Chapter 19: Mourning Morning
It was early in the morning at this time. So early that only Professor Dumbledore and a few other teachers were awake at the time. When they saw Remus Lupin enter the castle carrying a limp body, it caused quite a stir. Remus Lupin, afterall, was a werewolf and God only knew where he found that body. Even worse... it was a full moon the night before. He ran to the hospital wing, looking for Madam Pomfrey.
"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey! Please, open the doors!" he shouted.
Madam Pomfrey was barely awake yet. She dragged her feet as she hurried over to open the doors. What she saw when she opened them made her forget that she was in a nightgown and hair net.
"Oh my...! Bring him here!" She led Lupin to a bed. "What's happened?!"
"Er... its a long story. I'd rather just tell Dumbledore, really."
She looked at him sternly. "I'll call him down. You're not going to make me miss out on hearing this." She poked her head out the hospital door, hissed for Remus to stay there, and stormed out of sight headed for the Headmaster's office.
When she returned, she was followed by Professor Dumbledore, Professor MaGonagall and Professor Snape. Peeves followed behind them and when she shooed him off he left singing, "Uh-oh! I smell trouble!"
The teachers all gasped and began bombarding Remus with questions at the sight of Harry's body.
"Please! Please..." he said, begging them to be quiet for a minute. "Let me explain."
"You do have an explanation?" Snape asked. "You mean you didn't just go around last night and happen to come across Potter? I'm just surprised Weasley isn't here with him." Remus and Severus glared at each other.
"No. If you'd like to listen..." he replied, offering them seats. "Well as you all know, Harry was kidnapped two nights ago. Last night, I found out where he was. Call it... intuition," The others had no idea what he was talking about but they let him continue. "I was able to get him out. There were two girls there as well."
"Let me take a guess. Krystal and Roxeanne... or perhaps Hermione?"
"Krystal and Roxeanne. Anyway, Harry wanted to go back and get them. After showing him where I found him, I felt the moon... and I transformed. Harry was already out of reach. I don't remember much from then til dawn but when I changed back, I heard some one screaming in the Dark Forest. Then I remembered seeing Lucius Malfoy walking that way before. So, I ran. I ran deep into the Forest. What I saw when I reached that one point was horrible. Harry was on the floor, barely breathing. Lord Voldemort was standing over him. Lucius and Draco Malfoy had apparated away nearly as soon as I got there."
"Draco Malfoy knows how to apparate?"
"It seems so. Well, I realized what Lord Voldemort was about to do, so I jumped on him from the side. Unfortunatly, my first instinct was too late and he had already said the curse. The curse did hit Harry but it hit his stomach, so he didn't die immediatly..." He paused and took a deep breath. "Lord Voldemort's wand snapped in half and he apparated as well."
"Wait, wait," Snape stopped him. "I thought it was impossible to apparate onto or off of Hogwarts grounds. Wouldn't that include the Dark Forest?"
"No, Severus. Many parts of the forest are not considered to be part of Hogwarts grounds," Dumbledore said. "Continue, Remus."
"Well, that's it really. Realizing I was too late, I brought Harry here." Dumbledore nodded.
"Where are the girls now?" Professor MaGonagall asked. Remus looked very nervous. He didn't want to tell them that he hadn't gone back for the girls.
"We're right here," a faint voice replied. They all turned to look at the door where Roxeanne and I stood. Remus's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
"How did you girls find your way out?" He asked in amazement.
"The same way you did. After Bridget left-"
"Bridget?" The teachers asked.
"Oh yes, she helped. After she left and we were stuck sitting there for hours, we finally noticed something on the ceiling of the room we were in. The room was so incredibly bright but our eyes did eventually adjust and we noticed that the ceiling of the room was made of tiles. After a while of pushing and prodding-"
"With Roxeanne on my back," I interrupted.
"Yes, I was on Krystal's back. But we finally were able to push it open and we found that it led right to the front of the castle."
"This was only a little while ago that we found it, otherwise we'd have been here sooner." Once again, the teachers nodded.
"I see," Snape said sternly. "Is that all you three'd like to share?" Roxeanne and I nodded but Lupin looked at the floor biting his lip. "Alright then."
"What'll we do about this Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Well, there are going to be many sad people when this gets out. 'The boy who lived'... has died." Again, there was silence. After some time, Dumbledore said, "We'll have to have a proper funeral for him, of course."
