AN:
Hello.
I…I don't even know where to start to be honest.
This is…not what I expected to happen.
I'm sure we all have these stories but…On New Years Eve 2019/2020 I stood next to my mother and my mother was holding my hand and said to me: "Baby, this year will be better. None of the shit from last year will happen this year. We will strive and grow and heal. You, me, your sister, your daddy, we'll all be fine. I love you and I look forward to spending another amazing year with you."
And I said: "I love you mama. I wish you only the best. I love you so much."
Cheesy, I know.
But shit happened that year and in December things looked like they might turn around…
I don't have to tell you what happened because I am pretty sure that even if you lived under a rock you would have heard.
So…I seriously don't know what to say at this point because…I know we're not okay. I know some of us have been impacted HARD by what is going on. And I know me hoping and wishing does not reflect the reality of what is going on and what will happen.
This is the first time I have felt at all like writing but as soon as I sat down the words started flowing.
I know a little Harry Potter Fanfiction is not going to change the world. It's not going to do anything to help.
But maybe it can brighten someone's day for a second offer a little distraction for a while. Just to breathe and to remember that the live we had, is still there, under all that chaos. We need to remind ourselves of that.
Writing is that reminder to mee and I just noticed how much I have missed it.
My mind goes out to all of you and while I know these words might mean little to you, I still mean them.
I wish you and your loved ones all the best.
Stay safe, stay healthy, help your neighbours and Black Lives Matter!
Always yours,
Kate
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Chapter Eleven: The Week from Hell (Part One)
.
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Monday
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Harry forced himself to stare at the silver plate in front of him.
The not so subtle whispers all around him where starting to get on his nerves.
They had started the second he had set foot on the train at Kings Cross station and they had followed him all the way from there to his place at Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.
A part of him had hoped that seeing Hogwarts, seeing the castle that was his home, would brighten up his mood and somehow…make everything good again.
But it had been quite the opposite.
Harry could barely stand to look around and when he had caught a glimpse of the Quidditch pitch during their carriage ride to the castle, his mind had filled with images of that night.
The castle itself had been as welcome as always.
But the expressions on the students faces when they saw him…it had ruined it all.
Now the Great Hall felt too small and he could feel all the eyes that were on him. All he wanted was to get up and leave.
He wasn't even hungry.
Just as he thought about actually getting up and leaving, the doors opened and McGonagall let in the first years.
Harry groaned. He had missed his chance. Now he had to stay until at least after the Sorting.
Hermione put a hand on his biceps.
"Calm down. I know you want to leave but this is not a good look. Now sit up straight, talk to us and ignore them. They have clearly made up their mind, it'll be a waste of time to try to convince them otherwise right now." She whispered sharply.
She was right.
He sat up and smiled at Neville, who sat opposite of him. Fred and George sat next to Neville's left and Ginny to his right, so they were more or less surrounded by friendly faces.
With Ron and Hermione flanking him, he felt good enough to at least try to make it through the evening.
.
The Sorting went without a hitch, Gryffindor gained a couple of new wizards and witches and overall it was a smooth process.
While the hat did its magic, Harry scanned the Head-table and the teachers.
All the usual ones were there from Professors Sprout and Trelawney all the way to Snape. Though he did notice Hagrid was missing.
And then there was someone sitting next to Snape.
Someone small and very pink.
Someone with the face of a toad.
Someone Harry vaguely remembered.
He nudged Ron and Hermione.
"Do you see the woman next to Snape? The one in pink?"
"Hard not to see her. That colour is making my eyes bleed." Ron snorted under his breath.
"I think she was at my hearing. She's…I don't know but she works for Fudge." Harry whispered back.
"What do you think she's doing here?" Hermione wondered.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Harry muttered.
By then the sorting had ended and as McGonagall carried the chair and the Sorting Hat away, Dumbledore took to the podium.
"Good evening my dear students. I welcome you back to a new and magical year at Hogwarts. To our first-year students: I welcome you at Hogwarts and wish you a wonderful time and I hope for this castle to become your new home quickly." He began his speech.
Silence fell over the hall as all eyes turned towards him.
"Now, this year there are two changes in the teaching staff. I'm happy to welcome Professor Grubbly-Plank back. He'll be taking over Care of Magical Creatures while Professor Hagrid is off on temporarily leave" Harry raised an eyebrow at that "I also like to welcome our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge, on loan from the Ministry of Magic. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the new Professor good luck." Dumbledore vaguely pointed in the direction of the pink toad.
While there was a half-hearted applause from the students. Harry kept his hands firmly in his lap.
"Now, as always, our caretaker…" Dumbledore continued but he was interrupted by a high-pitched cough from the end of the teachers table, where the newly appointed Professor Umbridge sat.
To the amazement of not just Harry but surely everyone in the Great Hall, for the woman had just interrupted ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, she got up, putting a hideous pink purse on the table as she did and approached the podium where Dumbledore stood, slowly.
"Thank you, Headmaster, for these kind words of welcome." She said with a smile as bright as it was fake.
Oh yeah, Harry thought as she continued speaking, I remember her now. Hard to forget someone like her.
Umbridge walked slowly past Dumbledore and turned to face the gathered student body.
"And how lovely it is to see all your bright faces smiling up at me." She exclaimed; her hands clasped together before her.
There was nobody smiling at her.
"I'm sure, we'll all be very good friends soon."
"That's likely." Harry heard George and Fred mutter, earning them a couple of giggles from people around them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young wizards and witches to be of vital importance" Umbridge continued as she started to slowly walk up and down in front of the school.
"Although each Headmaster has brough something new to this historic school" she turned and nodded at Dumbledore who nodded back with a smile that was just as fake as hers "Progress for the sole sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."
She finished her little speech with a sort of giggle before slowly walking back to her seat.
Silence reigned in the hall before Dumbledore seemed to remember his manners and started a as small round of applause that was half-heartedly adopted by the rest of the students.
Harry could see the confusion in many faces around them.
They hadn't quite understood what she had been trying to imply with her speech.
But Harry had.
"Thank you Professor Umbridge" Dumbledore took back up "That was quite illuminating."
"Yeah right" Ron muttered as the headmaster continued with the usual rules "Illuminating. What a bunch of Hippogriff dung that was."
"It's more a regression to the dark ages if you ask me." Harry whispered.
"It mostly means the ministry is getting what it always wanted. It's interfering with Hogwarts." Hermione said darkly.
