The girls woke up, each finding a present on their nightstand.

Amelia and Isabell barged into Olivia’s room, making her jolt awake. She dabbed her eyes and looked at them absently. 

‘Wha-’

‘Presents! Come on!’ Isabell said excitedly. 

Amelia started ripping off the blue wrappings of her present - which had eagles and golden snitches covering it - to find some cauldron cakes and a small moving statue of Amelia holding a blue flag that had the Ravenclaw house on it from Isabell. Amelia got a book with the title: Top Tips on How to Treat Your Broom! from Olivia, which had a Bulgarian Quidditch player with her broom on the cover page. 

‘Thanks!’

Isabell was holding her present in her hand and- after Amelia had opened her present- she removed the blue wrapping paper on it. The wrappings had small faces of Isabell, smiling toothily. Isabell dug her nose into the box to find a frozen chocolate sculpture of her. The sculpture started moving when Isabell placed it on the bed. It waved at her. Isabell looked at the sculpture, amused. The miniature chocolate self of Isabell was Amelia’s gift. 

‘Hope I don’t eventually eat that,’ Isabell said. 

Amelia grinned. The second gift in the present box was a book titled: The Wizarding World’s Way of Creating Exotic Chocolates from Olivia. 

‘I’ll ask my mum to try a recipe from here,’ Isabell said, quickly scanning through the book. 

Olivia took her present box from the nightstand next to her and separated the wrappings (which were red and had several wands and books on it) from the present box and she found the following: some chocolate frogs and a marble statue of Olivia, a badge on her school cloak. Olivia smiled at it. She looked at Isabell, who nodded as if to say that those gifts were from her. She also found some quills with red feathers on them and a single parchment from Amelia.

‘It isn’t much, but I thought that you might need those quills for school and outside school,’ Amelia said as Olivia closely examined the red quills. 

‘They’re perfect!’ Olivia said, making both Amelia and Isabell relieved.  

Olivia spotted something different in the room. There were different clothes hung up on the doorknob.

‘Oh, yeah, mum said we would have different clothes today,’ Isabell said, realising why there were different clothes. 

Amelia and Isabell got out of Olivia’s room to try on their clothes and closed the door behind them quietly.  

Olivia wore a red dress, its skirt reaching till her feet. The skirt was an accordion, and had two green stripes at the end. The dress’ bodice was keyhole, while the red dress’ sleeves were angle sleeves that had two green stripes at the end. Olivia let her hair loose. Her feet were fitted with high-sole Mary Jane shoes. 

Isabell was also wearing a dress that reached till her feet. It was sapphire blue. The dress had a box pleated skirt - with a white line on the end - and a halter bodice. There were no sleeves, but Isabell was wearing pure white gloves that reached just under her elbows. Isabell’s hair was loosened. In addition, she wore blue wedge shoes on her feet. 

Amelia, on the other hand, was wearing a dress that reached under her waist and above her knees. The mint green dress’ skirt was a-line and the bodice was high collar. Amelia was wearing white tights and mint green ankle boots that matched the colour of her dress, which also had long fitted sleeves. Amelia’s hair was smoothened and loose, reaching her neck. 

Amelia went down the stairs to find Olivia and Isabell having a light hearted conversation in the living room, which remained as it was since last night. 

‘Oh, hey, Amelia,’ Isabell said when Amelia had sat on the sofa opposite them. 

Amelia waved at them and looked out the window, almost daydreaming until Isabell had interrupted her thoughts. 

‘So, my parents are preparing the dining room right now. And my mum set me on a mission…’ Isabell said, speaking darkly within the last sentence. 

Amelia and Olivia eyed each other concernedly. 

‘My mission… is to wake Ivan up.’ 

‘I thought you were going to say that your mission has to do with risking your life to everyone,’ Olivia said, rolling her eyes. 

‘How’s waking up a five year old considered a mission, anyway?’ Amelia asked, surprised. 

‘This isn’t an ordinary five year old. He never wakes up. He only wakes up when he feels like it.’ 

They all went up the blue stairs and Isabell quietly opened the door of Ivan’s room to find him on the bed, without a blanket on his body. He was sleeping in a way so that his face was dug inside the pillow and his rear end was sticking out. Ivan was snoring loudly. Olivia and Amelia held their laughter when they entered the room, though they had trouble doing so.  

‘Oi, wake up!’ Isabell yelled at Ivan, who didn’t make a move, though he continued snoring loudly like before. 

Isabell removed her right glove and slapped it on Ivan’s bum, who still didn’t move an inch. 

‘Isabell, Isabell, Isabell, watch the expert… well, I’m not really an expert,’ Amelia said, approaching Ivan. 

She quietly whispered in his ear:

‘Come on, Ivan. Your present is here…’

Ivan woke up immediately, looking around for a present in sight. He saw the one on his nightstand and snatched it, without even looking at any of the girls. A stuffed toy niffler was inside the present box, which had been wrapped blue with some white stars. Ivan squeezed his new stuffed toy and finally looked at the girls. 

‘Are you all gonna go to a wedding?’ Ivan asked.

‘How does he even know what a wedding is?’ Olivia queried, surprised. 

‘Mum and dad cover the whole place with their wedding photos,’ Isabell replied, answering Olivia’s question. 

