Chapter 303: McGonagall Injured, Harry's Nightmare, and Lies
Due to the interruption of his Occlumency studies with Snape, the pressure of approaching exams, and his complex feelings about his father, Harry's emotional control actually regressed significantly. For weeks, increasingly vivid nightmares flooded his troubled mind with disturbing visions he couldn't understand or shake.
However, the looming O.W.L. examinations left Harry no time to properly deal with his nightmares, so he could only bury everything deep inside and try to focus on his studies.
On Monday morning, the O.W.L. exams officially began, with the first two days covering Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Without Snape's intimidating presence and deliberate interference, Harry scored quite well in Potions for once.
During the Defence Against the Dark Arts practical exam, after successfully conjuring his corporeal Patronus, he earned excellent marks that surprised even himself.
But starting on the third day, things took a sharp turn for the worse. During the Astronomy practical examination under the night sky, Harry witnessed Umbridge leading a group of Aurors to forcibly expel Hagrid from the castle grounds.
Six Ministry Aurors pointed their wands directly at the half-giant with obvious hostile intent.
"My dear Hagrid, you know this is all because of Ministry regulations," Umbridge said with false sweetness, her toad-like voice grating against the night air.
"Enough, Dolores! You can't do this to him!" Professor McGonagall stepped forward courageously, trying to protect Hagrid from the obvious injustice.
"Enough! Don't you dare call me Dolores anymore!" Umbridge shrieked, hitting a deeply buried sore spot.
As a half-blood witch, Umbridge had long ago erased her Muggle father's memory and hidden him away in the non-magical world. She had then frantically promoted her supposed pure-blood status and finally, riding on Fudge's political support, achieved her current position of authority.
"Attack her!" Umbridge ordered the nearby Aurors with vindictive pleasure.
Six Stunning Spells were simultaneously cast at Professor McGonagall, but having mastered advanced Transfiguration magic over decades of study, McGonagall was not so easily subdued.
McGonagall connected to Avalon's ancient power, and moon-attribute magic flowed through her, making her body temporarily ethereal and translucent.
The six hostile spells passed harmlessly through her transformed body, creating clusters of small white kittens that scattered across the grounds.
"What kind of magic is this?" Umbridge demanded in shock at witnessing such extraordinary spellwork.
Professor McGonagall raised her wand with deadly precision and drew two perfect circles toward the attacking Aurors. Decades of daily magical research and accumulated magical power flowed through her wand as McGonagall's spell unleashed a massive windstorm.
The supernatural gale swept across the grounds and blew all the Aurors high into the night sky like leaves in a hurricane.
"Crucio!" Umbridge screamed while flying through the air, her wand tip bursting with malevolent red light as she cast the Unforgivable Curse.
"Ugh!" Professor McGonagall cried out in agony, unable to withstand the surprise attack from the illegal torture curse.
"Professor McGonagall!" Hagrid's eyes turned red with fury upon seeing this brutal scene unfold.
He charged at the falling Aurors with berserker rage, knocking each one completely unconscious with single devastating punches from his massive fists.
Then he grabbed the dazed Umbridge by her pink collar and delivered several heavy blows to her face, beating her until her features were bright red and swollen beyond recognition.
"Hagrid! Stop immediately!" Harry, Hermione, and Ron rushed over from their observation point.
"Hagrid, don't kill anyone, or Dumbledore and Aiden will have to spend even more energy cleaning up the aftermath," Hermione said urgently, bringing up the two names that could still reach him.
"You're right. I can't cause them more trouble than they already have," Hagrid nodded with visible effort to control his rage.
"You should leave quickly before reinforcements arrive. Don't let them capture you. Wait for Aiden and Dumbledore to return and sort this mess out," Ron immediately suggested, displaying unexpected tactical thinking.
This sudden strategic insight made Harry look sideways at his friend, wondering if Ron had been secretly replaced by someone more competent.
After hearing this sensible advice, Hagrid hurriedly scooped up the trembling Fang and ran into the protective depths of the Forbidden Forest.
"Let's get all the injured to the hospital wing first," Harry suggested, surveying the scattered unconscious bodies.
The others nodded in agreement, using Levitation Charms to carefully transport everyone present to the medical wing for treatment.
"Merlin's beard! What in the world happened out there?" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed upon seeing so many patients arriving simultaneously, accidentally knocking over her carefully organised medical records in her alarm.
"Please check Professor McGonagall immediately! They used the Cruciatus Curse on her!" Hermione said frantically, rushing forward with obvious panic.
"Great Merlin's ghost!" Madam Pomfrey immediately abandoned everything else and ran to Professor McGonagall's side, casting multiple healing spells while administering potions to ease the lingering effects of the torture curse.
