All of their free time, and time that would have otherwise been spent on the Quidditch Pitch, was spent in or near the library for the rest of the weekend. Fred and George, who were still banned, lurked in a nearby classroom with Lee, while Harry, Hermione, and Neville spent their time in the Potions section. Every so often, Harry would take a new stack of books to the other three and exchange them for the ones they'd read through, if somewhat reluctantly.

But even Fred and George had started to treat their task seriously when Hermione pointed out how few upper years were in the library. A handful of Hufflepuff fifth and sixth years remained, as well as Percy, who looked paler and more serious than usual, and the Head Girl, one of the few Muggleborn Slytherins, by name of Cynthia Dawes-Hensley. There were probably more fifth, sixth, and seventh years in their common rooms, but the library felt almost like a mausoleum. During her frequent trips through the extensive Potions section in search of any relevant books, Harry quickly noticed that none of the upper years were speaking with each other, not even the Hufflepuffs. Instead, they all sat in a silence that could be described in many ways: most of all terse, somber, and scared.

Surprisingly, it was not Hermione who made the first breakthrough, but Lee, early Sunday evening. He came into the library at a near-jog, earning a reproving glare from Percy, who had taken over the table nearest the Transfiguration section, which was closest to the doors.

Neville nudged Harry in the ribs. "Look, it's Lee." Hermione barely paused in her skimming of the thick tome entitled Treatise of Common Treating, which was full of common remedies, but Harry gladly took a break from the edition of the Daily Prophet that she'd been looking through in hopes of finding some mention of Autumn Misery. It was tedious work, especially since the notice would be found on the 'Public Notifications' page, which shifted around depending on what other news there was. She wished she knew a good sorting spell, but didn't dare ask Madam Pince just in case the librarian was also under the thrall of whomever had dosed the teachers with the potions.

"I think I've found a way to try and get to those who are under the potion," Lee whispered excitedly, dark eyes glinting with a combination of excitement and trepidation.

Hermione set aside her book, and Neville looked impatiently at Lee.

"Don't keep us waiting," Harry urged in a quiet voice. "Go on, tell us!"

"It's called Legilimency. It allows you to access someone else's thoughts and memories, but it can be blocked by Occlumency."

"It allows you to read someone's mind!?" Hermione gasped, eyes wide. "But - shouldn't that be illegal?"

"It is," Neville chimed in unexpectedly. All three of them looked at him in surprise, and Harry felt ashamed for it. She continued to underestimate him, and resolved to let go of all of her assumptions about him. "My Gran's on the Wizengamot," he said haltingly. "A few years back there was a big debate about whether or not Legilimens - people who are practiced in Legilimency - should be required to register, and when it should be allowed to be used. All I know is that it's illegal; Gran didn't explain better than that." He toyed with the corner of the page of the massive book he'd been gamely forging through, The Medi-Witch's Potions Bible.

Silence fell for a few moments before Lee said, "Doesn't much matter if it's legal or not, does it? But I'd bet Harry's broomstick that Oliver knows some Occlumency. It would explain why he was able to wake up for a bit, and how he knew he was trapped in his own head. Add to that the fact that his uncle is a junior member of the Wizengamot, and it makes even more sense."

"Well," Harry said with determination, "if Oliver can Occlude, then I'll just have to learn to Legilimize."

Hermione immediately protested. "Harry, you can't! It's illegal!" Luckily she kept her voice down just enough so that the nearest person, the Head Girl, couldn't hear her words.

Neville and Lee winced and turned to look at Harry, whose face had darkened considerably. "It's the only option," she hissed across the table. "And, no offense, but you and Neville and Lee don't know Oliver well enough to do it! It'll go easier with someone who knows him!"

"You don't know that for sure," Hermione protested. "And what about Fred and George? They've known Wood longer than you have."

"Fred and George spend most of practice making fun of the rest of us or hitting Bludgers at whatever Oliver tells them to," Harry snapped. Everyone's nerves had been close to the surface from lack of success in the library, and none of them had gotten much sleep the night before. "They may have known him longer, but I've got a stronger relationship with him. They're so wrapped up in each other and their antics that half the time I'm surprised they don't hit themselves with their own bats," she finished frostily. Hermione stared at Harry for a long moment before pushing her chair back and vanishing into the shelves. Harry slumped in her seat as soon as the hem of Hermione's robes vanished.

"I think you may have upset her," Neville hedged, looking anywhere but Harry.

Harry ran a hand through her hair, adding to its already rumpled state. Although much tamer than it had been at the beginning of September, it took too much effort in the mornings for her to bother wrestling it under some semblance of control, especially since any hard work would just be ruined as soon as she got frustrated or went outside. "I know," she said quietly. "It's just all the stress has made me…" she trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Volatile? Touchy? Mercuric?" Lee suggested helpfully.

"Yeah," Harry said, a lump forming in her throat. She wished Alex were here; he was always better at planning things like this, even though they didn't have any better plan than 'Harry learns Legilimency' at the moment.

But to all their surprise, Hermione was rounding the corner of the closest shelf, a dusty book in her arms. "Here," she said, placing it gently on the table instead of letting it thump down as Harry would have done. When Harry made to apologize, Hermione fixed her with a steady look that made the words stick in her throat. "We're all on edge," Hermione said, paging through the book at an astounding rate. Harry nodded and waited with Neville and Lee, who'd finally taken a seat, for Hermione to find her page. It wasn't long before the pages stopped rustling and Hermione cleared her throat and began to read in a soft voice.

"In accordance to the Wizengamot's ruling of the fourteenth of April, of the year nineteen eighty-nine, the use of Legilimency is declared illegal except for in privately owned institutions or by express permission of the target. Minors must have written consent of their parents or guardians in order to be Legilimized. In addition, all those proficient in the art of Legilimency must register at the Department of the Magically Endowed Individuals (MEID) of the Ministry of Magic. If the Legilimens is not capable of controlling their power they will submit to a Block until such time as they can find a suitable instructor."

Hermione took a deep breath before continuing. "Noncompliance with above regulations will result in immediate arrest, mandatory three days of Ministry custody, a hefty fine, and possible time in Azkaban depending on the severity of the crime." Harry saw her friend swallow before Hermione added, in a slightly sickened voice, "There's a footnote that says that inexperienced Legilimens have been known to cause so much damage that the victim might be unable to function properly in society."

Harry gripped the edge of the table nervously. "Oliver will be all right, though," she said, but even she could hear the uncertainty in her voice. "He's got his mind protected with Occlumency."

"We don't know that for certain," Hermione pointed out quietly, closing the book she'd read out of. Harry read the cover upside-down: The Minutes and Decrees of the Wizengamot in Whole: 1989.

"He knows it," Lee assured them in a soft voice, standing up. "Come on, Harry. We should get started if you're going to learn." When Hermione made to object, Lee cut her off. "I know someone else who knows a bit of Occlumency too. With luck, he'll agree to help out. In the meantime, you and Neville should get some more of these books on potions, find one on Legilimency for Harry, and join Fred and George. They'll want to know what we've decided."

Harry followed Lee from the library, ignoring the suspicious looks from Madam Pince. Lee took various shortcuts, all of which Harry recognized from her many forays about the castle in company of the twins. She started to recognize many of the paintings on the walls, and asked, "Kitchens?"

Lee shook his head. "Hufflepuff Common Room," he said. "Ced's a third year with me and the twins. I sometimes hang out with him when the twins are in one of their exclusive moods."

Harry nodded. The twins would sometimes go days at a time without talking to anyone but each other. She could sympathize with them, though, no matter how irritating it was to be shut out like that: if her brother was here, they might have done the same thing from time to time, although Fred and George gave the speculations of twin-connections a whole new meaning.

"Here," Lee said, a ways beyond the portrait of fruit that marked the door to the kitchens. They were in what looked to be a dead-end corridor that was used as a storeroom for the kitchens. Enormous wooden barrels - each at least five feet in diameter - lay on their sides, taking up half of the hall space even though they were sunk back into a recess in the wall for most of their height.

"Wow," Harry said, impressed by the sheer size of the barrels. Hagrid could - with great difficulty, no doubt - probably be squished into one, although it was hard to tell exactly how tall they really were since she couldn't see them in their entirety.

Lee grinned. "Think of how much butterbeer you could fit in one of those," he said. His grin deepened into a smirk. "Or firewhiskey," he added slyly.

Harry shrugged. "Enough to keep you in drink for a very long time."

"True enough." With his wand, he tapped out a rhythm on the barrel one over from the first. When nothing happened, Harry looked over at Lee, unsure.

