Chapter Ninety-Three: The Hall of Prophecy
Silence filled the Great Hall. Daphne looked over at Harry, who looked alarmed, but who seemed to realize he wouldn't be able to escape.
"I presume you have some sort of official warrant for this?" Professor Marchbanks asked coldly.
Without a moment's hesitation, Umbridge drew out a parchment bearing an official-looking seal. "As you can see here, I do. Signed by both myself and the Minister himself," she said. She looked around the class. "No need for any alarm, children, you may continue with your exams. We shall merely remove the troublesome element and be on our way…"
Though Professor Marchbanks clearly didn't agree with these proceedings, there was little she could do to stop Umbridge.
Umbridge and the Aurors approached Harry, who stood up, glaring at them defiantly.
Daphne tried to catch his eye, but failed. Knowing she wouldn't be able to go after Harry immediately, she fought her way through the rest of her exam, and the moment time was up, she, along with Hermione and Ron, dashed out of the Great Hall.
"We have to help him," she said.
"How? If they've taken him to the Ministry…" Hermione said nervously.
"We need to warn the Order," Ron said.
"I'll go to Snape in a moment," Daphne said. "But we have to get to the Ministry ourselves, as fast as we can. I'm not leaving Harry there on his own."
"But the Order of the Phoenix is much better equipped to deal with–" Hermione began.
"I don't care," Daphne said. "Don't you see? If Harry is at the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy or someone else will be able to force him into the Hall of Prophecy. Voldemort won't need to show himself at all if they can get Harry to do it."
"How would Malfoy get Harry away from the Aurors?" Ron asked.
"He's got Fudge in his pocket. It won't be hard for him to pull it off," Daphne said grimly. "Look, there's no time to stand here talking. I'm going to warn Snape. I'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes."
Without waiting for a reply, Daphne took off toward the dungeons. She ran over to Snape's office and banged on the door.
"Enter," Snape said.
Before he'd even finished speaking, Daphne had already entered the office and closed the door behind her.
"Umbridge has arrested Harry," she said without preamble. "She came into the Great Hall with a group of Aurors near the end of the History of Magic O.W.L.."
"Our Headmistress seems to be under some pressure, if she is making such bold moves," Snape said coolly. "Very well. I shall notify the appropriate people. She will likely have taken Potter to the Ministry through the fireplace in her office, as she has disconnected all the other ones…That would be the quickest way to reach the Ministry, in any case…" he muttered, seemingly to himself.
"Thank you, sir," Daphne said, leaving the office with a faint smirk.
She ran back upstairs, and she'd barely arrived when Hermione and Ron returned as well, followed by Ginny, Neville, and Luna.
"We're coming too," Ginny said.
"Yeah, the Order of the Lightning Bolt is about Harry, isn't it? He's helped us tremendously. Now we can help him, for a change," Neville added.
"The Order helped me make friends," Luna said simply. "I don't like it when people hurt my friends. Especially since the Aurors will probably give Harry terrible gum disease as part of the Rotfang Conspiracy."
"We tried to stop them," Hermione said apologetically. "But they heard us talking…"
"Why?" Daphne asked. "The more people, the better. If we had time I'd say we call the entire Order and show Fudge he was right to fear that the Hogwarts students would rise up against him. But anyway, come on. Snape told me how we can get to the Ministry."
"Snape told you?" Hermione said incredulously.
"Not officially, but yes," Daphne said, and she began to walk, followed by the others.
"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.
"Umbridge's office. We're taking her fireplace to the Ministry," Daphne said.
"Are you mad? We'll get expelled for sure if we're caught!" Hermione said.
"Right, because leaving school to bust out someone who got arrested isn't a crime," Ginny said, shaking her head.
"I don't care, anyway. I'm hexing anyone who stands in my way," Daphne said.
"Are you sure about that, Greengrass?" Malfoy stepped around the corner of the corridor Daphne and the others were walking down, followed, as usual, by Crabbe and Goyle, as well as Warrington, Montague, and Bletchley. "I think you'd probably better–"
He never got to finish his sentence, as Ginny had already fired a Bat-Bogey Hex at him, which sent him running down the corridor with what looked like bats flying out of his nose, attacking him. The rest of the Inquisitorial Squad looked after him in surprise.
"Move," Ginny said. "Or do you want all of us to start attacking you?"
Warrington took a step forward. Some loud bangs and flashes of light later, he and the other members of the squad lay unconscious in the hallway.
"You've gotten faster, haven't you?" Daphne asked Ginny while they ran on.
"Of course. I need to beat you and Harry at some point, don't I?" she said with a grin.
