"What?" Hermione exclaimed while Anna felt her heart fly into her throat.
"How d'you-?"
"Saw it. Just now." Harry interrupted Ron to explain. "When I fell asleep in the exam."
"B-but…how?" Anna forced herself to ask. "Where?"
"I dunno how." Harry admitted. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven…He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there…He's torturing him…Says he'll end by killing him…"
Anna swallowed thickly, feeling her heart pound in her chest as she took in the fact that Harry's voice was shaking, his face pale with a light sheen of sweat.
"W-what are we going to do?" she found herself whispering, feeling her eyes prick with scared tears. She couldn't lose her dad. Not now, after everything they'd been through.
"We have to get there." Harry stated, looking thoughtfully at his feet.
"G-get there?" Ron repeated after a moment of silence, stuttering nervously.
"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius." Harry explained as if it were obvious.
"But-Harry…" Ron tried weakly.
"What? What?" Harry demanded, looking between the three of them. Ron and Hermione were gaping at him like he'd lost it, but Anna just looked lost, like she couldn't keep up with what was happening.
"Well,…it just doesn't make sense, Harry!" Hermione insisted. "I mean, how would they have gotten in to the Department of Mysteries. And why would Voldemort use Sirius to get to the weapon, or whatever this thing is?"
"I don't know. There could be lots of reasons!" Harry insisted, barely keeping himself from shouting and gaining the attention of the Seventh years below them in the entrance hall.
"Hey, I just thought of something." Ron spoke up. "Sirius's brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon."
"But there's no proof of any of this!" Hermione insisted desperately.
"Hermione, Harry's seen them!" Ron pointed out, rounding on her.
"Anna, back me up here!" Hermione turned to the other girl desperately.
Anna swallowed thickly, looking between Hermione and Harry silently for a long moment before her eyes fixed on Harry.
"You said Voldemort was torturing him?" she asked quietly, her breathing shaky.
Harry nodded quickly. "Yes! That's why we need to go and save him, NOW." he insisted desperately.
"But Harry," Hermione interrupted again, "what if he's just trying to lure you to the Department of Mysteries, like he did when he took Ginny into the Chamber of Secrets! He knows you'll rush to save Sirius."
"So what? It doesn't matter if he's doing this just to get to me!" Harry argued. "With McGonagall in St. Mungo's, there's no one from the Order left at Hogwarts that can help us! And if we don't go, Sirius will be killed!"
"What's going on?"
The four arguing teens stopped when Ginny and Luna appeared next to them at the top of the stairs. Ginny had been the one to speak.
"Never you mind." Harry told her roughly.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "There's no need to take that tone with me." she told him coolly. "I was only wondering if I could help."
"Well, you can't." he told her shortly.
"You're being rather rude, you know." Luna told him calmly.
Harry swore under his breath, looking away from the two girls.
"Wait," Hermione said suddenly, "Harry, they can help." she insisted. When Harry, Ron, and Anna looked curiously at her, she continued, "Harry, we need to make sure that Sirius is in danger-"
"I've told you, I saw-"
"Harry, I'm begging you, please!" Hermione begged desperately. "Let's just check that Sirius isn't at home or at headquarters before we go charging off to London. If we find out he's not there then I won't stop you. I'll come with you, and I'll do whatever it takes to save him-"
"And how are we going to check?" Harry demanded angrily.
"We could use Umbridge's fireplace like we did last time." Anna spoke up for the first time on her own. Her shakiness was starting to abate, being replaced with a desperate desire to know that her dad was safe.
"Yes, we can do that!" Hermione agreed. "But we'll need to draw Umbridge away, and we'll need lookouts. That's where Ginny and Luna would come in."
Despite not knowing the full story, Ginny was quick to voice her agreement. "Yeah, we can do that."
"Okay." Harry agreed aggressively. "Okay, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now-"
"The Department of Mysteries?" Luna repeated in shock. "But how are you going to get there?"
Everyone seemed to ignore her.
"Right, well," Hermione spoke again, twisting her hands together as she thought everything over, "someone has to go and find Umbridge and-and send her off in the wrong direction, keep her away from her office. They could tell her-I don't know-that Peeves if up to something awful…"
"I'll do it." Anna and Ron spoke up at the same time before looking at each other.
