𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                        CHAPTER ELEVEN
                      ─── CHRISTMAS & THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE

The month of November flew by and soon enough it started to snow. Once the holidays were just around the corner, Charlus and Alistair spent their time in the Gryffindor common room with the others one since no one in the Slytherin common room would be staying for the holidays.

The four boys sat in the Great Hall to occupy their time. Harry read The Daily Prophet, while Alistair read a book to find something about Nicholas Flamel and Ron started teaching Charlus wizard chess - something Charlus was, to his surprise, quite good at. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle.

At the same time, Hermione Granger entered the hall with her trunk and sauntered over to her friends, only to see that the green-eyed boy and the red-haired boy were playing a game of wizard chess.

Ron looked across the chessboard, his eyes fixed on his white knight. "Knight to E5." he ordered with a determined tone. The white knight moved without hesitation and positioned itself precisely on the indicated square.

A mischievous grin spread across Charlus' face as he made his next move. "Queen to E5." he announced with a hint of confidence in his voice. The red queen began to move to the square and then tore the white knight to pieces. Hermione screwed up her face, surprised by the sudden violence. "That's totally barbaric!" she exclaimed indignantly.

Charlus looked up and met the girl's gaze for the first time. He smiled slightly and turned back to Ron, who was visibly upset at the loss of his knight. Charlus couldn't help but laugh a little at Ron's upset expression before he turned back to Hermione. "That's wizard's chess."

Alistair nudged Charlus playfully to let him know that he should wipe that stupid grin off his face, while Ron, still staring at the chessboard, seemed to be slowly recovering from his upset at losing the knight. He looked up and turned his attention to Hermione, who had her trunk in her hand. "I see you've packed."

"See you haven't." Hermione said quickly. "Change of plans. " Ron explained to her. "My parents are going to Romania to visit my brother, Charlie. He's studying dragons out there." Hermione nodded in understanding. "Oh good. Then you and Alistair can help Charlus and Harry. They're going to the library to do some research of Nicholas Flamel."

"We've already looked a hundred times!" Ron said annoyed and looked at the other boys. Hermione leaned forward. "Not in the restricted section." she whispered to Ron, who looked at her in irritation. "Happy Christmas." she told the four boys, and with that, she turned and took her trunk with her.

Charlus watched carefully as the girl walked out of the Great Hall. A soft smile played around his lips as he turned to his friends and his twin brother. "I think we're a bad influence on her." he remarked in a light, joking tone.

Harry laughed at Charlus' words and nodded in agreement. Alistair laughed as well and slapped Charlus on the shoulder. Ron, on the other hand, only smiled at his friend's remark, just before he set up the chessboard for another game of wizard chess with Charlus.

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On Christmas Eve, Charlus went to bed looking forward to the next day for the fun, but he missed Hermione, and was not expecting any presents at all. When he woke early in the morning, however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

Charlus, Ron, Harry, and Alistair had all gathered into the Gryffindor common room by the fire to open presents.

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it-it sounded a bit like an owl. Charlus had gotten a hand-crafted pocket watch from Hagrid.

Next was addressed to both the twins small parcels contained a note. We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

Taped to the note was two fifty pence pieces. "That's friendly." Charlus said sarcastically,causing Harry rolled his eyes. Ron, on the other hand, was fascinated by the fifty pences. "You can keep it." Harry said and laughed at how pleased Ron was.

"Hagrid and our aunt and uncle - so who sent these?" Charlus asked and gestured to the other presents. "I think I know who that one's from." Ron said, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mom. I told her you two didn't expect any presents and-oh, no." he groaned, "She's made you Weasley sweaters." He then spotted Alistair had another lumpy parcel in his hand and practically gasped loudly. "And she's got one for Alistair, too!"

Charlus watched as Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand knitted sweater in emerald green with a H in the middle and a large box of homemade fudge. Charlus opened his parcel to find a thick, hand knitted sweater in dark blue with a C in the middle and a box of homemade fudge as well. Alistair had gotten a thick, hand knitted sweater in golden with a A in the middle and homemade fudge.

"Every year she makes us a sweater." Ron explained to them, and unwrapped the thick, hand knitted sweater in maroon with a R in the middle . "and mine is always maroon." "That's really nice of her." Alistair said and tasted the fudge, which was very tasty.

