7: Christmas.

Even with a civil war looming, children needed to be educated, but Hogwarts still acted as a refuge for those who needed it, only for security reasons, students could not enter the areas where newborns and their families were kept safe. 

It was an interesting thing; the castle itself forbade students from approaching the designated safe area or sanctuary. If an unauthorized student attempted to approach that location, they would randomly end up in a different area. Even the infamous moving staircases seemed to mysteriously work to keep them away.

Astreo was bored; ever since his mother had noticed his unusual intelligence because of Pandora, everything had changed for him. It didn't help that Luna's mother had convinced his mother to sign a marriage contract. 

Too bad, he was only a slightly 'smarter' baby and it's not like he was able to talk a few months after he was born. He didn't object much either, he just hoped to get to know Luna better, he'd have decades to do that. 

Still, since that day, Mrs. Sinistra had begun to teach her son some simple things about the magical world and common sense, even though Astreo already knew those things, which was kind of interesting, since the one advantage children had was their ability to learn.

Who would believe that? But the saying 'children are sponges' was very true in this case, especially for magical children. That could explain some odd things about the original canon, like how easily they were influenced since they learned from everywhere all the time, but there were also some remarkable things.

For example, how the hell did George and Fred know about a magical oath? And an unbreakable one at that, considered one of the strictest oaths, capable of killing those who broke it. They must have learned about it somewhere, maybe they saw their parents or loved ones take one, or maybe they read about it somewhere. 

In any case, a couple of 7-year-olds almost made their younger brother sign one of the strictest oaths in existence, and taking away Ron's naivety, it was interesting that a trio of children at that age understood what an oath was, though fortunately they were found by their father before it all came to fruition. 

Astreo enjoyed learning some interesting stories about the magical world, and his mother was happy to have given birth to a bright little boy who seemed to respond to what she was teaching him. So she decided to tell him one of the obligatory stories for every 2-year-old as winter approached. 

"Now, little sunshine, I'm going to tell you about Santa Claus," Aurora held her son as they sat in a room. 

The open window looked out onto the forbidden forest, which was slowly covered in a cold white blanket; it had already begun to snow. The room was enchanted with a constant temperature, the children were very fragile and the headmaster himself had taken it upon himself to enchant the room to protect young Astreo. 

Our very young protagonist stopped sucking his fingers for a second and looked at his mother strangely.

'What?' thought Astreo, there was a common-sense story, not a literal fantasy tale.

"Although Muggles believe that Santa Claus is fictional, and even your father held that belief until the winter of his first year, the reality is that he is very real. No one knows when he started giving presents to wizards every December 25th, nor do we know much about him, except that he has his workshop at the North Pole. 

But what we do know is that he is a being of magical wonder. He seems to know if someone has behaved well or badly and gives them gifts accordingly. I'll show you the one he sent me last year," the woman stood up with her son and walked over to a bag she had on the bed. 

The bag was enchanted, with plenty of room inside, and Astreo was already familiar with this object, as many of the things the family used were inside. Aurora pulled out what looked like a picture frame, but instead of a photo, there was a painting.

The painting was not in a realistic style but had a softer, more childlike appearance, and it could move. The painting depicted a couple, possibly Astreo's parents, playing snowballs in a snowy field.

In the corner of the picture were several words written in gold ink that read: 'Cherish the good times'. 

Tears fell from Aurora's face and a few drops hit the glass covering the painting, but she continued to look at it with a smile on her face. Her tears were not only of sadness but also of happiness. 

"I never understood those words before, I guess Santa doesn't just know if you've been good or bad," Aurora mused aloud before putting the painting away. 

"You won't get a present from him until you're two years old, even though you're a smart and sensible child, who knows, maybe he'll give you something, let's just hope it's not coal, you have an ugly mania with your teasing of the other children," she said in a reproachful tone while stroking her son's nose. 

Meanwhile, Asteo had chaos on his mind. 

'What do you mean, Santa Claus is real, can I see him? I want a picture with him! But wait, you've patted a lot of baby faces and heads, even the magical ones? I don't want money! What if I get cold feet at the last minute? No, that only works in the Christian religion when you're going to die,' Aurora enjoyed seeing her son's face scrunch up, a sign that the boy seemed to be thinking about whether what he did was wrong or not, or so she assumed.

"Don't worry, you're a perfect baby, maybe Santa will understand and not give you coal, although you'll have to be on your best behavior if you want good presents," she urged, tickling her son and making him laugh. 

"To thank Santa Claus, you leave a glass of milk and cookies, they say his favorites are the ones with raisins in them, although no one understands why, raisins are disgusting," Aurora continued to tell him, showing him that on the desk in the room was a glass along with a tray.

The glass was filled to the top with milk and there was a spell on it that kept it warm, while the tray next to it had a dozen chocolate chip cookies on it since Aurora couldn't stand raisins, something that stuck with her after she had been pregnant. 

"Tonight he'll come and leave me a present, maybe he'll leave one for you too, let's hope so, right?" what answered Aurora's words were the unintelligible sounds of a baby, something that made her laugh. 

Oh, wait, if there are Santa Clauses, what about the Tooth Fairy? Or the Easter Bunny? 'Sandman, is there a Sandman? Astreo's already chaotic mind seemed to become even more chaotic at the thought of such characters existing.

