A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to get this out guys but this had just not been my week. Everything seems to be falling down on me at once, and it doesn't help that I'm PMSing. After these next two chapters I think I might take a break from WWS for a bit because you would hate me to no end if I stopped it at this chapter. You'll see what I mean later. But please enjoy it anyways. And no more comments on my spelling please, I already know it's bad so you don't have to remind me, okay? If one more person puts anything of the sort in a review I'll postpone the next chapter in revenge until I've gone through and edited every last chapter, and that's 22 minus the 3 I've already done so it will take a loooooooooong time. Got it? Good. Enjoy the chapter.

Hotaru quickly scribbled down the last answer of her test, unable to think of what had just happened. She had to get to Harry as soon as possible.

"Finished Professor, may I be excused?" Hotaru asked.

"Very well." The Professor might have said more, but Hotaru was out of there the next moment and soon after was followed by Kioko. She had to get to Harry, she had to find out what that was all about! If Harry was in danger…

"What's going on?" Kioko asked as they pushed through the crowds.

"It's Harry, something's wrong, and Harry knows what it is." Hotaru said breathlessly. She stopped for a moment, closed her eyes to focus, and then darted into a certain direction, not pausing to think about this newfound power. "Harry!" She exclaimed as they met up with him, Ron, and Hermione.

"In here!" Harry rushed, diving into an empty classroom. The others followed him, Kioko shut the door and made sure no one had seen them.

"What's this all about?" Kioko demanded.

"Voldemort's got Sirius." Harry said abruptly.

"What!?" Both Ron and Kioko demanded.

"How d'you—?"

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam." Harry said.

"That was…that was Voldemort?!" Hotaru gasped. She thought it was Chaos at first…but then, Voldemort is a better enemy to face than Chaos so she should have been relieved, but she wasn't. Something wasn't right.

"You saw it too didn't you?" Harry asked and Hotaru nodded.

"But—but where? How?" Hermione asked, her face going extremely pale.

"I dunno how, but I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven…He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there…He's torturing him…Says he'll end by killing him…" Harry's voice shook with emotion that Hotaru hadn't felt before from him. He then looked at Kioko, "How are we going to get there?" He asked her.

"G-get there?" Ron asked shakily.

"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry nearly yelled.

"Please calm down Harry." Hotaru said softly.

"But—Harry…" Ron said.

"What?!" Harry demanded. Hotaru shook her head.

"Harry, please calm down and try to think. Voldemort and Sirius Black are two of the most wanted men in the world, they couldn't walk into the Ministry of Magic undetected." Hotaru told him.

"Voldemort could use an invisibility cloak or something! Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been completely empty whenever I've been—"

"You've been there?" Kioko questioned.

"You've never been there, Harry." Hermione said, "You've dreamed about the place, that's all."

"They're not normal dreams!" Harry yelled, jumping at Hermione. "How d'you explain Ron's dad then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?" He demanded.

"He's got a point," Ron said.

"For once, I am quite confused." Kioko stated.

"But this is just—just so unlikely! Harry, how on earth could Voldemort have got hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all this time?" Hermione tried desperately.

"Sirius might've cracked and just wanted some fresh air," Ron commented. "He's been desperate to get out of that house for ages—"

"SILENCE!" Kioko yelled, everyone hushed up and looked at her. "Okay, I don't know what's going on, but it sounds to me like we're getting nowhere fast. Could you explain to me what's going on, please?" She demanded.

"I've been having these dreams, visions of the Department of Mysteries for a while. And I just had another one where Voldemort had attacked Sirius in order to get the weapon he's after. And if we don't act soon Sirius might die and Voldemort could get this weapon!" Harry said, as if struggling to restrain himself.

"Still confused, we're talking about Sirius Black? Okay, questions on this later, I'll just say he's a friend because it sounds like he is. But Harry, Hermione's right, it isn't very possible that Voldemort or Sirius Black could get into the Department of Mysteries. Though I've seen a few things that were deemed impossible," Kioko glanced at Hotaru, "I'm not going to argue that what Harry saw just might be an actual vision instead of a creation of fear…or something else. But there are still a number of other possibilities and attachments that 'we don't know'." Kioko said, trying to give Harry some kind of hint. But it didn't take.

"Then what are we waiting for! We have to go to the Department of Mysteries now!!!" Harry exclaimed pulling on his hair.

"But-but why, why on earth would Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon, or whatever the thing is?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!!! Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care about seeing hurt—"

"You know I've just thought of something, Sirius's brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!" Ron said.

Kioko and Hotaru decided to lean back for a bit and ignore the arguing for a bit, after all, it was just making things all the more confusing. 'What do you think this is all about?' Kioko asked.

'I don't know, but in Harry's nightmare something wasn't right. It wasn't the vision itself…it was Voldemort. I thought he was…at first I thought…' Hotaru whispered, unwilling to finish for saying it might make it real. 'I thought he was Chaos…' she finished.

Kioko sucked in her breath, and let it out. 'What are you saying, that Voldemort has some connection to your world?' she asked.

'Maybe…wait. What if Voldemort is…what if he's Chaos reborn?!' Hotaru suddenly gasped. 'Just, just biding his time and…' No, it couldn't be. But…it could have happened…Voldemort was born not too long after the defeat of Chaos, it made sense. But if Voldemort knew he was Chaos, he wouldn't need any weapon, would he? And why would he want to destroy Harry? And why would he want Mistress 9? Wait, if Mistress 9 was more powerful than Chaos…it would make sense that he'd want her on his side, and she'd accept his offer too! But what was Chaos waiting for? He could easily whip out the wizarding world…maybe…maybe he didn't have his full power. And this weapon would give it to him or something…

'Um, sound's unlikely' Kioko commented, 'I mean, if this Chaos person is as powerful as you say he is, Voldemort would just be holding back, right?' she asked.

'That's what I'm thinking. What if this weapon will unlock his full power!? That would explain why he also wants Mistress 9 because she's become a lot stronger than he is.' Hotaru said.

'Okay, that seems likely.' Kioko replied, looking a bit concerned. 'Darn it, this is too confusing!' she exclaimed biting her lower lip. 'If Setsuna were here she might have some sort of answer, or she could at least help us out!'

'I don't want to face Chaos, but we might not have much of a choice. It'd be better than letting him get his full power.' Hotaru said.

"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN—" Harry's voice suddenly called back their attention.

"Sirius told you there was nothing more important than you learning to close your mind!"

"WELL, I EXPECT HE'D SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF HE KNEW WHAT I'D JUST—" The classroom door swung open and everyone whipped around to see who it was. Ginny and Luna walked into the classroom, curiously and Luna looked as though she'd walked in by accident.

"Hi, we recognized Harry's voice—what are you yelling about?" Ginny asked uncertainly.

"Never you mind," Harry snapped.

"Harry, please calm down." Hotaru said moving over to him.

"Calm down? CAL—"

"There's no need to take that tone with me," Ginny interrupted coolly. "I was only wondering whether I could help."

"Well you can't!" He said.

"You're being rather rude, you know." Luna said. Harry just swore and turned away.

Hotaru was about to say something, but Hermione beat her to it, "Wait, wait…Harry, they can help." Everyone looked at her. "Listen, Harry, We need to establish whether Sirius really has left headquarters—"

"I've told you, I saw—"

"Harry, I'm begging you, please!" Hermione exclaimed desperately. "Pleas let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London—if we find out he's not there then I swear I won't try and stop you, I'll come, I'll d-do whatever it takes to try and save him—"

"Sirius is being tortured NOW! We haven't got time to waste—" Harry exclaimed.

"But if this is a trick of V-Voldemort's—Harry, we've got to check, we've got to—" Hermione begged.

"How? How're we going to check?!" Harry demanded.

"We'll have to use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him, we'll draw Umbridge away again, but we'll need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny and Luna as well as Hotaru and Kioko." Hermione said.

"Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this." Kioko commented. "How about I tell peeves to disrupt some part of the castle in such a way you can't figure out which way was originally up as the distraction?" She asked. "Hotaru can help keep lookout, she'll be good at it."

"Right, we'll do it." Ginny said, though she wasn't sure what was going on.

"I'll tell Umbridge it's happening." Ron said. "Which one?"

"Let's make it the Transfiguration department, it's miles away from her office." Kioko said.

"Now, we need to keep students away from her office while we force entry, or someone's bound to go and tip her off…" Hermione said.

"Stand in the corridor and warn people that someone let off a load of Weasley Garroting Gas in that hall. That'll explain everything." Kioko said.

"R-right." Hermione said. "Okay, well then, Harry, you and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak, and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius—"

"He's not there, Hermione!" Harry insisted.

"I mean, you can—can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone, Lee's already proved the window's a week spot, sending those nifflers through it." She said.

"I…okay, thanks." He muttered.

Hotaru inwardly sighed with relief that they had finally agreed on something. "Right, well, even if we do all of that, I don't think we're going to be able to bank on more than five minutes, not with Filch and the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around." Hermione said.

"Oh, I think we'll be able to get more than five minutes if I can make it back in time. I can handle the Squad, though to an extent." Kioko said, looking ready to take action.

"Five minutes'll be enough, c'mon, let's go—"

"Now?" Hermione asked, a bit shocked.

"Of course now! What do you think, we're going to wait until after dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!" Harry exclaimed.

"I—oh all right, you go bet the Invisibility Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, okay?" Hermione said.

"Right, I'll go find Peeves." Kioko said and she disappeared out the door. Harry followed her and then the two separated.

"Alright, just in case, I suggest we keep our wands handy." Hotaru said.

"Right. Let's go." Hermione said, and the four girls with one boy made their way around the halls.

******

Hotaru's heart wouldn't quiet down, if Harry's dream was actually a vision…then they would be going to do battle with Chaos, and the others might die. Harry would refuse to let her go alone; Sirius was his friend after all. And how could she explain the danger he'd be in if Voldemort really was Chaos? To the Wizarding world Voldemort was their Chaos, it would be hard to explain how much more powerful a single being could be.

"Got it," Harry panted when he found them. "Ready to go, then?"

"All right, Kioko probably found Peeves by now knowing her. So Ron—You go and head Umbridge off….Ginny, Luna, if you can start moving people out of the corridor—Hotaru just try to be on the lookout, wander around. You can reach Harry with that mind language if you see anything can't you?" Hermione asked.

"I think so." Hotaru answered.

"Okay good, Harry and I will get the cloak on and wait until the coast is clear…" she said.

The group then separated, Hotaru did as she was suppose to. And more. She wandered around the corridors, keeping count of those wandering around it by the buzzing of individual thoughts and the presence of their minds. Fairly soon, however, there weren't many people coming down the corridor anymore so she decided to wander back to the office.

"Everything good to go?" She asked peeking into the office.

"Yeah, we're all set." Hermione said. Harry grabed some Floo powder and threw some into Umbridge's fire. "Number twelve, Grimmauld Palce!" He yelled. Hotaru left then, going back to her job.

She made to look as though she was just walking, doing nothing special at all. The trick Kioko had used to get them out of trouble because of the D.A. Suspicions stayed down that way.

Though it didn't seem to fool Draco. "What are you doing?!" He hissed in her ear after grabbing her to the side.

"W-what?" Hotaru faltered.

"You're helping whoever broke into Umbridge's office aren't you?" He said quietly. Then loudly he said, "Tomo just got here, Professor, don't worry." After the approaching Umbridge gave Hotaru an accusing look.

"Very well, she can help us then can't she?" Umbridge huffed passing Hotaru, who fought hard to look confused. When her back was to them she gave Draco a sharp look.

"Excuse me for keeping you out of detention." He whispered, his hand still around her arm so he dragged her along as well.

'Harry! Harry!!!' Hotaru called as they neared the room. 'Harry it's Umbridge, quick, hide or something!!!' she tried. But Umbridge was already in the room and so were several other Slytherins who were restraining Hermione. Several others had hold of Ron, Ginny, Luna, and…Nevil? But what did he have to do with this?!

"You think," Umbridge whispered to Harry, holding his head back as if to slit his throat, "that after two nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand," She barked, "Her's too." She ordered motioning to Hermione.

Hotaru bit her lip and looked around for some way to escape, any way. But it didn't seem there was one. Unless Kioko happened to walk by, which seemed unlikely but this was Kioko she was thinking about.

"I want to know why you are in my office," Umbridge said.

"I was—trying to get my Firebolt!" Harry got out. No good, not even Kioko could have thought up an excuse for having his head in her fire.

"Liar. Your Firebolt is under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With whom have you been communicating?"

"No one—" Harry tried as he struggled out of Umbridge's grip.

'It'd be so easy to get out of this, you know you could do it, you did it before. Besides, she has no idea how dire the situation is, and she deserves it, don't you think?' a voice whispered to Hotaru. Yes, she could do it again, only this time it would be needed, they, they had to go face Chaos. Harry's friend could be in danger. But, she didn't know if Harry's vision had been confirmed. If it had…then she could…just a little…just enough to still Umbridge and everyone else in the room…

NO! Hotaru ordered herself. She wouldn't do it again! It was Mistress 9 trying to make her, and she wasn't going to do it! Unless…there was no other way out….

"Got em' all," Said Warrington, jerking Hotaru's attention to Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Nevil being dragged in, gagged. "That one," He jerked his thumb towards Nevil, "tried to stop me taking her," he pointed at Ginny, "so I brought him along too."

"Good, good. Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?" Umbridge sneered joyfully.

Malfoy gave a fake laugh, but Umbridge didn't seem to notice. "So Potter, you stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration room. Well, while Filch had just told me this was true, I suspected something else, especially when the charms on my office door let me know that someone was breaking in.

"Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone…"

Hotaru bit her bottom lip so hard it started bleeding. Oh how she hated Umbridge! Why did she have to be like this?! This nasty woman had no excuses, no demon, no yoma influence, she had nothing to indicate she was a death eater or a shadow of Chaos. She clamed to hate Half-humans, well it seemed as though she was the half human here. So full of herself, so power hungry, so inconsiderate.

"You're concealment spell is wearing off and your forehead is bleeding." Draco whispered, taking a cloth to her forehead. She kept it there to help the bleeding, but still stared at Umbridge.

"It's none of your business who I talk to," Harry snarled.

Umbridge's face tightened, "Very well," She said dangerously, "Very well, Mr. Potter…I ovvered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Miss Tomo—fetch professor Snape will you dear?"

Hotaru nodded, feeling as though she just might have a chance. She darted out of the room and down the hallway towards Snape's dungeon.

"Professor!!!" She shrieked busting in.

"Tomo?" Snape asked, a bit shocked.

Oh where could she begin? How could she tell him everything within the span of a few moments. "We-wetriedtoreach-SiriusBlackandwehadtouseUmbridge'sofficesowestageditallandwegotcaughtandnowshe'stryingtofindoutwhoHarrywastalking-toandyoujusthavetohelpus!!!" She blabbered.

Snape looked shocked and stared at her for a moment while she caught her breath. "To tell you the truth I'm not sure if I'm more amazed that you actually helped Potter or the fact that I caught all of that." He said closing his book quickly.

"She probably wants your Veritaserum." Hotaru huffed out.

