Winter had finally arrived at Hogwarts, and it had arrived with a vengeance. Thick bursts of snow whirled hypnotically around the windows, building up into fluffy pillows around any kind of entrance, and laying a glittering white blanket over everything. The corridors were all the temperature of the inside of a fridge freezer, and many students had taken to wearing their cloaks inside in order to escape the bitter cold and loss of feeling in various extremities. Christmas was most definitely in the year and the whole school was feeling festive.
Catrin, meanwhile, had finally recovered from the humiliating incident concerning McLaggen. James had managed to get her to hop to the Hospital Wing and undo the vine's grip on her legs, much to the amusement of all the other students that they passed. Mary had also stayed in the Wing long enough for a person who was stunned and then had an umpteen-kilogramme oaf collapse on them should do. But when the other two had tried questioning her about what she had seen, the terror of the incident had apparently rendered her utterly mute, and no amount of coaxing could tease it out of her.
"Mare! Please! We need to know!" Catrin sighed as Mary mutinously continued to stare at her essay, and gave it up for the night. She hoped that Mary would come around- because the need to find out what the Slytherins and Co. were up to was rapidly becoming more and more interesting. Maybe it was her nosy streak, or maybe it was the growing suspicion, but she needed to find out what was happening.
She put down her copy of Travelling With Trolls, which had actually been more about some bloke called Lockhart than any real trolls, and started to roll up her essay- a fiendishly difficult one for Professor Merrythimble on the properties of Wiggentree Bark. Alice, who was hidden behind a newspaper, looked up.
"Got another lesson with Teddy?" She asked lightly.
"How did you know?" Catrin asked, slightly ruffled. She didn't like more people to know about these lessons than could help it.
"Oh, I'm no Occlumens, I can see him waiting over there." Alice's gentle eyes peered over into the corner of the Common Room, where Teddy was sitting with someone. Judging by the animated look on his face, and the fact that the person he was speaking to had a long ripple of blonde hair spilling down her back, Catrin guessed that it was Victoire Weasley.
"Getting along, aren't they? Maybe I should stay here, where it's nice and warm." Catrin smiled, tucking the scroll into her satchel.
Alice snuggled deeper into her squashy armchair and giggled. "Yeah. Don't leave the fireside; we were lucky to get these chairs. Leave the lovebirds to themselves."
"Ahh. Oh well, I'm a killjoy. Better go and break up the party." Catrin stood up, stretching luxuriously. The Common Room was fairly quiet today, as it was before curfew, so with any luck, her friends would be able to hear every single word. At least Potter and Weasley weren't here- but they had seemed pretty quiet since finding out about the girls' prank. Revenge was quite possibly imminent.
"Mind you don't burst any bubbles." Mary mumbled from her seat on the sofa.
"I won't."
Teddy looked up and smiled as Catrin moved towards them- always welcoming, that was him. She noticed that his hair colour had changed- it was precisely the same shade as his companion's.
"Nice to see you, Catrin. Ready for another lesson?"
"No, but let's get it over with." She replied, slipping into their by-now familiar routine. "Hello, Victoire."
Victoire turned, causing her hair to swing behind her in a sweep of red and gold, and fixed smiling sapphire eyes on Teddy's student. "Nice to see you!"
It would have been alright if she was horrible, reflected Catrin ruefully-she could tell that Victoire was the kind of person who made everyone else dim in comparison. The Weasley stood up, grinned at both, and left them with a parting "I'd better let Teddy work his magic."
Overall, the effect was such that it left Teddy staring after her for several seconds before coming back to himself with a jolt. When he did, Catrin grinned cheekily at him.
"Nice hair. I'd say that you two make a matching pair."
"Wha-what?" Teddy glanced at her, and put a hand to his head. "Ohh." He frowned in concentration, and then, with a pop, his hair reverted to its normal shade of sky blue. "Better?"
He looked around to see Catrin staring open-mouthed at him- and suddenly his face broke into an extremely mischievous grin.
"I guess you haven't seen that one before."
"No! Can everyone do it?"
"Hah! No, thankfully. I'm a one of a kind. A Metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will, so, if I wanted to-"
He screwed up his face again- and Catrin suddenly found herself staring at someone who looked an awful lot like her older brother. Her older brother...
"Wow." She said softly. "Were your parents Meta...wotsits?"
"My mum was, yes." Teddy leaned casually back in his seat. "I try not to spread the knowledge around- it's always useful to impersonate people- or shock them." He leered over the table at her, and she jerked back. "Cut that out!"
