Supernatural and the Philosopher's Stone

The Forbidden Forest

Things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took us down to Professor Mcgonagall's office on the first floor where we sat and waited without saying a word to one another. Hermione was trembling. I was shaking in my seat. We were cornered. How could we have been so stupid as to forget the Cloak? There was so reason on earth Professor McGonagall would accept for our being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest Astromony Tower, which was out-of-bounds, and we might as well be packing our bags already.

When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw us. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard the Malfoys saying they were going to catch you, they said you had a drag--"

Harry and I shook our heads violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered the four of us.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astromony Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

Hermione stared at her slippers, I looked at my hands.

"I think I've got an idea of what's going on," Professor McGonagall said. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco and Hestia Malfoy some tall tale story about a dragon, trying to get them out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught them. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

I saw Neville looking stunned and hurt. I wanted to say that it wasn't true, but I didn't know how to say it.

"I'm disgusted," Professor McGonagall said. "Five 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 and Miss Winchester, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All of you will receive detentions--yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around the school at night, especially these days it's very dangerous--and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

My jaw dropped.

"Fifty?" Harry gasped.

"Fifty points each," Professor McGonagall was 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."

Two hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, we'd ruin any chance of Gryffindor had for the House Cup.

I didn't sleep that well all night. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out about what we did?

At first, Gryffindor passing the giant hourglass that recorded the House Points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could we suddenly have two hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then, the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, and Sariah Winchester, their two heroes of two Quidditch matches, had lost us all those points, us and a couple of other stupid first years.

Anneualla, Harry's other cousin and Xaviah's older sister from Ravenclaw, and Bethany Granger from Ravenclaw, all the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were very ticked with us. Everywhere we went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted us. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks, Potter and Winchester, we owe you one!"