The next morning, Harry got a mirror call from Sirius. "We found out who enchanted that Bludger to go after you, Harry," Sirius said, looking annoyed. "It was Dobby. He showed up at our house around midnight and asked why Lia and I didn't just pull you out of Hogwarts after what happened. He clarified that he wasn't looking to kill you, but hoped that you'd get injured enough to get sent home or have us so concerned about your safety that we'd bring you home."

"Wait, what?" Harry asked incredulously. "I figured that he'd stop to barrier to keep me from Hogwarts, but I never though Dobby would continue to get me out of Hogwarts."

Sirius sighed. "Dobby apparently is very concerned for your safety, especially as it looks like the plot is being carried out. Unfortunately, he can't give any details about it, just confirm what we already know, which is that it involves Tom Riddle and Mr. Malfoy did something to set it in motion. Lia is horrified at Dobby's treatment and the punishments he did on himself for trying to keep you out of Hogwarts, so now Eric and I are also tasked with somehow getting Dobby out of the Malfoy's employ and placed in ours."

Considering how miserable that Dobby looked the one time Harry had seen him, and the knowledge that there were wizards that were awful to house elves, Harry liked the idea of getting Dobby out of working for the Malfoys. "Is it possible to buy Dobby from Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked. "Since house elves are seen as property."

"Yes, but I don't think Lucius Malfoy would sell Dobby to me," Sirius answered. "And if he did, he'd probably ask for something outrageous, like a million Galleons or casting out Lia and Matt for being a stain on the Black name or something like that. So Eric and I will have to come up with something else."

"I'm sure you two will think of something, Uncle Sirius. Oh, Hermione says I should tell you that the Gryffinclaws are acting a little weird. Colin didn't turn up for the Halloween feast, which meant the other three left in the middle of it to look for him, and when they found him, he had no memory of anything that happened since he left for the bathroom just before dinner. Colin had some paint on his robes and has a feeling that he might have had something to do with Mrs. Norris, but when the AA pressed him, he said one of his dormmates probably slipped him a potion that made him forget things."

"Are you sure Colin wasn't being controlled?" Sirius asked, looking worried.

"Someone, I think it was Hannah, brought it up, pointing out Professor Quirrell was possessed last year, but the Gryffinclaws didn't think that's what going on with Colin," said Harry. "They asked us to just leave them alone so they could go vent in their group diary."

"Hmm, it does sound strange," Sirius mused. "Keep an eye on the Gryffinclaws and if they continue acting weird, let Lia or me know so we can look into it, Harry."

Harry promised and then they ended the connection.

Later that day, in the late afternoon, Colin was found Petrified by one of the boy's bathrooms, his camera clutched in his hands in front of his face, as students were heading to the Great Hall for dinner. Professor Dumbledore wretched the camera out of Colin's grasp and opened it, perhaps in hope of seeing if the boy had managed to get a picture of his attacker. However, the camera opened with a hiss, revealing that the film inside had melted. Rumors and speculation flew as Professor McGonagall levitated Colin's stiff body to the Hospital Wing and Professor Flitwick sought out the three other Gryffinclaws and explained what happened.

After dinner, the AA asked Liam, Ginny, and Luna if they knew what led to Colin's Petrification. "I have no memory of this afternoon, until Colin was found Petrified!" Liam exclaimed, looking upset. "The last thing I remember is writing in our diary. At some point I said I had to go to the bathroom and left with the diary in my hands."

"When he didn't return after half an hour, we went looking for him," Ginny said. "Colin went to check out the boys' bathrooms, while Luna and I looked through the rest of the school. An hour later we found Liam, who had no memory of the past couple of hours, and right after that, Colin was discovered."

"Er, why would you go to the bathroom with your group diary, Liam?" Terry asked.

"I don't know!" Liam snapped. "I have no memory of it, anyway! The important thing is that one of my best friends is Petrified!"

"I know that's upsetting, but you having no memory of half the afternoon isn't good either," said Susan. "And walking off with a diary?"

