Chapter 12
Ring Ring Ring
Hermione woke to the sound of her alarm clock, ringing in her ear. Slowly she opened an eye, then drearily closed it again. The stampede of footsteps outside her dorm caused her to open both eyes, and sit up. She clenched her fists then wiped the sleep from her eyes. She glared over at her alarm clock. " 7! What the hell is going on out there?" Hermione asked herself. Quickly she pulled the covers off her legs, as she looked at her legs, she couldn't help but notice that they were slightly bruised. She grabbed her towel then headed to the bathroom.
She got dressed, packed her bags in the space of 10 minutes. As she opened her bedroom door, she saw more people running down to the common room. She managed to grab a passer by. " Hey, what's going on?" she asked interested. The girl gave her a confused look.
" Well, we were all told to be down in the Great hall for an important announcement." The girl
said quickly, clearly in a rush to get downstairs. She obviously saw the look Hermione was giving her then continued, " We have another 10 minutes to get down there. Professor McGonagall said it was urgent." Hermione released the girl then headed back into her dorm. She grabbed a brush then stood in front of the mirror. Since she finished her 4th year at Hogwarts, Hermione had realised that she had began to become more girlie. She loved to look at magazines and go shopping. Something she could not understand before. She just stared at herself in the mirror, thinking too herself. ' I wonder what it's about?' She tied her hair up in a bun, leaving pieces of hair dangling down the side of her face. She stuck two
black needles (the things that look like chop sticks that you put in ure hair) crossing, in the back of her bun.
As she walked into the common room, she saw Harry and Ron waiting for her. " You look nice Hermione" Harry commented. Hermione blushed.
" So Mi, any idea as to what's going on" Ron asked, noticing the awkward silence. Harry now looked up, to Hermione. She shook her head." Nope, I'm as clueless as you for once" She answered, surprising Ron.
" Hey what's with the sarcasm?" he questioned. She didn't have time to answer.
An alert rung loud, in the common room.
" Will all students please report to the Great Hall immediately." They all recognised the familiar voice of professor McGonagall.
"Well, I for one am anxious to find out what's going on, so I'm gunna go. You coming?" He askedthem as hewalked to the exit. Hermione and Ron just followed.
On the way down, Hermione and Ron, kept joking about anything and everything, until they reached the huge wooden doors, leading to the Great Hall. The walked in and sat down in their usual seats, in the middle of the Gryffindor table. They expected to be late as no one else could be seen walking down to the hall with them. As they had opened the doors and sat down, hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at them curiously, following them to their seats. They were surprisingly early. For 20minutes, the students talked among them selves about what they thought was happening. Some were ridiculously stupid. People were furiously
whispering to people near them.
" So, Harry, what do you thinks going on?" Neville asked. Dean, Seamus, Ron, Hermione, Lavender, Ginny, Pravati, the twins, Alicia and Angelina, all turned their heads to Harry. Harry just stared round at them all.
" No idea.... It's got to be important though because, the teachers are twenty minutes late." He answered. Hermione had also noticed how late the teachers had been. Others had been excitedly talking to each other to notice time fly by.
" I think it's something to do with death eaters." Said Dean. Yet again, everyone turned to the person who was under the spotlight. " I think they've attacked somewhere, or killed someone." He finished. There was
silence. Everyone just looked at each other.
They were waiting at least one hour and half before there was any sign of movement coming from something that was not a Hogwarts student. The owls arrived. Hermione saw the owl carrying her letters. It dropped them in front of her. She looked through them, noticing that her Daily Prophet wasn't in there.
" Hey, there's no newspaper." She exclaimed, attracting the attention of everyone near her. " My Daily Prophets not here. I bet they banned them due to something they want to tell us." She continued.
As if on queue, the teachers walked in. Silence fell upon the room. Dumbledores, face showed signs of worry and despair. His bright happy face had been replaced by a stressed, worn one. Everyone just stared as all the teachers entered the room, all bearing the same expression of despair, and depression. They were followed by a few Ministry of Magic councillors and Fudge.
" I'm afraid" said Dumbledore, " We have something important to tell you."