Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own.
Things couldn't have been worse.
Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Phoebe was looking at the window like an escape route. Excuses, alibis and wild cover- up stories chased each other around Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last. He couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak? There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak and they might as well be packing their bags already. Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse.
He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.
"Harry, Phoebe!" Neville burst out the moment he saw the other two. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag-." Harry and Phoebe shook their heads violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.
"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves." No one did. "I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on. It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"
Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering Neville... Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.
"I'm disgusted. Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing since-." She stopped abruptly before shaking her head and beginning again: "Ms. Black, I had faith you would do better. Consider me very disappointed." Phoebe ducked her head, blinking fast as though she were about to cry. "As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions. Yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous. And fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."
"Fifty?" Harry gasped. They would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.
"Fifty points each." Professor McGonagall told them, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.
"Professor, please, you can't-."
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."
A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could they ever make up for this? Harry didn't sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours. Harry couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done?
At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points. Him, the violent little Black girl and some fumbling moron.
From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup.
Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering:
"Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"
It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on. He'd had it with sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team.
"Resign?" Wood thundered. "What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"
But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him 'the Seeker'.
Phoebe and Neville were suffering, too. Nobody would speak to Neville and Phoebe got more comments about her 'bad family' than ever.
Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying he had to do kept his mind off his misery. He, Thomas, Phoebe and Serena kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions...
Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.
"No... no... Not again, please..." It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer. "All right... all right..." He heard Quirrell sob.
The next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry was halfway toward it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not meddling. All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Sorcerer's Stones that Snape had just left the room. From what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step; Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.
Harry went back to the library, where the other three were sullenly studying. Harry told them what he'd heard.
"Snape's done it, then!" Phoebe slammed her book shut. "He'll get the dumb stone because our teacher couldn't keep his mouth shut." She was in a horrid mood, as she always seemed to be since their epic failure and points loss.
"There's still Fluffy, though." Serena reminded them, trying to sound hopeful. She failed.
"So what do we do? Set Snape on fire again? Maybe a nice poisoned cake for him?" Thomas suggested, playing with his quill.
"Let's go to the other teachers." Serena suggested urgently.
"Yeah, because the adults of this school really like us and are all completely trustworthy." Phoebe agreed sarcastically.
"Besides, we've got no proof!" Harry pointed out. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor. Who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him. Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."
"If we just go-." Thomas started.
"No." Harry told them flatly. "We've done enough poking around." He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.
"It's adorable that you think you're in charge of all of us. Come on, Tommy-boy, let's go make sure Fluffy's still growling." Phoebe suggested. She and Thomas got up and hurried off. Serena looked at Harry hopelessly but then scrambled up and ran to follow them, leaving Harry feeling miserable by himself.
The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Phoebe, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:
Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.
Professor McGonagall
Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in the furor over the points they'd lost. They went through the day dreading nightfall.
At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Thomas and Serena in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there. And so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.
"Follow me." Filch told them, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh? Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."
They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.
The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started." Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. His relief must have showed in his face, because Filch spoke up again:
"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy. It's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."
At this, Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.
"The forest?" He repeated and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night there's all sorts of things in there. Werewolves, I heard." Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.
"That's your problem, isn't it?" Filch questioned, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.
"Abou' time." He said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Phoebe?"
"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid." Filch said coldly, they're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yer late, is it?" Hagrid asked, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn for what's left of them." With that, Filch turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.
"I'm not going in that forest." He said and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.
"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts." Hagrid told him fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it."
"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this-."
"He'd tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts." Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on." Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.
"My father will hear about this." Phoebe mocked and Malfoy hit at her. She hit his shoulder back and then Hagrid was pulling them apart before a full on fist-fight started.
"There'll be no fightin'." He scolded. He started at them for a moment to make sure they didn't start back up again and then continued: "Right then. Now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."
He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.
"Look there. See that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy asked, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang." Hagrid assured them. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."
"I want Fang." Malfoy said quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward. So me, Phoebe, an' Neville'll go one way an' Draco, Harry, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now. That's it. An' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh. So, be careful. Let's go."
And they set off.