"Isn't that up to his family?" Snape asked. They all turned to Remus.
"Well, I suppose we need to ask Sirius, wouldn't you say? I doubt the Dursleys will want to give him a proper funeral. They don't give a damn about the boy."
"I'm sure we'll make do," Dumbledore reassured him. "The problem is going to be... telling everyone." We all realized this. He was our savior. As long as he was around, we didn't have to worry about Voldemort because... really, Voldemort was after mainly Harry for sixteen long years.
Roxeanne and I took it upon our responsibility to break the news of Harry's death to the Gryffindors. This would be difficult. We decided to approach Hermione and Ron first. We met them in the common room that evening and they were talking about Harry's mysterious dissappearance, as I had expected.
"No, I haven't seen him in two days. I even went to the hospital wing in the morning yesterday just to make sure."
"And?"
"Nothing," Ron replied. They both looked frustrated.
"He hasn't attended any classes. He'll be falling so far behind!" Hermione exclaimed after a moment of silence. Ron rolled his eyes at her and muttered something we couldn't hear.
Roxeanne and I walked up to the two of them.
"You guys?" I asked. "We have something to tell you about Harry."
"Well it's about time someone's said something! We were wondering if you two knew anything," Hermione said.
"Well, yeah. We know a lot... you might want to sit down," Roxeanne told them. They looked at each other and seemed very confused but they sat anyway.
"I don't really know how to say this," I began. "Harry-" I paused, trying to think of how to put this delicately. I swallowed hard and blurted out, "Harry died last night."
Ron immediatly burst up and began shouting, "WHAT?!"
Hermione stayed sitting on the couch but her jaw was dropped. She was shaking her head back and forth slowly and quietly saying, "No."
"Ron, please. This is hard for all of us," Roxeanne spoke up. "Let us explain what happened."
Ron reluctantly sat down. Hermione perked up waiting to hear everything that happened. Roxeanne and I tried to explain everything so they could understand it. It was hard to understand if you weren't there. I kept refering back to how Remus worded his explanation. By the time we finished telling them everything, they both had tears in their eyes.
"You- You've got to be kidding," Ron choked on his words.
"I wish I was," Roxeanne told him.
Hermione still seemed to be in shock, but now I could see that she was crying. "This can't be happening. This just CAN'T be happening," she kept saying.
I put my hand on her shoulder. "I know, Hermione."
She leaned over and hugged me. I felt like I could barely breathe because she was hugging me so tightly. She started really sobbing. "Not Harry, Krystal! Why him? This isn't fair!"
"I know, I know," I said, trying to be as comforting as I could and trying to hold back my own tears.
Ron was continuously wiping his eyes, not wanting to let himself cry. "Are you okay, Ron?" I asked after Hermione released me. He didn't answer. "Ron?" I asked again. "I know how you feel, Ron."
"You don't know how I feel," he said bluntly, standing up and pushing me aside. "You can't possibly know how I feel." He started to walk towards the staircase leading to the boys' dormitory.
"We lost him, too, you know!" I yelled at him as he climbed the staircase.
* * *
Ron reached his bed and sat down. This can't be happening... he thought. Harry can't be dead. It's not real. It can't be... This wasn't supposed to happen. Harry's the hero. He always was... the hero doesn't just... die. He tried to reason with himself and convince himself that Harry really wasn't dead. He wasn't really succeeding at anything, however. After accepting the fact that nothing he said was going to make Harry walk through the door into the dormitory, he stood up. He walked across the room and sat on a windowsill and gazed out the window. The sun was just setting and brilliant streaks of lavender, pink and orange were painted across the evening sky. Ron couldn't stand it. He didn't understand how the world just outside seemed so peaceful and serene whilst inside of his own world it was chaotic and full of anger.
He let out a deep, shaky sigh and closed his eyes. Doing this caused some tears to roll down his cheeks. For a minute he just prayed - prayed that this wasn't true. He prayed that Krystal and Roxeanne were lying. He prayed that Harry, wherever he was, would remember him. He prayed for revenge on Lord Voldemort - the bastard who killed his best friend.
