Chapter 8
"Death Eaters at Hogwarts"
It was like seeing a stage play up close, only that the actors were misty-white, ghostly embodiments of the people they represented. The Sneakoscope projected Dumbledore's, Ron's, and Jack Chadron's figures right at the exact spot where they were during that night. Hermione backed off a little to see the whole thing in a wider view, hoping that she won't miss anything important, and pressed her back on one of the tall bookshelves as she watched.
"Ah, Mr. Chadron and Mr. Weasley. One moment, please, while I finish up this letter and send it to a - good friend," Dumbledore said in his characteristic dignified voice." He placed a piece of parchment and something metallic inside the envelope, dropped some hot wax to seal it, and gave it to a waiting owl that promptly flew out to deliver it to an unknown recipient (which Hermione now knew was Hagrid). Dumbledore then turned his attention to Dobby, who was covered by the Headmaster's large desk from Hermione's view. The elf was dusting off some old books.
"Dobby, perhaps it would be better if you would leave us for a while, while we discuss some matters with Mr. Weasley, thank you," Dumbledore told him gently. Dobby didn't say anything. He bowed with a smile and disappeared with a pop.
"I see you're already here for our meeting, Mr. Weasley," he continued, now looking at Ron. Ron nodded grimly at Dumbledore, visibly fearful of what's coming. Hermione could feel how he had felt, and she had to get hold of her emotions to be able to stay attentive.
"However, I believe I told you, Mr. Chadron, that we'll be meeting by forty-five minutes past the end of supper, not thirty minutes? I gave those instructions for a reason," Dumbledore said pointedly, now looking at Jack Chadron, who had his hands behind his back and looked fidgety. Ron hung his head and stared constantly to the floor.
"Yes, sir, I'm aware of that, sir," he replied, managing to control his increasingly shaky voice. "But you told me once before that it's always better to wait than be late, sir, and I'm just following your advice."
Dumbledore was silent for a few seconds as he still looked at the Head Boy very intently. This made him very nervous, and he tried hard not to tremble too much in front of the Headmaster.
"Ha! Dumbledore saw right through you for ages!" Hermione told Jack Chadron's figure.
"Ah, yes, I believe I did," Dumbledore said to Jack Chadron. "You've got a good attitude, Mr. Chadron. Keep it up."
"Thank you, sir."
"Professor McGonagall will arrive at the arranged schedule, which is a little more than ten minutes from now. However, as you are already here, I don't want to add to Mr. Weasley's anxieties as I find it very cruel if I want him to wait for her, so I'll just fill her in with the details when she comes. Right, then. Let's get to the subject of this meeting. Mr. Weasley…"
Ron, as if his head weighed a ton, slowly looked up at Dumbledore. "Yes, sir," he said quietly.
"I have been giving your case a lot of thought. While your practical jokes are admittedly funny - and ingenius - I have to make it known to everyone that I don't tolerate lies around this school, especially to the staff."
Ron nodded and hung his head again as Dumbledore let what he said sink in.
"So it is only fitting," Dumbledore continued - Ron snapped his head up to look at him bracing for the worst - "that you'll be subjected to three weeks detention with Mr. Filch, including a whole day during weekends starting tomorrow. I have no reason to even suspend you as Professor Snape had wanted. Your brothers had made much more serious practical jokes than yours and they just always serve detention. I believe they hold the record for mischief in Hogwarts," Dumbledore said and just shook his head about the Weasley twins. "But this does not mean I'm encouraging you to do more jokes on your classmates…"
"T-Thank you, sir!" said Ron happily, very glad that he wasn't going to be expelled or suspended like Snape had suggested, but he realized he seemed mental to thank someone who had just given him three weeks detention. "Uh, I mean, I understand, sir, I deserve it," he rephrased, with a fake look of disappointment on his face. For Ron, detention was a heaven sent rather than not being in Hogwarts anymore.
However, Jack Chadron scowled, and without any warning while Dumbledore had his attention at Ron, he pointed Ron's wand at the Headmaster (Hermione had both hands on her mouth) and shouted "Avada Kedavra!!!" Yellow green light swooshed from the tip of the wand and hit Dumbledore, whose head landed on the top of the large desk with a loud thud. His eyelids were half open and his eyes stared listlessly on an open space ahead.
Ron took a few seconds to catch on what had just happened in front of him. In great shock of the speed of events, he gaped open mouthed at the seemingly dead Dumbledore and then slowly towards Jack Chadron. The Head Boy was still looking at Dumbledore, making sure he was taken care of.
