Book: Courage
Chapter 32
Word Count: 5043
Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors 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," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts." 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 purple sleeping bags.
"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.
The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened. Layla saw Cedric with his friends, looking around in confusion, and she approached him.
"Ced, hey."
"Hey!" Cedric smiled once he saw her, pulling her into a hug. Layla grinned in relief. She was worried that things were going to be awkward after their kiss, but it seemed like Cedric didn't know the meaning of awkward. "What's going on? What happened?"
"Sirius Black was in the school. He tried to get into the Gryffindor common room. He slashed up our portrait when he wasn't given access," said Layla. Cedric's eyes widened as he frowned in concern.
"Was anyone hurt? Is he still in here? Are you okay? Is—"
"I'm okay, everyone's okay," Layla reassured with a chuckle. "The professors are searching the school. He probably didn't stick around, though."
"That's true. Well, I'm glad you're safe, and everyone else," Cedric added the last part as an afterthought, causing Layla to chuckle again.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
"Layla!" Ron called over to her. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, save me a sleeping bag," Layla yelled back before turning back to Cedric. "Well, I'll speak to you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, sounds good. Get some sleep," sighed Cedric, pulling Layla into another hug, planting a soft kiss to the top of her head. Layla then smiled and walked back over to her friends. The four of them seized four sleeping bags and dragged them into a corner.
"Do you think Black's still in the castle?" Hermione whispered anxiously.
"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be," said Ron.
"It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know," said Layla 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. "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."
"Disguised himself, probably," said a Hufflepuff fifth year.
"He could've flown in," suggested Dean.
"Honestly, am I the only person who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts, A History?" said Hermione crossly to Harry, Layla, 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. 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.
"Layla," whispered Hermione from the sleeping bag next to her. "I saw you and Cedric over there. Are you guys together now?"
"I don't know," muttered a half-asleep Layla. "I really don't know."
She then found herself drifting off to sleep.
The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub. Layla just scoffed at that absolutely ridiculous theory and tried her best to shut it down.
The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody was very happy about this. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.
"He's a complete lunatic," said Seamus angrily to Percy. "Can't we get anyone else?"
"None of the other pictures wanted the job," said Percy. "Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer."
The weather began worse and worse as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. It was Layla's first Quidditch match and she was rather excited, despite the bad weather. It just meant she would have to work harder. She wanted to make her team proud.
The Gryffindor team was training harder than ever under the eye of Madam Hooch. Then, at their final training session before Saturday's match, Oliver Wood gave his team some unwelcome news.
"We're not playing Slytherin!" he told them, looking very angry. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."
"Why?" chorused the rest of the team.
"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured," said Oliver, grinding his teeth furiously. "But it's obvious why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances."
There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Oliver spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder.
"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!" said Layla furiously. "He's faking it!"
"I know that, but we can't prove it," said Oliver with a sigh, "And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory—"
Angelina and Katie suddenly giggled.
"What?" said Oliver, frowning at this lighthearted behavior.
"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina.
"Strong and silent," said Katie, and they started to giggle again.
Layla gritted her teeth, jealously bubbling through her blood. She drew in a deep breath and reminded herself that there was no reason to get jealous. Cedric wasn't her property. She didn't even know if they were actually together or not so he was free to do whatever he wanted. But still, the jealousy wouldn't subside.
"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Fred impatiently. Layla shot a glare towards him. Cedric was one of the smartest people she knew. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"
"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Oliver shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!"
"Oliver, calm down!" said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."
The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was looking very smug indeed, and none more so than Draco.
"Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!" he sighed as the gale outside pounded the windows.
Layla was on her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, not as excited for her favorite lesson as she knew her dad wouldn't be able to teach that day and Remus had already warned Layla that Snape would be covering.
On her way there, Cedric passed her on his way to the common room.
"Ced!" Layla smiled. "Hey."
"Hey, gorgeous," Cedric grinned and hugged Layla, landing a kiss on her cheek. Layla became a little flustered at the nickname and at the fact that Cedric was still always romantic with her after their Hogsmeade trip even if they weren't dating. "So, I heard Slytherin backed out. You're stuck playing us, how do you feel?"
"Excited," said Layla happily. "I can't wait! It's my first match ever and I feel better knowing that I've warmed up to the enemy team."