‘Ivan, your clothes,’ she added, pointing at some clothes set for Ivan, who moaned loudly and walked towards them, shuffling his feet on the blue fur rug. 

Olivia wanted to go get something from her room, so she walked towards it and gently opened the door to find a barn owl. The barn owl was unusually big, and it was standing on top of a present box that was almost the same size as it was, possibly even bigger. 

‘How’d you come here…’ Olivia said quietly as she approached the owl, which hopped off the wrapped present. 

The owl nibbled on the wrapping of the present to tell Olivia to open it, and she did. A piece of parchment slipped off to the ground when Olivia ripped off the red wrappings. Olivia read the parchment:

First of all, I’m sorry about what I’ve done. Second of all… Merry Christmas, Olivia. I know that you, Amelia and Isabell don’t intend to see me ever again, and I don’t know why I started hanging out with Levi, Leo and that Beatrix Elora girl in the first place. All I wished for in Christmas was for everything to be back to normal… hopefully you understand… right?

Sincerely,

Albert Brian Foxglove.

Olivia closed the parchment and crumbled it so that it looked like a sphere. Olivia threw it towards a trash bin and that parchment went inside, causing a small thud! 

‘Olivia!’ Amelia’s voice called out. 

Amelia entered the room and saw Olivia, the barn owl and the box. Olivia looked at the trash bin and Amelia looked inside to see a single crumpled piece of parchment lying there. Amelia reached for it and uncrumbled it then scanned through it, her face changing as she read it. 

‘“Don’t know why I started hanging out with Levi, Leo and that Elora girl,” what a classic lie to write down,’ Amelia said, crumbling the parchment again and throwing it towards the bin, so that the parchment landed perfectly in it. ‘And he wasted his Christmas wish. Nothing will go back to normal.’ 

Amelia exited the room, trying not to show any anger. Olivia went straight to the box after Amelia got out. She opened the lid to find a colour changing ball.

‘Seriously, Albert?’ Olivia muttered as she threw the ball into the bin.

She quickly exited the room, and what she didn’t notice was that the ball was getting bigger…

Isabell went downstairs, spotting Mrs. Bluesky on the couch. Mrs. Bluesky was camouflaged, and blending in with the blue couch as it was the same colour as her dress. Mrs. Bluesky was wearing formal Christmas clothing: a blue tulip skirt that reached above her knees. She was wearing white tights and blue ballerina flats. She was wearing a blue blazer jacket, which was a slightly darker shade than her skirt and bodice. 

A moment later, Mr. Bluesky came down the stairs, wearing a dark blue cloak and wizard’s hat. He put his wand in his cloak’s pocket and put on a silver watch. He waved at them and exited through the blue door, which let in a cold breeze that made Isabell shiver. Mrs. Bluesky handed Isabell a white fur jacket and placed it on her shoulders. Ivan ran down the stairs so fast that they could only see a blur. He rushed to the Christmas tree and looked through the presents to check which ones belonged to him.

‘Ivan, no!’ Mrs. Blusky shouted, running over to Ivan and pulling him by the collar of his shirt.

‘But, mommy! I wanna see my presents!’

‘Isn’t it enough that you got a niffler toy?’

‘I WANT MORE!’ 

‘Ivan! Don’t you dare shout at me!’

Olivia and Amelia watched the shouting match between Ivan and his mother, which didn’t last long. Ivan was defeated easily, and he collapsed on the sofa, crossing his arms furiously. 

‘Isabell wasn’t like this when she was your age, Ivan!’ Mrs. Bluesky huffed as she sat next to him on the sofa.

Isabell grinned at Ivan, who wanted to hit her badly, but didn’t since his mother was watching him closely. 

‘Mum, what’s dad doing outside?’ 

‘Ah, something that isn’t currently your business, nor your friends or brother’s, either.’ 

They all stayed quiet at Mrs. Bluesky’s answer. Mrs. Bluesky got up to get the breakfast that she had already prepared in the kitchen. Amelia volunteered to help and followed Mrs. Bluesky in the kitchen, leaving Isabell, Ivan and Olivia in the living room. 

They heard an immense pop! It seemed to have come from Olivia’s room, which they quickly headed to alarmedly, Amelia following them as she ran away from the kitchen. Olivia slowly opened the door, which creaked slightly, as she spotted a red liquid on the floor from the distance between the door and the ground. As soon as they entered, the bloody red liquid spread around like water on a glass window.

‘Did you murder someone?’ Isabell asked.

‘Not funny!’ Olivia snapped. 

Amelia bent down and sniffed the liquid. It smelled like watermelon… 

She scraped some of the thick liquid off with her finger and licked it.

‘Amelia, that could be poisonous…’

‘It tastes like watermelon.’

Isabell took some of the liquid in her finger and touched it with the tip of her tongue.

‘Yup. Watermelon.’

Amelia spotted the present box that Albert had sent was still there, but the lid was open.

‘Olivia… what did Albert give you?’

‘Colour-changing ball…’ 

‘That’s not a colour-changing ball, you idiot!’ Amelia yelled. 

Olivia looked at her. 

‘Might erase the idiot part,’ she mumbled to herself, taken aback. 

