Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [5]

⚡️ Chapter 69 ⚡️

When the students reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight, and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them quickly set-up their telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart they had been given. Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing.

All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished.

Vega took her corner and spent her time marking around the positions – but given she knew well about stars, it didn't too long. She remained in her place, however, proof-reading her answers until she was distracted away from the Orion Chart.

The front doors of the castle had opened directly below the parapet where Vega was standing, so that light spilled down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. She glanced down curiously as she lowered her telescope to see what was up.

There were five or six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness once more. Vega looked back down at her next chart, for the next constellation to proof-read.

But again, and quickly, something took her attention away. Pausing with her quill suspended over the parchment, Vega squinted down into the shadowy grounds below and saw half a dozen figures walking over the lawn.

If they had not been moving, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they stood. Even at this distance, Vega had a funny feeling that she recognised the walk of the squattest among them, who seemed to be leading the group.

It was hard to imagine why Umbridge would be taking a stroll outside past midnight, much less accompanied by five others. Then somebody coughed behind Vega, and she remembered that she was halfway through an exam.

But Vega was still on the alert for any odd sound, and she heard a distant knock that echoed through the deserted grounds, followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog. She looked up, her heart hammering as she did so.

What in Merlin's name is going on?

There were lights on in Hagrid's windows and the people Vega had observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door opened and she distinctly saw six tiny but sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence.

When Vega looked around, she noticed that Harry had noticed this, too – and the two of them shared an uneasy look with each other. Vega turned to look toward Ron and Hermione but Professor Marchbanks came walking behind her and Harry at that moment.

And not wanting to appear as though they were sneaking looks at anyone else's work, Vega quickly bent over her own star charts and pretended to be adding notes to it while really peering over the top of the parapet toward Hagrid's cabin. Figures were now moving across the cabin windows, temporarily blocking the light, and Vega could feel Professor Marchbanks's eyes on the back of her head.

But as Professor Marchbanks moved on from Vega heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Several of the people around Vega ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough.