Chapter 25
In This Together
In no time at all, Umbridge's reign began over the school starting with the notices up the very next morning after Dumbledore's departure. Very few were confident that he'd return. Others, however, were overjoyed with the change in rule over the school. I need not tell you who I mean. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had been talking to Ernie on our way up from Herbology when Malfoy turned up as smug as ever.
Hermione had been saying that Umbridge was a "stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old witch" when he and his cronies appeared and said, 'Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?'
'Shove off, Malfoy,' I said, stepping up to him. He looked down his nose at me. I was shorter than him. 'Haven't you got some first year to beat up for no reason?'
Malfoy just grinned and said he had some points to dock. What was he on about? I knew prefects could dock points but what had we done now? But it wasn't because he was a prefect that he was doing it. It was as the Inquisitorial Squad.
'A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic,' he drawled, 'hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad have the power to dock points … so, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new Headmistress. Macmillan, five for contradicting me. Five because I don't like you, Potter. Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so I'll have another five for that. Black, because you were rude and because we're related as well, so ten there. Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten off for that.'
I glared at him and drew out my wand only to have it lowered by Hermione. Malfoy's grinned got even wider. He left with Crabbe and Goyle, laughing. I watched as he left. Someday, I was going to get even with him, get even for what his father did. Still, as he left, I pocketed my wand and joined the others in looking at the hour glasses in the Entrance Hall. Fred and George soon joined us and we told them we just lost fifty points. Apparently, they too had just had points tried to be taken from them, and I do emphasise the tried.
'He never managed to get all the words out,' Fred explained, 'due to the fact that we forced him head first into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor.' We all laughed apart from Hermione. She said they'd get in terrible trouble, but as Fred added, 'Anyway … we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble any more.'
'Have you ever?' asked Hermione.
'Course we have,' said George. 'Never been expelled, have we?'
'We've always known where to draw the line,' said Fred.
'We might have put a toe across it occasionally,' said George.
'But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem,' said Fred.
'But now?' said Ron tentatively.
'Well, now –' said George.
'– what with Dumbledore gone –' said Fred.
'– we reckon a bit of mayhem –' said George.
'– is exactly what our dear new Head deserves,' said Fred.
They left us in the Hall with a note that they had something big planned and that we should get in the Great Hall as soon as possible as phase one was about to begin, whatever that was. But on sooner had we done so that Filch appeared wanting Harry and me. Harry instantly said he hadn't done anything before we were led away to Umbridge's office. When we got there, she was sitting at her desk, smiling sweetly of course, and directed us to sit down, offering us a drink.
'Nothing, thank you,' said Harry. I didn't say anything; I merely watched her silently.
'I wish you to have a drink with me,' she repeated. 'Choose one.'
'Fine … tea then,' said Harry, shrugging. She got up and made quite a performance of adding milk with her back to him. She then bustled around the desk with it, smiling in a sinisterly sweet fashion.
'There,' she said, handing it to him. She then turned to me. 'And what would you like, dear?'
'I don't want anything,' I said quietly, my eyes not leaving hers.
'Coffee it is.' She again made a bit of a song-and-dance about my drink before handing it to me. 'Drink it before it gets cold, won't you? Well, now, Mr Potter, Miss Black … I thought we ought to have a little chat after the distressing events of last night.'
Harry and I looked at each other. We didn't say anything. Her insistence that we drink our drinks continued in the silence, even more so with me because I would not move. It would not satisfy her though so I took a cautious drink, making sure it couldn't get through my lips. It seemed to do her as her smile widened. That was when the blow came.
'Good,' she whispered. 'Very good. Now then …' She leaned forwards a little. 'Where is Albus Dumbledore?'
Harry's answer of "No" came quickly and she made us drink our tea again. In my head, all I could think of was, Why does she want us to drink it so badly? What does she want to know? Meanwhile, she was saying to Harry. 'Now, Mr Potter, let s not play childish games. I know that you know where he ahs gone. You and Dumbledore have been in this together from the beginning. Consider your position, Mr Potter …'
'I don't know where he is,' Harry repeated. He pretended to drink again. She was watching him very closely.
'Very well,' she said, though she looked displeased. 'In that case, you will kindly tell me the whereabouts of Sirius Black.'
I instantly froze, my cup just in front of my lips. I knew why she wanted us to drink up so badly. There was a potion, Veritaserum or something, which made anyone who drunk it speak the truth. And she was asking questions about Dumbledore and Dad's whereabouts. If any of those drinks got into mine and Harry's systems, we'd be spilling out everything! About Dad, the Order, putting everything that had happened at risk. Beside me, Harry slowly said he didn't know.
'Mr Potter,' said Umbridge, her temper rising, 'let me remind you that it was I who almost caught the criminal Black in the Gryffindor fire in October. I know perfectly well it was his daughter he was meeting with,' she looked at me, then back at Harry, 'and that you would not doubtedly be there and if I had had any proof none of you would be at large today, I promise you. I repeat, Mr Potter … where is Sirius Black?'.
'No idea,' said Harry loudly. 'Haven't got a clue.'
'Miss Black?' asked Umbridge.
Before I answered, a loud BOOM came from below us and everything in Umbridge's office shook. Umbridge almost got unbalanced as she grabbed the desk for support. Seconds later she dismissed us and ran out of the room. Harry and I looked at each other, then following a few moments later. The noise was coming from the floor below. We ran down the stairs and came to a halt crouched behind the banister. I could see Filch and Umbridge staring wildly above themselves in horror on the stairs as the chaos ensued in front of them.
Dozens of fireworks were zooming all around us. Dragons soaring near the ceiling; pink Catherine wheels whirling everywhere; rockets with silver stars; and exploding firecrackers. And every time Filch or Umbridge tried to do something, they'd double in number or exploded. It was pure mayhem. I felt Harry take my hand and I hurried over with him to where Fred and George were laughing their heads off. Well, they said it was going to be big.
The fireworks continued for ages and so Umbridge was coming into virtually every lesson removing them because the teachers weren't allowed to due to a previous Educational Decree. Apparently, Fred and George had blown their whole supply of Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs as they'd dubbed them. Even Hermione, in the midst of all the chaos, suggested we took the night off from homework. Ron asked if she was feeling all right to which her reply was she was feeling rebellious. Ooh-err.
That night Harry went off to another Occlumency lesson and we were left in amongst the last few bangs and so on in the common room. Taking the night off from homework left me with time to do a lot of thinking. I sat perched on the windowsill looking into the night sky. I had been having the dream about my Dad again lately. I hadn't told anyone though, not even Lupin. I wanted to figure it out on my own. They said dreams meant something. Well, mine certainly did even if other people's didn't.
In one of them, I was running to Dad but I couldn't reach him. He was always out of reach or something was holding me back. In the other one, I was in a room with whispering people in and Dad was lying on the floor … dead. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I thought of it. The only conclusion I could come to, regarding the fact I had these dreams as a sort of pre-emptive strike, was that Dad was going to die … and judging by how clear the dreams were now, it was going to happen sooner rather than later.
The Easter holidays came and the first thing we learn is that Harry no longer was taking Occlumency lessons. Hermione was not pleased with this. She tried to tell him this but he just said she should drop it. Besides this, Hermione had spent the day drawing up revision timetables for us (yay!) and with six weeks until the first exam, they did turn out to be pretty useful as Harry and Ron came to find out. The only downside for Ron was that his one night off was dedicated to Quidditch practice.
'What's the point?' he groaned. 'We've got about as much chance of winning the Quidditch Cup this year as Dad's got of becoming Minister for Magic.'
'Well with that attitude …' I mumbled under my breath.
Ron looked at me but I ignored it, continuing with my Astronomy revision. Beside me, Harry was reading a copy of Defensive Magical Theory which I'd seen him hastily pick up. But then I heard Hermione bring up Cho. Oh here we go, I thought silently. I'd had about enough of that bloody airhead. Apparently she and Harry had had another row. No guesses needed what about: Marietta dobbing us in. Ron didn't blame Harry for being angry and went on a whole rant about it while I just got on with my work.
Besides this, I noticed something was bothering Harry. His "Yeah"s and "That's right"s in between Ron's pauses were very half-hearted when he was supposedly angry at what Marietta had done. I only asked him about it though when the others had gone to bed and we were the last in the common as per usual.
'Is anything on your mind?' I asked him. He just looked at me before returning to looking out the window. I tried a different approach. 'I recall you once saying to me I could talk to you about anything.' I moved to the chair next to his. 'Maybe this is a time I could do the same for you? You don't have to keep things bottled up, you know.'
Again Harry looked at me but this time not solemnly but with a small smile on his face.
'It's not something that's easy to talk about,' he said slowly. He then stopped and thought for a moment. 'Jen, how much do you know about your parents? About Sirius and your mum?'
'Well,' I said, thinking. 'I know that they didn't have an easy relationship, they got together after Dad said something cocky to her, and that things happened to my Mum which scarred her badly.' Being raped … how can that not scar you? 'But the important thing was that they loved each other, that's what got them through the hardest times.' I looked at Harry. 'Why do you ask?'
'I just … I learnt something about my Dad and it's sort of hit home for me,' said Harry. 'My Mum used to hate him … It makes me wonder why they got together. I just got that he wouldn't leave her alone and she hated him.'
'Did you ever think that she might have loved him underneath and just never realised it?'
'How d'you mean?'
'A person's eyes can say a lot about a person's soul. They show your deepest desires and secrets. They say sometimes if you look into someone's eyes, you can read their hearts, as if they're a key to them. Maybe James could see something in Lily that she couldn't see herself and that was why he pursued her as you put it. There's a perfect someone meant for everyone. You've just got to find them and he obviously found her to be his other half if you will.'
'Didn't think you were into that sort of stuff, Jen,' said Harry surprised.
'I'm not,' I said. I got up and undid my hair. 'Just personal belief. You learn to believe in things when you're an orphan. Well, I'm going to bed. Night, Harry.'
'Yeah, night.'
I walked to the stairs but stopped and turned back to him to add, 'If you're still worried, maybe you should talk to Dad or Lupin. After all, they knew James best.'
The Easter holidays were warm and breezy and passed all to quickly for my liking and I was soon stuck revising everything and anything. I even seemed to find myself going to the library with Hermione as her study buddy every so often. The only thing to lift us up was the gift of Easter eggs from Mrs Weasley. Besides that, it was work, work, work.
The first bit of news to reach us on the last day of the holidays was about Careers Advice which according to Fred and George was given to all fifth years so as to help them decide what to study for their NEWTs. Thinking about it, I'd never really given much thought to what I wanted to be when I was older. I only lived one day at a time and took things as they came. Not always the best policy, I know, but it'd got me through the first fifteen years so …
Anyway, Careers Advice. Basically we all had to go see Professor McGonagall during the first week of the summer term and our appointments had been listed. Now, of course, with Professor McGonagall, she did it alphabetically which meant I was first. My appointment was at nine so at least I got out of the beginning History of Magic that day. A brief respite even if it was going to face McGonagall in a one-on-one. So, like the others, I read the leaflets about the various careers a wizard could take to prepare myself.
Ron didn't much fancy being a Healer seeing as you needed to get an "E" in Potions for it. Hermione suggested he should look into Muggle liaison but even that had its downfalls as Harry pointed out when she read the pamphlet saying you needed a good sense of fun.
'You need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle. Good sense of when to duck, more like.'
That was when Fred and George turned up. Seemed Harry had taken up my suggestion of speaking to Dad. OK, I know I said it but after last time I thought he'd wait until the summer holidays when school had finished. Hermione was shocked to hear about this as was I. But of course, the Weasley twins had come up with a plan for Harry to speak with him. They pointed out that they had been rather quiet during the holidays which was unusual.
'But it's business as usual from tomorrow,' said Fred. 'And if we're going to be causing a bit of mayhem, why not do it so that Harry can have his chat with Sirius.'
I didn't like the sound of this. They were planning to cause enough chaos to allow Harry to sneak into Umbridge's office using the knife Dad had given Harry last Christmas and use the fire in her office as it was the only one in Hogwarts not being watched. Hermione wasn't keen on it; Harry seemed happy to do it; and Ron said he should if he wanted to do so.
'Right then,' said Fred. 'We're thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons, because it should cause maximum impact if everybody's in the corridors – Harry, we'll set it off in the east wing somewhere, draw her right away from her own office – I reckon we should be able to guarantee you, what, twenty minutes?'
'Easy,' said George.
Oh dear.
On Monday, I went straight to my appointment with McGonagall after breakfast and waited outside her office for her. She let me in a few minutes later and I was sat at her desk. McGonagall had just got round to asking me what I had thought about being when there was a knock at the door. Answering it, I looked over my shoulder to see Umbridge standing at the door.
'May I help you?' asked Professor McGonagall, bristling slightly. 'I am about to start a Careers Appointment with a student.'
'As I can clearly see, Minerva,' replied Umbridge curtly, looking at me. 'But when I saw it was this particular student, I felt obligated to overlook it.'
'And precisely what do you mean by that?' asked McGonagall. Judging from her tone, I guessed she was thinking along the same lines as I was. It was to do with me being an Animagus, I would bet my mother's necklace on it.
'As I'm sure you're aware of, Minerva,' said Umbridge, walking in and taking a seat, 'Miss Black here has a quite unnatural talent.'
'If you are referring to her being born a rare-Animagus, I cannot see how this can hinder her future career.'
'But, yes, indeed.' As the two teachers spoke, I felt like I was watching a Muggle tennis match, my eyes going from side to side as I looked at each of them as they spoke. 'The Ministry is fully aware of Miss Black's unusual case and her status in wizarding society and believe that it can lead to some difficulties.'
I looked at her curiously. Difficulties? What difficulties? I was no different than any other teenage witch or wizard. Apart from the changing into animals thing, how was I different?
'The Ministry believe Miss Black would possess an unfair advantage over other candidates in some aspects of training,' continued Umbridge. I noticed Professor McGonagall was watching her very carefully. 'And so, believe that posts such as Auror and Healer are simply out of the question for her to apply for.'
'And why would that be?' questioned McGonagall. Were we ever going to get round to asking me about what I wanted to be?
'Well, hypothetically speaking, she would be able to use this gift of hers to pass the Concealment Exam when you are meant to remain human during it the test.'
'I believe a Metamorphmagus became a Auror a few years back and there were no problems with her using her gift in the Concealment Exam,' said McGonagall. Umbridge acted like she'd heard nothing.
'And as for being a Healer, I do believe patients would not wish to be treated by a half-breed.' Ah, there it is. The half-breed slur. 'If, for example, Miss Black received a cut during tending to a patient with a open wound, this could lead to immense complications.'
'Considering Healers use spells and potions to heal their patients mainly, I do not see how –' Umbridge interrupted her again.
'The only options the Ministry believe Miss Black has is to apply for a job with Muggles who are unaware of her condition, Muggle Relations and so forth, to save her any refusals from wizards. I'm sure you're aware this is merely to save Miss Black any rejection in the future.'
