SuperPotterLock- The Philosopher's Stone

The Forbidden Forest

Filch took them all down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor where they sat and waited. Castiel was holding the sleeves of his coat to his mouth as if hoping to hide the panic that was spread across his face. After a moment he put an awkward arm around Hermione in an attempt to comfort her and stop her from trembling. It didn't help much but Hermione was grateful for the gesture all the same, even if Castiel was several inches shorter than her. Sherlock was sitting poker straight until he turned his head towards Harry and hissed, 'How could you be so stupid as to forget the Cloak?'

Harry opened his mouth to retort but Professor McGonagall walked in, dragging Neville with her.

'Harry!' Neville burst out the moment he saw them. '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-'

Harry shook his head violently to make him shut up but Professor McGonagall saw him and she looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert.

'I would never have believed it of any of you- well, maybe you, Holmes- Mr Filch says you were up the Astronomy Tower. It's one o' clock in the morning. Explain yourselves,' she fumed. None of them said anything. This was the first time Hermione had failed to answer a question from a teacher- she just stared down at her slippers.

'I think I have an idea of what's going on here,' Professor McGonagall said. 'It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Mr Malfoy some cock and bull story about a dragon to get him out of bed and into trouble. Well I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?'

As a matter of fact, Sherlock did find it highly amusing, although now was perhaps not the most appropriate time to mention it.

'I'm disgusted,' Professor McGonagall continued. 'I'd have thought you and Mr Edlund had more sense, Miss Granger. I've never heard of such a thing before! Six students out of bed in one night! I thought your houses meant more to you than this. All of you will receive detention- nothing gives you the right to walk about the school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous- and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.'

'Fifty?' Harry gasped. Gryffindor would lose the lead they had won in the last Quidditch match.

'Fifty points each,' she barked.

'Professor please-'

'You can't-'

'Don't tell me what I can and can't do. Never have I been more disappointed and shocked at the behaviour of first-year students. Now, go back to your dormitories immediately and this will not happen again.'

Making their way miserably up the stairs, they reflected on how bad things were looking. Ravenclaw had lost one hundred points and Gryffindor one hundred and fifty. None of them got much sleep.

At first people walking past the giant hourglasses thought it must be some kind of joke- how could two houses have lost so many points in one night? And then the story spread: the famous Harry Potter had lost them all the points they had won in the last Quidditch match- him and some other stupid first-years. Everyone went around pointing and glaring at them, not troubling to lower their voices as they insulted them all through the corridors. Tensions were strained between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw as each blamed each other for their first-years. The Hufflepuffs refused to take sides but hated the both of them equally. The whole school had been looking forward to seeing Slytherin lose the House Cup at last. The Slytherins, however, were quite pleased with the turn of events and went about cheering and applauding, saying things like, 'Nice one, Potter, we owe you one'. Thankfully Ron and John stood by them and when they were all together it was almost easy to ignore the jeering, especially as Sherlock treated it as a minor inconvenience.