Chapter 11: CHAPTER 11: THE HOLIDAY

“On his first holiday, he never came out of his room, he only got out when we called him for the Christmas feast, after that, he went inside his room again.”

 

-Annalise Andrews on Edgart’s First Holiday after he got accepted to Hogwarts

 

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The next day Ed went to do his routine, but this time, he stayed in the suitcase, he was sitting in front of the fireplace, looking at it comfortably, thinking about something.

“Gilligan.” He called the owl softly, and Gilligan appeared in front of him.

“What do you want to ask?” Gilligan said flatly.

“You heard my conversation last night right?” Ed questioned while looking at the owl intently.

“Which one? With Dumbledore? With that blonde girl? Or with that Granger girl?” The owl teased.

Ed rolled his eyes and answered, “With Dumbledore of course, I hardly believe that my conversation with a girl will interest you.”

“If you’re like me, Little Edgart, you will do and hear anything to relieve boredom.”

“Huh, funny, the sorting hat said the same thing to me.”

“And I sympathise with that hat, now, what about your conversation with Albus?”

Ed went silent for a while, he was in a state of deep thinking, and finally said,

“Do you think what I chose is right? Not to interfere with Harry Potter?”

The owl looked at Ed strangely for a second then said,

“As you said in that conversation, it is his own journey, you have your own, but interference is inevitable Little Edgart, like what you did in that bathroom, there will be people who will suffer and hurt, and it is up to you to save them or not.”

“But Gilligan, you may think that this world’s Harry is only one of the infinite reincarnation of him, but he is still a human being, so maybe I’ll help him a little to relieve some of his burden, I’ll drop clues indirectly, or…” he stopped talking, he pondered for a while and said,

“Or share this knowledge onto someone else, someone that actually cared for him, and won’t use the knowledge recklessly.” Then Ed looked at the owl and said, “What do you think? Is this a good idea?”

The owl just looked at the boy intently, Gilligan just went silent for a second, then said, “It is up to you, but you must trust this ‘someone’ completely, and that ‘someone’ must bear the pressure and burden of the knowledge.”

“Well, what do you think this ‘someone’ should be, Dumbledore? No, he raised Harry like a pig for slaughter for fucks’ sake, Ron? Too impulsive just like Harry, Hermione?...”

He went to deep thinking for a while, then asked Gilligan,

“Do you think it’s a good idea to give it to Hermione? I feel like a hypocrite now, before I wanted her to not carry a burden like this, but now I’m thinking about it.”

“Hmm… yes, I can see you in her, even just a little, but she’s too emotional, she will be impulsive too if her friends get hurt. So, I suggest you choose someone else.”

“But who else? Sirius? That guy is too reckless in the books, Ginny? She’s younger than Harry so it will be hard for her to change a big event. Snape? No, he’ll just use it to bully Harry more. I can’t find that ‘someone’ Gilligan, Hermione is the closest.”

“Then don’t give her the whole seven books.” Gilligan advised.

“What do you mean?” Ed asked, confused by Gilligan’s advice.

“Make a summary of each book, and make a fake prophecy for it, that way, she can also share it with her other two friends.”

“That’s-” Ed stood up then shouted, “That’s a great idea!”

“But give the next year's prophecy at the end of each year, so they can prepare.”

Ed just nodded, “Thank you Gilligan, see you at Christmas.” Then Ed exited the suitcase.

In the next months, it was peaceful, Ed continued to do his routine, making his skills in magic better, he also continued to taught Richard defence-spells, Ed attended Flitwick’s duelling lessons, now it was practical lessons, so it was quite fun, Flitwick continued to praise him as the best dueller he ever thought. Ed was still in contact with Hermione, she didn’t spend as much time with him like the first week, but she sometimes stopped by to do her homework with Ed and Richard, Ed also sometimes helped Neville with his homework.

