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vanished the snake into thin air, there was an ominous silence which was only broken by Hermione pulling Harry off of the stage and leading him out of the Great Hall. Each and every set of eyes followed the pair of them, and Ron (who hurried after them like a puppy dog) until they too left the hall.

Saffron couldn't believe how much had gone wrong in such a short space of time. It was truly terrifying. Terrifying that she now was on track to completely believe the theory that her friend, Harry, was the Heir of Slytherin. That Harry was somehow was being made to do these awful things to people and create such a clear sense of fear within the school.

There was no doubt that almost everybody would believe that he was Slytherins heir now. Hermione had done research on Salazar Slytherin and although she hadn't been able to find enough information to link Harry as a descendant, she did find out about parslemouths. That Salazar Slytherin had spoken the language and that it was very possible that his descendants did too. Harry having the ability to speak it was only further evidence to support the theory.

Even though she knew in her heart that Harry would never intentionally hurt anyone, Saffron knew from now on that she would struggle to trust him. If he was possessed or controlled by You Know Who, then how could she? For so long she had thought about that being the case, but had talked herself out of it. But now it seemed like it could be true, even if it was only for a few seconds.

She wanted to join her friends to see what Harry was doing or feeling like, but again, she couldn't leave Luna. Additionally, she wanted to see how Olly and the first year Emilia was doing. Therefore, she suggested to Luna that they leave in order to check up on them. The Ravenclaw readily agreed.

Saffron was relieved that Luna didn't feel the need to question her about what had gone down with Harry. She merely hummed to herself through the hallways on route to the hospital wing, playing with the stems of the homemade necklace around her neck. That meant that Saffron was left alone with her thoughts for a few minutes, which was a therapeutic, as her thoughts were overwhelming her and she didn't think she could focus on much else.

When they reached the hospital wing, Saffron managed to rid herself of those thoughts. She knocked on the large doors to the wing and waited for the door to be opened. Luna stopped humming and Saffron stopped thinking just as the door opened.

Madam Pomfrey opened it and she didn't seem surprised to see them, but not for the reasons that Saffron or Luna would have suspected.

"Ah, Miss Mitchell, Miss Lovegood," she began pleasantly. "I suspect something went wrong at that Duelling Club that imbecil --- that Professor Lockhart set up, and you two have fallen victim to it, I've been waiting for my wing to full up because of it,"

Saffron furrowed her eyebrow at the matron confusedly. "We're looking for Olly Jowett and a girl called Emilia, have they not come here?"

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "No, nobody's came here all night," She frowned. "Are you sure they weren't going to go back to their common room?"

"No, they definitely said they were coming here," said Saffron with certainty, suddenly feeling rather anxious. Her mind had already gone to the worst of places. She hoped that Madam Pomfrey was playing some sort of cruel joke on them but that didn't appear to be the case.

"Just one second," Madam Pomfrey said to them before sticking her head back inside the door and saying loudly: "Amanda!"

Saffron knew that Amanda was working in the school full time now but seeing the woman walk out in her nurses uniform felt rather trippy. She hadn't known her for that long, but it felt like she had. She had been such a source of emotional support for her and her siblings, even if it had come very late for their liking. So she felt confident that Amanda could help them locate them.

"These two are looking for their friends," Madam Pomfrey informed Amanda. "They were apparently coming in this direction but they never arrived, if you could be so good as to help them locate them? I'll spread the word,"

"Of course, Madam Pomfrey," Amanda nodded at her importantly, adjusting her uniform and stepping out of the wing, offering Saffron and Luna a smile each.

"What have I told you about calling me that," Madam Pomfrey chided her jokingly, making Amanda chuckle slightly.

"I'll see you later," Amanda bid the woman a goodbye before turning to Saffron and Luna. "So, who are we looking for and where could they be?"

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They were an odd trio to be walking down the hall. Amanda in her matrons uniform, stood next to the daughter of her dead best friend, who stood next to a friend of a friend. All in the search for Olly, who they all knew, and Emilia, who Luna knew since they shared a dormitory together. But Saffron got the impression that Luna and Emilia didn't operate in the same social circles. At the very least, Luna didn't make a comment about disliking her as she had done about Hermione, so that was something.

Saffron felt on edge the entire time as they roamed through the halls. She felt convinced that if they were to find Olly or Emilia, they would be in a state similar to that of Colin, or worse. What worried her more was that Amanda wouldn't offer her opinion as to what she thought had happened to them. All she said was that she was surprised that they hadn't come to the hospital wing, as getting head injuries as a result of magic wasn't something that would make you go to sleep. Your head would be ringing in pain and you would look for a solution desperately. That solution being the hospital wing and medicine. But neither Olly nor Emilia had done that. That led Saffron to the conclusion that something fatal had occurred.

"The heads of house should be on their way to their dormitories," said Amanda, as they reached the spare classroom across the way from the girl's bathroom the Hermione had been attacked by a troll in last year. "It's very possible that they made their way back there,"

"But you don't think so," Saffron finished for her, yearning for information.

"I don't know what to think," Amanda told her with honesty. "We just have to keep looking, head injuries are tricky if you don't treat them right away. The longer you leave them, the worse they get,"

"Emilia looked like she was ready to fall over," Saffron informed Amanda, as she and Luna followed the nurse quickly into the classroom, in order to see if they had ended up in there. "Maybe she fell and Olly fell too because of it. He didn't seem that bad, you see, he did fall, but he was laughing when he left the hall and walking properly . . . "

Her voice drifted off as they walked across to the next room to check which were the bathrooms.

"You did the right thing in coming to the hospital wing," Amanda told Saffron soothingly. She then spoke to Luna too who had remained dead silent throughout the entirety of the proceedings. "Both of you, now we have people looking for them, they're bound to show up in no time,"

None of the three of them expected no time to happen when they walked into the girl's bathrooms.

Saffron and Luna followed Amanda into the girl's bathrooms, but more slowly this time down a small hallway of sort that led to the toilets and sinks. The slowness was a sign to Saffron that something was off, she just didn't truly believe deep down that it would have gone so wrong. It was eerily dark. All she could see was the dirty blond hair that belonged to Luna in front of her. Saffron breathed heavily and couldn't wait until they reached the bathroom, because she wanted to get out of the bathroom as quickly as possible. Something felt off.

But when Amanda stepped out into the main bathroom, Saffron let out a gasp at the sight of Professor Snape, still wearing the black robes he had worn at the Duelling Club, crouched down amidst the darkness. He looked up at the new arrivals in the bathroom, solemnly, which was a rare look for Snape.

"Sever---Professor Snape?"

"Miss Endacott," Snape nodded at her. Saffron narrowed her eyes. She knew that Snape and Amanda knew each other. She knew they were in the same year in school. The number of times she had looked at the picture of her mothers year group, she could probably recite everybody in the year. But what was he doing in the girl's bathroom? thought Saffron . . . unless---

"Are they---?" began Amanda, but Snape cut her off.

"No," he stated for saying with simplicity. "Just petrified,"

Amanda lit her wand and pointed it to a corner just right of Snape, where the sinks and mirrors were situated. But they weren't the only things situated there.

The frozen cold bodies of Olly Jowett and Emilia Kallantar triggered a scream from Saffron.