(PoA) CHAPTER THIRTY: Buckbeak's Great Escape
There was probably a smarter way to go about catching the rat. Ellie probably could have put on a fake-calm voice and casually asked Ron if it was Scabbers, then waited for him to retrieve his rat. Anything, really, would have been better than the way she launched herself at the vase like a woman possessed.
But it worked.
"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted as Ellie smashed the vase with her bare hands and grabbed hold of the rat for all she was worth. "Is that Scabbers?"
Scabbers squirmed, bit, and screamed to get out of Ellie's grip, but she wasn't letting go for anything. "Hagrid," she said, voice firm. "Excuse us a minute."
She met Harry's gaze, and he leapt to his feet, opening the back door to let her step outside of the hut.
"Ellie," said Ron, sounding baffled. "What's going on? Give me my rat."
"Can we talk for a minute about how the rat is alive?" asked Hermione with a pointed pout. "When Ronald was so convinced—"
But Ellie didn't have the patience to deal with Ron and Hermione's bickering at the moment. She wanted to get to Sirius; she wanted to let him decide exactly what they should do with the traitorous creature. But before she could think of a plan, they heard the distinct voice of Albus Dumbledore approaching the far side of Hagrid's hut.
"That's them!" whispered Hermione urgently. "Dumbledore and the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures!"
"It's not just them," whispered Harry, peeking carefully through Hagrid's windows at the group of wizards emerging. "Fudge is with them."
They all turned to look at Ellie at that. Knowing that the Minister of Magic was amongst the group that had come to put down the Hippogriff should have been an incentive for her not to free him, but it wasn't. She had already pounced onto him in her dog form a year ago to keep Hagrid from having to go to Azkaban; what was one more crime?
"Harry," she said in a low, urgent tone. "Take Scabbers. Explain to Ron and Hermione. Whatever you do, don't let him escape."
"Right," said Harry as he accepted the rat from Ellie's hands, which were bloody and raw from the combination of breaking the vase and being bit and scratched at by Scabbers. "We'll go deeper into the forest so no one hears us. You're going back for Buckbeak?"
She nodded. "Buckbeak, then Dad and Lupin. They'll know what to do."
"Just be quick about it, would you?" Harry asked. "And careful."
She nodded. "You, too."
She changed back into her dog form as she tore back toward Hagrid's hut. Fudge, Dumbledore, the Committee, and the executioner had all made their way inside the hut, which meant now was the perfect time to free Buckbeak.
The Hippogriff looked alarmed when it saw her. She did her best to bow as a dog, but it didn't seem to work the same way as it did when she was a human. Trying to remain calm, she focused instead on the way she had learned to communicate with Crookshanks—focusing on the way her body language communicated the words that she couldn't say.
We've got to get you out of here, she told him. They're going to kill you when they get out of that hut.
The alarm in Buckbeak's eyes showed her that he had understood her—but he still seemed hesitant. I can't leave Hagrid.
Trust me—he'd want you to go, if it meant saving your life.
Reluctantly, the beast nodded. Now all that was left was freeing him from the rope that was binding him. Stealing a nervous glance toward the hut, she changed to her human form just long enough to cast Diffindo at the rope to cut it, then back to her dog form.
Okay, she told him. Fly away now, and don't come back.
But, again, he looked hesitant. Where are you going?
Was it possible that he sensed the danger that was imminent in her own life? Deeper into the forest. But—
Deeper into the forest is safer from here. Let me help you—at least for now.
Ellie wasn't sure it was a good idea to keep Buckbeak on the Hogwarts grounds while the Committee was still there, but she also didn't mind the idea of having a Hippogriff on her side at the moment. He could get her to Sirius faster, and could get her and Sirius to Peter faster. So she nodded, changed into her human form, leapt on to his back, and steered him further into the forest.
At least, she tried to steer him further into the forest. They only made it a few steps before a certain redhead Ellie had seen very little of lately stepped directly in their path.
"Fred?" she hissed in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw you on the map." His brown eyes were wide and panicked. "With Pettigrew."
Scabbers had been on the map the entire time as Peter Pettigrew? Instantly, Ellie felt like a fool. How could she not have noticed it sooner? How could she not have thought to ask Fred and George to use the map to get to him?
Did any of it matter at the moment? The brigade of wizards in Hagrid's hut could step out any second, and she was nowhere close to being hidden.
"If I don't get out of here," she hissed at him, "they're going to arrest me for obstruction of justice. What do you want?"
He didn't hesitate. "I want to help you."
She could hardly believe her ears. After all this time—after all the months of ignoring her—now he wanted to help her?
If there was more time, she might have asked him the question she wanted to: is this because you heard about me and Oliver? If the answer was yes, she had no interest in his help.
But there wasn't time.
"Go and get Lupin," she said. "Bring him to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Scabbers. You'll know where they are from the map?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but what about you?"
"I've got to get Dad."
But he didn't move.
"Fred!" she hissed urgently. "Come on!"
It was back—the look in his eyes that she'd seen that fateful night at the end of her first year, and then again through the locket in her second when he saw the writing on the wall. Their skeletons will lie in the Chamber forever.
He still feared for her. He still loved her.
But there wasn't time.
"Just… be careful," he finally said. "Please."
And with that, he took off toward the castle—and she and Buckbeak took off toward Sirius' cave.
They were halfway to the cave when she started feeling it—that terrible, dark, soul-sucking feeling of all the happiness draining away from her—of the cold setting in—of Dementors approaching.
It couldn't be, though, could it? The Dementors couldn't have found him. Not now—not tonight—on the night she had finally managed to find Peter Pettigrew. Life couldn't be that unfair… could it?
The last thing she wanted was to follow the feeling. It wasn't directly leading to Sirius' cave; she could continue on her path there and pray for the best.
But she knew, in her heart, that would be the wrong call. For her to feel it so strongly meant there were a lot of Dementors in one place at the same time, which meant they were after someone. And Sirius wouldn't just be hanging around in his cave on one of the last nights Hogwarts was open.
She shuddered as she urged Buckbeak toward the Dementors.
She could feel the Hippogriff tensing up as they neared the monsters, but to her surprise, he didn't come to a stop. In fact, he took her so close to the circle of floating, black, hooded figures, she could make out exactly what they were doing—and who they were doing it to.
They were preparing for the Kiss.
They were preparing to suck out her father's soul.
"Dad!" she screamed, jumping off Buckbeak's back and sprinting over to him. She pulled out her wand, but she knew it was no use; she hadn't come close to mastering Expecto Patronum. With the sheer volume of them, though, and the way they drained her as she got closer and closer to him…
But she refused. She refused to let them win. She refused to let them get to him.
"And I wonder," she sang out, feeling moronic—idiotic—insane to be singing at a time like this—but she had no other choice—"when I sing along with you…"
It was working. The deep pain in her stomach was back, but the draining sadness of their powers wasn't affecting her, and she was able to push through the horde to get to him.
"If anything could ever feel this real forever." She had reached him now. She reached frantically down for his body, which she cradled in her arms. Her shield ricocheted the closest Dementor to him, keeping him from finishing the kiss. "If anything could ever be this good again."
His eyes fluttered open, and he stared up at her in utter confusion, and then, slowly, utter amazement.
"Ellie?" he whispered.
She couldn't stop singing, or the shield would disappear. So she did the only thing she could think to do: she pulled out her wand and handed it to him.
She hadn't had many opportunities to see her father in action yet, but they did say he was one of the most powerful wizards of his time, didn't they?
They hadn't been wrong. It took him several seconds to gain the strength to stand, and from there, he insisted on clutching her hand with his free one. Seemingly using her as his strength, he raised her wand and said, in the deepest, strongest voice she had ever heard him use, "Expecto Patronum!"
In a great, silver blast of light, it emerged from his wand—his Patronus—a dog that was easily twice the size of his own Animagus. And with one, powerful snap of its jaws, it sent them all flying.
"Bloody hell," Ellie managed when they were gone. "You're gonna need to teach me that one."
But he didn't appear to have much patience for jokes. He tried to give her wand back to her, but she refused to take it. "Are you alright?" he demanded, looking her over.
She'd felt better, that was for sure; it was the most work her shield had ever had to do, and the lingering pain inside her wasn't pretty. But there wasn't time to linger on it. "We found Pettigrew. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are with him. I sent Fred to get Lupin, and I went to get you."
Sirius nodded, eyes bright with excitement at the possibility of finally capturing Pettigrew, then glanced hesitantly at Buckbeak. "And the Hippogriff?"
"Bit of a long story. But he'll get us there faster."
Sirius nodded. "Very well. But as soon as Remus and I have Peter in hand, I want you and the others to head back to the castle. It's way too dangerous—"
"Yeah, yeah," she interrupted, rolling her eyes, as she climbed back onto Buckbeak's back. "Come on, Dad—we've got your name to clear."
Quite different this time around, indeed! There's only one chapter left in PoA, believe it or not - and boy, will it be jam-packed! Review to show that support and excitement, and stay tuned for the next!
