Mrs. Norris and Wormtail walked away from the hut in silence. “Why did we have to leave?” Wormtail asked suddenly. “I was enjoying it there...”
“You haven’t been away from your beloved master for that long, ‘Nancy’. Have you already forgotten why you left? I actually would have preferred to stay back there, you know. I don’t often get to mix with any of the other creatures round here.” She stopped, and turned to look at Wormtail. “But now, us two have got a job to do. So shouldn’t we do it?”
“Yes, we probably should. Master wouldn’t like it if we don’t do what he wants,” Wormtail said, and shuddered, thinking of what his master might do to him if he failed to do what was expected of him.
“Indeed.” Mrs. Norris carried on walking towards Hogwarts, which was getting nearer with each small step she took. “Spying on everyone at Hogwarts, eh? Who shall we spy on first?” she asked, almost to herself.
“Well, I was thinking that we should spy on Dumbledore first. But, of course, we can’t. He’s gone somewhere...”
“Yes, I’d already realised that. What about Professor McGonagall? After all, she is the Deputy Headmistress. If Dumbledore leaves, then she’s in charge. What do you think?”
“Good idea. Lead on, my dear friend!”
“I’m not your friend,” Mrs. Norris replied, sounding very annoyed, “so don’t call me that.”
“Of course. Sorry. I apologise profusely.”
The two of them carried on in silence again. They climbed the steps to the front doors in single file, Mrs. Norris in the lead. Mrs. Norris stopped in front of the closed door and looked pointedly at Wormtail. He looked from her to the door, then back to Mrs. Norris again. He looked puzzled.
“What is it? What do you want me to do?” he asked, confused.
Mrs. Norris sighed. “You’re an Animagus, aren’t you? Well, I don’t have hands...”
Realisation dawned slowly on Wormtail, and he grinned. “I know what you want me to do...”
“Well done,” Mrs. Norris said, as Wormtail turned back into a human. He looked around cautiously, opened the door, and slipped into the castle. Mrs. Norris followed him, and then Wormtail closed the door, the sound echoing around the dark, empty Entrance Hall like a sound that echoes. Wormtail quickly changed into a rat once more and scurried off after Mrs. Norris, who had already set off towards the staircase.
“Hey! Wait!” Wormtail shouted.
Mrs. Norris turned to Wormtail with a furious look on her whiskered face. “Be quiet!” she hissed. “Do you think this is a game? What’s the point of sneaking in here and then trying to wake everyone up?”
Wormtail looked down at the stone floor, ashamed. “Sorry,” he apologised again.
“Good.” Mrs. Norris shook her head slowly. “Come on then. Let’s get to McGonagall’s office before everyone in the castle wakes up...”
She carried on up the stairs, with Wormtail followed a short distance behind her. They walked up to the seventh floor and set off along the corridor towards McGonagall’s office. As they walked along, Wormtail saw something coming along the corridor, heading towards them. It was a small glowing orb floating in mid-air coming from the opposite direction.
“Wh-what’s that?” Wormtail squeaked.
“Be quiet,” Mrs. Norris hissed, not taking her eyes off the orb, “and go over and hide by that suit of armour. Now.” Wormtail scurried over, not questioning her. He climbed onto the foot and watched Mrs. Norris as the orb came closer and closer...
...until it turned out that the orb wasn’t really an orb. It was really just a candle in a lantern, and Argus Filch, the one and only caretaker of Hogwarts, held the lantern while he prowled the corridors. He jumped when he saw Mrs. Norris in front of him, sitting calmly on the floor.
“Oh, it’s just you, my dear,” he said. Mrs. Norris purred in reply. Filch grinned and stroked Mrs. Norris’ head. “Where were you?” Filch asked. “I was worried.”
“I was just wandering around. I had a nice chat with Lord Voldemort as well,” Mrs. Norris replied, knowing that her human couldn’t hear her; he just heard something like this “ “Miaow, miaow, purr purr purr. Miaow purr.” Or something like that.
Filch smiled. “You know, sometimes it’s almost as though you understand me,” he said. “Anyway, I’ve got to carry on patrolling these corridors. You can stay here...” And with that, he was off again down the corridor.
Mrs. Norris waited until he was out of sight before setting off towards McGonagall’s office again. Wormtail scurried after her. “Who was he?” he asked, taking care to whisper, so Mrs. Norris wouldn’t get angry with him again.
“Well done! You’re being quiet!” Mrs. Norris said, and Wormtail smiled to himself. “And if you hadn’t already guessed, that was my human, Argus. He’s quite nice once you get to know him.”
“I suspect he is,” Wormtail replied.
They walked along in silence again. “Are we nearly there yet?” Wormtail asked after a while.
“No,” Mrs. Norris replied.
They walked along in silence again. “What about now?” Wormtail asked, once they’d walked one metre.
“No,” Mrs. Norris replied. “So shut up.”
This time when they walked along in silence, there was no interruption. They walked past suits of armour that creaked occasionally, paintings of elderly wizards that snorted in their sleep, tapestries, and a number of locked doors, until Mrs. Norris finally came to a halt in front of a rather plain-looking door.
“Here we go!” Mrs. Norris said. “This is the door to McGonagall’s office! It’s locked, of course.”
“So what am I going to do? How can I get in?”
“There’s only one thing you can do, my dear worm-tailed rat. You’ll have to wait here outside the office until McGonagall comes down, and then you’ll be able to go inside, won’t you? Obviously, you’ll have to sneak in without her noticing. I hope you’ll be able to do that. Goodbye!” She turned round and padded off back down the corridor, leaving Wormtail staring after her with a shocked expression on his face.
“Where are you going? Are you going to leave me here?”
Mrs. Norris turned round and smiled. “Yes, I am. Have fun without me!”