Harry rolled out of bed, his wand out and ready.
His mind went over the limited number of attack spells that he knew and he cursed at himself for not learning more of them and more quickly. Black was a full grown wizard, and even if he didn't have a wand, he had a knife.
"Are you all right, Ron?" Harry asked, his eyes scanning for any sign of the intruder.
"Bloody 'ell no. Sirius Black almost got me with a knife!" Ron's face was pale and his expression was terrified.
The light from the end of Harry's wand illuminated the room in shadows as he carefully moved around Ron's bed.
Their other roommates were groggily turning on the lights, muttering in confusion.
Seeing no one else in the room, Harry reached the dormitory door and paused. Black had a knife and he could be waiting on the other side of the door. He'd watched enough Muggle horror movies through the
gaps in the boards of his cupboard to know that this was where the killer would be waiting behind the door.
Someone would rush down to warn the others, and they'd be the first to die.
He grimaced and shoved the door open. There was no one visible in the staircase below, so he sprinted down it hoping to catch up with Black before he escaped again.
The confused voices that were rising in his wake didn't bother him. All he cared about was getting to Black.
Black had killed his parents. He'd murdered an untold number of Muggles and all the pain in Harry's life...living with the Dursleys, everything was his fault, his responsibility.
For a moment he thought he saw a shadow moving low and fast. It didn't seem human. Before he could go after it he ran into Percy, who stopped him from moving any further.
After that there was chaos.
Harry didn't bother to listen to the denials or the accusations. He could see people's body language, and it told him all he needed to know. The sudden realization of danger, the weak kneed feeling of fear. It was all there.
The only surprise was that Neville Longbottom had written down all the passwords and had lost them, leaving everyone vulnerable to being murdered.
All Harry could think was that he'd had his chance at Black and he'd lost it.
He tried to focus on that, because the other thought, that Black could have murdered him in his sleep was much too frightening to contemplate.
Being more vigilant and faster was the only way he'd be able to survive.
No one slept the rest of the night, waiting huddled in the common room as they waited for the teachers to search the castle yet again.
George and Fred pulled him into an unused classroom the next morning.
"Our little brother almost got murdered last night," Fred said, or maybe it was George. The other brother finished the sentence. "And while we like to give him a hard time, we love little Ronnikins."
"Black was after me," Harry said. "I know."
"The sooner they catch him, the sooner we can get back to business," one of the brothers said. "That's why we're offering you this."
"It hurts us to give it to you, but you need it more than we do," one brother said,
"Matter of life and death after all," the other said. "Besides, mum would kill us if somebody killed you and there was something we could have done."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"It's the secret to our success," George said. "We found it in Filch's office."
"Take a look," Fred said. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
The parchment he was holding was blank, but moments later words appeared, followed by a map of the castle. There were dots on the map, and they were moving.
Harry stared, flabbergasted.
"Is that what I think it is?"
The twins nodded in unison. "It's got everybody in Hogwarts. We've been looking for Black all morning, but haven't found him."
"The chamber of secrets isn't on this map," Harry pointed out.
After the debacle last year, Amethyst had spent part of the summer exploring the plumbing until she'd found the chamber of secrets. It had caused a stir, as Wizarding historians had clamored for the chance to explore Slytherin's lair abandoned for a thousand years and left untouched.
Amethyst had only been unset that there hadn't been any basilisk's eggs to eat; if there had been she claimed she'd have made an omelet.
"If one part of the castle isn't on the map, there might be others," Harry said. "For all we know, he might actually be hiding in the chamber."
He studied the map closely, scanning for Black's name.
He paused on one unfamiliar name.
"Do either of you know a Peter Pettigrew?" Harry asked.
George stared at Fred, and they both shook their heads.
"He's not one of the teachers, and there aren't any students by that name," Fred said. "We should know; we've pranked everybody."
"The name seems familiar for some reason," Harry said.
"Why don't we look into the matter," both brothers said at once.
With a glance, they were all in agreement. They left the classroom, uneasily passing the new watch trolls guarding the Gryffindor common room. The lady sat uneasily in her slashed picture, staring suspiciously out at everyone.
