Review pretty pleaseeeeeeeeeee
They ran down the stone steps. Edward let the Gryffindors lead the way since they seemed to know where they were going. They had made a little detour so that Edward could get his stick back from his room. He managed to sneak in and out without anyone seeing him.
Despite his misgivings about using magic, Edward felt safer with the stick in his pocket.
"If anyone's looking out of the window-" Granger squeaked, looking up at the castle behind them. Edward felt very naked.
"We'll run for it," said Harry determinedly. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout-"
"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!" said Granger breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"
Harry set off at a sprint, Hermione behind him. Edward loped after them easily, forcing himself to slow down so that the Gryffindors did not lag too far behind. They tore across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses. They stayed there for a little while, keeping a cautious watch of everything around them. The Gryffindors were heaving from breaths. If they were in a real war, they would not have lasted a full minute. Once the Gryffindors had regained even breathing, Edward led the sprint into the Forest. He sprinted across the open space swiftly. Teacher was right about not slacking. After Al's visit, Edward felt the strong need to train. He had begun using longer routes to classes when he was not following Malfoy. He had to sprint quietly so that he would not be late or get caught for running in the hallways.
Edward turned around once he was in the safety of the trees and waited for the Gryffindors to reach. Edward worried the ground under his foot after almost a minute of waiting. The mud churned around his boot. Where were they? Did they get caught?
Harry burst into the trees just as Edward decided to go look for them. He was sweating heavily. Seconds later, Granger appeared behind him.
"How did you get here so fast?" Granger panted. "You have two metal limbs!"
"Right," Edward ignored her. It was a petty thing- a form of revenge when Granger ignored him back in the closet "We need to sneak over to the big guy's place. Go quietly."
They made their way silently through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the forest. Then, as they glimpsed the front of Hagrid's house, Edward heard a knock upon his door. He moved quickly behind a wide trunk, gesturing the others to do the same.
They peered out from either side of the trunk. Hagrid had appeared in his doorway, shaking and white, looking around to see who had knocked. And Edward heard Harry's voice.
"It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."
Edward had to make sure Harry was squatting down beside him to believe it.
"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back, then shut the door quickly.
"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry said fervently.
"Tell me about it," Edward muttered, glancing from Harry to the cottage.
"Let's move along a bit," Granger whispered. "We need to get nearer to Buckbeak!"
They crept through the trees until they saw the chimera tethered to the fence around Hagrid's pumpkin patch. Edward felt a pang in his chest. It was hard looking at it and not think of Nina. This was the result of the mistakes Alchemists made because of their own selfish goals.
"Now?" Harry whispered.
"No!" said Granger. "If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"
"That's going to give us about sixty seconds," said Harry.
"Then we'll be done in fify," Edward growled, narrowing his eyes at the challenge. Mistakes were made. But that was in the past. He had two legs. To get up and move on.
At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin.
"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Granger whispered. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment."
Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Granger's shriek of surprise.
"Hey," said Harry suddenly, "what if we- we just run in there and grab Pettigrew-"
"No!" said Granger in a terrified whisper. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?"
"I'd think I'd gone mad," said Harry, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on."
Granger did not say anything, letting the weight of the consequences sink into Harry. Harry's eyes widened and he nodded somberly.
Edward nudged the Gryffindors and pointed toward the castle. The old geezer was there. So was Fudge and a man garbed in black robes holding a mean looking ax.
"We're about to come out!" Granger breathed.
Hagrid's back door opened, as if on cue and Harry, Granger and Weasley emerged. Edward had to once again check that Granger and Harry were beside him. Harry was gazing at himself in surprise and fascination.
"We'll tell them what really happened"
"They can't kill him-"
"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"
From his vantage point, with Granger and Harry beside him, Edward felt like he was watching a play unfold. The whole thing felt so surreal.
The Granger in the pumpkin patch beckoned Harry and Weasley towards her and threw a piece of fabric over themselves. They vanished.
"What just happened?" Edward demanded.
"It's nothing," Harry said hurriedly. He shot Granger a cryptic look and Edward frowned.
"But you guys just-"
"Shh!" Granger hissed and pointed at the door.
"Where is the beast?" the man in black said. He was shifting his ax from one arm to the other to relieve the strain of the weight. Edward could not help noticing how easily he handled the ax. He was obviously skilled with his weapon.
"Out- outside," Hagrid croaked.
"We- er- have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, you're supposed to listen too, that's procedure-" Fudge was rolling out a parchment and entered the house. The group of hocus pocus people disappeared from sight.
"Wait here," Harry whispered. "I'll do it."
Edward nodded, hoping that relief was not too evident on his face. He did not want to get close to the chimera.
As Fudge's voice started again, Harry darted out from behind his tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch, and approached the chimera.
It happened so quickly and so slow. Harry stared at the chimera's eyes and bowed. Fudge's voice was droning on about some rights but it sounded like he was concluding.
They had to hurry.
The chimera did a graceful squat and rose again, acknowledging Harry who instantly reached for the rope around the chimera and untied it from the fence.
Harry grabbed the rope with both hands and pulled the chimera in the direction of the forest but the chimera had decided that it liked its spot. It sank its claws into the ground and resisted.
Edward could hear the voices in the cabin growing louder. They were coming. Harry looked frantically at the cabin then at the chimera and pulled even harder.
Granger exchanged a panicked look with Edward before pulling out her stick and whispering under her breath. The ground around the chimera's feet loosened and it stumbled. The beast shook its head irritably and moved in the direction Harry was pulling it.
"Quick! Quick!" Granger moaned, darting out from behind the tree and seized the rope too. The added weight made the chimera move faster. Edward waited until they were in the forest before he helped pull the chimera away from the cabin.
"Stop!" Harry whispered. "They might hear us."
Edward glanced over his shoulder and realised that he could no longer see the cabin.
"Where is it?" roared a voice Edward did not recognise. "Where is the beast?"
"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"
"Someone untied him!" the voice was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest."
Harry and Granger winced. There was a little muted conversation before speech died down completely.
"Now what?" whispered Harry, looking around.
"They could be searching the forest or they could have assumed the chimera had flown away. Either way, we should keep going until its safe," Edward said.
"The what?" Harry asked.
"Chimeras!" Granger said with understanding. "Aren't they what alchemists call-"
Edward yanked at the rope, causing the chimera to stumble before moving again. He looked over and gave Harry and Granger both a cryptic smile. They frowned.