/

Chapter twenty eight

Traitor as a gift

/

"I warmly welcome you all in this inhospitable Saturday morning at the Wizarding Duels!" the Defence against the Dark Arts´ professor called out in a friendly tone. "And if you'd be so kind, please, shut it," she added less kindly, and the entire Great Hall fell silent almost immediately.

Shiernov stood above everyone on one of the many raised podiums that had been set up instead of the long tables. Quite a number of students from the seventh and sixth years gathered in the Hall to participate in the contest, and many curious younger ones stayed there to watch, after they all excitedly wolfed down their breakfast.

In the place where the professors´ desk was usually located, there was a huge blackboard, almost reaching the ceiling of the Hall. Countless, still empty, narrow rectangles were drawn on it, which formed a kind of pyramid on it. At the very top was a single frame, slightly larger than the others were.

"First, I would like to ask from the first to fifth year students to retreat to the walls and let their older classmates gather here around me. Most of all, they need to hear and perceive me well," Shiernov declared, sharply looking at the group of Hufflepuff sixth-year girls chatting cheerfully.

After those words, there was a hasty and noisy regrouping. Snape and McGonagall watched the fuss from afar standing by the door. They agreed to help and oversee the entire competition with Margaret Shiernov. When everyone finally calmed down, the professor continued.

"I am glad that you have come in such large numbers, even though participation in this event is not compulsory. The promised reward was probably a great stimulant, wasn't it?" she looked at the gathered students meaningfully. Nobody´s expression contradicted her statement.

"So, let´s get started! First, anyone who wants to participate will report your name to me. I will split you into pairs completely randomly. Your names will appear at the very bottom of the board behind me, as I'm sure you've already realized. The rules are simple. Either I, Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape will start the duel for each pair. Both verbal and non-verbal spells may be used. However, no spells that could cause serious physical or psychological harm to the opponent are allowed. I emphasize this especially, so please remember it! Each fight will be friendly only! I forbid you to settle any personal differences with each other here! Clear?" Shiernov raised her voice threateningly.

The cluster of students hummed in agreement, yet not very enthusiastically.

"Great. Individual battles are not time-limited; the goal is to deprive the opponent of his wand. The first one to drop, have their wand ripped out, or magically removed, loses and shall be eliminated from the competition. The winner advances to face the winner of the other pair in the next match. You will all be able to follow the progress of the competition on the board. As for the outright winner, except the fact that there is a fifty point reward for his or her House, the person might choose one other person and… but we'll save that for later," Shiernov interrupted mischievously.

A few students looked slightly disappointed.

"Everything clear?" exclaimed the professor questioningly.

They hummed in agreement.

"Ok, let´s do it!"

/

While Shiernov was writing down all the names, Hermione and Angela stood a bit aside, oblivious to the mocking looks of their classmates and had a quite conversation.

"I'm really having some weird, bad period," Angela complained, gloomily glancing at Harry, who was just reporting himself to Shiernov. "First, someone threw an armour at me on the stairwell, Daria is still mad at me for Merlin-knows-why, then I got into a nasty fight with Harry, and ended it up with suicidally opposing Snape. Those stairs almost killed me."

"I believe you," Hermione nodded sympathetically, familiar with her exhausting punishment. "He was so angry that he just deducted points for my standing up for you and didn't give me any detention. I´m not much better off… I refuse to talk to Ron; he is a complete moron. Not to mention that Ginny and Daria had an ugly fight too."

"What's going on here lately?" Angela shook her head in disbelief.

"I do not know. Maybe we all got cabin fever from being locked in here all the time," Hermione grumbled.

"I think you hit the point," Angela agreed.

After a while, their professor walked in front of the huge blackboard with a handful of written papers, randomly threw them into the air, and the names flew one over the other to the empty frames. In a moment, names appeared in bright letters on them, and the fights could begin.

In the beginning, the seventh graders thought that the sixth graders would not be such a problem for them, but they were wrong. Many of them were more than good. In the beginning, they had to take many turns in the battles on the raised platforms because there were too many of participants, but gradually the number of them decreased so it was not such a problem anymore.

Harry, knowing almost exactly, where Angela was at all times and yet avoiding her as much as possible, progressed through his fights smoothly. Ron and Hermione did well too, as did Neville.

