Chapter Thirty Six:

Dreams

Elizabeth yet again found herself in that sloping room with the veiled archway. It wasn't empty this time, however. Shadowy figures were moving quickly around the room, shouts and screams echoing around them. People were dueling. Elizabeth was frozen, watching the shadows move. Two of them, Elizabeth noticed, were fighting fiercer than the others—

Elizabeth snapped awake in an instant. She was still shaking, as if she were back in that room. Her dreams had been getting worse lately, but this one had been more vivid than any before. Elizabeth took a deep breath, too shaken to go back to sleep. She pushed herself up and got dressed, heading into the common room.

Ernie was there, leaning closely over a text book. Today was the day their O.W.L.s started, and it was clear Ernie was trying to get in as much last-minute studying as he could. It was a good excuse for Elizabeth, because it would seem as if she were just the same way. She grabbed her notes on Charms and began to review.

It seemed most of the fifth years were awake early that day, and none of them were talking. As Elizabeth's dream grew further away, it was replaced with nerves over the exams. Breakfast was a silent affair, the Hufflepuffs pouring over notes, reciting spells, and reading text books between bites of food.

Breakfast ended far too soon. Elizabeth moved to the entrance hall with the other fifth years as the rest of Hogwarts students left for classes. Hannah was next to Elizabeth, her eyes squeezed shut and muttering spells under her breath, as well as what they did. Elizabeth was becoming very antsy over it. Charms was never her best subject...

When the time came, Elizabeth made her way back into the Great Hall. The four tables were replaced by rows of desks, each with parchment and quill lying on them. Everyone were assigned seats and they were soon told to turn their parchment over and begin.

It was a long, stressful, quiet day for fifth years. After the Charms written test, they had a quiet lunch before proceeding to the practical portion. Elizabeth felt she'd at least managed to pass, but was sure the fact she couldn't remember the incantation for color-changing would count against her.

The rest of the week wasn't much better. Every night, Elizabeth was having the nightmare of dueling shadows in the room with the whispering arch. It was effecting her concentration in exams. She was even doubting her work in Transfiguration the next day, even though it was her best class. It was becoming harder to concentrate during the written exams when the only sound was quill scratching parchment. The silence was very lulling. At least during the Herbology exam Wednesday, the work was active enough to keep Elizabeth's mind focused. However, she lost that concentration during the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam the following day. Muggle Studies came along Friday, and the weekend was spent studying for the last week of exams.

The quiet of written exams became too much, however. Elizabeth was positive that she had dozed off at some point during the Potions written exam the following Monday, and was relieved she had no exam Tuesday. It gave her time to study for the last few, and try to catch up on some actual sleep. This was more on Susan's insistence because she kept commenting that Elizabeth looked like a walking corpse.

The sleep helped. Elizabeth didn't have a dream of shadowy duels for once—maybe because she was just so exhausted from exams—and she woke up Wednesday feeling more refreshed. She had two exams that day, Divination in the morning and Astronomy that night.

Elizabeth didn't even bother to try during her Divination exam. She'd learned over the past year that there was more to Divination than seeing smoky images in crystals and looking at shapes in tea leaves, and she was quite sure she could learn more on her own than in the class. It gave her more time to rest, at least.

And Elizabeth needed that rest for that night. She followed the rest of the fifth years up onto the Astronomy tower for their exam. It was a beautiful, clear night. Perfect to work. Elizabeth settled down next to her telescope with her parchment and started to get to work. The only sound around them was quill on parchment, breezes blowing through the forest, and occasional owls flying in and out of the Owlery.

Over an hour into the exam, a loud roar echoed through the grounds, startling several of the students. Elizabeth jumped and spun around towards the parapet nearby and saw the lights on in Hagrid's cabin, but couldn't really see anything out of the ordinary. She knew something was wrong, however.

"Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls," their examiner called, and Elizabeth forced herself to turn back to her work.

No sooner had she marked another planet on her chart, however, when another loud bang came from below. Suddenly, no one was paying any attention to their star charts. Everyone was starting to stare down towards Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid was out on the grounds in front of his hut, six shadows surrounding him and shooting Stunning spells at him. None seemed to faze him at all, however, and he was fighting back. Elizabeth was frozen, thinking of her reoccurring dreams of dueling shadows. Elizabeth's breath caught, transfixed as she watched the shadows below.

