Chapter 65: Back in Time

I awoke very confused. I was in the hospital wing, but I couldn't remember getting injured. There were voices coming from outside the door, and I listened for a moment before everything came rushing back and my eyes flew open. Harry and Ron were both apparently asleep and Madam Pomfrey was fussing over Ron. Ron looked deathly pale and my heart constricted as I remembered him lying unconscious on the ground. At least he was still alive. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be working on him if he were dead.

I heard a movement from Harry's bed and I turned my head towards him. When he opened his eyes, I pressed a finger to my lips indicating that he shouldn't speak yet. I was trying to listen to the conversation outside the door between what sounded like Professor Snape and possibly the Minister for Magic, but I was finding it difficult. Harry was closer, so maybe he was picking up more of it.

Suddenly, Madam Pomfrey approached us and saw our open eyes. She spoke, and any chance I'd had of overhearing anything disappeared, so I went ahead and sat up, feeling a little dizzy when I did so a little too quickly.

I wanted to know how Ron was. He was still unconscious, and that worried me. How long had it been since everything had happened? It couldn't have been very long if Professor Snape was only updating the Minister now. Plus, when Harry had fainted on the train from the effects of the dementor, he hadn't been out too long.

Instead of listening to Madam Pomfrey's update, Harry sat up, put his glasses on, and grabbed his wand, his face set in a determined expression that I recognized. He was going to battle. He demanded to see Professor Dumbledore, but Madam Pomfrey shushed him and tried to push him back into bed. When she informed him that the dementors were on the way to see Black, he bolted upright, pushing past Madam Pomfrey and drew the attention of those out in the hallway.

He tried to explain, but he was so worked up that he was yelling and not making any sense. It was clear that the Minister thought he was crazy. I tried to help, but it was such a long story and there was no way to explain without going into all the details. I didn't think it likely the Minister would care to listen for very long.

When Professor Dumbledore arrived, Harry immediately appealed to him. I could sense the urgency in Harry's tone, but Professor Dumbledore remained calm, requesting that everyone leave so that he could speak to us alone. If there was anyone who would listen to our story, it was our Headmaster.

All Harry's life, he'd never had family that cared about him. From the bits and pieces of his childhood that I'd put together, he'd been neglected, ignored, and used as little more than a servant when the situation had called for it. I would never pretend to understand how that must feel. No matter what I was going through with my parents right now, I'd grown up in a loving family with parents that had cared for me and encouraged me to succeed.

The emptiness and loss that I'd been feeling this year, and really ever since starting at Hogwarts was nothing compared to the loss Harry must have felt every day of his life. His parents were dead. My parents were alive. His relatives had despised and mistrusted him for his magic every day of his life. My parents had tried and failed to understand mine, and the estrangement that we currently faced was largely my own fault. In Harry's case, the rift between him and his relatives had been in place long before he'd even known the reason.

And yet, I felt that I understood just the barest fraction of how Harry must feel. I couldn't possibly imagine all of it. I would never pretend to understand what it must feel like to walk in Harry's shoes, even just for a day. But I knew enough to know that having finally found someone that cared about him, someone that accepted him completely and loved him for exactly who he was, had to be about the most important thing to have ever happened.

I had to help. I had to explain. I had to aid Harry in convincing Dumbledore of Black's story, because if Black was kissed, Harry would be devastated.

So as soon as we were alone, Harry and I launched into a retelling of the evening at a rapid pace. If we could convince Professor Dumbledore, then we had a chance. He was the only person who might be able to call this whole thing off.

But even as we spoke, he held up a hand and silenced us. At first, I thought that all was lost. He made it sound like there was nothing that could be done. It didn't matter whether he believed us or not because we didn't have any proof. But then he mentioned time and my eyes went wide. Professor McGonagall would never approve. Then again, the Headmaster did technically overrule her. I was shocked that he would even suggest such a thing. It would be extremely dangerous, especially considering the Headmaster had no intention of coming with us to help.

There wasn't time to explain to Harry what was going on. We needed to be gone before the door was locked so that we could come back inside without being caught by ourselves. I pulled the time turner out from under my robes and threw it around both of our necks. It was a good thing the chain was so long, I thought. Confusion was still etched in Harry's face, but I continued.

He asked what was going on, but instead of answering, I took the hourglass and turned it over once, twice, three times. And with that, we plunged three hours into the past.

