More than one || HP [DISC.]

Book 2: Chapter 18

        "Guys we better hurry, the Halloween feast will start soon!" I called. It had been a few weeks since the...incident. Hagrid had brought all his pumpkins, which had grown to be about to my waist, and made them all jack-o-lanterns. The castle looked great for Halloween as always, and I was sure the food would be delicious as all ways. Anyway, back to the present...
        "All right, all right, we're com-" Harry stopped, and it was obvious why. An odd, eerie voice had filled my ears as well, sending shivers up my spine.
"Rip....tear....let me kill....kill you...tear you..."
        "Do you, do you hear that?" I asked, jumping off the dormitory stairs and joining Harry.
        "Yeah." Harry mumbled.
        "What? What do you two hear?" Ron asked, looking confused.
        "You-You didn't hear the voice?" I asked, looking over at Hermione who shook her head with Ron.
        "Are you two alright? Do you want to go to bed?" Hermione asked slowly, standing up.
        "No, no we're-we're fine." I stuttered. "Were's Cathy?" I asked, hastily trying to change the subject.
        "She went on with Fred. Said they were planning a prank." Ron said, shrugging. I nodded, grabbing Harry's hand and leaving the common room, Ron and Hermione following behind us.
        "We couldn't have been the only ones to hear it though..." I whispered, looking around a corner that we passed.
        "Agreed. But unless we hear it again-" Harry stopped walking, and again, we heard the voice, but it was closer.
"Blood...I smell blood...rip...tear...." Harry and I looked at each other wide eyed, before dashing off in the direction of the voice.
        "Were are you two going!?" Hermione yelled, and I could hear her and Ron's feet pounding on the floor behind us. We followed the voice to a deserted corridor, which had a lot of water on the floor. We all walked down the corridor and came to a surprising halt. There, hanging from a torch holder was Mrs. Norris. Hermione let out a strangled cry, burying her face in Ron's shoulder. We heard running feet and laughter and Fred, George, and Cathy came barreling around a corner.
        "Hey you lot, what're you doing-" Cathy stopped abruptly, staring at the frozen figure of Mrs. Norris. "Is-Is that..." Cathy trailed, grabbing Fred's hand which by instinct, Fred pulled her closer.
        "What's that!?" George asked, pointing to a message we hadn't noticed, but he didn't answer Cathy.
        "'Enemies of the Heir beware?" Harry repeated, looking at Hermione as if she could tell him what exactly the message meant. Before we could leave and get a teacher, we heard the pounding of feet, obviously the students coming from the Halloween feast. Had we really taken that long? The chattering got steadily louder until at the end of the corridor, you could see the other students. When they reached the group, everyone stopped and they heard a muffled scream come from a first year some where in the back.
        "Enemies of the Heir beware?" Malfoys cold voice shouted over the loud talking of the others. "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" He yelled. I turned around to yell at him but a new pair of feet came tumbling down the corridor from the opposite side. Argus Filch, the care taker, had been attracted by the noise Malfoy was making and came to investigate. Uh oh...
        "What's going on here!?" Filch's scratchy voice yelled. "What is it!?" He said again, finally reaching them all. His eyes soon landed on the frozen figure of Mrs. Norris. I gripped Harry's hand tighter, something was going to happen, Filch was bound to blame someone and I am sure I know who it will be. "You!" filch hissed, turning his hateful stare to Harry. "You murdered my cat." Filch's voice softened, and somehow that was even creepier then my Grandmothers portrait.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you!!!!" He yelled, storming forward. I pulled my wand standing protectively in front of Harry.
"Harry went no where near you cat." I hissed.
"Rose, calm down love. Your eyes are really freaky." Harry whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist. I sighed, turning around and calming myself down.
"Better?" I asked. He just kissed my nose. I'll take that as a yes. I turned around just as more feet came towards us. Dumbledore, Minnie, Snape, and Lockhart stood in front of us in an instant, and Dumbledore surveyed the situation.
"Would all of you please go to your dormitories..." Dumbledore trailed off, taking Mrs. Norris from her place. "Everyone, except, you four..." He pointed to Harry, Mione, Ron, and I. I gave Cathy a desperate look but she just shrugged. I sighed, walking with the others.
"We could use my office, Headmaster. It is closest." Lockhart said, beaming.
"Thank you, Gilderoy." Dumbledore smiled, walking to Lockhart's office. The room was dimly lit, only a few candles and a fire lit up and heated the room, and the paintings Lockhart had of himself, (they were moving of course,) had all ran out of their frames, obviously embarrassed because a few had hair curlers in. Lockhart rambled about how he could have saved her but I was paying attention to Harry. He was leaning against a wall at the back of the room, talking to me.
"What do you think happened to her?" He asked, gesturing to Mrs. Norris.
"Dunno." I shrugged.
"She is not dead, Argus." Dumbledore's voice finally said after a few minutes of poking and prodding at the cat with his wand.
"Then-Then why is she all stiff and stuff?" Filch asked, his face was blotch from crying, and he looked as though someone very close to him had died. Well, Mrs. Norris was close to him but still...
"She has been petrified." Dumbledore announced.
"It was him!" Filch rounded on Harry quickly, pointing a finger. I felt my hand reach for my wand again but Harry grabbed my wrist and stopping me.
"No second year could have done this, Argus."Dumbledore said sternly.
"But-But it had to of been! You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found-in my office-he knows I'm a-he knows I'm a squib!" Filch stuttered out finally. Harry suddenly stepped forward, glaring at Filch.
"I haven't touched Mrs. Norris! And I don't even know what a squib is!" Harry yelled, his hands balling into fists. I grabbed Harry's hand to calm him down and it worked a little.
"Rubbish!" Filch snarled. "He read my Kwikspell letter!" Filch accused. Harry showed no emotion however at the accusation, but merely watched Filch continue.
"If I may, Headmaster..." Snape's voice said from the shadows. "Potter and his friends could have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time..." Snape sneered at us, making Hermione and Ron shrink into the shadows. I glared at Snape, nothing good will come from him.
"But there are a set of suspicious circumstances here, for example, why weren't they at the feast?" Snape asked, as if daring us to say something.
"We were on our way there when we heard-" I stopped, looking at Harry. He shook his head no. "We heard strange sounds from down the corridor. We followed it and found Mrs. Norris and the message." I told Snape, staring unblinkingly at him.
"And why didn't you get a teacher?" Snape sneered at us.
"We were all really shocked. It was a scary sight, even compared to last year...." Harry answered, watching Snape like I had done.
"Well, there are still things that are yet to be answered. I say Potter and Black be suspended from the Gryffindor Quidditch team until further notice. As for Granger and Weasley," he paused, "I'm sure we can find a suitable punishment for them." Snape finished, grinning evilly.
"Nonsense, Severus! This cat wasn't knocked up side the head with a broom stick!" Minnie exclaimed.
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore smiled, before telling us we could leave. We all rushed out of there, meeting Cathy, Fred, and George along the way. They waited for us, then asked us what happened. We told them what we could, walking up to the common room together. When we entered we received many strange looks from students, and some moved out of our way. Cathy, Mione, and I hugged the boys, Cathy and I giving each of our boyfriends a kiss on the cheek, and rushing up the stairs with Mione.
"Good night!" We yelled. We heard good night back before entering our dorm, getting ready for bed, then falling asleep, the picture of a petrified Mrs. Norris fresh in my mind.