“Uncle Ron! Aunt Hermione!” Ron exclaimed as he rounded the corner to McGonagall’s office. His aunt and uncle were walking down the hallway with both Harry’s (both son and friend) out of McGonagall’s office. Ron rushed forward to give them both a hug.
“How’s our favorite nephew doing?” Uncle Ron said, ruffling his nephew’s hair affectionately. Aunt Hermione smiled and hugged him.
“Yeah, how’s Hogwarts?” the latter asked. “I remember my first week of Hogwarts...very busy, yet fun at the same time.”
“Yeah, because you’re too smart for schooling,” Uncle Ron teased. Aunt Hermione scoffed and pushed Uncle Ron playfully.
“It’s pretty busy, but right now I’m feeling good,” Ron said, smiling from ear to ear. “Me and Harry just made the Gryffindor Quidditch team!”
“I heard,” Uncle Ron said. “Inherited your fathers’ Quidditch skills, you two did!”
“Just don’t get into any trouble,” Aunt Hermione warned.
“Please,” Harry said. “You think we could just be good little boys when our parents fought Lord Voldemort all throughout their school years? Why can’t we have any fun?” Everyone laughed at this.
Just then, Trevor Longbottom sprinted down the hallway towards them. “Hey, Trevor, how’s it go-” Ron started to say, but Trevor ran right past him.
“Can’t talk,” Trevor wheezed. “Must see Professor McGonagall...” He muttered the password as he ran, and began taking the stairs to the headmistress’s office three at a time.
“What’s gotten into him?” Harry wondered aloud. Everyone shrugged.
“Amazing, really, how much he looks like his father,” Professor Potter said. “Trevor, did you say his name was?”
Uncle Ron laughed. “And I suppose he has a toad named Neville?”
“Yes,” Ron and Harry replied together, which caused all three adults to burst out laughing.
“Well,” said Aunt Hermione, “we’d better be going. Have a good time, boys!”
“We will,” Ron and Harry said, smiling. As the five of them began walking down the hallway, an alarm went off, blaring in everyone’s ears. Doors everywhere began slamming open as screaming students ran into the hall.
McGonagall’s voice came over the intercom, speaking to the whole campus. “All students report to your common rooms immediately. All teachers report to the front gates of the grounds.”
Everyone began running towards their common rooms. “Ron, Harry,” Professor Potter told the boys, “you go to your common rooms. Let the adults handle whatever this situation is.”
“Yes, sir,” the boys replied dully, and the adults and kids separated, running for the front gates and the common rooms, respectively.
“Ron,” Harry yelled as they ran for the seventh floor, “do you think this has anything to do with what Trevor was rushing to tell McGonagall earlier?”
“Dunno,” Ron muttered. “He seemed to be in a big hurry for something...”
When they reached the common room, most of the students were at the window with Omnoculars, looking towards the front gates to see what was happening. Ron and Harry took turns borrowing someone’s pair of Omnoculars to see. “Looks like Trevor is pointing something out to the teachers,” Ron reported to everyone. “Maybe he saw something dangerous...”
“Maybe there’s a dragon out there!” a second-year yelled out, and that caused several people to scream.
“Dragons don’t live in the United Kingdom, stupid,” someone else yelled out.
“Well, we’ll find out soon,” Ron said, as he saw McGonagall send Trevor back to the castle.
“Looks like all the teachers are running down towards the forest,” said a fourth-year. “Wait...they’re firing spells!”
Everyone gasped; some in excitement, others in fright. “Looks like the teachers are the only ones firing,” Ron said. “Oh, wait...it’s over. Looks like they’re bending down to look at something...I wonder what?”
“Well, Trevor should be here soon,” Harry commented. “He’ll probably tell us.”
Sure enough, ten minutes later, Trevor walked through the portrait hole into the common room, only to be rushed by all the Gryffindors.
“What’s happening?”
“Is there a dragon?”
“Why was everyone sent to the common rooms?”
“Did someone die?”
Trevor sighed wearily. “Well,” he said, “I was looking for my toad, Neville, in the lake. Suddenly, I saw him jump out of the water and towards the front gates, so I chased after him. I finally caught up to him at the gates, and I looked up and saw...a Death Eater! In the forest!”
Several people screamed at this. “They’re coming to Hogwarts!” someone shouted.
“What’s happening down there?” someone yelled, and Ron picked up the Omnoculars again to see.
“Some of the teachers are leaving the grounds,” Ron reported, “and some of the teachers are coming back up to the school...hang on, they’re bringing someone up to the castle!” Everyone crowded back to the window again, gasping. Sure enough, several teachers were coming back up to the castle. Flitwick was Levitating the person to the castle, and several other teachers, obviously knowing that students would be watching their every move through the common room windows, hid the person from view by walking in a ring around the body.
“Did they kill the person?” someone wondered aloud.
“Probably not,” Ron commented. “They probably just Stupefied them or something so they could be interrogated.”
After all the teachers had returned to the castle twenty minutes later, everyone sat anxiously, awaiting news from a teacher. Finally, over an hour after the alarms had been set off, Professor Potter (who, by the way, was the new head of Gryffindor house) walked into the common room, and everyone fell silent.
“Most of you have probably heard that Mr. Longbottom here saw a Death Eater today,” Professor Potter said. “I should tell you...this is not true.”
Everyone, especially Trevor, looked confused at this. “Trevor, the person you saw was a student dressed as a Death Eater, for whatever reason. The student has been suspended for two weeks for impersonating a Dark wizard and leaving school grounds. That is all...you may now return to your activities throughout the grounds.” With that, Professor Potter exited the common room.
Everyone began chattering excitedly in relief. “I wonder who the person was?” Harry asked Ron.
“I’d bet anything it was Marilyn,” Ron replied. “What she was doing in a Death Eater costume, though?”
“You don’t think she was...well, you know...meeting with other Death Eaters, do you?” Harry asked, a little nervous.
Ron started to say it couldn’t be true, but then again, couldn’t it? After all, her father was a Death Eater, and she did seem to know a lot about what was going on everywhere.... “I dunno,” Ron had to say. It was true; he didn’t know what was going on, for once. “That might explain why some of the teachers left the grounds. Maybe they were looking for more Death Eaters!”
“I hope not,” Harry said. “I’d rather go through Hogwarts knowing the grounds are safe, thank you very much.”
Ron nodded thoughtfully. “Well, there’s only one way to find out what’s going on,” he said slowly.
“What’s that?” asked Harry, a little suspicious.
Ron leaned in close to Harry’s face. “We interrogate Marilyn.”
“Are you crazy?!” Harry exclaimed. “We’ll never get anything out of her...not unless you’re planning on using Polyjuice Potion or something crazy like that!”
“Nope,” Ron said. “I’ve got a better idea. And it’s practically foolproof...”
***
Author’s Note: What do you think is going on? Send in your theories in a review! Thanks for reading!