"I'm not going...I don't need the hospital wing...I don't want..." Harry was gibbering as he tried to pull away from Professor Tofty, who was looking at Harry with much concern after helping him out into the Entrance Hall with the students all around them staring.
"I'm...I'm fine, sir." Harry stammered, wiping the sweat from his face. "Really...I just fell asleep... had a nightmare..."
"Pressure of examinations!" said the old wizard sympathetically, patting Harry shakily on the shoulder. "It happens, young man, it happens! Now, a cooling drink of water, and perhaps you will be ready to return to the Great Hall? The examination is nearly over, but you may be able to round off your last answer nicely?"
"Yes." said Harry wildly. "I mean...no...I've done...done as much as I can, I think..."
"Very well, very well." said the old wizard gently. "I shall go and collect your examination paper and I suggest that you go and have a nice lie down."
"I'll do that." said Harry, nodding vigorously. "Thanks very much."
The second that the old man's heels disappeared over the threshold into the Great Hall, Harry ran up the marble staircase, hurtled along the corridors so fast the portraits he passed muttered reproaches, up more flights of stairs, and finally burst like a hurricane through the double doors of the hospital wing, causing Madam Pomfrey who had been spooning some bright blue liquid into Montague's open mouth to shriek in alarm.
"Potter, what do you think you're doing!?"
"I need to see Professor McGonagall." gasped Harry, the breath tearing his lungs. "Now...it's urgent!"
"She's not here, Potter." said Madam Pomfrey sadly. "She was transferred to St. Mungo's this morning. Four Stunning Spells straight to the chest at her age? It's a wonder they didn't kill her."
"She's...gone?" said Harry, shocked.
The bell rang just outside the dormitory and he heard the usual distant rumbling of students starting to flood out into the corridors above and below him. He remained quite still, looking at Madam Pomfrey. Terror was rising inside him.
There was nobody left to tell. Dumbledore had gone, Hagrid had gone, but he had always expected Professor McGonagall to be there, irascible and inflexible, perhaps, but always dependably, solidly present.
"I don't wonder you're shocked, Potter." said Madam Pomfrey, with a kind of fierce approval in her face. "As if one of them could have Stunned Minerva McGonagall face-on by daylight! Cowardice, that's what Grindelwald called it...despicable cowardice...and he's quite right! If I wasn't worried what would happen to you students without me, I'd resign in protest."
"Yes." said Harry blankly.
He wheeled around and strode blindly from the hospital wing into the teeming corridor where he stood, buffeted by the crowd, panic expanding inside him like poison gas so that his head swam and he could not think what to do...
'Ron, Y/n and Hermione.' said a voice in his head.
He was running again, pushing students out of the way, oblivious to their angry protests. He sprinted, back down two floors and was at the top of the marble staircase when he saw them hurrying towards him.
"Harry!" said Hermione at once, looking very frightened.
"What happened in there? Are you all right?" Y/n asked him.
"Are you ill?" Hermione quickly asked.
"Where have you been?" demanded Ron.
"Come with me." Harry said quickly. "Come on, I've got to tell you something."
He led them along the first-floor corridor, peering through doorways, and at last found an empty classroom into which he dived, closing the door behind Ron, Y/n and Hermione the moment they were inside, and leaned against it, facing them.
"Voldemort's got Sirius."
"What?"
"Harry..."
"How d'you..."
"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."
"But...but where? How?" said Hermione, whose face was white.
"I dunno how." said Harry. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls and they're at the end of row ninety-seven. He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there, he's torturing him... says he'll end by killing him!"
Harry found his voice was shaking, as were his knees. He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to master himself. "How're we going to get there?" he asked them.
There was a moment's silence. Then Ron said. "G...get there?"
"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry said loudly.
"Harry..." said Y/n.
"What? What?" said Harry. He could not understand why they were gaping at him as though he was asking them something unreasonable.
"Harry." said Hermione in a rather frightened voice. "How...how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realising he was there?"
"How do I know?" bellowed Harry. "The question is how we're going to get in there!"
"No Hermione is right Harry, think about this logically." said Y/n.
"What?" Harry said getting impatient with them.
"Harry, it's five o'clock in the afternoon...the Ministry of Magic must be full of workers." Hermione said now. "How would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Harry... they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world, you think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?"
"I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry shouted. "Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been completely empty whenever I've been..."
"You've never been there, Harry." said Hermione quietly. "You've dreamed about the place, that's all."
"They're not normal dreams!" Harry shouted in her face, standing up and taking a step closer to her in turn until Y/n stepped in between the two. "How d'you explain Ron's dad then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?
"He's got a point." said Ron quietly, looking at Y/n and Hermione.
"But this is just...just so unlikely!" said Hermione desperately. "Harry, how on earth could Voldemort have got hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all the time?"
"Sirius might've cracked and just wanted some fresh air." said Ron, sounding worried. "He's been desperate to get out of that house for ages..."
"Sirius is not that foolish Ron. He will not do something that could put Harry in danger." Y/n tried to say.
"And why on earth would Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon, or whatever the thing is?" Hermione persisted.
"I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!" Harry yelled. "Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care about seeing hurt..."
"You know what, I've just thought of something." said Ron in a hushed voice. "Sirius's brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!"
"Yeah...and that's why Dumbledore's been so keen to keep Sirius locked up all the time!" said Harry.
"Look, I'm sorry." cried Hermione. "But neither of you is making sense, and we've got no proof for any of this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there..."
"Hermione, Harry's seen them!" said Ron, rounding on her.
"Ok." she said, looking frightened yet determined. "I've just got to say this..."
"What?" Harry said irritable.
"You...this isn't a criticism, Harry, But..."
"Well, spit out what you've got to say, because we're wasting time here!" Harry shouted.
"I'm trying to say...Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it's the kind of thing he does, he knows you're the...the sort of person who'd go to Sirius's aid! What if he's just trying to get you into the Department of Myst..."
"Hermione, it doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not...they've taken McGonagall to St. Mungo's, there isn't anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don't go, Sirius is dead!"
