"There's been an incident!" McGonigal shouted as she entered the Gryffindor Common Room. "I need everyone to go to their dorms right this instant! Prefects, let me know of any missing students." Everyone stands, and the room devolves into organized chaos. The girls up one staircase with Hermione counting them off as they went and the boys up the other with Ron doing his head count.
"Every girl is accounted for Professor." Hermione chirped.
"Every boy as'well." Ron said, scratching the back of his head. "What's happened?"
Minerva sighed. "A body was found on the pathway between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. They couldn't identify the remains. The school is on lockdown until we find out who killed the student." Professor McGonigal began tearing up. "I feel awful to be so relieved that it wasn't one of my lions who is dead. I don't know what I would do if I lost one of you."
Hermione wraps her arms around her favorite professor. "It's alright Professor. I know we are glad that all of the lions are okay. It doesn't make you a bad person. I'll let the upper years know what is happening, we don't want to tell the younger children though; it would just worry them."
Minerva nodded. "That would be best. Keep everyone in their dorms tonight, classes are cancelled for the rest of the week. I trust you to let everyone know. I'm going to head out and patrol to see if I can catch any wandering students from other houses."
Hermione and Ron traded looks after Professor McGonigal left the Common Room. "Let's bring the upper years down for a House Meeting. We want everyone to be alert for danger. We also need to stress how important it is that no one pulls some stupid stunt and gets themselves killed, or worse, expelled." She shoots Ron a very serious look.
After getting the upper years settled in the Common Room, Hermione and Ron push ahead with the news. "Something has killed someone on the path between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Classes are cancelled for the rest of the week, because they don't want students wandering to the Greenhouse and on the grounds while this monster is out."
Ron locked eyes with Harry. "We don't want anyone wandering the halls, if you get seen you will either lose so many House Points that we have no chance of winning the Cup or you'll get caught by a killer and die. Pick your poison."
Hermione sighed. "Thank you for that Ron. I just wanted everyone to be aware of what's happening. We need to keep an eye on the younger kids so that they don't go wandering. Professor McGonigal doesn't want us to tell the Lower Years what's happening just yet so they don't get unnecessarily scared. It's up to us to make sure they follow the no wandering rules. Everyone got it?" There was a chorus of yeses and then the group broke up solemnly, everyone heading back to their rooms to sleep.
Once Harry and Ron were in their dorms and the other boys had fallen asleep Ron turned to Harry and whispered, "Grab your cloak, I want a snack from the kitchens." As the two crept down the stairs under the invisibility cloak, the fire roars to life.
"I can't believe you two are sneaking out! There's been an incident!"