At noon, the Great Hall at Hogwarts was packed around the notice board. Jerry had just come from class when he spotted the crowd of students.
"Is there a new notice up?" Jerry asked as he walked over to Hermione and the others.
"Hogsmeade! We can go again next weekend!" Ron stood on tiptoe, straining to read the freshly posted notice. "What do you think?" he asked Harry and Neville quietly when they returned to their house table. Of the group, those two were the only ones who couldn't go to Hogsmeade, even though Neville had a permission form signed by his parents.
"Professor McGonagall's forbidden me from going to Hogsmeade!" Neville sighed miserably. "School security's getting tighter, and the professors are stricter with us too. Harry and I probably can't go!"
"It's all right, Neville." Harry patted his shoulder, then turned to Jerry. "Lend me the Marauder's Map again next week, Jerry. I checked yesterday. Most of the passages are guarded by professors, but there's still nobody watching the One-Eyed Witch Statue on the fourth floor, and the passage hasn't been sealed. Neville and I might be able to use it to get straight to Honeydukes."
"But the most important thing is to avoid Snape," Ron warned Harry in a low voice. "These past two days, I've had the feeling he keeps watching you. If Snape catches you... Harry, I can't think of anything worse!"
"Don't worry. With the Marauder's Map, I can wait until Snape's off the fourth floor, then sneak Neville out to Hogsmeade to meet you!" Harry sounded entirely confident.
"Harry, I still think it's far too dangerous." Hermione's brow furrowed with worry. She strongly opposed Harry's reckless stubbornness. If Jerry hadn't stopped her last time, she really would have told Professor McGonagall about the Marauder's