"Remind me not to make you angry anytime soon," Ron said.
"I would, but I doubt the lesson would stick longer than a day anyway," Ginny said idly.
They reached Umbridge's door, and Daphne tried the handle. Of course, it was locked.
Daphne grinned and raised her wand. "Step back for a second," she said to the others. "Reducto!"
The door blew apart in a shower of splinters.
"You could've just used Alohomora," Hermione said.
Daphne shrugged. "She might've bewitched it to be immune to that spell. Besides, this is way more fun."
She stepped into the room. The fire was still burning, which was good. Now all she needed was some Floo Powder…
"Accio Floo Powder!" she said, raising her wand once more.
A jar filled with green powder burst out of Umbridge's desk drawer, sending more splinters flying into the room.
Daphne felt a vindictive pleasure in ruining Umbridge's office, and though she knew the Inquisitorial Squad would out them without hesitation, she didn't care about the consequences.
First and foremost, she wanted to get to Harry. Sure, her vision had seen him tearing himself free of his captor, and she still had the vision of the clearing, so everything suggested Harry wouldn't die, but there was no way she'd leave things to chance.
Sitting tight just wasn't really one of her strong suits, and Snape had clearly known it, otherwise he'd never have told her to use Umbridge's fireplace.
Daphne took some Floo powder out of the jar and threw it into the fire, which turned emerald green at once.
"Everyone ready?" she asked, looking at each of her friends in turn.
"Of course. Guess that remark you made in Hogsmeade really was a prediction, huh?" Ginny said with a small smile.
Daphne grinned at her. "Well, hope you enjoy it," she said.
She stepped into the green flames and said, "Ministry of Magic!"
The fire flared up and Daphne spun through the flames, keeping her eyes tightly shut as she hurtled past other fireplaces, until she eventually began to slow down.
She emerged in the Atrium of the Ministry, which seemed oddly empty. The only lit fireplace was the one she'd just emerged from. She frowned. It was a regular day, wasn't it? Where was everyone?
The flames flared up again, and Ginny stepped out, followed shortly after by the others.
"Should it be this quiet?" Hermione asked, looking around.
Daphne shook her head. "No, and I don't like it one bit. Come on, let's go."
"Are we going straight to the Department of Mysteries?" Ron asked.
"Harry is there?" Neville asked, surprised.
Daphne nodded. "We're not the only 'Order' out there. There's another one, Dumbledore's Order. The Order of the Phoenix. And that Order has been guarding a prophecy all year long. A prophecy about Harry and Voldemort," she said.
"Daphne! Are you sure you should reveal that?" Hermione asked reproachfully.
"Dumbledore told Harry and me to make our own judgments as to who to tell certain things," Daphne said. "And since Neville and Luna came here with us, they deserve to know what we're doing here." She turned back to Neville. "The only people who can remove a prophecy from the Hall of Prophecies are the ones about whom the prophecy was made. That means either Voldemort needs to take it himself…or Harry needs to do it."
They made their way over to the elevator and Daphne hit the number nine. The doors rattled closed and the elevator began to descend.
"Everyone, wands out," Daphne said. "Whatever we run into, it probably won't be pretty. If we end up in a fight…well, this will be the moment you can show what you've learned…"
She knew she wasn't, strictly speaking, the leader of the group, but she was angry and worried, and being polite was far down her list of priorities at that moment. Besides, it didn't seem like any of the others had any problems letting her take the lead.
The elevator came to a halt, and a cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries."
They stepped out into an empty corridor, where nothing moved but the light of the torches on the wall. At the far end of the hallway was a single, black door. With her heart beating in her throat Daphne pushed open the door and stepped through, followed by the others. She found herself in a circular room, all black, around which were spaced several identical black doors, interspersed with blue-flamed candles.
"Okay," she said. "I don't know that much about the Department of Mysteries, but I do know that it's designed to be confusing to people who shouldn't be here. The moment we shut the door behind us, the room will rotate. Fortunately, I know how it works. Neville, close the door."
Neville obeyed, and the already dark room was plunged into more darkness. There was a deep, rumbling sound and the wall began to spin, though the floor felt like it was stationary. Daphne knew that it was really the room which was spinning, not the wall, but clearly the magic made it seem the other way around.
The spinning only lasted for a few seconds, during which the flames of the candles seemed like an unbroken blue ring, and then it slowed down and stopped.
"Well, let's see it, then," Ron said. "Because I have no idea which door is which, now."
"Okay…I hope I remembered this right," Daphne said. "Where is the Time Room?" she asked, and the door to the far right of the room swung open.
