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Three plastic bags of colorful sweets were gently placed in front of Amelia. Both Justin and Ernie bought as much as they could, buying up almost all the chocolate in the shop. When they came across Aries and realized that the Slytherin girl submitted another order of Sweets, it was already too late to downsize since all the sweets were already purchased.
" This is enough to last you for the year," Ernie commented. The great hall began to buzz as students entered. All of them were excited about the annual feast.
" Hmm, It is probably going to last until January."
" January?"
" Definitely going to stuff my face in these sweets during the holidays," Amelia mumbled. She dragged the three bags onto the floor to make room for her food.
" You are unbelievable." Ernie laughed. Justin tried to avoid looking around the table. He felt all the blazing eyes burning holes in his skull and the side comments calling him a 'mud-blood.' The two Hufflepuff boys said their goodbyes and returned to the safety of their table.
Hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins floated above their head, a cloud of bats fluttered around, and as always, bright orange streamers hung across the stormy ceiling. The food was delicious, like always, and she helped herself for seconds of everything. Aries sat a little bit down the table but Theo and Blaise sat across from her and invited her into their conversation.
" You must visit the three broomsticks. Honestly, they serve the best butterbeer." Theo beamed as he drank his pumpkin juice.
" Though, Honeydukes was practically empty. They run out of chocolate the moment I arrived." Blaise complied.
Amelia stifled a laugh, hiding it behind her golden goblet filled with Hogwarts butterbeer. Her three sacks of sweets hid swiftly under the seat.
" That sounds horrible," said she.
Once night drew near, The feast finished with 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 great success with a reenactment of his botched beheading. Amelia grimed slightly, the scene was quite graphic but enjoyable. When the feast had finally ended, Amelia retreated her bags of sweets and carried them to the dungeons. Blaise's jaw dropped at the size of the bags, completely offended that she managed to wipe out the shop without having to physically be there. Theo, impressed, helped her carry two of the bags letting Amelia haul the other one on her own.
" You don't have to," Amelia tried to protest but Theo waved her off.
" It's my pleasure."
Once inside the Slytherin common room, Amelia took the bags up into her dorm one by one and hide them in her trunk. Theo promised to guard her sweets ( from Blasie) while she was gone.
" You are going to share the sweets. Right," Blaise asked once Amelia came down once again to haul the last bag up the stairs.
" No?"
" Don't be surprised, Blaise. Doubt she ever had anything nice in her life." Draco's malicious voice interjected into their conversation. Amelia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his comment.
" I don't think anyone was talking to you, Malfoy." Said Amelia through gritted teeth. Draco smirked. Pansy and Daphne made their way to the group. Because anywhere Draco went they followed. Daphne glared at Amelia, noting how close she has been getting with Theodore Nott.
" Don't think I need an invite, Weasley. These are my friends after all."
" In that case, I'm leaving."
" What about the sweets?" Blaise quickly stopped the girl before she ascended the staircase. Amelia open the bag and grabbed a handful of sweets and handed them to both Blaise and Theo.
" Don't give any to Malfoy."
" Deal." Blaise agreed. Draco looked at his two friends, offended by how quickly they disregarded him for the Weasley. Blaise glanced over at him before he began to eat a jelly slug.
" I don't see you buying us sweets."
" Why the bloody hell would I buy you two anything?"
Blaise looked over at Theo. Both boys agree that Draco lacked social etiquette. Escpelly when it came to making friends. It took the threats from Theo's uncle and Blaise's mother over the summer to befriend the Malfoy boy. Saying that it would only benefit them in the future. A sentence that left Theo sleepless most nights. But, Draco wasn't as annoying as he is when he is around strangers. But he does have a reputation to uphold, after all.
" Attention Everyone!" Head girl, Gemma, yelled, " We have been informed by Headmaster dumbledore to lead all students to the great hall."
Murmurs and protests erupted from the students but Gemma quickly shut them all down and made them all file into a line and follow Beatrice, a prefect, out of the dungeon. Gemma walked up into the girl's dormitories to wake all the sleeping girls while Greg, the other Slytherin prefect, woke all the sleeping boys.
Amelia was startled awake by Gemma's shouts, telling them to immediately meet in the common room. Disoriented, she followed suit. Met with the rest of the half-asleep students in the common area.
