"Go back to your dormitories and stay there," Snape ordered sternly, his fierce eyes jerking back and forth, "We will deal with the headmaster and your inevitable punishments in the morning." Haylie stood beside Damon, who stood a few inches taller than her, and sighed. Damon glanced at her and spoke the password to enter the Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady awoke and yawned, her plump legs kicking into her chair, which fell to the ground. Impatiently, Damon snapped the password once again and both children gave her icy frowns.
"Oh! See what you both made me do!" she yelled, getting up, "Fine, I will let you in." Once the door opened, both hurried to the stairs. Then they stopped looking at each other comfortably at the foot of the stairway. Out of politeness, Damon stepped back, leaving room for Haylie to proceed.
"Ladies first," Damon said quietly in his old arrogant way, not looking Haylie directly in the eyes. A few seconds later Haylie could feel her face grow warm as if she was blushing, but then it turned cool again as she remembered that Damon was the number one suspect in her search for the cloaked man's identity.
"Thank you," Haylie said sweetly, traveling up the steps, "Goodnight Damon."
"G'Night," Damon answered as they both went to their own dormitories. Haylie pushed open her door to see Eileen sitting up in bed, writing in some sort of diary. When she heard Haylie enter she jumped out of bed, overjoyed.
"You're alive! You're not hurt! Are you hurt?" Eileen yelled, wrapping her arms around Haylie. Now both Natalie and Corinne were wide-awake. Natalie, who knew nothing of the current situation, fell back onto her pillow and rolled over. Within seconds she was asleep. On the other hand, Corinne knew everything and climbed out of bed to give Haylie reassuring hug.
"So…what happened?" Corinne asked nosily, guiding Haylie over to her own bed.
"Well, I went to the graveyard," Haylie began to tell her story quietly, "and I sat down amongst the tombstones for a little while and then I heard this raspy voice from behind me. I turned and there was this person in a long, draping cloak. He almost resembled a Dementor. We both talked for a little while and he told me I was going to be used as a tool to bring down someone."
"Who?" Corinne asked, her eyes wide.
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me," Haylie continued, " Then he told me he would send me another letter about where to meet next and he told me I have to find out the passwords for all four houses and give them to him."
"You can't do that! That's like supplying him a victim that he can kill!" Eileen protested, shaking her head violently.
" I have to! He told me he would hurt someone, maybe even kill them! What if that person is one of you two! What if it's Hermione! I can't take that chance!" No one spoke for a moment. The tension after that last comment was heavy and Haylie knew why. This was probably the first time that Corinne and Eileen realized they were in real danger. By being Haylie's friend they were making themselves likely targets of the stalker's wrath.
"It won't be any of us, because we won't let him hurt anyone," Corinne finally whispered. Eileen nodded her head in instant agreement and both girls began asking more questions.
"So? Anything else happen?" Corinne asked.
"Well he then left the graveyard and I took a slight nap," Haylie smiled, "Then I woke up about twenty minutes ago by Damon Shockley pushing me awake! He was out in the graveyard."
"Really? Damon Shockley? That smart mouth kid?" Eileen couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, he was visiting a grave," Haylie bowed her head, thinking of his sad eyes as he had looked at the grave. She remembered those eyes, how they dimmed immediately when he laid them upon the tombstone.
"He was visiting his mother's grave," Haylie mumbled, tugging on a loose string hanging off her fuzz cotton pillow. It tore off and she placed it on the bed and wiped it to the edge with the back of her hand.
"Anyway…Snape came out and found us," Haylie frowned, scrunching her nose up, "So now I have those two as suspects for my case."
"Your case?" Eileen questioned.
"Yeah, I need to find the identity of this man," Haylie told them, taking out a piece of paper and a pen, "First names on my list, Snape and Shockley."
"Why Snape?" Corinne asked, looking truly puzzled about everything. Haylie gave her a weak smile and tried to explain.
"Because he showed up at the Hufflepuff Graveyard. What possible reason could he have for being there that late at night," Haylie repeated, realizing how hard making her list would be. There were a few clues she already had to help her.
"Okay…the person said that he needed the passwords for all four houses, but only mentioned one victim he was after…so there is no way of telling which house the victim will be in…"Haylie scratched her forehead. Nothing made sense to her tired brain this late at night. Obviously, she was not the only person exhausted and desperately craving for some shut-eye. Corinne yawned loudly, her eyes blood-shot and glassy. Even Eileen, who usually held the title as the life of the party, appeared tired as well.
"Why don't we finish this tomorrow," Haylie suggested, slowly opening her drawer and placing the paper and pen inside. She pushed it shut painstakingly.
"Good idea!" Eileen said jumping into bed and immediately falling asleep. Within two minutes Eileen began to snore loudly. Corinne, who seemed more tired than any of them, began to get impatient with Eileen's slumber activities. Once ten minutes had passed Corinne finally decided to do something about it. She grabbed her favorite stuffed bear, anger flashing in her eyes. Haylie really loved that bear as well. It was so soft! It felt like velvet and the little strips of thread that held it together shined in the light as if it was real, genuine silk. Corinne had told Haylie that she had purchased the red, white, and blue colored bear when she took a trip to America with her family. A small smile spread across Haylie's face as she watched Corinne through the darkness. The purpose of Corinne's action of picking up the bear and hurling it at the sleeping Eileen was evident.
"Oh!" Eileen yelled, sitting up instantly, "What did you do that for?"
"You need to shut up! Every night you snore hour after hour and I can never get some sleep, so tonight I'll make you stay awake!" Corinne yelled. Both girls stared daggers at each other, and Haylie's smile continued as she rolled over and fell asleep.
