Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore, resplendent in a peacock-blue robe with silver shooting stars embroidered all over, sat talking to his Deputy Headmistress. Minerva McGonagall looked quite pleased with herself. "I can't remember the last time I saw Severus dance! Look at them – they do make a nice couple, do they not?!" she asked her longtime friend with what sounded suspiciously like a cluck. "At first I thought for sure she was going to dance with you, though!"
The Headmaster rose from his seat. "Well," he said with a grin, "if you don't think I am too old a codger to dance with, how about you and I for the next one?"
"Albus Dumbledore, you take a seat this minute! This is a Sadie Hawkins!" McGonagall was feigning outrage. "You have no business asking anyone. Now – may I have the next dance?" Laughing, Dumbledore accepted. Together they watched as Marya and the head of Slytherin House finished their first waltz.
The dance was over, and the pair stepped apart. Marya inwardly sighed – one more to go. He was quite a good dancer though, and she would have enjoyed dancing with him, had it not been for the thick air hanging between them, had she been able to relax. The dance floor filled with couples now – Professor McGonagall's idea seemed to have been a success. The band struck up another tune – this one a slow waltz. Marya curtseyed, he bowed, and they were back in waltz position, moving slower this time. He really did dance well – he was able to lead without pushing, something most men seemed incapable off. And he hadn't stepped on her feet once.
The silence finally seemed to get too long even for him. Clearing his throat, he asked, "You have settled in well?" It caught her by surprise, and it took her a second to answer. "Yes, quite. Everyone has been most kind," she answered in what even to her sounded like a stilted, formal voice. "I have been...."
At that moment, the door to the great hall burst open with a bang. In stumbled the disheveled figure of Madam Rosmerta, the proprietor of The Three Broomsticks. "Dark Wizards........attack..........Hogsmeade.......we need help...," she gasped.
Pandemonium broke out. Shrieking and crying, students were running, knocking each other over in their panic. The band stopped playing with a dissonant chord. Everyone was talking at once. Some of the staff members were running over to come to Madam Rosmerta's aid. Over the racket, the voice of Albus Dumbledore boomed. "Trelawney, Hooch, Pince, Vector – please escort the students back to their respective houses. Keep them in the common rooms until we know what is going on. Everyone else, with me to Hogsmeade, NOW."
Turning from her dance partner, Marya started to run for Hogsmeade. Suddenly, she felt a hand roughly grab her upper arm. She spun around to look into the stern face of Severus Snape. "Your expertise in ancient scribbling is not going to help anyone right now. This is no place for children. I suggest you stay here where you can do some good," he snarled as he pushed her into the direction of the staff members now trying to herd the students out of the hall.
Marya wrenched her arm out of his grasp. Her eyes were spitting fire. She drew herself up to her full five foot two inches, and in a freezing voice said, "If you had ever tried talking to me in a civilized manner, you might know by now that there is more to my education than simply Runes knowledge. You seem to consider me completely useless. I assure you I am not. Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do." Without another look at him, she turned and started sprinting from the hall. Along the way she pulled her wand out, cried "Accio, Bag" and a black Healer's bag appeared, which she slung over her shoulder. Within minutes, she arrived in Hogsmeade.