"I'm starting to think I shouldn't play Quidditch anymore!" I said through gritted teeth. It had been horrible, another practice ending with being doused in cold mud.
"Why-What happened?" Hermione asked, turning around in her seat.
"Everybody hates me! Don't get me wrong, and I don't really care, but that doesn't mean you have to be complete gits about it!" I said, throwing my hands in the air.
"What do you mean?" Neville asked, looking up at me.
"Stupid Katie Bell knocked me off my broom!" I exclaimed, falling back into a chair, and rubbing the mud out of my eyes.
"You know what?" I started again, "I'm sick of this! This year is not going well at all! I guess it could be worse, but... There haven't been any people getting petrified again, have there?" I asked. Hermione shook her head.
"Not since Creevey." Neville said. I nodded.
"Good. We should do something about it. What do you think it is? I mean, I'm sure there's many animals or spells to completely petrify people. I'll be back!" I exclaimed, getting up to go to the library.
"Rita, wait!" Mione shouted out.
"What?" I asked, turning around.
"You should probably clean up first, especially if your going to the library. Madam Pince will kick you out in a heartbeat!" She called back. I nodded my head in agreement before running up the stairs and slamming the bathroom door closed.
I threw the door open and the steam flowed out with me into my dorm I shared with the other girls. My hair was still sopping wet, and I wrung it out again, but only got a few drops out. I ran down the steps and out through the portrait hole. I ran through the halls, my shoes slapping against the hard floors. I'm sure I left a little trail of water behind me, but I don't care. I finally reached the library and started looking through books.
"Wake up, dear." Madam Pince said, shaking me awake. I had fallen asleep at the library table, books all around me.
"S-Sorry, Madam Pince." I apologized.
"No matter. Make sure you put these books back, Miss. Black." I nodded my head and put the books in a pile, setting off down the rows and putting them back where they go. I left the library, followed by an irritated Madam Pince.
"Did you find any thing?" Neville asked as I walked in. I shook my head in disappointment.
"I'm really tired, so I'm going to bed. See you later, Neville." I said, waving to Neville as I walked to the stairs. What could it be? What can be petrifying students, but is not able to be seen by the naked eye? I've been through all the books about invisible monsters, and not a single thing that could do that kind of damage! I rubbed my forehead as I ran my hand along the wall leading to the girls dorms. I opened the door slowly, and toppled onto my bed, immediately falling asleep.
"What's wrong, Rita? You look like you got hit by a train!" Mione exclaimed as I sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast the next day.
"Wow, thanks, 'Mione. I feel loved. I was at the library all night, trying to figure out what is petrifying things. I don't know how you do it, 'Mione." I said, resting my head on my hand. She shrugged.
"Well? Did you find anything?" I looked at her and nodded sadly.
"Ugh! This is crazy! Why haven't the teachers done anything about it yet?!" I demanded.
"They probably can't figure out what it is either!" Hermione pointed out. I sighed and rested my head on my hand again. I closed my eyes, and slowly fell asleep, allowing my face to slip off my hand and onto the edge of my porridge bowl, which resulted in it flying up and dumping my breakfast onto my head.
"ARGH! What the bloody Hell-?!" I yelled, jumping up and wiping oatmeal out of my eyes. I heard laughter from the end of the table. I looked up to see Harry laughing with Ronald and some of his other friends. My face fell a little more and I said a quick bye to Hermione and Neville before running off to take a shower.
"Rita? Are you in here?" Hermione asked as she stepped into the bathroom. You could hear Myrtles loud crying in the background, so that helped to cover up my crying.
"Yeah!" I called out.
"Oh Rita! What's wrong?! Neville, come on! She's in here!" Hermione yelled out, followed by the sound of dragging feet.
"But Hermione! This is a girls bathroom!" I heard Neville protest.
"Ugh. What happened, Rita?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing." I said between sniffs.
"A-Are you sure?" Neville asked. I nodded before realizing that they couldn't see me.
"Yeah."
"You can tell us anything, Rita!" Hermione whined. I sighed.
"Malfoy magicked up porridge and dumped it on me in front of half the school!" I said.
"Oh, Rita! Don't let him get to you! No one likes him anyway!" Neville said.
"It's fine guys, really!" I protested. "I'll come out later, promise!"
"Okay..." Hermione said. She pushed Neville out and closed the door. I sat there for another minute, before opening the stall door and walking up to the bathroom mirror. I splashed some cold water on my face. I heard a door shift open, and looked up into the mirror to see who came in, expecting to see Hermione again.
"Look, Hermione, I'll come out in a second!" I said, just about to turn around before I saw what had come in through the mirror. It barely registered before my body went completely stiff, and all went black.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! CLIFF HANGER!