Harry and Alistair's next presents also contained sweets - two large boxes of chocolate frogs from Hermione. Charlus noticed he had a quite a few things from Hermione. He had gotten the same large box of Chocolate Frogs, but Hermione had also gotten him a broom waxing kit and a book about quidditch.

The final thing he got from her was a small black jewelry box. He opened it to find a gold chain locket with a snake-shaped pendant with a green emerald engraved on it. He took the pendant in his hands and put it around his neck. He took one last look at it before tucking it into his shirt. Then he noticed the note that was taped to the book,

Dear Charlus,

I hope you like the book. When I saw the necklace, I immediately thought of you. I don't know why, but I miss you. I wish you a Merry Christmas!

From Hermione

Charlus folded up the note and put it in his pocket. He felt his cheeks grow hot. He didn't know that Hermione cared so much about him.

The last parcel left under the Christmas tree was for the twins. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He took the little note that was on top. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you both.

Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

There was no signature. The twins stared at the note before Harry unwrapped the parcel. Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. "What is it?" Harry asked while Charlus picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. "It looks like some sort of cloak. " Alistair replied to him. "Well let's see then, put in on."

Harry and Charlus threw the cloak around their shoulders and Alistair and Ron gave a surprised yell when they saw what was happening. The twins looked down at their feet, but they were gone. Just their heads suspended in midair, their bodies completely invisible. "Our bodies are gone!" Charlus exclaimed in surprise, his eyes wide open.

"I know what that is." Ron said in a hushed voice, and dropped the box of Every Flavor Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "That's an invisibility cloak-they're really rare, and really valuable." "We're invisible?" Harry asked incredulously and turned around once.

Ron admired the cloak while Alistair picked up the note and stared at it. "I wonder who gave it to you two." he said finally. "There was no name, it just said use it well." Harry explained to him and walked with Charlus towards the two of them, still holding the cloak around them.

Then it seemed as if Charlus realized something. The whole of Hogwarts was open to them in this cloak. They could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch would never know. A grin spread across his face. "I think I know how we can get into the restricted section in the library."

The other three boys nodded in agreement. The four of them spent the rest of the morning enjoying their new presents and laughing. It was the first time in a long time that Charlus and Harry were looking forward to the vacations.

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Charlus went to bed after a long day of Christmas festivities. He had spent a lot of time with Harry, Alistair and Ron. The four of them had joked around, ignored Professor Snape, took their pets for walks, helped Peeves with a prank or two and even had a wild snowball fight with the Weasleys on the grounds. He even wrote back to Hermione, who was spending the vacations with her family. He thanked her for the presents she had sent him and wished her a Merry Christmas. He ended the day with a Christmas dinner in the Great Hall with his brother, friends and professors before he went to bed.

At around 2:00 in the morning, Charlus and Harry made their way out of the common room. "Who's there?" the Fat Lady squawked. Neither Harry nor Charlus said anything. They walked quickly towards the library, which was pitch black and very eerie.

Harry lit a lamp to see the way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair, and even though Charlus could see Harry's arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.

The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. They stepped carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, and Harry held up his lamp to read the titles.

They didn't tell them much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages neither could understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of Charlus' neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

They had to start somewhere. Charlus took off the cloak and put it on the table, while Harry set the lamp down carefully next to the cloak before they went down to the shelf and looked for an interesting-looking book.

A large black and silver book caught Harry's eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open. A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence-the book was screaming! The scream was so loud and so scary that the twins instinctively flinched.

"What the...?" Harry exclaimed, startled, as he snapped the shrieking book shut and quickly put it back on the shelf with trembling hands. "The whole Hogwarts didn't just hear that." Charlus whispered sarcastically to him, and shook his head. Harry sighed deeply and couldn't help but roll his eyes at Charlus' words. "Yes, thanks, I heard it too." he mumbled back.

Then they heard it, the voice that belonged to someone they didn't want to be caught by, "Who is there?" the voice called out. Charlus quickly reached for the coat he had pulled over them and accidentally knocked over the lantern, which fell to the ground. "I know you're in there. You can't hide." they heard Filch say as panicked, they heard footsteps in the corridor and both ran off. "Who is it? Show yourself."

Passing Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through them, and Harry and Charlus slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in Charlus' ears. But then they heard a meow and saw Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris. Charlus and Harry walked back as the cat came towards them and they started to run.