Now that had to be the biggest load of crap I'd ever heard. To save me from rejection? It was only because Umbridge wanted to make my life a misery. I bet if she had her way, she'd make it so all half-breeds were unable to work. I definitely shared Lupin's hatred for her.
After this, she dismissed herself from the room leaving me with about ten minutes left of my appointment. They had talked for so long about my prospects after school I was only able to mention to Professor McGonagall that I'd thought about being an Auror out of everything I'd read. She told me that I had just as much chance as the next person, proven by Tonks which made me smile, and that I shouldn't listen to what Umbridge said. I didn't anyway. Still, with that in mind, I left for Potions.
If it was possible, Snape seemed to ignore Harry even more in Potions than he did before. It didn't affect Harry though and he got on with his potion better than he usually did, filling a phial with it and placing it on the desk. As we left though, there was a smash at the front and Malfoy's laughing ringing in the dungeon. Harry span round to see his potion lying on the floor. Snape had broken it. What exactly had happened in his last Occlumency lesson? What was worse though was that Hermione had emptied his cauldron and so he was unable to refill his phial. Harry didn't sit with her at lunch.
Harry disappeared from Divination later on when Ron reminded him about his appointment with Professor McGonagall, leaving me and Ron to listen to another lesson with Firenze. After that, he joined us in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Beside me, Hermione was still trying to convince Harry not to use Umbridge's office fire while we were supposed to be reading "Chapter Thirty-four" of our textbooks.
'Dumbledore sacrificed himself to keep you in school, Harry!' hissed Hermione. 'And if you get thrown out today it would all have been for nothing!'
She begged him not to do it, but if I knew Harry, when he had a plan nothing would stop him until he'd seen it through. So, following Ron, I was determined to stay out of the conversation.
The end of lessons came and no sooner had we got out the classroom did we hear a massive sounds coming form the east wing. Umbridge came running out the classroom behind us, pulling out her wand as she went to see what was going on. Next thing I knew, Harry was running off towards Umbridge's office leaving me, Ron and Hermione in the corridor. Instead of chasing him, we went to see what the diversion was that Fred and George had created.
The whole east wing was in uproar but Fred and George were nowhere to be seen. Looking at each other, the three of us suddenly heard shouts come from the floors below and a echoing BOOM followed by screams and shouts. We ran off to where they were coming from. They were in the Entrance Hall. Students were flooding there from all areas. Students, ghosts, teachers, all were running to the scene where Fred and George stood in the centre of it all. The walls were covered in Stinksap and above us, Peeves was cackling like mad.
'What on earth did those two do?' squealed Hermione when she saw the state of the Entrance Hall.
'I don't know, but Harry's time in Umbridge's office is running out,' I said, looking at the clock tower through the window. 'He better get out of there.'
'Filch! Filch!' Ron, Hermione and I ran forwards and looked over the banisters down to the floor. Umbridge was screaming in fury down there, Filch fighting his way through the crowd to her. 'I approve your request for whipping!' she screamed. 'It's in my office!'
'Oh no!' gasped me and Hermione. 'Umbridge's office!'
Filch pushed his way back through the crowd and up the marble staircase past us, panting and wheezing all the way. If Harry wasn't out of the fire by now, he'd be caught for sure. But there was no way to warn him. I couldn't use the phoenix escape trick anymore because of the earring so I couldn't get to him in time.
Come on, Harry, I thought desperately, turning back to watch what was happening. Please, get out of there.
It wasn't long before Filch came huffing and puffing back, a scroll in his raised hand. He limped quickly over to Umbridge who now had a look of delight on her face as she turned to the twins. The three of us watched as she and Filch rounded on the two of them who were standing just in front of the main doors.
'You two,' she was saying, 'are about to learn what happens to wrong doers in my school.'
'You know what?' said Fred. 'I don't think we are.' He turned George. 'George, I think we've outgrown full-time education.'
'Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself,' said George lightly.
'Time to test out our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?' asked Fred.
'Definitely,' said George.
And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together: 'Accio brooms!'
There was a sudden crash in the distance. The Hall fell almost silent as a scrapping began, getting louder and louder as the movement seemed to get faster and faster. All of a sudden, two brooms came soaring above us, long chains and iron pegs clanging and swaying dangerously below them. They hurtled down the corridor before coming to a halt in front of their owners. Fred and George climbed on to them.
'We won't be seeing you,' said Fred happily.
'Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch,' said George. 'If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley – Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, our new premises! Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat.'
There was a massive cheer from most of the students along with Umbridge's shriek of, 'STOP THEM!' But as the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below.
'Give her hell from us, Peeves,' shouted Fred to the poltergeist floating madly in front of them. And something which I'd never thought I'd see, Peeves took off his hat and bowed at the two of them, saluting them as well, before they zoomed off out of the front doors.
Talk about an exit.
The uproar that ensued after their escape was actually quite enjoyable contrary to what I first thought. Fred and George were now legends in the school and people were contemplating on following their footsteps everywhere; the swamp on the fifth floor corridor had been roped off; the door of Umbridge's office had to be replaced due to the broom holes in it and mine had Harry's brooms had been moved to the dungeon; Filch was regularly seen with a whip as he and the Inquisitorial Squad tried to reprimand people doing wrong (in other words, everyone); and Fred and George's Skiving Snackboxes were proving popular with students to get out of Umbridge's classes. All in all, life was much harder for our new Headmistress than she had first intended. Of course, Peeves was the forerunner of all this mischief.
Now he would be seen cackling along the corridors at all hours of the day, dropping ink pellets or upending tables or toppling the statues in the corridors. Much to Filch's dismay, he shut Mrs Norris in the suits of armour twice. He did anything and everything you could think of to cause trouble. And whenever he had some free time, he'd float over Umbridge making raspberry sounds each time she spoke.
Everything was coming back to cause trouble for Umbridge. Montague, who had turned up from his trip through the Vanishing Cabinet, was in the hospital wing and when we saw his parents through the window of our Charms lesson walking up the drive, they did not look please. Harry and Ron, who were trying to make their cups grow legs, seemed happy enough about it.
'He'll recover,' said Ron casually when Hermione asked if we should tell Madam Pomfrey what we knew about the twins shoving him into the Cabinet.
'Any more trouble for Umbridge, isn't it?' said Harry.
He tapped his cup and it grew four thick legs. They were too short though for it to stand up. Ron's on the other hand grew four long spindly ones which when it tried to stand up broke instantly. Hermione had to fix it for him. Still, Ron was adamant not to feel sorry for him. He even said it should be him that Hermione felt sorry for. When she asked why, he explained it was because of what Mrs Weasley's next letter to him was going to say about Fred and George's escape. I didn't see how it could have been his fault.
'It'll be my fault Fred and George left, you wait,' said Ron darkly. 'She'll say I should've stopped them leaving, I should've grabbed the ends of their brooms and hung on or something … yeah, it'll be all my fault.'
Hermione said she shouldn't blame him. That's when the subject turned on to the fact Fred and George had premises in Diagon Alley meant they must had been planning it for ages. Ron was very curious to how they got them. They would have needed loads of gold. Harry was the only one to keep silent besides me through the conversation until Ron wondered if Mundungus had been persuading them to sell stolen goods.
'He hasn't,' said Harry. The three of us looked at him. 'They got the gold from me. I gave them my Triwizard winnings last June.' Oh yeah, I remember seeing him do that.
Hermione was shocked he'd done such a thing. When Harry was defiant about it, she let the subject be and didn't say anything for the rest of the lesson which was probably a good thing. Her self restraint ran out though when we were out in the grounds, Harry stopped her before she could say anything. She got all stressy though when it wasn't that she was going to ask him about.
