Grindelwald's Burden (Books 1-7)

40. Snapes Grudges

No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell them that he had again escaped.

Tensions were high and only slightly lifted when Y/n returned with Hermione from the infirmary in the morning.

Y/n was instantly bombarded with questions but quickly grew tired of them.

Throughout the day, everywhere they went they saw signs of tighter security, Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large picture of Sirius Black. Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes.

Sir Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs.

Harry couldn't help noticing that the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor remained unguarded and unblocked. It seemed that Fred and George had been right in thinking that they and now Harry, Ron, Y/n and Hermione were the only ones who knew about the hidden passageway within it.

"D'you reckon we should tell someone?" Harry asked Ron.

"We know he's not coming in through Honeyduke's." said Ron dismissively. "We'd've heard if the shop had been broken into. "

Harry was glad Ron took this view. If the one-eyed witch was boarded up too, he would never be able to go into Hogsmeade again.

Ron had become an instant celebrity. For the first time in his life, people were paying more attention to him than to Harry, and it was clear that Ron was rather enjoying the experience. Though still severely shaken by the night's events, he was happy to tell anyone who asked what had happened, with a wealth of detail.

"I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then...I woke up and rolled over...and I saw him struggling with Y/n...like a skeleton he was, with loads of filthy hair and holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches...and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scampered.

"Why, though?" Ron added to Harry and Y/n as the group of second year girls who had been listening to his chilling tale departed. "Why did he run?"

Y/n had been wondering the same thing. Why had Black, having got the wrong bed and tried to kill him not silenced himself and Ron then proceeded to Harry? Black had proved twelve years ago that he didn't mind murdering innocent people, and this time he had been facing six unarmed boys, four of whom were asleep.

"He must've known he'd have a job getting back out of the castle once you'd yelled and woken people up." said Harry thoughtfully. "He'd've had to kill the whole house to get back through the portrait hole...then he would've met the teachers..."

Neville was in total disgrace. Professor McGonagall was so furious with him she had banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, given him a detention, and forbidden anyone to give him the password into the tower. Poor Neville was forced to wait outside the common room every night for somebody to let him in, while the security trolls leered unpleasantly at him. None of these punishments, however, came close to matching the one his grandmother had in store for him. Two days after Black's break-in, she sent Neville the very worst thing a Hogwarts student could receive over breakfast... a Howler.