"I got fired, pup. I have to leave the castle tonight," Remus told Harry who frowned.
"What? No, you can stay here. Dumbledore will let you stay. He let Trelawney stay," Harry said. Remus walked around the desk and sat in the chair beside Harry.
"I'm sorry, pup. I can't stay here. I have to pack my things then I'll be going back to number twelve," Remus told the teen.
"Maybe Umbridge will disappear or something and you can come back," Harry stated.
"Don't do anything. You should get down to lunch. I'll see you later," Remus lightly pushed Harry to the door.
"Okay. Bye, Remus," Harry sighed and went down to lunch.
As Harry walked to Gryffindor table, Ginny just finished telling Ron and Hermione about how she and Harry had begun to date.
"Hi, Harry. I was just telling—what's wrong?" Ginny said as Harry sat down.
"Umbridge fired Remus. He has to leave the castle tonight," Harry stated, eating an apple.
"Oh no. I'm so sorry, Harry," Ginny kissed his cheek as Ron and Hermione looked at him sadly. They sat in silence for a while before Hermione spoke.
"Harry, Ron and I had been telling Ginny about how we're attempting to do what it is we're doing," Hermione spoke and Harry looked up. Since the end of the previous year, the trio had begun to try and become Animagi. It had been quite a few months and they hadn't gotten anywhere. "I was thinking we should try again. We could go into the Room of Requirement and do it," Hermione added.
"Yeah, definitely. Tomorrow after the Hogsmeade visit," Harry nodded.
That evening after six, Sirius had come to Hogwarts to help Remus. Harry walked from the Great Hall up to Remus' office. He knocked on the open door.
"Hey, Harry," Remus smiled as the teen walked into the almost empty office.
"So, who's taking over for you?" Harry asked as he put his hands in his pockets.
"Do you really want to know?" Sirius asked.
"I kind of need to know and I'm not in the mood to be surprised on Monday," Harry nodded.
"Umbridge is taking over," Sirius and Remus watched Harry's mouth drop open.
"You've got to be joking!" Harry cried but when his uncles shook their heads, the teen groaned loudly. "Well, it seems the year can't get worse," Harry sighed even thought they all knew it wasn't true.
"Well, this is the last of my stuff. See you, Harry," Remus hugged Harry and ruffled his hair.
"See you," Harry said and watched his guardians Floo back to Grimmauld Place. The Gryffindor gazed around the office sadly then slowly walked back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Remus is gone and Umbridge is taking over the Defence post," Harry collapsed into chair with Ginny who had been playing chess with Ron as Hermione watched them.
"You're kidding?" Hermione said incredulously, but Harry shook his head sighing.
"Nope, Sirius and Remus just told me," Harry replied.
"Checkmate," Ginny said and left Ron to wonder how she beat him. "Since we've hardly talked since lunch, Hermione and Ron told me that the three of you are trying to become Animagi. How far along are you?" Ginny leaned into her new boyfriend as he put an arm around her.
"I think we almost have it. We all have the incantation part but now we just need to learn the other half. Don't know what it is yet," Harry answered. "Hey, want to do it with us?" Harry added.
"Yeah, you wanna?" Ron asked.
"You bet I do," Ginny replied happily.
"This is great. We definitely have to do it tomorrow," Hermione smiled.
"I wonder what our forms will be," Ron wondered aloud and the others dove into their own thoughts.
The next day, it was a very cold, windy, and snowy day. All the students going to Hogsmeade that day, dressed in scarves, hats, mitts, and jackets.
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks. It's freezing out here," Ginny said as they all shielded their faces from the violent wind.
"Good idea," Ron said and the four Gryffindors walked into the pub. They sighed in relief as the warmth entered their bodies and they sat down. When the owner, Madam Rosemerta, walked over to them, they all ordered butterbeers.
