Author's Notes: Since these two chapters are fairly short, I decided to post them together. Two updates for the price of one, yay!

Happy New Year, everyone! But while you're celebrating with friends and family, please keep in your hearts and prayers everyone who was affected by the tsunami in southern Asia. They won't be having a very happy New Year, so please keep them in your hearts.


Monday, 11 December

7:04 p.m.

There's really no time to be writing in my journal, but I haven't done my Weekly Goals in ages, and if there was ever a week I need to do them, it's this week. The teachers seem to be making up for the fact that we'll have no classes in only a nine days' time by piling on excessive amounts of homework. Our last (and consequently, largest and most difficult) Arithmancy checkpoint for the independent study is due at the end of the week. Harry, Ron, and I are supposed to do a presentation on Cleaning Charms on Thursday - not the most exciting topic, but after a month and a half of dodging the twins' Cleaning Charms gone awry at Grimmauld Place, we're quite the experts. Snape's giving us an in-class assessment on Wednesday, and we don't know what potion he's going to ask us to make. I'm sort of nervous because it's difficult to make say, a proper Stomachache Solution with Snape breathing down your neck. And if he makes you test it (as he is known to do), something like that could end up eating away at your small intestine from the inside if it isn't made properly. But I'm more nervous for Neville; he's really improved with all the help I've been giving him, but as soon as Snape shows up he starts fumbling with the ingredients and forgets everything he's learned, which is not good because I'm sure Neville would like to keep his small intestine.

We also have a Transfiguration test tomorrow on the transfiguration of microscopic organisms into macroscopic organisms (Professor McGonagall transfigured a dust mite into a rabbit last week; it was really neat, but is apparently extremely difficult to do), which I should in fact be studying for right now. But I really needed to take a break; today I was so stressed out that when Peeves started following me down the hall singing a rude and disgusting version of "Let it Snow" (which instead ended in "Let one go, let one go, let one go" and had to do with passing gas) I snapped and threw my Slinkhard textbook at him. Luckily, no one saw that.

Also as a result of the massive amounts of homework we're getting, I am down to my last three elf hats! What are all the poor house elves that I haven't set free going to do for Christmas? They'll be stuck here, cleaning chimneys and sweeping floors! I have to somehow make time to knit a few more clothes for them, or else I'll just have to double my efforts after Christmas.

I haven't forgotten the dream I had last Sunday night, and I've been writing faithfully to Mum and Dad (to their surprises, I think) every other day. Harry didn't forget either. Last Tuesday morning in Herbology, when we were trying to re-pot Horse Radish (which of course is nothing like the Muggle horseradish - magical Horse Radish tends to put up a fight when you try to put it into new soil, and does a great deal of neighing and braying in protest), he asked me about it.

"No more bad dreams?" Harry asked quietly, keeping his eyes on his plant. Ron was fighting with a Horse Radish plant that kept swinging up its roots at him, as if trying to kick him, so he didn't overhear.

I gave Harry a grateful smile. "No more bad dreams," I assured him. Harry smiled slightly in return and continued potting his Horse Radish. It was really nice and thoughtful of him to check up on me, and I'm glad he doesn't think I'm silly for being frightened because of a bad dream. But I think Harry himself might still be having nightmares. I wish there was something I could do to help him.

Weekly Goals

1) Study for tomorrow's Transfiguration test!!!

2) Do not allow Neville to lose his small intestine on Wednesday.

3) Convince Harry and Ron that we still need to work on Charms presentation - maybe get some visual aids? Do demonstrations?

4) Finish Arithmancy checkpoint.

5) Knit some elf clothes before the holidays!

6) Write Mum and Dad.

7) Write Viktor.

8) Start thinking of gift ideas for everyone (I've left it so late this year…when/how on earth am I going to get down to Diagon Alley to do my Christmas shopping?)

9) Somehow stop Harry from having nightmares (recommend a Dreamless Draught?)

10) Come to think of it, review the procedure for making a Dreamless Draught…Snape might have us make that one on Wednesday.

11) Get Slinkhard textbook back (not that I want it or need it, but Umbridge might give me detention or something for not having it in class, and I think Peeves made off with it after I threw it at him).

12) Sleep?