𝐗𝐈𝐈. IN THE CASTLE

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CHAPTER TWELVEIN THE CASTLE

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CHAPTER TWELVE
IN THE CASTLE

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When Hermione and Ron returned, I decided to join them and Harry in the Gryffindor common room for a little. As we were making our way up the steps, Ron was telling Harry and I all about the Honeydukes sweets he'd tried and Zonko's Joke shop.

"We didn't get a chance to go to the Shrieking Shack, though. They say it's the most-" Ron started.

"The most haunted building in Britain. Yeah, I know." Harry cut him off, and I sighed. 

The conversation ended when we saw a group of Gryffindors crowding around the outside of the portrait entrance to the common room. No one was going in.

"What's going on?" Harry asked no one in particular.

"Probably Neville's forgotten the password again." Ron said bitterly.

"Hey!" Someone called from behind us. We turned and saw Neville. "I'm right here."

"Sorry." Ron said, and we faced forward again.

"Let me through, please. Excuse me, I'm Head Boy." The annoying voice of Percy Weasley rang out as my older brother figure pushed his way through to the front of the crowd. He had always been my least favorite sibling. "Get back, all of you. No one is going into this dormitory until it is fully searched."

The crowd shifted so that we could see what was going on. "The Fat Lady, she's gone!" Ginny exclaimed.

Sure enough, the painting that normally held the Fat Lady was ripped. Not as if a human did it, but it looked as though a claw had made the three slash marks in the portrait. All the the people in the paintings around were talking and they all seemed panicked.

Everyone moved out of the way even more when Dumbledore came forward, standing in front of the painting. Filch had trailed behind him. Dumbledore reached forward and traced the marks with his hand. "Mr. Filch," He spoke, "round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle until we find the Fat Lady."

"There's no need for ghosts, Professor. The Fat Lady's there." Filch replied, staring at something. He points and we all look over to see him pointing at another painting. At once we all rush over to it, ignoring Percy's yells about him being Head Boy.

Harry and I make our way to the front, following Dumbledore. We see that the Fat Lady is hiding behind a rhinoceros in a safari painting. 

"Dear Lady, who did this to you?" Dumbledore asked the frightened woman, sympathy lacing his voice.

The Lady was still crying slightly as she spoke. "Eyes like the devil, he's got. And a soul as dark as his name. It's him, Headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle. Sirius Black!" She cried, and hid behind the rhino again.

My face whitens and I look at Harry, who's as pale as I feel. "Secure the castle, Mr. Filch." Dumbledore tells Filch, then turns to us. "The rest of you, in the Great Hall!"

Dumbledore gathered all the students of Gryffindor into the Great Hall. He let me stay because he didn't want me traveling to my dorm right now, and he let me stay with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. There were sleeping bags all over the floor of the Great Hall, most students sleeping. That is, besides Harry and I, who were wide awake with worry. Luckily, we were next to each other so we could talk. Not that we did anyways.

"I've searched the Astronomy Tower and the owlery, sir. But there's nothing there." Filch tells Dumbledore as he walks back into the Great Hall.

"Ah, thank you." Dumbledore replies.

"Yes, the third floor's clear, too." Professor Flitwick adds.

"Very good." Dumbledore nods.

"And I've done the dungeons, Headmaster. No sign of Black nor anywhere else in the castle." Snape finishes.

"I didn't really expect him to linger." Dumbledore sighs.

"Remarkable feat, don't you think? To enter Hogwarts castle, on one's own, completely undetected." Snape drawls.

"Quite remarkable, yes." Dumbledore agrees.

"Any theories on how he might've managed?" Snape asks.

"Many. Each is as unlikely as the next." Dumbledore answers.

"You may recall, prior to the start of term, I did express concerns about your appointment of Professor Lupin-" Snape tries.

"Not a single Professor inside this castle would help Sirius Black to enter it." Dumbledore cuts him off. I smirk to myself, knowing Lupin isn't a bad guy. "No, I'm quite convinced the castle is safe. Professor Flitwick, would you go assure a certain group of Slytherins, especially Draco Malfoy, that Giovanna is safe. I'm sure they're very worried." I smile a little as Flitwick nods and heads off to the Slytherin dungeons. "I'm more than willing to send the students back to their house."

"What about the Potters?" Snape asks, gaining Harry and I's attention. "Should they be warned?"

"Perhaps. But for now, let them sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest oceans. Or glide over the highest cloud." Dumbledore says, ending the conversation.

And with that, I indeed fall into a deep sleep. Full of dreams entirely my own.

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