Chapter VIII: Hogsmead Epistle
"Mornin', Harry."
An enormous bearded figure towered over Harry's face, encasing him in its deep shadow. Cracking light into his pupils, Harry squinted and recollected where he was. He had spent the night at Hagrid's, and by now, someone must have noticed he was missing. In an adrenaline rush, Harry jolted out of the lumpy couch and reached for his invisibility cloak.
"Not so fast!" Hagrid shouted and dragged Harry back down to the chair. He sighed and continued. "Da school's still locked up. I ain't want ya leaving 'til I say so. I, on da other hand, have ta visit Grawp." Hagrid paused and turned to the pantry cabinets. "If ya really hungry, try rummaging dar. Got a few jars of something."
After he left the hut, Harry clutched his cloak and tight and thought to himself deeply. If I go back now, I could be caught and get in a whole lot more trouble. But if I don't try to help Kimberly, it will be my fault if Malfoy hurts her. I can't just stay here and wait for Hagrid to say it's okay to leave. Okay, I know what I have to do.
Warily, Harry wrapped himself in the cloak and tucked in all the loose edges. He then walked toward the back door, and after opening it, stepped onto the small stone porch. Realizing he was alone, no giants in sight, he turned to the left and ran straight back to Hogwarts, right back to the window he escaped through the night before.
As Harry wiggled his lean body through the edged glass, he spotted a coiled string that had snapped off his cloak the night before. Ever so gently he picked it up and tucked it into his pocket. However, by doing so, he unbalanced himself and fell smack down onto the cold marble flooring.
"Clumsy oaf," a British accent chuckled.
"Sir Nicholas," Harry mumbled back. "Could you keep your voice down?"
The ghost circled around Harry's bruised body and whooshed down right next to his ear then whispered, "Potter has been gone all night; Potter gave us all a fright. If Potter hears what I say, Potter will not come back today."
"What? What do you mean I shouldn't go back?"
However, the ghost of Sir Nicholas just chuckled once again and flew off into a wall. Slowly, Harry got up and readjusted his invisibility cloak so that it covered his body. Just then, he felt as though someone was watching him.
"Move him gently!" Madame Pomfrey yelled.
A stretcher rolled in front of Harry pushed by Goyle and Draco. Underneath the covers stuck out the head of Crabbe, completely encased in blue liquid. They hurried quickly toward the hospital wing and were mumbling back and forth to each other.
"Serves him right," Draco said to himself, but loud enough for Goyle to hear.
"Shut up, Malfoy. Yes, you heard me, shut up."
Surprisingly, Draco did just that. He looked over to the royal blue body and then over to Goyle again, possibly thinking about something important. Harry couldn't help it but feel sorry for that Slytherin boy Crabbe, even though he was a best friend with a Malfoy.
After they turned down another corridor, Harry raced toward the still unmoving staircase and then toward the Gryffindor Towers. As he finally approached the paintings, he realized they were all empty. Every frame surrounded a blank canvas, hollow and dark.
Instead of waiting for someone to return to the painting, he knocked on the door several times. However, either no one heard him or they just ignored him. Just before he was about to try again, a screech echoed into Harry's ears.
"Hello little fellow," Harry whispered to a small red tailed owl with beady eyes and a letter attached to its hind claw. "Is that for me?"
The owl untied the letter with its beak and then tossed it into Harry's hands. Immediately, it fluttered off down the hallway. Confused, Harry stared at the envelope, knowing fully well it could easily be another threat.
But the letter suddenly floated out of Harry's hands and started opening by itself. Quickly, Harry shielded his eyes, hoping nothing would fall on top of him. Nothing did. Instead, the letter fell back toward Harry, hitting his cupped hands.
"Strange," Harry said as he now clutched the open letter. However, this parchment wasn't blank like the other ones. A short letter in blue ink spread across the page reading:
-Blue Blood-
To Hogsmead
Harry stared at the words over and over until finally he tucked it into his robe and decided to do what the letter told him. If it was a trap, then so be it; he had nowhere else to go. He would take the secret passageway as he did a few years ago and hope that no one would catch him.
And so, Harry crept down the hallways, eyeing every wall and jumping at every creak. After a good ten minutes, Harry moved toward an ironclad statue with its studded helmet facing westward to a velvet-draped window. It held a rustic spear in one hand that was chipped; probably from the Weasley twins' escape the previous year. Behind the statue was square doorway, now blocked with stone.
"Damnit," Harry muttered, realizing there was no way he could get to Hogsmead now without getting caught. There was nowhere else to go. Harry could easily go back to Hagrid's hut, but that wouldn't help much. Then there was Kimberly…
"I shouldn't have left her," Harry sighed, thinking about what torture the Malfoy brothers were doing to her.
