The Last Year

Inevitable Encounter

  They sat there, huddled together in the locker room for what felt like hours, but in reality, was no more than a few minutes.  Ginny continued to shelter in the far corner, still wondering what she had just witnessed, unsure if she should break the silence, or let them have their moment. 

  Finally, Harry pulled away from Hermione, looking around the room.

"We need to see McGonagall; she needs to know about James."

"It is awful late Harry," Ginny reminded him.

"I know, but this is important, and I am sure she is still up in her office, we just have to get there, quickly."

  And just like that, the trio was up and jogging back to the castle. The darkness seemed to grow around them as they went, trying to pull them back from the castle. Once they reached the castle, Harry asked Ginny to wake up Ron and have him watching for James or any other signs of trouble. 

  Now just the two of them, they raced up the stairs taking them two and three at a time trying to climb up the massive staircase. They reached the floor and bounded down the corridor, sliding to a stop in front of the gargoyle. 

"Babbling, bumbling, band of baboons!" Harry yelled at the statue which jumped to life, revealing the staircase. 

  Up the staircase they went, trying to reach the office as quickly as possible. They burst into the room to find it empty. Harry came to a halt upon reaching the empty office. He looked around the room, searching for the headmistress. Walking around the vacant desk, Harry found a note. 

  "Harry and Hermione, 

I have just been summoned to the Ministry for an urgent issue regarding the hunt for some of Voldemort's last remaining followers. I trust that you can handle matters until I return.

Headmistress McGonagall."

"Great! What do we do now?" Cried, Hermione.

"We handle the issue, we go and confront James, subdue him until she gets back."

"I don't know, he is dangerous and willing to do anything."

Well, we can't just wait until she comes back, like you said he's dangerous."

"Fine, but we have to be careful."

They set off the way they had come in, trying to be quick. They left the office, back down the staircase, and through the gargoyle statue.  This time, however, they were headed to Ravenclaw Tower. But, before they could reach it, they found both Ron and Ginny laying on the corridor floor. Ron was unconscious, Ginny appeared to be awake, but groaning in pain. 

Harry ran over to her.

"What happened? Are you okay?" 

"He....came... too powerful," Ginny replied, voice barely above a whisper. 

"Where is he?"

"Grand...Hall."

At this, Ginny passed out, the pain too great. Harry wasn't sure what he had done to them, but it had clearly incapacitated them. They needed to be cautious. He rose his wand and hurried down the staircase. 

Quietly, they opened the doors of the Grand Hall. The room was eerily silent and empty. They looked around, and finally, they spotted him. There sat James Rabnott on the throne at the head table.