"Haha!" Suddenly the blue hair and grey eyes were back. "Ah well. Looks like all I have to do to scare you is make faces. That's the first half of the lesson done already!"
"Very funny. You are employed to teach me my letters. Supposedly."
"Employed? I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart! Now, if you'll get out your quill, we'll see about your parchment skills..."
The hour passed quickly, and the Common Room began to fill up as it did so. Glancing out of the window, Catrin thought that she could define the reason why: the thick, idly swirling snow had given way to a ferocious blizzard which rattled the windows and sent gusts of chilly air into the fire-heated room. Teddy was, as ever, a patient teacher, and she made progress: so much, in fact, that by the end of the lesson he was able to tell her that she officially did not need any more help.
"Your handwriting's perfect: speed writing, pen writing, quill writing, and legible writing. All courtesy of moi." He indicated himself proudly. "A top-notch job, if I say so myself."
"You're so humble." Catrin noted dryly, stretching out in her chair. From the corner of her eye, she saw Victoire stand up and weave her way gracefully towards them, snatching a chair from a nearby table as she did so.
"Finished already?" She winked at Catrin. "I thought he was a rubbish teacher, but obviously he's done some good."
"He's alright, but sometimes he can get a bit cocky." Catrin grinned, joining in and causing Teddy to flush magenta. "Oi! 'He' can hear you, you know."
"Really? I thought we were just having a perfectly innocent female conversation." Victoire smiled, batting her eyelashes at Teddy, on whom the effect was not lost. "So, Catrin, are you staying at Hogwarts for Christmas?"
"Are you kidding me?" Catrin had put down her name the minute that the Deputy Head- Professor Longbottom- had come around with the sheet on who would be there. "Of course!" It's better than four weeks on the streets. She added silently. "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm going home to Mum and Dad's- it'll be nice to see Dominique- Louis is just a spare part in our family!"
"And I'm staying over at the Potter's. They've always been decent to me." Teddy leaned backwards in his chair, eyes glazing over slightly. "Christmas dinner at The Burrow- you've never experienced anything like it before. I don't know what Molly Weasley does to her sauce, but..."
"Get a grip!" Victoire poked him gently in the ribs.
Catrin smiled at both of them, and then decided that she'd best leave them to it. She fervently hoped that there'd be someone left to celebrate Christmas with at Hogwarts.
The next day was the last day of lessons at the school, and a festive atmosphere had settled over Gryffindor Tower like the snow in the Grounds. The Gryffindors had woken to a superbly decorated room, where the Christmas tree sparkled and the icicles adorning the staircase twinkled and seemed to resist melting.
"It's wonderful!" Catrin sighed happily, gazing spellbound at the suits of armour, which were creaking Christmas carols out at them as they passed.
"You'll get tired of it." Slimy Creep grinned at her on passing in a way that made her feel ever-so-slightly queasy, and she pulled Mary out of the portrait hole in a hurry, causing the Fat Lady to squawk at them indignantly as they headed down to breakfast.
As usual, the post owls brought no letters or parcels for Catrin, and she tried not to look too jealous as Valerie's owl, Icarus, brought her the usual letter and stack of Muggle sweets from her loving, devoted and worried parents. Everything seemed to be good in their world, judging by Valerie's pleased expression- although her birthday had occurred recently (Catrin had been forced to make ends meet and had tried to make her a jumper, with disastrous results).
However, Alice's gasp as Mercury delivered her Daily Prophet told her that all was not well in the Wizarding World.
"Alice? What is it?" Mary asked, peering across the table at their friend, who had blanched white. Alice shook her head slowly and peered at them, as though she was seeing them from far away.
"Al? Alice?" Mary called, waving a hand in front of her face. "Oh, give it here." She grabbed the Daily Prophet from the top of the cornflakes and gave it a shake. Catrin leaned across to investigate.
Splashed across the page was the moving black-and-white picture of a man with long greasy hair, snarling at the camera, accompanied with the caption Rodolphus Escapes Azkaban!
'Last night, the Ministry of Magic was forced to report the sensational news of a breakout from the notorious wizarding prison, Azkaban. Rodolphus Lestrange, a notorious ex-Death Eater who fought alongside You-Know-You in his attempted coup of the Wizarding World, yesterday managed to evade guards and disappear from his high-security cell yesterday evening. The Minister For Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, now celebrating his 17th term in office, declared "We do not know how Lestrange escaped, only that we will put our utmost efforts into finding and capturing him as soon as possible. t We urge all members of the Wizarding Community to stay calm and alert whilst we attempt to deal with the matter at hand." Lestrange's motives are uncertain, but the Ministry has a good deal to be worried about. Captured at the Battle of Hogwarts following You-Know-Who's downfall, Lestrange was believed to be part of his inner circle and will undoubtedly know magic that will pose a threat to wizards in general...For more information, turn to page four.'