Harry wished he'd just left. Now the night was really ruined.
.
But it wasn't over for him yet.
Harry would have loved nothing more than to throw Seamus from the highest tower of the castle for his stupid remarks.
But instead of giving him any reaction at all he turned on his heel and stormed up to their dormitory.
He wasn't looking forward to having to spend a full year in close quarters with Seamus.
He vaguely heard Ron defending him as he stormed away.
More violently than strictly necessary he began tearing at his tie to loosen it.
He felt Ron enter the room before he heard him.
"You alright?" his friend asked him concerned.
"Just peachy. Nothing I haven't heard before." Harry growled.
He knew it wasn't right to let his anger out on Ron. Ron wanted to help.
"Do you…do you need anything?" Ron asked hesitantly, clearly not sure what to do.
"I'm fine Ron, just…I just need to sleep."
"Alright them." Ron said and left.
.
It got even worse after his shower.
Harry just wanted to go to bed but there, on his bed, sat a big grey owl with a letter in its beak.
It held out its leg expectantly and Harry realized it wanted money.
"How much?" he asked.
The owl beat its wings three times.
"Three knouts?" Harry guess.
The owl growled.
"Three sickles?" He guessed again.
The owl growled again.
"Three galleons?"
The owl nodded.
"What in the world? That is expensive, that should be illegal." he protested.
The owl just held out its leg with the little pouch tied to it, waiting for payment.
"Unbelievable." Harry muttered, searching his pockets for three golden coins.
Once they were safely stored in the pouch, the owl dropped his letter and flew back out through the open window.
Not caring for the seal, Harry broke open the letter and unfolded it.
To his utterly surprise it was from Gina! She must have used the owl-post-office like he had told her.
"Dear Harry,
I really hope you get this letter, the guy at the counter is looking really sketchy and it stinks like bird-poop in here. I had a letter written but he told me to write it again on the paper they provide. He gave no good reason but I didn't want to argue.
Anyway, that's not why I'm writing you.
Since I'm not sure you will actually get this, I'll try not to give too much away.
That friend you brought by a couple of days ago? Well, she's doing fine. A bit strange, a tad condescending at times and Lord knows she does not know how to operate a coffee machine but she is fine. I don't know all of it but I get she needs help.
Mum got her a place in a safehouse by Bedford. We brought her there this morning. It's out of the way and we made extra sure nobody was watching. She is safe there but she sure wasn't too pleased about the move. She says she'll write you so...you better expect an angry letter or something but she is fine, despite what she might claim.
Anyway mate, I know today is your first day back at school. I hope you'll have a good time there and whatever is going on with your friend will resolve soon.
We're here for you, all of us.
Mum and Dad send their love, so do the others and we hope to see you over Christmas.
Love,
Gina."
Harry sighed and put the letter down.
Great.
Not that he didn't appreciate the effort of the van Zuid's to keep Narcissa safe. But now he had no eyes on her.
This was going to be a long week.
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Tuesday
.
"Did you read what the Prophet said?"
"About his traumatic brain injury? Yes, I did. Poor guy."
…
"They say he's delusional now."
…
"If you ask me, he was never quite right upstairs. I bet surviving the killing curse messed him up and we just didn't realize it until now."
…
"How can they allow him at school, what if he attacks someone?"
"Probably Dumbledores doing."
…
"I'm so glad I'm not a Gryffindor. Imagine having to share a room with him. I'd rather room with the Giant Squid."
"Same."
…
"The Board of Governors should really do something about him."
"Like what expel him?"
"Yeah, for our safety."
.
Harry wished he was deaf.
Or that he at least had a pair of Professor Sprouts ear-muffs that blocked out mandrake screams.
The whispers, though really they were hardly whispers if you could hear every word, had started the second he had set foot in the common room that morning and had followed him throughout the day.
Now they were only half-way through the day and Harry felt ready to puncture his own eardrums with his wand.
He was just glad that he had either Hermione or Ron or both in all of his classes so he had an excuse to keep to himself and a partner if need be.
Hermione and Ron for their part were fantastic at keeping the students at bay but they too earned harsh criticism for it.
They turned a corner, a shortcut to the charm's classroom, when someone called out: "Hey, Harry, wait up!"
The three of them stopped and watched as Cho Chang ran to catch up with them. In her wake followed a less enthusiastic looking blonde girl, clutching several books to her chest.
A lot of heads turned to watch.
"Hey Cho." Harry greeted her warily. It wasn't like they were friends. But she was Cedrics girlfriend and they had chatted a couple of times last year during the tournament.
"Are you heading to charms? Good, we're on our way there too. Can we join you?"
Harry stared pointedly at her friend, who had finally reached them.
"Oh, by the way, this is my friend Marietta. Marietta Edgecombe." She introduced her friend.
"Nice to meet you." Harry said.
Marietta said nothing, just staring at her shoes.
"Let's walk then." Cho said, a bit too cheerful.
Harry nodded, turned on his heel wand walked.
"How are you Harry?" Cho asked.
He looked at her, then at two whispering Hufflepuffs on the side.
Cho nodded. "Yeah, I guess not that good. But hey, you still have friends. Consider me a friend too. Cedric said you could probably need some support this year and since he can't be here, I thought I could do it for him." She explained with a shrug.
"You don't have to do that, you know that, right?" Harry asked her.
"I know, but I want to. Cedric says you saved his life and you helped him with the Dragons as well. I might not have a boyfriend today if it weren't for you."
Harry hesitated. "He too helped me a lot. Thanks Cho."
She smiled. "No problem. And anyway, the rumours going around are just dumb. Right Mari?"
"Yeah, so dumb." Marietta muttered, still not looking up.
Harry didn't like her.
And obviously the feeling was mutual.
He was relieved when their classroom came into view.
"Thanks Cho, I appreciate it. And if you speak to Cedric, tell him thanks from me."
"You got it Harry." Cho said and the two Ravenclaws split form them to sit with their friends.
"What the hell was that?" Ron mumbled.
"I have no idea, but I', glad it's over." Harry muttered.
"So is Marietta." Hermione observed.
Indeed, Marietta was suddenly talking and gesturing wildly with her friends and laughing along at some joke.
"Also, rumour is that Cho and Cedric broke up." Ron muttered.
"Where did you hear that?" Hermione asked.
"Fred and George. They're friends with Cedric and he lives close by."
