All the matches for this season had finished, and there would be no new matches until after Christmas. So when the weekend Hogsmeade visit came around again, Harry and the others could have gone first thing in the morning.
But Hermione insisted that Harry and Neville finish at least most of their homework before going.
It was only Harry and Neville because Hermione and Ron had argued again, and this time it had been particularly bad.
Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, had gone missing.
Ron himself could not remember exactly which day he had disappeared.
Although Scabbers was an ordinary rat, he was exceptionally easy to look after. As long as Ron left food and water in the designated spot, he could take care of everything himself.
He never even left droppings lying around.
That was one of the reasons Ron did not particularly dislike him, despite his being old, ugly, and useless. Even with a toad, the easiest kind of pet to keep, Neville had to spend quite a bit of time looking after him every day.
Ron's rat Scabbers, however, never needed looking after.
Since he needed no care, he needed no particular attention either. So Scabbers had actually been missing for several days before Ron noticed. He did not know exactly how many days, but the last time he could clearly remember interacting with Scabbers had been three to five days earlier.
Scabbers did, in fact, often disappear for short periods.
Ron did not know exactly where he went, but he was a rat... hiding in some corner now and then seemed perfectly reasonable.
So Ron had not paid much attention at first.
Normally, Scabbers would disappear for three to five days at most, then return to Ron's bedside table during the day and lie there quietly, waiting