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The Nightmare Before Hogwarts

By: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J. K. Rowling. The Nightmare Before Christmas is the property of Touchstone/Disney and Tim Burton. Corpse Bride is also the property of Tim Burton and Warner Bros. Pictures. Beetlejuice is also property of Tim Burton. The Scooby-Doo series and related characters are the property of Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers.

Author note: Sorry it’s so late, I’ve had most of the chapter done just last part was a hang up but it’s done now and good news everyone! The next chapter has been started already. Just been crazy the last couple of months, I had a family member pass away from cancer (please everyone get yourself checked if you can) and we’re short two people at work. It bites but what can you do?

This chapter was betaed and edited by Werejaguar of Halloween Town and The Patient One.

Chapter 20

Vernon Dursley was not blind to what exactly went on in his own home. He would admit, if only to himself, that something strange was going on and he did not like it. However, he didn’t want to say it was magic; that "freakishness" was something he wanted to forget completely.

There was still that blasted dripping sound from his and Petunia's washroom. He had finally gotten so annoyed with it and with all the plumbers—every single one—claiming that there was no drip that he had finally grabbed his toolbox from the shed to attempt to fix it himself. The key word being "attempted;" Vernon had no handyman skills whatsoever, that’s what you pay people for, after all! So in his desperation to finally end that horrid dripping, he managed to rupture a pipe, damaging both the bath and the sink, and resulting in them calling back one of those dozen of plumbers to fix what Vernon had broken.

That had cost them quite a bit of money, money that had been saved specifically for Dudley’s Christmas gifts, which caused his dear Petunia to get rather annoyed with him for causing the incident in the first place. On the bright side, the dripping sound had finally stopped and Vernon felt vindicated… for all of two days before the sound came back even louder than before. And Petunia had been very clear that he was not to attempt looking for that blasted leak again...

Everything else, Vernon could easily explain away, and for things he couldn’t…well, he ignored them as if they didn’t happen. It helped that he spent most of his week at the office, darling Petunia was at the house all day long while Dudders was in school most of the day, and the boy was gone from their lives. And, of course, the other ladies of the neighborhood dropped in for a bit of tea and gossip with his wife.

Vernon harrumphed loudly to himself, the sound echoing in his office, as he thought about how all this had started when the boy up and disappeared at the start of the month. He couldn’t stand that freak boy anymore than he could his freak father, James Potter. He certainly didn’t hold the fact that Petunia had magical relatives against her, he didn’t when she first told him and he didn’t now; a decent person like his poor wife really couldn’t help who they were related to.

He remembered the night he met Potter and Petunia’s sister Lily in the restaurant, how he was made fun of, and how he and Petunia had stormed out. Well…at least that was how he remembered it anyway. Vernon had been so glad that he didn’t have anything to do with those people after his and Petunia’s wedding back in 1977. That was, of course, until Petunia’s nephew was dropped off on their doorstep in the early morning like a blasted milk delivery. Vernon hadn't wanted the boy in the house, even suggested they take the brat to the police station or an orphanage and wash their hands of the Potter spawn. But Petunia, bless her heart, insisted they had to keep him after reading the letter that that crackpot who called himself ‘Dumbdoor’ or was it 'Bumbleboor'...? Oh, some bloody rubbish like that, but nonetheless, the old crackpot had left it with the child. And really, his Petunia’s heart was so big she simply couldn’t throw out her sister’s only child even if he was a freak. How Vernon loved his sweet flower.

At first, everything was fine, no strange ‘magical’ things happened around the house, just the Potter boy crying at all hours. Petunia even suggested that the boy might not have any magic, she had heard that sometimes a perfectly normal person could be born from the freaks, which was fine with Vernon. But that went out the window a few days later when the boy made a jar of food float to him. After that, Vernon and Petunia had spent four years trying to stamp the magic out of the boy and make him normal. Now he was gone, either running away or taken back by those other freaks, and Vernon frankly didn’t care which as long as he didn’t come back.