"Maybe they misheard." Hermione suggested.
"Can't be easy being in a relationship with someone when one of you is still at Hogwarts most of the years." Harry pointed out.
Hermione shrugged. "How would we know? And what does it matter?"
"I don't want Cho being nice to me if it's no coming from the right place. I don't know what her game is but if she wants to gain something from being around me…I don't want her around me then."
Professor Flitwick entered the room, climbed his stack of books so he could see the class and started the lesson.
But five minutes into his teachings, something hit Harry in the shoulder.
He glanced over his shoulder but saw none of the students behind him giving him any attention.
He glanced at the balled-up piece of parchment that had hit him and now lay on the floor next to him. He reached down, picked it up and unfolded it in his lap.
'I hope they lock you and your murder-godfather up in Azkaban.' Was scribbled there in a not so neat handwriting.
Anger tugged at the bottom of his stomach and Harry suppressed the urge to scream.
Instead he raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"I'm sorry Professor but I forgot that I have a meeting with my tutor from Academy scheduled in a couple of minutes. May I please be excused."
He didn't and Professor Flitwick looked confused because he would have been informed if that were the case.
"I'll be sure to bring you a note from Professor McGonagall or my tutor to the next lesson. I'm sorry I forgot."
Flitwick seemed to sense that there was more to it and he nodded.
"Try not to be as tardy in the future Potter. Five Points from Gryffindor."
Harry nodded. He knew the deduction was necessary so the other students didn't think he was getting special treatment. But also, he couldn't care less about house points.
Hermione grabbed his sleeve, quick as a viper and stared at him intently as he packed up his back.
He shook his head. No, they didn't have to come with him.
As he walked out of the room, he felt a lot of eyes burning into his back and he vowed to himself that from now on he'd take the seat in the back of the class. Just to be safe. Threats written on paper were harmless. But he knew that some students weren't above more harmful projectiles.
.
Since the double lesson had just started, it left Harry with a lot of free time before their last class of the Day. Defence against the Dark Arts. Harry was already dreading that class as well.
So, he made his way to the library. It wasn't far from their DADA classroom and he could still use the time to get some homework and studying done.
Madam Pince stared at him with narrow eyes over the top of her glasses but didn't say anything when he walked in.
There were only a handful of older students bustling around, no doubt using their free periods to study for their NEWTS.
He sought out the quiet alcove with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the lake and settled down to work.
For the rest of the first hour, Harry worked in absolute concentration and got a lot of work done but it was around the second hour that a bolt of pain shot through his head out of nowhere.
His quill clattered onto the parchment, leaving a gigantic ink-splash.
He was frozen, partly because of pain and shock, partly because sudden an image appeared in the dark ink and it drew Harry inside.
He stood at the shore of a beach, black water licking ta his feet and wind tearing at his clothes.
He looked around. It was dark and he couldn't make out and distinguishing features of the landscape except for the towering cliffs behind him and the and the seemingly endless beach stretching to his left and right into the darkness.
The moon was overshadowed by clouds and the stars seemed dulled.
Like whatever was about to happen was so horrible and twisted that even they would not shine their light on it.
And then Harry noticed the cloaked person next to him.
They looked like a dementor in their big bellowing cloak but he could see their clasped hands before them, holding a wand and also looking very human.
He caught the slight glint of a bracelet around one wrist.
And then his attention got caught by the sight of more cloaked figured appearing beyond the person next to him.
One by one they seemed to step out of thin air.
A crackle of green and then red light illuminated the night for a brief second and as they did, Harry caught the outline of a ship making its way towards the shore.
"Harry? Hello? Harry, your paper! Snap out of it!"
Harry jolted, startled by Daphnes sudden appearance.
"What…" he muttered as she bent over his papers, dapping a piece of tissue over the ink stain.
"Scourgify." She muttered and the ink stain disappeared. "There, all better. What were you thinking about? You were miles away." She asked with a slight laugh.
Harry shook his head, trying to dislodge the cobwebs that had settled over his mind.
"I…I don't know…you startled me." He said, letting out a slight laugh as well.
She shook her head and sat down next to him in the alcove seat.
"What…what are you doing here?" Harry asked, closing his book.
"I was gonna ask you the same. I got a funny feeling in Arithmancy so I told professor Vector to be excused and came here. And found you all spaced out. Are you alright?"
"I walked out of charms class when someone threw a piece of parchment at me that said I should be locked up in Azkaban together with Sirius."
"Ouch." Daphne said sympathetically. "I didn't really know how to deal with it so I excused myself."
"You can't let them get to you like that." Daphne whispered, taking his hand.
"I know. But…it's so hard and I have to listen to it all day long and it just wears thin after a while."
"I can understand that, believe me. But you didn't help your cause by almost beating up Malfoy at the station yesterday. Its all he's talking about in the common room."
Harry winced. "I know, not my finest moment. Danny I am just so exhausted all the time."
"It's because you barely sleep."
"How did you know?" he asked surprised.
She scoffed. "Oh please, I don't need to be a healer to know what those dark circles under your eyes mean. But also spacing out all the time, the shaking hands, clumsiness" she gestured at the previously stained parchment "Irritability and headaches are common symptoms."
"Damn, you are good."
"Also, Ron told me."
"Traitor." He muttered but it had no real bite. "Since when do you two talk without me about me?"
"Believe it or not, we're actually friends now."
"That's great." Harry said, managing a smile.
"We got almost an hour until DADA, why don't you get some shut eye here and I stay here with you?"
Harry hesitated. He could really use some sleep. But he was also a hundred percent sure that as soon as he closed his eyes the nightmares would continue.
"I don't know." He muttered.
"A quick nap can do wonders. I'll wake you in time to leave, I promised." Daphne assured him. She waved he wand and whispered a couple of words and a blanc piece of parchment transformed into a soft blanket.
She stood up, offering him the spacious window seat.
He sighed, balled up his robe into a makeshift pillow, took the blanket and settled down.
He watched Daphne as she started her own homework and the scratching of her quill as well as her gentle humming lulled him right to sleep.
Rain. Darkness. Endless hallways. A hand. An orb. Beaches. Hallways again. Cloaked figures. "Soon.". Darkness. Darkness. Water. Flashes of bright green. And then again rain.
Harry woke slowly.
"It's time to go. Man, you were out like a light. How do you feel?"
He blinked at Daphne next to him.