McTiczon of Hufflepuff, who seemed to enjoy commentating very much, and with the cancellation of Quidditch without a chance to exercise his skills this year, kept moving around the Hall and took turns commentating on the developments of the most interesting duels.

The younger students who were not fighting, or the older ones who had already dropped out, loudly cheered on their friends. It was a really busy and fun morning. After about two hours, it was time for the quarterfinal rounds.

Harry was supposed to fight Neville, Blaise Zabini against Ron, Angela against Pansy Parkinson, and Ginny against Daria. Unfortunately, Hermione was eliminated in the previous round with Zabini. The tension of the upcoming battles began to build in the Hall.

All four matches took a long time in total. Harry was surprised at how good Neville was at defensive charms, Zabini did not have it easy against Ron either, Ginny and Daria were relentlessly throwing curses at each other, not to mention Angela and Parkinson. Rosier obviously wanted to make her classmate pay for all the talks she kept bothering them with, when it came out about her and Harry.

In the end, after all, the boxes in the semi-final rounds gradually filled up. Harry was the first to appear, followed by Zabini. Ginevra took down Daria rather harshly and Angela successfully defeated Pansy Parkinson. The other witch walked off their podium sullen and angry.

Harry glared at his opponent. Zabini had been quite persistent with the nasty remarks toward him and Angela, and now he was grinning at him insultingly.

Angela and Ginny just exchanged hateful looks.

Snape started the fight for the girls, Shiernov for the boys and McTiczon spouted comments.

"While Potter and Zabini are throwing attacking curses furiously, Rosier and Weasley are cautiously circling each other, waiting to see what the other one does!" McTiczon called out, and that pretty much summed up the situation.

Harry intended to pay Zabini back for each disgusting word he had ever uttered on Angela´s address. However, of course, Blaise was no slouch, he defended himself brilliantly and still managed to attack him. Harry was so focused on him that he did not even notice McTiczon commenting on the events and did not even know what was happening on the other stage.

Rosier and Weasley kept glaring at each other. Angela knew that the red head could not stand her, and Weasley girl definitely realized that it was a mutual feeling by now. They slowly circled each other and the tension between them rose. Only subconsciously did Angela perceive the fierce duel between Harry and Zabini. Then she noticed that Weasley had tightened her grip on her wand and reacted immediately. At the same moment, they sent powerful Stunners at each other that collided in the middle and flew violently, yet harmlessly to the side.

Angela did not wait for anything.

"Impedimenta!" she shouted, but Ginny formed a small shield in front of the curse, which absorbed it. She immediately sent her own curse at her and Angela responded in kind. Nevertheless, her shield deflected the curse and flung it back at Ginny. She somehow avoided it, but immediately sent the Disarming Charm at her. Angela was not fazed in the least; she used her Protego to take it down and attacked again.

Zabini managed to trip Harry´s feet with some weird curse that sent him tumbling down to the ground. Yet, he still held his wand firmly in his hand and cast the Freezing Charm on him while he was still half lying down. Blaise dodged it at the last moment, but the unexpected attack shortly threw him out of the balance and Harry immediately took advantage of it.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted hastily.

Zabini's wand flew out of his hand and the spell threw him a good two meters away.

"So, the first match is over, ladies and gentlemen! Potter advances to the finals!" McTiczon yelled. "However, how it will turn out with the second finalist is extremely uncertain..."

Both the audience and Harry's attention now focused on Ginevra and Angela, who were fighting angrier and faster each second. Neither of them looked the least bit tired, but it was apparent that Rosier was better and more skilled than Weasley.

Red with humiliation, Blaise finally stood up and walked for his wand, rudely shoving Harry on his way off the stage. He almost did not notice it, as he watched in amazement with how much hatred both Angela and Ginny were trying to defeat the other.

I've had enough of you, you little bitch! Angela cursed in her mind.

Ginevra seemed to be thinking extremely similarly.

They attacked each other with the worst allowed curses they knew. The fight was fairly even in the beginning, but now it was starting to weigh heavily in Angela's favour. She hurled curses at Ginny more quickly as she made ample use of her knowledge of non-verbal spells, forcing her to focus only on defence and cornering her mercilessly.

