Some people might have had dreams like this: dreaming that they were flying through the sky, only to be quickly seized by the sensation of falling. Then they woke up, realizing they had just been dreaming.
Wizards encountered another sort of situation. They might turn into an owl or some other animal and fly for as long as they wished.
Barnaby did not have much of a dream, but Ben Cooper did. He wanted to become a repairman for the Ministry of Magic.
Some people might laugh at that dream, but to Ben's family, even if the Ministry of Magic was beneath Whitehall, it was still Whitehall. His father would surely feel proud and tell the neighbors that his son had really gone to school.
Many seventh-years were no longer at school. Some were busy with internships, while others were looking for work. Herbert Spring had entered St Mungo's Hospital as an intern in the Department of Magical Bugs. He rarely returned to school, and everyone kept well away from him when he did.
Even though a cure for Dragon Pox had been found, people still died from it. Lucius Malfoy's father and old Mr. and Mrs. Potter had all died in an outbreak of Dragon Pox.
Angry as he was, he still handed in the essays the professors wanted. After all, he was still a student and had to spend enough time at school.
Life was slowly returning to normal. The war and the pain it had caused seemed to have been smoothed away. Yet they were like animal carcasses buried beneath snow—scrape away the surface, and they could still be found.
Chavez still acted as if Barnaby did not exist. Pomona had spoken with him. Although Barnaby's parents had not been the ones who killed his mother and