Ron had made the decision to lunge at Jack Chadron, but he stopped short when the wand was now pointed at him, sparks emanating from its tips. "Don't even think about it, Weasley," warned Chadron. His face was twisted with evil and he was now looking at Ron. Hermione felt a new surge of hatred towards Jack Chadron, the person she used to admire.
"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" yelled Ron bravely, who was red all over, both his hands balled into fists.
"With the orders of The Dark Lord himself, and you'll be thrown to Azkaban for this crime," said Chadron knowingly.
"What?"
"I was hoping Dumbledore had written the expulsion note for you, a perfect motive on your part to murder the Headmaster, Weasley. But it doesn't matter. I still have a plan B laid out. Sadly, It could have been more convenient, and I wanted to have a little chat with you about your best friends before I do the next spell against you. But it seems I'm out of time -"
"M-my friends? Harry and Hermione - why?" Ron said, bewildered. Hermione stared at Chadron the same.
"Say hello to the Dementors for me," Chadron said as he switched wands. "Stupefy!"
Ron was instantly stunned, and he fell on the floor very hard. Chadron moved over quickly to him, and arranged his body to look like he was stunned when he was attacking Dumbledore. He put Ron's wand on the floor.
"Keep your filthy hands off him!" said Hermione in anger.
Next, Chadron closed his eyes and concentrated hard, put the tip of his wand on Ron's head, and muttered "Obliviate!" Without wasting any time, he walked over to Dumbledore, took a page of blank parchment from a desk drawer, placed it at the side of the Headmaster's head, and muttered with a wave of his wand "Inscribulus". Hermione quickly got behind the desk just on top of Dumbledore to take a better look.
Dumbledore's right hand grabbed a quill and began writing Ron's expulsion note. Jack Chadron bobbed his head up and down along with the scribbling of the quill, as if he was teaching a little child what to write. It was very bizarre even for Hermione seeing Dumbledore's right hand writing on parchment while the rest of his body looked dead. Halfway through Dumbledore's final signature, the office door opened and McGonagall came in; Jack Chadron was startled and his spell had broken. Dumbledore's hand had now let go of the quill with a soft clatter.
McGonagall saw Ron first, and she placed a hand over her chest. She ran to him and saw Jack Chadron standing just behind Dumbledore next. "Mr. Chadron, what on earth happened here?" she said, increasingly alarmed as she walked to the middle of the room.
Jack Chadron didn't care to explain. He pointed his wand at McGonagall without hesitation and exclaimed "Imperio!" McGonagall instantly snapped to attention and she stared blankly ahead, succumbing to the power of Chadron's Imperius Curse, which was very effective.
"You'll soon prove to be a valuable asset in the service of the Dark Lord, Professor McGonagall, albeit very indirectly," said Chadron, laughing diabolically. He had felt a great high when everybody in the room was under this power and it took him quite a while to get over his enjoyment. "You'll be making your own victory potion as soon as I will have no use for you, but first I'll have a little chore for you in a little while." Hermione then realized it was also Jack Chadron who was behind McGonagall's suicide attempt.
Chadron walked back slowly towards Dumbledore's desk. He laughed again as he looked at the two helpless Professors. "Everybody thought you were untouchable, you two. Even the Dark Lord seems to fear you, you frail and senile fool!" he said at Dumbledor. "But it takes only Jack Chadron, the present Head Boy of Hogwarts to prove you are as powerless as muggles!"
He took the unfinished note and examined it, looking disappointed. "Now I couldn't make Dumbledore finish this because of YOU!" he snarled at McGonagall.
Hermione could see Chadron's frighteningly contorted face and he looked very insane, unlike the pompous and gentle Head Boy he had always shown in front of the whole school and prefect meetings. She could not fathom the treachery of the real Jack Chadron. He was very dangerous, and he needed to be stopped. The only way was to unmask him as the culprit of the crimes committed on Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall - the most crucial evidence of it lay on a simple object such as the Sneakoscope.
There were still Ministry Wizards around the school. All she had to do was find one of them and give him the object; Jack Chadron will be arrested, and he will probably "sing" to unmask the other conspirators as well (if there are). Ron will be cleared and, with Harry, they be pardoned and reinstated at Hogwarts. Hermione was confident of this because Harry had only broken the rules because of the circumstances that led to it. Hopefully, Dumbledore will recover soon after that.