‘Then what is it, oh, old wise Amelia Clearwater?’ Isabell snapped. 

‘Guys, we have to clean this up quickly,’ Amelia said, barely ignoring what Isabell had just said. 

‘WHAT IS IT?’ 

Amelia didn’t reply for a while. 

‘You better clean it up if you don’t want your house to explode. But if you do, then fine.’

Amelia exited the room, slamming the door sharply behind her.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Isabell asked after Amelia had closed the door. 

Olivia didn’t have time to reply, the liquid was getting thicker by the second. It was starting to form into a ball, a large one. Isabell and Olivia backed away, until they were pinned to the wall. The ball started to roll towards them

‘What did I tell you?’ Amelia whispered as she opened the door, a cone-shaped small glass bottle in her hand.

‘Why are you whispering?’ Isabell whispered back as she rolled her eyes.

‘The ball’s alive, it can hear you.’

Isabell laughed hysterically.

‘You know, I’d rather not help you!’ Amelia shouted.

The ball pivoted and rolled towards them again.

‘Ok, I believe you now,’ Isabell said as her face became serious.

‘So Albert… is… killing us with an alive ball?’ Olivia spoke quietly, the ball making a sudden stop. 

‘Olivia, say his name,’ said Amelia, her eyes wide in shock.

‘What?’

‘Say Albert’s name!’ 

‘Why?’

‘Because he’s the one who sent it! So, if you say his name, the ball won’t move!’

‘A-Albert.’

The ball didn’t move. 

‘Albert.’

But on the second try, the ball had started to move again. But, a voice started magically echoing around the room.

‘Beatrix…’

The ball screeched to a halt, listening deeply to the name mysteriously echoing.

‘Beatrix…’ 

Olivia, Amelia and Isabell looked at each other to see who was saying this. But it wasn’t any of them. What’s more, the voice seemed to belong to a boy. The voice kept echoing, saying the name Beatrix. 

Amelia opened the cork of the bottle in her hand. The green liquid in it was poured onto the ball, which seemed to scream as it let out strange hissing noises. The ball seemed as though it were paper burning and melting. The ball let out one last hiss and was now liquid, lying on the floor of Olivia’s room. Without wasting another second, Amelia got a cloth, along with Olivia and Isabell, and started scrubbing the floor clean. They kept cleaning until there wasn’t a single drop of the watermelon liquid on the shining clean floor. 

‘Amelia, you know you’re weird but smart at the same time, right?’

Amelia didn’t reply.

‘Weird?’

‘Weird but in a good way… Like you knew what that liquid was, and that’s weird, but you also knew the antidote and that’s smart and cool.’

‘Thanks, I guess…’ 

Amelia exited the room, not closing the door behind her. 

‘What’s all this commotion upstairs?’ a voice called out.

Mrs. Bluesky entered the room, seeing that Isabell and Olivia were hiding red stained cloth behind them. 

‘Were you cleaning the room…?’ she asked, her eyebrows raised higher than ever, so that her forehead seemed to shrink. 

‘No…’ Isabell said, laughing nervously at the end.

Mrs. Bluesky looked at them suspiciously then sighed, her eyebrows falling down.

‘Breakfast’s downstairs.’

They heard her go down the steps of the staircase, the trip-trap noise fading, until it wasn’t heard anymore. Isabell threw the cloth she was holding to the bin. Olivia put her cloth in the bin as well, and neither girl said a word to the other. They, together, went down the stairs and found Mrs. Bluesky, Ivan and Amelia sitting at the dining table, nibbling on their breakfast served in front of them. Ivan seemed to be whispering something to his food.

‘...you know my sister Isabell? Yeah, she’s a monster with ugly warts and big yellow toenails. She is so hairy you can’t see her eyes, arms and legs properly...’

Isabell heard him. 

‘You dirty, little bit-’ 

‘Isabell, he’s only five. And I’m not sure you are allowed to swear out loud in this house,’ Mrs. Bluesky said annoyedly. 

Isabell sat down on her chair and started eating muffins that had raspberries and blueberries seasoned on them. 

Olivia was about to sit down when the doorbell rang loudly. 

‘I’ll go get it…’ she said. 

She rushed to the door and opened it, revealing a handsome boy with messy dark ginger hair and bright hazel eyes.

‘Wait-’ Albert said as Olivia was about to slam the door in his face. 

‘Who is it?’ Amelia asked.

‘You don’t want to know, trust me,’ Olivia replied, looking at Albert in a concerned, yet mad way. 

‘I wanted to apologise-’ Albert began.

‘Oh, apologise for giving me a ball that wanted to kill me? Well, apology not accepted, I’m afraid. Don’t you have some popular Slytherins to go live with in the sewers or whatever? Good day.’

Olivia closed the door. The doorbell rang again. Olivia opened it, not looking at Albert, who was still rooted on the spot. 

‘Albert, this isn’t the first time you did something horrible and want us to forgive you for it.’

Albert didn’t reply. 

‘Say some examples,’ he said uncomfortably. 

‘Mn… I wonder… Ah, there’s just so much. Let me pick three. The time in second year when you so foolishly messed up my potion and made me go to detention for making the professors think that I was sneaking out at night when it was you who wanted me to go out there to see something “very interesting I would keep staring at it my whole life”, which turned out to be brooms in a broomshed.’ 