"Harry, have you ever considered that what your dream was...was just that, a dream? Snape did say that Voldemort has become a aware of the connection between you two. He could be using it to his advantage as Hermione just said." Y/n tried to reason with him.
Harry let out a roar of frustration. Hermione actually stepped back from him, looking alarmed.
"You don't get it!" Harry shouted. "I'm not having nightmares, I'm not just dreaming! What d'you think all the Occlumency was for, why d'you think Dumbledore wanted me prevented from seeing these things? Because they're REAL, ...Sirius is trapped, I've seen him. Voldemort's got him, and no one else knows, and that means we're the only ones who can save him, and if you don't want to do it, fine, but I'm going, understand?"
"But Harry, you've just said it." said Hermione fiercely, "Dumbledore wanted you to learn to shut these things out of your mind, if you'd done Occlumency properly you'd never have seen this..."
"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN..."
"Sirius told you there was nothing more important than you learning to close your mind!"
"WELL, I EXPECT HE'D SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF HE KNEW WHAT I'D JUST..."
The classroom door opened. Harry, Ron, Y/n and Hermione whipped around. Ginny walked in, looking curious, closely followed by Luna, who as usual looked as though she had drifted in accidentally.
"Hi." said Ginny uncertainly. "We recognised Harry's voice. What are you yelling about?"
"Never you mind." said Harry roughly.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "There's no need to take that tone with me." she said coolly. "I was only wondering whether I could help."
"Well, you can't." said Harry shortly.
"You're being rather rude, you know." said Luna serenely.
Harry swore and turned away.
"Wait." said Hermione suddenly. "Wait...Harry, they can help."
Harry, Y/n and Ron looked at her.
"Listen." she said urgently. "Harry, we need to establish whether Sirius really has left Headquarters."
"Oh, yes that would indeed make things simpler to know if Voldemort really does have Sirius." Y/n said understanding what Hermione was about to suggest.
"I've told you, I saw..."
"Harry, I'm begging you, please!" said Hermione desperately. "Please let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London. If we find out he's not there, then I swear I won't try to stop you. I'll come, I'll d...do whatever it takes to try and save him."
"Sirius is being tortured NOW!" shouted Harry. "We haven't got time to waste."
"But if this is a trick of Voldemort's, Harry, we've got to check, we've got to." Hermione pleaded again.
"How?" Harry demanded. "How're we going to check?"
"By using Umbridge's fire again." Y/n suggested. "If we can contact him, then we will know he is safe, If we cannot...then we can head to the ministry without further question."
Hermione, looked positively terrified at the thought but knew there was no other way so did not argue. "We'll need to draw Umbridge away again, but we'll also need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny and Luna."
Though clearly struggling to understand what was going on, Ginny said immediately. "Yeah, we'll do it."
"When you say 'Sirius', are you talking about Stubby Boardman?" Luna then asked.
Nobody answered her.
"Ok." Harry said aggressively to Y/n and Hermione. "Ok, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now."
"The Department of Mysteries?" said Luna, looking mildly surprised. "But how are you going to get there?"
Again, Harry ignored her.
"We will cover that bridge when we come to it Miss Lovegood." Y/n said politely.
"Right." said Hermione, twisting her hands together and pacing up and down between the desks. "Right...well...one of us has to go and find Umbridge and...and send her off in the wrong direction, keep her away from her office. They could tell her...I don't know...that Peeves is up to something awful as usual..."
"I'll do it." said Ron at once. "I'll tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department or something, it's miles away from her office. Come to think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if I met him on the way."
"If you do then tell him to completely destroy the place if he has too, we need as much time as possible. We can apologize to Professor McGonagall later." Y/n said to Ron.
It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that Hermione made no objection to the smashing up of the Transfiguration department. "Ok." she said, her brow furrowed as she continued to pace. "Now, we need to keep students right away from her office while we force entry, or some Slytherin's bound to go and tip her off."
"Luna and I can stand at either end of the corridor." said Ginny promptly. "And warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garrotting Gas." Hermione looked surprised at the readiness with which Ginny had come up with this lie. Ginny shrugged and said. "Fred and George were planning to do it before they left."
"Ok." said Hermione. "Well then, Harry, Y/n and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak and we'll sneak into the office and then you can talk to Sirius Harry..."
"He's not there, Hermione!"
"Would you shut up!" Y/n said having enough. "Everyone here is risking their necks for you on the chance that you may be right...do not bite that feeds you Harry Potter." Y/n warned him and the two stared at one another. Y/n knew Harry was frustrated and he could not blame him. He would most likely behave in the same way if he had the same sort of dreams but it did not stop him from being fed up with the way Harry was treating their friends, those who were trying to help him.
"I mean, you can..." Hermione quietly intervened now. "You can check whether Sirius is at home or not while Y/n and I keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone, Lee's already proved the windows a weak spot, sending those Nifflers through it."
"I...Ok, thanks." Harry muttered.
"Right, well, even if we do all of that, I don't think we're going to be able to bank on more than five minutes." said Hermione, looking relieved that Harry seemed to have accepted the plan, "Not with Filch and the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around."
"Five minutes'll be enough." said Harry "C'mon, let's go..."
"Now?' said Hermione, looking shocked.
"Of course now!" said Harry angrily. "What did you think, we're going to wait until after dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!"
"I...oh, all right." she said desperately. "You go and get the Invisibility Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, Ok?"
Harry didn't answer, but flung himself out of the room. When he was gone they all let out a sigh.
"We should have all forced him to take those Occlumency lessons again..." Hermione said.
"Come on, We need to make our way to Umbridge's corridor." Y/n said. "I just hope Sirius replies in that fireplace..."
"I've had a thought." Ginny said as they began to walk out the classroom. "What if something goes wrong, say Umbridge comes back early. What do we do then?"
"You can give a signal then." Hermione quickly suggested.
"A signal? Like what?" Ginny asked.
"Break into the Weasley is our king song. It is loud, obnoxious and will give us plenty of warning." Y/n said.
