Chapter 8 Turner
Harry, Hermione, and Dudley called, but there was no answer.
"Umbridge must have sent everyone out on a wild goose chase or into an ambush," said Hermione. "As Tonks, everybody trusted her."
"An ambush! How can we warn them? We don't know where they are!" said Harry desperately.
"We have to go back up to the attic and search her body for notes," said Hermione.
"T-there's a body in the attic, too?" said Dudley.
"If you'd rather wait alone down here..." said Harry.
"No, don't leave me alone!" said Dudley.
Dudley stayed in a far corner of the attic while Harry and Hermione patted down the still form of Mrs. Umbridge. There was no crinkling of papers, no sign of notes of any kind.
Suddenly Hermione touched something that made her stiffen with shock of recognition. She drew up from around Mrs. Umbridge's neck an hourglass on a brass chain.
"Harry, you know what this is?" she said.
"A time-turner," said Harry.
"This is a more advanced model than what I had," said Hermione.
The device had a ring on the top with four settings. One was marked "Years", one "Months", one "Days" and one "Hours".
"She wanted it handy to fix her next mistake. She couldn't use it again during the years she was doubling up, but she was past that point now," said Hermione.
"But her mistake was something she couldn't fix," said Harry. "Instant death."
"We can use this to warn the others, if we plan it right," said Hermione. She checked her watch. "It's 2:20 now. When was the last time you remember everyone being here in the house?"
"Everyone was around the table at lunch, around 12:30," said Harry. "Then Remus and Mad-Eye went to their rooms. We could hide until they come back and give them a message."
"Not Mr. Moody's room," said Hermione. "He has all sorts of traps and alarms in there. If we set them off, it would ruin everything."
"OK, Remus's room then," agreed Harry. "There's a large walk-in closet we can hide in."
They went back downstairs and into the closet in Remus Lupin's room. Hermione set the time-turner to hours, and flipped it twice. There was a sensation of flying backwards, and when their vision stabilized they were still in the closet.
"Are we really back in the past?" asked Dudley.
"Yes, two hours back," said Hermione.
"How do you know so much about those things?" asked Dudley.
"She used one to double up classes in her third year at Hogwarts," said Harry. And for one other mission you don't need to know about, he thought.
"My folks are still alive! I can go and warn them!" said Dudley.
"No, I'm sorry, Dudley," said Hermione. "Professor McGonagall warned me that you must never use a time turner to change something you know happened in the past."
"Why not?" demanded Dudley.
"Because it sets up a time paradox. If you saved them, then you couldn't be here now, knowing what you do. So you wouldn't save them. Then you would again. You'd end up in an endless loop on a side branch of time, and so would we," said Hermione.
"I don't get it. You're making my head ache. I'm going to go out there and save them, and you can't stop me!" said Dudley.
"Petrificus Totalis! Sorry, Dudley," said Hermione.
Minutes later, Lupin entered the room. He was alone, so Harry and Hermione came out.
"Remus, listen, you can't trust Tonks. She's working for Voldemort," said Harry.
"How did you get in my closet? Is this a joke?" said Lupin.
"Look at this time-turner. We got it from her in the future and came back to warn you. In a little while, she'll have some story to get almost everyone to leave the house. Then she'll go after the Dursleys, Harry and me," said Hermione.
"You have to be careful. Pretend to believe her, and everyone go out, but not where she says to go. It'll be safe to come back at 2:30," said Harry.
"I still don't understand..." said Remus.
"Just do it, please, and we'll explain more later. I hear someone coming and it may be Tonks. We've got to hide," said Harry.
They had just gotten back into to closet when there was a knock at the door.
"Wotcher, Remus," came the voice of Tonks. Harry and Hermione couldn't hear it now without a shudder. "I just talked to one of my informants through the fireplace, and she says the Death Eaters are planning a mass murder at a crowded muggle theater this afternoon in Soho. I've got to stay here for more messages, but if the rest of you head out now you can take them by surprise."
"OK, Tonks, I'm coming," said Remus without a hint of suspicion in his voice. He left the room.
"OK, now we just sit tight," said Harry, "We've done all we can."
