21
Sarah POV
The only noise in the room was Malfoy giggling, unable to stop. Finally Flint and Snape came. I tried not to let any relief show when I heard Snape say that he didn't have anymore Veritasereum. That would keep all of Harry's secrets safe- I knew he'd never tell Umbridge anything under his own steam. Suddenly, Harry shouted something at Snape before he left, something about Padfoot (Sirius) and the place where it was hidden. And then I remembered that Snape was a member of the Order. But when I thought harder, that also meant that Harry hadn't found Sirius or any Order members…
I froze when Hermione said she'd tell the truth, considering getting up and hexing. I couldn't believe Hermione would turn on us; but when she said we were trying to contact Dumbledore, I realized that it was a trick. Hermione, Umbridge and Harry left to go see the 'weapon', giving me the perfect chance to act now that Umbridge was gone. "Would someone shut him up?" Flint snarled, breaking the silence as Malfoy kept giggling. "What curse was it?" He barked, presumably to Malfoy. Malfoy just gasped and giggled, barely able to breathe he was laughing so hard. Flint swore and I heard him start to pace. Making myself respond, I cracked open my eyes just a little, trying to see. The door was open, and standing around the walls were members of the Inquisitorial Squad and their captives, Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville. Luckily, all of them were pushed against the wall, and the Inquisitors were in front of them, giving me clear shots. However, I couldn't see Flint anywhere. Throwing caution to the wind, I sat up as fast as I could and started Stunning. I got all of the Inquisitors and then something kicked me hard in the ribs, in the same spot as before, bowling me aside and sending my wand flying under Umbridge's flipped desk. I rolled over and saw Flint standing over me, raising his wand. I tensed as he went to cast his spell- then he was howling as what looked like guano with flapping wings spread out over his face; a Bat Boogey Hex. He bolted but ran into a desk, his hands flapping uselessly by his face. Ron ripped off his gag and dug his wand out of his Inquisitor's pocket before coming over and giving me a hand. I hissed and threw out an arm to support myself on Umbridge's desk, feeling my ribs sear with pain where Flint kicked me. That was twice in the same spot- and it hurt like hell. I rubbed blood off my neck and gingerly felt the gash on the back of my head from Flint. It wasn't too big, but it had bled like crazy.
"Nice one," Ron panted, digging out my wand and handing it to me. I took it and lifted my shirt with a wince. My whole side was slowly turning purple and black. "You ok?" He asked, and I dropped my shirt, standing up straight with a nod.
"Then let's go rescue Harry and Hermione." Ginny said, sounding very satisfied, watching Flint slide down a wall, still whimpering at his face.
"Finite," I said, after taking a deep breath, and Malfoy stopped laughing, but hung over his desk, still gasping for air. "Come on," I said, looking at him only with contempt. We ran out of Umbridge's office then, and through the school.
"Where do we go?" Neville panted as I went down the staircase, already putting together what Hermione had done.
"Grawp. The Forbidden Forest," I huffed, my ribs on fire. Ron got it, and ushered everyone after me. I full out sprinted down the grounds, towards Hagrid's Hut, trying to remember the way to Grawp. I paused for a second by his hut, and the others caught up.
"You know the way, right?" Ron asked, and I hesitated, then took the right path into the forest. We walked for awhile, then I threw up a hand, listening. Out of the gloom, I thought I heard Harry shout something angrily. I motioned everyone towards it. "Hiya, Harry." Ron smirked as we stepped up behind them and he whirled along with Hermione.
"How'd you get away?" Hermione gasped, raking an eye over all of us. I had a hand on my ribs, trying to breathe, Ron had a split lip, Neville's neck was still bright red, and Ginny's hair was wild. Luna, however, was still perfect, having done nothing at all.
"Sarah wasn't knocked out and then she Stunned most of em', but then Ginny did a great Bat Boogey Hex, Flint had giant flapping things all over his face, it was awesome." Ron chuckled, handing Harry and Hermione their wands. It was then that I noticed, Harry and Hermione were covered in blood.
"What happened to you two?" I breathed, dropping my hand from my ribs.
"Grawp, some centaurs and Umbridge, there's no time to explain. We have to get to London." Harry said quickly, running a hand through his hair again, starting to pace.
"We'll fly," Luna said in such a matter of fact voice I nearly laughed.
"We don't all have brooms, and we don't have time to go back to the castle." Harry snapped.
"There are other ways of flying. Like, Thestrals, for instance." Luna said dreamily, looking past Harry, who whirled, then started petting something I couldn't see.
