Chapter Twenty-Four: June 9, 1994, Hogwarts
We all walked down to the grounds together, a rather eclectic group. Hermione was holding up Neville as Sirius and Harry lead the group. Every time Pettigrew got close to me I flinched away in disgust.
"You just keep yourself as far away from me as possible," I hissed at him, "I don't want your filth."
Lupin kept pointing his wand at Pettigrew, which was why he kept trying to get closer to me. Ahead of us, Sirius and Harry had begun to talk to one another.
"You know what this means?" Sirius murmured, "Turning Pettigrew in?"
"You're free," Harry responded.
"Yes… But I'm also – I don't know if anyone told you, but… I'm your godfather."
"Yeah, I knew that," Harry affirmed.
"Well, your parents appointed me your guardian, if anything happened to them… but I understand if you want to stay with your cousins," Sirius interjected quickly.
"It would just be weird, to not live with Maggie," Harry explained.
"Of course, of course. She seems to really care about you," Sirius responded.
"But I do want to get to know you better – Aunt Melinda… never talks about my parents," Harry explained.
"She isn't good with the past, if I remember correctly. She can face a dark future and deal with a dangerous present, but she wants to forget and block out the past as much as possible. But I would love to visit… as much as she allows for me," Sirius added.
"That would be great. Really," Harry agreed, "Maybe I'll even stay for a few days, for bonding time or something similar."
"I would love that," Sirius nodded.
Oh thank God. He's not leaving, I thought in selfish relief. My life would just be… too different if he didn't live in the same house as me.
"One wrong move, Pettigrew," Lupin warned as we reached the fields. The clouds overhead were extraordinarily thick as we continued on, approaching Hagrid's Hut. But, slowly, a cloud shifted, causing dim shadows on the ground – it was a full moon.
Lupin next to me went rigid. His limbs were shaking violently. I felt my eyes widen in terror.
"Guys... Um… Professor Lupin is…"
"He hasn't taken his potion!" Hermione gasped.
"Run," Sirius whispered, "Run, now."
Harry leapt forward to help as Hermione and Neville started to move away from us, but immediately stopped when they realized Harry was desperately trying to help me get free.
Sirius threw Harry back and roared, "LEAVE IT TO ME – RUN!"
Lupin's head was lengthening, his body was following suit. His shoulders were hunching and hair was sprouting on his face and hands.
Well, this is fantastic. I'm about to become a werewolf. Now I'll have TWO monthly problems to worry about, I thought grimly.
Sirius dropped down and became the giant dog. As Were-Lupin broke free of his manacles, Sirius seized him around the neck and pulled him backward from Pettigrew and me. I pulled out my wand and held it against Pettigrew.
"Don't you dare move!" I roared, frozen with terror myself at the two battling canines nearby. At one point, Sirius had lost Lupin and the werewolf sprinted towards me, making me really frozen with terror. As Sirius knocked Lupin away from me, Pettigrew dived for Lupin's lost wand, and whirled it on me. Before I could react, I was thrown backwards with a flash of light and fell to the ground. Everything was whirling around and I didn't recognize anything I saw – everything was a strange color and blurred in front of my vision. I could hear, though – I heard the screams, the roaring and barking and howling of the canines, and frantic footsteps – though it was as if I was hearing all this through water. I couldn't move, either – I was paralyzed, frozen into a board. My breathing was limited, and I wanted to look around wildly – but my eyes were frozen, too.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted.
"No!" Neville roared.
"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry continued a while later as a bright colorful blur passed over my eyes that I definitely knew wasn't actually swimming in front of my vision.
"What did he do to her?" Hermione gasped.
"Is she okay? Is she alive? Is she –" Neville panicked.
"Neville calm down –" Harry insisted.
"I NEVER BLOODY TOLD HER, HERMIONE, AND SHE'S GOING TO DIE –"
"She's not going to die, she's alive, calm down Neville, please," Hermione begged.
Told me what? I thought amongst a spinning rainbow and various wild animals swimming in my field of vision.
"We're going to get her up to the castle and find someone to help," Harry stated in a surprisingly calm voice, "Come –"
A whining filled the air, though I was still unable to process my visual sensory perception.
"Sirius," Harry murmured. There was a pause, and then two sets of footsteps went sprinting away.
"Yeah, I'll just stay with Maggie then… seems good," Neville's voice called after who I could only suppose was Hermione and Harry.
"You'll be okay, Maggie. I promise. I won't let anything hurt you," Neville murmured softly. My heart strained as I couldn't move my lips to respond. In fact, his voice was getting more and more muffled with these words, until I couldn't make out anything he said afterwards and the colors stopped whirling in front of my vision and I just saw black.
The next thing I knew I was staring up at the face of Professor Snape.
"Professor – there was – and then – and he's – I –" I felt my eyes widen.
"I saw you all coming out from the Whomping Willow. I came down at once. I knew Lupin hadn't taken his potion," Professor Snape sneered.
"What happened – is everyone okay?" I asked hoarsely, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
"Everyone's fine," Neville sighed, "Though not without trouble."
"I had to stop the dementors from kissing your pathetic cousin and your friend," Snape sneered, "And the criminal Black. Lupin's out there somewhere trying to bite every human he finds in the forest."