"You could go find Umbridge and tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department, since it's miles from her office." Anna suggested, "If I mention the twins, I might be able to convince him to actually do it, if I can find him…"
"Okay." Hermione agreed when Ron nodded. "Now we need to keep students away from her office while we force entry, or some Slytherin is bound to tip her off…"
"Luna and I can stand at either end of the corridor," Ginny suggested, "and warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garroting Gas." Hermione looked surprised at how quickly Ginny came up with that cover story, but Anna had an idea.
"Did you get that from Fred and George?" Anna asked. "Because we never got around to pulling that one off."
"Yep." Ginny nodded with a small grin.
"Okay," Hermione continued, "well, then, Harry, you and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak, and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius-"
"He's not there, Hermione!" Harry snapped.
"I mean, you can-can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone."
"…Okay, thanks." Harry finally muttered.
"Okay, so should we go?" Anna asked hurriedly.
"Now?" Hermione asked, looking shocked.
"Of course now!" Harry exclaimed angrily. "What did you think, we're going to wait until after dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!"
"But-your NEWT." Hermione tried, looking over at Anna, who glanced over her shoulder where her classmates were just entering the Great Hall.
"…I'll be late, but it'll be fine. This is more important. If Harry's right, my dad could be in danger." Anna decided firmly.
"Oh…alright." Hermione gave in. "You go and get your Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, okay?"
Harry didn't bother to answer, he just spun around and bolted down the corridor.
"Anna!"
Looking over her shoulder and down the stairs, she saw Angelina and Alicia waiting in the entrance hall, waving her down. Almost all the other seventh years had disappeared into the Great Hall.
Unable to find words to describe what she was doing, Anna swallowed thickly, shook her head at them, and hurried away with Hermione and the others.
Said bookworm was looking at her from the corner of her eye as they fast-walked.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hermione asked doubtfully. "I mean,…don't you need your History of Magic NEWT to get the job you want?"
Anna looked down at her feet as they walked. "Look, if this goes well, we'll be done in about ten to fifteen minutes, then I'll run back to the Great Hall and start my exam late. If I can't take it,…maybe I can explain this to McGonagall and see if she can pull some strings…if she gets out of the hospital wing. Worst case scenario…I won't get the NEWT, I won't get that job, and I'll work at the twins' shop. Which wouldn't be that bad, really. I'd love to work at the shop with them. But my dad is far more important than some job."
Hermione didn't look convinced, but let the subject drop.
The group was waiting huddled together at the end of Umbridge's corridor, deciding shortly that if they saw Umbridge coming they'd sing a loud chorus of 'Weasley is our King'. Harry joined them soon after.
"Got it." he panted when he reached them. "Ready to go, then?"
"Alright." Hermione whispered as a group of sixth years passed them. "So, Anna, you try to find Peeves and get him to destroy the Transfiguration department. Ron, go head Umbridge off…Ginny and Luna, if you can start moving people out of the corridor. Harry and I will get the cloak on and wait until the coast is clear…"
Anna walked off with Ron at her side, both moving among the other students at a fast pace.
"So, where do you think Peeves could be?" Ron asked after a moment.
Anna chewed her lip for a moment. "Honestly?…I have no clue. He could be anywhere in the school, doing anything. He can fly through walls. How am I supposed to find him?"
"Don't know. What if you can't find him before I find Umbridge?" Ron asked.
Anna sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We'll just have to lie to Umbridge. I mean, she'll have to go running to the Transfiguration department either way because she knows no other Professors are going to help her."
"True."
They only had the chance to search for Peeves for about ten minutes before they ran into Umbridge walking down the corridor with her little clipboard.
"Headmistress!" Ron exclaimed in a fairly convincingly worried voice.
"May I help you with something?" Umbridge asked warily, even though she attempted to hide it behind her sugary smile as she glanced between the two of them.
"Yes! Peeves is destroying the Transfiguration department!" Ron exclaimed hurriedly.
"He's trashing everything." Anna added, hoping that would hurry Umbridge along.
