Chapter 6 – Quidditch Final, Exams and Animals.
Ginny had started to cry and the others all frowned. "What in Yoda's name?" Mel snapped, taking the letter from Hermione and reading through it.
"They can't do that, Buckbeak isn't dangerous!" Harry shouted, rubbing Ginny's back after she turned and cried into his chest.
"Malfoy's dad," Ron growled. "I'd bet my savings that he frightened the Committee into this verdict!"
"There's still the appeal," Hermione started, tears coming to her eyes too. "But I don't see how it'll help, nothing will have changed."
"You're right, if there's any more information to find, I don't think we'll be able to find it." Mel said, sagging in her seat.
"We should go see Hagrid," Harry said with determination, not bothered that his shirt was slowly becoming soaked.
"Good luck with that," Andrew answered sourly. "With all the security the Teachers and Prefects are implementing, we'll never be allowed out the main door."
"We'll have Care of Magical Creatures with him first thing on Monday," Hermione said quickly, perking up a little.
They silently agreed to wait until the lesson before talking to Hagrid and just stayed by the fire.
On Monday, during their first lesson, the six Gryffindors spent the whole lesson talking to Hagrid, he was still numb with shock over the verdict.
He blamed himself, because he got tongue-tied and dropped his notes. "Dumbledore pulled an amazin' trick though," he said with pride. "Took a swig from 'is flask and turned inter Andrew ter read 'is statement. Then 'e did the same fer each of yeh. Didn' 'elp though."
"There's still the appeal!" Ron growled fiercely. "Don't give up yet, we're working on I!"
Hagrid was escorting his class back up to the Entrance Hall at this point, his huge shoulders sagging. "'S'no good, Ron," he said sadly as they reached the castle steps. Draco and Jax were nearby, listening in. "That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had."
"I'm sorry," Draco said sadly as he passed.
"Thank ye, Draco," Hagrid answered. Andrew growled as he noticed McCarthy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggering, just inside the door.
Hagrid turned and hurried towards his hut, his face buried in his handkerchief.
"Look at him blubber!" Crabbe jeered.
"Have you ever seen anything so pathetic?" asked McCarthy. "And he's supposed to be our teacher!"
"So he's human, which is more than I can say for you." Draco spat.
"Exactly, once the Hippogriff dies, you'll be a corpse," Jax added calmly, like he was discussing the weather.
Just as McCarthy was about to answer, Hermione came from nowhere and slapped him. "Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul, evil, loathsome little cockroach!"
She moved to slap him again, but Draco caught her wrist gently. "Much as I would like to watch you slap him silly, Granger, would you mind waiting until I've sold a few tickets first?"
McCarthy looked scandalised. "You're siding with a Mudblood, Draco?" WALLOP! Draco punched McCarthy so hard in the face, that the back of his head collided with the door to the castle grounds.
McCarthy and his goons then took that moment to run away. "Nice punch!" Jax praised, giving his friend a high-five.
"I don't think I'll be able to stand him gloating if Slytherin win." Hermione seethed, Draco nodded as he let go of her wrist.
"Likewise, he goes on like he's up there with us half the time." he groaned.
"Come on, we're due in Charms." Ron said, placing a hand behind Hermione's back and steering her towards the marble staircase.
They broke into a run after they got to the first floor. "You five are late." Professor Flitwick told them as they came in.
"Wait, five?" Ron asked, looking around. "Where's Hermione?"
"I'll go find her," Mel said, quickly asking Flitwick what they were doing, and promising to catch up.
After the lesson, Mel met up with the others at lunch, looking thoroughly worried, she hadn't found Hermione anywhere.
"Did you check your dormitory?" Andrew asked, looking concerned too.
"No, I hardly think Hermione is one to go to bed when she's got classes to get to!" Mel snapped. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried."
Getting up, the five of them agreed to check Gryffindor Tower, then split up. When they got to the common room, they found her, asleep at a table with her head on her Arithmancy book.
After waking her up and asking her why she wasn't in Charms, Hermione seemed to have a slight breakdown and stormed out, saying she would meet them in Divination.
When she got there, twenty minutes later, she looked extremely harassed. "I can't believe I missed Cheering Charms!"
"I did too, looking for you," Mel said, looking cross.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, promising to work on them with her, since Flitwick hinted that they would be part of the end of year exams.
"(I thought you were going to talk to McGonagall,)" Mel said to Andrew.
"(I did, she refused to tell me a damned thing!)" Andrew growled back.
When they got into the loft, they saw a collection of crystal balls, one on each table. "I thought we weren't starting crystal balls until next term." Ron said.
Andrew and Mel looked a little upset, mainly because it was becoming obvious that they were never going to be learning about premonitions.
"Don't complain," Harry answered, "this means we've finished palmistry."
"Thank God?" Andrew muttered, causing Ginny to giggle.
