Every student in Hogsmeade was recalled to the castle, and not one of them knew what had happened.
In the crowd filling the Great Hall, Ron finally noticed that both of his friends, Hermione and Harry, were hanging their heads.
"Something happened to Kate... beyond that, I don't know what's going on either."
"I saw Fudge at the Three Broomsticks. They said it was Black who betrayed my parents — that's why they died the way they did."
Listening to the two of them recount the day's events one after the other, Ron felt his head splitting in two. Why did everything have to pile up at once?
He tried his best to comfort them, but in the middle of that jostling, chattering crowd, not one of his tricks could raise a smile from either of them.
Before long, Dumbledore stepped forward. He cleared his throat, his eyes turning towards the corner where Harry and Hermione sat.
"First, I have an announcement to make. Until the end of this school year, no student will be permitted to visit Hogsmeade."
An uproar broke out at once. Students shouted their objections, demanding that the school give them a reasonable explanation.
"But why?" Ron looked between the two of them, just as baffled. "Did Harry get caught sneaking out? Or is it because the Dementors are patrolling the village?"
Hermione roused herself enough to shake her head. "Neither. I think the Headmaster is doing it for our safety."
On the way back to the castle, Katherine had already explained, more or less, that Kate had chosen to follow that person away of her own accord.
Kate had been afraid the creature would make its move in Hogsmeade. Even if she could have beaten it easily, the village was packed with people, and someone was bound to be caught in the crossfire.
Hermione had tried asking who exactly it was that wanted to hurt Kate, but Katherine had fallen silent.
Only after Hermione pressed and pressed did she pry a scrap of information loose.
"Do you remember the Boggart Kate saw in Defence Against the Dark Arts class?" Hermione stared at the floor, her brow drawn tight with worry. "That's the thing that tried to take Kate away today."
Ron let out a small "ah." He didn't know the background to any of it, and he was completely lost now.
"Furthermore, regarding this year's Christmas study trip—" Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon spectacles and looked around at the students below, who had gone abruptly tense.
A flicker of reassuring amusement crossed those bright blue eyes. "I believe the Ministry of Magic will be more than happy to send Aurors to protect you all. So please take note: for the duration of the trip, everyone must abide by the rules."
Everyone — no, everyone who was eligible for the Christmas study trip — breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone except Hermione.
Then Dumbledore cheerfully announced that dinner had begun, and left through the side door with Snape.
Hermione watched them go, unable to sit still a moment longer. She scrambled to her feet to follow.
"Oi!" Ron, still in the middle of consoling Harry, caught sight of her about to vanish from view and could only grab a carton of milk from the table and toss it after her. "If you're not going to eat, at least drink some milk!"
She blinked, gave Ron a nod, and hurried off with the milk in hand.
Ron sighed. He'd known there was no talking her out of it. Harry, at least, was easier to manage. He had barely turned around before he found Cho Chang standing behind him — when she had appeared, he had no idea — and the shock nearly stopped his heart.
"Weasley, what happened today? And where have Kate and Hermione gone?" Cho demanded, hands planted firmly on her hips.
The moment they had all been herded back to the castle, she'd known something serious had happened in Hogsmeade.
And when she reached the Great Hall, Kate was nowhere to be seen — and Hermione, who was never more than a step away from her, had red-rimmed eyes.
So she had simply used the start of dinner as cover and come to find out for herself.
"Er..." Ron floundered, then gave a discreet jab of his finger towards the door. "Go and have a look at the Hospital Wing. You'll know soon enough."
The Hospital Wing?
At the mention of that place, the colour drained from Cho's face. She turned on her heel and strode out.
Merlin's beard, what a mess of a day.
Ron wiped his brow and was just thinking he could finally sit down to a decent meal when his sister Ginny came over with Luna in tow. "Is it true? Has something happened to Kate?"
His face twitched. Why was everyone coming to him?
But before he could get a word out, Luna seemed to understand everything on her own. She gave Ginny a nod and set off along the same route Cho had taken.
"Ginny! Why do you go telling everyone everything?" Ron, startled half to death several times over now, finally snapped at his sister.
"Telling everyone? Luna isn't just anyone!" Ginny huffed, then squeezed straight into Hermione's empty seat and settled in beside Harry, who had shut down entirely.
Ron: ???
All the other professors were down in the Great Hall. The only two left in the Hospital Wing were Madam Pomfrey and David.
Right now, though, this middle-aged man in his forties had lost every trace of the gentle manner he usually showed his students. He sat alone at Kate's bedside, guilt and regret written across his face.