'I was going to ask Harry when he's going to go back to Snape and ask for more Occlumency lessons.' Harry didn't answer straight away. I watched him carefully, thinking he wasn't going to do anything of the sort. 'You can't tell me you've stopped having funny dreams because Ron told me you were muttering in your sleep again last night.'
Harry threw a glare at him and said that he'd been dreaming about Quidditch. He was determinedly avoiding my gaze at that. He knew I didn't believe that. But whatever he did dream about last night, he wasn't about to tell us.
As we walked back up to the castle for our next lesson, Ron muttered quietly, 'You know, if Montague doesn't recover before Slytherin play Hufflepuff, we might be in with a chance of winning the Cup.' Harry wasn't listening though; Cho had just walked across the courtyard, however, she wasn't looking at him.
The final Quidditch match of the season of Gryffindor against Ravenclaw arrived on the last Sunday of May. Slytherin had narrowly been defeated by Hufflepuff so it was all down to this match whether we won or lost the Cup. Besides the chants of "Weasley is our King" from the Slytherins, Luna's hat with an eagle on top, and the fact that Cho was playing, the match was about as eventful as the last few. Lee seemed to have lost the will to commentate since Fred and George's departure.
During the match though, Hagrid turned up. He wanted the three of us to come with him. However, seeing as this was the last match, I told Harry and Hermione to go and that I'd stay to watch Ron. Whatever Hagrid wanted seemed to be important but we also needed to support Ron. We were always in things together, weren't we? So as those two disappeared off with Hagrid, I returned to watch Ron.
I watched with increasing worry as Ron let in goal after goal. After the first half an hour, Angelina called a time-out and I went down to the pitch. Ron seemed close to a nervous breakdown. So, I decided to do something about. I walked over to Angelina and whispered something into her ear. She looked at me curiously but I nodded encouragingly. I went back to the stands as the game began again. In no less than five minutes, the Quaffle was being taken back up to the Gryffindor goals. And just as planned, Angelina, Katie and Alicia were forcing the Ravenclaw Chasers to fly over where I was sat.
'You can do it, Ron!' I shouted as loud as I could through the choruses of "Weasley is our King". 'I know you can do it!' I think he heard me because he looked up at me just in time to see the Quaffle speeding towards him. 'Weasley is our King and he can save everything!'
The Chaser got closer and closer. I was crossing my fingers so tightly they felt like they were going to break. Then all of a sudden, the Quaffle was zooming away and Katie caught it, flying off the other end. I screamed with joy! Ron had done it! He'd blocked it! He looked at me as the play left his end and I gave him a thumbs up. And it didn't end there. His confidence had boosted so much he started saving virtually every goal that came at him. And we won! I couldn't believe it, we won! Ginny caught the Snitch first and all the goals Ron had saved totted up with us winning two hundred and seventy to one hundred and thirty.
The whole of Gryffindor flooded down to the pitch the moment the game ended. Dumbledore handed the Cup to Ron and he was hoisted on to their shoulders as they started to sing "Weasley is our King" but a completely different version to that sung by the Slytherins. They proceeded out the of the stadium. I just watched and smiled as he celebrated, also noticing Harry and Hermione coming back from wherever they'd gone as he shouted over to them.
'HARRY! HERMIONE! WE DID IT! WE WON!'
For the next few days Ron couldn't help but go on about the match, even when we were trying to revise. It was only when Hermione finally mentioned that she and Harry hadn't actually seen much of the match that Ron stopped. And they explained about Hagrid. He apparently had brought back a giant that was his half brother called Grawp. That was what had been injuring him. And he was teaching him English in the Forest. Oh God.
'He's lost his mind,' said Ron unbelievably.
'Yes,' muttered Hermione irritably. 'Yes, I'm starting to think he has. But, unfortunately, he made Harry and me promise.'
Ron said this was a promise which should be broken. I, however, believed it was best that we kept well out of the situation and that what Hagrid had done stayed with us. Lord knows what would happen if Malfoy or Umbridge got wind of this.
With exams now fast approaching, every fifth year in the school was either in their common rooms or in the library revising while the younger years enjoyed the gleaming summer weather. Luckily the teachers no longer piled on the homework and lessons were spent doing more revision, discussing what could come up in the exam. It was effecting everyone in different ways; Hermione for one started muttering to herself about various things while Ernie Macmillan interrogated people about revision plans. He demanded to know from me, Ron and Harry how many hours revision a day we did. Of course, there were those who had other opinions.
'Of course, it's not what you know,' said Malfoy one day outside Potions, loud enough for anyone to hear besides his usual cronies, 'it's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years – old Griselda Marchbanks – we've had her round for dinner and everything …' His point?
Anyhow, with all the exam business, the black-market in the school was booming as people sold potions to help you learn things and stuff. Harry and Ron seemed almost desperate for it while Hermione confiscated it all. Me, I just did my revision and left it at that. If I passed, I passed; if I failed, I failed. Exam timetables were given by Professor McGonagall in our next Transfiguration lesson and as I expected, I was second to Hannah Abbot in all the practical exams. Besides that, I was quietly confident.
'Now, I must warn you,' said Professor McGonagall, after handing them out, 'the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new – Headmistress –' she said that stiffly, '– has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely – because, of course, you examination results will reflect upon the Headmistress's new regime at the school –'
'So why don't we all fail our OWLs and be done with it?' I asked the others. Harry and Ron snickered. Professor McGonagall looked at us.
'However,' she continued, 'that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about.' Duly noted, Professor, duly noted.
Charms was the first exam on Monday and so Sunday was spent doing last minute revision. It turned out to be a very dangerous thing to revise with Hermione as she got very agitated. In between paragraphs of notes, I'd just watch and laugh silently to myself as Harry and Ron attempted to revise. I was sure they'd pass, it was just entertaining watching them try to revise; they had the knowledge, they just had to apply themselves.
That evening during dinner we saw the examiners arrive. The four of us went to have a better look as they spoke to Umbridge, taking it slowly up the marble staircase. It was funny watching the person we think was Professor Marchbanks reply to Umbridge's questions; she appeared to be a little deaf. Umbridge shot us a horrible look as Dumbledore was mentioned.
The exams actually weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. The written paper basically asked you about all you'd studied in the last five years of Hogwarts. Hermione tried to analyse the Charms paper after it was over with us but Ron pointed out we weren't going to do so. For the practical exams you were called in alphabetically and you had to perform the spells. The only problem was in the practicals was if you lost your nerves last moment. Basically, it was all right.
Transfiguration followed the next day with Herbology on Wednesday. Both had their difficult bits but I think I did all right in them. Nothing went too drastically wrong. Thursday was our Defence Against the Dark Arts paper which I was most anxious to do, seeing as we'd been learning magical theory and not actually done the spells. However, those in the DA had at least tried some of them. The written paper was a piece of cake and the practical turned out to be a lot of fun.
I got a rather doddery Professor for my Defence practical so it took a little longer than it should have done. The fun bit though was at the end of my examination when he was called over to Professor Tofty, a really nice Professor who I'd been examined by twice before, who was at that time examining Harry (that's how long my practical took!). Anyway, once there, he leaned into the pair of us and said, 'I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that the both of you can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point …?'
Harry and I looked at each other. Both of us were grinning. We knew exactly what the other was thinking of for a happy thought. So, drawing up my wand with his, the pair of us said, 'Expecto Patronum!'. Prongs and Hooves burst from our wands as bright as sunlight and cantered the length of the hall together. Virtually everyone in the room watched, Professor Tofty clapping ecstatically when they vanished.
'Excellent!' he said. 'Very well, Potter, Black, you may go!'
