Normally, with so many people ahead of him, Harry would not have wanted to squeeze through.
But if Percy was helping to part the crowd, he did not mind following him to see what was going on.
"Excuse me, coming through. Why is everyone blocking the way? Surely you haven't all forgotten the password?" Percy asked as he squeezed his way in.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed behind him.
Yet when they reached the entrance, Percy's voice cut off abruptly.
Harry and the other two were also dumbfounded.
In front of the Gryffindor Common Room, two enormous gashes had been slashed across the portrait of the Fat Lady, which Harry and the others had been looking at for more than two years.
Part of the painting had even been torn off and fallen to the floor.
And the Fat Lady herself had vanished from the painting.
Harry felt a chill pour down through the top of his head, leaving his whole body faintly cold. Then he heard Percy shout to the people behind them, "Someone go and tell Professor Dumbledore, or Professor McGonagall. Quickly, tell them the Fat Lady is missing."
Harry did not know who went to report it, but Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall soon arrived.
Their gazes were grave as they looked at the ruined portrait. Professor Lupin, Professor Flitwick, and Filch arrived just before or after them.
"What happened, Albus?" Professor McGonagall looked at the portrait with an extremely complicated expression.
"I don't know either, Professor McGonagall. But I think we need to find the Fat Lady first." Dumbledore shook his head gently.
Filch volunteered to look for the Fat Lady.
This was no easy task. The figures in Hogwarts's portraits could move freely between paintings, and no one knew where they might appear next.
The