Aminta grabbed her nieces and pulled them in close behind her, drawing her wand. They seemed confused, but their high, childish voices were almost groggy as they asked their aunt what was wrong.

She hushed them, still looking around with her wand at the ready and keeping the girls at her back, and then her heart skipped a beat as she finally saw it, coming toward them from out of the trees.

The dementor's cloak trailed in the wind as it flowed soundlessly over the snowy ground, and Aminta aimed her wand at it without hesitating.