Jack Chadron pinned the parchment between Dumbledore's head and the tabletop and placed the quill loosely, resting it on the Headmaster's hand. He made it look like his last act was writing the unfinished letter. Hermione thought Jack Chadron was beginning to get stupid. He would have just made a new note and rip the old one apart, but it was a good thing that he didn't remember that.
"You go announce this little incident to the whole school now, Minerva," said Chadron. "You'll be backing my testimony up. Ha, I'm beginning to love ordering you around and calling you in a first name basis…" McGonagall moved towards the office door against her will.
Hermione thought she had already witnessed enough because this was when McGonagall went out of the office to make the emergency announcement. It was time to leave and share this to the Ministry Wizards at the soonest possible time. She ordered the Sneakoscope to "Stop" and it ceased spinning. "Now, how do I make this thing stop recording things before it erases everything?" she asked herself. Luckily, like many objects in the magical world, the Sneakoscope seemed to have a brain of it's own and covered itself up with a smooth metal-like shell. Smiling, Hermione scooped it up from the tabletop and slid it inside her robe pocket. She heard the soft snap of the office door closing behind her.
Hermione whipped around. "Hagrid…about time…"
"Caught on at last, have you, Hermione?" said Jack Chadron in the flesh, shaking his head slowly, and his wand pointed at her. Hermione froze and gasped, and remained silent. She had her wand with her, too, but it was deep inside her pocket - too late to reach and Chadron would have had lots of time to jinx her if she made a sudden move. He was in the middle of the room, while she was deep inside it. She had to run the whole length of the office towards the door to be able to escape. With Chadron in the way, it wasn't wise to make a break for it.
Chadron breathed deeply. "I followed you from Hagrid's hut after I set those unicorns loose. I was hoping that would make Hagrid, shall we say, abandon you for the unicorns while you'd find for me alone the very thing that might give my true self away. I even surprise myself sometimes for making plans that seem to work my way."
"So it was you out there - outside the hut. You've been following me, and you were listening to me and Hagrid while we talked about Dumbledore…" Hermione said indignantly.
"Right you are, and I'm so lucky that I did," Chadron replied, smirking. "I'm usually not being the nosy type, but I knew you were up to something to save your own pathetic best friends and I wanted to know what I've probably missed from all the excitement. You see, I won't forgive myself if I knew a simple toy like the one you have there in your pocket would ruin everything for me."
"I won't let you have it!" yelled Hermione bravely.
"Don't give me a reason to kill you, Hermione," said Jack Chadron quietly. "Because I will if I have to…but please don't let me do it."
"Your death curse was a dud, didn't you know that?" Hermione retorted, accenting the word "dud" very clearly. However she realized Jack Chadron used Ron's wand back then, and that was probably the reason why Dumbledore didn't die. Now, Chadron was pointing his own wand at her…
"Yes, but it's enough to put you to sleep indefinitely, as good as dead, as you've seen what harm it did to Dumbledore. It's unfortunate that it wasn't properly done, but someone told me that Dumbledore won't awaken until the spell is broken - which for me is dangerous to divulge how it can be done, of course. So I have no worries about him waking up and remembering me as the culprit, which leaves only you."
"Why, Jack?!? Why are you doing this? Think of what Dumbledore had done for you all these years…" she said, changing tack. Like she had hoped, it bought her more time to think of a way out.
Jack Chadron went silent for a moment and spoke again, heavily, this time. "My benefactor promised me power I have only dreamed of. And the only way to achieve that is to serve the Dark Lord. He rewards those who are faithful to him. This is my test - he will notice me, he will glorify me above all the other Death Eaters in his inner circle - it will be my proudest moment! Dumbledore can't give me that!"
"Jack, everything Voldemort tells you is a lie!" said Hermione sharply. Jack Chadron almost dropped his wand hearing his master's name. "He only wants to get something out of you - he doesn't care about you! He doesn't want to share his power to anyone! He wants it all for himself!"
"Y-you said the Dark Lord's name!" Chadron said, shaking.
"So I did. I surprise myself sometimes, too," said Hermione firmly. They both looked at each other, falling silent for a few seconds.
Chadron spoke again. "Let's make a deal, Hermione. The Dark Lord will come to Hogwarts when Dumbledore is truly dead, and he will establish his New Order from here. The fall of Hogwarts to the Dark Lord will be a symbolic defeat for those who are opposed to him. Give me that object, and I will make sure your very life will be spared amidst the imminent extinction of your kind."