Now all that was left was the problem of… whatever was going on in his home. Vernon tapped his fingers against the wooden surface of his solid oak desk as he puzzled it out. He didn’t like leaving Petunia by herself at home after she went through that strange episode, and he thought that being in the house by herself all day long might be part of the cause. After thinking about it for several minutes he smiled as an idea popped into his head, picking up the phone and dialing a number.

“Hello, Margie? How would you like to stay with us for the holidays?”

******

Harry let out a soft, melancholy sigh as he sat on top of Spiral Hill, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs as he looked out over the graveyard and the dark forest beyond. His Mummy, Daddy, and uncles had started talking about decorating their house for Christmas, all four of them very excited for the upcoming holiday and wanting to make it the best they could for Harry to make up for the years they missed while Harry was living with his aunt and uncle.

It wasn’t that Harry wasn’t excited about Christmas; just like Halloween, the very idea of it filled the young boy with childish excitement. He loved seeing and listening to the carolers that stood on street corners when he went into town with Aunt Petunia. He loved seeing the Christmas tree and all the decorations that the Dursley’s put up every year, loved listening to the specials on the telly as Dudley was forced to watch them by Aunt Petunia.

But while his parents and uncles rightfully suspected that Harry didn’t have any good experiences with Christmastime, the truth was worse than they thought. Petunia and Vernon made it clear almost every day that they really didn’t want Harry in their house, but kept him out of the ‘goodness’ of their hearts, and there was never a time of year that made that more obvious for Harry than Christmastime. He never got any real gifts, mostly pieces of trash if the Dursleys thought of him at all, while Dudley got mounds upon mounds of presents. Harry never got to enjoy Christmas dinner or sweets, spending the day stuffed in his cupboard and listening as his relatives loudly enjoyed themselves. And Dudley always made sure to tell him that Father Christmas would never visit or leave Harry any gifts because freaks didn’t get gifts from Santa.

So Harry was a bit conflicted on how to feel about all of it. He knew that the dark memories of Christmases past were only memories; his parents and uncles would show him what a good Christmas was like and he’d never have a bad one again. But without any good memories of it, he couldn’t help but think of the bad whenever the word ‘Christmas’ crossed his mind.

Lost in reflections as he was, he didn’t realize he had company until Mr. Bitey, who sat ever loyally by Harry’s side, gave a little rumbling growl, followed shortly by Jack’s voice.

“Harry?” he asked, looking down at him with curiosity and concern clear in his eye sockets. “What are you doing out here by yourself? You know I saw your friends in the town square earlier, why aren’t you playing with them?”

Harry gave a small shrug of his shoulders, his grip tightening around his legs and his gaze never wavering from the forest.

“Didn’t feel like it,” he mumbled.

Jack frowned; something was definitely the matter. He moved to sit down beside the young wizard, his long legs stretching out and hanging off the side of the peak.

“What’s wrong?” Jack inquired, gently ruffling the boy’s hair with a bony hand before resting it on his shoulder. Harry’s silence continued for another moment or two before he spoke again.

“Mummy and Daddy were talking about Christmas,” he said.

At those words, a grin stretched out over Jack’s face; even now, Christmas still fascinated him. The holiday was just so different from Halloween, and although he had sworn upon his honor as Pumpkin King to never again meddle in Sandy—uhh…Santa’s holiday nor any of the other holidays, the whole town still enjoyed the snow that would now grace their world thanks to Santa’s magic every winter. Other monsters had their own fascination, but Jack was always the most dedicated; he would set up a small Christmas tree and hang a few stockings in his home. Sally indulged him in his habits, always getting him the most horrible gifts, and cheekily hanging mistletoe; that Christmas was also their anniversary was simply the topper on the tree. And hearing that the Potters would be celebrating it just as exuberantly made him even more excited.

“But that’s wonderful!” Jack exclaimed. His excitement was fast to fade as Harry just slightly shrugged again. “But…you don’t think so, now do you?”