They did not have to wait long for Harry who soon showed up. Y/n was huddled with Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Luna at the end of Umbridge's corridor.
"Got it." Harry panted reaching them. "Ready to go, then?"
"All right." whispered Hermione as a gang of loud sixth-years passed them. "So Ron...you go and head Umbridge off...Ginny, Luna, if you can start moving people out of the corridor... Harry, Y/n and I will get the Cloak on and wait until the coast is clear..."
Ron strode away, his bright-red hair visible right to the end of the passage, meanwhile Ginny's equally vivid head bobbed between the jostling students surrounding them in the other direction, trailed by Luna's blonde one.
"Get over here." muttered Hermione, tugging at Y/n and Harry's wrists and pulling them back into a recess where the ugly stone head of a medieval wizard stood muttering to itself on a column. "Are...are you sure you're ok, Harry?"
"You are still very pale." Y/n noted.
"I'm fine." he said shortly, tugging the Invisibility Cloak from out of his bag. "Here." he said and he threw the Invisibility Cloak over the three of them and they stood listening carefully over the Latin mumblings of the bust in front of them.
"You can't come down here!" Ginny was calling to the crowd. "No, sorry, you're going to have to go round by the swivelling staircase, someone's let off Garrotting Gas just along here..."
They could hear people complaining, one surly voice said. "I can't see no gas."
"That's because it's colourless." said Ginny in a convincingly exasperated voice. "But if you want to walk through it, carry on, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who doesn't believe us."
Slowly, the crowd thinned. The news about the Garrotting Gas seemed to have spread, people were not coming this way anymore.
When at last the surrounding area was quite clear. Hermione said quietly. "I think that's as good as we're going to get, come on, let's do it."
They moved forward, covered by the Cloak. Luna was standing with her back to them at the far end of the corridor. As they passed Ginny, Hermione whispered, "Good one...don't forget the signal."
"What's the signal?" muttered Harry, as they approached Umbridge's door.
"A loud chorus of 'Weasley is our King' if they see Umbridge coming." replied Y/n, as Harry inserted the blade of Sirius's knife in the crack between door and wall. The lock clicked open and they entered the office.
The garish kittens were basking in the late-afternoon sunshine that was warming their plates, but otherwise the office was as still and unoccupied as last time.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought she might have added extra security after the second Niffler."
They pulled off the Cloak, Hermione hurried over to the window and stood out of sight, peering down into the grounds with her wand out. Y/n took out his own wand and stayed close to the door ready to listen out for a sudden chorus of 'Weasley is our king.' Harry dashed over to the fireplace, seized the pot of Floo powder and threw a pinch into the grate, causing emerald flames to burst into life there. He knelt down quickly, thrust his head into the dancing fire and cried. "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!"
His head began to spin as though he had just got off a fairground ride though his knees remained firmly planted on the cold office floor. He kept his eyes screwed up against the whirling ash and when the spinning stopped he opened them to find himself looking out at the long, cold kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
There was nobody there. He had expected this, yet was not prepared for the molten wave of dread and panic that seemed to burst through his stomach at the sight of the deserted room.
"Sirius?" he shouted. "Sirius, are you there?" His voice echoed around the room, but there was no answer except a tiny scuffing sound to the right of the fire. "Who's there?" he called, wondering whether it was just a mouse.
Kreacher the house-elf crept into view. He looked highly delighted about something, though he seemed to have recently sustained a nasty injury to both hands, which were heavily bandaged.
"It's the Potter boy's head in the fire." Kreacher informed the empty kitchen, stealing furtive, oddly triumphant glances at Harry. "What has he come for, Kreacher wonders?"
"Where's Sirius, Kreacher?" Harry demanded.
The house-elf gave a wheezy chuckle.
"Master has gone out, Harry Potter."
"Where's he gone? Where's he gone, Kreacher?"
Kreacher merely cackled.
"I'm warning you!" said Harry, fully aware that his scope for inflicting punishment upon Kreacher was almost non-existent in this position. "What about Lupin? Mad-Eye? Any of them, are any of them there?"
"Nobody here but Kreacher!" said the elf gleefully, and turning away from Harry he began to walk slowly towards the door at the end of the kitchen. "Kreacher thinks he will have a little chat with his mistress now, yes, he hasn't had a chance in a long time, Kreacher's master has been keeping him away from her..."
"Where has Sirius gone?" Harry yelled after the elf. "Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of Mysteries?"
Kreacher stopped in his tracks. Harry could just make out the back of his bald head through the forest of chair legs before him.
"Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is going." said the elf quietly.
"But you know!" shouted Harry. "Don't you? You know where he is!"
There was a moment's silence, then the elf let out his loudest cackle yet. "Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries!" he said gleefully. "Kreacher and his mistress are alone again!"
And he scurried forwards and disappeared through the door to the hall.
"You!..." But before he could utter a single curse or insult, Harry felt a great pain at the top of his head, he inhaled a lot of ash and, choking, found himself being dragged backwards through the flames, until with a horrible abruptness he was staring up into the wide, pallid face of Professor Umbridge who had dragged him backward out of the fire by the hair and was now bending his neck back as far as it would go, as though she were going to slit his throat.
"You think." she whispered, bending Harry's neck back even further, so that he was looking up at the ceiling. "That after two Nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand." she barked at someone he could not see, and he felt a hand grope inside the chest pocket of his robes and remove the wand. "Theirs, too."
Harry heard a scuffle over by the door and knew that Y/n and Hermione had also just had their wands wrested from them.
"I want to know why you are in my office." said Umbridge, shaking the fist clutching his hair so that he staggered.
"I was...trying to get my Firebolt!" Harry croaked.
"Liar." She shook his head again. "Your Firebolt is under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With whom have you been communicating?"
"No one..." said Harry, trying to pull away from her. He felt several hairs part company with his scalp.
