Chapter 15 – A Fright Before Christmas

As soon as James got back to his dormitory he told Noah everything that had happened down in the dungeons.

"What do you think it was?" Noah asked as James wrapped himself in a blanket, still feeling cold from the freezing room.

"No idea. I didn't hang around long enough to get a good look," James replied as he moved over to the heater to warm up. "But there's one person who might be able to tell us."

On Saturday morning as soon as they had finished breakfast, James and Noah made their way down to Hagrid's hut but found him in not the best of moods. He was sat on the steps of his hut looking out towards the forest.

"Hi Hagrid," James said.

Hagrid just grunted back but Fang got up and rushed over to greet the pair with a good coating of slobber.

"Everything Ok?" James asked as Noah wrestled with Fang who was jumping up at him.

"What?" Hagrid snapped back, having not been paying proper attention to the boys. "Oh sorry it's just Burns. He's eleasi' down the Chris'mas trees for the Great 'all today but I bet he's pickin' all the wrong ones."

James knew that Burns was probably more than capable of selecting good trees to use but it was more sour grapes on Hagrid's part as he was still upset that Burns had taken over his duties as groundskeeper.

"Hagrid can we ask you something?" James said.

"What?," Hagrid replied, still looking out towards the forest. "Oh yeah sure. What about?"

"It's about a creature," James said.

"Oh," Hagrid replied, suddenly taking more of an interest. "What sort of creature?"

"Well I think there's one in the dungeon. In fact I know there's one in the dungeon. I saw it last night. It was huge and white and rather vicious."

"Vicious? Snowy? Don' be stupid. He's 'armless," Hagrid said.

"Snowy?" Noah interjected. "You've named it?"

"Well of course I 'ave. It's sort of me pet."

"Your pet?!" James replied in surprise.

"Well yeah. Snowy is a yeti. I rescued him over the summer in Siberia. They 'ad him in a magic circus. Was being treated eleasing'ly an' livin' in awful conditions. So I brought him back 'ere. Thought me fifth years could study him while I'm getting' him back I good 'ealth before eleasing' him back in I the wild."

"Why's he locked up in the dungeon?" James asked.

"Well he can't very well be roamin' the forest now can he. Not until he's back I full 'ealth plus it's too warm for him out 'ere even in the winter. Maybe when it starts to snow he can come out for a bit. But Professor Flitwick put a charm on the room for me I keep it cold for him. What were you doin' down in the dungeon anyway?"

"Er… oh look is that Burns coming back with a tree?" James said changing the subject and Hagrid suddenly jumped up from his step and looked over.

"I always picked bigger ones," Hagrid fumed but both James and Noah thought the tree looked perfectly big enough to them and were surprised that Burns could carry such a big one.

Luckily Hagrid was too busy watching Burns collect the rest of the trees that they were able to get away without him asking anymore about why James was down in the dungeon last night and they started walking back up to the castle.

"I can't believe he's got a yeti as a pet. Is that even safe?" Noah asked, thinking the thought of taking up Care of Magical Creatures in his third year would be a dangerous decision.

But James knew very well from the stories he had heard about Hagrid over the years that he had a fondness for the less conventional creatures.

"Well I guess at least that solves one mystery," Noah pointed out. "That creature has nothing to do with you."

James thought that was true but he was nowhere near to finding the room with the snake statue from his dream or discovering what it all meant.

Christmas was fast approaching and James was looking forward to returning home to celebrate with his family. Christmas decorations had started to be put up around the castle and snow had started to fall outside. But it wasn't just the snow outside that was piling up. So was his school work.

It was another late night for James as he worked in the common room. He had really let his school work pile up on him and now he had multiple assignments that were due before the Christmas holidays. He had just managed to finish his Herbology essay to an acceptable standard and had now started on his Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment as Noah worked beside him at a table beside the fire, which made them feel warm and cosy as the snow continued to fall outside.

"Are you looking forward to going home for Christmas?" Noah asked, needing to take a break from dark curses and jinxes.

