𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠."
― 𝐴𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑛 𝐷𝑜𝑦𝑙𝑒; 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝐸𝑑𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝑊. 𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑡ℎ; 𝐼𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟒𝟎𝟒𝟓
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"𝐇𝐄𝐘, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐖𝐎. What's up?" Liliana nodded in greeting as she walked up to Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in two of the chairs next to the fires.
The two of them were bent over their own parchment papers, their eyebrows furrowed as they muttered to themself. They hardly even acknowledged her presence, though Liliana was assured they knew she was there by Hermione's glance and Ron's flimsy wave.
Liliana leaned over to see Hermione's paper, seeing the half-completed star chart that she was filling out before giving a small nod of understanding. "Ah, astronomy?"
"Yep," Ron confirmed, heaving a small sigh as he glanced up at Liliana. "Why does there have to be so many constellations?"
"I hear you," Liliana laughed as she sat down in the chair beside Hermione. She's had her fair share of completing star charts. Even now, Liliana was having to fill out endless papers about lunar cycles.
Just then, Liliana turned to the entrance as Harry came into the common room. He was slightly muddy from his Quidditch practice. He walked towards the three of them, slightly confused by the excitement that had taken over the room.
"What's happened?" he asked as he reached them.
"First Hogsmeade weekend," Ron explained, gesturing towards the announcement that had been pinned to the bulletin board. "End of October. Halloween."
"Excellent." Fred, who had followed Harry into the room, rubbed his hands together. "I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets."
Harry plopped down in the chair next to Ron, an upset look on his face. He hadn't gotten his permission slip signed, as his muggle relatives were simply the worst, meaning he'd have to stay behind with the first and second years while everyone else got to visit the village.
On top of that, according to Mr. Weasley, Sirius Black was supposedly on the hunt for Harry. So, of course, he had been advised to not leave school grounds, and although he did it with complaint, he complied.
"Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," Liliana reassured him with a small smile. "They're bound to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already."
"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade." Ron shook his head. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages—"
"Ron!" Hermione cut him off, an incredulous look upon her face. "Harry's supposed to stay in school—"
"He can't be the only third-year left behind," Ron argued back. "Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry—"
"Yeah, I think I will," Harry decided.
Hermione was about to say something back, when her ginger cat, Crookshanks, gently jumped onto her lap, a dead spider hanging from his mouth.
"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" Ron questioned with a look of disgust, his narrowed eyes fixated on the spider; the boy absolutely despised spiders (and that fear had probably increased after a certain visit with an Acromantula the year previous).
"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" Hermione cooed as the cat tauntingly chewed on the spider, ignoring Ron's complaint.
"Just keep him over there, that's all," Ron demanded as he rolled his eyes and turned back towards his star chart. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag."
Harry yawned before pulling his bag towards him, taking out his own star chart and beginning to fill it out.
"You can copy mine if you like," Ron offered, finishing his own and sliding it towards Harry, who gratefully took it.
Hermione gave Liliana a look she was used to—irritation. Hermione hated when either of the boys didn't do their work themselves.
Crookshanks, on the other hand, had his yellow eyes glued on Ron, his bushy tail waving through the air. Suddenly, he jumped towards Ron.
"Oi!" Ron shouted, grabbing his bag as Crookshanks attached his claws into the fabric. "Get off you stupid animal!"
"Ron, don't hurt him!" Hermione squealed as Ron swung the bag wildly, Crookshanks hanging on. The whole room watched as Scabbers flew out of the bag.
"Catch that cat!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks sprinted towards the running rat.
George tried to grab Crookshanks but missed as the cat chased after Scabbers. The rat sprinted behind a chest of old drawers, and Crookshanks began to swipe beneath it in an attempt to capture the rat.
Hermione and Ron made their way over, Hermione picking up her furious cat, and Ron managing to pull Scabbers from under the chest.
"Look at him!" Ron thrust Scabbers in Hermione's direction for her to see. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"
"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione exclaimed. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"
"There's something funny about that animal!" Ron said as he tried to put Scabbers into his pocket. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"
"Oh, what rubbish." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else d'you think—"
"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" Ron pushed, ignoring as the students in the room began to laugh at his remarks. "And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!"
He then marched up to his dorm, angry as he did so.
Liliana sighed. Ron was such a drama queen sometimes.
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Liliana and the boys stood in the long line among the entrance of the school, waiting as Filch checked names off his list. It was Halloween, and they were headed towards their first Hogsmeade visit of the year.
"I'm so excited!" Riley bounced in his spot, his curly hair bouncing with him. "We have to go to Zonko's, my mum didn't let me bring any of my stuff from home!"