She grinned at the others. "Let's go," she said.
"Really? You just ask?" Ron said incredulously.
"Do you think most people even know the names of the rooms in here? Let alone that asking where one of them is would open the door?" Daphne replied as they made their way over to the Time Room.
They went through the door and closed it behind them. The Time Room was filled with clocks of every kind, and a shelf of Time Turners was placed against the far wall.
"Look at that bell jar," Ginny said, pointing at a large bell jar seemingly made out of glass, which stood on one of the desks and was nearly as tall as Daphne herself was.
Within the jar, carried by a sparkling current, was a small egg, moving upward. It hatched, and a hummingbird emerged from it, drifting up to the top of the jar, before gently floating back down again to eventually be encased back in its egg.
"As you might have guessed, they study time in here," Daphne said. "For your own safety, don't touch anything in here. There's insanely powerful magic in here, and if you mess with it, you won't be happy. Come on, the Hall of Prophecy is beyond here…"
She led them to a door behind the bell jar and pushed it open, stepping through into a cavernous room, filled with shelves upon shelves of dusty glass orbs. She shivered, recognizing the room from her visions.
"This place is huge. How are we going to find Harry?" Ginny whispered.
Daphne raised her wand and whispered, "Homenum Revelio!"
The spell showed Daphne human presence a large number of shelves away, a fair distance down the room.
"They'll know we're here now," Hermione hissed.
"Did you honestly expect us to save Harry undetected?" Daphne countered. "Now come on, let's move. There are people further down. Keep your wands out."
They moved forward carefully in the direction Daphne had sensed people with her spell.
As they neared the row where Harry was supposed to be, Daphne whispered, "Hermione, Ron, Neville, if you sneak around to the other side of the row we can approach from both sides. Luna, you and Ginny come with me."
"What will we do? Cast spells at everyone we see?" Neville asked nervously.
"I wouldn't be against it if you've got a clear shot," Daphne said. "But we can't risk hitting Harry or each other. Only start hexing if you're confident you'll hit your target."
They all looked at each other with grimly determined expressions, then Hermione, Ron, and Neville set off down the row while Ginny, Luna, and Daphne continued on.
"Like Hermione said, they'll know we're coming because of my spell," Daphne whispered. "Be ready to cast Protego or dive out of the way the moment we step around the corner."
She took a deep breath and looked around the corner. Daphne winced when she saw just how many people there were. While she knew it had been several, the distance had made it hard to tell the exact number.
By the looks of it, there seemed to be at least more than ten, maybe even up to fifteen. There was no way they'd be able to win a straight fight.
Only two people in the group were unmasked. Lucius Malfoy and Harry himself. The rest wore Death Eater robes and masks, and it was impossible to tell who was who.
One of the Death Eaters was looking at the end of the row of shelves and noticed Daphne. He muttered something to Malfoy, who called out, "There's no need to linger in the shadows. We know you're here. It's touching, really, that you'd come to save Potter. Extremely foolish, but touching."
Daphne looked at Ginny and Luna, shrugged, and then stepped into the hallway completely, ready to respond to any attack. Ginny and Luna followed her.
The Death Eaters, however, seemed perfectly at ease, unthreatened by the appearance of some teenagers. Now that she was cautiously approaching the group, she saw that Harry was being held by one of the Death Eaters, who also held his wand.
If Daphne's vision had been correct, Harry still had his real one, however, which was the one surprise they had for the Death Eaters. He looked both relieved and very worried to see Daphne and the others.
"Let Harry go," Daphne said, cursing the slight tremble in her voice. It was one thing to act cool in practice, fighting students, or smashing up an office, or even trying to set up a pincer move…but actually facing down what seemed to be a dozen Death Eaters was something else altogether.
These weren't mere students. These were followers hand-picked by Voldemort himself. Devoted, insane, and probably very capable of fighting.
Much as she hated to admit it, Malfoy's assessment of 'extremely foolish' was probably entirely correct. Because even if Harry survived this fight, as her visions suggested, nothing guaranteed that Daphne would, or any of the others, save maybe Ginny, of whom she'd also seen some flashes.
"No, I don't think we will," Malfoy drawled, so like his son in manners. "You see, we want him to give us the prophecy. Our Lord desires it greatly."
"So you contrived a reason to have me arrested?" Harry asked.
"We would have preferred a more subtle approach, but even when we got rid of that meddlesome fool Dumbledore, you were out of reach within Hogwarts. It took quite some persuading to get Fudge to sign off on your arrest," Malfoy said.
