* * *
"So...no one has a clue about what's inside this chest?" Harry asked, confused.
"I'm sure there are theories, Harry," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "I just haven't done very much research on the subject."
"It's this waiting that's killing me!" Ron said, rather loudly. A few first years jumped out of their seats and hurried into their bedrooms. Most of the Gryffindors had retired to their rooms and were trying to get some sleep. Fred, George, and their best friend Lee Jordan were discussing the latest Quidditch match between the Chudley Cannons and the Wimbourne Wasps.
"I'm telling you, the Wasps deserved to win! The Cannons' Beater deserved a foul!" George was saying.
"The referee was blind!" Lee agreed.
"No! If anyone deserved a foul, it was that Chaser on the Wasps!" Fred shouted. Professor McGonagall, who had been reading, looked up sternly at the twins and Lee.
"Fred, George, Lee-go straight to your rooms at once!" she said sharply.
"But Professor, we're prefects!" Fred protested.
"And I'm still your head of house! Now go along!" Professor McGonagall said firmly. Sighing, Fred started up the stairs for his room, George and Lee following him.
Now, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left alone in the common room with Professor McGonagall.
"Oh, no!" Hermione cried suddenly, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh... that would be terrible...it can't possibly...but..."
"What's wrong?" Ron asked.
"Have either of you seen Hagrid today?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"No, but-You don't think-I mean, erm," Ron stammered, "I haven't seen him all day."
"Neither have I," said Harry. "But Hagrid couldn't be! He just...he can't!" he cried fiercely. Hagrid was one of the best friends Harry had at Hogwarts, probably his best friend next to Ron and Hermione. Professor McGonagall set down the book she had been reading and walked over.
"I couldn't help but overhear, and you needn't worry about Hagrid. He is...not in the country at the present. He is, er, performing a task for Professor Dumbledore," she told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The three of them grinned at each other. Last year, Hagrid had hinted that Professor Dumbledore wanted him to go on a journey to gather the giants of the wizarding world and convince them to join their fight against Lord Voldemort.
"I am going to go to bed shortly and I suggest the three of you do the same," Professor McGonagall said, but not unkindly. "It's been a rather...hard day. You'll need your rest."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded and went to their bedrooms. When Harry and Ron entered their room, they saw that Neville, Dean, and Seamus were still awake, talking about the latest attack.
"Do you think it could've been students, then?" Neville asked, worriedly.
"I don't know," said Seamus, who was re-tacking his poster of the Ireland Quidditch team. Next, he tacked up a picture of him and his parents. After that, he adjusted Ron's posters of the Chudley Cannons, and Dean's poster of the Weird Sisters, a popular musical group.
"He's been doing it all night," Dean explained to Harry and Ron. "Can't keep still."
"This is just too weird for me," Seamus said as he opened the closet door and began rearranging all of the robes inside of it.
"I wonder if Dad's wrote back to Fred and George yet," Ron mused aloud. "I'm sure he's still at the Ministry."
"I hope it's no one we know," Dean said, frowning. "That'd be awful."
Harry, who had remained silent during the entire conversation, got into his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin.
"I'm going to turn in now, there'll probably be a lot going on tomorrow," Harry told his roommates.
"Yeah, we'd better all do the same," Dean agreed.
* * *
Someone was tugging at Harry's arm.
"Harry! Wake up!" It was Ron.
"What is it, Ron? What time is it?" Harry mumbled sleepily.
"I don't know...but it's early!" Ron whispered. "Anyway, I've been up-couldn't sleep-and I heard voices, Fred and George have got the owl back. Let's go!"
Harry swung his legs onto the floor and muttered, "Lumos!" A white light appeared at the tip of his wand as he tiptoed across the room, following Ron through the doorway and down the stairs.
"Fred! George! It's us!" Ron hissed, rapping on the door.
"Who's us?" George asked, sounding rather ill-tempered.
"It's Harry," Harry told them, knowing the twins would open the door for him. Sure enough, the door swung wide open.
"Harry, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Fred said, ushering him into the room. Ron followed.
"What did Dad say in the letter?" Ron asked, his brow knitted with concern.
"Practically nothing," Fred said angrily. George threw a roll of parchment at Ron, and Ron unrolled it.
Dear Fred & George,
Congratulations at being made prefects, that's absolutely wonderful! Your mum'll be so proud! Please promise me that the two of you won't do anything to endanger yourselves at Hogwarts. Things are bad enough as it is, and no one needs to be worrying about you as well. I can't tell you the specifics of the attack now, you'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, keep out of trouble and make sure Ron and Ginny are all right. Your mum would want me to tell you to also watch out for Harry-although I've got the idea that he can do a fine job of that himself. Even so, keep an eye on him, just in case.
Love,
Dad
"As if I need protecting!" Ron sputtered indignantly as he read the letter.
"I can't believe it-our own father won't tell us who's been killed," Fred told Harry.
"We'll find out in the morning, I suppose," George said disappointedly.
"Ron, we'd better get going," Harry said.
"All right, then. Good-bye," Ron nodded, and the two trudged up the staircase. As they entered the bedroom, Harry held out his wand and whispered, "Nox." The light at the tip of his wand went out, and he climbed into his bed once again.
"Good night, Ron," he said quietly.
"'Night, Harry," Ron said sleepily. A few minutes later, Harry heard snores, and knew Ron had gone to sleep. Harry lay awake for another hour or so, wondering who had been killed, if Voldemort was closer to finding the chest Hermione and Ron had told him about, and whether or not classes would begin tomorrow as previously scheduled.
* * *
"Are they going to tell us, then?"
"Hurry up, Neville!"
"Don't leave, just a minute, please!"
"What're you missing, again, Neville?"
"My wand-I swear I left it on the desk!"
Harry awoke to his roommates' loud conversation early the next morning. When he got out of bed, he stubbed his toe on something pointy.
"Neville, here's your wand," Harry said, picking a wand up off the floor and throwing it to Neville.
"Thanks, Harry," Neville said gratefully.
"Let's go, then," Seamus said, opening up the door.
"Er-where are we going?" Harry asked, confused, as he pulled on his robes.
