Everything was packed and ready.
Arthur brought down his suitcase to the living room and found that his parents were already dressed up.
They got up when he came down and locked the house behind them.
Arthur put down his suitcase on the sidewalk and took out his wand.
As he got ready, his father asked him, “Are you sure this will work?”
“It’s supposed to.” Arthur said sticking out his wand towards the kerb, “If not we can just ride the regular bus.”
“How long is it supposed to take?” Helen asked while looking at the empty roads freshly cleared of snow.
Arthur didn’t even get to respond to the question before a triple-decker, purple bus arrived right in front of them with a loud bang and a sudden roar.
The Smiths stayed stunned as a sharp conductor by the door announced, “Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Ernie Prang, and I will be your conductor this morning.”
“We need to get to Kings Cross station.” Arthur said.
“Certainly. That’ll be 1 Galleon and 16 Sickles, eleven for each person.”
Arthur, John and Ernie all looked at Helen.
…
“We’re never riding that thing ever again.” John said still trying to shake off the dizziness.
Nobody could blame the man.
The Knight Bus was a muggle invention that had managed to stay in the wizarding world.
Meaning that, politically, it had to be undoubtably a magical experience.
It moved at extreme speeds, dodging obstacles that magically jumped out of its way, and could squeeze through impossibly tight spaces.
Also muggles couldn’t see it.
The logic was that if you wanted something less just take the regular bus.
“Mom did you remember to pack my swimming goggles?” Arthur asked, ignoring his dad, as he hugged her.
“Yes I did.” Helen said tightening the hug, “Why would you even need these in the winter?”
“It’s for the summer.” Arthur said squeezing out of the hug.
“I’ll send you letters”, He said as he started running towards the train.
He saw Cedric waving at him and made his way straight towards the cabin, which was already starting to look crowded.
Greeting his friends, he put down his suitcase and looked out the window.
Finding them he waved till the train started moving.
“So how was your holiday?” Patricia asked Arthur as he sat put his suitcase on the ground.
The girls had occupied one side while the boys sat on the other.
“It was fun.” Arthur said, “We didn’t do anything new, but I guess that is the comforting part.”
“That’s good.” Patricia said, “I heard that the Christmas at Hogwarts was grand too.”
“Where did you hear it from?” Arthur asked, “We were all at home.”
“That’s what I asked too.” Anna chimed in.
“I can have other friends.” Patricia said while grabbing Anna.
“Can not.” Anna said back while struggling to free herself.
“Can too.” Patricia repeated putting Anna in a headlock.
“Can not.” Anna said, not likely to relent anytime soon.
Arthur watched the two girls desperately struggle and turned to look at boys for any context.
They all shrugged at him, because they were also teenage boys just starting to see this kind of behavior.
Arthur gave up trying to understand and signaled at them to make some space for him.
Sitting down he started to ask, “Cedric, did you collect all the cards?”
Cedric slumped at that question and sadly replied, “They came out with more. Special Christmas edition.” Like shooting nerds in a barrel.
“How about you guys?” Arthur asked Lucian and Teddy who were watching the girls occupying increasingly more space, “Did you get to enjoy the presents?”
Whatever they were about to say was drowned out by a loud voice.
“That’s it. You’re both going to pay.” Flora shouted with a shoeprint on her face, as she dove right between the two other girls.
Before the situation could escalate and anyone could get seriously hurt, Arthur intervened.
He took out a special new year edition of The Quibbler he had saved for something like this very occasion and loudly recited his favorite article ever, “Will Cornelius Oswald Fudge become the next Minister for Magic? : A civil servants guide to seducing your way to the top.”
The cabin went silent as everyone focused on the juicy topic.
Seeing that he had everyone’s attention Arthur continued reading his favorite lines, “Mrs. Crouch, who hasn’t been seen in the public eye for years, may just be a woman scorned. With Mr. Fudge managing to seduce even Bartemius Crouch Senior, he truly has no other opponents left. Even if there were any, they couldn’t compare to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the First Wizarding War and a popular candidate for Minister for Magic…”
“Read it from the beginning.” Anna said sitting properly.
Arthur gladly obeyed.
…
“I don’t think it’s really true.” said Cedric putting on his coat.
They were among the last on the train and everyone else had already left.
“Why not?” Arthur said buttoning his own coat, “There’s tons of evidence. The most damming one is his wife just not appearing in the public eye.”
“My mom also just stays home.” Cedric argued, “I’ve never heard my dad being accused of the same thing.”
“Yeah. But the difference is that Crouch is a pureblood, even a sacred one. If there’s one thing I know, purebloods love to flaunt.”
They quietly finished dressing up and started to pack their luggage.
“You really brought the poster?” Cedric asked as he looked at the waterproof piece of paper that dominated an entire section of Arthur’s suitcase.
“Wasn’t that the plan?” Arthur asked confused, while closing his suitcase, “Don’t tell me you want out?”
“I want out.” Cedric said with utmost sincerity, “The lake must be freezing cold right about now and we don’t even know where exactly the Slytherin dorms are.” They closed the door and started exiting the train with everyone else.
“I’m not saying we do it right now.” Arthur said climbing out of the train onto the platform, recently cleared of the snow, “We have warmer days after the winter.”
Just when Cedric stepped onto the platform Anna came from the crowd and signaled at them, “Hurry up, everyone’s already leaving.”
“What’s the hurry?” Arthur asked, “We should all look at the beautiful night sky and wonder at how the seasons change.”
Anna gave him a confused look, clearly not impressed by his poetry.
Some people just didn’t have the capacity to appreciate art.
She continued, totally ignoring Arthur, “The lake is frozen so we have to walk to the castle.”
“Say what?”
…
Twelve large decorated fir trees, mistletoe, and holly were among the decorations that Hagrid and the professors helped put in the Great Hall for the Christmas holidays.
Snow fell from the ceiling of the Great Hall, but unlike real snow this snow was dry and warm.
Around the castle, suits of armor were also enchanted to sing carols.
Clearly the staff had gone all out to make the returning students jealous of their stay at school counterparts.
As valiant as the effort was, all Arthur felt was pity for the ones that choose to stay.
He couldn’t ever imagine not visiting home for the holidays, but he guessed not everyone was as lucky as him.
The realization made him be even more grateful for his family.
The feast featured roast turkey, potatoes, chipolatas, peas, gravy, cranberry sauce, and “flaming Christmas puddings”.
The staff also enjoyed wine with their meal.
Wizard Crackers exploded loudly and contained more impressive favors than their Muggle counterparts, such as proper hats and bonnets, live mice, and Wizard’s Chess sets.
A wizard cracker even exploded right near Arthur producing a lot of blue smoke and leaving behind a pink glittery hat.
Arthur scooped the piece of fashionable clothing before anyone else could and put it right on.
He had secured his potion making attire for the rest of the school year.
The night felt like Christmas once again but only this time with a lot more people involved.
Arthur was smiling when he fell asleep.