"No school work for two weeks? I can't wait," James replied enthusiastically. "We always go to my grandparents for Christmas day. It's a big family gathering, I have lots of aunts and uncles and cousins and then before Christmas lunch we always play a game of Quidditch. What about you?"

"We'll be at my mum's parents. They're Muggles and don't know about me or my dad so unfortunately there won't be any broomstick flying for me," Noah replied, sounding a little disappointed.

"Still it will be nice to spend time with your family," James said, realising how much he was missing his own family before getting back to his studies as the fire roared beside him.

At about midnight James and Noah had called it a night and James was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow. He began to dream about Christmas, opening presents in the common room with his friends before his dream took a sinister turn. Suddenly the fire in the Gryffindor common room roared wildly to life and rushed out of the fire place, taking the form of a roaring lion. Everyone started to scream as the fire charged around the room, setting everything it touched ablaze. James ran up the stairs to his dorm but from the intense heat behind him he knew the fire was following him.

He closed the dormitory door behind him and ran to the window. The fire was now burning through the door, his only way of escape other than the window. He looked down, he was hundreds of feet from the ground, jumping was not an option.

The fire continued to burn through the door and James knew it would be through any second and the dorm would go up in flames, him with it when he saw something out the corner of his eye slide under one of the beds. Something was in the room with him. Before he even had chance to investigate the fire came crashing through the door like an explosion, flames shooting everywhere as one bolt of fire hit James on the arm, searing his skin and he screamed out in agony.

It was then that James had woken himself with his own scream as he bolted upright in bed, sweat pouring over him.

"Are you OK?" Noah asked, having been woken by James' scream, as he rubbed his eyes, still half asleep.

"Yeah," James said looking around the room and was glad he hadn't woken anyone else.

"Another bad dream?" Noah asked.

"Yeah," James replied trying as hard as he could to remember everything from his dream. Who had been in the common room with him? Were they in danger? And what had he seen hiding under the bed?

When James went down for breakfast the next morning the Christmas trees had been put up in the Great Hall overnight and they looked amazing. There were twelve around the hall and each one was decorated differently. There was one decorated in each house colours, another decorated all in gold and the other seven were decorated around the theme of various teaching subjects. One tree had stars hanging on it, small model planets orbiting around it and a small burning orb atop it representing the sun. Another tree was decorated with vials of various brightly coloured liquids and there was even a tree with misty orbs hanging from it. When you looked into the orbs you could see various predictions, though the teachers had clearly been careful to only use pleasant predictions as they only seemed to show people playing in the snow or opening fun presents. Everyone was saying how amazing the trees looked, all except Hagrid who had a face like thunder and quickly left the Great Hall again after grabbing some breakfast.

But James was very much enjoying the festive setting as it had taken his mind off his dream as everyone became more excited for Christmas and James thought about spending time with his family.

Lessons had been more fun than usual. Professor Flitwick was teaching them a charm to make parchment sing Christmas carols And Professor Slughorn had them brewing a Merriment potion, which he said was the ideal gift for any grumpy relatives.

After dinner James had spent his evening yet again doing his copious amounts of homework and after a quick trip to the library before it shut, he headed back to the Gryffindor common room to get back at it.

He was making his way to the Grand Staircase when he spotted someone standing outside the Great Hall. At first he didn't think anything of it but as he got closer he got a strange feeling of déjà vu. The boy standing in front of the doors was small with black hair. Once again he couldn't see the boy's face but he was sure it was the same boy he had seen in his dream and by the graffiti on the wall.

"Hey!" James shouted out but instantly the boy ran. "Wait I just want to talk to you!"

James started to run after him but as he reached the doors to the Great Hall he stopped. There written on the wood in large, red dripping letters were the words 'THE END IS NEAR'. James was about to continue after the boy but he wasn't even sure where he had gone. There were many corridors going off in various directions. He'd never be able to find him now.

It was then that he noticed a sound that seemed to be coming from within the hall. It was like a crackling noise and it instantly reminded James of his dream from last night.