"Just say it. Say I'm a Mudblood, Jack," challenged Hermione.
Jack Chadron opened and closed his mouth.
"Your master won't spare a Muggle-born like me just because you asked him to. I'm not that stupid to even hope for that," she said, and there was fire in Hermione's eyes now.
The office door opened and a Ministry wizard entered, the same one Hermione saw with Snape just before she was carried off to the hospital wing. She didn't know if she'd be happy to see him, and sure enough, Jack Chadron told him, "She has an advanced Sneakoscope in her pocket, Cassius. It recorded everything I did to Dumbledore nights ago. If it reaches the Ministry, I'm in troub…I mean, the whole plan will be bungled." Cassius nodded; he apparently was a Death Eater, too.
"You see, Hermione," Jack said as he returned his gaze at her. "Hogwarts isn't a safe place for you and the rest of your friends anymore. It's now been taken over by the Dark Lord's servants. Soon we will round up the students and the rest of the staff, and we'll prepare for the Dark Lord's triumphant return," Jack Chadron said, smirking again.
"The students and staff?" she thought. Then she remembered that when she came to Dumbledore's office from Hagrid's hut, it didn't strike her as odd that she hadn't encountered anyone walking around the corridors this early in the evening. She was only too happy she hadn't bumped in on anyone while she was en-route to the office.
"Didn't you know?" he pressed on. "Death Eaters have already caught Harry Potter and he is now being brought in front of the Dark Lord as we speak. You friend Ron has disappeared forever - and my colleagues made sure of that," Hermione's heart stopped when she heard this news about Harry and Ron. She instantly felt alone in the whole world. She felt like panicking about it, but she knew better than look being weakened in front on Jack Chadron.
"Dumbledore is as good as dead, too," Chadron continued, seeing Hermione's face. "So what does this all mean? It means it is only a matter of time and the defeat of your side will be realized. You're now fighting a losing battle, Hermione. It won't matter anymore if your friend Ron is acquitted posthumously and if I'll be branded for everything that had happened. Give me that thing in your pocket, and I will let you live."
Hermione didn't want to buy anything Jack Chadron had said. She hoped he was psyching her just to get the Sneakoscope. Still, there was a horrible thought hanging behind her head: what if they were all true? She thought about Harry and what Voldemort may be doing to him now. ("Oh, Harry…") And about Ron's death as Jack had said to her…
But for now, she had to think first about how to get past these two menacing men in front of her, and then worry about where to go next after this. She refused to give up just yet. The opportunity came when the open office door was snapped shut by a strong breeze.
Looking just above James' head, Hermione said, "Hagrid!"
Jack and Cassius looked behind them, expecting the large gamekeeper to grasp their necks at any moment, only to see that there was no one behind them. Seizing the opportunity, Hermione drew her wand from her robe and pointed at the books above Jack and Cassius and exclaimed "Flipendo Voluminus!" The bookshelves shook violently and heavy books came cascading down, painfully burying the two men in a heap. Hermione made a break for the door and ran on top of them. "Ha! You fell for an old muggle trick, you idiots!" she said, not bothering to stop for a second.
When she got out of the office, she saw two other wizards just standing next to the door who were startled at the sight of her. "Stop her, but don't hurt her!" yelled Jack Chadron from inside the office.
Hermione sprinted through the length of the corridor with two grown-up wizards hot on her tail. She didn't have time to pause to jinx them, and she was surprised that they didn't even try to perform any curses to slow her down.
Before she rounded the next corner, she took a quick glance behind her. The pursuing wizards seemed not to get tired running after her and were closing the gap between them very quickly. On the other hand, Hermione was starting to lose breath, and halfway through the next corridor, two more wizards stood at the end hall, waiting for her. She tried to double back, but the other wizards chasing her blocked the other end of the corridor she where came from.
Hermione was now trapped in the middle of the hall with nowhere to go. There were no rooms to get in to, and no windows that led outdoors. Only a large gold statue stood near her. This was it, she thought, and she bravely pointed her wand at each of the four men (who Hermione supposed were Death Eaters, too). They didn't seem threatened, however, and began closing in on her very slowly.