To be honest, it wasn't a great class, nobody saw a thing in the crystal balls, except Ron. "Would anyone like any help?" Professor Trelawney had asked.
"I don't need any help," Ron answered. "It's obvious what this means. There's going to be loads of fog tonight."
The others broke down into fits of laughter, causing Trelawney to come over and look for herself. Once again, she tried to say she could see the Grim, but Hermione lost her temper and left the class, permanently.
After the class was over, Andrew, Mel and Hermione discussed one of the Jedi quitting the class so they could protect her too, but she insisted that if they wanted to continue Divination, then she wouldn't allow them to quit.
It turned out not to be the best Easter holiday they had had. The third-years were slowly being buried under their homework, none so much as Hermione. "Call this a holiday!" Seamus roared in the common room, Neville had just had a nervous breakdown over his own homework. "The exams are ages away, what're they playing at?"
Ron had ordered Hermione to take a break from helping Buckbeak, so he could work on the appeal and she could keep up with her school work, he had blushed when Hermione, being so grateful she could burst, had kissed his cheek and said 'Thank you'.
"I really think you need to drop another subject Hermione," Andrew said, growing concerned. Sirius Black, the Jedi could protect from, Hermione killing herself with school work?.. that was something they were helpless against.
Hermione wouldn't hear of it and carried on with her homework. Ginny was being helped by Mel, since she had leapt over an entire year's worth of homework, so the amount that they had was a little much for the twelve-year-old.
Andrew and Harry, however, still had the same amount of homework, Anti-Dementor lessons and, thanks to the upcoming final, Quidditch practise to contend with. All-in-all, all six of them were struggling to cope with the amount they each had on their plate.
With the final being on the first Saturday after the holidays, Slytherin were roughly a hundred and twenty points up, mainly thanks to the scoring frenzy from the Gryffindor–Ravenclaw match. However, Oliver kept making himself late for his lessons by seeking out Andrew and Harry, so that he could remind them of their jobs in the next match.
"Oliver, focus on your classes, we've got this, breathe." Andrew ordered him.
Oliver wasn't the only Gryffindor student who was obsessing over the match, Gryffindor hadn't won the cup since the legendary Charley Weasley had been Seeker. By the time the holidays were over, the tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin was almost nuclear. There were fights breaking out in the corridors, Wood had almost ordered that Harry get an escort so that Slytherin couldn't sabotage him. But that got shot down by Andrew and Mel, everyone had noticed how they had been shadowing him everywhere.
Crabbe and Goyle obviously hadn't noticed. Every now and again, they would jump out at Harry, only to find three lightsabers pointed at their chests, causing them to walk away in a sulk. Thanks to the Jedi, Harry was able to get to his classes on time, regardless of the cheering crowds of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students wherever he went, but Harry insisted on checking his Firebolt between each class, just to make sure it was safe. Luckily in that regard, his Force training was coming along nicely, because he was becoming quite proficient in using the Force to increase his running speed.
Anything that would normally happen in Gryffindor Tower's common room, wasn't being done on the night before the match. Even Hermione had abandoned her books, claiming she couldn't focus on her work.
The Jedi attempted to meditate, but the excitement in the room was so strong that it overpowered them whenever they tried. Fred and George were being louder than ever, Wood was obsessing over a model of the pitch, Alicia, Angelina and Katie were laughing at the twins, and Harry tried to keep his mind off the match, by playing more Magic.
"You've really taken to that game, haven't you." Mel commented, Harry just smiled back and played a card that made Hermione send half her library to her grave.
Andrew watched this and glared at his best friend. "You're a blue mage!"
"I think so, why?" Harry asked, slightly confused by the hostility.
"I hate blue mages. You're either a 'blue deck says no' player, or you're a miller." Andrew said with venom.
"Sorry?" Ginny said, confused.
"I shall explain." Andrew told her. "First option of a blue deck; I'm going to do this, blue deck says 'no'," Andrew was miming the act of placing cards on a table. "Okay, I'm going to do this, blue deck says 'no'. I'll do this, this and this. No, no, no."
"HA! You're out of mana, I play a nine/nine creature with Trample!" Mel chimed in.
"Fair enough, my turn? Mind control, I now own your creature." Andrew finished.
"That's just evil!" Ron complained, laughing.
"The other type of blue deck, basically runs on the idea of making you deck yourself." Andrew explained. "Which is what Harry's using, 'I'll make you pick up extra cards all the time, when you have more than seven in hand, you have to discard cards, I'll cast spells to make you send cards from the library, directly to the grave, and eventually you'll go to draw a card, find no cards are there, and you've lost.'"
"Equally evil," Hermione complained, having just lost in the same way Andrew had described.
"Hence why I hate blue mages." Andrew huffed.
"Team! Bed!" Wood ordered.