"That doesn't matter!" Luna insisted, her voice starting to rise, which was unusual for her. "Liam probably walked off with it absent-mindedly. I've been known to do the same. Colin Creevy is Petrified and we're not going to get him back until he can be revived! That's going to take months! He'll miss most of first-year!"

"And you know how excited Colin was to start Hogwarts!" cried Ginny, almost hysterically. "He's already missed his first Halloween feast. How is he going to feel over missing out on the rest of year, since the mandrakes for the revival potion are going to take months to mature?"

"Calm down," said Harry. "I can write to Healer Ellie and see if she can get her hands on the potion, or at least on some mature mandrakes so that Professor Snape can brew it. I'm sure Colin will only have to be Petrified for no more than a week or two."

"And what if she can't?" Luna snapped. "It's not your friend that's lying in a bed in the hospital wing, stiff as stone! You weren't sitting by his bedside as the rest of the school were eating dinner, too upset over what happened to him to try to eat and only leaving when Madam Pomfrey made you go. So don't go telling us to calm down."

The AA, especially Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville (who knew Luna best), were quite shocked, for this was totally unlike her usual demeanor. Finally Neville cleared his throat. "Luna has a point. It's going to be hard for Healer Ellie to get her hands on mature mandrakes at this time of year. They're only mature in spring, and even with preservation spells, they usually last no more than a few months after being harvested. She's better off getting the Mandrake Restorative Draught, but it's not like St. Mungo's or apothecaries have lots of it on hand, since it's not a potion that's commonly needed, especially compared to ones like Pepper-Up Potion or antidotes."

"But the Mandrake Restorative Draught is used to restore those that have been cursed or suffered a transfiguration accident back to normal," Justin said, looking confused. "Shouldn't there be more call for it, considering how easily those accidents can happen?"

"Most magical accidents and curses can usually be dealt with in other ways," Anthony explained. "If, for example, Lockhart had succeeded in getting past Harry's godparents to try to heal Harry of his broken arm but vanished the bones instead, the Mandrake Restorative Draught wouldn't be used to rectify it. Harry would take Skele-Gro instead, since that potion is meant specifically for growing bones. It's the severe stuff that can't be cured in other ways that would require the use of the Mandrake -"

"SHUT UP!" Liam interrupted angrily. "All that matters is that it's needed in this case to revive Colin, but the potion and the main ingredient for it are hard to get right now, so it'll probably take months before he can be revived! You guys aren't helping us right now, just focusing on stuff that has no real bearing on what happened to our friend or telling us to calm down when none of you have any idea what we're going through right now!"

"He's right," snapped Ginny, also looking angry. "And so is Luna. None of you have any idea how upset we feel. In fact, I wish one you would get Petrified so you can know what it's like to have a close friend lying stiff and helpless in the Hospital Wing and deal with well-meaning idiots telling you to calm down or talk about meaningless stuff!"

The AA looked shocked and Ron opened his mouth to try to apologize to his sister and explain that the AA didn't mean to upset them. The Gryffinclaws didn't give him a chance, with Luna saying coldly, "Don't bother, you'll only make things worse. None of you know what we're going through, and I agree with Ginny, maybe one of you should be Petrified just so you have some idea." She then stood up, Ginny and Liam doing the same, and the three stalked out the Room of Requirement, slamming the door behind them.

When the AA got over their shock, Ron said weakly, "Blimey. I knew Ginny had a temper and we saw Liam get mad that one time, but I never thought they could get this mad. And Luna being like this never happens. The only time I saw her upset was when her mum died, and then she just cried a bit for a few days."

"Yes, but we probably were coming across as a bit insensitive," Lavender said. "They're obviously going to be upset over what happened to Colin and less so about Liam going off to the bathroom and having no memory of it or anything else until Ginny and Luna found him."

"I can't imagine how I'd react if one of you was Petrified," Theodore said with a shudder. "But I can understand where the Gryffinclaws are coming from."

Harry pulled out his two-way mirror and called Sirius. To say that his godfather wasn't happy with the news was an understatement. After all, the Creevys were distant cousins to the Blacks, and Sirius had volunteered to be Colin's (and also Dennis's once he started Hogwarts) sponsor in the wizarding world. Sirius was quite ready to Apparate to Hogsmeade then and there and go storming up to the school to check on Colin and confront Professor Dumbledore over how this could have happened. Lia and Remus just managed to keep him from running off to Hogwarts until he'd calmed down and could think straight, reminding him of what happened the last time he let his emotions get the better of him and did something rash (getting framed by Wormtail and ending up stuck in Azkaban for over eight years).

Once Sirius calmed down somewhat, he spat, "I will find out what's going on and pin the cause for Colin's Petrification on Lucius Malfoy! He's not going to get away for instigating this plot and I'll make him pay! Handing over Dobby to my employ is going to be the start of it. And I will have Ellie and Eric get started on procuring either mature mandrakes or the restorative potion immediately. I don't care if they're out of season or not in stock. There has to be a greenhouse that grows them out of season or an apothecary with a few doses in their stores. Money's no object and Ellie and Eric will be authorized to spend however much of my money they need to get Colin restored."

After a week, Eric found a greenhouse that did grow mandrakes out of season. However, only about ten of the plants were mature (as the owners of greenhouse staggered the growth of the mandrakes they had), and it took the offer of three hundred Galleons to sell five of them to Sirius rather than to the usual customers of St. Mungo's and any apothecaries. Ellie didn't feel it was her place to take any of the Mandrake Restorative Potion in stock at St. Mungo's, so she went to the three apothecaries that were in Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and Knockturn Alley. After a great deal of persuasion, the one in Hogsmeade sold their entire stock of the potion (consisting of three flasks containing four doses each), but charged a hundred Galleons per flask to cover the expense of having to procure more mandrakes and brew another batch.

Sirius personally delivered the five mature mandrakes to Professor Snape for brewing into the restorative potion and then handed over the three flasks to potion to Madam Pomfrey, who immediately proceeded to revive Colin and Mrs. Norris. Filch was overjoyed to have his cat back, while Colin met up with his very relieved friends. Sirius and Professor McGonagall then questioned Colin about what he remembered before he got Petrified.

"I was looking for Liam when he didn't return from going to the bathroom," Colin answered. "I was on my way to the second floor bathroom when I thought I heard a faint hissing noise. I ducked behind a statue and since I had my camera on me, decided to see if I could get any photos of whatever was making the noise. The last thing I remember seeing a pair of really large yellow eyes through my camera lens, and I think there was something green around the eyes. Maybe it was face?"

"Hmm, there aren't that many creatures that are green," said Sirius thoughtfully. "It's mostly birds that will have green plumage, and of course snakes and toads and other reptiles and amphibians are known to be green. But none of them are said to Petrify anyone."

"Well, considering Slytherin's penchant for snakes, I would say it has to be a snake," Professor McGonagall pointed out. "Perhaps Colin's seeing the creature, or its eyes anyway, through his camera made a difference in how it affected it him, which explains why he was Petrified."

"Good point," said Sirius. "I'll investigate further with Eric. Anyway, I'm very happy to see that you've taken no lasting harm from this, Colin, but I will do my utmost to find out exactly how this happened to you and make the instigator of it all pay." Seeing Colin's alarmed look, Sirius hastened to add, "Don't worry, they'll only pay legally for their actions. I'm not going to go after them with a vendetta and exact vengeance."

Colin nodded and was then dismissed to resume hanging out with his friends. The Gryffinclaws sought out the AA and apologized for their harsh words from the previous week and were told that it was all right, the AA understood the quartet had just been horribly upset over Colin's plight, which made them act out of character.

Author's Note: I decided to come up with an explanation as to why Hogwarts had to wait until the mandrakes that Professor Sprout was growing was mature in order to revive those Petrified. It is possible that other fanfic writers may have come up with the reason of mandrakes only being season in June and not having a very long shelf life, even with Stasis or Preservation Charms/Spells. And I figured the school couldn't spare hundreds of galleons out of their budget to get a few out-of-season mandrakes or a rarely made potion to revive those Petrified.