In The Safety Of Magical World

Chapter 14

February came with a series of wicked snowstorms that went on for days and put Hogwarts in an apocalypse-like state. Professors seemed to get tired of the fight with the endless snow. The blizzard insolently created the piles they just managed to vanish and melt in a mere few hours. The snow was pouring down from the steel grey sky as if from a ripped sack. The snowflakes created a wall you couldn't see through further than a few feet. 

Because of the harsh weather, Herbology classes got canceled as students weren't allowed to leave the castle even to go as far as to the greenhouses. Hagrid's hut had almost disappeared behind the heaps of snow and the half-giant was sweating, working hard to shovel the area clean.

The Gryffindor common room was pleasantly warm due to the fireplace that never went out, which couldn't be said about the dormitories. The stove in the middle of a room didn't emit too much heat and we, boys, were shivering under layers of blankets, hiding from the icy air that seeped into the dormitory through the cracks around the windows. Neville even took his toad into the bed with him which seemed quite disgusting to me, but the housemate obviously had a deep attachment to his pet.

These cold, windy and snowy days were a turning point and the relatively safe being in Hogwarts suddenly changed dramatically. When I looked back at it later, I realized this was the beginning of the worst time period of my life. Back then I was sitting in the protection of magical sunshine and didn't see the enormous, black cloud coming in my direction.

I began to have twisted, unnerving nightmares that didn't resemble any other dream I had ever seen before. Actually, I had never been much of a dreamer. Most of my nights were spent in an empty sleep, I closed my eyes in the evening and opened them in the morning with nothing in between. And if I did dream, I only saw abstract things, coming together from the books read, the movies I watched, and the people I met.

This was different. These dreams were frighteningly specific as if someone had programmed them into my head. And what worried me the most was the fact that the person who featured in these unwelcomed mind fruits was the one I cared about a lot.

The first time it happened, I didn't give it much attention. That night was very dark, pitch-black, no moon or stars were visible through the storm. The wind was howling around the windows and large snowflakes splashed against the glass, melting down like icy tears. I was sleeping under several blankets and a weird image materialized in front of my closed eyes.

I was back in my old high school. I walked through the open gate and the school's front door that was swinging wide open. Inside, I saw familiar things instantly. A half-knitted sock was laying on the desk of the security guard who was near her retiring age and students used to make fun of how useless the elderly woman would be if an actual criminal came into the school. 

A big schedule of classes and their times was pinned up on the notice board. A freshly green palm tree was sitting in a big clay pot on the windowsill. On the opposite side of the room, there was a huge lemon tree my friend once managed to steal a lemon from.

I felt the smell of fresh paint that hit me in the nose whenever I walked into the school, someone seemed to paint something every single day. The aroma of brewed coffee was coming from the teachers' room. The metallic tinkling of numbers was sounding from the school's cloakroom.

Despite it all, something wasn't right. The school was completely abandoned. I couldn't see anyone or hear anyone's voice. There was no sound of hundreds of steps running up and down the hallways. I felt my heart beating wildly as I walked, checking every room in my way, and finding it empty. Teachers and students seemed to be vanished into thin air, as notebooks, pens, pencils, and schoolbags were still laying on desks.