'The magical world is interesting from what it seems, it's probably an alternate universe,' Astreo mused before falling asleep to his mother's care and cooing.

That night, when no one was awake to notice, a figure walked furtively through the halls of Hogwarts. The stranger, if he could be called such, seemed to be welcomed by the castle's guardians, as if they recognized his person as one of great importance to the building. 

"Merry Christmas to you too, little Hogwarts," the figure murmured, his voice sounding older, but full of strength even when he spoke softly. 

The little light that fell on his figure outlined his appearance a bit, he wore red robes with white accents, a prominent belly, and a white beard so long, thick, and well-groomed that it would make Dumbledore jealous. On his shoulder, he carried a huge red sack that seemed to hold no weight for him. 

"Let's see, there are some bad children in the castle, but it's because of the bad education they received at home, maybe my gifts will serve to guide them to the right path. On the other hand, Dumbledore seems to have come to his senses a bit, perhaps I should give him another one of those sweets he's so obsessed with," the figure said, ignoring the painting guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. 

"Oh, every Christmas I visit these four houses I can't help but think of who they're based on, Gryffindor was a good boy, a womanizer, but always a good boy," as the figure left presents and coal for the appropriate people, his mind couldn't help but jump back to the past.

It had been a very dark time for wizards, even he couldn't bring them much joy because of what happened back then, but luckily things started to change for the better since the founding of Hogwarts, maybe a certain friend of his had something to do with giving Rowena Ravenclaw a subtle dream, who knew. 

"I'm glad you're still fulfilling your role as school and shelter, little Hogwarts, you deserve your gift as always," said the figure who had suddenly appeared in a strange room. 

The light in the room was not provided by fire, but by the glow of a huge red crystal floating a few centimeters away from a stone platform filled with intricate runes; if an unprepared human were in this place, he would be affected by the absurd amount of magical power.

"Oh, you seem to have grown up well this year, you took advantage of the birth of these children, didn't you? Just like you did when the naughty Merlin was born inside you," said the figure that was easily recognized as Santa Claus. 

The crystal made a sound that made Santa's aged face burst out laughing, then he pulled a small box out of the huge red sack he always carried. 

"Look, here's what you asked for this year, but you have to open it tomorrow morning, don't be impatient, okay? You know the rules," Santa placed the present in front of the crystal, which again emitted some humming sounds that he could understand perfectly. 

"Oh, is this child as interesting as you say? Maybe I should give him a present, what do you think?" asked the old man, receiving some answering hums from the crystal. 

"Well, I'll pay him a little visit, maybe if he's as interesting as you say, I don't doubt your judgment," Santa Claus waved goodbye before abruptly disappearing from the room, which slowly sank into darkness, although a little light shone on the present as if waiting for the dawn to break before opening it.

Santa appeared in the room where the children slept, protected by enchantments, house elves, and Hogwarts itself. He approached Hadrian James Potter's crib first, looking at the spot where his famous scar would be in the future. 

"Things have changed a bit, little one, maybe you don't have such a cool scar anymore," the man muttered as he approached Neville Longbottom. 

"Hmm, looks like things have changed a bit for you too, if I had seen it in person, I would still have my old ideas for future presents, what a wonderful situation," Santa mused, stroking his bushy white beard. 

"Let's see how interesting you are, Astreo," as Santa approached where our baby protagonist was sleeping, he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glittering with gold as he seemed to see something no mortal could. 

His eyes looked like two torches in the night, fortunately, no one was awake to see such a thing. Santa Claus seemed to watch as everything before his eyes turned into the cold emptiness of space, a place he didn't like to visit, the moon people were very unpleasant because they didn't quite understand why he left them gifts or coal. 

But what appeared before him was the cold, vast emptiness of space where a sun began to burn, and instinctively he almost saluted it, but the old man held back as the scene before him continued to unfold. Soon the planets began to orbit the star in a delicate order and balance.

"Hmm? A true astrologer, I suppose. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This century is certainly interesting, two magically chosen children, a true oracle, a seer, a descendant of the Fae, two big bad boys, and now a true astrologer among humans," as if it understood Santa's dialog, the sun in the scene emitted a pulse of pure magic, it was not something a mortal could understand, but the old man was no mortal.

"Oh, you're not from around here and you're scared? Don't worry, if you were born, it was because the magic of this world accepted you. Relax, you are not the only outsider who has come to our world, Merlin was one, or why do you think the boy had so many crazy ideas that the wizards hailed him as a god?

Our world welcomes you, I hope you can adapt, you have chosen a very interesting bearer, not like Parseltongue who met a bad boy and now is desperate about it, although it seems she has blessed the Potter boy" Santa's words were very telling to anyone who heard them, implying something about how certain magic was much more than it seemed.

"Well, I'll be off, I'll give your bearer a nice present, don't worry," Santa's eyes stopped sparkling, then he took out a small gift box and placed it in front of Astreo's crib, along with a note.

"Little one, I hope you take care of the people who will be close to you, they will need it," and with that, Santa disappeared from Hogwarts because he had to give coal to a certain snake-faced boy who didn't seem to understand the meaning of the coal he left him,

'At least the boy with the blue fire and the strange eye understood,' Santa reflected as he left coal in the chambers of our dear Lord Voldemort, much to his displeasure. 

And remember: Don't be a bad boy.