Harry Potter and the Autumn Swan
by Lord Akiyama
a Harry Potter fan fiction story
Chapter Thirty-Seven
--
Cho Chang paced about impatiently in the Entrance Hall.
Hoping that she would see Harry Potter before night's end.
She had heard about what happened during the History of Magic exam he had taken earlier in the afternoon. How he had suddenly let out a howl as he fell sideways off his desk and onto the floor. Refusing to go to the hospital wing as Professor Tofty helped him out of the Great Hall while the other students looked on and bolting immediately as soon as he could. She didn't see him during dinner. Then again, neither did she manage to see Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and her friend Luna Lovegood any time in the Great Hall during dinner. When the Great Hall emptied, she still had not seen any sign of either of them. It was then that she decided to wait.
It had been almost an hour. The nearest clock told her that it was edging closer and closer to the curfew hour. Cho couldn't remember the last time she had felt this worried before. Not with the level intensity that was obviously filling the air. Something was definitely wrong. After overhearing what the Minister of Magic and the Senior Undersecretary were planning to do, it made her even more concerned than before about Harry's well-being. The kind of feeling that she told herself in the past that she had to prepare for, back when she visited him in the hospital wing at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. That things were going to happen that would push her emotionally to limits she had never experienced before. She wiped a tear that was about to roll down her cheek as she took a deep breath and continued to wait.
It was then that she started hearing voices. Hushed voices. She quickly slipped underneath the nearest shadows, unsure as to whether the voices belonged to any one who was friendly or to someone not so friendly. The last time she was alone in the hallways at a time like this turned out not to be a pleasant experience for her. It sounded as though the voices were outside. She didn't why, or where the instinctive need came from, but she quietly crept her way down the stairs and into the rose garden.
Then she heard a familiar voice.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway because we still don't know how to get there--"
Her heartbeat slowed and a sense of warmth overcame her. It was Harry. And he was interrupted by a second voice that further assured her that it was friends that were at the bottom of the stairs.
"I thought we'd settled that?" sounded the voice of Luna in a rather maddening tone. "We're flying!"
"Look, you might be able to fly without a broomstick," said a third voice. It sounded as though it belonged to Ron. "But the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we--"
"There are other ways of flying than with broomsticks," Luna serenely interrupted.
"I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?" Ron mocked in a demanding tone.
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly," Luna responded with a dignified voice. "But they can, and Hagrid says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."
"Is it those mad horse things?" Ron asked with uncertainty in his voice. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?" Cho had to think for a moment to figure out, based on Ron's description, what it was that they were taking about. After descending a couple steps, the name came to her head. Thestrals. Winged horses that were apparently invisible except to those who had personally witnessed death.
"Yeah," Harry replied.
"How many?" Ron asked further.
"Just two," Harry answered with a sigh.
"Well, we need three," said a fourth voice. That one certainly belonged to Hermione. She sounded as though she was a little shaken, yet determined to be as brave as Harry was obviously sounding.
"Four, Hermione," said a fifth voice. Cho wasn't sure, but it sounded as though the voice belonged to Ron's sister Ginny.
"I think there are six of us, actually," Luna calmly spoke.
"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" Harry yelled rather angrily.
It was here that Cho was finally able to see them all. Six bodies. Four of them she could easily recognize. Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville. The other two, she had to squint her eyes in the hopes of identifying details that would look familiar. They were covered in something that she couldn't identify under the night light. Given the voices that were being heard, it was obvious that the bodies belonged to Harry and Hermione. They just didn't look as though they matched together.
Save for the glasses Harry wore.
Cho couldn't help herself, given that she was having a hard time believing if that really was him practically drenched in whatever it was that was all over him.
"Harry?" she spoke aloud.
That caught everyone's attention. Even under the night light, she could plainly see the color of the eyes behind the glasses. Those green eyes that she could always see even from a long distance. Those eyes belonged to Harry alright. And they immediately shot wide open upon seeing her.