"Liar!" shouted Umbridge. She threw him from her and he slammed into the desk. Now he could see Hermione was pinned against the wall by Millicent Bulstrode. While Atticus Grindelwald was crouched down with one knee on a knocked-out Y/n's back and his wand drawn on him. Malfoy was leaning on the windowsill, smirking as he threw Harry's wand into the air one-handed and caught it again.
There was a commotion outside and several large Slytherins entered, each gripping Ron, Ginny, Luna and to Harry's bewilderment Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in imminent danger of suffocation. All four of them had been gagged.
"Got 'em all." said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly forwards into the room. "That one." he poked a thick finger at Neville. "Tried to stop me taking her." he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of the large Slytherin girl holding her. "So I brought him along too. We used a silencing charm to stop them calling out, should wear off any momement."
"Good, good." said Umbridge, watching Ginny's struggles. "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"
Malfoy laughed loudly and sycophantically. While Atticus had Goyle drag the still passed out Y/n up now. Umbridge gave her wide, complacent smile and settled herself into a chintz-covered armchair, blinking up at her captives like a toad in a flowerbed.
"So, Potter." she said. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon." she nodded at Ron causing Malfoy to laugh even louder. "To tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so."
"Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone."
Malfoy and a few of the other members of the Inquisitorial Squad laughed some more at that.
Harry found he was so full of rage and hatred he was shaking. "It's none of your business who I talk to." he snarled.
Umbridge's slack face seemed to tighten. "Very well." she said in her most dangerous and falsely sweet voice. "Very well, Mr. Potter...I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco...fetch Professor Snape."
Malfoy stowed Harry's wand inside his robes and left the room smirking, but Harry hardly noticed. He had just realised something, he could not believe he had been so stupid as to forget it. He had thought that all the members of the Order, all those who could help him save Sirius, were gone, but he had been wrong. There was still a member of the Order of the Phoenix at Hogwarts...Snape.
There was silence in the office except for the fidgetings and scufflings resulting from the Slytherins' efforts to keep Ron and the others under control. Ron's lip was bleeding onto Umbridge's carpet as he struggled against Warrington's half-nelson, Ginny was still trying to stamp on the feet of the sixth-year girl who had both her upper arms in a tight grip, Neville was turning steadily more purple in the face while lugging at Crabbe's arms, Hermione was attempting, in vain, to throw Millicent Bulstrode off her. Luna, however, stood limply by the side of her captor, gazing vaguely out of the window as though rather bored by the proceedings. The sound of Y/n slightly groaning and stirring as his eyes began to open.
"What happened?" He said looking up and catching sight of Atticus standing in front of him. "You... Y/n began but was cut off when Atticus punched him across the face.
"No!" Hermione called out but Millicent Bullstrode kept Hermione pinned.
"Students Mr Grindelwald, are not permitted to hitting one another...However, given the rough treatment you received on the Quidditch field from you're brother earlier this school year I shall overlook it this once." Umbridge said.
"He is not my brother..." Atticus said looking at Y/n with disgust.
Y/n made a defiant move as he spat the blood in his mouth onto the floor of Umbridge's office.
Harry looked back at Umbridge, who was watching him closely. He kept his face deliberately smooth and blank as footsteps were heard in the corridor outside and Draco Malfoy entered the room, closely followed by Snape.
"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" said Snape, looking around at all the pairs of struggling students with an expression of complete indifference.
"Ah, Professor Snape." said Umbridge, smiling widely and standing up again. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."
"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter and Grindelwald." he said, surveying her coolly through his greasy curtains of black hair. "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."
Umbridge flushed. "You can make some more, can't you?" she said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious.
"Certainly." said Snape, his lip curling. "It takes a full moon-cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month."
"A month?" squawked Umbndge, swelling toadishly. "A month! But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"
"Really?" said Snape, showing his first, faint sign of interest as he looked round at Harry. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules."
His cold, dark eyes were boring into Harry's, who met his gaze unflinchingly, concentrating hard on what he had seen in his dream, willing Snape to read it in his mind, to understand...
"I wish to interrogate him!" repeated Umbridge angrily, and Snape looked away from Harry back into her furiously quivering lace. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"
"I have already told you." said Snape smoothly. "That I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter...and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did...I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much lime for truth-telling."
Snape looked back at Harry, who stared at him, frantic to communicate without words.
"You are on probation!" shrieked Professor Umbridge, and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"
Snape gave her an ironic bow and turned to leave. Harry knew his last chance of letting the Order know what was going on was walking out of the door. "He's got Padfoot!' he shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"
Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge's door handle.
"Padfoot?" cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"
Snape looked round at Harry. His face was inscrutable. Harry could not tell whether he had understood or not, but he did not dare speak more plainly in front of Umbridge.
"I have no idea." said Snape coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little. If Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job."
He closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving Harry in a state of worse turmoil than before, Snape had been his very last hope. He looked at Umbridge, who seemed to be feeling the same way, her chest was heaving with rage and frustration.
"Very well." she said, and she pulled out her wand. "Very well...I am left with no alternative...this is more than a matter of school discipline...this is an issue of Ministry security...yes...yes..."
She seemed to be talking herself into something. She was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, staring at Harry, beating her wand against her empty palm and breathing heavily As he watched her, Harry felt horribly powerless without his own wand.
"You are forcing me, Potter...I do not want to." said Umbridge, still moving restlessly on the spot. "But sometimes circumstances justify the use... I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice..."
Malfoy was watching her with a hungry expression on his face as she turned her wand towards Y/n.
"The Cruciatus Curse being used on your friend ought to loosen your tongue." said Umbridge quietly.
"No!" shrieked Hermione. "Professor Umbridge it's illegal."
But Umbridge took no notice. Y/n just stared down at Umbridge before him and saw there was a nasty eager, excited look on her face.
"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" cried Hermione.
"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him." said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Y/n's body in turn, apparently trying to decide where it would hurt most. "He never knew I ordered dementors to go after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same."
"It was you?" gasped Harry. "You sent the dementors after me?"
"Somebody had to act." breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Y/n's forehead. "They were all bleating about silencing you somehow...discrediting you...but I was the one who actually did something about it...only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today though, not now..."