At some point she had undone her braids and now her hair cascaded over her shoulders and tickled Harrys arm.
"You look beautiful." He muttered, his voice dry and heavy still with sleep.
She laughed. "Thank you. You look dishevelled."
He sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"Did that help?" she asked.
In truth, Harry felt more exhausted than before but the hopeful look in Daphnes eyes was just…
"Yeah…I feel good." He lied. "Thanks."
"You also look a tiny bit better. Now get a move on or we'll be late."
.
They met up with Ron and Hermione halfway to DADA and explained in hushed tones why he had left. Both were understandably furious.
"These kinds of threats are not like usual gossip! Someone needs to be punished for this!" Hermione growled.
"I bet it was Marietta. She didn't look too happy about Cho smooching up to Harry." Ron muttered.
"She what?" Daphne asked.
"Don't worry, I'm not too happy about it either" harry assured her before turning to Ron and saying "I don't know who it was and I can't just go around accusing people. I'm on thin ice with most people here as it is. If I start a witch-hunt because of one little paper with an insult then they'll like me even less."
Ron kept grumbling but nodded.
The closer they got, more Slytherins appeared.
Harry had to admit though that they'd been more manageable in their attacks lately. Even if Malfoy was gossiping about him in the Slytherin common rooms. Most of the attack and anger and gossip had come from the other houses.
Draco Malfoy…another headache of his.
He spotted Malfoys blonde hair a few meters up ahead. He was walking with Tracy Davis, talking lightly with her.
Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson were walking behind him.
The old posse back together again.
He spared a quick glance at Daphne.
"They're not giving you a hard time, right?" he asked.
She laughed. "They certainly try but Pansy doesn't have the braincells to come up with any smart insults and Tracy keeps to her self mostly. As do most of the upper class-men and while they are no fans of yours, Draco's obsession with you is getting old for most. Don't get me wrong, they don't like you and they don't like me being with you. But they know better than to confront me directly. I outrank them all now that I have this." She said, waggling the fingers of her right hand at him. Right. That thing.
There, sitting smack-dap on her middle finger was the Head of House Sigel ring of house Greengrass. Harry hadn't been able to attend the ceremony during her birthday last summer when she had turned fifteen and ascended to her position as Head of House. As a minor her father would still have a say in some final decisions and until she was finished with school, he would represent her in the Wizengamot and other official bodies of power. But for all intents and purposes, she was now the most powerful person in her family.
"Have you gotten used to it yet?" Ron asked.
"Not really. Its heavy and while it fits perfectly it still feels strange to always wear it." She admitted, examining the ring.
"I think it suits you well." Hermione said with a smile.
Daphne squeezed her hand. "Thanks Hermione."
They entered the classroom without any altercations and sat down.
Every teach had a designated classroom with an adjourned office and generally they were allowed to decorate the room as they saw fit or needed it.
This particular room, the room for DADA, had changed a lot in the last years.
From Quirrell's hot and humid reptile house with its heavy garlic odour, to Lockhart's self-portrait art gallery to Lupins fun exhibition of various creatures and plants and books to fake-Moody's assorted mirror-collection and old chalk-board.
Suffice to say the room had been through a lot.
Now it was…almost barren.
The desks stood in pairs in three neat lines, there was the Professors desk with a bunch of books stacked upon them and a more sophisticated looking chalk-board the hoovered in the air next to it.
The blinds before the windows were half-dimmed and the only decoration was a picture of Minister Fudge on the desk that faced the room.
Harry and his friends weren't the only ones bewildered and confused by the lack of décor and personality in the room.
Nevertheless, they took their seats, waiting for their new Professor.
When Umbridge made her appearance, descending the staircase form her office dressed all in pink, Harry just knew that sooner of later this would not end well. For her.
"Good afternoon children." She said, when she reached the bottom of the stairs.
The class mumbled a half-hearted greeting back at her.
"Now, that won't do. You will stand up when I enter the class and when I greet you, I want all of you to greet me back. Let's try that again. Up you get." Umbridge said, shaking her head in slight disapproval but that tight smile never left her lips.
Harry saw his classmates exchange uncertain looks but they all got up.
"Now, again. Good afternoon children." Umbridge said.
"Good Afternoon Professor Umbridge." Said the class as one.
Umbridge smiled. "That's better. You may be seated."
As they took their places once more, Ron coughed a silent "Mental." In Harrys direction and Harry had to agree.
Umbridge's wand moved and words started to appear on the chalkboard.
"Ordinary Wizard Leven examination. OWLs for short. You will be facing these exams later on in the year. These tests mark the beginnings of a very important part in your school career. Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so and the consequences may be severe."
He quite chuckle was the only sound in the room.
She flicked her wand once more and the stack of books on her desk rose up, breaking of into two separate stacks and travelled down the rows, distributing themselves among the students.
One landed in front of Harry and he slowly picked it up, examining the cover.
"Your previous instructions in the subject have bene disturbingly uneven."
On the cover were two small children in robes and pointy hats, flickering the pages of an enormous book. The title said 'Dark Arts Defence – Basics for Beginners'.
Ron and he exchanged incredulous looks as Hermione and the others started to skim through the pages.
"You will be please to know that from now on you will be following a carefully structured, ministry approved course of defensive magic. Yes?" Umbridge explained, calling on Hermione's raised hand.
"There is nothing in here about how to used these spells." Hermione asked, slightly confused.
"Use spells? My dear, I see no reason why you would use spells in my class."
That made everybody pause.
"We won't be using magic?" Ron asked, clearly hoping for her to contradict him.
"You will be learning about defensive spells in a safe and risk-free environment."
Harry frowned and spoke before thinking.
"What good does that do us, if we get attacked it won't be safe or risk-free."
Umbridge turned her back to him abruptly. "Students will raise their hand in my class before they speak." She said, her nice tone suddenly gone.
Harry raised an eyebrow. Ron had spoken without raising his hand. Talk about double standards.
"It is the believe of the Ministry of Magic that a theoretical approach is all you need to pass your examinations. Which is really all you need them for."
That didn't sit right with Harry either.
"But what good does theoretical knowledge give us when we get attacked out there in the real world and can't defend ourselves?"
Umbridge laughed her horrible high-pitched fake laugh.
"My dear child, who would ever think of attacking you?"
"Oh, I don't know, Lord Voldemort perhaps?" he asked sarcastically.
Daphne who sat behind him kicked the leg of his chair but too late, the words were said.
