Harry's expression grew strange.
He had not suspected Ginny in the slightest just now, but thinking about it now, he did vaguely sense something odd. Even so, he only found it odd; he did not actually think there was anything wrong with Ginny.
After all, however he looked at it, Ginny couldn't possibly be a bad person, could she?
I'll ask her in a bit.
Once that seed of doubt had taken root, Harry could not suppress it, even though reason told him he absolutely ought to trust Ginny.
He arrived at the Great Hall with Hermione. Ron, Lavender, and Ginny were already waiting there.
"Harry, what happened? Ginny said there was something very important and we needed to come back?" Ron looked at Harry with suspicion, but also some concern.
"There is something, yes. Something pretty important." Harry nodded, then said with feigned casualness, "You were really quick, getting back so soon. Did you use some clever magic, Ginny?"
"Huh?" Ginny froze for a moment, then waved a hand. "No. I wasn't supposed to be able to leave Hogwarts today, you know. It's still not allowed. But Fred told me about a secret passage that leads straight to the cellar at Honeydukes. I went that way."
So that was it.
Harry understood. It all made sense now.
That secret passage was a side route, naturally much shorter than taking the long way around from the docks to Hogsmeade. If Ginny had also used some magic to increase her speed, the time she had taken was reasonable enough.
At that thought, Harry reproached himself a little for actually distrusting his best friend's younger sister.
Even if everyone else might be suspect, how could there be anything wrong with the Weasley family? An involuntary surge of guilt rose within Harry, and