"Is that so?" smirked Cedric. "Well, my apologies, but I won't go easy on you. You're going down."
"We'll see about that," said Layla with a smirk of her own.
"After the match, I would like to speak to you," said Cedric. "Meet me by the stands straight after?"
"Yeah, of course," said Layla with a nod. "I'm running late for Defense Against the Dark Arts but good luck on the game tomorrow."
"You, too," replied Cedric, giving Layla one more kiss on the cheek before the younger girl hurried off.
Layla skidded to a halt outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, pulled the door open, and dashed inside. She sighed when she saw that her dad had been telling the truth. It really was Snape who was covering their lesson. She really wished that her dad didn't have to be absent for a few days each month, but she knew that he couldn't help it and she'd still stuck around and helped Remus ever since she learnt as a little girl what her dad actually was.
Layla was relieved to see that she had gotten there just in time. She took a seat beside Hermione.
"Where's your dad?" Hermione whispered to Layla.
"He's ill," replied Layla vaguely. She was only half lying.
"Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far—" Snape began.
"Please, sir, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows," said Hermione quickly, "and we're just about to start—"
"Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."
"He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Layla boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the class. Snape looked more menacing than ever.
"That is your bias as his daughter speaking, Miss Lupin," Snape snapped at her. "You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you — I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss—"
Layla watched him flick through the textbook, to the very back chapter, which he must know they hadn't covered.
"Werewolves," said Snape.
Tensing up, Layla glared at Snape coldly. Was he serious? Snape knew exactly what he was doing, and Layla wanted to know what his problem was.
"But, sir," said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, "we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks—"
"Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around again. "All of you! Now!"
With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books.
"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" said Snape.
Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Layla and Hermione, whose hands had both shot straight into the air. Layla, since she knew werewolves from family experiences... and Hermione, since she just knew everything.
"Anyone?" Snape said, ignoring the two girls. His twisted smile was back. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between—"
"We told you," said Parvati suddenly, "we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on—"
"Silence!" snarled Snape. "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are."
"While in its animal form, the werewolf is almost indistinguishable in appearance from the true wolf, although the snout may be slightly shorter and the pupils smaller — in both cases more 'human' — and the tail tufted rather than full and bushy. The real difference is in behaviour. Genuine wolves are not very aggressive, and the vast number of folk tales representing them as mindless predators are now believed by wizarding authorities to refer to werewolves, not true wolves. A wolf is unlikely to attack a human except under exceptional circumstances. The werewolf, however, targets humans almost exclusively and poses very little danger to any other creature," said Layla loudly, glaring at Snape the entire time.
Snape stared back at her with an emotionless expression, the two looking like they were having a silent conversation, before Snape was the first to speak.
"Very well. Five points to Gryffindor for your knowledge, but ten points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."
"Are you serious?" Layla muttered to herself angrily.
"You asked us a question and Layla knew the answer! You literally just praised her for her knowledge, and then call her a know-it-all?" Ron spoke loudly. "Why ask if you don't want to be told?"
The class knew instantly he'd gone too far. Snape advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its breath.
"Detention, Weasley," Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."
No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin.
"Very poorly explained. That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia. Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three."
When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back.
"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment or, the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."
Harry and Hermione both got up to leave with the rest of the class but turned to Layla.
"You coming?" Harry asked her.
"I just need to speak to Snape about the essay," said Layla with a convincing smile. "I'll catch up with you guys."
As soon as they left, Layla's smile dropped and she angrily walked over to Snape, who was talking to Ron.
"We need to talk."
"Very well," Snape sighed, then turned to Ron. "Wait outside."
Ron grumbled under his breath and walked out of the classroom, but his red hair was still visible. He was clearly trying to eavesdrop and Snape noticed. He sneered and waved his wand at the door, causing it to slam shut.
"Muffliato," he then a, causing a silencing charm to sound-proof the room. He clearly knew where the conversation was going and didn't want anybody to overhear them. "What can I do for you, Miss Lupin?"
"What was that?" she snapped. "Why would you set an essay on werewolves? People are already suspicious about why my dad is 'ill', and now you randomly choose to teach us about werewolves?! This class is smarter than you think. They'll catch on."
"I highly doubt that, Miss Lupin," drawled Snape. Layla let out a scoff of disbelief.
"No, you know exactly what you were doing. My dad has told me all about you... Snivellus."