In the end, Ginevra´s doom was that she conjured a shield that was too weak, the spell partially hit her, she lost her balance, and that was when Angela's Stunning Charm hit her full force.

Angela let out a sharp breath and walked toward the motionless redhead with satisfaction. She yanked her wand out of her hand and stared hard into her glaring eyes.

"Listen, Weasley," she hissed quietly, leaning down to her face. "Finally leave me alone, or you'll damn regret it!"

Then Angela straightened up and heard McTiczon.

"And we´ll have the grand finale! So, who will it be? What bets will be placed? Potter or Rosier? Although, unfortunately, their fight probably won't be as exciting, when the two of them have… somewhat a closer relationship," noted McTiczon.

A few students chuckled, while the professors preferred not to react to his remark. Shiernov made all but one of the podiums disappear and Angela and Harry each stepped onto it from one side.

They stared into each other's eyes. They did not want to fight against the other, but neither would admit it.

Snape started their match with a mischievous expression. Without hesitation, they attacked, but apart from their previous matches against Zabini and Ginevra, it was really a huge difference. They did not fight so fiercely, but attacked with caution and without mercy. The students could not stop staring. Their duel lasted a long time because they were both equally good.

Finally, completely unexpectedly, both of them simultaneously used a non-verbal Disarming Charm that was not as strong as when it was spoken aloud, but effective nonetheless. As a result, they did not notice the attack from the other; both of their wands flew out of their hands and landed on the ground behind them.

Everyone was left staring dumbfounded, including Angela and Harry.

/

"So!" Shiernov called over the clamouring students, drawing also the attention of the final pair, who up until that point had been looking at each other with approving glances. "We have decided to declare the match a draw! We have two winners! As a result, they both get fifty points for their Houses, and as for the reward... They also get it, but they will not have the right to choose someone else. But surely, you all would like to know what it is by now, wouldn't you?"

The students perked up tensely.

"To both Harry Potter and Angela Rosier, none of the professors is allowed to deduct points or give school detention to them for the entire next week."

A storm of resentment and envy rose in the Hall.

"It's not fair!" the students shouted and whistled. "That's a mess!"

"Silence!" snapped Snape icily and the students calmed down a bit.

"Of course, so they don't think they can do whatever they want," Shiernov continued with a slight frown. "Any professor can go to the headmaster in case of a serious offence, and he alone will have the authority to give them any punishment. I repeat that this only applies in the case of a serious violation of school rules."

Gryffindor applauded the two winners appreciatively, but most of the Hogwarts students continued to look quite envious.

/

Saturday quickly rolled into the evening and Harry left dinner in silence. He walked thoughtfully, thinking about how he fought against Angela. The whole time she acted, as she did not care about him at all.

He was bound to meet the person he was thinking of at the door. Unknowingly, Angela was leaving at the same time as him. They looked at each other and stopped.

However, they immediately looked away from each other again and went out into the Entrance Hall. Still without a word, they each went their separate ways, gradually slowing down until they stopped and suddenly turned back at the same time.

"Harry?"

"Angela?"

They both called at once and laughed nervously. Eyes downcast, they moved close and positioned themselves so that no one could see them from the Great Hall.

"I…" they both started again, laughing more sincerely.

"You first," suggested Angela.

"No, you. I'll give you priority," Harry countered.

"Just talk, you started first."

"No, it was you."

They paused awkwardly, until finally, like several times before, they spoke quietly at the exact same moment: "I´m sorry."

Their faces brightened up with genuine smiles.

"Accepted," Angela literally beamed.

"By me as well," nodded Harry.

"You know, you were right about some things you said, and I overreacted," she muttered, scooting closer to Harry.

"No, I overdid it," Harry opposed. "I didn't really want to say all that. I am really sorry. I didn't know what I was saying."

"You got rightfully angry... Just so that you know, I hid that chain in the deepest part of my trunk. I just forgot to do it before… I promise not to wear it again, okay?"

"Fine," he nodded in satisfaction.

Angela felt a little guilty that she still had something from Draco on her that she had decided not to take off, but that bracelet was nothing personal, which would actually mean something. There was no reason for Harry to be upset about it.

They stepped over, shifting a bit to the shadow of one of the pillars. They stared at each other for a moment before plunging forward, hugging each other tightly and kissing passionately.