"Perfect timing," Mel pointed out as Harry and Andrew got up to go and sleep.
The next morning, the Gryffindor team walked into the Great Hall, to the thundering applause of everyone in the school, bar the Slytherins. After they had all eaten, they left the Great Hall to even more applause and calls of good luck.
Wood marched his team down to the pitch, making comments about the weather and the ground. When he noticed the main doors open, he ordered his team to the changing rooms.
As they were all changing, Andrew broke the silence. "Boss, I'm warming the bench," he said firmly.
The girls gasped. "But why, Andrew?" Angelina asked.
Andrew sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, this might sound silly. But this is a journey you guys started two years ago, you are the team that should have won it then, I was just a first-year. True, I've helped get us this far, but … this is your show, it's your story."
"And what if we need you?" Oliver demanded.
"I'm still on the bench, but I've got faith. I believe you guys can win without me, but sub me in if you need me." Andrew told his captain.
"That … that's so touching, Andrew!" Alicia cried, pulling Andrew into a tight hug.
"We'll win it, first goal's for you, Andrew." Katie added, hugging her team mates, the others moved in to make it a group hug.
"Just make sure you're up there with us..." Fred started. "...when Harry gets the Snitch." George finished.
"Wouldn't miss it." Andrew answered, looking to Oliver for his approval.
Wood nodded, breaking up the team hug. "Okay, it's time, let's go ..."
As they stepped out onto the pitch, the crowd roared. Most were wearing red and waving banners which said 'GO GRYFFINDOR!' and 'LIONS FOR THE CUP'. Behind the Slytherin goalposts, sat two hundred people, all wearing green, this included Snape and Filch, both sitting front and centre.
"And here come the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee Jordan, the usual commentator. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, Payne and Wood!"
The Slytherins drowned his next words out by booing. "Payne has been placed on the bench for the beginning of this match."
As the Slytherin team came out, Lee commented that Marcus Flint had gone for size rather than skill, which seemed to be true, not that the Slytherin fans agreed. In fact, they booed some more.
After Hooch ordered team captains to shake hands, Andrew picked up his broom and ran off the pitch. The game started with Alicia having the ball and Malfoy tailing Harry. "We're still on, right Potter?" he called.
Harry looked at him, a little confused. "I catch the Snitch, I get to ride your broom!"
The two of them laughed and got on with the game. Alicia had lost the Quaffle to Warrington, who was hit by a Bludger, losing the ball to Angelina, who scored.
"YES! YOU GO GIRL!" Andrew bellowed, Angelina couldn't hear him, but she saw him dancing and saluted him, just as Flint smashed into her. Fred threw his club at Flint and caused Hooch to award a penalty to each team.
Alicia took the penalty for Gryffindor, scoring easily. Harry and Malfoy stopped their search for the Snitch to watch Flint, with a bleeding nose, take Slytherin's penalty.
"Oh come on, Flint!" Malfoy groaned, Oliver had saved the shot.
"Be fair, Draco," Harry said, "Oliver's a good keeper."
"True," Malfoy answered as the two Seekers continued their search.
The Quaffle changed sides so much in the next few minutes, that Lee was having a hard time to keep up with his commentary. That is until Montague, a Slytherin Chaser, flew in and grabbed Katie's head instead of the ball.
Katie was awarded a penalty, which she scored easily. "THIRTY–ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING –" Lee was cut off by Professor McGonagall.
"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way –!"
"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"
At this point, Harry got a little bored and shot off, pretending to have seen the Snitch, Derrick shot one Bludger at him, Bole shot the other. They both missed and continued to fly at him with their clubs raised, Harry simply waited for the last moment and shot up. This left the two Slytherin Beaters to crash into each other.
Shortly after the mid-air collision, Flint managed to score, and then the game turned ugly. Bole smacked Alicia with his club and tried to say he thought she was a Bludger, this caused George to elbow Bole in the face.
Hooch awarded both teams another penalty, Angelina took Gryffindors, scoring, Montague took Slytherins and Oliver saved.
"You need me to take over, Alicia?" Andrew called, she shook her head and gave him an 'OK' sign with her fingers. Andrew nodded, gave her the thumbs up and clapped the team on.
Katie had scored again, Fred and George flying around her in case of Slytherin retaliation. Derrick and Bole took the opportunity to send both Bludgers at Oliver, which caused Madam Hooch to slightly lose her temper.
"You do not attack the Keeper unless the Quaffle is within the scoring area!" she shrieked, before awarding Gryffindor another penalty.
Angelina scored again, making it sixty to ten. A minute later, George smacked a Bludger at Warrington, perfectly knocking the Quaffle out of his hand and into Katie's waiting arms, she zoomed off and scored again, Gryffindor were now winning by sixty points.
All eyes were on Harry, he saw the Snitch and went for it, but by chance, Bole was nearby and had leapt onto the tail of the Firebolt, stopping it from going fast enough to catch the Snitch.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT BOLE!" Malfoy shouted, trying to kick the Beater off Harry's broom.
Hooch awarded a penalty to Gryffindor again, the crowd was beyond pissed, Lee was swearing into his megaphone, McGonagall wasn't even bothering to stop him, she was shaking her fist at Bole too.
Alicia took the penalty but missed, she was too angry to concentrate. Montague then scored, bringing the score to seventy–twenty. Angelina had the Quaffle and was having all Slytherin players except for Malfoy, move in to bury her.
Harry, however, picked that moment to use the Firebolt as a battering ram, causing the Slytherin team to scatter, clearing the way for Angelina to score. As Harry moved back to the centre of the pitch, he saw Malfoy diving for the Snitch. Harry went after him, flattening himself to his broom handle as Bole shot a Bludger at him.
They were level, Harry dived forward and knocked Malfoy's hand out of the way.
"YES!"
Harry pulled out of the dive, hand in the air, then the wind was knocked out of him as Andrew leapt from the ground and slammed into him, hugging the life out of him. Wood was the next to join them, crying without restraint. Fred and George slammed into the growing team hug and then Alicia, Angelina and Katie floated over.
The team floated down slowly, chanting "We've won the cup!" over and over, after they realised that Andrew had left his broom on the bench. As they touched down onto the pitch, they were invaded by wave upon wave of red. The fans hoisted the team onto their shoulders and carried them to the stands, where Dumbledore happily presented them with the Quidditch cup.
A strange silence came over the crowd as Oliver held the cup in both hands, then he held it out to Harry. The eight of them looked at each other, beaming.
"Together?" Andrew asked, placing a hand on the cup.
"Together!" the twins answered, mimicking him. All eight players placed a hand on the cup, then Wood held it aloft and the crowd roared again.
Celebrations over Gryffindors win seemed to go on for a week, though they had no idea what Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw were getting up to in their own common rooms, Harry and his friends knew that they were celebrating too, because whenever a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was seen anywhere in the castle, they were cheered very loudly.
Even the weather seemed to be celebrating, not a cloud to be seen for miles and the temperature just about perfect. As much as everyone wanted to enjoy the weather and just laze about, nobody could, with the start of June came the end of year exams, which seemed to become more gruelling with each passing year.
"At least we're not fifth or seventh-years," Andrew commented, nodding over to Fred, George and Percy Weasley.
"Yeah, Fred and George have O. and Perce has his N.E. ," Ron answered, looking at his brothers with sympathy.
"Remind me," Mel said, "what are those?"
"O.W.L stands for Ordinary Wizarding Level," Hermione answered, not looking up from her revision.
"And N.E.W.T is Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test." Ron added.
"Sounds a bit like Muggle SATs and GCSEs," Andrew muttered thoughtfully.
Ron and Ginny looked a little confused, so Harry explained.
"SATs are taken at age eleven, and kinda decide what level you're taught at in Secondary School. GCSEs are taken at age sixteen and allow you to go to college, but a lot of Muggle employers will either accept you for a job or turn you away, based on your grades."
"Exactly like our tests then, O.W.L grades decide what subjects you can take in sixth and seventh year and N.E. dictate what jobs you can get after school," Ron said. "Heh, I guess Wizards and Muggles are a lot alike."
Just as Ron gave up on asking Hermione how she was planning to get to multiple exams at once, Hedwig and Snowfire arrived, she was carrying a letter for Harry and he was just coming with her.
"It's from Hagrid," Harry said, ripping the letter open and reading it. "Buckbeak's appeal is on the sixth."
"Good, just after the exams are over," Mel said happily.
"And they're coming up here to do it," Harry continued, still reading. "Someone from the Ministry of Magic and – and an executioner."
Everyone dropped what they were holding in shock. "They're bringing the executioner to the appeal!" Andrew exploded, causing Percy to look up and glare at the noise. "That sounds like they've decided before we even start!"
"They'll have to go through us to do it," Ginny said, trying to calm him down.
"Too bloody right they will!" Andrew snapped, his hand twitching towards his lightsaber.
Ginny flinched when Andrew snapped at her, but she knew he didn't mean to. They all wanted to go and see Hagrid, but the new security measures hadn't been lifted yet, Harry's Invisibility Cloak was at the bottom of the shaft beneath the statue of the one-eyed witch, and besides, it wouldn't have covered all six of them.
Guarding Harry was also starting to take its toll on the two Padawans, who were still only getting to sleep once every two days. Between sleep deprivation, lessons and revision, both were sporting bags under their eyes. A fact which was noticed by their head of house.
"You should both get some sleep," McGonagall had told them. "I realise you're determined to perform your duty, but this is becoming unhealthy, let us guard Harry overnight, like we do the rest of the castle."