Steven wouldn't be visiting their common room anytime soon.
Security was being beefed up in other ways. Filch was boarding up windows and doors. Amethyst was patrolling the halls more diligently.
Even Peridot seemed to be trying to help, building what looked like overly complicated but purely mechanical contraptions at key points throughout the castle. Supposedly these would help capture Black if he could be driven into them.
As they passed through one hall they could hear Professor McGonagall telling Peridot that students still had to actually use the hall during the day.
Seeing Malfoy hanging upside down in a net twenty feet up in the air made Harry feel suddenly better.
They passed through more halls, and Harry saw Ron surrounded by a group of other students. Undoubtedly he was telling his story for the twentieth time this morning. He seemed to enjoy his newfound fame.
Harry couldn't begrudge that; being almost murdered made for a great story later. It didn't make up for being almost killed in the first place, of course.
"He's in Hagrid's hut," Harry said. He stopped. "I don't think we're allowed to go there."
"When did you ever listen to what was allowed?" George asked.
"I can get you there," Amethyst's voice came from behind them. She looked over Harry's shoulder. "Nice map."
"Um..."George said.
Amethyst was in a strange position. She was a semi-official part of the castle staff, but she didn't act like any of the others.
"I'm taking Steven to see Hagrid anyway," Amethyst said. "You might as well come along."
Steven joined them shortly afterward, and they headed down the grassy slopes toward Hagrid's hut. For once there weren't a mass of students wandering around; there was no one in sight. Everyone had been restricted to the castle for the day without an official escort.
""Arry!" Hagrid seemed surprised to see them.
Harry glanced inside; other than Fang, he didn't see anybody else. A quick look at the map showed a Peter Pettigrew inside.
"Do you have anybody in there with you?" Harry asked.
Hagrid shook his massive head, then stepped aside to let them in.
"I don't think this thing is working," Harry said. He glanced at the map again, then took five steps forward. There still was no one obviously there.
It occurred to Harry that he might not be the only person in the world to have an invisibility cloak. He slowly reached into his pocket to pull out his wand.
"It's good to see you again, Hagrid," Harry said loudly.
At least Hagrid's floor was dusty. If there was someone invisible, they might leave a trail.
"It's good ter see you again," Hagrid said, a perplexed look on his face. Harry could tell that Hagrid wanted to ask questions, but he shook his head slightly.
It was only as he stepped forward again, staring at the floor where Pettigrew was supposedly standing that he saw something small.
It was Scabbers!
"Stupify," Harry shouted. Light blazed from his wand, and the rat jumped, before laying stunned on the floor.
Harry bent down and carefully grabbed the rat.
"Ron's going to be so happy that his rat's not dead," Harry said. "And he's been calling him by the wrong name all these years."
"Oh?" George asked. "It was brother Percy who named the thing."
"Yeah," Harry said. "Apparently his real name is Peter Pettigrew."
Hagrid stared at him for a moment, then down at the rat in his hand. He looked up at Harry again. An odd expression appeared on his face, one that Harry couldn't decipher through all the hair on his beard.
Harry glanced back at the others; no one else seemed to know anything about whatever it was that was bothering Hagrid.
"We've got ter see the 'eadmaster," Hagrid said firmly. He looked at George and Fred. "Can one of you boys make a cage the rat can't get out of?"
Fred and George grinned and said, "Usually we're the rats trying to get out of the cage, so we know how to make them."
A moment later they'd transfigured one of Hagrid's rock cakes into a serviceable cage for the rat. Even if the spell reverted, the rock cakes were so hard that they'd make a perfectly adequate cage on their own. It would take even a rat days to gnaw its way out of one.
Hagrid grabbed him by the shoulder, holding it uncomfortably tight.
Harry couldn't help but wonder if he was in trouble. He'd found Ron's rat and as far as he knew he hadn't done anything wrong, but in his experience, adults didn't need much justification to assign blame.
The cage in his hands felt oddly heavy for some reason, not just with weight but with portents for the future.