The night curtain, thick as ink, enveloped Hogwarts Ancient Castle. Only scattered lights shone from the tower windows, their glow especially frail and thin in the darkness. In the distance, the harsh cawing of ravens tore through the silence, stirring dead branches into a rustling chorus, as though foreshadowing the misfortune about to befall three Young Wizards.
"What are you three doing here?!"
A cold, furious voice came from the darkness.
Hermione, Neville, and Ron froze where they stood. The roar from behind them sent chills through their bodies. The three abruptly turned around to see Professor Snape drifting out of the shadows like an enormous bat. His black robes billowed as he closed in like a moving shadow, and the head of Slytherin House wore an alarmingly grim expression.
Anger was written across his face, and a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
"It's Professor Snape!"
Hermione's face glowed a cold white beneath the moonlight as she nervously twisted her scarf. Neville's fingers completely covered his face, while Ron's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.
With their minds completely blank,
people sometimes made foolish judgments.
Like this.
"Damn it! Run!"
Ron's first reaction was that they could not get caught. Everyone knew Slytherin House and Gryffindor House were at odds, a conflict that had spanned nearly a thousand years.
From that alone, it was clear.
If three Gryffindor House students caught night wandering were captured by the head of Slytherin House, even someone with a pig's brain would know they would not meet a pleasant end. They would be punished severely.
They might even become the laughingstock of all Hogwarts—though Ron had already made plenty of jokes of himself since the term began, he still did not want to be stripped naked and hung in the