"Veritaserum?" Snape grabbed a bottle off the shelves, "What Veritaserum?" he asked, dumping the contents into a waist basket that imminently disposed of the potion. If the timing wasn't so dire Hotaru would have giggled. But right now they needed some way out of this.

Swiftly, the two walked back to Umbridge's office. "I'll ask why you were trying to communicate with Black later. Though I'm not sure what I can do to help you out of this situation." He said before entering calmly. "You wanted to see my, Headmistress?" he asked as if Hotaru had said nothing.

"Ah, Professor Snape, yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quickly as you can please." Umbridge said pleasantly.

"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter, surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient." He said coolly.

Umbridge's face reddened a bit, "You can make some more, can't you?" She asked, on the verge of getting angry.

"Certainly," Snape's lip started to curl, "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month." He told her.

"A month?! A month?! But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"

"Really?" Snape asked, faintly interested, "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules." He said staring at Harry. Hotaru suddenly felt Draco push the cloth he gave her back onto her forehead.

"I wish to interrogate him!" Umbridge repeated furiously, "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"

"I have already told you that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter—and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did—I cannot help you. The ounly trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling…"

'Voldemort's got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries,' Harry thought hard, as if trying to get Snape to read his thoughts. 'Voldemort's got Sirius—' Harry said, using the Silent Language for the first time. Hotaru, Snape, Draco, and someone else stared at him.

"You are on probation!" Umbridge shrieked, everyone looked back at her. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucious Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!" She ordered.

Snape gave a bow that could have been mocking, and turned to leave.

"He's got Padfoot!!!" Harry shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"

Snape hesitated and turned to look at Harry. Draco forced the cloth back onto Hotaru's forehead. "Keep it covered." He whispered.

"Padfoot?" Umbridge exclaimed, "What is Padfoot? Where is what hidden? What does he mean, Snape?" she asked excited.

There was a slight pause, but not much, and then, "I have no idea," Snape said coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a babbling beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reverence if ever you apply for a job." He said before leaving, but he glanced at Hotaru just before closing the door behind him. Though Hotaru wasn't sure how to interpret it.

"Very well," Umbridge breathed, looking as though she had been backed into a corner. "Very well…I am left with no alternative…This is more than a matter of school discipline…This is an issue of Ministry security…Yes…yes…" She said, though more to herself than anyone else.

'Oh Cosmos, what is she planning?' Hotaru thought, trembling, remembering how easy it would be to render Umbridge unconscious. And remembering that Mistress 9 wanted her to.

Umbridge beat her wand against her empty palm, as if she was inclined to use it. "You are forcing me, Potter…I do not want to, but sometimes circumstances justify the use...I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice…"

'That doesn't sound good' Draco said, biting his lower lip.

"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue." Umbridge said quietly.

Hotaru gasped, "What!?" She exclaimed.

"The minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" Hermione cried.

"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," Umbridge said, pointing her wand on different areas of Harry's body as if trying to chose where to cast the spell. "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the change to expel him, all the same…"

"It was you?!" Harry gasped, "You sent the dementors after me?!"

"Somebody had to act. They were all bleating about silencing you somehow—discrediting you—but I was the one who actually did something about it…Only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you Potter? Not today, though, not now…" Umbridge raised her wand point at Harry's forehead. She took a deep breath, "C—"

"No!" Hotaru shrieked. Her small form pushed Umbridge back and stood between her and Harry. "I-I won't let you!" She exclaimed, the bloody cloth in her hand. Her symbol dripped blood down her nose and streaked her cheeks.

"M-miss Tomo!" Umbridge gasped, surprised both by Hotaru's sudden defiance as well as the blood on her face.

"I won't let you!" Hotaru repeated shaking the fist that held the bloody rag at her. "You-you've been trying to-to take us down for long enough! I'm sick and tired of this! Voldemort is back and there's nothing you can say or do to change it!" She exclaimed, hot tears mixed with the blood as her emotions raged inside and she was finally letting them out. "This-this is more important than you're lust for power! This is more important than you!"

