During the next few weeks, Rica and her roommates did not get a lot of good sleep. Every night, after a few hours, Rica woke up to see everyone staring at het, even, sometimes, professor McGonagall. After some time, she was ordered to go sleep in the hospital wing, which she did until a week before the end of the semester, when she was given a potion for a dreamless sleep, at least that's what she taught it was. She finished the school year in her dormitory and, when she went home, madam Pomfrey gave her a big bottle of the potion she had been taking for the duration of the summer.

During the summer, Rica went in Egypt with the rest of her family. She tried to follow madam Pomfrey's instructions to slowly stop using the potion to sleep, but anytime she tried to go to bed without taking her potion, she ended up awaking in the middle of the night, after everyone else had been awaken by her screams. After sometime, she decided to try and take a little bit less every day. It seemed to work, because, if her dreams did not stop, she stopped screaming during them and she did not always woke up at the end.

The day she went back to Hogwarts, Rica had no dreams, even though she forgot to take her potion. When she got in the train, she went straight to her friend's compartment. At a point during the trip, the train stopped and something boarded it. It took some time for Rica and her friends to realise what the creatures that had boarded the train were dementors. When they made that realisation, it was already too late, one of these things was already in their compartment and was turning to Rica who instantly found herself in a cupboard. Behind the cupboard's door was a room which somehow Rica knew was her brother's. In the room was Rica's mother and a baby, Rica's brother. The mother was holding the baby and a man, not Rica's father, shouted "Lily, take care of the childrens, I'll slow him down". Then, there was a noise, the mother put the baby down, took her wand and turned around. Then Voldemort came in and killed the woman, before trying to kill the baby, but failing at it and being turned into smoke. After that, nothing happened for a very long time, then professor Snape came in and Rica found herself screaming "dad" as high as she could, but the professor just held the mother's body, crying. Rica, thought that the professor heard her but choose to ignore her and started crying, feeling helpless and thinking that she would be forever alone in the cupboard. Then the professor went away and Sirius Black came in, took the baby and went out again. At that point, Rica started crying even more, feeling completely alone in the world. Then, as someone was coming back in the room, she was taken back to the train compartment with her friends, all of whom looked dead worried.

"What's happened?" Asked Rica.

"The dementor turned to you when it came in and you kind of fell into a sort of coma."

"Ok" Said Rica. "Hey, is it me or is it cold in here?"

"It is cold. I think it's the dementors"

"Yeah, probably."

For the rest of the trip, Rica felt sick and wanted to sleep but could not. She kept thinking about what the dementor had made her see and wanted to cry, while wondering if she had seen something that she had seen before or not.

When they got to the castle, professor McGonagall was at the top of the stairs and called Rica as soon as she saw her. The young woman waited with the professor for some other student to come in and for madam Pomfrey. The nurses spent a few moments with one of the other students then turned to Rica.

"You were attacked by the dementors too?"

"Yes."

"Did you get any chocolate afterwards?"

"No. Actually, I haven't eaten anything since then, I've been feeling sick."

"Have you been sick?"

"No."

"Mmh. Well, you should be fine," said madam Pomfrey, taking a piece of chocolate from her pocket and giving it to Rica, "but I want you to eat this and have a full diner. Go with your friends and talk with them. If you are sick, come and get me."

"Ok. Can I go?"

"Yes, of course dear."

"Thank you." Finished Rica, starting her chocolate while going towards the great hall.

"What did McGonagall want to see you about?" Asked one of Rica's friends when she arrived at their table.

"She just wanted to make sure I was fine after the dementor incident in the train."

"Ok."

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing really."

After the feast, Rica and her friends went back to their dormitory. Rica's four roommates were ready to party, but she was not into it. The young woman just sat with her friends and laughed with them, even though she felt more like crying and sleeping forever.

That night, when Rica finally got to sleep, she did not get any rest. She kept having the same dream in which her mother was killed in front of her. The only difference with the previous school year was that she did not wake up anyone but herself and, every time she went back to sleep, she had the same dream. When the morning came, Rica's friends had to wake her up so she would not miss breakfast. When they did so, the young woman, instead of asking what was going on, as she usually did, shouted "dad!"

"Are you alright?" Asked one of her roommates.

"Yes. Sorry, I was still dreaming. Is it morning already?"

"Yeah. It's seven fifty, breakfast's about to start."

"Thanks for waking me up. I'll be down in a minute."

A week after the beginning of the semester, Rica was summoned to professor McGonagall's office. When she got there, her house's director and madam Pomfrey were waiting for her.

"You wanted to see me professor?"

"Ah. Miss Weasley," said the professor when Rica got in the office, "please take a seat."

"We want to ask you if you have had any problem with the potion you have been given at the end of the school year."

"No. I haven't had any problems with it. After a few weeks, I tried not to take it every night, but I always ended up awakening everyone, so I tried reducing the doses and it worked. I stopped having the same nightmare every night and I no longer woke up anyone."

"What about since you were attacked by a dementor?"

