Amie's World of Lies (Harry Potter fan-fic) Book 3 COMPLETED

Buckbeak

Not one Gryffindor went back to bed that night. The castle was being searched again, and they all stayed awake in the common room. Amie wanted to sleep, but at the same time she was afraid that it would be suspicious. At dawn, McGonagall came to inform them all that Sirius had escaped, and Amie let out a relieved sigh.

Throughout the day, they could see safety measures being taken. Flitwick, their Charms teacher was teaching the front doors to recognize a picture of Sirius. Filch was running around the corridors, boarding up all possible cracks. Sir Cadogan had been fired, and the Fat Lady was back. She had agreed reluctantly, and only if she got protection -- now she had a bunch of trolls guarding by the portrait. Harry told Amie and Ron that the tunnel that led to Honeydukes wasn't guarded, or blocked, so it was true that no one knew about it. At least no teacher.
"D'you reckon we should tell someone?" he asked.
"We know he's not coming in through Honeyduke's," said Ron. "We'd've heard if the shop was broken in to."
"He's right," Amie agreed. "And, besides, if he manages to get into the school now, he won't be able to enter Gryffindor tower without the trolls seeing him."
Harry seemed very relieved.

Ron had been made famous over night. No longer was he just The-Boy-Who-Lived's best friend, now he was someone who was almost killed by a mass-murderer. Though he was shaken up by the event, he still told anyone and everyone who asked about what happened.
"...I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draft... I woke up, and one of the hangings of my bed had been pulled down... I rolled over... and I saw him standing over me... like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair... holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches... and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled and he scampered.
"Why, though?" Ron added to Amie and Harry as the girls who had been listening left. "Why did he run?"
Amie put on a face of confusion:
"He must've known he'd have a job getting out of the castle once you'd yelled and woken people up," Harry said thoughtfully. "He'd have to kill the whole house to get back through the portrait hole... Then he would've met the teachers..."
Amie was happy that Harry could come up with such logical answers, but it would be a lot easier if he would have come to the conclusion that Sirius was innocent instead.

Meanwhile, Neville was having a hard time. McGonagall was so angry that he was banned from future Hogsmeade visits, she gave him detention, and no one was allowed to tell him the password to the tower. He had to wait every night for someone to let him in. Amie was so sorry for him, she even considered actually telling him the password, but she didn't want anyone to rat her out to McGonagall. Out of all punishments Neville recieved, none were more horrible than the Howler his grandmother sent him. They were eating breakfast when the owls swooped in to deliver the mail. When an owl with a red envelope in his beak landed in front of Neville, he choked on his breakfast.
"Run for it, Neville," Ron advised. He had recieved a Howler of his own the year before, and knew what a horrible thing it was.
Neville didn't wait around. He grabbed the envelope and ran from the Great hall, holding the Howler in front of him like a bomb as he ran. The Slytherins all laughed at Neville, but Amie was sure that he didn't care at all at the moment. As soon as he exited the hall, they could all hear his grandmother's voice yelling at him about how he had disgraced their entire family.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Harry, and Amie turned her head to see that Hedwig, Harry's owl, had brought him something, and because he had ignored her, she bit him. "Oh -- thanks, Hedwig."
Harry opened the envelope as Hedwig ate some of Neville's cornflakes. After Harry had read the letter, he showed it to Amie and Ron. It read:
Dear Harry and Ron,
How about having tea with me this afternoon 'round six? I'll come collect you from the castle. WAIT FOR ME IN THE ENTRANCE HALL; YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED OUT ON YOUR OWN.
Cheers,
Hagrid.
Ron's comment to the note was;
"He probably wants to hear all about Black!"
Amie snorted.