They came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armor. They had been so busy getting away from the library, and hadn't paid attention to where they were going. Perhaps because it was dark, Charlus didn't recognize where he was at all. There was a suit of armor near the kitchens, he knew, but he and Harry must be five floors above there.

They saw Professors Snape and Quirrell, with Snape pinning Quirrell against a pillar. "Severus, i-i--" Quirrell stuttered, but Snape interrupted him. "You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell" "Wh-What do y-you mean?" He stuttered. "You know perfectly well what I mean."

The twins were walking behind Snape, and Quirrell then seemed to look at Snape's right, right away where the twins where. Snape turned his gaze slowly to his right. The brothers started to breath heavier ,but Charlus covered his hand in front of his mouth and covered Harry's mouth with his other hand.

Starting to back away, Snape slowly reached with his hand to try and touch something, but didn't reach anything, as the twins kept backing up. He looked down at his hand, and when he was satisfied that there was nothing there, he turned his focus back to Quirrell. "We'll have another little chat soon. When you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie."

Charlus felt the blood drain from his face as Filch walked down the corridor with the broken lantern in his hand and the professors turned to him. "Professors." he greeted them and lifted the broken lantern up. "I found this in the restricted section. It's still hot. That means there's a student out of bed."

Charlus and Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch,Quirrell and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see them, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into the twins-the cloak didn't stop them from being solid.

They backed away as quietly as they could. A door stood ajar to Charlus left. It was their only hope. They squeezed through it, holding their breath, trying not to move it, and to their relief the twins managed to get inside the room without them noticing anything.

They walked straight past, and Charlus and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before they noticed anything about the room they had hidden in.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket-but propped against the wall facing them was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

The panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch,Quirrell and Snape, Harry and Charlus took off the cloak and moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at themselves but saw no reflection again. They stepped in front of it.

Charlus had to clap his hand to his mouth to stop himself from screaming and covered Harry's mouth with his other hand. They whirled around. Hearts were pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed-for they had seen not only themselves in the mirror, but two peoples standing right behind them. But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, Charlus and Harry turned slowly back to the mirror.

There they were, reflected in it, white and scared looking. Harry looked over his shoulder-but still, no one was there. Or were they both invisible, too? Were they in fact in a room of two invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?

They looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind the twins reflection was smiling at them and waving. Harry reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air ━━ she and the man existed only in the mirror.

She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes- her eyes are just like mine and Harry's, Charlus thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green-exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. The tall, thin, black haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as Charlus and Harry's did.

They were so close to the mirror now that their noses were nearly touching that of their reflections. "Mom?" Harry whispered to the woman,who nodded and smiled. "Dad?" Charlus whispered to the man,who nodded and smiled.

James and Lily Potter smiled at Charlus and Harry and they stared hungrily back at them. Charlus' hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness. Lily placed her hand on Harry's shoulder while James placed his hand on Charlus' shoulder.

How long they stood there, he didn't know. The reflections did not disappear, and Charlus looked and looked until Harry beside him brought him back to his senses. "I'm going to go get Ron and Alistair, they needs to see this." he whispered before he put the cloak on and ran to his dormitories.

There, Alistair and Ron were shaken awake by Harry, who was eager to show them something he and Charlus had found. The two boys groggily obliged to their friend's demand and followed him through the hallways. Harry took them to the mirror of erised where Charlus was waiting. "Come! Come look, it's our parents!"

"I can't see anything." Alistair said, once they were stood in front of the mirror. "I only see us." Ron said confused from where he was standing on Charlus' side. "You two need to look properly." Harry scolded without taking his eyes off the mirror. "Go on, stand where Charlus and I are."

Harry and Charlus stepped back, and Alistair reluctantly moved forward to take their place in front of the mirror. A rush of disappointment filled him as he realised that the mirror simply reflected himself back to him.

But just then two other figures appeared. A woman with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes smiled down at him. Beside her was a man with dark, curly hair, slightly haughty look, green eyes and a mischievous smile dancing on his lips.

Regulus and Aurora Black gazed proudly at Alistair through the reflection, and when Alistair reached out to touch the mirror for a few seconds , Regulus placed a hand on his son's shoulder. Alistair smiled at his parents and placed his hand on his right shoulder where the hand of his father was. "What was it? What did you see?" Charlus asked, to which the black-haired boy turned back to the other boys. "I just saw my parents. I didn't see anything else."