"Dumbledore's called a meeting of all the students, in the Great Hall, during breakfast," Ron explained as Harry went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he was done, he followed Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville down the stairs and into the common room, where dozens of Gryffindors were milling about.
"Oh, there you two are!" Hermione cried, spotting them. She had been talking to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. "Let's go!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione elbowed their way through the crowd, pushed on the portrait, and left Gryffindor Tower.
"I expect Dumbledore'll tell us today who's been attacked," Hermione said anxiously. "People have been saying that it was students, but I can't believe that. I mean..." she trailed off, lost in her thoughts.
When the three got to the Great Hall, the noise was louder than ever.
"Oh, there's Potter!" Draco Malfoy called out, sounding disappointed, from the Slytherin table. "I was hoping you'd be too scared to come back!" His Slytherin friends laughed and jeered at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Draco was the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team, and he was so jealous of Harry that he went out of his way to make Harry's life miserable each and every time he saw him. Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, was a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Magic. But Harry knew that Lucius was also one of Voldemort's strongest supporters, a Death Eater. Last year, when Voldemort had risen again, Harry had been surrounded by Death Eaters, and Lucius Malfoy had been one of them. "Oh, and look, it's Weasley, Potter's little sidekick! How's your father, Weasley? Making enough money to feed the whole lot of you?" he yelled, poking fun at Ron's family, which included seven children. Ron tensed and put a hand on his wand.
"Don't do it, Ron," Harry said warningly. "You'll only regret it."
"And look at Potter's girlfriend, the Mudblood!" Draco cried. Mudblood was an offensive term for someone born of Muggle parents, like Hermione. Ron's parents were both wizards, but Hermione's were both dentists. Hermione was the only witch in her family.
"Oh, come off it, Malfoy!" Harry said good-naturedly, and calmly strolled away. Ron followed reluctantly, and Hermione held her head high until they reached the Gryffindor table. There, several students were discussing the identity of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. None of the teachers Harry had been taught by had lasted more than a year.
Last year's teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, had come out of retirement to teach the class. He had been imprisoned and impersonated by one of Voldemort's supporters, and had made it clear that he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts.
"I just hope they didn't give it to Snape," Katie Bell was saying. Katie was a Chaser for the Quidditch team. Professor Snape, Harry's least favorite professor, was the head of the Slytherin house. He taught Potions, but it was widely rumored that he wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job.
"That's odd, though, that no one's seen this teacher yet," Alicia Spinnet said. She was also a Chaser for the Quidditch team.
"I heard it was a woman," Fred Weasley put in.
"I heard she's really strict," Lee Jordan added.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down, the plates in front of them magically filled themselves with crescents, muffins, sausage, eggs, bacon, toast, and pastries. The glasses next to the plates filled with water and orange juice. More and more students filed into the Great Hall and began eating. After a little while, Professor Dumbledore stood up from his position at the head table. A silence fell in the Great Hall.
"Ladies, gentlemen, teachers; I would like to welcome you back to another year at Hogwarts. It is with deep sorrow and regret that I tell you that there was an attack last night made by Lord Voldemort. Two Gringotts security officials, Herbert and Patricia Midgen, were killed."
Everyone started talking at once.
"That's Eloise Midgen's parents!" Hermione gasped. "You know, of Hufflepuff? She told me once that her parents worked for Gringotts."
Gringotts was the wizarding bank. Ron's older brother Bill worked there as a cursebreaker. The bank consisted of a series of underground passageways and vaults. Wizards kept not only money at Gringotts, but treasured posessions, as well as anything they wanted to keep safe.
Harry glanced at the Hufflepuff table. Sure enough, Eloise Midgen wasn't there. And at the head table, Professor Sprout, head of the Hufflepuff house, was dabbing at tears with her handkerchief. Although Harry didn't know her too well, he felt terrible for Eloise. He knew exactly how it felt to be an orphan because of Lord Voldemort.
"I wonder where it happened, and why?" Ron said, looking deep in thought.
"Poor Eloise," Hermione said, her eyes filling with tears. At the head table, Dumbledore raised his wand for attention. Once again, the Great Hall became very quiet.
"Even in this time of great tragedy, we must go on. Classes will resume today following lunch. Schedules will be passed out in house common rooms by the prefects. There will be no feast tonight, but I would like to extend a warm welcome right now to all of our first year students. I hope that you will enjoy the first of many years to come in your magical education here at Hogwarts. Also, I would like to welcome Professor Melinda McGonagall-Welsh, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Welsh, as she wishes to be called, is the sister of our very own Transfiguration teacher, Minerva."
Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together firmly and shook her head, as if she didn't approve of her sister getting the job.
"Oh, no!" Ron cried. "Two McGonagalls-this year's going to be awful!"
"Maybe she won't be as bad as Professor McGonagall is," Harry said hopefully. "Not as strict."
"Oh, she'll be just as bad, I just know it!" Ron insisted.
"Professor McGonagall isn't half as bad as you make her out to be," said Hermione, who was actually quite fond of Professor McGonagall. "Honestly, if the two of you would just stop fooling around in her class, you'd see that she's a very good teacher," she snapped.
"Whatever you say, Hermione," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"It's true!" Hermione said. "We've probably learned more from her than we have from anyone else at Hogwarts! In fact-"
"Harry! Harry, hi! How've you been? Mind if I snap a quick photo of you?"
Hermione had been interrupted by Colin Creevey, a fourth-year who was infatuated with Harry. Every time Colin saw Harry, he had to take a picture or follow him around or offer to do errands for him.
"Er-all right," Harry said, feeling rather embarrassed.
"Great! Here, would you mind taking it? Thanks!" Colin shoved his camera into Hermione's hands, then squeezed his head in between Harry and Ron. Hermione took the picture, then handed the camera back to Colin, who was positively beaming with excitement. Colin pulled the photo out of the little slot and held it up for Harry to see. In the picture, Ron was looking a little impatient, Colin was grinning ear-to-ear, and Harry was blushing.
"Well, we've got to go, Colin," Harry said, eyeing Ron and Hermione meaningfully.
