Christmas

Christmas came in a flurry of bizarre snowstorms; winters now became so cold that all they wanted to do was to huddle in bed all day. Sadly, the teachers had different ideas for them.

"It is relevant that you study during the Christmas holidays," said Professor McGonagall, "so that you do not forget what you have learnt this term."

"But the exams are ages away," groaned Ron. This statement was agreed with much enthusiasm.

"Mr. Weasley, if you are sure that you will achieve above average, I may consider reducing your homework…"

Snape was no better. It was bad enough having to go down to the dungeons; it was freezing, let alone having Snape breathing down on their necks. Alice found herself secretly marvelling how the Slytherins could possibly stand the cold.

On the other hand, Harry figured that they had a tail on Snape. Alice didn't think that Snape was guilty of anything, despite being extremely unpleasant. Alice suspected Quirrel, who was now even paler than ever, his turban always on his head.

"I think that he hides something in that thing," Alice whispered to Bella one day at breakfast. Bella, at this point, however, was too busying admiring her reflection on the back of her spoon. Rosalie wouldn't hear of it; she admired Quirrel too much and frequently told people off for laughing at his stutter. She was furious at Alice when she said that there must be something under the turban. Emmett and Edward both fell over laughing when they both heard her theory.

"What could be under there, Alice?" laughed Edward, "You-Know-Who?"

"Of course not," Alice reddened.

Only Jasper would listen without scoffing at her. When she first told him about her suspicion, her had merely listened quietly while she poured everything out to him. She found that it was easier to talk to him; partly because he hardly talked at all and also because he never laughed at her.

However, Christmas found Alice alone at Hogwarts, with only Harry and Ron for company, and boys weren't very interesting at all. One particularly lonely night, Alice decided to break a few rules by sneaking out into the corridors. She was aware of how lonely the whole castle felt, especially with the long, silent halls and empty classrooms. Somehow, she found herself outside the library, right where she had talked to Jasper only a few weeks ago. She suddenly remembered what Dumbledore had said the window was: he had said that it was very…reflective. She decided to look out of it once more.

The first thing she noticed about the window was that, unlike other windows, it had glass in it, something that she hadn't noticed before. But then she realized that the glass had been put there only very recently; otherwise, how could Jasper have made the snowflakes come in? And then second and most idiotic thing was that she saw herself in it.

It was a mirror.

Frowning, she peered into it. The mirror seemed plain enough; how could she have not noticed it before? Then what she saw next shocked her even more.

The mirror began to dim. Alice squinted into its murky depths; there was simply nothing too see. Then a small light appeared. Slowly, Alice found herself gazing at an image of a field where Rosalie, Bella and herself were mounting on broomsticks. But they all looked slightly different; they were all taller, and had longer hair. She wanted to reach out to them, but her fingers met glass. She could only watch as they all flew into the air. And then Bella suddenly lost control and came straight back to earth, falling from her broom…

And the vision changed. Edward was there, curled up in a tiny corner. Like Bella, he was taller and more older-looking, but Alice still recognized the curious, bronze hair. He seemed to be in pain; he was whimpering and his hands were clenched into hard fists. Alice wanted to run to him and ask him what was wrong, but she knew that it was only an image. She watched him grit his teeth and gasp out loud…there was something wrong with him…he threw his head back and uttered a heart-breaking yell that didn't seem quite normal…

The vision changed again. This time, she was looking into the Great Hall, only now there were decorations all about. People were dancing, twirling gracefully across the floor. There were several people she didn't recognize. Then she gasped as she saw Rosalie dancing with Emmett. Rosalie was beyond relief; her black satin dress was no match for her face, which was prettier than any that she had seen so far. Emmett, if possible, was even taller and bigger than Alice had ever seen him…

And the vision changed yet again. Jasper stood in front of her, but he was not looking at Alice, but at a wall that was covered with carvings of snakes. She didn't know where the vision was, but it seemed to be underground. He was not as old as the others had been, but he was visibly taller. He was saying something, but Alice couldn't hear him, only that it sounded like the hissing of snakes. But that might have been because the whole floor was crawling with them. Alice choked back a horrified scream as a serpent loomed up behind an oblivious Jasper…

And then the image changed. This time, she was looking into a different place, a dark cell. There was a man trying to open the window. Alice saw his face clearly. He looked familiar, although she couldn't tell.

Now, there were people everywhere. But the people were fighting: shooting spells at each other. Alice saw many people lying both dead and alive on the ground. There was blood everywhere. She wanted to tear her eyes away from the horrific sight, but found that she was frozen to the spot.

Then a man, an evil-looking man with snake-like nostrils and red eyes came out of nowhere. He was disgusting to look at. Alice stared in horror and shock as the man raised his wand, and a brilliant light filled the room. And then Alice saw Emmett, fighting with a huge wolf—was it a werewolf?—he was shouting something—why didn't he kill the wolf? And Rosalie was there as well, locked in a one to one combat with a masked man. Alice shivered when she recognized the masked people as death eaters, as her parents had often described.

The snake man laughed and began to speak. And Alice saw herself—frightened looking and shooting a red spell at a death eater. Bella was right behind her, being attacked by another death eater. So that could only mean that the snake man was Voldemort himself. Alice let out a tiny gasp of horror. Where were Edward and Jasper?

Then Dumbledore was there, falling, in slow motion, lifeless and limp…where was he falling to?

The mirror cleared once more, and Alice drew back. But—

"It's very curious, how you're able to use the mirror," said Dumbledore, coming out from the shadows. Alice's stomach knotted uncomfortably. But Dumbledore was smiling.

"I—I didn't see you, sir," she stammered.