Umbridge looked between them slowly for a few moments before saying, "Well, I better go see about that."
Ron and Anna nodded quickly, not moving until Umbridge slowly turned and walked in the other direction. They waited a second before turning and walking back toward Umbridge's office.
"So, out of curiosity, why did you volunteer to do this?" Ron asked when they were out of earshot. "I would've thought you'd want to be with Harry, to see for sure that your dad is fine."
Anna thought about it for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. I guess, part of me is almost scared to know. Plus, we only need one person to check, and Hermione will make sure Harry double-checks that my dad is actually in danger. This way, I can do something helpful that may take my mind off the fact that my dad might be being tortured by Voldemort."
Ron nodded in understanding and they remained mostly quiet as they hurried back to Umbridge's office. When they reached the corridor her office was in, they found Ginny at one end of the corridor, and Luna at the other. Other than that, the corridor was completely cleared of people.
"Nice job." Anna complimented them with a small smile. "Fred and George would be so proud." she added teasingly.
Ginny laughed. "Thanks. So, you found Peeves and Umbridge?"
"Um, well, we found Umbridge. We couldn't find Peeves, but we told Umbridge the cover story." Anna admitted.
"Well, that should be good enough." Ginny agreed just before her eyes shifted to look between Anna and Ron's shoulders. "Uh, we've got company."
Anna and Ron turned to looked over their shoulders, and found several members of the Inquisitorial Squad approaching them looking particularly arrogant. Turning around to face them, Anna and Ron stepped to stand in line with Ginny between them.
"Unless you lot want to walk right into a cloud of Garroting Gas and suffocate, I suggest you take a different route." Ginny warned seriously.
"Oh, really?" Malfoy asked with a haughty tone as he stopped right in front of Ginny, his little gang of Slytherins fanning out around him and facing the three Gryffindors down. Anna recognized Malfoy, Warrington, and one of Malfoy's little henchmen Crabbe, but couldn't put names to some of the others. "That actually sounds like something you lot would pull off as a joke. Why would you suddenly try to stop us from walking right into this supposed gas?"
"Well, I suppose a few less Slytherins around would be a relief." Ginny noted thoughtfully.
Crabbe and a couple of the girls looked nervous, but Malfoy and Warrington weren't buying it.
"Nice try." Malfoy sneered. "But we're under orders to bring you lot in."
"'In' where?" Anna asked. "We aren't doing anything wrong."
"That remains to be seen." Warrington countered. "And aren't you supposed to be taking your History of Magic NEWT?" he added to Anna.
"I'd ask you the same, but you probably failed your History of Magic OWL." she countered. Just then, she glanced past them and saw a flash of pink. Her eyes widened and she nudged Ginny with her elbow.
Umbridge was waddling quickly toward them.
Ginny glanced at Anna and opened her mouth.
"WEASL-"
Malfoy waved his wand and gags covered Ron, Ginny, and Anna's mouths. Then, the Slytherins rushed them. A large Slytherin guy Anna didn't know grabbed her wrists, slamming her backward and into a wall. She struggled, and saw the others doing the same. Umbridge waddled right past them giving them all a contemptuous glance as she hurried for her office. Anna looked for Luna and saw that one of the Slytherin girls had grabbed her.
Anna lifted her knee and managed to catch the guy's gut. He loosened his grip and she yanked her hand down to grab her wand from her school robes. But the guy grabbed her wrist, squeezing until Anna whimpered. He then yanked it from her and stuffed it into his own robes.
"Hey-"
Anna looked past the Slytherin guy's shoulder to see Neville attacking Warrington, who had been trying to subdue Ginny. With Warrington distracted by the new arrival, one of the large Slytherin girls grabbed Ginny and grappled with her for a few moments. Crabbe had to step in and help subdue Neville, who was putting up a surprising amount of fight.
After they'd all been restrained, the large Slytherin who had Anna dragged her by the hair down the corridor. She could hear the scuffle of the others being forced, as well, and knew they were all being dragged along. They went up the stairs and entered Umbridge's office. Anna lifted her head to see what was happening, even though she couldn't straighten her back because the guy was holding her hair closer to the height of his ribs.
