All a Dream
Chapter 26
"Mum, Nigel took my new book, and he won't give it back!" Erin squealed as the youngest in the Potter family yelled loudly what the books contents were: it was the first book in a series that Harry had glimpsed once before, The Academy for Young Witches. It was, of course, a bit of a girly book made funny by the way Nigel laughed at sentences involving make-up, shoes and potions for hair.
Stew had disappeared shortly after he opened his second present, only to return a few moments later with a wide, smug grin on his face. Later, Harry found an instruction book on how to be stealthier about pranking hidden under Stew's mattress.
Harry hadn't been given a lot for Christmas, but all the things were high-quality and/or useful. He'd gotten a notebook from his mum and dad that could fit in the palm of his hand, but held over three-hundred, regular-sized pages. (In the note that came with it, his father had written that it would come in handy during Auror training, where notes needed to be taken on everything); a Weasley jumper, just like everyone else; a portable swamp from Stew and Drew, now being produced through the triplets' joke shop; from Sirius and Regulus came a dictation quill that would write whatever you said to it; and from Mae, Erin and Nigel there was an owl. She was a Tawny owl, and in the little fact card that came with the cage it said the Latin name for the genus of owl. That was when Harry decided on the name Strix for her.
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The ride back to Hogwarts seemed much longer than usual Harry noted as he read through the beginning chapters of another of his Christmas presents, this one from Ron. It was called Twilight, and so far it seemed fairly well written, although Harry thought that there was too much happening from the girl's point of view, and no where near enough action. Finally, the train halted and soon enough, Harry was carrying his trunk and the bird cage containing Strix in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, following the flow of people and making sure Erin wasn't lost in the crowd. Once inside the dorm rooms, Harry allowed himself to flop onto his bed, exhausted. It wasn't long before he was revisiting his holidays in his head...
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Classes after the holidays went rather well. The teachers were again pressing that everyone should study, and students would often find pop quizzes on their desks when they walked into their classrooms. By mid-February a little more pressure was beginning to be felt by all, especially the fifth and seventh years. Valentines Day came and went, Harry taking little notice of it, though he did find a little card from Ginny tucked away in one of his books.
Hagrid and Olympe's son, Johnny, was also becoming quite the task for the two. He was just able to walk now, and one day when Harry went over for tea the young child had somehow managed to get from the floor to the kitchen counter in the span of thirty seconds.
Then there were the 'daily pranks'. One that kept being repeated was the removal and replacement of objects at random points during class. It got to the point that three chairs found themselves suddenly standing upon Snape's desk at the back of the classroom. Snape then wrote a thank-you letter on one of them to Professor Lupin and sent them back, only to find out later that the chairs had been from Professor Delgado.
A/N: I am really, really sorry. I haven't updated in the longest time, and this is a fairly short chapter! I was having crazy writer's block. I'm almost done now. Maybe three more chapters, if that.
I also recently learned that the name Remus belongs to one in a set of twins who were both raised by wolves. I think. We've only just started our Greek mythology unit in English.
I found an error in the thirteenth chapter that I have now fixed (Harry wasn't actually the one who killed Voldie, it was Remus). Please notify me if you find any more things wrong!
