Merlin's Snake: The Philosopher's Stone

The Forbidden Forest

Things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover- up stories chased each other around Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last. He couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time.

They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak?

There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and they might as well be packing their bags already.

Had Faye thought that things couldn't have been worse? She was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other three. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Parkinson saying she was going to catch you, he said you had a drag—"

Faye saw Harry shake his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the four of them.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves." It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue, and Faye was messing with her hands.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Pansy Parkinson some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Faye caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor Neville — Faye knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them. He was one of their group, yes, but he wasn't in on the Dragon part.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Slytherin meant more to you than this. Miss Adder, I would have thought you would leap for a chance to stay in one place for once. All four of you will receive detentions — yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous — and fifty points will be taken from your houses."

"Fifty?" Faye gasped — they would lose the lead, the lead they's won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.

"Professor — please —"

"You can't —"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

A hundred points lost. That put both Gryffindor and Slytherin in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance either had had for the house cup. Faye felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. How could they ever make up for this?

Faye didn't sleep all night. She knew the other three, like herself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Slytherin and Gryffindor found out what they'd done?