The fireplace burned hot, its warm glow spilling over the stairs leading to the Gryffindor boys' dormitories, thoughtfully providing faint but sufficient light for students venturing out late at night-for those young champions who enjoyed nocturnal excursions, it was the only light they could be seen by without losing points.
A door in the second-year dormitory area opened and closed. A few hurried footsteps sounded across the empty floor, their tap-tap continuing all the way to the fourth-year dormitories. A sweet scent spread through the air: the smell of candy.
A dormitory door that had not been properly shut creaked halfway open, followed abruptly by an "Ow!" as someone walking behind stepped on the heel of the person ahead. Two students traveling under an Invisibility Cloak appeared in an awkward tangle. Before they could say anything, the occupants who had been waiting inside reached out and dragged them in.
"Ah, close the door! We need to close the door! We promised Neville we'd be careful!" Most of Harry's messy hair was still covered by the Invisibility Cloak, and his hand rested on the doorknob at an awkward angle, making him look like a roughly fashioned sculpture that was only a quarter finished-a perfectly timed layer of mist clouded his crooked glasses, then quickly faded.
"Hey, Fred! Ease up, you'll tear it!" Ron hurriedly swatted away the hand clutching his brand-new pajama robe. "Mum actually bought us new robes this year for once. Do you know how surprised I was when I found another piece of clothing wrapped inside that mustard-yellow jumper? I don't want to use a Mending Charm on my new clothes only a few days after getting them."
"Wrong, completely wrong, silly little brother. That was George pulling you just now. You've really hurt us both-ah, fine, it