Halloween At Hogwarts!

Chapter 23 - Tremor!

Tremor!

The next morning found Harry waking to the sounds of rustling paper, or flicking, or perhaps the pages of a book being turned, he couldn't tell.  His mind was still foggy and sleep still resided in his eyes. He couldn't fathom why he was lying in what felt like a sleeping bag perhaps, with the floor poking into his back.   Harry groggily opened his eyes, to a vista of red all around him.  He rubbed his eyes confusedly and then the night's events came back to him, and he knew he was looking at the fabric ceiling and walls of a tent. 

Slowly pushing himself up, he turned to face Hermione and found her already awake and reading the giant book she had been so immersed in last night.  Looking to where Ron lay, he found his friend only just waking, just as he had. 

"Where's Saba?"  He asked in a deep, throaty, voice.  Hermione looked up from her book. Startled to be addressed.  She hadn't expected them to wake up yet.

"Oh she's gone down to the kitchens I think."  She replied and went back to her reading.

"Yeah good riddance to bad rubbish.  Lets hope she doesn't come back."  Ron croaked with a perched throat, and Harry heard the rustle of Ron's sleeping bag as he shuffled and shifted to a sitting position.

"You better wish she comes back if you want breakfast Ronald Weasley, or you'll be hungry till lunch."  Hermione scolded Ron, in defense as though Saba was doing them a favor.

Harry listened to the sounds of the room and found that he couldn't hear any movement or voices from outside the tent, and then thought perhaps it had something to do with the tent being sound proof or something.  So he crawled over to the mouth of the tent to peer out.  It suddenly occurred to him, that Saba had left the zip open.  Surely he would have heard voices and sound instantly.  So why was it so silent out there? 

Popping his head out Harry took a look around the place.  But his survey of the room as he looked about him confirmed what he'd originally thought.  Popping his head back in, he asked Hermione where the rest of the students were.

"They all went to breakfast only a few moments ago."  She said without looking up. 

"Why didn't Saba wake us up like she promised?"  Harry moaned irritably.  Hermione shrugged and frowned,

"How should I know? She doesn't tell me everything."   It seemed Saba hadn't been telling the truth when she'd said she'd wake them up in the morning.  They should have set an alarm clock after all.  Harry wondered if she'd been honest about going down to the kitchens, perhaps she was eating breakfast with everyone, while they sat starving. 

Maybe she wanted them to starve.  But then he realized that didn't make any sense, she would have needed them to eat in order to reserve some energy for the big night ahead.  After all she needed their help, and they had a big mission to do. There was no way she'd leave them to starve.  Not today.

"I bet she lied about going to the kitchen. She's probably eating breakfast with everyone else. Why do you even believe what she says Hermione? You should have woken us up when she left the tent." Ron voiced Harry's thoughts.

"Why would she lie about something like that?" Hermione asked now closing the book, and to Harry's surprise little orange sparks began to sprinkle, as the red bookmark from last night began to materialize, marking Hermione's page. Harry raised his eyes in wonder.

"Why would she tell you the truth?" Ron retorted, bringing Harry back to the subject at hand.

"Do you even know what day it is?" Hermione scowled. Harry was getting frustrated with the two of them, couldn't they have at least one day where they didn't argue?