One of Harry Potter's Christmas gifts was, naturally, the Invisibility Cloak passed on by Dumbledore.
Harry read the note that came with the gift and could tell by its tone that it had been sent by Headmaster Dumbledore himself.
One has to admit, the Headmaster was indeed generous—after all, the Invisibility Cloak was one of the Deathly Hallows, and he just handed it over like that. Then again, he was also rather stingy, considering the cloak was actually a Potter family heirloom, not truly his personal gift.
When not worn, the Invisibility Cloak looked like a black scarf with faint silver patterns. Once it wrapped around someone, the person inside would become invisible to the outside world, though from within, they could still see out through the cloak.
At the moment, Harry's progress in the Sorcerer's Stone game was stuck at the name "Nicolas Flamel," and Dumbledore had conveniently sent him the Invisibility Cloak—it was clearly a nudge to get Harry to clear the stage soon.
The other gift, of course, was from Regulus Black, although it wasn't signed.
"Wow! This gift is amazing! Harry, hurry up and see what the other one is!"
Ron was already stunned by the Invisibility Cloak. The fact that Harry received such an incredible item while he only got a knitted sweater made him feel envy, jealousy, and resentment deep inside—but on the surface, he still had to be happy for Harry. After all, they were friends!
Harry set down the cloak and opened the second gift box.
It was a simple gift—a small wooden box containing an exposed music box mechanism. Harry turned the key on the side a few times, and a snippet of "Silent Night," the signature tune of Christmas, began to play.
"Music is one of the three earliest forms of art developed by humanity. Since dancing and painting aren't exactly gift-box-friendly, I'm giving you this handmade music box as a token of appreciation. Here's a little secret: there's an animal that gets sleepy when it hears music."
That was the cryptic message written on the card inside the box. Still, Harry understood that the music box had been handcrafted, making it a very sincere Christmas gift.
"What kind of animal gets sleepy from music?"
Ron read the card and was confused by the question at the end. Who sends a gift with a riddle attached? Could it be from a professor?
Harry didn't dwell on the question. Instead, he planned to sneak into the Restricted Section that very night.
Now that he had the Invisibility Cloak, it felt like a gift from the heavens—how could he not explore the mysterious Restricted Section?
At night, Hogwarts was especially quiet. Harry walked alone down the empty corridors, carrying a lantern—a lantern!
Pfft! Regulus Black, who was shadowing him using Disillusionment, could barely hold back his laughter.
A floating lantern gliding through a dark, empty corridor? There was no way that wouldn't draw attention.
The fact that Harry could venture around like this and still come through unscathed was simply unbelievable. A reckless kid like him should probably just get it over with and reincarnate early.
When Harry reached the library, he smoothly made his way into the Restricted Section. This was supposed to be off-limits to students, a place he'd normally only be able to peek at in secret. Yet tonight, it was like a sleeping beauty, legs wide open, inviting all comers to take whatever they pleased.
Of course, Regulus Black didn't believe any sleeping beauty would let someone climb on so easily. If he really encountered such a scene, he'd pull out his wand and cast a good old Stupefy, just to avoid any future entanglements after she woke up.
Was the library door not locked? Was the Restricted Section not secured? Didn't Madam Pince live in the library?
Never mind that Harry was the main character—there was an endless stream of things you could complain about in this whole process.
The light from the Restricted Section's lantern had reached deep inside, and Harry was searching aimlessly for what he needed. This kind of research was a massive workload. Did Dumbledore really intend for Harry to keep looking until the end of term?
Harry tossed aside both the Invisibility Cloak and his lantern and began looking for books starting with "Nicolas," completely unaware that right beneath the cloak was a copy of Detailed Explanation and History of Alchemy, the very book that held the answer he needed.
And just like that, Harry missed it.
The Invisibility Cloak once belonged to Ignotus Peverell, Harry's ancestor, and was one of the Deathly Hallows capable of rendering the wearer truly invisible.
It wasn't a regular cloak charmed with a Disillusionment Charm or made with magical misdirection or the hair of a Demiguise. Those would start turning visible over time. But Harry's Invisibility Cloak offered perfect, complete, and permanent invisibility—impervious to any counter-spell or magic, and immune even to summoning charms like Accio.
Originally, Harry preserved the cloak and planned to pass it down through generations.
But now, it had fallen into Regulus Black's hands. The moment he placed his hand on it, the Deathly Hallow was stored into his storage space. In its place, he left behind another cloak—woven with Demiguise hair and enchanted with powerful Disillusionment and misdirection charms.
Harry Potter was intently searching through books. After flipping through several volumes, he accidentally opened a book that sealed a ghostly creature.
A non-human wail echoed throughout the library, yet it didn't bring Madam Pince—it brought Filch.
"Who's there? Who's hiding over there? I saw you!"
Filch shouted menacingly as he cautiously approached. He knew full well that he was a Squib—if he ran into a troublesome student out for a night stroll who hit him with a spell, he'd have no way to defend himself.
Still, thanks to his naturally menacing appearance and the school's support, Filch always managed to catch students sneaking around at night.
Panicked, Harry quickly threw on the Invisibility Cloak, grabbed his lantern, and prepared to flee.
Good grief! The kid still refused to let go of the lantern?
Regulus Black found the situation incredibly frustrating. He had no choice but to step in and help the little savior.
With a silent, wandless cast, he used a "Waddiwasi" spell to shatter the lantern in Harry's hand.
Harry panicked but immediately discarded the broken pieces. Cloaked in the Invisibility Cloak, he quietly slipped out of the Restricted Section as silently as he could.
He must've bumped into a table just now! Still, it was a blessing the lantern got broken—otherwise, Filch would've caught him for sure.
Harry watched nervously as Filch passed right in front of him. He carefully avoided the obstacles in his path and managed to exit the library.
But just as he stepped out, he was spotted by Mrs. Norris. The flaw of the Invisibility Cloak was that it couldn't mask sound or scent—though for adult wizards, those issues could be fixed with a couple of spells.
Harry turned and sped away. After taking two sharp turns, he came across Professor Snape threatening Quirrell.
As he moved, even the faintest sound tipped Snape off. He reached out in Harry's direction, as if trying to grab something from thin air—of course, he caught nothing.
How strange. He could've sworn someone was behind him. But Snape shifted his attention back to Quirrell.
You had to admit—Voldemort was truly skilled at hiding. Even Snape, a former Death Eater, didn't sense anything suspicious despite standing so close to Quirrell.
"Professors! I found this in the Restricted Section. A student snuck in there!"
Filch held up the broken lantern and complained to the two professors. Hogwarts students were too troublesome—while catching them brought Filch joy, it was also a lot of effort. And failing to catch them was just disheartening.
Snape and Quirrell immediately set off to catch the student out after hours. Once the three of them had left, the door at the end of the corridor opened and closed by itself. Harry figured there was no hope of returning to his dorm tonight, so it was better to find a hiding spot for now.
Seeing the Invisibility Cloak carelessly thrown on the ground, the last bit of guilt Regulus Black had felt completely vanished.
Harry Potter deserved to have his cloak fall into Regulus's hands.
The place Harry had entered was a vacant room with only one thing inside—a massive mirror: the Mirror of Erised.
This mirror could not show the past, nor the future. It did not offer knowledge or truth.
But it could reveal a person's deepest desires, allowing the viewer to feel spiritually fulfilled and comforted.
However, those without self-control could easily become addicted to it—wasting away their time, or even going mad.
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