Malfoy was leaning against the window, smirking and repeatedly tossing a wand in the air. Hermione was being pinned to the wall by Millicent. Harry was on the ground by Umbridge's desk, while the old toad herself glared down at him.
The other Slytherins followed them into the office, each holding someone captive. Anna caught a glimpse of poor Neville's red face, as he was being held in a stranglehold by Crabbe.
"Got 'em all." Warrington announced as he shoved Ron roughly into the room. "That one," he pointed at Neville, "tried to stop me taking her," he then pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the massive Slytherin girl who was holding her, "so I brought him along, too."
"Good, good." Umbridge responded, watching Ginny struggle for a moment. "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"
Malfoy laughed loudly and Anna gritted her teeth, wishing she could hit one of them. She settled for kicking her heel into the shin of the Slytherin holding her. He cursed under his breath and yanked on her hair, making her head jerk painfully.
"So, Potter." Umbridge continued, looking back down at Harry. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent these buffoons," she nodded to Ron and Anna, "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so." Anna closed her eyes, guilt surging through her. It had been her job to find Peeves and she didn't.
"Clearly, is was very important for you to talk so somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone…"
Several of the Slytherins laughed at that, and Anna felt pure rage flood her veins. She jerked in the Slytherin boy's hold, almost ripping hair from her own scalp as she threw her fists into him. He grunted and tried to subdue her again. Eventually, one of the Slytherin girls had to reach over and punch Anna in the stomach. The air was knocked out of her, buying the guy time to slam her into the wall next to Hermione, pinning her there.
During the struggle, Harry must've said something, probably refusing to tell Umbridge what he'd been doing, because by the time she started paying attention again, Malfoy was leaving the room to do something. But she hadn't been paying attention to hear what.
Anna glanced around, trying to catch one of the others' eyes, but they were also struggling a bit in their captors' hold. Ron's lip had started bleeding at some point, probably from being punched or something. Ginny was still trying to stomp on the Slytherin girl's feet while the taller girl held both Ginny's upper arms in a death grip. Neville was pulling at Crabbe's arm, trying to free his neck as his face continued to turn purple. Hermione was trying to throw Millicent off her, but it was pointless given the other girl's massive size. Luna was just standing there, gazing out the window.
Finally, after several minutes of silence apart from their struggles, footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. Anna turned her head in time to see Malfoy return, followed by Snape.
"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" Snape asked, gazing indifferently around at all the struggling students.
"Ah, Professor Snape." Umbridge smiled widely at him. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."
Anna's eyes went wide and shot toward Hermione, and then Harry in horror.
"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter." Snape reminded her coolly through the greasy black hair that surrounded his face. "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."
When Umbridge flushed, Anna snorted quietly to herself.
"You can make some more, can't you?" she asked in her usual high-pitched angry voice.
"Certainly." Snape drawled, his lip curling. "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month."
"A month?" Umbridge squawked. "A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"
"Really?" Snape actually looked a tiny bit interested in this bit of news as he turned to look at Harry. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules." Snape turned and stared at Harry, who stared intensely back at him.
"I wish to interrogate him!" Umbridge repeated angrily, drawing Snape's attention back to her. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"
"I have already told you," Snape repeated smoothly, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter-and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did-I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling…"
Snape looked back at Harry, and Anna thought the boy almost looked frantic as he returned Snape's stare.
"You are on probation!" Umbridge shrieked, and Snape looked back at her with his eyebrows slightly raised. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"
Anna narrowed her eyes slightly. Malfoy was speaking highly of Snape…then again, they were both probably old buddies when they were Death Eaters together…
Snape gave Umbridge a sarcastic bow and turned to leave when Harry suddenly shouted, "He's got Padfoot!" Anna's wide eyes shot to Harry. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"
Snape paused, his hand on the doorknob.
"Padfoot?" Umbridge repeated eagerly, glancing between Harry and Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"
Snape turned to stare at Harry, his face unreadable. Anna held her breath, waiting for something to happen. She started to understand why Harry had said that. Sure, they hated Snape, but he was a member of the Order, the only one left in Hogwarts. He was the only help they had at the moment.