Albert was about to say something when Olivia interrupted.

‘Oh, and the time you “accidentally” told tales on me and you were supposedly under the imperius curse by Professor Moody.’

‘I really was-’ 

Olivia glared at him, and he shut up. 

‘I have another one. The last one, let’s say. How about the time you teamed up with Draco Malfoy in order for Snape to spare you from detention, which ended up being Isabell and I, who were punished by Snape, given three detentions a week.’

Albert tried to say something, when Olivia held her hand up.

‘It’s not us who bring you trouble, Albert. It’s you who brings us trouble. Hopefully you enjoy your New Year, or hopefully not.’ 

Olivia was about to close the door. 

Amelia appeared at Olivia’s side, then glared at Albert.

‘What’s he doing here?’

‘Oh, trying to act like a puppy and apologise for what he did,’ Olivia chirped.  

‘Ha! Like it’ll work, anyway.’ 

Amelia was the one who slammed the door shut. Olivia and Amelia returned to the dining room to find Isabell and Ivan had completed their muffins. 

‘What took you so long?’ Mrs. Bluesky asked, wiping Ivan’s stained mouth with a blue cloth. 

‘Uh, just a… boy asking his way around the area.’

Mrs. Bluesky frowned at them. 

‘Isn’t Mr. Bluesky outside, though? Shouldn’t the boy have asked him?’

Amelia and Olivia eyed each other and Isabell looked at them, bewildered. Amelia and Olivia looked at the stairs, and Isabell understood. Albert had been here. Mrs. Bluesky continued looking at them. 

‘Aren’t you two going to eat the muffins?’

Amelia and Olivia seated themselves and started eating the scrumptious muffins in front of them.

‘Delicious,’ Amelia said through a mouthful of muffins.

Mrs. Bluesky kindly smiled at her and began standing up. She got out the house and closed the door behind her. Ivan wanted to follow them, but Mrs. Bluesky had already closed the door. Ivan constantly banged on the door, pleading for his parents to enter the mansion. Isabell grabbed Ivan from his arms and dragged him away from the door. 

‘What are they doing?’ Ivan asked dominantly. 

‘Who knows…’ Olivia said, exhaling deeply. 

They decided to entertain themselves by playing a game of hide and seek, which Olivia had to explain to Amelia. 

‘So, there’s a Seeker, not the Quidditch type- they’re the ones who try to find where the hiders are, who are supposed to hide somewhere in this mansion.’

Amelia nodded in understanding. 

‘But who’ll be Seeker?’

‘Oh, I know, I know!’ Ivan yelled, suddenly excited. 

He demanded everyone to form a circle and he began singing horribly:

‘A one, two, three, four, in Quidditch you score! An old wizard snorts, and the witch has warts! You do magic with a wand, and you make the witch fall in a pond!’ 

Olivia, Amelia and Isabell gawked at him, not sure if he made up the song or if he knew it from somewhere. 

‘A wizard and a snort, a witch and a wart. Choose a random number from four to six!’ 

‘Five…’ Isabell responded, still surprised. 

‘You the wizard (Ivan pointed at Amelia), you the snort (he pointed at Olivia), I’m the witch, and you’re the wart (he pointed at Isabell, who muttered something under her breath angrily.) And which word has five letters… snort and witch! We’re out!’ 

Olivia and Ivan backed away slightly and he began singing again:

‘The wizard and wart, the wizard and wart. We count till twenty one!’

Ivan started counting quickly, pointing at either Amelia or Isabell whenever he said a number.

‘...nineteen, twenty, twenty one!’

Ivan had last pointed at Amelia. 

‘Thank you for that- uh, Ivan… Now, Amelia, go to that wall and count till thirty, don’t look and close your eyes while we hide,’ Olivia said. 

Amelia went to the wall of the dining room and started muttering numbers under her breath, while Isabell, Ivan and Olivia rushed around the mansion to find a good hiding spot. 

Ivan hid in his room inside his wardrobe and he covered himself with old stuffed toys. 

Olivia hid under Amelia’s bed and made sure the blanket covered what was under it. 

Isabell had decided to hide in the bathtub of the restroom and closed the curtains. 

Amelia finished counting and started looking for them in the dining room, but nobody was in sight. She decided to scan the rooms upstairs, for that’s where they would probably hide. She entered Isabell’s room, which was closest to the stairs. She looked under the bed, in the wardrobe, but nobody was in the room. Amelia gloomily exited Isabell’s room and went to the next one, which was her own. She looked in the wardrobe, then, she heard a tiny sneeze. There was a tiny sneeze again, and Amelia looked at her bed. She crouched down and slowly removed the blanket, revealing Olivia, whose clothes were dusty. 

‘I didn’t know there was dust in here,’ Olivia groaned, sneezing after she said her sentence. 

She got out from under the bed and started removing the specks of dust on her red dress, so that it was normal. Olivia went downstairs, saying that she would help Mrs. Bluesky clean the dishes of that morning’s breakfast. Amelia, who had successfully found one person, exited the room. 

Two people left.

Amelia went to Olivia’s room, which was opposite hers. She went inside and turned the whole place upside down (without messing up the room) but found nobody. She went to the room opposite Isabell’s, which belonged to Ivan. Amelia thought she heard muffled snickering when she entered. Amelia looked under the bed. 

