Chapter 21

"Get up!"

"Mhehh." 

"Wake up, or you will be late for classes!"

"No."

"Get up, you will be late for Potions!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" I rolled off the chair. Tom laughed. 

"You are so easy! It's Christmas break! No classes! But I am hungry and I wanted you to come to breakfast with me."

I groaned. "Really Tom? I was sleeping. Why did you wake me up?" 

He laughed. "Because it is time for you to get up. Let's go eat." 

I shook my head. "Can I at least get ready first?"

Tom grinned. "Hurry up." So I did. When I was ready, we went to breakfast. I ate quickly because I wanted to go back to the comfortable chair and sleep. But Tom said that I wasn't allowed to go back, so I couldn't. So I wandered around inside instead. I was alone, and it was quiet. I wandered around looking in different rooms, and if I saw something interesting, I would go investigate it. 

I found a classroom that had one thing in the center of it. It looked like a mirror, but when I looked at it, it was not just my reflection. There was somebody behind me. It was Snape, and we were both wearing t-shirts. Of course his was black, but the fact that he was wearing a t-shirt made me happy. I looked at his left arm. No Dark Mark. I looked at my arm. No Dark Mark. I looked back at Snape. He wasn't mad, and he actually looked happy. I smiled sadly. This could never happen. It would be best not to dwell on it, so I hurried out of the room. 

And ran right into Dumbledore. "Hello, Ivy. I see you found the Mirror of Erised. Come in, we should talk." So we went back into the classroom. I waited for him to talk. "What do you see?" He asked. The question caught me off guard. I knew that it was personal to me, and that I didn't want to share what it was. But it also sounded like an order. I knew not to disobey orders, but I really didn't want to share it either. So I was stuck. I couldn't lie, but I couldn't tell the truth. Thankfully, Dumbledore saved me. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

I nodded. "Thank you sir. May I go now?" I asked. He nodded. "Yes. Have a good Christmas." I left the almost empty classroom. Then I kept wandering. I found myself right outside the Transfiguration classroom. I was about to leave, when the door opened. "Hello, Ivy. How are you this Christmas?" I smiled."Pretty good. How are you Professor?" She gave a small smile. "Fine. Would you like to come in?" She asked. I nodded and followed her in. She led me to her office and we sat next to the fire.

"So, you can turn into a cat?" I asked. She laughed and showed me. I smiled and pet her. She was so soft. I hadn't pet a cat it a very long time. It was amazing! She jumped onto my lap and settled down, and started purring. I kept petting her and scratching her and I started talking to her. It was easier to talk to her as a cat then any human. I kept ranting, talking on and on. It was so liberating. I didn't talk about anything specific, just everything, except, of course, the Pride. I lost track of the time, and I forgot that she was still a human. Eventually, I stopped talking and just stared into the fire, petting her.

There was a knock on the door. I jumped up, startled. McGonagall changed back and opened the door. Dumbledore and Snape were outside. "Hello, Minerva. Do you mind if, oh, hello again Ivy." Dumbledore said.

"Hello Professor." I turned to McGonagall. "Thank you for everything. I really should be going." I started to the door. Snape blocked my way. "I've been looking for you, Ms. Henderson. If you will come with me." So I followed him and left Dumbledore and McGonagall alone. We walked down to the Potions classroom, and neither of us spoke for a while. He started a potion that he would need for an older class, probably the sixth years. I watched what he was doing, and soon recognized the potion. Ammontia, the love potion. I didn't smell much of a change, but it was there. I was still smelling the dungeon, and potion ingredients, but there was also a little bit of the common room, and a little bit of wood smoke. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell, letting it wash over me. It was amazing. 

I opened my eyes. Snape was standing right in front of me. He looked almost happy, but also very sad too. As I watched, he grew less happy and more sad and angry. "Sir, are you alright?" I asked tentatively. When he heard my voice, he snapped back to himself. "Yes, I'm fine." He muttered a spell, then I couldn't smell the potion anymore. 

"Do you remember the month that I had you hold a leaf in your mouth?" He asked suddenly. I was puzzled. I had thought that it might have been a punishment for something that I had done, but he had never told me. "Yes, sir. I still don't understand why, but I do remember." He nodded. "Do you remember that I had you drink a potion after that, but it didn't seem to do anything?" I nodded. "Yes, sir, I do. Did it do anything?" He looked at me. "Yes, I believe that it did. The only reason that it hasn't shown up was because it hasn't been activated yet. You need to talk to Professor McGonagall about animagi and how she became one. Tell her it is a project from me. I want the information before the end of break, alright?" I nodded. "Yes, sir." 

"You should go get some lunch." He said. Then I left.