I never meant to fight during that battle in early May of 1998.
That night started out as any other…dinner in the Great Hall was tense as usual, and Professor Snape sat at the high table with the rest of the teachers. His icy, black eyes searched the room. His greasy black hair hung around his pale face, and his lips were pressed together in a thin, straight line. As he looked down at his plate full of food and picked up his fork, I wondered what was going through his head. I didn’t like the man”no one did, besides the Slytherins, of course.
I took my eyes off of Snape, and looked down at my own food. I, too, picked up my fork and began poking at the piece of chicken and rice on my plate. It all looked delicious, but I didn’t feel hungry that night. I was just tired; a long few weeks of studying did that to all of us.
I glanced over at my friend Bailey. She was in Ravenclaw as well as me, and so far our third year wasn’t going well. We couldn’t wait to get away from Snape, and we were upset when Professor Dumbledore passed away. Now, Bailey had her head in her arms and seemed to be crying. A few days ago she had taken a beating from one of the Carrows…something about ‘harassing’ one of them, but I knew that that accusation was a lie. Bailey would never, ever do something like that. She was scared enough as it was.
Suddenly, our plates full of food had disappeared from the table, and Snape stood and said softly, “Off to bed, and don’t even think about making a sound.” I couldn’t help notice the look on Professor McGonagall’s face as Snape said this…she was clearly disgusted with man as much as we all were. The sound of benches against stone filled the Hall as we stood and walked into the Entrance Hall and towards the staircases.
I felt someone tap my right shoulder as I walked. I turned and saw Bailey smiling at me, her face red and small round tears dripping out of her eyes. Her left cheek had a cut on it, and her forehead was slightly bruised. She also had a scab on her lower lip. “Michael,” she whispered.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly as we began walking.
Bailey nodded solemnly. “It doesn’t hurt as much anymore,” she answered.
When we got to into Ravenclaw common-room, Bailey and I sat on the large blue sofa next to the window overlooking the mountains surrounding Hogwarts. But instead of looking out the window into the night, I decided to look up at our own ceiling. It was painted like the night sky, with glittering gold stars that actually twinkled and glowed. I loved the common-room, and I felt right at home two years ago when I first arrived here and I still did.
Next, my eyes flickered over to the marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. Even though it was very nice looking, I didn’t like it much. I used to think that she actually stared at you as you walked past.
“Is there something on your mind?” asked Bailey quietly. I turned to her bruised face, and examined her straight, light brown that went down to her shoulders.
“Nope,” I said, but my voice quivered and that gave something away. “Who are you more afraid of,” I continued, changing the subject. Bailey leaned forward, interested. “The Carrows, or Snape?”
Her eyebrows came together in disgust”she clearly hated them all. “Er…”
“C’mon, it’s quite an easy question.”
To my surprise, Bailey started to laugh. “Easy question? Are you joking? I loathe the lot of ‘em.”
To my left, a first year yawned and stood, and began making for the stairs up to the dormitories.
“I’m sort of tired, Michael. Can I sleep on it?” she asked.
I nodded and replied, “Sure. Good night.”
Bailey leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me. “Good night,” she whispered. She stood up and walked over to the stairs to the girls’ dormitory. Before she disappeared around the corner, she stopped and waved in farewell. I waved back, and stood as well.
My head felt strange when I stood, and I yawned loudly. I was alone in the common-room. A few minutes later, I was in my nightclothes and in bed. I brought the warm sheets to my face, and fell fast asleep.
My eyes shot open to the sound of a loud bang. “What’s that noise?” I asked stupidly, and drew back the curtains of the four-poster bed. The rest of the boys in the dormitory were leaving and heading for the common-room. I stood and ran behind them, trying to keep up. Everyone was wondering the same thing”what’s going on?!
We got down to the common-room, and there in the middle of the room was one of the Carrows, Alecto, lying down apparently unconscious. I turned and saw the girls standing beside us, all wearing their nightclothes and looking sleepy, and my eyes immediately found Bailey. She was dressed in a pink nightgown. She saw Alecto, and her face lit up as if it was Christmas morning. She saw me looking at her, and giggled with delight.
A boy in the front of the little crowd tiptoed towards Alecto carefully. He nudged her in the back and quickly darted away, scared that she would wake up, but she didn’t. He smiled, too. **“I think she might be dead!” he yelped joyfully.
As we all walked towards Alecto, I heard a soft whisper from the corner of the common-room. I turned towards it, but no one was there, and the whispering had stopped.
Bailey walked to me and said happily, “Isn’t this fantastic! Alecto Carrow dead…serves her right for giving me this cut on my cheek!”
There was a sudden knock on the common-room door, and we all looked up towards the noise. Nobody moved. The sound of the eagle door-knocker was heard, and then a rough voice followed.
“It’s Amycus! Amycus Carrow!” whispered a girl. Whispering broke out throughout the common-room as Amycus continued to shout. I looked at Bailey, who suddenly wasn’t as happy as she was before. She grabbed my hand, and we both began to back away from Alecto’s body.
The rest of the Ravenclaws followed our lead, and Bailey whispered, “We should get back to bed. If Amycus gets in here, he’ll think that we killed his sister.” Her face was full of pure worry and anxiety, and I nodded in agreement.
The door leading out of the common-room was now shaking; it was obvious that Amycus was trying to break through it. “I’ll see you later,” I promised Bailey, and we both went our separate ways. A few kids followed me, but most of them stuck around the common-room, curious. But not me. I was terrified of the Carrows, and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I crept up the steps and into the dormitory. I sat on my bed as I heard Professor McGonagall’s voice talking to Amycus.
A few other boys in the dormitory sat on their beds too, but we didn’t say a word. We just stared at each other, until a boy whispered, “I wonder who’s done it.”
“Wasn’t me,” said a curly haired boy on the other side of the room. “But whoever’s done it deserves a medal.”
We were quiet for a few minutes more, and then we heard the rest of the Ravenclaws thundering up the stairs. Their faces showed how scared they were. “Amycus got in”McGonagall let him,” said a sandy haired boy with freckles as he jumped into bed. I quickly got under the covers, as did everyone else, and pulled the sheets over my head in fear.
A long few minutes passed by when the racket in the common-room finally stopped. After that, we just laid there and waited. I wondered about Bailey; was she hiding under the covers too, or sitting on her bed, talking to her friends about the events that had just happened? Or was she sound asleep already?
And then, out of nowhere, someone came rushing into our dormitory. I sat up and saw a prefect. “Get up and put on some decent clothing,” he barked quickly. “And when you are ready, meet down in the common-room. Don’t bring anything with you, just hurry up. We’ll be going down to the Great Hall.”
“Why?” asked the curly haired boy.
“Just do it! Flitwick’s orders.” And with that, he strode from the room, leaving us scared yet confused”and in unison, we all stood and started putting on our clothes.
From Hear to Here: The Battle through Different Eyes by Zack
Story Notes:
Whenever you see two astericks ( ** ) before a piece of dialogue, that means that it was taken straight from the book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
Chapter Endnotes: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!! Comment please, because I really want to know what you all think!