Headmaster Dumbledore spoke softly. "Miss Clearwater, could you wait a moment? I'd like to clear a few things up."
Penelope hurriedly nodded and said nothing more.
Dumbledore looked behind him. "Professor McGonagall, if you please!"
Professor McGonagall, her lips pressed tight, stepped forward and turned her gaze on Harry and the others.
"Headmaster Dumbledore told everyone to return to their common rooms. When I went to check, Percy came running to tell me that someone was missing..."
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"
"The collapsing wall buried all of you! Thankfully, none of you were hurt! But luck cannot follow you every single time!"
Called out by Professor McGonagall, Harry and the others raised their heads as though startled, then lowered them again in perfect unison.
The three of them timidly turned their heads and exchanged glances, yet not a single word came out.
Snape, standing nearby, spoke instead. "That's just how The Boy Who Lived is... Always thinking he can do something even more outrageous to prove how different he is."
His voice was cold and flat, without the slightest inflection, yet heavy with sarcasm.
Professor McGonagall's voice turned stern. "Explain yourselves! Why didn't you return to your common room? Why did you remain on the first floor?"
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I saw you in the Great Hall earlier. Why didn't you follow Percy and stay properly in your common room?"
Perhaps provoked by Snape, Harry raised his head and stiffened his neck. "Professor McGonagall, we had a reason for staying!"
Professor McGonagall's tone softened somewhat. "Mr. Potter, then please tell me what it was."
Yet the moment he heard her words, Harry's mind went blank, and he was left speechless.
The cause of it all was simple: Ron