I opened my mouth to protest but Neville was shaking his head, "Don't bother. I already tried to explain Sirius' innocence, he won't hear of it."
"But Sirius Black is innocent; it was Peter Pettigrew, he's still alive but he got away – he's a rat animagus, he…" I rambled.
"I think the spell Black casted on you has mangled your brains," Snape sneered.
"Seriously, he's innocent!" I insisted.
"I've been trying the whole time he's been waking you up, Maggie, just stop," Neville sighed.
"Mr. Longbottom is delirious from the pain in his leg," Snape stated dismissively.
"Professor, he's innocent, I know he is, you've got to believe me!" I begged.
"That's enough. You're facing severe enough punishment for being out on the grounds at this time of night," Professor Snape angrily hissed.
I hung my head and allowed him to help me up. Hermione, Harry, and Sirius were all on makeshift stretchers.
"If your mother knew I let you into this kind of danger…" Professor Snape groaned.
"It's not your fault we all snuck out… why would mum be angry?" I asked as I helped Neville stumble up to the castle.
"Because all the things you've done since coming to Hogwarts she blames me for, for not watching you and stopping your shenanigans," Snape sighed, "This will be fantastic."
I remained silent as we limped up to Dumbledore's office, Snape knocking on the door. Inside was the Minister of Magic as well as Professor Dumbledore.
"Professor Snape, what…" Professor Dumbledore began before all four eyes widened in amazement.
"Black?!" the Minister gasped.
"What's happened?" Professor Dumbledore demanded.
"To begin with, Sirius Black is innocent," I insisted.
"Oh no – did the girl hurt her head?" The Minister asked.
"I would like to hear everyone's story on the way to the Hospital Wing. Neville's leg looks painful," Professor Dumbledore ordered.
Professor Snape began describing his tale – of how a giant number of dementors had crowded around Harry, Hermione, and Sirius; how they were back at their posts by the time he reached them, how he knew the curse Pettigrew had used on me (though he was convinced it was Sirius who had hurt me,) and brought me to consciousness, and he brought us all up here.
I turned to Professor Dumbledore and, with Neville's help, told our version of the story. At the end of it, the Minister was still unconvinced.
"I'm sorry, Miss Johnson, but as convinced as you are by your story, the amount of evidence against Black is insurmountable, and I…"
"Don't believe me because I'm the daughter of a muggle-born, not white or completely British, a woman, and spend most of my time fighting against established prejudice?" I responded cattily.
Everyone stopped in their tracks outside the door to the Hospital Wing. The Minister looked shocked. Professor Dumbledore's beard twitched, Professor Snape scolwed at me, and Neville covered his face with his hands.
"Miss Johnson, I am astounded at your accusations – the curse Black placed on you must have muddled your senses," the Minister stated in a strained, though calm, voice.
I remained silent at the slight look Professor Dumbledore gave me out of the corner of his eye. We got into the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey immediately set about helping Neville with his leg, lamenting that he would have to stay in the wing overnight. She gave me a potion to help regain my senses (I still saw some rainbows in the corners of my eyes) and gave the three fainted people potions as well. She then gave a potion to Black to wake him up – though it wasn't ideal and could hurt him; I suppose no one cared about his health. Not when he was about to receive the Dementor's Kiss.
I was left to sit in the bed in the Wing, Neville next to me.
"I'm exhausted," Neville groaned, "I want to sleep."
"Then go to sleep," I sighed.
"I can't… They're going to kill Sirius… essentially," Neville buried his face in his hands.
"I know," I whispered, "This is so bad, I can't even…"
"First Buckbeak, now Sirius. I am officially disillusioned with the government," Neville laid back in his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"It's just horrifying," I agreed, "I will never work for them."
"Me neither… but Gran doesn't know any other respectable career…" Neville sighed.
I looked at him, sitting up rapidly and making my head spin, "What about teaching?"
"Huh?"
"You're a genius at Herbology, Neville. You could take over for Sprout when she retires," I suggested.
"Really? You think so?" Neville asked in amazement.
"I know so," I managed to smile, before sighing, "I'm sorry, Nev, I can't stop thinking about it, how awful it is."
Voices could be heard outside the Hospital Wing. They were talking indistinctly, though part of that might be the remaining effects of the curse. But I did hear when they were closest to the door – Professor Snape and the Minister.
"Mr. Potter obviously thought he was going to catch Black single-handed, but I wouldn't blame the girl, Minister. She's easily brainwashed by the boy because she cares about him… she is one of the few students I've been sincerely impressed by at this school, especially from her house. I really wouldn't take her angry outbursts seriously," Snape stated calmly.
Neville looked at me with raised eyebrows and I sighed. I knew Snape was trying to save my butt, but at the same time I didn't want the Minister thinking I was so easily brainwashed. Then he'd try and change me.
"Well, Snape, we all have a soft spot where Potter's concerned."
"Is it good for him to get so much special treatment, though? I try to treat Potter like any other student… and any other student would be suspended for this behavior. His friends, maybe not, for I believe they were bullied into it by him… but him, certainly, for breaking all the precautions and rules put in place for his safety…"
Even when Snape's trying to save your neck he insults Harry. Dear God, I thought in annoyance.
"Well, we shall see Snape, the boy has undoubtedly been foolish, that I cannot argue with…" the Minister paused, "You really have no idea what made the dementors retreat?"