"So, so you're with them are you?" Umbridge said, trying to get her composure back. "Well, you'll be expelled right along with them! Draco grab her!" Umbridge ordered.

"We don't have time for this!!!" Hotaru exclaimed. "I can make you get out of our way." She said defiantly as she raised her hand into the air.

"You wouldn't dare! Draco! I told you to restrain her!!!" Umbridge squawked.

"Sorry Professor, but she'd never forgive me." Draco said backing up slightly.

"What?! Very well then, if you're going to resist with Potter you might as well pay the consequences with him." She said raising her wand.

"Get out of the way." Hotaru told her dangerously, trying to resist the urge to summon her Glaive. "Get out of the way." She repeated. Umbridge opened her mouth to shout the curse, but that was when Hotaru summoned the deadly Silence Glaive from her Senshi form. She spun it above her head several times and then brought it to her side, pointed at a shocked Umbridge. "Get, out, of, the, way."

"Where, how—How dare you—!" Umbridge suddenly found the point of the Glaive in her face. She backed up. "Put that up girl! Or you'll get yourself in even more trouble."

Hotaru brought the glaive in front of her and held it there, "Silence Glaive, Surprise!!!"

"When this is all over and we survive, remind me to make you tell me how you did that." Kioko huffed, looking around her in the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm not quite sure myself." Hotaru said, somehow she had merely stunned those in the office and teleported herself, Kioko, Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Nevil into the Forbidden Forest. 'I suppose I can't use it the same way outside of my senshi form. That's good, at least it didn't kill anyone.' She thought looking around.

"Here's your wand Potter." Draco said, tossing it to Harry.

"Er, did I miss something? I thought Malfoy was on their side." Ron said, very confused as they all were.

"Surprise, surprise Weasley. Now, what in the world is so important that you all had to risk expulsion?" Draco asked.

"Bottom line, Harry had a vision and we were trying to confirm it, and now that we have we get to figure out how to get to the Department of Mysteries so we, the only ones who know, can save Sirius Black from Voldemort." Kioko said. Draco gave her a disbelieving look. "Ahem, now, Ginny, Luna, Nevil, you go tell the Professors what's going on, preferably Professor Sapphire first." She said.

"Right." Said Ginny. "And try to dodge Umbridge and her Imperial Squad."

"Oh, don't worry. They'll be out for a while." Hotaru said.

"Better tell someone and move them to the hospital wing afterwards. After a blast like that I doubt they'll be conscious for days." Kioko said. "Okay," She began after they left. "We have two choices of transportation, Pandora and Calypso, or the Thestrals."

"Pandora and Calypso?" Harry asked.

"Our Phoenixes." Hotaru said, "Hang on and I'll call them." She closed her eyes and swiftly began, Pandora? Pandora we need your help. Pandora, are you there? Can you hear me? She sighed, "Let me try again."

"No good, we'll use the Thestrals. They're probably helping Setsuna and the others anyways. Try calling the Thesrals, and hurry. I doubt we have that much time." Kioko pushed.

"Okay, but I'm not sure it'll work. We need some dead animal or something." Hotaru said.

"Right, so we need to go butcher a calf?" Ron asked.

"We don't have time!!! We have to get there now!!! Can't you teleport us there like you did earlier?" Harry asked.

"No, because I'm not sure why we teleported. It'll be to risky." Hotaru answered.

"But then how are we going to get to the Department of Mysteries?!" Hermione asked.

Kioko rolled her eyes and then focused them on Hotaru, "They like you remember? Just mentally ask them to help us or something. Oh look, here they are." She said, referring to several glowing white eyes in the brush.

"Must we use the Thestrals?" Draco asked cringing.

"Yes." Kioko said flatly grabbing Draco's arm. She then lead him to the nearest one and non-too-gently hosted him up onto it.

"Wait, why does Malfoy have to come?!" Ron demanded.