"Oh, yes, we've got to go to the library," Hermione said, catching on. "Goodbye, now!" And the three of them left Colin, who was looking very confused, standing in the middle of the Great Hall.
Instead of going to the library, they went back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Kerfuffle," Hermione said, and the Fat Lady smiled and swung open.
"I wonder why Professor, what's-her-name, Welsh, wasn't at breakfast," Ron said, taking a seat on one of the comfortable couches in the common room.
"Yes, that's sort of strange," Hermione agreed. "What do you think, Harry?" But Harry didn't seem to hear her.
"Harry?" Hermione said, tapping his shoulder.
"Oh, sorry," said Harry. "I was just thinking, why would Voldemort want to kill the Midgens, if they worked for Gringott's?"
Hermione and Ron winced when Harry said "Voldemort". Most witches and wizards called Lord Voldemort, "You-Know-Who", as if just saying his name would cause something terrible to happen.
"Unless...Hermione, could the Chest of Promises be at Gringotts?" Harry asked. Hermione thought for a minute, then shook her head.
"I don't think so, that would be too easy. But I'll bet that Gringotts helped make sure it was in a safe place, don't you think? They've always been the leading wizarding company in security."
"Yes, and wouldn't there be records at Gringotts about the chest? Or something that would help to find it, right?" Ron suggested, his eyes lighting up.
"They've probably even got a committee that's trying to find the trunk before You-Know-Who does," Hermione said.
"And I'll bet the Midgens were the head of the committee," Harry added. "And that's why Voldemort went to them."
"I wonder what he found out," Ron muttered. "I wonder if-"
Ron was interrupted by a flurry of Gryffindors entering the common room at once, Fred and George in the middle of the crowd.
"Bell, Katie!" Fred was shouting. "Creevey, Colin! Creevey, Dennis!"
"Weasley, Ron!" George cried, even louder than Fred. "Weasley, Ginny!" The twins were handing out the schedules of classes.
"Hey, look, we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts right after lunch!" Ron cried when he looked at his schedule. "We'll be Professor Welsh's first class." Hermione grabbed her schedule off of Fred and George and frowned.
"We've got Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, as well as Care of Magical Creatures," she said, groaning. Classes with Slytherins were always the worst because the Slytherins constantly went out of their way to make the Gryffindors look foolish, constantly taunting them and trying to ruin their potions or spells.
"Yeah, but we've got Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and History of Magic," Harry pointed out.
"You two have dropped Divination, I see," Hermione said approvingly. The teacher of Divination, Professor Trelawney, tended to be very overdramatic about her 'Inner Eye'. She had predicted Harry's death throughout the entire term last year, and often warned the class of danger and misfortune which never seemed to occur. Hermione had dropped the class after less than a year, but Ron and Harry had stuck it out for two full terms.
"I wonder if Hagrid's back yet," Harry said. "Let's go down to his cottage and see if he's there."
Over the years, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had grown rather attached to Hagrid, who was the Gameskeeper besides being the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures.
"All right, let's go," Ron said agreeably. "It's not like we're doing much here, anyway." So the three set off for Hagrid's cottage, which he shared with his enormous dog, which was named, quite appropriately, Fang. When they got to the cottage, Harry knocked on the door.
"Hagrid? Are you home?" Harry called. They heard boots shuffle across the floor. Then the door swung open.
"Hullo!" Hagrid roared. "Come on in, now! I'll put some tea on. So great ter see yeh, just great. What with all this madness going on...well, it's nice ter see a friendly face, fer a change."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione grinned at each other. Hagrid was a very intimidating figure: about ten feet tall, with a head of massive, thick dark hair, and a large body; but he was one of the nicest people they'd ever met. As Hagrid prepared the tea, he rambled on.
"Me 'n Olympe, we had a job of it, let me tell yeh, gatherin' up all those giants. But we didn't do half bad, yeh know. They promised to help us with anythin' we ever need from 'em. Protection and that sort."
Hagrid was a half-giant, and so was Madame Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, another European wizarding school; that was why Dumbledore had sent them to enlist the help of the giants.
"So, yeh've heard about the Midgens, then?" Hagrid asked.
"Yes, Dumbledore told us at breakfast," Hermione told him.
"Terrible thing, that was. Always were nice folks. Very friendly, yeh know. Poor girl's going ter have a rough time of it, always was very sensitive, Eloise was. Don't expect her ter come back ter school fer a few months at least," Hagrid said, frowning. "But yeh don't need to be thinkin' about all that now-hey, Harry, yeh've forgotten!"
"About what?" Harry said, confused.
"The surprise I wrote yeh about on yer birthday, remember? All right, I'll get it fer yeh now. Just wait right here a minute..." Hagrid trudged off somewhere to get Harry's "surprise". Hermione and Ron looked at Harry curiously.
"Oh, Hagrid mentioned something in his birthday letter to me, about a surprise. I just hope it's not a dragon or anything," Harry explained.
"Or a Blast-Ended Skrewt," Ron added.
"Or a giant spider," Hermione said.
But when Hagrid returned, he wasn't carrying a dragon, a Blast-Ended Skrewt, or a giant spider: in his hands was a small creature with four legs, wings, and a beak.
"A hippogriff!" Hermione said delightedly. "It's adorable!"
In their third year, they had worked with large winged creatures called hippogriffs, but one had nearly been executed when it had bit Draco Malfoy on the arm. Although it was just a teeny bite, Draco's father had stirred the Ministry of Magic up so much that they had decided to kill the hippogriff without even hearing Hagrid's side of the story. In fact, Draco had caused the attack by provoking the hippogriff, which Hagrid had specifically told him not to do.
"It's just a baby," Hagrid told Harry, "so yeh'll have to take very good care of it. In fact, I sort of thought yeh'd want to keep it here, because yeh'll have ter when he gets older. They take about a year, hippogriffs, to grow completely, so he'll be pretty small fer a while."
"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said, grinning.
"What're yeh going ter name it, Harry?" Hagrid said, rubbing the hippogriff's stomach.
"Er, I think I'll call him...Humphrey," Harry decided. "Humphrey the Hippogriff."