The voices trailed away into the distance and I scowled. I was trying my hardest not to think about what was about to happen with Sirius Black. Neville looked at me with similar despair etched into his features.
I looked over to Harry and Hermione and saw with a shock that their eyes were opened. I looked at them in amazement as Madam Pomfrey came over.
"Ah, you're awake!" she declared, placing large bars of chocolate by their bedsides and breaking it apart with a hammer.
"How are Maggie and Neville?" Harry asked, looking up and seeing us, "Oh."
"They'll be fine. Miss Johnson will have dulled senses for a little while and Mr. Longbottom will need to stay overnight to heal, as you two will," Madam Pomfrey explained, "I might as well keep Miss Johnson around for surveillance."
"I need to see the headmaster," Harry stated calmly, sitting up.
"Potter, it's alright. They've caught Black, the dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now…" Madam Pomfrey explained.
"WHAT? MAGGIE, NEVILLE, DIDN'T YOU TELL THEM?!" Harry roared, standing on his feet now.
"They won't believe us, Harry!" I sobbed.
"They dismiss our story, think we've been tricked by Sirius," Neville sighed.
Hermione had jumped out of bed too just as Minister Fudge came in.
"Harry, I am Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic. Your Aunt must have talked about me… what are you doing out of bed?" Fudge demanded of Harry, thinking they had never met before.
"Minister, please, listen to us! Sirius Black is innocent, I swear, Peter Pettigrew faked his own death because he sold out my parents – they switched, Black and Pettigrew switched – we saw him tonight, you can't let the dementors kiss Sirius, you just can't –" Harry rambled.
Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile, "Oh, Harry, you're very confused, just like your cousin and your friend, you've been through an ordeal, it's perfectly understandable, but don't worry, we've got it all under control…"
"NO YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry roared, "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"
"Minister, please, please listen," Hermione begged, "I saw him too, it was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and…"
"You see, Minister? Black confounded all four of them, did a very good job…" Snape insisted.
"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry yelled.
"Sirius didn't jinx us!" I insisted, "This is the truth!"
"Black is innocent, if you would only see!" Neville shouted.
"Please, Minister, I wouldn't go against the facts, this is real!" Hermione begged.
"Minister! Professor! I must insist you leave. These students are my patients are you're distressing them," Madam Pomfrey protested.
"I'm not distressed, I'm trying to get them to see reason!" Harry snarled.
Madam Pomfrey stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth and he was pushed back onto the bed.
"Now, please, Minister, the children need to be cared for. Please leave…"
Professor Dumbledore entered again, and Harry jumped to his feet again.
"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black –"
"For heaven's sake!" Madam Pomfrey screeched, "Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster –"
"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Miss Johnson, and Mr. Longbottom. I have just been talking to Sirius Black and…"
"I suppose he's told you the same poppycock he fed to these children?" Snape asked, "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew alive…"
"That is Black's story," Dumbledore responded calmly.
"And does my evidence count for nothing? Pettigrew wasn't anywhere on the grounds," Snape insisted.
"He transformed into a rat and ran away, Professor!" Hermione begged.
"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!" Snape roared.
I stepped up to Professor Snape and glared at him angrily, "Do not talk to Hermione that way."
Hermione let out a squeak of surprise.
"Now, Snape," Fudge interjected, "These children are disturbed, startled, distressed, we must make allowances for their behavior…"
Snape glared down at me, "And what will you do about it, Miss Johnson?"
"Tell. My. Mother," I snapped.
Snape's eyes widened as Professor Dumbledore stated, "I would like to speak to Harry, Hermione, Maggie, and Neville alone. Cornelius, Severus, Poppy – please leave us."
"Headmaster, they need rest…" Madam Pomfrey insisted.
"This cannot wait. I must insist, Poppy," Dumbledore responded.
Madam Pomfrey retreated into her office, slamming the door behind him. Fudge left, muttering something about meeting the dementors. Snape left without a word, slamming the other door behind him. The moment they were all gone we all began badgering Dumbledore.
"Professor, Black's telling the truth, we saw Pettigrew…"
"Lupin turned into a werewolf and he escaped –"
"He's a rat, he's an animagus –"
"Pettigrew's front finger was cut off and so was Ron's rat's –"
"Pettigrew attacked me, it wasn't Sirius, I think I'd know –"
Dumbledore raised a hand for us to stop.
"You need to listen, and I beg you do not interrupt me, not even you Miss Johnson, there is very little time," Dumbledore began, "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story except your word, and the word of two fourteen year old witches and two thirteen year old wizards isn't going to convince anyone, no matter how many mysteries they've solved together. A street full of people are convinced they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence that Sirius was the Potter's Secret-Keeper…"
"Professor Lupin can…" Harry protested feebly.
"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest unable to communicate with anyone at all. By the time he is human again, Sirius will be worse than dead. And werewolves are mistrusted by most of our kind so that his support will count for very little, especially since he was friends with Black," Dumbledore continued.
"But –"
"Listen to me. It is too late, you understand? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours," Dumbledore explained.
"But he hates Sirius…" Hermione begged.
"Sirius hasn't acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady, entering Gryffindor with a knife… without Pettigrew, we have no chance of overturning Sirius' sentence," Dumbledore continued.
