CHAPTER NINE
“All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said
when you’re on the train home tomorrow, you’re so —”
But what they were, they didn’t find out. Hermione had turned
to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself
facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime
visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor Tower.
“Now what am I going to do?” she asked shrilly.
“That’s your problem,” said Ron. “We’ve got to go, we’re going
to be late.”
They hadn’t even reached the end of the corridor when
Hermione caught up with them.
“I’m coming with you,” she said.
“You are not.”
“D’you think I’m going to stand out here and wait for Filch to
catch me? If he finds all three of us I’ll tell him the truth, that I was
trying to stop you, and you can back me up.”
“You’ve got some nerve —” said Ron loudly.
“Shut up, both of you!” said Harry sharply. “I heard something.”
It was a sort of snuffling.
“Mrs. Norris?” breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.
It wasn’t Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the
floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.
“Thank goodness you found me! I’ve been out here for hours, I
couldn’t remember the new password to get in to bed.”
“Keep your voice down, Neville. The password’s ‘Pig snout’ but
it won’t help you now, the Fat Lady’s gone off somewhere.”
“How’s your arm?” said Harry.
“Fine,” said Neville, showing them. “Madam Pomfrey mended
it in about a minute.”
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