The thought of Lord Voldemort sent adrenaline surging throughout Ron's body. For one moment he was so full of anger and power. His head was throbbing and Krystal's voice rang inside his head. "Harry died last night... Lord Voldemort... the Killing Curse..." He couldn't stand it any longer. In one swift movement, Ron took his hand up and punched through the glass pane of the window. The glass shattered into millions of tiny pieces. Ron just sat there for a moment with his fist sticking out of the window. He slowly pulled it back inside. His teeth were clenched and his knuckles were bloody. He calmly went to his trunk beside his bed and pulled out a hankerchief. He wrapped the cloth around his hand and sat on his bed.
I'll kill myself before accepting the fact that one of my best friends is dead for no damned reason.
* * *
I was about to congratulate Hermione on how well she was taking the news so well and being so calm when she began crying hysterically.
"I'm sorry," she said in between sobs. Then she got up and ran to the bathroom.
"They're right, you know. This isn't fair at all."
"Yeah..." Roxeanne replied.
"I mean, Harry was-"
"Perfect."
"Yeah. He was, wasn't he? What did he do to deserve to die, hmm?"
"He didn't do anything." Roxeanne said. "He was the perfect kid, honestly. I mean, he was our hero. Think about it Krystal. If it weren't for Harry, You-Know-Who would have been back in power in our first year! I mean, sure, Hermione and Ron helped him and everything but... what are the chances they would've made it through alone?"
"Yeah! And Sirius would have gotten The Kiss if it weren't for Harry!"
"And Ginny Weasley would probably be dead." There was a moment of silence. I wasn't sure what Roxeanne was thinking but I knew what was going through my own mind.
"It's my fault," I finally said.
"What?" she asked.
"I made him go to the owlry with me that night."
"Stop it, Krystal."
"I'm serious! I asked him to go with me... it was almost a tradition for us."
"Harry wanted to go too. You know that. None of this is your fault."
I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. The day went on normally for most people. Everyone attended their classes as usual and nobody noticed much of anything out of the ordinary. People were told that Mr. Remus Lupin was here on "Hogwarts business" and they were satisfied with that explanation. Ron, Hermione, Roxeanne and I were still the only students informed of Harry's death. Dumbledore had sent letters to the Dursleys, the Weasleys and, of course, to Sirius Black.
Sirius, I thought. I was worried for him, honestly. He'd gone through so much already. He lost James, Harry's father, and now as he and Harry were developing a father/son bond, Harry's been killed. Sirius lost 12 years of his life, lost nearly all his friends. There was still Remus Lupin, of course. I had heard that they were friends since Hogwarts. At least they had each other now.
Then my thoughts were interrupted as Professor McGonagall entered the Gryffindor common room. At first I thought she was angry, but I took a second look at her. She wasn't angry... she was... upset. Somehow, she looked scared. I had never seen McGonagall scared but she most certainly looked it now.
"If everyone would please take a seat," she spoke softly. "Sit on the floor if you must." Everyone did as they were told. "I'm sure some of you have heard some wild rumors lately, correct?" Many people nodded. "Yes, well, Professor Dumbledore has asked me to clarify those rumors and give you all the truth."
I watched Ron and Hermione. They had blank expressions on their faces although they knew what she was about to say.
Professor McGonagall blew her nose and continued, "The truth is that... one of your classmates has died."
A few people gasped; People began talking quickly saying things like, "I knew it," or, "Who is it?"
"This will come as a shock to most of you, I'm sure. Harry Potter has died." I closed my eyes tight and wished everyone in the room would just dissapear. An uproar of voices - angry, distraught, upset, confused - came over the room. Everyone was now talking.
"Impossible!"
"How?"
"Not Harry!"
"Ginny, don't cry."
People were sobbing, screaming, shouting, and others just sat in silent disbelief.
"Now, now. I realize how upsetting this is and how sickening you may find it, but I will allow you a moment to collect yourselves, and then we are to proceed down to the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore wishes to have a word with all of us," she said. Then she left through the portrait hole and waited for us outside.
Roxeanne, Ron, Hermione and I turned towards each other. I looked at all three of them, but mostly at Ron. What are you thinking? I wondered as I watched Ron staring at the ground. I looked at his bandaged hand. I had asked him earlier what had happened but he snapped at me. I wish he and I had gotten off with a better start but we hadn't. He never liked me from the moment I had become friends with Malfoy. Now I could see why. I suppose that if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't like me very much either. After what Malfoy did to Harry, his best friend... I shuddered.
Then, without really thinking what I was doing, I gave Ron a fierce hug. He stood there, startled, as I expected him to be.
"What was that for?" he asked me as I let him go.
I simpy shrugged, "Looked like you could use a hug right about now." He looked at me, still somewhat puzzled. Then everyone began to leave the common room and go out into the hall with McGonagall. We all followed each other out, all staring at the floor.
"Thanks," Ron mumbled to me as we were walking out of the portrait hole. I smiled for a moment but sobered quickly as we walked to the Great Hall.
Professor McGonagall led us into the Great Hall and we sat down at the long table that belonged to the house of Gryffindor. The other houses were already seated. Professor McGonagall joined the rest of the staff at the head table. Dumbledore was sitting in the middle as usual. For what seemed like an eternity nobody spoke. Because of the awkward silence, I assumed that the other houses were also informed of the main reason we were all sitting there. Then, as we began to wonder what was going to happen, Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"You have all been informed about why you are here, but details have been left out. You all know that Harry Potter, your classmate, has died. The truth is that he has been murdered at the hands of Lord Voldemort."
Whispers erupted around the hall.
"Now, now. Allow explanations. Whether you wish to believe it or not, Lord Voldemort is among us. He has returned. Yes, this is true. Until now, we've all been safe here in Hogwarts walls. This is no longer true. We must realize the growing factor of danger within our lives today, even here at Hogwarts. The truth is, we do not know what happens now. We can only pray that Harry may rest in peace and finally be with his family."
He paused for a moment and there was a respectable silence.
"Hogwarts is no longer safe," he continued. "Lord Voldemort is gaining stregnth everyday and this is just more proof that he will stop at no means to achieve what he wants. Due to this, the Minister of Magic and myself have decided that it is in the best interest of yourselves if Hogwarts is temporaily closed until further notice."
An uproar of disagreements arose around the Great Hall.
"Close Hogwarts? They can't close Hogwarts!" Ginny squealed.
"Bloody hell," Ron signed loudly. Hermione fiddled with her thumbs, biting her lip.
"How can they just decide to close Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore spoke again, "Prefects will now please lead their houses up to their dormitories. You are to begin packing immediatly. The Hogwarts Express will depart to take you all home at 12:00 tomorrow afternoon. Letters have been sent to your families explaining the situation." There was a slight pause and then he continued by dismissing us.
It was early in the morning at this time. So early that only Professor Dumbledore and a few other teachers were awake at the time. When they saw Remus Lupin enter the castle carrying a limp body, it caused quite a stir. Remus Lupin, afterall, was a werewolf and God only knew where he found that body. Even worse... it was a full moon the night before. He ran to the hospital wing, looking for Madam Pomfrey.
"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey! Please, open the doors!" he shouted.
Madam Pomfrey was barely awake yet. She dragged her feet as she hurried over to open the doors. What she saw when she opened them made her forget that she was in a nightgown and hair net.
"Oh my...! Bring him here!" She led Lupin to a bed. "What's happened?!"
"Er... its a long story. I'd rather just tell Dumbledore, really."
She looked at him sternly. "I'll call him down. You're not going to make me miss out on hearing this." She poked her head out the hospital door, hissed for Remus to stay there, and stormed out of sight headed for the Headmaster's office.
When she returned, she was followed by Professor Dumbledore, Professor MaGonagall and Professor Snape. Peeves followed behind them and when she shooed him off he left singing, "Uh-oh! I smell trouble!"
The teachers all gasped and began bombarding Remus with questions at the sight of Harry's body.
"Please! Please..." he said, begging them to be quiet for a minute. "Let me explain."
"You do have an explanation?" Snape asked. "You mean you didn't just go around last night and happen to come across Potter? I'm just surprised Weasley isn't here with him." Remus and Severus glared at each other.
"No. If you'd like to listen..." he replied, offering them seats. "Well as you all know, Harry was kidnapped two nights ago. Last night, I found out where he was. Call it... intuition," The others had no idea what he was talking about but they let him continue. "I was able to get him out. There were two girls there as well."
"Let me take a guess. Krystal and Roxeanne... or perhaps Hermione?"
"Krystal and Roxeanne. Anyway, Harry wanted to go back and get them. After showing him where I found him, I felt the moon... and I transformed. Harry was already out of reach. I don't remember much from then til dawn but when I changed back, I heard some one screaming in the Dark Forest. Then I remembered seeing Lucius Malfoy walking that way before. So, I ran. I ran deep into the Forest. What I saw when I reached that one point was horrible. Harry was on the floor, barely breathing. Lord Voldemort was standing over him. Lucius and Draco Malfoy had apparated away nearly as soon as I got there."
"Draco Malfoy knows how to apparate?"
"It seems so. Well, I realized what Lord Voldemort was about to do, so I jumped on him from the side. Unfortunatly, my first instinct was too late and he had already said the curse. The curse did hit Harry but it hit his stomach, so he didn't die immediatly..." He paused and took a deep breath. "Lord Voldemort's wand snapped in half and he apparated as well."
"Wait, wait," Snape stopped him. "I thought it was impossible to apparate onto or off of Hogwarts grounds. Wouldn't that include the Dark Forest?"
"No, Severus. Many parts of the forest are not considered to be part of Hogwarts grounds," Dumbledore said. "Continue, Remus."
"Well, that's it really. Realizing I was too late, I brought Harry here." Dumbledore nodded.
"Where are the girls now?" Professor MaGonagall asked. Remus looked very nervous. He didn't want to tell them that he hadn't gone back for the girls.
"We're right here," a faint voice replied. They all turned to look at the door where Roxeanne and I stood. Remus's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
"How did you girls find your way out?" He asked in amazement.
"The same way you did. After Bridget left-"
"Bridget?" The teachers asked.
"Oh yes, she helped. After she left and we were stuck sitting there for hours, we finally noticed something on the ceiling of the room we were in. The room was so incredibly bright but our eyes did eventually adjust and we noticed that the ceiling of the room was made of tiles. After a while of pushing and prodding-"
"With Roxeanne on my back," I interrupted.
"Yes, I was on Krystal's back. But we finally were able to push it open and we found that it led right to the front of the castle."
"This was only a little while ago that we found it, otherwise we'd have been here sooner." Once again, the teachers nodded.
"I see," Snape said sternly. "Is that all you three'd like to share?" Roxeanne and I nodded but Lupin looked at the floor biting his lip. "Alright then."
"What'll we do about this Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Well, there are going to be many sad people when this gets out. 'The boy who lived'... has died." Again, there was silence. After some time, Dumbledore said, "We'll have to have a proper funeral for him, of course."
"Isn't that up to his family?" Snape asked. They all turned to Remus.
"Well, I suppose we need to ask Sirius, wouldn't you say? I doubt the Dursleys will want to give him a proper funeral. They don't give a damn about the boy."
"I'm sure we'll make do," Dumbledore reassured him. "The problem is going to be... telling everyone." We all realized this. He was our savior. As long as he was around, we didn't have to worry about Voldemort because... really, Voldemort was after mainly Harry for sixteen long years.
Roxeanne and I took it upon our responsibility to break the news of Harry's death to the Gryffindors. This would be difficult. We decided to approach Hermione and Ron first. We met them in the common room that evening and they were talking about Harry's mysterious dissappearance, as I had expected.
"No, I haven't seen him in two days. I even went to the hospital wing in the morning yesterday just to make sure."
"And?"
"Nothing," Ron replied. They both looked frustrated.
"He hasn't attended any classes. He'll be falling so far behind!" Hermione exclaimed after a moment of silence. Ron rolled his eyes at her and muttered something we couldn't hear.
Roxeanne and I walked up to the two of them.
"You guys?" I asked. "We have something to tell you about Harry."
"Well it's about time someone's said something! We were wondering if you two knew anything," Hermione said.
"Well, yeah. We know a lot... you might want to sit down," Roxeanne told them. They looked at each other and seemed very confused but they sat anyway.
"I don't really know how to say this," I began. "Harry-" I paused, trying to think of how to put this delicately. I swallowed hard and blurted out, "Harry died last night."
Ron immediatly burst up and began shouting, "WHAT?!"
Hermione stayed sitting on the couch but her jaw was dropped. She was shaking her head back and forth slowly and quietly saying, "No."
"Ron, please. This is hard for all of us," Roxeanne spoke up. "Let us explain what happened."
Ron reluctantly sat down. Hermione perked up waiting to hear everything that happened. Roxeanne and I tried to explain everything so they could understand it. It was hard to understand if you weren't there. I kept refering back to how Remus worded his explanation. By the time we finished telling them everything, they both had tears in their eyes.
"You- You've got to be kidding," Ron choked on his words.
"I wish I was," Roxeanne told him.