"Cho?" he uttered. Almost immediately, she could tell that he was at a loss for words.
"What's going on?" she asked curiously, though she knew it made her sound rather nosy. So did the next question as she finished descending the stairs and walking up slowly toward them. "What happened to the two of you?"
"I-It's, um..." Hermione struggled to say. "It's a long story--"
"We don't have time to explain," Harry immediately interrupted. At the same time, he made a squint and looked as though he wanted to move his hand. It was as if he had been stung by something, but chose not to display before everyone that such an occurrence had happened. "If you all want to come, fine. It's your choice. But someone has to stay behind and distract any one that may appear unexpectedly."
"Who would be out at a time like this?" Ron asked as if it was an act of protest from being selected as the one to get left behind.
"Mr. Filch, for one," Neville answered. "And there are Aurors about."
"Look, we're running out of time," Harry nearly yelled with frustration. He then turned to Cho and took a deep breath. "I know you want to ask a lot of questions, but I can't explain everything. And because of that, you should be the one who stays."
Cho was about to say something in response, but was cut off instantly. "Great, at least that part's taken care of," Ron said. "So how is it that the rest of us are going to ride on two thestrals?"
"Oh, more of them will come," Ginny said with confidence.
Cho watched as Harry apparently wanted to say something to her in private, pulling her to one side away from the others while they engage in their own conversation. Harry took another deep breath before looking her straight in the eyes.
"I had a vision," he said, as if to answer a question she was probably going to ask him. "I saw..." He paused for a moment, as though he was trying to find the right words to say. "Remember the friend of my father's?" Cho took a moment herself to think. The note from last year after the second competition in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She nodded. "He's in trouble."
"I understand," Cho said. She wasn't entirely positive if she actually meant it herself. But she was sure that Harry was scared about something and he felt he needed to confront the situation. At the same time, he wanted to make sure she was safe. That she would not be in harm's way. Just by looking in his green eyes she could see that he was engulfed with worry. She knew how much he did not want those he cared for to suffer in his name. "Just promise me one thing, Harry."
"Name it," he said.
"Come back alive," she said. "Come back in one piece." Another tear was beginning to form under her eye lids. For the most part, it was from her emotions. As much as he didn't want his close ones to get hurt, she didn't want to see him suffer for his bravery.
At the same time, though, there was something about the smell of the substance he was covered in that appeared to have the same effect as freshly sliced raw onions directly under one's nose.
"I promise," Harry whispered after taking a deep breath. He then leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her lips before taking a couple steps away from her to join the others. "Alive and in one piece."
Cho watched as the six before her gathered in a distance, making some last second discussions. They then appeared to be mounting something that she could not see. Something that was invisible. She wasn't shocked. She wasn't surprised. She had accepted that there was something there that at the very least Harry could see. Moments later, all six took flight into the air. Into the night sky.
"Come back to me, my love," she whispered.
--
Sirius Black knew that the display of anger he was showing was scaring Helena Willows. He knew in the back of his mind that he would rather not have her see him looking anything like he was at the present moment. Unfortunately, his emotions were never the easiest things to control when it came to situations involving his godson. His inability to control his temper was all the more apparent when he heard Kreacher, the house-elf of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, had lied to Harry. Making his godson believe that his godfather truly was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries.
To say Sirius' patience with Kreacher had finally reached past the boiling point was being too generous.
"Did you really think I wouldn't react this way just because I tolerated your goddamned nonsense for the past year?" Sirius fumed as he roughly held the house-elf up in the air by the neck, occasionally shaking him to further get his point across just how mad he was. "That just because they wanted me to be nicer to you I would let you by for doing what you did?"
"Kreacher lives to serve the Black family--" Kreacher began to say, but was immediately cut off by being pulled down enough so that he was face to face with his direct master.
