The silence swallowed them all again. Every head turned, every eye in the place

Seemed to have found Harry, to hold him forever in the glare of thousands of invisible

Beams. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin table and he recognized Pansy Parkinson as

she raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab

him!"

Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in

Front of him had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the

Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their

Backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, and Harry, awestruck and

Overwhelmed, saw wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from

Under sleeves.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson." said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice.

"You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

Harry heard the grinding of the benches and then the sound of the Slytherins

Trooping out on the other side of the Hall.

"Ravenclaws, follow on!" cried Professor McGonagall.

Slowly the four tables emptied. The Slytherin table was completely deserted, but

A number of older Ravenclaws remained seated while their fellows filed out; even more

Hufflepuffs stayed behind, and half of Gryffindor remained in their seats, necessitating

Professor McGonagall's descent from the teachers' platform to chivvy the underage on

Their way.

"Absolutely not, Creevey, go! And you, Peakes!"

Harry hurried over to the Weasleys, all sitting together at the Gryffindor table.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Haven't you found -?" began Mr. Weasley, looking worried.

But he broke off as Kingsley had stepped forward on the raised platform to

Address those who had remained behind.

"We've only got half an half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast. A

Battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the

Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of

Fighters up to the three highest towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor - where

they'll have good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile

Remus" - he indicated Lupin - "Arthur" - he pointed toward Mr. Weasley, sitting at the

Gryffindor table - "and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to

organize defense of the entrances or the passageways into the school -"

"Sounds like a job for us." called Fred, indicating himself and George, and

Kingsley nodded his approval.

"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"

"Potter," said Professor McGonagall, hurrying up to him, as students flooded the

platform, jostling for position, receiving instructions, "Aren't you supposed to be looking

for something?"

"What? Oh," said Harry, "oh yeah!"

He had almost forgotten about the Horcrux, almost forgotten that the battle was

being fought so that he could search for it: The inexplicable absence of Ron and

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 734