Good Enough | hp

27| The Fraud

Estella felt like she was falling through the sky, plummeting closer and closer to the ground.

She felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe floor beside him.

Oh no, her unspoken pity filling the enclosed space like a blown-up balloon, his sister. My friend. This is like me and Hermione but so, so, so much worse. Hermione will get better but Ginny-

"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said..."

The staff room door banged open again. It was Lockhart, and he was beaming. "So sorry- dozed off- what have I missed?"

Estella clenched her fist. How dare he look so happy, be so cheerful when right this instant, Ginny could be lying still in the darkness. Alone.

Lockhart didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably like hatred. Snape stepped forward.

"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."

Lockhart blanched.

"That's right, Gilderoy," chipped in Professor Sprout. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"

"I- well, I-" spluttered Lockhart.

"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" piped up Professor Flitwick.

"D- did I? I don't recall..."

"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said Snape. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"

Estella didn't think she'd ever appreciated Snape as much as at that moment.

Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues. "I... I really never... You may have misunderstood..."

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."

Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome anymore. His lip was trembling and in the absence of his usually toothy grin he looked weak-chinned and weedy.

"V- very well," he said. "I'll- I'll be in my office, getting- getting ready."

And he left the room.

"Right," said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils were flared, "that's got him out from under our feet. The Head of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories."

The teachers rose and left one by one.

✰♪

It was probably the worst day of Estella's entire life; test marks and missed opportunities could not compare to this. This void.

She, Harry, Ron, Fred and George sat together in a corner of the Gryffindor room, unable to say anything to each other. 

Percy wasn't there. He had gone to send an owl to Mr and Mrs Weasley, then shut himself up in his dormitory.