Hermione heard a loud scrape that seemed to come from gold statue. She stood back a pace watched the statue slide horizontally and reveal a passage she had never seen before. The Death Eaters took a moment to realize that Hermione might be able to escape and all of them started running towards her. She didn't have to decide whether to take the opportunity for escape or not as a dark hand reached out from the dark hole, grabbed her sweater, and pulled her in to the passage rather forcibly. The statue quickly closed and Hermione could hear the Death Eaters cursing from the other side. It was pitch dark inside. She didn't know what pulled out her out of there so she quickly held out her wand to find out and muttered "Lumos!" She was instantly relieved to see two very familiar faces in front of her: Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom.
"Dean! Neville!" she said, feeling relieved. She whipped around when she heard some banging sounds from outside. "Thank heavens it's you!"
"Lucky you took this route or we'd never been able to pull you in!" said Dean. "Don't worry, they can't get in unless they'd kick the statue's shin."
"Come, Hermione," Neville said in his usual squeaky voice. "Let's put some distance away from this spot before they do kick 'em accidentally." He pulled Hermione's arm and they all walked deeper in the secret passageways; it was easy to get confused with all the twists and turns.
Nevilled glanced around. "I-I think we're lost again, Dean…" he said nervously.
"Aw, give me a break! You've been saying that all night, Neville!" complained Dean, obviously annoyed by Neville's whining all evening. Hermione, however, stopped walking, leaned her back on the wall, sank down to the floor, and started to cry.
"H-Hermione - what's wrong?" said Dean, concerned. He and Neville crouched down beside her.
Between sobs, she told them about her encounter with Jack Chadron in Dumbledore's office, and what he had said about Harry and Ron. "I c-can't believe they're gone!" she concluded.
Both boys gave Hermione commiserating looks.
Dean patted Hermione's shoulder gently. "I can't either," he said seriously after thinking very hard. "We don't know for sure how or where they are. But the way I look at it, I think he was lying to you, Hermione - like, he was trying to weaken you back there into giving him what he wanted. I'm not telling you this just to make you feel better. Good thing you didn't break. That was really brave of you.
"They're still out there, I reckon, Harry and Ron. Knowing them, I think the Death Eaters are having a bad time catching them…" He looked down at Hermione again who was still sobbing, but lesser than what she did earlier. "They're okay, Hermione. Jack Chadron was probably lying. Don't let what he said get into you. Eh?"
"Y-yeah, I think you're right," she said, wiping tears from her face. "They still both need my help." She allowed herself to calm down a bit and began to be proactive again.
"Let me get this straight, Hermione," said Dean again. "Are you sure that was Jack Chadron you talked to in Dumbledore's office? The Head Boy?"
Hermione nodded, wiping her tears.
"Then that means he's a traitor," Dean said, frowning.
"It can't be," said Neville.
"What's been happening at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.
"Looks bad," replied Dean grimly. "I haven't seen any teachers since this afternoon. The students are all getting scared, rumors are getting around that we have been taken over by You-Know-Who. You know them, students. They're afraid to speak up. When Ministry Wizards began to round up some of us, Neville, Seamus, and I thought there was something really wrong and decided to hide - but Seamus was caught in a brief chase and we couldn't help him without being caught ourselves."
Neville breathed deeply.
"And how's Dumbledore and McGonagall, Dean?" asked Hermione next.
"They're still out, but no one can get in the Hospital wing. Flitwick, Vector, and Madam Pomfrey is said to have locked themselves in there to protect Dumbledore. Seen some Ministry Wizards pounding on the door. I find that weird, actually. I don't know about Snape - I hope he's dead."
"They're not from the Ministry of Magic. They're Death Eaters," said Hermione earnestly, and Neville went pale in the dark.
There was a slight pause as Dean tried to absorb that reality. "Then it figures. So, we then tried to send an owl to ask for help from outside, but the Owlery was being heavily guarded, too. What do we do now?"
"Let's just keep ourselves from being caught, Dean," replied Hermione. "Hiding in these passages while we think of a plan seems to be a good move. No, wait, I have to do something very important. I gotta find a way to get out of Hogwarts and go to the Ministry of Magic and tell them what's really going on here. I bet they're still oblivious about this. I have some stuff with me that'll convince them I'm telling the truth, and that this is all Chadron's handiwork."
"H-Hermione, please don't leave us," whimpered Neville.
