The Reticulation

"Really?" Hermione asked in amazement. "You just killed him that easily?" Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting together at a table in the Gryffindor common room discussing what had happened.

"Well, he was out of Horcruxes, remember?" Harry replied. "I still can't believe I actually killed him though. I mean, it still hasn't even really hit me that he's totally gone now."

"Well, I think you'd better get some rest before tomorrow morning," Ron teased. "When the Daily Prophet finds out about this, you'll be a hero!"

"I'm already a hero," Harry said irritably.

"Well, now you'll probably be even bigger than Dumbledore!" Ron said cheerful.

"Oh, joy," Harry said sarcastically.

The next morning, when Harry awoke, he had to remind himself why he was so happy--Voldemort was gone--finally. As he sat on his bed, grinning, he decided to talk to Ginny about them getting back together again. However, he found a strange problem in that, where there had previously been the door to his dormitory, there was now only a solid wall. He had never seen anything like this happen before and, after awaking Ron, found the youngest male Weasley hadn't either.

"What'll we do now?" Ron asked. "How're we supposed to get downstairs for breakfast. And you--you'll probably be late for your next press conference."

"Shut up!" Harry said angrily. "We've got to find a way out of here." He turned to the open window and got any idea. "Hedwig," he said simply.

"Where d'you suppose Harry and Ron are?" Hermione asked contemptuously at breakfast.

"They're probably doing something very important," Luna Lovegood replied dreamily. Hermione scowled--she had been asking the question of Ginny.

"I think you should just give him a break," Ginny said. "He's just defeated Voldemort, after all. What more could you ask of someone?"

"I know, but it's just so inconsiderate," Hermione said sharply. Ginny rolled her eyes and Luna continued staring absent-mindedly into the wall.

"Your attention please," said Professor McGonagall, "I have an announcement to make. As I'm sure rumors have informed you already, You-Know-Who has, at long last, been defeated by Harry Potter." Everyone except a few Slytherins, Hermione and Luna Lovegood cheered loudly upon hearing this. McGonagall usually didn't approve of the students making so much noise, but now she didn't seem to mind at all.

"On a more disquieting note," she continued, "The Ministry will be sending Dolores Umbridge here to--" McGonagall suddenly found her voice drowned out by a cacophony of loud boos and hisses.

Meanwhile, Luna Lovegood was looking vaguely up at the ceiling, daydreaming about various kinds of cabbage, when she noticed Hedwig was swooping down into the Great Hall.

"Look!" she shouted, somehow making herself heard or perhaps that was just because other students had now spotted the snowy owl. Hedwig had a note strapped to her leg, which Ginny quickly grabbed and read aloud.

"'Hermione, this is Harry,'" she read. "'Me, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean are trapped. For some reason, our dormitory has sealed us off from the rest of the castle.'" Ginny put the letter down, with a grim look on her face. No one said anything for a couple moments...

"He shouldn't have said 'me, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean,'" Hermions said eventually. "The proper way is 'Ron, Neville, Seamus, Dean and I.'"