Chapter Eight: The Art of the Bat-Bogey Hex
So here we are, the four of us: Ron, Neville, Luna and myself, all standing in Professor Umbridge's office waiting for the return of Umbridge, Harry and Hermione from the Dark Forest.
I was actually still quite stunned after the amazing boldfaced lie Hermione had fed to Umbridge only moments before. I couldn't wait to hear about what Hermione and Harry had in store for her in the forest. Despite my eagerness to find out what was happening in the Dark Forest, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear for Professor Umbridge. After all, the Dark Forest was forbidden to all students at Hogwarts, and many of the Professors claim that they wouldn't want to venture in there alone with all the deadly creatures roaming within it. Although Hermione, Ron and Harry have had several adventures in the forest, coming across giant spiders, centaurs, unicorns and even You-Know-Who himself, the Dark Forest was hardly a place anyone in their right mind would want to be.
But, enough pondering about that; I'm beginning to sound like my mum. Honestly, I really do believe that when it comes to the Dark Forest, Harry and Hermione had a much better chance than most people -- say, like Professor Umbridge. I must admit the thought was rather funny.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Ron, for some reason, also seemed to find the whole situation rather funny as well. Chuckling to himself lightly through his cut lip and bruises, you could see the obvious smile planted there.
Malfoy, on the other hand, had sat down in the chair behind Umbridge's desk, tapping his wand tip impatiently on it. Not remotely trying to hide the fact that he was very put out by the fact that Umbridge did not want him to come along; he was instead left behind with us.
After a few minutes, Malfoy began poking around Umbridge's desk, no doubt looking for some dirt or juicy gossip to use to blackmail someone.
I realized then, because of his hurt feeling about the situation, that Malfoy's guard was relatively down. In fact, as I looked about me, all of our captors seemed to be a bit lax now that Umbridge had gone. Now was the perfect chance to somehow find a way to free us and help Harry. Okay, Hermione too. First, we had to take care of Malfoy.
And the only way to snare a ferret is to bait him. But how?
"Are you sure that going through Professor Umbridge's desk is such a good idea, Malfoy?" I finally asked Crabbe, who, thankfully, loosened his grip around Neville's neck enough to bring the color back to his face.
Malfoy glanced up from a paper he was reading, rolled his eyes, and went back to the paper, ignoring Crabbe's hesitations.
However, Ron's laughter at this point became increasingly louder -- something that did catch Malfoy's attention. With a frown, he stood up from behind Umbridge's desk and made his way over to my brother. Like the rest of us, he couldn't figure out what the hell Ron was laughing about. And why was it so damn funny? When he finally stopped in front of Ron, I could see Warrington tighten his grip on Ron's arms. Not a good sign.
Considering him for a moment, Malfoy finally moved in closer to my mess of a brother, curiosity getting the best of him, and asked, "What on earth are you laughing at, you idiot weasel?"
By this time, Ron was in hysterics, laughing so hard through his gag that I was surprised he wasn't choking. Of course, this only irritated Malfoy even more. To my surprise, Malfoy began to unfasten the gag from Ron's mouth. "Dammit, Weasel, what is it?"
Shaking his head and laughing, it was all Ron could do in getting the words out. "Umbridge . . . she has no idea what she's gotten herself into!"
"What's in the forest, Weasel?"
Looking delirious, Ron went into another laughing fit. Malfoy nodded his head at Warrington, who held Ron fast as Malfoy sucker-punched him right in the gut, knocking the wind from him.
Screaming obscenities through my gag, Malfoy noticed me as well. "Hey Warrington, is that another Weasel I hear?" he asked his colleague as he left my brother doubled over in pain on the floor, gasping for air. I wanted desperately to wrench away from my own captor, but I had noticed that her hands were becoming sweaty and I needed to save my strength for the right moment. I did, however, put on a bit of a show on for Malfoy who stopped, and looked at me with phony surprise.
"Looks like we have a wild one here gang," Malfoy laughed teasingly. He held his hand up to his ear. "Wait a moment; I think the female wants to communicate! Let's see what she has to say. Hopefully it's more intriguing than the older Weasel."
The stupid git pulled down on my gag hard, the friction leaving a burning sensation on the back of my neck. "You really are a cowardly son of a bitch, Malfoy," I spat immediately. His actions suddenly reminded me of the brawl in Flourish and Blotts between our own fathers in my first year. "It would be the only way you could hit a Weasley!"
A dark fire lit up in Malfoy's eyes, and he instantly went on an emotional defensive -- exactly the emotion I was going for. I'd noticed that he tended to become less physically aggressive when his ego was stunted.
"Oh, really?" Malfoy grinned, feigning surprise again. "And what would you know about it, you stupid Muggle lover? All you do is follow Potter about all day like a silly little puppy. You'd do anything for your precious little boyfriend, wouldn't you? Oh wait, he's not your boyfriend, Corner is, isn't he? I don't know how he ever puts up with a crackpot girl like you when you act like that in front of other boys! What a dimwitted fool!"
