We kissed. It actually happened. Is this the happiest moment of my life, after all?

As I lay in bed, I continued thinking about Daphne and the magical moment we just shared. But I knew it wasn't right to entertain the idea of dating her. It took a conscious effort to think about something else.

What would I get for Christmas? What would be my present in a house full of strangers? Then again, it was picked by Daphne, right? Daphne selected the gift. Oh, isn't she just wonderful? I would give anything to hold her hand and go for a walk by a pond or a lake or- wait. Get it together, Rollie, let's think about something else.

I sighed. I continued to toss and turn through the night. Until purple light gleamed through my window, filling the entire room. Goosebumps took over my whole body. The purple started flashing. I picked my head up and jumped out of bed, but there was nothing outside. Then the room quaked as if I was in a box and someone was shaking it. Daphne came through my closet.

"What's happening?" she screamed over the rumbling earth.

"I was hoping you'd have the answer! We're in your house!" I yelled.

My door blasted open from the force of someone's shoulder. It was Leon, and he held his wand up in the air.

"Leon! What are you doing here?" I hollered.

The purple light flashed and grew brighter as if something was approaching.

"Hold on!" Leon shouted back.

"We'll make it through this," a familiar voice from my left said.

"What do you mean we'll make it through this? What's happening?" When I turned to my left, my heart fluttered. It was Magdalene, giving me a warm look and holding my hand.

"Get ready. It's coming," Magdalene said, pulling her wand out, pointing it forward.

"What's coming?!"

The room drowned out with purple light as the window shattered. A monstrous bellow rattled the walls. A chill froze me to my core, and I-

-I shot up from the center of my bed, shivering from a cold sweat, even though my room was warm. My eyes were wide open. Everything was normal. No purple light anywhere, nor was anyone in my room.

"Daphne, are you still here?" I whispered to my closet, but there was no response. I took a deep breath, hoping to settle my imagination, which was ablaze with fear. I tried to lie back down, but it took forever to fall back asleep.

A cacophony of knocks came at my door.

"Who is it?" I grumbled

"It's all your friends!" Edna chimed.

"And your grandpa is here too, come on, Rollie, it's time for you to wake up!" my grandpa said.

I threw off the covers and joined my friends, who were all beaming. At first, I wasn't smiling, but their spirited joy was contagious. I almost forgot about my nightmare, but it still lingered in the back of my head like a guilty conscience.

We all went downstairs and chatted while the grown-ups took care of breakfast. We ate a quick meal in the dining room. Daphne was all smiles and carried on as if nothing happened the night before. There was no uncomfortable conversation from her parents or her uncle and cousin. Not an ounce of hostility or passive-aggressiveness was in the air. After we finished our meals of eggs, beans, black pudding (still wasn't my favorite), bacon, and pancakes, we went into the living room where the Christmas tree had a stack of gifts around it.

Daphne stood at the center of the presents. "It's customary in our home that the children receive the gifts, and the adults just sit back and enjoy. So without further adieu..." Daphne checked the first present at the top, a box wrapped in red and green. "This one's for Bran! Merry Christmas!" Daphne levitated the parcel over to Bran, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor. His face lit up like a firework as the box landed on his lap.

"Oh boy oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Merry Christmas! Thank you so much, Daphne, and Mr. and Mrs. Poisonwood!" Bran tore off the wrapping like a wild animal that just caught its prey. He held a cubed chest with glowing purple letters at the top that read, "Wizard's Labyrinth." Bran released a long-drawn-out (a stranger would find it fake, but it was sincere) gasp. "OH MY GOSH!" he screamed. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you so much!"

"What is that?" I asked.

"Rollie, you really need to get with the times. It's been the most popular magic game this holiday season! Although it's pretty expensive, it's a ton of fun, from what I've heard, and when I bring it to Hogwarts, watch out! I'm about to be the coolest kid in Hufflepuff."

"Ah, can't wait to play it." I smiled. I was relieved that Bran went first, so I could observe the norms of the gift exchange. For a moment, I worried that I would have to hug Mr. and Mrs. Poisonwood, but fortunately, it didn't appear to be the case.

"You know what, I feel bad, I've never given your parents a hug, and here they are buying gifts for me. Thank you again, Mr. and Mrs. Poisonwood!" Bran ran over and gave them a quick squeeze with his arms. Daphne's parents were relieved as soon as the awkward gesture finished.

"That's unnecessary but thank you. Merry Christmas, Bran," Mrs. Poisonwood said.

Edna was next to receive a gift, and she opened hers up and found a new Quidditch broom, the Firebolt Supreme. "Thank you so much, Poisonwood's!" Edna chimed.

"Whoa, that's quite the broom you got there," my grandpa said. "That's world-class quality!"

"You're welcome, Edna," Mrs. Poisonwood said.

Thank goodness, Edna didn't hug them. I wouldn't be alone.

Daphne unwrapped her present next, which turned out to be a case of rare ingredients for potion-making. Yawn. But Daphne grinned and hugged her parents with all her might.

"Rollie! This one's for you," Daphne floated a box over to me. It was wrapped in yellow and black Hufflepuff colors in a checkerboard pattern. My lips curved up, and I didn't even realize it. It was an unconscious smile. Tearing off the wrapping paper, all I saw was a black square. I held it up in the air and admired the gift as it unfolded. It was a leather jacket. On the back was a patch of the Hufflepuff crest, the badger in its standard pose. My face hurt from smiling.

