Chapter fifteen
Christmas Dreams
It was three days till Christmas, and as all the school lessons were over, the trio living in Hagrid's Hut were free to spend their days playing around and having fun. But with Umbridge still occupying the castle, they all thought it best to stay near the hut. Elora and Hermione had already returned home for the holidays, and so the only human visitors for the dragons were Harry and Ron.
Cynder was still in the middle of her prank war with Sparx, and she had cooked up a belter. As Sparx was smaller than any of them, he constantly complained about the temperature and how he was freezing all the time! So, with the help of Fred and George, she was able to acquire something called a Pepper Imp, which the twins assured her would be so spicy for the dragonfly that he could breathe fire! So, she approached the chilly dragonfly at around midday with the sweet in her talons.
"Hey Sparx" she greeted her target, "as an act of peace, I thought I should give you this." She then held out the sweet to the dragonfly, who took it, "that should warm you up." She told him,
"Wow, thank you Cynder!" Sparx exclaimed as he swallowed the sweet in one gulp. Cynder waited and saw the tell-tale smoke coming out of his nose and ears, when suddenly, fwoosh! Sparx puffed out his cheeks and blew a jet of fire right in Cynder's face! She was ok as dragons were fairly fireproof, but it did startle her! Sparx started laughing at her which caused Fred, George and Spyro to suddenly roll out of their hiding place nearby, all guffawing with laughter and Cynder realised what had just happened, her prank idea was actually part of a larger prank on her!
That night, Cynder fell asleep, hoping that a good revenge prank would come to her in her dreams, but this was not to be.
She was back in the corridor, the same one from before. She slivered to the door. She was so close! She could see the Ministry of Magic logo on the handle! The scene suddenly changed to that of a massive dark room full of shelves that had plenty of orbs covering each one. There was only one light source, a man with his wand illuminating the area around him. It was Arthur Weasley! He turned to face her with terror in his eyes she then heard an all too familiar voice in her head,
"STRIKE!" and as soon as the order was given, she lunged at the man, biting into his flesh with her sharp fangs! She did this again and again without mercy until Arthur was covered in blood and collapsed onto the ground!
"NOOOO!" she screamed as her eyes snapped open, Spyro and Sparx woke up with a start. They rushed over to Cynder who was gasping for breath and her eyes were wide and fear was shown clearly in those eyes.
"Cynder, what's wrong?" Spyro asked, fearing the worst.
"It's Mr Weasley!" Cynder responded, "I think I just killed him!"
The trio flew as fast as they could, they had to tell someone! As they flew over the main courtyard, they saw that Professor McGonagall was lighting the way whilst leading a terrified Harry and Ron to the same destination they were heading: Dumbledore's Office.
"what are you three doing up?" McGonagall asked as they rushed to the secret entrence to the office,
"I had a vision Professor," Cynder explained,
"was it of Arthur Weasley being attacked?" the professor asked, causing the dragon to nod silently, how did she know?
When they arrived at Dumbledore's Office, Dumbledore was quick to ask them questions whilst the rest of the Weasleys arrived.
"in the dream," he asked, "were you standing next to the victim? Or looking down at the scene?"
"neither," Harry responded fearfully, "it was like I…"
"it was like you were the one causing it?" Cynder finished, "I had the same dream" this scared both her and Harry, how could they have had the exact same dream?
"Professor, will you please just tell us what's happening?" Harry begged Dumbledore, but it was either he didn't hear him or ignored him, for Dumbledore just walked over to a painting on the wall,
"Everard," he announced to the person in the picture, "Arthur's on guard duty tonight. Make sure he's found by the right people." The man in the painting nodded before walking out of the frame,
"sir…" Harry tried again, but Dumbledore still ignored him, much to Spyro's confusion as last year it was dumbledore who asked them to watch over Harry for his safety.
"Phineas," Dumbledore called as he walked over to another painting, "you must go to your portrait at Grimmauld Place. Tell them that Arthur Weasley is gravely injured, and his children will be arriving there soon by port key." Everard then returned to his painting and announced that they had found him and that it was a close call, but Arthur should make it and apparently the Dark Lord and Master failed to acquire what he was after. Almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief,
"Ah, thank goodness." Dumbledore sighed, harry on the other hand, he seemed like he was clicking his neck before shouting in anger,
"Look at me!" this got Dumbledore's attention, who stared at the boy intently, "what's happening to me?" Harry asked in fear, and what's more, Cynder seemed like she was trying to shake away a headache, but she soon calmed down when Spyro gave her a nuzzle. At this point, Severus Snape entered the room,
"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" he asked,
"Severus, I'm afraid we can't wait" Dumbledore explained, "not even till the morning, otherwise we'll all be vulnerable."