Dead silence fell over the room.
Umbridge's face had fallen slightly but she recovered quickly.
"Let me make one thing very clear" she whispered but still her words carried through the room "You have bene told to believe that a certain dark wizard has returned. But that. Is. A. Lie."
"It's not a lie, Voldemort is back, I saw it, I was there!" Harry argued, his voice rising slightly.
"Detention Mr. Potter." Umbridge said curtly.
"Oh, so what happened to Cedric an me during the last task of the tournament didn't happen? That's a lie as well?"
"What happened to you and Mr. Diggory was a mistake made by the authorities who handled the portkey. It malfunctioned and set you and Mr. Diggory to the wrong place. You were both hurt and had bene bitten by spiders whose venom made the both of you hallucinate the events that you say transpired." Umbridge explained, her voice now even higher and full of embrittled anger.
"Hallucinated? We were attacked by Peter Pettigrew. You saw that on the Seeing-Eye-Orbs!" Harry shot back.
"There was there to see!" Umbridge shouted, losing more and more of her composure.
"We fought Pettigrew!"
"ENOUGH!"
Harry was slightly taken aback by the fact that she had actually screamed at him.
She too seemed to realize her actions because she fell back to her giggly self.
"Detention, Mr. Potter. Friday night, in my office."
Then she turned around and resumed her lesson as if nothing had happened.
.
.
.
Wednesday
.
"Mr. Finnegan remember intent is foundation for every spell in Transfiguration. You must make your intent clear which is why it is important to clear your mind and envision your goals as clearly as possible. So please, do us all a favour and stop thinking about explosives! I don't think I can explain to the headmaster yet again why I need another desk in my classroom and why one of my students again is in the hospital wing with no eyebrows."
Ron sniggered and Harry too managed a faint smile.
It was Wednesday morning and their first lesson of the day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. They were revising stuff from last year for which Harry was grateful.
His nights were becoming shorter and his nightmares longer.
He was considering asking Hermione if she could brew him a dreamless sleep potion. After all, the girl had brewed harder potions before. But she would ask questions if he did and he didn't feel like getting into deep about his strange dreams that weren't strictly speaking nightmares. What was so scary about endless hallways and closed doors and beaches anyway?
Or maybe it was the sense of foreboding that made him so tense and unable to fall asleep.
"Harry concentrate! Didn't you hear what Professor McGonagall just said?" Hermione hissed, elbowing him in the side.
He winced. "What? Oh, no, sorry Hermione. What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything. But you need to stop spacing out and concentrate on your work. Look!"
She pointed at the stone he was supposed to transform into a pocket watch.
It was quivering and kept changing rapidly between its stone form and its pocket watch form.
Hastily waved his wand.
"Finite Incantatem." The pocket watch became a stone once more.
"Try again. Concentrate." Hermione said encouragingly.
Harry nodded, pictures the pocket watch in his mind and muttered the spell.
There was a loud 'CRACK' and the stone broke in two.
All eyes turned on him and he saw McGonagall approach.
"Potter, Granger, what is going on here?"
Then her gaze fell on the broken stone.
"What happened?"
"I tried to transform the stone into a pocket watch and it…kind of broke I think?" Harry explained quietly.
McGonagall picked up the two pieces of the stone and examined them.
Suddenly her from lifted and was replaced by surprise.
"No Potter. You didn't break it. Look."
She showed him the broken stone and then started to…break away pieces of it?
Like she was peeling an egg or something, Professor McGonagall started to break away more pieces of the stone until…
"Is that a pocket-watch inside the stone?" Ron asked.
"It most certainly is Mr. Weasley. Everybody: Mr. Potter has just managed to do something hat usually takes years of mastery. A permanent transformation."
A whisper went through the room and McGonagall continued explaining.
"As you have already learned not all spells, especially in transfiguration are permanent. While some can last several centuries, others are more short-lived. That is especially true when transforming inanimate objects into living objects and vice versa. The nature of an object cannot be denied. It can be temporarily changed and influenced. Only in some cases can a transformation be permanent. That is usually the case when transforming something inanimate into a different inanimate thing of the same size, proportion, weight and material and some other factors. A permanent transformation is characterized by a couple of things but two of them we just witnessed. A loud noise accompanying the transformation and what is describes as 'the birth effect' in which the permanent Transfiguration is 'birthed' from the object it was transformed from. In this case the watch inside the stone."
She finished peeling the watch and examined it.
"It's not working but I wouldn't have expected it too. As I said, to master this takes years."
She placed it in front of Harry.
"Still, impressive Potter. It seems you might have inherited your father's talents for this particular field of magic after all. Keep it up. Twenty Points for Gryffindor."
She turned around and resumed the lesson.
Harry stared at the pocket-watch on his desk. It wasn't fancy or anything and still had a distinct stone-like colour and texture.
The three clock-hands were permanently frozen in place.
The hour-hand stood on twelve. The minute-hand on two and the hand for the seconds on ten.
"How did you do that Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I have no idea." Harry replied honestly and pocketed the watch.
.
The rest of the day passed by and soon Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, staring into the fireplace as around him his fellow Gryffindors settled down for the night.
The warmth of the fireplace seemed into his bones. The low hum of voices was a nice white noise and he actually found himself relaxing for once.
"Let's go to bed mate. You look ready to drop." Ron suggested.
"Mhm." Harry muttered, just so managing to keep his eyes open.
They said goodnight to Hermione at the bottom of the stairs and went up to their dorm.
The other boys were already getting ready for bed.
Seamus kept ignoring Harry but Dean nodded at him and he and Neville exchanged a couple of words before he went into the bathroom.
When he came back out, he noticed the sudden flow of cold air in the room and saw that the window was open and Dean, who was trying to approach the owl sitting on the windowsill outside.
"What's going on?"
"Evening mail has arrived." Neville said "But it won't let us take the letter."
Just then the owl snapped at Dean and Dean retreated hastily. "You try." He muttered. "it already bit me once."
Harry eyes the owl curiously.
It reminded him of Hedwig but it was bigger and had more dark specks in its coat.
It flapped its wings and this time Harry recognized the pouch on its leg and the stamp on the letter. "Oh, it's for me, sorry guys."
He approached the owl, who in turn held out its leg with the pouch, waiting for payment. He paid the owl like its colleague before it yesterday and in return he got the letter.
"Is it from Sirius?" Ron asked as he changed into his pyjamas.
