*Knock-knock*
"You may come in."
Lupin entered.
Dumbledore stopped his pacing and sat behind his desk.
… He was frowning.
"Thank you for coming, Remus."
"I assume this is about Danny," Lupin sat in the chair Dumbledore provided him.
Dumbledore nodded, his eyebrows furrowing.
"I've given much thought to what you've told me about him. You claim the phantasm is… friendly. However, you also acknowledge that phantasms survive-" his tone darkened "-off of eating souls."
"Yes. That's what Danny told me. However, Danny eats substitute souls…"
Lupin trailed off. Dumbledore was nodding.
"... I… understand your sympathies for the boy. And I agreed not to pursue him. However."
Dumbledore's eyes seemed to actually burn.
"Unlike a werewolf… a phantasm is a continual threat to my students' safety. What if he were to run out of these 'substitutes,' for example? Would he hunt the dementors and break our tenuous peace with them? Eat the Hogwarts' Ghosts?"
Lupin didn't have an answer for him.
"And as you have said yourself, this is the first - the only - time we know of that anyone has had a remotely civil interaction with a phantasm. I trust your judgement that the boy does not MEAN us any harm. But we have no way of knowing that that will last."
They sat in silence for a while.
Dumbledore sighed. He looked pained.
"... I'm sorry, Remus. I won't attack the boy.
"But I cannot allow him to remain here unsupervised."
...
Few things felt better than floating lazily through the air on a warm Spring night. Danny felt sorry for the humans: stuck inside, having to study for exams. When the weather was just turning warm…
Not that he was able to completely relax. His meal trips for Sirius and 2nd-Hermione took up a bit of time. But on the whole… Danny was actually getting bored again.
… As in, REALLY bored! Which was NOT something he thought he'd be when he first arrived at this crazy school. But he'd explored every inch of it! Or, he thought so, anyway; the place was practically a maze. But if there was any part he'd missed, he'd have to congratulate whoever built or hid it (if he ever met them).
Because of that boredom, though, Danny resorted to something he never thought he would: He had started studying school subjects for fun. Which, granted, magic subjects were inherently more entertaining, but the textbooks were still somehow just as boring to read as normal ones! The two subjects that interested him most were Astronomy (of course) and History of Magic. (The teacher of that class - aside from being a ghost? - was still extremely boring, but the history itself was actually pretty neat.)
He also started visiting Buckbeak to get the hippogriff more comfortable around his presence, just in case the appeal didn't work out.
The chances of which were… pretty good, if Draco's returned good mood was anything to go by. Turns out the bully's father really was influential, and he certainly didn't keep it a secret that the creature's execution would be because of that influence. In fact, he seemed pleased by it.
Danny had gotten tired of pranking Draco himself, but the boy's attitude about Buckbeak grated on his nerves so much that he bribed Peeves (with some items from the Hogsmeade joke shop) to do it for him.
… It worked… for… a few days, anyway. ...Which was pretty good concentration, for a poltergeist.
When a letter arrived saying that an executioner would be attending the appeal, Danny took that as a sign that his plan would probably have to be used, after all. He made sure there was a space ready for the creature in the big room under the castle (called the "Chamber of Secrets," he found out from Hermione), destroying the basilisk carcass and making a nest for him. He hoped the trip through the ground and walls wouldn't freak Buckbeak out too much when the time came…
But really. An executioner? To an appeal? For the "crime" of scratching a kid's arm?!
It was like this "Ministry of Magic" WANTED him to hate them!
The Trio, oddly enough, actually seemed to think their chances of winning the appeal were pretty good. He wished he could share their optimism. They were visiting Hagrid almost every evening at this point - using Harry's invisibility cloak, of course. If nothing else, the company and constant reassurance was keeping Hagrid's spirits up.
The appeal took place the same day of the students' last exams. Which meant that they wouldn't find out the ruling until after they had finished.
Or, in Danny's case, that he had to keep one eye on Hagrid's hut during the Divination exam. He would have just floated next to the hippogriff for the whole day, waiting to make their escape, but…
It was just too tempting!
He actually sat in on two other, earlier, exams: The Astronomy test, to see how he compared. (He might not actually have been able to take it - but he was proud to say that, if he could've, he would have gotten "top marks!") And the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam - because it was a magical obstacle course, which… it was just FAR too entertaining to pass up watching!
But he didn't watch the Divination exam for the entertainment value. He needed to know whether it was actually possible for humans (magical or not) to see into the future. Because if they could… it meant that the Observants - Clockwork's bosses - weren't the only ones with that power.
He wasn't sure how, but he thought that might be useful information, in the future…
But, uh… The answer seemed to be a resounding "no."
Every student that came up to tell her what they saw in the crystal ball… A few of them took it seriously, but most seemed to just be making stuff up. And the teacher, "Trelawney"… was falling for the stories hook, line, and sinker!
Danny stayed until the last student ONLY because it was Harry. Who, indeed, did what everyone else did and made something up.
"Well? What do you see?" prompted Trelawney, dressed in her usual ridiculous beads, bangles, and spangled shawl - looking like a glittery insect with her giant, thick glasses.
"Er - a dark shape… um…"
"What does it resemble? Think, now…"
"A hippogriff."
