Love at First Sight (Harry Potter)

Grim Defeat

|ALEXANDRIA WEASLEY'S P.O.V|

The castle was eerily quiet. Professor Dumbledore sent the entire Gryffindor House back down to the Great Hall, where we were soon joined by the Ravenclaws, Slytherins, and Hufflepuffs. Professor Flitwick levitated the four dining tables away from the middle of the room, leaving space for students of all robe-colors to gather together and gossip about what had happened.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," announced Professor Dumbledore calmly, ceasing all chatter. Behind him, Professors McGongall and Flitwick closed the doors to the Great Hall with an echoing bang. "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," The last sentence was spoken directly to Percy, who stood tall and proud. "Send word with one of the ghosts."

Dumbledore turned to leave the hall but then paused and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing . . ." With a single wave of his wand, the floor beneath my feet became covered with hundreds of purple, squashy sleeping bags. "Sleep well," he said finally, and then disappeared through the doors.

"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" called Percy immediately, before anyone else was given the chance to speak. He walked around, his chest puffed out to show his badge. "Lights out in ten minutes!"

"C'mon," whispered Ron. He bent down to the floor, seizing a sleeping bag. Harry, Hermione, and I followed suit and then allowed him to lead us to a less popular area.

"Do you think Black's still in the castle?" asked Hermione anxiously as she brushed invisible dirt from the top of her bag.

"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be."

I glanced at Harry out of the corner of my eye; he looked rather pale as he climbed into his sleeping bag, but even my Gryffindor bravery wasn't enough to push aside what had happened and ask if he felt alright. I was the last of the group to rest, only doing so once I was sure that Hermione and Ron were both between Harry and I.

"It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know," said Hermione after a few minutes of silence. Her voice had a newfound hope, and it was obvious that she was trying her best to stay positive — despite a murderer running amuck in the castle around us. "The one night we weren't in the tower . . ."

"I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run," Ron pondered aloud. His arms were crossed beneath his head, blue eyes looking dark in the dim light as he stared up at the enchanted ceiling above us. "Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here."

I propped my elbow up, leaning my chin on my hand as I glanced around the Great Hall. Students were in clusters much like our own, whispering to one another — some voices loud and clear, others quiet and inaudible. I heard one boy, younger than myself, cry out from the Hufflepuff section, "Maybe he knows how to Apparate — just appear out of thin air, you know." The boy beside him disagreed, "Disguised himself, probably." Dean Thomas called out to the two, only a few feet away from my friends and I: "He could've flown in."

"Honestly, am I the only one who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts, A History?" Hermione's quiet voice returned my attention to our small group.

"Probably," said Ron, his shoulders dipping slightly in a shrug as he too glanced at her. "Why?"

"There are enchantments on the castle," I said, feeling rather intimidated by Hermione's suggestion that I hadn't read about the school's backstory. I avoided Harry's eye when he looked at me. "There's no Apparating onto or from the grounds."