"But do you believe us?" I demanded.
"Yes, I do," Dumbledore murmured, "But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic."
We all looked at him and I felt like we had lost all hope. I had believed Dumbledore could produce a magic solution. But there was nothing.
"What we need," Dumbledore explained calmly, looking at Hermione now, "Is more time."
"But…" Hermione began, and then her eyes became very wide, "OH!"
"Now, pay attention," Dumbledore continued, speaking low, quickly, and clearly, "Sirius is locked in professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. Your mother, Maggie, has been summoned to the castle and is currently waiting for me in my office. Her house will be made safe, a secret. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember – you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law. You know what is at stake. You. Must. Not. Be. Seen."
Harry and I looked at each other in confusion.
"I am going to lock you in," Dumbledore explained as he went up to the door, "It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."
Hermione turned to Neville, "I'm so sorry Neville, but you can't walk. It's got to be the three of us," she then turned to Harry and me and was pulling out a very long, very fine gold chain from beneath her robes.
"I'm so confused," I groaned as Hermione pulled Harry and me closer to her and threw the chain around our necks.
"What -?" Harry asked.
She pulled out a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from the chain and turned it three times. Then, suddenly, it felt like we were flying backward very fast. The world was zooming through my vision in a blur of colors and shapes, my ears were popping in annoyance, and I couldn't seem to find my voice. And then I felt like I was standing solidly again, and the world came into focus. I was standing next to Harry and Hermione in the same triangle as before, present in the entrance hall in front of the open front doors. I looked at Hermione with my mouth open.
"Hermione, what…" Harry's eyes were wide as he looked down at our friend.
"In here!" Hermione demanded, pulling Harry and me into a broom closet, slamming the door behind us. I felt very pressed up against the two of them, which was just awkward for me.
"What… happened?" I asked slowly.
"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered, "Three hours back."
"What…" I looked at her like she was crazy.
"Shh! Listen!" Hermione hissed, "Someone's coming – it's probably us!"
She pressed her ear up against the cupboard door and listened, "Footsteps… yes, it's us going down to Hagrid's!"
"Are you saying, that we're here in this cupboard, and out there too?" Harry asked slowly.
"Yes," Hermione answered, "I'm sure it's us, it doesn't sound like more than four people… and we're walking slowly because we're under the Cloak… We've gone down the front steps…"
Hermione sat down on a bucket as we stared down at her.
"I'm sorry, but where'd you get the hourglass?" I asked calmly.
"It's a Time-Turner," Hermione hissed, "I got it from Professor McGonagall our first day back. I've been using it to get to all my lessons this year. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone; she had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry so I could have one. She had to tell them I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies… I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But... guys, I don't know what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he make us go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"
"There must be something that happened now that he wants us to change…" Harry paused, "We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago…"
"This is three hours ago and we are currently walking down to Hagrid's," Hermione responded firmly.
"We've got to save more than one innocent life – Hermione, we've got to save Buckbeak!" I hissed.
"How… will that help Sirius, Maggie?"
"He just told us where the window is – we've got to get up there to Sirius! We've got to fly up there on Buckbeak! And then… he can use Buckbeak to go back to my mum's house to hide out, that's where they can escape, we live in the middle of nowhere, Dumbledore wants them to hide out there!" I realized, "That's why he called my mum up the school, I've been in bigger scrapes than having a weird trippy curse put on me, he wants to explain to mum that Sirius is innocent and have her help him hide out!"
"But the Ministry could come and find him there…" Harry frowned.
"Our house will be made safe – Harry, he's going to put our house under the Fidelius Charm, he's going to protect Sirius with secret keeping, I'm sure of it," I gasped.
"Alright, but this time, Dumbledore's the secret keeper," Harry groaned.
"If we manage this without being seen, it will be a miracle," Hermione sighed.
"We've got to try, haven't we?" Harry declared, listening at the door, "Doesn't sound like anyone's there, come on."
We left the closet and walked out into the entrance hall, sneaking through the front doors as quietly as we could. The sun was setting, the shadows were lengthening, and I grimaced in terror.
"If anyone's looking out of the castle… Lupin!" Hermione realized, her eyes growing wide.
"He wasn't here now – he didn't see us going to Hagrid's, he just saw us getting dragged under the Whomping Willow. We're fine for now," I hissed.
"And if someone else sees us, we run for it, straight into the forest," Harry declared.
"Let's just run for it anyway, to the forest behind Hagrid's," I suggested.
"We'll have to go round behind the greenhouses, we can't be seen by Hagrid's front door now, we must be nearly there," Hermione explained.
My head hurts…
We began sprinting through the grounds to the greenhouses, tearing across the vegetable patches, sprinting around the Whomping Willow and hiding out in the forest behind Hagrid's Hut. We snuck closer and closer, trying to catch our breath, inching towards the hut as quietly as we could. We glimpsed the front of the hut at last, hearing a knock on the door.
"That's us," Hermione explained calmly.
"It's us, under the Cloak," I heard Harry – but it wasn't Harry, Harry was next to me, it was past Harry under the cloak, "Let us in and we can take it off."
"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered, opening the door for us to enter.
"Well, this is weird," I whispered to Hermione, now.
"Let's move a little, we've got to get closer to Buckbeak," Hermione ordered.
