It can't--- no.

This can't be possible.

The words Terror at the Ministry stare up at me from the newspaper.

The quiet, calm atmosphere of the Ministry of Magic was interrupted this afternoon when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and several followers entered the Ministry, spreading terror throughout the building. You-Know-Who, accompanied by around 15 followers (known as "Death Eaters") apparated into the ground floor, and promptly started cursing all officials in sight. However, You-Know-Who was soon outnumbered by Ministry workers, and after injuring several workers and causing slight damage to the building, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fled. Several Ministry workers are currently at St. Mungo's Hospital, though are said to be in fine condition.

The cause of the attack is unknown. All that can be guessed is that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked the Ministry workers in attempt to "eliminate strong opposers," says Junior Minister Cornelius Fudge. "We hope that further investigations will help to reveal the cause of this tragedy."

Though many would disagree, several say that there is great gain from this attack; we now know that You-Know-Who has gathered at least 15 followers, and is out on the loose. Names of these Death Eaters were not obtainable by press time, but it is expected that several will be identified by tomorrow's edition.

For now, anyone seeing something suspicious is urged to call the Ministry. Every one should be on guard for these dangerous wizards.

Oh my gawd.

I can't believe this is happening--- I mean, the Ministry? The Ministry is the safest place around, besides Hogwarts! How could this happen!

But Susan's right, they wouldn't dare come anywhere near Hogwarts; we've got Dumbledore on our side. Dumbledore.

I look up at the staff table, and see all the teachers hurriedly reading their copies of the Evening Prophet, and exchanging whispers.

This is not good.

I look over at James, and he's still staring at the paper. I guess he can't believe it either.

And looking around, it strikes me how ironic it is that everyone is babbling on about me and James; they don't even know about the Ministry break-in, let along care.

James has finally looked up, and now he's staring disgustedly across the room at our classmates; I guess he's disgusted with them, too.

"C'mon," he says, standing up. "Let's go."

Grabbing my hand, he pulls me (rather roughly) to the door. Just as we're about to leave, I notice a small tapping on my shoulder, and turn to see what it is.

Bumping into my shoulder is a letter. Picking it up, I notice that it's addressed to James and me. Hmm… I wonder who sent it? Looking up at the staff table, I see Dumbledore raising his glass and looking directly at us. Aha. I should have guessed.

"Let's not open it here," says James.

"Alright," I say. "Where, then?"

"C'mon," he repeats.

Taking my hand once again, he leads me up several staircases, down many halls, and several minutes later, we're in the Astronomy Tower. He could have just told me, it's not like the Astronomy Tower's anything special, I've been here tons of times.

James walks over to the window, staring at the beautiful sunset intently.

"I was going to take you here anyway," James starts slowly, "but after reading the newspaper, it seems like an even better idea. A good place to—talk."

Waving his wand, he conjures a couch. Spiffy. Pretty cool couch, if I do say so myself. Blue's really not my favorite, though. I prefer red, or orange.

James sits down, and gestures for me to do the same.

"Let's open the letter," he says.

"Okay," I say, handing it to him.

He opens it, and I lean in to read:

Dear Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter,

I take it you have discovered the unpleasant news in tonight's issue of the Evening Prophet. Assuming so, I think you will find it unsurprising that I wish you to take patrols very seriously from now on. There is no evidence to say that Voldemort will ever come to the school, but it is best to take precaution. Other teachers will now be patrolling as well, but I still wish you to go throughout the entire castle as usual, being sure to check any secret passageways you may be aware of as well. I would also recommend not leaving each other's side, as traveling in numbers is always wise.

Questions and comments are welcome.

Yours,
Professor Albus Dumbledore

"Nothing we couldn't have assumed already," I say truthfully. I mean, it's not like I was going to go wandering around the castle at midnight by myself.

"Yeah," agrees James, looking more troubled than ever. "Yeah, I guess…"

"What is it, James?" I say, confused. What could possible be bothering him more than the break-in that we read of earlier? Maybe it's all just sinking in, how much that one break-in is going to change everything.

"Nothing," he says. HA! Nothing my foot.

"James, you know you can tell me anything," I say, pressing for information. I hate secrets like this. Tell me now!

"Well…" he starts. "It's just…" he trails off.

"Just what?"

"The map."

"James makes no sense whatsoever," I say to Andra, after coming back from the Astronomy Tower with James to talk to Andra about the break-in before patrols. "I mean, really, if he's going to get that far into telling me, he can't just stop."

"I'm sure he'd tell you if it was really important," says Andra soothingly.

"But why would he be so upset if it wasn't important?"

"I don't know… let's just get some homework done; you can ask him during patrols."

And my nosy side comes out… I'm really not one of those people that says "it's your business." If it's your business, it's mine; I'm that nosy. It's pitiful, really. But I have to know! Fortunately, after years of wheedling information out of people, I'm pretty confident in my abilities.

Sighing, I set to work on my Transfiguration essay, thinking 9:30 couldn't come soon enough.

A/N: A new plot line! I had to think of something; the story wasn't very… I can't think of the right word… plotful? That's not it, but yeah it didn't have enough… depth… to it. Let me know what you thought of the newspaper segment, and Dumbledore's letter!

Review!