The rest of Harry's Christmas presents were far more satisfactory. Hagrid had sent him a large tin of treacle fudge, which Harry decided to soften by the fire before eating; Ron had given him a book called Flying with the Cannons, a book of interesting facts about his favourite Quidditch team; and Hermione had bought him a luxury eagle-feather quill, nd Amelia gave him another ornament this one being a snake sticking its tongue out and the words Marry Christmas Harry, written on its belly in ink. Harry opened the last present to find a new, hand-knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley, and a large plum cake. He put up her card with a fresh surge of guilt, thinking about Mr Weasley's car, which hadn't been seen since its crash with the Whomping Willow, and the bout of rule-breaking he and Ron were planning next.

Amelia had been very pleased to find that she had gotten a Weasley jumper this year, lavender with a big yellow A in the middle. She instantly put it no.

*
No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.

The Great Hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe criss-crossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry, from the ceiling. Dumbledore led them in a few of his favourite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed. Percy, who hadn't noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read 'Pinhead', kept asking them all what they were sniggering at. Harry didn't even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remarks about his new jumper from the Slytherin table('I will be sure to tell Mrs Weasley you like them so much! I am sure she wouldn't mind knitting one for you!' Amelia shouted across the hall, shutting Draco up for good). With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be getting his come-uppance in a few hours' time. 

Harry and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding with Amelia starting on her fourth when Hermione ushered them out of the Hall to finalise their plans for the evening.

'We still need a bit of the people you're changing into,' said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she was sending them to the supermarket for washing-powder. 'And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe and Goyle's; they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interro- gating him.

'I've got it all worked out,' she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. 'I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know