"Was that the right barrel?" she asked.

"Yeah." Lee didn't look concerned; in fact, he had tucked his wand away and was staring a bit contemplatively at the barrel in the middle of the row. "It's like knocking on someone's front door," he explained. "Someone'll come and check."

No sooner had he spoken than the lid of the barrel that Lee had tapped with his wand swung in, not giving off so much as a squeak, and a familiar face showed up. "Lee," Susan Bones said, the caution on her face replaced by understanding. "I'll go get Cedric. Just wait a tic." She closed the door again, not even acknowledging Harry's presence.

"Just how good of friends are you and this Cedric bloke, anyways?" Harry asked. She'd heard of Cedric before - hard not to, when she'd played opposite him a few months ago - but had never formally met him beyond the polite nod to each other in the air.

"Good enough," Lee said with a shrug. "Our mums knew each other from work, and he's just a few months older than me so we saw each other a fair bit growing up." Harry nodded. That was probably how Lee knew that Cedric knew Occlumency.

A scarce minute later, the door opened once again, and this time Cedric stepped out. He was just as Harry remembered, but now, without the pressure and excitement of Quidditch distracting her, she was able to spare her attention to his appearance. Although only a third year, he was quite tall, and looked closer to fifteen than fourteen. Golden-brown hair was messed up, like he'd been laying down reading, and his eyes, a deep blue, were intelligent. She wasn't particularly interested in boys just yet, but Harry could tell that Cedric was very handsome by any standard.

"What's up, Lee?" Cedric asked, casting a curious look at Harry.

Lee didn't answer right away, but said instead, "Is there a room were we can talk without being overheard?"

Cedric raised his eyebrows but nodded. "Follow me," he said, and proceeded to lead them through a warren of corridors that, although they were on the same level as the dungeons, held none of the dark gloom that the Slytherin area did. Harry attributed the difference to the narrow windows at the top of the corridor, which showed the top of the grass growing at the base of the castle.

"This is it," Cedric said after five minutes of steady walking. Harry fervently hoped that the older boy would lead them back to someplace she recognized, because she knew that, at the moment, she had no chance of getting back to Gryffindor tower without a guide. The room was small and round, sparsely furnished with just a wooden table and two chairs.

Cedric conjured a third chair in a powerful show of transfiguration that had Harry raising her eyebrows. Even at the accelerated rate she'd been learning Transfiguration at, she wasn't due to start conjuration until next year; Cedric must be nearly as good as she was, because he was only a third year. Maybe he had an early birthday like Hermione.

"What's bothering you, Lee?" Cedric asked once they had all sat down.

Lee glanced at Harry, and she sat up a bit straighter in her chair. "What do you know about the disappearing students?" she asked.

Cedric frowned. "I didn't think they were…" he trailed off and a look of comprehension dawned on his face. "So the upper years," he said slowly, "They're not just hiding in the library all day, are they." It wasn't a question.

Lee shook his head silently, and Harry answered grimly, "They're in the hospital wing," she said. "Most of the beds are filled. It's why Quidditch has been canceled." A look of shock came over Cedric's face. "Oh, er, you didn't know?" Then she sighed. "Makes sense. It only really effects Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, at this point."

"Who cares about the Quidditch," Cedric said seriously, leaning forwards. "Are the students all right?"

Harry actually smiled a bit. Cedric saw her expression and gave a sheepish grin of his own. "I know," he said. "You don't have to say it. Lee does all the time."

"Too Hufflepuff for his own good," Lee agreed with a slight grin.

They all smiled for another few moments before the gravity of the situation reasserted itself and Cedric turned to Harry. "You seem to be the one with a plan," he said, eyes flicking to Lee for confirmation, which came in the form of a quick nod. "What do you need my help with? Name it, and I'll do my best."

Harry quickly outlined the situation, starting with a very heavily edited version of their foray down the third-floor corridor, glossing over the less legal aspects of Hagrid's brief stint at dragon owner-ship, touching upon the wraith in the forest, and finishing with Oliver's brief recovery and the following discussion. Cedric listened carefully the whole time, not making a sound. She only hesitated for a moment before purposefully leaving out mention of the Sorcerer's Stone.

"So," he said after a pause once Harry had finished the tale. "You need to learn Legilimency." His voice was oddly flat, and his previously composed features were uncertain.