"No. It's from Gina." Harry muttered. "Which is strange because she just wrote me yesterday.
He unfolded the paper and scanned the lines.
"Harry, no time for chit-chat. My mom got a call that your friend is gone from the safe-house. She must have left sometime during the night. At least they think she left. But we can't rule out that maybe she was taken. Nobody saw or heard anything though. And all her stuff is still there. We've called the police but they said there's nothing they can do right now. We tried to tell Sirius but nobody's home. So I thought you could maybe tell him any maybe he could come here and talk to the police with us? Hope you're doing okay. Love Gina."
"What is it?" Ron asked. Harry handed him the letter. Ron read it and then let out a low whistle. "That is not good." He whispered.
"Why would she leave?" Harry muttered back.
"Maybe because she is not actually on our side and not actually on our side. If you ask me, she got cold feet and ran back to her Deatheater-husband."
Harry shook his head. "I really don't believe that Ron!"
Ron sighed, long and heavily.
"Harry, mate. Your ability to always see the best in people is technically a good thing. But don't go searching for the good in people, who clearly have none. It will get you or someone else killed. Narcissa leaving…the only reason for her to do something like that is if she's leaving a sinking ship."
"I get that Ron but you didn't see her, you didn't see what she looked like."
"She's a double agent. Like Snape. Only less successful. She's playing you."
Harry chewed on his lip.
It was suspicious.
He searched opened the box on his nightstand where he kept his letters and searched for the parchment, he and Narcissa used to talk. There was nothing new written on there.
"Look, its late. We'll talk with Sirius and Andy tomorrow, maybe they have an idea what we can do." Ron offered as he slid under the covers of his bed.
Knowing that there was nothing he could do right now, Harry sighed as well, put the parchment back and turned in as well.
.
Rain. Darkness. Endless hallways. A hand. An orb. Beaches. Hallways again. Dark figures appearing out of nowhere. "Tonight.". Darkness. Darkness. Water. Flashes of bright green. A lone cloaked figure standing alone. The flash of a bracelet. More rain. "It's time.".
.
Harry woke with a start and the puzzle pieces arranged themselves to a complete picture before he was even fully awake.
Tonight. The break-out was happening tonight. That's why Narcissa had left. She knew. She was there, at Dead Mans beach. She was the lone figure. He'd seen the bracelet on her before. She was somehow trying to warn him.
He got out of bed and was at Ron's side in a flash.
"Ron, wake up!" he hissed, shaking his friends' shoulder.
Ron startled awake. "Blimey mate, what's wrong?" he slurred.
"It's tonight. Ron, wake up the attack on Azkaban, it's tonight! Get up, we have to go!" Harry urged him.
That woke Ron up. He sat up and swung his legs out of his bed.
"What? How do you know?" he asked, worry and fear leaking through his voice.
"I've had these dreams and visions for weeks now but only yesterday did I start to see Narcissa and a beach and now with Gina's letter…I know it sounds flimsily at best but Narcissa is trying to tell me that the attack is tonight. That's why she left!"
"Dream? Visions? Harry, I hate to be the one but that's…not…"
"I know what it sounds like but Ron I would never lie to you about something as important as this. I am sure. I swear it to you on my magic. It's real, it's happening. We have to go!"
Maybe it was his tone, maybe his vow, maybe both but Ron nodded and got up.
They got dressed in record time and grabbed their wands.
Harry tossed Ron one of his spare dragon-hide jackets.
It wasn't much but where they were going, they could use all the protection they could get their hands on. He also gave him one of the spare wands he had nicked form the attic at Grimmauld place.
They were about to leave the dorm when Neville sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Where are you going?" he muttered confused.
"I'm sorry Neville, we can't tell." Harry whispered. "Go back to bed."
"Will you hex me again if I don't?" Neville grumbled.
"Probably." Ron said, slightly apologetically.
"There's no convincing you otherwise, right?"
"No."
"Then at least stay safe."
"We'll try." Harry said.
"Thanks, though Neville." said Ron.
"How do we get Hermione? We can't go up the to the girl's dorms." Ron asked as they hurried down the stairs.
"Don't worry, Sirius told me how to get past the alarm. He and my dad used to sneak up there all the time when they were at school. It's actually really simple, all you need is a broom."
He reached into his pocket where he had stored the shrunken down version of his firebolt.
He enlarged it and together they flew up the staircase without any alarms going off.
They settled down before the Fifth Year Gryffindor dorms and carefully Harry opened the door.
It was dark inside but from what he could make out the room was pretty much identical to their own dorm.
They scanned the bed and headed for the desk with the most books.
Hermione was deep asleep, a book still resting on her stomach.
Gently, Harry shook her shoulder.
She blinked once, twice then saw them and flinched.
She opened her mouth but Harry pressed a finger to his lips and then whispered.
"It's us. Hermione you have to get up. The attack is happening tonight. Do you hear me? The attack on Azkaban is tonight. We have to leave!"
Her eyes widened and she nodded.
"I'll meet you downstairs." She whispered.
They nodded and left the girls dormitory.
Hermione joined them only a minute later, dressed in normal clothes and her hair tied up tightly.
They were alone in the common room but still they kept their voices low.
"What do we do? What's the plan?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Call Sirius to get the Order ready and then make our way towards Dead Mans Beach."
"They will never let us go." Hermione objected.
"Well, there's not much they can do about, is there? They are in London, we're here and way closer than them." Harry explained as he handed her the same wand, she had used during their last meeting with Narcissa.
"What about Dumbledore? We have to tell him." Hermione whispered. "He'd try to stop us if he were to listen. Also, he's not in the castle. Look." He unfolded the Marauders Map and muttered: "Show me Albus Dumbledore."
Nothing happened.
"Show me Minerva McGonagall."
Nothing happened.
"Show me Ginny Weasley." Immediately the dot labelled 'Ginny Weasley' started blinking on the map. "They're not here. Neither are Flitwick, Pomfrey and Snape. May guess? Order meeting or something like that." Harry explained.
He pulled out the two-way-mirror Sirius had gifted him and said loud and clearly: "Sirius Black."
For a couple of second they only saw their own reflection but then the surface went black and then Sirius face appeared.
He looked haggard and his hair was wild and there was a lot of noise in the background.
"Harry? Pup, what's going on, why are you calling so late?" Sirius asked worriedly.
"Sirius, we don't have much time. Is the Order at Grimmauld Place?"