"You know, if it wasn't freezing outside, this would have been a brilliant visit," Harry chuckled and Ginny slapped his arm. "What'd I do?" Harry rubbed his arm. For about fifteen minutes, the four students sat in the pub, talking and drinking butterbeer. Just as they were going to order another round of drinks, screams sounded out and the 4 teenagers looked out the window to see all the students running and screaming.
"What the hell?" Ron breathed and they all took their wands out, running out of the pub. When they looked around, they didn't see anything so Harry stopped Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked.
"Death Eaters! Down by Zonko's and Honeydukes! They're setting everything on fire and stunning everyone near them!" Dean cried and began running up to Hogwarts again with Seamus and everyone else.
"You lot, go back to the castle and call Sirius or Remus. They'll get Aurors. I'm going to go," Harry told his friends.
"Harry, you are not fighting off over twenty Death Eaters alone. We're coming," Ron stated, still gripping his wand.
"I need someone to call them though," Harry said.
"I'll go. You, Ron, and Hermione go down there. I'll be back," Ginny stated and ran off towards the castle.
"Let's go," Harry said to his friends who nodded and they ran to where the Death Eaters were. When they got there, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around in horror as fire blazed off some buildings. "Look around, revive anyone you find unconscious. I'll start with the Death Eaters," Harry instructed and his friends went in different directions. Harry snuck behind a burning building and carefully searched for Death Eaters.
"Gotcha," Harry whispered when he saw a group of Death Eaters walking through Hogsmeade and towards Hogwarts. He jumped out from his hiding place and the group turned around. "You miss me?" he smirked.
"Stupefy!" a Death Eater, the sounded like Bellatrix, cried.
"Protego!" Harry shouted.
"Expelliarmus!" the spell missed.
"Reducto!" Harry's spell just skimmed the mask of one of the Death Eaters, making the mask fly off and reveal Lucius Malfoy.
"Impedimenta!" Bellatrix yelled but it missed.
"Conjunctivitis!" Harry cried but also missed.
"Cru—" Summer began but stopped when someone sent a stunning curse.
"Stupefy!" Ron yelled, stunning McNair. Lucius and Bellatrix turned around, spotting Hermione and Ron.
"Stupefy!" Lucius shouted and Ron fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Stupefy!" Bellatrix also cried and the spell hit Hermione. They turned back around and they rounded on Harry.
"Expelliarmus!" Bellatrix smirked and Harry's wand flew into her hands. She threw it aside and Harry's eyes grew wide.
"Seems you can't do much anymore, Potter," Lucius said coldly.
"Crucio!" Summer yelled. Harry fell to the ground, writhing and screaming in pain. After a few seconds, Harry began to taste blood. He didn't know how long he was under the curse, but after forty-five seconds he saw nothing but black.
"Wait, she fired you for being a werewolf even though you're not?" Kingsley repeated. Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Remus, and Sirius were all sitting in the living room, sipping coffee and butterbeer.
"Yep," Remus nodded.
"Git. Hey, maybe you could get a job at the Ministry," Tonks said.
"I don't think—Ginny?" Remus looked at the fireplace where Ginny's face had appeared.
"What's going on?" Sirius asked.
"Attack. Hogsmeade. Death Eaters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione," Ginny said quickly and everyone stood up.
"We'll be right there," Remus stated and Ginny disappeared.
"Moody, get Rogers and Evans and come to Hogsmeade. We'll see you there," Sirius told Moody then ran outside with Kingsley, Tonks, and Remus and Disapparated to Hogsmeade.
When they got there, Sirius and the others saw a couple students running down the path. As they got closer, Sirius and Remus realized the students were Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood.
"Where's Harry and his friends?" Sirius asked Cho who was crying. She pointed down the road where some buildings were still burning and there was a group of wizards crowded around a shape on the ground. The student began screaming and twisting on the ground.
"Come on," they all got their wands out and ran down the road.