"I'm not so sure about that," said Hermione. "They wouldn't take Ron, Luna, or Neville on a mission like that, would they?"
"Probably not," Harry agreed.
"That means she might be planning to kill them as soon as the other Order members are gone," said Hermione. "We wouldn't have heard if she was careful about it."
"We don't know if that's true. We didn't search the house," said Harry.
"It's a good thing we didn't or we might have found bodies," Hermione said. "We've got to risk warning them."
"Where are they?" asked Harry.
"The only one I'm sure of is Luna," said Hermione. "She went to read the latest Quibbler in the second-floor library. We're in the downstairs pool room, so we won't run into ourselves if we go upstairs."
They managed to get to Luna without being seen. Luna was reading the Quibbler upside-down again.
"Luna, would you believe that Tonks is really Umbridge in disguise? We came from the future to warn you," said Harry.
"Of course I believe you, Harry," said Luna calmly.
"You need to get out of the house until 2:30. Warn Ron and Neville, too. Use floo powder to get somewhere safe, but leave a note where Tonks can find it so she won't know you suspect her," said Harry.
"Will do," said Luna.
"I hope the others believe her," whispered Hermione as they walked downstairs again.
They walked right across the path of Tonks.
"I thought you were going down to play pool," Tonks said with a smile.
"Oh, we are," said Hermione faintly.
"Just stretching our legs after lunch before getting down to it," said Harry, keeping his voice steady.
"All right, catch you later," said Tonks, heading away down the hall.
As soon as she was out of sight they ran back to the closet to hide. At 2:15 they moved to hide behind the bed to let their counterparts use the closet. At 2:25, the time-turner spell expired and they were back in the closet again.
Promptly at 2:30 there was a knock on the closet door. Moody, Lupin, Ron, Luna, and Neville were there.
"Good work, you two. You saved the Order of the Phoenix from a traitor. Unfortunately, she was able to kill the Dursleys," said Moody.
"Not all of them," said Hermione, stepping aside to reveal the frozen Dudley propped against the back wall of the closet.
Harry, Hermione, and Dudley called, but there was no answer.
"Umbridge must have sent everyone out on a wild goose chase or into an ambush," said Hermione. "As Tonks, everybody trusted her."
"An ambush! How can we warn them? We don't know where they are!" said Harry desperately.
"We have to go back up to the attic and search her body for notes," said Hermione.
"T-there's a body in the attic, too?" said Dudley.
"If you'd rather wait alone down here..." said Harry.
"No, don't leave me alone!" said Dudley.
Dudley stayed in a far corner of the attic while Harry and Hermione patted down the still form of Mrs. Umbridge. There was no crinkling of papers, no sign of notes of any kind.
Suddenly Hermione touched something that made her stiffen with shock of recognition. She drew up from around Mrs. Umbridge's neck an hourglass on a brass chain.
"Harry, you know what this is?" she said.
"A time-turner," said Harry.
"This is a more advanced model than what I had," said Hermione.
The device had a ring on the top with four settings. One was marked "Years", one "Months", one "Days" and one "Hours".
"She wanted it handy to fix her next mistake. She couldn't use it again during the years she was doubling up, but she was past that point now," said Hermione.
"But her mistake was something she couldn't fix," said Harry. "Instant death."
"We can use this to warn the others, if we plan it right," said Hermione. She checked her watch. "It's 2:20 now. When was the last time you remember everyone being here in the house?"
"Everyone was around the table at lunch, around 12:30," said Harry. "Then Remus and Mad-Eye went to their rooms. We could hide until they come back and give them a message."
"Not Mr. Moody's room," said Hermione. "He has all sorts of traps and alarms in there. If we set them off, it would ruin everything."
"OK, Remus's room then," agreed Harry. "There's a large walk-in closet we can hide in."
They went back downstairs and into the closet in Remus Lupin's room. Hermione set the time-turner to hours, and flipped it twice. There was a sensation of flying backwards, and when their vision stabilized they were still in the closet.
"Are we really back in the past?" asked Dudley.
"Yes, two hours back," said Hermione.