He approached the doors with a feeling of dread and wasn't sure if he should open them or not. Maybe he should just get a teacher or better still get out of there before anyone saw him. But James decided a quick look to check if it was what he thought it was going on in the Great Hall would only take a second and then he could leave and get help.

He pushed open the large oak doors and was immediately met by a burst of intense heat that nearly made him topple over backwards and his worst fears were realised. Inside the Great Hall huge flames were rising up all around just as he had seen in his dream as James realised each of the Christmas trees were ablaze. He froze not sure what to do. He didn't know any spells to deal with this. He had to get help.

James ran as fast as he could to the staff room on the ground floor, hoping someone was still in there at this time of the evening. When he got there he banged on the door furiously.

"Help! Is anyone in there?!" he shouted as he continued to thump on the door.

Eventually Professor Sinclair opened the door.

"What's all the commotion about Mr Potter?" she said, looking a little put out.

"Fire! In the Great Hall!"

"What?!" exclaimed Sinclair. "Dennis get Minerva and any of the other teachers you can round up," she said to Professor Creevey who was sat in the staff room before she rushed out the door with James in tow.

When James and Professor Sinclair reached the hall the flames were even higher now. Banners were alight on the walls and half the Gryffindor table was burning.

"Stand back Potter!" Sinclair commanded. "Aguamenti Maxima!"

Water shot out of Professor Sinclair's wand like a tidal wave as she swung it back and forth around the room. Soon more teachers turned up and they too quickly had water pouring from their wands until eventually the fire was put out and the Great Hall was left in a charred, soggy mess.

It was then that Professor McGonagall turned up with Professor Creevey at her side. She looked devastated as she looked in on the charred room.

"How did this happen?" she demanded to know furiously.

"Not sure Minerva. Maybe one of the candles on the trees started the blaze?" Professor Sinclair suggested as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"Nonsense," McGonagall retorted back. "Charms are always used to stop such things happening. This was started deliberately. Who discovered the fire?"

"I was the first on the scene," Sinclair said. "But it was Potter here who raised the alarm."

McGonagall looked at James, who had been standing behind the teachers out of view, with a look if disdain. "Potter, I should have guessed. Either it was very fortunate you were nearby or otherwise bad luck hangs over you like a cloud."

"Believe me professor," James replied, "I'm beginning to think exactly the same thing."

The next morning when James went down for breakfast it was like the fire in the Great Hall had never happened. The graffiti had been removed from the doors, new banners hung from the ceiling, the tables and benches were no longer charred and new Christmas trees had been put up and decorated. The only trace of there ever having been a fire was the slight smell of smoke that still lingered. And certainly everyone had heard all about it.

"Is it true you were the one who called the alarm on it James?" a second year girl from Gryffindor asked.

"Called the alarm on it?" a sixth year boy shouted out before James could answer. "I heard James was the one who started it."

A few people around the table laughed but James didn't find it funny and decided to not get involved in the conversation and instead ate his breakfast in silence until Professor McGonagall addressed the school. Once again she condemned the graffiti and stated that whoever started the fire would be caught and expelled and anyone who had any information should report it to her immediately.

James wondered if it was time to tell Professor McGonagall about his dreams but didn't want to draw attention to the fact that all these bad things that were happening around the school were somehow linked to him. He had told her about the small boy he had seen outside the Great Hall last night but other than the fact he was small with black hair, it wasn't much of a description to help identify him.

The quips about James somehow being involved with starting the fire continued all day and he was getting sick of it.

"Quick best get lunch before Potter sets fire to the place again," Greta said deliberately loud as she walked past James with her friends toward the hall at lunch time.

James didn't fancy a lunch time spent listening to people making jokes about him being some sort of arsonist so decided to go and visit Hagrid instead.

James trudged through the snow to Hagrid's cabin and when he got there he found Hagrid outside and in a very good mood.

"'Ello James. Fantastic day ain' it?" Hagrid said with a beaming smile. "Chris'mas trees in the 'all are looking great aren' they? Did 'em myself this mornin'. Burns didn' 'ave time to do them again so I stepped in. They're much better now don' yeh think?"

"Yeah sure they look great, shame about the fire though," James said, having hoped to have avoided the topic.

"Yeah ruddy great shame but luckily no permanen' damage. Good job yeh came along an' spotted it when yeh did."

James was glad of some praise for a change and was about to say to Hagrid it was just lucky that he had been passing the hall last night when he noticed something bounding through the snow towards them.

It was hard to distinguish what it was because it was white like the snow but James suddenly realised what it was. It was the yeti. It was at least seven foot tall, covered head to toe in white fur. The only thing that really made it stand out from the snow was its pink nose and deep, pale blue eyes and it was headed straight for them.

"Is that thing meant to be out Hagrid?" James asked, sounding slightly worried.

"What Snowy? Yeah he loves it out 'ere now it's snowin'."

"Yeah but is it safe?" James asked and was getting ready to duck behind Hagrid if needed.

"Yeah Snowy wouldn' 'urt a fly," Hagrid replied as he threw a massive snowball and the yeti chased after it.

James wasn't so sure about the friendliness of the yeti but he soon changed his mind as Hagrid encouraged him to throw some snowballs too for Snowy and James was soon having a great time. When he woke that morning he certainly didn't think he'd be playing in the snow with a yeti.

Eventually Snowy got tired and Hagrid brought them all out steamy mugs of hot chocolate (and a bowl of it for Snowy) as James sat with Hagrid on the steps of his cabin and Snowy nestled himself in the vegetable patch and lapped at his bowl.

"Got something for yeh James," Hagrid said as he quickly popped back into his hut and returned with a large package wrapped rather haphazardly in brown paper.

"Sorry Hagrid I didn't get you anything," James said, feeling bad that he hadn't got him a Christmas present too.

"That's OK I got presents from yeh mum an' dad. They arrived by owl this mornin'. I couldn' wait till Chris'mas day so I opened 'em already. A big box of treacle fudge an' a bottle of Firewhiskey. I may 'ave already eaten 'alf the fudge this mornin'," Hagrid said looking a little embarrassed. "Well go on, yeh can open it now."

James tore off the brown paper and saw it was a big leather bound book.

"The Truth About Magical Creatures by Hercule Howling," James said reading the title and author of the book out loud. "Thanks Hagrid. Is this required reading for Magical Creatures studies?"

"Not exactly. It was kind of band by the Ministry. It was dead 'ard to get 'old of. Copies are very rare now but I 'ad it when I was a kid."

"Why was it banned?" James asked as he flicked through the book.

"Well 'owling 'ad some views on creatures that certain people in the Ministry didn' agree with."

"Like what?" James asked.

"Well like no creatures are dangerous. There's only a danger when people don' know how to look after 'em properly," Hagrid said with a smile.

James knew Hagrid had very different views of creatures to most. The fact he had a yeti for a pet proved this. As James continued to flick through the book he saw pictures of Manticores and Chimaeras and thought there was no way he would be having any of them as a pet.

"It's great Hagrid. Thank you," James said and gave him a hug though he was only able to put his arms around about a quarter of Hagrid's body.

The rest of the week had been uneventful and James was glad that he hadn't had any more bad dreams. And by some miracle he had managed to get all his assignments in on time. On the last evening of term they had a massive Christmas feast in the Great Hall with huge turkeys, succulent hams, roast potatoes and all the trimmings. Afterwards in the Gryffindor common room they had played games till late before everyone went to bed, ready for the train ride back to London tomorrow.

In the morning after a lay in and a late breakfast, James was alone in his dorm packing up the last of his things and getting ready to take his bags down to the entrance hall when Noah entered.

"What are you looking so happy about?" James asked, having noticed a decidedly cheeky grin on Noah's face.

"I got you a present," Noah replied as he walked over to James.