“I… well… I do like Christmas, I mean… I never really got to do anything for Christmas. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told me bad little freaks like me don’t get to enjoy Christmas like normal people,” Harry whispered softly. “But I love the songs and listening to the movies on the telly. And I always loved seeing the Christmas tree with all of Dudley’s presents under it, but they didn’t let me join them... I was always in my cupboard and… I don’t think Santa would ever want to visit me.” Harry said the last part in a whisper, the idea of Father Christmas was fascinating and magical to Harry, and to the tiny five-year-old it was heartbreaking that he may never get any gifts from the jolly old man.

“Nonsense! Why wouldn’t Santa want to come visit you and leave you some splendid toys?” Jack exclaimed. He thought Harry was a perfectly wonderful little boy, and quite enjoyed the boy’s company as well as the new friends he made with Harry’s parents and uncles. The ‘Sandy Claws’ he knew would love Harry as well, he just knew it, and would leave all sort of wondrous toys for the tiny wizard.

“D-dudley said… He said Santa doesn’t visit freaks like me,” Harry stutteringly whispered, rubbing his nose against his sleeve with a sniffle.

Jack frowned, his already subterranean opinion of Harry’s obnoxious relatives sinking even more and making him regret allowing James dibs on haunting his in-laws.

The Pumpkin King still held out hope that James would let him and the other citizens of Halloween Town do a little scaring of their own. Most everyone in town loved the Potters, having welcomed them with opened arms, and Harry fit right in with the other monster kids. And the more tidbits that circulated through the town’s gossip circles of what sweet little Harry’s former life was like, with an unfortunate majority being accurate, the more that they wanted a piece of the Dursleys as well…

“Well, I’ll have you know that that just isn’t true,” Jack said, giving a reassuring tap to the boy’s nose before gently tipping up Harry’s chin with long bony fingers, and looking him straight in those green eyes. “Now, Harry, being a freak isn’t a bad thing, but you certainly are not a freak in the way your cousin or anyone else called you. Besides, Sandy Claws wouldn’t dream of skipping out on visiting you, he loves all good little children!”

“Really?” Harry asked, hopefully.

“Of course!” Jack said, a grin spreading across his face as he got a wonderful idea! “In fact, why don’t you ask him yourself! We can pop over to Christmas Town and visit old Sandy Claws.”

Harry’s green eyes widen and he gasped.

“Can I really meet Santa?” he whispered, that was something he had dreamed of ever since Jack told him Santa was really real. Then he remembered something: his Mummy always told him he couldn’t go anywhere without asking her or daddy first, for his safety.

“I need to ask Mummy first,” he said shyly.

“Ah… yes… that’s probably a good idea,” Jack agreed, sheepishly grinning as he realized his mistake. There he went again, so eager to dive headfirst into a new idea. He didn’t fancy upsetting Lily in any form; she was getting better with her abilities and to be frank, he would rather Oogie came back again than be on the receiving end of her voice as it screeched in anger.

“Well, let’s go then!” Jack shot up, scooping Harry up, and setting the giggling boy on his rather broad shoulders without a hitch. He snagged Mr. Bitey and handed the stuffed toy to Harry before taking off down Spiral Hill, his own excited long-legged stride practically dashing them back to town with Harry laughing all the way.

****


“You want to take Harry where?” Lily asked after Jack made his request.

“Christmas Town,” Jack repeated. “To meet Sandy Claws.”

As soon as they returned to the Potter home, Jack and Harry had located the adults in Harry’s life in a room that had been set up as a study. James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius had been pouring over ancient tomes and scrolls in an effort to discover what the dark spot of magic was that was centered on Harry’s iconic scar. Remus had taken Harry into the other room to get a snack while Jack spoke to the other adults.

“Why?” James asked next. The very idea that holidays were real places put together by real individuals, be they monsters or something else, was something Lily and the three Marauders had quickly gotten used to, which wasn't too surprising since they now lived in Halloween Town. But to visit other holiday worlds? That Santa, the Easter Bunny, and who knew who else was real? It still boggled Lily’s mind at times.