We crept through until we saw the hippogriff, tethered in Hagrid's pumpkin patch. I still saw rainbows in my side vision but they were diminishing now.
"Now?" Harry whispered.
"No!" Hermione hissed, "if we steal him now, the Committee people will think Hagrid set him free and he'll get into trouble!"
"You mean, we've got to wait until they've seen him? That will give us about a minute to untie him, Hermione!" I groaned.
There was a crash of dishes breaking inside Hagrid's hut.
"Hagrid's broken the milk jug… I'm going to find Scabbers soon…" Hermione whispered.
In a few seconds we could hear Hermione's shriek.
"Hermione, what if we… just run in… grab Pettigrew…" Harry suggested.
"No! Don't you see, Harry?" Hermione begged, holding onto his arm desperately, "We're breaking one of the biggest Wizarding laws! Nobody's suppoed to change time! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen…"
"We'll only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid," Harry protested.
"Harry, what would you do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" Hermione asked.
"I was going mad, or some evil wizard was using polyjuice potion or something similar," I answered.
"Exactly! You wouldn't understand, and Maggie would certainly attack herself, us too probably. Loads of people kill their future or past selves by mistake when they mess with time! It's dangerous."
"Okay, it was just an idea…" Harry sighed.
"I know, Harry, I know, but we have to be careful," Hermione murmured sadly, squeezing his wrist.
Suddenly, from the castle, we could see Dumbledore, Fudge, the Committee member, and Macnair coming down to the Hut.
"We're going to come out now…" I stated.
Hagrid's back door opened then and Harry, Hermione, Neville, and myself emerged with Hagrid. It was so freaking bizarre.
"How long is my hair?" I whispered.
"Maggie, shush!" Hermione hissed.
"It's okay, Beaky," Hagrid murmured to the hippogriff, "It's okay… Go on, get goin'," he ordered.
"Hagrid, we can't –" Harry had begged.
"We'll tell them about Malfoy and how much of a dirty, lying –" I had hissed.
"This isn't right…" Neville had protested.
"They can't kill him-" Hermione had moaned.
"It's so strange to hear what your voice sounds like to other people," Harry murmured softly.
"Are our accents that thick?" I asked Hermione. She rolled her eyes in response.
"Go!" Hagrid was snarling, meanwhile, "It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"
The cloak was thrown over us and we disappeared from view.
"Go quick," Hagrid ordered, "Don' listen…"
There was a knock on Hagrid's front door – the execution party had arrived. Hagrid turned back into his cabin leaving the back door ajar. The four of us left, going up to the Whomping Willow, while us three were stuck in the forest watching the back door.
"Where is the beast?" Macnair asked.
"Out… outside," Hagrid answered in a shaky voice.
Macnair's face appeared at Hagrid's window and stared at Buckbeak, and then went back in.
"We – er – have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it," Fudge explained.
"Wait here," I hissed, "I can do this."
I darted out from behind the trees and moved towards Buckbeak, not blinking, bowing towards the hippogriff. Buckbeak sank to his knees and then stood up. I ran to the knot of the robe tying Buckbeak to the fence, fumbling with it with my fingers, finally untying it and pulling Buckbeak away from the post.
"Come on!" I hissed, "Buckbeak, please, we've got to move!"
Buckbeak had dug himself into the pumpkin patch, unwilling to move, as the people inside Hagrid's hut discussed the document. I heard Fudge suggest that Hagrid not come outside.
"Move, Buckbeak!" I begged. Finally Buckbeak began to walk, and Dumbledore suddenly reminded Macnair to sign, so we still had time to scurry into the forest where we finally reached Hermione and Harry. They helped lead Buckbeak through the trees, away from Hagrid's Hut, and I tugged at Buckbeak's rope so he finally broke into a trot. We finally were out of sight, stopping in the woods.
"They might hear us," I hissed, "Don't move!"
Hagrid's back door had opened loudly. We all stood quite still, and I saw to my amusement that in all the stress Hermione had grabbed Harry's hand and was holding it so tightly her knuckles were white. There was a pause, and then suddenly, "Where is it? Where is the beast?" It was an older voice, the Committee member's.
"It was tied here!" Macnair roared, "I saw it! Just here!"
"How extraordinary," Dumbledore commented in amusement.
"Beaky!" Hagrid gasped.
There was a swishing noise and the thud of an axe – the executioner had swung it into the fence in anger. And then Hagrid began to howl, but now we could hear the words.
"Gone! Gone! Bless his li'le beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, you clever boy!"
Buckbeak, at the sound of Hagrid's voice, started to strain against the rope to get back. Harry and Hermione grabbed onto the rope to help me keep him steady, digging our heels into the dirt.
"Someone untied him!" the executioner snarled, "We should search the grounds, the forest –"
"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot? Search the skies if you will… Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea, or a large brandy."
"O' course, Professor. Come in, come in!" Hagrid was filled with immense joy.
We all listened closely as footsteps led away from the Pumpkin Patch or into the Hut, and silence finally fell over the area once again.
"Now what?" Harry asked anxiously.
"We'll have to wait here," Hermione sighed, "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius' window. He won't be there for another couple of hours… this will be difficult…"
The sun was now setting and I turned to the pair of them.
"We're going to have to move, we have to see the Whomping Willow, know what's going on," I stated.
"Okay, but we have to keep out of sight, Maggie," Hermione agreed.
We moved along the forest's edge calmly as darkness filled up around us.
"Let's hope no dragons decide to pop in," Harry offered.
"Oh Merlin," I groaned.
"There's Neville," Harry pointed as a dark figure could be seen diving after something, and the voice of Neville rang out shouting, "Scabbers – NO!" Meanwhile, another dark figure could be seen grappling with a large animal – Crookshanks and me.
"Ron – owes – me – big – time!" Neville roared as he sprinted after Pettigrew. I followed him, throwing Crookshanks back at Hermione and Harry who had just appeared from under the cloak.
"Guys, we've got to get back under the cloak!" Harry was hissing, "Forget the bloody rat!"
"And you were going to let Pettigrew get away," I teased to present-Harry, who glared at me in the darkness.
Neville and I had both collapsed onto the ground and suddenly Sirius in dog form was bounding towards us, umping over Harry, grabbing Neville, dragging me and Neville away as I shouted, "NO!"
"This is so weird," I whispered.
"It looks so painful, I feel bad for Neville," Harry agreed.
"He's a real trooper," Hermione affirmed.
The Whomping Willow was attacking Hermione and Harry, and then suddenly the tree froze.
"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," Hermione explained to me, "The knot that freezes the tree."
"And off we go," Harry sighed, "We're inside."
A moment later, Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge, and the Committee member were making their way up the castle.
"You've got to be kidding me, if only Dumbledore had come with…" Hermione groaned.
"Yeah, with Macnair, whom Fudge would have ordered to murder Sirius on sight," Harry grumbled.
"I've decided my life's work will be to stage a coup against the Ministry," I hissed.
"I might join you on that," Harry agreed.
"Oh please, the Ministry is so corrupt and so entrenched…" Hermione scowled.
"It's a pipe dream, but I'm clinging to it," I snapped in response, "I can't accept the fact the Ministry will remain corrupt forever. At any rate, I refuse to work for them."
Moments later, Lupin was sprinting down into the passage, looking terrified.
"He really believed Sirius was bad," Harry murmured.
"He looks really worried," Hermione agreed.
Hagrid walked by a little time after that, singing loudly, a large bottle swinging in his hands as he practically danced through the grounds. Buckbeak struggled and we all forced him back from following Hagrid. When he went out of sight, Buckbeak's head drooped in sadness so that my heart broke for the creature.
"We'll have to invite Hagrid back to the house, show him Buckbeak's okay…" I whispered to Harry.
"Maggie, he'll want to take Buckbeak with him, and for now we need to keep him out of sight," Harry responded, "The Ministry will probably check and make sure Hagrid doesn't have the thing until they forget about it."
"I hate them," I responded venomously.
There was a slight pause.
"My question is – when Lupin expanded the view of the map, why didn't he see that we were all in two places at once?" Hermione asked.
"We were really focusing on the Shack… and sometimes, we tend to ignore the things we don't want to see," I murmured.
There was a long pause as we sat there, waiting.
"I just have one question, Harry…" Hermione whispered, "Why didn't the dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming… you weren't there for that bit, Maggie… and then I passed out, there were so many…"
Harry frowned, looking out at the night sky, "A dementor was… trying to kiss me. But a large silver thing had come galloping across the lake and forced all the dementors back…"
"But what was it?" Hermione gasped.
"There was only one thing it could have been… a real Patronus, a powerful one," Harry responded.
"But who conjured it?" Hermione asked.
Harry paused quietly. He was staring out into the distance, clearly thinking hard.
"Didn't you see what they looked like?" Hermione demanded eagerly, "Was it one of the teachers?"
"No," Harry responded calmly, "He wasn't a teacher…"
"Did you see the animal? That could help – since the animal's supposed to be like the person…" I asked.
"It was… it was a stag," Harry responded.
Prongs… I felt my eyes widen, but Hermione didn't understand what Harry was implying yet.
"It must have been a powerful wizard, to drive all those dementors away. If the Patronus was shining brightly, couldn't you see him?" Hermione continued.
"Yeah, I saw him…" Harry responded slowly, "But… maybe I imagined it… I wasn't thinking straight… I passed out immediately…"
"Who do you think it was?" Hermione insisted.
I looked over at Harry, my face contorted in pity, "Did you think it was your dad, Harry?"
Harry looked back at me and nodded calmly.
"Harry… your dad… your dad's dead," Hermione whispered sadly.
"I know that," Harry responded quickly.
"You think you saw his ghost?"
"I don't know… no… he looked solid…"
"But then…" Hermione murmured.
"Maybe I was seeing things, but from what I could see… it looked like him. I've got photos of him…" Harry sighed.
"A stag patronus, though…" I commented.
"It still sounds crazy, I know," Harry responded calmly, "But it was what I saw…" Harry stared off into the woods, thinking deeply. I had no idea what to think, but after the crazy events that had transpired this evening and were in the process of transpiring, I'd decided to suspend all belief.
