Umbridge's apparent attack had sent the school system into disarray. Second lessons for the day ended up being cancelled for unknown reasons, but Harry would put his money on the staffs lack of power over the situation. They themselves probably felt extremely vulnerable now, and that wasn't helped by the fact most pupils were taking light of the situation and celebrating. The lack of students understanding the severity of the situation was probably just adding to the staffs already phenomenal levels of stress.
By the time the next day rolled around things had seemingly started to calm down at last. Lessons were still suspended until further notice which was an unusual act that left many with the feeling of unease. It was the reality check many of them needed to remind them there was a killer among the castle walls. Suddenly gone was the ding dong the witch is dead attitude and a return to the somber setting they'd experienced during Sirius Black's reign. There was a rapidly setting in air of tension between staff and students alike.
In the Gryffindor Common Room, the golden trio found themselves set around the fireplace.
"I'm telling you," Hermione stressed, "they're waiting for Umbridge to wake up. They want to see if she can identify who attacked her."
"If she does wake up."
"That's not funny."
"It wasn't a joke," Ron grimaced. "Magical healing is bloody powerful. Harry survived a forty foot fall and Madam Pomfrey had him up and walking about the same afternoon. They've got St Mungo's doctors working on her and she's still in critical… whoever did it knew their curses."
Hermione knew he was correct, but forced a smile through her teeth regardless, "as soon as she's awake she'll be able to identify who it was who attacked her. And once they're identified, we'll also know what happened to Malfoy. Lessons will go back to normal and we'll be able to leave this whole nasty business behind us."
Harry, who had done is best to remain silent during their discussion, rose his head. He hadn't been being quiet through deliberate intent, he'd just been considering his own options.
"What happens if she didn't get a clear look at who attacked her?"
"Then…" she drew silent as she caught his ominous meaning, and her face reflected a similar feeling of realization. She placed her head in her hands.
"Then… well, realistically..."
Harry nodded.
There was no way this wouldn't be twisted around so the blame fell on him. And with that, the decreasing mood of the common room around them went down a further few notches.
"So... we have to finish her off, then?" Ron asked.
Hermione gasped loudly and slapped him on the leg.
"Whatever would make you say such a thing!"
Ron answered with a chuckle.
"I'm only having a laugh!"
"Well you can't laugh about things like that," she stressed. "What if people heard you?"
"I mean, right now, nobody has actually come after Harry so… I don't know, maybe we're just overthinking all of this?"
"One person, actually."
The two pair of eyes turned to him, and he took that as his cue to elaborate.
"In Herbology, yesterday. Pansy blames me for what happened to Malfoy. She's really torn up about it."
Hermione nodded.
"I did see her storm out... I wondered what you said to her."
"I didn't say anything, if anything I just defended myself. Actually even thought I was going to get through to her for a minute."
"You think so?"
"She has feelings for Malfoy," he explained. "She'll do anything to make sure he's okay. She said even if that means helping me... Not in those exact words, but I caught the gist of it."
Hermione chewed her lips, seemingly reaffirming her own thoughts.
"Right. Remember that. She could be useful."
"I've got an idea," Ron suddenly perked up.
Harry and Hermione looked at him expectedly. Ron jumped from his seat and grabbed a plant pot off the mantelpiece.
"We should talk to the Order, see what they think about it! There's no way they've not heard what's going on."
Ron looked to Hermione for an answer, when Harry suddenly found himself on board.
"Common room is empty…" he pitched in. "Umbridge's lock-down got removed when she left the castle, now is our best chance."
Hermione thought for a second before nodding her head vigorously.
"Let's do it."
Ron threw a handful of the solid down onto the fireplace, and after speaking the location place, a small flame burst up from the coal.
"Hello?" Harry asked the, as of yet, empty flame.
The flame whirled and twisted a few times, but no answer came. There were distant voices, only just distinguishable from each other.
"That fire looks a lot like Harry. Oh my god, wait."
Finally the flame settled on an shape, and Sirius Black's face suddenly joined them in the common room.
"Oh thank Merlin, you kids are okay!" his husky voice was further distorted by the flames. "Why the bloody hell aren't you responding to our owls?"