With a sigh, Jack recounted what Harry had told him in the graveyard. Sirius growled in anger as he was reminded the sort of people Harry lived with for a few short years, they were just as bad as his own parents!


“And if I know Sandy Claws as well as I do then I know he’d love to meet Harry,” Jack concluded.

“Well…” Lily and James looked at each other, neither really wanted to send Harry anywhere outside of Halloween Town, even if it was with Jack. Nothing against the Pumpkin King, of course, but the two ghostly parents were just very protective over their only living child.

“I mean… it would make Harry happy, but…” Lily started saying.

“We don’t want to send him off without someone with him,” James finished. “For our own peace of mind.”


“I’ll go with them,” Sirius quickly offered. He needed a break from all the books, reading over the dark spells and rituals within the tomes reminded him too much of his early childhood. Granted, he would push on if it meant helping his god-pup, but Merlin, it was taking a toll on his mind and soul to read some of it, and they were still no closer to finding what was attached to Harry. The books and scrolls they had didn’t seem to have what they needed, but there were other books out there they could look into.

Sirius thought their best bet might be the Black family library in his childhood home of 12 Grimmauld Place, the very ancestral home of the Blacks located in the Borough of Islington. Sirius had always found it funny that as anti-muggle as the majority of his family was, the main home of the Blacks was located in a purely muggle neighborhood. Apparently, from how the family tale went, one of his ancestors fell in love with the house, which had reportedly been very beautiful back then, and had acquired it from the original muggle owners before slapping all sorts of spells on the house to make it both a proper wizarding home and to hide it from the other people that lived in the area.

Inside the house was the family library, an extensive collection of tomes and scrolls of the darkest of arts that would make even the snootiest Dark Pureblood families salivate like a starving jackal. Sirius had learned from Remus that his mother, Walburga Black, had kicked the bucket earlier in the year. Unless his grandfather Arcturus decided to move in or give the house to someone else, that would leave Grimmauld Place empty except for whatever House Elves were still there. Sirius doubted that either was the case; his grandfather had his own home and the old man wouldn’t let any of the off branches take the house as long as the main branch still continued on in Sirius.

That was, of course, if Sirius was still heir of the Black name, and Sirius neither knew nor honestly cared; the only thing that could make him return to that house at this point was seeing whether the library could be of any help in their research.

But back on the subject at hand…

“Are you sure, Paddy?” James asked. Sirius had made leaps and bounds in his recovery in the short time since they busted him out of Azkaban thanks to a combination of Lily’s healing potions, rest, being away from the Dementors, and being surrounded by his chosen family, but Sirius was still had a long way from fully recovered from all the abuse his body, mind, and soul had endured.

“Yeah,” Sirius said with a nod. “I’ve been mostly cooped up in the house and need some fresh air. Plus, I’m curious to see what this ‘Christmas Town’ looks like so I’d be more than happy to go with the pup.”

Lily sighed, shared a look with her husband, and then finally nodded her head in agreement.

“Alright. Yes, Jack, you can take Harry to see Father Christmas as long as Sirius goes too,” she said. Jack grinned and clasped his bony hands together in excitement, his sockets seemingly gleaming with anticipation.

“Splendid!” he rejoiced.

“But!” Lily continued, holding up a finger in the air and giving both Jack and Sirius a very stern look. “You two better not let anything happen to my baby. And I want you both to wait until tomorrow, head out in the morning. If Harry is going to the North Pole, I want to make sure he has clothing warm enough to keep him from getting cold.”

“Of course, of course,” Jack agreed. “I will drop by in the morning then.” He was eager to rush home to tell Sally of his upcoming adventure and to plan. Once Jack was gone, both of the Potters turned to look at Sirius.

“I mean it, Sirius, keep Harry safe,” Lily said with James nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, Padfoot,” he said. Sirius’s lips quirked slightly but had a determined, serious look in his gray eyes.