"Stupefy!" Sirius yelled. His spell missed and all the Death Eaters turned around. Sirius saw Lucius and Bellatrix quickly disappear and saw Summer smirk before disappearing with a pop as well. Sirius and Remus ran with the others over to where the Death Eaters had been to see three unconscious people on the ground.
"Harry's missing his wand," Tonks said when she knelt beside the boy. Remus frowned and looked around until he saw a stick in the snow.
"Found it. We should get them up to the castle," Remus pocketed the wand. They conjured stretchers and brought the teens up to the hospital wing.
When the wizards had gotten into the hospital wing, Dumbledore was there talking with Madam Pomfrey, who guided the unconscious students to some beds. After checking them over, the nurse told them that Ron and Hermione were just stunned, but Harry had been held under the Cruciatus Curse for two minutes.
"I'll stay here with Harry. Remus, you go with Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Evans, and Rogers to Hogsmeade. Put out the fires and start rebuilding the shops," Sirius told Remus and his Aurors. Remus nodded, kissed Harry's forehead, and then followed the others to the village.
Sirius sighed and sat beside Harry's bed, taking the teen's hand. He looked at Harry's pale face and pushed hair out of his face. His godson was deathly pale, sweating, and breathing fast.
Then Harry coughed and moaned as his eyes fluttered open. "Sirius—" he muttered.
"Hey. You okay?" Sirius said quietly, putting a hand through the boy's hair.
"Headache," Harry said shortly. "Sirius…Summer…torture," the teen choked.
"I know. It's all right," Sirius gripped Harry's hand tighter which gripped back.
"Wait, where are Ron and 'Mione?" Harry suddenly said, starting to sit up but Sirius pushed him back.
"Stay down. Madam Pomfrey will have my head if I let you sit up," Sirius replied and Harry smiled weakly. "Anyways, Hermione and Ron are fine. They're here. They only got Stunned. They're getting released tomorrow morning. You have to stay for a couple days," Sirius told the teen who relaxed.
"Where's Remus?" Harry asked.
"He went back to Hogsmeade with the Aurors. He's helping to put out the fires and to rebuild the buildings," the Head Auror told his nephew. "You should get back to sleep. Remus will be by later. Take this," Sirius gave Harry a Sleeping Potion from the end table. Harry drained the potion and was asleep in seconds. Sirius sighed again, sat back in his chair, and also fell asleep.
The next morning, Harry woke up when he heard voices around him.
"How many were caught?" he heard Ron ask.
"Unfortunately only one. We only got McNair, but that's because he was Stunned," Remus answered.
"Did you get all the buildings rebuilt?" Sirius wondered.
"There were five on fire. We got them all rebuilt except one. We couldn't rebuild The Hog's Head. It's completely gone," Tonks replied.
"That's not a total loss. At least it wasn't Zonko's, Honeydukes, or the Three Broomsticks," Hermione stated.
"If the Three Broomsticks was gone, Sirius would go mad," Harry said, making everyone turn and he sat up.
"Hey there, pup. Are you all right?" Remus smiled as they all went to Harry's bed.
"Still have a headache. Did anyone get really hurt? Besides me," he added quickly.
"No, just you. Ron and Hermione only got stunned, as Sirius told you last night. Ron and Hermione said they revived almost fifteen students who had been Stunned," Kingsley answered.
"Harry, one question. What the hell were you doing?" Sirius cried.
"What?" Harry frowned.
"You could have gotten killed! You were in the middle of over twenty Death Eaters…alone! Why didn't you go back to the school?" Sirius shouted.
"I couldn't just leave. There were students unconscious, buildings on fire. I couldn't let them destroy the village then try and destroy Hogwarts," Harry told them.
"So, you would have rather risked your life instead of going where Dumbledore could have protected you?" Remus furrowed his eyebrows. Harry didn't answer.
"Kingsley, go to the Ministry with the others and try and get something out of McNair. Ron and Hermione, go down to breakfast." Sirius told the others in the hospital wing. When they were all gone, Sirius turned back to Harry and Remus.
