Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
————————————
Aurora Areli
ONCE FEBRUARY HAD PASSED and March was upon us, the weather became significantly drier, but cruel winds skinned our hands and faces every time we went out into the grounds. Not only was the wind painful, but it was also very inconvenient in the sense that there were delays in the post, because the owls kept being blown off course.
The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking the wrong way. As soon as Harry had torn of Sirius' reply, it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again.
Sirius' letter was almost as short as the previous one.
Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish & Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.
"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" Ron said incredulously.
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.
"I can't believe him," Harry said tensely. "If he's caught . . ."
"He won't," I said assuringly. "He's made it this far, hasn't he?"
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "And it's not like the place is swarming with Dementors any more."
Harry folded up the letter and put it in the pocket of his robes, seeming deep in thought.
I nudged him in the side. "At least you'll get to see Siri — er — Snuffles again, right?"
Harry looked over at me, a small smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, you're right."
That afternoon, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I descended the steps to the dungeons for double Potions. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. They were all looking at something I couldn't see and snickering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as we approached.
"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. My eyes narrowed suspiciously at the magazine in her hands — Witch Weekly.
"You might find something to interest you in there, Areli!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at me, which I caught easily, still frowning. At that moment, however, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned us all inside.
Hermione, Harry, Ron and I headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on us to write the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, I unfolded the magazine and hastily rifled through it under the desk with Hermione. At last, in the centre pages, Hermione stopped me and pointed to the article we were looking for. Harry and Ron leant closer.