Anger seemed to flare in Snape's eyes at the nickname.
"You've always had it in for my dad since you went to Hogwarts together. But if you expose my dad to a bunch of teenagers, that'll be on you, and I won't let you get away with it when my dad has spent years hiding who he really is!"
"Miss Lupin, if your father really told you everything about his Hogwarts days, you would not be standing here arguing with me. You would be searching for Sirius Black," said Snape. Layla furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"All will be revealed in time," said Snape calmly. "Now, you should know better than to speak so harshly to your professor. Ten points from Gryffindor. Out. Now."
Layla glared at him, knowing that she immediately got to Snape when she used that nickname on him. She turned and left. She wanted to speak quickly to Ron, who was still waiting outside to talk to Snape, and wanted to apologize to him about being the reason he got detention, but Layla was too angry to talk to anyone. She just stormed off down the corridor.
The next morning, Layla headed down to breakfast. Ever since Draco had seemed to back off from her a little bit and he stopped insulting her about her weight, Layla found herself going back to her three meals a day. As Layla sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the rest of the Quidditch team soon turned up.
"It's going to be a tough one," said Oliver, who wasn't eating anything.
"Stop worrying, Oliver," said Katie soothingly, "we don't mind a bit of rain."
But it was considerably more than a bit of rain. Such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school turned out to watch the match as usual, but they ran down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went.
The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited for Oliver's usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned them to follow him.
The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, they couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder.
The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands. Cedric smiled at Layla once he spotted her, and Layla instantly found herself smiling back.
Layla then saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, "Mount Your brooms."
The Lupin girl swung her foot over the Comet 290 that she was using until she could buy a proper good broom over the summer. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant.
They were off. Layla rose fast, but her Comet 290 was swerving slightly with the wind. She gripped it tightly and rose quickly into the air as Angelina intercepted the Quaffle from a Hufflepuff Chaser and passed it straight to Layla, who was wide open.
The Hufflepuffs seemed to view Layla as a useless third year backup Chaser and completely underestimated her as the Hufflepuff chasers tried their most basic moves to try and intercept the Quaffle, but Layla swerved past all of them, heading straight for the three hoops. It was hard to lift the Quaffle in her hand as the wind kept threatening to push the Quaffle out of her hand, but with much difficulty, Layla lifted the Quaffle and tossed it towards the right hoop.
However, the wind had other ideas. It blew the Quaffle to the left and Layla held her breath. The Hufflepuff keeper dove towards the right hoop, surprised when the wind blew the Quaffle the other way, right through the middle hoop. Layla grinned, high-fiving Katie, who zoomed past.
Within five minutes, Layla was soaked to her skin and frozen. She couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice, Layla came very close to being unseated by a Bludger, which she couldn't see approaching through the howling wind and the thundering rain.
She lost track of time. She made three more goals, and Katie and Angelina scored quite a few of their own, but Hufflepuff seemed to be just as good. Layla wasn't even sure who was winning. She had completely lost track of the score, but it must've been a pretty close score.
It was getting harder and harder for Layla to hold her broom straight. The sky was getting darker, as though night had decided to come early. With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle; Layla could just see the outline of Oliver through the thick rain, gesturing the team to the ground. The whole team splashed down into the mud.
"I called for time-out!" Oliver roared at his team. "Come on, under here—"
They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella.
"What's the score?" asked Layla.
"We're fifty points up," said Oliver, "but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."
"I've got no chance with these on," Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses.
At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming.
"I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!"
He handed them to her, and as the team watched in amazement.
Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, "Impervius!"
"There!" she said, handing them back to Harry. "They'll repel water!"
Oliver looked as though he could have kissed her.
"Brilliant!" he called hoarsely after her as she disappeared into the crowd. "Okay, team, let's go for it!"
Layla was more determined to win, now more than ever. Part of the reason was that the thought of playfully rubbing her win in Cedric's face made her very cheerful.
Scoring three more points, Layla began finally keeping track of the score. They were still winning, but not by much. Hufflepuff was catching up. Layla would try and search for Cedric at times to see if he'd seen the snitch, but whenever she thought she'd seen him through the wind, the Quaffle would get passed to her and she'd have to focus back on the game.
There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous. Layla realised that she didn't care who won. She just needed either Harry or Cedric to get the snitch so that they could be done with the game and she could get warmed up.