"Indeed!" She scribbled something on her parchment. "My boy, you may well be seeing the outcome of poor Hagrid's trouble with the Ministry of Magic! Look closer… Does the hippogriff appear to… have its head?"
"Yes," Harry stated firmly.
"Are you sure? Are you quite sure, dear? You don't see it writhing on the ground, perhaps, and a shadowy figure raising an axe behind it?"
"No!"
'What the heck is with this teacher? She's been leading the students into "making" these doom-ridden predictions the ENTIRE exam!'
"No blood? No weeping Hagrid?"
"No! It looks fine, it's - flying away…"
'C'mon, Harry. I know you want Buckbeak to be fine, but if you're going to make something up to pass, make something up that will, y'know - get her to pass you.'
But the teacher sighed and said, "Well, dear, I think we'll have to leave it there. ...A little disappointing,"
'Really, though? Are ALL predictions bad? Can't the Universe give GOOD visions?! What kind of "prophet" ARE you?!'
"... but I'm sure you did your best."
Harry packed up and turned to leave, Danny about to phase out through the wall, when-
"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."
Danny reeled around, almost attacking her - The lady's voice had become loud and harsh, and her body had gone rigid. Her eyes were unfocused, and her mouth sagged. But as soon as Danny realized what was going on - he paid extra close attention!
"THE DARK LORD LIES DORMANT, TRAPPED BEHIND LIGHTNING. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE DUSK… THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND RELEASE HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, BRINGING TERROR WITH HIS LIGHTNING PRISON. TONIGHT… BEFORE DUSK… THE SERVANT… WILL RELEASE… HIS MASTER…"
Trelawney's head fell onto her chest, then snapped back up, and like that - it was over. Harry tried to get some kind of explanation from her, but she didn't seem to remember what had just happened. And Danny was inclined to believe she wasn't faking it, because during that little episode…
She had been radiating time aura.
… Also, it was just the kind of vague, unhelpful wording the old Stopwatch LOVED to use when giving any hint or warning.
Because, really? "Trapped inside lightning"? "Release his master"? How was that helpful?!
'Well…' Danny tried to decode the message on his way to Hagrid's hut. 'I guess this means my vacation is over. "Lightning prison"...
'That probably means Harry. The "servant" MIGHT be Pettigrew…?'
Deciding it would be better to keep a closer eye on Harry for the night, Danny turned around. If he had learned anything from his training under the Master of Time, then he knew that prophecies were meant to be broken!
But when he got to the Gryffindor common room, it was to see the Trio headed out with grim looks on their faces.
He whispered to Hermione (who was used to him appearing at her ear), "What's going on?"
"Buckbeak lost the appeal," she whispered.
He followed them down to the hut.
'I have a bad feeling about this, but… No point trying to change things until I know what to change…'
Hagrid was trembling and pale when he answered the door.
"It's us," Harry hissed. "We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off!"
"Yeh shouldn've come!" But he let them in, anyway. Rifling through his cupboards, he asked, "Wan' some tea?"
"Where's Buckbeak, Hagrid?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"I - I took him outside." His hands were trembling as he poured, spilling milk all over the table. "He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an' - an' smell the fresh air - before -"
The milk jug slipped from his trembling hands and shattered on the floor.
"I'll do it, Hagrid," Hermione offered, moving to clean up the mess.
"There's another one in the cupboard," he said, sitting himself down in one of his giant chairs.
While Hermione cleaned, Danny decided to help in the little way he could. He couldn't steal Buckbeak away just yet - he needed the officials to see it was him, or they might - no. Or they WOULD just accuse Hagrid of hiding/freeing the creature. So for now, all Danny could do was find the spare milk jug in the cupboard.
But when he looked-
There, hiding inside an empty jug - in a place NONE of them would've thought to look (the man's specialty, it seemed)...
Was the rat form of Peter Pettigrew.
'Knew I had a bad feeling!'
Danny snatched him, quickly phasing outside so that no one could hear his squeaking.
"Don't even think about it," he growled to the invisible, writhing rat in his hand. It just writhed harder. "If you keep squirming…" He let his hand get colder and colder, "I'll just have to freeze you in place."
The squirming stopped, but the rat still trembled.
Danny heard voices. It was Dumbledore, a couple older men (one of whom he recognized as the Minister) - and a man with an axe.
'Oh, great…' He would have to steal Buckbeak AND keep hold of Pettigrew, now. Danny took a deep breath. 'Okay. I can do this. We have a plan… Please stick to the plan, guys…!'
They did. He heard the backdoor of the hut open, and the Trio's footsteps quickly moved to a place farther away from the hut.
The officials were almost there. Dumbledore's presence made Danny a little nervous, but…
No time.
He turned visible with a roar. The four wizards jumped, drawing their wands, and Hagrid stumbled out of his hut.
Once he had their attention, Danny wasted no time in freeing Buckbeak. He burnt the rope tethering him to the pumpkin patch, grabbed the hippogriff around the neck, and was just spreading his energy into him to turn them both intangible when-
- Dumbledore snapped out of his shock.
"Irretio idolon!"
It was just like he remembered - though the memory was fuzzy.
Except he noticed something about the spell he didn't have the chance to last time.
He wasn't holding anything last time.
It wasn't just as though he were trapped in a net - he was trapped in a net that kept him from touching anything else.
Which meant he was forced to let go of Buckbeak…
And Pettigrew.
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