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Chapter 81 – Fight and Flight
''Get out, you dunderhead!'' Snape hissed through the crack of his office door. His coal eyes were barely visible, but the distaste in them was clear enough.
''It's Wednesday evening!'' Harry protested. ''What's happening with potions?'' The day before yesterday, shortly before all hell had broken loose with Dumbledore's exit, the git had even given him homework for today.
The potion professor growled out: ''Are you walking around with a blindfold on? Go annoy someone else!'' With a forceful 'bang', the door was shut, leaving Harry standing outside, fuming. Today had been about more than just potions: since the entire castle had been in the midst of an uprising for the past days, he needed to know if Snape was with or against them. After all this time, the surly man was still playing games to his own advantage only. Harry was doubtful whether Snape really tolerated Umbridge or secretly hated her too, in which case it would have been a real asset to fully convince one more Professor to take their students' side completely. Snape had given off mixed signals about Umbridge all year. The witch seemed to hold the potion master in higher regard than the other teachers, but he'd also appeared to be a tad hesitant about handing Harry over to her before. In a second attempt of pestering, Harry raised his hand to knock again, when:
''Mister Potter!''
Freezing up, he slowly turned to face the source of all evil. ''Professor,'' he 'greeted' through gnashed teeth.
''Class is long over,'' she tutted. ''I cannot imagine what a brave little lion like you is doing in the dungeons at this time. I know it is difficult to understand big words when adults tell you something only once, but my announcement this morning about the curfew moving back to eight 'o clock was perfectly clear, was it not?'' With a swirl of her wand, she displayed the time in glowing numbers. Neon pink, of course. ''Barely half an hour left and a whole castle to cross… you'd better hurry.''
Using all shortcuts he knew, that trek would take about eight minutes at most. Even when using regular stairs, half an hour was plenty to leisurely stroll towards the seventh floor from Snape's office. She was talking shit to find an excuse to contain him in the common room and they both knew it. It was one of the first things she'd done to lessen the amount of time students could cause trouble everywhere else. Backed up by three Aurors and being in several places at once did help her in catching those who broke the rules. Only the sheer number of disobedient students stopped her right now from finding all of them.
''I didn't know that it would be so difficult to remember details like that, but I guess it must be,'' Harry retorted. ''After all, just two days ago you were in the room when Professor McGonagall and I spoke about my extra potion lessons. Those are every Monday and Wednesday. I was just about to ask Professor Snape-''
''Now now,'' she interrupted with a sly smile that didn't bode well. ''Five points for the cheek, Mister Potter. Did I not make it abundantly clear that all individual rulings made by the previous Headmaster have been undone? Naturally, that includes the decision that Professor Snape must give you remedial potions lessons for so long. Don't think I didn't figure out who was behind it. There was a staggering amount of favouritism going on under Dumbledore's command, after all. As Minerva mentioned during your career advice, you are not the student who needs those evening classes the most. For a fair and just system, we'll have to look at which students are in greatest trouble with their grades to determine who is eligible for extra study time with teachers. We cannot only take the star players and improve them, while leaving others in the dust without protection.''
''Good to know you consider me a star player. You haven't even seen me on a broom,'' he snarkily replied, completely fed up with this. She was just using empty words and excuses, he doubted that Umbridge had actual plans to give this 'spot' to a student who was doing poorly.
A shadow fell across her face and Harry knew he'd crossed a line again. Not that doing so was hard now that she had absolute authority over Hogwarts. It was horrific to see how fast new rules were being implemented and rights stripped away. Just before dinner, Filch had been excitedly muttering about getting out the old whips and shackles he'd lovingly kept and taken care of as corporal punishment would once more be legal in Hogwarts starting tomorrow. In more naive times, Harry would have reasoned with the Aurors about it. By now, they all knew that wouldn't help. She'd picked three Ministry employees who were compliant to any of her actions so long as those were officially legal. Combined with the fact that Umbridge was untouchable by law given that Fudge signed every suggestion she gave – all of them, in a heartbeat. Now he was fuming about Dumbledore's betrayal – no help would come from that side.
''Detention, Potter,'' she admonished, shaking her head with a satisfied sigh. A hollow feeling settled in the teen' stomach as he followed her to the hated office, knowing what awaited him: hours of cats staring down in disdain, of words he was forced to carve into skin taunting him from the parchment. Maybe he hadn't been entirely correct in his previous assessment: Umbridge felt pretty comfortable again with illegal methods too since her official clearance of all suspicion. Would they interfere when seeing her with a dark artefact? Would they care?
