Harry didn’t know too many Ravenclaws, and gazing at them playing games, conversing and studying now was like watching a film. There was something about it that was distinctly new yet familiar at the same time. A couple of the students were playing Wizard’s Chess just like he and Ron did, another had just tripped over in a manner that reminded him of Neville. Neville. He was starting to feel really bad for the poor guy now. Playing a joke on him like that had not only been foolish, it had been unfair too. He made a mental note to apologise somehow. Give him a good mark on his next Potion or something. Then he had a thought. Neville would no doubt confront the person he had thought had been with him in the hallway. Would Snape figure it out? Well, there wasn’t much he could do about it now. Harry secured himself in the corner, out of the way of the thoroughfare of students, and watched.
“The Ravenclaws aren’t as different as I thought,” Harry mused as he witnessed friends bickering and food that someone had sneaked into the room being consumed. He stood and waited. Time ticked on, at least half an hour had passed.
He didn’t exactly know what he was waiting for, but when he saw her, he realised. Harry had been waiting for Cho. She was chatting with a younger student, Harry thought perhaps helping them with their homework. She looked so lovely. Harry smiled happily to himself. Fond memories of the agonising pain he had gone through to finally ask her out and her acceptance lingered in his mind. The wonderous first date they had shared in Hogsmeade came into view. Now Snape had ruined it. The old anger welled up. Harry whinged and moaned to himself, ever watching Cho as she swished a strand of hair out of her face. He wished he could just go up to her and talk like they had done before all of this started.
The word “mistake” loomed in Harry’s mind and he looked anxiously around for an exit, but found, to his dismay, there wasn’t an obvious passage out. Harry frowned. This was a conundrum indeed. He couldn’t disapparate, even if he had known how. He couldn’t very well ask anyone the way out. His best bet was to wait for a student to leave, but it being late evening, most students were going to their dormitories instead of out of the common room. He could hardly wait here all night!
The similar thought crept up on him again. What if he told Cho everything? He could trust her. No. Dumbledore had strictly forbidden it. Dumbledore had been the one who had got him into this mess, though.
“No, Harry… you did that yourself,” his inner voice said in condemnation.
Harry started to get worked up. He contemplated having to sleep on the couch. He imagined being awoken by a terrified screaming student due to the unpredictability of the cloak completely covering him as he tossed and turned in dreamland. Then, something flickered in his mind. It felt like an old forgotten memory. It was distant yet Harry was sure it related to his current situation. He concentrated. It was another piece of information from the Accluma. Snape had been in the Ravenclaw common room. He knew how to get out. Harry had gained a whole wealth of information from the Accluma that he hadn’t wanted to process yet… most of it to do with Snape’s past and one really odd thing about a red tutu.
Harry studied on the thought harder. Another item in the room acted like a portkey. It was large and cylindrical. Harry looked around feverishly. He moved away from his corner to search more, making sure not to bump into any of the students still in the room. He came awfully close to hitting into Tom Pickering, who was gesticulating wildly about something he claimed to have done playing Quidditch back at home. Harry knew it was absolute rubbish. He had seen Pickering fly, and he was worse than catastrophic.
Harry saw the portkey eventually. It looked like a normal container of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans, except all of the beans were there, and that was impossible amongst a group of students. He touched the jar and smiled as his stomach tingled.
“Well, that was anti-climactic,” Harry thought when he was safely back outside.
**********
Just as he had been about to move away from the banister, Harry felt an enormous force from behind push him to the ground. A squeal echoed throughout the corridor. Harry was sprawled on the floor, a lock of fringe caught in his eyes. He couldn’t see. He’d twisted on landing and was lying supporting himself on his arm.
“Oh my Merlin! P… P… Professor?” a confused female voice said. “Your legs, where are your legs?”
Harry brushed the hair out of his eyes and stood up shakily. The rest of the cloak dropped to the floor. His heartbeat was racing, his pulse was pulsing and his throat had gone dry.
“Miss Chang, what are you doing out of the Ravenclaw common room at this hour?” Harry tried to compose himself, but the corridor was still spinning and he was aware he was standing awkwardly. Cho’s mouth was hanging open as she stared maniacally at Harry.
“What were you doing there?” the girl asked.
“That… is none of your business,” Harry said, the tremble in his voice betraying panic.
“Your legs weren’t there when you were on the floor. You had to be right by the common room entrance, otherwise I wouldn’t have hit into you.” Cho paced back and forth. “What were you doing there? What were you doing right by the Ravenclaw common room entry? You were spying on us in that, that… that invisibility cloak!” Cho was pointing at the material draped in a pile on the floor and then back at Harry.
Harry didn’t know what to do or say. He just stood there like a stunned mullet, as Cho Chang became more and more hysterical. Her face was flushed and she was waving her arms around. Harry didn’t have time to get a word in.
“You’ve probably been there for hours!” she said before stepping backwards. “You’ve probably been telling all of the Slytherins about us. Or, or it’s something completely different, it could be… it could be… I’m going to go to the headmaster and… and…”
Harry hadn’t done anything. Cho had just stopped. She looked up at him with a tormented expression and then looked at the ground.
“Is everything alright?” Harry asked, alarmed. Cho had the appearance of one who was just about to cry.
“I’m sorry. I’m acting like an idiot!” Cho said. “I think I’m going insane…”
“You’re not going insane, but you are acting like an idiot,” Harry said, trying to calm the Ravenclaw down, “I was not in the Ravenclaw common room, I was merely walking nearby.” Harry paused to let his words sink in. “I was wearing the invisibility cloak. All members of staff wear it when they are patrolling the corridors late at night. These are dangerous times, Miss Chang and call for desperate measures.” Harry wondered if this was indeed true. If this wasn’t, in fact, a staff invisibility cloak. But then, why had it been at the bottom of the box?
Conversely, Cho looked relieved. She smiled a little.
“Now. Answer me this time. What are you doing out of the Ravenclaw common room this late at night?”
“I was going to put some books in the Library after-hours return chute,” she replied with a blush.
“I don’t see any books.”
“Oh! I must have dropped them,” she said, twisting around on the spot. Harry looked along the ground and found them. He handed them over with a grimace. He was still reeling with shock. He surprised himself with the readiness of his excuses in cases such as these. He wondered if it was all him, or something left in Snape’s body. The ability to lie on the spot with startling accuracy.
“Why did you think you were going insane?” Harry asked with a small frown. Cho shook her head and blushed again. Harry waited patiently. She seemed to be at battle with herself, and when she spoke, did so slowly.
“Because for a second, I thought it wasn’t you. That you were someone else. You seem so different lately. You cut your hair, you have a cat, you spilled that potion on yourself. I thought you might be a d… death eater or something.” Harry smiled at the irony.
“Well, be assured that I am as much Professor Severus Snape now as I ever have been before.”
“Yes Professor. Thankyou Professor.”
“Now, I think it would actually be best if you got back into your dormitory. I shall return the books for you.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry. I’ve been incredibly rude. I’m surprised you haven’t taken a thousand points from Ravenclaw!” Cho said, handing Harry back the books.
“That would put Gryffindor in the lead, and we couldn’t have that, could we? Off you get,” Harry said.
Cho touched the balustrade and said the password. He knelt down, picked up the cloak, adjusted the pile of books and walked back towards the Library. That had been a close call. He realised he would have to watch his behaviour around Cho even more closely from now on. Still, he had got to talk with her, for a little while at least.
There would be no more invisible excursions.