Haunted by her second year and now with a murderer on the loose, Gwenevere Everill finds herself facing more battles that she does not think she can win.
Tormented by dementors and struggling under the impact of her new studies, will Gwen be able t...
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Although the trip to Hagrid's was, by no means, fun, it had at least distracted Harry from Sirius Black. He didn't mention the fugitive any more that day, nor the next day when he, Gwen, Ron and Hermione went to the library to begin working on Buckbeak's defence. The four of them sat in front of the roaring fire, pouring over dusty books with volumes of cases of marauding beasts, speaking occasionally when they came across something relevant.
'Here's something... there was a case in 1722... but the Hippogriff was convicted-- urgh, look what they did to it, that's disgusting...'
'This might help, a Manticore savaged someone in 1296, and they let the manticore off-- oh, no, that was only because everyone was too scared to go near it...
Meanwhile, in the castle, the usual magnificent Christmas decorations were being strung up, despite the fact that there were only a few students who remained to enjoy them. Holly and mistletoe were hung along the corridors, mysterious lights shone from every suit of armour and the Great Hall was filled with its usual twelve Christmas trees, glittering with golden stars and candles. A powerful and delicious smell of cooking filled the corridors, and by Christmas Eve, it had grown so strong that even Scabbers poked his nose out of Ron's pocket to sniff hopefully at the air.
On Christmas morning, Gwen was awoken by Hermione very early.
'Hey, Merry Christmas!' she said.
Gwen sat up, rubbing her eyes, seeing that, at the foot of her bed, there was a heap of presents laid out for her. Orion chirped beside her bed, awaiting his morning snack; he had just delivered all these gifts, of course.
Gwen opened a packet of owl treats and fed them to him, giving him an affectionate tap on the beak. Hermione was already working on unwrapping her presents; on her bed lay a mess of torn wrapping paper and several books, a new quill and a box of sweets. She was working on unwrapping a big blue jumper with the letter H knitted into the front.
'From Mrs Weasley?' Gwen said.
Hermione nodded, her eyes tearing up slightly at the gift.
Gwen too had received a jumper from Mrs Weasley. It was red with a gold G knitted into it and the lion for Gryffindor House lay sleeping below it. In the package was also some home made mince pies and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. From her parents, she got a music book with classical Wizarding melodies and music to match the violin they'd got her for Christmas last year. Eddie had given her a mega box of chocolate frogs, accompanied with a new scarf, Felix had given her a gold necklace with a broomstick pendant and Lucille had stuffed a pair of fluffy socks and a selection of chocolates into a purple beaded handbag. Harry had got Gwen her own copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, Ron had gotten her a broom cleaning supply kit, and Hermione had bought her a perfume that smelled of vanilla.
