Pansy Parkinson was not going to sit here and let all of this happen. Voldemort wanted Harry Potter. If that would stop this war from occurring at this school, then HE SHOULD HAVE HARRY POTTER. There was absolutely no question about it. Pansy didn't want to fight. Pansy didn't want her father, nor her brother, nor her friends to fight either. If people wanted to die to save Harry Potter, that was their call. But she was going to live a very long life, thank you very much.
With resolve, she stood on the Slytherin table. "But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab him!" she pointed at Harry with a shaking arm, shrieking at the top of her lungs.
Everyone moved at once. The Gryffindors had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, and wands emerged everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from under sleeves.
Pansy was shocked and went visibly pale, still shaking. But this time, she was shaking far worse than before. She slowly lowered her accusatory hand, and looked over at the rest of the Slytherins. Some weren't even looking at her. None of them stood with her. None. Not even Daphne or Astoria.
"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You may leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."
The grinding of benches was heard as Slytherins trooped out on the other side of the Hall. Pansy quickly got up to leave alongside them, doing her best to not flinch at overwhelming amount of wands threateningly pointed at her. She was the first to leave the Great Hall, and she was the first to cover her face in tears once she was out of sight. It was uncharacteristic of her to cry in public, but pride? Well, when you have 3/4 of the student body about to kill you, pride leaves a person for a bit.
12:45AM
Colin Creevey & Neville Longbottom
It wasn’t that Colin didn’t appreciate the seriousness of the situation. From the moment the giant spider started skittering in his direction with its pedipalps waggling (Professor Grubbly-Plank would be proud of him for remembering the word), he knew he was in trouble. Still, he couldn’t help wishing Dennis could have seen the thing. Or barring that, that he’d had his camera with him.
Neville had groaned the moment the acromantulas entered the fight, though he couldn’t help but wonder how Ron was reacting to the situation. He was darting across the field as he spotted a smaller figure about to take on a huge spider and changed his trajectory. As he got closer, he recognized Colin almost immediately. He tossed a stunner at the spider, siding up to Colin, “You going to take this thing on by yourself, mate?”
Colin started to turn as the spell flew past him, then thought better of it and kept his eyes on the spider. The creature had paused, then begun to advance once again. Nothing that big should be able to move like that. It was the size of Dad’s milk truck. “Impedimenta! I won’t turn down help,” he said breathlessly, his usual grin slightly dampened, but still present. Ten months on the run hadn’t changed him that much. “Flip for who gets the head on their mantle.”
Neville couldn’t help but chuckle. A year on the run really hadn’t dampened Colin’s spirits much at all, which he was glad to know. Dean seemed to be doing rather well too, all things considered. Gryffindors were definitely survivors. “Confundo!” Neville managed to slow down the acromantula a slight bit more, as it wobbled around trying to break out of the confundus charm. “All yours. I don’t think Gran or Hannah would appreciate a big spider head staring at them when they walk by.”
“Mum might not care for it, either. Maybe in the common room?” It was just a big spider. What did they do with spiders at home? Squash them or flush them, usually. This was a bit too big to step on, though. “Aquamenti! He’d seen that one used earlier. “Hannah? Hannah Abbott? Although, I can’t think of any other Hannah’s off the top of my head.” Colin was about to make a comment about how busy Gryffindor had been while he was gone. There hadn’t been time to catch up - or even to speak to - some of his friends, but he’d noticed the pairing off. Unfortunately, lack of practice meant the spell he’d attempted was too weak. The spray of water wasn’t sufficient to wash the beast away as he’d intended. It was enough, however, to cut through the spider’s disorientation.
With impeccable timing a stray curse sliced across his right thigh. The acromantula made a sudden beeline for Colin. Sharks could smell blood, couldn’t they? Perhaps spiders could, too. Colin tried to cover the wound with his left hand while spell casting with his right. “Ricktispectis!”
The acromantula had eight eyes to be affected by the curse. It writhed in pain. Unfortunately, one of its flailing legs reached Colin, and it grabbed him. The fangs emerging were probably a sight very few ever got to see. He was glad after all that Dennis wasn’t here. He wouldn’t have minded his dad, though.
Neville’s smile fell when the acromantula turned straight on Colin. He had been about to make a joke about Hannah and how he’d actually gotten a girl to notice him this year, but it fell into the air when the spider grabbed him. “Bloody hell- No. No.” Neville made a violent slash in the air with his wand and the spider twittered in pain, faltering even more in his attacks. But Colin was already under those venomous fangs, and there wasn’t much that Neville could think to do to get him out.