"Just when I think you have run out of ways to make me sick..." Y/n said looking at Umbridge with contempt.
Umbridge looked back at him taking a deep breath, she cried. "Cruc..."
"NO!" shouted Hermione in a cracked voice from behind Millicent Bulstrode. "No...Harry...we'll have to tell her!"
"No way!" yelled Harry, staring at the little of Hermione he could see.
"We'll have to, Harry, she'll force it out of us anyway, what's...what's the point?" And Hermione began to cry weakly into the back of Millicent Bulstrode's robes. Millicent stopped trying to squash her against the wall immediately and dodged out of her way looking disgusted.
"Well, well, well!" said Umbridge, looking triumphant. "Little Miss Question-all is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!"
"Er...my...nee...no!" shouted Ron through his gag.
Ginny was staring at Hermione as though she had never seen her before. Neville, still choking for breath, was gazing at her, too.
"Do not tell her anything!" Y/n called out himself. But he had just noticed something. Though Hermione was sobbing desperately into her hands, there was no trace of a tear.
"I'm...I'm sorry everyone." said Hermione. "But...I can't stand it...I won't watch Y/n be tortured over this."
"That's right, that's right, girl!" said Umbridge, seizing Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the abandoned chintz chair and leaning over her. "Now then...with whom was Potter communicating just now?"
"Well." gulped Hermione into her hands. "Well, he was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore."
Ron froze, his eyes wide, Ginny stopped trying to stamp on her Slytherin captor's toes, and even Luna looked mildly surprised. Fortunately, the attention of Umbridge and her minions was focused too exclusively upon Hermione to notice these suspicious signs.
"Hermione no! You cannot!" Y/n called out again to try to help sell the lie she was weaving.
"Be silent!" Umbridge cried out to him with anger. "Before I change my mind and do use the Cruciatus curse upon you."
Silence filled the room for a moment.
"Dumbledore?" Umbridge then said eagerly turning her head back to Hermione. "You know where Dumbledore is, then?"
"Well...no!" sobbed Hermione. "We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head..."
"Idiot girl... Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!" shouted Umbridge, disappointment etched in every sagging line of her face.
"But...but we needed to tell him something important!" wailed Hermione, holding her hands more tightly over her face, not, Y/n knew, out of anguish, but to disguise the continued absence of tears.
"Yes?" said Umbridge with a sudden resurgence of excitement. "What was it you wanted to tell him?"
"We...we wanted to tell him it's r...ready!" choked Hermione.
"What's ready?" demanded Umbridge, and now she grabbed Hermione's shoulders again and shook her slightly. "What's ready, girl?"
"The...the weapon." said Hermione.
"Weapon? Weapon?" said Umbridge, and her eyes seemed to pop with excitement. "You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?"
"Y...y...yes." gasped Hermione. "But he had to leave before it was finished and n...n...now we've finished it for him, and we c...can't find him t...t...to tell him!"
"What kind of weapon is it?" said Umbridge harshly, her stubby hands still tight on Hermione's shoulders.
"I don't r...r...really understand it, O..only Y/n does." said Hermione, sniffing loudly. "We j...j...just did what P...P...Professor Dumbledore told us t...t...to do."
Umbridge straightened up, looking exultant. "Lead me to the weapon." she said.
"I'm not showing...them." said Hermione shrilly, looking around at the Slytherins through her fingers.
"It is not for you to set conditions." said Professor Umbridge harshly.
"Fine." said Hermione, now sobbing into her hands again. "Fine...let them see it, I hope they use it on you! In fact, I wish you'd invite loads and loads of people to come and see! Th...that would serve you right...oh, I'd love it if the wh...whole school knew where it was, and how to u...use it, and then if you annoy any of them they'll, be able to s...sort you out!"
These words had a powerful impact on Umbridge, she glanced swiftly and suspiciously around at her Inquisitorial Squad, her bulging eyes resting for a moment on Malfoy, who was too slow to disguise the look of eagerness and greed that had appeared on his face.
Umbridge contemplated Hermione for another long moment, then spoke in what she clearly thought was a motherly voice. "All right, dear, let's make it just you, Grindelwald and me...and we'll take Potter, too, shall we? Get up, now."
"Professor." said Malfoy eagerly. "Professor Umbridge, I think some of the Squad should come with you to look after..."
"I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage three wandless teenagers alone?" asked Umbridge sharply. "In any case, it does not sound as though this weapon is something that schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these..." she gestured around at Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna. "escape."
"All right." said Malfoy, looking sulky and disappointed.
"And you three can go ahead of me and show me the way." said Umbridge, pointing at Harry, Y/n and Hermione with her wand. "Lead on."
Y/n and Harry had no idea what Hermione was planning, or even whether she had a plan. They were walking half a pace behind her as they headed down the corridor outside Umbridge's office, knowing it would look very suspicious if they appeared not to know where they were going. They did not dare attempt to talk to her, Umbridge was walking so closely behind them that they could hear her ragged breathing.
Hermione led the way down the stairs into the Entrance Hall. The din of loud voices and the clatter of cutlery on plates echoed from out of the double doors to the Great Hall, it seemed incredible that twenty feet away were people who were enjoying dinner, celebrating the end of exams, not a care in the world...
Hermione walked straight out of the oak front doors and down the stone steps into the balmy evening air. The sun was falling towards the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest now, and as Hermione marched purposefully across the grass, Umbridge jogging to keep up, their long dark shadows rippled over the grass behind them like cloaks.
"It's hidden in Hagrid's hut, is it?" said Umbridge eagerly.
"Of course not." said Hermione scathingly. "Hagrid might have set it off accidentally."
"Yes." said Umbridge, whose excitement seemed to be mounting. "Yes, he would have done, of course, the great half-breed oaf." She laughed.
Y/n felt a strong urge to swing round and punch Umbridge in the face, but he resisted. He could not put the other two in harms way if she were to use her wand.