After much persuasion, they both agreed, they needed their rest if they were going to get through the exams.
The first exam the third-years had was Transfiguration, where they were to turn a tea pot into a tortoise. It went well for most, but everyone was worrying afterwards that they hadn't done well enough. After a hasty lunch, it was Charms, where Hermione was right and they were tested on Cheering Charms. Again, mostly simple, but Harry had overdone his and Ron had to wait in a quiet room, laughing himself sick, before he tried his Charm.
The following day, they had Care of Magical Creatures first. Hagrid passed out Flobberworms and told them that if their worm was still alive after an hour, they had passed. So everyone just lounged about on the grass and left their worms alone. Harry and his friends took the opportunity to talk to Hagrid. Jax and Malfoy sitting nearby.
"Beaky's gettin' a bit depressed," Hagrid told them. "Bin cooped up too long. But still … we'll know day after tomorrow."
"We'll be there too Professor," Jax said, Malfoy nodded. "Trust me, the executioner will die before Buckbeak."
After that, they had potions, which didn't seem to go well for Harry, much to Snape's pleasure. They had Astronomy at midnight, by now most of the school had heard about Professor Sinistra's engagement and, before the exam started, many of the girls took a moment to gush over her ring.
"You know, I've just realised that I should be a tad embarrassed," Andrew commented.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"Because a Padawan's Master is kinda like a parent," Andrew answered. "And technically my Dad is marrying my teacher!" he buried his face in his hands as he turned beet red and the other students laughed.
The next morning they had History of Magic, where Harry, Andrew and Mel wrote down everything Mr Fortescue had told them on medieval witch hunts, all of them wishing for one of his sundaes because it was so hot.
Heat wise, things got worse in their next exam, Herbology, they had to perform their entire exam inside the greenhouses. After the exam was over, and Professor Sprout had applied sunburn lotion to everyone's necks, they moved back to the common room.
Their first exam on the last day, was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lupin had supplied the strangest exam ever, an obstacle course, containing every creature they had studied during the year. Andrew and Mel, being Jedi, had taken part in a few SAS obstacle courses and mainly went for speed, they had moved so fast that the creatures they were supposed to be getting past, hardly even realised they were there.
It was the final obstacle that tripped Mel up, they had to climb into an old trunk and battle a Boggart. After about a minute, Mel came back out, crying so hard that everyone watching was worried she'd been injured.
"I – I saw Andrew, I'd killed him!" she sobbed. Lupin gave her some chocolate and told her she'd passed anyway.
She cheered up a little when Hermione went next, bursting out of the trunk and screaming that Professor McGonagall had told her she'd failed every exam.
Ron was giggling about that all the way back to the castle, they'd taken the exam outside. Once they got there, they found Fudge, sweating in his pinstriped cloak.
"(Well, well. If it isn't the permission slip thief.)" Andrew thought, coldly, to the others.
"Lovely day," said Fudge, having started talking to Harry. "Pity … pity..."
He sighed and looked at the six Gryffindors. "I'm here on an unpleasant mission. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad Hippogriff."
"Excuse me?" Andrew said before he could stop himself. "Mad Hippogriff? Who exactly is in charge of knowing fu-sod all about creatures on that committee?" he demanded.
"I beg your pardon, Andrew?" Fudge asked.
"Because if that person did their job right, they'd know that an insulted Hippogriff will attack, doesn't mean it's mad!"
"Calm yourself, Padawan," Fudge said, holding his hands up and trying to be diplomatic. "I am only repeating what I have been told."
"Has the appeal already happened?" Ron asked, cutting in.
"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge said, looking curiously at Ron.
"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all!" Ron said firmly as Draco and Jax showed up. "The Hippogriff might get off!"
"There's no 'might' about it, Weasley," Jax said, glaring daggers at the Minister. "The Hippogriff will get off!"
Before Fudge could answer that, two more wizards showed up, one of them was running a thumb over the blade of an axe on his belt. Losing his temper, Andrew pulled the axe from the executioner's belt and into his hand, cutting the man's thumb. "Confiscated!" he shouted.
"You cut my thumb you little.."
"Mind your language, please," snapped Mel. "There are children present!"
By now, they were drawing a crowd. "Now, now, children," the man from the Committee started.
"That Hippogriff dies, so do you!" Jax spat, drawing his lightsaber and igniting it.
"Now see here, young man," Fudge started, "as Min.."
"I don't give a flying fuck who you think you are, Minister!" Jax bellowed. "But I promise you this," he turned to the executioner. "You will die, if you harm so much as a feather on that Hippogriff's head!"
"What is going on here?" everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore, standing next to Fudge.
"Nothing, Professor," Andrew said calmly, he and Mel also igniting their lightsabers. "Just a slight disagreement, I'm certain it will be solved peacefully."