Dean looked at Neville with mounting impatience. "I don't know how you're going to do that," he said, looking back at Hermione. "We thought of the same thing, too, going to the Ministry of Magic. The gates are all closed, we don't know how to apparate yet, we can't use floo powder in the fireplaces - and, and all broomsticks have been confiscated. Blimey, I think the Death Eaters have covered everything…"
"We're doomed!" Neville cried.
"Not if I can help it," said Hermione a matter-of-factly. "I have a way…"
"Good. We're coming with you!" Neville said, getting instantly excited. "I want to get out of here, too!"
Hermione thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, it would be great if we all go together. This is an emergency, so Harry probably won't mind if I'd show you one of our deepest secrets, but you'll just find out when we get there."
"Okay," Neville and Dean both said.
"Where's the next exit?" asked Hermione.
"Just follow that path over there," said Dean, pointing. "We'll get out of the east wing. And, Hermione, I hope you know what you're doing."
Luckily for them the east wing was the closest to the statue of the one-eyed witch - Hermione's idea of escape. Then she remembered something that disappointed her a great deal. Slithering through the hump of with statue was hard enough for her, and Neville was a little too chubby for a boy his height. He would never fit in the hole. She told Dean and Neville about this (she did not mention about the statue) and got the same reaction from both boys. They fell silent for a few moments thinking of other ways to escape.
Dean sighed, disappointment drawn on his face. "Bloody tough luck. Then I guess I can't leave Neville all alone here, right?" He looked at Neville edgily and shook his head slightly.
"No, don't worry about me…" Dean said quickly when Hermione opened her mouth to say something. "I've been in these passages longer than you think." He grinned. "I've even stashed some food and water around here to last us a few days until it's safe to get out."
"I guess I'll have to live with that…" said Neville gloomily. "I think I'll go nuts after spending a few hours too long here…"
"Oh, I'm really, really, sorry. Both of you," said Hermione, feeling much sadder this time.
"Can't do anything about it, though," Neville added to Dean's surprise. "Dean's right, and I'd kill him if he left me all here all by myself. Y-you go on without us, Hermione," he groaned. "I can't believe I just said that - "
"I think you have to go," Dean told Hermione. "You're in more danger than you think staying here at Hogwarts when you've got Jack Chadron really wants. Yeah, I'm sure they won't bother smoking me and Neville out of this hole - we're not worth it. We'll be okay. We'll tell one of the teachers the thing you told us about Jack Chadron - well, if we do see some teachers…"
"Okay, and I'll be back with help soon," said Hermione, still feeling very bad for Dean and Neville.
Dean smiled, gave her a thumbs-up sign and said, "Just prod the statue and it'll open! If you need to get back in, just remember to kick the shin. Go, take care, and good luck."
Then Hermione heard Neville say, "You'll be back soon, won't you?" when she started walking away.
She looked back at the two boys and said, "I will. I promise." She gave them a reassuring smile. "And, thanks for helping me out there, guys."
"You're welcome," the boys said in unison, smiling back at her.
Moments later, she found the end of the passage and prodded the back of the statue as Dean instructed. Light poured in from the corridor; she peered out of the hole and after making sure there was no one in sight, she got out. The statue of an old wizard that doubled as the cover slid back by itself, leaving no hint of a secret passage. Hermione took her bearings and remembered the statue of the one-eyed witch was close by around the next bend. She started walking towards it as quietly as she could.
Reaching it, she tapped the hump and muttered "Dissendium". It slid open and she climbed up to get inside the statue. She was right; Neville wouldn't have fit in and Harry's secret of slipping out of Hogwarts undetected would have been discovered if they were caught forcing Neville through the witch's hump. She heard some voices of grown men approaching as her body cleared the hole, and she quickly closed the hump before anyone would have noticed it was open. Hermione allowed herself to sit down for a moment on the tunnel's dry floor to breathe in and out. All the tension of evading the Death Eaters was eating her alive, she thought.
"Okay, just follow the tunnel, Hermione," she told herself. It was eight o'clock in the evening and she reckoned she would reach Hogsmeade in less than an hour. "After this, what?"
She now felt a new emotion: panic. She realized she was all to herself now and that she had never run away from anything before in her life, and she didn't know who to turn to. Would she tell the first person she sees? That was probably the most obvious thing to do at the moment, and so she started to walk along the tunnel leading to Honeydukes. Perhaps the witch that owned the place would be very helpful to her.
Harry would have never thought she would be running away from Hogwarts now, too, like he did yesterday. Funny how fast things change and seem to happen the least you expect them to.