In an attempt to escape, at least mentally, Harry's mind wandered elsewhere as soon as he picked up the black quill, distracting himself with turbulent thoughts.
There were ways of outing all of this to the public, of course. Technically, Harry could use the tunnels to sneak out and send a message to the Prophet or other magazines. Some post obviously made it through Umbridge's censorship as a few orders from Wizard Wheezes had been express delivered this morning to restock the products they'd sold previously (it was crazy how fast the supply dwindled when let loose during all hours in just a few days).
It wasn't anything they hadn't tried already, though. Voldemort had published students' words (Harry's words, really) in the Prophet before, even endorsed by Dumbledore, and it had brought nothing. Lucius knew of the details now and despite all claims of influence in the School Board of Governors, only talks had happened, if that. Nothing more could happen, Harry clearly saw that now. All of those outside of Hogwarts whom he'd hoped to reach: parents, siblings, other decent people who cared; all were still subjected to the Ministry's regulations themselves. Mages lived in a tiny community with a history of oppression under the guise of secrecy. Individuals might grumble about disliking the Ministry, but they would never forget who paid their salaries, who brought them news and goods, who kept harmful magic and Muggles alike away from their doorstep. It was a system of dependency.
Maybe Muggle family members would have cared about what was being done to their children if they knew. Then again, Harry had heard from some older children at his elementary school that teachers had been allowed to hit them still too. It was a moot point anyway: Muggleborns were somewhat accepted in the magical world, but Muggle relatives had little to no access to it. They could not subscribe to Prophet, could only enter places like Diagon when accompanied by their magical children and could not be part of any organisation that had influence on the wizarding system. They were barely tolerated as a necessary adult guide when no capable witch or wizard was available. Harry doubted that Hermione's parents had a single clue as to what transpired in Hogwarts, other than that their daughter learned magic somehow.
Umbridge used all that to her fullest advantage, knowing she owned the playing field and pawns alike as long as the Minister of Magic supported her, unbothered by the possible opinions of those close to the students she ruled over with an iron fist. She changed regulations as she saw fit with no great difficulty. Becoming Headmistress had been the final paving of the way she needed to lay out her cards openly. All options they – meaning himself and the rest of the D.A. – had come up with and agreed on so far as being helpful in any way would at worst only start another lengthy debate and at best provide temporary blockades for the toad until Fudge signed another Decree or ten. What was the bloody Wizengamot even for if the Minister of Magic could personally adapt the law like this?
It was almost impressive how Umbridge had managed to back them all in a corner. Harry would never again underestimate political power. One person being able to pick and choose what was allowed to happen to the group they ruled over was perhaps the most malevolent way of subduing others. Any resistance, be it an attempt to debate the impositions or outright refusing to follow them was seen as a malicious, an illegal action worthy of punishment under the same system. They neither had a say in the rule changes nor could they opt to ignore them without retribution. That also went for teachers, who struggled between accepting their increasingly limited freedom in order to be there for the students in whichever way that mattered, and leaving Hogwarts. The latter possibly without perspectives for a new job if they had fallen too far into disgrace with the Ministry.
That left only the extreme: to dismantle Umbridge's reign from the first cornerstone she'd laid and ensure it could not happen again. It sounded laughably impossible, and it would have been if he could only think within the confines of Umbridge's game. Although Harry did not wish to risk the safety of his peers, he'd come to the conclusion that he, personally, had little to lose. He'd given Draco a speech about using privilege for good: now was the time to eat his own words. Harry had support from wonderful people, officially belonged to one of the most powerful families in the country, had enough gold to start over an entirely new life if he so wanted to and most importantly: a Lord of Magic was on his side. As much as it would hurt to be expelled from Hogwarts in case this quest to remove the High Inquisitor failed or if Fudge would punish Harry for doing so if not, there was more to life than school. Not to mention he'd completed more than two third of his full education here and learned more spells in those few months with Voldemort and Barty than he had during class this entire school year.
Voldemort would be mad, of course, if Harry's risked his education like that, but it was the only right thing to do.
He was called back to reality by the voice he'd come to hate most of all.
''Has it sunk in yet?''
Dispassionately, Harry showed a bloodied hand. Like last time they'd been in this situation, she examined it for a while with suspicion. Umbridge had apparently never given up on hounding Pomfrey about the off look of Harry's hand, but the nurse kept insisting that the cause was the quill's curse. That might be part of the reason why Madam Pomfrey was on probation in the first place.
She no longer bothered to heal the wound, so self-confident in her power. For a brief moment, Harry debated whether he'd give the Aurors one last chance in showing them this evidence. Then again, if they had no issue with letting Dementors in the castle and accused students of making stories up, this as well would surely just get dismissed. He'd be better off healing it himself and just getting to work.
It was a strange situation to be in. During all the chaos that ensued in the following time, part of the student body looked up to him as a leader, whereas the rest remained oblivious to the machinations of the D. A., which was looking for more than a way to bully Umbridge out of the castle. Regular class was not put on a back-burner either, teachers relentlessly trying to prep them for the upcoming O.W.L.s with more spirit than ever to keep them on the right track and give a modicum of normalcy under Umbridge's rule. Class, homework, studying, having debates with his army and training them as much as he could left very little time for anything else – be it spending quality time with his friends, mirror-calling or resting. In the whirlwind of stress, he hadn't even found a moment to have a heart-to-heart talk with Hermione like he'd had with Ron. Even if he'd have found a moment of time, due to the upcoming O.W.L.s, she was so busy using every free minute with studying that he barely even saw her outside of class and training.
Harry felt like he had when under the influence of the Locket: drifting through sleepless nights. All the while, he debated back and forth when to reveal his own plan, which sounded less insane in his mind each day they had to deal with Umbridge.
The first opportunity he saw to put some solid time towards solidifying his idea into something more than a wisp of wishful thinking came on a Sunday that was quieter than the rest of term had been. It was the warmest day of the year so far, and so many students were exhausted from exam prep stress that even the relentless fight against Umbridge had mostly been put to rest except for whatever Lee Jordan came up with next. It showed that he'd been best friends with Fred and George: they'd left a whole arsenal, including the Niffler that had been smuggled into Umbridge's office and attempted to gnaw her fingers off. Lee had been telling a couple of D. A. members about his plans to release the second one soon after one of their meetings, which had led to a frantic Hermione pleading him not to, to protect Hagrid. All of them had been shocked to hear that Umbridge attempted to pin it on the Gatekeeper as an excuse to fire him and Lee had promptly promised to keep the little guy as a pet instead.
Honestly, Harry was incredibly glad that both Ron and Hermione also did their best to keep their army in line, as he sometimes felt his head might explode from dealing with so many issues at once. Today though, he was alone, browsing books in the library in hopes of finding some useful intel. At least he thought to be alone until returning to the table he'd picked earlier and finding Ron, who… also had his nose in a book?
''Thought you'd be out for Quidditch at this time,'' he remarked, sitting down.
Ron shrugged, not even looking up as he flipped a page. ''Angelina is still trying to find decent replacements for my brothers, the try-outs are today. She said that the whole team should be there, but I figured my presence would make it less likely for anyone to show up. Or for a bunch of Slytherins to start singing again to decrease morale.''
''I doubt that. There's been less of a divide ever since... well.'' He looked around suspiciously, just in case Filch or Umbridge were spying on them. ''Since Dumbledore left.'' It was true that house rivalries had been mostly forgotten. Pansy had informed him that several of her friends had debated whether to join Umbridge, but she'd convinced them that it wasn't worth it, that Umbridge was fighting a losing battle and the Slytherins didn't wish to end up on that side. The fissure among Slytherin house seemed to be healing. Draco's and Pansy's groups hadn't openly fought anymore, not even fake fights to keep up appearances had been necessary in the past two weeks.
''Suppose so, but how long will it last?'' Ron asked, then released a frustrated groan. ''Urgh, this book is useless too!'' he grumbled, shutting it close. A small puff of dust whirled upwards from the ancient pages. Peering at the title, Harry saw he'd been reading 'From man to beast'.
''What are you trying to find?''
Looking a bit embarrassed, Ron shoved the tome aside and took another one from the pile. ''The guide from Snuffles only had tiny, generalised descriptions about the meaning behind certain animals,'' he explained. ''Those didn't account for there being several different… well, types of animals, I realised that when I told you a bit more about bats. I've been trying to find a reliable source, but no luck so far.'' He grimaced when opening the next book, which was closed again after Ron had skimmed through the intro. ''Aren't you interested at all? Supposedly, it's a reflection of your true nature and all that. Not the tiniest bit curious?''
