Chapter Four
The aftermath of the attack passed very quickly to Harry. McGonagall and a few other teachers had appeared around them and chased away Fenrir, and sometime amongst the chaos Ron and Hermione had taken their places beside him. Myrina disappeared for a time, leaving the winged man who had fought with her behind. Soon, however, he too seemed to dissolve into the growing crowd. And there was a crowd.
What had begun as only a few students and teachers had grown into the entire school body gathered around Harry and his friends. Their voices grew as well from a few mumbles to everyone shouting over each other to ask Harry how he had managed to kill Bellatrix. But the stunned young man could only stare at the corpse of his most hated enemy in silence.
Finally, a strong hand gripped his shoulder and began towing him through the crowd. Looking up to see who his savior was Harry saw the blonde hair of Firenze the centaur and astronomy professor. "Move aside." His deep voice struck every student silent and seemed to control them like a spell. Almost instantly, a clear path had been made through the mob of witches and wizards.
The ten minute walk back up to the castle seemed like hours to Harry, but they eventually arrived without further problems from the rest of the student body. Myrina met them at the doors, her silver eyes narrowing when she saw Firenze. The later of whose reaction was much more pronounced. "Daemon." He spat the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, but this only earned an amused smirk from Myrina. Firenze stomped a hoof impatiently when the winged woman didn't move. "Are you going to stand there like an imbecile waiting for Harry to get attacked again or are you going to move and let him go into safety?" His words were clipped and he spoke quickly as if he was in a hurry to get away from her.
"By all means." Myrina's voice was thick as honey and twice as sweet. She gave a sarcastic bow while stepping to the side, the smirk giving her face an evil look that reminded Harry of a daemon as he walked by her.
Firenze's hooves made soft clopping noises on the marble floor of the Great Hall as the five of them made their way to the headmistress's office. The centaur with the fur of sunlight led the way while Harry walked beside him, Ron and Hermione directly behind their best friend, and last but most definitely not least Myrina. If anyone had seen this unusual band walking down the hall, there in no doubt they would be completely surprised by the usual friendly Firenze's sour disposition toward the shapeshifter guard. Every so often, he would glance back at her with vehement dislike, snorting with irritation. His behavior only seemed to goad the young woman into more sarcastic display of politeness however, and each time he looked back at her, Myrina would give a small smirk and dip her head as if to bow to him. Each time she did this, Firenze, in reply, would give anther – and louder – snort. Once or twice he even shook his head. The three students were forced in between this feuding pair with much discomfort, but what could they do? On one side was a centaur with razor sharp hooves, and on the other was a young shapeshifter woman whose power was as of yet unknown to the three. They cold only hope that no real fights broke out while they were stuck in the no man's land.
Finally, the spiraling staircase leading to McGonagall's office came into view as they rounded a corner. Firenze spoke the password to the stone gargoyle and reluctantly stepped back. "Harry, Ron, Hermione," the great centaur began, bowing to them as he said their name respectively, "I am afraid that this is as far as I am able to accompany you. McGonagall will be waiting for you at her desk." With a great sweeping bow and a flick of his tail Firenze allowed the four of them to walk past him and enter the stairway, maybe giving a disgusted glance at Myrina as she passed by.
Harry had just placed his foot on the first step when an iron strong hand closed around his shoulder and turned him back around. Surprised at the sudden contact, the student looked up wide-eyed into the stern face of – once again – Firenze. He gave a glance at Myrina who looked on suspiciously before leaning close and whispering a few urgent words into Harry's ear. "Tell McGonagall that her suspicions were correct and that she would do well to watch out from now on." The centaur briefly released Harry but quickly jerked him back before the young man could go too far. Once more, the Firenze hissed a few words into Harry's ear and then shoved him towards the stair case. Glancing back before the twist of the stair way could take the tall centaur from his view, Harry saw the last disgusted glare given to Myrina – which she simply ignored – and then Firenze cantered off the down the hall. The four beat clopping of his hooves echoed down the hall way long after Harry had lost sight of him.
"Harry come on, let's go."
Ron's prod to Harry's back and slightly agitated voice broke him of his trance and he quickly started up the spiraling stair case. Within the moment they arrived in McGonagall's office, a familiar twinge of pain in Harry's chest as he thought about Dumbledore sitting behind his ancient wooden desk. 'Stop that, there's no use wishing for something that not even magic can bring back so just stop it.' Harry gave a startled jump and twisted to the side at the thought, something like fear and anger coursing through him along with the adrenaline.
"What the -? Harry! Knock it off!" Hermione's voice quickly reminded Harry of where he was and stopped any further thrashing around from happening, however, it couldn't chase away the prickling of the hairs on the back of his neck that made him think someone was watching him. A small jolt of fear still steadily coursed through his veins as well, a simple fact running through his head. That wasn't my voice….