Stood Up

At eleven that night, Eliana changed into a loose but practical set of old clothes. Who wore good clothes to a fight?

She tied her hair in a bun and shook out her arms and legs, warming up.

Hermione watched her grimly. Just as Eliana was about to leave, she called out, "Are you really going to join them in this nonsense?"

Eliana corrected her with great precision. "They're joining me, Hermione. I'm the main event."

"But this will cost Gryffindor points—Eliana!"

Eliana had already slipped out.

In the common room, she spotted Harry and Ron looking around furtively. She grabbed them and dashed toward the portrait hole. "Hurry! Hermione's coming!"

"What—" Both boys stumbled as she pulled them along. Then they saw Hermione chasing after them, her face flushed, and found their feet at once.

The three of them scrambled through the opening. Hermione climbed out after them, breathless, and caught the sleeve of Ron, who was last. "Listen, you can't do this! Think of Gryffindor's points! You could be expelled!"

"Let go!" Ron tugged angrily at his sleeve. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"Ow!"

"Ah!"

Eliana, who had raced ahead, stepped on something and fell flat with a smack. A dark shape rose from the floor.

They all screamed, including Hermione and Ron, who had been arguing.

"It's me," the shadow said. Only then did they recognize Neville. He hunched his shoulders and looked thoroughly miserable. "I forgot the new password. I can't get in."

Hermione looked delighted, as though she had found an ally. "Neville, they're sneaking out at night to duel Malfoy. It's against the rules. Help me stop them!"

Neville looked at Eliana, whose raised chin made her look ready for trouble; at Harry, who was frowning; and at Ron, whose face was still red from arguing with Hermione and who was breathing like a bull. "M-me?" he stammered.

"That's enough, Hermione." Eliana lazily twirled her wand. "Take Neville back to the common room."

"If Filch catches us, I'll hold him up while Harry and Ron get away. Then only I'll lose points. I can earn them back in class. You know I can."

"Fine, I can't talk you out of it!" Hermione's chest heaved twice. She spun toward the Fat Lady's portrait and froze.

The frame was empty. Instead of sleeping, the Fat Lady had apparently gone visiting.

"Well, well." Eliana whistled. "Looks like you two will have to wait for her to come back, darlings. Let's go."

She was speaking to Harry and Ron.

But they had barely taken a few steps before Hermione caught up, her face set. "I'm coming with you."

"If we run into Filch," she said stiffly, "I'll tell him the truth: I was trying to talk you out of it, even though none of you listened!"

She bit out the last few words.

Eliana shrugged. "All right. I'll back you up. Maybe he'll even give you five points for trying so hard!"

"Eliana! Do you think I'm joking?!" Hermione snapped.

"No, no. Of course not." Eliana turned to Neville. "Want to come with us?"

When Neville seemed tempted, she encouraged him. "I heard Malfoy bullied you, didn't he? Just wait. I'll twist his head off for you, and you can drink Pumpkin Juice out of his skull from now on!"

Neville sucked in a sharp breath. He looked so moved that his eyes filled with tears.

Eliana grew even more pleased with herself. "Want to come watch me make your future cup?"

"N-no, thanks." Neville shook his head repeatedly. "I'll wait here until you get back."

Hermione seized her chance. "See? Even when you invite him to sneak out, he won't do it! That's what a good student does!"

Neville looked proud and a little embarrassed, as though no one had ever praised him like that before.

"All right, Hermione," Eliana said. "I'll give you Malfoy's thighbone. You can make it into a cane, and the next time you meet anyone as disobedient as us, you can whack them over the head. They'll listen once they're unconscious."

"Be quiet, Eliana!" Hermione said, torn between exasperation and laughter. "Let Malfoy keep his head and his legs!"

Behind them, Neville nodded furiously and solemnly.

A cup made from someone's skull? That was terrifying!

"Excuse me, ladies." Harry finally found a chance to interrupt. "Do you remember we're sneaking out at night? Please keep it down!"

The group crept along and made it to the Trophy Room on the fourth floor without much trouble.

Malfoy was nowhere inside. Moonlight fell through the gaps between the trophies onto the floor, and there wasn't a soul in sight.

"Are we too early?" Eliana took out her pocket watch. "No, it's not that early."

"Maybe he's late," Harry said.

"Maybe he's too scared to come," Ron said.

Just then, a rough voice sounded from the next room. "Sniff around. They might be hiding in a corner."

A cat meowed as if in answer.

Filch!

"Or maybe he tricked us!" Eliana whispered. "Run!"

Harry led the way. The four of them tiptoed along the wall in single file, hardly daring to breathe. They turned a corner and ran straight into Peeves.

He floated above them. At the sight of the four frozen figures below, he shrieked with delight:

"First-years out of bed—running all over the castle in the dead of night—"

He shot upward and knocked over a suit of armor with a tremendous clang.

"Meow—" The cat's cry rapidly drew closer.

"Run!"

The four of them ran for their lives—through an empty classroom, out its back window, down corridor after corridor, and up more staircases than they could count. At last, with no idea where they were going, they plunged into another hallway.

This time, luck deserted them. It was a dead end with only one door, and that door was locked.

"Move! I'll blow it open!" Eliana whipped out her wand.

"No!" Harry and Ron seized one of her arms each. "Every other door in this corridor is fine. If this one's blown apart, what's the point of hiding?"

"Let go!" Eliana looked frantic. "Then I'll blow up the whole corridor! No one will notice the difference!"

"Get out of the way." Hermione shoved past the three of them as they struggled. "I'll do it. Alohomora!"

All four tumbled inside and slammed the door shut, bracing themselves against it.

Fear sharpened their hearing. They heard Filch's curses draw nearer, then gradually fade away.

"I think we're safe," Harry said, sagging against the door.

"Maybe not entirely." Ron ran a trembling hand through his hair.

The other three turned and found themselves facing three dog heads sprouting from a single neck.

The three-headed creature was as big as a pig—bigger than a pig. At least, Eliana had never seen a pig that stood as tall as a room.

She managed to keep her composure and gestured at the dog with her wand. It looked no bigger than a twig now. "I think blowing up Filch would be easier. What do you think?"

"Run!"

She grabbed Hermione with one hand and Harry with the other. Harry grabbed Ron, and all four fled the room screaming.

Perhaps Lady Luck had taken pity on the poor chicks who had just brushed past death. They hurtled all the way back to Gryffindor Tower without running into Filch or any other professor on patrol.

Eliana sprawled over an armchair, panting so hard it seemed she might cough up her lungs.

"So all we accomplished tonight was wasting time?" she finally managed.

Harry was still badly shaken. "At least we've still got time to waste. That dog was huge! One bite from each head, and there wouldn't be enough of me to go around."

Ron stared blankly ahead and babbled, "Why would they keep a dog like that at school? Do they feed it naughty young wizards to clean up the place?"

"If your eyes are for more than decoration," Hermione said, her temper returning now that she had caught her breath, "you'd have seen that dog was standing on a trapdoor. It was guarding something!"

She stood up angrily. "I'm going to bed. I can't believe what I've been through tonight. No reading, no studying, nearly getting killed, and worse—nearly getting expelled!"

Eliana sprang up, furious too. "I can't believe Malfoy fooled me! He agreed to a duel and didn't show up. I'm going to twist his lightbulb head off!"

The two girls stomped upstairs to the girls' dormitory, one after the other, leaving Ron and Harry staring at each other.

"Don't you think they're both missing the point?"

It took Ron a long while to get the words out.