Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Halloween and Revelation.
Hermione finally got a break from her busy schedule as today was Halloween and everyone was in a festive mood. Tonight, she finally enjoyed a normal celebration night with everyone in her three years of studying at Hogwarts.
After the party, everyone was returning to their dorms when the Gryffindors got a surprise, the portrait of the fat lady guarding the entrance to their House was torn and the fat lady gone.
Hermione and the trio got the news while they were passing the staircase. Soon, Headmaster Dumbledore came along with caretaker Filch to inspect the damage. After finding the fat lady hidden among one of the many portraits, she informed everyone that Sirius Black had entered Hogwarts and tried to enter the Gryffindor House but was stopped by the fat lady and as revenge Sirius tore her portrait and ran away.
Hogwarts was on high alert by the news and head teachers of every House searched their Houses and the castle for the escaped Sirius Black but couldn't find him. They lockdown every passage and informed the Ministry. Even the Dementors started converging on Hogwarts narrowing their search range.
The Gryffindors had to sleep on sleeping bags in the great halls during the search.
The event passed as the students were now preoccupied by the start of Quidditch games. The first match is between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Harry was getting ready for the match, enchanting his goggles with rainproof charms when he remembered Draco sending him a note on Snape's Class, describing him being struck down by lightning.
The match was originally with Slytherin but was later changed, with the excuse of Draco's injury. They must have forecasted the unfavorable weather.
Hermione was watching the game in the rainy weather. Although the visibility was low, it didn't dampen their spirits and they were cheering for their team. The match started quite competitive… mid-game, both the seekers seemed to notice the snitch and they flew up higher, chasing after it.
First, Cedric, the Hufflepuff seeker came crashing down after being struck by lightning then Harry. Both of them landed safely after Dumbledore slowed their falling momentum with magic.
Cedric quickly recovered and wanted to continue the match, but Harry was still laying there, unconscious. Soon, the stadium was at an uproar as hordes of dementors came flying down, sucking the happiness from the students. The students were afraid and screamed.
These Dementors were starving as they were put on duty, away from Azkaban, searching for Sirius and the cheerful emotion of students during the game were tempting them. Dumbledore casted a powerful Patronus to drive them away, he seemed furious at the event and the match was also promptly stopped.
In the attack, Harry's broom was broken after it flew stranded at the beating willow tree. The Gryffindor team also lost the match, but they were not discouraged and decided to strive harder at the remaining matches to get higher scores.
It was the weekend before Christmas and Hermione was visiting Hogsmeade Village again. After a stroll in the bookstore, she decided to visit the Shrieking shack, located at the outskirts of the village, a well-known haunted house.
She met Ron on the way and joined her to see it. There was a wire fence separating the house and warning signs at the torn gate. Ron was telling her scary stories about the house when Draco with two of his friends Crabbe and Theo, came and taunted Ron, belittling him, "Well! Well! Look who's here?
Looking for your new dream home? Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasle-Bee? … Don't your family sleep in one room?"
Angered Ron replied, "Shut your mouth, Malfoy."
Draco further taunted, "Not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasle-Bee how to respect his superiors." showing off their new outfits.
Hermione laughed at that and teased back, "Hope you don't mean yourself."
Draco was annoyed with her interruption and scolded her by calling a mudblood, then suddenly, a snowball came flying out of nowhere, hitting Draco's head.
The group was startled by the sudden attack and looked around for the attacker but couldn't find any. Another snowball came, hitting Draco again. "Who's there?" shouted Draco, He also became alert and defensive, subconsciously walked closer to Hermione protecting her.
Only after sensing the target was himself, did he separate quickly, thinking about the attacker. The following actions of the attacker confirmed his guess and decided to get away. He acted scared and left, taking his group along. Decided to inform Snape of Harry Potter, sneaking out of Castle while a killer was on the loose.
Hermione called out to Harry when he tried to trick her. She was laughing at the actions of the scared Draco and including the scared Ron.
They walked back to the main Village, talking about how Harry sneaked out of Hogwarts, the marauder's map given by Fred and George….
Passing by the Three Broomsticks pub they saw Professor McGonagall, Hagrid along with the Minister of magic talking and complaining about the Dementors stationed in Hogsmeade, and Harry's name came up in their talks.
Curious Harry put on his invisibility cloak and sneaked in to hear their conversation. Hermione and Ron waited for him to come out. When Harry did, he was sad and silent. They walked to a clearing and Harry told what he heard; about the night his parents died, about the betrayal and Sirius being Harry's godfather. Then Harry was angry and started to prepare himself to face Sirius and kill him himself.
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