Chapter 64: The Attack
The Gryffindor party only ended when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing-gown and hair-net at one in the morning, to insist that they all went to bed. Chris and Ginny climbed the stairs to their dormitory, still discussing the match. At last, exhausted, Chris climbed into bed, twitched the hangings of her four-poster shut to block out a ray of moonlight, lay back and felt herself almost instantly drifting off to sleep.
Chris was in deep sleep when she heard a faint sound of someone screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
First, she thought it was her dream but soon someone was shaking her badly. She barely opened her eyes and saw Ginny's scared anxious face just above hers. Chris got up, Danielle and Lauren, their other two roommates were also up and looked terrified.
"What happened?" Chris asked Ginny.
"Didn't you heard? Ron screamed." Ginny said still clutching her hand. "We should check. C'mon."
Chris and Ginny went out in the common room.
The common room was lit by the glow of the dying fire, still littered with debris from the party. It was only Harry, Ron and the boys in their room were in the common room.
"What's all the noise?"
"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"
A few of other girls had come down their staircase, pulling on dressing-gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.
"What happened Ron?" Ginny asked running towards him.
"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Fred Weasley brightly.
"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percy, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pyjamas as he spoke.
"Perce – Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"
The common room went very still.
"Nonsense!" said Percy, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron — had a nightmare —"
"I'm telling you —"
"Now, really, enough's enough!"
Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around.
"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"
"I certainly didn't authorise this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare —"
"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"
Professor McGonagall stared at him.
"Will you just stop screaming, Ron?" Chris snapped angrily. "We were halfway through our dreams when you woke us up. Have mercy and stop screaming." She looked at Professor McGonagall and said holding her head, "Professor, please, ask Sir Cadogan if he let Sirius Black in. I'm really tired after today's match."
Professor McGonagall looked at Chris incredulously and pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath.
"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"
"Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan.
There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.
"You — you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But — but the password!"
"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"
Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk.
"Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"
There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy-slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.
Everyone glared at Neville.
"Well, it wasn't entirely Neville's fault then, as Sir Cadogan changed the password twice a day," Chris said seriously looking at McGonagall.
"Not a word, Norton. Detention Longbottom, and you're not allowed to all future Hogsmeade visits. No one will give him any new password." Professor McGonagall said furiously. "I've to inform the teachers about this and I'll take care of this Sir Cadogan."
She stormed off.
Chris patted Neville who was sobbing, under everyone's glare.
"I tried Neville. But Professor McGonagall —"
"It's ok — Chris. Thanks for — trying —" He sobbed badly.
Chris sighed and went towards the girls' dormitory.
"Where're you going?" Hermione asked terrified.
"To sleep, — no harm is done. And I don't think Black came to kill." She yawned. "Because if he had, then Ron wouldn't be here to scream about it."
Almost everyone in the common room stared at her in disbelief.
"Good night." She walked towards her room.
Except for Chris, no one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole house stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Chris was sure Black escaped like last time and to confirm it Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell them that he had again escaped. In the morning Ginny told this to Chris.
Everywhere they went next day they saw signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognise a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan had been sacked. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had only agreed to return to her job on the condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs.
Ron had become an instant celebrity. For the first time in his life, people were paying more attention to him than to Harry, and it was clear that Ron was rather enjoying the experience. Though still severely shaken by the night's events, he was happy to tell anyone who asked, what had happened, with a wealth of detail.
"— I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draught — I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down — I rolled over — and I saw him standing over me — like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair — holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches — and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scarpered."
Chris felt as if he wasn't Ginny's brother, she would've punched him on the face, she hated this kind of persons, who'll do anything for attention, people like Gilderoy Lockhart.
Chris was now very sure that Black was innocent because if he had killed twelve or thirteen muggles like it was nothing, then killing few unarmed sleeping boys wasn't not going to be a problem for him. But he didn't, that proves he wasn't really after Harry.
Hermione and Ginny both were badly affected by the situation. Hermione was so worried about Harry and Ron that she started to keep an eye on them all the time.
Two days later, there was a notice about another Hogsmeade trip. Hermione was nervously shuffling her books, after reading the notice board. Harry and Ron weren't there. Chris saw this and sat beside her.
"Still worried about them?" Chris asked.
"Yes," Hermione said with a sigh.
"Relax Hermione, they'll here in a bit. Maybe they are wandering around the castle."
"No. They went to Hagrid's. I saw them. I'm worried about the Hogsmeade trip. If Harry goes again —" Hermione's voice cracked. "I hate that map. Do you know what you've to say to open it?"
"No," Chris said surprised.
