A single tear slid down the face of a young wizard. He stood on the top of the Dark Tower, leaning out over the edge so that he could look down at the students moving around far below him. They looked like ants scurrying towards Hogsmead in a ragged line of movement. He wanted to go with them, but could not find his permission slip. With another tear of anger, the young man realized that one of his bunkmates must have stolen it. They were probably down there, in that line, laughing at him. His jaw clenched painfully. They would get their own, he swore.

Hours later, near the end of midnight's last chime, the young wizard took his wand in hand and snuck out of bed. He suspected one of the seventh years had taken his permission slip. He tiptoed towards the bed and without making a sound, rifled through the boy's possessions. It did not take him long to find the desired paper. He stared at it in the dull torchlight of the room and smiled an evil smile. He would get his revenge, and he would never forget what he boy had done to him.

****

A single tear threatened to fall, glittering precariously in the green eye of a young wizard. He stood in the clock tower; hidden behind misted glass, and watched his classmates moving below in the courtyard. They were laughing and joking in small groups as they made their way in a ragged line towards Hogsmead. He wanted to go with them, longed to go, but knew that it could not be. He did not have a signed permission slip to present to the teachers. The tear finally fell as sadness enveloped him. He wished for the millionth time that his parents were still alive and that he was a normal child.

Hours later, near the end of midnight's last chime, the young wizard took his wand in hand and snuck out of bed. He felt too awake to fall asleep just yet and the room was beginning to feel stifling. He tiptoed down the stairs, across the common room and through the doorway without making a sound. It did not take him long to descend the moving staircases and find a friendly, long corridor to walk down. He studied the pictures that he passed, in the dull torchlight that lit his way. They always had fascinated him. A sudden sound alerted him to the arrival of Mrs. Norris and he turned quickly to return to the tower before he was discovered.