"Rollie, don't be alarmed," Daphne said, "it's not an ordinary leather jacket. I got it imbued. It's supposed to protect you from dark magic. I mean, I wouldn't say it could completely defend against one of the three unforgivable curses. So don't go around thinking you're invincible, but it could deflect other, lesser spells, from what I'm told."

"Even if it was just a regular, old leather jacket, I'd still be thrilled. This is amazing. Thank you so much, Daphne, and Mr. and Mrs. Poisonwood."

"Merry Christmas," they both said.

Daphne came up to me, wrapped me up in a hug. Bran and Edna also joined in, nearly tackling both of us over.

Before my grandpa and I went back home, my friends and I went to the game room and played Wizard's Labyrinth, although none of us knew how to play except for Bran. He didn't have to read the rules.

"How do you know how the game works?" I asked.

Edna rolled her eyes. "Bran likes to think he knows all about every game that's on the market, even if he's never touched it."

"I just like to learn about games! What can I say? I keep myself up to date. So, the way you play this game is pretty straightforward. Each person is given three tries to finish the labyrinth." Bran opened up the chest, which shifted into a wooden dome with an entrance. "You can't see the puzzle, of course, but you have to have a wand and perform the spell luxino prement. You know, the one with the sparkling light shooting out from the tip?"

"Oh yeah, Johnny and Sable use that spell to mess with people," I said.

"Well, you're supposed to use that spell and shoot it at the entrance. From there, you can feel tugs on your wand if you're going the wrong way. You wanted to feel as smooth as possible. But then, some creatures block certain paths, and you have to battle them."

"What do you mean by, battle them?"

"Uh, here, I'll show you." Bran pulled out his wand and pointed it at the entrance of the dome on the table. "Luxino prement!" a crackling ball of light shot from the tip and flew inside the dome. "It slows down as soon as it enters the labyrinth. So far, so good..." Bran pointed his want to the left and right.

"I take it that's how you control it?" I asked.

"Yes, sir!" Bran grinned, and then his wand trembled. "I think I ran into an enemy!"

A tiny troll jumped out at the table and roared. It appeared far more aware and intelligent than the trolls I learned about.

"No need to panic!" Bran yelled. "Luxino prement!" Another sparkling light zapped out from the end of his wand, striking the troll, causing it to disappear. "Yahoo!" Bran jumped.

"Is that the end of the game?" I asked. Edna, Daphne, and I exchanged a wide-eyed stare.

"No, there's more to it than that. That was just the first enemy I came across!"

We all took turns playing. You lost your turn when the miniature troll jumped on your wand (which happened to me immediately). As soon as the little troll grabbed it, he disappeared, and I only had two more tries before the labyrinth dome opened up and revealed the rest of the puzzle.

"What's really amazing is that the puzzle is different every time!" Bran said. "And if you reached the end of the puzzle, a piece of candy shoots out from the entrance! Isn't that amazing?"

Edna, Daphne, and I weren't too impressed with the game, but we humored Bran, and we all knew that it would be a smash hit for the Hufflepuff common room.

***

The end of the holiday season came. Daphne turned in her application to a summer potions camp in time, and I went back to my grandpa's house. I enjoyed the peace, the quiet, and appreciated my grandpa's company. We had a pleasant New Year's Eve too, Bran, Edna, and Daphne came over, and we all had butterbeers until midnight. There was part of me that wanted to stay at my grandpa's, but I started thinking about coming back to school and setting my focus on Quidditch. Gryffindor would be our next opponent, and I couldn't wait.

When we all returned back to Hogwarts, it felt like coming back home. It was great to see the familiar and friendly faces of Hufflepuff once again. Wizard's Labyrinth captivated the boys' dormitory. Everyone was amazed that Bran got his hands on the game. Apparently, it was rare to find this holiday season and was on many kids' Christmas lists. Clark admitted to everyone he was one of those kids. I walked up to him as all the others in the dorm crowded around the game.

"Clark, how ya doing, chap?" I said as I patted him on the shoulder.

"Good, Rollie. How was your Christmas? I dig the leather jacket." Clark smiled.

"It was terrific. Did you get everything you wanted? Except for the game and a date?" I cracked up.

"Piss off, Rollie." He chuckled. "My turn is coming up in Wizard's Labyrinth, so excuse me."

"Hey, do you have our schedules for this semester?"

"Oh....uh... yeah, they're in my bag, actually. Buuuuuuut I was going to give them out tomorrow morning during breakfast."

Another kid Tommy overheard us. "Oh, come on, Clark, can we get 'em now?"

Clark sighed. "Fine! Just give me a second to dig them out." He stormed over to his chest below his bed and searched for his bag. When he grabbed it, he found everyone's schedule in our dormitory and handed them to each of us.

"Thanks, Clark," I said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just give them back to me when you're done so I can give 'em out at breakfast. You know, when you're supposed to get them."

Bran and I compared our schedules.

"Oh g-geez, I'm really sorry about that, Rollie." Bran gulped.

"No, this has to be a mistake or something. I have to get this figured out," I said. My blood ran cold, and I wanted to scream.

For the first class back for the semester, I had History of Magic. Taught by none other than Professor Hawthorne.