Disclaimer: All the characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 13 – Filch and Mrs. Norris
Harry and Ron walked off to their next class, Potions. Harry was hardly in the mood to talk, even to Ron. Potions would be Hell.
They took their seat as close to the back as they could, away from Snape, or from Malfoy…but no luck.
Even if Snape couldn't be following them around at the back of the classroom, Malfoy and his gang could. Despite the fact that he was Snape's favorite student, he sat near Harry and Ron, in the back of the damp and dark classroom, his face grinning with such indiscreet pleasure, that Harry thought he was going to barf.
Malfoy launched the first attack. "Where's your Mudblood friend Potter?" Ron rolled his eyes, but Harry couldn't even move. He was sure he was going to barf now.
"Shut your asshole Malfoy." Ron came to the rescue, since Harry wasn't feeling well. "Or, no, is that your mouth? Sorry, I couldn't tell the difference." He shot a triumphant look at Draco Malfoy, while he listened to the other Gryffindor's snicker.
Malfoy's eyes widened. "Shut up Weasley, I wasn't asking you. The all famous Harry Potter doesn't need a body guard." He glared maliciously at Ron and Harry.
Crabbe and Goyle smiled their stupid smiles, which made them look even more like gorillas than ever. Harry put his face against the desk and tried not to think about Malfoy, or his stupid and pointless remarks.
Snape seemed purposely to wait until he realized that Malfoy was finished harassing Harry and Ron to start the lesson.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "Today, I would like to begin this lesson with a potion which is mainly used for regaining blood." He stirred his slightly bubbling cauldron with ease.
Harry looked up. He took his cauldron and book. Snape distributed small bits of roots, the heart of a dragon, the eye of what seemed to be a mermaid, and something which was indistinguishable.
Ron poked suspiciously at it with his wand, and inspected it while Harry just plopped them into his cauldron thoughtlessly. In a moment, Snape was breathing his disgusting breath over Harry's shoulder.
"Mr. Potter!" He yelled, so everyone could hear. Harry jumped. "Yes, sir?"
Snape smirked. "Why, Mr. Potter, is your potion a sickly green color, and why does it smell of dog shit?" He seemed to make no effort to speak civilly.
Harry pushed his glassed farther up his nose. "Er, sir?" He didn't understand. He had done everything right, or so he thought.
Snape ran his fingers through his oily, slick black hair. "Potter. You are as stupid as your clumsy friend, Longbottom." He made sure to accent the word "stupid," as if Harry couldn't understand.
Harry head filled with absolute hatred for Snape. He stood up rashly. "Neville was not stupid! Professors like you made him scared and constantly-" He was cut off harshly.
"Shut up, Potter!" He waved his hand, as if to cut off the sentence. "Because of your impulsive behavior, Gryffindor will lose…" He paused, straining his ear to enjoy the sound of the Gryffindors gasp and turn their heads in dismay.
Snape swiftly slapped his bony and large hand onto the table. "Thirty points!" The Gryffindors gasped. Ron stood up indignantly. "Professor Snape! Thirty points? That's not fair! You never take any points of Sly-"
Snape interrupted. "Make that thirty-five." Harry could hear the Slytherins snicker, and Snape's disgusting smile seemed to laugh along with them.
* * * * *
It was late at night, Harry and Ron were lying in their beds, not asleep, but wishing they were. They whispered to each other quietly, in the stillness of the dormitory.
"Let's go to the infirmary. I want to see Hermione." Harry said quietly, as if afraid for anyone to hear them.
Ron nodded in the dark. "Yeah, let's go."
Immediately, as if they were on cue, they threw on the invisibility cloak and left into the dark corridors.
They tried to hide the sound of their slippers as they walked as quietly as they could. Once Ron almost ran into a suit of armor because he tripped on the trim of the cloak.
As they neared the infirmary, they grew more nervous. Did they really want to see Hermione? What if they saw something they would regret? Harry tried to brush off the thoughts as they walked through the door.
They tiptoed across the room, searching the beds for Hermione. "Hermione?" Ron whispered. "Hermione?"
Harry nudged him. "Shut up Ron! You're talking to a pillow!" Ron's face turned as red as his fiery red hair, and he kept searching.
Finally, they found what looked like Hermione. Harry got down on his knees to get a better look. "Yup, I think we found her." They put their candle against the table and got a good look at her. She was sleeping, or unconscious, how can you tell?