"You shouldn't have. I didn't know we were doing presents. I didn't get you anything. I feel bad now."

"Well if you don't want it," Noah said and he retrieved from his pocket a small vial containing a blue liquid and James looked on in surprise.

"Is that what I think it is?" James asked.

"Yes," Noah replied.

"But how did you get it?"

"I got it from Polly," Noah said as he handed the vial over to James.

"But how?"

"Well in her own words 'it's not like she needs it', she's pretty good at remembering things especially when it comes to school work. I just explained it was a gift for someone who needed help remembering something. But don't worry I didn't mention your name."

"And she just gave it to you?" James said dubiously.

"Erm… sort of. She's actually really nice when you get to know her," Noah said as he took a seat on his bed, with a guilty expression on his face.

"What does 'sort of' mean?" James asked a little worried.

"OK don't hate me cos remember I did manage to get the potion but I kind of promised her I would speak to you about getting her an invite to the Slug Club," Noah replied rather sheepishly.

"You did what?" James said furiously.

"I'm sorry but you know Slughorn would probably invite her if you ask so what's the harm?"

James knew Noah was probably right. If he mentioned to Professor Slughorn that Polly would be a good fit for the club he would probably let her come, after all Slughorn already knew what a gifted student of Potions she was. But he didn't like the thought of having to ask Slughorn for something. He already found his teacher slightly irritating the way he obsessed over him. And he enjoyed the fact that Polly wasn't part of the Slug Club because he knew it annoyed her that he was part of it and she wasn't. But Noah was right, he now had the Potion so that was all that mattered. He still thought Polly was stuck up and rude and had no intention of making friends but he could swallow his pride and see about getting her an invitation.

"Well?" Noah asked. "Are you going to take it or not?"

James didn't need to be asked again and took the stopper out the vial and was about to down it when he paused. "Wait shouldn't we give this to Neville? It might help him get his memory back?"

"Don't you think the teachers have thought of that already? Apparently the potion doesn't work on the kind of memory loss Neville has suffered," Noah replied back and James didn't waste a second longer and downed the potion.

"It certainly tastes better than our attempt," he joked as the liquid worked it's way down his throat.

James wasn't quite sure how the potion worked or even if it was working. He didn't feel any different as Noah watched him intently.

"I'm not sure what is meant to happen," James said, feeling a little stupid as if suddenly all his memories would come flooding back to him.

"Maybe just think about your dreams. Like when we were trying to guess objects on the tray we were just focusing on that," Noah suggested.

James began to think back to his most recent dream. Suddenly he could see it much more clearly. Now he could see the faces of everyone who was there with him in the common room and it made him feel uneasy as he saw their terrified faces as the fire raged. He then remembered fleeing up to his dormitory as the fire chased him and the feeling of dread that there was no escape. It was then that he remembered seeing something sliding under one of the beds and he looked but couldn't get a good look at what it was. He then turned his attention to his other dreams, recalling the ones where he was attacked by the plant in his bed, the statues attacking in the Great Hall and the scarecrow in the vegetable patch. It was then that he suddenly realised that there had been something else there, present in all his dreams just like he had seen sliding under his bed in his most recent one. He had seen something moving across the floor that wasn't a vine when the plant had attacked him, he had almost tripped over something fleeing the statues in the hall and there was definitely something crawling through the vegetable patch. James tried to remember as hard as he could, trying to get a glimpse of what the thing was. Suddenly like a fog lifting it came clearly into view, the thing that had been present in all his dreams was a snake.

"A snake?" Noah repeated after James had told him what he had seen. "And you said the room from your other dream had a snake statue in it? Maybe you should have been put in Slytherin with all these dreams about snakes," Noah joked.

But suddenly things started to make sense for James. What if the strange voice he was hearing in the language he didn't understand was actually speaking Parseltongue? And he remembered the graffiti on the wall in the dungeon. It had said 'The Heir Rises'. Were all his dreams linked to the Heir of Slytherin? Was it all to do with Voldemort?