The first quidditch game also happened, Ed saw Harry’s broomstick jinxed, he saw Snape and Quirrell muttering at the same time, and Ed chuckled because of how Snape makes himself so suspicious. After that game Ed saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione run to Hagrid’s hut, just like the books.

The rest of the semester was quiet, Hermione didn’t askEd about anything, she just did her homework and occasionally ask about spells, Richard’s spell lessons were going well, his photographic memory helped with the wand movements, and he became quite good at self-defence.

December is here, Christmas is coming, and the mood is at an all-time high in Hogwarts, people are packing to leave for holiday. The lake is frozen solid, snow can be seen falling outside the window.

 

Ed was walking with Hermione through the corridors, going to the exit. They didn’t walk with Richard because he went ahead, Hermione was still packing and talking to Ron and Harry, so he got impatient and went ahead, Ed even tempted to leave too but ultimately waited for her. Ed was bringing Ophelia in his right hand and his suitcase in his left.

“You only bring your owl and this small suitcase to school? And that’s not the Hogwarts trunks as well, how can your books fit there?” Hermione suddenly asked, looking at his suitcase.

“Well, I’ll tell you a secret, this is not a normal suitcase.” Ed said vaguely.

“An undetectable extension charm? Did you cast it?” Hermione asked suspiciously.

“Of course not.”

“Then who cast it? You don’t live with your biological parents.”

“Yes, but they left me in an orphanage along with this suitcase, I can only use it after I was admitted to Hogwarts.”

The two pairs then walked to the exit, Professor McGonagall was waiting for them, along with the other students, after that they were transported to Hogsmeade station, boarding the train. He searched a compartment and sat with Hermione, then he opened a compartment that Richard was sitting in.

“Hello Richard. Sorry for the wait.” said Ed while glaring at Hermione, the two then sat at the opposite of Richard.

Richard ignored the apology, he looked at Hermione, smirked, and said, “Well-well Hermione, you should stick with him, he’s a keeper, I mean he waited for you for almost an hour, if it was me, I would ditch you.”

Hermione just blushed at the statement and turned away looking at the window.

“Shut up you git.”

“What’s your spell progress, we haven’t trained recently.” Ed asked Richard.

“Um, I haven’t really practised anything to be honest, so many books to read.”

“Ugh. I forgot you’re the male version of Hermione, only less bossy and more cheery.” Said Ed, earning a chuckle from Richard and a smack on the back of the head by Hermione. “I never really asked, but did you make friends in Ravenclaw? I only ever saw you talking with Hermione and me.” Ed continued.

“Oh yes, there was that black-haired boy called Michael Corner I sat with, and also I sometimes talk to a senior, Cho Chang.”

“Cho Chang?” Ed said, showing a surprised look, “That pretty Ravenclaw girl? How did you get her attention?`` Ed continued, Hermione looked at him strangely.

“I don’t know honestly, one day I just practised some spells, trying to catch up to you, in one of the empty classrooms, and maybe it was her place for practice too, so we trained together after that.” Richard said.

“Huh, that’s pretty normal.”

“Well, what do you want me to say? That I saved her from a creature in the forbidden forest or something?” said Richard, looking annoyed, and Richard turned to Hermione and said, “What about you Hermione, how was your semester?”

“I-It was crazy.” She stuttered, she told the events of the first year, the trolls, the three headed dog, the trap door, then she asked Ed,

“Did you also see it, Ed? Snape was jinxing Harry’s broom!”

“Hmm I don’t know Hermione, Quirrell muttering too, it’s either of them that jinxed Harry’s broom, and the other casted an anti-jinx, because if someone didn’t Harry probably would’ve fallen that day.”

“Quirrell was muttering too?” she asked, looking surprised.

“Yes, didn't you notice?”

“N-No I didn’t.”

“Well, just be careful, whoever casted the jinx isn’t going to stop attempting to kill Harry.”

