Author's Note: Another chapter, here for your reading pleasure! I hope you
enjoy it. This is my attempt at trying to heat things up and get the
storyline really running along faster.
Once again, thanks for the review - even if it was only one from
SerinityRules. Thanks for reviewing.
* * *
Chapter 12 - Conspiracies
With Christmas approaching fast, the weather was getting colder by the day and everyone at Hogwarts bundled up in warmer clothes with scarves and gloves. Late November meant that in a few weeks time, classes would finish for Christmas and everyone would be going home to spend time with their families.
The four young Gryffindors endured their classes, knowing that Christmas would arrive soon. They sat in Defence Against the Dark Arts, trying to concentrate on their work on Dark creatures.
It was halfway through class when a stranger, who didn't appear to be a teacher, burst into the classroom and raced up to the front of the room, where Willow was.
"Who's he?" Dawn whispered, leaning over to Ron, who was sitting next to her. He shrugged in response.
Willow, however, seemed to have recognised him and her eyes widened when she saw him. The man had an urgent look on his aging face.
They whispered quietly to each other, being careful as to not be overheard by the nearby students.
"Whatever they're discussing, it must be really serious." Hermione whispered from Dawn's other side.
Their conversation halted and Willow turned to face her confused and curious class. "Something serious has come up, I'm afraid that I'll have to end this class early. We'll continue working on this next class."
With that, Willow and the stranger rushed away in a brisk walk. The class got up from their desks and left the classroom, each eagerly discussing the incident that had occurred minutes ago.
"What was that about?" Ron wondered as he stood up.
Harry chuckled. "Well, she is your cousin, we'd have thought that you would have the best idea."
Hermione, Harry and Dawn looked at Ron and he shook his head. They all then looked away and headed off towards the common room.
"So, what do you think that was all about, anyway?" Harry continued the conversation as they walked along.
Hermione spoke up. "I don't know. But have you noticed all the odd events that have happened around Professor Rosenburg?"
Dawn stuck her hand up in the air as remembered something. "Yeah, there was that letter we found and that time when she said she was sick, but she wasn't!"
"The broom incident, she was right there straight after it and that meant she must have already been there or known something was going to happen, for her to be first on the scene to take Dawn to the Hospital Wing." Harry pointed out.
"What are you guys suggesting?" Ron questioned. "I've known Willow all my life, I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this."
"Shh," Dawn suddenly said in a quiet voice. "Do you hear that?"
There were voices coming from up the corridors ahead of them, somewhere from around the corner.
The four of them snuck up the corner and Harry peered around.
"It's that stranger, Willow and a couple of other people." He whispered.
The group of people, containing Willow and the person who'd burst into their class before, were talking in hushed voices. From around the corner, the four Gryffindors quietly listened into the conversation.
"The attack is planned for late tonight, around one O'clock. So that means we should all meet up tonight, but we have to be careful about this." One man spoke seriously.
The other members of the group nodded in response.
"We should discuss this in my office where it is more private. I have special charms cast on it, so we won't be overheard." Willow suggested, motioning towards the corner in the hallway, which Harry, Hermione, Ron and Dawn were hiding around. "It's just around the corner and down a bit."
The group broke their discussion circle and began towards them.
"Oh shit." Dawn panicked, under her breath.
They frantically looked around for somewhere to hide. There was a door nearby, and without hesitation, the four quickly darted into the room where that doorway lead.
Hermione, who was last to enter through the door, closed the door but not fully. She left a gap so she could watch the group of strangers, and Willow, walk past and even perhaps catch a bit of their discussion as they walked past.
"We should meet up back in my office tonight too." Willow recommendation could be heard as they passed the door.
Their voices slowly got softer as the group disappeared down the hallway. When they could no longer be heard, Dawn, Harry, Ron and Hermione re- entered the hallway, checking as they left the room.
"What was that about?" Ron wondered.
Hermione shrugged. "But did you hear what they said, something about an attack at one O'clock in the morning, tonight."
"They also said that they were going to meet up at that time." Harry remarked.
"You don't think that Willow and those people are involved in this 'attack', do you?" Ron worried.
"I don't know." Harry said with a shrug.
They started walking again, on their original route. Discussing what they'd just seen and heard.
"I don't know about you guys, but I can't just ignore this. I think that we should find out about it," Dawn voiced her opinion as they approached the common room entrance. "Because if someone's in danger, maybe even us - we should find out."
"So, what are you saying?" Hermione asked sceptically. "That we go off at one O'clock in the morning and find out what they're up to."
"We could use the invisibility cloak." Harry said quietly, as they entered through the portrait hole.
It took quite an amount of convincing to make sure that they were all happy to get up in the middle of the night and nosily find out about what was going on inside Hogwarts at the moment.
They finally all agreed to meet up, at 12:30 in the morning by the fireplace down in the Gryffindor common room. They all drifted up to their dormitories and fell asleep instantaneously.