“Hey, I let all three of you down once before. It’ll never happen again,” he swore and he meant it.

“Alright…” James said, believing his brother-by-choice. “Let’s get through a few more of the books and then call it a day.” A groan escaped Sirius, but he still sat and pulled the tome he had been reading before, trying to block out the gruesome details of the ritual on the page as he looked for clues on what was attached to the pup.

*****

Harry was so excited about the upcoming visit to Santa that Lily and James had trouble in getting their son to sleep that night. Worried that Harry would be too tired and cranky to enjoy the rare experience, they finally resorted to giving Harry a warm glass of milk that was spiked with just the tiniest bit of children’s sleeping draught, just enough to send the tiny wizard to sleep but not enough to make him groggy in the morning. Sirius was also excited about the trip, he had learned a bit about the muggle idea of Christmas, that Jesus fellow and Father Christmas, from both watching their muggle neighbors and talking to his muggleborn classmates once he started Hogwarts. Well, one of his housemates had been Jewish and had celebrated Hanukkah instead which was equally as fascinating to the pureblooded wizard, but that was neither here nor there.

The point was, Christmas was completely different from Yuletide, which was what most old wizarding families celebrated. Although Sirius knew Christmas had some roots in the much older holiday it was different, and most of his family hated it. Naturally, that alone made it so much more appealing to Sirius and he couldn’t wait to see what a whole world dedicated to the holiday looked like.

The next morning, Harry was up and nearly bouncing in his seat as he devoured his pancakes his Mummy made. He was going to meet Santa! Not even Dudley could say that.

“You ready to meet Santa, Pup?” Sirius asked grinning just as widely as his godson. Harry eagerly nodded and bounced.

“Uh-huh,” Harry said once he had swallowed down the mouthful of pancake. “I even drew him a picture.” Harry eagerly held up the drawing he had made for Santa the night before, of Santa in his sleigh with bunch of reindeer, at least one with a big red nose that was meant to be Rudolph. Harry didn’t think Santa got very many drawings and hoped he would like Harry’s.

“That’s great, Prongslet,” Sirius said with a serious nod. “You really captured Santa’s likeness.”

“Do… do you think he’ll like it?” Harry asked softly as he was hit with a bout of shyness.

“He’ll love it,” James said as he picked Harry up and held his son close. “Come on, Jack will be here soon and we need to get you all cleaned up and dressed. Mummy can put that in a nice envelope for you.”

Harry turned and carefully handed the drawing over to Lily.

“Of course I will,” she agreed, watching James carry Harry upstairs then shaking her head fondly. “I love seeing him so excited,” she said as she grabbed a piece of parchment and transfigured it into a nice envelope decorated with little Christmas bells and holly around the border, tucking the drawing inside carefully then sealing it close.

“Yeah, all kids are excited to see Santa, aren’t they?” Sirius asked. Remus snorted into his morning hot chocolate and gave Sirius a tired look.

“As if you aren’t excited too,” he said. “You’re like a big kid waiting in line at the mall.” Sirius’s response was to stick his tongue out at Remus making the werewolf chuckle in amusement. At that time they heard a vehicle pull up outside followed soon after by a knock at the door.

“Hello? Is everyone up?” Jack asked as he poked his head through the open door. Lily leaned out the doorway and waved.

“Good morning, Jack,” she greeted. “Harry will be down in a moment.” There was rattling around in the kitchen as Sirius jumped up and started grabbing the things that Lily and James had put out for the trip.

“Uncle Jack!” Harry called as jumped down the stairs and ran over to the willowy skeleton, hugging one bony leg.

“Ready to see Sandy Claws?” Jack asked as he ruffled Harry’s fluffy, messy hair.

“Uh-huh!” Harry said with eager, excited nodding. “Are we going now?”

“Of course, if you have everything,” Jack said.

“We do,” Sirius said as he joined them, holding a backpack with a change of warm clothing, snacks, a camera, and Mr. Bitey on top, his head sticking out of the hole.

