Chapter 242: The Spreading Fear
Chapter 242: The Spreading Fear
"Lumos."
Hermione used Lumos, and Harry and Ron followed suit.
The three of them raised their wands to light up the dark classroom and circled around, inspecting every corner.
But they found nothing. The first time they entered, they could still find a straw, but now, not even a single hair was visible.
After their fruitless search, Harry and the others returned to the Gryffindor common room.
"It might not be the classroom's fault. Maybe it's some new curse Malfoy learned and secretly cast on us during Potions yesterday."
Ron speculated.
His guess wasn't entirely unfounded. Since the start of the semester, the conflicts between Harry and Malfoy hadn't diminished with age; instead, they had escalated. There were several times when both groups nearly came to blows.
But Harry felt that Malfoy wasn't that bold. Although the Slytherin student always opposed him and had a terrible attitude, Harry knew he was actually a rather timid person.
Their search for answers regarding the nightmares yielded no results. The three spent the morning playing wizard chess in the common room and completed their homework under Hermione's supervision in the afternoon. They then ended their rather dull Saturday.
Harry and Ron went to bed early, but just as they thought they would have a good night's sleep, they were once again jolted awake by the same nightmare at three in the morning!
In their five-person dormitory, not only were Harry and Ron awakened, but their other three roommates, Seamus, Neville, and Dean, also sat up in bed, startled!
The night outside was dark, but Harry's dormitory was abuzz with activity.
Seamus and Ron got out of bed and paced restlessly around the room. Neville huddled on his bed, his gaze vacant, lost in thought. Dean, visibly shaken, trembled under his blanket.
Harry, however, looked contemplative.
In tonight's nightmare, he saw something he hadn't seen the previous night.
It was a strange figure with glowing red eyes, holding what looked like an oil lamp in one hand and a scythe in the other. It stood in the corner of his dream, silently watching him.
It watched as Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on him, and Lily once again sacrificed herself for him.
Just then, Seamus, who was recounting his nightmare to Ron, suddenly spoke up.
"I also saw a strange thing in my dream! It looked like a person, but I couldn't make out its face. It had red eyes and was holding a lamp!"
Upon hearing this, Ron was surprised.
"I saw it too! I thought I was the only one who dreamed about it, and it wasn't there last night!"
Even Dean, who was hiding under his blanket, and Neville, who had been staring off into space, chimed in, saying they had also seen the same thing.
The situation was becoming increasingly bizarre. The next morning, all five boys in Harry's dormitory decided to report the incident to Professor Mcgonagall.
When they entered the common room, they coincidentally met Hermione and her three equally tired roommates, Lavender and Parvati.
Lavender and Parvati had also had nightmares about their families being killed by dark wizards, and they too saw the same demonic-like figure in their dreams.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the eight of them skipped breakfast and hurried to find Professor Mcgonagall.
After recounting the nightmares, Professor Mcgonagall's face grew serious.
She was more experienced and knowledgeable than Harry and the others, and she knew that such widespread nightmares, all involving the same strange entity, were a clear sign of a major problem.
In her office, she immediately conducted a thorough examination of Harry and the seven others, but found no issues.
She then called for Professor Flitwick and wanted to bring in Sherlock, who had the deepest expertise in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but the portrait she sent to fetch him returned to say that Sherlock was out on business and not in his office.
Flitwick frowned and spent a long time tapping his wand over them, but he found no signs of any curses or hexes.
The examination continued until late in the evening, but with no results, Professor Mcgonagall had no choice but to let Harry and the others return to their dorms, instructing them to see how things went that night.
However, that night, it wasn't just Harry and Hermione's dorms; every single Gryffindor student had the same nightmare!
Their families were being killed, and a red-eyed creature was watching them from the corner.
The next day, Monday, all the Gryffindors walked into their classes with large dark circles under their eyes.
The situation was getting worse, and since Dumbledore was away from the castle, Professor Mcgonagall convened all the professors in the staff room during lunch.
Sherlock, who had just returned from Gringotts and was once again diligently emptying the Lestrange Vault, only learned about this at this point.
Silke, who had only been at Hogwarts for less than two months, was also just learning about the incident. Due to her lack of seniority, Professor Mcgonagall hadn't thought to include her in the previous day's meeting.
"This is my fault."
Sherlock didn't intend to hide. After understanding that the Gryffindor students had all been dreaming about the Fidelius Straw Golem, he spoke up directly.
"It's a dark magic creature that escaped from the Department of Mysteries in Germany. Last year at this time, Vera came to Hogwarts to catch it, and with Lupin helping to cover my classes, Dumbledore had me assist her. Now it has escaped again and come to Hogwarts, likely to seek revenge on me."
"This is my fault; I've involved these students."
"I also share the blame", Silke added, taking responsibility as well.
Once she understood what they were dealing with, Professor Mcgonagall breathed a sigh of relief. While they still didn't have a solution, knowing the enemy was better than facing an unknown threat. She had no intention of blaming Sherlock.
"There's no need to feel guilty. You were only doing what was necessary. Now we need to find a way to stop the students from having these nightmares. It has already affected all of Gryffindor in just three nights, and by tonight, it could spread to the entire school."
(End of Chapter)
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