"Of course you live to serve the noble Black family!" Sirius said violently. "Of course you would do as they wished! That would include taking my words such as 'Out!' literally! That would include going straight to the closest relatives of the family, the Malfoys! That would include telling Cissy and Bella things that you were allowed to speak leading to Harry, my godson, getting a vision of me being tortured by Voldemort! And that would include lying to Harry, my godson, so that he now believes I really am at the Department of Mysteries as we speak!"
Sirius knew that Kreacher quite frankly didn't care about his feelings. The animosity between the two was so apparent that even the most ignorant of persons could recognize that the verbal abuse Sirius was giving the house-elf clearly had no effect whatsoever. That the second Sirius puts him down, Kreacher will just shrug it off and go about his business as though nothing had happened. However, it still didn't stop Sirius from wanting to vent his frustrations out on someone. Better to unload on Kreacher than to even thinking about getting mad at Helena.
"If Harry so much as receives a scratch as a result of the stunt you pulled, so Merlin help me--" Sirius began to hiss before he was interrupted by Helena speaking the name of someone who had just entered the study.
"Mr. Lupin!" she practically cried. Sirius turned his eyes to see Helena frantically rush over to his friend Remus Lupin and practically tug on his shirt as if she needed to show him what was going on. "Mr. Lupin, is something wrong with Harry? Sirius is mad at Kreacher over something that happened to Harry."
Remus sighed and looked over at Sirius, who still hadn't released his grip on Kreacher's neck. Sirius could see that his friend wanted to say something, but was afraid of what would happen as a result of it.
Sirius had an idea what he was going to say.
So he tightened his grip.
"Just say it, Remus," Sirius growled. "You don't want me to run with my imagination of what you're going to say, so just say it."
Remus sighed again and remained quiet for a moment before finally saying what it was Sirius needed to hear. "Harry didn't return to Gryffindor tower," he began. "Neither did Ron, Hermione, Ginny, or even Neville Longbottom. They're not at Hogwarts."
Sirius didn't do anything for a moment.
Then he violently slammed Kreacher against the ground before looking back up at Remus.
"W-What do you mean?" Helena asked in a panicky tone. "W-Where did Harry go?"
Sirius took a long, deep breath.
"The Department of Mysteries, Helena," Sirius answered. "He went to the Department of Mysteries. Because he thinks I'm there getting tortured by Voldemort."
"But you're not there," Helena said, sounding very confused and worried as Sirius expected her to be. "You're here. How come Harry doesn't know that?"
"Because Kreacher lied to him when Harry asked if I was here," Sirius replied. "Remember while we were attending to Buckbeak? Harry tried to contact me. Kreacher answered."
"W-Why would Kreacher lie to Harry?" Helena asked further, on the verge of tears.
"Because my cousins told him to," Sirius said, this time he had shifted his head to look at the barely conscious house-elf with a growl. "To lure him to the Department of Mysteries."
"What's in the Department of Mysteries?" Helena continued to ask.
Sirius made another long sigh before turning back to her. "A prophecy," Sirius answered. "A prophecy about Harry. And because the prophecy is about him, he's one of the few who could actually remove it from there." Sirius took one more deep breath. "They want to know what the prophecy is so that they could use it to kill him."
Helena fell silent for the first time since Remus arrived. Sirius helplessly watched as she stared at him. There was probably a sense of disbelief. At the same time, though, he could tell that what he had just told her was about as close as he had ever come to having to tell her something that literally ripped her heart out. The idea that someone wanted to kill Harry was not a thought she obviously wanted to imagine. Neither did Sirius, for that matter.
The room was quiet, except for the minor grunts and groans of Kreacher as he remained lying on the ground. Moments later, Sirius broke the silence as he turned to Remus.
"Don't even think about telling me to stay here," he said. "I'm going whether you like it or not."
"No point in trying to convince you?" Remus asked the futile question.
"Not a chance in hell," Sirius replied with fire in his eyes.
Remus took a deep breath then nodded. "I'll get the others then," he said before turning and leaving the room.