"For good reason too," Liliana giggled as she leaned over and playfully slapped his shoulder. She's been subject to his pranks many times, and while the boys found it hilarious, she wasn't all too fond of it.
After Filch cleared them, the group set off to Hogsmeade, the slight chill of the air overtaking them. Liliana shoved her hands underneath her cloak, hoping that the thin fabric would be enough to warm her.
The chill only grew worse as they approached the gates of the school. The Dementors hovered in the air, lurking as they watched the students below them.
Liliana kept her eyes lowered to the ground as the group passed, trying her best to pretend that they weren't there. Though, that was difficult as she felt her stomach drop a little and a shiver go down her spine.
"Ugh, I hate those things." Devon shuddered as the sky became clear once more, his nose wrinkled in disgust as he glanced back behind him. "Do we really need them here?"
"If we want to keep Sirius Black from breaking in, then yes," Wesley responded airily, rolling his eyes at the question.
"You know what, it's fine, Sirius Black can come in all he wants." Devon shrugged. "As long as the Dementors leave, Black can sleep in my bed for all I care."
"You've said a lot of stupid things in your life," Wesley sighed, "but that is the most stupid of them all."
Devon only stuck his tongue out in response.
They reached the village of Hogsmeade about fifteen minutes later, the familiar sight of busy shops and chime of opening doors exciting Liliana.
"We've gotta go to Zonko's first!" Riley exclaimed enthusiastically. "There'll barely be anyone there since everyone goes to Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks first."
"All right, all right," Liliana laughed.
As the group headed towards the prank emporium, Wesley spoke, "So, how's Divination been so far?"
Liliana threw a glare his way as she mockingly asked, "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?"
"I would." Wesley grinned cheekily and shrugged. "That's why I asked."
Liliana narrowed her eyes at him, muttering a string of curse words as he watched in amusement. It was safe to say that she still hadn't forgiven him for not taking the class.
"You know . . . I didn't only drop the class just because I didn't want to take it," Wesley said lightly as they passed Honeydukes, which was packed with students, just as Riley had predicted.
"What other reason did you have?" Devon questioned as he furrowed his eyebrows. "I'd think that being in a classroom with Trelawney is a good enough reason."
"Well, you know, by not taking the class, I'd be leaving Liana and Cedric by themselves . . ." Wesley started.
Liliana felt her heart stop. He was not about to say what she thought he was going to say.
Cedric narrowed his eyes, an almost threatening tone in his voice as he challenged Wesley to further explain, "And?"
Wesley suddenly became nervous by Cedric's response. " . . . and I like to see you guys suffer."
Liliana let out a small sigh of relief, which no one noticed, thankfully. She tried to keep a straight face as she folded her arms and muttered, "I hate you, Wes."
"Love you too."
They arrived at Zonko's a few minutes later, and the shop was quite easy to spot with its neon orange storefront.
With a squeal of excitement, Riley headed inside, and he was quickly followed by Devon.
"Jeez, Riley is almost as excited as Liana is when she sees books," Cedric chuckled as the three of them walked in, in a much more calm manner.
"Almost?" Liliana repeated incredulously, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't act like that! I keep my excitement inside."
"No, you don't," Wesley laughed. "One time, you spent twenty minutes explaining the plot of a new book you were reading to me."
She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Yeah, so?"
"It took you twenty minutes! Usually, it takes a normal person three!" Wesley exclaimed as they stood in the corner, waiting for the other two to finish their little shopping spree.
"Well, I have to tell you all the details!" she protested. "There was a love square! It takes time!"
"Sorry, a love—a love square?" Cedric turned towards her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he shook his head. "I've heard of love triangles, but a square?"
"It's when two people who are superheroes love each other but don't know it yet," Liliana explained simply.
"How is that a square?" Cedric was just as baffled as he squinted his eyes and asked, "Isn't that just a normal love story?"
"Well, one of them in their civilian form loves the other one in their civilian form, but the other one that they like doesn't know it yet but likes the first person in their superhero form, but not them themselves," she explained further. "Get it?"
"No," Cedric answered as he shook his head, "I'm so confused."
"Okay, well, you know," Liliana started, her eyes lighting up, "one time, I read a story in which there was a love octagon, and then—"
"No, no, no, stop right there." Wesley slapped his hand over Liliana's mouth, effectively shutting her up. He sighed, shaking his head as he instructed, "No more twenty-minute plot explanations. Actually, with that, that would take hours. So, no thanks."
"A love octagon?!" Cedric rubbed his eyes as he groaned and shook his head. "What kind of books are you reading?"
Liliana pulled Wesley's hand away. "Good ones. You should read one once in a while."
