Chapter 14: The Suicide Mission
"I think we should have asked her along," Hermione said, as the trio approached Hagrid's cabin.
"Are you crazy? We can't tell anyone about Grawp!" Ron yelled.
Hermione cringed at his voice. "Keep it down, Ron!" she hissed.
"We can't tell her. It's bad enough that the three of us are on a suicide mission. We can't allow another victim." Harry stated.
"We are not going to die," Hermione said unconvincingly.
"Either way, we're not going to put her into danger," Harry said protectively.
"So it doesn't matter that she's upset with us now and probably bawling her heart out in the dormitory wondering why we hadn't included her?" Hermione asked.
"She wasn't angry," said Ron.
"Was she?" Harry asked quickly.
"Boys," was all Hermione said and she shook her head. They walked past Hagrid's cabin and into the Forbidden Forest.
"I'd rather she be upset with us but safe up in Gryffindor tower," said Harry conclusively.
"Honestly Harry, you need to stop being so protective over your friends," Hermione reproached.
"If I had been more protective, my friends wouldn't have been in mortal peril last year in the Ministry of Magic building," muttered Harry.
They trudged through the forest, jumping over tall roots and swiping at low-hanging branches as they made their way towards the clearing where Hagrid had kept his half-brother, Grawp.
"Can someone remind me what we're doing here late at night?" Ron asked grudgingly.
"Because we promised Hagrid to teach his miniscule Giant half-brother English," came Hermione's fearful reply.
"Thanks for the reality check, Hermy," Ron said sarcastically.
"What are you doing here?"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry turned at the voice. A good dozen of centaurs appeared behind the shadow of trees and closed in on them.
"It's you," said a chestnut coloured centaur that Harry and Hermione recognised as Magorian. "We let you go the last time and here you are crossing our territory again."
"Please, we are only here to visit Grawp," said Hermione pleadingly.
"You think we care about your purpose of coming? Human." He spat.
"Sorry but we don't think we need your permission to visit our friend do we?" said Ron, who obviously had not seen the wrath of Centaurs, much less know the way to talk to them.
"Arrogance!" shouted Bane, a black centaur. The eleven other centaurs roared their approval.
"We must teach them a lesson," shouted a grey one and the rest held up their bow and arrow at once.
Harry felt Hermione's hands gripping him tightly and Ron was letting out some kind of weird noise beside him.
"Please forgive us for our ignorance, my friends here and I…" Harry started but stopped in horror as he saw Ron took out his wand and pointed them at the centaurs.
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Janieve kicked herself mentally for getting herself in such a predicament. When she realised that she had made the wrong move by choosing the right exit, she had tried to find her way back the odd circular room. However, she only succeeded in getting herself more lost than ever.
"Janieve Walker, we wouldn't have been stuck here if you hadn't been so too damn proud to ask Harry to bring you along to their secret outing," she talked loudly to herself. No wait, it was your friends' fault. If they had trusted you enough to let you in, you wouldn't be stuck here, a nagging thought corrected her. She knew it was wrong to blame her friends for her own carelessness. But it was easier to stay angry with them than to acknowledge her stupidity.
She stopped abruptly as she came face to face with a full length, ancient looking oak framed mirror. However, the person staring back at her was not herself. It was the most beautiful woman that she had ever seen standing beside a fairly handsome man. The man had an arrogant look on his face and his arms were linked around the woman's waist. The woman was carrying a baby in her arms. She had the same black hair as Janieve but that was the only resemblance. She stood there looking at the unsmiling people in her reflection, mesmerized.
"I see you've found the Mirror of Erised," a voice said, breaking her trance.
Janieve turned and saw her headmaster looking at her with a benign expression worn on his face.
"The Mirror of Erised?" she squeaked.
"Yes, what you see is something you desire. Something that only you yourself can see," replied Professor Dumbledore. "Tell me what did you see?"
