Pennelope and the Trapdoor (Harry Potter love story) book 1

Into the Forest

Edited
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Things couldn't have been worse.
Filch took us down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where we sat and waited without saying a word to each other.

I gripped Hermione's hand, both of us trembling. I couldn't think of an excuse, we were cornered. How could we have been so stupid to leave the cloak on the tower? There is no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for our being out of bed in the dead of night, let alone being up in the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes.

And Norbert and the cloak, we might as well be packing our bags. I thought things couldn't be worse-

Spoke to soon.

When Professor McGonagall appeared she was leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw us. "I was trying to find you and warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag-"

Harry and I shook our heads violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked like she could breathe more fire than Norbert as she towered us.

"I would never have believe it from any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. 'Explain yourselves'."

It was the first time Hermione, and I failed to answer a teachers question. We were both staring at our slippers unable to speak or move.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's going on," said 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?"

In the corner of my eye I saw Harry looking at Neville trying to tell him it wasn't true, cause Neville looked really hurt. I felt really bad for him, we knew what it must've cost for him to try and find us in the dark, to warn us.

"I'm disgusted," McGonagall said. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, miss Granger and miss Jone, I thought you had more sense. As for you Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four 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 fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"'Fifty'?" Harry gasped - we would lose the lead! the lead Harry won at the Quidditch match.

"Fifty points each," McGonagall said breathing heavily through her nose. I ran next to Harry covering his mouth, just in case he said another stupid thing.

"Professor - please -" I said helplessly.

"You can't -" Hermione said, bad choice of words. Thanks Hermione. Note the sarcasm.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Granger. Now get back to bed. All of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Two hundred points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night. We ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup. Imagine what the fellow Gryffindors will think when they find out what we have done.

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglass that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have two hundred points fewer than yesterday? And then the story spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of the Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points with a couple of other stupid first years.