Night fell that evening without another word from either Voldemort or
his Death Eaters. Harry didn't know whether this was a good sign or not.
Normally, he would turn to Hermione in such circumstances. His eyes filled
with tears as he thought of her absent body. How he missed her. He missed
her wisecracks, her knitted hats and scarves for the house-elves, her
incessant recital of Hogwarts: A History; he missed it all. He even
missed the way she would annoy he and Ron about their schoolwork.
Harry had explained the situation to the others shortly after recovering from his surprise at the door. Ron had simply nodded and said, "Fine. So we'll stay here." But Seamus was much more realistic.
"How do you plan on surviving in this room for so long?" he questioned irritably. "And just how long is so long, exactly? One week? A month? A year? Four years? You-Know-Who didn't stop trying to kill you before, Harry. What makes you think he'll give up now?"
Harry knew what Seamus was getting at: Voldemort wasn't going to leave until the world was rid of Harry Potter so why not save him a whole lot of trouble and unnecessary deaths and just go out there and fight like a man?
But Harry's reasoning was different. He was remembering something that Voldemort had told him in his first year. If he just gave up and let himself be killed, his mother would have died in vain, for she gave her life for his. Same with Hermione. Her death will have been unnecessary for he gave up the fight so willingly. And he knew it was no use fighting with Voldemort. He had fought him for too long.
"I'm not giving up," he informed the others. Ron nodded his approval but Seamus simply shook his head.
"You'll get us all killed," he muttered. This brought a boiling anger to Harry's temples. How dare Seamus blame this all on him? He didn't ask Voldemort to take over Hogwarts. He didn't convinced Voldemort to kill him. How could this be his fault?
"You're wrong, Seamus," he said, struggling to keep his temper under control. "The only ones that are going to get killed are those who don't know how to keep their mouths shut."
Seamus' eyes glowed with a white-hot anger but he kept his own temper cooled, choosing to discuss the current situation with Dean in a hushed voice.
The other boys slept on and off during the night but Harry remained awake until the early hours of morning. "We made it through the first day under Voldemort's attack," he thought to himself as he watched the sun rise outside. The grounds was bathed in sunlight and slowly, one by one, the other boys began to stir.
Ron sat up and emitted a loud yawn that Harry thought was incredibly over-exaggerated. He knew that Ron had barely slept a wink more than Harry had and here he was, pretending he had just slept the most restful night in his life.
"I think I should send an owl to my gran soon," Neville said softly towards mid-day. Harry had been magically transporting food and water into the room using his mind (a trick Albus Dumbledore had taught him only two years ago; transporting one object into another room using only your mind) but he warned his friends to eat the food scarcely.
"You can't send any owls, Neville," Ron scolded as he shoved another muffin into his mouth. "The whole network is being watched."
"Right."
Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for Neville. He lost so lost, alone and scared. He wasn't the bravest kid in their year but he had done well so far. Harry didn't want him to lose it just yet.
"Seamus, I said drink the water sparingly!" Harry reprimanded, wrestling a goblet away from Seamus' lips. "Once these supplies are gone, we're done for a couple of days. It's exhausting moving all this stuff up here." He put a hand to his forehead where his scar was throbbing painfully.
Seamus gave him a withering glance and made a wild grab for the goblet. "Of course, perfect Potter. Wouldn't want to upset you."
Dean finally spoke. "Seamus, when did you become such a prat? Seriously! After all Harry's done for us, bringing this food up," he flashed a smile at Harry, "and all you've done is nag at him. Without him, we probably would be starving away by now."
"Without him, we would be well on our way home by now, not worrying about whether we're going to live to see the next day!" Seamus exploded. "It's him that You-Know-Who wants! Let's just push him out the door and see what happens."
Ron's eyes were glowering and so was Harry's temper, but Harry just wanted to keep calm. They couldn't fight because if they all started arguing, the entire inner circle would fall apart and then they would be no use, fighting together from the inside. Harry opened his mouth to say so but Neville's voice cut off his thoughts.
"Do you hear that?"
The five boys went silent listening to the sounds outside the door. It sounded like people talking and scuffling noises. Then there was a huge bang that made Harry jump two inches off the floor.
"What was that?" Ron cried, jumping to his feet. "Are they trying to get in again?"
"Rather stupid, aren't they?" Dean said, looking somewhat amused. Another bang echoed throughout the room and the door began to glow a violet shade. "It didn't work the first time, so naturally, it must work the second. Could you get much thicker?"
Harry was able to smile genuinely at the idea of Voldemort, the world's most feared wizard of the age, being so dense. He watched as the people outside the door tried spell after spell to open the door. These acts continued for the majority of the afternoon and well into the evening. The door had ranged from violet shades, to green, to yellow, to neon pink and back to violet again before the racket finally stopped. Someone outside the door let out a volley of curses (immediately followed by profound apologies) and then silence reigned.