Elizabeth had never seen Hagrid so angry. Fang had ran out of the cabin, trying to protect the half-giant, and had been hit with a stray Stunning spell. Elizabeth's eyes were wide, her hands over her mouth as Hagrid charged towards the wizards attacking him.

The front doors opened again and another tall shadow came running out of the castle.

"How dare you! How dare you!"

"It's McGonagall!" Hermione cried weakly, hands over her face and peering through her fingers.

"Leave him alone!" McGonagall raced forward, wand out, "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such—"

McGonagall didn't finish. Four of the men with Umbridge shot Stunners at her, all hitting her at the same time. Elizabeth shrieked, several others around her screamed, as they watched McGonagall thrown backwards towards the ground.

"COWARDS!" Hagrid shouted, "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT—AN' THAT—"

Elizabeth leaned over the parapet, watching as Hagrid charged the shadowed men and Umbridge again. He almost instantly knocked out four of the attackers and soon had Fang over his shoulders. Before anyone could do anything else, Hagrid had raced off through the castle gates, Umbridge's shrill voice yelling behind him.

"Um...Five minutes to go, everybody..." one of the examiners said nearby.

Elizabeth couldn't concentrate, however. She barely did any work, and when the exam was over, she was quick to shove her telescope away and hurry down the stairs with the rest of the fifth years.

"That evil woman!" Hermione was ranting as Elizabeth made it to the bottom of the stairs, "Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"

"She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like Trelawney's," Ernie said.

"Hagrid did well, didn't he?" Ron spoke up, his face pale, "How come all the spells bounced off him?"

"Probably because he's half-giant," Elizabeth said softly, "I'm more worried about Professor McGonagall..."

"At least they didn't get to take Hagrid off to Azkaban," Ron said as people started drifting away, including Ernie. "'spect he's gone to join Dumbledore, hasn't he?"

"I suppose so," Hermione said slowly, her eyes watery, "Oh, this is awful, I really thought Dumbledore would be back before long, but now we've lost Hagrid too..."

"They'll both be back," Elizabeth said, "The year's almost over, don't worry. I'll see you all tomorrow, only one exam left."

Elizabeth turned and headed off towards the Hufflepuff basement. None of the fifth years had gone to bed and several other students had woken up from the noises as well. As Elizabeth went across the room, Susan and Megan were telling a group of third years about what they saw.

Elizabeth felt wired. She sat in an armchair, watching the others talk. Her mind kept going over what she saw, and thinking back to her dream of shadowy figures dueling. Had this been what her dreams had been about? Hagrid leaving, McGonagall being attacked? If so, what did any of it have to do with the whispering archway she often saw? Elizabeth couldn't stop thinking about it, staring out towards the fire nearby...

And, without warning, she was back in the room with the archway. The shadowy figures were dueling around her again. The curtain hanging over the archway was fluttering wildly now as the figures moved in circles around it, curses shooting back and forth. One pair started to stand out more than others—a man and a woman. There was a shout, and one of the figures started to fall backwards, fading away—

"No!" Elizabeth jerked awake in the armchair, a sickening feeling leaving her body shaky and cold. There were a few fifth years around her, all staring at her now. She felt the heat rise to her face as Susan got up and came over.

"I was about to come wake you anyway," she said, "It's nearly time for lunch, and I figured you'd want to eat something before the History of Magic exam."

"Wh-what?" Elizabeth's mind was a fog. She was shaking, feeling sick and cold. She could barely take in what Susan was saying, but slowly, it all began to sink in...

"It's nearly time for our exam?" she asked weakly. She needed to shake off her dream. Focus more on the fact that she'd just slept through the entire morning...

"Yeah," Susan said, "Sorry, you've just been so restless the past couple of weeks, I figured you could do with some sleep."

Elizabeth frowned. She still felt sick, it was taking all she had not to run for a bathroom.

"Are you okay?" Susan asked, "You look so pale."

"M'fine," Elizabeth managed, "Just...It's hard to believe we only have one exam left. And I don't have time to study..."