Then Angela laughed happily. "Merlin, we were so stupid! How could we not talk for such a long time because of something so insignificant?"

"I missed you so much," Harry stated lovingly, kissing her hair.

"Couldn't have bear it without you," Angela returned him with the similar statement.

Both happy from making up with the other, they huddled together, oblivious to the students walking by and staring at them.

"And now we're going to make a promise to each other, shall we?" Harry held her even tighter and looked at her seriously.

"And what kind of promise will it be?" she asked curiously.

"That from now on, we'll be honest with each other and not hold anything back."

"All right," Angela agreed. "When something bothers us, we tell each other right away."

Harry buried his sharp eyes into hers: "Though I guess it will be possible only with one exception, right? That promise of yours…"

Angela sighed, grabbed his hand and without a word, she pulled him behind. They slipped inside the cold and dark broom closet, where Harry´s girlfriend faced him directly, with her face serious.

"I love you and I trust you, Harry," she started talking in a way he did not exactly expect. "But about this secret… I made that promise to protect others and I cannot talk about it without endangering people dear to me, including you. Can you trust me in this?"

Harry squeezed her cold hands: "I love you too and I believe you," he assured her. "Only… can you at least tell me if it is an Unbreakable Vow? Would you have to do that something no matter what?"

Angela eyed him sadly: "Why do you ask like that?"

"Because I have a feeling that you promised something what puts you in danger," he replied with emphasize.

She let out a shaky breath: "Harry…"

"No lies," he reminded her.

Angela closed her eyes. "Yes, I made a Vow," she whispered then.

Harry observed her sad face for a while, before he pulled her close and hugged her firmly. She hid her face on his shoulder.

"I won´t let anything happen to you," he stated determined. "That´s what I promise."

She raised her head slowly: "Don´t worry about me so much, Harry. The fact is that we don´t know what happens tomorrow, or in a month or a year. It might be that I would never have to fulfil that promise…"

"That did not calm me even a bit," he frowned at her.

"I´m sorry…"

He cupped her face in his palms: "Don´t apologize, not for this," he said and seized her lips in a warm kiss. She returned it with a sigh, pressing against his body, eager to feel Harry´s warmth. He tore away from her when he felt his pulse raising quickly.

"What about we make a use of our favourite Room?" he proposed.

"Definitely," Angela replied with a soft smile. "We haven´t been there for too long..."

Hand in hand, they slipped out of the closet and headed briskly up the stairs.

"You know, I'm thinking that we should use that duelling reward, shouldn't we?" remarked Harry on the way.

"What do you mean?" Angela looked at him curiously.

"Well, we could make that wonderful idea of yours come true," Harry said, giving her a conspiratorial look.

"What idea?" she could not remember.

"Do you know where Snape's bedroom is?" Harry asked instead of answering.

"Yeah, I do…" Angela nodded, starting to figure out what Harry meant.

"And can you get into it?" he continued with a cheeky smile.

"Harry! You don't mean that thing I mentioned about Snape's hair?"

"What else?" he grinned.

"Don't be silly. It was just a random thought!"

"It's a great opportunity to get at least a little revenge on him!" Harry insisted excitedly.

"Hush, please. Here, even the walls have ears," she hushed him. "I don't know... It's like poking a hornet's nest with a stick."

"Are you afraid?" he poked her provocatively.

"Of that bastard? Not at all!" Angela protested.

"So, can you get into that bedroom?" Harry asked again, already whispering.

Angela was beginning to smile: "I would say so. It won't have as good security there as it is for example applied at the gate. As I know him, he'll have two warning boundaries there and locked with some sort of more complex charm, but that won't be a big problem."

"Great!" Harry beamed like a Christmas tree. "I can already vividly imagine what he will look like."

Angela chuckled.

They were not far from the Room when Harry had another thought.

"Hmm, how come you can basically do more than Snape?" he asked with a slight frown.

Without hesitation, she answered him: "Ever since the Dark Lord started recruiting new followers two years ago, each one of them had to go through some pretty tough training and three trials that about which he decided. It was not like that during the first war. That's my big advantage. Still, I would not want to stand up to Snape. He's been around black magic a lot longer than I have. He will definitely be better in that aspect."

Harry nodded and pulled Angela into the Room behind him.

