Chapter 8
His timing couldn't have been better. Harry had gone up two floors, running the entire way. He had made it into the hallway where him and Hermione hid in a closet unsuccessfully. Peeking his head around the corner, he saw Voldemort pushing himself and Hermione into a room.
Harry had not seen any sight of the Voldemort from his own time, if he could call it his own time. In truth, it was a week in the past.
Harry had no idea of what he was going to do, but knew he had to do something. He decided he wasn't going to fight. As soon as he got Hermione out of there, he was gone. As far as he was concerned, the mission was over. In twenty minutes, his original self would be coming to the building and they needed to get out of there by then.
"Getting a little confusing, isn't it?" Orcrist said from beside him.
Harry nodded his head in agreement.
"What are you going to do?"
"Get Hermione out of there," Harry said, "…somehow."
"And after you get her out of the room?"
"Get the hell out of here."
"That works," Orcrist muttered.
A sound of footsteps interrupted them. Harry peeked around the corner and saw half a dozen guards walking into Voldemort's room. The door slammed behind the last guard, sending an echo throughout the empty corridor.
"Well," Orcrist said, "it's now or never."
Harry hesitated for a brief second. He knew this was near suicide, but he wasn't going to just leave Hermione to die. Stepping around the corner slowly, Harry walked toward the closed door, Orcrist close behind him.
The sound of a door opening stopped them. Harry froze in the middle of the hallway, fully exposed to the person walking through the door.
"Just Sirius," Harry thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
Sirius slowly moved into the hallway, George by his side. Sirius shot Harry a questioning look. He was a little surprised to see Harry standing in the middle of the hallway, but walked towards him nonetheless.
"We saw quite a few guards heading up here," Sirius stated, "so, we thought we'd follow them."
"Where's Hermione?" George asked.
Harry didn't answer right away. "…Voldemort has her."
All of the color in George's face drained, leaving him as pale as a ghost.
"Where!" Sirius asked, an urgent tone in his voice.
"In there." Harry said, nodding his head at the door.
"That's where the guards went, right?"
Harry nodded slightly. "Umm, they sorta have me too."
Sirius stared at him, utterly confused.
"I'll explain later. Voldemort and I will be leaving the room very soon." Harry glanced at the door. "As soon as we do, we've got to get Hermione out of there."
"And we have no idea how to, right?" George asked.
Harry shook his head. "She's very close to the door, so we might be able to just grab her and run for it. But there's also the guards."
"A couple of us could hold them back," Sirius said grimly, "while the others get away." Sirius' tone of voice was suggesting that he was gong to be the one to stay.
"No," Harry replied, the tone of his voice clipped. "We're all getting out of here."
"I'll get out Harry," Sirius argued. "I'll be right behind you,"
"Sirius, you can't"
"Can you think of anything better?" Sirius interrupted. "I'm not too happy about it either."
"He's right Harry," Orcrist added.
Harry looked at the floor. "Fine," he said, nodding. "Orcrist, how fast do you think you can get out of here?"
"As fast as possible."
"You need to be quicker than that," Harry deadpanned. "Meet me and Sirius at the Leaky Cauldron afterwards. Got it?"
"What?" Sirius shouted. "No, Harry. You're not helping. You're father would never forgive me if you were killed."
"Sorry, Sirius. I'm in charge of this mission and I'm not letting you do this alone."
Sirius opened his mouth to say something back, but Harry cut him off.
"There isn't time to argue Sirius. As soon as Voldemort and I go back in time, we have to act."
George walked over and placed his ear to the door. "What am I listening for?" he asked.
"Yelling," Harry replied. "A couple seconds afterwards, we'll have to bust through there. Orcrist, you grab Hermione and run for it while Sirius and I hold back the guards."
"Those muggles aren't going to have wands Harry," Sirius said. "They're going to have guns. During the attack on Hogwarts we learned all too well that we don't have any spells that can stop bullets. We should've guessed back then that Voldemort was using muggles."
"Uh, guys!" George said, stepping backwards from his place next to the door.
"Harry," Sirius stated quickly, "as soon as Hermione's out, block the door with ice, as think as you can conjure it, okay?"
Harry nodded, walking to the left side of the door, Sirius on the right. Voldemort's booming voice could be heard through the door, shouting orders.
"All of you stay here, save for you Wormtail!"
