A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey hurried in.
But before she arrived, Dumbledore had already used Transfiguration to restore Moody's face—which had grown gaunt and misshapen from weakness—back to a fuller, rounder look. He also regrew his thinning hair.
This made Mad-Eye Moody look far less disturbing than he had just moments earlier.
"Professor Moody!" Madam Pomfrey gasped upon entering. "Headmaster Dumbledore, what happened to him?"
"Alastor ran into some trouble in the maze," Dumbledore explained. "But I expect a few days' rest will have him recovered."
"Leave him to me, Headmaster!" Madam Pomfrey quickly took the real Mad-Eye Moody by the arm and led him toward the hospital wing.
Before leaving, Moody reached a hand out toward Dumbledore.
"Don't worry, Alastor..." Dumbledore called after him. "I'll send your magical eye, prosthetic leg, and walking stick over shortly."
...
Once Moody and Madam Pomfrey had gone, Dumbledore led Jon out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.
"Where do we go now?" Jon asked urgently from the shadows.
But before Dumbledore could answer—
"Albus!" a breathless voice rang out from behind.
It was a portrait. Headmaster Phineas Black appeared in the frame beside them.
"What is it, Phineas?" Dumbledore asked, somewhat surprised.
"Why didn't you tell me that the big black dog is in fact my shameful great-grandson who betrayed our family and our bloodline?!" Phineas Black bellowed.
"I suppose..." Dumbledore stuck out his tongue. "I must have forgotten..."
"Damn it... You'd better hurry back to your office!" Phineas sighed. "That disgrace of a great-grandson of mine is about to come to blows with the Potions Master!"
"Is that so? I'll return immediately." Dumbledore nodded at the portrait.
"I'm afraid I must leave you here, Jon." He waved toward Jon, still hidden in the shadows. "Feel free to wander the school for now... The Disillusionment Charm will last several more hours. As long as you're back in my office before midnight, that will suffice."
With that, Dumbledore hurried upstairs.
...
This time, Jon was the one left standing still.
Within seconds, Dumbledore had disappeared from sight, leaving him alone in the fourth-floor corridor.
After a moment's hesitation, Jon glanced around.
"All right... I'll do as Dumbledore said and look around the school." He made up his mind.
He headed down the stairs toward the lower floors. Being invisible, he had to carefully avoid bumping into students on the staircases.
Night had just fallen, and only a few people lingered on the steps.
Along the way, Jon saw many familiar faces—some he could name, others not.
He spotted Zacharias Smith being supported by several Hufflepuff students as they made their way toward the Hufflepuff common room. Zacharias's right hand was wrapped in heavy bandages.
These usually lively Hufflepuffs walked in near silence.
Nearby, Cedric Diggory leaned against a window, quietly watching the view outside as the breeze drifted in. Cho Chang stood beside him, as though trying to comfort him.
Jon stopped, silently watching.
But he didn't follow them. He didn't want to risk being noticed while climbing past the wooden barrels.
...
Jon continued to wander aimlessly through the castle.
He left the basement and entered the Great Hall.
The atmosphere here was heavier than he had ever seen.
There was almost no laughter, no chatter. The hall was nearly silent—except at the Slytherin table, where a faint murmur lingered.
At the Hufflepuff table, Hannah Abbott, Eloise Midgen, and Susan Bones all had tear-reddened eyes.
Jon also noticed the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost he'd once gotten along with.
The friar floated silently near the doors of the Great Hall, saying nothing.
Nearly Headless Nick, Gryffindor's ghost, hovered nearby, trying to console him.
"Don't be sad. What if he became a ghost, just like us?"
"But he didn't die at Hogwarts..." the Fat Friar sighed.
"Enough of this—it's only one death," Professor Binns' ghost suddenly drifted over. It was rare to see him outside the History of Magic classroom. Even as he spoke, he let out a sigh of his own.
...
Jon left the castle.
He wandered aimlessly around the grounds, first reaching the greenhouses.
Through the glass, he saw Professor Sprout collapsed in the middle of a pile of weeds. Dirt covered her body, but she didn't seem to notice.
She looked more broken than ever.
Jon then walked toward Hogsmeade, where he found Hermione Granger sitting quietly by the lake.
Ron Weasley approached her and asked loudly, "Aren't you going to see Harry, Hermione?"
"You go on ahead..." Hermione's face twisted into a faint, sorrowful smile. "I just need some time to myself."
Ron looked at her for a moment, then finally walked away. Hermione picked up a pebble and tossed it into the lake, then another, and another.
Eventually, Jon made his way to the Quidditch Pitch.
At the edge of the maze, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum still lingered, their eyes fixed on the maze's entrance.
...
After some thought, Jon decided to head back into the castle.
He, too, wanted to find somewhere quiet to be alone.
He climbed up to the eighth floor and stopped outside the Room of Requirement, planning to go inside. After all, two Horcruxes remained there, though he hadn't yet decided whether or not to destroy them.
But someone was already there.
Natalie Pavlova stood near the portrait of the troll beating Panama, gazing into a mirror.
The little girl's expression was strange. She kept forcing a smile at her reflection.
But each time, her smile twisted into something ugly, tears streaming down her face.
...
In the end, Jon didn't approach the Room of Requirement.
Instead, he wandered slowly from the eighth floor all the way down to the basement.
As he passed the portrait leading to the kitchens, he thought he heard something inside—like the quiet sobbing of house-elves.
But he ignored the sound and continued on.
Finally, he stopped at the door of the Potions classroom.
Jon froze.
Because he heard voices coming from inside...
The voices of Astoria and her sister!