I sat in the leaf litter of the forest, crunching the leaves in my hands and letting the pieces fall through my fingers, staring down at the dirt. So many unregistered Animagi – and they had done it without McGonagall's help, together… And I was to follow in their footsteps… shouldn't I tell Sirius about it, talk to him, ask advice? At this point I was almost finished with the potions and I was in the middle of noticing signs of what sort of animal I would become – I could talk loudly, roar really; I found myself much faster on my feet, almost like I was flying; and sometimes it felt like there was a fiery anger, even more fierce than my anger before, coursing through me. Oh, and I was always biting people. What was I?
At last, after over an hour, we were emerging. Sirius and Harry lead the way, followed by Neville and Hermione, and then me, Pettigrew, and Lupin. Harry looked up at the sky and I realized what he was thinking about.
"We can't, Harry, he's going to escape, it sucks, but we can't," I murmured.
"I can't stand it," Harry groaned.
"We've got to help Sirius, we can't do anything else," Hermione insisted.
"Fine!" Harry snapped, looking at us angrily. Upon seeing our hurt expressions, he muttered, "Sorry."
"Lupin's transforming…" Hermione murmured.
Shit.
"Hermione, he's going to run into the forest right at us!" I hissed, "We've got to move!"
"Oh no! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide, the dementors –"
"Back to Hagrids," Harry stated frimly, "There's no one there now, come on!"
We sprinted together, urging Buckbeak along, listening to the werewolf howling behind us. We reached the cabin and wrenched open the door, bolting the door behind us, Fang barking loudly at us.
"Shh, Fang, it's us," Hermione hissed, "That was close!"
"Yeah…" Harry seemed distracted. Buckbeak laid down for a nap as Harry continued, "I think I'd better go outside again, you know, I can't see what's going on – we won't know when it's time…"
We both looked at him suspiciously.
"I'm not going to try and interfere, but if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"
"Alright then," I answered, "We'll wait here with Buckbeak, but be careful Harry, there's a werewolf and dementors."
Harry stepped outside and left. I turned to Hermione with a sigh.
"You realize this is completely mental, right?" I asked calmly.
"Yeah, I do," Hermione answered in equal calmness.
I paused, staring down at my shoes, before looking back up at her, "Can I ask you something? That's inappropriately timed?"
"Sure."
"Why Harry?"
Hermione's eyes widened, and then she laughed loudly before covering her mouth in response to my question.
"I'm being serious, Hermione…"
"I know, sorry," Hermione laughed, "It's just so random. I feel like this isn't a conversation we should be having in Hagrid's Hut while we wait to rescue a fugitive."
"Fair enough," I paused, "Can you at least give me a short version?"
"Short version? I can't imagine being closer to any person than I am to Harry, so dating someone other than him just doesn't make sense. Long version? That'll be the specific reasons why I actually like him and I'll tell you when we have less pressing things on our minds," Hermione stated.
"Fair enough," I repeated, "Do you think we should go make sure Harry's okay?"
Hermione sighed, standing up and pulling Buckbeak up with her, "I always think we should make sure Harry's okay."
We scurried together over to the lake, to where the dementors were. We reached there, but we saw Harry standing at the edge of the lake, sending out a patronus – a stag.
"Idiot," Hermione hissed angrily as the stag went and dispersed all the dementors – so. Many. Dementors. – and ran back to Harry, vanishing under his outstretched hand. We ran up to him, Hermione fuming, but I simply amused.
"What did you do?" Hermione hissed, "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!'
"He just saved your life, Hermione, and explained the mystery of Prongs," I answered calmly.
"Let's get behind a bush, quickly," Harry ordered. We all hid again as Harry explained how he realized he had conjured the patronus, it had been him who he had seen earlier, and since he looked so much like his dad he thought he was his dad. Hermione's mouth was open in amazement.
"I can't believe it – you conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors… that's very, very powerful magic…"
"I knew I could do it this time, because I'd already done it… does that make sense?" Harry asked.
"Kinda… Look, Snape's coming!" I hissed.
Snape was walking over to Sirius, Hermione, and Harry, conjuring stretchers and lifting the three of them onto them. Then he walked over to Neville, and they had a very loud discussion in which Neville tried to explain about Black and Snape was having none of it, insulting Neville frequently. Snape then woke me up and, despite my protests, forced us to follow him up to the castle.
"Alright, it's nearly time," Hermione stated, looking at her watch, "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the Hospital Wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back to the ward before anyone realizes we're missing."
We waited, wondering whether or not Sirius was up there yet, Buckbeak digging around for worms behind us.
"Look!" Hermione gasped, pointing at a person coming out of the castle, "Someone's coming!"
The man was running across the ground, something glinting in his belt – the metal of an axe.
"Macnair!" Harry gasped, "He's gone to get the dementors! It's time!"
I jumped onto Buckbeak's back and helped Harry onto it behind me. Hermione came on last with the help of Harry, holding tightly to his waist. I could see when I looked behind that her face was flushed at this, but Harry didn't notice. I tried to contain my ill-timed amusement as I urged Buckbeak forward with my heels, whispering for him to fly. His powerful wings flapped and we took off into the air.
"This is bizarre," Harry whispered.
"Oh, I really don't like this," Hermione moaned.
I urged Buckbeak forward, reveling once again in the feel of the natural flight as we soared around the upper floors of the castle, counting the windows as they flashed past us. When we reached the right window, I pulled back madly, stopping Buckbeak and we hovered outside of the window.