"Now Orcrist," Harry mouthed.
Orcrist walked between the two and stood in front of the door, his wand out-stretched.
"I'm going to blind them first Orcrist," Sirius said, his own wand pointed toward the door.
Orcrist nodded. "Ready?" he asked the group. They all nodded their heads, in silent unison.
"Cover your eyes," Sirius said.
Orcrist raised his leg, kicking above the doorknob. They all closed their eyes as the sound of shattering wood tore through the silence of the halls.
Flyre Incantando!
Harry heard Sirius shout the incantation, and even through his cloak-sleeves and eyelids, nearly fell backwards from the blinding white light.
It stopped almost instantly. Harry opened his eyes and saw Orcrist running into the room. Guards were on their knees and the floor, arms thrown over their eyes to shield themselves from the spell. Another guard slowly started to raise his gun towards Orcrist.
"Orcrist, watch out!" Harry screamed.
Orcrist had already reached Hermione and was pulling her back out of the room. Panicking, Harry thought of the first thing that came to mind and casted a shield towards Orcrist.
Deafening gunfire was heard as bullets tore through Harry's weak shield. A single round struck Orcrist in his left arm, spinning him around. Orcrist came crashing to the floor, dragging Hermione with him.
Sirius pointed his wand at the guard and yelled Sodiacus!
Harry heard and felt the vibrations of the loud boom as a transparent ball shot through the room. The sound spell struck the guard roughly in the chest, propelling him backwards into the nearest wall.
George jumped into the room. Grabbing Orcrist and Hermione by the collars of their robes, he dragged them out of the room just as the other guards were recovering.
As soon as George cleared the room, Harry started conjuring his ice spell. He pointed his wand at the bottom of the door and started working around it, concentrating in order to make the ice thicker.
After making three rounds of the door, Harry stopped. The ice was so thick that he could barely see through the shimmering surface.
"Good job, Harry," Sirius stated blandly.
Rolling over onto his stomach, Orcrist attempted to get to his feet. After struggling a bit, he finally managed to stand, wincing as pain shot through his shoulder. George was on his knees, untangling Hermione from the ropes that bound her arms and legs.
A gunshot was heard from the room inside the room. The fragile ice started to splinter and crack, little shards flying in every direction, imbedding themselves in the hallway.
"That's not going to last for long," Orcrist said.
George lifted Hermione off the floor. She looked confused, but didn't object to being hauled off her feet.
"Let's go!" Harry shouted, as the sound of several gunshots and splitting ice reached them. He knew that the ice would break free at any moment and they needed to get out of there.
They began heading toward the stairwell, walking faster with each step. Reaching the stairs, Orcrist held the door open as George and Hermione slipped into the stairwell. Harry had just started to go down when he heard the sound he had been waiting for.
Harry, Orcrist and Sirius turned around, seeing the ice break apart and shatter. Some of the pieces fell to the floor, creating an obstacle for the guards in the room. "A minor help," Harry thought.
The three of them had their wands aimed at the door, waiting for the first guard to emerge. Sirius fired at the first guard that came through. A small, silver light hit the guard in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground in convulsions.
"The others will be hesitating after that," Orcrist said.
"You need to follow them Orcrist," Harry said, pointing toward the stairwell. "You have the Firebolt."
"Then come on! There's no need for you two to wait here."
"You'll run into guards on the way out, which will slow you all down, if we don't stay," Harry countered. "Sides, we're not going to wait very long. We'll be right behind you."
Orcrist sighed, finally conceding to Harry, and walked through the door to the stairwell.
"There should only be five left," Sirius said, turning to Harry. "Shouldn't be too bad."
"Yeah, quick job," Harry answered, returning the lie.
Both of them waited, staring at the door with unblinking eyes. Several seconds passed without anything coming from the room, not even a sound.
"Oh, no," Harry said, remembering.
"What?"
"I forgot. There's a hallway hidden behind the book shelf."
"Where does it lead?" Sirius breathed out quickly.
"Down."
"Dammit!" Sirius shouted. He walked slowly toward the office door. Reaching the frame he stopped, placing his back on the wall, and then peeked inside. "They're gone," he said, leaning his head on the wall.
"Orcrist and the others should have made it out by now," Harry said. "I just hope that the guards didn't catch up with them. Either way, there's no need for us to stay here. Let's go." With that Harry rushed to the stairwell.
