Gryffindor Common Room

Gryffindor Tower is located behind the portrait of the Fat Lady on the Seventh Floor of Hogwarts Castle. A password is required to enter it, which is spoken to the portrait. A circular hole is behind the painting, leading to the common room, which is a circular room where Gryffindor students can relax after a long day of studying. The common room is full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. can be posted. A window looks out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominates one wall.

The common room is usually where celebration parties are held after Gryffindor Quidditch victories, or when Harry Potter completed a task for the Triwizard Tournament. It was also the location for Harry and Ginny Weasley's first kiss following Gryffindor's Quidditch Cup victory in 1997. The common room fireplace was used on several occasions by Sirius Black to contact Harry while he was on the run from the Ministry of Magic.

The Gryffindor dormitories are also located in the Tower, with two doors leading off from the common room that open to spiral staircases. One of them leads to the girls dormitory, the other to the boys. The stairs to the girls dormitories are enchanted to become a slide if any boy attempts to climb them, but not vice versa, since it was deemed that girls were more trustworthy than boys, and Hermione went into the boy's room once.

Ginny: I sat in the common room, pretending to study. The death eater who had been assigned to our common room was sitting in the corner, dozing off a bit. I set down my book for a moment and noticed something in the fire. A face..... it was Lupin! I jumped up as quietly as I could and walked over trying not to look suspicious. "Hello?" I whispered.

Lupin: "Can you talk without being overheard?" I whispered back.

Ginny: I checked over my shoulder, to see the still sleeping form of the death eater, then turned back and whispered. "For a couple minutes, probably," I nodded.

Lupin: "I have three questions, and three questions alone. I shall give them to you in succession, so listen carefully. First, what is happening? Second, is Harry there? Third, is there a charm on the school protecting it from witches and wizards apparating and disapparating in and out of it?"

Ginny: I took deep breath, listening as he spoke. "Alright. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, they won't tell us, but from what I've heard, You-Know-Who is here, searching for Harry. I don't know where Harry is, but I think Hermione does, trouble is I haven't seen her in hours, and I don't think there is, there are more death eaters here than there were this morning, or last night," I explained quickly, and quietly looking over my shoulder again, to make sure it was safe.

Lupin: I sighed, "This is very bad. I need you to gather the DA. Take them to a room that is just off the Restricted Section in the Library. I believe Harry has told you about his encounters with the Mirror of Erised. If he hasn't, Neville will know about it. I am going to tell you a charm that is extremely advanced magic. It makes the conjurer invisible. I only learned how to do it myself when I was graduated from Hogwarts for many a year." I told her the name of the spell and had her repeat it a few times, "I have found that people are able to produce the correct spell when their lives depend on it. If you aren't able to perform the spell, I will come find you, or Tonks will. But if you can, that will save us time. And time is what we need. Hurry and go."

Ginny: "Most of them are already gathered, but there's a problem, and a big one too." I sighed. "We all have death eaters in our common rooms, luckily the one in here is asleep for the moment, and the school is under heady guard." I shook my head. "I don't think we'd get far if we tried,"

Lupin: "That is what I feared. Go up to your room and clear it of all people. We will apparate there."

Ginny: "Okay, give me three minutes," I nodded, standing up and quickly gathering my books before heading up to the 6th year dormitories, and clearing out all the girls, telling them not to ask questions, or I'd hex them. I stood by the door and waited, keeping an eye opened the whole time.

Lupin: I pulled my head out of the fire and explained everything to the others. We waited five minutes, just in case, before we apparated.

Ginny: I had started to wonder if something had happened, and they weren't coming, then I heard the distinct popping sound that came when someone apparated. Luckily, I had thought of that and put a muffling charm on the door. I looked at the group in front of me, with a large portion being dominated by other members of my family, and smiled grimly. "What now?" I asked.

Lupin: "Now, we move out. Locate all of the Death Eaters, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and Harry." I cast the invisibility charm on myself, and the others followed suit.

Ginny: I nodded, watching as all of them became invisible. "What about me?" I asked. "I can help too," I pointed out.

Tonks: I made myself invisible, and stood with my wand ready.

Lupin: "When we go out of the common room, you will come with us. I will make you invisible, but your job is to rally the DA," I said before I made her invisible. "Remember not to run into anything!"

Ginny: I nodded and opened the door, then I started down the stairs, wondering how the other members of the DA would respond to me being completely invisible.

Tonks: "My question is, how are we not going to run into each other,"

Lupin: "If you bump into someone else who is invisible, you just don't say anything or make any noise. If you want we can hold hands Tonks," I said with a dark humor.

Tonks: I rolled my eyes, not as if anyone could see that, but still. "I'm just worried that I'm going to trip, as I so often tend to do, and give us all away," I explained, walking towards the door. "And since when have you started calling me Tonks again?"

Lupin: "Since I need to be able to give instructions quickly today, and it is much easier to call you that." I explained in a whisper as I crept over to the sleeping body of the Death Eater and jinxed her. Then I walked over to the door to the common room.

Tonks: I nodded. "Right," I whispered back, also carefully stepping over the death eater, and looking around the common room. "Where to first?"

Ginny: I walked into the Common Room from the Sixth Year dormitories, glad the disillusionment charm had finally worn off, and glad that the Death Eater guard had left. I spotted Amber sitting in front of the fire and walked over. "Mind if I join you?" I asked.

I looked up and saw Ginny, I smiled and shook my head. "Not at all." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and continued to watch the fire.

Ginny: "Thanks," I smiled and sat down. "Do you know what's going on?" I asked, curiously. I hadn't heard anything since the Order members had left.

Amber: "No problem." I said, continuing to watch the fire. I turned my head to look at Ginny. "No, I don't know. I'm sorry." I smiled, sheepishly. "I haven't been keeping up with everything that's going on, I've thrown myself into my studies now more than ever." I sighed and looked down at my hands.

Ginny: I shrugged. "That's alright. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, I just hope Harry and the others got away. I think we can handle things here, but if they're still here, they're in real danger. Did you know.... You-Know-Who is here?" I asked, whispering.