"The Mirror of The Erutuf," murmured Dumbledore, "it is indeed a strange thing, Ms. Brandon. The Mirror of the Erutuf shows itself only to those who it chooses. To be able to see it is a great gift, Alice."

"But what does it do?" asked Alice.

"Ah. So you have not noticed. One thing that could be useful to you, Alice, is to think our questions over before asking them. Your friend Jasper is very good at that sort of thing, and with an ounce of logic, you'd find a lot of answers to life's questions. Erutuf is the backward spelling of future."

"So, it shows the future?"

"Exactly. I will not ask you what you saw, for that is for you and only."

"But I didn't understand all of it," said Alice.

"I don't suppose that you did. The Mirror of Erutuf gives the seer more questions than before," Dumbledore looked at Alice kindly, "I must ask you not to seek for the mirror in the future, however. It is not worth so much to ponder over. Anyway, the future is never set in stone. And now, Alice, I think that we shall go back to bed, shall we?"

---

"You were caught by Dumbledore?"

Alice nodded. Rosalie and Bella looked stricken. The Christmas holidays had ended. Much too quickly for Alice, it seemed. Bella and Rosalie had only just got back.

"Oh, sorry, Alice, I didn't give you a present!" Rosalie began to dig around in her bag. Alice wondered why Bella had suddenly fallen over laughing. Then Rosalie grinned and out of the bag came—

"KITTY!!!" shouted Alice. The kitten was white all over, with a splash of black on its body. Alice instantly cuddled it up in her arms, "What's it called? Is it a he or a she?"

"It's a she," said Rosalie, "and as for her name, it's entirely up to you. She was originally called Winter, but my mother figures that you could do with her. It's the only one left; my cousins took away Spring and Autumn, and Summer is mine."

"I thought that Winter was Jasper's?" Alice frowned, still cuddling the kitten.

"Yeah, but the younger one has to listen to their older siblings." Rosalie smiled unpleasantly. Alice fought back a shiver as she wondered what Rosalie could have possibly done.

"So…you saw me falling off a broomstick," said Bella, "don't worry, I will NOT get on one for life. I'm terrified of them."

"And Rosalie dancing with Emmett," reminded Alice.

"Yes. Well, Alice, I don't know—"

"HELLO!" boomed Emmett. He and Edward walked in.

"Had a nice holiday?" Edward asked.

"Very!" Bella launched into an exciting tale of snow fights…Rosalie and Alice listened with disinterest, but Edward was hooked. Emmett laughed at their expressions.

"Wizard Chess, anyone?"

"Ooh, me!" shouted Rosalie. Alice sighed and looked out of the window, thinking…

---

They had been given the task of making shrinking potions in potion class. For Alice, it was the worst way to start a term.

"But—but sir," stammered Hermione, when they had been given the task, "isn't that supposed to be for third years?"

"You will not tell me what to do!" Snape had snapped at her, taking five points from Gryffindor in the process.

Now, Alice just stared at the complicated potion and turned to her shrivelfigs, eyeing them with disgust. Was she supposed to skin that? She was just about to add two spleens in and a little leech juice. In the end, it turned quite orange.

Snape turned his nose at her. "Orange, Ms. Brandon? I think we will start again." He waved his want, and the contents of her cauldron disappeared. Alice stared at the floor, her eyes filling with tears. Malfoy's taunts didn't help.

"Ha, orange for Brandon!"

Alice longed to chuck a firework at Malfoy's stupid gloating face.

"…why don't you help her, Mr. Whitlock? After all, don't you have a soft spot for Gryffindors?"

Alice raised her eyes just enough to see Snape dragging Jasper from the other side of the room, away from Malfoy. He pushed Jasper roughly into the empty seat beside Alice. "Go on, help her out. After all, haven't you already finished?" he strode away.

Jasper sat himself properly and rubbed his shoulder where Snape had pinched him. "Hi."

Alice nodded back. "Hello. Nice holidays?"

"Turned out to be worst than expected…" he started to instruct her on her potion. When she proceeded to add two spleens, he stopped her and reminded that only one spleen was required. By the end of the lesson, Alice had a cauldron of shrinking potion. There was no denying Snape's disappointed expression.

"So, what did you do?" she asked as they began to pack up.

"The usual…" he shrugged, "did you like Winter?"

"Ooh, yes!" she gushed, "she's so cute!" there was something about Jasper that didn't seem quite right…his smile was strained and unnatural, and his laugh was hollow as Emmett chucked a daisy root at Malfoy.

Snape called them all to attention. "This," he said, indicating to a small, black bottle, "is—"

There was a sudden boom. Neville's wand slipped, and Jasper's cauldron of forgotten shrinking potion exploded, drenching everyone in the room with shrinking potion. Alice didn't get hit, but Malfoy and most of the Slytherins got a face full of the stuff. Needless to say, Jasper's potion was unfortunately successful, not to mention incredibly strong. Instantly, people started shrinking on the spot. Alice held back a fit of laughter as a crowd of babies crawled around the room, sobbing their little hearts out. But something didn't seem quite right…Snape had said that the potion was only strong enough to turn a man into a teenager…babies were far too young…

When the mayhem had been cleared up, Snape approached Jasper. The whole class held their breath, waiting.

"How many spleens did you add, Mr. Whitlock?"

"One, sir."

"How many pints of leech juice?"

"Three, sir."

"Fool!" shouted Snape, "only one was required! Two will make it far too strong! I have never added more than three pints of leech juice in any sort of potion, boy! And I suppose that was how much you told Ms. Brandon to add?"

And then Ron had the nerve to tip over Alice's cauldron.

AN

The answer to the previous question: if you use easy-to-wash makeup, you will get Hydrochloric Acid and Bismuth Oxychloride. In other words, Hydrochloric Acid is the stuff that people use to clean their toilets.

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