"It must be because Snape put too much pressure on you during Potions class just now, Harry, making you all jumpy. There's nothing here at all."
They picked up the piece of straw and searched the empty classroom, but found nothing. Ron shrugged and said,
Harry still felt that he hadn't imagined it. There had definitely been something strange watching him through the classroom window just now, but the fact remained that there was nothing here.
In the end, they left the classroom, and Harry tossed the straw into a rubbish bin.
"Stop discussing the Triwizard Tournament with Seamus and the others. You must finish your Defence Against the Dark Arts homework today. I definitely won't let you copy mine again."
"Hermione, you say that every time."
"I'm serious this time! Also, have you introduced our S.P.E.W. to anyone else? We need more people to join us."
"I'm not in the mood to tell people I've joined an organisation called 'spew'."
"I've been thinking about writing to Sirius lately. I don't have time to think about this right now."
"You're always like this! Fine, if there's nothing else, I'll go and find Professor Cavendish. He'll definitely support me."
"Oh, yes, that's a brilliant idea, Hermione. Then the Professor will say, 'Hermione, I believe your noble cause of liberating House-elves will surely succeed!' And then you can give up on this ideal of yours."
The three chatted as they walked away.
Just after they had left, an arm made of withered branches slowly reached out from the shadows of the empty classroom. A tattered kerosene lamp swayed gently in its grasp.
Then, a faint orange light flickered to life inside the lamp.
...
That night, Harry had a nightmare.
He dreamed that Voldemort had captured him. The Dark Wizard laughed, pointed his wand at him and cast the Killing Curse.
The curse struck him, but he did not die. Lily had once again sacrificed herself for him, and in the end, he could only watch as she gave him one last look filled with endless longing before finally fading away.
Harry bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath.
Staring at the night sky outside the window, he waited until his emotions had completely settled before checking the time.
Three o'clock in the morning. There was still some time before dawn, but Harry couldn't fall asleep again. He sat on his bed, not daring to summon Lily.
Just as he was sitting there in a daze, he suddenly heard movement from Ron's bed.
"Ron?"
Harry called out softly. Ron pulled back his bed curtains, panting.
"I had a nightmare!" He lowered his voice, but his fear and tension were clearly audible. "I dreamed that our whole family died. Mum and Dad, Bill, Charlie... they were all killed!"
Harry frowned.
"This isn't right."
Ron looked at him in surprise.
"You had the same nightmare too?"
Harry couldn't reveal anything about Lily, so he merely nodded vaguely and said,
"I was woken up by a nightmare as well."
In the dormitory, Seamus seemed to have been disturbed by their conversation. He smacked his lips and turned over, while Neville continued snoring steadily, clearly enjoying a very peaceful night's sleep.
Ron climbed out of bed, drank a glass of cold water and soon calmed down.
"It's probably just a coincidence. We just happened to have nightmares on the same night," he said, pretending to be unconcerned.
Harry, however, felt that things weren't so simple. Even now, he couldn't forget the sensation of being watched that he had experienced in the empty classroom that afternoon.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that it hadn't been his imagination. Something really had been watching them in that classroom.
However, he didn't say anything more to Ron. He could tell that Ron was already rather frightened and didn't want to discuss anything that might make matters worse.
Neither of them felt sleepy for the time being, so they sat together and chatted quietly, discussing the Triwizard Tournament until dawn.
Fortunately, it was the weekend. Otherwise, given how exhausted they looked, they would probably have lost quite a few points in their Professors' classes.
After arriving in the Common Room, Harry and Ron sat in front of the fireplace, waiting for Hermione to come downstairs so they could go to breakfast together.
Before long, Hermione emerged from the girls' dormitory. She also had dark circles under her eyes and looked as though she hadn't slept well.
Harry and Ron were stunned. They exchanged a glance before asking Hermione in unison,
"Did you have a nightmare last night too?"
Hermione looked utterly miserable. She sank into an armchair and said,
"I dreamed that some Dark Wizards had found my home. Just like those Wizards who caused trouble at the Quidditch World Cup, they hung Mum and Dad in the air. They took my wand away, and all I could do was scream and watch them fall to the ground and die. I couldn't do anything to help them."
Harry and Ron exchanged another glance. This time, their expressions became increasingly incredulous.
Hermione finally noticed that something was wrong and looked up at them.
"You said 'too'?"
Harry's expression grew serious.
"Ron and I were also woken up by nightmares in the middle of the night. We initially thought it was just a coincidence."
Hermione was better at judging the situation rationally.
"This can't be a coincidence! The probability of three people who know one another having nightmares on the same night is far too low. Besides, none of us experienced anything frightening during the day."
Harry thought of something and said thoughtfully,
"I think it still has something to do with that classroom. I kept feeling as though someone was watching us at the time."
Ron couldn't help shivering.
"But there was clearly nobody inside when we went in."
They hadn't slept well the entire night, and now they were famished. As they got up and headed towards the Great Hall, they continued discussing the matter.
"Perhaps there's some kind of strange ghost there. I've read in some books on magic that certain evil spirits can feed on the vitality of living people, causing them to have nightmares at night."
Hermione spoke solemnly.
Harry looked at the two of them and asked tentatively,
"How about we go back to that classroom and investigate after breakfast?"
Hermione readily agreed. Although Ron looked rather frightened, he eventually agreed to go with them as well.
After breakfast, the three of them made their way to the empty classroom on the castle's underground floor.
It looked no different from the previous day. Since it was underground, no sunlight could reach inside, and there were no lights. They could only rely on the faint illumination filtering in from the corridor, which kept the classroom from being plunged into complete darkness.