His timing couldn't have been better. Harry had gone up two floors, running the entire way. He had made it into the hallway where him and Hermione hid in a closet unsuccessfully. Peeking his head around the corner, he saw Voldemort pushing himself and Hermione into a room.
Harry had not seen any sight of the Voldemort from his own time, if he could call it his own time. In truth, it was a week in the past.
Harry had no idea of what he was going to do, but knew he had to do something. He decided he wasn't going to fight. As soon as he got Hermione out of there, he was gone. As far as he was concerned, the mission was over. In twenty minutes, his original self would be coming to the building and they needed to get out of there by then.
"Getting a little confusing, isn't it?" Orcrist said from beside him.
Harry nodded his head in agreement.
"What are you going to do?"
"Get Hermione out of there," Harry said, "…somehow."
"And after you get her out of the room?"
"Get the hell out of here."
"That works," Orcrist muttered.
A sound of footsteps interrupted them. Harry peeked around the corner and saw half a dozen guards walking into Voldemort's room. The door slammed behind the last guard, sending an echo throughout the empty corridor.
"Well," Orcrist said, "it's now or never."
Harry hesitated for a brief second. He knew this was near suicide, but he wasn't going to just leave Hermione to die. Stepping around the corner slowly, Harry walked toward the closed door, Orcrist close behind him.
The sound of a door opening stopped them. Harry froze in the middle of the hallway, fully exposed to the person walking through the door.
"Just Sirius," Harry thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
Sirius slowly moved into the hallway, George by his side. Sirius shot Harry a questioning look. He was a little surprised to see Harry standing in the middle of the hallway, but walked towards him nonetheless.
"We saw quite a few guards heading up here," Sirius stated, "so, we thought we'd follow them."
"Where's Hermione?" George asked.
Harry didn't answer right away. "…Voldemort has her."
All of the color in George's face drained, leaving him as pale as a ghost.
"Where!" Sirius asked, an urgent tone in his voice.
"In there." Harry said, nodding his head at the door.
"That's where the guards went, right?"
Harry nodded slightly. "Umm, they sorta have me too."
Sirius stared at him, utterly confused.
"I'll explain later. Voldemort and I will be leaving the room very soon." Harry glanced at the door. "As soon as we do, we've got to get Hermione out of there."
"And we have no idea how to, right?" George asked.
Harry shook his head. "She's very close to the door, so we might be able to just grab her and run for it. But there's also the guards."
"A couple of us could hold them back," Sirius said grimly, "while the others get away." Sirius' tone of voice was suggesting that he was gong to be the one to stay.
"No," Harry replied, the tone of his voice clipped. "We're all getting out of here."
"I'll get out Harry," Sirius argued. "I'll be right behind you,"
"Sirius, you can't"
"Can you think of anything better?" Sirius interrupted. "I'm not too happy about it either."
"He's right Harry," Orcrist added.
Harry looked at the floor. "Fine," he said, nodding. "Orcrist, how fast do you think you can get out of here?"
"As fast as possible."
"You need to be quicker than that," Harry deadpanned. "Meet me and Sirius at the Leaky Cauldron afterwards. Got it?"
"What?" Sirius shouted. "No, Harry. You're not helping. You're father would never forgive me if you were killed."
"Sorry, Sirius. I'm in charge of this mission and I'm not letting you do this alone."
Sirius opened his mouth to say something back, but Harry cut him off.
"There isn't time to argue Sirius. As soon as Voldemort and I go back in time, we have to act."
George walked over and placed his ear to the door. "What am I listening for?" he asked.
"Yelling," Harry replied. "A couple seconds afterwards, we'll have to bust through there. Orcrist, you grab Hermione and run for it while Sirius and I hold back the guards."
"Those muggles aren't going to have wands Harry," Sirius said. "They're going to have guns. During the attack on Hogwarts we learned all too well that we don't have any spells that can stop bullets. We should've guessed back then that Voldemort was using muggles."
"Uh, guys!" George said, stepping backwards from his place next to the door.
"Harry," Sirius stated quickly, "as soon as Hermione's out, block the door with ice, as think as you can conjure it, okay?"
Harry nodded, walking to the left side of the door, Sirius on the right. Voldemort's booming voice could be heard through the door, shouting orders.
"All of you stay here, save for you Wormtail!"
"Now Orcrist," Harry mouthed.
Orcrist walked between the two and stood in front of the door, his wand out-stretched.
"I'm going to blind them first Orcrist," Sirius said, his own wand pointed toward the door.
Orcrist nodded. "Ready?" he asked the group. They all nodded their heads, in silent unison.
"Cover your eyes," Sirius said.
Orcrist raised his leg, kicking above the doorknob. They all closed their eyes as the sound of shattering wood tore through the silence of the halls.
Flyre Incantando!
Harry heard Sirius shout the incantation, and even through his cloak-sleeves and eyelids, nearly fell backwards from the blinding white light.
It stopped almost instantly. Harry opened his eyes and saw Orcrist running into the room. Guards were on their knees and the floor, arms thrown over their eyes to shield themselves from the spell. Another guard slowly started to raise his gun towards Orcrist.
"Orcrist, watch out!" Harry screamed.
Orcrist had already reached Hermione and was pulling her back out of the room. Panicking, Harry thought of the first thing that came to mind and casted a shield towards Orcrist.
Deafening gunfire was heard as bullets tore through Harry's weak shield. A single round struck Orcrist in his left arm, spinning him around. Orcrist came crashing to the floor, dragging Hermione with him.
Sirius pointed his wand at the guard and yelled Sodiacus!
Harry heard and felt the vibrations of the loud boom as a transparent ball shot through the room. The sound spell struck the guard roughly in the chest, propelling him backwards into the nearest wall.
George jumped into the room. Grabbing Orcrist and Hermione by the collars of their robes, he dragged them out of the room just as the other guards were recovering.
As soon as George cleared the room, Harry started conjuring his ice spell. He pointed his wand at the bottom of the door and started working around it, concentrating in order to make the ice thicker.
After making three rounds of the door, Harry stopped. The ice was so thick that he could barely see through the shimmering surface.
"Good job, Harry," Sirius stated blandly.
Rolling over onto his stomach, Orcrist attempted to get to his feet. After struggling a bit, he finally managed to stand, wincing as pain shot through his shoulder. George was on his knees, untangling Hermione from the ropes that bound her arms and legs.
A gunshot was heard from the room inside the room. The fragile ice started to splinter and crack, little shards flying in every direction, imbedding themselves in the hallway.
"That's not going to last for long," Orcrist said.
George lifted Hermione off the floor. She looked confused, but didn't object to being hauled off her feet.
"Let's go!" Harry shouted, as the sound of several gunshots and splitting ice reached them. He knew that the ice would break free at any moment and they needed to get out of there.
They began heading toward the stairwell, walking faster with each step. Reaching the stairs, Orcrist held the door open as George and Hermione slipped into the stairwell. Harry had just started to go down when he heard the sound he had been waiting for.
Harry, Orcrist and Sirius turned around, seeing the ice break apart and shatter. Some of the pieces fell to the floor, creating an obstacle for the guards in the room. "A minor help," Harry thought.
The three of them had their wands aimed at the door, waiting for the first guard to emerge. Sirius fired at the first guard that came through. A small, silver light hit the guard in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground in convulsions.
"The others will be hesitating after that," Orcrist said.
"You need to follow them Orcrist," Harry said, pointing toward the stairwell. "You have the Firebolt."
"Then come on! There's no need for you two to wait here."
"You'll run into guards on the way out, which will slow you all down, if we don't stay," Harry countered. "Sides, we're not going to wait very long. We'll be right behind you."
Orcrist sighed, finally conceding to Harry, and walked through the door to the stairwell.
"There should only be five left," Sirius said, turning to Harry. "Shouldn't be too bad."
"Yeah, quick job," Harry answered, returning the lie.
Both of them waited, staring at the door with unblinking eyes. Several seconds passed without anything coming from the room, not even a sound.
"Oh, no," Harry said, remembering.
"What?"
"I forgot. There's a hallway hidden behind the book shelf."
"Where does it lead?" Sirius breathed out quickly.
"Down."
"Dammit!" Sirius shouted. He walked slowly toward the office door. Reaching the frame he stopped, placing his back on the wall, and then peeked inside. "They're gone," he said, leaning his head on the wall.
"Orcrist and the others should have made it out by now," Harry said. "I just hope that the guards didn't catch up with them. Either way, there's no need for us to stay here. Let's go." With that Harry rushed to the stairwell.