"Then...where is it?" asked Umbridge, with a hint or uncertainty in her voice as Hermione continued to stride towards the Forest.
"In there, of course." said Hermione, pointing into the dark trees. "It had to be somewhere that students weren't going to find it accidentally, didn't it?"
"Of course." said Umbridge, though she sounded a little apprehensive now. "Of course...very well, then...you three stay ahead of me."
"Can we have your wand, then, if we're going first?" Harry asked her.
"No, I don't think so, Mr. Potter." said Umbridge sweetly, poking him in the back with it. "The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I'm afraid."
Walking into the Forest without wands seemed to Harry to be more foolhardy than anything they had done so far this evening. Hermione, however, merely gave Umbridge a contemptuous glance and plunged straight into the trees, moving at such a pace that Umbridge, with her shorter legs, had difficulty in keeping up.
"Is it very far in?" Umbridge asked, as her robe ripped on a bramble.
"Oh yes." said Hermione. "Yes, it's well hidden."
Y/n had thought that perhaps she was taking them toward Grawp but Hermione was not taking the path they had followed to visit Grawp, but instead the one he, Harry and Ron followed three years ago to the lair of the monster Aragog. Hermione had not been with them on that occasion, he doubted she had any idea what danger lay at the end of it.
"Er...are you sure this is the right way?" Harry asked her pointedly seeming to remember the path as well.
"Oh yes." she said in a steely voice, crashing through the undergrowth with what he thought was a wholly unnecessary amount of noise. Behind them, Umbridge tripped over a fallen sapling. None of them paused to help her up again, Hermione merely strode on, calling loudly over her shoulder. "It's a bit further in!"
"Hermione, keep your voice down." Harry muttered, hurrying to catch up with her. "Anything could be listening in here..."
"I want us heard." she answered quietly, as Umbridge jogged noisily after them.
"You do?" Y/n asked he quietly confused.
"You'll see..." Hermione said.
They walked on for what seemed a long time, until they were once again so deep into the Forest that the dense tree canopy blocked out all light. Y/n had the feeling of being watched by unseen eyes.
"How much further?" demanded Umbridge angrily from behind him.
"Not far now!" shouted Hermione, as they emerged into a dim, dank clearing. "Just a little bit..."
An arrow flew through the air and landed with a menacing thud in the tree just over her head. The air was suddenly full of the sound of hooves, Y/n could feel the Forest floor trembling, Umbridge gave a little scream and pushed Harry in front of her like a shield. But Harry wretched himself free of her.
Y/n pulled Hermione closer to him as around fifty centaurs were emerging on every side, their bows raised and loaded, pointing at Himself, Hermione, Harry and Umbridge. They backed slowly into the centre of the clearing, Umbridge uttering odd little whimpers of terror. Y/n looked sideways at Hermione. She was wearing a triumphant smile.
"Who are you?" said a voice.
Y/n looked left. The chestnut-bodied centaur called Magorian was walking towards them out of the circle, his bow, like those of the others, was raised. On Harry's right, Umbridge was still whimpering, her wand trembling violently as she pointed it at the advancing centaur.
"I asked you who are you, human." said Magorian roughly.
"I am Dolores Umbridge!" said Umbridge in a high-pitched, terrified voice. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!"
"You are from the Ministry of Magic?" said Magorian, as many of the centaurs in the surrounding circle shifted restlessly.
"That's right!" said Umbridge, in an even higher voice. "So be very careful! By the laws laid down by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, any attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human..."
"What did you call us?" shouted a wild-looking black centaur, whom Y/n recognised as Bane. There was a great deal of angry muttering and tightening of bowstrings around them.
"Don't call them that!" Hermione said furiously, but Umbridge did not appear to have heard her.
Still pointing her shaking wand at Magorian, she continued. "Law Fifteen 'B' states clearly that 'any attack by a magical creature who is deemed to have near-human intelligence, and therefore considered responsible for its actions...'"
"'Near-human intelligence'?" repeated Magorian, as Bane and several others roared with rage and pawed the ground. "We consider that a great insult, human! Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own."
"What are you doing in our Forest?" bellowed the hard-faced grey centaur Harry, Y/n and Hermione had seen on their last trip into the Forest. "Why are you here?"
"Your Forest?" said Umbridge, shaking now not only with fright but also, it seemed, with indignation. "I would remind you that you live here only because the Ministry of Magic permits you certain areas of land..."
An arrow flew so close to her head that it caught at her mousy hair in passing: she let out an ear-splitting scream and threw her hands over her head, while some of the centaurs bellowed their approval and others laughed raucously. The sound of their wild, neighing laughter echoing around the dimly lit clearing and the sight of their pawing hooves was extremely unnerving.
"Whose Forest is it now, human?" bellowed Bane.
"Filthy half-breeds!" she screamed, her hands still tight over her head. "Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!"
"Stop it!" shouted Hermione, but it was too late.
Umbridge pointed her wand at Magorian and screamed. "Incarcerous!"
Ropes flew out of midair like thick snakes, wrapping themselves tightly around the centaur's torso and trapping his arms, he gave a cry of rage and reared on to his hind legs, attempting to free himself, while the other centaurs charged.
Y/n grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the ground with him face down on the Forest floor, Harry quickly joined them and they knew a moment of terror as hooves thundered around them, but the centaurs leapt over and around them, bellowing and screaming with rage.
"Nooooo!" Y/n heard Umbridge shriek. "Noooooo!...I am Senior Undersecretary...you cannot...Unhand me, you animals...nooooo!"
Y/n saw a flash of red light and knew she had attempted to Stun one of them, then she screamed very loudly. Lifting their heads a few inches, They saw that Umbridge had been seized from behind by Bane and lifted high into the air, wriggling and yelling with fright. Her wand fell from her hand to the ground.
But as Harry stretched out a hand towards it, a centaur's hoof descended upon the wand and it broke cleanly in half.
