–Oi, James! Wake up!â€
James awoke with a start at the sound of his brother’s voice, but kept his eyes shut tight. He had been dreaming of Quidditch again, his father flying below him, cheering him on as he zoomed toward the goalpost with the Quaffle under his arm. James hoped that he could be on the Quidditch team someday, just like his father had been. It had been such a wonderful dream.
–C’mon, James! Let’s go!†shouted Albus, wrenching the curtains apart and letting in the bright winter sun.
James groaned and pulled the covers up over his face. He would have remained there until he drifted off to sleep again, hopefully to return to his dream, but his younger brother Albus had decided to start thumping his blanketed form with a pillow.
–Come ON James!†moaned Albus Potter. –I’ve already moved all of my presents down to the common room, and Lily is down there too!†James had to smile; Albus would never normally behave with this kind of feistiness around others. Get him around anyone outside the family and he became shy and timid, speaking sparsely and hardly above a whisper.
–Alright, I’m coming…I swear, Al, when you get excited you start sounding like a first year girl,†teased James.
But Albus didn’t hear him, already running out the door and down the stairs to the common room. They had all agreed to meet in the common room to open presents together this Christmas. James, Albus, and Lily were the only Gryffindors that hadn’t gone home for the Christmas holiday this year. Their father was in America teaching a Defense Against the Dark Arts seminar, and their mum had accompanied him to do some sightseeing. James gathered up all the presents that had appeared overnight at the foot of his four poster bed and hurried down to the common room to join his siblings. His younger sister Lily was sitting cross legged on the floor, bouncing up and down with excitement. It was Lily’s first year at Hogwarts, and she was continually amazed at every aspect of life in the castle. She loved everything, from getting owl post in the Great Hall to watching Quidditch matches with her fellow first years; Lily’s eyes were round as galleons with excitement. Albus was sitting on one of the better arm chairs by the fire, arranging his presents into a neat, well-organized pile at his feet. Typical Albus. Organized, precise, and diligent; he was the opposite of James, who was much more mischievous and reckless, rather like his dad had been. In the circular dormitory that housed Albus and his fellow third year boys, Albus’ space was always tidy and well kept, much more so than the rest of his friends.
–Hurry up, Jamesy, we’ve been waiting for ages!†Lily said with an excited smile all over her face. He always pretended to hate that pet name only she ever calls him because it sounded immature and silly. But deep down he secretly liked the affection that it showed from his little sister.
–Sorry Lils, how ‘bout you open one first,†James said as he plopped down on the floor next to her, dropping the presents down on the floor.
They had a good haul that year. James got a deluxe box of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes merchandise from his Uncles George and Ron, a nice eagle feather quill from his Aunt Hermione, a new gobstones set from his mum and dad, a book called Shooting Through the Air: an Arrows History, which was about his favorite Quidditch team, the Appleby Arrows, from Albus. He also acquired a dozen chocolate frogs from Lily, a wooden snitch hand carved by Hagrid the gamekeeper, and was already sporting his violet hand-knit sweater with a large golden –J†on the front from his Grandma Weasley. James looked up from his presents to see Albus pulling his own sweater over his head with difficulty.
–It’s always this mustard yellow…and WAY too small,†gasped Albus as he finally managed to pull the sweater over his head.
–That’s because you keep growing!†laughed Lily, already wearing her bright pink sweater which clashed wonderfully with her bright red hair she inherited from her mother. –Thanks for the dungbombs, Jamesy!â€
–Yes, and thanks for the book of prank spells,†said Albus, holding up Jovial Jinxes and Hilarious Hexes by Selena Smirk and looking at it skeptically. –It’s almost like you want us to get detention.â€
–The way I see it, the amount of time you spend in detention is equal to the amount of fun you’re having,†smirked James mischievously. James had definitely inherited his father’s adventurous nature, as well as the idea that rules are more like guidelines than actual rules.
–All I’m saying is if you get caught by Tergis again, Mum will have a cow,†said Albus, referring to the caretaker.
–That old geezer? I think I can outrun that old warlock,†said James, waving away the warning coolly. –Don’t worry Lils, I won’t be getting anymore detentions this year…but suspension isn’t out of the question.†Lily, whose eyes had been wide with the fear of trouble, laughed and returned to her presents.
–James - ,†began Albus.
–Cool it, Al, I’ll be fine. Besides, Dad got into loads of trouble when he was here! Uncle Ron told me all about how they got away with everything!†James said exasperatedly.
–I wasn’t going to say anything about that,†said Albus crossly. He pointed to something behind James. –I was going to ask what that present is.â€
James looked to where his brother was pointing. There, buried beneath the wrappings from his presents, was another present that James had overlooked. He picked it up and saw a note etched on the outside of the wrapping. He recognized his father’s handwriting at once. It said, –Don’t open in front of your siblings.†That was all.
–What is it, Jamesy?†asked Lily curiously.
–It’s…er…nothing. Just some robes I forgot at home, Mum sent them to me,†James said, trying to sound casual.
–Why’d she wrap it like a present?†Albus looked skeptical.
–You know Mum…she’s just trying to make it fun. You know how much she loves Christmas,†James said, gathering up his presents. –Let’s go put all our stuff in our rooms and get dressed. Lunch on Christmas is always amazing!†Lily’s eyes lit up with excitement as usual.
The three of them gathered up their new belongings and headed up to their rooms. –Thanks again for the presents, guys! Love you!†yelled Lily as she ran up the steps to her room. The boys called their love back, each going into their respective rooms. As soon as James had closed the door behind him and leapt onto his bed he ripped open the present from his dad. Out of the wrapping fell a silky fabric, landing on James’ lap. It felt as if it were made of water, flowing fluidly through his fingertips. There was a note with it. It read, –James, Happy Christmas! Here’s a special present for you. It’s called an Invisibility Cloak. This was my father’s, and his father’s before him. It’s been passed down from father to son in our family for hundreds of years. I think you’re old enough now for it, and I have a feeling that you’ll definitely be needing it; I’ve gotten way too many owls from Tergis about you. You seem bent on misbehaving at school (which I have no idea where you got that from, probably your mother), so at least you can do it correctly from now on. I better not be getting any more owls from Tergis, alright? Tell Albus and Lily your mum and I send our love. - Dad.†James gazed at the cloak with amazement, his mouth hanging open in wonder. He had always been curious as to how his father had snuck about so often undetected, and the possibility of retracing his father’s steps filled him to the brim with excitement. He was so excited that he almost skipped over the very last words, scribbled down under his dad’s farewell; –Use it well.â€