Hagrid showed Harry how to feed Humphrey, and Ron and Hermione took turns holding the tiny hippogriff. Then they had tea and some of Hagrid's rock-hard cakes, and talked about what they each had done over the summer. By the time they knew it, it was almost time for Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"Well, we'd better be going, now, class starts in fifteen minutes and we don't want to be late on the first day," Hermione said, standing up.
"Yeah, goodbye, Hagrid!" Ron said.
"And thanks again," Harry added, and the three began walking to the castle. When they got to the castle, they rushed up to Gryffindor tower to get their Defense books, then raced down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room with just a few minutes until class started. To Hermione's surprise, Professor Welsh hadn't arrived yet.
"Why, she's not even here yet, and this'll be her first class at Hogwarts!" Hermione said, still gasping for breath. The only seats that were left were in the very front row, so they put their books on the desks and sat down. Just then, a beautiful, dark-haired girl walked into the room, carrying several books.
"That's the girl I saw on the train!" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry nodded.
"I can't believe she's a fifth-year!" Ron hissed. "What luck we have; she must be new!"
"But that would mean she's in Slytherin, wouldn't it?" Harry said under his breath. Ron's face fell, then brightened a few moments later.
"She's too pretty to be a Slytherin-she must be in Gryffindor, we just haven't seen her yet!"
No one but Ron and Harry had noticed the girl come into the room yet. Everyone else was too busy talking, laughing, or fighting to wonder who the girl was. Ron took advantage to the situation and rushed up to the girl.
"Hello," he said pleasantly, "I'm Ron Weasley. The teacher isn't here yet, but you can sit by us. Those're my friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."
The girl seemed to be quite amused by this.
"The teacher isn't here yet?" she asked, smiling.
"No, but I hear she's really terrible-strict and cranky, you know, so we'd better sit down before she comes in," Ron told her.
"I'll remember that, Ron. Strict and cranky, you say?" she repeated.
"Oh, yes. I've had her sister, Professor McGonagall, she's the Transfiguration teacher, and she's just awful. If you so much as say one word in that class you get ten points off your house. Anyway, I've heard this new professor is just as bad; that's why I'm wondering why she's not here yet," Ron said in a rush, staring into the new girl's deep green eyes.
"Maybe she is here, Ron," the new girl said. "Did you ever think of that?"
"Where?" Ron asked, looking all around the room.
"Allow me to introduce myself," she said, pulling a badge out of her pocket and handing it to Ron. "I am Professor Melinda McGonagall-Welsh."
Ron stared at her in disbelief. But sure enough, the badge read, Hogwarts I.D. # 16884 Melinda McGonagall-Welsh, Professor; Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"But you're not-you can't be-you're Professor McGonagall's sister?" he asked, feeling very confused.
"Well, half-sister, actually. That's why my last name is McGonagall-Welsh, and hers is just McGonagall. I thought I'd have all my students just call me Professor Welsh, to make it easier, you know," Professor Welsh explained.
"But you're so young!" Ron blurted out before he could help himself.
"You flatter me, Ron, but I've been a Hogwarts graduate for...let me see, five years now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I had better start class," she said politely. Ron just stood there, still looking shocked.
"Erm-excuse me," Professor Welsh said.
"Oh, uh, sure. Sorry," Ron babbled, finally moving out of the way and going back to his seat. He glanced around to make sure no one had seen him make a fool of himself. Fortunately, the only people who had caught the conversation were Harry and Hermione, who were both having a good laugh at Ron's expense.
"Laugh all you want," Ron said crossly. "I think she looks much too young to be a teacher."
"Hello, everyone," Professor Welsh said, causing the room to become quiet. "I am Melinda McGonagall Welsh, your new teacher. Please call me Professor Welsh. Now, Professor Dumbledore has told me that you've already learned about the three Unforgivable curses last term. This year, we will be studying other curses and how to fight them. Please get out your books and turn to page 34."
Everyone got out their books and turned to page 34 without objection, even the Slytherins.
"Here we have the Confundus Curse, another very serious curse. When someone administers this curse, the victim of the curse will become very confused and disoriented. They may begin saying things that make no sense or doing things that they normally would not do. If a countercurse is not administered within a short time period, the victim may suffer longterm effects of the Confundus Curse. Now we will begin to work on the countercurse..."
The Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson seemed to fly by. Before the class knew it, the bell was ringing and it was time to go to their next class. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had Advanced Charms with Professor Flitwick next, and they hurried out into the hallway so they could get to his room on time.
"Professor Welsh seems like a really good teacher. All the stuff she teaches, it's really useful, you know?" Hermione said admiringly.
"Yeah, she's really great. She's so smart! And really funny as well. And that was a really good lesson to start out with, I think," Ron gushed.
"Hello, everyone!" Professor Flitwick greeted the students coming into his room. He was a tiny wizard, no more than three or four feet high, and he was standing on his chair so that the class could see him.
"Welcome to Advanced Charms," Professor Flitwick said after the bell rang. "I thought we'd start out with-"
"Help! Help!" someone was screaming in the hallway. It was Madam Pince, the librarian. She ran into Professor Flitwick's room.
"The dementors-in the hallways-coming after someone-lock the doors," she babbled, breathing heavily. Ron, who was sitting closest to the door, got up and locked it, quickly.
In a few moments, the class heard Professor Dumbledore's magnified voice echoing through the hallways.
"I would like to ask all teachers at this time to make sure that all of their students are inside the classrooms. When every single student is inside, please lock your doors until further notice. Students who do not have a class on their schedule at this time should report to the library. Thank you and please remain calm."
"What's going on?"
"Another attack, do you think?"
"What if You-Know-Who is here?"
"He can't be! He can't be!"
Panic had broken out across the room. Neville came over to stand by Harry looking absolutely terrified. Lavender and Parvati were practically in tears, and Dean and Seamus were looking around, nervously, their wands pointed at the ceiling.
"Aaaaaaarrgh!"
Suddenly Madam Pince, who had been staring through the door window out into the hallway, gave a bloodcurdling scream and fainted.