* * *
Dawn and Hermione slowly wandered down the stairs, taking it extra careful because it was so dark and hard for them to see. They made their way into the common room, to find Ron and Harry already waiting for them.
"Got the invisibility?" Dawn questioned. "I hope we all fit under it."
Harry held it up. "Yeah, I think we should. We've just got to all stay close together and walk slowly."
They gathered close together and threw the cloak over them, disappearing underneath it.
"Okay, let's go." Harry commanded and they all began to walk together under the cloak, and exited out into the halls.
"The first place we should go is to Willow's office," Ron whispered. "That's where they were talking about meeting, right?"
With nods of agreement they headed towards their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's office, slowly walking amongst the shadows in the hallways of the castle.
They settled themselves outside the room where the door was locked shut, waiting in anticipation for the occupants to exit so they could follow them and find out what they were up to.
After what seemed like ten minutes, the occupants of the office emerged with blank looks on their faces. Willow also left her office, neglecting to lock it again behind her.
When they were out of hearing range, Dawn whispered to the others. "We should take this opportunity to go in and find out what's going on."
They all reluctantly agreed and entered the room, throwing off the cloak.
"We better hurry." Hermione urged with a bit of guilt about searching a teacher's office.
Dawn and Ron searched through the piled up pieces of parchment on the desk. Ron picked up one, looking at it with interest.
"Look at this!" He exclaimed.
They all gathered round to read off the parchment in Ron's hand:
There was a sudden change of plans; tell the others to lay low for a few days until the new plans are known. - T.A.H
As soon as they finished reading, they were distracted by footsteps echoing in the hallway. They dropped the parchment on the desk, trying to leave it looking untouched.
"Quick, come on!" Harry panicked, motioning to get under the cloak.
Disappearing under the cloak once more, they all quickly made their way out the doorway to see Willow walking briskly, towards them.
They stopped up against the wall, a few metres up from the doorway. Willow walked past them and back into her office.
Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed.
"Come on, let's get back to the common room." Harry said quietly.
They walked as fast as they could, trying to stay close together and under the cloak at the same time.
There was a domino effect, Hermione and Dawn who were walking at the front, fell backwards and knocked over Harry and Ron, who were walking at the back. They all fell down with a loud thud on the stone floor, the cloak pulled off them and they were now in sight.
* * *
A.N - Ooh, now they're in trouble! Hehe, had to leave it with a cliffhanger just for a little bit of excitement considering the rest of the story has been pretty uneventful. Hehe. :)
* * *
Chapter 12 - Conspiracies
With Christmas approaching fast, the weather was getting colder by the day and everyone at Hogwarts bundled up in warmer clothes with scarves and gloves. Late November meant that in a few weeks time, classes would finish for Christmas and everyone would be going home to spend time with their families.
The four young Gryffindors endured their classes, knowing that Christmas would arrive soon. They sat in Defence Against the Dark Arts, trying to concentrate on their work on Dark creatures.
It was halfway through class when a stranger, who didn't appear to be a teacher, burst into the classroom and raced up to the front of the room, where Willow was.
"Who's he?" Dawn whispered, leaning over to Ron, who was sitting next to her. He shrugged in response.
Willow, however, seemed to have recognised him and her eyes widened when she saw him. The man had an urgent look on his aging face.
They whispered quietly to each other, being careful as to not be overheard by the nearby students.
"Whatever they're discussing, it must be really serious." Hermione whispered from Dawn's other side.
Their conversation halted and Willow turned to face her confused and curious class. "Something serious has come up, I'm afraid that I'll have to end this class early. We'll continue working on this next class."
With that, Willow and the stranger rushed away in a brisk walk. The class got up from their desks and left the classroom, each eagerly discussing the incident that had occurred minutes ago.
"What was that about?" Ron wondered as he stood up.
Harry chuckled. "Well, she is your cousin, we'd have thought that you would have the best idea."
Hermione, Harry and Dawn looked at Ron and he shook his head. They all then looked away and headed off towards the common room.
"So, what do you think that was all about, anyway?" Harry continued the conversation as they walked along.
Hermione spoke up. "I don't know. But have you noticed all the odd events that have happened around Professor Rosenburg?"
Dawn stuck her hand up in the air as remembered something. "Yeah, there was that letter we found and that time when she said she was sick, but she wasn't!"
"The broom incident, she was right there straight after it and that meant she must have already been there or known something was going to happen, for her to be first on the scene to take Dawn to the Hospital Wing." Harry pointed out.
"What are you guys suggesting?" Ron questioned. "I've known Willow all my life, I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this."
"Shh," Dawn suddenly said in a quiet voice. "Do you hear that?"
There were voices coming from up the corridors ahead of them, somewhere from around the corner.
The four of them snuck up the corner and Harry peered around.