"A book?" Cedric raised his eyebrows and scoffed. "I read books all the time."
"Textbooks don't count."
Cedric paused before offering, "I read the posts on the bulletin board."
She scrunched her face. "That's not a book."
"Okay, well, then recommend a book. I'll read it."
"All right," she said cheerily. "Do you want the one with the love square? Or the love octagon? That one—"
"No, never mind," Cedric chuckled, scrunching his nose, "I'll stick to the announcements."
"Seriously, though, Liana," Wesley sighed. "What's so fun about love octagons?"
"Drama!" she exclaimed as shrugged. "The drama is fun. One person loves someone, but that person loves someone else, but that person loves someone else, but that person loves someone else, but that person—"
Wesley's hand was over Liliana's mouth once more.
He removed it once she raised her hands in defeat, and she remained silent.
"Anyway, really, how is Divination?" Wesley asked, his mischievous expression gone. "Am I missing much?"
"Not at all." Cedric rolled his eyes. He exchanged a look of annoyance with Liliana as he continued, "We're finishing up on reading crystal balls, and I still don't know anything."
"Yeah, it sucks," Liliana agreed with a nod.
Wesley's eyebrows furrowed. "If you guys hate it so much, why didn't you drop it as I did?"
"I still don't know what I want to do after Hogwarts, so it might prove itself to be useful later on," Liliana explained as she shrugged. "I don't want to take any chances."
"And you?" Wesley asked with lifted eyebrows as he turned to Cedric.
"Um..." Cedric's cheeks were beginning to rosy, although Liliana had no clue as to the reason why. "Because... Yeah, same reason as Liana."
Wesley's face was disbelieving as he tilted his head and scoffed. "You don't sound too sure about that."
Cedric shook his head insistently. "No, that's why."
Wesley leaned towards him, cupping his hand in front of Cedric's ear as he whispered something. Cedric's cheeks were redder than usual at this, leading Liliana to wonder what Wesley had said.
"Shut up, Wes," Cedric mumbled.
"What?" Liliana asked curiously as she leaned toward them. "What did he say?"
Wesley turned to her, a grin on his face. "Oh, I asked if it was because—"
It was Wesley's turn to be quieted by a hand—Cedric's, to be exact.
"It's nothing," Cedric reassured Liliana, although she didn't believe him in the least. "Don't worry about it."
Wesley managed to remove Cedric's hand from his mouth and was about to say something when Devon and Riley appeared, their bags plentiful. Riley exclaimed, "All right! Let's go!"
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Once the group had arrived back at the school, they were just in time for the beginning of the Halloween Feast. They made their way to the Great Hall, which was filled with chatting students, and the air was rich with the scent of chicken and pumpkin.
The grand room was decorated for the Halloween celebration, with the ceiling reflecting a dark, thunderous storm while jack-o-lanterns floated above them. Live bats were flying around the ceiling, the wind they created forcing the flames of the candles to flicker with uncertainty.
The feast passed by quite quickly, the sound of clattering forks and knives accompanying laughs and conversations. Despite being quite stuffed from all the food they had had at the Three Broomsticks and the sugar they had consumed from Honeydukes, the boys managed to eat plenty of the food that had been prepared for the night.
The feast ended with a rousing performance from the ghosts, which included a reenactment of Nearly Headless Nick's beheading, receiving deafening applause.
After bidding goodnight to the boys, Liliana joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they headed up the steps toward their common room.
To their dismay, there was a large group of students that were crowded around the portrait of the Fat Lady. The air was filled with grumbles and sighs.
"Why isn't anyone going in?" Ron asked in confusion as he looked around, his eyebrows knit together tightly.
"Let me through, please," Percy's voice spoke out as he made his way through the group. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password—excuse me, I'm Head Boy—"
Suddenly, a hushed silence fell over the group as Percy spoke urgently, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."
Ginny arrived next to them, her eyebrows scrunching together as she went on her tip-toes and tried to look past the crowd.
"What's going on?" she questioned, though none of them had an answer.
Not too long after, Professor Dumbledore appeared, hurriedly making his way to see what was wrong. The Gryffindors moved to make a path for the man, allowing them to see what had happened.
Hermione let out a small gasp. "Oh, my—"
The Fat Lady was no longer in her portrait; however, that was not the only thing that had drawn their attention; there were slash marks that covered the picture, the movement being done so furiously that there were pieces of the canvas that were spread across the floor.
Professor Dumbledore stared at the portrait for a moment, before turning to face Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape, all of who were rushing to him.
"We need to find her," Dumbledore instructed hurriedly. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" Peeves the Poltergeist exclaimed with glee as he floated over the group.