"Now what do we do?" Sirius sighed.
"About what?" Harry frowned again.
"Harry, we need you to stay inside Hogwarts. We can't have you, Hermione, and Ron running around outside where you can get hurt or killed. Now, we can't stop Ron or Hermione, but Molly will deal with them. Harry, we need you to promise us that you will not leave the Hogwarts grounds," Remus said. Harry looked both his guardians in the eye and nodded.
"I promise," he nodded, crossing his fingers under the blankets.
"Thank you," Sirius smiled, putting a hand through the boy's hair. "We're only doing this because we love you and we don't want anything to happen to you," he added and Harry nodded, smiling at them both.
He just had to go and say that, Harry inwardly groaned.
The next day around lunch, Harry convinced Madam Pomfrey to release him early and he walked to the Great Hall.
"Hey, Harry. How are you?" Ginny smiled and kissed her boyfriend's cheek.
"All right. Finally convinced Pomfrey to let me go early," Harry answered as he began to eat.
"So, when should we try the Animagus thing again?" Ron asked.
"How about tonight?" Harry suggested.
"How? We'd have to go out after hours—oh—" Hermione grinned as she caught on when Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly. We'll use the map and my Invisibility Cloak Me, Ron, and Hermione will have to go first, then I'll come back to the common room and get Ginny," Harry replied.
"Perfect," Ron grinned.
"Ron, stop stepping on me," Hermione hissed.
"Well, walk faster," Ron snapped.
"Shut up. We're almost there," Harry whispered to his friends angrily. They walked down a corridor then stopped when a door appeared.
"Okay, I'll be right back with Ginny," Harry told Ron and Hermione and left to get Ginny.
"Did you get anything out of McNair, Padfoot?" Remus asked, handing a butterbeer to Sirius.
"Nope and we didn't have any Veritaserum," Sirius sighed. Just as Remus was going to speak, an owl landed on Sirius' knee. "Gotta go. He's suddenly decided to talk. See you later, Moony," Sirius walked to the fire and Flooed to the Ministry. Remus ran a hand through his hair tiredly and headed off to bed.
"So, Ginny, you have the incantation part, right?" Harry asked.
"Yep. I'm at the same point as you three now," Ginny nodded.
"Okay, now the book says you have to relax, close your eyes, and imagine the place you're most comfortable," Hermione read. Harry shut his eyes and imagined sitting with Sirius and Remus on either side of him. He kept the image in his head and began to feel himself shrinking.
"Wow," Hermione and Ginny gasped.
"Bloody hell, Harry. You did it!" Ron grinned excitedly. Ginny summoned a mirror and Harry looked into it. He had grown black feathers and had a little spot of grey on his forehead
"You're a raven!" Ginny laughed as Harry transformed back to human.
"Awesome. Your guys' turn." Harry smiled and watched his friends. After an hour they all had succeeded in transforming. Ron had taken longer than the others, but in the end, had managed it. Ginny was a fox, Ron was a dog, and Hermione was an owl.
"We did it!" Ron exclaimed happily.
"Come on. We should go. It's already midnight," Hermione said and the others agreed. Harry opened the Marauder's Map and looked for anyone who could catch them.
"It's clear. Let's go," Harry told them. They cautiously opened the door then walked slowly to Gryffindor Tower. As they were walking, Harry saw Remus' name with Dumbledore's in the headmaster's office.
Why is Remus here? He wondered silently. He moved his eyes from his uncle's name and looked around for Filch or other professors.
"I know you don't work for the Ministry but I want you to help with something that just happened," Dumbledore told Remus who frowned.
"What happened?" Remus asked.
"There's been an attack on St. Mungo's," Dumbledore said gravely. Remus sighed and nodded.
"Let's go," Remus and Dumbledore walked to the fire and Flooed to St. Mungo's.