As the Hospital Wing door closed behind them, the torches in the corridor flickered. Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak higher, covering both their heads and leaving only a slit to see through. Ron's boot stepped on his heel. Harry took a step forward, and Ron took one too.
"You stepped on me." Harry's voice came from beneath the fabric, muffled.
"I can't see." Ron's voice was even more muffled.
They walked close to the wall in tiny steps, like two mice feeling their way along a corner. Students occasionally passed through the corridor—Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, in twos and threes, some still discussing the afternoon's match. When an older Ravenclaw girl walked past them, her steps paused. She sniffed, frowned, then moved on. Ron held his breath until her footsteps turned the corner before letting it out.
"What did you smell?" Harry asked.
"You," Ron said. "How many days has it been since you last washed?"
Harry did not answer. They turned into a narrower corridor, where the torches were spaced far apart and the light was as dim as if they were underwater. Harry quickened his pace, and Ron stayed close behind. Their boots made faint noises against the flagstones, muffled by the cloak, like mice gnawing wood.
They left through a side door of the castle and crossed the vegetable garden. The soil had been dampened by the night dew, soft and soundless beneath their feet. In the distance, the treetops of the Forbidden Forest looked under the moonlight like an endless, undulating black swamp. Wind blew from the forest, carrying the scent of pine and earth, along with a faint sweetness like something rotting.
Hagrid's hut stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, its windows dark. The door was unlocked. Hagrid never locked his door. He said the