The Outcasts Of Hogwarts

Chapter 19 Christmas Spirit

They headed to the Great Hall together and joined the steady stream of other students, most still in the warm winter clothing they had worn out to Hogsmeade. Amaris was confused for a second when the others all moved in separate directions once they had entered the hall. Then she was hit with the jarring realisation of how segregated the four houses were. Until today, she'd barely spoken to anyone who wasn't a Gryffindor.

She thought about how much Harry, Ron and Hermione had talked about the Slytherin house and wondered whether or not to tell them about her new friends or not. It turned out it didn't matter as none of them seemed to like talking. Harry looked pale and far away and the other two sat silently on either side of him, exchanging worried glances. This seemed more serious than Harry being upset about missing out on Hogsmeade but Amaris knew better than to ask what had happened. So she sat and ate in silence.

The next day, she woke to find half of the girls in the dorm packing for the train home. Once they were all gone, the only Gryffindors remaining were herself, Hermione, Ron and Harry. She headed down into the common room to find Ron and Hermione sitting by the fire, they appeared to be arguing about something.

"We never should have let him stay. If we'd sent him straight back to Hogwarts, none of this would have happened." Hermione was saying.

"He wouldn't have listened to us," Ron said back, "and besides, don't you think he has a right to know that-" 

That was when they saw Amaris walking down the stairs and they went silent. "Morning," she said, sitting next to them by the fire. They smiled tightly at her, failing to hide their annoyance at her presence, and saying nothing.

"How was Hogsmeade yesterday?"  Amaris ventured after several moments of awkward silence.

"Nice," said Hermione.

"Cold," said Ron.

"Uh-huh," Amaris replied as if their answers had been interesting. So they weren't going to tell her anything.

Amaris lasted about five more minutes of stunted conversation before she'd had enough. Grabbing her coat, she headed out of the common room, hearing the two of them sigh in relief before the portrait closed behind her. She headed out to Hagrid's, knowing he would value her company.

The field was a perfect blanket of white and for a while, she simply stared out at it, not wanting to ruin it. She took her time walking across it: watching the clouds of mist from her breathing drift into the sky;  relishing the sound of her boots sinking into the snow; picking up handfuls of it and throwing it up to sprinkle down around her. Pachua dived down into it and burst out in a different place in a shower of sparkling snowflakes. Amaris was shivering into her collar when she knocked on Hagrid's door, her cheeks stinging pink from the cold but she was smiling broadly.

Her good mood collapsed when she saw Hagrid's face. He was pale and his eyes jumped around like they were trying to follow the path of a cricket. "Are you alright Hagrid?"

He opened his mouth to speak but could only manage an unintelligible jumble of syllables, so he just waved her into the hut. She was instantly hit by a wave of heat from his fire and looked around the room while she took off her coat. Fang was sprawled out in front of the hearth, slobbering on the rug and to her surprise, she saw Buckbeak lying in the opposite corner. Hagrid was trying to make tea but his hands were shaking so much that he was constantly on the verge of dropping everything. His eyes kept darting to an envelope that had been propped up in the middle of the table.

Amaris sat down in one of the enormous chairs and inspected the envelope. It was addressed to Hagrid and when she turned it over, she found the unbroken seal of The Ministry of Magic. Hagrid sat down opposite, placing a steaming mug of tea down for each of them. He looked over at Buckbeak and sighed, then he turned back and nodded. Amaris broke the seal, took out the letter and read aloud.