Ginny had no suicidal tendencies; she had merely returned to her dormitory to cry her eyes out. Hermione and Luna successfully slipped into the Gryffindor common room and comforted her for quite a while.
After all, coming into contact with a Horcrux was far too dangerous. Wrong was wrong.
Voldemort's soul might have possessed Legilimency or Dark Magic similar to the Imperius Curse. It was always especially dangerous for someone without Occlumency to come into contact with it.
Moreover, Hermione felt that Mrs. Weasley would not send her daughter a Howler. From the fragmented words Ginny had choked out between sobs, it was clear that Mrs. Weasley cared more about her daughter's dignity than she did about the boys in the family.
Having received comfort from her idol, Ginny barely managed to pull herself together. Perhaps because all the fear and crying had exhausted her, she slept very well that night.
In her dream, she became friends with Senior Hermione, along with Luna and many people she did not know. They were all happily playing Quidditch together.
At breakfast the next day, the students ate in the warm sunlight of the Great Hall. A large flock of owls arrived from the sky as usual, placing letters and packages before their young owners.
Ginny spotted her family's owl among the flock at once. It was exceptionally conspicuous, because Errol was simply too old. Much of his plumage had fallen out, and he flew in a wobbly fashion, like a defeated rooster.
That was not the important part. The important part was that his somewhat faded claws clutched a red envelope—the unmistakable Howler.
She began to tremble, even wanting to bury her face in the milk before her.
With every flap of his wings, he drew closer. In those cloudy old eyes,