Harry and I walked out of the exam room together before bursting into laughter at the look on Umbridge's face as we passed. If she thinks we've failed our Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL, she can think again.
Friday was a day off for me, Ron and Harry while Hermione had Ancient Runes but it was spent revising for our other exams. Let me rephrase that, I revised so I had the weekend, they didn't. Hermione wasn't pleased when she came out; she'd mistranslated ehwaz. What was news to us though was that another Nifflers had been put in Umbridge's office (the first was put in sometime after Fred and George's escape) so she was in a fowl temper. Ron found it hilarious but as Hermione pointed out, she thought it was Hagrid doing it. In other words his job was in jeopardy.
That indeed was the case. On Wednesday the next week, after a horrible Potions exam on Monday and Care of Magical Creatures on Tuesday, was our Astronomy exam at midnight. And boy, was that eventful. It was about halfway through the paper when a noise came from down in the grounds. Everyone got disturbed and was trying to see what was happening though Professor Tofty told us just to ignore it and concentrate. But I couldn't; my seat was right by the window and I could see everything.
Umbridge was advancing on Hagrid's cabin and not before long, a battle was ensuing down in the grounds. A loud BANG brought everyone's attention back from their papers. I could see the red lights of Stunners come from inside Hagrid's hut. We could hear their shouts from up here. Fang got hit by one of the spells and was lying at his masters feet, the culprit being thrown out of the cabin. That's when McGonagall to help.
'Leave him alone!' she shouted. 'Alone, I say! On what grounds are attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing, to warrant such –'
Professor McGonagall suddenly stopped as she was hit by four Stunners in the chest, throwing her back and leaving her unconscious on the ground. I gasped in terror as Hermione, Parvati and Lavender all screamed. Even Professor Tofty by now was watching what was happening.
'COWARDS!' came Hagrid's bellowing voice. 'RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT – AN' THAT –'
I watched in fear as Hagrid fought his way through his attackers, swiping at them, knocking some out cold. He then picked up the limp figure of Fang and put him over his shoulders. Umbridge was shouting at the Aurors to stop him but they appeared reluctant to do so. And Hagrid ran. He just ran towards the gates, a last Stunner missing him, and out of Hogwarts. Now everyone who could help us had gone; first Dumbledore, then Professor McGonagall being injured, and now Hagrid.
Silence followed in the exam room after this. I instantly looked at Harry and the others. They were equally as worried as I was. Then, with Professor Tofty's instruction of there only being five minutes left, I finished what I had remaining of my star chart which luckily wasn't very much, and left the room with the others. As soon as we were out, everyone was talking about what had just happened. Hermione was furious and it was clear that Hagrid was meant to have been sacked by that commotion. The attack though, that had been a personal one.
That wasn't my only eventful exam. History of Magic was our last exam Thursday afternoon so the entire morning was last minute cramming. During the exam, I wrote down everything I could remember about the goblin rebellions and legislations as the time slowly ticked away. I continuously re-read my answers, making sure I hadn't missed anything, fiddling with my necklace as well. I'd been wearing the one Harry had given me for Christmas for good luck along with my mother's. The eventful part came at the end of the exam though.
I'd just finished my last answer and was checking it. Instinctively, I grasped my necklaces as I read it when all of a sudden images flashed over my eyes and my head began pounding. I could see all these images, hear these voices, none making sense, doors and corridors. I could feel myself panting in pain and my hand on my forehead but could hear nothing except what was in my head. Then all of a sudden I could see my Dad; he was lying on the floor, a man standing over him. The man raised his head and I saw his face.
I screamed in pain as I felt a burn under my hand and the pain in my head got too much. I had to let go of the necklaces otherwise I felt like my head would explode. Next thing I knew, I felt something hard hit my side and my hands grasping at my hair. I opened my eyes slowly, not seeing the people I could tell were standing around me. Judging by how painful that was Dad was going to die and soon.
I was taken out the exam moments later and I wasn't the only person. Harry too had apparently yelled in pain. Professor Tofty was talking to him while I convinced another adjudicator that I didn't need to go to the hospital wing. As soon as they were gone, I was turned to him and asked, 'What happened? What did you see?'
'It's Sirius! He's in trouble!' and he was off up the stairs.
I sprinted as fast I could after Harry to find he was going to the hospital wing. Why was he going there if Dad was in trouble? I chased after him. Just I got there Madam Pomfrey was telling him that someone wasn't there when the bell rang. And he was off again. I chased him as he pushed his way through the students in the corridors back to the Entrance Hall where he found Ron and Hermione. I finally caught up with him again when he dragged the three of us into a classroom.
'Voldemort's got Sirius,' he said.
I felt my heart stop as he said this. No. No! It wasn't possible! Voldemort couldn't have Dad! I kept telling myself this in my head as Hermione and Harry started to arguing about God knows what. Something to do with going to the Department of Mysteries. But Dad … the longer we stood here, the more likely he was going to die if we didn't do something. But he couldn't have left Grimmauld Place, he just couldn't!
'I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!' Harry was yelling. 'Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care seeing hurt –'
'Stop it!' I shouted suddenly. The others looked at me. 'Stop it the pair of you! If Dad's in trouble,' I emphasised the "if" because I didn't want to believe it, 'what are we going to do about it?'
I looked at the others desperately. Couldn't they see this was my Dad we were talking about who was supposedly in danger? I had to find out if he was all right! But nothing the others were talking about seemed to be about finding a way to speak to Dad. It was about Harry's saving people thing or his dreams or God knows what. I didn't care. I just needed to see my Dad!
While the others continued arguing, I tried desperately to think of and recall what I'd seen from my premonition. I couldn't do it, it was all too much of a blur. There had been too many images at once for me to comprehend. But if Hermione was right about this being another time where Voldemort was trying to lure Harry somewhere then there was the possibility that Dad was still safe and that this was a trap. We had to speak to him.
By now, Ginny and Luna had also joined us in the classroom. Harry instantly told them not to get involved in what we were discussing, his tone not to Ginny's liking. Luna's comment about him being rude certainly didn't improve Harry's mood. He was just about to turn them away when something stirred in me and I said, 'Wait! Wait … Harry, they can help.' Everyone looked at me. 'Listen,' I said urgently, 'Harry, we need to establish whether Dad really has left the Headquarters.'
'I've told you, I saw –' began Harry but I cut him off.
'Harry, I'm begging you, please!' I said desperately. I was trying to hold back crying in desperation. 'Please let's just check that Dad 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 do whatever it takes to try and save him. I don't want to lose him either.'
'Sirius is being tortured NOW!' shouted Harry. I held in a groan. '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.' I looked at him, right in the eyes. 'I don't want to lose him either. But if this is a trap then we could be playing right into Voldemort's hands, just as he wants. Please, Harry, do this for me. Please, check.'
I looked at Harry, ignoring Luna's comment of, 'When you say "Sirius", are you talking about Stubby Boardman?' Harry just stared at me before giving in.
'OK,' he said aggressively. 'OK, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm right with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now.'
OK, I'd got him to check but I didn't actually have a plan. Luckily, Hermione did. We had to use Umbridge's fire again. We decided that Ron was to create a distraction to keep her away from her office while Ginny and Luna kept people away from her office corridor. Meanwhile, Harry, Hermione and me were to use the Invisibility Cloak to speak to Dad through Umbridge's fire. Well, while they were doing that, I had other ideas.
