Chapter Nine... Immaterial
It licked its lips, the thick, long tongue like that of some huge reptile retreating into the violet slit of its mouth. With a smirk that gleamed with the sharp edge of a scythe, the Creature took another step toward us.
Professor McGonagall breathed shallowly, as if the beast had sucked away the air in the room, but she raised her wand and lowered her voice, "Don't come any closer."
"That sounds familiar," It said, leering at Cho, and the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach returned... It knew!
The Monster's gaze came to me, "Of course I know, Harry. I know everything."
It's voice became softer, feminine, "You saw me, didn't you. I fell, and you just sat there with your mouth hanging open..."
IT was only a few steps away from me when I sank to my knees, the air leaving my body and my tears falling faster... and it whispered into my ear with her voice, "... and you know what? I believed every word you told me."
"STUPEFY!" Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and Cho roared simultaneously, and the resulting explosion of scarlet light soared just inches away from my head and launched the beast across the room. But through the corner of my eye, I could see it smiling.
Professor McGonagall grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled me behind them as Madam Pomfrey did the same with Cho. She turned to me with the most serious look I'd ever seen on her face, "Harry, I'm going to send you and Cho as far away as I can... I need you to get somewhere, anywhere that you think may be safe."
She turned and pointed her wand at a small crystal ball on the corner of Dumbledore's desk, "Portus!"
A fluttering breeze of silver flowed into the globe, and it shimmered with an ethereal light for a moment before returning to its original state.
Professor McGonagall looked me in the eyes, a hint of desperation beneath her stern visage, "You have twelve seconds... go!"
Cho grabbed the crystal just as a thunderous crash! echoed in the room. A shadow leaped from beneath the remains of the golden phoenix and eclipsed the skylight. It's cloak spread wide, looking more like massive, leathery wings, and it smashed into the ground.
"Reducto!" Madam Pomfrey cried, and the blast glanced off of the Beast's shoulder. It grinned, and just as quickly as it rose, it disappeared.
No, I thought, his eyes glancing about the room, not gone... that's too easy...
Cho screamed, and I turned around to see the monster crouched on the top of the desk, staring right into her eyes.
"Hello, girl." It hissed, his mouth a void of black.
I lunged forward and pulled Cho back, raising my right hand to the creature.
"Impedimenta!"
An angry, violet beam escaped my open fist and it caught the monster right in the face, launching it into the rear bookcase. The spell seemed to hold for the time being, as the Beast struggled mightily against it.
"Three seconds, Harry!" Cho cried, and I grabbed onto her, holding on for dear life.
Three... I saw the monster free himself from the bookcase.
Two... It crawled along the wall like a great lizard, rearing up to pounce with murder in its hidden eyes.
One.
I felt the familiar tugging from behind my belly, and I grabbed onto Cho as tightly as I possibly could. It leaped from the wall, just inches from my...
... and we were suddenly far away... so fast that the room seemed a distant memory.
The blacks never seemed to look right.
It was late in the afternoon, but the sun still blazed overhead. Just enough light, she thought as she tried mixing a deep red with an equally bold orange, producing something like the color of flame.
Fire, she liked the word. Something so fluid and gorgeous... but it could consume anything, and everything... a curious thing. Ginny liked to pretend that she could see things in the fire, like dancers, or faces... she could vaguely make out the smiling face of her brother Bill, and maybe her father as well. She once tried to imagine Harry's face in the fire, but it never came out right. It wasn't that she couldn't remember his face... they were practically his second family... but it would never come together in her mind. The face would be too round, and she could never make out his eyes. Just the embers burning behind them. She supposed that it had to do with their color...
But as she filled in the uncolored area with her brush, she realized that she didn't like the blacks again. Most of the painting was dark by now, save for the fire-red that she used in the center. It was too stark, the burning red against the dark sky... it scared her a bit. Recently, all she would see in the fire would be a bird... too big to be an owl... too sinister to be a phoenix.
Oh well, she thought as she began to put away her paints, I can always try again tomorrow...
I was cold.
I sat up, and the icy wind bit at my bare shoulders. It was too hard to see, with sheets of snow falling around me, and I ignored the chilling cold as I began to feel the ground around me.
"Cho!" I cried out, panic holding a close grip on my heart as I sat up, the snow all the way to my knees, "Cho, answer me! Please!"
Under the howling wind, I heard coughing... somewhere to my right. I pushed through the furious blizzard, squinting from behind my soaked glasses. I saw her laying her belly, her arms holding her up. I grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her to her feet.
"It's t-too cold," she sputtered, and she coughed again, "Where are we?"
I looked around, trying to search for some clue, some sign of life, "I dont know!"
The snow was falling horizontally, and the wind gusted so fiercely that I could actually feel the wind pick me up off of my feet for a second, "Oh god... where did she send us..."
Cho was shivering violently, the snow having soaked right through her silk blouse and long skirt, and I realized that I wasn't much better - my exposed shoulders were quickly turning blue.
"God... not like this," She cried, collapsing against me, "Not out here!"
The wind had penetrated right into my bones, and my blood had retreated as far within me as it could go... I sank to my knees, leaning on Cho as a support.
As snow clung to my skin, a horrible thought crossed my mind, what if... just what if she sent us out here to die... rather than let that monster get us?
I could feel the tears freezing against my eyes, and I screamed out into the black sky, all of the rage I had been feeling, everything poured out, "WHY NOW!"