Ron stepped forward, his eyes trained determinedly on the mirror ahead. "Well." he said and moved into the spot Alistair had just vacated. "My turn, I guess."

Harry,Charlus and Alistair turned away from each other to watch in anticipation as Ron looked at his reflection. "That's me!" he suddenly gasped, staring transfixed at his own image. Then his eyes wide in awe at whatever he saw. "Only, I'm Head Boy." he added, to which Charlus and Harry looked at each other before they looked back at Ron. "What?" they asked at the same time, echoing what Alistair was thinking.

"And, I'm holding the Quidditch cup. And, bloody hell, I'm Quidditch captain, too! " Ron exclaimed in astonishment, to which Alistair looked in the mirror, but he couldn't see anything reflected in the mirror except Ron, who had his Weasley jumper tugged over his pyjamas and looked the same as he had before he stepped in front of it.

"I look good." Ron said, who was impressed with himself. Then he tore his eyes away from the mirror to look excitedly at Harry,Charlus and Alistair. "Do you think this mirror shows the future?" he asked the three of them.

"How can it? My parents and their parents are dead." Alistair said dryly and looked dejectedly to the ground, while Charlus and Harry looked in the mirror. The ginger haired boy consoled his friends before the four of them returned to their dormitories and went to bed for the second time that night.

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A few more weeks passed, and before they knew it, the Christmas vacations were quickly coming to an end as the snow outside began to melt. All of Charlus' friends had returned, but he had been most pleased to see Hermione Granger again.

Harry, Ron,Alistair and Charlus all themselves in in the library. They were studying for their upcoming exams at the end of the term. It was crazy to think that year was already coming to an end. Charlus sat opposite of Ron and Alistair, with Harry beside.

"I had you looking in the wrong section." Hermione said with a hint of frustration in her voice while she held a heavy book under her arm and walked towards them. "How could I be so stupid?"

The boys looked up as she approached them. She dropped the book on the table with a distinct thud, causing them all to flinch slightly. Charlus, who was sitting closest, looked at her in surprise. "I checked this out weeks ago..." Hermione explained, and sat down next to Charlus before she opened the book. "...for a bit of light reading."

"This is light?" Ron asked doubtfully, but Hermione looked at him venomously before she started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself. At last she found what she was looking for. "Of course! Here it is!" she whispered dramatically. "Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected. "The what?" Harry, Alistair and Ron asked in unison, who had no idea what it was, while Charlus furrowed his eyebrows and seemed to think about it and Hermione looked at the three of them in disbelief. "Honestly, don't you three read?!" she exclaimed before she returned to reading,"The Philosopher's Stone is a legendary substance that has many astonishing powers. It can transform any metal into pure gold! It also produces the Elixir of Life which makes any drinker of it immortal."

"Immortal?" Ron asked curiously and frowned his brows. "It means you never die if you don't know." Charlus explained, a little annoyed at Ron's ignorance. Hermione smiled slightly, glad that at least one of the boys understood. "Thank you,Charlus. " she said, while she nodded appreciatively to the boy next to her. The ginger boy gave the green-eyed boy a bitchy look. "I know what it means!" he exclaimed defensively, with a slight blush on his face. Alistair couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Shh!" Harry said to them and placed a finger to his lips, as Hermione looked at them impatiently to read the rest. "The only stone in existence belongs to Mr Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist who last year celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday. " she finished and Charlus nodded his head to confirm the girl's summary, "That's what Fluffy's guarding on the third floor. That's what's under the trap door. The Philosopher's Stone."

The three Gryffindors and the two Slytherins sat with their mouths hanging open as they pondered the solution to the puzzle they had spent most of their school year trying so desperately to solve.

"Well, I think it's time to pay Hagrid a little visit." Alistair said before he quickly ran out of the library. The other four glanced at each other before they ran after their friend in the direction of Hagrid's hut. That was the beginning of the end.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

I hope you enjoyed this chapter in which they spent Christmas at Hogwarts, found the Mirror of Erised and found out about Nicholas Flamel.

If you enjoyed, be sure to like, comment, vote and share! I'd really appreciate it!

Until next time! Much love to you all!