Chapter 72: Chapter-72: Fat Lady's Flight
Ronan was sitting outside the castle, near the Whomping Willow that evening. After talking to Professor Flitwick, he was trying to figure out whether he should go through with his plan on Christmas Eve. It was a dangerous plan after all, and could get him a lot of trouble. But he figured that overthinking about it might not help him. That is why he came outside, with Donatello, who was munching on fresh lettuce.
"Ronan!" he turned around and saw Harry and Neville making their way towards him. He waved at them, and they came and sat down with him.
"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked.
"Thinking about Christmas. I am going to Scotland this year." He revealed.
"You are?" Neville asked. "Why?"
"Secret Business, my friend." He lied. The thing was, he didnt want anyone to know that he had another home in Scotland.
"What kind of secret business is this?" Harry asked, "Is it related to the new project that you are making?"
"Maybe…"
"Wait what secret project? Is it a game?" Neville asked.
"Dont even try. He won't tell you. I have been bugging you to at least give a little hint about it. But he had been resolute with his decision." Harry said.
"Hey, you will probably get the new game in your Christmas present."
"Dont get fooled by his promises. He told me that as well. But then he quickly added that he was talking about Christmas, four years from now."
"Four years?" Neville asked, "What the hell are you making? It took you two years to come up with the puppets. And those blew my socks off. What kind of marvel are you making that will take you, four years to build" Neville asked.
"Well.. It is like this," Ronan said, "I might have…" but then he stopped. He was looking at a big black dog that standing not to far away from.
"Hello there," Ronan said as he got up. The black dog growled at him, but that didnt deter his confidence. He started walking towards the dog with a spring in his step. He loved dogs.
"Ronan!" Harry yelled, "I dont think that petting a wild dog would be a good idea."
"Nonsense." Ronan said, "Dogs are gentle creatures. We just have to win their trust." He yelled back. "Isn't that right boy?"
The dog growled at him, but he didnt stop. He approached the dog with a light hand he started petting the thing. He noticed that the thing didnt start wagging his tail, unlike the other dogs. Thinking that it might attack him, Ronan put his guard up, he would squash the old thing if it tried to do something.
Seeing him, Harry and Neville approached the dog as well. They started petting the thing, and the dog obliged, liking their hands and enjoying their light touch. The thing that alarmed Ronan was that this thing was not wagging its tail, even when he was enjoying the company of the others.
This thing… is a dog right? He couldnt help but ask himself. As a dog lover, he had met and petted a lot of dogs in his life. But never he had met a dog who doesn't wag its tail.
Maybe its tail is paralyzed or numb. Discreetly, using his telekinesis and gently tried raising its tail. To his surprise, the dog jumped in the air, Ronan realized that the dog was able to feel his touch.
If this guy is not numb or paralyzed, then why is not wagging his tail? Thinking that there might be a chance that this thing was not a dog, Ronan then said, "Guys let's go back to the castle. I have something to show you guys,"
"What?" Neville asked while scratching that thing's back.
"Let me show you what I have been working on…" Ronan said. Immediately Harry and Neville both looked at him with surprise. Both of them obliged to his request and they started heading back to the castle.
***
Harry has a blast during the Halloween feast. Although he was still mad at Ronan as he made a fool of them. He called them to the Fight Club, and instead of showing them what he had been working on, he instead handed them two invites to the club. Although he was pissed at first, when Ronan gave them both fighting puppets, only then their anger was quelled.
"Did Ronan tell you whether he got the slips from Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick?" Hermione asked.
"How do you know about them?" Neville asked. Ronan had indeed told them his progress on collecting the permission slips.
"Well, he told me that he was going to have tests today… I figured that he must have passed them, he is studying every advanced magic right now when compared to OWLs."
"Yup, he passed." Harry said, "Now he only needs permission slips for two subjects. One of them is runes, the other one is Care for Magical Creatures."
"Runes would be the easiest one to get," Hermione said, "Professor Babbling is a big fan of his work. While as far as Care for Magical Creature is concerned, I think that Hagrid will easily give him a permission slip as well,"
"Auggh" Ron groaned, "If Mom finds out that Ronan had skipped years, she would not stop nagging me to become like him. I get more than enough share of taunts and nage when she compares me to Charlie and Percy…"
While they were talking, Harry couldnt help but imagine himself in Ronan's place. For the rest of the feast, he imagined himself in the scenarios where he became as strong and as intelligent as Ronan, and how he became famous in the whole country.
The feast came to an end soon, students started heading towards the dormitory. Harry was talking to Ron and Neville about the upcoming quidditch game when they were all abruptly stopped on the stairway. They saw that a crowd had gathered in front of the Fat Lady Portrait, the entrance of Gryffindor's common room.
Navigating through the crowd, when he along with his friends reached the end, they realized that something terrible had happened. The fat lady was missing from her portrait, not only that her portrait harmed, but it was torn to pieces, with only part of the portrait left frame.
"What the hell happened here?" Ron asked.
"Excuse me! Move! I am a prefect!" came Percy, flashing his badge around. Seeing what had happened to the poster, he turned around and yelled, "Someone call Professor Dumbledore, immediately,"
"What's going on?" said Ginny, who had just arrived.
A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait. He took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him.
"We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice. It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.
"What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle.
"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily. "Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.
"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.
"Oh yes, Professorhead," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black." Making Harry raise his eyebrows. He knew that Sirius was out to get Ronan. But what would we want from the Gryffindor common room…
Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."
Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing …" One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.
"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him. The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened.
Harry went to Ronan, who was talking to his friends. "Ronan, you would not believe what happened," he said, and then retold him the whole story in front of his friends.
"Sirius in school… That is interesting." Ronan mumbled.
"You should be careful from now onwards," Ronan nodded.
"Mingling with your little friends Johanson?" Malfoy said while joining them. "Are you trying to sell your house quidditch secrets?"
"Get out of here Malfoy," Daphne said.
"Why? You own the hall, Greengrass?" Malfoy retorted.
"You should go away Malfoy," Ronan said.
"Yeah right," Malfoy said in defiance. But he did turn around to go away, which truly impressed Harry. He had heard that most students of Slytherin were afraid of Ronan, and today he saw it with his own eyes that it was indeed true.
But then Malfoy stopped and looked at him, "You should watch your back there Potter. I heard what happened. Dont ever think that idiot Longbottom would be able to save you from Black…" it was then Malfoy's lips merged into one. He then saw Ronan had pulled his wand out.
"What does he mean?" Harry asked Ronan, who looked panicked for some reason.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
Ronan then said, "Sorry Harry, I am going to sleep." And then he waved his wand again, and Harry got pulled back, and he found himself on the other end of the hall. And with Percy in the middle, he was able to go back to him, and ask about what Malfoy meant…
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