Obliviate {Book 1--EDITING}

11. Page 394^

We were sent back down to the hall, and my hands were starting to shake. We'd been down here, enjoying the food and entertainment, but what if we didn't go down? What if we left early? We could have faced him, head on...

Ten minutes later, the rest of the school arrived, looking confused.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Dumbledore said, as the teacher sealed the door. "You'll have to spend the night here. The head boy and head girl are in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me."

With a wave of his wand, the tables flew to the walls, another wave, the floor was covered with hundreds of purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well." Dumbledore said, closing the door behind him.

The school began to buzz with excitement, Gryffindors relaying what had happened. I could overhear Alia exaggerating to her Slytherin friends, claiming she'd almost been knifed, her past fear gone.

"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights go out in ten minutes!"

The scramble for the best spot began; somehow the five of us managed to find a spacy corner to put our sleeping bags, sitting in a circle close together.

"Do you think he's still in the castle?" I whispered.

"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be," said Ron.

"It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know," Gennie said as we climbed fully dressed into the sleeping bags and propped ourselves on elbows to talk, looking a bit like giant purple caterpillars huddled together. "The one night we weren't in the tower..."

"He's lost track of time, I bet. Otherwise he would have burst into here...." Harry said.

"Don't say that," I shuddered, and Harry moved his bag closer to mine, awkwardly patting my arm.

All around us I could hear people already coming up with their own theories.

"I bet he can appear out of thin air, like smoke." I heard Alia said solemnly to Astoria Greengrass.

"He disguised himself, probably," said a Hufflepuff fifth year, I had a feeling was called Cedric.

"Honestly, am I the only person who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts, A History?" said Hermione crossly to us.

"Probably," said Ron. "Why?"

"There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering. You can't just Apparate in here..."

"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted irritably. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"

The candles all went out at the same time, some people mock-screaming at the darkness. The only light came from the ghosts, who's silver glow was illuminated as they talked to the prefects.

"Gen," I whispered to Gennie in the darkness after an hour or so after the lights went out.

"What?" she said quietly, her brown eyes illuminated in the darkness.

"Why are you mad at Harry?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I kissed him."

I practically choked on air. "I leave the castle for half an hour.... What happened?"

Leaning forward on my hands I felt as if I was back in year eight, when Kayley would interrogate me for hours on end with a bag of popcorn in hand about Laurence. But of course, now I was taking on that role. In a school for magical kids. Where a mass-murderer had just broken into.