The Older Potter // HP Older Sister

120

C H A P T E R  120

Sirius could have fainted. "The...The....maze is what?" He then turned to Dumbledore. "Albus!"

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes for a moment. He didn't really know what to say, something that didn't happen too often. He himself placed the Cup and made sure nothing was tampered with it right before the task started. All of the professors were staffed at their posts at that time so what could've happened?

"Albus!" Sirius called again, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Where is Samantha? What's going on?"

"I do not know, Sirius. I charmed the Cup to transfer whoever touched it and everyone else back here." He then turned to the rest of staff. "I assume none of you saw anything that happened?"

The professors shook their heads and Professor McGonagall took a deep sigh. "The maze was sealed, Albus."

"Then we have to wait," Dumbledore stated simply which caused an uproar from Sirius.

"Wait!?! You expect me to sit here and wait while Samantha is...is...missing!" Sirius cried. "We have to do something, Albus!!"

Dumbledore knew they needed to do something but he didn't know what. Where would they go? Where would they even start to look? He was racking his brain on where the Cup could've gone but nothing was coming to mind.

Besides Sirius' cries of frustration, the courtyard of the maze was completely silent. No one spoke a word and was continuing to stare at the entrance to the maze with shocked and petrified expressions.

Fred and George were utterly appalled. Harry was sitting down getting tended to a few wounds by another Healer and stared at ground with a blank expression. Remus and Tonks were at Sirius' side watching as he paced, hands shaking. Charlie's insides were churning and his stomach was in knots.

Lurking in the shadows was Aberforth who stared at scene with empty eyes.

Everyone kept looking around frantically and then back to Dumbledore to see if he could come up with a solution or the next point of action, but he stayed true to sitting and waiting.

Cornelius Fudge took this opportunity to step forward and hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth. Rita Skeeter also lingered behind him, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Her quick notes quill was floating next to her, waiting for the signal to start writing.

"Ah Albus, you're not going to send out a search party, are you? We wouldn't want any more people roaming around."

Dumbledore once again thought on what he should do. He would give waiting an hour and go from there. "I plan to sit here and wait for an hour tops and then we will take the next step. Believe me I am thinking about every possible step we can take to try and find out what happened but I have faith in Samantha. I have faith that whatever is happening, she is figuring out how to get back to us."

That seemed to put everyone at a bit of ease and they sat silently and stared at the entrance to the maze.

What seemed like an hour but was only five minutes went by and Sirius finished pacing and approached Dumbledore. "I can't stay here any longer. I'm going to walk off grounds and try and look for her, Albus." His voice was surprisingly calm yet his grey eyes sparkled with intensity and determination.

Dumbledore stayed silent before looking up at Sirius. "I cannot stop you, Sirius, but I have no trace on where the Cup could've gone and where she got transported to. However, I do plan on staying here for when she returns and to address what happened."