"I have no idea." Snape answered coolly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if you ever apply for a job."
Snape closed the door with a snap and Anna felt numb. She could only hope that Snape was a good liar and understood Harry's cryptic message. But even if he did, would he bother helping? He hated Sirius.
"Very well." Umbridge's voice drew Anna's attention back to her in time to see the old toad pulling out her short wand. "Very well…I am left with no alternative…This is more than a matter of school discipline…This is an issue of Ministry security…Yes…yes…"
All the kids had stopped struggling and were watching her. Even the guy pinning Anna to the wall had turned to watch Umbridge over his shoulder curiously. She seemed to be talking to herself, or talking herself into something.
"You are forcing me, Potter." she continued, looking down at Harry and beating her wand against her open palm. "I do not want to, but sometimes circumstances justify the use…I am sure the Minister with understand I had no choice…"
Anna held her breath, her eyes fixed on the woman's pallid face.
"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue." Umbridge revealed in a quiet voice.
"No!" Hermione shrieked, making Anna jump slightly. "That's illegal!"
But Umbridge took no notice of Hermione's interruption. She pointed her wand at Harry with an almost eager expression. Realizing what was about to happen, Anna thrashed in her captor's hold, trying to break free, but he just pinned her more firmly to the wall with his body.
"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" Hermione continued desperately.
"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him." Umbridge dismissed. "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same…"
"It was you?" Harry gasped. "You sent the dementors after me?"
"Somebody had to act." Umbridge breathed before taking a deep breath. "Cruc-"
"NO!" Hermione shouted in a cracked voice. "No-Harry-we'll have to tell her!"
"No way!" Harry yelled while Anna turned her head to stare at the curly-haired witch in horror.
"We'll have to, Harry, she'll force it out of you anyway, what's…what's the point…?"
And then, Hermione began crying weakly. Millicent jumped away from her, looking disgusted.
"Well, well, well!" Umbridge cried in delight. "Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!"
"Er-my-nee-no!" Ron cried through his gag. Ginny was staring at Hermione as if she didn't know who she was anymore, and Neville was watching her despite not being able to breathe. But Anna, whose shoulder was mere inches from Hermione, noticed something. Despite the sounds of her crying, there was no physical sign of it. No red cheeks or nose and certainly no tears…
"I'm-I'm sorry everyone." Hermione sobbed. "But-I can't stand it-"
"That's right, that's right, girl!" Umbridge exclaimed, grabbing Hermione by the shoulders, shoving her into a chair, and leaning over her. "Now then…with whom was Potter communicating just now?"
"Well," Hermione gulped into her hands. "well, he was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore…"
Anna's eyes went wide, and she noticed the others had similar reactions. Ron had frozen, Ginny stopped trying to stomp on the Slytherin girl's feet, and even Luna looked surprised. Luckily, Umbridge and her little minions were too focused on Hermione to notice.
"Dumbledore?" Umbridge repeated eagerly. "You know where Dumbledore is, then?"
"Well,…no!" Hermione sobbed. "We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head-"
"Idiot girl, Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!" Umbridge shouted, looking very disappointed and discouraged.
"But-but we needed to tell him something important!" wailed Hermione, her hands more firmly covering her face and the lack of tears.
"Yes?" Umbridge urged, looking eager again. "What was it you wanted to tell him?"
"We…we wanted to tell him it's ready!"
"What's ready?" Umbridge demanded, grabbing Hermione's shoulders and shaking her.
"The…the weapon!" Hermione finally answered.
"Weapon? Weapon?!" Umbridge repeated, her eyes practically bugging out of her head. "You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?"
"Y-y-yes." Hermione gasped. "But he had to leave before it was finished and now we've finished it for him, and we can't find him to tell him!"
"What kind of weapon is it?" Umbridge demanded harshly, her sausage-like fingers digging into Hermione's shoulders.
"We don't r-really understand it." Hermione sniffled. "We j-j-just did what Professor Dumbledore told us t-to do…"
Umbridge stood up straight again, looking overjoyed.
"Lead me to the weapon." she ordered.