Hermione nodded weakly, then pondered a while and asked,

“Do you know Nicolas Flamel?”

“Flamel? Yeah I know him, my grandfather was close with him I think.”

“Really?”, her eyes lit up and asked, “Then who is he? I didn’t find him anywhere.”

Ed chuckled for a bit and said, “You’ve been looking in the wrong book then, Flamel is over 600 years old, he’s the only known creator of the Philosopher’s stone, which can make gold out of any metal and can also make the elixir of life, which extends your life a little after drinking it, that’s why he’s so old.”

“Ugh, why didn’t I ask you in the first place.” She muttered annoyedly.

“Well, I suddenly regretted the sorting hat I didn't put to Gryffindor, my semester was bland compared to you!” he shouted.

“Don’t tell anyone though, otherwise I’ll be in trouble.” Hermione said.

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”

They then talked for a while, but in the middle of the road Ed remembered something and shouted.

“Shit! I forgot to take pictures of Hogwarts!”

“You brought a camera? And watch your language!” Hermione asked and warned Ed for cursing.

“Well, yes! You remember I had it in my hand during our first-time meeting? I took a couple of the scenery but that’s it.”

“Oh yeah!”

“Right. Let’s take a picture together.” Said Ed to Hermione and Richard.

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They then sat in a row, Ed cast a spell toward the camera, and it floated, the camera took a couple pictures, the three of them in frame, Ed and Richard in frame, Hermione and Ed in frame, Ed alone, etc.

After that they just sit quietly, Hermione and Richard are reading a book, while Ed is practising spells. A couple hours later they arrived at Platform 9 ¾, they then went into the muggle side. Ed is greeted by Ashbey.

“Hello Master Ed, long time no see.” Said the butler.

“Hello Ashbey.” Ed answered with a smile on his face, while handing his owl and suitcase to the butler.

Ed then said goodbye to Richard and looked at Hermione.

“Well, I’ll see you again at Hogwarts Hermione.” Said Ed, then he turned around, but Hermione suddenly grabbed his arm.

“Wait!” shouted Hermione, her face looking flushed. “Can you send me the pictures you took on the train?”

“Oh, Okay I’ll send it to you along with your Christmas presents then.” Ed nodded.

Hermione smiled and hugged Ed, earning a smile from her parents. “Goodbye Ed, see you at Hogwarts.” She said while walking away to her parents, Ed saw her ears are red. Ed then nodded at her parents, who nodded back, and he walked away with Ashbey to the car.

“So, what’s going on at the house while I was away?” Ed asked.

“Nothing new Master Ed, Although Mistress was a bit worried because of your lack of communication.”

“Really? But I send a couple of letters now and then, I even gave them some candies from the wizarding world.”

After that short conversation, they drove through the streets of London in silence, Ed admiring the scenery, Christmas decorations have already been placed, setting the holiday mood. Thirty minutes have passed, and they have arrived at Andrews Manor. Roger and Anna are in front of the front door, greeting the boy.

“Good to see you Roger, Anna.” Said Ed happily.

“Ed! We missed you!” said Anna, while walking towards Ed to hug him. 

“Did you get the candies I gave you? It’s quite delicious.”

“Yes, it was very nice.”

“Well, let’s get you inside, you’ll have to tell us everything later at dinner.” Roger said.

All of them then went inside to warm up, Ed looked at his piano, he hasn’t played piano this whole semester because of his activities, he touched the piano, then continued to walk. He then went to his room, the decorations remained unchanged, the blue paint was a bit mouldy, but it was his room nonetheless, he put Ophelia and his suitcase down and went off to the dining room. He sat on one of the empty seats and started eating with Roger and Anna. Then he told them about his experiences at Hogwarts, leaving the dangerous parts of course, he shows the pictures he took, which is not much because he forgot. After the dinner was over he went back to his room. He then entered his suitcase.

“Gilligan!” he called the owl. Gilligan then suddenly appeared out of thin air.

