Chapter 185

As Harry turned the corner and started down the steps of the Grand Staircase, he looked at the group of students around him, fearfully huddled together as they were shepherded by Filch like a bunch of scared sheep.

Harry didn't blame them. With the Headmaster gone, fear had spread over the school as never before, so much so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

One person who was definitely not having a good time, Harry noted as he entered the Great Hall and headed over to his seat to sit down, was Professor Minerva McGonagall.

Looking out of place on the giant golden chair, her hair looked untidy, her eyes had bags underneath them, and despite looking as regal and elegant as ever, the woman looked like she had aged ten years in a few weeks. Harry cast an Observe on her, wondering if she was alright or not.

Minerva McGonagall (Status: Acute Insomnia)

(Relationship Meter - 1%)

Lv-50

HP-17050/17050

MP-9025/9025

Race-Witch

Str-14

Vit-22

Dex-22

Int-39

Wis-31

Luc-14

Minerva McGonagall is a witch and a registered Animagus. She has a distinct dislike for dark wizards and is loyal to Hogwarts, where she is Head of Gryffindor House, Transfiguration professor and currently, Headmistress. She is a Master of Transfiguration and enjoys a good bottle of scotch and spending a quiet evening in her quarters.

She is incredibly stressed out right now. She thinks Harry is one of her favorite students, but is not thinking about him right now.

Trying to ignore that 1% in the relationship meter, Harry quickly pulled up his healing ability and used it on the Insomnia status.

McGonagall sat up a bit straighter in her chair, looking slightly better.

With a small smile, Harry turned and leaned across the table towards Hermione and Terry, who were sitting across him on the table. "Did one of you ask the Hufflepuffs how Ernie is doing?" he asked in an undertone.

For the first few days after Justin and Seamus's petrifactions, Ernie Macmillan hadn't shown up to class for an entire week in a row. The boy was terrified that he was next on the heir's list, despite his pure-blood ancestry. And that terror was justified. If only Muggleborns were being targeted, the rest of the school might have been a bit more at ease. But with Hannah being petrified, the Heir had sent out a message that nobody was safe.

While Ernie did come to some of his classes, he still didn't come to any of the classes with Slytherins, and at his breakfast lunch and dinner in the Hufflepuff Basement itself, refusing to come out at all for anything else.

"I asked Susan Bones at breakfast," Hermione replied, "she said that he still doesn't want to come out for anything other than classes without the Slytherins in them."

"It's crazy that McGonagall is actually letting him do this," Terry commented, nibbling on his bacon.

"His friends got petrified Terry," Hermione said disapprovingly, "he still can't convince Madam Pomfrey to let him see them. I think he's justified to be afraid."

"But even so-"

His rebuttal was interrupted by a shrill screech, and a single black owl appeared through one of the high windows of the Hall. Harry watched as the owl fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl, and dropped an envelope onto Terry's plate before picking up a piece of his bacon and flying away.

Terry curiously met Harry and Hermione's eyes, before he tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside. His eyes widened. His face got paler and paler as he read, and by the time he finished the letter, he was almost bone white. He quickly pocketed the letter, picked up his book bag and jumped to his feet.

"I'll see both of you later," he quickly blurted out, looking entirely too flustered.

"But Terry. What is going on?" By the time Hermione even got her question out, Terry was gone, almost running towards the staff table, where he pulled out the letter and showed it to McGonagall, who frowned, and stood up herself before whispering something to Professor Flitwick.

Then, Harry and Hermione confusedly watched as Terry and the two Professor briskly walked out of the Hall through the side door beside the Staff table.

"What do you think happened?" Hermione worriedly asked.

"I…don't have any idea," Harry muttered, not looking away from the door.

The rest of the lunch had passed in a flurry, and Terry returned soon afterward to join them for Herbology.

When Harry had asked why he had gone off so suddenly, Terry had simply said, "It was nothing. I just got a letter from my mum saying she was a bit ill, so I asked Professor McGonagall if I could Floo her and check on her."

A bell had rung in Harry's ears as soon as Terry finished that sentence.

Ping!

Lie detected!

Harry frowned and stared after Terry, before he decided to let it drop. Maybe it was something personal or family related. The day passed in a flurry of homework and library research and classes, and soon the entire letter incident slipped Harry's mind completely.

One morning in early-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow.

The lake froze solid and the windows frosted over. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

Professor Flitwick came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Harry had signed his name on, and was surprised to see that both Hermione and Dean were staying for the holidays. When asked about it, the dark-skinned boy had replied that his mum and dad had to take a trip to the States for work, and unfortunately couldn't wait for school to let out before they left for the trip, and Hermione had replied that her parents too had a work trip that they couldn't miss.

An interesting thing that was happening sometime near the end of November was the sudden appearance of adverts in the Daily Prophet about schools other than Hogwarts.

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