Harry was sufficiently awed, until Hermione approached him insistently.
"How many days ya' got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked him.
"Just one," Hermione answered in his stead. "Harry, we should go to the library, don't you think."
Hermione had decided to monopolize Harry's time in the library, much to Daphne's anger. She had also taken it upon herself to find whatever was being guarded on the third floor by scouring the bookshelves. Both he and Neville had attempted to convince her that there was no way she could possibly narrow down the object based on his description of Dumbledore's vault, but she was relentless and had a memory second to none.
If she committed that to actual spells, there's no way I would be first in the class.
But she didn't, so, in the end of term exams he'd managed to snag first in their year, Daphne taking second. It was hardly surprising, considering the hours they spent practicing or studying.
However, he reluctantly agreed all the same, struggling to tear his eyes away from Professor McGonagall forming coils of silver light, before attaching them to the trees, next to Professor Flitwick's brilliant gold bubbles he was transforming into baubles.
"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"
"We're trying to find out what the dog on the third floor is guarding." Hermione answered meticulously before Harry could stop her.
"You what?" Hagrid started. "What Fluffy is guarding is between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."
"Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione asked
"Fluffy?" Harry asked.
"I shouldn't 'ave told you that. I should not 'ave told you tha'." Harry was worried for the moment that Hagrid might panic. He had no idea how to help the enormous man if he began to have a heart attack.
Hermione gave him an excited look. They turned and marched quickly in the direction of the library.
"Come back 'ere!" Hagrid shouted "Wait!" But they were already gone.
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Despite his and Hermione's best attempts, they found nothing about a Nicolas Flamel in the library while studying. It was later, when he was practicing a color changing charm and a sticking charm with Daphne, that he learned the answer.
"Nicolas Flamel?" She asked.
"You don't know ether?"
He met her eyes and felt a small bit of anger there.
Indignation.
He said stealing the knowledge from her thoughts.
Before he could apologize she answered him.
"Of course I know who Nicolas Flamel is! He's the greatest alchemist of all time. He invented the sorcerer's stone. It can turn metal into gold and create elixir of life. It makes you immortal. He's most of a millennium old, his wife too."
Harry thought about that.
"Well, I suppose that answers the question of what Fluffy is guarding."
"Fluffy?" She asked with a giggle.
He eagerly reached out to her mind, to feel her amusement for himself. It felt bright and he almost leaned into it.
He sighed. "Hagrid told us that the Cerberus' name is fluffy."
She laughed louder at that. He turned her hair pink in faux retaliation. She stuck his wand hand to a desk and left for dinner, almost roaring with laughter.
When Harry told Hermione that he and Daphne had discovered what was being guarded under the Cerberus, she had been uncertain how to react. It certainly explained why none of the books she had examined yielded results. Nicolas Flamel had little business being in Important Modern Magical Discoveries nor A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. Of course, not knowing anything at all about what was in Dumbledore's package had made her task herculean.
She had been convinced she would have been able to find it, if only she'd had access to the restricted section of the library. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books. These were the books containing powerful dark magics, never taught at Hogwarts. They were only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Or just the Dark Arts.
He had once spotted a copy of The Mind, The Maze within and he, better than most, understood the need for legilimency to be controlled knowledge. Of course, he was also secretly proud of his talent and glad for its restricted nature at the school.
When the holidays actually began, Harry found himself saying goodbye to Tracey and Daphne. They would be spending their holidays together at the Davis' household. Daphne would also spend time with her sister at her home, before coming back at the start of next term. She was thrilled about that, even if she didn't say so.
She didn't need to when he could feel it coming off of her in waves.
He had been picking up Hermione's homesickness, too, as well as an anxiety to see her parents, for days now. She desperately wanted to suitably impress them with her new magical knowledge. It seemed to stem from a subconscious guilt that she had somehow de-railed her parents' lives with her magical nature, unless he was misreading her. He waved goodbye to both her and Neville as they boarded the express, finally leaving him all alone.
He was relieved he no longer need to put on an act, but he also knew he would miss them sorely. It was an unfamiliar feeling which he only recognized from his experiences in the minds of others. Especially Hermione and Daphne, who had both come to Hogwarts with people to miss.
From Harry's dorm, only Michael Corner had stayed at Hogwarts and he, like most other Ravenclaws, treated him with suspicion. Lisa Turpin seemed to have tried to defend him, but right now she was back home for the Holidays with her muggle parents. Su and Mandy had also returned home, making Michael and Harry the only first-year Ravenclaws left in the castle.
On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, not expecting any presents at all. When he woke early in the morning, however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed. He was more than a little surprised, and found he couldn't barely speak.