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vii | Hooded- Figure ᴘʜɪʟᴏꜱᴏᴘʜᴇʀꜱ ꜱᴛᴏɴᴇ
𝐈𝐍 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐊𝐀'𝐒 𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄. Filch had taken them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor where her and Harry sat in awkward silence. She'd had taken to plaiting and un-plaiting her hair to fill the void in her mind. Whereas, excuses, alibis and wild cover-up stories chased each other around in Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last.
However one thought was a constant in both their minds. How could they have forgotten the cloak? How stupid and easily distracted are they?
There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and Harry might as well be packing his bags already, Valeska earning herself a harsh punishment at the hands of Dumbledore.
Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville, which Valeska's eyebrows furrowed at.
"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other two. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag --"
Valeska looked down, shaking her head. She'd had no idea what Neville had to do with the situation, yet he'd gotten himself caught up in a detention now too.
Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.
"I would never have believed it of any of you - Miss Asvaldr, you especially. Mr Filch says you two were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves." Professor McGonagall demanded.
Valeska went to open her mouth when a foot placed themselves over her's. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry subtly shaking his head.
"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"
Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering Neville -- Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.
Valeska's brows furrowed. "Draco Malfoy is worth as little as a sewer rat to me-"
Professor McGonagall slammed her hands down on the desk, giving her a deadly glare that instantly shut her up. "I am disgusted. Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard such a thing before! You, Miss Asvaldr, I thought you were more mature, like you so much as claim you are! As for you, Mr Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions -- yes, you too, Mr Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous -- and seventy-five points will be taken from Gryffindor."