As my eyes began to close, I felt the ground shake... no... it can't do that. We're not inside anymore.
I looked up, and my heart stopped in mid-beat - a huge shadow was fast approaching us..
"No..." I coughed out weakly, raising my free hand to it, "Stupefy... stupefy..."
I was too weak... not even a spark came from my hands. It was too hard to concentrate, and that shadow kept coming closer...
"Hey!" A gruff voice shouted, accompanied by a loud bark, "Who's out there! I know I 'eard some kinda racket out here!"
"Help..." My voice was soft and hoarse, not loud enough for them to hear with these winds, "help us..."
Cho was unconscious, and I felt her cold body fall limp beside me. I pulled her closer against me, trying to get her to awaken, "No... nonono..."
One chance, the only shot I had to get them over here... I breathed in as deeply as I could and put all my strength into it, "OVER HERE! HELP US!"
I fell to the ground from my effort, but the shadow sped up at the sound of my voice... closer... oh so close...
"You two'er a mess... could 'ardly believe it when I saw ya'll."
A voice roused me from my slumber, and I could feel warm hands gently lifting my head up, " 'ere... drink this."
A warm fluid teased at my lips, and I greedily swallowed it in great gulps. It was sweet, far sweeter than anything I had recently. Inside it warmed me with a strange power, and the numbness began to fade as warm blood circulated once more.
I coughed a bit, and the glass was removed, "There now, you'll be right in no time."
I opened my eyes and came face to face with the dark, shaggy face of Rubeus Hagrid. He smiled as I woke up, and he turned around to put the cup away.
Something immediately raced into mind, "Where's Cho?"
"That girl who was with you?" Hagrid motioned toward the fire, which didn't really help because he was still standing in the way, "When I saw 'er, I put 'er right by the fireplace. She was soaked to the bone... why were you out there, anyway?"
I choked on my words for a moment, but Cho's shaky voice sounded from behind Hagrid, "T-the castle... there was a-an attack."
Hagrid visibly flinched at her words, and he dropped the teapot is his hands, "WHAT?"
His voice rattled the windows, and Cho scooted away from him. I sat up, still shaky, "Something is up there, fighting with McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey right now."
"What about Dumbledore..." Hagrid wheezed, sounding as if the wind had been knocked out of him, "Is he there?"
"We don't know... he hadn't come back from the common room when he sent us to his office."
Hagrid struggled to regain his composure, and he took a deep breath, "Did anyone go with him?"
"Professor Moody."
Hagrid gathered the pieces of his broken teapot before speaking again, "And why are th' two 'o you out here?"
"Professor McGonagall made a portkey," Cho answered from the corner, her eyes on Hagrid, "That... thing broke into Dumbledore's office.''
"What did it want?"
"I don't know," I replied, but something in the pit of my belly pushed me forward, and the answer just came out of my mouth, "I think it's after me.''
Hagrid nodded and he threw the broken teapot into the trash. He stood there for a moment, his great shoulders hunched over, "You said that th' thing that' after you... it broke in ter Dumbledores office?"
I nodded.
"Dumbledore's d...," he stated in a soulless monotone,unable to finish the words... all the air in my lungs left me, "An' McGonagall sent you down here. That means its up ter me than."
Before I could ask him anything, I was distracted by a light tapping on the window beside me. A white shape clambered valiantly to stay up on the windowsill... and I instinctively opened it.
Hedwig shot into the room, followed by an icy breeze. She landed on the bed as I shut the giant-sized window, and she shook herself off. A letter was in her beak, and she dropped it into my lap before flying to Cho and warming herself by the fireplace.
"What..." was all I could say as I tore the envelope open and pulled the letter out.
"No! God... please!" Harry threw the paper down as if it were diseased, and he ran into a corner, still whispering to himself, "No... no please, God no..."
Rubeus Hagrid had seen Harry endure everything in his five years at the school, everything from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named trying to kill him in his first year, to the TriWizard Tournament last year, where Dumbledore said that Harry had actually dueled with him... but nothing had ever done this.
"Harry... is there anything..." Hagrid began, but something in Harry's desperate sobs stopped him from going any further. Instead, Hagrid went to his bed and looked at the letter that Harry had thrown down. The girl that he had found with Harry eyed him warily as she followed Hagrid, and he picked up the letter and read it for himself.
The ink had smeared, most likely from the tear stains that dotted the parchment, but Hagrid's heart sank as he scanned the letter...
-
Harry...
I really wish this had been Mum writing this, or that it hadn't happened at all. But we still needed to let you know, so I was given this particular task. I know that you don't know me all that well, but just know that all of us here still love you, no matter what happens. But to the task at hand...
I really don't know how to tell you this, and I know that my mother would know exactly the right words to say, and exactly how to break them down... but I'm not Mum. Ron... something happened to Ron today. Just as Dad got home, Ron started screaming in his room. By the time Dad had been able to restrain him, Ron had hurt himself badly, so we had to take him to St. Mungo's. The whole way there, he was still screaming, swearing up and down that something was trying to kill him.
But that's not all... we saw Hermione's parents there. They were out of their heads when we saw them, but Mum was able to get from the Healers that they had seen Hermione... something got at her. The way the Healers put it, it was as if the walls themselves had eaten her.
God... I wish I could have told you better... but I really have to go. Please write, or get Dumbledore to let you come... I think that Ron would want you here when he wakes up.
-Bill Weasley