"Oh," Hermione turned away from the smirking portrait. "All the animagi transform into their animal forms and hide in a large forest. Then all the wizards and witches ride horses and hunt them with special short-range stunning spells. It's supposed to be a re-enactment of the wild hunt of the Unseelie Court — Definitely one of the darker traditions — Bragging rights for catching someone or evading capture until nightfall."
Sophie looked thoughtful. "So, sort of like fox hunting?"
"Kind of," Hermione waggled a hand. "Except no-one dies."
Dean grinned. "Does Professor McGonagall take part? I'd pay money to see that tabby cat scampering through the woods." Hermione hesitated. "I… I don't know." She frowned. "Somehow, I can't imagine her agreeing to it."
Justin chuckled. "Well, that sounds cool. What else?"
"Some families hold Yule Balls during the winter festival week. The most prominent one is held by the Malfoys." She made a face. "So, you can guess I won't be going to that one."
They all nodded in agreement.
"Then there's the winter solstice. One of the bi-yearly Wizengamot mandatory sessions is held on that day. It's the longest night of the year and many rituals are best done on that night."
Sophie tilted her head. "Rituals?" Hermione looked confused for a moment.
"Oh!" she felt her cheeks redden. "Sorry, I keep forgetting. Rituals are another method of performing magic. Like we use wands, potions, and runes here at Hogwarts rituals are just another type. They can be very potent and dangerous because they sacrifice something in exchange for something else and are often permanent."
Sophie nodded. "So, winter solstice is 'ritual night'?"
"Well," Hermione cast her mind back. "It can be… mostly… I mean, there are other rituals done over the winter festival. For example, there's this other tradition called Stella Benedictio, which uses a combination of ritual and astrological magics to grant a boon to the participants for the coming year. But no one's done that one for a long long time."
"Why not?"
"People forgot how to do it. There might be some old family that has a record of how to do it somewhere, locked in some large and dusty library, but if there is, they aren't telling." She smiled. By 'large and dusty library', she of course meant 'small and damp', by 'them' she of course meant Harry, and by 'not telling' she naturally meant, 'yet'.
Personally, she couldn't wait to watch the stars rearrange themselves in the vast, empty night sky, like the world's most spectacular fireworks display, even if the whole 'four dancing virgins' thing was more than a little embarrassing.
Justin bit the end of his quill. "Umm… still getting the hang of this whole political factions thing. What do the Potters do?"
That threw her for a loop. Hermione refocused on the brown-blonde haired boy. "Sorry?"
"The Potters are the leading family of the Light, yes? The Greengrasses are the leading family of the Gray and they do a winter festival and 'the hunt'. The Malfoys are the leading family of the Dark and they do the Yule Ball. So, what do the Potters do?"
Hermione blinked. "Oh." She waved a vague hand. "They do a Christmas party."
It wasn't much later that Harry was walking down the Hogwarts path to the thestral led carriages, accompanied by that day's collection of appointed courtiers — Tracey Davis from the Gray, Millicent Bulstrode from the Dark, and two older students from some other minor interest groups. They climbed aboard the carriages, made small talk down to Hogsmeade station, climbed onto the express, made medium talk while they waited for the train to leave, and started on the big talk soon after they passed Carlisle.
"Look, what is it you want, Potter?" Tracey Davis looked him straight in the eye.
He'd been stalling for over ten minutes now. He smiled. "Many things, Heiress Davis."
"You haven't tried to claim anything all year. You just waltzed into the common room after destroying the ENTIRE duelling team, pulled off some insanely high level magic, then sat down for the rest of the semester, and didn't capitalise on it." She glared at him, her button nose and large eyes pushing her two levels above cute and clear into adorable territory. He leaned back. "Tracey, life is like a box of chocolates—" "—Oh, for the love of Merlin!"
He chuckled.
"Will you take this seriously for once!" "Why?" "Don't you understand about the Slytherin mask? You have SOO much potential but you're squandering it!"
Milli and the two others watched the back and forth, but didn't seem inclined to jump in.
Harry raised an eyebrow. The click-clack of the train filled up the temporary silence. "I'm surprised at you, Heiress Davis. I would've thought you would understand."
Tracey hesitated. "What?"
"I know you've been keeping a close eye on me, ever since a few weeks into the start of term. You didn't think I didn't notice, did you?"
Tracey seemed to flounder for a moment, uncertainty and mild panic flittering across her features, before an ice like visage instantly clamped over her face. Her body straightened, her legs crossed, and her hands quickly folded themselves on her knees. "I do not know what you are referring to, Mister Potter."
Harry smiled ruefully. That had been an occlumency lockdown and a half. "Don't you?" His smile slowly spread into a grin. He extended a legilimency probe and tickled it against her barriers.
Her eyes widened. "Y-You…S-stop that."
His grin widened. "Why? You won't get the answers you need like that, you know." He tickled some more. "Why don't you come back out again, Tracey?" She looked away.
He bent the connecting tendril and continued right on.
She gasped. "I…I…"
Milli and the others watched, eyes similarly wide.
"You were the only one, you know? Of all the Slytherins in our year, you were the only one who smelled something fishy. Surely you must have realised, even if only at a subconscious level?"
"I d-don't know what you're talking about."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything more. If Tracey couldn't figure out that this was his Slytherin mask then he wasn't about to just tell her. He withdrew his mind tickle magic.
Tracey let out a long breath. Her posture relaxed slightly.
"You are an impressive witch, Tracey. Perhaps not possessing quite as much raw power as Miss Granger and Heiress Greengrass, but you see things that other people don't."
She glared at him. Harry Davis?"
smiled.
"What
do you want,
Miss
This seemed to bring her up short. "What?"
"You want to know what I want. Presumably you want to know so you can do some kind of deal with me. What is it that you want, Miss Davis?"
Tracey shot a look at the other three occupants of the carriage. She stood up. "I want you to stop sitting on the fence and pick a damn side!" She stared into his eyes, which he returned with his own relaxed smile. She hesitated. "Only… only, you don't have to decide right now. And… and I also want to invite you to sit with me and my friends in our compartment further down the train."
Harry grinned and stood up. "You only had to ask."
Tracey left.
He winked at Millicent as he walked past.
A hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
"Yes, Milli?" "You will join me, Draco, and our other friends afterwards, won't you?" He tipped an imaginary hat. "Of course, Miss Bulstrode."
He followed Tracey down the train. They stopped at the middle compartment.
The door opened.
There sat Daphne, Hermione, Terry Boot, Zacharias Smith, Wayne Hopkins, and Blaise Zabini, all laughing and smiling, an open pack of exploding snap on the table, while Hedwig and Freekey both picked at a shared bowl of nuts and seeds. Someone, probably Hermione, had transfigured the window curtains into a waterfall of multicoloured tinsel.
Daphne put down her goblet of pumpkin juice and smiled warmly at them. "Why hello there, Tracey — Oh my, and Mister Potter too. Do come in." She patted the seat next to her. "This is an unexpected pleasure."
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