Chapter 12, the Mirror of Eresed. Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December,

Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid, and the weasley

twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrel around,

bouncing off the back of his turban.

The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail

had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Griffitha Common Room and the Great Hall

had roaring fires, the draughty corridors

had become icy, and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's

classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them, and they kept as

close as possible to their hot cauldrons. I do feel so sorry,' said Draco Malfoy,

"'one portion's class, for all those people

"'who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas

"'because they're not wanted at home.'

"'He was looking over at Harry as he spoke.

"'Crab and Goyle chuckled.

"'Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish,

ignored them. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that

the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be

replacing Harry as seeker next.

Then he realised that nobody found this funny,

because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick.

...