Sirius turned back to Kreacher and once more picked him up by the neck. "Listen to me, and listen good," he growled. "As the master you so serve with loyalty, I command you to remain in this study. I command you to speak to no one but myself or members or the Order until otherwise. Don't you even dare respond to my mother's portrait. And if Dumbledore comes, I command you to tell him with all honesty everything he wants to known down the last detail. Acknowledge!"
"As you command... master..." Kreacher muttered before being slammed once more against the ground.
Sirius was making his way out of the study when Helena suddenly jumped in front of him. Tears were slowly beginning to roll down her cheeks and was breathing a little heavy.
"You're going to save him, right?" she asked in a pleading tone. "You're going to save Harry, won't you?"
"I'm going to do what I can," Sirius replied with a sigh. He was about to move again when he felt her hand push against his chest to keep him in his spot.
"And... And you'll come back... right?" she whispered.
Sirius treasured his godson above all others, even himself. He was willing to go the distance to protect Harry the best he could, as part of the personal oath he took to do so whenever James and Lily were absent. If it came down to it, he would put Harry's life over his and willingly die for him. The problem with that mentality was that it made him forget that perhaps there were others who didn't want him to get killed.
One of them was obviously Harry.
Now there was a second one.
It was one thing for Sirius to suddenly have his emotions go inside out bonkers the second he laid eyes upon Helena Willows, the true human form of what was previously Harry's snowy owl Hedwig. Given that she was naturally beautiful, it was easy to see how he could blush as much as he did. Just as easy as it was that he felt somewhat ashamed of these feelings because she was once her godson's owl. The time they've spent since then, though, have seen him feel more comfortable around her. There were still the occasional flashes of blushing that happened, but he was generally at ease with her presence. And given that they had been alone together for the longest time, she had always looked to him for answers. And to be there for her when she wanted or needed something. Mix all of those things together, and it was more than apparent deep feelings of affection for one another would surface. Only now was a really bad time for those feelings to be tested. Because he honestly did not want to imagine what she would do, with these feelings she had for him, if he died trying to save Harry.
Sirius took a deep breath and tried to figure out the words he should say to her. Only he knew that regardless of which words he used, they probably won't be of satisfaction to her. She wanted him back alive. And he didn't know if that would be possible.
"I'll try..." he managed to say.
--
"I'll say one thing, ma'am," Derek Hopkins spoke aloud. With the effects of the Polyjuice Potion having worn off, he was now in his true appearance as he accompanied Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "I feel quite lucky having taken your assignment. Otherwise, I'd probably be one of these poor schmucks."
They looked upon the scene before them. A number of Aurors groaning and clutching various body parts. A couple of them covering any cuts and bruises they had.
"We all get our share of pain, Derek," Amelia said. "When I first started out, I cracked my ribs in three places and dislocated my left shoulder. In the span of five months, no less."
"Ouch," Derek noted. "Makes snapping back my right wrist from two years ago seem like child's play."
"It's all part of the job," Amelia added as she began working her way through the crowd of injured Aurors. Yet even in their state of pain, they respectfully moved to a side so that she could pass by. Then she finally came upon the body she was looking for. The unconscious figure of Dolores Jane Umbridge. "So explain what happened, Statham."
The Auror sitting closest to Umbridge looked up to his speaker. Realizing who it was, immediately shot to his feet, ignoring the pain he was feeling in his left shin. "Yes, ma'am," he grunted before taking a deep breath. "As we chased the Senior Undersecretary through the hallways, she managed to snatch one of the students who was in the office previously. A female. One of the other students, we believe to be Harry Potter, gave chase by going through a different direction."
"Secret passageways the school contained," Derek added. "The Weasley twins showed them during their Defense Against the Dark Art meetings."
"I see," Amelia said. "Carry on, Statham."
