Bella and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Twenty Three

What with the promise of Anti-Dementor lessons from Lupin, the thought of never seeing the grim again, and the fact that Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the end of November, my mood took a definite upturn. Gryffindor was not out of the running after all, although we could not afford to lose another match. Wood became repossessed of his manic energy and worked the team as hard as ever in the chilly haze of rain that persisted into December. I saw no hint of a Dementor within the grounds. Dumbledore's anger seemed to be keeping them at their stations at the entrances.

Two weeks before the end of term, the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling, opaline white and the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had already decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies. We were all happily discussing our plans for the holidays. Both Ron and Hermione had decided to stay at Hogwarts, and though Ron said it was because he couldn't stand two weeks with Percy, and Hermione insisted she needed to use the library, me and Harry weren't fooled; they were doing it to keep us both company, and we were very grateful.

To everyone's delight except mine and Harry's, there was to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend term.

"We can do all our Christmas shopping there!" Hermione said. "Mum and Dad would really love those Toothflossing Stringmints from Honeydukes!"

Resigned to the fact that we would be the only third-year's staying behind again, we borrowed a copy of Which Broomstick from Wood and decided to spend our day reading up on the different makes together. Harry had been riding one of the school brooms at team practice, an ancient Shooting Star, which was very slow and jerky; we agreed he definitely needed a new broom of his own. 

I'm going to try and get him one for Christmas but it depends what they have in stock. He can't have any old broom, he needs the best and the fastest. 

On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip, we bid goodbye to Ron and Hermione, who were wrapped in cloaks and scarves, then turned up the marble staircase together, and headed back towards Gryffindor Tower laughing and joking around. Snow had started to fall outside the windows, and the castle was very still and quiet.

"Psst - guys!"

We turned, halfway along the third-floor corridor, to see Fred and George peering out at us from behind a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch. What did they want?

"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously, speaking my thoughts. "How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?"

"We've come to give you both a bit of festive cheer before we go," Fred told us, with a mysterious wink. "Come in here..."

He nodded towards an empty classroom to the left of the one-eyed statue. We followed Fred and George inside. George closed the door quietly and then turned, to look at us. I looked back, confused. 

"Early Christmas present for you both," he said. "But mainly for Harry...we couldn't think of what to get you, Bella-"

"So we figured you'd like this too," Fred finished. 

I nodded. "You didn't have to get me anything anyway,"

Fred nodded and pulled something from inside his cloak with a flourish and laid it on one of the desks. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it. I stared at it suspecting it was one of their jokes.

"What's that supposed to be?" Harry asked.

"This, Harry, is the secret of our success," George explained, patting the parchment fondly.