"You've to say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' and 'Mischief managed!' To close it." Hermione snorted. "It's absolute trouble. Why don't they understand."
"Well that's interesting," Chris said smiling and Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Oh Hermione, nothing will happen to Harry. Trust me and if it still bothers you then just tell them not to go. You're really talented in ordering people."
Hermione smiled a little too, just then Harry and Ron entered the common room and sat in front of them. Thanks to the mountain of Hermione's books, they didn't notice Chris or Hermione.
"Well, Filch hasn't done anything about the passage into Honeydukes —" Harry said, quietly.
"Harry!" Called Hermione. Harry and Ron turned towards them. "Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade again — I'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!"
"Can you hear someone talking, Harry?" growled Ron, not looking at Hermione.
"Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! I mean it, I'll tell —"
"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled!" said Ron furiously. "Haven't you done enough damage this year?"
"Trust me, Ron, you haven't seen any damage yet and if you don't change your attitude then you'll see what's called actual damage," Chris said coldly and got up.
Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but with a soft hiss, Crookshanks leapt onto her lap. Hermione took one frightened look at the expression on Ron's face, gathered Crookshanks up and hurried away towards the girls' dormitories with Chris.
"Where do you think Harry keeps the Map, Hermione?" Chris whispered.
Hermione looked up at her, surprised, "I don't know for sure but I think in his trunk."
"Thanks," Chris said smiling.
"What're you trying to do, Chris?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing special. Don't worry." Chris smirked.
Friday night, after almost one o'clock, Chris sneaked into Boys' Dormitory. Everything inside their room was pitch black.
"Lumos," she whispered and entered the room.
All curtains were drawn around five beds. Chris knew exactly which was Harry's bed. She tip-toed around the room and bend down near Harry's bed. She was about to open the trunk when a voice came, "No — No — Please — Don't. I'm sorry. Don't let those spider near me."
Chris froze, then realized Ron was mumbling in sleep. She ignored his voice and opened Harry's trunk. Harry's trunk was very messy, there was his Firebolt, few clothes, Christmas gifts and at the corner the ragged old bit of parchment. Chris took it and was about to close the trunk when a sock fell out with a thud. Chris stopped again to make sure if anyone heard it. After making sure that there was no sound, she picked the sock to see, why it made such noise and brought out the Sneakoscope. To Chris's surprise, it wasn't lighting or making noise.
'That's weird. Maybe it's really broken.'
She put it back, got up and came face to face with Ron. He was about to scream —
"Silencio!" Chris whispered and Ron looked horrified, then he ran towards Harry, "Petrificus Totalus!"
Ron's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then he fell flat on his face, Chris sighed, everyone was still asleep. She saw Ron was unconscious, "Obliviate." She removed the silencing spell and left the room carefully.
Next morning, as everyone in Chris's room left for breakfast; Chris took out the blank parchment.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She tapped her wand into it.
And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that Chris's wand had touched. They joined each other, they criss-crossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP
It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing was the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labelled with a name in minuscule writing. A labelled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was walking out of the Great Hall; the caretaker's cat, Mrs Norris, was prowling the third floor, and Peeves the poltergeist was currently bouncing around the kitchen.
This map showed a set of passages and many of them seemed to lead right into Hogsmeade.
"Cool." She studied the map carefully then tapped her wand again and said, "Mischief managed." And the ink vanished from the paper as it appeared. She tucked it inside her robes and went towards the Great Hall.
As she walked towards Ginny, Luna and Colin; the second year, Hufflepuff boy, Melvin Catterick came in front of her.
"Hiya Chris." He said, blushing.
"Hey Melvin," Chris said, looking as dead as possible.
"So, how are you?" He said still grinning.
"I'm doing great. Have a good day. Bye." She said and walked past him.
"Sooooo. . ." Ginny said grinning. "Any progress on our crazy admirer?"
Chris rolled her eyes.
"If you ask me. He really has patience. Chris behave very rudely with him." Luna said.
"Leave him, I've something. Anyone up for a little adventure and investigation?" Chris asked grinning.
"I'm ready," Colin said enthusiastically.
"We're going to be break rules, aren't we?" Ginny asked raising her eyebrows.
"Maybe a little. I'll not force you, of course." Chris said innocently.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "So what's it?"
"I don't know," Luna said. "It can be dangerous, Sirius Black lurking around with the other creatures in school."
"It's ok Luna. I understand if you don't want to come." Chris said smiling.
"I love how you every time understood things so easily, Chris," Luna said smiling back.
Chris glanced at Harry, who was utterly clueless and tensed. Ron had the same expression, Chris understood her memory charm worked. She smirked.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone