Later that evening, after I'd written home, Demelza, Amy, Andrew, Magda and I were sat together in the common room, discussing the events of our respective days.

"So D, have you finally gotten it on with Stefan?" asked Amy

Demelza rolled her eyes

"Yes, you'll be very pleased to know that I have"

"Well it's about time!" said the rest of us simultaneously.

"Jinx!" I called out suddenly

Everyone stared at me

"Uh, it's a muggle thing, Dad told me"

I bit my lip and looked away, now feeling quite embarrassed.

"Honestly though, how many Astronomy Tower visits and Broom cupboard inhabitations did it take for you to realise this had to happen?" Andrew asked. "It only took about 3 of each for Amy and I!"

"Maybe you're just more convincing than Stefan" said Amy "which would be embarrassing for him considering he's 2 years older"

"Hey, I'll have you know that Stefan convinced me he was legit on our first meeting!" snapped Demelza "I just wasn't entirely sure I was ready for it myself. But now I am, and it's happening, so can you guys just drop it now?"

Magda dropped the book she was holding.

Everyone's attention turned to her now

"What, you said to drop it" she said

I cringed, as did everyone else

"I think that's a new low mate, sorry" said Demelza

"Yeah, I mean I've heard some bad jokes in my life, but that one might just take the top spot" added Amy

I was just glad Magda had taken the embarrassment away from me.

"They don't all come from Dad's then do they?" Andrew commented

"Anyway, how was your time with Harry?" Magda asked me, desperate for a quick change of subject.

"Really interesting actually" I replied. I then told them all about our walk in the grounds, our encounter with the dark trio and Lupin taking us in to his office.

"So they actually made fun of Daniela's death and laughed at it with no remorse whatsoever?" Demelza said

"Yep, sadly, but it's not a surprise" I replied

"In a few years, we'll be directly duelling them when You Know Who returns, I'm sure of it!" said Amy "and trust me, I will not hold back one bit, when the time comes, we will fight to the death!"

"Absolutely" said Andrew "they're sick fucks, them 3 and all the pure blood maniacs! They'll get their comeuppance though one day!"

"Can I ask who Daniela is?" said Magda "I of course know who you are referring to when you say You Know Who, my mother told me all about him, but who is Daniela, or should I say who was Daniela?"

There was an uncomfortable silence, which I eventually broke.

"So, um, last year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and all these horrible attacks on Muggle born students happened. You heard about that right?"

"Of course"

"Well, eventually, 2 students were taken into the chamber, and Daniela Pattinson was killed by the monster down there. Every other victim had simply been petrified. Magda, there's no other way to say this, but you currently occupy the bed in our dormitory that previously belonged to her"

Magda was silent for some time while she processed this information. Eventually, with what looked like all her strength, she said "Who was the other student?"

I bit my lip

"Me" I said

"But I thought you were pure blood"

"I am but I am what they would call a blood traitor, because I have no problem with Muggles and Muggle Borns. Before the school year started, Lucius Malfoy hid You Know Who's old diary in with my stuff at Flourish and Blotts. It turned out to be possessed, and I was taken over and made to commit all the attacks, before his 16 year old self, preserved as a memory, took us both down to the Chamber. He was going to kill me, which would restore his memory self to a full physical body, but Harry managed to save me, killing a Basilisk in the process. Sadly though, he was too late for Daniela"

"You have been through a lot" said Magda "I hope this year at least is less chaotic"

"Well with a mass murderer on the loose, who the fuck knows?"

"How was Harry though?" asked Demelza

"He was good, it was really nice to talk about everything with him in depth, it does seem like we have good chemistry. I'm gonna try and get it going further with every meeting we have"

"Hold on" Andrew interjected suddenly "didn't you say Snape made a potion for Lupin, and the latter actually drank it?"

I nodded

"Is he mental? How can he trust Snape enough to do that, he's extremely shady!"

"Harry and I were there though, he's not gonna poison someone right in front of us, and certainly not one of his colleagues"

"Mate, I wouldn't put anything past Snape"

"Look, guys, the feast starts in 20 minutes, we should get down there" said Demelza

So we did

The Great Hall had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant watersnakes.

The food was amazing, and there was one particularly hilarious moment when Andrew bit in to what he thought was a pumpkin pie with liquorice icing, only for it to suddenly turn into a flock of bats, which scared him half to death! Fred and George stood up to claim responsibility, and bowed to the applause, which even included Andrew, who saw the funny side of it.

"I mean, I can't lie, that's an amazing bit of magic, sure it was bloody terrifying but I have to give them credit, they have serious talent, your brothers do" he said to me.

"They know how to celebrate holidays" I replied. "Clearly that was their Halloween special"

The feast finished with an entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a spot of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick had a great success with a re-enactment of his own botched beheading.

Thoroughly satisfied with what was a fantastic evening, we headed back up to the common room, but found our path blocked by a huge scrum of people waiting at the Fat Lady.

'What's going on?" I said. Next moment, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping towards the portrait; the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and we moved closer to see what the trouble was.

The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes sombre, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin and Snape hurrying towards him.

'We need to find her,' said Dumbledore. 'Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady.'

'You'll be lucky!' said a cackling voice.

It was Peeves the poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.

'What do you mean, Peeves?' said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle.

'Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful,' he said happily. 'Poor thing,' he added, unconvincingly.

'Did she say who did it?' said Dumbledore quietly.

'Oh, yes, Professorhead,' said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. 'He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see.' Peeves flipped over, and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. 'Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black.'