Hermione still seemed to be in shock, but now I could see that she was crying. "This can't be happening. This just CAN'T be happening," she kept saying.
I put my hand on her shoulder. "I know, Hermione."
She leaned over and hugged me. I felt like I could barely breathe because she was hugging me so tightly. She started really sobbing. "Not Harry, Krystal! Why him? This isn't fair!"
"I know, I know," I said, trying to be as comforting as I could and trying to hold back my own tears.
Ron was continuously wiping his eyes, not wanting to let himself cry. "Are you okay, Ron?" I asked after Hermione released me. He didn't answer. "Ron?" I asked again. "I know how you feel, Ron."
"You don't know how I feel," he said bluntly, standing up and pushing me aside. "You can't possibly know how I feel." He started to walk towards the staircase leading to the boys' dormitory.
"We lost him, too, you know!" I yelled at him as he climbed the staircase.
* * *
Ron reached his bed and sat down. This can't be happening... he thought. Harry can't be dead. It's not real. It can't be... This wasn't supposed to happen. Harry's the hero. He always was... the hero doesn't just... die. He tried to reason with himself and convince himself that Harry really wasn't dead. He wasn't really succeeding at anything, however. After accepting the fact that nothing he said was going to make Harry walk through the door into the dormitory, he stood up. He walked across the room and sat on a windowsill and gazed out the window. The sun was just setting and brilliant streaks of lavender, pink and orange were painted across the evening sky. Ron couldn't stand it. He didn't understand how the world just outside seemed so peaceful and serene whilst inside of his own world it was chaotic and full of anger.
He let out a deep, shaky sigh and closed his eyes. Doing this caused some tears to roll down his cheeks. For a minute he just prayed - prayed that this wasn't true. He prayed that Krystal and Roxeanne were lying. He prayed that Harry, wherever he was, would remember him. He prayed for revenge on Lord Voldemort - the bastard who killed his best friend.
The thought of Lord Voldemort sent adrenaline surging throughout Ron's body. For one moment he was so full of anger and power. His head was throbbing and Krystal's voice rang inside his head. "Harry died last night... Lord Voldemort... the Killing Curse..." He couldn't stand it any longer. In one swift movement, Ron took his hand up and punched through the glass pane of the window. The glass shattered into millions of tiny pieces. Ron just sat there for a moment with his fist sticking out of the window. He slowly pulled it back inside. His teeth were clenched and his knuckles were bloody. He calmly went to his trunk beside his bed and pulled out a hankerchief. He wrapped the cloth around his hand and sat on his bed.
I'll kill myself before accepting the fact that one of my best friends is dead for no damned reason.
* * *
I was about to congratulate Hermione on how well she was taking the news so well and being so calm when she began crying hysterically.
"I'm sorry," she said in between sobs. Then she got up and ran to the bathroom.
"They're right, you know. This isn't fair at all."
"Yeah..." Roxeanne replied.
"I mean, Harry was-"
"Perfect."
"Yeah. He was, wasn't he? What did he do to deserve to die, hmm?"
"He didn't do anything." Roxeanne said. "He was the perfect kid, honestly. I mean, he was our hero. Think about it Krystal. If it weren't for Harry, You-Know-Who would have been back in power in our first year! I mean, sure, Hermione and Ron helped him and everything but... what are the chances they would've made it through alone?"
"Yeah! And Sirius would have gotten The Kiss if it weren't for Harry!"
"And Ginny Weasley would probably be dead." There was a moment of silence. I wasn't sure what Roxeanne was thinking but I knew what was going through my own mind.
"It's my fault," I finally said.
"What?" she asked.
"I made him go to the owlry with me that night."
"Stop it, Krystal."
"I'm serious! I asked him to go with me... it was almost a tradition for us."
"Harry wanted to go too. You know that. None of this is your fault."
I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. The day went on normally for most people. Everyone attended their classes as usual and nobody noticed much of anything out of the ordinary. People were told that Mr. Remus Lupin was here on "Hogwarts business" and they were satisfied with that explanation. Ron, Hermione, Roxeanne and I were still the only students informed of Harry's death. Dumbledore had sent letters to the Dursleys, the Weasleys and, of course, to Sirius Black.
Sirius, I thought. I was worried for him, honestly. He'd gone through so much already. He lost James, Harry's father, and now as he and Harry were developing a father/son bond, Harry's been killed. Sirius lost 12 years of his life, lost nearly all his friends. There was still Remus Lupin, of course. I had heard that they were friends since Hogwarts. At least they had each other now.