"So, when are we going to do it?" he asked her already inside.

"As soon as possible would be the best," she assumed. "We won't have that advantage with no points down and detentions forever. And I'm pretty sure he'll find out who's responsible."

"We're going to deny and deny," Harry responded.

"We mustn't leave anything there to incriminate us."

"That's clear. Angie, can I ask you something else?'

The laughing atmosphere subsided somewhat.

"Well, just ask. You must have a reason," she said seriously.

"I don't mean to hurt you, but… is it true what you told me that… you had a crush on Malfoy?"

Angela sighed and looked away before answering: "Yeah… Daria and I had quite a bit of a fight about it too, because she was totally crazy about him, even though he was unattainable to her at the time. She was convinced I was robbing her of something. The two of us were also pretty goofy back then…"

"Hmm, and Malfoy…" Harry began.

"I already told you that what happened between us meant nothing to him," Angela interrupted. "We were a little drunk and the situation got out of hand. It hurt when he suggested we will forget about it, but during time, I got over it. Mainly thanks to you, Harry," she looked at him seriously. "Since I met you, I don't think about anyone else but you."

"And I´m happy to hear that," Harry had completely calmed down by now. Actually, he could not care less about what had once been between Angela and Malfoy. She was with him now, her eyes shining with love and that was enough for him.

"So? What do we do now?" Angela asked with narrowed eyes.

"You can guess three times," he smiled before kissing her tenderly.

"I think one attempt will be enough," she assumed, already pulling on his shirt.

Harry slipped with one of his hands down and squeezed her butt: "Confident, aren´t we?" he noted cheekily.

She chuckled and swirled in his grip. "I have a good reason to…" she said, this time she the one claiming Harry´s lips.

/

In the end, it took Angela half an hour to sneak into Snape's bedroom with Harry in tow. They immediately stunned him unconscious, even though he was asleep, so that he would not accidentally wake up, and they started to work.

It was even more difficult to return all the security charms back to the way they were before and they went to bed completely exhausted, but as they soon found out, the following morning was definitely worth the effort.

Almost everyone in the Great Hall was already enjoying breakfast when Snape appeared in the doorway and carried himself to the professors´ desk as haughtily as usual, unaware of what had appeared on his head overnight. Angela and Harry relied on the fact that there was no mirror in his dark bedroom and it paid off.

Students started to raise their heads from the plates as Snape walked past them, or as their classmates nudged them. All of them stared in disbelief at the School Bat. Hermione splashed Ron with the juice she was drinking when she caught sight of the Potions´ teacher. His boyfriend took a breath for complaints, but Daria silenced him right away, since she turned his head in Snape's direction with a supressed giggle.

Gradually, most of the students began to grin outrageously as they tried hard to hold back their laughter.

Snape took his seat and glanced suspiciously around the strangely quiet Hall. Professor McGonagall sitting next to him was trying to take control over her twitching lips and Hagrid was staring at him wide-eyed.

"Have you fallen for the newest fashion, Severus?" the Transfiguration teacher asked breathlessly as she fought back her laughter.

"Excuse me?" Snape turned to her.

"Well… You don't know about that?" McGonagall asked cautiously.

"About what?" Snape apparently did not understand the issue, and both Angela and Harry, who were watching him from a distance, were literally choking over their breakfast.

"Look at yourself," McGonagall handed him the mirror she had always carried with her like a proper lady.

Snape looked at himself… and completely petrified. Instead of the usual flood of matted black hair, he had a garish pink mane on his head, braided into two thick braids on the sides, pulled back only ever so slightly, apparently so that he would not recognize that he had such a thing on his head. To make the matter even worse, he had a layer of mascara on his short eyelashes, making him look like a faggot. Overall, his appearance was completely ridiculous.

At first, his face went completely white and immediately then red with anger. All that time he had been teaching at Hogwarts, no one had seen him with such a humiliating appearance. He slammed the mirror down on the table until it cracked, but that did not faze McGonagall one bit. She was too busy trying to keep on a calm expression.

