Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is J.K. Rowling's. Except Jamie, Luka, and Ariana.
Chapter 29- Fight and Flight
Harry and I have no idea what Hermione is planning, or even whether she has a plan. We walk half a pace behind her as we head down the corridor outside Umbridge's office, knowing it will look very suspicious if we appear not to know where we are going. I'm lucky that Harry is still supporting me, for I'm not sure if my shaky steps could support my weight. We do not dare to talk to her; Umbridge is walking so closely behind us that I can hear her ragged breathing.
Hermione leads the way down the stairs into the entrance hall. The din of loud voices and the clatter of cutlery on plates echo from out of the double doors to the Great Hall. It seems incredible to me that twenty feet away are people who are enjoying dinner, celebrating the end of exams, not a care in the world. . . .
The burden of knowledge always seems to fall on us.
Hermione walks straight out of the oak front doors and down the stone steps into the balmy evening air. The sun is falling towards the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest now as Hermione marches purposefully across the grass, Umbridge jogging to keep up. Their long dark shadows ripple over the grass behind us like cloaks.
"It's hidden in Hagrid's hut, is it?" says Umbridge eagerly in Harry's and my ear.
"Of course not," says Hermione scathingly. "Hagrid might have set it off accidentally."
"Yes," says Umbridge, whose excitement seems to be mounting. "Yes, he would have done, of course, the great half-breed oaf . . ."
She laughs. I have to stop my shaking hands from reaching out and burning her with the blue fire that I feel bubbling just under my skin. I've taken too much abuse in the last hour for my magic not to be acting up, not to mention that my face is still a mess. We're lucky no one noticed.
"Then . . . where is it?" asks Umbridge, with a hint of uncertainty in her voice as Hermione continues to stride towards the forest.
"In there, of course," says Hermione, pointing into the dark trees. "It had to be somewhere that students weren't going to find it accidentally, didn't it?"
"Of course," says Umbridge, though she sounds a little apprehensive now. "Of course . . . very well, then . . . you three stay ahead of me."
"Can we have your wand, then, if we're going first?" Harry asks her.
"No, I don't think so, Mr. Potter," says Umbridge sweetly, poking him in the back with it. "The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I'm afraid."
As we reach the cool shade of the first trees, I try to catch Hermione's eye; walking into the forest without wands seems to me to be more foolhardy than anything we have done so far this evening. She, however, merely gives Umbridge a contemptuous glance and plunges straight into the trees, moving at such a pace that Umbridge, with her shorter legs, has difficulty in keeping up.
"Is it very far in?" Umbridge asks, as her robe rips on a bramble.
"Oh yes," says Hermione. "Yes, it's well hidden."
"I still can't believe that we're taking her to it." I grumble, deciding that keeping up my act is the safest course of action.
"Er — are you sure this is the right way?" Harry asks Hermione pointedly.
"Oh yes," she says in a steely voice, crashing through the undergrowth with what I think is a wholly unnecessary amount of noise. Behind us, Umbridge trips over a fallen sapling. None of us pause to help her up again; Hermione merely strides on, calling loudly over her shoulder, "It's a bit further in!"
"Hermione, keep your voice down," Harry mutters, hurrying to catch up with her while half dragging me. "Anything could be listening in here —"
"I want us heard," she answers quietly, as Umbridge jogs noisily after us. "You'll see . . ."
"Mione anything but this…" I groan finally catching onto what her plan is. It has just as good a chance as getting us killed as it does Umbridge.
We walk on for what seems a long time, until we are once again so deep into the forest that the dense tree canopy blocks out all light. I have the feeling I have had before in the forest, one of being watched by unseen eyes. . . .
"How much further?" demands Umbridge angrily from behind Harry and me.
"Not far now!" shouts Hermione, as we emerge into a dim, dank clearing. "Just a little bit —"
An arrow flies through the air and lands with a menacing thud in the tree just over her head. The air is suddenly full of the sound of hooves. I can feel the forest floor trembling; Umbridge gives a little scream and pushes Harry and me in front of her like a shield —
Oh she didn't just do that.