Nobody. 

She looked through piles of thrown clothes, she even encountered a boxer that had blue hearts on it. Amelia threw the boxer in surprise and started to look around again. She approached the wardrobe and opened it, revealing nothing but stuffed toys. But Amelia noticed something strange. There was a shoe sticking out of the mountain of stuffed toys. Amelia removed some toys and revealed a disappointed face of Ivan.

‘It’s fine. I found Olivia first,’ Amelia said as Ivan stomped on the ground angrily, unable to accept defeat. 

Amelia laughed to herself and started to scavenge for the last one. 

Isabell. 

She looked in the kitchen, living room, and secretly went to Mr. and Mrs. Bluesky’s room. But there was nobody there. Amelia heard a sudden scream coming from the… restroom. 

‘Isabell Bluesky, what in the world are you doing in the bathtub?’ Mrs. Bluesky squealed as Isabell came out of the restroom, embarrassed and ashamed. She saw Amelia and sighed. 

‘Thought I’d try another hiding spot. But, ah, well,’ Isabell said. 

She and Amelia went down the stairs and into the living room. 

‘That was fun, even if it is meant to be child’s play,’ Amelia said happily. 

Isabell and Olivia murmured in agreement, but Ivan huffed angrily. 

‘Ignore him,’ Isabell said, looking at Ivan. 

Mrs. Bluesky had served them lunch, but she had threatened Isabell when she served lunch for her (‘Young lady, if I find you in the bathtub I won’t give you food for the whole week!’). They started slurping and munching on their food, which was spaghetti bolognese with some basil and shredded cheese dressed on top. It was soon getting darker and Isabell looked out the window to see a pitch black sky, which wasn’t star-filled. There was only a full moon, slowly rising, reflecting the sun’s light. The trio and Ivan hadn’t seen Mr. Bluesky almost the whole day. He then came in, his hair and clothes with snow, though he beamed at the children. 

‘You’ll see the grand surprise I’ve made for you!’ he said in a sing-song voice.

Mrs. Bluesky started brushing off snow from Mr. Bluesky’s suit. 

‘Thank you, dear, wonderful clothes you’re wearing. They remind me of our honeymoon,’ he said, a mischievous grin on his kind face. 

‘Riley, the children are right here,’ Mrs. Bluesky whispered, shaking her head as she continued to remove the snow off her husband. 

Isabell looked like she was about to vomit, while Olivia and Amelia slightly grinned. 

‘When can we get out?’ Isabell questioned.

‘Ah, after fifteen minutes or so, I still have to do some final adjustments,’ Mr. Bluesky replied, kissing Mrs. Bluesky on the cheek after she completely removed all the snow off his suit and wavy black hair. 

The girl patiently waited for fifteen minutes to walk by, but Ivan had an irresistible impulse to knock down the door and see what was waiting for them outside. Isabell managed to grab him just on time and dragged him back to the living room. 

‘I wanna go outside!’ Ivan groaned as he collapsed onto the sofa behind him and started to play with his styled hair uncontrollably. 

‘W-a-i-t,’ Isabell said darkly.

Mr. Bluesky came up to them. 

‘Izzy, shall I dress like good old St. Nicholas?’ 

‘Santa?’

‘Yes, Izzy…’

Isabell looked at her father, imagining how he would be as St. Nicholas. Her father was a tall man. Santa was short. Her father had always gone to work out before he raised kids, and he was still fit, mostly because he went out walking to the Ministry when he felt like it or when he wasn’t late for work. He had a good structured body and slightly muscular arms. Isabell now imagined him as though he ate three whole sheep in one day (I hope Santa doesn’t do that, Isabell thought to herself) St. Nicholas was well known to have an astonishingly fluffy cloud silver beard, and Isabell added that. Now, for the clothing. Let’s add the red hat on top, with a white pom-pom, Isabell thought. She added to her imaginary father, who now looked much like Santa Claus, a red cloak, along with shining red pants. She included final adjustments to the figment of her imagination. Some black boots and a belt, along with a brown sack filled with presents.

‘Well?’ Mr. Bluesky asked, waiting for Isabell’s answer. 

‘Uhm, I don’t think so.’

Mr. Bluesky nodded, though quite sadly, and walked outside once again, Ivan pleading him to come back.

‘Daddy, come back! When are we gonna go outside!’ 

But Mr. Bluesky completely ignored Ivan and walked upstairs. Ivan crossed his arms angrily. Mr. Bluesky then came back downstairs, a bright smile on his face. 

‘Alright, children, you can come outside. Each of you wear a cloak or jacket or whatever is available for you.’ 

Ivan yelled in excitement and stomped towards his room, getting a jacket to wear. The girls- in unison- went up the stairs and each went to their room to find a fur white jacket lying on their bed (Isabell had removed hers back then, and the fur jacket was back in her room). They came out of their room and went downstairs to find Mr. and Mrs. Bluesky waiting for them at the main entrance of the mansion. 

‘What lies behind this door is the main event of this Christmas celebration! Well, I must say it is the main celebration for you, children,’ Mr. Bluesky began speaking when Ivan had come down and was jumping up and down, resembling an overgrown blue monkey. 