"It's that stranger, Willow and a couple of other people." He whispered.
The group of people, containing Willow and the person who'd burst into their class before, were talking in hushed voices. From around the corner, the four Gryffindors quietly listened into the conversation.
"The attack is planned for late tonight, around one O'clock. So that means we should all meet up tonight, but we have to be careful about this." One man spoke seriously.
The other members of the group nodded in response.
"We should discuss this in my office where it is more private. I have special charms cast on it, so we won't be overheard." Willow suggested, motioning towards the corner in the hallway, which Harry, Hermione, Ron and Dawn were hiding around. "It's just around the corner and down a bit."
The group broke their discussion circle and began towards them.
"Oh shit." Dawn panicked, under her breath.
They frantically looked around for somewhere to hide. There was a door nearby, and without hesitation, the four quickly darted into the room where that doorway lead.
Hermione, who was last to enter through the door, closed the door but not fully. She left a gap so she could watch the group of strangers, and Willow, walk past and even perhaps catch a bit of their discussion as they walked past.
"We should meet up back in my office tonight too." Willow recommendation could be heard as they passed the door.
Their voices slowly got softer as the group disappeared down the hallway. When they could no longer be heard, Dawn, Harry, Ron and Hermione re- entered the hallway, checking as they left the room.
"What was that about?" Ron wondered.
Hermione shrugged. "But did you hear what they said, something about an attack at one O'clock in the morning, tonight."
"They also said that they were going to meet up at that time." Harry remarked.
"You don't think that Willow and those people are involved in this 'attack', do you?" Ron worried.
"I don't know." Harry said with a shrug.
They started walking again, on their original route. Discussing what they'd just seen and heard.
"I don't know about you guys, but I can't just ignore this. I think that we should find out about it," Dawn voiced her opinion as they approached the common room entrance. "Because if someone's in danger, maybe even us - we should find out."
"So, what are you saying?" Hermione asked sceptically. "That we go off at one O'clock in the morning and find out what they're up to."
"We could use the invisibility cloak." Harry said quietly, as they entered through the portrait hole.
It took quite an amount of convincing to make sure that they were all happy to get up in the middle of the night and nosily find out about what was going on inside Hogwarts at the moment.
They finally all agreed to meet up, at 12:30 in the morning by the fireplace down in the Gryffindor common room. They all drifted up to their dormitories and fell asleep instantaneously.
* * *
Dawn and Hermione slowly wandered down the stairs, taking it extra careful because it was so dark and hard for them to see. They made their way into the common room, to find Ron and Harry already waiting for them.
"Got the invisibility?" Dawn questioned. "I hope we all fit under it."
Harry held it up. "Yeah, I think we should. We've just got to all stay close together and walk slowly."
They gathered close together and threw the cloak over them, disappearing underneath it.
"Okay, let's go." Harry commanded and they all began to walk together under the cloak, and exited out into the halls.
"The first place we should go is to Willow's office," Ron whispered. "That's where they were talking about meeting, right?"
With nods of agreement they headed towards their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's office, slowly walking amongst the shadows in the hallways of the castle.
They settled themselves outside the room where the door was locked shut, waiting in anticipation for the occupants to exit so they could follow them and find out what they were up to.
After what seemed like ten minutes, the occupants of the office emerged with blank looks on their faces. Willow also left her office, neglecting to lock it again behind her.
When they were out of hearing range, Dawn whispered to the others. "We should take this opportunity to go in and find out what's going on."
They all reluctantly agreed and entered the room, throwing off the cloak.
"We better hurry." Hermione urged with a bit of guilt about searching a teacher's office.
Dawn and Ron searched through the piled up pieces of parchment on the desk. Ron picked up one, looking at it with interest.
"Look at this!" He exclaimed.
They all gathered round to read off the parchment in Ron's hand:
There was a sudden change of plans; tell the others to lay low for a few days until the new plans are known. - T.A.H
As soon as they finished reading, they were distracted by footsteps echoing in the hallway. They dropped the parchment on the desk, trying to leave it looking untouched.
"Quick, come on!" Harry panicked, motioning to get under the cloak.
Disappearing under the cloak once more, they all quickly made their way out the doorway to see Willow walking briskly, towards them.
They stopped up against the wall, a few metres up from the doorway. Willow walked past them and back into her office.
Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed.
"Come on, let's get back to the common room." Harry said quietly.
They walked as fast as they could, trying to stay close together and under the cloak at the same time.
There was a domino effect, Hermione and Dawn who were walking at the front, fell backwards and knocked over Harry and Ron, who were walking at the back. They all fell down with a loud thud on the stone floor, the cloak pulled off them and they were now in sight.
* * *
A.N - Ooh, now they're in trouble! Hehe, had to leave it with a cliffhanger just for a little bit of excitement considering the rest of the story has been pretty uneventful. Hehe. :)