Harry wrenches both of us free of her and turns. Around fifty centaurs are emerging on every side, their bows raised and loaded, pointing at Harry, Hermione, Umbridge, and me who back slowly into the center of the clearing, Umbridge uttering odd little whimpers of terror. I look sideways at Hermione. She is wearing a triumphant smile.
"Who are you?" says a voice.
I look left. The chestnut-bodied centaur called Magorian is walking towards us out of the circle; his bow, like the others', is raised. On my right, Umbridge is still whimpering, her wand trembling violently as she points it at the advancing centaur.
"I asked you who are you, human," says Magorian roughly.
"I am Dolores Umbridge!" says Umbridge in a high-pitched, terrified voice. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!"
"You are from the Ministry of Magic?" says Magorian, as many of the centaurs in the surrounding circle shift restlessly.
"That's right!" says 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, any attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human —"
"What did you call us?" shouts a wild-looking black centaur, whom I recognized from the forest last time. There is a great deal of angry muttering and tightening of bowstrings around us.
"Don't call them that!" Hermione says furiously, but Umbridge does not appear to have heard her. Still pointing her shaking wand at Magorian, she continues, "Law Fifteen B states clearly that 'Any attack by a magical creature who is deemed to have near-human intelligence, and therefore considered responsible for its actions —'"
"'Near-human intelligence'?" repeats Magorian, as Bane and several others roar with rage and paw the ground. "We consider that a great insult, human! Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own —"
"They're smarter than you'll ever be." I glare at Umbridge. Might as well get it all out while I still have a chance.
"What are you doing in our forest?" bellow the hard-faced gray centaur whom Harry, Hermione, and I saw on our last trip into the forest. "Why are you here?"
"Your forest?" says Umbridge, shaking now not only with fright but also, it seems, with indignation. "I would remind you that you live here only because the Ministry of Magic permits you certain areas of land —"
An arrow flies so close to her head that it catches at her mousy hair in passing. She lets out an earsplitting scream and throws her hands over her head while some of the centaurs bellow their approval and others laugh raucously. The sound of their wild, neighing laughter echoes around the dimly lit clearing and the sight of their pawing hooves is extremely unnerving.
"Whose forest is it now, human?" bellows Bane.
"Filthy half-breeds!" she screams, her hands still tight over her head. "Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!"
"Be quiet!" shouts Hermione, but it is too late — Umbridge points her wand at Magorian and screams, "Incarcerous!"
Ropes fly out of midair like thick snakes, wrapping themselves tightly around the centaur's torso and trapping his arms. He gives a cry of rage and rears onto his hind legs, attempting to free himself, while the other centaurs charge.
Harry grabs Hermione, and me pulling us to the ground. My ribs protest at the sharp and sudden movement. Facedown on the forest floor I know a moment of terror as hooves thunder around me, but the centaurs leap over and around us, bellowing and screaming with rage.
"Nooooo!" I hear Umbridge shriek. "Noooooo . . . I am Senior Undersecretary . . . you cannot . . . unhand me, you animals . . . nooooo!"
I see a flash of red light and know that she has attempted to Stun one of them — then she screams very loudly. Lifting my head a few inches, I see that Umbridge has been seized from behind by Bane and lifted high into the air, wriggling and yelling with fright. Her wand falls from her hand to the ground and my heart leaps, if I can just reach it —
But as I stretch out a hand towards it, a centaur's hoof descends upon the wand and it breaks cleanly in half.
"Now!" roars a voice in my ear and a thick hairy arm descends from thin air and drags me upright; Hermione and Harry too have been pulled to their feet. Over the plunging, many-colored backs and heads of the centaurs I see Umbridge being borne away through the trees by Bane, still screaming nonstop; her voice grows fainter and fainter until we can no longer hear it over the trampling of hooves surrounding us.
