The moon was just starting to set when three 5th year Ravenclaw girls had started up to their dormitory. The smartest of the three, Ren Grint had been making Helena Roth, a skinny girl who had short blonde hair and green eyes and Michelle Sanders, a girl who was a bit on the chubby side with black hair and hazel eyes study for a big Charms test that they would be taking in only a matter of hours. Ren had always made Helena and Michelle study intensely hard for a test or a simple quiz and tonight was no exception.
Ren put on her pajamas and crawled into her four-poster bed and shut the hangings. She laid on her back and thought about her family. Ren, her sister Natalia, and her cousin Jack were muggle-born and were the only people in their family who had magical blood in their veins. She finally fell into an easy sleep thinking about her family back home. Michelle and Helena were snoring peacefully.
Little did Ren know that she would find a terrible surprise in a few hours when her cousin would wake her up.
Two or three hours after Ren had dozed off, the old dormitory door creaked open. A short 1st year black haired and brown-eyed boy crept in and walked over to Ren's bed. He gently pulled back the hangings and light shook Ren. "Ren? Ren, get up!" said the boy. "Jack, is that you?" said Ren sleepily. She sat up and yawned. "Yes Ren, it's me. I couldn't sleep and the thunder scared me." "There's thunder? I didn't hear it. You're not even supposed to be in here in the first place!" said Ren, still trying to completely wake up. "I know, I know. I was going to stay down in the Common Room, but it was too cold down there. The fire died out and it was really dark. Can I wake your friends up?" asked Jack. "No, we've only gotten a few hours of sleep. I was making them study for our Charms test we have today. I already knew everything, but as Helena and Michelle don't really pay attention in class, I thought I'd make them study." replied Ren as she pushed her blankets down to the end of her bed got out of her bed. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get dressed," said Ren. Jack replied, "Sure. I might as well go get dressed, too." He went to his dormitory and just as Ren was tucking her tie inside her sweater, Jack came in. He urgently said, "Something happened down in the Common Room, come on!" He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her down the staircase to the Common Room.
The Ravenclaw Common Room was a circular room with gray carpets and dark blue armchairs, couches and a large fireplace.
A group of 3rd year Ravenclaws were gathered around some sort of large object that wasn't moving. Ren saw them and decided to see what they were looking at, so she made her way through the little crowd. What she saw nearly made her scream. Her sister was laying on her back with a look of terror on her face and she was limp. Ren bent down and checked to see if Natalia was alive. "Oh Nattie, please, please be alive!" whispered Ren franticly. Thankfully, she was still alive, but wouldn't move. Jack knelt down and shouted, "Somebody go get Professor Dumbledore and tell him it seems a Ravenclaw has been petrified!" Two 2nd year boys hurried from the Common Room and came back with Professor Dumbledore a half hour later.
"What happened here?" he asked calmly. By the blank faces, he was able to see that nobody knew what had happened to the girl. "Sir," started Ren, "I think she was petrified, although I have no idea how that could happen… Ron Weasley and Harry Potter beat the basilisk a few years ago." Dumbledore nodded. "That is true. There are other ways for her to have been petrified. It could have been from another creature that wanders around here or it may have been one of the students, that isn't really a possibility as it is extremely advanced Dark Arts that would put her in this state. Not even a 7th year could put her this way unless they were studying the Dark Arts in secret." Jack asked Dumbledore, "Professor, could Ren and I speak with you alone?" "Yes Mr. Grint, I believe we can do that. Everybody please go down to breakfast, immediately!" Said Professor Dumbledore, ushering the other students out of the Common Room.