That was the last straw. I'd had quite enough of everyone today telling me about how very much in love with Harry I was. This miserable dolt was about to get the hexing of a lifetime.
Gathering my strength for this moment, I tugged away hard from the hold the Slytherin girl hand on my shoulders, scratching my cheek with her fingernails as I did so.
Malfoy, still standing in front of me, did not feel any threat by my freedom for some reason. I'm sure he thought he could take me without a wand. Too bad for him.
"How many times do I have to say this? I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HARRY POTTER!" With my last words, Malfoy felt the full force of the patented Weasley right-hook as my fist connected hard sharply with his nose, causing him to step back and cover his bleeding face.
I didn't hesitate to wait and find out whether or not it was broken. I held out my arm towards Umbridge's desk and bellowed, "Accio Wand!" Before I had even finished the command, the wand was flying though the air, and within seconds, I had my wand firmly gripped in my hand.
What occurred next was the most chaotic course of events I'd ever known.
Straight away, I stunned the girl who had been holding me. The others took advantage of the distraction as well. Neville pushed back towards the wall, knocking Crabbe hard enough for him to release his grip on him for an instant. It was just long enough for Neville to charge directly at Warrington, who was crumpled on the hard stone floor, still laughing at Ron. Tackling him with all the force they had left, Neville and Warrington fell to the floor, punching each other furiously.
Ron, regaining his senses, rolled away from the flying fists of Neville and Warrington, and tried to get up from the floor, making his way towards the desk to retrieve the rest of the wands. Malfoy, face smeared with the still-flowing blood of his nose, saw Ron moving towards the desk, and pulled out his wand in an effort to stop him.
Of course, Malfoy, in his arrogance, did not notice me jump up right behind him.
"Not so fast, Malfoy!
Malfoy turned around, pointing his wand at me. "Stu—"
"Batticulus!" I screamed, pointing my wand directly at his face, hitting him with the most beautiful Bat-Bogey Hex I'd ever performed. Even Fred and George would be proud. Not a centimeter of his face was left uncovered with madly flapping bat wings.
Screaming in terror, Malfoy flailed his arms about and ran around the room without knowing the direction in which he was going. He ran towards the wall near Professor Umbridge's desk, as the force of the spell hit against it, rendering Malfoy unconscious, bat wings still flapping all over his face, of course.
By this time, Ron had reached the desk and grabbed his wand. "Impedimenta!" he shouted as I watched him point his wand at the heap of Slytherins, which included Crabbe and Goyle. Goyle had let go of Luna, who wasn't fighting much to begin with. They joined in the fight with Neville and Warrington. Ron managed to get most of the Slytherins off them, but Warrington was now on top of Neville, straddling him as he repeatedly punched him in the face.
We managed to get most of the Slytherins off Neville and Warrington. I managed to stun Millicent Bulstrode before she could reach Luna, who as always, didn't seem surprised by the events going on around her. I turned back around to help Ron with Neville, but somehow Neville had reached into Warrington's robes, pulling out his wand and gripping it tightly, bellowed, "Stupefy!", sending Warrington across the room with a bolt of red light.
"Neville!" I cried, running over to his beaten body, which lay limp on the floor.
"That was a bloody brilliant hex you did back there, Gin," Ron said triumphantly, looking around the room at the almost lifeless bodies around us.
"Thanks," I said kneeling down to Neville, brushing his hair, which was soaked with blood, away from his forehead.
"Is everyone all right?" Neville asked wearily. His eye was beginning to swell up to the size of a Bludger.
"Yes, we're fine," I smiled, gently holding his arm to help hoist him up.
"Good," he panted. "Now will you please tell me what's going on, Ginny?"
"Yes, of course," I said with urgency in my voice, "But I have to tell you on the way. We have to find Harry and Hermione."
"I see them now, entering the Dark forest with Professor Umbridge," Ron said, peering out the window behind Umbridge's desk. "We'll have to hurry if we're to catch up with them in time."
Limping to the door, Ron held it open for us. "Let's go." He looked back at Luna, who was still standing there looking about the room, with the usual look of bewilderment. "Are you coming, Luna?"
"Yes of course," she said promptly, stepping over Millicent Bulstrode's legs to get to the door. "But may I ask, who is Padfoot?"
It was nearly dusk when we finally reached the Dark Forest. Along the way, I had given Neville and Luna the basics of what had just occurred. I tried as best I could to skim over such details that would reveal Harry's Godfather as non other than Sirius Black, the one and only escapee of Azkaban Prison. I skipped as well my shared suspicion with Hermione that this could be another ruse by You-Know-Who to have another go at Harry. Neville, despite his misgivings about the situation, faithfully came along anyway.
