Halloween At Hogwarts!

Chapter 12: Hogsmeade!

Hogsmeade!

The night before the Hogsmeade weekend, Harry did not sleep well at all. Harry had woken to another night of bad dreams. They were becoming more vivid and caused Harry to wake up with his muscles and body aching, as though he'd actually been running along the corridors himself, panting with cold sweat trickling down his face and body. He'd found his pyjamas were wet, and sticking to him. At one point during the night, after he'd gone to sleep the second time that night, he thought he'd felt something soft fall upon his thighs, cushioned by his blankets. He had been dreaming and when he came to, he jumped up in fright, with his heart racing and throbbing in his ears. Looking around in the dark, Harry tried to make out the blurry shapes in the darkness of the room, but could see no one moving around the room. He then slowly looked to where his legs lay, and sure enough he found that something had been there, that hadn't been there earlier.

A white slab of rectangle, of an object lay within his reach, and without having to lift it, Harry knew perfectly well that he was possibly looking at an envelope of some sort. Now with his heart racing, he put on his glasses and reached out his hand to take the envelope. He gingerly picked it up in his hand with trepidation. Once in his hand he turned the envelope about in his hand, exploring it, the way he had done the first time he had discovered an envelope, mysteriously left like this. whipping out his wand and once more looking around the room to make sure he was alone, and to see if anyone had woken from their sleep, he gently lifted the wand to the envelope. Once he was sure everyone was asleep, so as not to wake them he quietly whispered, "Lumos!" And a little light popped at the end of the wand. And sure enough, there was the almost familiar script with his name printed in the middle of the envelope. Harry carefully put the wand down, and shakily broke the wax seal, and plucked the offending letter out of it's little hidy hole and unfolded it. Even before he began reading the note, Harry knew who the sender was, what could the next clue be he wondered? He lifted his wand once more, and began to read the unwelcome, angry message that had been scrawled on the parchment.

So you and your friend survived. You fight well, with courage and strength. You will be a challenge, I see that now. My task is much harder than I anticipated, oh but dear Harry I, like yourself, do not give up. I will fight harder, and will have revenge, for you hurt me Harry. You caused me much pain with your wand. Now I will have to destroy you. I will hunt you down, and I will hurt you as you did to me. I do not appreciate being hurt, and you will pay. Oh yes you will pay dearly. You and your filthy friends. I will see to it that you will all be destroyed. I will enjoy hurting you, and killing you, for you must not live. I feel that you have caused me much grief, therefore your life must end in terrible peril as did mine. I will enjoy listening to you scream and cry out, while I slowly kill you. Enjoy your last moments on earth Harry. I'm coming to get you! Maybe we'll meet in Hogsmeade somewhere. Tick Tock, Harry. Time is short!

Harry read the letter over and over again. He didn't know what to make of it. Should he be scared? Dumbledore seemed worried about this thing, and yet Harry didn't know how he should feel. He was worried, that was for sure. The note suggested his friends were still not safe, but now his own safety was at stake. Harry wasn't worried about himself, it was his friends he worried about most. But then that's how Harry had always been. He was not afraid of Voldemort coming for him, it was the people around him he feared for. So it felt no difference when he'd read this note over three times, it was as though he were being hunted by Voldemort rather than some angry spirit. But what could he do? Dumbledore had warned him to do nothing, except figure out the clues. But this note had no clues hidden in it, no riddles. Just a mass of angry words.

Harry then swept the room with his eyes, making sure that he and his friends truly were the only occupants in the room. He could not see anything moving, nor anything out of place. Everything looked as it should in the darkness. Just the shadows of the furniture and the sleeping forms of the boys in his dorm. Harry didn't want to think how the note had landed on his bed. He couldn't see how, except the knowledge that the spirit had visited them and left it there himself and vanished. Which made the threat all the more dangerous, and made Harry realize Dumbledore's fears all too well. But the room looked empty now, and so Harry tucked the note away, and returned his glasses and wand back in their respectful places and lay down to sleep. Although sleep would not come, and Harry lay wondering if he were to look out of the window, would he see the dark, looming figure of a ghost looking up at him from the shadows of the trees?