After wandering through Hogsmeade for an hour, Sophie turned a corner and found herself plunged into darkness. The smell of rotting garbage filled her nostrils and she grimaced in disdain. "This place is nasty," she whispered to herself. "The shopkeepers should really try harder to keep their alley back here clean!"
The disgusting pigsty effect soon became the least of Sophie's worries, however, as a strange rattling sounded from one of the overflowing dumpsters. "What the..." The nervous first year crept forward, eyes locked intently on the offending dumpster. Something suddenly leapt out of the mounds of garbage, emitting a high-pitched squeal that rung painfully in her ears.
Sophie backed away slowly, trying to convince herself that the small shape hadn't been anything to be frightened of. "Just a little rat, maybe," she murmured under her breath. "Or a trapped bird." The quiet reassurances she attempted to use to console her herself did little to assuage the panic rising in her throat, though. The shadows from the buildings seemed to get longer and more substantial, the air growing colder and unnaturally still.
A tiny shriek almost escaped her lips, but she simply shuddered instead. "Girl," she told herself, "This is nothing. You're a Gryffindor, for heaven's sake! Now so cowering in the corner and act like one!" Despite her motivational self talk, the inescapable feeling of terror continued to grow faster and faster. She had to get out of here, and soon. |