"Now!" roared a voice in Y/n's ear and a thick hairy arm descended from thin air and dragged him upright. Hermione, too, had been pulled to her feet. Harry was seized by another arm and pulled up. Over the plunging, many-coloured backs and heads of the centaurs, Y/n saw Umbridge being borne away through the trees by Bane. Screaming non-stop, her voice grew fainter and fainter until they could no longer hear it over the trampling of hooves surrounding them.
"And these?" said the hard-faced, grey centaur holding Hermione.
"They are young." said a slow, doleful voice from behind Harry. "We do not attack foals."
"They brought her here, Ronan." replied the centaur who had such a firm grip on Harry. "And they are not so young...he is nearing manhood, this one as is that one."
"Please." said Hermione breathlessly. "Please, don't attack us, We don't think like her, we aren't Ministry of Magic employees! We only came in here because we hoped you'd drive her off for us."
Y/n knew at once, from the look on the face of the centaur holding him and Hermione, that she had made a terrible mistake in saying this. The grey centaur threw back his head, his back legs stamping furiously, and bellowed. "You see, Ronan? They already have the arrogance of their kind! So we were to do your dirty work, were we, human girl? We were to act as your servants, drive away your enemies like obedient hounds?"
"No!" said Hermione in a horrorstruck squeak. "Please...I didn't mean that! I just hoped you'd be able to...to help us..."
But she seemed to be going from bad to worse.
"We do not help humans!" snarled the centaur holding Harry, tightening his grip and rearing a little at the same time, so that Harry's feet left the ground momentarily. "We are a race apart and proud to be so. We will not permit you to walk from here, boasting that we did your bidding!"
"We do not have those intentions!" Y/n shouted. "Nor did we ever!"
"We know you didn't do what you did because we wanted you to..." Harry began
But nobody seemed to be listening to them.
A bearded centaur towards the back of the crowd shouted. "They came here unasked, they must pay the consequences!"
A roar of approval met these words and a dun-coloured centaur shouted, "They can join the woman!"
"You said you didn't hurt the innocent!" shouted Hermione, real tears sliding down her face now. "We haven't done anything to hurt you, we haven't used wands or threats, we just want to go back to school, please let us go back..."
"We are not all like the traitor Firenze, human girl!" shouted the grey centaur, to more neighing roars of approval from his fellows. "Perhaps you thought us pretty talking horses? We are an ancient people who will not stand wizard invasions and insults! We do not recognise your laws, we do not acknowledge your superiority, we are..."
But they did not hear what else centaurs were, for at that moment there came a crashing noise on the edge of the clearing so loud that all of them, Harry, Y/n, Hermione and the fifty or so centaurs filling the clearing, looked around. The centaur's let them fall to the ground again as hands flew to bows and quivers of arrows. Harry hurried towards Y/n and Hermione as two thick tree trunks parted ominously and the monstrous form of Grawp the giant appeared in the gap.
The centaurs nearest him backed into those behind, the clearing was now a forest of bows and arrows waiting to be fired, all pointing upwards at the enormous greyish face now looming over them from just beneath the thick canopy of branches. Grawp's lopsided mouth was gaping stupidly, they could see his bricklike yellow teeth glimmering in the half-light, his dull sludge-coloured eyes narrowed as he squinted down at the creatures at his feet. Broken ropes trailed from both ankles.
He opened his mouth even wider. "Hagger."
No one knew what 'Hagger' meant, or what language it was from, nor did they much care. Y/n was watching Grawp's feet, which were almost as long as Harry's whole body. Hermione gripped his arm tightly, the centaurs were quite silent, staring up at the giant, whose huge, round head moved from side to side as he continued to peer amongst them as though looking for something he had dropped.
"Hagger!" he said again, more insistently.
"Get away from here, giant!" called Magorian. "You are not welcome among us!"
These words seemed to make no impression whatsoever on Grawp. He stooped a little and the centaurs' arms tensed on their bows, then bellowed. "HAGGER!"
A few of the centaurs looked worried now. Hermione, however, gave a gasp.
"Y/n! Harry!" she whispered. "I think he's trying to say 'Hagrid'!"
At this precise moment Grawp caught sight of them, the only three humans in a sea of centaurs. He lowered his head another foot or so, staring intently at them. Y/n could feel Hermione shaking on his arm as Grawp opened his mouth wide again and said, in a deep, rumbling voice, "Hermy."
"Goodness." said Hermione, gripping Y/n's arm so tightly it was growing numb and looking as though she was about to faint. "He...he remembered!"
"HERMY!" roared Grawp. "WHERE HAGGER?"
"I don't know!" squealed Hermione, terrified. "I'm sorry, Grawp, I don't know!"
"GRAWP WANT HAGGER!" One of the giants massive hands reached down. Hermione let out a real scream and ran a few steps backwards pulling an unsuspecting Y/n with her and the two fell over.
Devoid of a wand, Harry braced himself to punch, kick, bite or whatever else it took as the hand swooped towards him and knocked a snow-white centaur off his legs.
It was what the centaurs had been waiting for...Grawp's outstretched fingers were a foot from Harry when fifty arrows soared through the air at the giant, peppering his enormous face, causing him to howl with pain and rage and straighten up, rubbing his face with his enormous hands, breaking off the arrow shafts but forcing the arrowheads in still deeper.
He yelled and stamped his enormous feet and the centaur, scattered out of the way, pebble-sized droplets of Grawp's blood showered Y/n as he pulled Hermione to her feet and the three of them ran as fast as they could for the shelter of the trees. Once there they looked back, Grawp was snatching blindly at the centaurs as blood ran down his face, they were retreating in disorder, galloping away through the trees on the other side of the clearing. Harry, Y/n and Hermione watched Grawp give another roar of fury and plunge after them, smashing more trees aside as he went.
"Oh no." said Hermione, quaking so badly that her knees gave way. "Oh, that was horrible. And he might kill them all."
"I'm not that fussed, to be honest,' said Harry bitterly.
"For once I am in agreement with you." Y/n said as he crouched down for Hermione to put her hands on his shoulders and he helped her back up.
The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the blundering giant grew fainter and fainter.