“What about my picture for Santa?” Harry asked as he sat down and started pulling his shoes on.

“Don’t worry, Pup, Lily put in it in the front,” Sirius assured his godson while pointing at the pocket. Harry gave a little cheer then held out his hands.

“I wanna carry it,” he said looking at the bag.

“Okay, Pup,” Sirius said laughing as he had Harry turn around and carefully slip the straps over tiny, bony shoulders. Mr. Bitey gave a content rumble in Harry’s ear making the boy giggle. “But if it’s too heavy, let me know.” Sirius said even as he cast a quick feather-light charm on the backpack. Lily and James joined them, Lily kneeling in front of Harry.

“Now be good for your uncle Jack and Sirius, Baby,” Lily said as she ran her cold fingers through Harry’s hair in an attempt to straighten the messy locks. “You listen to them.”

“Yes, Mummy,” Harry promised.

“Just have fun, Prongslet,” James said laughing then whispered in Harry’s ear. “And don’t be afraid to get into a little trouble.” Lily, who heard him, gave a mock sound of outrage as she smacked James’s arm who just chuckled and shrugged her off.

“Alright, Pup, let’s go,” Sirius said as he took Harry’s hand leading his godson toward the door where Jack was waiting. Harry turned and waved to Remus with his free hand.

“Bye, Uncle Moony!” He called. Remus smiled from where he was leaning against the door frame into the kitchen and waved back.

“Have a good time, Harry,” he called back. Harry and Sirius followed Jack outside where the two wizard’s gasp.

“Is that a car?” Sirius asked.

“It’s the Mayor-mobile,” Jack said as he opened the passenger side door and waved a bony hand for the other two to enter. “The Mayor agreed to lend it to us for the day.” Harry eagerly climbed in and sat in the middle, shrugging off the backpack and removing Mr. Bitey from the bag so he could sit in his owner’s lap.

“It’s very… spooky,” Sirius said laughing as he got in behind Harry. He didn’t think it held a candle to his beloved bike. Speaking of, he needed to see what happened to it. Did Hagrid still have his bike?

Jack just gave that old skeleton grin at the words, letting the door slam shut then leaping over the top to get into the driver’s side. It was a bit of a tight fit with Jack’s long limbs but he made it work for him as he started the Mayor-mobile and drove it toward the city gate.

“Mornin’ Guvnor,” the Crow gate keeper cawed out as he opened the gate, the twisted black metal rising up on squeaky hinges. The top of the Mayor-mobile just barely cleared the sharp spikes at the bottom of the gate though the large black and white striped mega-phone attached to the top did rattle and gained a new dent as it smacked into one.

“So, not complaining or anything, but I’m curious to why we’re taking a car,” Sirius commented as they drove through the graveyard, past Oogie’s old tree where the terror trio still lived in the tree house and toward the dark forest beyond with the towering black trees.

“I found the way to Christmas Town quite by accident, many many years ago,” Jack explained as he drove around a sharp turn on the path by the pumpkin patch. “After our yearly Halloween celebration. I was a bit burnt out on the same thing year after year and I wanted something fresh but I didn’t know what at the time. So I thought a walk through the Hinterlands would clear my skull.” (1)

“Did it work?” Sirius asked.

“Ehhh…” Jack rocked his hand in a ‘so-so’ motion then sighed. “Not as I wished but when I came on the doors… well, you’ll see.” Jack grinned at his companions as they came up on the forest.

Sirius swallowed heavily as he gazed at the Hinterlands, the tall dark trees seeming to rise higher and higher as they came to the entrance. His mind flashed back to the Dark Forest that surrounded Hogwarts, filled with dark twisted trees and thick undergrowth hiding all manner of creatures both light and dark, and he couldn’t help but wonder what he’d find inside.

As the Mayor-mobile crossed the treeline, the sunlight drastically lessened, and Sirius’s vision went dark for a moment. Harry was much the same, rubbing at his eyes at the sudden change. When their vision adjusted to the forest’s light, Harry gasped softly and looked around with awe while Sirius found he was both right… and wrong about what the forest would look like.