Harry dashed off to get the Invisibility Cloak, returned minutes later. Ron, Ginny and Luna were already in place. Initially, I got under the Cloak along with the other two but when we started for the office, I let the Cloak fall off me before turning the other way. I heard Harry call me back but I ignored him and ran off. In the process, knowing I still couldn't transform, I took out my wand and pointed it at my ear where the earring was, saying, 'Bombarda!' I felt the earring explode in my ear and fall out, allowing me to finally transform into a dog. That done, I sprinted down to the dungeons to get my broom.
However, someone already had got wind of what was happening and Filch was there to meet me along with one of the Inquisitorial Squad members. I'd slowed as I reached the dungeon and was about to creep into the room where I thought the brooms were when I was grabbed and had a chain put round my neck. Next, I felt myself being yanked all the way back to Umbridge's office. I growled and fought against the boy holding me but he was one of the more lardy Slytherins and was too strong for me.
'Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley–free zone, doesn't it?' Umbridge was saying when we reached her office. The others had been caught too. 'Where is the Black girl, though? She would have been with them.'
'Here, Professor,' said the boy holding me as he dragged me inside. 'She was in the dungeons. Filch help me chain her up.' I saw the others all being held by various Slytherins, including Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy. I growled and snapped at them as well only to receive a muzzle on my face, tied around the back of my head. I glared at Umbridge.
'Well done,' sung Umbridge happily as she looked down her nose at me. 'She's got just what her father deserves. Being chained up.'
The next half an hour or so, I spent sitting crossed-legged on the floor with a chain round my neck and the muzzle loose on my head. I'd calmed down and transformed back and was currently watching Umbridge carefully. Malfoy had been sent to get Snape during that time. He came back and Umbridge asked him for some Veritaserum. I don't know whether it was purposeful or not but Snape said she'd used his last bottle and he insisted he couldn't make another. This got Umbridge very angry and she put him on probation.
He bowed to her and was about when Harry suddenly shouted, 'He's got Padfoot!' I froze and looked at him. 'He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!'
Snape too had stopped, his hand on the door handle.
'Padfoot?' cried Professor Umbridge. 'What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?'
I watched Snape carefully, praying he didn't say anything.
'I have no idea,' said Snape coldly. OK, better than nothing. '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 references if you ever apply for a job.' and he left.
That's when things took a turn for the worse. With no Veritaserum to interrogate us, Umbridge resorted to crueller methods. The Cruciatus Curse. Hermione shrieked at her not to do so but she didn't care. Not even when Hermione said the Minister wouldn't like her to do so.
'What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him,' said Umbridge. '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. And the Black girl, nearly two birds with one stone.'
She'd done it. She sent those Dementors after Harry. Right, I thought, time to get even.
And Hermione provided the perfect way. She'd suddenly burst out that we had to tell her where it was, that it was ready. She said we'd been looking for Dumbledore everywhere to let him know it was ready. That the weapon was ready. And it struck me. I realised Hermione was doing the same as I intended to do and she'd set it up. So, playing along, when Umbridge asked her what the weapon was, I said casually, 'If you want to call it that, then yeah, it's a weapon.'
Umbridge took the bait. She insisted we led her to where the weapon was. Hermione refused to though with all of the Slytherins. It was only Hermione's threat of letting everyone know so they could use it against her that she relented and made it just me and Hermione. She denied Malfoy's insistence to go and suggested we took Harry as well. So, with a yank of the chain round my neck, the four of us left her office and followed Hermione.
Hermione led us all the way down to the Entrance Hall and out of the school. She was heading towards the Forbidden Forest. I couldn't ask her what she was planning because Umbridge was so close to us and she still had my chain in her hand; I didn't want to be strangled anymore. I stuck close to Hermione.
'It's hidden in Hagrid's hut, is it?' said Umbridge eagerly in Harry's ear.
'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.' I let out a realistic hiss of annoyance at that, only receiving a tug on the chain because of it.
At her next question, Hermione said it was inside the Forest. I looked at her. The only things that were in the Forest were magical creatures. What was Hermione trying to pull? Still, I kept my peace and followed. Umbridge made the three of us stay ahead of her without wands. Well, Hermione and Harry didn't have theirs; I still had mine, she just didn't know. Well, she wasn't able to get it off me when I was an animal and had forgotten when I transformed. Her response to Harry's request for her wand was, 'The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I'm afraid.' Nice. If Dumbledore was here, it'd certainly be the other way around.
Walking into the Forest without wands was definitely one of the more dangerous things we'd done so far, but I continued to follow Hermione as she led us down the path through the Forest. But soon we were off the path and going to a part I'd never been to, and by the looks of it, only Harry seemed to know where we were going.
'Er – are you sure this is the right way?' he asked Hermione.
'Oh yes,' she replied loudly. Hermione was walking through the bushes rather noisily as well, come to think of it. None of us turned back to help Umbridge when she fell over. Hermione merely continued onwards, calling back, 'It's a bit further in!'
'Hermione, keep your voice down,' hissed Harry, catching up with us. 'Anything could be listening in here –'
'I want us heard,' she answered quietly. She wants us to be heard? I thought. But why – I stopped as I answered my own question. 'You'll see …'
'We know what we're doing, Harry,' I added.
We walked for ages, getting deeper and deeper into the Forest. And at Umbridge's demand of how much further we were going, what I thought Hermione was planning happened. All of a sudden, an arrow shot past us into a tree followed by the sounds of hooves. The whole ground shook. Next moment, we were surrounded by centaurs, all with arrows pointing at us. And you can tell what reaction that got from Umbridge.
'Who are you?' said a voice. A tall chestnut centaur stepped forwards. 'I asked who you are, human,' he repeated roughly.
'I am Dolores Umbridge!' said Umbridge in a high-pitched, terrified voice. 'Senior Undersecretary to the Minster for Magic and Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!'
'You are from the Ministry of Magic?' asked the centaur.
'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, and attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human –'
'What did you call us?' shouted a black centaur. Some of the bows were raised.
'Don't call them that!' I said instantly.
But Umbridge continued her rant about half-breeds. I could see this all ending in disaster. What had Hermione been planning? The near-human intelligence remark really insulted them. Umbridge was going to get us all killed if she wasn't careful. Saying it was the Ministry's Forest? An arrow flew between me and Hermione, right by Umbridge's head, causing the two of us to jump. I was more scared; Umbridge still had my chain in her hand.
'Whose Forest is it now, human?' bellowed another centaur I recognised to be called Bane. I'd met him with Harry in the first year.
'Filthy half-breeds!' screamed Umbridge. 'Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!' Oh no! Hermione told her to be quiet but it was too late. Umbridge pointed her wand and screamed, 'Incarcerous!' ropes flying out her wand and wrapping themselves round the chestnut centaur's chest, binding him.
Harry pulled me and Hermione out of the way as the centaurs reared up in front of us. Umbridge had finally let go of the chain but because of the commotion created by the centaurs, the chain got wrapped round one of the centaur's legs. I felt myself being yanked back as the centaur moved. I tried to get at my wand but it fell out my hand as the chain jerked me back again.
'Harry!' I shouted at him. He turned and looked at me. 'My wand!' I pointed to it on the ground. Luckily he saw it and grabbed it before it was stepped on. He pointed it at the chain and exploded it. With the chain broken I was able to hurry back over to him and Hermione, taking back my wand, before I felt myself being raised off my feet. The three of us had been picked up by the centaurs.
'They are young,' said one of them when they were asked what to do with us. 'We do not attack foals.'
'They brought her here, Ronan,' replied the centaur who was holding Harry. 'And they are not so young … he is nearing manhood, this one.'
'And her,' said the one holding me. I felt him shake me slightly. I glanced at him. 'She has beauty that does not come in some humans until adulthood.'