They shook their head in unison.
"We haven't received any. None at all, in fact," Harry answered.
The fiery face sneered.
"Damned Dumbledore, must be intercepting them. Hogwarts is trying to keep the attack under wraps until they can find out who's behind it."
Hermione gasped.
"They're not letting us contact the outside world? That's illegal! They can't keep us here against our will!"
Sirius bit his lip and frowned. He seemed to think for a second, before shaking his head.
"A prisoner is only a prisoner if he knows he is one... Dumbledore is scared this will be the final straw to have him removed and the school closed. All it takes for one concerned parent to go to the Profit and suddenly Rita Skeeter gets a field day. I'd say I don't blame him, but word is already starting to leak that something isn't right."
Harry leaned in and his voice became a loud whisper.
"How're things with the Order?"
They couldn't make out what expression Sirius was pulling, but his tone answered that for them.
"Chaos. Lucius has been throwing up a storm since little Malfoy disappeared. We're expecting he thinks the Order are responsible, which means we're probably due for a retaliation from Death Eaters any day now. All of Grimmauld Place has been on lockdown... or it was, till last night. Kingsley and Arthur had to leave for Ministry business."
"Dad isn't with you?" Ron suddenly asked.
"Don't worry, my boy, he'll be fine. He and Kingsley are making a point to be the first ones on the scene when the old bat wakes up. How are things in Hogwarts? We haven't had any contact with Snape or Dumbledore."
"They're not good," Hermione answered for them. "Lessons have been suspended."
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her choice of concern, and decided instead to reword her answer.
"We don't know what's going on," he said. "Outside from telling us that the attacks have happened, the teachers aren't talking about it. Something is definitely going that they're not telling us."
"Mmmhmm... You'll probably find they're just as in dark about it as you lot are. I take it you three haven't been involved?"
Hermione shook her head.
"We're worried about people thinking that, actually. Harry was known to not get on with either Malfoy or Umbridge. And with everything the Profit is already saying about him, we're worried the blame will eventually come his way."
Sirius sighed and shook his head.
"The thought had occurred to me. No teachers have pulled you up on it, have they?"
"Not at all."
"Good. As much as it pains me to say, Snivellus will be your best bet. If you can convince him you're not involved, he'll be a valuable ally."
For just a moment, Sirius's face disappeared from view. In its place was a hint of whispering echoes in the back. When he returned, he looked all the more worse for wear.
"I'm being harassed, I need to go. Listen to me; if the school gets closed, the three of you need to take the floo network directly to me. Whoever is behind the attack, their choice of victims may make them seem like an unintentional alley, but that does not mean you should go looking for them. For all we know this could be a ploy deliberately to draw Harry out. I trust the three of you can look after yourselves and not do anything too stupid," his voice was strict and stern.
It sent a familiar chill down Harry's spine, as those were not entirely dissimilar to the words Mr Weasley had told him regarding Sirius a few years prior.
"We'll talk soon."
With a poof, the fire was suddenly gone, leaving nothing but a still trail of white smoke in its place.
The trio turned to one another.
"Things didn't sound good with them," Ron said.
"They're probably just as confused as us," Hermione agreed. "While the teachers are worrying about keeping the students and school safe, they're worrying how this is going to fit into the bigger picture."
"And what Voldemort's going to think," Harry finished for her.
Hermione nodded solemnly.
"If this really is unrelated to everything that's already going on, then it's going to mess up a lot of people's plans on both sides. That will make a lot of very powerful people angry. We need to keep that anger directed away from us."
Weekend had come, but you couldn't tell. Lessons were now limited to one a day and students were chaperoned from room to room by almost military-level protection. There were no developments about the disappearances, something which was starting to get frightening. Umbridge's condition hadn't improved and as the days ticked over Harry could feel more and more eyes watching him in the corridors.
He tried desperately to get information from teachers during lesson, but every attempt only got them an almost-word-for-word rehashing of Dumbledore's last speech in the Great Hall. Whatever they knew, if anything, they were being discreet about it. Snape outright refused the subject to be mentioned in his lessons, and even Madam Sprouts usually chipper attitude had faded away. As for the Headmaster himself, he hadn't been sighted in days, and rumor had it he'd left the castle.
