Harry woke up and suddenly discovered that there was no one else in the dormitory.
He stared blankly for a while before remembering that the Christmas holidays had begun, and Ron and the others had all gone home to celebrate.
Ron probably really needed a pet this time.
Scabbers had been missing for a month. Even by the most optimistic estimate, Harry did not think there was any chance he was still alive.
But he did not think Crookshanks had really done it, and that ginger hair hardly counted as solid evidence.
Quite apart from the fact that some students at school had hair of roughly that color, it would not have been strange even if it really had belonged to Crookshanks. For a while, Hermione had often carried her big cat around, and she had frequently spent time with Harry and the others.
There was nothing remotely strange about Harry and the others getting cat hair on their clothes, then carrying it into the dormitory, where it could have fallen into a corner and gone unnoticed until Ron searched for Scabbers.
That was not merely possible. It was highly likely.
But telling Ron that did no good. Although Ron always said he did not like his rat, his sadness had been plain to see once Scabbers actually disappeared.
It had been over a month, and he still had not spoken to Hermione again. Their quarrel had really escalated this time, with no way to ease the tension for the moment.
Hopefully, they'll still exchange Christmas presents, Harry thought.
On the day before Christmas, Harry went to see Professor Lupin after lunch, only to find his office door locked. There was, however, a note left at the door:
I've gone to Hogsmeade to collect something and will be back later.