"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
Peeves' look of delight turned more serious. He was a menace, sure, but he wasn't stupid enough to test Dumbledore's patience. "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful." He seemed quite happy as he said this, before he unconvincingly added, "Poor thing."
"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Oh yes, Professorhead." Peeves nodded quickly. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
The Gryffindors were all sent back to the Great Hall, fright weaving in and out through whispered conversations.
Not too long after, they were joined by the rest of the students, who hadn't the slightest clue why they were sent there.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore explained briefly to the students as Professor McGonagall and Flitwick closed the Great Hall doors. "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 looked to Percy, who puffed up with pride. "Send word with one of the ghosts." Dumbledore turned to leave before pausing and nodding. "Oh, yes, you'll be needing . . ."
With the flick of his wand, the tables magically flew to the ends of the hall and neatly stood themself against the wall. He waved his wand once more, and hundreds of purple sleeping bags appeared for them to sleep in.
"Sleep well." Professor Dumbledore gave them a curt nod before he departed.
The room was instantly filled with chatter, as the Gryffindors told the rest of the school the event that had taken place. Cedric, Devon, Wesley, and Riley had found their way to Liliana and were obviously waiting for an explanation.
"What happened?" Riley questioned as he looked around at the clusters of sleepy students. "Why are we here?"
"Apparently, Sirius Black had broken into Hogwarts," Liliana explained, receiving four pairs of widened eyes in reply. "He had ripped up the Fat Lady's portrait when she didn't let him into the Gryffindor common room."
Fear immediately expressed itself upon Devon's face as he whipped his head from side to side and exclaimed, "He was here?!"
"Nice job, Devon!" Wesley said irritatedly as he slapped him on the arm.
"Ow! What for?" Devon groaned as he rubbed his arm, glaring at the blond boy next to him.
"You said that you'd rather have Sirius Black break in than have the Dementors! You jinxed it!" Wesley exclaimed.
"Oh, come on! It was a joke!"
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" Percy shouted over the loud noise, waving his arms around to get everyone's attention. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
The group grabbed their own sleeping bags, and as they began to set them up, Riley spoke up, a slight quiver in his voice, "Do you think that he's still in the castle?"
"Well, if the teachers are looking for him, Dumbledore might think so." Cedric shrugged as he laid his sleeping bag down next to Liliana's.
"But how'd he get in in the first place?" Devon questioned as he sat down on top of his sleeping bag, which was in between Cedric and Wesley.
"Maybe he pretended to be a student, or disguised himself with magic, or something like that," Riley offered, giving a slight shrug.
"Or maybe he apparated in here." Wesley nodded.
"There's no way he could've done that." Liliana shook his head. With a sigh, she looked toward the four boys. "Don't you guys remember from Hogwarts, A History?"
"You're saying that like you really think I read it," Riley deadpanned.
Liliana rolled her eyes in amusement before elaborating, "The castle's protected by more than walls. There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people from 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 declared loudly, his stare hardened as he gazed upon the students' faces. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
The candles immediately blew out, the only source of light now being from the ghosts and the glittering enchanted ceiling.
Despite Percy's orders, whispering broke out between the students, which quieted not too long after as everyone fell asleep.
Liliana remained awake, however, curiosity and fear not allowing her to sleep.
Once an hour, one of the professors would come into the Great Hall to make sure that everything was all right. Around three in the morning, Professor Dumbledore appeared, approaching Percy.
"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy questioned quietly.
"No. All well here?" Dumbledore asked.
Percy gave a curt nod as he reassured him, "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," Dumbledore informed him.
"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."
Liliana heard the doors open once more, and a few footsteps followed.
"Headmaster?" Professor Snape spoke. "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," Dumbledore sighed. "I didn't really expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" Snape asked.
Dumbledore's voice was grave as he answered, "Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before—ah—the start of term?" Snape asked carefully, obviously not wanting to clue Percy into what he was saying.
"I do, Severus," Dumbledore responded, although his voice carried an undertone of warning.
"It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help," Snape said tentatively. "I did express my concerns when you appointed—"
"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," Dumbledore said with a tone of finality. "I must go down to the Dementors, I said I would inform them when our search was complete."
"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy questioned.
"Oh, yes," Dumbledore answered. "But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster."
Only silence followed, leading Liliana to assume that Dumbledore had left.
She lay awake for the next few hours, pondering what Snape had been going on about. Who would've helped a criminal such as Sirius Black break into Hogwarts?
She was more than sure that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been listening in to the conversation as well, and were most likely thinking the same thing she was.
With a quiet sigh, she decided that she'd talk to them about it later that day when they were able to speak privately.