"He stopped moving?"
Stella and Alice hurried over.
On the Marauder's Map, Filch had stopped moving in the first-floor corridor.
Ever since Lewis had started using the map, Filch had barely stopped walking. He loved catching students out at night wherever he could.
Now that he had suddenly stopped, the three exchanged puzzled looks.
Something occurred to Alice, and she asked, "Did either of you hear anything strange in the corridor just now?"
Lewis replied impatiently, "I didn't hear anything."
Stella hesitated. "Do you mean footsteps?"
"Yes, those!" Alice nodded hastily.
Hearing Stella say the same thing, Lewis asked in confusion, "What footsteps are you talking about? Why didn't I hear them?"
"You were looking at the map," Stella said gravely. "I heard what sounded like footsteps coming from the direction Mrs. Norris went."
"One step, two steps..." Stella's expression grew grimmer as she spoke.
Alice added, "I heard them too, right where Mrs. Norris's cries came from."
"Like... the footsteps of a devil."
The atmosphere grew heavy.
Lewis's teeth chattered as he asked shakily, "Do you think Filch ran into that thing?"
Stella was still thinking when Alice covered her mouth and gasped.
Lewis flinched in fright, losing his grip on the map and dropping it to the floor.
"What is it?" Stella asked urgently.
Alice said in terror, "Mrs. Norris's name isn't on here!"
When they had gone to the kitchens earlier, Mrs. Norris's name had appeared.
Now it was gone.
Remembering how Mrs. Norris had run into the darkness, they were filled with a terrible foreboding.
"Mrs. Norris..." Stella struggled to speak.
"Could she be dead?" The possibility had occurred to Lewis too.
He gave two dry chuckles. "Come on, don't joke around. How could there be any danger inside Hogwarts?"
Alice spoke in a hushed voice.