"We managed to drive Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest as you ordered us to," Statham continued. "Some how, Potter managed to get ahead of us and rescue the girl. Though they were both covered in blood. Not their's. They mention a... creature... helping them fend off the centaurs living in the forest. The centaurs were obviously not that thrilled to see humans invade their space. Apparently the Senior Undersecretary said some derogatory things about them that weren't quite flattering."
"Dolores did have thing against those who weren't all human," Amelia sighed, shaking her head at the unconscious form before her.
"It took some time, but we did manage to get her out of there before the centaurs could do any worse than they already had," Statham added. "With a little help from Professor Dumbledore."
The mention of Albus Dumbledore certainly caught Amelia's attention. "Dumbledore was here?" she asked. "He was hiding out in the Forbidden Forest this whole time?"
"Actually, I don't think so, ma'am," Statham answered. "When we got the Senior Undersecretary out of there, he left the same way he arrived. Through the air."
"What about this creature that helped the students?" Derek asked curiously.
"The students told us that it would probably be in our best interest to stay away from him," Statham replied rather quietly. "Given our present condition..."
"We'll have to ask Rubeus Hagrid whenever he returns," Amelia sighed. "Thank you, Statham. That will be all." She turned and, along with Hopkins, walked away as Statham nodded and sat back down. "Derek, I need you to stay here and make sure the Senior Undersecretary does not try another escape should she awaken before I return."
"Yes, ma'am," Derek responded.
"Make sure the others get proper treatment and care should they need it," Amelia added. "If Professor Dumbledore happens to return, have him make contact with me. There are some questions I'd like him to answer."
"May I ask what you will be doing in the meantime, ma'am?" Derek asked.
"There's a Minister of Magic I need to have words with," she replied. "I'm going to need that scrunchy, too." She extended her hand out and Derek obliged by dropping the scrunchy he had used earlier on Dolores Umbridge into it. "He'll be wanting to know what his favorite Senior Undersecretary has been doing behind his back."
"Madam Bones!" called out a voice. Amelia and Derek turned to see a young Auror approach her, slowing down from the dash he was previously running. "We're getting reports of activity in the Department of Mysteries."
"Activity?" Amelia asked. "Who's hanging around the Ministry at this hour?"
"I don't know, ma'am," the Auror replied. "But Shacklebolt and Tonks are there reporting that something is happening. We tried to send Michaels and Wilson to investigate, but the Floo Network isn't working."
"It's still deactivated?" Amelia asked.
"No, ma'am," the Auror answered. "The Floo Network is up and running again. Only we still can't get into the Ministry."
"So how do you know the Floo Network is active again?" she asked.
"I tried it out in coming here so that if it was actually working I could inform you immediately," he said.
"Good man," Amelia sighed. She then turned to Hopkins "Derek, stick to your assignment as ordered."
"Yes, ma'am," Derek said.
Amelia turned back to the Auror. "Take me to the rest of your group and quickly," she said. "We need to get into the Ministry because I have a bad feeling Shacklebolt and Tonks were actually calling for back up."
--
Harry Potter felt completely and utterly stupid. Not to mention helpless.
He had come to the sudden realization of the situation he found himself in. He was tricked. Plain and simple. Tricked by Voldemort, who had gotten into his head and planted the false vision of his godfather, Sirius Black, being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. A ruse that had drawn him out of Hogwarts and deep into the clutches of Death Eaters. So that he could remove some prophecy that had his name as well as Voldemort's marked upon it from the Hall of Prophecies.
Now here he was. In a strange room where earlier he and Luna Lovegood had heard voices whispering from a veil. He could still hear them, actually. But that was the least of his concerns. His friends, taken hostage or disarmed in some other fashion. Watched over by a number of Death Eaters. Among them was the man standing before him. Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco.
"I'll make this simple for you, Potter," Lucius said in a slimy tone. "Give me the prophecy now... or watch your friends die."
Like he had much of a choice. All this trouble for some blasted little orb that apparently had something to do with him and Voldemort. At the moment, he couldn't fathom how the damned thing was worth the lives of his friends.
