The Other Potter Book Three.

Chapter Thirteen

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

A shower of brilliantly coloured sweets fell into Harry and my 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 and I in unison. "What's Hogsmeade like? Where did you go?"

"Stop copying me." I added looking at Harry.

"Well, we went to Dervish and Banges, te wizarding equipment shop-" Hermione started as she launched into her story.

I started imagining what would happen if I got up and left instead of feeling depressed, but I thought it would be rude so I sat there and endured it.

I entertained myself by tap dancing in my mind.

Sanity is overrated.

"The post office! About two hundred owls, all sitting on shelves, all colour-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 --"

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

Wow! They are asking about us now? What is this?

"No," said Harry. "Lupin made us a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in..."

He told them all about the goblet. I was still tap dancing. 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 five minutes"

We 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."

And Willow.

"Yeah, maybe," said Harry as we 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.

"YUM!" I exclaimed as I looked at all the food and started piling food on my plate. I managed fourth helpings....

"Pig." Hermione said as she slowly finished her second serve.

"I like food what's your point?" I said with great difficulty through a mouthful of food.

Harry and I 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.

"Is it me, or are Snape's eyes flickering to Lupin a lot?" I muttered in Harry's ear.

"It's not just you." he mumbled back.

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 re-enactment of his own botched beheading.

Harry reminded me of my seizure laughing ball thing that I did in Lupin's office, which made me start laughing again.

It had been such an Awesome night that our good moods couldn't even be spoiled by Malfoy, who shouted through the crowd as they all left the hall, "The Dementors send their love, Potter!"

"HOW SWEET!" I called back.

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

"Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously.

"I'll go see." I said quietly slipping through the crowd. Being tiny had its benefits.

The portrait hole had been slashed; chunks of canvas lay on the floor; the fat lady nowhere in sight.

"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password -- excuse me, I'm Head Boy --"

A silence fell over the crowd and it seemed as if the air itself had frozen.

Percy's voice sounded again, sudden and sharp; "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."

A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait; We squished together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione found me in the crowd.

"Oh, my --" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm.

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, 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."