"He's there!" Harry gasped, pointing at Sirius. I urged Buckbeak closer to the window and Harry tapped on the glass. Black looked up and his jaw dropped in shock, leaping from his chair, trying to open the window, but it was locked.
"Stand back!" Hermione called, and she pulled out her wand, whispering, "Alohomora!" The window sprang open and Black leaned out.
"How… How…" Black whispered.
"Get on, there's no time to explain," I hissed. Black managed to hoist himself through the window frame and onto Buckbeak and just managed to fit behind Hermione.
"Alright Buckbeak, up! Up to the tower, come on!" I urged. We rose up to the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed on the battlements, and we three slid off him immediately.
"Sirius, do you know where my mum's house is? The Nest, in the woods?" I asked urgently. He nodded mutely.
"Go there and hide in the woods nearby. Dumbledore wants you to hide out with us," I ordered, "But I don't know yet if he'll be able to persuade mum of your innocence – I feel he'll be able to – at any rate, hide out there until someone comes looking for you, Mum or Dumbledore or me or Harry or someone. Alright?"
Sirius nodded.
"You'd better go, they'll find out you're gone soon," Harry murmured.
"What happened to Neville?" Sirius croaked.
"He's going to be okay, his leg's just hurt so he couldn't come along," Hermione explained, "Quickly, Sirius, go."
Black stared down at us in amazement, "How can I ever thank…"
"GO!" we all shouted.
Black wheeled Buckbeak to the open sky, "Well, with any luck… see you all soon."
He then took off into the air, they were flapping away to the moon, taking off into the air and then they were gone.
"We've got twenty two minutes to get back down to the hospital wing!" Hermione murmured, "Come on!"
We all sprinted down the staircase, running through the corridors. We dashed through passageways I knew because of the Twins, sneaking along and managing to not be noticed until we finally reached the door to the Hospital Wing, one minute before he was going to lock the door. He backed out and turned to us, a wide smile appearing under his beard.
"Well?" he asked quietly.
"We did it!" Harry gasped, "He's on his way to Aunt Melinda's…"
"Well done," Dumbledore praised, "I will go explain to Melinda everything once the outrage has settled down. She's very anxious but she knows not to leave my office… and you've gone now, yes, you may go back in."
We slipped back inside the Hospital Wing. Neville was sitting upright, looking at us in shock.
"Alright, someone explain to me how you did that," he demanded.
Madam Pomfrey came out before any of us could explain, making sure we ate chocolate, lying down back against our beds. Neville looked so confused, I felt bad. Suddenly, there were voices outside of the door.
"What was that?" Madam Pomfrey asked in confusion.
There were angry voices, growing louder and louder. Neville looked at me in confusion and I simply grinned back at him.
"Really, they'll wake everyone up! What…" Madam Pomfrey frowned.
"He must have disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out…"
"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE! YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS – HAS – SOMETHING – TO – DO – WITH – POTTER!" Snape roared.
"Severus, be reasonable, Harry has been locked up…"
BAM.
The door of the hospital wing burst open, and Fudge, Snape, and Dumbledore entered. Dumbledore looked calm and rather pleased. Fudge was angry, and Snape was a wreck.
"OUT WITH IT, POTTER!" Snape bellowed, "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"Professor Snape, control yourself!" Madam Pomfrey ordered.
"See here, Snape, be reasonable. This door's been locked, we just saw…" Fudge explained.
"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" Snape howled, pointing at us all. I looked at him furiously.
"Calm down, man!" Fudge barked, "You're talking nonsense!"
"HE DID IT, I KNOW HE DID IT!" Snape screamed.
"That's enough, Severus," Dumbledore ordered quietly, "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"
"Of course not!" Madam Pomfrey agreed," I would have heard them!"
"Well, there you have it, Severus," Dumbledore stated, "Unless you are suggesting Harry, Hermione, and Maggie are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."
Snape stood there seething, not looking at me and my anger at him on purpose. Fudge was completely shocked at Snape's behavior. Snape finally whirled around and left the ward.
"Fellow seems unbalanced… I'd watch out for him, Dumbledore…" Fudge frowned.
"Oh, he's not unbalanced. He's just suffered a severe disappointment," Dumbledore explained.
"He's not the only one! The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day –"
"Really sucks, doesn't it?" I asked calmly, "That's all that matters, isn't it? Public opinion?"
Fudge looked at me, seemingly trying to restrain himself, before whirling in a similar fashion as Snape and stomping out of the room. I smirked and sat back against my bed. Dumbledore shook his head in quiet amazement.
"The dementors will be removed at last, I assume, Professor Dumbledore?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"Thank Merlin, yes. They attacked an innocent student; Fudge hasn't a leg to stand on," Dumbledore responded, "At any rate, I'm going to go talk to Maggie's mother, I'm sure she's very distressed right now. Good night, all."
Madam Pomfrey then headed back to her office in a huff. When the door was closed, I turned and explained everything to Neville as Hermione and Harry sat there, providing things I missed.
When I finished, I sat back in my bed, frowning.
"Guys, we have to promise ourselves one thing," I stated in a calm voice.
"Oh?" Harry asked.
"We never, ever, tell Ron he showed affection to a mass murderer for years," I ordered.
We all laughed together for a long time before nodding in agreement and going to bed.