"Move quickly, now!"
The young Gryffindor students have been used to this now. Their senior, Hermione Granger, was very strict on following the rules. They quicken their pace toward the common room to avoid any detention from her.
"Curfew starts in five minutes. You don't want to be caught outside, trust me!"
Unlike her, the student much preferred the other Prefect, Ron.
He... he did not do anything.
Like right now, he was just standing beside her, just glancing at them.
"Come on, hurry up!" Hermione called out again, clapping her hands, "Professor Umbridge won't go easy on anyone breaking curfew. Now off you go."
Finally, the last of them disappeared around the corner, and the soft echo of their footsteps grew faint.
Since becoming the Prefect, both Hermione and Ron had to make sure all the Gryffindor students were obeying the Curfew rule and each of them was in their room instead of lingering around Hogwarts.
The first reason was their duty, but secondly, they did not want anyone to get punished by that teacher.
As the silence settled over the hallway, Hermione let out a soft sigh and chuckled under her breath. "Funny, isn't it?" she said, turning to Ron as they began their patrol down the long, dim corridor. "We broke the curfew so many times during the past years. And now here we are, the ones enforcing it."
Ron gave a small grunt in response, not even looking at her.
His gaze remained fixed ahead, his face impassive as they walked side by side. The lack of response made Hermione's smile fade slightly. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He'd been quiet, distant like this since the start of term, like his mind was somewhere far away.
Ever since Harry's arrest three months ago, Ron seemed to be the most affected. He talks less, eats less, and spends most of his time alone.
Hermione's words drifted between them, hoping he'd say something to break the tension. Maybe a joke, something that reminded her of the old days, of how things used to be. But instead, Ron glanced at her briefly, his face tight, before muttering, "You know they're right."
Hermione frowned. "Right? About what?"
"About things being better… now that Harry's gone." His voice was low, almost as if he didn't want to admit it out loud. "Ever since he was arrested, the school's been calm. No incidents. No one's getting hurt. It's like… like none of it ever happened."
During the day, when some of the guys were talking about Harry Potter, Ron lashed out at them. These sudden bursts of anger have occurred whenever someone badmouths Harry. But when the guys reciprocated that their school life was much better now, Ron was taken aback.
Hermione felt her stomach twist. She knew Ron wasn't wrong, but hearing him say it was like a slap. What could she say? He was right. Since Harry had been taken away, Hogwarts had settled into an eerie kind of peace. No more duels in the halls. No strange creatures creeping out of the Forbidden Forest. No signs of danger or rebellion lurking around the corner.
But this 'calm' felt wrong.
The school might've been quieter, but everything about it seemed… off.
The absence of Harry, their friend, the one who always seemed to draw trouble yet kept them all going, had left a hole in the very wall of Hogwarts.
Just as Hermione was about to speak, telling Ron that he was wrong, she heard some loud footsteps and saw a huge shadow.
Hagrid was back.
Hermione was about to call him, but the latter quickly disappeared. From the direction he was going, Hermione could only guess that his destination was the Headmaster's office.
But even for that brief moment, Hermione was able to notice Hagrid's face.
Anger.
She could not even remember a single time since she knew Hagrid that he had such a look on his face.
-----
Hagrid had just returned from his dangerous journey to the giants' colony. Thanks to Madam Maxime, Dumbledore was already made aware of how the mission to the giants had failed miserably, and that he was bringing his half-brother, Grawp, together with him.
After making sure Grawp was well hidden in the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid immediately rushed to Dumbledore's office.
The reason was that he had met some wizards on his way, and the news he got from them was devastating.
Harry Potter, his Harry, the boy he had brought to the wizarding world on that stormy night, was placed in Azkaban. Before he left for the mission to the giants, Harry Potter was missing from the Tournament, but Hagrid had faith in Dumbledore that the latter would be rescued in no time. That was the reason he agreed to go so far while Harry Potter was missing.
But now things had taken such a wrong turn that he could not comprehend what was going on.
"Dumbledore!" Hagrid's voice boomed through the quiet halls of the Headmaster's office. His enormous fists banged on the thick oak doors. "Dumbledore!"
As he was about to call him for the third time, the doors swung open. Inside, Albus Dumbledore stood by the fireplace, his back turned to the room, hands clasped behind him in that all-too-calm posture.
"Hagrid," Dumbledore said quietly, a contrast to Hagrid's loud tone. "I have been expecting you."
"Expectin' me? EXPECTIN' ME?" Hagrid's eyes were wild with disbelief. "Yeh knew 'bout this, didn' yeh? Yeh knew what they did ter 'im, an' yeh didn' do NOTHIN'!"
Dumbledore turned to face him. "It is not as simple as it seems."
"Not as simple?" Hagrid's fists clenched at his sides, and for the first time in his life, he felt an anger toward Dumbledore he had never known. "Harry's been arrested, locked away in that horrible place, an' yeh're standin' here actin' like it's no big deal! How could yeh let 'em take 'im? He's just a kid, Dumbledore!"
Dumbledore sighed deeply, moving slowly toward his desk. He sat down behind it, folding his hands. "Harry was put on trial for the murder of his Muggle family. All the proof shows that he is guilty of such a crime. There was no way to change the verdict when he even admitted killing them."
"Murder?" Hagrid's voice cracked as he approached the desk. "That's nonsense, an' yeh know it! Harry must have been under the Imperious curse, god damn it!"
Dumbledore sighed and just kept staring at Hagrid. Lately, the members of the Order of Phoenix have been against him a lot.
Molly, Arthur, Tonks, Lupin, and Sirius. And now even Hagrid was disappointed in him.
Albus understood their perspective, but none of them understood him. The sacrifice that was needed for Harry to go through in order to defeat Voldemort. This was all for the greater good.
"It does not matter, though," Dumbledore thought. Only he had the resolve needed to go through this. Albus looked again at Hagrid. "Only around a month remains till the boy is released from Azkaban, then everything will return to normal."
"Azkaban!" Hagrid roared, slamming his fists onto the desk. "Harry doesn't belong in there! He'll... he'll die in there! The Dementors... they'll tear 'im apart! Yeh know what they're like! I've seen'em... up close! They'll drain the life right outta 'im!"
-----
While the two were discussing, what they did not know was that on the other side, Voldemort was smiling as he had just received a message from Daphne Greengrass that Hagrid had just returned.
"Finally, that big half-breed has returned. Now all I have to do is wait for the 3rd of December." Voldemort thought. The major step in his next plan depended heavily on Hagrid. From the future memories, Voldemort got the idea that Hagrid must return from the giant colony around the last week of November. But as the last days of the month were approaching, Voldemort got worried that maybe something had caused the event to deviate, and Hagrid would return later.
Thankfully, the news from Daphne had reached him today, on the last day of November.
"Oh Albus, if only you could know the storm that is approaching."