"Don't give it to him, Harry!" Neville Longbottom bravely called before the wand pointed at him pressed harder against his temple. The wand belonged to that of one Bellatrix Lestrange. Sister-in-law to Lucius Malfoy. The woman responsible for using the Cruciatus Curse on Neville's parents, torturing them into insanity. And first cousin of his godfather, Sirius Black.
Harry displayed little hesitation. What was the point? No use fighting any further. They had won. He lost. He sighed as he brought the prophecy up and placed into the hand of Lucius Malfoy. He sighed as he watched him raise it up triumphantly. Then a flash of light shined behind him. Harry looked over, his green eyes widening with surprise. Then he watched as Lucius barely turned before his was lifted off the ground by his collar.
"Get away from my godson!" growled Sirius Black. Seconds later, he swung a hard right hand into Malfoy's face, knocking off off the stone platform and onto the ground below.
Harry barely noticed the prophecy having gotten out of Lucius' hand and smashing into pieces before getting dragged by his godfather to a stone slab to hide behind. More flashes of light appeared and soon enough he could see that Sirius didn't come alone. Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nymphadora Tonks. Members of the Order of Phoenix. Help had arrived. He watched as the overwhelmed Death Eaters engaged in battle, causing them to lose their hold over his friends that allowed them to begin some sort of escape.
"Harry, listen to me," Sirius immediately said, bringing his godson's attention to him. "You need to take the others and get out of here right now."
"What?" Harry uttered. "No, I'm staying with you."
"I know you do," Sirius responded. "But there are times to fight and then there are times to run. This is one of those times to run, Harry. Besides, you've already done enough for one night. Sneaking into the Department of Mysteries, let alone the Ministry of Magic, and managing to fend off Death Eaters for as long as you did. You've done beautifully. Now, let me take it from here, alright? I've been cooped up in my house for almost a year and I need to vent."
"Black!" hissed a familiar voice. They looked up to see an enraged Lucius Malfoy the wand portion of his cane as another Death Eater arrived to assist him.
"Oh yeah," Sirius muttered with a grin as he withdrew his wand. "Time for me to vent."
Harry withdrew his wand and joined his godfather in dueling their opposition. He immediately cast Shield Charms around himself and his godfather while Sirius fired off spells and jinxes. He heart began beating very fast, about as fast as it has been since that fateful night that ended the Tri-Wizard Tournament. After a moment of intense dueling, Sirius managed to get a spell to connect upon the Death Eater that sent him flying. Harry caught an opening upon Lucius and took it.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried. The Disarming Charm successfully connected upon Lucius, causing his wand to fly suddenly out of his hand and leaving him quite vulnerable for a stunning spell cast by Sirius to knock him clear across the room and into the wall. Harry didn't need to see that he would be very much out cold from a combination like that.
"Nice one, James," Sirius said rather unconsciously with a laugh. Being addressed by his father's name caused Harry to give his godfather a look. Sirius, however, didn't allow either of them to dwell on it any further. "Time to go, Harry. Now!"
"But--" Harry wanted to say.
"Harry, please!" Sirius practically cried. "Get your friends and leave!" Harry could see that his godfather's attention was fixated on someone. He looked over to see Bellatrix standing at another end of the room, a crazed smile painted upon her face. "Go!" Sirius screamed before he began firing off spells at his cousin.
Reluctantly, Harry turned and headed off to find his friends. Spells and jinxes flew about in the air above him as the Order and Death Eaters remain locked in battle with one another. Obviously no place for any member of Dumbledore's Army to be, yet his friends were around here somewhere.
Only he couldn't keep looking away from Sirius.
Harry finally managed to stop and keep himself hidden against a stone platform, watching Sirius battle Bellatrix. The two cousins dueling with so many spells and jinxes firing at one another that Harry couldn't keep count of how many had been flying between them. Then, as if suddenly, Bellatrix let out a shriek. As if to cause only a second of distraction, leaving those who were paying attention in a state of confusion. To wonder why she screamed at all.
