Sunday 24th November

"Good evening, students. We don't have long before bedtime, so I will get straight to the point.

Now, as I'm sure you are aware, many members of our staff were sceptical of the new safety precautions I have put in place, such as making the curfew earlier. They believed that no difference would be made to our safety.

Because Lord Voldemort- and yes, I insist on using his real name- is at present a major threat, I believed that these precautions were necessary, despite my staff's disagreement.

Their scepticism convinced me, despite my better judgement, to allow the weekend trips to Hogsmeade for the third years and above to continue. You were all very pleased about this. I generally agree with these weekends as a treat- is it important to let off some steam every now and again.

However, it seems that I was not foolhardy to take such measurements: a student was attacked last night in Hogsmeade."

At these sinister words, murmuring broke out amongst the students.

Harry didn't notice. He was barely listening to Dumbledore. All he could think about was his best friend, lying unconscious in the hospital wing.