Harry put his head to her chest, "She's alive all right. I can hear her heart beating." Hermione looked in pretty good shape.
Her hair was fluffy (as usual), her face was a little bit pale, but that was probably because the room was so cold. Her eyes were closed, but then she abruptly opened them.
"Harry, Ron! What are you doing here?" She sat up and knocked her head against Harry's. "Ouch!"
"Sorry." Harry mumbled. "Are you okay Hermione?"
"Yea, I'm fine." She shook her head. "So, how's-wait! You're not supposed to be here!" She said, as she just remembered.
Ron shrugged. "Yeah, we know. We just wanted to say hi." Harry nodded.
Hermione laughed. "Pfft! It's midnight, why would you want to say hi to me now?" Ron and Harry looked at each other. They didn't answer.
"So, er, what happened that day?" Harry scratched his head. "I mean, that day when you and Neville, you know…" Hermione chuckled.
"Yeah, I know. Actually, I don't really know what happened. I was just bending over to help Neville when I heard a high pitched voice yell out a spell, I think, and then all I remember is seeing Neville collapse before I completely blacked out." She tilted her head thoughtfully.
Ron jumped in. "But did you see who it was?" Hermione shook her head. "Of course not. Whoever it was, was a very powerful and mysterious wizard, he wouldn't have let us see him." She acted as if this was something obvious.
"Oh, er right." Ron mumbled. He shrugged at Harry.
"Um, well, Hermione, I don't know if anybody told you…" Harry wasn't sure if he should tell Hermione about the Dark Mark.
"On your robes…" Hermione became impatient. "What, Harry? What is it?" Harry rubbed his hands. "They found the Dark Mark." He felt much better after saying it, but he started to regret it.
Hermione's eyes were almost as large as her open mouth. "W-What? You're kidding! Tell me your kidding?" After looking at Ron and Harry's faces, she sighed. "You're not kidding."
"Oh my God." She said more to herself than anybody. She clamped her hands to her open mouth. "Do you know what this means?" She was talking while trying to calm down.
"Only too well." Ron said quietly. Harry shook his head. "But, I thought Voldemort was afraid of Dumbledore?" Ron flinched slightly. "Oh sorry, Ron." Harry said.
"I dunno." Hermione shook her head sadly. "Who else would have put a spell on me? Crouch's son is pretty much out of the question…"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."
Just then Madame Pomfrey came in. "Oh, dear! What are you doing? Get out please! Shoo!" She looked worried as she slammed the door behind Harry and Ron's back.
"I think we should be heading back now." Ron suggested mildly. "Yeah." They turned around in the direction of their dorms.
It wasn't long before they heard a man yell. They turned abruptly to face the spot where the sound had come from. Then they heard the all too familiar meow of a cat.
They both yelled at the same time. "Filch and Mrs. Norris!" Harry's eyes looked frantic. "Should we go and help them? Or should we go and act like nothing happened?"
Harry closed his eyes in terror. If they went to help, they would probably get in trouble for being out here, but if Filch and Mrs. Norris were really in trouble…
Ron and Harry looked at each other in the same time. They could hear the voices of Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall. They both thought the same thing… "Run!"
They sprinted across the corridor and rushed into their dorms. They almost forgot to give the password to the Fat Lady and instead, almost ran straight through her.
The next day, they found the reason of the incident. Filch and Mrs. Norris had gone through the same thing that Hermione and Neville had.
Harry and Ron sneaked a peek at Filch, and almost collapsed. The Dark Mark in unicorn blood was dripping down the face of Filch and Mrs. Norris had the Dark Mark upon her underside.
The odd thing about this time, was that there was not only unicorn blood, there was a dark red liquid which could be distinguished as human blood. It mixed with the silver, and became a disgusting metallic orange. It left trails on the carpet, and the weird thing, was that the blood dissolved once it touched the floor.
Just a moment later, Hagrid came rushing inside to talk to Dumbledore. He was yelling loudly, "Dumbledore! I need t' talk t' Dumbledore!" He ran off.
A couple of minutes later, Dumbledore and Hagrid left and walked onto the school grounds outside.
Harry and Ron rushed to the window and tried to find a good spot as they tried to squeeze between Lavender and Ginny to get a better view.
They saw two men leaning over a dead unicorn.
Author's Note: Sorry I'm not writing as much… It's been kind of hard keeping up w/ you people! Slow down!