Since the next day was a Sunday, all three girls slept into the late hours of the morning. Neither of them woke up before 10:30am. Haylie was the first to awake and she tiptoed to where her paper and pen was hidden. Once she had retrieved her supplies she walked over to both Eileen's and Corinne's beds and shook them awake.
"Come on let's go get some breakfast and then we can come back up here and figure this list out," Haylie proposed. Corinne, although still half-asleep, nodded her head slowly. Eileen grunted in agreement and rolled back over. Haylie glared at her friend and Corinne assisted her friend in grabbing Eileen's legs and pulling her out from under her blankets.
"Fine! Fine, I'm up! Let's just go," Eileen snapped, grabbing the clothes she would wear for the day and dragging them into the bathroom. Corinne and Haylie decided to change in the room, since Natalie had left.
"Who do you think it was Haylie?" Corinne asked, facing the blank wall as she changed.
"I really don't know Corinne," Haylie admitted, facing the window in the opposite direction. An owl flew up above the trees and Haylie smiled as she saw students starting to filter out into the Hogwart's grounds.
"Why don't we go to that field around the lake? There's never anyone else there and I think we all need a little fresh air," Haylie said, wrapping a coat around herself and turning around. Corinne had also just finished dressing and it wasn't long until Eileen joined them.
A cold gust of wind whipped their faces as they traveled across the cracked stone bridge and down to the other side of the large, still lake. They were headed for the stone chairs, a nickname they had invented for the five large rocks sitting in a type of circular pattern. The spot was never used except for witches or wizards who had serious problems they had to think about. Once Haylie, Corinne, and Eileen arrived, they all chose one rock for themselves and sat upon them. Now rested and refreshed, the girls were ready to pick the suspects for their case.
"Okay, so lets get to work," Haylie said, "I really believe that the person he is after is in Gryffindor. I just don't know who the person is."
"Well, obviously the cloaked guy wasn't a girl, right? You said that the person had a raspy, male voice."
"He did have a male voice, but I could tell it was fake. I think the person was talking through one of those megaphones or had a spell put over them to disguise their voice. Honestly, I wouldn't rule out the girls," Haylie stated, writing on her parchment. Corinne lifted her chin a little and appeared to be thinking really hard. Haylie noticed that Eileen seemed nervous and wouldn't look Haylie directly in the eyes. This caught Haylie's attention and Haylie wrote Eileen's name in on the parchment under Snape and Damon. Then she also decided to add Corinne's as well. Haylie knew she couldn't trust anyone fully until the stalker was found.
"So what should we do?" Eileen asked, sighing. Haylie tried to think.
"I think we should concentrate on people in Gryffindor and in Slytherin. After all, they are the rivaling houses. So, let's name people from those houses and we can rule them out or add them to the list." Haylie picked up her pen and gazed up at her friends.
"How about Brent Clayton," Corinne said, excitedly. This was one name for the list.
"Of course! That boy has been so…evil from the beginning," Eileen added, nodding her head madly. Haylie wrote Brent's name down and marked an "S" beside it to indicate his current house.
"We are just naming people?" Eileen asked Haylie, "Any person?"
"Yeah, just go thought the houses and say the people we know of," Haylie told her.
"How about…Harry Potter?" Eileen asked, looking between Corinne and Haylie. Both of them shook their heads.
"Harry is the epitome of good," Haylie said, still shaking her head.
"Corey Price?" Haylie asked them, thinking of suspects from Slytherin.
"Yeah, he hangs out with Brent sometimes and he shaved Thomas Dillard's eyebrows off the third day of school," Eileen agreed, laughing. All of them couldn't help but smile while thinking back to Thomas the day after Corey had brutalized him. No hair was left where his eyebrows should have been. Haylie added Corey's name to the list.
"How about Thomas Dillard?" Corinne said, "after all, he never forgave Corey." Haylie decided not to add his name.
"Ginny Weasley," Eileen suggested, thinking of random people. Haylie shook her head.
"Ron Weasley?" Haylie had to think about this one. She ultimately decided to put Ron on the suspect list.
"Colin Creevey," Corinne said, pretending to take a picture. They all laughed and both Eileen and Haylie said no.
"Jenna Jacobson." No.
"Alexander Darien." No
"Parvati Patil," Eileen mentioned.
"Actually, she always did seem a bit…conniving to me. Lets put her down," Haylie said, writing her name down.
"Elvin Danebridge," Eileen added.
"No. Remember he was in coma for days," Haylie said, the incident still bringing an unwelcome tear to her eye. She wiped it away quickly and proceeded on.
"Hermione," Corinne whispered, so Haylie could almost not hear. Haylie hadn't thought of that. Honestly, she didn't want to think about that. Sensing the tension, Eileen decided to add a different name.
"Rose Forbes," Eileen said. Very likely. Suddenly, the noise of small tree branches cracking reached their ears. All three spun around to see Rose Forbes standing there.
"I heard my name," Rose said coolly, walking toward their seating places, "What are you three up to? Having fun?" Haylie was the first to answer, after she slammed her notebook shut and placed it behind the rock. Rose's eyebrows furrowed.
"We were just enjoying the scenery. You don't see a view like this in down-town London," Haylie chirped, trying her best to fake smile. Rose's eyebrows rose even higher as she observed Haylie, Corinne, and Eileen.
"Well….we'll just be going then," Eileen said, standing on her feet and jumping off her rock, "After all, we do have that report on the Hitchupek Potion." Corinne and Haylie nodded. Haylie grabbed her notebook and hid it under her jacket, not wanting Rose to know what they were up to.
"Okay, bye," Rose muttered under her breath. Haylie sighed and glanced back at Rose as they reached the end of the bridge.