"Just as soon as these three leave." Mel said, glaring at the Minister, the Committee member and the executioner.
Dumbledore sighed. "Would you all kindly go to lunch, and Andrew, please return Mr Macnair's axe to him."
Shocked, Andrew didn't move. "Certainly sir, where in his chest should he bury it?" Jax asked, but Andrew then tossed the axe into the air and sliced it into several pieces.
"You've no need of it, murderer!" Andrew shouted, shoving his was past Dumbledore and Fudge.
"Really?" Fudge complained. "I thought the Jedi were peacekeepers!"
"Sometimes, Minister," Mel said as she deactivated her blades and brushed past him. "We have to employ 'aggressive negotiations'." she finished as she turn and bowed with a flourish.
For everyone except Hermione, the last exam was Divination. They were all seen one at a time, nobody gave anything away as they came down the ladder. When Andrew took his test, he saw nothing in the crystal ball, however he just chose to make some things up.
Andrew waited with Harry as the others did their tests and left for the common room. When Harry came down, he told Andrew that Trelawney had had a trance, a real one. She'd said that Voldemort's servant was going to 'break free' tonight, to rejoin his master. That Voldemort would rise again with this servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before.
"You think she means Black?" Andrew asked as they moved swiftly towards Gryffindor Tower.
"I'm guessing so, it's not like there's anything we can do about it." Harry answered. They entered the common room, intending to tell the others, but Ron showed them a letter, saying that they lost the appeal.
Harry immediately said that they had to go and see Hagrid, Ginny cried and said she couldn't bear to see that, so Mel volunteered to stay with her, Hermione found out from Harry where his cloak was and how to open the one-eyed witch, then she left. Fifteen minutes later, she was back, handing Harry the cloak.
"I don't know what's gotten into you lately, Hermione," Ron said. "But it's bloody brilliant! First you hit McCarthy, then you walk out on Professor Trelawney, now this!"
Hermione blushed, and Harry came up with their plan, they would go to dinner with everyone else, then he, Ron, Hermione and Andrew would sneak off, the Jedi keeping a lookout and the others running with the cloak to hide them.
Hagrid wasn't pleased when he realised who was at his door, but he let them in anyway. He made tea, his hands shaking so badly that he dropped his milk jug, causing it to shatter on the floor.
Hermione took over as Andrew looked out the window, seeing Buckbeak in the pumpkin patch. "This is so wrong!" Andrew growled, thumping his fist softly against the window frame.
"There ain't nuttin' we can do abou' it though," Hagrid said, sagging in his chair.
"Remember what you and Mel have been telling me," Harry said. "Don't let your anger influence you."
Andrew closed his eyes, letting out an angry breath through his nose. He turned to the table and sat down. "I'm not going to, but still..."
Hagrid directed Hermione to find another jug in the cupboard, Hagrid told them how Dumbledore had tried at the appeal, but Malfoy's dad had gotten his buddy Macnair to come down and make the kill.
Hermione offered to stay, they all did, but Hagrid told them they were to go back to the castle before it happened. At this point, Hermione was crying heavily. She went back to the counter to continue making tea, but then she let out a shriek as she was pouring milk into the new jug.
"Ron, I don't believe it!" she cried. "It's Scabbers!"
Ron gaped at her. "What're you talking about?" Hermione walked over and turned the milk jug over, dropping Scabbers onto the table. He was desperately trying to get back inside. "Scabbers!" Ron cried in shock. "What're you doing here?" Ron picked his rat up, but Scabbers was still struggling to escape. "It's okay, Scabbers! No cats! There's nothing here to hurt you!"
Hagrid glanced out his window and stood up sharply. "They're comin'..." he said, the teens whipped their heads around, looking out the window too. They saw Dumbledore, leading the other three men behind him. "Yeh gotta go," Hagrid said, trembling, Andrew made for the front door, but Hagrid grabbed his shoulder, shaking his head. "They mustn' find yeh here … go on, now..."
Ron stuffed Scabbers into his pocket and Hagrid let them out the back. Hermione tried one last time to get him to let them stay and stop them, but Hagrid wouldn't let them.
That's when they heard Fudge's voice. "What are you doing out this late?"
"Out for an evening stroll," Andrew answered him, tersely. Hermione took the chance to throw the cloak over the boys and they crept past.
"It's too dangerous for you to be out, with Black on the loose still," Fudge told the Jedi.
"I'm sure that I'm safe," Andrew said, forcing himself to keep calm. "Minister, have you heard any of the witnesses in this case?"
"Not personally, no." Fudge said as Macnair glared at the Padawan.
"Well then you should be aware, I was there, McCarthy wasn't paying attention when Hagrid told the class, 'You do not want to insult a Hippogriff, they're very proud creatures'."
"All of that was said in the hearin'!" Macnair spat.
