Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [126]
“Shut up, Potter. Just shut up,” he said. “Where’s Ginny? Did she leave like I told her to?”
“Oh, I’m sure she’s just… what? You… you still told her to leave, even after what your dad said?” stuttered Harry, amazed that Malfoy would betray his father.
“Of course I did!” spat Malfoy as he burst into the Great Hall. “I never betray friends, and I certainly never betray the ones I love!”
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho stood there, perplexed and amazed. They had never seen even a shred of good in Malfoy, and now they were seeing a whole new side of him that none of them had ever gotten so much of a glimpse of.
“What’s going on?” came a voice from behind them. “I heard a noise.” Harry turned around to see who it was, and was relieved to see that it was Ginny. Ron ran up to her.
“Oh Ginny!” he yelled. “You’re safe!” Fred and George suddenly came running out of the Great Hall, coughing.
“We heard some maniac yelling for Ginny,” said Fred, “and we were wondering where she is.”
“Do any of you know where…” started George, just seeing that Ginny was okay. They walked up to her.
“Are you okay?” they both said to her. She didn’t look okay, she looked quite annoyed and angry.
“Of course I am!” she blurted out, pushing them away. “I’m not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myself!” Just then, Malfoy appeared in the doorway, along with many other students who were getting out of their shock from the explosion.
“Ginny!” he yelled when he saw her. He ran up to her, and put his arms around her. “Thank god you’re alright.” Fred and George looked horrified, seeing Malfoy embrace Ginny like that. They tore him off of her.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” yelled George. Malfoy was looking scared, he may be a good fighter, but he couldn’t take on two at once.
“I… I… well…”
“It’s okay,” said Ginny, forcing her way between the twins. She held Malfoy’s hand, and they started waling down the hall together, talking back and forth to each other. As they were walking down, Fred and George’s jaws seemed to fall further to the floor, in disbelief of what had just happened.
“How can… Ginny? She… likes… him!” stuttered Fred.
“I think it’s nice,” said Cho, finally recovering from her shock. “Maybe that’s just what Malfoy needs to warm up his heart.” Harry smiled at her, he could count on Cho to always look on the bright side of things.
“Attention, all students report to the Great Hall,” boomed a voice in the hallway. This was the first time Harry had ever heard an announcement in school, but he was certainly going to follow it. They all walked back into the Great Hall, knowing what the announcement was going to be about.
The Great Hall retained no more of its former glory. All the icicles on the ceiling had fallen to the floor and shattered, the Christmas trees had all fallen over, and their ornaments were everywhere, in pieces. The fluffy multicolored snow that had adorned the floor was now a dark black all over. The tables that had looked so magnificent were now overturned and broken all over. The Weird Sister’s podium was destroyed, as were their instruments. The Weird Sisters themselves seemed to be okay, Harry saw them tending to themselves with their wands, shooting gauze over their wounds.
Over where the dance floor used to be, there was now a huddled mass of students, gathered around Madam Pomfrey. She was trying to heal them all as well as she could, as fast as she could, and it seemed to be working well, except she looked as though she may explode, the way her hair was all frizzled, and her face all red.
Now all the professors were in the Great Hall, each of them was still dressed in their cooking clothes, except for Dumbledore, who had taken them off. They were all trying to heal some students that were still on the floor, or in one of the many holes that lay blasted on every surface in the room.
“Attention,” yelled Dumbledore, his voice magically magnified, “we have just figured out the cause of this tragedy.”
“Harry was ready, he could feel the