The usual; nothing belongs to me except the stuff that does.
Chapter 8: Worried
Harry awoke the next morning. He couldn't remember what had happened the night before. Then suddenly it hit him. More people had died, and he'd known it be fore it happened. Harry didn't feel at all like going to breakfast, but he wanted to hear what Dumbledore was going to tell everyone. He knew it would be the truth. Dumbledore was not someone who kept things quiet around people their age because they were 'too young to know the truth.' He thought they deserved to know what was going on around them. Harry met up with Ron and Hermione. He couldn't let his scar bother him. Obviously every time Voldemort hurt someone, he could feel it in his scar. This meant it most likely would get worse before it would get better. They headed downstairs to breakfast and took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Harry looked over at the Ravenclaw table to the empty seats where Cho and Leslie usually sat. Their friends were looking around and asking people if they'd seen them. They didn't know yet. No one else did. Harry felt guilty. He knew he shouldn't but he still did. Dumbledore stood. His expression showed worry and his eyes didn't twinkle like they usually did. Dumbledore actually looked scared. It was something that really bothered Harry. Dumbledore was never scared, at least he'd never shown it. He was the only person that Voldemort was supposedly afraid of.
"Students," he spoke. "There has been a terrible tragedy last night here at Hogwarts. It seems that Voldemort himself was here and caused the death of two students." People gasped and began frantically talking to each other.
"Who were they?" people were shouting. "How did they die?"
"Silence," said Dumbledore. "The two students were Leslie Guthrie and Cho Chang. They were both sixth years in Ravenclaw. Their bodies were discovered late last night in the forbidden forest."
"How do you know that You Know Who was the one who killed them?" asked a Ravenclaw seventh year.
"That's a good question," said Dumbledore, glancing at Harry. "There has been certain evidence found that proves that Voldemort was here and that he was the one who killed them." Luckily no one asked what evidence it was. No one ever doubted Dumbledore. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Dumbledore wouldn't tell anyone about his scar hurting, but he didn't want people bugging him, or even worse thinking he'd been the murderer.
"How did Voldemort get in here, Dumbledore?" asked Draco Malfoy. "I mean I thought Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the safest places to be." Harry noticed sarcasm in his voice.
"Another good question," said Dumbledore. "Unfortunately I haven't found the answer to that yet. Perhaps we never will. Which brings me to my next topic. No student is allowed out of the building for any reason. There will be no Quidditch this year and no Care of Magical Creatures Class until I get it set up inside the castle. Don't go anywhere alone. And once again I remind you that if you have any reason to believe that someone is after you, come to me immediately. With that said, let's have a moment of silence for Cho Chang and Leslie Guthrie." They were all silent. Harry recalled the letter he'd seen Cho and Leslie receive the day before. I wonder if I should tell Dumbledore, he thought. He didn't even know if the letter had anything to do with it, but he decided he'd tell Dumbledore anyway just in case it could prevent the death of anyone else or provide a clue as to how Voldemort got there. The moment of silence ended, but you wouldn't have known it. There was hardly any talking as they ate breakfast. Everyone was too shocked to speak. Voldemort had been at Hogwarts. None of them had ever seen students at Hogwarts look so worried. The people who had been friends with Cho and Leslie were crying. Harry felt like crying too, but forced himself not to. There was one question that ran through all of their minds: If Voldemort could get in to Hogwarts and had already killed two students, who was next?
After breakfast they were dismissed to class. Harry, Ron and Hermione had transfiguration class first. They arrived to find Professor McGonagall as a cat, sitting on her desk, awaiting students to arrive. When the class arrived, she changed back to human form.
"Class," she began. "Welcome to your fifth year at Hogwarts. I understand that there has been a tragic incident since you've arrived this year, but I want to make clear to you that this does not mean that you can forget about your schoolwork. This is a very important year of your wizarding education. At the end of this year you will take a your O.W.L.s, or ordinary wizarding levels test. It is very important that you do well on them. You've all got a lot to learn and without potions class and possibly without care of magical creatures class, it will be a lot of work." Professor McGonagall frowned as if she were worried they'd never be able to do well on their O.W.L.s under the circumstances. O.W.L.s were the last thing on Harry's mind now and probably on everyone else's as well. Professor McGonagall went back to her typical lessons, complaining about how half of the class still couldn't turn a porcupine into a good pincushion.
Harry returned to his own thoughts. Questions flooded his mind. What had that letter been? Why would anyone go into the forbidden forest at night on the first day of school? How had Voldemort gotten into Hogwarts? Who was Cho's uncle and why what did he owe Voldemort that was so important that Voldemort made such an effort to come to Hogwarts and kill Cho? He didn't have an answer to any of the questions and it bothered him. He looked at his schedule. His next class was supposed to be Care of Magical Creatures, which was canceled. He decided to go see Dumbledore when transfiguration was over.
Professor McGonagall was still talking and most of the class seemed to be sleeping or carrying on their own conversations. Ron had fallen asleep. Hermione was paying attention and furiously scribbling down notes. She was concerned she wouldn't do well enough on her O.W.L.s. A group of three Ravenclaw girls at the back of the room caught Harry's attention.
"I heard they got a letter that said to go to the forest," one of the girls said.
"Really?" asked another. "Who was it from?"
"I don't know," the first girl said.
"I heard that Harry Potter wrote it," said the third girl. Harry quickly swung his head around so they wouldn't notice him listening. Him? How could they believe it was him? After they'd heard about his encounters with Voldemort and how he hated Harry, how could they think that Harry was working for him? Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder to wake him, but he made a loud moaning noise and Professor McGonagall noticed.
"Potter, Weasley, no talking in class. Or sleeping," she said.
"I'll tell you after class," Harry mouthed to Ron, who nodded sleepily and put his head back down on the table. After what seemed like hours, transfiguration class ended. They left the room and Hermione and Ron met up with Harry in the hallway.
"Harry, what were you trying to tell me in class?" asked Ron.
"Yesterday at dinner I saw Cho and Leslie get a letter," said Harry. "Today in class I heard those three Ravenclaw girls talking and they said the reason that Cho and Leslie went to the forest was that they'd received a letter. Then they said that they'd heard that I wrote the letter!" Harry exclaimed.
Ron and Hermione didn't know what to say. They stared at him.
"We know you didn't write it, Harry," said Hermione.
"Of course I didn't write it!" shouted Harry. "Now I'm going to see Dumbledore and figure this whole thing out."