Sirius frowned. "How did you know?"
"Doesn't matter. Sirius, the attack on Azkaban its tonight, it might be happening as we're speaking. You need to get everybody going and get to Azkaban Port!"
Sirius face fell and something like realization dawned on him before it was replaced by a grim expression.
"You picked on hell of a timing kid. Yeah, the Order is here. But that is because we just got word from Snape that the Deatheaters are planning a raid on a muggle village in Bristol. We're getting ready to intercept and are about to leave."
"You can't! Sirius, it's clearly a distraction! A red herring! For Merlin's sake, they cannot go there!" Harry said, panicking slightly.
Sirius looked even grimmer. "I can try." Then he looked past the mirror and shouted: "Kingsley! Alastor! Wait! It's a distraction!"
And the image on the mirrors surface changed and then Harry could see the entire kitchen of Grimmauld place and the gathered people there.
"Harry? Ron? Hermione? What is going on?" Remus asked.
"They know the Order is operating again. They want to distract you so you won't even think of coming near Port Azkaban. You can't go!" Harry explained as fast as he could.
"And leave all those innocent people to die? Not very heroic Potter." came the sneering voice of Snape from the side.
There stood Snape, Moody, Kingsley and another wizard Harry didn't know.
"Azkaban should be our greater concern." he said through gritted teeth.
"But you don't make the decisions here Potter." Snape hissed back.
"If we save the muggles it won't mean anything because the Deatheaters that will be let lose will kill and torture other muggles if given the chance." Ron objected.
"You want us to abandon people in need on the whim that there might be a prison break in Azkaban?" scoffed the unknown wizard.
By now Harrys patience was running thin and anger started boiling up inside of him. They were wasting precious time.
"It's not a whim." He growled.
"You want us to believe the word of Narcissa Malfoy. Sorry if that doesn't fill me with confidence."
"I'm sorry, who are you and why should I care? And where is Dumbledore?" Harry asked angrily.
The man looked slightly taken aback for a second and Harry could hear Ron trying very hard to stifle a chuckle.
"Thaddeus Thickens. I am an Auror and a veteran. And Dumbledore left Kingsley in charge because he is at the ICW meeting in Stockholm." The man said sharply.
"Yeah, well, I don't know you, so I don't care." Harry said bitingly, returning his attention to Kingsley and the others.
"Letting Deatheaters escape can't be in your favour! Dumbledore wouldn't do it! We need all the people we can get to stop them. We don't know with how big a number the Deatheaters will strike. You can't go to the muggle village. As much as it pains me to say… …we can't let the Deatheaters succeed. If we have to sacrifice the muggles…then we have too."
"Harry, every life is worth saving." Kingsley said gently.
"I'm not saying they are not worth it" Harry said heatedly "But these are convicted Deatheaters were talking about, the worst of the worst!"
"Azkaban is impenetrable!" Thickens protested.
"That's what they said about ancient Troy. Also, Sirius escaped from there and that was without any outside help." Hermione threw in.
"Why are we even listening to these children?" Thickens asked.
Harry turned to Sirius.
"You said you were with me, that you would follow me. Please Sirius, I'm telling the truth. I am one hundred percent certain!"
Sirius nodded.
"Don't worry pup. I'm with you. But I can't force the others to come."
Harry sagged.
Sirius was right.
"Sirius, we need you. And every other member. We don't know what to expect." Thickens growled.
"My family will always come first. If my son needs me, I'll be there." Sirius said strongly.
"Touching Black, really. But what if Potter is wrong? He usually is."
"Shut up Snivellus." Sirius spat.
"Taking the cowards way out as usual. So predictable." Snape gave his worst condescending smile, then turned around and left.
Kingsley lowered his head. "I'm sorry Harry. But I will go with them to the village." Then he too left.
"If it is a distraction, then I will come and help. I promise Potter." Moody said, nodding at them before leaving.
Harry turned to Tonks. "What about you?" he asked dully.
"He might be my boss during the day time" she said, nodding to where Kingsley had stood "But not during the night-time. Sirius is right. Family comes first for me too."
"For me as well."
Andromeda appeared in the frame.
"Mum, you can't come." Tonks protested.
"And pray tell why?" her mother asked.
"Because you are old, you could get hurt!" her daughter explained.
"Thank you dear. But that's not up to you." Andy pointed out.
"We'll take care of it Harry. Don't worry."
"Narcissa is there. She'll be waiting. She'll help." Harry added.
The grown-ups hesitated but then Andy nodded. "We'll see." She said gently. "Try to go to sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk again."
Sirius nodded. "She is right. Stay at Hogwarts. There's nothing you can do to help anyway." He said.
"Stay safe." Harry said.
The mirror went blanc and then they could only see their own faces.
"We're not staying here, right?" Ron asked.
Harry scoffed. "Of course not, they need all the help they can get now that the rest of the order doing exactly what the Deatheaters want them to do."
"Then how do we get to Azkaban?" Ron asked.
"Thestrals."
Seeing their confused look, he added: "I'll explain on the way. First, we have to get Daphne." He turned back to the Marauders Map.
"It's late enough that the prefects, the head boy and head girl will have made their rounds. That leaves Filch and two other teachers."
They scanned the map.
"There. Trelawney is on the eighth floor by the Ravenclaws." Hermione pointed out. "So no worries there."
"And Vector by the charms classrooms. If we hurry, we won't encounter any of them." Ron added.
"What about the ghosts though?" Hermione muttered.
"That's a risk we'll have to take. Besides, Peeves is the only real risk. And he's wreaking havoc in the library as it seems." Harry said.
"How do you plan on getting inside the common room and their dorms?" Ron asked.
"I have a plan. Not sure it'll work but we have to try."
.
They made their way to the dungeons without any complications. Only once did they almost cross paths with a ghost but they were too preoccupied and the portraits were all asleep.
They reached the blanc piece of wall that was the entrance to the common room and stopped there.
"What now?" Hermione asked anxiously as she looked around as if she waited for Snape to step out of the shadows.
"Dumbledore said that if you ever in need of help, Hogwarts would help you. You only had to ask."
Harry closed his eyes and concentrated.
A lot of historians agreed that the castle of Hogwarts was at least partially sentient from all the magic it was exposed too. But they argued on how much it was.
Harry could say enough for her to open up the doorway that let towards the Slytherin Common room.
"No way." Ron breathed.
