e is, we never know exactly where we’re going to end up
when we go out. Be careful, Harry,
MBT Rafiki GTX, they’re always patrolling the corridors at night.”
“No problem,” said Harry. “See you in a bit.”
He and Luna hurried up the staircase, which was long, lit by torches, and turned
corners in unexpected places. At last they reached what appeared to be solid wall.
“Get under here,” Harry told Luna,
puma running, pulling out the Invisibility Cloak and throwing
it over both of them. He gave the wall a little push.
It melted away at his touch and they slipped outside. Harry glanced back and saw
that it had resealed itself at once. They were standing in a dark corridor. Harry pulled
Luna back into the shadows, fumbled in the pouch around his neck, and took out the
Marauder’s Map. Holding it close to his nose he searched, and located his and Luna’s
dots at last.
“We’re up on the fifth floor,” he whispered, watching filch moving away from
them, a corridor ahead. “Come on, this way.”
They crept off.
Harry had prowled the castle at night many times before, but never had his heart
hammered that fast, never had so much depended on his safe passage through the place.
Through squares of moonlight upon the floor, past suits of armor whose helmets creaked
at the sound of their soft footsteps, around corners beyond which who knew what lurked.
Harry and Luna walked, checking the Marauder’s Map whenever light permitted, twice
pausing to allow a ghost to pass without drawing attention to themselves. He expected to
encounter an obstacle at any moment; his worst fear was Peeves,
MBT Sawa Sandals, and he strained his ears
with every step to hear the first, telltale signs of the poltergeist’s approach.
“The way, Harry,” breathed Luna, plucking his sleeve and pulling him toward a
spiral staircase.
They climbed in tight, dizzying circles; Harry had never been up here before. At
last t