Chapter 95 The Death Of Scabbers
Evan took Hermione by the arm and hurried back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Though it was late, the Common Room was bustling with activity.
No student had gone to bed. They were all discussing the Dementors' attack.
Gryffindor had lost the match, which saddened them greatly. However, aside from the Quidditch players and a few die-hard fans, most of them had already moved on from this matter.
Nevertheless, as long as they didn't lose against Slytherin, losing to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff was not particularly hard to accept.
Now, they were more interested in discussing how to cast a Patronus Charm. Several students who had managed to conjure a Corporeal Patronus were being surrounded by their peers. Percy, for example, was proudly showing his Patronus to over a dozen younger students.
Evan and Hermione had just arrived and were warmly welcomed.
The atmosphere in the room reached its peak. The two of them were at the center surrounded by their friends. Everyone was seeking advice on the Patronus Charm.
Many girls especially wanted to see Evan's Patronus again.
Everyone was excited, except Ron.
He seemed to grow even more unhappy seeing how Evan and Hermione were welcomed. He watched them for a moment before turning around with a cunning expression towards the dormitory.
A moment later, everyone heard a muffled cry coming from the boys' dormitory.
The atmosphere in the Common Room became so heavy that no one spoke. All eyes were fixed on the door with fear. Hurried footsteps grew louder and louder, and suddenly, Ron appeared before them carrying a sheet.
"Look, look at this, open it!" he growled, approaching Hermione and shaking the sheet in front of her.
"Ron, what's going on?" Hermione asked, perplexed.
"It's Scabbers, look!" said Ron, abruptly extending the sheet towards Hermione's eyes.
Hermione pushed the sheet away from Ron and stood there completely bewildered.
Evan looked at the sheet Ron was holding and saw something red on it. It looked terrible, like...
"Blood!" Ron shouted, panicked in the silence. "He's dead! Do you know what else was on the floor?"
"No, I don't know," Hermione said tremulously.
Ron threw something at Hermione, and everyone leaned forward. They saw long red hair scattered on the floor.
"Ron, a few cat hairs mean nothing. You should go to all the boys' beds and look for stains. It could be..." Hermione said, pale.
"That's enough!" Ron yelled, surprising everyone. "I'm tired of you, Hermione! You've always been like this, never taking Crookshanks' intentions of eating Scabbers seriously. You've never bothered to carefully watch over Crookshanks. Now Scabbers is dead, and you still pretend your cat is innocent!"
"These cat hairs could have been there since the beginning of the school term. You've been biased against Crookshanks ever since he jumped on your head in that Magical Creatures Shop," Hermione said stubbornly.
"Biased?" Ron waved his arm in frustration. "That monster jumped on my head. Ate Scabbers. Am I supposed to praise it for doing so?"
"You know I didn't mean that..." Hermione's voice broke again, tears falling from her eyes.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!" Ron showed no mercy towards Hermione, he continued yelling. "You always treat me like a fool or an idiot who understands nothing. I protected you from Malfoy, helped you with Snape in class, it was me..."
The more Ron spoke, the more fear and sadness he saw in Hermione. He felt pain in his heart, but along with the pain, there was an unusual sense of happiness creeping into his heart.
Revenge does bring some pleasure.
Immediately after, he recalled the dream he had recently, with Hermione present all the time.
He did not know why, but suddenly felt his eyes welling up and had to struggle not to cry.
"It's okay, Ron!" Seeing that something was wrong, Fred hurriedly said, "Weren't you always talking about how disgusting he was? Besides, this was bound to happen sooner or later with the way he's been eating for a while. Dying quickly is probably better for him. He probably didn't feel... "
"Yes, he's just sleeping all day. That's what you said, Ron," said George.
"Once he bit Gore for us!" Ron said sadly.
"That was his most glorious moment," Fred couldn't help but laugh. "He left a scar on Gore's finger as a permanent reminder. Oh, come on, Ron. Make peace with Hermione and buy another rat, what's the use of lamenting?"
"But..." Ron hung his head and wiped away the tears with his sleeves.
"I actually think Hermione is right. Scabbers may not be dead. He's simply hiding somewhere."
Peter Pettigrew couldn't have died like that, and it was even less likely that Crookshanks had killed him.
He was just afraid of Sirius Black and wanted to escape by faking his death again.
With the help of the tracking potion, Evan could sense that the Rat was hidden in the right corner of the common room, watching him with its eyes.
He was going to retrieve it. Just as he took two steps, Ron stopped him. What he had just said seemed to have angered Ron again.
"Do you think Scabbers isn't dead?" Ron looked angrily at Evan, panting, as if he were ready to charge. "I knew you'd take Hermione's side. It's your fault. If you hadn't suggested Hermione to get Crookshanks, Scabbers wouldn't have died!"
"What?" Evan was surprised. All day he felt that something was off with Ron.
"Yes, it was all your fault. You killed him!" Ron clenched his fists, his teary eyes red. "It was the same at the Quidditch field, if it weren't for your ridiculous Patronus, Gryffindor wouldn't have lost."
Evan stood frozen in place. He didn't know how Ron had come to that conclusion.
Ron must have gone mad. It's so absurd that Gryffindor lost the game because of his Patronus!
"Ron, Evan's Patronus is what saved everyone!" Colin, who had been standing to the side, whispered.
"Of course you think that way. You're just a ridiculous admirer of this boy," Ron shouted at Colin and then quickly turned to Evan, as if hypnotized, murmuring with his mouth. "Tom Riddle said it, you killed Scabbers. Gryffindor lost the game because of you. You took Hermione away. She should have been mine...".
Silence filled the common room, and the young students were frightened and shrunk back. Everyone gazed quietly at Ron. No one could accept what he was saying.
Evan took another step forward. He wanted to retrieve the Rat. Perhaps seeing it would calm Ron down.
As soon as he moved, he saw Ron running towards him!