In the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were huddled together and whispering animatedly to one another. They were discussing how to proceed with their plan of using the newly brewed Polyjuice Potion to discover the identity of the Slytherin's heir.
Just when they agreed to wait, a loud blaring klaxon sounded from all directions.
Students milled around confused while covering their ears, not knowing what to do. Hermione, Harry, and other Muggle-raised had an idea of what they were hearing and why, and so they wondered where the meeting point during emergencies even was.
Fortunately for their eardrums, Professor McGonagall swept into the room and waved her wand, and cut off the noise, much to the Gryffindor's relief.
"Well," she barked, "Emergency procedure, prefects. Are all the students accounted for?"
The prefects, including Percy, looked at each other cluelessly.
McGonagall huffed and waved her wand and a list appeared in her hands. "Oh dear," she muttered and then said in a louder voice, "No one leaves the room through this portrait. I'll investigate why the alarm was sounded."
"Professor, what's going on? What if there's a fire?" Hermione called out, looking quite worried.
"Preposterous. Now, stay here!" With that, the professor left.
Students looked at one another faces full of bafflement and fear. Some had even started crying.
One of the prefects called out, "I don't know what these emergency procedures are, but the idea of a headcount makes sense. Please, send one of you to each dorm to see if you find any classmates there and ask them to come down. The prefects will cover the bathrooms.
Harry and Hermione jumped up to look for their second-year classmates while Ron waited.
Meanwhile, a Muggle-raised prefect sorted the students into year groups and soon Ron was joined by all the second-year girls of their house, as well as Harry and Seamus.
"Where are Dean and Neville?" Ron asked and Seamus shrugged but before he could answer, Percy came up to them and asked, "Everyone accounted for?"
"No, Dean and Neville are missing," Ron answered.
"I think Neville went to the greenhouses," Hermione added, and Percy nodded and wrote it down.
"And Dean wanted to ask Nearly Headless Nick something for our History essay, I think," Seamus added.
"All right, thanks." Percy nodded, wrote that down as well, and went to the worried-looking first-years.
The second-years heard him ask, "Where's Ginny?" and saw the smaller students shrug while looking worried.
At that moment, the portrait door opened, and a slightly dirty Neville trotted in. He looked slightly taken aback because of all the eyes staring at him and the students calling out asking him if he knew what was going on.
Neville shook his head bewildered, came over to his year mates, and was filled in immediately.
"There was no alarm at the greenhouses. At least, I don't think so, but I was wearing earmuffs because I was helping Professor Sprout with the Mandrakes. She didn't leave or anything, either. It was all very calm and normal."
"Strange," Hermione mused. "I really would like to know the emergency procedures. There's nothing on the board. I looked in our first year. And why did she say it was preposterous to ask about a possible fire?"
"Uh, I think all houses are warded against fire and other natural disasters like floods, right?" Neville explained.
"Really? I didn't know that! Do you know where I would need to look in the library about wards? This is immensely interesting!" Hermione asked excitedly.
"Uh, I don't know. Maybe in the runes section?" Neville guessed.
Harry agreed with Hermione that it was very interesting, but he was more worried about the still missing students right now. He watched Ron conferring with his brothers when the twins jumped up and raced up the stairs, while one of them was pulling a parchment out of his pocket.
Ron came over, "The twins have a way of tracking Ginny, they say, but they don't want to tell us how they do it. So, we wait," he scowled.
Quite some time later, the twins walked down the stairs again, looking rather bemused. They moved towards their brothers and the second years. "Er…Ginny, right. She's on her way up, we think. She's right next to another person, so it was a little hard to see… uh… get a lock on her?" George said, looking uncertain. "She should be here in a minute."
Fred, looking equally confused – having his hand firmly on his left pocket – nodded, "Someone called 'Tom', we think."
They all watched the portrait door, and it soon opened, and a very tired- and pale-looking Ginny entered. She was as taken aback, as Neville had been, by all the attention she was getting.
"Ginny!" Percy called out and rushed over to her, "Where were you? We were so worried about you! Are you alright? Who's Tom? And where is he?"
Ginny squeaked in fright, pulled herself out of Percy's worried hold of her shoulder, and ran up the staircase leading to the girl's dormitories, where he couldn't follow.
"Beautifully done, Perce," George groused only half-heartedly. He had wanted to ask Ginny the same questions himself, after all.
"She didn't look good," Percy said, unperturbed by George's sarcasm for once, and his brothers nodded, looking just as concerned.
Meanwhile, the other prefects had completed their headcount and now they all were waiting for their Head of House, as well as the still missing three students while feeling rather helpless.
A giggling couple, who then entered, was quickly filled in. They confessed they had used a noise-cancelling charm on the room they had been in for some reason, the younger years only had a vague idea about.
"Only Dean's missing now," Seamus said, worrying his lip.
After another tense fifteen minutes, Professor McGonagall entered the common room again and let her eyes wander over her house members. Her eyes rested on Harry a second longer than on others, but he was sure he was the only one noticing.
"Another petrification has occurred," she announced. "And– please be quiet! As I said, another petrification occurred. This time it was a student."
"Dean," Seamus and some others whispered.
"Unfortunately, you're correct, Mr Finnigan. Dean Thomas and our house ghost Nearly Headless Nick were found petrified in a seldom-used corridor close by. They'll be moved to the Hospital Wing to make sure they are adequately cared for. Fortunately, they can and will be restored to their fullest as soon as the Mandrakes are past their adolescence and ready for brewing the Mandrake Restorative Draught."
"When?" Seamus called out.
"Mr Longbottom?"
"Uh, they should be ready in May or June. One never can say for sure."
"That's in half a year! How can you do that?" Seamus yelled.
"Quiet, Mr Finnigan, the Headmaster has decided."
"But how can a ghost get petrified? And how do you move a petrified ghost? And how can one give a potion to a ghost? Ghosts are incorporeal!"
"Not now, Miss Granger. That will be all. Go to your dorms now."
"Uh, Professor?" Fred said haltingly.
"Not now, Mr Weasley! This is no time for pranks!"
"But…"
But the professor had turned and left the common room quickly, mind already on her petrified student.
"She's useless!" Fred said angrily and the twins left for their dorm in a huff, whispering to each other.
Hermione couldn't disagree at this moment. How could Professor McGonagall leave them alone after announcing such harrowing news? It just was inconceivable! And to lose a full semester of school! Such a scary thought. She uncomfortably noticed that she was glad it wasn't her.
Harry nudged her and pulled Ron and Hermione into a corner whispering, "We need to move forward with the plan now, don't you think? We must catch the heir!"
"Oh! You're right Harry!" Ron exclaimed loudly.
"Shhh," Hermione admonished him.
And so, the three went on planning their next adventure.
In the meantime, in the first-year dorm room, Ginny was staring at a little, black notebook with trepidation. What was going on? What had happened? Why couldn't she remember? Why had everyone stared at her? How did Percy know about Tom? Why had she woken up covered in blood and feathers a few days ago? Why couldn't she remember the last hour or so?
It was so scary! But she couldn't tell anyone! Tom would certainly tell everyone about her crush on The Boy Who Lived!
Ginny felt very much alone and cried herself to sleep.