Chapter 16: Christmas Magic
It was only when he stopped in front of Abraxas that Harry realised he had not received a gift from his grandfather. He didn't miss a beat.
'Thank you, sir, for inviting me to spend Christmas in your house,' he said sincerely.
Abraxas roared with laughter. 'You're welcome, my boy, but I haven't given you and Draco my presents yet.'
When Draco heard that, he jumped up and stood next to Harry. Abraxas raised his wand and Summoned two long boxes, which flew through the open doors of the parlour into the boys' hands. Harry and Draco ripped the paper of the boxes eagerly and gasped in unison.
'Broomsticks!' the boys both exclaimed.
'Comet Two Sixties,' Abraxas said with a smug grin. 'They have training charms on them to keep you from falling off or losing control, but you'll have good speed and a full range of motion.' He paused. 'After breakfast, we can go out into the garden and I'll show you how to fly them. Then perhaps Lucius and I can get our brooms and we'll have a game of two-on-two Quidditch.'
Lucius grumbled a bit in protest, but shut up when his father gave him a withering glare. Harry and Draco, however, could hardly wait. They practically inhaled their bacon and eggs, and then ran back to their rooms to put on their heavy winter cloaks. They came back down and waited by the door as Abraxas and Lucius fetched their brooms.
Harry had enjoyed flying on his toy broomstick before now, but the real thing was incomparable, and Harry took to it like a fish to water. Within minutes of first straddling his new broomstick Harry was swooping through the air, all worries forgotten as he whooped in delight.
Draco had a bit of difficulty at first, but Abraxas was a surprisingly patient instructor, and after half-an-hour he thought they were ready for a simple game of Quidditch. Abraxas and Harry teamed up against Lucius and Draco and played with only the Quaffle, all players doubling as Chaser and Keeper, with the first team to reach a hundred points winning.
Abraxas was a stunning player, and Harry, it turned out, was not so bad himself. They devastated Lucius and Draco in the first game, before switching sides. The second game was adults versus children, and the adults won, though Harry and Draco held their own.
Harry wouldn't have minded a third game, but Draco was sore from having lost twice, Lucius hadn't wanted to play in the first place, and Abraxas was starting to feel his age. They headed back inside in good spirits. Lucius even tousled Harry's and Draco's hair as he went upstairs to dress for dinner.
'Grandfather was Slytherin Quidditch Captain at Hogwarts for five years,' Draco explained as the two boys went to their rooms. 'He could have played for England if he wanted, but that was beneath him, of course.'
Harry went to his room and changed into the brand-new dress robes he had received from Arcturus and Melania that morning. They were a light-blue colour that matched his new eyes. Harry still couldn't get used to looking in the mirror and seeing someone else's eyes staring back, though he enjoyed not having to mess about with glasses.
There was a knock on his door.
'Come in,' Harry said. It was Uncle Marius.
'How are you holding up, Aries?' he asked.
'All right,' Harry said. 'Yesterday was a bit mad, but today's been fun.' He grinned. 'The broomstick is brilliant.'
Uncle Marius smiled. 'James will be excited to see it. You'll have to tell him how well you flew. He'll be quite proud.'
Harry's expression turned serious. 'Will I be able to go home?'
His uncle hesitated. 'I think we've a good chance of working it out,' he said. 'Abraxas may have won a battle this morning with his Christmas gift to you, but he's managed to bring Pollux and Arcturus together, which, to my knowledge, no one else has ever done before. I think they've agreed to do whatever's necessary to make sure you grow up in a Black home. Abraxas won't see what hit him.'
'We have a Black home,' Harry pointed out.
'Exactly.' Uncle Marius chuckled. 'That's why I said we have a good chance of succeeding. You're doing a fine job, Aries. Keep it up, and we can go home tomorrow.'
Harry had grown accustomed to good cooking since he left the Dursleys, but Christmas dinner at Malfoy Manor outshone anything he had ever imagined. A hundred different dishes covered the table: goose and pheasant, lamb and suckling pig, simple boiled potatoes and elegant soufflés, vegetables prepared in a dozen different mouth-watering ways. Harry couldn't pick favourites out of all the splendid dishes, so he piled his plate high with a bit of everything.
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