Excuse me? What did centaurs know about human beauty anyway? Still, that wasn't important as Hermione tried to get them to let us go. It only made them more angry when she said we hoped they would drive Umbridge off. Bad move. They were furious. I thought they'd kill us for sure if they thought we were almost adults. But then, another sound started approaching us. There was a cracking of twigs along with a crashing noise. The three of us looked to where it was coming from.
'Hagger!'
All of a sudden, a giant came rushing through the Forest towards us. I stared at it in horror but Hermione and Harry seemed to know who it was and what it was saying. The centaurs dropped us as they saw it. The giant saw us and, God knows what it was thinking, suddenly bellowed out, 'GRAWP WANT HAGGER!' It reached out a hand towards us and the centaurs started firing their arrows at it. The thing started howling in pain and crashing about as the arrow heads hit him, blood dripping from the wounds. It stomped about blindly, still crying for Hagger. As the centaurs retreated, the giant followed them, leaving me, Harry and Hermione alone.
'What the hell was that?' I asked once I'd stopped panting out of sheer terror.
'Grawp,' answered Harry. So that was Hagrid's little brother. Hardly little …
Once they'd gone, the three of us set about getting back to the castle to help Dad. But we were helpless with only one wand. That's when Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville appeared, wands in hand, having escaped from Malfoy and the others by hexing them. Telling them what happened, Harry said Dad was still alive but we needed to get to London. Luna suggested flying. Ginny instantly objected when Ron said she wasn't coming, cutting Harry off when he was about to say she was too young.
I just shook my head in exasperation as they started arguing again before snapping, 'Don't you understand, Harry?' He turned and looked at me. 'We're in this together! We're all with you and we want to help! You're not the only one who cares about him!'
It didn't seem to deter him and I shook my head again when I felt something pulling at my robes. Turning round, I saw it was one of the school Thestrals. It was licking the blood off my robes. It must have smelt it and come to see what it was. I turned round and began to stroke its neck as it continued to lick me. They really were beautiful creatures. Next moment, I heard Ron say, 'Is it those mad horse things?' and I realised Luna or Harry must have realised they were there. He was beside me, patting another.
Protests soon began as Harry still said Ginny, Neville and Luna were not to come. Eventually, he gave in. By now, six Thestrals had been attracted by the smell of Grawp's blood, all licking me, Hermione or Harry. And because of this, there was no reason for any of us to stay behind apart from one of us. Of course, Ron and the others were the first to get on to a Thestral (with help from Luna) while I had a sudden feeling we shouldn't be doing this. I remained where I was.
'Are you coming, Jenna?' asked Harry, slightly irritably. I looked at him.
'What if this is a trap?' I said. I walked over to him on his Thestral. 'What if it was all unreal?'
'Jenna, I can feel Voldemort's feelings. I'm sure he's got Sirius.' I still looked worriedly at him. He held out his hand. 'Are you coming or not?'
Though still apprehensive, I nodded and took Harry's hand. He pulled me on to the back of his Thestral. Telling the Thestral where we wanted to go, the Thestral did nothing at first before spreading its wings and galloping forwards. I grabbed on to Harry's waist as I almost slid off the back off the Thestral as we flew into the air. All I could think of during the journey was, Please be OK, Dad. I can't lose you. I just wanted Harry to be wrong. I didn't know what I'd do if I lost him.
I don't know how long it took but it was getting dark when we finally reached London. We soared over the tiny houses and headed towards the centre where the phone booth to the Ministry was. The Thestral suddenly streaked downwards and we began to descend, landing a few minutes later in the middle of the pavement. Harry got off first and helped me down while the others dismounted from their own. Then, we piled into the phone box.
'Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Jenna Black, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood,' said Harry into the receiver, 'we're here to save someone unless your Ministry can do it first!' Seven badges popped out and we descended into the ground.
The Ministry was empty. There was little light. Tumbling out of the lift, we followed Harry as he led us to the lifts in the Atrium. He pressed the down button and we went deeper into the Ministry. As we went, he tried to get us to break up again but we wouldn't have it. Once the lift had stopped, we got out. It was the dark corridor Harry and I had been down the day of our hearing. There was a door at the end of it. Harry took hold of the handle and pushed the door open, leading us into a circular room with several more doors. We shut the door behind us and the room suddenly began spinning, coming to a halt again seconds later. Now what did we do?
'What was that about?' asked Ron.
'I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through,' said Ginny.
My anxiety increased as we continued on. The first door we opened contained tanks of green liquid with brains inside them. We returned to the circular room, Hermione marking the brain room door so we knew we'd been in it, and tried another once it had stopped spinning again. This time it was a large room with stone tiers going downwards. And as we stepped into it, I had a strange feeling I'd been here before. I could hear voices … whispering. As I looked around, my eyes were drawn to an arch and I began to feel weird, as if my mind was blanking out. I couldn't hear the others, only the voices. Something flashed over my eyes but it was so quick, I didn't see it.
'Are you all right?' I looked to my left when I felt something tug my sleeve. It was Neville.
'Yeah,' I said. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'
We left the room. The next door we tried we couldn't open, even with Harry's knife, which melted. The room span again and we picked another door. It was the one Harry had seen, he was sure of it. He led us inside. It was bright room with bookcases and desks inside it, a crystal bell jar at the far end. Harry led the way across the room, stopping Ginny as she watched a bird be born from an egg, and opened the opposite door. We were in another room, this one as large as a church. It had row upon row of shelves with hundreds of small dusty orbs on them. We proceeded forwards when Hermione said it was row ninety-seven Harry had mentioned. Finding the row, we turned into it.
'He should be near here,' whispered Harry. 'Anywhere here … really close … Somewhere about … here …' but we'd reached the end of the row and Dad wasn't there.
'Oh no,' I breathed to myself. It was a trap. Dad wasn't here … and now we were in deep trouble.
But the others hadn't realised. Harry had become fascinated by something Ron had pointed out. One of the orbs had his name on it.
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.
Dark Lord
and (?) Harry Potter
None of us knew what it was. Hermione said not to touch it but Harry reached out and picked it up. Nothing happened. Harry cleaned it of its dust but still nothing.
'Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me.' The seven of us span round to see black shapes surround us, masks covering their faces under their hoods. Death Eaters. 'To me, Potter,' repeated the voice of Lucius Malfoy. Harry didn't do so. 'To me.'
'Where's Sirius?' Harry said.
The Death Eaters laughed. Harry demanded again where Dad was but they would not tell us. That was when another, a female Death Eater, spoke up. She teased him, mocking him with a baby voice. I had a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach as I dreaded it was the person I thought it was.
'You hear him?' she laughed. 'You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!'
'Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix,' said Malfoy softly. It was, it was who I thought. 'He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter.'
Harry still refused and Malfoy threatened to start using wands on us. Instinctively, all of us raised our wands. One of the Death Eaters attempted to summon it, the prophecy they called it, but Malfoy stopped them. They wanted it in one piece. That was when Bellatrix stepped forwards and I saw her for the first time in person. My heart sank. I looked so much like her though I'd always been told I looked like my Mum. We both had long hair and deep eyes, hers mad though. It was as if I was looking in a mirror but like I was the good version of her. She threatened to hurt Ginny, something which spurred me to do something I would never do.
'You're not going to harm any of my friends,' I said, taking a slight step forwards. I felt someone's hand take my sleeve to pull me back. 'I won't let you.'
Bellatrix's eyes turned on me. She smiled the most manic smile I'd ever seen.
'Well, well, well, we finally meet,' she sneered. 'I finally meet my cousin's daughter. Come out, come out, little Jennifer,' she said, trying to lure me forwards more. I stayed where I was. 'I see you at last got reunited with your daddy. Such a shame for him to lose you again.'