Professor McGonagall's courageous action caused enormous repercussions throughout Gryffindor House and the school at large. Umbridge's hospitalisation temporarily lifted the communication blockade that had isolated Hogwarts, and many students immediately sent urgent letters to their parents explaining the shocking situation.
Since Umbridge had illegally used the Cruciatus Curse in front of witnesses, a massive flood of angry letters poured into the Ministry of Magic. However, the increasingly desperate Fudge somehow managed to suppress the growing scandal through bureaucratic manipulation.
"The storm is finally coming," a dragon hiding behind the scenes smiled with quiet satisfaction.
"Are you absolutely certain this won't cause permanent harm to Minerva?" Another aged voice enquired with genuine concern.
"Professor McGonagall was connected to Avalon's protective power at the crucial moment. I allocated half my computational power to shield her from the worst effects. You could say most of the actual pain from the Cruciatus Curse was redirected to me instead."
The dragon rolled his eyes at the worried old man. Their whispered conversation remained hidden in magical darkness, unknown to anyone else in the castle.
Inside Hogwarts, the examinations continued despite the dramatic events. Due to Professor McGonagall's supposed "severe injuries", she was officially transferred to St Mungo's Hospital for extended treatment and recovery.
At the same time, carefully edited medical records were discreetly leaked by a certain influential figure from Knockturn Alley's criminal underworld.
The next day, during the tedious History of Magic examination, Harry suddenly experienced a vivid vision directly from Voldemort's mind. He saw the mysterious depths of the Department of Mysteries with startling clarity.
A familiar figure knelt helplessly on the cold floor, surrounded by sneering Death Eaters who pointed their wands with obvious malicious intent.
"Sirius!" Harry shouted, leaping to his feet directly in the middle of the examination hall.
He ran out of the classroom without looking back or caring about the consequences, while confused students and the examiner stared after him in complete bewilderment.
Hermione and Ron quickly scribbled the remaining answers on their papers and hurriedly submitted them before chasing after their friend.
"Harry, what's wrong with you? These are the O.W.L. examinations!" Hermione's voice carried deep disappointment and frustration.
"Hermione, I just saw Voldemort torturing Sirius in my mind!" Harry said desperately, grabbing Hermione's shoulders with shaking hands.
"Harry, calm down immediately," Ron said firmly, stepping forward to separate them while Hermione rubbed her sore shoulder where Harry had gripped too tightly.
"That's completely impossible," Hermione said with forced rationality. "It's only five o'clock in the afternoon. The Ministry offices haven't even closed for the day yet. A group of Death Eaters couldn't possibly break into such a heavily guarded facility."
She took a deep breath and continued her logical analysis. "Also, Sirius was specifically assigned to guard the Order's headquarters. There's absolutely no way they could have captured him without someone noticing!"
But Harry couldn't process any of that reasonable logic. "I don't care about your explanations! I have to go save him right now!"
"You're absolutely addicted to playing the hero!" Hermione snapped at him with unusual harshness. "Have you already forgotten how many times you've put yourself in mortal danger and then needed others to rescue you from your own reckless stupidity?"
Harry was genuinely shocked by Hermione's sudden outburst and managed to calm down slightly, though his hands still trembled with urgency.
"Alright, let's first use a fireplace to contact Grimmauld Place and confirm the actual situation before doing anything drastic," Hermione said with forced patience.
Only then did Hermione nod with satisfaction at this sensible compromise. Ron quickly gathered Ginny and Luna, and they all prepared to act together as a coordinated team.
Ron ran off to create a loud distraction that would draw the Inquisitorial Squad's attention away from their real objective, while Harry and Hermione took advantage of the chaos to sneak into Umbridge's office and access her fireplace.
Luna and Ginny were assigned to keep careful watch in the corridors. If anyone approached the office, they would shout "Weasley is our King" as a predetermined warning signal.
Inside Umbridge's pink-decorated office, the enchanted cats on the wall seemed to sense approaching danger and quickly found hiding places behind furniture and decorative objects.
Harry stuck his head directly into the green flames of the fireplace, and after a dizzying spinning sensation, his head emerged in the fireplace at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.
"Kreacher!" Harry called out upon spotting the ancient house-elf wandering nearby.
"Oh, it's Harry Potter," Kreacher said with obvious displeasure, narrowing his bulging eyes.
"Kreacher, where exactly is Sirius right now? I have extremely urgent business with him!" Harry demanded frantically.
"Kreacher doesn't know anything about Master's whereabouts. Master went out earlier today, and Kreacher was specifically ordered to stay here and not move from this spot," Kreacher lied with practised ease.
Hearing this devastating confirmation, Harry's heart seemed to stop beating entirely, and he quickly pulled his head back out of the flames with growing panic.
But not long after Harry's desperate departure, familiar voices could be heard coming from the second floor of the seemingly empty house.
"Kreacher, who exactly were you talking to just now?"