Chapter 147

Chapter 147

Students were packed around the castle entrance. As Professor McGonagall approached with Harry and Ron, the crowd parted to let them through.

Even the young wizards who had been muttering complaints about the cancelled match fell silent. Harry followed close behind Professor McGonagall with his head bowed, acutely aware of one suspicious or startled gaze after another.

Yet Harry himself had no idea what had happened.

“Ron, where’s Hermione?” Harry whispered. He had suddenly realised that she was not there.

The thought made Harry begin to tremble. “You don’t think something’s happened to Hermione, do you?”

“I don’t know.” Ron gently shook his head.

Looking deeply uneasy, Harry climbed the marble steps. Professor McGonagall was leading them somewhere specific, but it was not along any route to an office.

This way… led to the hospital wing!

Harry’s conclusion proved correct. By the time they neared the hospital wing, his entire body was trembling.

Professor McGonagall stopped and spoke with surprising gentleness.

“You will find this very shocking…” She paused, seemingly weighing how best to continue. “There has been another attack…”

Harry’s mind went blank. Darkness washed across his vision, and he almost lost his footing.

“Was it… Hermione?” he murmured.

Professor McGonagall had already opened the door. Harry and Ron entered together.

Madam Pomfrey was bending over something, and Harry knew the figure standing beside her better than almost anyone.

“It isn’t Hermione.” He released a breath, only for his heart to tighten again. “If it isn’t Hermione, then who is it? Neville? No, Neville was at the pitch. Seamus? Or…”

Still thinking, the two boys moved closer.

“Suer…” Ron cried.

Suer lay motionless on the bed, his eyes wide open and one arm raised.

“Miss Granger found him in a corridor near the library,” Professor McGonagall said. “I suppose neither of you can offer any explanation for this?”

Harry and Ron shook their heads vigorously.

Hermione stood numbly beside the bed, staring fixedly at Suer. Her face was deathly pale.

Harry noticed that she was clutching a note with white-knuckled fingers.

“I shall escort you back to Gryffindor Tower,” Professor McGonagall said heavily. “Whatever else happens, I must warn the students.”

“Come along, Mr Potter, Miss Granger — and you too, Weasley.”

“Do not interfere with Madam Pomfrey while she treats the injured student.”

Hermione seemed scarcely able to breathe. She trailed behind the other three on leaden feet, turning to look back with every step. Heaven only knew how terrified she had been when she saw Suer lying motionless on the floor.

This was already the second time it had happened to him that term.

“All students must return to their House common rooms before six o’clock in the evening. No student may leave their common room after that time, and evening classes are suspended until further notice,” Professor McGonagall announced to the young Gryffindors packed into their common room, a sheet of parchment in her hand.

“A teacher will escort you to and from every lesson. No student may use the lavatories without a teacher present.”

“What about Quidditch practice?” Oliver Wood timidly raised a hand.

Everyone turned to stare at Wood. He awkwardly lowered his hand, perhaps realising that this was not the best time to ask.
“I was just coming to that, Mr Wood.” Professor McGonagall glared at him, visibly annoyed by his poorly timed interruption.

“All outdoor training and recreation are cancelled, including Quidditch.”

Silence descended upon the Gryffindor common room as everyone absorbed Professor McGonagall’s announcement.

Hermione stood distractedly at the back. She could not forget the sight of Suer lying stiff and vacant upon the cold floor. Somehow, it was harder to accept than seeing him covered in blood but still breathing.

Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment she had just read and continued in a low, almost suffocated voice.

“In all my years of teaching, I have never encountered a situation this grave. Although the latest victim is not a Gryffindor student, I am no less distressed. I urge every one of you to remain vigilant.”

“The school may well be forced to close unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. Anyone who believes they know something must come forward.”

The young wizards looked from one face to another, but no one spoke.

Professor McGonagall left, her expression stern and sombre.

The moment she was gone, the young wizards burst into excited discussion.

“Several students have gone down already. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have both had people attacked, and that doesn’t even include the ghost.” One young wizard counted them off on his fingers. “Has anyone noticed that the Slytherins haven’t been touched? Doesn’t that make it obvious this is Slytherin’s work?”

“No one from Ravenclaw has been attacked either,” another young wizard objected. “It could be someone who ought to have gone to Slytherin but ended up in Ravenclaw. That isn’t unusual. During my Sorting, the Sorting Hat asked whether I wanted Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.”

“But Slytherin is still the most suspicious, isn’t it?”

“Only the wicked Heir of Slytherin would do something like this! I remember that Slytherin’s founder left the castle because he disagreed with the other three founders. Perhaps he left something behind to punish the school when he went.”

“Actually, it was Slytherin and Gryffindor who opposed each other.”

The young wizards talked over one another, but not one of them could offer firm evidence. Their noisy speculation was merely an outlet for the fear and unease within them.

Hermione stood pale-faced in a corner, while Harry and Ron huddled together, whispering.

“I think it was a Slytherin,” Ron said. “Remember what happened on the train when we first came to Hogwarts? Malfoy started trouble in our compartment, and Suer stopped him.”

That was far from the only incident, Harry thought. He said nothing, merely nodding.

“What do you think, Hermione? Who do you reckon the culprit is?”

“I don’t know.” It was a long moment before Hermione shook her head. “My thoughts are a mess. I think I’d like to lie down.”

With that, she squeezed past Harry, skirted the crowd and headed for the girls’ dormitory alone.

Her solitary back formed a stark contrast with the bustling Gryffindor common room.

“She must be taking it hard,” Ron said. “She and Suer are practically inseparable most of the time.”

Harry nodded. He could not drive the image of Suer from his mind: rigid and vacant, lying on the bed with one arm outstretched.

If the culprit was not caught soon, Harry would be sent back to the Dursleys for the rest of his life.