Mr. Bluesky opened the door and there was-

‘There are four papers. That’s all you prepared?’ Isabell said in disbelief. 

‘Ah, but these papers have much more to them!’ 

The trio and Ivan each went towards a paper that was addressed to them. Olivia saw hers, and realised it was a riddle:

I am Heaven's smaller eye. 

Follow my light path and you will receive the next riddle. 

Olivia deeply thought about it. 

The eye of Heaven…

The eye of Heaven… 

The sun?

But there was no sun now. 

Heaven’s smaller eye. 

Olivia looked at the full moon, a single shining dot on a pitch black sheet. 

Follow the moonlight path…

She looked around her and saw a blue brick road, lighting up. But it wasn’t with any lamps, it was the moon’s light that was igniting the blue path. Olivia walked towards it and was soon a silhouette to Isabell, who was reading through the paper addressed to her:

Follow the Dragon’s path and look at the forest. 

There you will find your next riddle. 

The Dragon’s path?

Isabell was looking at the paper, frowning. She then gasped. She found out what the riddle was telling her. 

Follow Olivia Dragonheart’s path and look at the forest. 

And Isabell excitedly followed the moonlit blue brick road. It was now Amelia and Ivan. Ivan had received a “hard” riddle:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Follow the green ropings,

And you’ll get your next clue!

‘What does this ooga-booga mean?’ Ivan said crossly. 

Amelia sighed.

‘You see those things that are hung on the lamps?’ 

She pointed at a lamp in a path. The lamp swirled with green ropings - which had some white stars.

‘You’re so smart!’ 

‘Yeah, right,’ Amelia muttered to herself, then decided to read the riddle she had been given: 

I come with a lot of colours, so lovely and bright. 

I turn so many houses into a beautiful sight. 

This is who I am. 

Follow my trail and find your next clue! 

‘Thank you for giving me a simple riddle,’ Amelia whispered to herself with a big grin.

She saw a bright trail of Christmas lights going to a path on the left. She followed it and it eventually led to the forest surrounding the Bluesky Mansion. 

Olivia kept walking on the blue brick road, until something caught her eye’s attention. There was light ahead of her, so it was barely seen. Olivia was now walking faster. The light became brighter by each step she took. And then she saw what it was: a Christmas tree, a small one, brightened up with radiating blue ornaments. A paper was hung on one of the small tree’s leaf-filled branches. Olivia took the paper and unfolded it, then read it. She felt someone was behind her. She turned around to see Isabell walking to a source of light in between the trees of the forest. Olivia sighed in relief and continued reading the paper:

Go to where the smallest blue sky lies, 

And look out for the eye of- 

The rest of the paper was torn, so that only those lines were there. Olivia frowned. She decided to figure out the first line.

Smallest blue sky…?

She looked at the sky then realised it didn’t mean the sky, it meant…

‘Ivan!’

The smallest of the Blueskys. 

But… where is he?

She ran through the vast forest, searching for Ivan. She spotted Amelia and Isabell frowning at their papers.

‘What does your paper say?’ Olivia asked Amelia.

‘And look out for the eye of the green.’

Amelia looked at Olivia’s emerald-green eyes. 

‘The paper basically says I have to find you. And I did.’

‘I was supposed to look for Ivan,’ Olivia replied. ‘What does your paper say, Isabell?’

‘The calm blue seas is where your place is. Which means I had to find Amelia, I think.’

‘So it means we have to search for Ivan, now…’ wondered Amelia, thinking deeply.

‘He’s the one who has the last part of the paper.’ 

‘But where is he?’ Olivia asked, scanning the dusky forest, but all what was in front of them was a barely visible black trail snaking through the undergrowth, a moon shining through a lattice of leaves, patchy sky and stars seen in glimpses through tree cracks, and tall shadowed pines stretching up like dark brown arrows into the night.

The girls frantically looked around, trying to find something that could help them find a way- 

They heard a high pitched scream, which Isabell promptly knew belonged to Ivan.

‘Let’s go see where that brat is.’

They heard the ear-splitting scream coming from the right. They ran to the right, rustling through dark pine trees. The scream did its role to guide the girls. They pushed away leaves and branches in their way and Isabell tumbled on a rock. Amelia and Olivia hurriedly helped her up and they continued to look for Ivan, who screamed again. Amelia found him… sitting on a  rock and pretending to scream.

‘What? This paper told me to do it,’ Ivan said as Isabell snatched the paper from him. 

Scream until the three gems come to you,

One blue, one red and one white.

Where the wilderness is,

You will find the presents,

Waiting for you with a silver eagle feasting on fish.

‘I only understood the scream part,’ Ivan said after the girls had read the paper. 

‘Perfect. We are the gems and we found you. And the presents lie in the forest,’ Amelia said, folding the paper and putting it in the pocket of the fur jacket. 

‘There must be another clue, though…’ spoke Isabell, searching around.

‘Maybe the wilderness isn’t the forest…’ Olivia said, adding to what Isabell said. 

‘It could be...’ Amelia wondered.

‘A wilderness is a place the people didn’t interfere with,’ Isabell said after a while. ‘So, we need to find somewhere that us humans never-’ 

‘The lake? It said waiting for you with an eagle, feasting on fish,’ suggested Amelia.

