Firebolt

On Christmas morning, Harry was woken by Ron throwing a pillow at him. "Wake up! Let's go! Presents!" Ron shouted.

Harry grabbed his glasses and put them on, trying to see. When he came down to the common room,

Ron was already tearing the wrapping paper off his presents. "Another jumper from Mum... maroon again... see if you got one," he said to Harry, who had received a red jumper with the Gryffindor lion on the chest, a dozen fruit cakes and nuts, a Christmas cake and a box of nut brittle from Mrs Weasley. It was the first time he had ever received so many presents.

As he pushed it all aside, Harry saw a thin, long parcel underneath.

"What's that?" asked Ron, peering at a pair of reddish brown socks he had just unwrapped.

"I don't know," Harry said as he tore open the parcel, holding his breath at the sight of the magnificent, shiny broom.

Ron dropped his socks and jumped on top of Harry to get a closer look. "I can't believe it," he said in a hoarse voice.

The broom was a Firebolt, identical to the dream broom Harry had seen every morning in Diagon Alley. The handle shone as he lifted it. He felt the broom vibrate and let go; it floated in the air, unsupported, at just the right height for him to mount it.

Harry's eyes moved from the gold registration plate to the surface of the handle, then to the perfectly smooth and aerodynamic birch branches that formed the tail.

"Who sent you this broom?" asked Ron in a low voice.

"Harry said: "Look for a card.

Ron tore up the rest of the Firebolt's wrapping paper. "Nothing! Blimey, who would spend so much money on you?"

"Well," Harry said stunned, "I bet it wasn't the Dursleys."

"I bet it was Dumbledore," said Ron, now circling the Firebolt, taking in every inch of its glory.

The boys' thoughts were interrupted by another voice. "What a beautiful broom, Potter."

"Aaaaaahhh!" Ron shouted in fear.

"It's you! But I don't know your name," Harry was also startled and discovered who was speaking.

"Cassia Hawthorne, sixth year, I don't think I introduced myself last time," the beautiful brown-haired girl introduced herself.

"The ghost," Ron exclaimed, as she was one of the stories his brothers used to scare him.

"Someone must really like you, Potter," she said with a sweet smile on her face.

"I don't know, I can't think of anyone," Harry said, still unable to think of anyone who could have given him such an expensive gift.

"It must have been Dumbledore, he sent you the Invisibility Cloak anonymously before."

"But it was from my father," Harry replied. "Dumbledore just gave the cloak to me. He wouldn't spend hundreds of Galleons on me. He can't just give things like that to students."

"Cloak? You have a lot of secrets, don't you, Harry?" asked a curious Cassia.

Ron covered his mouth after revealing one of Harry's secrets.

"It's... a family heirloom," Harry said, now worried.

"Relax, Potter, I don't want your things. You must already know of my abilities," Cassia replied, smiling at the boy's fear.

She reminded Harry of when the twins had given him the map and she had managed to vanish without him noticing.

"But it has to be Dumbledore," Ron said to change the subject. "But I won't tell anyone, or some idiot like Malfoy will start screaming about favouritism."

Harry didn't like the idea of other students calling him a favourite of the headmaster.

"Hey, Harry," Ron burst out laughing. "Malfoy! Wait till he sees you like this! He'll die of envy! It's an international standard broom, oh yes it is!"

Seeing the two boys' amusement at the new broom, Cassia smiled. Boys and their toys, well, I have a few little toys of my own.

"I can't believe it," Harry murmured, stroking the Firebolt, while Ron sank into the sofa, laughing at the thought of Malfoy.

"How about I give you a Christmas present, Harry?" Cassia said, unaware that the suggestion was something her other half had subtly influenced her to say.

Harry and Ron were taken aback.

"A present?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I think you'll like it. I'll get it," she went to her room to get the present she wanted to give to Harry.

"She's weird," Ron said.

Harry laughed and agreed.

"But what about the broom, if it wasn't Dumbledore, who else could it be?" Ron still wondered about the broom.

"I know who it could have been... Professor Lupin," Harry said, remembering the good professor who had been willing to help him.

"What? Lupin? Look, if he had that much gold he could buy some new clothes," Ron laughed at Harry's suggestion.

"And Professor WinterHeart?" Harry offered another possibility.

"Him?" Ron wondered if the Professor with the cold face had such a kind heart.

"He said he would help me with the old broom, but I didn't go to him," Harry remembered, mentioning WinterHeart.

"It could be, but I don't think so," Ron said, even the Professor's heart must be made of ice, as cool as he thought the man was, he would not have a loving heart, he thought.

At that moment, Cassia returned to the room with a parcel.

"I hope you like it, Harry," she said, handing him the parcel.

Harry opened the package and took out a book.

"A book? Better give it to Hermione," Ron joked. But Harry didn't pay attention, because on the cover of the book was a name, it was Lily Evans.

His mother's name before she was married.

"Where?" Harry asked, still in shock.

"I found it in an abandoned room in my second year, she wrote many things about her time here at Hogwarts in this book, it helped me a lot," Cassia said, feeling a relief in her chest that she didn't know where it came from when she saw Harry's smile.

"Thank you," Harry said as sincerely as he could, holding his mother's book in his hands.

"You're welcome, good luck with the broom," she said as she left.

"What's this?" Ron asked, seeing that Harry was paying more attention to the book than the broom.

"It was... it was my mother's," the boy replied.

"I see, but as for the broom, I really can't imagine Lupin buying a gift like that," Ron asserted until he was interrupted by another voice.

"What are you laughing at?" Hermione, who had just entered the room, was wearing a robe and holding Crookshanks, who had an extremely grumpy face and a string of sequins around his neck.

A real chapter this time.

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Warnings

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