"I - " she hesitated, glancing over at Lee, an unspoken plea for assistance.

"It's not just the students, Ced," Lee supplied. "We would have gone to a teacher, but we're pretty sure they're in a similar state, just not asleep like the others."

"So like the Imperious, then." Harry didn't know what the Imperious was - perhaps Hermione would know - but she nodded anyways.

"Alright," Cedric said stoutly, running a hand through his hair. It fell right back to where it had been in a way that made Harry jealous. Her hair had never done that, even when it had been long enough that its own weight held it down. "But we aren't going to do this without someone to make sure we don't get hurt." He turned to Lee. "It'll have to be someone who knows us well, for the same reason Harry here is the one who's going to try and revive Wood. You'll do for me, but I think Harry might need someone else."

They both looked at her. "Hermione," she said after a moment's hesitation. She was close with Neville, too, and Fred and George, but somehow the mere fact that Hermione, like her, was female, called to her.

"The twins won't like being forced to research on their own," Lee grinned. "Let's go."

Learning Legilimency was hard. They had completely taken over the room by the library, setting up a small round table for Cedric and Harry to sit at while the others lounged about on a multitude of cushions provided by a few helpful house elves. Hermione hadn't approved at all, but had agreed to let the matter go for the time being. While Cedric and Harry focused on Legilimency, the others immersed themselves in books and old newspapers. Even Fred and George didn't goof around as much as usual.

Monday morning, the six Gryffindors and sole Hufflepuff met just after six in the morning, even if Harry had to drag the twins and Lee out of bed to get them there on time. By the time they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, she had a pounding headache from focusing so hard for such a prolonged period of time, but was immensely pleased with herself. She'd managed - in a little more than twelve hours - to learn the basics of Legilimency, and had actually managed to penetrate Cedric's mind.

"You're doing really great," a slightly pale Cedric told her over bacon and toast. They ignored the curious looks they were getting from other students; usually people stayed at their House tables for meals, and Cedric had never once been seen hanging out with their little group. "You've got the general idea of what it's going to be like, but you're going to have to go all the way to the center of Oliver's mind."

Harry frowned. "The center?" The small book - the only one the library owned on the mind arts was hardly bigger than a pamphlet - hadn't been very informative.

Cedric took a large bite of his toast before explaining. "Imagine a person's mind is like…an onion," he said after a small pause. "There's layers, and the closer you get towards the middle of the onion - or in this case, the center of a person's mind - the denser and more potent it is. Your surface thoughts," he continued, unaware that Hermione had abandoned her book in favor of listening to the Hufflepuff, and that all four of the other boys were listening as well, "are like the paper of the onion. Just barely there, and easy to get through. That's where you got to this morning." Harry gulped. That was supposed to be easy? The effort had left her panting and clammy!

"And the center…?" she asked uncertainly. "Of the mind, not the onion," she hurriedly amended. "I could care less about the onion."

Cedric wasn't offended in the least by her words. "A physical representation of the person and all the memories that make them who they are," he supplied easily.

"Like a memory palace," Hermione whispered quietly, tapping her fingers on the spine of her book. "Muggles sometimes 'build' them to help remember things better."

"All wizards have a…memory palace, for lack of a better word," Cedric said. "But we don't have to 'build' ours, and we don't get to choose the shape." Hermione looked like she wanted to interrupt, but Harry shook her head warningly. She wanted to know where Cedric was going with this. "Most of us never actually see our mindscape. It's just there. Only a very experienced Legili-Occlumens can 'visit' their mindscape at will by way of meditation, and master Occlumens are able to manipulate their mindscape at will. That's all Occlumency is, really," he finished with a small, self-deprecating shrug. "The ability to manipulate your mindscape so that your thoughts - even your surface thoughts - and emotions cannot be viewed except by a Legilimens more powerful than you are an Occlumens."

"Have you seen your mindscape?" Hermione asked, leaning forward. Harry was more worried that Oliver might not let her into his mind - or, even worse, that he'd have shields so thick and terrible that she'd get stuck in there too.

"Only once," Cedric admitted. "And my teacher had take me with him. I can't get there by myself. I'm no good at Legilimency, and it's not really something that parents encourage their kids to learn."

"So I'll be dragging you into your mindscape as well," Harry asked, although it was more a statement than a question.