There was a rustle of cloaks, and two Death Eaters appeared behind Daphne, Ginny, and Luna. A cry of surprise from the other side of the group of Death Eaters suggested the others had likewise been blindsided.
Malfoy smirked. "You didn't seriously expect us to just let you box us in, did you? After you were kind enough to reveal your presence ahead of time?"
"Tell me," Harry said, seemingly eager to keep Malfoy talking, to create any kind of opening at all to make a move. "What exactly does Voldemort think he'll accomplish with the prophecy?"
"You dare say the Dark Lord's name?!" a female Death Eater near Malfoy shrieked indignantly.
Harry smirked coolly, though Daphne could see the fear in his eyes. "Yeah. I've got no problem saying Vol–"
"Shut your mouth!" the woman shouted.
She stepped forward, tearing off her hood, and Daphne recoiled when she recognized the gaunt face of Bellatrix Lestrange.
"You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue–"
"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" Harry interrupted. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle…or has he been telling you lot he's pureblood?"
Bellatrix seemed about to curse Harry for his insolence, and Malfoy noticed it, because he threw out his arm and said, "No! The Dark Lord wants that prophecy, and Potter has to take it. Only he can do it. If you kill him…"
Bellatrix glowered at him, but lowered her wand the tiniest bit.
Daphne chanced a look over her shoulder; the two Death Eaters behind her were focused on Bellatrix and Malfoy, not on her.
She looked at Harry intently, willing him to look over and see her, willing him to realize that this was the moment she'd seen, the moment he should break free…
Harry shot a glance in her direction at last and gave the tiniest nod, then jerked his hand out of the Death Eater's grasp, reaching into his robes for his real wand…
Daphne whirled around and shouted, "Stupefy!"
The Death Eater behind Ginny crumpled, and Ginny, with her ever-increasing reflexes, reacted before the second Death Eater could, spinning and firing a Stunner into his face from point-blank range.
Daphne, meanwhile, aimed her wand at the shelves behind the Death Eaters and shouted, "Reducto!"
She wasn't alone, as Luna had had the same idea, and the double spell pulverized the shelf, raining broken glass and wood on the heads of the Death Eaters.
Flashes of light from the other side of the dust cloud told Daphne that Hermione, Ron, and Neville had attacked their guards as well.
"Get Potter!" Malfoy bellowed from somewhere in the cloud, from which also emanated the ghostly figures voices of forgotten prophets, revealing their words now that their protective spheres were broken. "He has the prophecy! The others don't matter, we need Potter!"
At that moment, Harry came tearing past.
"Run!" he yelled, aiming his wand over his shoulder and shouting, "Impedimenta!" at the Death Eaters in pursuit. The spell hit the first one and knocked him back into his fellows.
"I'm over here, masked morons!" Harry shouted when he reached the end of the row, followed closely by Daphne, Ginny, and Luna.
"That should draw them away from Ron and–" he began to say, but with a whirling cloak, a large Death Eater appeared right in front of them, snatching wildly at Harry, who threw himself back just in time.
"Stupefy!" Daphne shouted, but the man had already thrown himself to the side to avoid exactly that situation, raising his wand at Luna at the same time.
Luna saw it, however, and shouted, "Protego!" just in time to deflect the Stunner the man had sent at her, sending him diving for cover from his own spell.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Ginny shouted as the man was getting back to his feet, and immediately his legs seized together and he fell over again.
Without waiting for him to unstick himself, the four of them began to run again.
"Where's the exit?" Harry asked.
"Down the hall, come on!" Daphne yelled.
"Look out!" Ginny shouted, and she tackled Daphne away from a jet of red light that soared over her head from the row to her left.
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, but his spell was parried, smashing into another shelf of prophecies instead.
"Stupefy!" Ginny, Daphne, and Luna yelled together.
Daphne's spell missed by a hair because the Death Eater tried to dodge, but Ginny and Luna's spells both caught him, and he fell over into the shelf he'd just broken by parrying Harry's spell.
Again, they scrambled to their feet and bolted, now finally making it to the door and tearing through it. They were safe…
Bit of a dick move to end the chapter here, but my supply has run dry completely. This chapter was finished literally minutes before posting, and keeping the updates regular is one of my main challenges in this fic. Besides, the battle isn't quite over yet, and the chapter was of sufficient length. Pacing might be a bit frantic, but I feel that works given the situation.
And yeah, of course this battle was going to happen. It's one of my favorite scenes in the book and it's a Stations of the Canon fic. As is common for this story, it'll have minor differences with canon…and perhaps a major one. But anyway, that's for tomorrow.