Mary and Catrin looked at each other. Neither of them, for once, had anything to say.
"He was the one who made my grandparents...not right." Alice's small voice travelled across to where they were sitting. "They still haven't left St. Mungo's."
Catrin didn't want to say anything. The flight of a dangerous mass-murderer from a wizarding prison was quite enough to add to her problems, but a wave of sadness for Alice swept over her. If Lestrange had made her grandparents insane, he'd better be locked away as soon as possible.
"I'm going to find Dad." Alice stood up quickly, almost knocking over her breakfast and causing Mercury to hoot indignantly as she sprinted out of the Hall, knocking aside a couple of gossiping Ravenclaws as she did so.
The girls looked at each other, shocked. Catrin glanced down the table to see how the rest of the Gryffindors were taking the news: Teddy and a couple other seventh-years were talking gravely to each other, as were people like Louis and Victoire.
"Hey, girlies. What's up?"
James and Fred had arrived, along with Slimy Creep. Catrin glared at them, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation, but they seemed blithely unaware- cheerful, even.
"How's it going, Jones, Jordan and Valerie?" Fred smiled, distracting them with his chatter. "Potions today, eh? Done that essay for Prof. Merrythimble? I haven't."
"That's why you'll get kicked out of Hogwarts at the end of the year." Fred leaned back, obscuring the other two from view. "O ye of little faith! Despite your prickly exterior, there is an interior that will miss our joking and chatter."
"Oh yes?" Catrin retorted. "There's only one of you chattering. Where's your other partner in crime, then?"
A look swept briefly over Fred's face- what was it? Shiftiness? Guilt? But then James stepped out from behind his friend, hand clenched. "Right here. Pining for me?"
"Ah, already joshing with the girls." Slimy Creep nudged James, who snorted. Mary did too- but with a lot more sarcasm.
"No, actually. I wanted to ask whether you'd seen the headlines." Catrin spun Alice's newspaper across the table until it was under the boy's noses. Despite everything, she enjoyed watching their faces go slack with shock as they read the caption.
She leaned forwards to make her point. "Rodolphus is on the loose. I think we can safely say we're not pining for you, but worried about Alice instead."
Fred whistled through his teeth. "Blimey. Hope the Muggles won't notice- they've advanced a lot in twenty years. Bless them." He added, almost fondly. "They think they're so clever."
"Mmm." James said, hand flying to his hair. Something was definitely bothering him, but she wasn't sure what it was. "Well, we'd better be off then. Wouldn't want to keep you from your breakfast. I think I'm gonna go send an owl to Dad about Lestrange. See you!"
And then he and his posse moved off towards the end of the Gryffindor table.
"I hate that Slimy Creep." Catrin said vehemently, staring after them. "What an idiot." She picked up her goblet of pumpkin juice and took a vigorous gulp. The taste had been strange at the start- and the golden decanters that they had been served in had made her eyes pop- but gradually she'd gotten used to both, even though the bullion could definitely be put to better use.
"Slimy Creep? Good name." Mary said, her eyes following the boys as well. She set down her goblet with a thump. "Where's Val?"
"I don't know; where is she normally?" Catrin thought that their muggle-born friend was nice, but they never seemed to see her much. Whoever her friends were, they obviously were enough that she didn't have to socialise much with her fellow Gryffindors. Probably a group of Hufflepuffs or something similar.
"Shall we go?"
"Yup. In for a penny, in for a pound, and all that jazz." Together, they wended the now-familiar way down to the dungeons, where the frigid air seemed to solidify in their lungs and cause great billowing breaths to undulate in front of them. They passed Macnair on the way up, and exchanged mutual sneers- Catrin especially. She hated that Slytherin with a vengeance.
Professor Merrythimble was –thankfully- early to his lesson, and the shivering dispelled as soon as they kindled the fire underneath their cauldrons for the brewing of a Pepper-Up Potion. As Mary diced roots and Catrin sliced viciously at a particularly stubborn piece of asphodel, Valerie slid into her place next to them, with a hurried "Sorry I'm late."
And then- "Oh my god!"
"What?" Catrin tried to say- but to her horror, all that came out was a bark. A dog's bark. She tried again, with exactly the same results.
"Oh..." Valerie's eyes were as round as saucers. Tentatively she reached up and pulled a strand of Catrin's normally dark hair around to her eyes.
It was fuchsia.