The Story of Ruby Evans - The Beginning (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction) (Rewriting)

Chapter 15 - Scary Dark Forrest scared me O_O

How could we have been so stupid? I really couldn't believe we had forgotten the cloak.

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. Hermione was trembling. I couldn't think of any excuse as to why we were out of bed. We definitely couldn't tell the truth without getting Hagrid into a whole lot of trouble.

There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for us 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. Then it got worse. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw us. "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 shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the four of us. I was quite scared.

"I would never have believed it of 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 had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue. Me and Harry were silent.

"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?"

I looked at Neville. He looked stunned and hurt. Harry was trying to catch his eye. Poor Neville. It had cost him a lot to try and warn us.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr Potter, Miss Evans, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you two 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 -- they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.

"Professor – please!”

"You can't --"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. 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'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup. I felt bad, but I didn’t regret helping Hagrid.

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could we suddenly have two hundred points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost us all those points, him and a few other stupid first years.

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"