* * *
"So...no one has a clue about what's inside this chest?" Harry asked, confused.
"I'm sure there are theories, Harry," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "I just haven't done very much research on the subject."
"It's this waiting that's killing me!" Ron said, rather loudly. A few first years jumped out of their seats and hurried into their bedrooms. Most of the Gryffindors had retired to their rooms and were trying to get some sleep. Fred, George, and their best friend Lee Jordan were discussing the latest Quidditch match between the Chudley Cannons and the Wimbourne Wasps.
"I'm telling you, the Wasps deserved to win! The Cannons' Beater deserved a foul!" George was saying.
"The referee was blind!" Lee agreed.
"No! If anyone deserved a foul, it was that Chaser on the Wasps!" Fred shouted. Professor McGonagall, who had been reading, looked up sternly at the twins and Lee.
"Fred, George, Lee-go straight to your rooms at once!" she said sharply.
"But Professor, we're prefects!" Fred protested.
"And I'm still your head of house! Now go along!" Professor McGonagall said firmly. Sighing, Fred started up the stairs for his room, George and Lee following him.
Now, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were left alone in the common room with Professor McGonagall.
"Oh, no!" Hermione cried suddenly, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh... that would be terrible...it can't possibly...but..."
"What's wrong?" Ron asked.
"Have either of you seen Hagrid today?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"No, but-You don't think-I mean, erm," Ron stammered, "I haven't seen him all day."
"Neither have I," said Harry. "But Hagrid couldn't be! He just...he can't!" he cried fiercely. Hagrid was one of the best friends Harry had at Hogwarts, probably his best friend next to Ron and Hermione. Professor McGonagall set down the book she had been reading and walked over.
"I couldn't help but overhear, and you needn't worry about Hagrid. He is...not in the country at the present. He is, er, performing a task for Professor Dumbledore," she told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The three of them grinned at each other. Last year, Hagrid had hinted that Professor Dumbledore wanted him to go on a journey to gather the giants of the wizarding world and convince them to join their fight against Lord Voldemort.
"I am going to go to bed shortly and I suggest the three of you do the same," Professor McGonagall said, but not unkindly. "It's been a rather...hard day. You'll need your rest."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded and went to their bedrooms. When Harry and Ron entered their room, they saw that Neville, Dean, and Seamus were still awake, talking about the latest attack.
"Do you think it could've been students, then?" Neville asked, worriedly.
"I don't know," said Seamus, who was re-tacking his poster of the Ireland Quidditch team. Next, he tacked up a picture of him and his parents. After that, he adjusted Ron's posters of the Chudley Cannons, and Dean's poster of the Weird Sisters, a popular musical group.
"He's been doing it all night," Dean explained to Harry and Ron. "Can't keep still."
"This is just too weird for me," Seamus said as he opened the closet door and began rearranging all of the robes inside of it.
"I wonder if Dad's wrote back to Fred and George yet," Ron mused aloud. "I'm sure he's still at the Ministry."
"I hope it's no one we know," Dean said, frowning. "That'd be awful."
Harry, who had remained silent during the entire conversation, got into his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin.
"I'm going to turn in now, there'll probably be a lot going on tomorrow," Harry told his roommates.
"Yeah, we'd better all do the same," Dean agreed.
* * *
Someone was tugging at Harry's arm.
"Harry! Wake up!" It was Ron.
"What is it, Ron? What time is it?" Harry mumbled sleepily.
"I don't know...but it's early!" Ron whispered. "Anyway, I've been up-couldn't sleep-and I heard voices, Fred and George have got the owl back. Let's go!"
Harry swung his legs onto the floor and muttered, "Lumos!" A white light appeared at the tip of his wand as he tiptoed across the room, following Ron through the doorway and down the stairs.
"Fred! George! It's us!" Ron hissed, rapping on the door.
"Who's us?" George asked, sounding rather ill-tempered.
"It's Harry," Harry told them, knowing the twins would open the door for him. Sure enough, the door swung wide open.
"Harry, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Fred said, ushering him into the room. Ron followed.
"What did Dad say in the letter?" Ron asked, his brow knitted with concern.
"Practically nothing," Fred said angrily. George threw a roll of parchment at Ron, and Ron unrolled it.
Dear Fred & George,
Congratulations at being made prefects, that's absolutely wonderful! Your mum'll be so proud! Please promise me that the two of you won't do anything to endanger yourselves at Hogwarts. Things are bad enough as it is, and no one needs to be worrying about you as well. I can't tell you the specifics of the attack now, you'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, keep out of trouble and make sure Ron and Ginny are all right. Your mum would want me to tell you to also watch out for Harry-although I've got the idea that he can do a fine job of that himself. Even so, keep an eye on him, just in case.
Love,
Dad
"As if I need protecting!" Ron sputtered indignantly as he read the letter.
"I can't believe it-our own father won't tell us who's been killed," Fred told Harry.
"We'll find out in the morning, I suppose," George said disappointedly.
"Ron, we'd better get going," Harry said.
"All right, then. Good-bye," Ron nodded, and the two trudged up the staircase. As they entered the bedroom, Harry held out his wand and whispered, "Nox." The light at the tip of his wand went out, and he climbed into his bed once again.
"Good night, Ron," he said quietly.
"'Night, Harry," Ron said sleepily. A few minutes later, Harry heard snores, and knew Ron had gone to sleep. Harry lay awake for another hour or so, wondering who had been killed, if Voldemort was closer to finding the chest Hermione and Ron had told him about, and whether or not classes would begin tomorrow as previously scheduled.
* * *
"Are they going to tell us, then?"
"Hurry up, Neville!"
"Don't leave, just a minute, please!"
"What're you missing, again, Neville?"
"My wand-I swear I left it on the desk!"
Harry awoke to his roommates' loud conversation early the next morning. When he got out of bed, he stubbed his toe on something pointy.
"Neville, here's your wand," Harry said, picking a wand up off the floor and throwing it to Neville.
"Thanks, Harry," Neville said gratefully.
"Let's go, then," Seamus said, opening up the door.
"Er-where are we going?" Harry asked, confused, as he pulled on his robes.