It was more than enough of a distraction.
Bellatrix fired.
Sirius had just barely fired off a counter spell at the same time.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried.
As if on instinct, Harry himself fired in a panic. A misguided and foolish belief that a Disarming Charm would knock whatever spell Bellatrix had fired off course.
A number of things happened in a matter of seconds. Yet Harry saw it as if time itself was moving in slow motion. The first thing he saw was something similar to what he himself had been a witness to just a year ago.
Sirius and Bellatrix's wands suddenly became connected. By a golden thread of energy.
Priori Incantatem.
According to Professor Albus Dumbledore, it was a very rare effect that only occurred when two wands that shared the same source of their cores crossed in battle. Not only did the source of the cores had to be the same, but both sides had to have casted a spell simultaneously. Harry had seen it before. When he learned that his wand shared the same core source as the wand belonging to Voldemort.
Then came another event. One Harry had never seen before.
The Disarming Charm he had cast. It shot straight into the center of the connection. Upon contact, it sent out shockwaves in both directions. At great speed. An energy force literally exploding in front of both Sirius and Bellatrix. Sending them flying backwards in odd, diagonal directions as they spun about from the impact.
Bellatrix slammed stomach first into the wall and crashed onto her back on the ground below.
Sirius wasn't so lucky. His back slammed violently against the side of the veil that he was in front of seconds ago. He then went spinning out of control off of the stone platform and landing stomach first on the ground with a hard thud. Seconds later, Sirius was howling in agony.
"Sirius!" Harry cried.
Not caring about the risk to his own well being, he immediately sprinted toward his godfather. It was not until the last minute that he noticed Remus Lupin was also running toward Sirius. Both reached him literally at the same time. As they rolled him over, they could hear him groan and cough in pain.
"Sirius?" Harry whispered in a worried tone.
"That did not feel good..." Sirius managed to utter before violently coughing.
"Can you move any part of your body?" Remus asked, trying to remain calm under in the situation.
"Just barely..." Sirius uttered in reply, somewhat managing to wiggle his right arm. They could see that he still held on to his wand, looking as though he had a death grip on it. "Don't think I can stand..."
"We need to get you out of here," Remus remarked.
"This time, I'm in agreement," Sirius groaned. If it was an attempt at being humorous of the situation, he appeared to believe it himself. He winced as Remus and Harry each took an arm and began carrying him out of the room.
"Tonks, find the other kids and get them out of here!" Remus called out. "Moody, Kingsley! We need cover!"
Harry didn't bother looking to see the others complying. He was more concerned about the violent groans and coughing coming out of his godfather. They made it out of the room and were heading down the hallway. The lift was just several feet away when they heard voices. The unfriendly type.
"We've got company," Remus noted.
"You're going to have to cover us," Sirius groaned. "Or else I won't be the only one here needing to be dragged into the lift."
Remus sighed before slipping out from under Sirius' arm. "Go, go!" he whispered before turning and holding off their pursuers.
Harry carried the weight of his godfather with all his strength, letting out groans of his own as he dragged him with all haste into the lift. The second the doors opened, he slid Sirius onto his stomach on the floor and immediately leaped in to close the doors. Just as swiftly, he pressed the button that would take them to the Ministry Atrium before turning his attention to his godfather.
"I don't care how minor the spell," he heard Sirius groan. "Cast any healing charm you know on me."
Harry seemed a little hesitant to perform another spell. Not after what the last one he cast did. After hearing a violent cough from Sirius, however, he took a deep breath and pointed his wand at his godfather's back. "Episkey," he said.
Sirius winced a little before letting out a very long sigh. Then he breathed a little easier for a moment, though there were the occasional groans and coughs. "At the very least, that should numb most of the pain," he sighed.