Then my thoughts were interrupted as Professor McGonagall entered the Gryffindor common room. At first I thought she was angry, but I took a second look at her. She wasn't angry... she was... upset. Somehow, she looked scared. I had never seen McGonagall scared but she most certainly looked it now.
"If everyone would please take a seat," she spoke softly. "Sit on the floor if you must." Everyone did as they were told. "I'm sure some of you have heard some wild rumors lately, correct?" Many people nodded. "Yes, well, Professor Dumbledore has asked me to clarify those rumors and give you all the truth."
I watched Ron and Hermione. They had blank expressions on their faces although they knew what she was about to say.
Professor McGonagall blew her nose and continued, "The truth is that... one of your classmates has died."
A few people gasped; People began talking quickly saying things like, "I knew it," or, "Who is it?"
"This will come as a shock to most of you, I'm sure. Harry Potter has died." I closed my eyes tight and wished everyone in the room would just dissapear. An uproar of voices - angry, distraught, upset, confused - came over the room. Everyone was now talking.
"Impossible!"
"How?"
"Not Harry!"
"Ginny, don't cry."
People were sobbing, screaming, shouting, and others just sat in silent disbelief.
"Now, now. I realize how upsetting this is and how sickening you may find it, but I will allow you a moment to collect yourselves, and then we are to proceed down to the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore wishes to have a word with all of us," she said. Then she left through the portrait hole and waited for us outside.
Roxeanne, Ron, Hermione and I turned towards each other. I looked at all three of them, but mostly at Ron. What are you thinking? I wondered as I watched Ron staring at the ground. I looked at his bandaged hand. I had asked him earlier what had happened but he snapped at me. I wish he and I had gotten off with a better start but we hadn't. He never liked me from the moment I had become friends with Malfoy. Now I could see why. I suppose that if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't like me very much either. After what Malfoy did to Harry, his best friend... I shuddered.
Then, without really thinking what I was doing, I gave Ron a fierce hug. He stood there, startled, as I expected him to be.
"What was that for?" he asked me as I let him go.
I simpy shrugged, "Looked like you could use a hug right about now." He looked at me, still somewhat puzzled. Then everyone began to leave the common room and go out into the hall with McGonagall. We all followed each other out, all staring at the floor.
"Thanks," Ron mumbled to me as we were walking out of the portrait hole. I smiled for a moment but sobered quickly as we walked to the Great Hall.
Professor McGonagall led us into the Great Hall and we sat down at the long table that belonged to the house of Gryffindor. The other houses were already seated. Professor McGonagall joined the rest of the staff at the head table. Dumbledore was sitting in the middle as usual. For what seemed like an eternity nobody spoke. Because of the awkward silence, I assumed that the other houses were also informed of the main reason we were all sitting there. Then, as we began to wonder what was going to happen, Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"You have all been informed about why you are here, but details have been left out. You all know that Harry Potter, your classmate, has died. The truth is that he has been murdered at the hands of Lord Voldemort."
Whispers erupted around the hall.
"Now, now. Allow explanations. Whether you wish to believe it or not, Lord Voldemort is among us. He has returned. Yes, this is true. Until now, we've all been safe here in Hogwarts walls. This is no longer true. We must realize the growing factor of danger within our lives today, even here at Hogwarts. The truth is, we do not know what happens now. We can only pray that Harry may rest in peace and finally be with his family."
He paused for a moment and there was a respectable silence.
"Hogwarts is no longer safe," he continued. "Lord Voldemort is gaining stregnth everyday and this is just more proof that he will stop at no means to achieve what he wants. Due to this, the Minister of Magic and myself have decided that it is in the best interest of yourselves if Hogwarts is temporaily closed until further notice."
An uproar of disagreements arose around the Great Hall.
"Close Hogwarts? They can't close Hogwarts!" Ginny squealed.
"Bloody hell," Ron signed loudly. Hermione fiddled with her thumbs, biting her lip.
"How can they just decide to close Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore spoke again, "Prefects will now please lead their houses up to their dormitories. You are to begin packing immediatly. The Hogwarts Express will depart to take you all home at 12:00 tomorrow afternoon. Letters have been sent to your families explaining the situation." There was a slight pause and then he continued by dismissing us.