"Smart plan." Harry spat at Hermione, sounding furious. "Really smart plan. Where do we go from here?"
"We need to get back up to the castle." said Hermione faintly as she held onto Y/n.
"By the time we've done that, Sirius'll probably be dead!" said Harry, kicking a nearby tree in temper. A high-pitched chattering started up overhead and he looked up to see an angry Bowtruckle flexing its long twiglike fingers at him.
"There is nothing we can do without our wands." Said Y/n.
"Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, we were just wondering that." said a familiar voice from behind her.
Harry, Y/n and Hermione moved together instinctively and peered through the trees.
Ron came into sight, closely followed by Ginny, Neville and Luna. All of them looked a little the worse for wear, there were several long scratches running the length of Ginny's cheek, a large purple lump was swelling above Neville's right eye, Ron's lip was bleeding worse than ever, but all were looking rather pleased with themselves.
"So." said Ron, pushing aside a low-hanging branch and holding out Harry's wand. "Had any ideas?"
"How did you get away?" asked Harry in amazement, taking his wand from Ron.
"That is what I would like to know." Y/n said as Ron held out his wand to him now and he took it. "I owe Atticus a nasty curse when this is all over for catching me off guard with a stunner."
"We used a couple of Stunners ourselves, a Disarming Charm too, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx on Atticus." said Ron airily, now handing back Hermione's wand, too.
"Well done Neville." Y/n said pleased to hear this and Neville just rubbed the back of his head hearing Y/n's praise.
"But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy...Bat Bogey Hex...it was superb, his whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you out of the window heading into the Forest and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"
"She got carried away." said Harry.
"Carried away?" Ginny asked.
"By a herd of centaurs." Y/n clarified.
"And they left you behind?" asked Ginny, looking astonished.
"No, they got chased off by Grawp." said Harry.
"Who's Grawp?" Luna asked interestedly.
"Hagrid's little brother." said Ron promptly. "Anyway, never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or..."
"Yes." said Harry, as his scar gave another painful prickle. "And I'm sure Sirius is still alive, but I can't see how we're going to get there to help him."
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" said Luna, in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice they had ever heard her use.
"Ok." said Harry irritably, rounding on her. "First of all, 'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron's the only one with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so..."
"I've got a broom!" said Ginny.
"Yeah, but you're not coming." said Ron angrily.
"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!" said Ginny, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly striking.
"You're too..." Harry began.
"I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Philosophers Stone, and it's because of me that Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office with giant flying bogies attacking him..." Ginny said fiercely.
"Yeah, but..."
"We were all in the DA together." said Neville quietly. "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real...or was that all just a game or something?"
"No...of course it wasn't..." said Harry impatiently.
"Then we should come too." said Neville simply. "We want to help."
"That's right." said Luna, smiling happily.
"This is not a game." Y/n spoke up now and they looked at him. "This is not the same as the DA, if we make mistakes tonight there are no retries, no 'go and practice some more next week.' If we fail it could cost us our lives... so do not make your decisions half-heartedly." Y/n warned them.
"Well, it doesn't matter, anyway." said Harry through gritted teeth. "Because we still don't know how to get there..."
"I thought we'd settled that." said Luna maddeningly. "We're flying!"
"Look." said Ron, barely containing his anger. "You might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we..."
"There are ways of flying other than with broomsticks." said Luna serenely.
"I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?" Ron demanded.
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly." said Luna in a dignified voice. "But they can, and Hagrid says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."
Y/n whirled round. Standing between two trees, their white eyes gleaming eerily, were two Thestrals, watching the whispered conversation as though they understood every word.
"Oh! Yes, those would work very well indeed!" he whispered, moving towards them. They tossed their reptilian heads, throwing back long black manes.
Harry followed Y/n and stretched out his hand eagerly and patted the nearest one's shining neck, how could he ever have thought them ugly?
"Is it those mad horse things?" said Ron uncertainly, staring at a point slightly to the left of the Thestral Harry was patting. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"
"Thestrals Ron." Y/n told him. "And yes they are here. However that does raise a question. You are able to see them Luna?"
"Since I was nine." Luna said.
"I am deeply sorry for your loss." Y/n bowed his head respectfully to her.
"Thank you Y/n Grindelwald." Luna said and looked at the Thestrals again now.
"How many are there?" Ron asked.
"Just two." Harry said.
"Well, we need four." said Hermione, who was still looking a little shaken, but determined just the same.
"Three." Y/n said and he turned to face Hermione. "You will ride with me, You are not the best at flying I am afraid and we need to be quick."
Hermione just nodded not arguing with him.
"Four, Y/n." said Ginny, scowling.
"I think we will need six, actually." said Luna calmly, counting.
"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" said Harry angrily. "Look, you three..." he pointed at Neville, Ginny and Luna. You're not involved in this, you're not..."
They burst into more protests. His scar gave another, more painful, twinge. Every moment they delayed was precious, he did not have time to argue.
"Ok, fine, it's your choice." he said curtly. "But unless we can find more Thestrals you're not going to be able..."
"Oh, more of them will come." said Ginny confidently, who like Ron was squinting in quite the wrong direction, apparently under the impression that she was looking at the horses.
"What makes you think that?" Harry asked.
Because, in case you hadn't noticed, you, Y/n and Hermione are both covered in blood." she said coolly. "And we know Hagrid lures Thestrals with raw meat. That's probably why these two turned up in the first place."
Y/n felt a soft tug on his robes at that moment and looked down to see the closest Thestral licking his sleeve, which was damp with Grawp's blood.
"Ok, then." Harry said. "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead, Y/n and Hermione can stay here with you three and they'll attract more Thestrals..."
"We're not staying behind!" said Hermione furiously.
"There's no need." said Luna, smiling. "Look, here come more now...you three must really smell..."
Harry turned, no fewer than five or six Thestrals were picking their way through the trees, their great leathery wings folded tight to their bodies, their eyes gleaming through the darkness. He had no excuse now.
"All right." he said angrily. "Pick one and get on, then."