There was nothing better than a Quidditch match to lighten up the mood of the students at Hogwarts. Although, it's been months since the last attack so the tension in the castle was significantly less than when this whole petrification thing started. The match today was between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

Gaia sat in between Roger and Kaleb as they all chattered excitedly about the upcoming game. Michael and Hailey sat a row up behind them, while Lucas and Joanne sat the row up next. Gaia was gripping the railings, leaning towards it in excitement.

"Bet you that Hufflepuff wins," Kaleb challenged. Roger grinned at him before crossing his arms and scoffing playfully.

"What, just because Langley's on the team you think they'll win? Gryffindor's got this in the bag," Roger argued.

"Pei is an excellent player, thank you very much," Kaleb said.

Perileigh Langley was a 4th year Hufflepuff student that Kaleb had been talking about for the past few months. The Ravenclaw team had taken it upon themselves to tease the boys endlessly about her.

"They have Diggory, too," Gaia added.

"And? Doesn't make any difference. Gryffindor's got Potter. Plus, their chasers are really good. Wood's practically impossible to get past," Roger said as he shook his head, "Don't even get me started on those Weasley twins. The blokes are brutal." he continued, wiggling his eyebrows at Gaia.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gaia asked, raising an eyebrow in question, "We've beat Gryffindor before."

"Yeah, but that's us," Roger answered as he winked. Gaia let out a laugh and shook her head at his answer.

Then, the two teams walked out into the field and the cheers significantly got louder. Oliver mounted his broom and soared up into the air, seeming to be doing last-minute-laps before the game. The Hufflepuff team was huddled together, while the other Gryffindor players started zooming up into the sky. Suddenly, Professor McGonagall marched through the Quidditch pitch speedily, holding a big megaphone in her hand.

"This match has been cancelled!" she called out through the megaphone, causing an immediate uproar from everyone in the stadium.

"What!? Rubbish!" Michael shouted as he stood up, Hailey booing beside him.

Oliver landed on the ground and ran to Professor McGonagall before speaking hastily to the witch.

"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!" she continued before putting down the megaphone.

"That's just a shame. I was looking forward to the game," Gaia huffed as they made their way down the stands.

"Who wasn't?" Hailey grumbled as she walked just behind Gaia.

"Wonder why they cancelled," Joanne hummed in thought from beside Hailey.

There was a blanket of silence over the team as they made their way to the Ravenclaw tower, and up those bloody stairs – which take forever to climb, Gaia thought. When they reached about halfway up the stairwell, Kaleb broke the silence among them.

"What if it was another attack?" Kaleb muttered.

They all glanced at each other with matching frowns on their faces.

"Let's just hope that it wasn't," Hailey answered, but the look on her face told Gaia that she was worried as well.

Penelope Clearwater. She was apparently petrified in the library. Hermione was petrified as well, beside Penelope. No one really knows what happened, of course; just like all the other attacks that had happened before. What Gaia did know was that Hermione was found with a mirror in her hand, but it seemed irrelevant to her.

The next day, it was undeniable that the tension had returned to Hogwarts regarding the attacks. People were whispering here and there about who the culprit really was. Everyone was on high alert all the time, as if something would jump them when they turned the corner. Of course, it wasn't entirely impossible given the fact that not even the professors knew why all of this was happening.

As if the situation wasn't already bad enough, Professor Dumbledore had been removed from his position as headmaster last night. Of course, Professor McGonagall was an excellent headmistress in place of Dumbledore, but it still felt different to Gaia knowing that Dumbledore wasn't there anymore; it almost felt threatening.

The hospital wing wasn't welcoming visitors anymore. According to Madam Pomfrey, they were just being precautious by not letting any other students in because the heir might come for them to finish the job.

"I don't think I've ever felt Hogwarts be this tense," Malia commented from beside Gaia as they sat in the library.

"Shouldn't we be avoiding the library?" Gaia asked as her eyes darted around.

"Wow. Never thought I'd hear that from a Ravenclaw," Ryker snorted half-heartedly. He was still devastated about Aisha, and even more so because he couldn't visit her anymore.

"The last attack was here, Lion," Gaia hissed through her teeth.

"We'll be fine. None of us are muggle-born, and I'm a pure-blood Slytherin. I don't think the heir would go after us with me here," Malia said as she patted the top of Gaia's head.

Gaia swatted her hand away with a grumble. She was right, of course. The chances of an attack happening while there was a pure-blood in the vicinity was low, but it did nothing to calm Gaia's nerves.

"Wouldn't hurt to be a little careful," Gaia muttered.

"We'll be fine, Birdie. We'll look after you," Ryker teased, although Gaia could tell that he really meant it.

"I know you will. I'll look after you two as well," Gaia said with a small smile.

"A student's been taken into the chamber."

"Have you heard?"

"It's unbelievable! What would the heir want with a pureblood?"

"They are blood traitors after all."

Whispers in the corridors had become a common thing the past few weeks. But usually the whispers were about who the heir could be. Today, it was different. When Gaia entered the Ravenclaw common room, she could feel that there was something wrong.

"What's going on? What's everyone talking about?" Gaia asked Jewel as she sat down beside her.

The blonde girl was staring blankly in front of her, turning her head to the side slightly which made Gaia notice how pale she looked, a terrified expression on her face.

"They're saying that a student was taken into the chamber. A pure0blood at that," she mumbled.

"What? Who?" Gaia asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"Ginny Weasley. That's what their saying," Kaleb said as he approached the two girls.

Gaia felt her breathing change pattern as her brain worked to process what Kaleb just told her. Gaia stood up before even thinking of doing it and immediately ran for the knocker. The knocker opened in front of her, revealing Professor Flitwick who looked surprised at her running figure. She ran past him and ignored the professor's calls for her to come back, that it was dangerous.

I'm in any danger, Gaia thought, I'm not a muggle-born. Then again, Ginny wasn't either. In fact, her blood status had been higher than Gaia's and yet, she was the one who was taken into the chamber. But her own blood status was the least of her worries at the moment. The only thing running through her mind were her own words during Christmas, the ones she had told Fred.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's got 4 older brothers in Hogwarts at the same time as her to protect her" - was what Gaia had told him then.

"Miss Eruditus! What do you think you're doing out here?" Professor Vector called as she grabbed Gaia's arm, stopping her before she could go up the Grand Staircase.

"I need to get to the Gryffindor common room, professor. Please," Gaia pleaded, but shook off her hold and ran up the staircase before the professor could even react to her plea.

"Eruditus! It is not safe to be wandering around at this time!" Professor Vector called as her own footsteps sounded behind Gaia.

She ran up to the Gryffindor common room and was stopped once again, this time by the Gryffindor head of house.

"Miss Eruditus? What on earth are you doing here? You are awa-" Professor McGonagall started with a frown on her face.

"Please, professor! You have to let me in the common room! Please!" Gaia begged.

"Eruditus! Sorry, professor. I couldn't stop her at the bottom of the stairwell. I'll take her back to her common room now," Professor Vector said as she placed a hand on the Ravenclaw's shoulder.

"Professor, please! Just let me be with Fred and George, please! Please!" Gaia continued to beg. Her hair was slowly turning into a white gray as Professor McGonagall stared at her silently.

"Eruditus," Professor Vector commanded, lightly tugging on her shoulder.

When Professor McGonagall remained silent, Gaia's body slumped, and she turned to Professor Vector as tears burned in her eyes.

"Let me take her. You can go, professor," Professor McGonagall said from behind Gaia.

Gaia whipped around with wide eyes and saw that Professor McGonagall was pressing her lips in a thin line.

Professor Vector let go of her after a moment and walked back to where she had first bumped into the student. Professor McGonagall turned around and stared at the portrait ahead of her.

"Don't get me wrong, Miss Eruditus. I admire your dedication and loyalty to the boys but what you did was very irresponsible. Imagine how those two would feel if not only their sister was taken into the chamber, but also their best friend. Imagine how Harry would feel," McGonagall scolded.

"Sorry professor," Gaia muttered, looking down at her joined hands, "I wasn't really thinking."

And it was true. Now that she was more composed, Gaia realized how utterly stupid she was. How was she planning to get into the Gryffindor common room anyways if she hadn't bumped into Professor McGonagall?

"Clearly. That'll be 50 points from Ravenclaw. Now cover your ears," McGonagall responded.

Gaia covered her ears with the palms of her hands tightly and the painting opened in front of her eyes. McGonagall let her walk into the common room before the painting swung shut once again.

Gaia's eyes scanned the common room, zeroing in on Harry staring into nothing. She decided against approaching the boy for now and headed up to the dormitories when she didn't see neither Fred nor George anywhere.

Sure enough, she found the twins in their dormitory, sat side-by-side at the edge of a bed and leaning slightly on each other as they stared blankly.

Gaia closed the door slowly and walked towards them, stopping when she was in front of them. As if rehearsed, their heads turned up slowly to look at her.

"Oh Freddie, Georgie," Gaia whispered before bending down and wrapping her arms around the two as much as she could.

There was a beat of silence before Gaia heard a sob from her left, followed by a sob from her right. George was always the one who gave into emotions first.

✧✧✧

Edited 09/06/2020