* I wanted to write yesterday but... I was sick as all hell and I would've fallen asleep on the keyboard. But, happy Canada Day to all of you out there, and guess what? A bit of history for you guys. Today is the 100th anniversary of Battle of the Somme. More than one million men were either wounded or killed. That makes it the bloodiest battle in human history.
John watched as Clara walked out of the hut, following Harry. Hermione was glancing out of a window that looked over a hill.
"Did you lie that day? When you told me that a paradox would occur if I went back in time and went to my Charms class?" She asked, still looking out the window.
John frowned. "Well, kind of. Yes, a paradox would occur, but it would be so tiny that it would sort itself out. But, but what I said still stands. You would've had to hide from Harry and Ron, because they were the ones who told you missed the class. But, yes. You would've been able to attend the class."
Hermione sighed. "Then why'd you stop me?"
John stared out into the black space. "Because I think that just because you can Time-Travel, it doesn't mean you should rewrite your day. Change other people's futures."
Hermione nodded, before jerking her head. "Merlin," she muttered, before running out the door.
"Watch Buckbeak for me," she panted.
John shook his head. "No way."
"Fine, then bring him outside," Hermione said. She ran out, John followed her outside, where she came to a halt when she reached Clara.
"Clara!" she shrieked. "Why would you let Harry run away?"
Clara shrugged. "Hermione, it's fine. I let him."
Hermione threw her hands in the air. "Why? After everything I said about not being seen! Then, you just let Harry run straight toward his past self!"
Clara made a time-out gesture. "Calm down, Hermione! Even John knows what's happening!"
John frowned. He probably did know at one point, but it was way too difficult to remember at this point. There was just a bunch of useless stuff floating in his head. But, he played along.
Hermione growled in frustration. "I need to stop him!" she said, before running down the hill, with Buckbeak, which she pulled from John's hands.
Clara flinched, before running after Hermione. She paused momentarily when she saw the dementors. But then, there was a silvery burst of light that drove all the dementors away. Clara turned back momentarily and yelled, "Coming?"
John nodded, and ran.
When they reached Hermione, she was ducking behind a bush alongside Harry. Hermione seemed a little calmer now.
"Did anyone see you?" she asked urgently.
Harry made an exasperated sound. "Hermione! I saw me! Remember? I thought that I was my dad!"
Clara knelt down by their side. "Told you I knew who it was!" she said brightly, winking.
Harry frowned. "How did you know?"
Clara chuckled. "Oh, please. The moment you said that you saw your dad, I was sure. But, I was right! You did have to find out by yourself!"
Harry nodded in understanding. "OK."
Hermione was still wide-eyed. "But, Harry! I saw the Patronus! It drove away all the dementors!"
Clara nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's impressive. Very advanced magic."
"Well, when I realized that I saw me, I realized that I could do it because I'd already done it! It does make sense, right?"
John nodded. "It's not that big of a problem with the timeline. See? Paradoxes sort themselves out."
Hermione shushed him. "Be quiet! Here comes Snape!"
She was right. The four of them glanced through the hole in the bush to see Snape levitating Harry, Hermione, and Black. Then, he walked back to the castle.
Hermione glanced at her watch. "We have forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing…"
They waited a bit until they actually were sure that Sirius was in Flitwick's office. John stared at the way the Moon reflected onto the lake. There were tiny ripples in the water, but otherwise, John's image wasn't distorted.
While looking at the way the Moon shone on the Lake, he couldn't help but notice the way it looked when a ripple of water would cause the image to break up. It looked like the Moon was cracking and crippling. John wondered when the Moon would actually crack like that in the future.
"Look! Someone's coming back out of the castle!" Hermione whispered.
"It's Macnair, the executioner! He's gone to collect the dementors! We need to go now!" Harry said frantically.
Everybody nodded. Hermione clutched onto the back of Buckbeak, while John and Harry pushed her up. Then, Clara went, then Harry gave a boost to John, and finally Harry Harry used some branches from the bush to get himself onto Buckbeak. John was so glad of the hippogriff for being so large.
John was at the back, but because of the way Harry had to get on Buckbeak, he was at the front. Harry nudged carefully Buckbeak's side with his feet, and they were off.
John was very uncomfortable gripping onto Clara. It just felt weird. Clara was laughing her face off, while John was trying to make sure Clara didn't just toss him over the edge.
After a minute, Harry reached his destination. Well, except for the fact that Buckbeak didn't want to land, but close enough.
Sirius realized what was happening, and he looked awestruck. He tried to open the window, but it was locked. Hermione used the unlocking spell, and he was all good.
"Come on!" Harry yelled.
Sirius nodded, and thank goodness he was so thin. He slipped out of the window and flung himself onto the back of Buckbeak. If John was uncomfortable before, he was even more now. Black was panting behind John, and although he wasn't gripping onto him, it was still weird.