"A man," Janieve answered, "and a woman who looks so familiar but yet I'm sure I've never met them before.
"Who had you desire to see?" inquired Dumbledore.
"My parents," Janieve whispered. And then she gasped. She remembered where she had seen them!
"My child, I knew this day would come," said Dumbledore, almost sympathetically, "where you'll have to face the truth. I should have told you this long ago but seeing how happy you had been for the past sixteen years, I just could not bring myself to. However, the time has come for me to come clean, for I see it is no longer in my position to decide for what you should know, and what you should not. Come to my office with me, and I will tell you everything."
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Arrows were flying wildly above their head as they scrambled out of the way while Ron was shouting jinxes at the centaurs. He was trying to stun the horses but decided shortly that he was not going to win. There were simply too many of them. He dropped his head down as the three of them ran for their life.
The centaurs' hooves were stamping wildly in the dry mud, kicking up sand while their shouts could be heard from all direction. Whatever they were shouting, Harry could not make out though. Fortunately for them, the noise and darkness made it possible for them to scramble to safety. Unfortunately for them, it was too chaotic to avoid the blind arrows.
"Hermione, this way!" shouted Harry. In the frenzy, both of them had lost Ron. Harry could only pray that he was unharmed. They jumped over overgrown roots, the sound of centaurs' hot on their tails.
"Ahh!"
"Hermione!"
Harry felt a hot searing pain shot through his body as he fell forward. His glasses flew off his face and landed a few feet away. His visions became blurred and he could hardly make out his surroundings. The sounds of the centaurs' hooves digging into the mud faded into the distance as total darkness befall him.
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How could it be? Janieve thought miserably. The truth that had been hidden from her for sixteen years of her life was suddenly dropped into her life like that. Like a bomb. A bomb that had shaken all the foundation of her beliefs.
Dumbledore was walking silently beside her, escorting her back to the Gryffindor Tower. He seemed to understand the need to remain quiet, to let what he had just told her sink in. No matter how long of silence he was willing to provide, Janieve knew she could never truly accept the truth.
"Professor Dumbledore!" shouted an urgent voice, breaking into Janieve's unpleasant thoughts.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley, what can I do for you?" asked Dumbledore, and Janieve turned to see a flustered looking Ron, his ruddy hair soiled.
"Professor Dumbledore, Harry is injured!"
Janieve felt her heart leaped to her throat. Harry is injured?
"Where is he now?" asked Dumbledore, his cool exterior crumbled a little with a hint of worry.
"In the hospital wing. He… He lost a lot of blood!" Ron blurted.
Lost a lot of blood? What happened? Janieve felt sick to her stomach. Please let him be alright. Please!
They walked briskly to the Hospital Wing, all silent with unspoken worry. Dumbledore pushed through the double doors into the ward, with Ron and Janieve hot on his tail.
"What happened?" demanded Dumbledore. Madam Pomfrey who had just emerged from her office nearly dropped a cup of brown fluid she held in her hands. A teary face Hermione looked up from where she was, her bushy hair was wilder than usual and she looked absolutely dishevelled. Lying on the bed she was sitting next to was Harry. No, not Harry, Janieve hoped silently. That bloody wreck lying on the hospital bed couldn't be Harry. Harry's face was engulfed by the pillow, his back messy hair facing the ceiling. Even through his black t-shirt, Janieve could see how much blood he had lost.
Madam Pomfrey lifted up his t-shirt to reveal more blood and she started spreading the disgusting brown fluid on his back while saying, "He should be fine. He lost a great deal of blood but this," she lifted up the cup of fluid, "should stop the bleeding."
"I want to know what happened," Dumbledore repeated calmly. Hermione looked at him fearfully. She opened her mouth to speak but another torrent of sobs racked her small frame. Dumbledore turned to Ron.
Ron put his arms out at his side and shrugged. "I don't know. I was separated from them when the centaurs went off their rockets. I just ran and ran, and I saw Buckbeat…"
"Centaurs?" she asked.