"I'm not showing…them." Hermione argued shrilly, looking around at all the Slytherins from between her fingers.
"It is not for you to set conditions." Umbridge informed her harshly.
"Fine," said Hermione, sobbing into her hands again, "fine…let them see it, I hope they use it on you! In fact, I wish you'd invite loads and loads of people to come and see! Th-that would serve you right-oh, I'd love it if the whole school knew where it was, and how to u-use it, and then if you annoy any of them they'll be able to sort you out!"
Anna fought down a grin when Umbridge instantly glanced suspiciously around at her precious Inquisitorial Squad. Malfoy in particular was too slow to hide the look of greed on his face. It was clear to Anna what Hermione was doing, at least somewhat. If Umbridge didn't trust her Inquisitorial Squad, she wouldn't take them with her.
Umbridge thought over Hermione's words for a long moment before speaking in a creepy voice that she probably thought sounded motherly, "Alright, dear, let's make it just you and me…and we'll take Potter, too, shall we? Get up, now-"
"Professor," Malfoy eagerly spoke up, "Professor Umbridge, I think some of the squad should come with you to look after-"
"I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?" Umbridge asked sharply. "In any case, it does not sound as though this weapon is something that schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these," she gestured to Anna, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, "escape."
"Alright." Malfoy sulked.
"And you two can go ahead of me and show me the way." Umbridge continued, pointing at Harry and Hermione with her wand. "Lead on…"
Anna's head turned, briefly catching Hermione's eye as the two fifth years lead the Headmistress from the office. Hermione's expression didn't give anything away, and soon, the door closed behind Umbridge with a click, leaving a brief moment of silence in the office.
Anna's eyes swept the room again, hearing the occasional scuffle as Ginny and Ron continued to struggle with their captors. Despite Snape's warning, Crabbe hadn't loosened his hold on Neville, whose face was still turning purple.
"This bites, doesn't it, Malfoy?" Warrington complained. "One of us should've gone with."
"Shut up, Warrington." Malfoy snapped, looking particularly grumpy.
Anna's eyes moved back to the guy pinning her to the wall to find him smirking at her. She grimaced and pressed her head back into the wall.
"Would you kindly move your face and stench away from me?" she asked him rudely. "Your offending my eyes and nose."
His eyes narrowed at her, smirk falling into a frown. "What's the matter, Black? Not used to what a real man smells like with all the time you spend with your precious weasels?"
She glared at him. "At least they know how to shower."
Instead of glaring more harshly, he smirked again and leaned in closer, his nose inches from hers and hot breath washing the stench of onions and smelly eggs over her face. "Maybe I should take a page out of Flint's book." he suggested lowly. Then, with one forearm still braced across her collarbone, his other hand trailed up her side.
Anna's face flushed, both from embarrassment and anger. She threw her hands up and slammed one fist into the side of the guy's face. He staggered back but ran back at her, one hand going around her throat. She continued slamming her fists into his chest and stomach, but his hand tightened around her throat, cutting off her airways and making her gasp for breath.
Her punches grew a bit weaker until she was more scratching at him. Then, she felt something bump her hand. A familiar, smooth stick of wood.
Still gasping for breath, Anna continued clawing and hitting at the guy, sneakily nabbing her wand from his robes and slipping it up her sleeve. By that point, black spots started dotting her vision and she went slightly limp, hoping he'd let up.
He did just that when she slumped back against the wall, letting up on her throat. She leaned there, gasping for breath for a few moments while her eyes darted around the room, contemplating her next move.
Finally, gripping her wand tightly inside her sleeve, she looked up slightly at the guy still pinning her to the wall.
"Stupify!" she exclaimed, aiming her wand at his chest. While his body went stiff and fell back, she turned and waved her wand around the room. "Accio wands!"
Several wands flew at her from within people's pockets and robes, but she couldn't possibly catch them all. Seeing what she was doing, the others put up more of a fight. Ginny managed to throw her elbow back into the Slytherin girl's face, lunging across the room for her own wand. Anna tossed Ron's wand at him and he stunned the guy who'd been holding him, as well as a couple of the others, including Crabbe, which caused Neville to be released.