"Put your blood-thirst on hold, will you!" Andrew shouted, Macnair growled and lifted his new axe menacingly.
"Enough!" called the Committee member. "Young man, the hearing is over, the appeal is over, the Committee has come to its decision and it is final!" he told Andrew firmly.
"AND IT'S THE WRONG ONE!" Andrew bellowed, a nearby boulder cracking loudly.
"Andrew, please calm down," Dumbledore pleaded quietly, placing a hand on the Jedi's shoulder.
"Young man, you're being insubordinate!" Fudge fumed. "Return to the school at once, or I shall charge you with obstruction of justice!"
Andrew growled. "You're about to commit a miscarriage of justice." he seethed.
"Andrew, please." Dumbledore said softly
Andrew tensed and looked over his shoulder at Buckbeak, then he sighed and walked away. "And please go straight to your common room, Andrew!" Dumbledore called after him.
Andrew caught up to his friends, Ron seemed to be having a lot of trouble with his rat, but all four of them froze when, behind them, they heard the loud thud of an axe.
"Requiesce in pace," Andrew sighed in Latin.
Harry made to head back to Hagrid's side, but Ron stopped him, Hermione was close to tears again, but Ron simply said 'come on' and they turned to head back to the castle.
Ron was making the group move slowly, but only because Scabbers was being such a nuisance by still trying to escape. "What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still – OUCH! He bit me!"
Just then, they realised why Scabbers was so scared, Crookshanks showed up, Scabbers wriggled free of Ron's grip and ran, Crookshanks dived after him and Ron ducked out from under the cloak, running after the both of them.
Harry and Hermione ditched the cloak and ran too. Andrew picked up the cloak and followed. They caught up to Ron as he dived onto his rat and forced him into his pocket. Just then, a huge black dog came out of nowhere, pounced on Harry, knocking him over, and started to go for Ron.
It grabbed his wrist in its jaws, dragging him away, Harry moved to grab the dog when a branch smacked him in the face. "Oh no, not again!" Andrew groaned as he dodged out of the way of the second attack, from the Whomping Willow.
A/N How much would you hate me if I'd stopped it there?
Harry, Hermione and Andrew used Lumos, Andrew with his lightsaber and the others with their wands. They watched, helpless and dodging the tree, as the dog kept dragging Ron towards a gap in the roots of the tree, they back-peddled out of range of the branches, watching as Ron's foot hooked itself into a root, Ron was trying to keep the dog from taking him any further.
With a sickening crack, Ron's foot broke and disappeared. "Harry, we've got to go for help," Hermione wheezed, her shoulder bleeding.
"No! That thing's big enough to eat him, we haven't got time!" Harry shouted back.
"Well if you have an idea of how to get down there, I'm listening." Andrew shot back.
"If that dog can manage it, we can!"
Just then, Crookshanks darted forward and pressed his front paws on a knot on the trunk, causing the entire tree to freeze. "Crookshanks?" Hermione whispered, gripping the boys arms. "How did he know?"
"He's friends with that dog, the night before the final, I saw them walking through the grounds together," Harry told them grimly. "Come on, and keep your wands handy." With that he ducked under a motionless branch and into the hole.
Crookshanks led the way along a tunnel, Hermione wondered aloud where they were and Harry told them about this tunnel being on the Marauder's Map, that it led off the edge of the map. They kept following the cat in front of them, ducking low so as not to bang their heads.
When they stepped through a small opening, Andrew took a stab at where they were. "Is this the Shrieking Shack?"
The other two looked around the dusty room. "I think it might be." Hermione answered.
They moved slowly, keeping their eyes peeled for anything. "Ghosts didn't do that," Harry whispered, drawing their attention to a large chair, huge chunks had been ripped out of it, and one leg had been ripped off entirely.
Andrew then deactivated his Lumos Blade. "What are you doing?" Hermione hissed.
"Lumos is one of the few spells that is completely harmless," Andrew started, reactivating his sapphire blade, "when used through my lightsaber."
At that moment, there was a creak from overhead, Ron and the dog had to be upstairs. The three of them crept into the hall and up the staircase, when they got to the top, they found one door open, they barged in and found Ron on the floor, clutching his leg while Crookshanks purred from the bed.
"Ron, are you alright?" Andrew asked.
"Where's that dog?" Harry asked him.
"Not a dog," Ron whimpered, gritting his teeth in pain. "Harry, it's a trap! He's the dog, he's an Animagus!" SLAM! The door shut behind them, Sirius Black was there, holding Ron's wand.
"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, sending Harry's and Hermione's wands into the air, and Andrew's lightsaber across the room. Black caught the wands and Crookshanks caught the lightsaber in his paws, placing it on the bed before laying on it.
"I thought you would come to help your friend," Black said hoarsely, sounding like someone who hadn't spoken in a while. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful … it will make everything much easier..."