It was filled with twisted dark trees, all of them bare of any leaves which made them look almost dead. But there was no undergrowth, no other plant life at all not even a dead blade of grass. The ground was black and bare as if life was burned away from all of it. There was no living thing around them for miles and honestly, with the sunlight filtering through the treetops, it wasn’t altogether that scary looking. Sirius, after a moment of thought, quickly changed his mind as he studied one of the larger trees that they passed, the limbs outstretched in all directions like bony fingers reaching out to grab you and large jagged holes in the trunk that looked like eyes and a mouth, during the day it almost looked silly but in the dark of the night, maybe a little fog covering the ground… yeah, that could scare someone.

“That one looks like Mr. Hang tree!” Harry said with a laugh as he pointed at the same tree Sirius was looking at.

“That it does!” Jack agreed with a glance. “It might be the Hangman’s Tree relative.”

There honestly wasn’t too much more to see after that, it was just more dead trees and blackened ground which quickly lost its charm and the ability to hold Harry or Sirius’s interest. Thankfully there was a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard /inside the backpack, so Sirius read out loud /The Wizard and the Hopping Pot and The Fountain of Fair Fortune to both Harry and an entertained Jack.

It had taken all night for Jack to walk these same woods those several years ago to find the special grove of trees, and while he had since learned the way, it was still much quicker thanks to the Mayor’s automobile. Sirius was halfway through Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump when the car came to a stop and Jack cheerfully announced,

“We’ve arrived!”

Harry and Sirius looked out in front of them toward the group of trees that Jack motioned to with a wave of his hand. Seven trees stood out from the rest of the forest, grouped together in a very close circle and standing straight unlike the twisted woods around them.

“Wow…” Harry whispered as he quickly followed Jack out of the driver’s side of the door, Mr. Bitey clutched in one hand. Sirius climbed out the other door, absently slipping the book he had been reading back into the backpack that hung from his other hand, as he gazed at the trees.

“This is how we go to see Santa?” Sirius asked as he followed Jack, Harry running ahead of them into grouping of trees.

“Of course!” Jack said. “Each one contains a door that leads to a different holiday world, it’s the fastest way to get to Christmas Town.”

“Uncle Jack, Mr. Padfoot! This is so cool!” Harry said he stood in the middle of the grove slowly turning in a circle, even Sirius was awed and impressed as he joined his godson taking in the sight before him.

There were seven trees altogether, each adorned with a door shaped to represent their holiday. Sirius recognized most of them immediately; the Jack-O’-Lantern was obviously Halloween, the giant heart had to be Valentine’s Day, and the one shaped like a four-leaf clover was St. Patrick’s Day, a muggle holiday that the yanks across the pond started but was so much fun and pissed so many uppity purebloods off that Sirius loved it too. Then there was one that looked like a giant painted egg. Sirius knew had to do something with Easter, Lily and other Muggleborn and Half Blood housemates explained that for Muggles it had to do something with that Jesus bloke and something to do with a rabbit. What a rabbit had to do with anything, Sirius had no idea; he may not have shared his family’s view of Muggles, but he had always thought that they had some strange ideas. Easter for him was simply the end of Holy Week and a week where they had a break in school.

The next two doors were even more confusing for Sirius. One resembled a turkey, for which he could only draw up some vague thoughts of the Americans in the United States and Canada having some sort of holiday with birds? The other was a giant firecracker, and that could be anything, they were used in a lot of different holidays. (2)

The seventh door, of course, was the real star of the show, it was a beautifully decorated door made up to look like a Christmas Tree. Beneath the door sat a couple of presents wrapped in bright paper and topped with bows.

“Pretty…” Harry said, his eyes glued onto the door.

“It certainly is,” Jack agreed. “One we open this door, we’ll be taken to Christmas Town. It’s quite a trip.”