"And these?" say the hard-faced, gray centaur holding Hermione.
"They are young," says a slow, doleful voice from behind me. "We do not attack foals, and this one is injured."
"They brought her here, Ronan," replies the centaur who has such a firm grip on Harry. "And they are not so young. . . . He is nearing manhood, this one . . ."
He shakes Harry by the neck of his robes.
"Please," says Hermione breathlessly, "please, don't attack us, we don't think like her, we aren't Ministry of Magic employees! We only came in here because we hoped you'd drive her off for us —"
Harry know at once from the look on the face of the gray centaur holding Hermione that she has made a terrible mistake in saying this. The gray centaur throws back his head, his back legs stamping furiously, and bellows, "You see, Ronan? They already have the arrogance of their kind! So we were to do your dirty work, were we, human girl? We were to act as your servants, drive away your enemies like obedient hounds?"
"No!" says Hermione in a horrorstruck squeak. "Please — I didn't mean that! I just hoped you'd be able to — to help us —"
But she seems to be going from bad to worse.
"We do not help humans!" snarls the centaur holding Harry, tightening his grip and rearing a little at the same time, so that Harry's feet leave the ground momentarily. I watch on in worry. "We are a race apart and proud to be so. . . . We will not permit you to walk from here, boasting that we did your bidding!"
"We're not going to say anything like that!" Harry shouts. "We know you didn't do anything because we wanted you to —"
"Please we mean no offence!" I cry out as loud as I can though it comes out very nasally from my hurt nose.
But nobody seems to be listening to us. A bearded centaur towards the back of the crowd shouts, "They came here unasked, they must pay the consequences!"
A roar of approval meets these words and a dun-colored centaur shouts, "They can join the woman!"
"You said you didn't hurt the innocent!" shouts Hermione, real tears sliding down her face now. "We haven't done anything to hurt you, we haven't used wands or threats, we just want to go back to school, please let us go back —"
"We are not all like the traitor Firenze, human girl!" shouts the gray centaur, to more neighing roars of approval from his fellows. "Perhaps you thought us pretty talking horses? We are an ancient people who will not stand wizard invasions and insults! We do not recognize your laws, we do not acknowledge your superiority, we are —"
But we do not hear what else centaurs are, for at that moment there comes a crashing noise on the edge of the clearing so loud that all of us — Harry, Hermione, and the fifty or so centaurs filling the clearing — look around. Harry's centaur lets him fall to the ground again as his hands fly to his bow and quiver of arrows; Hermione has been dropped too, and I'm short to follow with a groan, and Harry hurries towards us as two thick tree trunks part ominously and the monstrous form of Grawp the giant appears in the gap.
The centaurs nearest me back into those behind. The clearing is now a forest of bows and arrows waiting to be fired, all pointing upwards at the enormous grayish face now looming over us from just beneath the thick canopy of branches. Grawp's lopsided mouth is gaping stupidly. We can see his bricklike yellow teeth glimmering in the half-light, his dull sludge-colored eyes narrow as he squints down at the creatures at his feet. Broken ropes trail from both ankles.
He opens his mouth even wider.
"Hagger."
Is he trying to ask for Hagrid— I am watching Grawp's feet, which are almost as long as my whole body. Hermione grips Harry's and my arms tightly; the centaurs are quite silent, staring up at the giant, whose huge, round head moves from side to side as he continues to peer amongst us as though looking for something he has dropped.
"Hagger!" he says again, more insistently.
"Get away from here, giant!" calls Magorian. "You are not welcome among us!"
These words seem to make no impression whatsoever on Grawp. He stoops a little (the centaurs' arms tense on their bows) and then bellows, "HAGGER!"
A few of the centaurs look worried now. Hermione, however, gives a gasp.
"Jamie! Harry!" she whispers. "I think he's trying to say 'Hagrid'!"