" Follow me!" Gemma announced. Amelia did as told and once they reached the great hall, Amelia's body finally woke up. All four houses were situated in the cramped room. The tables fill up all the space.
" What's going on?' Amelia asked once she reached Theo and Blaise who stood beside Malfoy, confusion evident on their faces.
" Don't know? No one has said anything." Theo answered.
Dumbledore's booming voice filled the room, addressing the situation.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Dumbledore said as behind him 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," 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 colorful sleeping bags. "Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.
Amelia settled herself down in a red sleeping bed as the great hall burst into chatter.
" Thorough search of the castle? What in the bloody hell happened in the last thirty minutes?" Amelia question. Each Slytherin leaned forward to catch what the Gryffindors were saying. Snippets of their conversation could be heard but Lavander Browne's loud voice allowed the Slytherins students to understand what had occurred. Sirius Black has been spotted. And he tried to enter the Gryffindor common room.
" Sirius Black is in the castle?"
" Why would he be here?"
" Didn't our Professor say that Harry Potter was going to die?" Theo mentioned.
Amelia gaped at the boy. Was Harry Potter close to death today? A shiver ran down her spine at the thought. The presence of the Dementors was supposed to keep the students safe from the man. But if he managed to evade them so easily, who's to say what else he could do? He does have his years at Hogwarts as leverage.
" How do you reckon he entered the castle?"
" Disguise?"
" What kind of disguise would have fooled a Dementor?"
" A very powerful one?"
The Slytherins spoke among themselves at the possibilities. Some even wonder if he could still be in the castle. Malfoy claimed it was about time that Black made a move. The comment said loudly to catch Harry's attention. Erupting a laugh from his goons and Pansy Parkinson.
"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 and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars. Whispers filled the hall as some students were too frightened to fall asleep. All of which kept Amelia up. It reminded her a little bit of sleeping in the streets. The sleeping bag acted like the warm air that surrounded her and the chatter was the passing of vehicles that were either returning home after a long day of work or heading off to start their night shift.
Every once and a while, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everyone was asleep. Later at night when most students have fallen into a slumber, Professor Dumbledore walked in. Amelia was faced toward the door and caught glimpse of the Headmaster looking for her brother, Percy, who had been prowling between the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. Amelia shut her eyes once Dumbledore appeared to draw near her.
"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."
"And the Fat Lady, sir?"
"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently, she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."
The door of the great hall creaked open, Amelia opened one of her eyes to see the owner of the footsteps. The long black robes, hooked nose, and black greasy told her Snape was present.
"Headmaster?" Amelia quickly closed her eye and listened to the words of her professor. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."
"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"
"All searched..."
"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape. Amelia slowly and quietly rolled herself an inch closer to hear their whispers.
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
A heavy weight settled in the girl's stomach. If the cleaver, wise, and intelligent wizard such as Dumbledore didn't know how Sirius Black entered the Castle then they must be doomed. Sirius Black might be a step ahead of them and the chances of him attacking once again were high. But where could he have hidden so quickly that no one in the castle can find him? Amelia thought back to her first year when she had detention in the Forriben Forest. It was said by many that it inhabited dangerous creatures. Perhaps he's hiding deep in the woods blending in ( somehow) with the rest of the malicious creatures that linger there.
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before - ah - the start of term?" said Snape. Amelia's interest increased.
"I do, Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.
"It seems - almost impossible - that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed -"
"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply. The only new staff member was Remus Lupin, which Amelia learned was once well acquainted with the madman himself. But if Dumbledore didn't suspect him, then perhaps Professor Lupin was no one to fear. How could anyone feel unease toward a teacher that hands out chocolates to students who have had rough days? Just to make them feel better.
"I must go down to the Dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."
"Didn't they want to help, sir?" said Percy.
"Oh yes," said Dumbledore coldly. "But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster."
The door of the great hall creaked once again. Amelia opened her eyes and watched the doors close leaving Percy Weasley in charge once again.
Amelia couldn't sleep afterward. Thoughts of Sirius Black plagued her mind. It seemed foolish of her to think that she could find the criminal. As if Dumbledore himself hasn't thought of the chance that he could be hiding in the forest. But what if he wasn't after just Harry but muggle-borns in general? That would put her best friend at risk and she couldn't stand around and wait for the adults to make a decision. She needed information on how the mind of Sirius Black works and there were a couple of people ( kinda) that could help answer her questions.