“Let me get the pup dressed before we start doing that,” Sirius said as he knelt down and opened the bag wide, pulling out the thick children’s winter robes that Remus ever so helpfully went to the human world to buy for them: gloves, hat, and scarf all in Gryffindor colors. Harry obediently put the items on, marveling at how warm and soft the robes were; Dudley’s old jumpers and jackets that he got in past winters were so threadbare that it was a wonder Harry never got frostbite.

Sirius grabbed Mr. Bitey, who growled and took a swipe at him, and stuffed him into the backpack; the two of them still didn’t get along.

“You can stay there for now, you little menace,” Sirius said with a smirk as he zipped the bag up to the toy’s neck, Mr. Bitey growling at Sirius once again but unable to do more as he was trapped in the bag. Sirius slipped the straps of the bag over Harry’s tiny, bony shoulders then stood, taking Harry’s hand in his own.

“Lead on, bone-man,” Sirius said cheerfully. Jack grinned, anticipating his return to Christmas Town and the other two reactions to it. He reached over and turned the ornament-shaped knob on the Christmas door, the shiny surface reflecting the sun as the door swung open on quiet hinges. Harry eagerly looked inside the tree…and then pouted a bit, looking up at Jack in confusion.

“There’s nothing there?” he asked softly. Jack tapped Harry’s nose gently.

“Just wait,” he said with promise in his voice. Sirius wasn’t immediately put off by the seemingly empty space, he knew of all of the magical ways to travel. He wondered if the tree was something like a vanishing cabinet.

“Do we just step in?” he asked Jack. The skeleton did not reply; a chill suddenly drifted through the door, little white snowflakes drifting along the breeze. Both humans gave a little shiver at the cold and Sirius quickly cast a warming charm on top of Harry’s winter robes as well on himself. Jack just grinned very widely knowing what was coming next, remembering this part very well. The wind picked up and seem to wrap around the trio like a physical limb, plucking them off the ground and pulling them inside the tree.

Sirius went first, the wizard yelping in surprise, followed by Harry whom he grabbed and held close to his chest as they seemed to spiral down into the darkness surrounded by snow. Jack was the last to enter, and the Christmas Tree-shaped door slammed shut behind him. Harry shrieked with laughter, mingling with Jack’s cackling laughs and Sirius yelps. They seem to spiral faster and faster, no end in sight and Sirius wondered if they would be stuck there forever when his vision was filled with a bright flash of light!

Sirius suddenly found himself sitting on top of a hill, the biting chill of the snow under him seeping into his robes. He felt a little dizzy after that trip and pressed one hand to his head; portkeys and the floo weren’t half as disorienting.

“What was that!?” he asked.

“That was fun!” Harry said his little face flushed with excitement. “Can we do it again?”

“It was fun, wasn’t it,” Jack agreed, helping Sirius up with a surprisingly strong grip. “Harry, Sirius, welcome to Christmas Town!” Jack waved his hand toward the bright, bustling town below them. Sirius’s breath caught in his throat while Harry whispered an awe-filled “wow…”, his green eyes wide with childish wonder. It… was… beautiful…

The land all around them was covered in a thick blanket of snow and the moon above them washed the land in a silvery light. The houses in the town looked like gingerbread houses from this distance, covered in bright twinkling Christmas tree lights. A gargantuan Christmas tree stood in the center of the town, bigger than any Sirius had seen at Hogwarts during his school years. Harry’s eyes were drawn to the carousel, wanting so badly to ride it. They could see all sorts of little figures running around the busy town, no doubt Elves getting ready for their upcoming holiday.

And there, in the little of all the hustle and bustle, stood a large figure dressed all in red with a long, fluffy white beard, cheeks a cherry-red and a warm booming laugh of “Ho-Ho-Ho!”

“Santa…” Harry whispered in awe.

****

(1) Far as I can remember the woods called this during the film but are in the various games.

(2) I realized while checking on which doors are in the trees, they’re all US holidays, at least one has got to be confusing to Sirius as Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday he would have celebrated in the wizarding or muggle world.