The bony, huge, antlered creature loomed over Jade, pressing her back. She scrambled, but lost her balance and landed on the stony ground. She stared up at the grotesque face of the Windigo, praying that it would suddenly scent something else, hear a noise and run. It didn't. Instead, it extended one awful, emaciated hand and pinned her to the cliff. Jade could feel her long curls dangling over the edge. She tried to sit up, but the creature forced her back, further and further. It grabbed at something around her neck, forcing her upright. She was being choked, she couldn't breathe! The chain snapped, the final straw, her last hope for safety. Suddenly, Jade left the ground and plummeted, faster and fast, towards the forest below them. The ground became more defined, she was going to hit it...

Jade's entire body shook on impact, and she screamed automatically. She opened her eyes. She hadn't fallen to her death. She wasn't lying, barely alive, on the muddy grass of a forest. She was on emerald green plushy carpet in her dormitory, hair a mess, her pajamas soaked with sweat. Alana was staring down at her with a worried expression.

"Are you okay, Jade? I heard you screaming, like, all night."

Jade struggled to her feet. "Yeah, I think so. I had a bad dream."

"About what?" Alana swung her bare feet onto the floor, shivered, and pulled on her bedroom slippers. "You don't usually have bad dreams. You're one of the happiest people I know."

"Well, there was this weird beast chasing me. It was all skeletal and it had antlers...I think I called it a Windigo? But that's really weird, I've never heard that name before in my life."

"I think I've heard of a Windigo before in my beast studies...we can ask West at breakfast." West knew everything about magical creatures, as her mother was in charge of a huge menagerie. "What happened in the dream?"

"Well, see, I was being chased, and then this huge thing- the Windigo, I guess- loomed over me and I tried to run but it pinned me down and I fell off a cliff and when I hit the ground, I woke up."

"Probably just some weird thing conjured out of your nightmares," Alana reasoned, shrugging into her bear-print bathrobe.

"Yeah, but that's the thing," Jade said, reaching into her bureau for a clean pair of school socks. "It wasn't completely improbable and senseless, like a normal nightmare. It felt like what Professor Clearwater describes a Vision as. It was clear, and detailed, and I was really feeling fear, and apprehension, and I knew the ground was coming at me. I didn't have my wand, for some reason. I'm worried-" she lowered her voice here, as if just saying it scared her- "I'm worried that what I saw was a real prophecy, Alana. I'm worried that it's going to come true."

"So ask Professor Clearwater about it in Divination today," Alana said, tugging her sweater over her head. "Tie my tie for me?"

"Sure," Jade said, still a little distracted. The bony, antlered creature was still flashing in front of her every time she closed her eyes.

                           *                             *                                   *                                              *

Jade stayed behind in Divination class that morning.

"Excuse me, Professor Clearwater- can I talk to you a second, please?"

The professor, her hair a shocking shade of bright blue, looked up from clearing away the crystals that littered her desk. "Yes, Miss Pevensie?"

Jade approached the desk. She opened her mouth, but Professor Clearwater cut her off.

"I just wanted to say, Miss Pevensie, that you have been doing an excellent job in these classes. Such a good job, matter of fact, that I would like to recommend you swap your Ancient Runes sessions for ones in Occlumency."

She was staggered. Occlumency was a fifth-year course, meant to instruct students in metaphysics, mental energy, and how to take magic from the soul instead of from the mind. It was a Mind Over Matter class, and sometimes dealt with really complicated soul-centering exercises.

"Thank you, Professor. But I wanted to ask you something. How do you know if you've had a Vision? Like, hypothetically, of course." Jade faked a small laugh.

"Well, it would seem terribly real when it occurred. After that, images from the vision would appear repeatedly before you, in everything from your crystal ball to in nightmares. Only Seers can receive Prophecies, but anyone can have a Vision. Did you have a Vision, Miss Pevensie?"

Jade felt an urge to confess. "Actually, I had one early this morning. Have you ever heard of...a Windigo?"

Professor Clearwater inhaled sharply, and her face turned chalky white. "N-n-no, my dear. I have never heard of such a thing. Now get to class, please."

Jade shrugged and left, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She was still a little suspicious.