"Harry!" Layla heard Oliver shout. "Harry, behind you!"
Layla realised that the snitch must have been found, which made her sigh in relief as she dodged a Bludger and threw the Quaffle to Katie. The game would be over soon.
Minutes past, and Layla was getting worried. She couldn't see any player's face through the wind and she wondered if Harry and Cedric had lost the snitch.
But then, she heard Angelina cry out in shock from beside her. Layla followed her gaze, letting out surprise cry herself. Falling from the air, his broom no where in sight, was Harry. Layla had never been so scared as she watched Harry plummet towards the ground and she knew that she wouldn't be able to get to him in time.
Thankfully, Dumbledore was way ahead of her.
"Aresto Momentum!" Dumbledore yelled from the commentary stand where the professors all sat, and Harry slowed down before he hit the ground, landing on the floor gently with a small thud.
There was a sudden cry of triumph from the Hufflepuff supporters. Cedric must have caught the Snitch. In any other circumstance, Layla would have been happy for him, but she was more concerned for Harry.
As Hooch's whistle blew to signal the end of the game, most of the professors rushed down to take Harry to the Hospital Wing and Layla dashed to the changing rooms to get changed into warmer clothes before she would visit him.
As she was pulling on her jumper, she heard a voice outside of the changing rooms.
"You're decent, right?"
Layla recognised the voice.
"Yep. You can come in, Ced."
So, Cedric quietly entered, soaking wet and out of breath.
"Congrats on your win," said Layla, and then let out a chuckle as she took in his soaking wet clothes. "I would hug you, but I'm just starting to warm up in my clothes."
"Fair enough," Cedric chuckled. "I'm sorry about Harry. I didn't notice what had happened to him until after I'd caught the Snitch."
"You don't have to apologize. You should be celebrating your victory. You won fair and square," said Layla with a soft smile. "Hey, um, I know you wanted to speak to me right after the game but I was really hoping to go visit Harry as soon as possible and make sure he's alright. We'll talk soon, though, I promise."
"Yeah, I get it," said Cedric, leaning in to kiss Layla's cheek like he always did, being careful not to get any rain water on her. "Let me know how he's doing."
"I will. Bye!" Layla then collected her things and quickly left to head to the Hospital Wing.
She saw Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindor team already there, minus Oliver, who was probably wallowing at their loss. The team were all still covered in mud in their uniform, but there was no way that Layla would spend another second freezing to death in her soaking wet uniform. She needed to get changed before going there.
Everyone was speaking at the same time.
"Lucky the ground was so soft."
"I thought he was dead for sure."
"But he didn't even break his glasses."
"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Harry's eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Harry!" said Layla in relief. "How're you feeling?"
"What happened?" Harry said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped.
"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been — what — fifty feet?"
"We thought you'd died," said Katie, who was shaking.
"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"
No one said anything. Harry frowned.
"We didn't — lose?"
"Cedric got the Snitch," said Layla. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened."
"When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off," said George. "Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square... even Wood admits it."
"Where is Wood?" said Harry.
"Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."
Fred grabbed Harry's shoulder and shook it roughly.
"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."
"There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George.
"It's not over yet," said Fred. "We lost by a hundred points."
"Right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin—"
"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George.
"But if they beat Ravenclaw—"
"No Way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff..."
"It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred either way."
After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace.
"We'll come and see you later," Layla told him.
"Don't beat yourself up, Harry," said Fred, "you're still the best Seeker we've ever had."
The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Layla was the only team member who stayed. Ron, Layla, and Hermione moved nearer to Harry's bed.
"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said in a quaking voice. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the mementos and shot the silver stuff at them that Layla used on the train. They left the stadium right away. He was furious they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him—"
"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," said Ron. "And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were—"
"Did someone get my Nimbus?" Harry suddenly asked. Layla looked at Ron and Hermione.
"Yeah, do you guys have it? I didn't see Harry fall with it. I didn't see where it went."
Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other.
"Er—" muttered Ron.
"Well... when you fell off, it got blown away," said Hermione hesitantly, glancing at Harry.
"And?"
"And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the Whomping Willow."
And?" Harry said nervously.
"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," said Ron. "It — it doesn't like being hit."
"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," said Hermione in a very small voice.
Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed. What was left of Harry's broomstick.