chosen - harry potter

Chapter 12 - Lost in the Forest

Filch had caught her. She turned around and simply walked toward him, accepting her fate.

"Where to, Mr. Filch," she mumbled, trying to make a joke out of the situation.

"McGonagall's study, first floor," he stated, somehow catching what she had said.

As she entered the study, Harry, Hermione, and Draco were already there, as well as McGonagall looking horribly disappointed.

"Found this one in the corridor, Professor," Filch said. 

"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 silent.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," Professor McGonagall said. "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 suppose you found it funny, Miss Bright, and you were leaving the Gryffindor tower to see how the little plan went?"

Cassia caught Harry's eye, not understanding what had happened. The plan was rather straightforward, what could have possibly gone wrong?

"I'm disgusted," Professor McGonagall continued. "Four 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. And Miss Bright, I expected more from you. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"Fifty?" Harry gasped.

"Fifty points each," Professor McGonagall said, sighing heavily.

"Professor — please —" Hermione said, exasperated.

"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."

The three Gryffindors left her office, shock still settling into their minds. They walked in silence, reaching the common room quickly.

"I'm sorry," Cassia started, stepping into the common room. "I shouldn't have left the common room, I'm really sorry."

"No, it's okay," Harry whispered. Hermione had hurried up to her room before saying anything.

"What happened?"

"We left the Invisibility Cloak at the top of the tower. Norbert is safe though," Harry said, sighing slightly.

Cassia just nodded, too tired to carry on the conversation.

"Goodnight, Harry," she said sadly, walking slowly up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Cassie."

It was a rough night for the three. A hundred and fifty points gone. They all barely slept, worried about the reactions of their fellow Gryffindors.

The reactions were poor, as they expected them to be. The story spread quickly; Harry Potter and two of his dumb first-year friends had lost all those points. Harry quickly became the most hated among the Gryffindors, with Cassia and Hermione pulling close seconds.

Cassia was pointed at and talked about when she passed, similarly to the other two, but Will chose to stick by her to try and make it better. He would walk with her to class, making sure no one tried anything. She knew he wasn't a huge fan of her trouble-making, but he still refrained from scolding her, which she deeply appreciated.