Treacherous | Hermione Granger Book II

|38| Chapter Thirty-Eight

T H I R T Y  E I G H T

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Once Professor Snape vanished the snake into thin air, there was an ominous silence which was only broken by Hermione pulling Harry off of the stage and leading him out of the Great Hall. Each and every set of eyes followed the pair of them, and Ron (who hurried after them like a puppy dog) until they too left the hall. 

Saffron couldn't believe how much had gone wrong in such a short space of time. It was truly terrifying. Terrifying that she now was on track to completely believe the theory that her friend, Harry, was the Heir of Slytherin. That Harry was somehow was being made to do these awful things to people and create such a clear sense of fear within the school. 

There was no doubt that almost everybody would believe that he was Slytherins heir now. Hermione had done research on Salazar Slytherin and although she hadn't been able to find enough information to link Harry as a descendant, she did find out about parslemouths. That Salazar Slytherin had spoken the language and that it was very possible that his descendants did too. Harry having the ability to speak it was only further evidence to support the theory.

 Even though she knew in her heart that Harry would never intentionally hurt anyone, Saffron knew from now on that she would struggle to trust him. If he was possessed or controlled by You Know Who, then how could she? For so long she had thought about that being the case, but had talked herself out of it. But now it seemed like it could be true, even if it was only for a few seconds.

She wanted to join her friends to see what Harry was doing or feeling like, but again, she couldn't leave Luna. Additionally, she wanted to see how Olly and the first year Emilia was doing. Therefore, she suggested to Luna that they leave in order to check up on them. The Ravenclaw readily agreed.

Saffron was relieved that Luna didn't feel the need to question her about what had gone down with Harry. She merely hummed to herself through the hallways on route to the hospital wing, playing with the stems of the homemade necklace around her neck. That meant that Saffron was left alone with her thoughts for a few minutes, which was a therapeutic, as her thoughts were overwhelming her and she didn't think she could focus on much else.

When they reached the hospital wing, Saffron managed to rid herself of those thoughts. She knocked on the large doors to the wing and waited for the door to be opened. Luna stopped humming and Saffron stopped thinking just as the door opened.

Madam Pomfrey opened it and she didn't seem surprised to see them, but not for the reasons that Saffron or Luna would have suspected. 

"Ah, Miss Mitchell, Miss Lovegood," she began pleasantly. "I suspect something went wrong at that Duelling Club that imbecil --- that Professor Lockhart set up, and you two have fallen victim to it, I've been waiting for my wing to full up because of it,"

Saffron furrowed her eyebrow at the matron confusedly. "We're looking for Olly Jowett and a girl called Emilia, have they not come here?"

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "No, nobody's came here all night," She frowned. "Are you sure they weren't going to go back to their common room?"

"No, they definitely said they were coming here," said Saffron with certainty, suddenly feeling rather anxious. Her mind had already gone to the worst of places. She hoped that Madam Pomfrey was playing some sort of cruel joke on them but that didn't appear to be the case. 

"Just one second," Madam Pomfrey said to them before sticking her head back inside the door and saying loudly: "Amanda!"

Saffron knew that Amanda was working in the school full time now but seeing the woman walk out in her nurses uniform felt rather trippy. She hadn't known her for that long, but it felt like she had. She had been such a source of emotional support for her and her siblings, even if it had come very late for their liking. So she felt confident that Amanda could help them locate them.