Snape jumped up from his chair and glared at the students who were crouching at their seats, hiding their faces. He dashed through the centre of the Hall, teeth gritted together, without even looking back, and flashed out like a space rocket.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind him, the Great Hall erupted with an uncontrollable roar of laughing from everyone present. Everyone forgot who and where they were for a moment and laughed until their stomachs hurt. Hagrid had huge tears rolling from his eyes like peas and he was shaking so much that the whole professors´ table was jumping up and down. McGonagall´s face were red from the lack of breath, some of the students were even rolling under the table laughing. No one could stop it. Hearty laughter erupted from everyone like a waterfall.

Angela was crying with laughter as well. She did not even expect it to look this good. It was her idea to add mascara.

We - we – really – made it, she was told by Harry, who also almost fall off the bench.

/

For the rest of the weekend, the Bat hardly showed up at all. Of course, he had to come out of his den when classes started.

Ever since their confrontation, Angela did not attend Snape's Potions class, so she did not know how it went until Harry told her what the first class was like after the pink-haired affair.

Once again, the black haired Snape stepped in front of them somewhat stiffly and instructed them to make the next dangerous poison potion they were discussing. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry conspiratorially. Of course, he told them who had improved Snape's image. During class, their professor did not bother the students much, who peeked inconspicuously at him, and most of the time he sat with an icy expression behind the chair, but later he did go for a walk. As expected, he stopped by Harry´s cauldron.

"I know very well that you had a hand in that, Potter," he hissed softly so that only Harry could hear him. "And probably Rosier too, right? But I guarantee you'll pay for it."

Harry did not respond and Snape moved away.

Angela had to laugh again as Harry told her about it in the corridor outside the Defence classroom. Some of the more intelligent students also figured out who was probably responsible for the ridiculous performance and successfully spread the word around the school. However, in this case, neither of them minded that.

When they both ran into Snape toward the end of the week, he glared at them with such hatred that it sent chills all over their backs. Against their expectations, the professor headed toward them as they were chatting outside the library after lunch. First, they looked questioningly at each other, then at him and waited.

Snape walked up to them and measured their amused smiles that they could not hide.

"You're extremely lucky you're getting that reward this week, otherwise Gryffindor House would have no points left and you Rosier would be washing the stairs for the rest of the term," snapped Snape with well-concealed fury.

"What are you talking about, Professor?" Angela asked innocently.

"No one is going to make an idiot of me!" snapped Snape. "And certainly not you two!"

Neither Harry nor Angela said anything, their corners twitched uncontrollably as they remembered him with that pink hair again.

The Bat grinned rather horribly.

"Well, suit yourselves… Have fun, while you can! But you´ll forget how to laugh soon enough!" he hissed, turned sharply away from them and finally left.

The smiles disappeared from both of their faces.

"What did he mean by that?" Angela wondered.

"I don't know," Harry replied. "But I don't like it."

"Me neither," she agreed seriously.

/

The rest of month passed without any major change. It started snowing and it did not look like it would stop anytime soon. School days and weeks continued to pass in the same monotony. The only thing that was a little strange about those days was the suspicious inactivity of Voldemort and his Death Eaters again. However, many students and teachers were convinced that this was just calm before the storm.

They should have expected more of a hurricane…

/

Before they knew it, it was Christmas time. The school grounds covered in snow, the air sparkling with frost, the castle beautifully decorated as usual and… almost all the students stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays. Only some left at the urgent request of their parents. However, most of the wizarding world felt that Hogwarts was the safest place for their children to be in these days.

It was quickly getting dark on the evening of Christmas Eve and students were slowly gathering in the exquisitely decorated Great Hall.

Harry watched Angela sitting alone at the Slytherin table, thoughtfully twirling some bracelet on her wrist.

Angie, come sit with us, he suggested spontaneously.

Angela raised her head: Have you gone crazy?

Only for you, Harry surmised. After all, it's Christmas and who cares at which table are you sitting? Come on…

I don´t think it´s a good idea, Harry, Angela protested.

Why not?

Harry looked away from her and focused on Hermione who was sprawled out contentedly in Ron's arms. They finally reconciled two weeks ago.

"Would you mind if Angela sat with us?" he asked them directly.

"No, why?" Hermione smiled. "It's good idea."

Harry casually stood up, not noticing Ginny's sharp look, and purposefully headed toward the Slytherins. Angela watched him disapprovingly. Ignoring it, he firmly took her by the arms and pulled her to a standing position.

"Harry..." Angela tried again.