Harry made to attack Black, but Andrew held him back with a hand on his chest, something seemed off. "Let go of me!" Harry growled.
"No, Harry. I sense a disturbance," Andrew narrowed his eyes at Black, for a man intent on murdering a teenager, Black seemed awfully calm, too calm.
"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!" Ron said fiercely, getting painfully to his feet.
"Lie down," Black said quietly. "You'll damage that leg even more."
"He's right Ron, lie down and let me do the talking." Andrew said, helping his friend to the bed as Hermione took over holding Harry back.
"You'll have to kill all four of us!" Ron said, trying to shout and failing.
"There will only be one murder tonight," Black said with a grin, Harry fought against Hermione's grip, forcing Andrew to hold him back again.
"Why's that?" Harry spat. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew … What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"
"That's enough, Harry!" Andrew said, Harry broke free of his friends and lunged at Black, but Andrew held out his hand, catching Harry in mid leap and suspending him in the air.
Andrew pulled Harry back gently and placed him on the bed, next to Ron. Black sighed, "You want to kill me Harry?"
"You killed my parents," Harry said, his voice wavering with emotion.
"I don't deny it," Black said, very quietly. "But if you knew the whole story..."
"The whole story?" Harry repeated, he was about to say more, but Andrew cut him off.
"Remember last year, Harry. Never trust second-hand info or guesswork, let's hear the man out."
Before Black could say a word, there was the sound of footsteps downstairs, Hermione started screaming that Black was there and in a moment, Lupin was in the room. He looked around, seeing Ron with his broken leg, Harry being held in place with the Force, Hermione cowering by the bed and Andrew with a questioning look on his face.
Then Lupin turned to Black. "Where is he Sirius?" he asked, Black simply pointed at Ron. Lupin followed his gaze, then turned to Black and embraced him, like a long-lost brother.
"Somebody want to tell me what the fudge is going on?" Andrew asked.
"He's in league with Black!" Hermione screeched. "And he's a werewolf!"
"Okay, don't care about the werewolf part." Andrew said, annoyed. "It's not like you to accuse someone without evidence Hermione."
"How long have you known?" Lupin asked calmly.
"Ages," Hermione whispered, looking down after what Andrew said. "Ever since I did Professor Snape's essay..."
"He'll be delighted," said Lupin coolly. "He set that essay hoping someone would realise what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and realise that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realise that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"
"Both," said Hermione, letting out a sniffle.
Lupin laughed. "You are the cleverest witch of your age, that I have ever met, Hermione."
"I should have told someone." Hermione answered him.
"The staff already know."
"Dumbledore hired you, knowing you're a werewolf? Is he mad?" Ron gasped.
"What does it matter?" Andrew demanded. "So he's got a condition, I'd be willing to bet that in his human form, he's no different than you or me Ron, so just can it!"
"But he's been helping Black to get into the castle!" Hermione screamed.
"No I have not," Lupin said, trying to keep things calm. "Here," he took their wands and lightsaber from Black and Crookshanks, and passed them back to their owners, handing over his own wand. "Now you're armed, we're not. Will you listen now?"
Harry frowned, Andrew released him from his grip. "If you haven't been helping him," he said, glancing furiously at Black, "how did you know he was here?"
"The map," said Lupin. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it."
"You know how to work it?" Harry asked, growing suspicious again.
"Of course I know how to work it," said Lupin, his voice showing impatience. "I helped to write it. I'm Moony – that was my friends' nickname for me at school. The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you four might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"
"Let me guess, the Invisibility Cloak doesn't hide you from the map." Andrew said, crossing his arms and casually leaning against a bedpost.
"Correct, and before you ask, I've seen your father use that cloak a number of times, so yes, I knew about it." Lupin answered. "I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back towards the castle. But now you had someone else with you."
Harry was about to deny this when Andrew shushed him.
"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Lupin, he'd been pacing for a while now. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"
"Who exactly?" Andrew asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this.
Lupin stopped pacing and strode over to Ron. "Could I have a look at your rat?" he asked.
"What?" Ron spluttered. "What's Scabbers got to do with this?"
"Everything," said Lupin, urgently. "Could I see him, please?"
Ron hesitated, then he pulled Scabbers out of his robes by his tail. The rat was thrashing around, trying to escape, Crookshanks hissed as Lupin came closer, he stared at Scabbers intently.
"What?" Ron asked again, holding Scabbers close and looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"
Suddenly, for the first time since they met, Andrew sensed something new. "That's no rat!" everyone looked at him as he glared at Scabbers. "The thoughts I'm sensing, they're too intelligent for a mere rat. How could I miss it for nearly three years?!"
"You're right," Black said, speaking for the first time since Lupin arrived. "He's a wizard. An Anumagus. He's Peter Pettigrew."