Cedric nodded. "Yeah."

They practiced whenever they could, which ended up being quite often due to the ongoing O.W.L.'s and having full days where professors would be overseeing their classes exams. Harry came to know Cedric almost as well as she knew herself - perhaps too well, because she really didn't care to know that Amy Bronston had given him a blowjob last week. She'd come out of his memory blushing and queasy, and Cedric himself had been slightly embarrassed about her seeing it. She could only imagine how he'd react if he knew that she was really a girl.

She finally found her way to Cedric's mindscape on Thursday afternoon. She hadn't been at it long - her headache from their earlier try had already faded - when, with an odd suctioning feeling, she wasn't in the dense black space that was Cedric's innermost layer of mind, filled sparsely with memories so old that, unless she herself dragged one to the front of his mind, Cedric would never know about them.

His mindscape was a comfortable looking room, with two small couches facing each other in the center, a short table on a woven rug between them. An abandoned chess game sat on the table, as well as a thick photo album. The walls - a pale yellow - were mostly obscured by shelves filled with books, small trinkets, the occasional picture frame, and a very old looking Quaffle.

"It's different than last time," a man's voice said quietly, and Harry turned to see that Cedric was sitting on a window seat, even though the window itself didn't show anything but the backside of wooden boards. The boy was wearing loose flannel pajama pants and a Hufflepuff practice jersey. She frowned as she realized that even though Cedric still looked around the same age as his body was, his innermost mind spoke with the voice of a grown man.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, wincing slightly when her voice came out higher than usual. Like Cedric, her presence here showed herself for what she truly was: a woman. A quick glance at the mirror above the fireplace reassured her that, although her voice had changed, her appearance had not. In fact, her hair was actually a bit shorter here than in the real world.

"More things on the shelves," Cedric said with a shrug. He gestured to a small frame, and when Harry moved to inspect it, saw, to her surprise, that there was a picture of herself in it. The photo - clearly a representation of a memory - was of her after she'd caught the Snitch that had won Gryffindor the game against Hufflepuff. In it, she was laughing and waving the Snitch as the rest of her team flew towards her. It was odd seeing herself as Cedric must have all those months ago; she looked like a boy. No matter how often she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't see anything except a girl pretending to be what she wasn't. This is how others see me, she mused.

"You look different," Cedric said suddenly, breaking her reverie. She flinched but pretended to inspect the set of books next to the photo of herself. They were mostly titled things like The Introduction of My Mind to Others, or Letting An Unknown In, but two of them had the words Quidditch and Seeker in the title. She wondered if all of Cedric's memories were sorted by person. It would make for a very confusing search through his mind, if she ever needed to find a specific memory, because very few interactions were solely between two people, even less so with her and Cedric because she had viewed - inadvertently - so many of his other memories.

"You do too," she said, mouth dry, her eyes drifting across the many shelves of books, photos, and other memorabilia. "It's probably because everything in here is a product of your mind, except for me. You're seeing me how I see myself, and I'm seeing you as you see yourself." She shook her head. "I think. This is very confusing."

Cedric laughed and stood up. "Sometimes I wonder if you aren't really a Ravenclaw pretending to be a Gryffindor."

"The Hat wanted to put me there," she said, unsure as to why she was saying so much to him. "I convinced it to Sort me to Gryffindor instead."

"My parents wanted me to be in Ravenclaw," Cedric admitted with a wry twist of his mouth. "Both of them were." Cedric sat down on the couch and stared at the chess board. "Sit," he ordered, contemplating the pieces, which, unlike normal pieces, didn't move or speak. Harry had never seen a muggle chess set before, but somehow knew that the set on the table was one. She sat on the couch opposite Cedric, noticing for the first time that she herself was dressed similarly to Cedric, but instead of flannels, she wore plain black leggings and her game tunic. "I know what most of the things in here are, what they represent," Cedric said slowly, not looking at her. "My teacher helped me to understand why my mind is organized the way it is, and how to use the basic organization to my benefit. But this chess match…" he trailed off, uncertain. "I don't know what it means." He smiled suddenly and looked over at her. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to put it all on you."

Harry shrugged, oddly unbothered. "It's fine." After a moment of silence - almost eerie, since the fire made no noises as a normal fire would - she asked, "Now what?"

It was Cedric's turn to shrug. "You've found this place. Now you've got to find Wood's."