"Dumbledore's called a meeting of all the students, in the Great Hall, during breakfast," Ron explained as Harry went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he was done, he followed Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville down the stairs and into the common room, where dozens of Gryffindors were milling about.
"Oh, there you two are!" Hermione cried, spotting them. She had been talking to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. "Let's go!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione elbowed their way through the crowd, pushed on the portrait, and left Gryffindor Tower.
"I expect Dumbledore'll tell us today who's been attacked," Hermione said anxiously. "People have been saying that it was students, but I can't believe that. I mean..." she trailed off, lost in her thoughts.
When the three got to the Great Hall, the noise was louder than ever.
"Oh, there's Potter!" Draco Malfoy called out, sounding disappointed, from the Slytherin table. "I was hoping you'd be too scared to come back!" His Slytherin friends laughed and jeered at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Draco was the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team, and he was so jealous of Harry that he went out of his way to make Harry's life miserable each and every time he saw him. Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, was a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Magic. But Harry knew that Lucius was also one of Voldemort's strongest supporters, a Death Eater. Last year, when Voldemort had risen again, Harry had been surrounded by Death Eaters, and Lucius Malfoy had been one of them. "Oh, and look, it's Weasley, Potter's little sidekick! How's your father, Weasley? Making enough money to feed the whole lot of you?" he yelled, poking fun at Ron's family, which included seven children. Ron tensed and put a hand on his wand.
"Don't do it, Ron," Harry said warningly. "You'll only regret it."
"And look at Potter's girlfriend, the Mudblood!" Draco cried. Mudblood was an offensive term for someone born of Muggle parents, like Hermione. Ron's parents were both wizards, but Hermione's were both dentists. Hermione was the only witch in her family.
"Oh, come off it, Malfoy!" Harry said good-naturedly, and calmly strolled away. Ron followed reluctantly, and Hermione held her head high until they reached the Gryffindor table. There, several students were discussing the identity of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. None of the teachers Harry had been taught by had lasted more than a year.
Last year's teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, had come out of retirement to teach the class. He had been imprisoned and impersonated by one of Voldemort's supporters, and had made it clear that he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts.
"I just hope they didn't give it to Snape," Katie Bell was saying. Katie was a Chaser for the Quidditch team. Professor Snape, Harry's least favorite professor, was the head of the Slytherin house. He taught Potions, but it was widely rumored that he wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job.
"That's odd, though, that no one's seen this teacher yet," Alicia Spinnet said. She was also a Chaser for the Quidditch team.
"I heard it was a woman," Fred Weasley put in.
"I heard she's really strict," Lee Jordan added.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down, the plates in front of them magically filled themselves with crescents, muffins, sausage, eggs, bacon, toast, and pastries. The glasses next to the plates filled with water and orange juice. More and more students filed into the Great Hall and began eating. After a little while, Professor Dumbledore stood up from his position at the head table. A silence fell in the Great Hall.
"Ladies, gentlemen, teachers; I would like to welcome you back to another year at Hogwarts. It is with deep sorrow and regret that I tell you that there was an attack last night made by Lord Voldemort. Two Gringotts security officials, Herbert and Patricia Midgen, were killed."
Everyone started talking at once.
"That's Eloise Midgen's parents!" Hermione gasped. "You know, of Hufflepuff? She told me once that her parents worked for Gringotts."
Gringotts was the wizarding bank. Ron's older brother Bill worked there as a cursebreaker. The bank consisted of a series of underground passageways and vaults. Wizards kept not only money at Gringotts, but treasured posessions, as well as anything they wanted to keep safe.
Harry glanced at the Hufflepuff table. Sure enough, Eloise Midgen wasn't there. And at the head table, Professor Sprout, head of the Hufflepuff house, was dabbing at tears with her handkerchief. Although Harry didn't know her too well, he felt terrible for Eloise. He knew exactly how it felt to be an orphan because of Lord Voldemort.
"I wonder where it happened, and why?" Ron said, looking deep in thought.
"Poor Eloise," Hermione said, her eyes filling with tears. At the head table, Dumbledore raised his wand for attention. Once again, the Great Hall became very quiet.
"Even in this time of great tragedy, we must go on. Classes will resume today following lunch. Schedules will be passed out in house common rooms by the prefects. There will be no feast tonight, but I would like to extend a warm welcome right now to all of our first year students. I hope that you will enjoy the first of many years to come in your magical education here at Hogwarts. Also, I would like to welcome Professor Melinda McGonagall-Welsh, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Welsh, as she wishes to be called, is the sister of our very own Transfiguration teacher, Minerva."
Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together firmly and shook her head, as if she didn't approve of her sister getting the job.
"Oh, no!" Ron cried. "Two McGonagalls-this year's going to be awful!"
"Maybe she won't be as bad as Professor McGonagall is," Harry said hopefully. "Not as strict."
"Oh, she'll be just as bad, I just know it!" Ron insisted.
"Professor McGonagall isn't half as bad as you make her out to be," said Hermione, who was actually quite fond of Professor McGonagall. "Honestly, if the two of you would just stop fooling around in her class, you'd see that she's a very good teacher," she snapped.
"Whatever you say, Hermione," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"It's true!" Hermione said. "We've probably learned more from her than we have from anyone else at Hogwarts! In fact-"
"Harry! Harry, hi! How've you been? Mind if I snap a quick photo of you?"
Hermione had been interrupted by Colin Creevey, a fourth-year who was infatuated with Harry. Every time Colin saw Harry, he had to take a picture or follow him around or offer to do errands for him.
"Er-all right," Harry said, feeling rather embarrassed.
"Great! Here, would you mind taking it? Thanks!" Colin shoved his camera into Hermione's hands, then squeezed his head in between Harry and Ron. Hermione took the picture, then handed the camera back to Colin, who was positively beaming with excitement. Colin pulled the photo out of the little slot and held it up for Harry to see. In the picture, Ron was looking a little impatient, Colin was grinning ear-to-ear, and Harry was blushing.
"Well, we've got to go, Colin," Harry said, eyeing Ron and Hermione meaningfully.
