Ron-Weasly book 2. part 6

"Harry, what's the matter with you?" I started, but Harry cut me off.

"That voice again! Be quiet for a minute..."

I listened carefully. It seems quiet. Only the water is dripping somewhere.

"Do you hear that?" Harry asked.

Hermione and I froze, not taking our eyes off him.

Harry looked up and stared at the dark ceiling.

"Hurry up!" Harry shouted and ran up the steps leading to the hall.

Harry rushed to the marble staircase and raced up to the second floor, Hermione and I keeping pace with him.

"Harry, what are you..." I began, panting from running.

Harry strained his ears. "It's going to kill someone!"

He shouted and, ignoring our confused faces, rushed up again. He took the stairs three at a time.

"Harry, what's the matter?" I asked, panting. "I don't hear anything."...

On the third floor, Harry raced down the hallway again, turning left and right. Hermione and I kept up, breathing heavily. No need to run and generally pump your muscles, you need to. But the robe is not very suitable for this. I need to write home, let my mother send Bili's old things. He also ran outside.

Hermione suddenly screamed: something was shining ahead. We hurried there, looking around. Words were written in huge letters on the wall between two windows, glistening in the torchlight with red paint:

"THE SECRET ROOM IS OPEN AGAIN. TREMBLE, ENEMIES OF THE HEIR!"

I took a closer look. There was something gray hanging against the wall. And what is this... What's that hanging under the sign? I asked with a trembling voice. They approached cautiously. Harry slipped — a large puddle of water had spilled onto the floor from somewhere. Hermione and I caught him before he could fall. We looked at the object hanging under the ominous words, which seemed like a gloomy shadow from a distance, and were stunned — it was Mrs. Norris, the school caretaker's cat, and we immediately recognized her. The three of us rushed back, splashing water from nowhere. The petrified cat was suspended by its tail from a torch bracket. His bulging eyes were wide open. We stared at her for a few seconds, not moving, not saying a word. Okay, we need to get out of here before anyone notices us. I was the first to find my voice.

"Let's get out of here," I said.

"But we must try to do something... to help her somehow...." Harry began lamely.

Damn, he's playing the hero again. If we get caught here, everyone will think that we were joking.

"We'd better get out of here right now. Maybe someone will see us here!"

I tried to reach his mind. But it was too late. A multitude of voices could be heard from afar, which meant that the banquet was over. The footsteps of dozens of feet were approaching us from one side of the corridor. The cheers of cheerful, well-fed girls and boys could be heard. A moment later, we were surrounded by a festive crowd. But as soon as the first people who came up saw the hanging cat, silence immediately reigned in the corridor. Harry, Hermione, and I found ourselves alone in the center of the circle — no one dared approach us, even though there were curious people pressing in from behind, everyone wanted to know what had happened here.

"Tremble, enemies of the heir!" Someone shouted loudly. "The cat comes first — the next ones will be those with unclean blood in their veins!"

It was Draco Malfoy. He pushed his way through the crowd, his always cold eyes came alive, a blush played on his pale face. Looking at the frozen cat, he smiled wryly.