Problem
While the Hogsmeade trip had bene very pleasant, the news Juliette heard when she arrived back to the common room was enough to ruin the trip. The worst part for her was the realisation that this event had a deeper meaning.
Who decided to tear the fat lady's portrait?
"Neville's probably forgotten the password again." Juliette heard when she arrived back on the staircase.
"What's going on?" Katie asked Juliette.
"I have no idea," Juliette replied lightly.
More and more students began piling into the corridor, and the commotion only got louder.
"Let me through, please." Percy said from behind them, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password - excuse me, I'm Head Boy -"
A moment later, Professor Dumbledore swept through the crowd, making his way to the end of the corridor, the Gryffindors squeezing together to let him through.
Juliette could only just about see but when she did, she noticed The Fat Lady had indeed vanished from her portrait, and it had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor.
Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him.
"You know, whenever I think I'm having a nice day, someone ruins it," Juliette complained with a huff, crossing her arms,"Honestly, if someone wants to kill someone, they shouldn't go behind their back and sneak attack them..."
"No one should kill anyone, Etta," Katie corrected.
Admittedly, Juliette didn't pay much attention to what was going on. She was scanning the crowds of Gryffindors in order to find her younger brother. Harry had thing pattern of getting into trouble and this event screamed 'something to get Harry into more trouble'.
The next few minutes or so felt like a blur to Juliette. Upon finding out Sirius Black was the reason behind this, The Gryffindors were ushered out of the corridor by Percy, clearly in his zone. They were sent to the Great Hall, and quickly joined by the rest of the school.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle." Professor Dumbledore told them as Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick closed all doors to the hall, and sealed them tightly with enchantments. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall, and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately - send word with one of the ghosts."
He was about to leave, when he came to a sudden realisation.
"Oh, yes, you'll be needing somewhere to sleep..."
Dumbledore waved his wand, and the tables soared to the edge of the room. Another flick of his wand, and hundreds of purple sleeping bags suddenly emerged.
Dumbledore bid the school goodnight, and as soon as all faculty left, the hall broke into chatter. The Gryffindors explained what had happened to the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins, however after ten minutes, Percy had seemingly had enough of the excitement.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" he shouted bossily. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
Katie and Juliette made their way over to Leanne and Paige (introducing Paige to Leanne seamed to be a great thing as neither had many friends in Hufflepuff). They were then joined by Cho, Marietta and Raelynn two moments later. Finally, the hall stared as Skylar and Cassius joined the group.
Skylar wasn't bothered in the slightest.
"Why are you here?" Marietta questioned in a dull tone,"Isn't your dad the reason for this."
"Most likely," Skylar shrugged,"But I do what I want and I wanted to be with my friends so piss off."
"Skylar!" Raelynn condemmed lowly.
"What? Everyone's acting like I'm a killer," Skylar said loudly,"Just because I've got a few rage issues, don't make me dangerous! Just annoying!"
Theories went around the hall for a while but the group decided it was best to just try and get to sleep. It wasn't good for Skylar to hear too much of it.
Once an hour, a teacher would reappear in the Hall to check that everything was quiet. Juliette and Skylar kept talking all through the night, trying to keep each other's minds off the danger they were facing. They only stopped when Professor Dumbledore came in at around three in the morning, and pretended to be asleep.
"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy asked in a whisper.
"No. All well here?"
"Everything under control, sir."
"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."
"And the Fat Lady, sir?"
"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr Filch restore her."
Harry heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps approached.
"Headmaster?" Snape's voice called out. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."
"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"
"All searched."
"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?"
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before - ah - the start of term?" Snape said, failing to disguise the anger in his voice.
"I do, Severus." Dumbledore said, sounding unusual stern.
"It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed—"
"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it." Dumbledore said firmly, putting a swift end to the matter. "I must go down to the Dementors, I said I would inform them when our search was complete."
"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy asked, sounding authoritative, as though he, too, was a member of staff.
"Oh yes." Dumbledore said gravely. "But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster."
With that, Dumbledore strode away, and the doors to the hall slammed shut a moment later.
"What was that about?" Skylar whispered to Juliette, once she was sure that Snape and Percy had also left.
"No clue, but it doesn't sound good."