Chapter 29. Night Ride.
The sun had moved across the sky, turning the blue to shades of pinks and purple. The wind had picked up and the dusk chill filled the small clearing. The wind swirled the lightly fallen snow all around them. Was it possible to have spent an entire day on their quest, or was the dark forest playing tricks on the tired, injured wizards. With all the action, the pain and the suffering, it seemed only minutes had passed, but as the sun dipped, now into the trees, the realisation of the time and the situation had begun to set in. The warning feeling of panic began to set in for Harry. There in the snow lied Dumbledore, still and old, caught by the gaze of the basilisk, not dead but not nearly capable of travel. He had been, as he always was, the leader to this group of miss matched wizards and now he was unable to lead. The dark forest was hard to navigate for the most knowledgeable wizards in the daylight and now it was getting dark. Across the circle laid Amelia, life stolen from her. Her white gown ruffled in the wind as her mother and brother looked on filled with sadness.
Harry stood alone, in the middle of the clearing, where the fire once burned bright. He looked on as Hermione and Ron huddled close to Dumbledore and Snape comforted Belinda to the best of his abilities. He felt as though he was not himself, not looking on from his body but merely left invisible in the circle. He knew it was a long journey through the forest back to the castle and that it would be impossible to travel now with two injured wizards. They needed help but how or who would go to fetch it. How would they find a way back in the darkness of the night and who would come into this place to pull out the injured. Under the best of circumstances most wizards would not travel into the forest.
Harry breathed deeply as a chill ran down his spine. He knew that someone would have to go to try and find a way thought the forest and soon but he wasn't sure in which direction they had come. The circle of the clearing changed with every moving ray of the sun. The sounds of the forest changed as the wizards became quieter and the cold of the wind became more and more fierce as the sun hid for the night.
"What a great idea, Harry," Hermione cried snapping Harry out of his worried trance, "you can move much faster through the forest in this form," she said and watched as his eyes finally fell upon her.
"What form?" he asked feeling confused as the sound of wings beet through the clearing. He spun around to see where the sound had come from and nearly tripped over his animagus hooves.
Hermione laughed as she realised that he had transformed without himself even knowing, "your mind is somewhere else tonight, Harry, and yet it's in the right place," she said with a smile.
"Leave us here Harry and run back to the castle, there are enough of us here to protect the hurt and to keep a fire burning long into the night.," Snape said as he came over to where the large colt stood, "go straight to Professor McGonagall and have her make you a portkey to bring us back to the castle. Prepare her for the arrival of the injured in the hospital wing."
"Are you sure it is safe to leave?" Harry asked, "should we maybe wait for morning?"
"The longer we wait the more likely we may loose Dumbledore or someone else to the cold," Snape said, "we still have five able bodies to keep a fire tonight and to protect each other should something venture out of the forest."
"Take my invisibility cloak, Hermione and cover Dumbledore with it, it make keep him warm," Harry said as he looked around the clearing for an indication of the direction in which he should travel.
"Dominic should go with you," Belinda said coming toward Harry. Dominic snapped out of his trance at the mention of his name, "he could fly over the forest and lead you in the direction of the castle. You'll be safer if you travel together and not risk getting lost."
"Are you sure you want to give up a member for your night in the forest?" Harry asked as he heard a pop and a white snow owl landed on his back.
"I don't think Dominic would left you go alone," Belinda said, "we'll be fine here," she added as Hermione dropped some logs from the clearing in the middle of the circle and cast fire onto the wood, "we've got Hermione to keep us in check." she laughed.
"We'll be fine Harry," Hermione said finally looking up from the fire, "just go as fast as you can!"
And with that snow flew up from the ground as the hooves of the colt beat steadily on it. The screech of the owl filled the clearing as it flew off in the direction of the darkening sky.
Harry ran quickly as the darkness around him grew more fierce, a speck of white against the dark sky flew above him. Harry could hear Dominic's voice in his mind. The castle was far off but it was visible from the birds perspective. The Forest became darker and darker, animals of all kinds watched as Harry flew past them. He felt as though he were flying, the wind rushed past his ears and he felt it on his face. He was making good ground until he came to a very dense portion of the forest. Dominic flew on without him, not knowing of the density of the forest ground. Harry began to panic, there were no paths out of this place except for that on which he came to it. He didn't recognise it as a place they had seen on their coming into the forest. "Dominic where are you?" Harry called out in his mind, "I can't see you and I can't get out of this place," but Dominic didn't answer. Harry fell out of his animagus in a panic stage, "now what do I do!" he said angrily to himself as he banged his fist hard against a tree trunk.
"Be calm Harry," a voice said from beside him.
"Who's there," Harry cried as he drew his wand and spun around.
"Its me," the voice said with a giggle as a light appeared across from him through some trees, "come to the light and I will show you out," gentle voice said.
"Stop playing tricks with me Voldimort, if you want to face off right now lets do it!" Harry said angrily and yet filled with fear.
"Harry it's not Voldimort," the voice said, "as the light came closer through the trees, "your friend Amelia has sent me to help you," the voice said softly as a figure of white appeared across from him.
"Mum," Harry nearly whispered, the woman smiled at him. He walked closer to her and looked strangely at her. Her eyes were his eyes, her voice was the voice in his head, and yet with the message of Amelia came the cruel truth that she was lost to them, "is Amelia alright?" he asked the woman shyly.
The woman reached out and put a hand on Harry's shoulder as tears filled her eyes, "She is alright where she is, not quite with us and not quite with you. She is stuck between the living and the dead."
"How did she come to you?" he asked softly.
"It is my place to protect you," she smiled, "it was you who sent me to her. She is very much connected with you."
"Even now?" he asked.
"More so now then before," Lily smiled, "as is her brother. He is coming back for you."
"I can hear him," Harry said.
"Come, I'll show you back to the path," Lily said and walked through the dense brush. Harry pushed through after her and was back one the path that lead to Hogwarts.
Dominic was searching frantically through the dark forest. He spotted Harry and the white figure and landed only feet away, "where were you?" he asked as he changed back.
"I got stuck," Harry said, "I tried to call you but you were too far off."
Dominic stared at the woman who possessed Harry's eyes. She glowed white and smiled at them both, "you two best hurry on your way. You have lives to save tonight," she said to them and began to move off.
"Mum wait!" Harry cried.
"Harry, I must go back and watch over your friends. It is what you want most," she smiled at him lovingly, "I will stay with them until you return."
Harry ran to her and hugged her. It was something he had longed to do all his life. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming this or not but it felt so real, she was there in his arms. He believed that he was, for the first time, holding onto her.
Tears rolled down her face as she stood and held her son, "I'm proud of you, my boy," she whispered and he could feel her drifting away, "you can save them if you hurry." And with that, she was gone. Harry turned slowly to Dominic, tears streaming down his face, "was I dreaming that?" he asked as he whole body shook.
"She looked, and sounded real enough to me," Dominic smiled.
"Did you hear everything?" Harry asked, his face red.
"She said we could save lives tonight," Dominic said, "maybe there is still hope."
"Maybe," Harry said straightening up, "but we have to hurry."
Dominic changed back to his animagus and took to the sky, "the castle isn't far off now," he said and flew on ahead of Harry.
They travelled fast, clouds moved quickly over the full moon, casting eerie shadows over the castle. Dominic and Harry broke through the dark forest finally just behind Hagrid's hut. It was a good place to mark the path.
"Go to McGonagall, Harry, and I'll get Hagrid and go to the hospital wing and have them ready and aware of what they will be dealing with when Dumbledore and Amelia do get back to the castle," Dominic said, "I'll meet you when I am finished in McGonagall's office."
"Alright," Harry said and the both ran off in different directions.
The school was empty at the wee hours of the night. A great clock outside the great hall struck midnight as Harry ran through the entrance doors. He ran quickly through the halls and straight for McGonagall's office stopping for nothing. He was relieved so see light still shining under the door. He ran in without knocking and found her pacing the length of her room.
"Thank heavens you have returned," she cried as she ran to meet him.
"Only Dominic and I are here," Harry said out of breath, "we need a portkey to bring the rest back."
"What has happened?" She asked as she rushed around the room gathering items and placing them in the middle of the floor.
"Amelia and Dumbledore are unresponsive and unable to travel. Dumbledore has been caught in the reflection of the basilisk eyes and Amelia is lost to us by a kiss from Voldimort. The rest are still with them to protect them from the elements and the dangerous predators of the dark forest. We don't know how much longer either of them will last out there in this cold," Harry said as he watched her work, "Dominic has already gone off to the hospital wing with Hagrid to have the potions made to reverse the spell of the basilisk
"It seems impossible that there could be another Basilisk," McGonagall said as she stopped for a moment to look seriously at Harry.
"Well that's what it is," Harry said as he watched her turn back to her work, "we don't have time for the fine details. We need to get back to them as soon as we can."
McGonagall bustled around some items she had placed in the centre of the room. A gold chain link necklace and a long scrap of rope were placed length wise side by side. She waved her wand over them and chanted some spells that Harry had never heard before and soon the two became one. With a flash of golden light the rope coiled itself, like a snake, in the middle of the floor. McGonagall picked it up, just as Dominic rushed into the room, "the portkey is ready," she said handing it to Harry.
"You take it Dominic, you'll make it to them much faster than I will. You wont have the obstacles of being in the forest you can just fly over it," Harry said handing it to him.
"I can't fly with the weight of the rope," Dominic said as he pushed the rope back into Harry's hands, "not in my animagus form at least."
