The Great Hall had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant watersnakes.
As always, the food was delicious. Even Ron and Dean, who had gorged themselves on Honeydukes chocolate, had second helpings of everything. Dudley decided to pause his diet for one night only and ate well. The Yorkshire puddings were especially delicious and Dudley had five. For dessert, Dudley had double chocolate fudge cake and some trifle.
The feast finished with an entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great success with a reenactment of his own botched beheading.
After the feast was over, they followed the rest of the Gryffindors back to the tower. They were all yawning—it had been a long, busy day. Fred and George were in high spirits. They let off a Dr. Fillibuster's No Heat Wet Start firework which cascaded around the corridor. Percy the Prefect shouted at them while some of the other students laughed. Meanwhile. Ginny was so sleepy she was being helped along by another student in her year who Dudley thought was called Demelza Bobbins. Colin Creevey was with them. He didn't seem as scared or jumpy as he had last year, Dudley assumed it was because he hadn't been beaten up.
When they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed with students.
"Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously.
Dudley peered over the heads in front of him. The portrait seemed to be closed.
"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password - excuse me, I'm Head Boy -"
And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."
People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.
"What's going on?" Ginny yawned.
Dudley gave her a quick glance. It wasn't that late, so why was she so sleepy today. All thoughts about Ginny disappeared when Dumbledore arrived. The Gryffindors all squeezed together to let him through. Dudley pushed a couple of first years out the way so he and his friends could get closer.
"Dud …" Hermione began, reproachfully, then trailed off. "Oh my!"
"Crumbs," said Dean.
The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him.
"We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice.
It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.
"What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle. "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing." he added unconvincingly.
"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.
"Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."