"Because. We're not arguing about it, Ron." Kioko said, she grabbed his hand and then practically threw him on top of the next Thestral. "Oh great, we're low on numbers." She sighed.

"Could you find more to help us?" Hotaru asked one of the bone-like horses close to her. But just as she said that a few more emerged from the brush.

"Perfect!" Kioko said. "Now you Hermione." She then pushed Hermione onto the next Thestral. Harry went around and helped them get a ferm grip on the glossy black hair of the thestrals. Then the three of them got onto their own Thestrals.

"This, is, mad!" Draco exclaimed.

"For once I agree with you, Malfoy." Ron said. "If I could just see it—"

"You'd better hope it stays invisible, we all ready then?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, just make sure you have a firm grip, they'll jolt just before takeoff." Kioko said.

"Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London, then. Er…if you know…where to go…" Harry said uncertainly.

Hotaru held on tightly, one moment the Thestrals didn't do anything, then the next they suddenly swept up into the sky, making Hotaru glad that she had held on.

The ride sent chills down her spine at first, but then she got use to the rush of wind at the speed they were going and she could clam herself enough to look around at everyone else. Draco, Ron, and Hermione were holding on for their lives it seemed, Kioko was just the opposite, Hotaru wouldn't be surprised if she took a cup of tea and started drinking it calmly.

They passed by Hogsmead and the sun looked red as it began to set. Hotaru looked down and saw a car driving down a road along the mountains that they passed and twilight set in. Fairly soon it would be night time.

And before long it was. All Hotaru could see below were little lights indicating a city, but this didn't tell her how high they were. She guessed that they were high enough it wouldn't hurt if you fell and hit the ground, you'd already be dead.

It was a good long while, but finally Hotaru felt her stomach jolt, indicating that they were now flying downward to land. Some of the others yelped but no one had fallen. She could now see how close they were to the ground because of the orange lights and the building tops. She braced for the impact of landing, but the Thestral touched the ground with such grace it was as if it was landing on a cloud of some sort.

She slid off the Thestral and looked around. Ron fell off his Thestral and brought himself back up saying, "Never again," He tried to walk away from the Thestral but instead collided with its rear and nearly toppled over again. "Never, ever again…that was the worst—"

Draco and Hermione got off a bit more gracefully, but looked nonetheless disturbed. "We agree on something else then, Weasley." Draco said as Kioko slid smoothly off her own and walked up to Harry and Hotaru.

"Were to now?" She asked, hands on hips.

"Over here," Harry then lead the way into an old, battered telephone box. Hotaru and Kioko entered along with him. "Come on!" He beckoned to the other three. Draco got in beside Hotaru, murmuring something about her sense of priorities, and then Ron and Hermione squeezed in as well, making for a very claustrophobic and odd scene.

Harry took the phone and dialed a few numbers on it, then a voice that sounded like a woman inside the box with them said, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry began quickly, "Hotaru Tomo, Kioko Night, Draco Malfoy…We're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"

"Thank you," It said, "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes." Several badges chunked out of the coin return slot and Harry passed them around. "Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium." It said. Kioko mocked the voice by mouthing the words and making her face falsely pleasant.

"Fine! Now can we move?" Harry demanded loudly.

The floor of the telephone box shuddered a bit, and then the pavement seemed to move up, or were they moving down? Eventually they could see nothing of the outside world and it was so dark Hotaru's eyes could hardly get use to it, even though she could still read what her badge said. "Hotaru Tomo, Rescue Mission" Ironic. Eventually a shaft of golden light appeared at their heals and then rose up so that they could see the Atrium. It was dimly lit, but had golden symbols spinning around simultaneously to give them some illumination. Hotaru pulled out her wand as did Kioko and readied herself. But no one was waiting for them.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," Said the voice.

"I'm sure it does." Kioko returned.

A/N: Here I had to break because the chapter is just way too long, continued on next chapter.