'You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us,' Harry told Bellatrix. He put his arm in front of me and moved me back. I glanced at him. 'I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?'
The conversation continued for a while, Malfoy demanding the prophecy while Harry threatened to break it if he didn't tell him why it was so important. He went too far though when he said Voldemort was a half-blood and Bellatrix attempted to Stun him. Malfoy deflected it though and two of the other orbs were broken, small ghostly figures rising form them.
As the distraction continued, I heard Harry whisper out the corner of his mouth to someone, 'Smash shelves.' whatever that meant. But it clicked straight away. Harry wanted us to break the shelves to distract the Death Eaters. He kept Malfoy talking for a few more minutes before all of a sudden he shouted the signal. The six of us shouted, 'REDUCTO!' and six spells flew from our wands, breaking every shelf in sight.
'RUN!' Harry yelled.
We didn't need telling twice and we all ran off while the Death Eaters were distracted. I ran after Ron as he was in the lead, Ginny, Luna and the others just after me. We ran through the first door we saw, leading us into a room full of planets and astrological things. We rushed straight for the next door when we heard the one behind us slam shut. Looking behind, we realised Harry, Hermione and Neville weren't with us; instead, three of the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix and Malfoy had followed us. The four of us were cornered.
'Say your prayers,' said Bellatrix, raising his wand.
The Death Eaters sent spells at us instantly and we were forced to take cover under whatever we could. We tried our best to defend ourselves, managing to Stun one of them. Malfoy and Bellatrix did everything to stop us. Ginny was caught by one of their curses, breaking her ankle, while Ron was hit by a horrible liquid from a tank which made him go all weird and giggly. I used my shield as best I could to protect us but I could only protect those close to me.
'RON?' I looked up, narrowly missing a curse from Malfoy as I did so. That had been Harry's voice. 'JENNA? GINNY? LUNA?'
Next minute, I felt myself being thrown backwards. I heard Ginny scream as it happened. I was thrown against a nearby wall and collapsed on the floor. Beside me, Luna too had had the same spell done to her. Looking up, I lifted my wand and shouted, 'Murus!'. It created a wall around us. I knew it would be easy to break but it gave me and Luna time to get Ron and Ginny and hurry to the next room. Shutting the door afterwards, Ginny pointed her wand at it and said, 'Colloportus!'
We'd ran straight into the room where we found Harry, Neville and an unconscious Hermione. Well, they seemed to be faring better than we had. By now, Ron was laughing insanely to himself; Ginny was in great pain with her ankle; and Neville had a broken nose and was covered in blood. Next second though, Harry, Neville and Luna were pulling the others into the next room while I tried to hold back Bellatrix and the others. We got into the next room and sealed it. We were back in the brain room.
'It doesn't matter!' said a man's voice. 'There are other ways in – WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!'
'Jenna – Luna – Neville – help me!' shouted Harry.
Together we started sealing as many of the doors as we could. But the Death Eaters managed to catch us, knocking Luna out as well as she tried to seal the door they ran through, leaving only me, Harry and Neville able to fight. Ron certainly didn't help things when he summoned a brain to him and it started to wrap its tentacles round him.
'Harry, it'll suffocate him!' screamed Ginny, but then she too was taken down by a spell hitting her in the face.
Neville and I tried to stop them as best we could when I saw Harry run for it. What was he doing? But it seemed to lead the Death Eaters away from the rest of us. Quickly, Neville chased after him leaving me to check the others were OK. I hauled them all up against the wall in one place, putting a Body-Bind Curse on Ron to keep him still before running after Harry and Neville. They were in the stone room from earlier; Bellatrix and Malfoy had their wands on the two of them. Neville was twitching and screaming pain.
'No!' I shouted suddenly. They turned to me. 'Leave them alone!' I sent Stunners at them but Malfoy merely deflected them.
'That was just a taster!' said Bellatrix. She stopped her attack on Neville. Next moment, I felt her hand round my neck, her wand pointed at my face. She was facing Harry. 'Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch my cousin die the hard way!'
I looked down at Harry desperately, begging him not to hand over the prophecy though I kept quiet. My heart sank though as I watched him slowly hold it out. Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley and … Dad! While Lupin, Moody and Kingsley went for the Death Eaters, Tonks and Dad went straight for Bellatrix.
'GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!' he shouted, running towards us with his wand drawn.
Bellatrix threw me aside and began duelling with Tonks while Dad ran to me.
'Jenna, thank God!' He pulled me into his arms and checked me over. 'I want you to get out of here, now!' said Sirius quickly. 'Get over to Harry and get out of here!' I nodded and stood up. Dad did so to and went to join the fight. I stopped and looked back at him for a moment. He was a strong fighter as he went up against one of the Death Eaters but I couldn't help but worry. I turned away and ran over to Harry and Neville. Helping Harry, we got Neville moving and started to climb up the stone levels. Malfoy almost caught up with us as we tried to get Neville up as his legs flailed about, Lupin stepping in to protect us.
'Come on!' said Harry desperately, hauling at Neville's robes. 'Just try and push with your legs –'
'Harry, I'b sorry!' cried Neville. 'I'b so sorry, Harry, I didn'd bean do –'
'It doesn't matter!' Harry shouted. 'Just try and stand, let's get out of –'
'Dubbledore!' said Neville suddenly. I looked at him.
'What?'
'DUBBLEDORE!'
Harry looked up to see Dumbledore appear from nowhere and join the fight. However, I'd stopped when I saw Dad being hit by one of Bellatrix's curses. He jeered at her as he stood straight again, saying she could do better, when he was hit by another jet of light. He was thrown backwards and everything seemed to start to slow around me as I watched him. It seemed to take Dad ages to fall: his body curved in an arc as he sank behind a ragged veil hanging in the archway I'd seen earlier.
'DAD!'
Without thinking, I ran down the stone levels to get to him. I couldn't hear or feel anything around me; I just had to get to Dad! I had to. But I felt something suddenly grab me round my chest and I was being pulled back from him. I recalled my dream in my head as I struggled against the force; I could see Dad but I couldn't reach him.
'There's nothing you can do –'
'Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!'
Those voices seemed so distant to me as all I could see or think of was Dad. I had to get to him! I needed him! I couldn't lose him!
'DAD! COME BACK, DON'T LEAVE ME, PLEASE!' I shouted. I continued to fight against whatever was holding me. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks. 'DON'T GO. COME BACK!'
'– it's too late.'
'We can still reach him –'
'There's nothing you can do, Harry … nothing … he's gone.'
'He hasn't gone! SIRIUS! SIRIUS!'
'DAD! DAD, PLEASE –!'
'He can't come back.' The force holding me tightened and I was pulled further back from the arch. 'He can't come back, because he's d—'
'HE – IS – NOT – DEAD! SIRIUS!'
'DAD! Dad … come back, please … he's not dead! He can't be …' But I couldn't believe it. He would have come back by now. I slowly stopped fighting against whatever was holding me but I was still staring at the archway, still pulling away at whatever was holding me. 'Please … bring him back …'
AN: well, i've done it. i tried to delay it as much as i could but found it was inevitable so i had to get it over and done with. sorry to all those who couldn't stand it, sirius is my fav character to and i hated when JKR killed him but i had to do it to. sorry. well, please leave a review and tell me wat u thought. BlAcKdAuGhTeR
and thx to liverbird1, awpotdc, Sakura12, dracosfling, Ginny-and-Draco-fan, DianaMC, gohan8k and literate-angel for reviewing the last chapter. keep reading and keep reviewing!