The next morning, it was only when Harry got out of bed and noticed the corner of a robe dragged out from underneath it that he vaguely remembered what had happened the night before. He jumped down and crouched beside the bed, squinting into the dim space beneath it. The two stacked rows of food boxes left him speechless for a moment—and finally convinced him that everything from last night had not been some bizarre dream.
"Dobby and Sparkle brought you a whole pile of pies and cakes last night?!"
On the way from the common room to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry could not wait to share the news with Ron and Hermione. And just as Harry had expected, Ron, as always, focused on entirely the wrong thing.
"I knew it wasn't an illusion! I could smell the pies! Why didn't they bring me any?"
Ron said indignantly. "I gave Dobby a pair of socks last Christmas!"
"The point isn't the food, Ron—"
Harry nimbly leapt past Angelina and greeted her before turning his head toward Ron and Hermione. "The important thing is the crisis Sparkle and Dobby mentioned. Dobby said Hogwarts was facing a crisis on the scale of the Chamber of Secrets. What exactly does that mean?"
"It means Hogwarts may be facing closure."
Hermione's grim words nearly made Harry and Ron slip on the stairs.
The two boys steadied each other with difficulty, then looked helplessly at Hermione, who always gave them the right advice and always seemed able to see through to the truth. Harry had hoped to find a teasing expression on her face, but unfortunately, the seriousness shining in Hermione's clear brown eyes told him she was not joking.
"You're joking, Hermione."
Ron gave his assessment bluntly. "Hogwarts might close? Oh, didn't