"Take your brooms," McGonagall said finally, "both of you go back and help to move the injured into position," she said as she walked quickly to the door. They arrived at the Gryffindor common room and hurried in following the lead of McGonagall, "bring Ron's down with you and I will fetch Amelia's," she said and began to climb the stairs up to the girls dormitories.
"Why bring Amelia's?" Dominic asked feeling a little hurt, "she can't use it."
"No but Hermione can," McGonagall said and disappeared. She returned moments later followed by Ginny who had obviously dressed in a hurry and carried two brooms with her, "Ginny will accompany you to the place to ease in the transportation of so many supplies. You should fly faster and safer as a group," she said and they walked quickly out of the common room and through the empty halls. No one spoke again until they had all reached the main entrance to the castle. The clock had begun to strike one when they opened the doors to the cold wind. "Fly up and over the forest as fast as you can," McGonagall said as she began to close the door, "the portkey wont last long."
A fire had been started outside Hagrid's hut. The dark blue smoke could been seen from the grand entrance to the castle. Harry and his friends ran quickly down the steep hill to the hut and found Hagrid diligently feeding the flames.
"What are you doing Hagrid?" Dominic asked as they reached him, "shouldn't you be helping in the hospital?"
"No, Madame Pomfrey has everything well under control up there at the castle. I just figured it would help yous find the castle again if you could see the smoke," Hagrid said cheerfully as he smiled behind his beard.
"Thank's" the three said at the same time.
"It's a great idea Hagrid," Harry said and the three took to the air, "we'll be back as soon as we can."
"I'll be watching the sky for yah," Hagrid said as he waved and watched them disappear into the darkness of the sky.
Hermione worked vigilantly to keep the fire big and hot. Dumbledore had been moved close to the fire and was kept warm by the heat and the invisibly cloak. Snape had cast protection spells around the fire and around the alter to keep away the predators of the night. Ron and Hermione stayed close to the fire and Dumbledore as Belinda paced back and forth between the alter and the fire. Fatigue had begun to set in on all of the wizards but sleep was not an option. Snape paced nervously as they waited. Suddenly he felt outside himself. A voice had caught his mind and informed him of everything that would be taking place. He walked to the fire and began rubbing his hands together above it. A green dust fell from his hands and a blue smoke began to rise into the air. Hermione looked up at him ready for a lesson in the smoke spell but Snape merely looked to the sky, "they'll be arriving in moments," he said to Hermione finally, "put as much as you can on the fire to lead them to us."
Only minutes passed before three figures could be seen landing the in the clearing. Harry descended first with the Portkey wrapped tightly around his waist. Dominic and Ginny followed close behind with the extra brooms.
"We'll take care of putting out the fire," Dominic said and motioned to Hermione and Ron.
"Alright," Harry said and turned to Snape, "and I'll get you ready to leave by Portkey."
Snape nodded and Belinda came closer to listen to the plan.
Harry unravelled the rope from around his waste, "the portkey is only strong enough for four people so we must be very careful," he said and wrapped part of it through Dumbledore's hand, "Mrs. Cross, I need you to take Dumbledore's hand and hold the rope tight within it. Take a part of the rope in your other hand and don't let go." he added and then looked up to Snape.
Snape walked to the alter, were Amelia lay, and pulled her gently into his arms, then he walked to where Harry stood waiting.
"I will wrap the rope around both you and Amelia. When I let it go you should be transported back to the castle," Harry said as Snape stepped closer to Belinda.
Harry kept one end of the rope tightly in his left hand and worked the rope quickly around Amelia's and Snape's wrist. Then he walked the other end back the Dumbledore and completely encircled the four travelling by Portkey.
"Are you sure you'll be alright to get back to the castle?" Belinda asked as she looked over to Hermione and Ron.
"We'll all be fine, Mum," Dominic smiled as the last of the fire was extinguished.
"We'll be right behind you," Ron said as Hermione, Ron, Dominic and Ginny stood in a line, their brooms in their hands.
"Flight right back to the school," Snape said sternly.
"Yes sir," the group said together and stepped back as Harry stepped out of the circle.
"I am going to let it go now," Harry said finally as he let go of the end of the rope.
A flash of light filled the clearing. When it had cleared and everyone's eyes had re-adjusted to the darkness they noticed that they had disappeared. Quiet filled the clearing as the five young wizards stopped and stared. Harry took his broom back from Ginny, who had picked it up, and looked up to the sky, "the sun will be at our backs," he said as he mounted his broom, "watch for Hagrid's fire on the horizon. Let's get outta here, its gonna be a cold ride," he added and took off.
His friends followed close behind him, flying in a V formation like Canada geese in the spring time. The wind was against them and the sun cast purple and pink hues on the night cloud cover. The blue smoke could be seen clearly off in the distance. They flew fast over the forest to where they knew Hagrid would be waiting.