Chapter 13

Grace came back earlier, when she saw Harry she gave him what she bought and told him some fun things. Harry also told her what happened when he stay with Professor Lupin.

” Don’t worry Harry, Professor Snape might not be that bad that he will harm anyone, besides Professor Lupin drank it meaning everything is good and might not be the first time.”

Harry smile while eating his snacks,” I thought so too, I was afraid at first but then again if he really wanted to harm someone then.. maybe he will deal with me first,”

Grace laugh remembering that it is indeed true,” You’re right,” she heard a commotion from the distance, seeing that Hermione and Ron coming she wave at them

Hermione smile widely and walk faster towards Harry and Grace, while Ron seems not so happy to see Grace but still greeted her

” There you go,” said Ron ” We got as much as we could carry.”

A shower of brilliantly colored sweets fell into Harry’s lap. It was dusk, and Ron and Hermione had just turned up in the common room, pink-faced from the cold wind and looking as though they’d had the time of their lives.

” Thanks,” said Harry, picking up a packet of tiny black Pepper Imps,” Where did you go?”

By the sound of it, everywhere. Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, into the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of hot butterbeer, and many places besides.

” The post office, Harry! About two hundred owls, all sitting on shelves,
all color-coded depending on how fast you want your letter to get there!”

“Honeydukes has got a new kind of fudge, they were giving out free samples, there’s a bit, look.. “

” We think we saw an ogre, honestly, they get all sorts at the Three Broomsticks..”

” Wish we could have brought you some butterbeer, really warms you up..” Ron excitedly share everything

” What did you do?” said Hermione, looking anxious. ” Did you get any work done?”

” No,” said Harry. ” Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in….” He told them all about the goblet, just like what he told Grace

Ron’s mouth fell open,” Lupin drank it?” he gasped. ” Is he mad?”

Hermione checked her watch.
” We’d better go down, you know, the feast’ll be starting in fiveminutes They hurried through the portrait hole and into the crowd, still discussing Snape.

“But if he- you know” Hermione dropped her voice, glancing nervously around,” if he was trying to to poison Lupin.. he wouldn’t have done it in front of Harry.”

” Yes, maybe, it’s just some medicine, Professor Lupin looks better after drinking it, it’s just the taste might be a liitle bad,” Harry laugh as they reached the entrance hall and crossed into the Great Hall.

It 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 delicious, even Hermione and Ron, who were full to bursting with Honeydukes sweets, managed second helpings of everything. Harry kept glancing at the staff table.

Professor Lupin looked cheerful and as well as he ever did, he was talking animatedly to tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher. Harry moved his eyes along the table, to the place where Snape sat.

‘ Was he imagining it, or were Snape’s eyes flickering toward Lupin more often than was natural? ‘

The feast finished with an entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding. Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great success with a reenactment of his own botched beheading.

It had been such a pleasant evening that that everyone is in a good mood.

Grace, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed with students.

” Why isn’t anyone going in?” said Ron curiously.

Harry peered over the heads in front of him. The portrait seemed to be closed.

” Let me through, please,” came Percy’s voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. ” What’s the holdup here? You can’t all have forgotten the password- excuse me, I’m Head Boy,”

And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice,” Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick.”

People’s heads turned, those at the back were standing on tiptoe.

“What’s going on?” said Ginny, who had just arrived.

A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait, the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was.

“Oh, my.. ” Hermione grabbed Grace’s arm

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 somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward 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, sit. Doesn’t want to be seen. She’s in a horrible mess. I 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.”

Grace watch everything from the sideline, everything is going according to the story. She just hope that this time Harry won’t worry too much because unlike in the story the Harry he knew right now is much more smarter and mature. Looking at him with his friends she let go of worrying about him.

Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.

” The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle,”
Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. ” I’m afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately,”
he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. ” Send word with one of the ghosts.”
Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, ” Oh, yes, you’ll be needing…”

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

” Sleep well,” said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.

The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly, the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened.

” Everyone into their sleeping bags!” shouted Percy. ” Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!”

” C’mon,” Ron said to Harry and Hermione, they seized three sleeping bags and dragged them into a corner.

Hermione look for Grace, she was about to call her when Ron pulled her
” Do you think Black’s still in the castle?” Ron whispered, pretending not to know what’s Hermione doing