CHAPTER 12

Neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters associated with him belong to me. They are JK Rowlings. I'm not in this for the money, just for fun!

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Forbidden Forest:

Rebecca struggled furiously against the ropes, but nothing she did loosened them.

"I'm afraid that will do you no good, my dear Miss Leicester," said Dolores Umbridge with Imogen's voice. "Those ropes on you were put there by magic, and the more you struggle the tighter they grow. I suggest you relax."

'Relax?' thought Rebecca, slightly amazed. 'Considering the Centaur herd are on their way to carry me off, and she expects me to relax?'

Dolores had by now reached into her pocket, and pulled out the amber-coloured stone that she claimed had been responsible for her transformation. Although Rebecca had no doubt that Imogen, or whoever she was, was seriously deranged, she was still having a little difficulty believing that the seemingly young girl in front of her was the middle-aged, toad-faced witch that everyone had been telling her about.

What happened next, though, relieved her of any doubts.

The woman who appeared to be Imogen Griffin lifted the stone closer to herself, holding it to her breast, after which she stayed still for a few moments, her eyes closed, looking almost as though she were meditating. Rebecca at first hoped she had gone to sleep, but then…

The stone began to glow a bright yellow, and as Rebecca stared in disbelief, Dolores's entire body started shivering uncontrollably, as though it were having a spasm attack of some sort. Her body stretched and shifted out of shape, as it grew taller and put on more meat and muscle. Her nose grew larger, and her hair began to shrink back into her skull until she was almost bald. Even her skin complexion grew darker, and the beginnings of a small beard appeared on her chin. As these final changes came into place, the stone went dull again, as it lost its glow.

Within moments, Imogen Griffin had gone, and in her place stood a tall but robust man with a big nose, still wearing the dark robe. She had never seen him before, but knew who he really was at least.

"Ahh, much better!" said Dolores in a man's gruff voice, while she/he adjusted her robe. She noticed her staring at her in shock, and gave a childish giggle that was totally out of character for the form she now possessed. "Forgive the sudden change, Miss Leicester, but every time I have seen the Centaurs, I have always been in the form of a man. I thought it safer that way, considering their attitude toward women."

She said nothing, as the sound of hooves beating the ground was coming closer. Whoever it was, was racing toward them with the speed faster than a racing horse.

"Please!" Rebecca said in a final plea, her voice speaking in a mere whisper. "Miss Umbridge, please let me go. You don't know what the Centaurs will do to me."

That was a lie, as she suspected Umbridge knew exactly what they would do, but cared nothing about it, and what she said next confirmed that belief.

"I apologise, Miss Leicester," she said, as she put the stone back in her pocket, and waved her wand idly around her. "I am most dreadfully sorry about all this. I would normally never resort to such extreme measures, nor would I attempt to go after a mere muggle, but needs must. With your capture, the Ministry will have no other recourse."

"And you will get your war!" Rebecca snapped, spitting at her in anger, finally losing her patience. "You know something, Dolores. You're pathetic! Going to all this trouble, just to get your Ministry in trouble with the Centaurs, so you can get a little payback for something that was all your fault to begin with!"

Dolores lost her smile, and raised her wand threateningly. Rebecca, though, had no fear this time. She doubted that Dolores would intentionally harm her, not with the Centaurs on their way…or at least she hoped she wouldn't, but then again she was past caring. If the old witch was going to sacrifice her to them then she was going to voice her opinion at least!

"I was the Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic!" said Dolores. "I…"

"Yeah, yeah! You did all you could for the pursuit of order, trying your best to operate under the circumstances, yadda-yadda-yadda!" She fixed the woman-turned-man with a fiery glare. "Do me a favour, would you? Cut the crap!"

The disguised witch's current male face was twitching madly, her huge nose wiggling like a rabbit, as her eyes glared daggers at Rebecca.

"This isn't justice or about righting a wrong done to you or anything," said Rebecca. "This is revenge, plain and simple! You know you were the one in the wrong all along! Denying it isn't gonna fool anyone!"

"That is a lie!" the man's cheeks wobbled. "I was the Undersecretary, I was operating within the laws of the Ministry…"

"By persecuting innocent people just because they weren't pureblood wizards?! Bullshit! It was because you got off on the power that this Voldemort gave you!"

"NO! I never met him, I never worked for him, I…!"

"You may never have met him, but you were carrying out his warped agenda. I've been told about you, Miss Umbridge. You were forever going off about your own blood status, bragging about your pureblood ancestry, and the way you came down on those who had even only one muggle-born in their entire family! People like Arkie Alderton!"

During most of the weeks she had spent in hiding, Rebecca had read up on everything she could find of the magical world, particularly on Dolores Umbridge. Needless to say, what she had read she had found less than complimentary. One of the things she had read had been about a half-born wizard called Arkie Alderton, the son of a pureblood wizard and a muggle woman. Dolores had accused him of stealing magic, and had sentenced him to life in Azkaban.

After Voldemort had been defeated, Arkie had been released, but the damage had already been done to him. The time he had spent in that prison with the Dementors had left him severely emotionally disturbed. Apparently, he was now a patient at some place called St. Mungos, with no signs of release any time soon.

"He stole magic, and…!"

"Stop lying, witch!" Rebecca shouted. "I looked up Arkie's story, and it says he was the son of a pureblood wizard! You sent him to prison just because he had a little muggle blood in him. And while we're on the subject…what's all this nonsense about stealing magic?! How on earth could anyone steal magic?"

"They were mud-bloods! There's no way they could have gotten magic on their own! They stole…!"

"Oh please, how deluded are you?! Muggles don't have any magic to begin with, so how the devil would they be able to steal another wizard or witch's magic?! That must take colossal power to do. And where do you think wizards and witches came from in the first place? Despite our differences, we are still the same species, Umbridge. It may be aeons ago, but at some time during your family's history, you had to have come from a muggle at least once!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Umbridge screamed, and the ropes around Rebecca suddenly swerved up to her neck, throttling her. "I AM DOLORES UMBRIDGE, OF THE MOST PURE AND NOBLE HOUSE OF UMBRIDGE, RELATED TO THE SELWYN FAMILY, UNDERSECRETARY TO THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC…!"

As she shouted and screamed, Rebecca struggled to free her arms to reach up to the ropes around her neck, but to no avail. She gasped for breath, as she slowly started to lose her vision.

She hadn't thought that Umbridge would risk hurting her, with the Centaurs fast approaching, but then again, at the moment she was so busy ranting and raving that the changed witch probably hadn't even noticed she was strangling her.

"OVER FORTY YEARS I WAS WITH THE MINISTRY!" said Dolores, continuing her rant. "FORTY YEARS OF LOYAL AND DEDICATED SERVICE! AND LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO ME!" As she screamed and raved, she didn't notice the thundering hoof-beats nearing them.

Rebecca felt herself beginning to lose consciousness. 'Okay, definitely not a good idea to antagonise a mad witch,' she thought. As she struggled for breath, she heard the sounds of the Centaurs approaching.

'Well, at least I know they won't kill me,' she thought, 'at least not yet.' She took comfort in the thought that at least they would release her from the rope, as she knew they wanted her for a Breeder, and a dead one would be of no use to them. Still, considering their plans for her, she wondered if perhaps it would be preferable if she were to die instead. At least dead, the Centaurs would no longer be after her, and the situation with the Ministry would be settled once and for all.

She didn't have time to contemplate this, though, as she took notice of the sound of hooves approaching, and she realised something.

'That doesn't sound like a herd of hooves galloping?' she thought. 'The entire herd would be much louder.'

"Filthy blood traitors!" Umbridge was still yelling. "I made everything into a perfect order! Kept everything nice and neat, balanced and orderly, and what do they do?! Make a mockery of my work, turn everything inside out, and throw the entire order process out the window…!"

At that moment, a loud neighing sound roared, and the bushes from behind them sprang apart, as something charged through them.

