The Forgotten Twin

Chapter 27

The next morning they took the written Potions exam. It was easy enough, she knew their properties well enough. The practical was very easy as well. Everyone seemed much more capable of making good potions without Snape looming over them, ready to call them out for the smallest mistakes. Overall Delilah wouldn't be surprised if she got an 'O' on the results.

The next day was the opposite. She did dreadful on the Care of Magical Creatures exam. All she really knew about them was their use in Potions, and the written portion didn't cover that. Delilah did better in the practical part, maybe well enough to scrape a pass, but she doubted it.

Then on Wednesday it was Astronomy. They took the written portion in the morning, and Delilah wasn't sure how she did. The practical was at night, so beforehand she studied and took a nap. It was going to be a long night.

When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight, and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart he or she had been given.

Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished.

As Delilah completed the constellation Orion on her chart, however, the front doors of the castle opened almost directly below the parapet where she was standing, so that light spilled down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. Delilah glanced down as she made a slight adjustment to the position of her telescope and saw five or six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness once more.

Delilah put her eye back to her telescope and refocused it, now examining Venus. She looked down at his chart to enter the planet there, but something distracted her. After quickly completing Venus, she squinted down into the shadowy grounds and saw half a dozen figures walking over the lawn. If they had not been moving, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they stood. Even at this distance, Delilah thought she recognized the walk of the squattest among them, who seemed to be leading the group.

She couldn't think why Umbridge would be taking a stroll outside past midnight, much less accompanied by five others. Then somebody coughed behind him, and she remembered that she was halfway through an exam. She found Jupiter's position and put it on her chart. While alert for any odd sound, she heard a distant knock that echoed through the deserted grounds, followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog.

She looked up, heart hammering. There were lights on in Hagrid's windows and the people he had observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door opened and he distinctly saw six tiny but sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence.

Uneasily she glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. It seemed no one had, so she turned back to the stars and jotted down another constellation.

She glanced at Hagrid's cabin. Figures were now moving across the cabin windows, temporarily blocking the light. She jotted down Pluto's position but froze as a roar from the distant cabin echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Several of the people ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.

Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough.