Puppet Strings (Hogwarts x Reader)

Chapter 6

Y/n nodded and hurried away, grabbing a sleeping bag on the way over.

Ron glared and opened his mouth as she approached—

"Shut it," Y/n said sharply. "Harry is my brother and I am going to be by his side, especially if a killer who is looking for him is here in the castle. I'll be damned if I let your petty feuding feelings towards me get in my way."

Ron's eyebrows were arched upwards in surprise. This was the most blunt and direct Y/n had ever been with him.

After a moment, Hermione continued on with the conversation they'd been having before. "Do you think Black's still in the castle?"

"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be," said Y/n.

"It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know," said Hermione as they climbed fully dressed into their sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows to talk. "The one night we weren't in the tower. . . ."

"I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run," said Ron, apparently having gotten over his surprise at Y/n's words. "Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here."

Hermione shuddered. All around them, people were asking one another the same question:

"How did he get in?"

"Maybe he knows how to Apparate," said a Ravenclaw a few feet away. "Just appear out of thin air, you know."

Hermione and Y/n met one another's eyes. They both knew you couldn't Apparate within castle grounds.

"Disguised himself, probably," said a Hufflepuff fifth year.

"He could've flown in," suggested Dean Thomas.

"Honestly, are Y/n and I the only people who have ever bothered to read Hogwarts: A History?" said Hermione crossly to Harry and Ron.

"Probably," said Ron. "Why?"

"Because the castle's protected by more than walls, you know," said Hermione. "There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth."

"Yeah," Y/n added. "You can't just Apparate in here. And I'd like to see the disguise that could fool those dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they'll have them covered. . . ."

"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"

The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from the silvery ghosts, who were drifting about talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars.

What with that, and the whispering that still filled the hall, Y/n felt as though she were sleeping outdoors in a light wind. Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet. Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in.

Y/n watched him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling between the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. Percy was only a short way away from Y/n, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore's footsteps drew nearer.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" asked Percy in a whisper.

"No. All well here?"

"Everything under control, sir."

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."