Stumbling back to his feet, Harry made sure his robe was in place and then hurried back to Marcus Malfoy's office. It was much harder getting there than last time because one of the staircases had moved, but only halfway, so it did not connect to the other side.
Thus, Harry had to jump. It was only a few feet, no more than four, but if he fell, it would be a worse fate yet. Steadying himself at the edge of the staircase, Harry leapt forward, clutching the end of the floor with his forearms. Gradually, he raised his body over onto the marble surface and let out a groan.
Immediately, he cupped his hands over his mouth, forgetting for a moment that he was invisible. Or was he… Harry looked down at his own flesh and then to his tattered robe. His hands frantically moved around the floor until he reached the end where the staircase did not meet. Looking over the edge, he spotted his curled up cloak two levels downward.
To jump would be suicide, and Harry knew that. Now visible to anyone around him, Harry picked up his legs and continued toward Marcus Malfoy's office. Even if he was caught getting there, at least he knew he tried to save Kimberly.
"Almost there," Harry whispered and coughed as he tried to catch his breath. He stood only around the corner, considering whether or not he should just soar in or try to sneak in.
"There has to be another way," Harry again whispered as his eyes darted around the intersecting corridors. Suddenly, Harry's eye met the oval, wooden latched surface on the ceiling. It was locked with a ragged three-inch long nail, but seemed to lead to a passageway.
How I am going to get up there, Harry thought to himself. And I don't have that master ball… How will I open it?
Ever so gently, he clutched his wand and pointed it at the latch. He muttered softly, "How did Hermione do that thing… Oh yes… Alohomora!"
Sparks jolted in a line toward the latch and disintegrated it. With the lock gone, all Harry had to do was somehow lift his body up there. He had to fly. But he never practiced such a spell, and even if he remembered one, it would very dangerous to try it without proper training.
If I can't get to the opening, it will have to come to me, Harry thought. It was a rather crazy thought, but not completely. There were spells in which items could be moved to closer to a person; yet, it never mentioned moving a ceiling closer. No time could be spent worrying whether or not it could work or it was safe. Any second now Lucius or Marcus could turn the corner and find him.
"Okay, think, Harry, think," he muttered. "Come on, you studied this before…" Harry tried to remember where heard of such magic before. It was during his training for the Triwizard Tournament… "This better work."
Harry aimed his wand carefully and closed his eyes while taking in deep breathes. "Distantius Omitaro."
He didn't hear anything move and felt his heart sink downward. However, when Harry reopened his eyes, he was faced with a wooden, oval doorway right above his head. "Yes!" Harry hissed softly and quickly pulled open the latch. He lifted himself onto the flooring and closed the oak flap.
Yet, this was no passageway at all. Harry found himself facing the elements on the rooftop. Around him was stonewalling, no less than six feet high. It had spiked arrows shadowing around it and enclosing any way off the roof. At first, Harry thought this was horrible, having spent all that time in vain. However, he looked down to the gray slated flooring and wandered his eyes over to a small, dirty window to the right.
Harry crawled over to it and looked downward. There, two figures stood, one very tall and the other short. The man had long blonde hair that covered most his back… Lucius Malfoy.
"This is it," Harry said and without thinking, he smashed the window. Immediately, Harry's bloodied hand pulled away, but not much after Lucius looked up and spotted the drips of blood from the jagged glass. One drop splattered onto Lucius's nose. He took his index finger, wiped it off and licked it.
"This isn't pure," he said to himself and pushed the other shorter person aside. "Get down here!" Lucius yelled.
Harry, panicked, ran back toward the wooden door and ripped it open. He jumped down into the corridor and bolted at the nearest classroom away from the Malfoy office. To his dismay, it was locked. Panting and dripping in blood, Harry pondered his fate.
"Harry!" a voice yelled behind him.
Without turning around, Harry tried to run to the end of the corridor, but someone grabbed his robe first. He fell to the ground and sluggishly moved his body over to see none other than Kimberly Hooch.
"You look awful!" she squealed.
"You're alive! Thank goodness. Where's Lucius?"
Kimberly pointed upward. "He disappeared into thin air. I think he went to the rooftop. We haven't much time… Hurry!"
Kimberly grabbed Harry's red hands and pulled him up. They raced quickly down the hallway and found a boy's bathroom locked. Luckily, Kimberly had the master ball and eagerly used it. They entered it quickly and locked the door behind them. Harry looked over at Kimberly who now leaned arched over the sinks.
"Are you hurt too?" Harry asked.
She nodded her head. "Not physically… Harry, something bad is going happen."
"What do you mean?"
Kimberly turned her head, her eyes dripping with tears. "Hogwarts is going to be destroyed, along with all of us in it."