"Mr. Weasley, please start at the beginning," interrupted Dumbledore.
"Uhh… We were in the forbidden forest and then the centaurs start attacking us…" Ron began.
"What were you doing in the forest?" Dumbledore asked nicely, but there was an edge to his voice that told them that he would tolerate no nonsense.
"Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione suddenly, "I am sorry. We had gone into the Forbidden Forest to look for Grawp, Hagrid's half brother, when we bumped into the centaurs. They went wild because of our presence and started attacking us. I tripped and when I got up, I s-saw," Hermione paused to calm herself down, as if relieving the incident was too traumatising for her, and she continued in a more steady voice, "I saw Harry fell as well. One of the centaurs got him and the herd was charging at us. Then Ron came, with Buckbeak and we managed to escape."
"Hermione!" Ron hissed.
Hermione turned to Ron with an annoyed look before adding, "Please do not blame Hagrid, Professor. We went in of our own accord."
Dumbledore sucked in a deep breath and said, "Very well. Thank you Miss Granger for your honesty," and he looked meaningfully at Ron, "I shall deal with Rubeus in whichever way I deemed fit. And you, all of you, should stay away from that forest, and especially the centaurs. I would have thought you would have stayed away from them after that little incident last year. Apparently not. Now, I want you to go back to your room and get some sleep."
Hermione and Ron bowed their head low as they made their way out of the ward. Janieve turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Please sir, may I stay here with Harry?"
Dumbledore studied her for a long moment. His face was unreadable. Finally he spoke up. "Yes, you may Miss Walker. But I would not allow you to skip any lesson tomorrow for this."
She smiled gratefully at him. "Sure you would not. Thank you Professor Dumbledore."
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Harry was painfully aware of the burning sensation shooting through his spine when he woke up the following morning. He was awfully uncomfortable in his position, with his neck twisted to the side for breathing. He was sure that he would have a neck cramp when he got up.
He attempted to move but stopped when another shot of pain hit him like a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, he noticed a ball of black silky hair lying next to his arms on the bed. Everything in the background was not in focus and the position he was lying in could only allow him the view of a stretch of beds. Suddenly, last night's events came back to him.
"Hermione!" he shouted, and he immediately regretted it. The effort he used to do that caused yet another sharp throbbing through his body. He winced in pain.
The ball of black hair moved up to reveal a soft pretty face. "Harry!" shouted Janieve.
"Hermione, where is she?" Harry asked anxiously. All he could remember from last night were the centaurs attacking, he and Hermione running, and Hermione's scream before he lost consciousness.
"Hermione is fine. She is not hurt or anything. Dumbledore made her go back to sleep." Janieve said soothingly.
"How about Ron? Is he back yet?" Harry asked.
"He is. He was the one who saved both you and Hermione."
Harry nodded dumbly and then nearly snorted at what she said after his worries for his friends were relieved. Ron had saved them? What an irony when he was the one who had triggered off the attack. The centaurs hate it when wizards use magic on them.
"You stayed here with me the whole night?" Harry asked finally.
Janieve nodded sheepishly.
"Thank you," he said.
Harry felt his heart beating wildly once again. She stayed here to make sure I'm alright! She was worried about me. But a nasty thought hit him. And I made her upset by excluding her in last night's little adventure. But relief swept through him as another consideration occurred to him. If she had been with us, she might have gotten hurt. Harry was suddenly extremely thankful that he had not given in to his temptations to tell her about their mission last night.
"Harry, will you be alright on your own? Dumbledore says I would not be allowed to skip lessons today and I think it's about time I get ready for them," said Janieve.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you so much again for staying with me the whole night." Harry told her earnestly. She only flashed him her famous Janieve Walker smile before she scurried out of the Hospital Wing.
Harry laid there in his awkward position with his eyes closed, Janieve's upbeat smile haunting his mind as he slipped back into blissful oblivion.