“What will I study this holiday?” Ed asked excitedly.

 “Right, this holiday I will teach you how to use Legilimency, and also teach you the foundation of space magic.”

“I will learn how to teleport now?” Ed said excitedly.

“Yes, but only a short distance, while this kind of teleportation can’t be detected like apparition, you’re still underage, so they can still detect you using trace magic, for now, you can only use it inside Hogwarts, or here.”

Ed just nodded disappointedly, then both of them headed towards the training room to start the lessons.

It was the 24th of December, Ed is prepping the presents he want to send to his friends, he gave Harry some muggle clothes that actually fit him, he gave Ron a game boy with some game cartridges, he gave Hermione a bracelet with an otter symbol on it along with the pictures she asked on king’s cross, he gave Richard a book about advanced spells, and he gave some other presents to his other friends, he send them all using Ophelia, and he went to the suitcase again to practice.

“Little Edgart, come here.” Said the owl outside the training room.

“Yeah?” shouted Ed while walking towards the exit of the room.

He then walked to Gilligan. He saw the owl standing in front of his parents' portrait in the living room.

“Here, your Christmas present.” Said the owl, handing him a necklace with the Aldrich family symbol on it.

“From whom?” asked Ed curiously.

“From the family, it’s not really a present really, it’s a family tradition, when the time has come, you need to give it to the one you chose as your partner, and your partner will need to give it to your eldest child in the future.”

“So, this is essentially some sort of a promise ring? But instead of a ring it’s a necklace?”

The owl nodded, then said, “Remember what I said at the beginning of the semester, don’t ch-”

“Don’t choose your partner randomly, yes I know, I won’t be like that.” Ed said, cutting off the owl.

“Good, now, let’s continue your practice.”

The next morning, Ed saw a bunch of boxes beside his bed. He opened one of the boxes one by one. He got a dark blue sweater with his initials on it from Ron, or more specifically Ron’s mother. He is confused because he never met Ron’s mother, so why did she send me the sweater? He put the thought to the back of his head, and opened another present, it was from Richard, he gave Ed a fiction muggle book title ‘Outlander’, Ed opened another, it was from Harry, he gave him chocolate frogs because he didn’t really know what to give Ed, then it was Hermione’s present, he opened it, and it appears she gave him a couple of warm gloves.

After all that box opening, he got out of his room, then Roger and Anna gave him books and clothes because he didn’t really need anything on the muggle side of his life.

“Ed, we are going to throw a Christmas party here tomorrow, can you do a piano solo in front of everyone? Just a couple of songs.” Roger asked during Christmas dinner.

“Sure, is it tomorrow evening?”

“Yes, it’s at 7 pm, so the living room’s going to be a bit loud tomorrow morning because of the decorations being placed.”

“Alright, I’ll think of something for the piece I will play.”

The next morning Ed woke up horribly, the sounds of loud footsteps can be heard outside, it appears Roger wasn’t lying when he said it’s going to be a bit loud. He then went to the suitcase to practise his performance that night, he practised until 6 pm.

It was now 7 pm, Ed was still in his room preparing, he wore a tuxedo for the party, and went to the living room where the party was held.

“Ah you’re here!” exclaimed Roger when he saw Ed enter the room. “Everyone this is Edgart, he’s my foster son, he will succeed me in the future.”

Ed just bowed to the guests.

“But that’s all for later, for now he’ll do a couple of piano pieces for us.” Roger continued. 

Ed moved towards the piano, he bowed once again to the guests, then sat in front of the piano. He played ‘The First Noel’ and ‘Silent night’, everyone listened and to the way he played, the atmosphere changed when he played, it became warm, calm, serene. After he finished, everyone applauded, he greeted everyone at the party, chatted a bit for formalities, then played the piano again, setting the mood of the party.

“Do you only play piano?” an old man suddenly asked Ed.