"Any chance you could take out Flitch for us next?" Fred asked him.
The noise Hermione made in response sent both of the Weasley twins running for cover down the corridor.
Harry found himself wishing more than ever that Hagrid was here. He hadn't been in his hut when the trio arrived on the Hogwarts Express, and according to Dumbledore, he was away on official Hogwarts business. The trio had taken that as cover for Umbridge having a problem with him teaching, but now she herself was removed, his absence was a noticeable one.
Gryffindor found themselves being escorted down the breakfast by Professor McGonagall and their prefects.
"What if it wasn't a person?" Hermione asked out of the blue.
Ron rolled his eyes. He, as well of a few of the Gryffindors, had grown tired of her constant theorizing. Not that they didn't understand the severity of the situation, but Hermione was doing a good job of making him not care as much.
"What does that even mean?"
"I mean, Hagrid has been gone for a while!" she said. "His Acromantulas might have started to stray from the forest. I understand how unlikely that sounds, but I'm positive if it was a person they'd have been found out by now."
Ron grimaced.
"Think we'd have noticed if we had bloody great tarantulas wandering around the castle."
"Well, you two were completely clueless about the giant snake in the pipes."
"Sod off."
Hermione rolled her eyes and continued.
"The Acromantula's could easily make their way up the castle walls and in through windows. You said they have a nest in the forest -that could mean they took Draco there- which would explain the lack of a body."
"Thought you didn't like us using that word?"
Harry was listening to their conversation but was choosing to remain silent.
Malfoy's disappearance happened over a week ago now. Steadily, the conversations had gone from how to find Malfoy to what happened to Malfoy. It was a subtle difference, but the indication was ominously daunting. Especially when Hermione had started using it.
His discomfort was growing by the day. Not just because of the danger that could be lurking around any corner, but because he was so unused to sitting around and doing nothing about it. So far as could be told, these events were completely unrelated to the trio, which was something new. Harry had gotten so used to jumping head-on into the danger that now it just felt wrong not being involved, especially if he could be of help to anyone.
Sitting on the sidelines was driving him stir crazy.
Ron pointed off to the side.
"What's going on there?"
A large crowd of students had gathered around the entrance to the dungeons. It wasn't a social group, as everyone was facing the same direction and appeared to be fighting to get a look at something. McGonagall also picked up on them. She broke from the group of Gryffindors to investigate, hissing at the Prefects to keep the students where they were. Harry spotted her meet up with Snape and the two of them disappear through the crowd and into the dungeons.
As the age old expression went: speak of the devil and he shall come.
"Let's go."
Without another word between them, Harry, Ron and Hermione broke from the crowd and joined the growing group of students. They clawed and elbow-nudged their way through the masses, most of whom they now realized were Slytherin.
The mob seemed to stretch the entire way down the staircase and into the dungeons. It wasn't long before somewhere along the way Harry managed to loose Ron and Hermione in the crowd. Scanning over those around him, he spotted a familiar face.
"Daphne?"
The small girl span around in front of him. He froze upon seeing her.
Her eyes were bloodshot. She was crying.
Upon seeing him she instantly flung herself into his arms. Despite barely knowing the girl, he instinctively tightened himself around her in a hug.
"What's going on?" he shouted over the crowd.
Daphne mumbled something into his robe. He moved his head closer to her.
"What did you say? Did something happen?"
"It's Pansy!"
Harry's heart skipped a beat.
He'd spoken to Pansy barely a day ago.
An icy shiver shot down his spine.
She couldn't be... not her too, could she?
"They got her?"
His voice came out as barely a whisper, but Daphne heard him well. She shook her head, which confused him.
"It got too much..." Daphne cried, "we d-didn't think s-she'd do it… S-she…"
He caught her meaning all too well.
A wave of cold washed over him.
Suddenly the hug they shared wasn't entirely just for Daphne's sake.
"I'm scared, Harry."
He bit down hard on his lip.
"Yeah. Me too."