‘Wait… It said a silver eagle…’ Olivia said, thinking.

‘A patronus!’ Isabell blurted out.

‘But who’s-’ Olivia began.

‘My dad, obviously.’

They all ran to the lake, running as fast as they could. Ivan was lagging behind and panting.

‘Is-Isabell- w-wait!’ Ivan huffed, falling on the floor and breathing heavily.

Isabell groaned angrily and rushed to Ivan, carried him on her back, and started charging forward as though she were a Spanish buffalo aiming for a red silk. 

They reached the lake, some of its waves crashing onto the damp grass surrounding it. The waves danced calmly. As small fish’ scales shone from the moonlight beaming at the lake. Smooth, oval rocks lined the bank of the secretive lake. Discarded and neglected; overlaid with spongy moss and choked by fallen, green leaves from the brown and withering trees above. As the lake swelled around the ashen boulders, icy, black water lifelessly lapped against the long, thin beams of wood holding up a rickety pier. It reached out into the centre of the sombre lake, it became more and more distant. Half-cut beams lined the sides of the pier, as nettle patches hissed from the shore when the water drew too near. Small, stagnant puddles, on the uneven planks of timber wood reflected the dark, brooding sky above - rarely disturbed by the callous slices of moonlight seeping through the clouds, creating a specular reflection through a ripple in the languid water. A silver eagle was on one of the round rocks, pecking its beak in the waves of the lake. It was a large, powerfully built bird of prey, with a heavy head and a large hooked beak. The translucent eagle had strong, muscular legs and powerful talons. Its beak was typically heavier than that of most other birds of prey. It turned its head and looked towards the trio and Ivan, who were rooted to the spot. It opened its beak and Mr. Bluesky’s voice came out:

‘Well done guys, you have solved the scavenger hunt. The eagle will now give each of you your prize. Hope you enjoyed it. Please return to the mansion when you are done looking at your presents.’

The eagle closed its beak and started flying around Isabell, a present box conjuring in front of her. The eagle squawked when the present was fully conjured. The eagle, with silver sparks trailing behind it, soared over to Olivia, who was amazed by the beauty of it. It began conjuring a present for Olivia as it circled her. Her present was finally conjured and the eagle threw it to her. She barely caught it when the eagle glided over to Amelia. Ivan was becoming impatient. The eagle started conjuring a present for Amelia as Ivan crossed his arms.

‘Where’s my present!’ Ivan yelled, jumping up and trying to reach the eagle’s tail.

‘Ivan, shut up! Your turn will come after Amelia’s!’ snapped Isabell, holding Ivan to stop him from jumping to reach the eagle.

The silver eagle had conjured Amelia’s present and dropped it to her, who caught it easily. It was finally Ivan’s turn. He jumped up and down, eager to get his present. But, unexpectedly, the eagle flew away, disappearing into the darkness, its shiny tail swinging behind it. Ivan screamed then burst into tears as Isabell rolled her eyes. He huffed then sat down on the floor, as though never intending to stand up again.

‘Ivan, stop it.’

Ivan grunted as he curled up on the ground, not standing up an inch.

‘IVAN-’ began Isabell.

‘Isabell, wait,’ Amelia said. ‘Ah, well. It’s time to return to the mansion,’ she added, eyeing Ivan.

He looked up at her with narrowed eyes.

‘C’mon Isabell, Olivia, Mr. and Mrs. Bluesky are waiting for us. Oh, dear, what will they say if we return without Ivan?’ Amelia said in a sarcastically scared tone.

Isabell and Olivia looked confused then realised what she was doing. 

‘It’s ok, Amelia. They’ll go look for him in the morning,’ said Olivia, going along with Amelia’s plan. 

Ivan stared at them with wide-eyes. He slowly stood up and followed them back to the mansion, jerking his head down. 

‘Next time you want Ivan to do something,’ Olivia said, grinning. ‘Just ask Amelia.’

‘I learnt that from my mother, you know. She used to do that to Draco when he was three.’

Olivia and Isabell stared at her, surprised. 

‘What?’

‘Nothing…’ Olivia spoke nervously. 

They were surprised because she never spoke casually about her dead mother like that. She would always feel sad afterwards. Amelia frowned at them then continued walking, Olivia and Isabell following her.

Ostensibly, they had spent two hours going in circles and seeking each other. The moon was a zinc-silver orb, glinting on a neighbourly black sheet. There was now a blanket of silver petals that freckled the black sky and stretched to infinity. The occasional chirping of nocturnal birds broke the silence of the placid night. The lake they left behind glowed from the moonlight lasers, which were as bright as diamond flame. The waves of the lake were glittering like curved scales and did a haunting lullaby of their swells and sighs. 

‘Why aren’t we reaching the mansion?’ Isabell panted, clutching her stitch .

‘Well, obviously,’ Ivan squeaked. ‘We’re going around in circles, like this.’

Ivan created circles with his hands and fingertips. 

‘Ah, I should’ve known,’ said Isabell sarcastically as she walked ahead, careful not to trip on some fallen twigs.