Anna stunned a couple of the others while Neville shot an Impediment Jinx at Warrington, who'd been going to attack Anna. Then, to top it all off, Ginny shot a perfect Bat-Bogey Hex at Malfoy, which caused his bogeys to turn into bats, crawl out his nose, and attack his face.
"Guys, we gotta go. Whose wand is whose?" Anna asked, searching through the pile of wands that had landed at her feet.
Ron hurried over and searched through them. "Here's Harry's and Hermione's." he said, grabbing two wands and stuffing them in his pocket.
"Now how are we going to find Harry and Hermione?" Neville asked as the group hurried from the office, running down the stairs.
"They've gone into the forest." Luna answered simply. "I saw them out the window."
"Well, we'll start there, I guess." Anna decided with a shrug. "Does anyone know if Harry got ahold of my dad in the fire before Umbridge showed up?"
Several people answered 'no', and Anna felt even more worried.
They hurried out of the castle and across the ground to the edge of the forest.
"Do we have to go into the forest?" Neville asked nervously.
"We have no way of knowing what's going on in there." Ginny pointed out. "Umbridge might be onto them. She could use the Cruciatus Curse on them, and they don't have their wands to defend themselves."
"How're we going to find them?" Ron asked, squinting to try and see into the dark, eerie forest.
"Well,…we can start by following that path there and see what we find." Anna suggested.
So, the group started making their way into the forest. It wasn't long before they found the telltale signs of someone big and clumsy fighting their way through the shrubbery a short while before they did. So, they followed the trail off the path. Within about ten minutes or so they heard the quiet, distant sound of voices.
"…can't do anything without wands." a familiar voice said. "Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?"
"Yeah, we were just wondering that." Ron called, pushing aside a low-hanging branch and leading the others into a small gap in the trees. Harry and Hermione stood close together, looking relieved to see the group.
"So," Ron said, handing Harry his wand back, "had any ideas?"
"How did you get away?" Harry asked instead, sounding amazed.
"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx." Ron listed, handing Hermione her wand. "But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy-Bat-Bogey Hex-it was superb, his whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"
"She got carried away." Harry answered. "By a herd of centaurs."
"And they left you behind?" Ginny asked in astonishment. Anna's eyes went wide, as well.
"No, they got chased off by Grawp." Harry answered.
"Who's Grawp?" Luna and Anna asked curiously.
"Hagrid's little brother." Ron answered quickly. "Anyway, never mind that now." he continued before Anna could demand answers about Hagrid having a brother and nobody told her. "Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or-?"
"Yes," Harry answered instantly. "and I'm sure Sirius is still alive, but I can't see how we're going to get there to help him."
Everyone glanced quietly among themselves, trying to think of any ideas.
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" Luna suggested as if it were obvious.
"Okay," Harry said in an irritated voice as he rounded on her, "first of all, 'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron and Anna are the only ones with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so-"
"I've got a broom!" Ginny argued hotly.
"Yeah, but you're not coming." Ron pointed out angrily.
"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!" Ginny pointed out angrily, her jaw set in determination. Her stance and expression made her resemblance to Fred and George even more pronounced than usual.
"You're too-" Harry started.
"I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer's Stone," she said fiercely, "and it's because of me Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office with giant flying bogeys attacking him-"
"Yeah, but-"
"We were all in the D.A. together." Neville spoke up quietly. "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real-or was that all just a game or something?"
"No-of course it wasn't-"
"Then we should come too." Neville decided simply. "We want to help."
As Harry met Ron's eyes doubtfully, Anna's patience snapped. "Look, they want to come, and we could use the numbers if we're going to face Voldemort. So can we get a move on?"
"It doesn't matter." Harry argued. "We still don't have a way for all of us to get there."
"I thought we'd settled that?" said Luna. "We're flying!"
"Look, you might be able to fly without a broomstick," Ron spoke angrily, "but the rest of us-"
"There are other ways to fly without a broomstick." Luna pointed out, gazing dreamily into the forest as if seeing something. Anna narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. The first thing to pop into her mind was the hippogriffs, but their paddock was a good walking distance away.