It came through so fast that Rebecca was unable to see it clearly, but she could tell it was a Centaur obviously. The rope had cut off her oxygen near completely, and everything was so dim, which together with the night-sky made it near impossible to see. All she could make out was the brown hue of his shaggy coat.

Umbridge finally shut up, as she/he turned around to look at the latest arrival. What she saw, apparently, did not please her, as she stared at him in shock.

"You!" she hissed, raising her wand.

Whoever it was neighed loudly, supposedly enraged, and charged at her.

Umbridge squealed highly, which, despite her male voice, sounded as though it fitted her true female form. She leaped out of the Centaur's way, her wand pointing downward. The moment she did this, the ropes on Rebecca's throat loosened, and she tasted air again.

Rebecca gasped, taking in huge breaths, as the heat in her lungs finally subsided, and the spots in her eyes dimmed. Around her, she could hear the sounds of a battle, with Umbridge shouting various spells at the brave Centaur attacking her.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! STUPEFY!"

It sounded like Umbridge was panicking, as she shouted the same spell again and again. But as Rebecca continued breathing, her vision slowly came back into focus, and she looked at the Centaur who was now leaping high into the air, and jumping side to side, avoiding the witch's spells.

At first, she couldn't make out much, but the more she looked, the more her vision returned. The first thing she did notice was the Centaur's shaggy brown coat, and then she made out the clear blue colour of his eyes.

"Firenze!" she shrieked, but he paid her no mind, as he was still evading Umbridge.

He took another charge at her, neighing loudly. At that moment, Rebecca was glad she wasn't Umbridge, as the sight of a Centaur charging at you was terrifying.

The look on her/his face certainly did not portray bravery, as Rebecca could clearly see the cold sweat on his brow, and the large gulp she/he was making in his throat.

"Avada Kedavra!" Umbridge suddenly yelled out, pointing her wand at Firenze.

"Look out!" screamed Rebecca. She recognised the curse from one of the magic books she had been reading as that of the Killing Curse.

A green bolt of light streaked out of Umbridge's wand, heading straight toward Firenze. A simple block or dodge would not cut it this time, as he was running too fast.

Time seemed to slow down, as Rebecca watched Firenze seemingly race toward the green light, running head on to his own death. She screamed, trying desperately to undo her bonds, but could only watch in paralysed shock, as the light was halfway towards his head.

Just when the light was about to strike him down, and Rebecca feared she would soon watch his body crumble dead before her; Firenze suddenly fell, his entire body flipping over onto the ground. The entire earth seemed to shake with his fall, as he fell into the dirt, his body flipping and turning over several times before he miraculously came back on his hooves again, and continued charging forward. Even more miraculously, he had completely avoided the Killing Curse, as it streaked past him, hitting an old oak tree behind him.

'He has her,' she thought, watching as Firenze came within a few feet of the witch. She couldn't see Firenze's eyes, but she suspected them at that moment to be full of the killer rage that she had seen so often in the other Centaurs.

But then, just as he came up to her, Umbridge yelled out another spell…

"Crucio!"

Firenze fell down again, but this time he didn't do a perfect 3/60 turn. He just collapsed right onto his knees, as his front legs folded beneath him, and his arms sprang forward, gripping the earth beneath them, as though desperate to hold onto something.

Rebecca didn't remember which curse this was, but judging from the look on Umbridge's face which, until then had been of pure fear, was now one of smug satisfaction, she didn't doubt it was an unpleasant one.

Firenze was breathing deeply through his nostrils, his fists clenched so tight they looked ready to rip apart, as though he were in great pain.

She didn't know it, but the Cruciatus Curse, also known as the Torture Curse, was another one of the Unforgivable Curses. This one inflicted excruciating pain on a victim. It didn't physically harm a person, at least not in the way like slicing open their arms or such, but it made them experience pain, like getting slowly electrocuted.

Apparently, Umbridge hadn't been kidding when she said she had been studying new spells to help her in her warped agenda.

Firenze looked as though he should be screaming, but he had his mouth tightly closed, with a look of pure agony upon it. As Rebecca peered closer, she noticed blood beginning to bleed out of his mouth. He must have been biting down on his lip to prevent his screaming.

"Stop it!" she screamed at Umbridge. "Leave him alone!"

But Umbridge paid her no heed, and just glared at Firenze with a look of pure contempt. "You've no idea how long I have wished for this, half-breed!" her tone conveying every bit of disgust she felt for him. "I have been wanting to do this since before I even first came to your herd and offered my services! I would have gladly done it already, if not for my need of your kind to start the war with the Ministry! But since your loyalty is clearly with Miss Leicester over there, and you now know of my true intentions, there's no reason for me to keep up the pretence, is there!"

Firenze gave a roar below his breath, as Umbridge flicked her wand at him, no doubt sending a fresh wave of agony.

"I would like to know how you came here, though," said Umbridge casually. "Clearly you must have come through one of my Portkeys, but how did you even know about them? Tell me, horse-man…TELL ME!"

The Centaur stayed kneeling on the ground for a few more moments, as Umbridge flicked her wand again and again. The pain had to be excruciating for him!

"Please, leave him alone," sobbed Rebecca, as she watched helplessly, and uselessly, on the ground.

Then, a most remarkable thing happened. As Umbridge went on questioning him, Firenze slowly started to rise!

"I…" Firenze spoke, though he did so with clenched teeth, and blood still pouring down his mouth, "…am neither…a horse…nor a man! I…am…A CENTAUR!" He pulled himself up to his full height, and glared down menacingly at the dark witch.

Umbridge had by now taken several large steps back, looking up in fear at the glowering Centaur. "H-ho-how are you doing this?" she stuttered. "No one can fight the Cruciatus Curse. Are you too stupid to know pain?!"

'She clearly has a death wish for calling a Centaur, even one such as Firenze, stupid,' Rebecca thought.

Firenze was still obviously in pain, judging by his slow but determined steps, as he steadily walked towards Umbridge.

"I know pain…only too well, dark wizard!" said Firenze. "We Centaurs…understand it very well. Yet there is a power…even greater than pain… It's called…willpower!" His hooves made loud steps on the ground, as he walked. "My kind has a saying… A strong will…can fuel a frail body!"

Umbridge kept walking backwards, as Firenze came forwards, his eyes never leaving hers. If looks could kill, Umbridge would have been six feet under by now.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked. "Get away I say! GET AWAY!"

She was flinging her wand wildly from side to side, but no matter what she did, Firenze was still coming, despite the agony he had to be in.

"Incarcerous!" Umbridge suddenly yelled, obviously trying another spell.

Rebecca didn't know which spell this one was, but it didn't take her long to figure out. The moment Umbridge spoke, a long length of rope suddenly appeared at the tip of her wand, and shot towards Firenze, looking like a nest of snakes reaching for him.

"Firenze, look out!" she squealed, but apparently there was no need to.

The moment Umbridge had uttered the new spell, Firenze's pain seemed to have completely ceased, as he stood up straight without the pained grimace on his face, and regained his strength. Apparently, casting a new spell cancelled the old one.

Firenze had seen the snake-like ropes heading for him. They seemed intent on reaching only him, so mere dodging wouldn't work this time. Thankfully, Tyche the goddess of luck was with him that night, and not with Umbridge.

A large chunk of wood from a downed tree was lying close by Firenze's front left hoof, which he had already seen while kneeling on the ground. As the ropes flew at him, he kicked the chunk with his hoof, sending it impressively high into the air, where he caught it with his hands, and then threw it at the flying ropes. The chunk soared through the air into them, and the ropes automatically wrapped themselves around it, binding it as they would have bound him, but did not stop its momentum.

The chunk continued soaring through the air, back toward Umbridge. She barely had the chance to even look astonished before the wood struck her, knocking her backwards into a tree, where she banged her head into its trunk with a satisfying thud, and sank wordlessly to the earth.

Firenze then trotted up to her, grabbed her by the front of her robe, and held her up to his face, gazing hard at her. He held her there for a few moments, but when she didn't respond, he dropped her back onto the ground, as she was obviously completely out cold. He remained standing where he was, however.

Rebecca noticed him looking down at the ground beside Umbridge, and followed his eyes. It turned out to be Umbridge's crimson wand, which lay near her outstretched arm.

He then raised his right front hoof, and with a hard stomp on the enchanted stick, broke it with a loud snap. He then turned back to Rebecca, and hurried over to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

At first, she couldn't say anything, as she was still feeling shaken and shocked. She shuffled around a little, and found that the rest of the ropes binding her had suddenly loosened and were dropping right off her. Apparently, being unconscious also broke Umbridge's other spells. "Yes…I-I-I think so," she finally said, stuttering slightly.

Firenze leaned over, took her by her hands and gently pulled her up. "Take your time," he said. "Be calm, and relax." He then looked back at the fallen witch. "Who is that? Do you know him?"

She looked at him in surprise for a moment, before realising that Firenze wouldn't know who Umbridge was, as she was currently not in any form that he nor any of his herd had seen. He didn't even realise that the person he had been fighting was actually a woman…or used to be anyway.

"Believe it or not," she said, "that guy over there is actually Dolores Umbridge."

Firenze blinked. "Dolores Umbridge?" he repeated. "One of the former leaders of the Ministry that Harry Potter sent to Azkaban?"

She nodded. "One and the same."

"How can that be? Harry Potter assured us she was dead, and her corpse found."

"It's a long story," she muttered. "But, needless to say, Umbridge faked her death, and has since then been on the run using a number of multiple identities to hide herself."

Firenze looked back to the unconscious human male, eyeing him curiously. "Polyjuice?" he asked.

Rebecca shook her head. "Something else. Something that, apparently, not even the Ministry is aware of."

"Tell me?"

"First, you tell me how you got here? I haven't seen or spoken to you in days, I'm kidnapped, I don't even know fully where I am, and yet you suddenly turn up in the nick of time to rescue me. How'd that happen?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "After our last…conversation, I heard about all the Centaur sightings in the area, so I decided to investigate. I went further into the city until I crossed paths with one of my herd."

"Who?"

"Ronan. He told me that the stranger, who was still helping them, had arranged several Portkeys around the city, with which our herd could return to the Forest. He had also told them that he would try and apprehend you, and let them know when and if he succeeded. That way they could come collect you in the Forest."

"And Ronan didn't mind telling you all this?"

Firenze shook his shaggy head. "Ronan knows I am no traitor. I have not deliberately taken up arms against our herd, and as long as I don't intentionally come between them and you, if they eventually find and claim you, then I am still no traitor. Plus, Ronan doesn't really have a great desire to see you in our herd. At least, not completely."

She looked at him, puzzled.

"Ronan has no great love for humans, not even you. But he also realises that having you as a Breeder would help our herd in the long run. In short, I think Ronan is what you humans would call half and half. He's on the herd's side for taking you, and yet he also wouldn't mind if he never saw you again."

Rebecca scoffed. "He's not the only one," she muttered.

"But be warned, he's still a loyal and dedicated Centaur to Magorian and the herd. So don't think he wouldn't take you the moment he saw you."

"Won't they all," she replied, moaning, and then frowned. "But wait. How did you get here?"

"I came here through one of the Portkeys. Ronan told me where the nearest one was, though not until much later."

"What happened?"

"After Ronan told me about the Portkeys, he also told me that the stranger had sent a message, telling them of his plan to abduct you. However, not all of the herd were aware of this, as some of them had been planning to attack a building where they suspected you were being kept. Ronan was on his way to stop them when I bumped into him. After that, I rushed right back as fast as I could, but by the time I arrived, the battle had already begun, and you were gone, though I didn't know that until after the Centaurs had left. Since I couldn't directly fight them without betraying them, I had to wait until Ronan arrived and called them off."

"But how did they know I was even there?"

"Some of them had spotted wizards going into the house a number of times over the last few days. They knew the house belonged to muggles, and they deduced that this was possibly where they were hiding you."

'So much for Ministry Witness Protection,' she thought. 'Their attack and Umbridge's kidnap must have just been plain coincidence.'

"Why didn't you get here until now though?" she asked aloud. "I must have been taken ages ago, as it's night now. Why so long?"

"Like I said, I had to wait until the battle at the house was over, and until Harry Potter arrived to give him my report. When we all learned you were gone, Harry Potter summoned all his Aurors to help find you."

He continued. "As for me, I knew that if my herd truly had you then chances were they would head for those Portkeys to return home. Unfortunately, I left before Ronan had told me where or what they were, and Ronan had fled with the rest of the herd when the Aurors arrived. Once I told Harry Potter all I knew, I searched all across London, but no Centaur I came upon had any answers for me. Most had not even heard about the attack on the safehouse, while others refused to even speak to me, for fear I was trying to stop their capture of you. I searched all day before I finally met up with Ronan again. He told me where to find the nearest Portkey. When I did, I returned to the Forest, but upon arrival I became involved with a dispute between my herd and some more of Harry Potter's Aurors."

"The Aurors were there?"

He nodded. "I had told Harry Potter about the Portkeys, and that they were designed to send us back home. He in turn sent some of his Aurors to search the Forest for you, in case you were already here, but unfortunately some of my herd had remained behind, and were instructed not to let anyone enter the Forest. When I arrived, the Aurors were trying to get in, and my brothers were threatening violence upon them if they tried. The Aurors couldn't enter without fighting my herd, and if they did that then…"

"Yeah, I know," she guessed. "Immediate declaration of war."

"Yes. So I had to stay and try to come to some settlement between the two parties. It took some time, but eventually I was able to persuade the Aurors to remain where they were for the time being. I told them I would search for you, as I was not forbidden from entering the Forest, and I was a much better tracker then they were. After that, it was a simple case of looking for you until I succeeded, which thankfully I did."

She smiled, but something else was bothering her. "Firenze, I… About Antonio…I want to apologise…"

"Rebecca," he suddenly said sternly. "Forgive me, but we have more important things to discuss now than that."

She shut her mouth, bit her lower lip, and nodded. She would have to wait until later to talk. But at the same time his words also made her fearful. 'Does this mean that everything we had is now in the past, including our friendship?'

"Now," added Firenze, as he took her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "Tell me everything that happened with you and…" He looked back to the unconscious male Umbridge, "…that."

Rebecca sighed, and nodded. For the next several minutes she recapped everything that had happened to her, involving Imogen who had in fact been Umbridge, the Stone, and everything else.

Firenze had patiently stood by, listening to everything she said, only asking the odd question now and then, to clarify her information. The one major surprise had come when she revealed Imogen had been Umbridge.

"Imogen Griffin was Dolores Umbridge?" he asked.

She nodded. "For weeks, it seems. Oh, you've got to tell Harry he's got to send people to Imogen's home! Umbridge said she used some kind of memory wiping spell on Imogen's parents. But that was ages ago…" She shuddered. "Who knows how long they'd been kept there by themselves. They might have starved or…"

"And the real Imogen Griffin?" said Firenze, his blue eyes staring at her.

Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment, blinking away the tears. "Dolores said she had…disposed of her." She moaned. "You should have listened to her, Firenze. The way she went on about all the people she had hurt and killed. You'd think she was talking about taking the weeds out or something!"

"It's alright," he said, and slowly took her into his arms, embracing her, while turning to glare at the fallen witch/wizard. "She can't harm you or anyone else again. And I will inform Harry Potter to send someone to Miss Griffin's house at once."

She sobbed, but nodded.

"Harry Potter and the Aurors had wondered what became of Imogen Griffin," he added. "Meredith Pan said that she had been fighting my herd off by the living room, and when they eventually departed, she had returned to check in on you and Miss Griffin. But when she got there, she had found you were both gone. No one knew where you had disappeared to."

Rebecca scoffed. "I still find it hard to believe that Imogen was the traitor all along, let alone Umbridge. Harry always knew there was a mole among her, Pan and Bollard."

"Mole?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

"Either way," he said assuredly, "Dolores was using some magic that the Ministry knew nothing of. I doubt there was anything they could have done to uncover her disguise."

"Yeah, I guess, but…" She frowned in irritation. "Damn it, the signs were all there! I can't believe I was so stupid not to notice them."

"She fooled everyone, not just you. Not even I was able to see her for who she truly was, and we Centaurs have always been able to see beyond what humans consider normal perception."

Rebecca gave him a half smile, but said nothing else about Dolores as Imogen. From then on, she continued telling Firenze everything else Dolores had told her.

"And then you showed up, and the rest you know," she finished, and looked back at Umbridge. "So…what do we do now?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "I suggest we…" He then stopped, and Rebecca watched with mild amusement, as his long horse-ears suddenly pricked up.

"What's the…?"

"Be quiet!" said Firenze suddenly, his ears still perked, and his eyes alert and looking serious. A moment later, Rebecca felt a cold shiver go through her, as she watched his eyes grow more alarmed.

"We have to leave, now!" he said, grabbing her and pulling her up.

"Wha… Why? What's happening?!"

"My herd is approaching. I can hear them closing in."

Rebecca looked around, but couldn't see or hear anything. "I can't hear…" she started to say but stopped, as Firenze pointed to his own bigger, pointier, and obviously more sensitive ears

"Oh."

"We have to leave now!" he said hurriedly. "We can reach Hogwarts if we…" He paused.

"Firenze?" said Rebecca, looking at him even more worried than before.

"By the stars!" he swore. "It's too late."

"What? What do you mean?!"

"I can hear multiple hooves trampling on the ground. It sounds like most if not my entire herd are approaching. There's no way we can leave now without running into them."

Rebecca felt like choking. "Ho…wha…what can we do?!" She spun around, and looked out across the lake. "What about the lake? Could we maybe swim to that Hogwarts place of yours?"

"The lake is too cold, and believe me, there are things living in there that you would not want to swim into on a dark night such as this. Besides, I cannot swim in such a deep lake, and my herd would clearly see you, and run around it to reach you before you even got there."

"Then…then what do we do?!" she said, her body beginning to shudder. She could make out the distant trampling of the Centaur's hooves, as she felt the vibrations of it from beneath the earth. This time there was no doubt, for if she could feel just the mere vibrations from such a long distance, there had to be a whole lot more than just one Centaur approaching.

Firenze had an intense frown upon his face, as he looked around, seemingly searching for something. But when a few moments had passed, and the vibrations had now evolved into sound, Rebecca felt her panic resurfacing.

"Firenze, they're coming!"

The Centaur snarled, "I know!" But still he seemed to have no answer to give to her.

Rebecca looked toward the forest, and swallowed. The sound was like the coming of a great storm. It sounded like the entire herd was there, just as Firenze had said.

"There's no way out," she said, accidentally speaking out loud.

"Don't say that!" Firenze countered, looking at her hard. "There's still time. I just need…"

"Firenze, they're practically upon us," she said in resignation. "There's no where for me to go, no way to escape, and…" She blinked a tear back. "…Nothing for me to escape to."

"Rebecca…?"

"Firenze, remember what we talked about before? About what would happen if I gave myself up to your herd?"

"Yes, and do you remember what I told you?!" he said sharply. "Nothing that you went through with my herd the first time will be anything like you will go through this time! You will be their prisoner forever, as a Breeder, whose sole purpose is to produce foals and serve as physical pleasure for the Sires, and as no more than a mere slave to the herd. Is that the kind of life you want?!"

"What other choice do I have?!" she snapped. "They're on their way here, there's nowhere to go, and if I don't go with them then…what will that mean for the rest of Britain?"

Firenze opened his mouth to speak, but then he stopped and shut it. Rebecca thought at first that he was considering her words, as she noticed the look on his face. It was one of serious thought and contemplation.

The Centaurs were coming closer, and just when Rebecca thought Firenze had finally come to realise she was right in handing her over to his herd, he turned and raced over to Umbridge. She watched in confusion, as he knelt down beside her/him, and rummaged through the witch-turned-wizard's robes until he finally found what he was looking for.

She watched him, as he pulled out…the Stone?

To Be Continued…