"We can study during lunch, come on," Susan said.

Elizabeth nodded. Study during lunch. That sounded like a good idea, even though she didn't think she could eat. Not with how she was feeling. But studying could help get her mind off her dream. At least until after her final exam...

It was easier said than done. The shadowy images kept floating through her mind all through lunch. Words on Elizabeth's notes blurred together. The next hour disappeared too quickly, and soon Elizabeth found herself sitting at a desk, her final exam sitting in front of her. She couldn't concentrate. Elizabeth forced herself to fill out questions she knew, but every question she answered, her mind kept going back to that dream and the sickening feeling still worming in her stomach.

Then, Elizabeth decided she should just stop trying. She wasn't going to continue History of Magic anyway. Elizabeth put down her quill and closed her eyes. She remembered back to the day Umbridge ended the D.A. She thought about how she closed her eyes and concentrated and was able to get a bit clearer feel of what was going to happen. She could do that again now.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and concentrated. She had had that dream with the shadowy figures dueling so many times, it was easy to picture it in her head again. She tried to focus on it, focus more on what was going on around her in the dream...Fear gripped around her, fear and determination—

Someone screamed. Elizabeth jerked out of her thoughts and turned, her eyes widening as she noticed Harry toppling sideways out of his chair several rows back. Elizabeth felt her sickening dread worsen as she watched one of the examiners come to help Harry from the room.

Elizabeth just barely managed to wait for the exam to officially end before hurrying out of the Great Hall to try and find Harry. She'd just gotten to the marble staircase when she spotted Harry at the top of the stairs. Elizabeth ran up them quickly, her heart racing.

"What did you see?" she asked instantly. Harry stared at her, then seemed to realize exactly why she knew something was wrong.

"You—"

"Harry! Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth turned to see Hermione and Ron hurrying towards them now.

"What happened, Harry? Are you all right?" Hermione asked, "Are you ill?"

"Where have you been?" Ron asked quickly.

"Come with me," Harry said, "Come on, I've got to tell you something."

Harry hurried into an empty classroom nearby, the other three coming right behind him. The second the door was shut, Harry spun around to them.

"Voldemort's got Sirius."

Elizabeth went tense, thinking of her dreams, of the sickening feelings she'd had all day...It was a warning about this, it had to be. And for once, she had a chance to do something about it.

"I don't know how," Harry went on, "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven...He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there...He's torturing him...Says he'll end by killing him..."

Harry sank down on a desk, and Elizabeth went to him instantly, taking his hands in hers and leaning to look him in the eye.

"I'm coming with you," she said. She knew there was no way Harry was going to just sit by and let this happen. Harry looked up at her, blinking in surprise, then his look turned to a grateful one.

"What do you mean, going with him?" Ron asked slowly.

"To go rescue Sirius, of course!" Elizabeth spun around on the others.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a cautious look.

"But..."

"But what?" Harry snapped.

"But...Think about this," Hermione said, looking between Harry and Elizabeth, "It's five o'clock in the afternoon...The Ministry of Magic must be full of workers...How would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? They're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world...You think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?"

"I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry was shouting now, "Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been completely empty whenever I've been—"

"You've never been there, Harry. You've dreamed about the place, that's all."

"They're not normal dreams!" Harry pushed himself to his feet and Elizabeth stumbled back as he marched towards Hermione, "How d'you explain Ron's dad, then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?"

"He's got a point," Ron said quickly. Elizabeth nodded sharply in agreement.

"But, this is just—just so unlikely!" Hermione said, "Harry, how on earth could Voldemort have got hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all the time?"

"Sirius might've cracked and just wanted some fresh air," Ron said slowly, "He's been desperate to get out of that house for ages—"

"And Harry's not the only one who's had a dream," Elizabeth spoke up. Ron and Hermione both stared at her. Elizabeth flushed slightly. She'd never actually told Ron and Hermione about her visions.

"What're you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"I've been having this reoccurring dream for weeks now," Elizabeth said, "These people dueling in some room, it has to be about Voldemort and Sirius."

Though she didn't mention that the room was empty save for an archway, unlike Harry's dreams of a room of glittering glass orbs.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Hermione said, "Are we just supposed to take your word that your two dreams are real? Honestly, Harry talking about his just influenced yours, Elizabeth, that's all!"