You wouldn't have thought so to look at him, but of all the Gryffindor traits that Neville Longbottom possessed, loyalty and courage were the most prominent. Granted, most everyone else, including many in his own house, debated whether or not Neville was even worthy of being in Gryffindor at all, but it was simply because they didn't know him. Neville was fiercely loyal, and although it may not have always shown through to most, he was truly a Gryffindor at heart.
As for his particular loyalty to Harry . . . well, for one, Harry didn't treat Neville like a bad case of warts as others did. For that, Neville was forever grateful. But, I don't believe it's only that. I think Neville believed, as did I, that he shared a special bond with Harry that no one else did -- the lost of his parents because of Voldemort.
Neville didn't talk about it much -- very rarely did he even mention them, saying he was going to visit them over holiday with his grandmum. Like Harry, he never really knew his parents. Sure, they were still alive, but having to grow up seeing your parents living at St. Mungo's as near vegetables -- and were likely to continue to be for the rest of their lives – is, in my opinion, far more horrible than never knowing them at all. Neville had to live with the pain of his parent's fate everyday. I can't even imagine the courage it took for him to deal with that.
Our strength returned to us as we entered the forest, searching for Harry and Hermione, and though we began to feel the pain of our wounds, we couldn't help but rejoice at our small triumph over the Slytherins.
"So, Ginny," Neville finally asked, the lump above his eye swollen up to nearly the size of a small grapefruit. "How on earth did you learn that amazing hex?"
Ron patted his shoulder as he stepped ahead of us to push some branches out of the way, "You forget who she's grown up with, dear Neville."
"Good point," Neville said wearily. He leaned in closer to me, "You promise to show me that one later, won't you?"
"Of course," I said with a grin.
At that moment, we spotted Harry and Hermione up ahead. I felt a bit of a lurch in my stomach, for they were both covered in blood, though they appeared to be all right -- no worse than the rest of us anyway.
Ron told Harry and Hermione, who looked rather shaken, what had happened in Umbridge's office as he handed back their wands. Harry quickly told them about their encounter with the Centaurs, as well as Grawp, Hagrid's little brother. Hagrid has a little brother! Oh, Merlin help us all!
Almost immediately, we began discussing how we would travel to London to save Sirius -- All but Luna of course. She was staring out into the forest, and suddenly suggested flying there. That is, of course, until Ron and Harry began ranting on about going without Neville, Luna and myself.
How could he? After all we have done for him! Does he not remember at all that I too have gone up against You-Know-Who? And that was years ago! Besides, if it weren't for me, we'd still be putting up with Malfoy's horrible mug still!
As I was bringing up this very point to Ron and Harry, Neville spoke up quietly. The D.A. was not a joke to Neville, and this was the first real chance for him to help Harry the way he always wanted to. I could tell by the look on his face that Harry felt that we were probably the last people he would want with him to save his Godfather, but we were there, and we were willing to help him in any way possible.
Besides, I think he grossly underestimated our abilities entirely.
It was then that Luna mentioned flying again, and pointed towards the woods. I knew what she meant even before Ron had asked. She could see some thestrals in the woods. Neville could see them too, as did Harry, who immediately walked towards the trees where Luna had pointed. But they were the only ones who could see them. For you see, in order to see thestrals, you have to have seen death. To Ron, Hermione and I, they were invisible.
Having learned about them in Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class, I realized it was the blood that was covering Harry and Hermione that was attracting them. At first, Harry said there were only two, but I knew more would come with the smell. I was right. Luna saw more coming our way, and it was decided.
Of course, getting on an animal that you can't see is far more difficult than I realized. Luna was kind enough to oblige us in helping us get on them. Although I could feel it's seemingly skeletal body and silky mane, it was not an easy task for me to put my faith in something I couldn't see.
However, let me tell you, as soon as we were up in the air, all doubts about these creatures left me. It was an amazing feeling to be up in the sky soaring faster than any broomstick I'd ever known -- almost better than the first time I'd flown on a broomstick. Granted, I did have to lower my head and body as close to the threstral as possible to keep from falling off, and my hands and face were numbing from the cold, but it was worth it for the feelings of absolute freedom I felt.
As I was wondering if Harry felt the same about riding the thestrals, the air around me gave a sudden jolt, and we were all suddenly descending towards London. I gripped the thestral tightly and I could see Hermione below me, screaming in terror at the sudden change. I smiled to myself at how she had told me how much she loathed riding on Buckbeak, Hagrid's hippogriff, the first time they had saved Sirius.
I only hoped we could do it again.
We finally touched down, and though I was a bit sad to get off my thestral, I was still happy to feel the steadiness of the ground beneath me at last. Hermione, I can imagine, was too, but not nearly as much as Ron, who seemed to topple off of his right onto the pavement in front of the phone booth that would lead us into the Ministry of Magic . . . and Sirius Black . . . and possibly Voldemort himself.