"Oh, yes, we've got to go to the library," Hermione said, catching on. "Goodbye, now!" And the three of them left Colin, who was looking very confused, standing in the middle of the Great Hall.
Instead of going to the library, they went back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Kerfuffle," Hermione said, and the Fat Lady smiled and swung open.
"I wonder why Professor, what's-her-name, Welsh, wasn't at breakfast," Ron said, taking a seat on one of the comfortable couches in the common room.
"Yes, that's sort of strange," Hermione agreed. "What do you think, Harry?" But Harry didn't seem to hear her.
"Harry?" Hermione said, tapping his shoulder.
"Oh, sorry," said Harry. "I was just thinking, why would Voldemort want to kill the Midgens, if they worked for Gringott's?"
Hermione and Ron winced when Harry said "Voldemort". Most witches and wizards called Lord Voldemort, "You-Know-Who", as if just saying his name would cause something terrible to happen.
"Unless...Hermione, could the Chest of Promises be at Gringotts?" Harry asked. Hermione thought for a minute, then shook her head.
"I don't think so, that would be too easy. But I'll bet that Gringotts helped make sure it was in a safe place, don't you think? They've always been the leading wizarding company in security."
"Yes, and wouldn't there be records at Gringotts about the chest? Or something that would help to find it, right?" Ron suggested, his eyes lighting up.
"They've probably even got a committee that's trying to find the trunk before You-Know-Who does," Hermione said.
"And I'll bet the Midgens were the head of the committee," Harry added. "And that's why Voldemort went to them."
"I wonder what he found out," Ron muttered. "I wonder if-"
Ron was interrupted by a flurry of Gryffindors entering the common room at once, Fred and George in the middle of the crowd.
"Bell, Katie!" Fred was shouting. "Creevey, Colin! Creevey, Dennis!"
"Weasley, Ron!" George cried, even louder than Fred. "Weasley, Ginny!" The twins were handing out the schedules of classes.
"Hey, look, we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts right after lunch!" Ron cried when he looked at his schedule. "We'll be Professor Welsh's first class." Hermione grabbed her schedule off of Fred and George and frowned.
"We've got Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, as well as Care of Magical Creatures," she said, groaning. Classes with Slytherins were always the worst because the Slytherins constantly went out of their way to make the Gryffindors look foolish, constantly taunting them and trying to ruin their potions or spells.
"Yeah, but we've got Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and History of Magic," Harry pointed out.
"You two have dropped Divination, I see," Hermione said approvingly. The teacher of Divination, Professor Trelawney, tended to be very overdramatic about her 'Inner Eye'. She had predicted Harry's death throughout the entire term last year, and often warned the class of danger and misfortune which never seemed to occur. Hermione had dropped the class after less than a year, but Ron and Harry had stuck it out for two full terms.
"I wonder if Hagrid's back yet," Harry said. "Let's go down to his cottage and see if he's there."
Over the years, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had grown rather attached to Hagrid, who was the Gameskeeper besides being the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures.
"All right, let's go," Ron said agreeably. "It's not like we're doing much here, anyway." So the three set off for Hagrid's cottage, which he shared with his enormous dog, which was named, quite appropriately, Fang. When they got to the cottage, Harry knocked on the door.
"Hagrid? Are you home?" Harry called. They heard boots shuffle across the floor. Then the door swung open.
"Hullo!" Hagrid roared. "Come on in, now! I'll put some tea on. So great ter see yeh, just great. What with all this madness going on...well, it's nice ter see a friendly face, fer a change."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione grinned at each other. Hagrid was a very intimidating figure: about ten feet tall, with a head of massive, thick dark hair, and a large body; but he was one of the nicest people they'd ever met. As Hagrid prepared the tea, he rambled on.
"Me 'n Olympe, we had a job of it, let me tell yeh, gatherin' up all those giants. But we didn't do half bad, yeh know. They promised to help us with anythin' we ever need from 'em. Protection and that sort."
Hagrid was a half-giant, and so was Madame Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, another European wizarding school; that was why Dumbledore had sent them to enlist the help of the giants.
"So, yeh've heard about the Midgens, then?" Hagrid asked.
"Yes, Dumbledore told us at breakfast," Hermione told him.
"Terrible thing, that was. Always were nice folks. Very friendly, yeh know. Poor girl's going ter have a rough time of it, always was very sensitive, Eloise was. Don't expect her ter come back ter school fer a few months at least," Hagrid said, frowning. "But yeh don't need to be thinkin' about all that now-hey, Harry, yeh've forgotten!"
"About what?" Harry said, confused.
"The surprise I wrote yeh about on yer birthday, remember? All right, I'll get it fer yeh now. Just wait right here a minute..." Hagrid trudged off somewhere to get Harry's "surprise". Hermione and Ron looked at Harry curiously.
"Oh, Hagrid mentioned something in his birthday letter to me, about a surprise. I just hope it's not a dragon or anything," Harry explained.
"Or a Blast-Ended Skrewt," Ron added.
"Or a giant spider," Hermione said.
But when Hagrid returned, he wasn't carrying a dragon, a Blast-Ended Skrewt, or a giant spider: in his hands was a small creature with four legs, wings, and a beak.
"A hippogriff!" Hermione said delightedly. "It's adorable!"
In their third year, they had worked with large winged creatures called hippogriffs, but one had nearly been executed when it had bit Draco Malfoy on the arm. Although it was just a teeny bite, Draco's father had stirred the Ministry of Magic up so much that they had decided to kill the hippogriff without even hearing Hagrid's side of the story. In fact, Draco had caused the attack by provoking the hippogriff, which Hagrid had specifically told him not to do.
"It's just a baby," Hagrid told Harry, "so yeh'll have to take very good care of it. In fact, I sort of thought yeh'd want to keep it here, because yeh'll have ter when he gets older. They take about a year, hippogriffs, to grow completely, so he'll be pretty small fer a while."
"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said, grinning.
"What're yeh going ter name it, Harry?" Hagrid said, rubbing the hippogriff's stomach.
"Er, I think I'll call him...Humphrey," Harry decided. "Humphrey the Hippogriff."
