The Fools Who Dream

Chapter 16

After breakfast, about ten minutes before the start of lesson one, Cynthia and Alice began to go up the stairs, but separated on the third floor so Alice could go to charms and Cynthia could continue going up to the Headmaster’s office. It was only once she reached the sixth floor, absolutely exhausted, that she realised that she in fact had absolutely no clue where it was and began to feel a small panic rising in her stomach. Luckily, she was rescued by Professor McGonagall, who glided up the stairs a few minutes after her.

“Ah, Miss Potter.” she said pleasantly. “Excellent. Come along then.”

She led the nervous little first year along the hallway, at the end of which was a large griffin with its wings open in a small circular hole in the wall of the castle.

“Fizzy cola bottles.” said McGonagall, raising her hands to the griffin.

At first, Cynthia believed that she had gone entirely mad, as nothing happened, but then there was a loud creak and the griffin began to turn where it was. As it did, a set of stairs emerged from behind it, getting taller and taller every time it turned, with more steps appearing out of the stone.

McGonagall nodded her head at Cynthia, indicating that she should go climb these steps, and she did so, slightly nervously, she had to admit, but nothing bit her as she scampered up to the top. McGonagall followed her and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” called Dumbledore from inside, and McGonagall pushed the door open and she and Cynthia went inside.

It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and ,sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard’s hat – the Sorting Hat, Cynthia suddenly realised. Slughorn was already waiting in a chair next to the desk, and Dumbledore was sat at a chair behind it.

“Any better than yesterday, Miss Potter?” Dumbledore asked pleasantly, catching her off guard as she stared around the magnificent office.

“Oh – uh – yeah, thanks.” she muttered, going red.

“Excellent.” he said, folding his hands in his lap. “Would you mind telling us exactly what happened last night?”

“It was just a Halloween prank.” Cynthia blurted out. “It’s, uh, it’s not that big a deal.”

“Miss Potter, you were found in a broom closet with a broken nose, unconscious, and Madam Pomfrey assured us that had you been found any later, you may well have died.” said McGonagall dryly. “We’d like to take that quite seriously, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, I don’t know who did it.” Cynthia avoided all of there eyes. “I just – I went to put my bag away in the common room, and when I was coming back, three people in masks and – and cloaks sort of – well – jumped out at me.”

“And that caused you to break your nose?” asked McGonagall, raising her eyebrows sceptically.

“Well – not exactly.” said Cynthia. “They didn’t exactly ‘jump out’, per se, but they turned out all the lights and knocked my wand out of my hand, and then they sort of started appearing in the dark and forced me back into the broom cupboard, except I didn’t realise it was a broom cupboard. They shut the door and locked it, and I tried to run towards it but it was a lot closer than I thought so I smashed my nose into it. That’s when I was knocked out.”

“So you don’t know who did it?” asked Slughorn. “This is quite, quite serious, you understand.”

“I-I-I know.” stammered Cynthia. “But they had masks on. And they must have been on stilts or something, because they were all about two or three feet taller than me.”

“Only three of them, you say?” asked McGonagall, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Was there perhaps a fourth one hidden to close the door?”

“I only saw three.” said Cynthia. She knew exactly where McGonagall was going, and she wasn’t going to entertain the notion in any way. She didn’t want to stir up any unnecessary trouble. “Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“Most likely just a silly practical joke gone wrong.” said Dumbledore, pleasantly. “I expect whoever it was didn’t intend to take it so far or for you to get injured.”

Cynthia nodded, biting back the retort she so wanted to say, but she held it back, knowing that she shouldn’t.

“Please give your next teacher our apologies for being late.” he said, rising to his feet.

“Yes sir.” mumbled Cynthia.

McGonagall sighed and pulled the door open, and Cynthia quickly scuttled out and down the stairs, followed closely by McGonagall. For whatever reason, Slughorn and Dumbledore stayed in the office.
In the hallway, Cynthia knew that McGonagall’s classroom was just a few feet away and walked as quickly as she could to get to the stairs to go down to charms, her head down, but McGonagall called her back.

“Miss Potter?”

She sighed and turned around.

“Yes, Professor?”

“I believe we both know who did this.” said McGonagall. Her face gave nothing away: she was a mask of calm. “You shouldn’t cover up for them.”

Cynthia took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Professor.” she said, with as much confidence as she could muster. “I haven’t got a clue who was behind the masks, and if I did, I know I would come forward about it.”

“I know what they do.” said McGonagall. Cynthia could have sworn she saw a small glint of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone in an instant. “You needn’t be afraid of them. We can help you.”

“I’m not afraid of anyone.” snapped Cynthia. “And I don’t need your help.”

With that, she swung on her heel and marched irritably around the corner and down the stairs.

Standing at the doorway to her classroom, McGonagall chuckled slightly, which was a rare occurrence.

“She’s the spitting image, that one.”
 

A/N I got a new phone so I can now update from it rather than from the computer! Awesome!

Also, just to warn you, this is my last chapter in the bank so I might disappear again next week, but once again go check out my other stories while you wait!