“Um, no sir, I can also play violin, and clarinet.”

“What a talented boy you are, ah! Where are my manners, Robert Mason, at your service, I worked for your father, managing the company for him.” Said Mr. Mason.

“Good to meet you sir, you came here alone?” said Ed, suddenly interested in the old man because of his last name.

“Oh no, I came with my wife there.” He pointed at his wife. “Well, it was nice to meet you young Edgart, we will probably meet again.” He said while walking away.

“Well, that was something,” Ed whispered, looking at Mr. Mason’s back.

The next morning, he received a letter from Harry, he thanked Ed for the presents, and then told Ed about a peculiar mirror he found in the restricted section when he was trying his newly gifted invisibility cloak. He told Ed that the mirror was showing him standing with his family.

“Why did he tell me this? Because of Hermione?” Ed whispered. He then writes back explaining to Harry that it was probably the mirror of the Erised, a mirror that shows your deepest desires. He sends Hedwig off and continues his holiday training with Gilligan.

At the end of his training, Ed can teleport to a short distance, or blinking as he called it because of the nature of the spell, he also can use Legilimency, albeit not passively.

It is now 1992, Ed is getting ready for Hogwarts again, he doesn’t really need any packing to be honest, all his clothes are in the suitcase. He picked up Ophelia and the suitcase and brought them to the car, after he put his things, he said goodbye to his foster parents and went to King’s Cross. He arrived at the place, where he saw Hermione and his parents also walking towards platform 9 ¾, he walked towards them and greeted the family.

“Hello Hermione, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger.” Greeted Ed politely.

The small family looked at Ed and smiled.

“Hello Ed!” Hermione said happily. Ed just smiled at her and turned to her parents.

“Ah! Pardon me, Edgart Aldrich, at your service.” He bowed slightly to the Granger couple.

“Ed? The boy my daughter constantly talks about during the holidays?” said Mrs. Granger, looking at Hermione who is blushing, while Mr. Granger just sneered amusedly.

“Really? All good things I hope.” Ed said, while looking at Hermione.

Mr. Granger than answered, “Oh yes, he talks about how yo-”

“Okay dad! Stop it! The train’s going to depart soon.” Hermione said hurriedly, cutting off her father, her face is red like a tomato.

“It’s only 10 am Hermione, we still have about an hour left, we can chat a bit.” Refuted Ed, looking at the red-faced girl.

Hermione just glared at him menacingly, but her face was blushing, so instead of looking menacing, she looked cute, like a toddler trying to be angry at their parents.

“Alright-alright.” Said Ed, raising his hands in the air, then looked at her parents again. “We’ll talk next time Mr. and Mrs. Granger, it was nice meeting you.”

“It was nice meeting you too Ed, perhaps you can go to our house along with your parents this summer vacation?” said Mr. Granger, smiling at Ed then grinning wickedly at the blushing Hermione.

“We’d love to Mr. Granger, I’ll tell my parents.” Said Ed, then he turned to the smiling Ashbey who was escorting him. “Can you tell Roger and Anna about next summer’s plans?”

“Rest assured Master Ed, they would be delighted to hear this.” Ashbey said while smiling, thinking about what Roger and Anna’s reaction would be if they knew that their son was invited to a girl’s house.

“Great, come on Hermione, see you in summer Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, Ashbey.”

All of them then said their goodbyes to each other and Ed and Hermione went inside the platform and into the train.

“Why’d you do that?” she asked angrily while sitting on the compartment seat, her face still a bit red.

“Do what?” Ed said dismissively.

But Hermione didn’t answer, she just glared at him. But Ed notices something on Hermione’s wrist.

“Hey, you wore the bracelet I gave you.”

Hermione, surprised by his statement, instantly reacted by hiding the bracelet with her hand, her face turned deep crimson once again, and looked away to the compartment window. After that, they didn’t talk about anything, it was an excruciating long and awkward train ride.

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