Only two hours passed before the light of the sun began to peak through the trees of the dark forest. Supposedly the sun is supposed to rise at 1:00am, but the sun never showed itself that quickly at Hogwarts, for the thousands of trees in the dark forest served as a shield, from the sun and from the enemies of the wizard world. Haylie sighed; opening her eyes and seeing Eileen's face close to her own.
"Come on Haylie, wake up!" Eileen snapped in a hushed whisper. Haylie groaned angrily, and pushed herself upright, her arms aching as she moved them. At the other end of the couch, Corinne was trying desperately to wake Damon, who was lying on his stomach, snoring obnoxiously.
"Come on Damon! Wake up already!" Corinne yelled, punching his back. He shrieked and jumped up, his chin narrowly missing Corinne's. Corinne shook her head in disgust and showed her attitude by placing her fists on her hips and tilting her head slightly.
"It's about time," Corinne muttered tiredly, "I've been trying to wake you for two minutes."
"Sorry," Damon mumbled, his hair sticking up in all directions. He rubbed his temples, and ruffled his brown locks, messing his hair even more. Eileen and Corinne walked back to their chairs and sat down, wide-awake and ready for an explanation of the previous night's events. Damon and Haylie glanced at each other, both so tired and wanting to go to bed. Suddenly, Haylie remembered her curiosity about the defeaters of the defeaters and turned to face Damon.
"Do you know who the defeaters of the defeaters are?" Haylie asked him, her eyes wide with curiosity. Before Damon could reply, Corinne cut in with a question of her own.
"Wait! Stop right there," Corinne said, "What happened? Why is he here?"
"Was he out there with you?" Eileen asked, her right eyebrow arching highly above her eyelid. Haylie took a deep breath, and both she and Damon began to tell their tale. Eileen and Corinne couldn't believe any of it. Firstly, Damon had been their number one suspect for some time, and now it was proven that he was not the cloaked figure. Secondly, they were as perplexed as Haylie was about the defeaters of the defeaters. Now, Haylie's rest-deprived eyes were beginning to burn. It was time for her to get some much-needed slumber. Damon was the first to bring this idea to the table.
"Let's continue this little question and answer session of ours later," Damon yawned, lifting himself on his feet, "A man needs his sleep." Eileen rolled her eyes, but both Corinne and her agreed after they saw Haylie also climb to her feet.
"Let's go girls," Haylie said, "I'm tired as well." Damon and the girls parted at the separate gender stairwells, with a casual "goodbye." Now, all three girls were walking down the long hallway of dorms filled with sleeping females. Once again, approaching Hermione's door, Haylie felt a draft of chilly air. Remembering closing Hermione's open window before, Haylie poked her head inside the room to see her sister back under her covers, sleeping soundly. As Haylie smiled, she was hit by a second gust of freezing cold wind that forced the open window to slam against the wall. Not wanting any of the room's inhabitants to wake, Haylie ran over to the window and shut it for the second time in one night.
"Why did you go in Hermione's room?" Eileen asked when Haylie entered her room.
"The window was open again," Haylie replied, climbing into her bed.
"Open? Again?" Corinne said, confused. Haylie tried to shut her eyes and fall asleep, but the nagging feeling of dread kept blackening her mind. If Damon was not the cloaked figure, then who was it? At that moment Haylie realized that it could be anyone, even her own friends.
"friends….and family," Haylie whispered so only she could hear the fearful remark that had plagued her all night long.
"Let's go to the library after breakfast," Haylie suggested to Damon, Corinne, and Eileen. It was Saturday morning, just a few short hours after Haylie and Damon's disturbing encounter with the cloaked figure. After making up for the sleep they had lost, Damon, Haylie, and her two best friends needed to discuss the clues they had been given and what they were going to do with they information they had gained. Now all four first-years entered the library and sat down at one of the small round tables near the open glass windows. Haylie dropped her notebook on the wooden table and pulled out a chair for herself, waiting for her friends to sit down before asking any questions. As soon as they were all seated comfortably, Haylie turned to Damon without wasting any time.
"Do you know who the defeaters of the defeaters are?" Haylie questioned him, her eyes trying to read his.
"Yes, I do," Damon answered her, taking his crystal blue eyes away from her and lowering them to the table. A sad feeling came over Haylie as she suddenly realized what he was about to explain to them. All of a sudden she understood what the cloaked figure was talking about; she remembered something Damon had told her in their first meeting in the Ravenclaw graveyard a few months before.
"The Muggle-Born defeaters," Haylie thought out loud. Though she spoke very softly and quietly, Damon heard, and peered up at Haylie. For a moment both Damon and Haylie completely understood each other. Haylie could feel his buried pain and Damon could sense her intense fear and pity. While all this was taking place, Eileen and Corinne were glancing curiously between the two, not knowing what type of ESP was occurring.
"Um…Haylie," Corinne muttered, bending her head slightly so she could look at Haylie's lowered face.
"Does that mean that the Defeaters of the Defeaters are the people who defeated the Muggle-born Defeaters?" Haylie asked directly to Damon. He nodded somberly.
"What?" Eileen questioned, obviously completely confused. At this point in time Haylie blocked out all trespassing voices such as Eileen's. All she thought about was the task put in front of her.
"Why does the figure want to know about them?" Haylie asked, opening this question to all. Corinne and Eileen stared at each other blankly, while Damon seemed to lose himself to the scenic views of the Hogwarts grounds, which were widely visible through the large glass window beside their table. Immediately, Haylie also fixed her eyes upon the rolling emerald hills, still growing lushly throughout the cold winter and the lake, just now starting to melt away. Something about the scenic view eased her fear, and pushed her forward with her urgent planning.
"Do you know Damon?"
"No I don't," was his mumbled reply.
Hogwarts was usually still in the middle of the night. The students were usually sleeping silently, while dreaming of subjects unknown to any other soul. In the darkness of this night Haylie rose from her bed quickly and hurried to her bureau. She flipped through the pages of her large Muggle Defeaters encyclopedia, trying desperately to find the conformation to her newly realized answer.
"Come on! Where is it," Haylie growled angrily, her eyes flashing. Natalie shifted under her covers, making her old wooden bed creek loudly. Both Corinne and Eileen were emerging from sleep now, as well, and stared at Haylie blankly with tired eyes.
"Hay, what are you doing?" Eileen grunted, rubbing her itchy eyes. Haylie didn't have time to answer any questions. Corinne lifted herself out of bed and tiptoed over to Haylie, peering over her shoulder at the book. Eileen soon followed, grunting miserably as she slowly made her way to Haylie's side.
"Are you going to freely tell us what this is all about or are we gonna have to pry it out of you," Eileen snapped, her face highlighted eerily from the soft golden light of Haylie's burning candle. The sweet aroma of warn vanilla wafted around the girls as they looked back and forth between each other. Finally, Haylie turned to face Eileen and took a long, deep breath.
"I just had a dream," Haylie explained, her eyes wide and alert.
"Was it a premonition?" Corinne asked, moving from behind Haylie to Eileen's side. Haylie shook her head.
"No, it was…..I don't know. I don't even remember it that well," Haylie told them. Once again Natalie kicked around in her bed, her face scrunching and her eyes very close to opening. All three girls waited till they were sure Natalie was completely asleep. They could hear her breathing softly, a sure sign she was in a deep slumber.
"All I remember is one thing," Haylie's voice fell to a soft whisper, "In the dream I found out why the cloaked figure kidnapped the Honeyduke children….and I know where the figure is keeping them."