When he had accepted the post at Hogwarts, he had promised his father that he would look after Kate properly while she was at school.
But who could have imagined that she'd come to harm in Hogsmeade, of all places?
This Christmas, he wouldn't have the face to go home and look his father in the eye.
The girl in the bed lay perfectly still. After the basic healing, a little colour had returned to her small face — but when she would wake was anyone's guess.
A sound came from outside the door. Madam Pomfrey went to open it, and on seeing Dumbledore and Snape, she quickly ushered them in.
"Severus, examine Kate. Madam Pomfrey, if you would assist him," Dumbledore said quietly, then turned his gaze to David.
David rose without being asked, cast one worried glance at Kate, and stepped outside with him.
"Katherine's gone. She's furious — said she's going to find out how many more dangerous things like that are still lying around Hogsmeade."
He explained in a low voice, then lifted his head, lost. "What on earth could have done this to Kate? With her strength, even if she'd run into the mysterious person, she couldn't have ended up like this."
"I know, David. Don't distress yourself," Dumbledore said gently. Out of the corner of his eye, seemingly at random, he glanced back down the corridor behind him, and something flashed in those bright blue eyes.
He raised his voice a fraction. "I went to the place where Kate collapsed. Because of the avalanche, every trace of the fight there has been wiped away."
"A-avalanche?" David's head jerked up in astonishment. "What avalanche? There wasn't the slightest sign of an avalanche coming!"
Dumbledore nodded. "My guess is that their battle set it off — and that Kate, to spare Hogsmeade on the slope below, stopped the avalanche single-handedly."
He tilted his head back towards the rain outside, which still had not let up. "This rain is the result of her evaporating all that snowmelt. The vapour rose, condensed high above, and came back down again."
He stretched out an aged hand, caught a few fat drops in his palm, and closed his fingers around them.
"It is faint, but every drop of rain here carries a trace of Mana. That alone proves it — this rain was made by human hands."
David stared at the pouring curtain of water, disbelieving. "This... how is that possible? She's only a child. How could she have that much Mana? Wouldn't her body be drained dry?"
At that, his head snapped round, and he stared at the closed doors of the Hospital Wing in agitation.
If anything truly happened to Kate, his old father would come to Hogwarts in person to give him a hiding!
Dumbledore said nothing more, waiting quietly for the verdict from inside.
They had been standing there for some unknowable stretch of time when Madam Pomfrey finally came to open the door. Snape stepped out, his expression colder than ever.
"I will go and brew the Potions she needs," he said, the words forced out from between his teeth. "I leave the rest to you."
With that, he walked straight off down the stairs.
David turned at once to Madam Pomfrey. "How is she?"
"Her Mana is completely exhausted, and it appears her Spirit has taken no small shock as well. Her body is very weak just now. There's no telling when she'll wake."
Even Dumbledore's face darkened. "It seems her family will have to be informed."
Then he said to David, "Let her rest here. Come with me."
Worried as he was, David could do nothing but follow him out.
Not long after the two of them had gone, Hermione crept out from around the corner of the corridor, hesitating. She wanted to go in and see — and dreaded seeing Kate so frail.
"Hermione." Cho stepped out with Luna and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go in together."
With the two of them beside her, Hermione finally worked up the courage to walk into the Hospital Wing. The moment she saw Madam Pomfrey she started stammering. "Excuse me... could we..."
"Ten minutes only." Madam Pomfrey had long since taken note of these girls who got on so well with Kate, and she granted them the visit with an indulgent nod.
The three of them brightened, and without meaning to, softened their footsteps to almost nothing.
They had braced themselves in advance — and still, when they reached the bedside and saw with their own eyes what Kate looked like now, something clenched inside each of them.
Kate's eyes were shut fast, her face bloodless, her cracked lips tinged blue. She slept without a sound, her breathing so faint she might have been slipping away.
Hermione's eyes reddened. She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep the sob in, held it as long as she could, and then broke and ran out of the room, crying.
Of the three of them, Luna was the youngest. She held Kate's cold hand tightly and closed her eyes, unable to look.
"If it's too much, go outside and rest a while," Cho said, her eyes fixed on Kate, her lips pressed white.
Luna nodded faintly, laid Kate's hand back down, and slipped out on quiet feet.
That left only Cho at the bedside.
She stood looking at the girl in the hospital bed for a long moment, then bent and pressed a soft kiss to that cool forehead.
"Please, Kate," she whispered, her eyes closed. "You have to wake up. I'm begging you."
____
________________________________________
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