Hagrid showed Harry how to feed Humphrey, and Ron and Hermione took turns holding the tiny hippogriff. Then they had tea and some of Hagrid's rock-hard cakes, and talked about what they each had done over the summer. By the time they knew it, it was almost time for Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"Well, we'd better be going, now, class starts in fifteen minutes and we don't want to be late on the first day," Hermione said, standing up.
"Yeah, goodbye, Hagrid!" Ron said.
"And thanks again," Harry added, and the three began walking to the castle. When they got to the castle, they rushed up to Gryffindor tower to get their Defense books, then raced down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room with just a few minutes until class started. To Hermione's surprise, Professor Welsh hadn't arrived yet.
"Why, she's not even here yet, and this'll be her first class at Hogwarts!" Hermione said, still gasping for breath. The only seats that were left were in the very front row, so they put their books on the desks and sat down. Just then, a beautiful, dark-haired girl walked into the room, carrying several books.
"That's the girl I saw on the train!" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry nodded.
"I can't believe she's a fifth-year!" Ron hissed. "What luck we have; she must be new!"
"But that would mean she's in Slytherin, wouldn't it?" Harry said under his breath. Ron's face fell, then brightened a few moments later.
"She's too pretty to be a Slytherin-she must be in Gryffindor, we just haven't seen her yet!"
No one but Ron and Harry had noticed the girl come into the room yet. Everyone else was too busy talking, laughing, or fighting to wonder who the girl was. Ron took advantage to the situation and rushed up to the girl.
"Hello," he said pleasantly, "I'm Ron Weasley. The teacher isn't here yet, but you can sit by us. Those're my friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."
The girl seemed to be quite amused by this.
"The teacher isn't here yet?" she asked, smiling.
"No, but I hear she's really terrible-strict and cranky, you know, so we'd better sit down before she comes in," Ron told her.
"I'll remember that, Ron. Strict and cranky, you say?" she repeated.
"Oh, yes. I've had her sister, Professor McGonagall, she's the Transfiguration teacher, and she's just awful. If you so much as say one word in that class you get ten points off your house. Anyway, I've heard this new professor is just as bad; that's why I'm wondering why she's not here yet," Ron said in a rush, staring into the new girl's deep green eyes.
"Maybe she is here, Ron," the new girl said. "Did you ever think of that?"
"Where?" Ron asked, looking all around the room.
"Allow me to introduce myself," she said, pulling a badge out of her pocket and handing it to Ron. "I am Professor Melinda McGonagall-Welsh."
Ron stared at her in disbelief. But sure enough, the badge read, Hogwarts I.D. # 16884 Melinda McGonagall-Welsh, Professor; Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"But you're not-you can't be-you're Professor McGonagall's sister?" he asked, feeling very confused.
"Well, half-sister, actually. That's why my last name is McGonagall-Welsh, and hers is just McGonagall. I thought I'd have all my students just call me Professor Welsh, to make it easier, you know," Professor Welsh explained.
"But you're so young!" Ron blurted out before he could help himself.
"You flatter me, Ron, but I've been a Hogwarts graduate for...let me see, five years now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I had better start class," she said politely. Ron just stood there, still looking shocked.
"Erm-excuse me," Professor Welsh said.
"Oh, uh, sure. Sorry," Ron babbled, finally moving out of the way and going back to his seat. He glanced around to make sure no one had seen him make a fool of himself. Fortunately, the only people who had caught the conversation were Harry and Hermione, who were both having a good laugh at Ron's expense.
"Laugh all you want," Ron said crossly. "I think she looks much too young to be a teacher."
"Hello, everyone," Professor Welsh said, causing the room to become quiet. "I am Melinda McGonagall Welsh, your new teacher. Please call me Professor Welsh. Now, Professor Dumbledore has told me that you've already learned about the three Unforgivable curses last term. This year, we will be studying other curses and how to fight them. Please get out your books and turn to page 34."
Everyone got out their books and turned to page 34 without objection, even the Slytherins.
"Here we have the Confundus Curse, another very serious curse. When someone administers this curse, the victim of the curse will become very confused and disoriented. They may begin saying things that make no sense or doing things that they normally would not do. If a countercurse is not administered within a short time period, the victim may suffer longterm effects of the Confundus Curse. Now we will begin to work on the countercurse..."
The Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson seemed to fly by. Before the class knew it, the bell was ringing and it was time to go to their next class. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had Advanced Charms with Professor Flitwick next, and they hurried out into the hallway so they could get to his room on time.
"Professor Welsh seems like a really good teacher. All the stuff she teaches, it's really useful, you know?" Hermione said admiringly.
"Yeah, she's really great. She's so smart! And really funny as well. And that was a really good lesson to start out with, I think," Ron gushed.
"Hello, everyone!" Professor Flitwick greeted the students coming into his room. He was a tiny wizard, no more than three or four feet high, and he was standing on his chair so that the class could see him.
"Welcome to Advanced Charms," Professor Flitwick said after the bell rang. "I thought we'd start out with-"
"Help! Help!" someone was screaming in the hallway. It was Madam Pince, the librarian. She ran into Professor Flitwick's room.
"The dementors-in the hallways-coming after someone-lock the doors," she babbled, breathing heavily. Ron, who was sitting closest to the door, got up and locked it, quickly.
In a few moments, the class heard Professor Dumbledore's magnified voice echoing through the hallways.
"I would like to ask all teachers at this time to make sure that all of their students are inside the classrooms. When every single student is inside, please lock your doors until further notice. Students who do not have a class on their schedule at this time should report to the library. Thank you and please remain calm."
"What's going on?"
"Another attack, do you think?"
"What if You-Know-Who is here?"
"He can't be! He can't be!"
Panic had broken out across the room. Neville came over to stand by Harry looking absolutely terrified. Lavender and Parvati were practically in tears, and Dean and Seamus were looking around, nervously, their wands pointed at the ceiling.
"Aaaaaaarrgh!"
Suddenly Madam Pince, who had been staring through the door window out into the hallway, gave a bloodcurdling scream and fainted.
* * *