¤
For the next few days, all of Hogwarts could only talk about Sirius Black. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Justin explained to her one day that Black could have turned into a flowering shrub. To which the Slytherin laughed. Ernie imagined that Sirius Black had gotten himself a hippogriff and rode one to Hogwarts and landed in the astronomy tower.
The Slytherins debated over a different objective. For them, they were separated on the fact that Sirius Black could even be considered a follower of the Dark Lord. For he wasn't a proclaimed death eater.
"Mother said Black was a disgrace to the family," Malfoy said. A couple of third years sat around the couch close to the fireplace. Their homework has long been discarded once the topic of Black rose when they began their Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. Amelia sat beside Theo, who dragged her into the circle much to her dismay.
" But still, in the end, he was on the Dark Lord's side." Samuel Yaxley professed. Perplexed at Malfoy's disregard of the man.
" Do we know that for sure?" Blaise added, " As we know he never adorned the Dark Mark, who is to say he was a follower of his." Amelia fell uncharacteristically silent. Surrounded by many people whose parent's once fought alongside He-should-not-be-named made her palms sweat. She tried to remember Theo's words. Not all of us have a choice. She looked at each student and listened to their choice of words.
" Did he not murder all those Muggles? Is that not the biggest declaration one could give?" Ester Macnair, a fourth-year rebutted. The conversation tensed as more students began to add their thoughts.
" So," Malfoy said, " He didn't murder them in his honor."
" So you just going to dismiss his devotion? He perhaps did a lot more closed door's that we know nothing about." Michael Travers, a fifth year, stated. His face seemed irritated by the third year's outrageous comments.
" What devotion?" Blaise looked at the older boy, " He was never a confirmed Death Eater."
" Exactly, Even my mother said he allied himself with Dumbledore," Malfoy added.
" Then why did he murder those Muggles?" Pansy asked out loud. confusion embedded in her voice.
" Perhaps he did change his mind in the end?" Theo interjected in a questioning tone.
" No. That makes no sense," said Travers, " He killed those muggles because the Dark lord had fallen. He was probably devastated by all his work, which had been done in secrete, was wasted by that pest Potter." Serval murmurs echoed in the small group. Amelia watched as a couple of Slytherins agreed while some still held on to their original belief.
" Or he began to change his mind but it would have been a little too late. At that point, he had fallen." Crabbe, surprisingly, added.
" It doesn't make sense though. Was he just a spy then?" Yaxley questioned.
" A double agent?" Theo commented.
" Point is," Malfoy raised his voice, " He was not a follower. To be one you need the mark."
Amelia bites back a comment. She knew better than to talk about his parents who were suspected of being Death eaters. Especially, when everyone in the room had at least one parent or family member currently in Azkaban because of their crimes during the first wizarding war. It irked her skin that one of them even had a connection to the people that murdered her uncles, Fabian and Gideon Prewett.
It panged her chest she never got to meet them. Or at least have a solid memory of them. From the stories that her mother was able to utter, without crying, she learned that they were brave and heroic. True embodiments of what it meant to be a Gryffindor that it took five death eaters to defeat them. She always admired their courage and how willing they were to fight for what they believed in. She just wished she could remember them. For they were only murdered a year after she was born.
" No. To be one you simply have to believe in the Dark Lord." Said Travers. Amelia grew uneasy the more the fifth-year spoke. She knew for sure that he was aligned with the beliefs of death eaters. And it frightened her.
" All this is pointless. Black has been imprisoned for his crimes as a death eater. Imprinted or not. He did it for the Dark Lord." Penelope Carrow spoke, looking up from her transfiguration homework. " And now he is on the run. Regardless of what side he was on, he will die once captured for he will most likely be given a dementor kiss," said she, voice void of emotion. As if death didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.
The room fell silent. Numerous headed nobbed in agreement. Even Michael Travers had nothing to say. Amelia watched as the circle disbanded and the students went on to complete their homework.
" You good, Weasley?" Whispered Theo as the people around them engaged in more discussion.
" I think so?" Amelia nodded looking around the room at her fellow housemates. She wondered if anyone of them feared the dark mark. Or wondered perhaps instead it was seen as a trophy that one should be proud of getting.
But one thing was for sure. Michael Travers creeped her out.
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Happy September First :)