"No excuses," he cut her off, pulling her by the hand to their table.

A few students looked at them, but apparently, no one wanted to bother with them before Christmas. After a while, with Harry´s arm around her waist, Angela managed to relax. She ignored upset Weasley girl, who was clearly choking on resentment and jealousy, and started talking with the trio and Daria, who was oddly sitting as far away from Ginny as possible.

Time progressed and food still did not appear on the decorated tables. The students looked around unsatisfied, and Angela also glanced at the professors´ table in the far front of the Hall. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Guys? Where are all the professors?" she asked quietly.

"In their common room, I think," Hermione replied. "They have some kind of meeting there. At least I heard something like that."

"Today?" Harry wondered.

"Hmm," Hermione hummed disinterestedly.

"Shouldn't they be done by now? It's been quite a while," Angela wondered.

"Well, maybe," Hermione agreed. "And they always leave someone here over us. Not even Filch is here."

"That's kind of weird," Harry murmured, glancing worriedly at the Slytherins. Almost everyone there was excitedly arguing about something and their eyes kept glancing at the closed door.

"Please, don't make a mountain out of a molehill," Ron said. "They're just chatting somewhere probably..."

Suddenly Angela, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville all flinched in surprise. The bracelets of the Order began to burn them horribly for a short moment, but then it stopped immediately.

"Okay, that was really weird," Ron changed his opinion.

"Something's going on," Angela almost whispered, thoughts racing through her mind about how long it had been quiet and they were not bothered by Voldemort´s activities.

"I agree," Harry nodded.

"We should try to find one of the professors. Or at least Hagrid," suggested Hermione.

The moment they stood up, the doors to the Great Hall flew open and angry Snape rushed in like an avalanche, heading straight for surprised Harry. He violently grabbed him by the collar and began to shake with his student as if with an apple tree in autumn.

"Who is the new Guardian? Who?" he hissed in rage. "You know it! Tell me now, you little scumbag, or I'll cut you in half!"

The closest students stared at him in shock.

"Speak up! Do you hear?" Snape yelled right in Harry's face, who finally recovered and tried to pull Snape's hands away from him.

"Let me go at once! I don't know what you're talking about!" he barked rather angrily.

It was slowly dawning on Angela. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the Slytherins had perked up and some were reaching for their wands. She did not know what made her do it, but she subtly cast the immobilizing charm on all the older ones, one of the best she had learned, and turned back to Harry, who still had not managed to get rid of nagging Snape.

"Are you crazy?" she snapped at the professor. "Let him go at once!"

"Look!" Hermione suddenly shouted, pointing to the windows. Most of the students as well as Snape looked in that direction. In the distance, in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, they saw red and yellow sparks. They flashed and disappeared again. A muffled scream was also heard outside.

At first, Snape froze completely, then suddenly let go of Harry and rushed out of the Hall at the same speed he had arrived before. Angela and Harry just looked at each other and followed him, shortly followed also by Hermione and Ron.

They ran into the Entrance Hall just as Snape was raising his wand against the huge, secured gate to the castle. Neither Angela nor Harry gave it a thought, they just pulled out their wands and both pointed them at Snape at once.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" they shouted out.

The Potions´ teacher flew a few meters away from the gate and stopped hard at the wall. The wand flew out of his hand and landed a good distance away.

They both immediately headed toward him and Angela picked up his wand from the ground. Snape looked up at them, quite shaken up. The Great Hall behind them was beginning to hum excitedly.

"Why did you want to unlock that gate?" Harry snapped at him.

Snape just smirked. Angela's wrist suddenly felt like freezing up. A second later, she realized it was Draco's bracelet and felt her pulse rise.

"You wanted to let your friends in, didn't you?" she breathed out in realization.

Harry looked at her in astonishment: "What are you talking about for Merlin´s sake?"

Yet, the smirk disappeared from Snape's face hearing her question.

"Harry, we have to get someone. Dumbledore at the best," Angela said urgently.

At that, the Potions professor let out a surprisingly sinister laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" drawled Harry.

"Too late for that!" Snape hissed with incredible satisfaction. "Too late!"

"What the hell do you mean?"

"He won't help you anymore! Never! Because that annoying old man has finally kicked the bucket!" Snape declared, laughing almost madly again.