"Like the hippogriffs?" Anna asked, looking down slightly at Luna.
"I was thinking more of them." Luna stated, still staring off into the distance. "And Hagrid said they're very good at finding whatever places their riders are looking for."
Harry spun around and must've seen something between two trees that the others couldn't see.
"Yes!" he whispered eagerly, moving toward a pair of trees. He suddenly reached his hand out and touched something the others couldn't see. That's when Anna realized what they were talking about.
Thestrals.
"Is it those mad horse things?" Ron asked uncertainly, looking near where Harry was supposedly petting a thestral. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"
"Yeah." Harry answered
"How many are there?" Anna asked, moving forward slowly so she didn't spook the creatures she couldn't see.
"Just two."
"Well, we'll need four." Hermione pointed out, looking nervous.
"Five, Hermione." Ginny pointed out, scowling.
"I think there are seven of us, actually." Luna pointed out calmly, counting everyone.
"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" Harry argued angrily. "Look, you three-" he pointed at Neville, Ginny, and Luna- "you're not involved in this, you're not-"
They instantly burst into loud protests. Harry clutched his forehead in pain.
"Okay, fine, it's your choice." He agreed curtly. "But unless we can find more thestrals you're not going to be able-"
"Oh, more of them will come." Ginny said confidently, staring off into a random direction as if she could actually see the creatures.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because in case you hadn't noticed, you and Hermione are both covered in blood," she explained coolly, "and we know Hagrid lures thestrals with raw meat, so that's probably why these two turned up in the first place…"
"She has a point." Anna agreed.
"Okay then." Harry agreed, looking down at his bloody sleeve. "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead, and Hermione can stay here with you four and she'll attract more thestrals-"
"I'm not staying behind!" Hermione argued.
"There's no need." Luna explained calmly, smiling into the forest. "Look, here come more now…You two must really smell…"
Everyone instinctively searched the forest, but obviously most of them couldn't see the creatures, but Luna must have been right because Harry gave in.
"Alright," he said angrily, "pick one and get on, then."
Harry hurried over to something and climbed on, looking as if he were sitting on air. Neville struggled a bit, heaving himself onto something seemingly solid, even though Anna could see nothing there. And Luna climbed on with ease, sitting sidesaddle and adjusting her robes.
Anna soon realized she, like Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, were standing motionless and openmouthed.
"What?" Harry asked when they didn't move.
"How're we supposed to get on?" Ron asked weakly. "When we can't see the things?"
"Oh, it's easy." Luna told them, sliding off her invisible steed and approaching the other four. "Come here…"
She pulled each of them up to a thestral and managed to help all of them onto the backs of the creatures one at a time.
Anna tried to force down her nerves, her hands twining in what felt like silky, wiry hair, even though she couldn't see it. She almost wished she could see the creature, but that would mean she'd seen someone die. And she'd rather not, given what they were flying into. So, she settled for creating an image of the creature in her minds eye from when they'd studied thestrals in class. There'd been a sketch in their textbook.
"We all ready, then?" Harry called after a few moments.
Everyone nodded and Anna instinctively tightened her legs around the animal's flanks.
"Okay…" he then looked down at the animal and said uncertainly, "Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London, then. Er…if you know…where to go…"
There was a moment of still silence. Then, with a burst of wind that brushed Anna's sides, she flew into the air. She felt weightless for a split second, then she leaned down over the thestral's back, tightening her grip on it's mane as it flew into the sky. Her legs clenched around it's flanks to keep from sliding backward off it's back.
Tree branches whipped Anna's face and arms as they burst through the branches of the forest trees above. They soared west, over the castle and straight toward the setting sun. Over the wind whistling in her ears, Anna could almost swear she could hear the gentle beating of the thestral's wings. Bending low over the horse-like creature's neck to block the stinging wind, Anna glanced around briefly.
Harry was in the lead, Ron not far behind him. Hermione and Ginny were on either side of Anna, and Luna and Neville were bringing up the rear. With her neck still turned to look over her shoulder, Anna watched as Hogwarts, and then Hogsmeade, disappeared from sight and they flew over the mountains and the gullies below.