"Of course! But there are only two, and we'll need three-"
"Excuse me?" I asked at the same time as Ginny.
"Don't be stupid, you can't all go. This is going to be dangerous!" Harry insisted.
"I thought the D.A. was about doing something real." Neville spoke up. "We want to help." Harry threw a look at Ron and Hermione, then winced and touched his scar.
"Fine, pick one and get on," he said irritably. Luna gracefully climbed up and sat in midair, and Harry mounted one too, but the rest of us stood there, confused.
"Oh, you can't see them! Here," Luna slid down off her Thestral and pulled me over to something, then made a pocket with her hands. "Climb up," she insisted. I took a deep breath, and put my shoe in her hands. She tossed me up, and I felt myself fall against a horse. My hands were shaking again as I pulled myself on, grasping my wand tight, my hand still bandaged, but it was throbbing now, not itching. Luna helped everyone up, then Harry gave his Thestral directions. Seconds later, without warning, I was suddenly gaining altitude, holding tight to something I couldn't see, going much too fast. The ride seemed to take forever, and as the sky darkened, it got colder until I was fighting down shivers. I tried healing my ribs on the way, and it vanished some of the pain, but the bruise remained. Eventually, London came into view, and we touched down after a few more minutes. Trembling, I slid off my Thestral and weakly patted its shoulder, looking around. Harry was striding determinedly towards a phone booth, calling for us to follow him. I left my Thestral and somehow crammed in to the box with everyone else, and Neville dialed '62442'. Slowly, the phone booth descended, and a golden light hit our feet. As the box rose, I raised my wand, squinting into the light. But as we ground to a halt, we found that the Atrium was empty.
"Come on," Harry called, going towards a lift and opening the doors. Everyone got inside, and he pushed the button for floor nine. We rode up in silence, then Harry sprinted down the hallway and to a plain black door. "Through here." Was all he said, and we stepped inside a perfectly circular room, lined with doors. It was dark, minus candelabras on the walls that held blue candles that gave off an eerie blue light. When Ginny closed the door behind us, the room began to spin, so fast that I had to close my eyes. When it stopped, we had no idea where we came in or where to go. Harry chose a door and we went after him. I went last, wand raised and lit, listening intently. I was on a new adrenaline rush, and I felt like someone was waiting behind every corner, ready to hex us all. I had to admit that this place scared the crap out of me. With lots of dark corners, strange rooms and twisting passages, anyone could be waiting for us. The first room had nothing but a long hall, lots of doors, and a disgusting tank full of brains. Before we let that door close, going back to the circular room, I marked it with a bright red 'X' to keep us from trying doors again and again. The second room was low, with huge stone steps going downward to a huge stone dais in the center. On it was an old archway, with a thin veil slightly moving, even though there was no breeze. I felt goose-bumps rise on my arms at the sight of it. Instantly, I started to feel hopeless and depressed.
"I don't like this," I said, my voice sharp as Luna and Harry walked closer, mesmerized.
"There are voices," Luna said dreamily, and it was hard to tell if she was in a trance or if she was being her normal self.
"Come away, come on," Hermione said, her voice high and shrill, and pulled Harry away, who blinked several times once he wasn't looking at the arch. As we went back to the circular room, I marked the door, and then the next one that we couldn't even open. However, the next door we tried, Harry got excited about.
"This is it!" He almost shouted, walking briskly down the hall we were in. Twinkling lights seemed to be coming from nowhere at all, and shelves lined the walls, filled with curious artifacts. Now that we were away from the arch, I felt nervous again. Harry opened a door at the end of the hall, and we stepped inside the new room. It was dark, minus the blue lights from our wands and a huge dusty chandelier that made minimal golden light. "It's row ninety-seven, this way!" He called, dashing down, past rows and rows of shelving that held only dusty, spun-glass spheres. All of them were surprisingly dark, and tags hung off of each one with names printed on them in fading ink. When we reached ninety-seven, Harry was standing oddly still, looking at a spot on the floor. "He-He should be here." He said, his voice shockingly quiet compared to the shouting he had been doing for the past four hours. Instantly, hairs stood up on the back of my neck.
"Then we shouldn't be here." I said anxiously, looking over my shoulder, feeling my hand tremble again. I tightened my grip, afraid that the bandage would make my hand slip.
"Harry, have you seen this?" Ron said suddenly, walking over to one of the shelves, looking at one of the spheres. "Your name is on it…"