Given the question: Found the following article online, use it to answer the question: Who sings at the top of the Christmas tree? Mary's (Elle Fanning) seemingly dull Christmas is suddenly filled with excitement and adventure following the arrival of her Uncle Albert, who gives her a Nutcracker as a gift. Later that night, Mary dreams that the Nutcracker called N.C. comes to life and takes her on a wondrous journey. They discover that the Nazi-like Rat King has usurped the Nutcracker's kingdom. When Mary and N.C. go to the top of the Christmas tree, they meet a fairy and, as she begins to sing, N.C. looks at his hand, as it begins to turn human. Worried about this he runs into the sleigh, but leaves his human hand revealed, and Mary sees this. Mary, seeing this, goes to N.C. and rubs his hand as we see that he is in fact a human crying with tears of joy that he is human again. The snow fairy begins to sing and toys appear and begin to ice skate around the tree. N.C. takes Mary to the top to show her his city. The two come up with a plan to shut down the smoke factory. Suddenly N.C. is starting to turn back in to a doll. Then the tree is shaking and Mary falls off, only to awake to being in her room. Mary tries to tell her parents about it but they think she is not telling the truth. Later on in the movie N.C appears to have been killed, but Mary's tears and declaration of love restore him to life and transform him into a prince, his true form. The rats are all defeated and overthrown, but now Mary must reluctantly awaken from her dream. Before she is fully awake, N.C. promises that they will meet again. When Mary then goes to Uncle Albert's workshop she meets his new young neighbor, who is the exact image of the Nutcracker Prince and asks to be called N.C. The two become close friends, and the last shot of the film shows them ice skating together.
The answer is:
a fairy