Harry nodded stiffly. It was rather daunting, the prospect of going into an unconscious mind. There wouldn't be anything at all in the outermost layers, and she guessed that some of the layers that had been dormant in Cedric - the ones in which dreams took place - might be active for Oliver. "Right." She swallowed. "Do you think I should - I dunno - practice on someone else first? Just to make sure I can do it?"

Cedric shook his head immediately. "This is dangerous if the target doesn't have even the most basic Occlumency," he said seriously. "You've read the book. I know that Hermione explained the laws to you."

"But - "

"You'll be fine." Cedric left no room for argument. "Get us out of here."

She closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them again, she was looking into Neville's worried face.

"Oh, good," he said, the worry melting away. "You've been all trance-like for almost an hour."

"An hour!" Harry exclaimed, standing up and glancing over at Cedric, who was stretching out.

"That happened with my teacher and me too," Cedric explained. Hermione, who was seated on one of the many pillows in the room, looked up from a scroll of parchment covered with Neville's blockish handwriting.

"I read that time inside one's mind passes differently than time outside," she supplied easily. Fred, George, and Lee had left sometime during the session, although they'd been there at the start. "I timed it. You two were unresponsive for - " she glanced down at the watch on her wrist " - sixty-two minutes. How long did it feel like to you?"

"Maybe ten minutes," Harry estimated, and Cedric made a noise of agreement. "But it was worth it!"

Hermione nearly dropped Neville's parchment. "You got it!?" she gasped, excitement staining her voice.

"That's great, Harry," Neville agreed, beaming at her as the he, Harry, and Cedric joined Hermione on the floor.

"So when are you going to do Wood?" Hermione asked. "Can I come? We should see if there's a constant rate at which time-flow differs, so try and be a little more precise when you - "

"She should do it tomorrow," Cedric interrupted with a small smile. "After classes and everything. We don't know how long it'll take."

Hermione looked disappointed. "Yes, of course, that's very logical." She pulled the parchment with Neville's handwriting on it back towards her. "You've finished your Charm's essay, right, Harry?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yesterday. And I've done all my other studying too." Their finals were next week, and Hermione was on edge trying to cram in enough studying between searching through potions tomes and hypothesizing which other potion the Autumn Misery had been crossed with. Harry closed her eyes against the wavering light from the wall sconces. Legilimency was difficult, there was no denying it; it took levels of concentration beyond even that needed for Transfiguration.

"I'm going to bed now, I think," she said, interrupting Hermione as she explained to Neville the difference between the Levitation Charm and the Hovering Charm.

"I'll go too." She and Cedric stood, and after wishing Hermione and Neville goodnight, left. They walked in easy silence until they reached the place where they would separate, herself for the seventh floor and Cedric for the upper dungeons, as he'd told her they were called.

"Thanks for the - " she started to say, at the same time as Cedric said, "So, this is it." They both stopped, laughed nervously, and started again. "I guess I'll see you around," she said as Cedric said firmly, "I still want to help." They both laughed again, and this time Harry waited for Cedric to speak first.

"Whatever's happening, I want in. You seem to be the leader of your little group, and even though I'm not really part of it - " she made a noise of protest, which he ignored " - I'm still interested in what's happening. Just ask any Hufflepuff, and they'll pass the message along."

"You're my brother's godbrother," Harry blurted out. Cedric blinked, startled by the non-sequitor. "My mum," she hurried to explain, "was going to name your mum Alex's godmother before she died, so even though the ceremony never happened, and it's really informal and not recognized by the Ministry, you're almost like a brother, when you think about it." She squirmed. She wished she'd never said anything. "So you're part of the group too. If you want to be."

Cedric stared for a moment before smiling, a little uncertain. "I've always wanted a brother," he said, but there was something in his voice that wasn't quite normal. He sounded unsure about something.

"Er. Right." They stood at the intersection of corridors for a moment longer.

"Tomorrow after dinner in the hospital wing?" she asked

Cedric nodded, looking relieved to be back on a neutral subject. "Tomorrow. And don't bring everyone. Four is the most we should risk." They would be sneaking in, as they were almost certain that Madam Pomfrey was under whatever spell or curse the rest of the staff was.

"Goodnight," she said, turning and heading towards the nearest stairs leading upwards.

"Night," Cedric called after her.