Nine Lives and Bad Luck

Weasley

The chaos reigned even after Dumbledore called for order and shouted instructions to the prefects and swept out of the room with all the teachers besides the collapsed Quirrell. The prefects were doing an admirable job of organizing their students though and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were already sweeping out of the Hall. Gryffindor was engaged in its normal disorganization, but Slytherin... Harry glanced over and realized exactly what was the issue amongst the green clad students; the prefects traded helpless, uncertain looks over the heads of the younger students who shifted with an equal if not greater unease.

     It was the bystander effect- as Silk had phrased the muggle experiment when she explained it- at its greatest. No one would do anything in a crowd as everyone expected someone would know better than them.

He caught Draco's eyes and offered a reassuring smile before chasing down someone he knew he could force into action and who had the power and respect to act (he knew that despite their disdain for them even the Slytherins recognized him as a rule follower and a fair enough judge) Percy Weasley.

"Wait! Percy! Wait! The Slytherin dormitories are in the dungeon!"

Percy whirled to him and began to usher him along, clearly distracted, "Well you're hardly a Slytherin, come on then, get going. We need to get to the dorms right now."

Harry growled in frustration beneath his breath and held his ground, "Wait, no, we can't just let them walk into danger like that!"

"I'm sure someone is doing something- the professors all heard the announcement..."

"Yes, and the same one as us! And they all left, look! I'm sure the lower years think they should just go along with the uppers and uppers that the prefects know what they are doing and the prefects the head boys and girls and professors and the professors think it's not their place to question the headmaster- someone has to do something! There are no innocent bystanders, just those too cowardly to take action! Have you heard of the bystander effect? The point is someone has to take initiative, and you- prefect- are in perfect position to do so."

     Percy looked startled before his eyes focused and Harry was given a calculating look before the elder boy was moving, with Harry following in his wake, quickly towards the Slytherins- the nervous prefects in particular- and soon the shouts changed, directing the Slytherins over to Gryffindor. Self-preservation would quickly win out over their feud with the lion house, and Percy was notorious for being a stickler for the rules to a fault, if it was him the prefects would figure it was relatively  safe enough to follow. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had already filed out, and the last groups of students with red ties were on their way out too, but were quickly joined by a sea of green ties, who unlike the red were perfectly in order- strong duelers and upper years acting as a buffer between red and green while a few more guarded the tail from the threat of a troll. 

     Harry offered another smile to Draco as he joined the buffer students sticking near to Percy. The Gryffindor's portrait of a doorman- the fat lady- didn't have much to say once she was placed under Percy's stern glare and only huffed and muttered a bit under her breath as she kept swung open to let the Slytherin students in as well.

      It wasn't until they had all gathered into the common room that protests were raised, and then they were raised loudly on the side of the lions. Many of the Slytherins began shifting uncomfortably or preparing to fight or flee in drastically unfamiliar territory- few Slytherins had reason to make the journey all the way to the Gryffindor tower. Percy took control then and soon began shouting them down, helped by the first year girls, who were quick to cow Ron and his friends, as well as assisted by the Weasley twins as. Though few would admit it after awhile in Gryffindor you developed a healthy... respect for the duo's pranking abilities.