𝓛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 (𝒞𝑒𝒹𝓇𝒾𝒸 𝒟𝒾𝑔𝑔𝑜𝓇𝓎)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝟣𝟤

TᕼE ᑌᑎE᙭ᑭEᑕTEᗪ ᔕᒪᑌᗰᗷEᖇ ᑭᗩᖇTY

Ariana's plan was an elaborate one. But it was not meant to be.

After the feast, which had again been outstanding, hats off to the elves who made it, the group of friends laughed and chatted, assuring Ariana that she hadn't missed much at Hogsmeade and it was just like any other trip last year. They followed the other Gryffindor's up to the Tower as per routine, but when they arrived at the corridor that contained Fat Lady's portrait, they found it completely packed with students.

"What the hell..." Ariana murmured, trying to squish through students to see what was causing all the commotion.

"Excuse me - sorry - excuse me, Prefect coming through," she muttered various apologies to people and stopped to catch a breath in the centre of the corridor near the third years, leaning against her sister.

"Any idea why no one is going in?" Ron asked curiously.

Ariana shook her head and peered over the students. The portrait appeared to be closed.

"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password -- excuse me, I'm Head Boy --"

And then a silence fell over everyone, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick. "

Ariana could no longer take the suspense and she discreetly started to use her powers to subtly slide students out of her path to make it easier for her to reach the front. Finally arriving at her destination, Ariana glanced up at the portrait and let out a horrified gasp, a hand covering her mouth.

A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait; the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, Estella and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was, coming to a stop directly behind Ariana.

"Oh, my --" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm as Estella held Ariana's hand tightly.

The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. Dumbledore 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."

An uproar was caused amongst the students and Ariana inhaled sharply through her nose. It couldn't be...