Part Five:
Winter break went by like molasses, though frequent letters exchanged by owl between Angelica and Fiona helped pass the time and put a bit of a stopper in Angelica's anxiety. Not to mention Jonathan's distressed telephone calls where he would fret to Angelica saying such things as "Mum asked me to do a 'magic trick' for her friends at the Christmas party! Again!" and Angelica would try to calm him down by reassuring him that his parents were just proud of his magic abilities, that they aren't intentionally trying to inflict panic and embarrass him. When January finally did come about they were quite happy to get back to Hogwarts. Oliver all but disappeared for the first month back at Hogwarts, but since he had become extra fanatical about making sure Gryffindor would overtake Slytherin for the first time in seven years!
Soon it was time for the all-important Quidditch game against Hufflepuff - Oliver and the rest of the team had notified their house about (and griped to them about) the fact that Snape would be the referee.
"Why is Snape suddenly taking an interest in refereeing?" Fiona wondered to her friends at the Quidditch match.
"Well, isn't it obvious? He wants to make sure we don't win the Cup." Jonathan said with slight anger.
"I dunno, I think there's another reason...I mean he isn't that bad a person."
Fiona and Jonathan glared at Angelica like she was mad. "Sure you weren't meant for Hufflepuff, Angie?" Fiona joked, and Jonathan giggled.
"What? He's not ... Really."
"Look! Dumbledore's here! He never comes to matches, what do you reckon is going on?" asked Jonathan.
Snape awarded the Hufflepuffs a few penalties but besides that he didn't do anything vicious. The exciting game came to a close when Harry Potter made an amazing dive and caught the Snitch.
"We're going to the Finals!" Fiona stood up and cheered with the rest of the Gryffindors. Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley (who looked like he'd been in a fight) and Hermione Granger, led them out onto the Quidditch field and congratulated their housemates. The team looked worn-out, flushed, but happy!
"Oliver!" Angelica screamed and threw her arms around his neck.
"We did it! We're gonna crush those Slytherin wankers!" he yelled back over the extremely loud crowd. Then the two of them proceeded to laugh
The following Monday they had a very intense Potions lesson which Professor Snape claimed was to prepare them for their upcoming O.W.Ls (or Ordinary Wizarding Levels) examinations. But Fiona was sure it was because of the hope of Snape's Slytherins winning the House Cup now looked very weak.
Near the end of class Snape overheard an unfortunate Gryffindor telling his friends something very rude about what he'd like to do to Snape's formaldehyde and animal parts jars with a flipendo knock-back jinx.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor, detention for all who laughed, and worse if I ever hear any of those words again," Professor Snape said curtly. "Oh, and Miss Morrissey, I must speak to you after class - alone?" he added, eyeing Jonathan, Fiona, and Oliver.
Angelica nodded, her book bag in one hand, cauldron in the other, and marched up to Snape's desk. "I know that Professor Quirrell has always had a special, fondness, for you. And seeing how the headmaster has given him back the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," here he cringed. "I thought he may have mentioned the suspicious activities of late to you."
"Ah, no, Professor, sir, I-"
"Run along then, I don't know why I even bothered to ask a child like you," he remarked coldly. Angelica bit her tongue and left his dungeon; she knew it wasn't worth losing more house points over.
At the next Divinations class they were studying advanced palmistry. Angelica and Fiona were paired up together, which they were thankful for, as even though they both enjoyed the arts of Divinations, Trelawney's lessons were something of a waste of time, but when paired up together they could make lessons a bit more fun. Angelica was flipping pages of her book to find out what having a small mound of Jupiter meant, when Professor Trelawney came to inspect their work. But before Fiona could tell her about Angelica's increased mount of Mars, Trelawney gazed matter-of-factly at Angelica and said "There's something you want to tell me about."
"Um, sorry, I don't know what you mean, Professor."
"No, my dear, you do, I am an expert at these things."
Several students snickered.
"Well, I um, I had a dream last night," Angelica said trying to shut Trelawney up.
The professor nodded. "Ah, a premonition, Go on."
"I, well, I was in this large room, but I think I was invisible, because no one noticed I was there..." She took a deep breath. "There, there, w-was this - man, and he seemed to be unraveling, you know, coming undone, but in ribbon. A-and I couldn't help him or move at all."
A look of horror mixed with confusion came across Fiona and Trelawney's faces. Angelica didn't bother to look at the rest of the class, but the room had gone silent.
"My dear, you must have the blood of a gifted Seer in you, for you have just predicted your own death. Well, our time is up," Trelawney finished and returned to her desk as the students solemnly packed up their things.
"You never told me about that," whispered Fiona, once they had gotten out of the classroom.
"Well, I just dreamt it last night," Angelica said, trying to keep from tears.
"Maybe you ought to go to Quirrell about this, Angie?"
Almost as if on cue, Snape appeared out of a trick bookcase. "And what would you be going to Quirrell about?" he hissed, coolly.
"We-well it has to do with Defense Against the Dark Arts, sir," Fiona jumped in.
"And you would go to him for advice?" scoffed Snape.
The girls looked at each other, as Snape glared at them.
"Fiona, Angie!" Jonathan shouted, turning around the corner, with Oliver at his side. They stopped short. "T-time for Herbology."
"Well, move on then. No use in idling now, is there?"
The four students scurried off to the greenhouse and were only slightly late for their class.