Buckbeak flew to the very top of the West Tower. He landed on battlements, where Harry, Hermione, Clara and John slipped off Buckbeak.
"You'd better go," Harry gasped. "Macair is gathering the dementors…"
"Ron? Is he OK?" Sirius wheezed.
"He'll be OK. Madam Pomfrey is taking care of him. But, Sirius, you need to go!" Harry repeated.
Black turned Buckbeak around, so that they were facing the open air. "You're truly your father's son Harry…" Sirius almost whispered. Then, he kicked Buckbeak's sided gently, and rose into the air. Moments later, he was gone.
Hermione sucked a breath. "Guys, we need to go! We have ten minutes until Dumbledore locks the door!"
"OK…" Harry muttered.
They sneaked into a spiraling staircase. When they reached the bottom, they heard voices. They belonged to the Minister and Snape.
"The Kiss will be performed immediately?" Snape asked, in his regular, monotone, voice.
John continued eavesdropping on the conversation. They were talking about the Daily Prophet wanting an interview with Snape. John snickered to himself.
After the two had gone, John and the others ran in the opposite direction. They heard Peeves bouncing and causing general chaos.
They hid in a classroom just before Peeves caught a sight of them.
"What if we don't make it?" Clara asked nervously.
Hermione shuddered. "We have one minute."
They all ran to the end of the corridor before the hospital wing. They could see Dumbledore's back.
"I am going to lock you in," he said calmly. They all panicked when he came out.
"Well?" he asked, with a shy grin.
"We did it!" Harry exclaimed. "Sirius left with Buckbeak!"
Dumbledore nodded. "Very well then. I think I'd better lock you in now."
The four nodded, and Dumbledore closed the door behind them, and locked it.
Hermione gave a nervous laugh. "Oh my god!" She hid the Time-Turner in her robes, before pulling a leaf out of her hair and tossing it. Madam Pomfrey appeared from her office.
"Can I look after my patients now?" She asked briskly.
John shuddered, as Pomfrey was definitely not in a good mood. He ate his chocolate quietly. Honestly, everyone else looked like they were going to choke on the food, but John was fine. He like chocolate. John needed his Serotonin levels to stay up. As he took his sixth piece of chocolate, there was a roar of outrage coming from outside.
Madam Pomfrey was not happy. "What do they think they're doing?"
"He must have Disapparated. Damn, we should've left someone with him," Fudge said.
"YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE IN THE CASTLE!" Snape bellowed. "THIS ALL HAS TO DO WITH POTTER!"
"Harry has been locked up!"
The door to the hospital wing blew open. Hermione dropped her piece of chocolate in surprise.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Snape roared. "COME ON, POTTER!"
"Please, Professor!" Pomfrey shrieked. "Control yourself in my hospital wing!"
"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE! I'M SURE OF IT!"
"You're talking nonsense!"
Dumbledore had accompanied them, and with an amused whisper he said, "This door has been locked for ten minutes after I talked to them, Severus. Think about your accusation!" Dumbledore paused. "Madam Pomfrey, have these students left the classroom at all?"
Pomfrey puffed her chest. "Of course not. They've been under constant supervision."
"There we go. Unless you are suggesting that the four students here, or more specifically, Harry, can be a two places at one time, I think that your theory is well lacking in proof. Let's not bother them further, shall we?"
Snape snarled, then whipped around and left angrily.
Fudge scratched his head. "He seemed very unbalanced, Dumbledore."
With his usual smile back, Dumbledore said, "He's suffered a bit of a disappointment."
"Well, so have I! The Daily Prophet will have a field day! Black slipped through our fingers again!"
"I trust the dementors will be removed from the school property?"
"Yes… They will have to go. They're out of control; trying to give the Kiss to a boy! Perhaps dragons at the front entrance…"
John shuddered. Dragons. He could already see himself trip over the tail and be burnt to crisp.
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, I think Hagrid shall like that very much."
The two of them left, negotiating.
Madam Pomfrey hurried to lock the door, then went back to her office. She huffed in annoyance.
Ron moaned from one of the beds.
"What? What happened? Harry? What?"
The four exchanged a glance.
Clara plucked John's piece of chocolate from his hands. "You tell him. You're going to get fat if you keep eating."
John frowned. "I'll just remember that tomorrow I'll travel in time back to today to tell me to stop. I'll be here in three… two… one…" Of course, nothing happened, but the four gave a nervous laugh.
"What is so funny?" Ron shrieked.
John cracked his knuckles. "The fact that it's been about an hour and a half since you were brought here, along with us."
"What?"
John stole the chocolate back. "It's been about four and a half hours since we were brought here."
"What?"