It was a strange experience, bringing Harry along with me into the past. Professor McGonagall had drilled into me the importance of keeping this a secret and never revealing it to anybody, that it felt wrong. Once time had stopped spinning, I pulled Harry into a broom cupboard until we could figure out what was going on and quickly explained to him what we'd just done.

Once Harry was as briefed as I could manage for the time being, I sat down on a bucket and tried to figure out what we were doing this far back in time. Professor Dumbledore had clearly intended for us to return to this moment exactly, but Sirius wasn't even in the picture yet, let alone requiring rescue.

Then Harry came up with an idea to free Buckbeak and use him to fly up to break Sirius out via his window. It was a rather fantastical plan, but it was also our best shot. Besides, if we tried to break Sirius out from the inside, we would most likely be caught. By flying up to the window, we could be sure that only Sirius knew we had been there. Of course, that meant that somehow, we had to save Buckbeak from his execution without being seen by Hagrid, the execution committee, or ourselves.

It would be difficult, and there was a good chance that everything would go horribly wrong. But I trusted Professor Dumbledore and if he thought this was a good idea, then so did I. I'd learned enough over the year to know that my instincts weren't always the best, so I ignored them in favor of Harry's.

Harry opened the door and scanned the area quickly before darting out of the closet. I followed closely on his heels as we left the castle and hurried through the courtyard and down to the grounds.

If we were caught, we would be in so much trouble. Going back in time notwithstanding, we were outside after hours without a cloak to shield us from the eyes of anyone who might be looking out of a castle window. I started running through the numerous rules we were breaking and would yet break tonight and my head started to swim as the abundance of infractions I was committing overwhelmed me. I tried to remember that this mission had been approved by Dumbledore.

Carefully and mindful that we needed to stay hidden, we made our way through the forest until we were as close to Hagrid's as we were comfortable getting. A knock sounded on Hagrid's front door and then Hagrid appeared in the door way. We watched as our past selves entered Hagrid's hut and as Harry reeled at the strangeness, I remained tense and on alert. Harry didn't know the rules of time travel. It was up to me to make sure he remained out of sight.

Harry wanted to steal Buckbeak right away, but I held him back, reminding him that he couldn't. We had to make sure that everyone that was supposed to see Buckbeak did, or else we could create a time paradox and cease to exist. Then we wouldn't be able to save anyone.

When Scabbers was discovered in the milk jug, I could feel Harry itching to go inside and just kill the rat. But he couldn't. I understood his desire for revenge and justice, but he could ruin everything. We were walking such a fine line. I understood even more now the importance of having kept the time turner a secret all year. If Harry or Ron had known about it, if they'd tried to use it behind my back, it could have been disastrous.

I glanced towards the castle and saw that the execution committee were starting to make their way across the grounds. The moment of truth was coming. We waited only a moment before Hagrid's back door opened and our past selves poured out of it, arguing with Hagrid. Finally, we watched as our past selves threw on the invisibility cloak and hurried back up to the castle while Hagrid went to answer his front door.

The execution committee stepped inside Hagrid's hut to take care of the paperwork and I nodded that it was time. Harry volunteered to go and get Buckbeak, and before I could protest that I should do it since Harry would get in more trouble if he was found out, he was already gone. I watched as he approached Buckbeak and bowed before him. When Buckbeak bowed too, Harry moved forward confidently and began to untie his rope.

It took a bit of effort on Harry's part, but to my relief, Buckbeak slowly started to move, clearly irritated by the intrusion on his nap. They still had a way to go before they would reach the forest and the back door was now inching open. Then, Dumbledore came to our rescue, reminding the executioner that he'd forgotten to sign and giving Harry the precious seconds he needed to get Buckbeak to the tree line.

Finally, Buckbeak broke into a trot and they reached the trees. Buckbeak was still in sight, so I grabbed onto the rope too and helped to pull Buckbeak further into the forest. Moments later, the back door opened, followed by silence. There was the swing and thud of an axe and I wondered vaguely what the executioner had against Hagrid's fence.

The rope in my hand strained and I realized Buckbeak was trying to get back to Hagrid. Harry and I both tightened our grip on the rope and I hoped we would be strong enough to hold him back.

The Minister was not impressed, but there was little to be done. For all they knew, Buckbeak was long gone by now, flying through the skies towards Hogsmeade and beyond. Finally, everyone retreated back into the cabin and then the door shut behind them, leaving us in silence.