"How do you know so much about those things?" asked Dudley.
"She used one to double up classes in her third year at Hogwarts," said Harry. And for one other mission you don't need to know about, he thought.
"My folks are still alive! I can go and warn them!" said Dudley.
"No, I'm sorry, Dudley," said Hermione. "Professor McGonagall warned me that you must never use a time turner to change something you know happened in the past."
"Why not?" demanded Dudley.
"Because it sets up a time paradox. If you saved them, then you couldn't be here now, knowing what you do. So you wouldn't save them. Then you would again. You'd end up in an endless loop on a side branch of time, and so would we," said Hermione.
"I don't get it. You're making my head ache. I'm going to go out there and save them, and you can't stop me!" said Dudley.
"Petrificus Totalis! Sorry, Dudley," said Hermione.
Minutes later, Lupin entered the room. He was alone, so Harry and Hermione came out.
"Remus, listen, you can't trust Tonks. She's working for Voldemort," said Harry.
"How did you get in my closet? Is this a joke?" said Lupin.
"Look at this time-turner. We got it from her in the future and came back to warn you. In a little while, she'll have some story to get almost everyone to leave the house. Then she'll go after the Dursleys, Harry and me," said Hermione.
"You have to be careful. Pretend to believe her, and everyone go out, but not where she says to go. It'll be safe to come back at 2:30," said Harry.
"I still don't understand..." said Remus.
"Just do it, please, and we'll explain more later. I hear someone coming and it may be Tonks. We've got to hide," said Harry.
They had just gotten back into to closet when there was a knock at the door.
"Wotcher, Remus," came the voice of Tonks. Harry and Hermione couldn't hear it now without a shudder. "I just talked to one of my informants through the fireplace, and she says the Death Eaters are planning a mass murder at a crowded muggle theater this afternoon in Soho. I've got to stay here for more messages, but if the rest of you head out now you can take them by surprise."
"OK, Tonks, I'm coming," said Remus without a hint of suspicion in his voice. He left the room.
"OK, now we just sit tight," said Harry, "We've done all we can."
"I'm not so sure about that," said Hermione. "They wouldn't take Ron, Luna, or Neville on a mission like that, would they?"
"Probably not," Harry agreed.
"That means she might be planning to kill them as soon as the other Order members are gone," said Hermione. "We wouldn't have heard if she was careful about it."
"We don't know if that's true. We didn't search the house," said Harry.
"It's a good thing we didn't or we might have found bodies," Hermione said. "We've got to risk warning them."
"Where are they?" asked Harry.
"The only one I'm sure of is Luna," said Hermione. "She went to read the latest Quibbler in the second-floor library. We're in the downstairs pool room, so we won't run into ourselves if we go upstairs."
They managed to get to Luna without being seen. Luna was reading the Quibbler upside-down again.
"Luna, would you believe that Tonks is really Umbridge in disguise? We came from the future to warn you," said Harry.
"Of course I believe you, Harry," said Luna calmly.
"You need to get out of the house until 2:30. Warn Ron and Neville, too. Use floo powder to get somewhere safe, but leave a note where Tonks can find it so she won't know you suspect her," said Harry.
"Will do," said Luna.
"I hope the others believe her," whispered Hermione as they walked downstairs again.
They walked right across the path of Tonks.
"I thought you were going down to play pool," Tonks said with a smile.
"Oh, we are," said Hermione faintly.
"Just stretching our legs after lunch before getting down to it," said Harry, keeping his voice steady.
"All right, catch you later," said Tonks, heading away down the hall.
As soon as she was out of sight they ran back to the closet to hide. At 2:15 they moved to hide behind the bed to let their counterparts use the closet. At 2:25, the time-turner spell expired and they were back in the closet again.
Promptly at 2:30 there was a knock on the closet door. Moody, Lupin, Ron, Luna, and Neville were there.
"Good work, you two. You saved the Order of the Phoenix from a traitor. Unfortunately, she was able to kill the Dursleys," said Moody.
"Not all of them," said Hermione, stepping aside to reveal the frozen Dudley propped against the back wall of the closet.