Chapter 28: Fight and Flight

Finally finished our exams. Rose practically rushed me out to our usual space in the Room of Requirement - a nifty little room we discovered after our History of Magic exam. I turned once I was in there, finding solace and comfort in Fenris. Rose plucked a book from the many piles of junk that littered the room and leaned against me, reading silently. It's these moments of peace and quiet that I enjoy most with her.

Leo discovered upon his return to the castle that Fred and George had unleashed a portable swamp, flooding a corridor in the east wing that led to Umbridge's office. He couldn't help but feel disappointed that he hadn't been there to witness them leaving afterwards aboard brooms they had summoned from the toad's office and resolved to make up for this by doing as the ginger twins had commanded: making life hell for Umbridge.

His first order of business was dropping a niffler in her office, which promptly tore the place apart in its search for shiny objects, leapt on Umbridge on her reentrance, and tried to gnaw the rings off her stubby fingers and tear off her silver arm. Other students joined in on his mischief-making. Dungbombs and Stinkpellets were dropped so frequently in the corridors that it became the new fashion for students to perform Bubble-Head Charms on themselves before leaving lessons, prompting Leo to look at them all with a distinct feeling of pride.

Filch prowled the corridors with a horsewhip ready in his hands, desperate to catch miscreants. Leo caught him on his own one time and transfigured the whip into a snake, watching with glee as the serpent chased the man down the halls, nipping at his heels and almost eating Mrs. Norris when she appeared to check on her master. Pansy Parkinson caught him laughing at the incident and was about to dock points from him when she suddenly sprouted antlers. Leo followed it up with a swift Confundus Charm before dashing away.

Meanwhile, it became clear just how many Skiving Snackboxes Fred and George had managed to sell before leaving Hogwarts. Umbridge only had to enter her classroom for the students assembled there to faint, vomit, develop dangerous fevers, or else spout blood from both nostrils. Shrieking with rage and frustration she attempted to trace the mysterious symptoms to their source, but the students told her stubbornly they were suffering "Umbridge-itis." Umbridge herself came down with the disease after consuming brownies that had supposedly been sent to her by old Fudge himself.

Leo smiled serenely at the memory of her dashing to the hospital wing, covered in boils as he worked with Peeves to loosen one of the chandeliers near her office. Mrs. Norris came upon them at that moment and turned to report to her master when Peeves, prompted by Leo, dumped her in a suit of armour. Leo put a Silencing Charm on it and sent an anonymous letter to Filch telling him where she was the next day (he felt bad leaving her in there for that long).

To cap matters, Montague had still not recovered from his sojourn in the toilet. He remained confused and disorientated and his parents were to be observed one Tuesday morning striding up the front drive, looking extremely angry.

"Should we say something?" said Hermione in a worried voice, pressing her cheek against the Charms window so that she could see Mr. and Mrs. Montague marching inside. "About what happened to him? In case it helps Madam Pomfrey cure him?"

"Sometimes I feel like you want me to get expelled, Hermione," Leo frowned at her as he tapped his teacup and watched it sprout legs and do a jig on his desk. "If Montague recovers, he'll tell that toad what the twins and I did and I'll be chucked out of the school before you can say 'bollocks'."

"Of course I don't want you expelled!" Hermione exclaimed in an incredulous voice.

"Even if you are headed that way anyway," Harry grinned at him, earning a small laugh from the blonde. "Anyway, more trouble for Umbridge, isn't it?"

"You know," said Ron in a thoughtful tone, "if Montague doesn't recover before Slytherin play Hufflepuff, we might be in with a chance of winning the Cup."

"Yeah, I s'pose so," said Harry.

"I mean, we've won one, lost one — if Slytherin lose to Hufflepuff next Saturday —"

"Not likely," Leo frowned. "Draco's got the sharpest eyes of anyone in the school. The only way Hufflepuff can win is if they score enough points that catching the Snitch won't matter. I think it'll depend more on us earning a lot of points and having Ginny catch the Snitch when we're ahead enough."

"How good is Ginny anyway?" Harry inquired in an innocent sort of tone.

Leo smiled at him widely, enjoying the way his cousin's face reddened slightly.

"You'll have to wait and see her at the game. You'll be quite impressed."

The final match of the Quidditch season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, was to take place on the last weekend of May. Although Slytherin had narrowly defeated Hufflepuff in their last match, Gryffindor was not daring to hope for victory, due mainly (though of course, nobody said it to him) to Ron's abysmal goalkeeping record. He, however, seemed to have found a new optimism.

"I mean, I can't get any worse, can I?" he told Leo, Harry, and Hermione grimly over breakfast on the morning of the match. "Nothing to lose now, is there?"

"Well, yeah, I mean you've already lost your dignity, your pride," Leo began to list, smiling broadly when Ron's ears began to redden.

While he normally refrained from mocking Ron's Quidditch skills (or lack thereof), he took special care to get him as angry as possible as they made their way toward the pitch. He figured if he made the redhead angry enough he wouldn't think too much about what he was doing during the game. Leo had always felt that Ron's problems in Quidditch stemmed not just from nerves but from overthinking things. He needed to learn to react instinctively and not think about what he was supposed to do next. He said as much to the ginger once they had arrived at the locker room.

"Look, it's just you and the Quaffle," Leo informed him as he pulled his robes on. "There's no one else. There's no one in the stands, no one on the field but you. There are no Bludgers, there's no Snitch, there's just the Quaffle. Just focus on the Quaffle, Ron, and ignore everything else and you'll do fine."

Ron had stared at him incredulously, having never been on the receiving end of one of Leo's rousing pep talks. Leo clapped Ron bracingly on the shoulder before walking over to Kirke and telling him not to do anything during the match. He figured there'd be fewer injuries on the Gryffindor side if the bloke didn't swing his bat around too much. Kirke had frowned in confusion after Leo had walked away to do some pre-match stretches.

At last, it was time to exit the locker rooms and head out to the pitch. Lee Jordan, who had been very dispirited since Fred and George had left, was commentating as usual. As the teams zoomed out onto the pitch he named the players with something less than his usual gusto. Leo zoomed by him on his Firebolt, ruffling his hair and grinning broadly before joining his teammates as they and the Ravenclaws formed a circle around Madam Hooch and the Quidditch ball crate. She opened it, tossing the Quaffle into the air as the Bludgers and Snitch took off.

"And they're off!" said Lee. "And Davies takes the Quaffle immediately, Ravenclaw Captain Davies with the Quaffle, he dodges Johnson, he dodges Bell, he dodges Spinnet as well... He's going straight for the goal! He's going to shoot — and — and —"

Leo pelted toward a Bludger, swinging his bat at it as hard as he could and sending it toward Davies. Davies had to roll to avoid it, dropping the Quaffle that was swiftly caught by Alicia. Alicia sprinted down the pitch, tossing the ball to Johnson who caught it and continued down the pitch. A Ravenclaw Chaser named Chambers headed toward her to try and take the Quaffle but had to veer off when Leo pelted another Bludger at him.

Angelina scored, much to the joy of the Gryffindors in the stands. Leo twirled his bat in his hand before zooming forward as a Bludger flew toward Katie, who had intercepted Chamber's pass to Davies and was carrying the Quaffle back toward Ravenclaw. Unfortunately, Bradley managed to take the Quaffle from her and flew up the pitch toward Ron. Leo cursed, looking around wildly for another Bludger and spotting it chasing Ginny around. He flew upward, following after her and smacking the Bludger as hard as he could toward Bradley. It turns out, he needn't have bothered.

Bradley looked as though he was aiming for the left hoop, and Leo hefted a groan as Ron flew toward the right. The groan turned to a cheer as, instead, Bradley aimed for the right hoop and, miraculously, Ron caught the Quaffle. Surprise showed on his own face and everyone in the stands. For the first time ever, a stunned silence fell over the stands and everyone seemed frozen in place. At least until the Bludger that Leo had launched mere moments ago knocked Bradley off his broom.

This shocked everyone out of their stupor and a mixture of cheers and gasps rippled throughout the stands as Bradley was escorted off the pitch. The match resumed with Ron, who was wearing a triumphant smile, tossing the Quaffle to Angelina. She swept up the pitch, dodging Davies and Chambers as she tossed the Quaffle to Katie, who scored. Leo gave a whoop before smacking a Bludger at Davies as he flew up the pitch with the Quaffle.

Emboldened by their Keeper's save, Gryffindor played better than it had all season. Ron saved every goal, Katie, Alicia, and Angelina were flawless in their passes and scoring. Kirke hadn't hurt anyone or himself while Leo managed to injure Davies with a well-placed Bludger to the back of the head. When they were up by almost two hundred points, Ginny dove down toward a glinting golden ball, Cho hot on her tail. Leo sent her veering away with another well-placed Bludger hit and whooped loudly when Ginny's fingers closed around the Snitch.

Cheers erupted in the stands as the Gryffindor team congregated around Ginny, pulling Ron into the middle of their group so he could bask in the glory of their victory as well. A disgruntled Umbridge handed the gleaming Quidditch cup off to Angelina, who handed off it to Ron after looking at it reverently. Gryffindors swarmed around them all, hefting their team on their shoulders and carrying them off the pitch.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid wants us to do what?" Leo asked in an incredulous tone.

It was the next day. He, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Draco were all sitting under the shade of a beech tree by the edge of the lake, all but one of them studying. Harry had just told him and Ron that he, Draco, and Hermione had been in the Forbidden Forest for the majority of their match. Apparently, Hagrid had led them there and asked that they help teach his sixteen-foot-tall giant half-brother English if he ever got sacked.

"You heard us, Black," Draco replied grimly, flipping a page in his Transfiguration book.

"No," said Ron, as though by saying this he could make it untrue. "No, he can't have... He can't have brought one back..."

"Well, he has," said Hermione firmly. "Grawp's about sixteen feet tall, enjoys ripping up twenty-foot pine trees, and knows me," she snorted, "as Hermy."

"Cute," Leo remarked dryly. "I'm still stuck on the fact Hagrid wants us to teach the bloke English."

"I think he meant for the rest of us to teach him," Draco stated, his pale eyes alighting with mischief. "Since you seem to have trouble grasping it most of the time."

Leo made a face of mock laughter as his friends chortled.

"You're hilarious," he huffed. "I'm more worried about what'll happen once Hagrid leaves. What's to stop his brother from roaming toward the castle? Even worse – what if we stumble upon him while we're off... Marauding?"

Draco and Harry looked uneasy at this, clearly having not thought about that.

"Well," Ron said in a nervous tone, "Hagrid hasn't been sacked yet, has he? He's hung on this long, maybe he'll hang on till the end of term and we won't have to go near Grawp at all."

June seemed to arrive in no time following that disturbing conversation, bringing with it tidings of gloom. Their O.W.L.s were upon them at last. This turned out to be both a blessing and a curse in Leo's opinion. On one hand, teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to reviewing those topics their teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. On the other, Leo's friends were now so dedicated to studying that he now found himself on his own with nothing to do. Ginny and Luna, despite not taking their O.W.L.s, still had to study for their own upcoming exams, leaving Leo with nothing to do except help Draco study.

He was aware of what the teen was doing. Draco knew he would never study on his own and so had enlisted Leo to quiz him, hoping the lion Animagus would retain something from their sessions. Leo couldn't help but be impressed with the Slytherin's cunning and decided to go along with it. At the very least, he was helping Draco prepare.

They received their examination schedules and details of the procedure for O.W.L.s during their next Transfiguration lesson.

"As you can see," McGonagall told the class while they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your O.W.L.s are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory exams in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night.

"Now, I must warn you that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new — headmistress" — McGonagall pronounced the word with the same look on her face that Petunia had whenever she was contemplating a particularly stubborn bit of dirt — "has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely — because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the headmistress's new regime at the school..."

Leo had the sudden urge to fail all his exams just to make Umbridge look bad. McGonagall gave him a sharp look, seeming to read his mind.

"However, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about."

"Please, Professor," said Hermione, her hand in the air, "when will we find out our results?"

"An owl will be sent to you sometime in July," said McGonagall.

"Excellent," said Dean Thomas in an audible whisper, "so we don't have to worry about it till the holidays..."

Their first exam, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. Draco made sure they went over Achievements in Charming as thoroughly as possible in preparation for the exam. Leo felt a headache coming on about an hour and a half into the session and ditched Draco to relax with Luna under the beech tree. He rested his head on her lap, sighing in contentment and closing his eyes as her voice washed over him, reading the same book Draco had them studying from. I see what you're doing... Leo thought dimly as he drifted off.

Dinner was a subdued affair that night. Harry and Ron did not talk much, but ate with gusto, having studied hard all day. Hermione, on the other hand, kept putting down her knife and fork and diving under the table for her bag, from which she would seize a book to check some fact or figure. Leo opened his mouth to say something when he paused and wrinkled his nose at the sudden, pungent aroma of old people. Hermione dropped her fork shortly after this.

"Oh, my goodness," she said faintly, staring into the entrance hall. "Is that them? Is that the examiners?"

Leo looked up with vague intrigue. Through the doors to the Great Hall, they could see Umbridge standing with a small group of ancient-looking witches and wizards. Umbridge, Leo was pleased to see, looked rather nervous. Course, she should be. I reckon these old people have more power and authority in the wizarding world than she does. He mused thoughtfully, stabbing a potato.

"Shall we go and have a closer look?" said Ron.

Leo shook his head, but Hermione and Harry went off with him to see who would be testing them. He finished his meal after a few minutes before joining them up in the common room. It was an uncomfortable sort of evening. Everyone was trying to do some last-minute studying but nobody seemed to be getting very far. Leo was itching to make mischief but thought better of it when Hermione affixed him with a stern, McGonagall-esque look.

None of the fifth years talked very much at breakfast the next day either. Parvati was practising incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched, Hermione was rereading Achievements in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred, and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade. Leo was half tempted to tell him to go to Pomfrey for a Calming Draught around the third time this happened.

Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years milled around in the entrance hall while the other students went off to lessons. Then, at half-past nine, they were called forward class by class to reenter the Great Hall, which was now arranged with many smaller desks all facing the staff table where McGonagall stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet she said, "You may begin," and turned over an enormous hourglass on the desk beside her, on which were also spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment.

Leo turned over his paper, lazily writing his name at the top before reading over the questions. He answered most of them with ease until he came across one that made him pause: Give the correct incantation for the Shield Charm. Which spell can it not deflect and why? His mind immediately went to the graveyard, to Pettigrew blasting through his shield with the Killing Curse and ending Cedric's life.

Leo's hands clenched upon the desk, the scars on the back of his right hand standing out sharply against the white of his skin. The events in the graveyard replayed themselves in his mind, and he suddenly found himself unable to breathe. The faint smell of smoke caught his attention and he noticed that the feathery tip of his quill was lightly smouldering. He closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly as he tried to soothe his nerves. Once he calmed down enough, he returned to his exam, wrote down the answer, and continued on.

"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Hermione anxiously in the entrance hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper. "I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time — did you put in the countercharm for hiccups? I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much — and on question twenty-three —"

"Drop it, Hermione," Leo groused. "We don't need to talk about the exam – we lived it."

Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to reprimand him, then closed it abruptly when she saw his expression. It was a mixture of frustration and anxiety, his eyes constantly darting to the great oak doors. He heavily contemplated taking off lunch and just running around the forest as Aslan but thought better of it when he reminded himself that he'd forget the time and miss his practical exam. With a sigh of disappointment, he led the way back into the Great Hall for lunch.

The fifth years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four House tables reappeared over the lunch hour) and then trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. Leo was one of the first called in, as his name was in the B's. Flitwick directed him to Professor Marchbanks, a tiny, stooped witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had been draped in cobwebs. She talked so loudly Leo thought she might be partially deaf.

"Black, eh?" said Marchbanks, peering at him critically. "Castor's boy, right? Your father's been causing quite a ruckus in the Ministry lately – I hear you've been following in his footsteps."

"I prefer to think he's following in mine," Leo replied with a broad smile.

Marchbanks gave a jovial laugh before having him make an eggcup do cartwheels. Once he was done with that, she had him do the Levitation Charm, the Colour-Changing Charm, and various other charms that he knew all too well. All in all, Leo felt he did quite well with his exam if the supremely pleased smile on Marchbanks's face was anything to judge by.

Transfiguration went by just as easily, the written exam causing him no anxiety and the practical exam sending him into fits of laughter. Hannah Abbott lost her head completely at the next table and somehow managed to multiply her ferret into a flock of flamingos, causing the examination to be halted for ten minutes while everyone scrambled to catch the birds. Eventually, Leo took pity on the old witches and wizards and proceeded to Vanish the flamingoes one by one as they went by him.

They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday, and Leo was quite certain he had failed it. Any plant with teeth tried to bite him, prompting him to accidentally set them on fire both in retaliation and out of frustration. Thursday was Defense Against the Dark Arts, something Leo was looking forward to. While part of him wanted to fail to make Umbridge look bad, a much stronger part of him wanted to succeed and make Moony proud.

He had no problem with any of the written questions and took particular pleasure, during the practical examination, in performing all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells right in front of Umbridge, who was watching coolly from near the doors into the entrance hall.

Marchbanks looked quite pleased with his performance and was about to dismiss him when they paused to watch as a stag Patronus cantered past them. Leo immediately turned his head to grin at Harry, who looked quite pleased with himself. Not one to be outdone, Leo turned to his instructor and asked if he could conjure up his own Patronus. Marchbanks looked surprised but nodded nonetheless. He pointed his wand, focusing on Christmas at the Den.

"Expecto Patronum!"

From his wand burst something rather surprising. Instead of Knight appearing, the shimmering white form of a lion appeared instead. The lion shook its mane, looking around them all before giving a soundless roar. What pleased Leo greatly was when the lion turned and pounced at Umbridge, who shrieked in terror. The lion dissipated before it made contact, but it was still interesting to watch.

Leo and Harry discussed how and why his Patronus had changed before they eventually decided it was best just to ask Remus over the summer. Leo had Ancient Runes the next day with Hermione and Draco. He felt it went marginally well. At the very least, he thought he might've scraped a pass. When the exams were finished, Leo went down to Hagrid's hut, having heard he was doing a lesson on unicorns.

The weekend was relatively peaceful, marred only by Draco continuously having Leo quiz him over Potions. When they took their exams on Monday, Leo was half certain he could teach the class himself. He managed to scrape together a perfect potion for their practical exam and stated that he'd be happy to never see a cauldron again.

"Only four exams left," said Parvati Patil wearily as they headed back to Gryffindor common room.

"Only!" said Hermione snappishly. "I've got Arithmancy and it's probably the toughest subject there is!"

"Well, you're the one who chose to take it," Leo replied in an irritated tone. "Don't take your poor choices out on us."

Hermione spent the next half hour yelling at him until he cast Muffliato on himself just so he wouldn't have to listen to her. Care of Magical Creatures was an exam that lifted Leo's spirits. He sped through the written exam with great ease before heading down the lawn with everyone else for their practical. He could tell he impressed his instructors with his mastery over the animals, only having to call the knarl out from the group of hedgehogs. He had a lovely conversation with the fire crab as he fed and cleaned it and managed to pick out the correct food for a unicorn. The bowtruckle outright refused to go anywhere near Leo, and he was perfectly fine with that.

The Astronomy exam went terribly in Leo's opinion. He had to resort to making up a few constellations and planets as he could only really remember stars that he and his immediate family were named after. He had the whole of Gryffindor common room to himself that afternoon as his fellow fifth years were either taking their Divination exam or their Arithmancy exam.

When he and his fellow fifth years reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight, and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart he or she had been given.

Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished.

Leo spent the majority of his time pretending that he knew what he was doing. He doodled in the various dots in the sky and, because he couldn't resist, connected them into various patterns and animals. He was taken away from his doodling when the front doors of the castle opened directly below the parapet where he and Harry were standing so that light spilt down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. Leo glanced down, narrowing his eyes and finding himself incredibly grateful that his night vision had increased significantly since becoming an Animagus.

Six people moved across the grounds as the doors closed behind them. A low growl rumbled in the back of Leo's throat as he recognized the squat form of Umbridge among them. Why is she going to Hagrid's with so many people? Unless... He froze, eyes never leaving the figures as they arrived at Hagrid's door. Umbridge knocked, the sound echoing across the grounds followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog. The door opened and the six walked inside, closing the door behind them.

Leo watched the cabin nervously, not even bothering to pretend that he was doing his assignment like he knew Harry was. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he felt an imminent sense of danger lurking just on the horizon. A loud roar suddenly echoed from the cabin, reaching up to the Astronomy tower.

"Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls," one of their instructors said softly.

Leo ignored him, eyes fixed firmly on the cabin. He was waiting. For what, he didn't know. It felt as though he was waiting for a signal, a sign that would tell him what to do. He ignored the instructor as they spoke again, his hands clenched and his body tense as he continued to wait.

There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.

Leo was moving before he could even register what had happened. He ignored the shouts of everyone around him as he bolted out of the tower and down the stairs, taking shortcut after shortcut as he went. He stopped suddenly when a hand grabbed his arm. He turned, pulling his arm out of the person's grasp and flicking his wand into his hand in one fluid motion. He only lowered it slightly when he saw it was McGonagall, who looked quite angry to see him skipping his exams.

"Black, what're you-"

"Hagrid's under attack," Leo told her quickly. "Umbridge brought friends – they're hurting him. I have to help."

Without another word, he turned and continued down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He heard rapid footsteps behind him and turned his head slightly to see McGonagall following him, her face a mask of determination. The footsteps faded abruptly and he felt something brush past his legs. He glanced down to see a tabby cat racing ahead of him, disappearing around a corner.

He reached the doors that led onto the grounds only to find them wide open. He could see McGonagall's imposing form storming toward the battle now raging at Hagrid's cabin, hear her voice calling to the people. Leo pushed his pace faster, feeling pure adrenaline pulsing through his veins.

"How dare you!" McGonagall shouted as she ran. "How dare you! Leave him alone! Alone, I say! On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such —"

As though in slow motion, Leo saw four jets of red light burst from wands and felt rage such as he had never felt in his life.

"PROTEGO!" he yelled.

The spells dissipated, illuminating his shield as he ran up beside McGonagall, his body shaking with anger as sweat poured down his entire being. He only spared her a brief glance, noting her shocked expression before he ran toward her attackers, who appeared quite stunned at the sight of a fifteen-year-old rushing toward them. Umbridge was the first to strike, sending a Stunner toward him that he quickly dodged.

"Depulso Maxima!" he shouted, jabbing his wand at her.

She conjured a shield in front of her. Again, as though in slow motion, Leo watched as his spell hit her shield, shattering it and sending her rocketing into Hagrid's hut. At once, her companions took out their wands and pointed them at him, firing off Stunners that were deflected by a shield that appeared around him. He glanced up, watching as McGonagall approached them, her wand raised and her face a mask of rage.

Leo nodded at her in thanks before summoning his anger, allowing it to manifest as fire around him. He created a ring around their attackers, separating himself, Hagrid, and McGonagall from them. He heard several shouts of surprise on the other side as he turned to his companions, both of whom looked at him gravely. Leo spotted Fang hanging limply on the half-giant's shoulders and reached out a hand to rest on the boarhound's head, relieved when he saw Fang was still breathing.

"Leo," Hagrid croaked. "Yeh shouldn'ta -"

"I had no choice," Leo interrupted. "You're my friend. No one messes with my friends and gets away with it. No one."

Hagrid released a choked sob as he wiped a tear from his eye. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he heard more shouting from behind the wall of fire. He bit his lower lip before nodding at Leo and McGonagall, clapping the former on the shoulder before he took off toward the forest. The two watched him before McGonagall turned to Leo.

"Leo," she said in a half-whisper, garnering his attention. "You attacked Umbridge in front of witnesses. You know what this means."

Leo remained silent but nodded all the same.

"You have many friends in the forest, you should do fine," she paused, giving a small smile. "I am sure Aslan will be of great help."

"How did -?"

"Who do you think gave Castor the idea?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow, smiling at his dumbfounded expression. "You must leave now, Leo. While you still have the chance."

Leo nodded before biting his lower lip and looking at her. He rushed forward, enveloping her in a tight hug that she swiftly returned. They released each other abruptly and he turned and ran toward the Forbidden Forest, seeking comfort in its dark trees and close quarters. Only once he was in did he turn back to look at the people still trapped in the ring of fire. He made it lower before he ran further into the trees, his footsteps turning into pawsteps as he moved.

He was on his own now.