Harry felt exhausted from lack of sleep and the transportation of the goods from the downstairs kitchens. As his friends drifted off to sleep for the second night under Voldemort's attack, Harry started to worry that maybe he was putting his friends in danger. He had already lost Hermione her life; if he surrendered, would Voldemort be satisfied? Would he leave the castle and let the rest rebuild their lives? Should he give up?
Harry had explained the situation to the others shortly after recovering from his surprise at the door. Ron had simply nodded and said, "Fine. So we'll stay here." But Seamus was much more realistic.
"How do you plan on surviving in this room for so long?" he questioned irritably. "And just how long is so long, exactly? One week? A month? A year? Four years? You-Know-Who didn't stop trying to kill you before, Harry. What makes you think he'll give up now?"
Harry knew what Seamus was getting at: Voldemort wasn't going to leave until the world was rid of Harry Potter so why not save him a whole lot of trouble and unnecessary deaths and just go out there and fight like a man?
But Harry's reasoning was different. He was remembering something that Voldemort had told him in his first year. If he just gave up and let himself be killed, his mother would have died in vain, for she gave her life for his. Same with Hermione. Her death will have been unnecessary for he gave up the fight so willingly. And he knew it was no use fighting with Voldemort. He had fought him for too long.
"I'm not giving up," he informed the others. Ron nodded his approval but Seamus simply shook his head.
"You'll get us all killed," he muttered. This brought a boiling anger to Harry's temples. How dare Seamus blame this all on him? He didn't ask Voldemort to take over Hogwarts. He didn't convinced Voldemort to kill him. How could this be his fault?
"You're wrong, Seamus," he said, struggling to keep his temper under control. "The only ones that are going to get killed are those who don't know how to keep their mouths shut."
Seamus' eyes glowed with a white-hot anger but he kept his own temper cooled, choosing to discuss the current situation with Dean in a hushed voice.
The other boys slept on and off during the night but Harry remained awake until the early hours of morning. "We made it through the first day under Voldemort's attack," he thought to himself as he watched the sun rise outside. The grounds was bathed in sunlight and slowly, one by one, the other boys began to stir.
Ron sat up and emitted a loud yawn that Harry thought was incredibly over-exaggerated. He knew that Ron had barely slept a wink more than Harry had and here he was, pretending he had just slept the most restful night in his life.
"I think I should send an owl to my gran soon," Neville said softly towards mid-day. Harry had been magically transporting food and water into the room using his mind (a trick Albus Dumbledore had taught him only two years ago; transporting one object into another room using only your mind) but he warned his friends to eat the food scarcely.
"You can't send any owls, Neville," Ron scolded as he shoved another muffin into his mouth. "The whole network is being watched."
"Right."
Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for Neville. He lost so lost, alone and scared. He wasn't the bravest kid in their year but he had done well so far. Harry didn't want him to lose it just yet.
"Seamus, I said drink the water sparingly!" Harry reprimanded, wrestling a goblet away from Seamus' lips. "Once these supplies are gone, we're done for a couple of days. It's exhausting moving all this stuff up here." He put a hand to his forehead where his scar was throbbing painfully.
Seamus gave him a withering glance and made a wild grab for the goblet. "Of course, perfect Potter. Wouldn't want to upset you."
Dean finally spoke. "Seamus, when did you become such a prat? Seriously! After all Harry's done for us, bringing this food up," he flashed a smile at Harry, "and all you've done is nag at him. Without him, we probably would be starving away by now."
"Without him, we would be well on our way home by now, not worrying about whether we're going to live to see the next day!" Seamus exploded. "It's him that You-Know-Who wants! Let's just push him out the door and see what happens."
Ron's eyes were glowering and so was Harry's temper, but Harry just wanted to keep calm. They couldn't fight because if they all started arguing, the entire inner circle would fall apart and then they would be no use, fighting together from the inside. Harry opened his mouth to say so but Neville's voice cut off his thoughts.
"Do you hear that?"
The five boys went silent listening to the sounds outside the door. It sounded like people talking and scuffling noises. Then there was a huge bang that made Harry jump two inches off the floor.
"What was that?" Ron cried, jumping to his feet. "Are they trying to get in again?"
"Rather stupid, aren't they?" Dean said, looking somewhat amused. Another bang echoed throughout the room and the door began to glow a violet shade. "It didn't work the first time, so naturally, it must work the second. Could you get much thicker?"
Harry was able to smile genuinely at the idea of Voldemort, the world's most feared wizard of the age, being so dense. He watched as the people outside the door tried spell after spell to open the door. These acts continued for the majority of the afternoon and well into the evening. The door had ranged from violet shades, to green, to yellow, to neon pink and back to violet again before the racket finally stopped. Someone outside the door let out a volley of curses (immediately followed by profound apologies) and then silence reigned.
Harry felt exhausted from lack of sleep and the transportation of the goods from the downstairs kitchens. As his friends drifted off to sleep for the second night under Voldemort's attack, Harry started to worry that maybe he was putting his friends in danger. He had already lost Hermione her life; if he surrendered, would Voldemort be satisfied? Would he leave the castle and let the rest rebuild their lives? Should he give up?