"Can you move?" Harry asked with concern.
"Maybe," Sirius answered. "But I'd rather not try, lest I want the pain to come back. Help sit me up." Harry bent down and slowly lifted his godfather's upper body. Sirius winced a little, but was relatively relaxed as he was propped up against the wall of the lift. He watched as a satisfied Harry sat down next to him. "Guess Bella and I have more in common than just being cousins."
"Do you know what just happened, Sirius?" Harry asked in a worried tone. "What I did to the Priori Incantatem effect?"
Sirius looked as though he shrugged. "Don't know, really," he replied. "Never seen it before in my life. Then again, I never imagined ever seeing Priori Incantatem when I first heard about it as a teen." He gave out another sigh then ended with a minor wince. "I don't care if I'm wanted by Aurors, I need to go to St. Mungo's now. If I didn't break my back, then something cracked when I slammed into the side of the veil. Could of been a lot worse, though."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously.
"That room we were in," Sirius began to answer. "It's called the Death Chamber for a reason. That old looking archway leads to the world of the dead."
"The dead are on the other side of the veil?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Something like that," Sirius responded. "But here's the kicker. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can ever crossover from there to here. When you're there, you're there for good. Even when you crossover from here to there."
Harry was able to figure out what his godfather was saying. But he didn't want to think what it really meant. "Meaning..." he began to say, but trailed off in terror.
"If I had gone through the veil, I would not have been coming back," Sirius finished. "It would be like instant death. One way ticket with no chance in hell of ever returning."
"You mean you could have been knocked into the veil by the shockwave of my spell disrupting the Priori Incantatem effect?" Harry asked rather quietly.
"It's possible that could have happened," Sirius answered. "I could have also been knocked in by Bella if I hadn't managed to cast a spell the same time as she did. Even I will admit I got lucky on that one."
Harry sighed and hung his head. "So stupid..." he whispered aloud. "I'm such an idiot... Shouldn't have come here..."
"Hey," Sirius spoke, grabbing his godson's attention. "I'm alive, aren't I? Besides, why not think about the whole thing this way. You initially came here to save me, right?"
"Right," Harry replied. Sirius made no immediate answer, which made Harry narrow his green eyes in confusion.
Then it had hit him. He had come to rescue his godfather. Who was supposedly being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. Meaning Sirius would have been in physical harm it truly been the case. And here was Sirius. Physically harmed. Needing to be carried out of the Department of Mysteries. Like Harry had set out to do.
Harry smiled with relief while Sirius chuckled. Then came the familiar bell sound, informing them that they had arrived at their destination. The Ministry Atrium.
"Let's get the hell out of here, shall we?" Sirius said. Harry nodded, placing his godfather's closest arm over his shoulder and lifting him up as the doors opened.
That was fast. Seriously, that was really fast. I was not expecting to get this next chapter finished so soon. Guess I really wanted to get to this stuff since I had been practically dreaming about it for quite sometime. And it didn't hurt that I had a day off from work and just ended up spending the day throwing myself into the story. There were a couple of spots that I had totally forgotten about until I got into writing the scene. Like Harry and Hermione needing to be covered in blood in order to attract more thestrals, for instance. Fortunately, it allowed me to write some expansions to other places like Amelia being explained what happened to her Aurors in chasing Umbridge. I know some of you seemed excited about the "Hunt for Umbridge," but the beef of the chapter was heavily set on the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. It's one of those scenes, ever since I got started writing this, that I had been literally looking forward to addressing as it was among those that brought about some of the biggest of changes between my story and the books. And I still need to get into the Duel in the Ministry Atrium, which will obviously kick off the next chapter and will set about what exactly I have in store for Sirius. Any way, keep sending the reviews and spreading the word. The more reviews, perhaps the faster I'll go in getting the next chapter up.
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Harry Potter and all the characters, locations, and world created and copyright © JK Rowling. This story was created out of pure fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or place an Imperius Curse on me.