"How did you do that?" Hermione asked.
"I just asked. Now come on, we can't lose any time."
After they got in, finding Daphne's dorm and getting her up and going was the smallest challenge.
As the four of them hurried along, Harry explained what was going on.
Daphne was pale and silent but she nodded.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked as they hurried through the darkened halls towards the entrance.
"Is there anyone on your end we can get to come and help us?" he asked.
She hesitated.
"I know it's a lot to ask, especially on such short notice but… we need every wand."
"That's not it. You know my family will fight for you until the end. But…now that I am Head of House I need to think about the future of my house and…while I love you and stand behind you…I cannot put them all in this kind of danger. I can activate a distress signal through my ring but…It would go out to everybody who is of age and if they came and ran straight into a trap…" she shook her head "Harry I don't know if I can do that."
"It's your decision. I'm not forcing you to do anything. I respect any decision you make. If it's not manpower, that's alright. But you also once said your grandfather was a former head of the DMLE. Do you know anything about Azkaban? What we have to expect? Anything we can use as an advantage?"
She nodded. "Azkaban has several defence mechanisms that make it such a safe place and almost impossible to escape. The first is that you can only get there and away again by boat. The boats have special magical charms that allow them to pass through the barrier around the prison-island and only at one specific point. If you try anywhere else to get through, you'll just keep on driving past it. And if you try to pass through it from inside anywhere but the passage way you'll end up back at the island, no matter what. I don't think the Deatheaters will have the time nor the know-how to dismantle such a complex guard system quickly enough so they'll need a ship to get in and then back out." Daphne explained.
"But only the head of the DMLE can order the ships to leave the pocket dimensions where they are stored. Maybe they won't get a ship. Maybe we can stop them there." Ron suggested.
"They will have thought of that. You can bet they have found a way to get one of the ships. Otherwise they wouldn't launch the attack." Harry objected.
"Can they use the ship to sail away?" Hermione asked.
"No, the ships are bound to drive the same rout back and forth. They cannot stray from that path."
Harry nodded.
"What else?" he asked.
"Azkaban Port has a two-mile disapparating and portkey block in all direction including up and down. When the ship gets there, they have to leave that zone first somehow before they can make a run for it. I think that's our greatest advantage."
"But it also means that we're trapped in there with them." Hermione pointed out.
"Yes." Daphne admitted.
They reached the entrance and ran outside, across the courtyard and down the path to Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest.
"On a different note, where are we going?" Ron asked. "You said something about Thestrals?"
"Remember when Luna was missing a few weeks ago, I went looking for her and then we came back a few hours later?" Harry asked.
"Hard to forget, Hermione had a meltdown because she thought she had to tell Sirius that we somehow had lost you in the woods." Ron replied.
Harry couldn't see what Hermione did because of the darkness around them but he heard Ron yelp.
"You were scared too." Hermione grumbled.
"Anyway, I told you how Luna and I went to Godrics Hollow, yes? Well, remember the dead-horse-creatures I mentioned. Those are the Thestrals. Luna told me there was a herd that lived in the Forbidden Forest that she had befriended. They can take us to Azkaban Port."
"But these creatures don't know us, what if they are not so friendly?" Daphne asked sceptically.
"Don't worry, I have a feeling they are already waiting for us." Harry muttered.
He was right.
At the edge of the forest, just out of sight of the castle, stood a lone bare-footed figure.
"Luna?" Daphne asked concerned as they approached.
"Hello friends. I saw you coming and I thought I might feed them before you fly to Azkaban Island. It's a long flight after all." She said airily in her sing-song voice.
"Thank you, Luna." Harry said gently, placing a grateful hand on her shoulder. "Where are…" he asked but just in that moment the Thestrals melted from the shadows, stepping into the open air.
There were four of them, all grown and magnificent in their own horrible way.
"Oh…there they are…Hello." He finished.
"I don't see anything." Ron muttered.
"They can only be seen by people who have seen death." Harry explained. "Who's first?" he then added with a slight smile.
.
He and Luna helped the others onto their rides. Harry could see how nervous it made them not seeing what they were sitting on.
As Harry settled onto his own ride Luna stepped up to him.
"I could come with you." She offered.
Harry shook his head. "No. You are of more value here for me. If anyone asks where we are just make something up. If all goes well, we'll be back tomorrow night. If McGonagall asks, you can tell her the truth. Tell her to contact Dumbledore. Stay save."
"You too Harry. All of you."
Harry nodded and spurred on his steed.
The Thestral started galloping across the open space along the edge of the woods, the other three following it and within seconds they were rising into the air and disappearing in the clouds.
.
.
Harry knew their plan was stupid.
It wasn't even worth being called a plan.
Go there, stop the Deatheaters from escaping and if possible, stall them long enough for the Ministry to arrive.
The ride was hard.
The wind tore at them, trying to knock them of the Thestrals.
Minutes into their journey rain soaked them through to the bones and it was hard to put on the necessary charms to stay dry and warm. They should have thought of that beforehand.
Daphne was in the lead because she knew where Azkaban Port was.
It wasn't a long flight, the Thestrals were fast as Harry already knew.
Soon, much too soon for his liking they began to descend and a nervous chill settle dover him.
He hadn't fought since…well…since the graveyard.
What if he wasn't on top of his game?
Stupid question, he knew he wasn't on top of his game.
What if he had acted too rash? Maybe they should have stayed at Hogwarts?
He was putting his friends lives at stake! He hadn't even given them the chance to say no!
He was a rotten friend.
His hand flew to his necklace, the one Chao had given him as a parting gift in Cambodia and to which he had added the Horntails spike and the 'gift of four' the magic necklace that granted him one-time use over the elements. Though three out of four had already been used. Two of them fighting Voldemort in the graveyard. He didn't like thinking about it but the necklace always reminded him of some of the angers he had already conquered and it never failed to give him courage.
His focus shifted, when the clouds broke before them and the spares light from the moon and stars gave sight to high cliffs, a ragged stone beach and black water.
For a second Harry thought they had made it in time.
But then a bolt of red light broke the darkness of the night and out on the sea a dark shape appeared from the gloom.
A ship.
And then there were more burst of multi-coloured lights right down there on the beach that quickly grew and grew.
The closer they got; the more Harry could make out.
He didn't like what he saw.
A group of cloaked figures was descending on a smaller group of people and even from up here he could make out Sirius's voice.
The fight had already begun.