CHAPTER 3
Hermione stared up at the castle.
All of a sudden, she wanted even more for this to be a dream- a nightmare, in fact. She wanted to wake up in her bed, and know that she was safe, that Hogwarts was still standing, and Dumbledore was still there. She wanted the homely warmth of the castle, the friendly, yet mournful chatter of the ghosts, and Peeves's perpetual annoyance. She even longed for Snape- Trelawney- anything that would confirm that she was still hanging on to the last few threads of Hogwarts life. And all this sudden longing lead down to one fact.
She HATED Durmstrang.
The castle was perched not on smoothly sloping grassy landscapes, like Hogwarts was- had bee, she reminded herself tearfully- but on a steep mountain. It was on the very crest, mounted on jagged stone. The castle itself was tall and turreted, and made of black rock (AN- try and picture the Dragon's castle in Shrek). Here and there, small yellow blocks of sepulchral light were glaring out- windows. Every now and then a shadow would pass through the windows, and block the light for a moment. Small flakes of cold, wet snow were falling down, and sprinkling over the ground and castle.
In one word- it was horrible.
She felt more tears prick at her eyes. How was she supposed to bear with this?
Suddenly, she felt a strong arm around her shoulders. She looked up and saw Ron's comforting gaze.
'Sh,' he whispered. 'Don' cry. It'll be okay.'
'I'm fine,' Hermione said, quickly wiping her eyes. 'Where are Harry and Ginny?'
'They just got out of the carriage,' Ron replied. 'Here they come.'
Ginny and Harry were walking up to them. Harry had a blank, dull look on his face. Once more, Hermione felt a pang of anger at his behavior.
There was rustle of cloaks. Professor McGonagall appeared. She strode through the bunch of students milling around near the castle grounds- or what could be called grounds with a vast stretch of imagination. She climbed up the front porch. Her posture was weary, as if she was suddenly very tired of the cause she was fighting for, and wanted it to end- to leave. She grasped the heavy knocker on the door, and let it fall down.
It hit the door with a resounding crash.
There was a deathly silence around the law. All faces were turned towards the door.
Then, slowly, very slowly, it began to open. A thin slice of golden light appeared at the bottom, and widened, as the door was swung back.
The man who had opened the door stared haughtily at the students.
AN- Sorry that this chapter is so short. I ended it here cos I need some time to think up the next part, but wanted to update quickly. Next update will definitely come soon.