November passed quickly, especially without celebrating Thanksgiving as I was in England rather than American, where they didn't celebrate that particular holiday. Dumbledore canceled our morning "class" for the remained of school until after the winter break. He told me he was still busy with things, but wouldn't go into detail. Before our last meetings, I did bring the piece of paper from Professor Snape and the passage I'd copied from the library book. I wanted to see what he thought about them.
"Very interesting," he said about the book passage. "After telling me about your dreams and their manifestations in real life, and after hearing from Professor Trelawney about your abilities in her Divination class, I could see how this is a possibility. This could be the very reason Voldemort wants you, but we cannot be sure. I will do my best to find out, but you must have patience. In the mean time, I would take Professor Snape's warning to heart. He gave you this note for a reason, though he has not seen fit to discuss it with me, but one can never be too cautious in my experience. What are your plans for the holiday?"
"I hadn't really thought about it much, but I suppose I would just go home with the Weasleys as I don't have my own home to return to anymore."
"I thought you might decide that. But might I make a suggestion?" I nodded, always interested in his suggestions. "I think you might be safer if you remained at Hogwarts for the duration of the holiday. Most of the students travel home, and I know Draco Malfoy is going home. By staying here, you will be more protected, limiting Voldemort's opportunities of getting close to you or observing you. I'm sure your friends would stay with you, as you should not be alone wherever you decide to go."
"What if I have another dream?"
"From what you've told me, only one dream required any action on your part, and you did well getting to Hermione when you did. In my absence, I would suggest you speak with Professor McGonagall, should you feel the need for advice. And again, I urge you to be cautious. We can never know who Voldemort might have influence over inside this school."
"Thank you Professor."
"I hope you have a happy Christmas, Amanda."
"You too, sir."
Upon returning to the Gryffindor common room and finding everyone there, I told my friends about Dumbledore's advice, and they all agreed to stay at Hogwarts with me over the break, just like he said they would. I gave them all hugs, thankful for their company. Ginny wrote to her mother, telling her of their decision.
The first day of break it snowed. We were forced to stay inside until the storm eased up. It stopped shortly before dinner. I grew up in an area where it never snowed, and rarely rained at that, so I convinced everyone to go outside and play in the snow with me. It didn't take much convincing. I helped Hermione and Ginny build a snowman, but the boys destroyed it before we could even get the head on. Then they hit us with a barrage of snowballs.
We began throwing snowballs back at them, and several students nearby joined in our fight. It grew until there was no more snow in the immediate vicinity useable for snowballs. Harry and Ron conceded, though Fred and George declared themselves victor over everyone, including the rest of their team. As payback, we pushed them down a hill and ran inside to change before dinner. They met up with us in the great hall and they laughed about it good-naturedly.
That night we all stayed up late talking and sharing stories of former Christmases. I opened up about my family Christmas traditions. As I had never spoken about my parents before, due to my emotions being too raw from their death, they were all eager to hear my stories. I told them how growing up they encouraged my belief in Santa Clause and even my father's parents, who sent presents through mail because they lived in a different state, sent some with tags labeled "From: Santa Clause." I enjoyed hearing their stories too, not knowing anything about Christmas traditions in England, let alone for witches and wizards. But eventually we went to bed, wanting to get up somewhat early and open presents.
"Crucio!" I screamed in agony as Malfoy tortured me, trying to force me to tell him everything about myself. He yelled at me, telling me everything he thought he knew about me, most of it correct. He swore that once I'd told him everything, he'd take me to the Dark Lord, who would use me to defeat Dumbledore once and for all and take over the entire magical world.
"Amanda, wake up!" Hermione was shouting at me. I came out of my dream, sweating and breathing heavily. I knew I had screamed out loud while I was sleeping, waking up Hermione and Ginny. Thankfully none of the other girls in our room had stayed at Hogwarts over the break, so I didn't have to worry about their questions. "What were you dreaming about?" she asked me. "You were thrashing in your bed and screamed just before you woke up."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I explained what I'd seen in my dream. I was still breathing heavily, still scared about my dream.
"You need to speak with Professor McGonagall now," she told me. I nodded and the three of us left.
We met Harry and Ron waiting on the stairs, demanding to know what was going on. They'd heard me scream but couldn't get up to our room thanks to an enchantment on the stairs. Hermione briefly explained my dream and our decision to visit Professor McGonagall. They came with us.
"What do you want at this hour?" Professor McGonagall asked when she saw us standing at her door.
"Amanda needs to talk with you," Hermione said.
We were ushered into her room, where we sat down on the various chairs and couches. I explained what Dumbledore told me about speaking with her while he was gone. Then I explained, in detail, everything that had occurred in my dream. Hermione spoke up at the end and explained how I'd acted in my sleep while having the dream. Professor McGonagall got up and walked around the small room, thinking about what we'd told her. After a few minutes, she turned back towards us with a grave face.
"This is very serious, I hope you all know that. Professor Dumbledore has explained to me the dreams and visions you've told him about, making sure I understood what was going on. Obviously, if this is another dream about the future, we need to do whatever we can to keep you away from Malfoy. He's gone home for the holiday, so I think we can assume this dream isn't about the near future. But that is all I can say for now. I will try and contact Professor Dumbledore, but I think you all should try and go back to sleep for the rest of the night. Hopefully some restful sleep will ease your minds." And with that, she sent us back to bed.
I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went down to the common room to read until everyone else got up. Fred and George had slept through the nights' events, so we filled them in before opening presents. We decided to not think about my dream and enjoy Christmas. I was surprised when George handed me a present from Molly. She knitted me a scarf, similar to the one she knit Hermione. Harry gave me a box of chocolates from Hogsmeade. There was one other present for me, from Professor Dumbledore. Inside the box was the family photo album from my house, with pictures of my parents, my brother, and me throughout the years. I started crying, but I was so happy he'd been able to save it. It was nice to have something to remember them by. Everyone was nice and asked to see the pictures. Some required a brief explanation to understand what was going on, but they enjoyed hearing it all.
We enjoyed the rest of the break and avoided thinking about Voldemort, Malfoy, and my dream. We played in the snow and even took time to work on homework, thanks to Hermione's firm suggestion. But soon the students came back and classes started up again.