At this precise moment Grawp catches sight of us, the only three humans in a sea of centaurs. He lowers his head another foot or so, staring intently at us. I can feel Hermione shaking as Grawp opens his mouth wide again and says, in a deep, rumbling voice, "Hermy."
Okay that is probably one of the most amazing things that I've seen in a long time.
"Goodness," says Hermione, gripping my arm so tightly it is growing numb and looking as though she is about to faint, "he — he remembered!"
"HERMY!" roars Grawp. "WHERE HAGGER?"
"I don't know!" squeals Hermione, terrified. "I'm sorry, Grawp, I don't know!"
"GRAWP WANT HAGGER!"
One of the giant's massive hands swoop down upon us — Hermione lets out a real scream and I'm pretty sure that I do as well, runs a few steps backwards and falls over. Wandless, Harry and I brace ouselves to punch, kick, bite, or whatever else it takes as the hand flies toward us and knocks a snow-white centaur off his legs.
It is what the centaurs have been waiting for — Grawp's outstretched fingers are a foot from Harry and me when fifty arrows go soaring through the air at the giant, peppering his enormous face, causing him to howl with pain and rage and straighten up again, rubbing his face with his enormous hands, breaking off the arrow shafts but forcing the heads in still deeper.
I wince in sympathy for the giant.
He yells and stamps his enormous feet and the centaurs scatter out of the way. Pebble-sized droplets of Grawp's blood shower Harry and me as we pull Hermione to her feet and the three of us run as fast as we can for the shelter of the trees. Once there we look back — Grawp is snatching blindly at the centaurs as blood runs all down his face; they are retreating in disorder, galloping away through the trees on the other side of the clearing. As Harry, Hermione, and I watch, Grawp gives another roar of fury and plunges after them, smashing more trees aside as he goes.
"Oh no," says Hermione, quaking so badly that her knees give way. "Oh, that was horrible. And he might kill them all . . ."
"I'm not that fussed, to be honest," says Harry bitterly.
"I think I may faint…" I murmur. I'm not sure if its from the blood loss or the mixture of fear and adrenaline running through my system.
The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the blundering giant are growing fainter and fainter.
"Smart plan," Harry spits at Hermione. "Really smart plan. Where do we go from here?"
"Don't yell at her. She just saved us." I say woozily leaning heavily into Hermione.
"We need to get back up to the castle," says Hermione faintly, trying to support herself and me.
"By the time we've done that, Sirius'll probably be dead!" says Harry, kicking a nearby tree in temper; there is a high-pitched chattering overhead and he looks up to see an angry bowtruckle flexing its long twiglike fingers at him.
"Well, we can't do anything without wands," says Hermione hopelessly, dragging herself up again. "Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?"
"Yeah, we were just wondering that," says a familiar voice from behind her.
The three of us move instinctively together, peering through the trees, as Ron comes into sight, with Ginny, Neville, Luka, Ariana, and Luna hurrying along behind him. All of them look a little the worse for wear — there are several long scratches running the length of Ginny's cheek, a large purple lump is swelling above Neville's right eye, Ron's lip is bleeding worse than ever — but all are looking rather pleased with themselves.
Ariana hurries over to me and shoulders my weight, and I notice that her knuckles are scraped and bleeding as she tries to wipe some of the crusted blood on my face with her robe.
"So," says Ron, pushing aside a low-hanging branch and holding out Harry's wand, "had any ideas?"
"How did you get away?" asks Harry in amazement, taking his wand from Ron.
"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx," says Ron airily, now handing back Hermione's and my wand too. "But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy — Bat-Bogey Hex — it was superb, his whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"
"She got carried away," I say weakly. "By a herd of centaurs."
"Good riddance." Ariana spits clearly unmoved by the news not that I blame her at all. Luka comes over and starts looking me over worriedly, and I notice that one of his glasses lens are cracked, and there's a cut above his brow.
"And they left you behind?" asks Ginny, looking astonished.
"No, they got chased off by Grawp," says Harry.
"Who's Grawp?" Luna asks interestedly.
"Hagrid's little brother," says Ron promptly. "Anyway, never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or — ?"
"Yes," says Harry, "and I'm sure Sirius is still alive, but I can't see how we're going to get there to help him."
We all fall silent, looking rather scared. The problem facing us seems insurmountable.
"Hold still." Ariana whispers. I do my best and with a muttered spell and a flick of her wrist I cry out in pain as there's a loud pop and my nose bursts into pain. My eyes water, but after a moment I notice that it hurts a lot less now.
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" says Luna in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice I have ever heard her use.
"Okay," says Harry irritably, rounding on her, "first of all, 'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron's the only one with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so —"
"I've got a broom!" says Ginny. I look over at her biting my lip. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
"Yeah, but you're not coming," says Ron angrily.
"I'm afraid that he has a good point. Look how bad Jamie is and this is normal for them." Luka says gravelly.
"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!" says Ginny, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George is suddenly striking.
"You're too —" Harry begins.
"I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer's Stone," she says fiercely, "and it's because of me Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office with giant flying bogeys attacking him —"
"Yeah, but —"
"We were all in the D.A. together," says Neville quietly. "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real — or was that all just a game or something?"
"No — of course it wasn't —" says Harry impatiently.
"Then we should come too," says Neville simply. "We want to help."
"That's right," says Luna, smiling happily.
I heave a sigh. "Just let them come." I say tiredly, leaning my head on Ariana's shoulder. I have a feeling that there will be little rest for us.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," says Harry frustratedly, "because we still don't know how to get there —" He gives me another glare. I guess I can't do anything right for Harry today.
"I thought we'd settled that?" says Luna maddeningly. "We're flying!"
"Look," says Ron, barely containing his anger, "you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we —"
"There are other ways of flying than with broomsticks," says Luna serenely.
"I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?" Ron demands.
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly," says Luna in a dignified voice, "but they can, and Hagrid says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."
Harry whirls around. He's looking a something we can't see behind him. Oh please tell me he's not going to ask us to ride the invisible horses.
"Yes!" he whispers, moving towards nothing.
"Is it those mad horse things?" says Ron uncertainly, staring at a point slightly to the left of the thestral Harry is supposedly patting. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"
"Yeah," says Harry.
"How many?"
"Just two."
"Well, we need four," says Hermione, who is still looking a little shaken, but determined just the same. I push away from Ariana and go to stand next to her.
"Five, Hermione," says Ginny, scowling.
"I think there are nine of us, actually," says Luna calmly, counting. Luka and Ariana nod grimly.
"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" says Harry angrily. "Look, you five" — he points at Neville, Ginny, Luka, Ariana, and Luna — "you're not involved in this, you're not —"
They burst into more protests. Harry winces and I look worriedly at him.
"Okay, fine, it's your choice," he says curtly. "But unless we can find more thestrals you're not going to be able —"
"Oh, more of them will come," says Ginny confidently, who like Ron is squinting in quite the wrong direction, apparently under the impression that she is looking at the horses.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because in case you hadn't noticed, you, Hermione, and Jamie are covered in blood," she says coolly, "and we know Hagrid lures thestrals with raw meat, so that's probably why these two turned up in the first place . . ."
"Okay, then," he says, a bright idea occurring. "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead, Hermione, and Jamie can stay here with you five and they'll attract more thestrals —"
"You're being sexist Harry." I growl at the boy finally recovering from my faintness.
"I'm not staying behind!" says Hermione furiously.
"There's no need," says Luna, smiling. "Look, here come more now. . . . You three must really smell . . ."
Harry turns and his eyes widen in disbelief before he sighs. I guess that there's more than enough of them for us.
"All right," he says angrily, "pick one and get on, then."
Well I guess that I'll be learning how to fly a horse that I cannot see all the way to London. It sounds like the punch line to a bloody joke. Lets just hope that we can make it.