The sky was getting lighter, and the flaming sun was slowly rising into the horizon. Presumably, it was morning since the stars had disappeared and the cerulean blue sky had orange rays painted and blended in. The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the scene of the forest surrounding the Bluesky Mansion. The forest, filled with wind and leaves dancing harmoniously together, as though a dancing couple, was a woody heaven to the birds chirping and tweeting in the distance. The aged trees of the forests had creaking branches with insects crawling on them, welcome home. It was as though all the tall trees were the castles of the woods. A scurrying squirrel searched for food under bristles of wispy green moss. Blueberries lay ripening under the leafy dome of the forest. 

The girls felt tired, their bodies aching from all the walking they did. Their feet were scrunching fallen twigs beneath them. In the orange distance, they saw a small blue block surrounded by fields and trees. A person, whose shadow was cast upon them, was yelling their names frantically. They rushed across the no more snow-carpeted path. 

‘Mommy!’ Ivan yelled, jumping into Mrs. Bluesky’s arms.

‘Where on earth have you been?’ she shrieked softly. 

‘L-lost.’

Mrs. Bluesky nodded as they followed her across the parsley-green meadow. The snow had melted and the weather was fairly warm, with a cold breeze. Lonely calves were lowing in the fields. A carnival of scents diffused in the air, like tea would in water. The weather was unusually warm for winter. A staff of slim light spilled from the sky. Proud pigeons strutted across the meadow. The scene was spirit-refreshing and pastoral.

The trio and Ivan, along with Mrs. Bluesky, reached the blue mansion, embroidered with arched windows that had silver diamonds, gleaming faintly from the eye of heaven above them. The wooden door of the mansion was already open, letting in the fresh scent enter the mansion. A worried man with wavy black hair and widened green-brown eyes came up to Mrs. Bluesky, his face with cold sweat. 

‘Did you find them?’ Mr. Bluesky said, in a panic- struck tone, as soon as they had entered the house.

Mrs. Bluesky lightly nodded as the children paraded behind her. Mr. Bluesky rushed to his daughter and son and hugged them. 

‘Dad, we’re alive…’ Isabell said, rolling her eyes. 

Mr. Bluesky let go of them and looked to see them clutching their presents, except for… Ivan. 

‘Your stupid patronus didn’t give me a present!’ Ivan yelled as he hopped around angrily.

Mr. Bluesky’s head swivelled to Ivan and he frowned. 

‘What?’

‘Your silver flying eagle didn’t give me a present!’ Ivan spoke brusquely. 

‘Ivan, that’s because that eagle is practically me,’ Mr. Bluesky chuckled, taking out a present from behind him. 

‘No. It was an eagle who had the same voice as you.’

‘Ivan, you nincompoop,’ Isabell said, which made Mrs. Bluesky glare at her. ‘Eagles can’t even talk.’

‘Isabell, don’t call him an idiot, and Ivan, I’m the one who created that eagle,’ Mr. Bluesky explained, glaring at Isabell when his speaking was directed to her. 

Ivan was thrilled when he snatched the present from his father and eagerly ripped off the wrappings.

‘Ivan, we were supposed to open the presents together,’ Mrs. Bluesky said, snatching his present from him before he could fully unwrap it.

Ivan stamped his feet in anger then collapsed on the couch, instantly falling asleep.

‘You should get some rest, girls,’ said Mrs. Bluesky as she covered Ivan with a navy blue blanket. ‘By the way, you can open your presents together upstairs now.’

Olivia, Amelia and Isabell nodded as they headed upstairs. Olivia headed to her room and the two girls followed her. They all sat on her crimson red bed, making it go down because of their weights on it. Isabell opened her present first and they watched her intimately. All of the wrappings of their presents were a nice shade of iceberg blue. Isabell removed the wrappings swiftly and opened the large lid to discover a silky dress inside the box. It was an indigo blue blouson dress in the box, with a glitter white belt on the waistband. The hem of the dress lined with white dots, creating an illusion of a straight white line. 

‘Woah…’ Olivia said as they all stared at the dress in admiration.

It came with a silver wire hook earring with a blue gem inside and glass pumps. There was a letter underneath written in Mr. Bluesky’s handwriting:

This letter is for all three of you. Your presents are all dresses. But not just any ordinary dresses, they’re magical. They can get bigger when you get older, as well as the shoes that come with them. The dresses can never get dirty or ripped. Hope you take care of them as they are extremely expensive. Just kidding, Mrs. Bluesky sewed them and I added magic. What’s more, once you wear these dresses, they will listen to your mind and whatever style is in your head, the smoke of your aura will surround you and you will be fitted with the style you chose!

Amelia opened her present next. It was an empire waist dress, white in colour. It had a turtleneck, its border line black. Its bodice ended just at the bust, giving it a high-waisted appearance. Amelia’s empire dress had a gathered skirt which was long and loosely fitted but skimmed the body rather than being supported by voluminous petticoats. It came with white heel shoes and stud earrings which were fitted with a single glass diamond. Finally, Olivia opened her present and found a dress as well. It was a red shift dress, though there was a black tooled leather belt.  The dress had simple lines that streamlined down the body, flowing down from the shoulders. It came with a black hoop earring as well as dark red kitten pumps.

They all stared at the dresses in amazement. They felt slightly sleepy and Isabell and Amelia headed to their rooms.