"They are not—"

"And besides! Harry shouldn't be having these dreams!" Hermione went on, rounding on Harry now, "Dumbledore wanted to you learn to shut these things out of your mind, if you'd done Occlumency properly you'd never have seen this—"

"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN—"

"Sirius told you there was nothing more important than you learning to close your mind!"

"WELL, I EXPECT HE'D SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF HE KNEW WHAT I'D JUST—"

Harry cut off suddenly. The classroom door had opened behind them. All four turned suddenly to see Ginny coming in, followed by Luna and Helene. Helene was frowning at them from the doorway.

"We recognized Harry's voice," Ginny said, "What are you yelling about?"

"Never you mind," Harry snapped.

"Zat is a wonderful way to treat your friends," Helene said bitterly.

"Especially when we were wondering if we could help," Ginny added.

"Well, you can't," Harry shot back.

"You're being rather rude, you know," Luna said simply.

"Harry," Elizabeth turned towards him as he turned away, and she moved forward grabbing his hand. Before she could say anything else, though, Hermione spoke up.

"Wait, Harry, they can help," she said straightening up, "Listen, we need to establish whether Sirius really left headquarters—"

"He has!" Elizabeth said at the same time Harry went "I told you, I saw—"

"I'm begging you, please!" Hermione said, "Please, let's just check that Sirius 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 and stop you, I'll come, I'll d-do whatever it takes to try and save him—"

"Sirius is being tortured now! We haven't got time to waste—"

"But if this is a trick of V-Voldemort's—Harry, we've got to check, we've got to—"

"It's not a trick!" Elizabeth snapped, trembling. The sickening feeling in her stomach was worsening. The longer they stayed here arguing, the longer Voldemort had to do whatever it was he was trying to do.

"But we should check!" Hermione said, her voice high, "We can use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him. We'll draw Umbridge away again, but we'll need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny, Helene, and Luna."

Helene and Ginny were both looking confused, but Luna just cocked her head slightly.

"Yeah, we'll do it," she said, "When you say 'Sirius', are you talking about Stubby Boardman?"

Helene looked like she was fighting a grin at that.

"Well...One of us has to go and find Umbridge and—and send her off in the wrong direction," Hermione said slowly as she started to pace, "They could tell her—I don't know—that Peeves is up to something awful as usual..."

"I'll do it," Ron said, "I'll tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department or something, it's miles away from her office. Come to think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if I met him on the way..."

"Let me do it," Helene said, "Umbridge might suspect somezing if one of you tell 'er, you're all close to 'Arry."

"Okay, now we need to keep students away from her office while we force entry," Hermione said—Elizabeth was surprised that Hermione was fine with trashing part of the school, "Or some Slytherin's bound to go and tip her off..."

"We can put people at either end of the corridor and warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garroting Gas," Ginny said instantly, then on the looks the others gave her, "Fred and George were planning to do it before they left."

"Okay," Hermione said with a nod, finally stopping her pacing and looking around, "Well, then, Harry, you and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak, and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius—"

"He's not there, Hermione!"

"I mean, you can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone, Lee's already proved the window's a weak spot, sending those nifflers through it."

"I...Okay," Harry's anger seemed to be deflating, "Okay. Thanks."

"Right, well, even if we do all that, I don't think we're going to be able to bank on more than five minutes," Hermione said, her face flushing with relief, "Not with Filch and the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around."

"Five minutes'll be enough," Harry said, "C'mon, let's go—"

"Now?"

"Of course now! What did you think, we're going to wait until after dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!"

"I—Oh, all right," Hermione said, "You go get the Invisibility Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, okay?"

Harry nodded, hurrying from the room and Elizabeth turned towards Hermione.

"I know he's right," she said, "I can feel it. Something's wrong."

"Elizabeth, that Divination stuff is nonsense," Hermione said, "You're just making yourself believe it because you want to help Harry—"

"It's not nonsense," Elizabeth said sharply, "Come on, we've got work to do."

Elizabeth pushed past Hermione, hurrying off towards the corridor that held Umbridge's office.