Halloween At Hogwarts!

Chapter 16: Plans And Preparations!

Plans and Preparation!

The next day the occupants of the shrieking shack woke to darkness, as the windows of the building had been boarded and covered up with wood. The first to wake from a deep slumber had been Sirius, being in his dog form, his body clock woke him early as the sun rose. He needed to stretch his legs and relieve himself as dogs do in early hours of the morn. Without waking the other occupants of the shack, he quietly padded down the stairs and out of the house. He would get himself some scraps for breakfast while he was at it. He felt guilty for not sharing with the others, and bringing back food for them. The task would be too hard, and all he would be getting were scraps and cold meat, things they wouldn't be able to eat anyway. Then again he wouldn't need to bring back food for the others as they would be eating and getting food as soon as they returned to the safety of the school. But Sirius wouldn't be welcome at the school, it was too risky to have him there, so he'd decided he'd do his usual routine of begging and scrounging.

An hour later the nurse jumped awake with guilt for falling asleep while on duty. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but she had been tired and exhausted from having to be up early on a daily basis. The fear of evil spirits haunting the school had also been keeping her awake as of late, leaving her feeling fatigued. The first thing she did after she woke was to check the injured boy, to see how he was fairing up. Checking his pulse, temperature and breathing rhythm, and any other vital signs of health, she sighed in relief to find he was still stable, although still very unconscious. Either that or he'd come to ages ago, while she had slept and falling asleep when finding everyone else doing just that. But she couldn't be sure. She was guessing he hadn't yet come out of his unconsciousness, and was still affected by the poison. She knew it would take time. Halloween didn't play by halves, which is why she had been so worried of late.

Once she'd checked on Neville's status, she looked around the room to check on the other students to make sure they were still sleeping. It was quite early still so they should all have been asleep. Taking a sweep of the room with her eyes, she noticed two things that didn't seem right. The mangy dog that had been resting in the corner had now disappeared, which she had been pleased about. Poppy hadn't been pleased to see the animal there, she felt it was unhygienic to have the animal in a room which was serving as a hospital room. She was almost certain that dog was the same dog she'd seen in her own hospital wing at the school last year. Harry seemed to be attached to the dog, and Dumbledore had bought it along when they'd all stood around Harry's bed after he'd come back from the maze. She hadn't wanted the dog there then, and she didn't want it here now. So seeing the dog gone didn't bother her in the slightest. It was the other something that she noticed that was wrong with the room that bothered her.

"Where are those other two children gone?" She whispered frantically trying not to wake the other students. "They'd better still be in the building." Although she had a fair idea they might well have left the shack. She couldn't imagine the pair sticking around. They were both the most troublesome teenagers she'd encountered during the past couple of years. Harry had been no end of trouble since he'd arrived, and the girl Saba had been much worse, even though she had only been here for a month. She hadn't had any accidents so far, and so Poppy hadn't had direct contact with her. But she'd heard the teachers and students complain about her. She was apparently the kind of trouble people wanted to avoid. She ought not to listen to rumors, but one couldn't help it, when they stuck in a room all day long on their own. Another thought struck her which made her believe they had definitely left the shack. They probably decided to take the mutt for a walk or something. After all didn't dogs need walking in the morning? That was probably what happened. But she was frightened for the children none the less. It was still perhaps dangerous out there, and she berated herself for falling asleep, when she should have been awake. Perhaps then they wouldn't have been able to leave without her knowing so. There was nothing she could do about it now, she would have to sit and wait. So without waking the children she sat and waited for the headmaster to return. It was a long wait, but she knew Dumbledore was not going to be pleased...