he followed Loki in his pyjama. Reaching the common room, he looked with huge eyes at the pile of presents.
"Woah, who got that many presents?"
"Well some of them are for you" Loki replied while tossing one of the presents at Harry who caught it out of reflex.
"I get presents? But I never get presents..." Loki gave him a bizarre look, but Harry didn't see it because he was fully occupied with the present in his hand.
A few minutes later, he sat in a small bunch of things he got from several people and had still three presents to go. He got a potions book from Neville, sweets and joke articles from the twins and strangely enough another potions book from Hermione. It wasn't that they didn't talk to each other but to call her a friend would be too much. He would have to think about something he could get her even when she would get it after the holidays.
He was about to open one of the last three parcels when the twins came downstairs. Both were wearing nearly identical jumpers only that one had an F and the other a G on the front.
"Oh, finally...a way to tell you two apart" Harry snickered.
"Hadn't they swapped them," Loki commented after taking a look at the two.
"You know."
"We always wondered"
"why you're the only one able to tell us apart."
"Believe me it took me three days to figure that one out...even your souls are identical," Loki huffed which let the twins grin broadly. "And I doubt that anyone who doesn't know where to look would be able to tell you apart."
"~Ah we see you got a jumper from mum too," they called out when Harry opened the parcel.
Out came a handmade jumper in emerald green with a silver H on the front.
"But I don't even know your mum..."
"We told her about you."
"And it seems that since we met you the complaints, she got about us decreased"
"so perhaps she thinks you're the reason and wants to thank you for making us behave."
That earned them a laugh from Loki. "I think that is more because McGonagall uses me as an excuse to not send letters to your mum every other day by claiming that I was the culprit and not you."
"As long as we get fewer howlers, we don't care" they grinned.
Since the start of the year, it was right they only got the number of howlers they usually got in one week. Those they still got, Loki banished quickly before they had a chance to go off.
Ms Weasley will be in for a very nasty surprise when the twins go back home over summer, and she learns that they don't even need a wand anymore to pull off their pranks. Not to mention that thanks to that, they could perform magic outside of school without getting accused of underage magic since the tracking of it went through the wand and not the spell itself.
"Though we wonder why our mother."
"was so surprised that we befriended you."
"and not our brother Ron."
Harry huffed upon that. "Did she think that I would touch him even with a ten-foot pole, especially after what he did on Halloween?" the twins looked at him in confusion. "He was the reason Hermione hid in the girl's toilette the entire afternoon..."
Unfortunately for him, Ron came down from the dorms right at that moment. The twins both glared at him with narrowed eyes, and the result was that Ron suddenly looked like a rainbow. Loki doubted that he would get rid of the colouring before school continued with how much power the twins put into it. But he was proud of them nevertheless because they did it entirely wandlessly.
When they were finished with their brother, they left the common room to set up some pranks while Ron fled back to the dorms.
Harry, in the meantime, continued with the next present. When he opened it out came a wooden box with silver writing on the top. It read:
Trickster apprentice equipment
He flipped open the lid and found three items in it—a pouch, a smartphone and something that looked like a golden Muggle credit card. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Some things you will need later for your real present. It's a mobile that you don't need to recharge. It also works in magical areas like Hogwarts coming with free internet and calling. A bottomless pouch with a weightless charm and a credit card without limits," Loki supplied with a smile.
First, Harry was confused when the realisation hit him. "You don't mean...a vacation?"
Loki could only nod once before he was tackled with a hug from Harry.
"Thank you!" he exclaimed.
Loki wondered about that reaction. When Harry reacted like that to such a simple thing as a vacation, what would he say when he got to know what he really planned? There was something off with Harry and Loki was determined to find out.
Neville came down just at that moment looking strangely at Harry and Loki before diving into his own presents. He got a rare Herbology book from Harry and a bag full of sweets from Loki. They quickly found out that while Neville also played minor pranks from time to time, he was more into Herbology. Loki once gave him a cutting from a plant he grew himself, and that was a bitch and a half to cultivate as a test. Neville then asked Sprout whether he could hold it in one of the greenhouses and now about a month and a half later it was a beautiful little bush much to the surprise of Loki. So he now taught Neville also the magic that was used for gardening.
After calming down again, Harry went on with his last present. It was quite a large package wrapped in simple brown paper, a simple tie around it and a small note attached to it. Harry read the letter.
"Huh, that is strange."
"What's the matter?" Loki asked.
"This present. It only has a handwritten note on it but no signature" Harry handed Loki the note.
Your father left this in my possession before he died.
It is time it was returned to you.
Use it well.
A very Merry Christmas to you.
"You're right, this is strange, and it radiates Dumbledore's magical signature. What's in this package anyway?"
Harry untied and unfolded it and out came a silvery-grey silky piece of cloth.
"What's that," he asked curiously holding it up.
Loki looked at it with wide eyes. "Can I have a closer look please?"
"Sure."
The trickster took and unfolded it completely. "That can't be...I thought it was lost a long time ago."
"What is it?" Harry was not only curious but also a bit cautious.
"It is Death's cloak" Loki answered in awe, but Harry looked confused. "What do you know about the Peverells and the entity called Death?"
"Uhm nothing to be honest."
"I know something about the three Peverell brothers actually" Neville spoke up having listened to their conversation. "They crossed a river most drowned in. Then Death gave them three powerful items as a reward, but it was actually a trick. If I remember correctly it was a cloak, a wand and some kind of stone that could resurrect the dead. Those are also known as the Deathly Hallows. But this is a child story, isn't it?"
"Yes and no. while the version you know is indeed only a story it is based off an incident that happened a few hundred years ago. You have to understand that Death is the ultimate neutral party. He doesn't judge but only guides the souls of the dead to their afterlife with the help of the Reapers bound to him.
"A few hundred years ago, though, some dark wizard threatened to destroy the balance of the world. Said wizard developed a ritual to enslave Death. The Peverell brothers could stop him, and as a way of thanking them, he gave them the three items. His cloak, a very powerful wand and a stone. As you said, the stone is told to resurrect the dead, but that is not true. It is only a way to communicate with them" Loki explained before giving it back to Harry.
"What I don't know is why the cloak ended up first with your father and now as your Christmas present."
"But it isn't dangerous?"
"No, but I would advise you to store it in the pouch I gifted you. I tuned it to your magical core so that you are the only person to access it and should you happen to lose it just call for it and it comes back to you. This cloak is one of the most powerful objects in the world. It would be safe in there" he could only hope that the wrong people didn't get to know that Harry had it or otherwise they would initiate a manhunt on him.
Harry did as Loki said and picked up the pouch, finding out that it had three compartments. One stocked with clothes, one with sweets and one was empty. He placed the cloak in the empty one and his new mobile and the card in the first one before closing it, but he didn't know where to put the pouch so that it was with him but couldn't get lost. Loki helped him with that problem by showing him that he could wear it either around his wrist or ankle.
After Neville also finished unpacking his presents, they changed and went down to the great hall for breakfast.