"Well, when I had the incident with the dementor, I saw the things I see in the dream and, since then, I have that same dream more than once a night."

"How many times a night?" Asked the nurse.

"Between five and ten, depending on the night. I always wake up after the dream, that's how I know how many times I have it."

"Is it always the exact same dream? Do things change?"

"Nothing changes, it's always the exact same dream."

"Ok. And how have you been feeling since school started?"

"Have you been feeling very happy, very sad…"

"I'm almost always feeling like I'm going to cry,"

"You said 'almost': Is there a particular moment when you don't feel like crying?"

"Yes, when I have something to concentrate on."

"Have you seen any dementor since the first of September?"

"Not that I remember."

"Ok," started the nurse. "Have you talked to any of your friends about your dreams?"

"No, I wouldn't know how to. I'm afraid if I tell anyone about my dreams they'll think I'm crazy."

"You don't have to tell them everything, just in general. It is very good to talk about these things with people we trust, they can put a new light on it."

"Ok. I'll try it,"

"Thank you" said professor McGonagall, "that will be all for now."

"Professor?" Started Rica as she made her way to the door.

"Yes?"

"Do dementors only make us see things from our past or can they also make us see imaginary things?"

"They can't make us see imaginary things."

"Thank you professor."

At Christmas, Rica chose not to go home, she wanted to stay at Hogwarts to study and to think about what she would do once she had graduated. She had wanted to be an Auror ever since she was little, but now that she had the opportunity, she had a feeling she should see the world before deciding on what she should do with her whole life. She almost felt like Great Britain could not be her home, like it was telling her that she would not be happy there, that she could not be happy there.

As her friends had all gone home for the vacations, Rica had all her time to herself. One day, as she was reading a magazine about the international magical community, she found an article about the International Institute of Magical Studies. It was basically a school for very talented students who wished to be able to pursue a career in a public field, such as magical law or war and protection of the public but internationally instead of nationally. You could not apply to that school, it was the board of directors who examined every student of every school of wizardry around the globe and selected those who had good enough grades. These students were then contacted and told that they had a free place in the Institute. At that point, every selected student could either accept the scholarship or not. If they accepted the scholarship. They had to pass seven N.E.W.T.s with O's. If they did so, they were given further instructions.

As she continued going through the library, Rica did not find any other information about high studies. The only information she could find was about formations given by institutions whose only goal was to have you as an employee as soon as your formation was over.

After the holidays, Rica continued studying a lot and, one day in February, she was summoned to the head of Gryffindor's office. She was not sure what she had done so Rica was a little bit worried when she knocked on the door.

"Come-in"

When she got in the small office, Rica saw her transfiguration teacher sitting behind her desk, facing three chairs, one of which was empty.

"Miss Weasley," started the professor, "please take a seat."

"This is professor Vipond and professor Ilbert. They are here to talk to you about your studies." Continued professor McGonagall.

"My studies?" Asked the young woman.

"It has come to our Institute's attention that you are one of the most talented witch of your year." Said professor Vipond, with a French accent.

"What is your institute?"

"It is the International Institute of Magical Studies. It is a school for students from all around the world who have very high grades at school. In your final year, we present you with the proposition of higher studies which could help you get any jod you desire almost everywhere in the world or work for the international magical commynity. Here is a document explaining in detail what our institute does and what the different programs are."

Rica looked at the roll of parchment that professor Vipond had put on the desk, but did not touch it and looked at the two professors form the institute before looking back at the parchment and at professor Vipond.

"I am very interested in those studies professor," started Rica, smiling, "but I don't have the money to pay for it."

"Well dear," said professor Vipond "as I was explaining to professor McGonagall, all studies at the Institute are free. If you choose to come to the institute, you only have to get seven O's in your upcoming N.E.W.T.s"

"Ok. Do I have to give you my answer now?"

"No. You see, the Institute is a branch of the Wizarding Examination Authority, which administrates the N.E.W.T.s, so, if you have seven O's, we will automatically know and we will send you an invitation to our school. At that time, if you choose to come, you will have to answer and, if you choose not to come, you will not have to."

"Oh. I see. Can I keep the informative document?"

"Of course. And, if you have a question don't hesitate to send us an owl, you have the address at the end of the document."

"Ok."

Rica took the parchment and asked if she could go back to her common room.

For the next few weeks, Rica did not thought about the Institute. She preferred to concentrate on her studies.

During the Easter break, as she was going through her things, she found the document that professor Vipond had given her and decided to read it all. The Institute seemed to be a very interesting place, or at least institution, since it seemed to be located everywhere around the world, the program was simple: Two years of general studies, the first of which focusing mostly on languages, followed by two to four years of specialised studies, mostly practical. Another interesting fact about the Institute was that it offered the opportunity to travel and see a lot of the Muggle and Magical world. That seemed to be an important part of the curriculum.

After reading the whole informative parchment, Rica had to say that she was interested by the Institute, but she was not sure if she was ready for such a change in her life. She still decided to keep thinking about it until she'd get her N.E.W.T.s back.