''I am, just had a lot of other things on my mind,'' Harry admitted. ''I find the usefulness the most important part of our… err.. endeavour, not the meaning.'' Naturally, he'd wondered what it was about him that made his soul a reflection of a generally nocturnal animal that was feared by many, but the sheer fact that he could fly now made a deeper analysis of the 'why' redundant in his eyes. ''Let me know if you find something,'' he said, opening his own book.
It was a thin, purple thing, much newer than most of Hogwarts' collection. In fact, since it was one of Umbridge's own additions, Harry would have avoided it like the plague if he hadn't had such a need for insider info. The title, A basic guide for the perfect employee, promised a dreary read. The sole reason for pulling it from the shelf had been a single line from the description on the back: 'how not to get lost on your first day'. Lo and behold, chapter two was a detailed account of a fictional – hopefully fictional, Harry wouldn't wish this dull a life on anyone – employee in the pamphlet design team who attempted to grasp the ropes and find her way around as a new hire. Descriptions of routine, use of rooms, locations of different departments, it was all there. Harry absorbed the words, trying to overlay the info with what he'd seen when there. The central elevator, different levels, long corridors…
He was distracted by Ron, who seemed to give up on life itself after merely twenty minutes, pushing the pile away with a scowl. ''What are you even reading?'' his friend asked, scrunching his nose. ''Isn't that propaganda?''
''It is,'' Harry shrugged. ''They mention every few pages how amazing working for the Ministry is. What great benefits employees get, how super-duper the teamwork is etcetera. I'm not even exaggerating, they used the expression 'super-duper' twice so far. This book reads like a silent cry for help from the writer.''
''So… why are you reading it?'' Ron asked, bewildered.
''Because, Ron,'' a familiar voice startled them both, ''Knowing how the enemy ticks is important.'' They both looked up at Hermione, who dumped a heap of books on the table as well and handed one to Ron. ''Here. And Here.'' With the second 'here', she raised a wand and cast a perfect silencing barrier. ''You two should know better than to sit here without one. Especially you.'' Harry received a piercing stare.
''Thanks?'' Ron asked hesitantly, then looked at the book she'd given him. ''Wait a minute-'' he asked, face paling. ''How did you know-''
The girl pinched the bridge of her nose. ''How did I know that you two have been illegally studying how to become Animagi? Oh, I don't know. Maybe you both reeked of Mandrake for a month – don't forget I had to take a Mandrake potion in my second year, one never forgets that smell – or maybe because whenever you two stayed behind to train in the Room of Requirement, storms would hit Hogwarts that same evening? Or maybe you weren't exactly sneaky about exchanging the book 'Analysing Animagi' several times between the both of you. And I'm fine with neither of you telling me about it, I really am, but it's so painful to watch you search for all the wrong books when I know exactly which one you needed that I could no longer stay silent.''
Unlike Ron, Harry had felt only a small pang of surprise, one that faded quickly when Hermione mentioned their second year. She was the one who'd figured out that the Chamber's Monster had been a Basilisk after all, unlike Harry, who'd discovered he was a Parselmouth that year and still hadn't connected the dots with the mysterious hissy voice he heard in the walls that no-one else could. Merlin, he'd been so dumb back then. Interacting with (and having to keep up with) Voldemort had at least slightly cured that, he liked to think.
''You've known since we had the Mandrake leaves in our mouths then?'' he asked.
''That was the first hint as to something fishy going on,'' his friend replied while shaking her head in exasperation. ''I didn't rule out the possibility of you accidentally having petrified someone and trying to brew a potion to turn them back to normal, but that was more and more unlikely as time passed. I would like to know why you didn't tell me beforehand, though. Ron and I weren't fighting then, were we?''
He traded glances at Ron, who shrugged. ''It was a combination of things,'' Harry reluctantly spoke. ''Ron happened to be at Sirius' place when my godfather agreed to teach me how to become an Animagus, so I naturally invited Ron to try it with me. If you'd been there too, I'd likely have told you instantly also. But when it was already decided that the both of us wanted to try it together, I wasn't sure whether mentioning it would be a good idea. First of all, it turned out that Sirius' method involved dark magic, which you weren't that open for back then yet. Secondly...'' he shrugged, only half apologetic. ''I didn't want to have pressure from anyone to register to the Ministry.''
''I would not have asked you to do that!'' Hermione answered, sounding affronted.
''Really?'' Ron asked, eyebrows raised to his hairline. ''That sounds unlikely. What's with 'laws exist for a reason' and all that?''
''I said that about school rules,'' she sniffed disdainfully. ''Which are created with a clear purpose in mind and have generally been tried and tested for a long time. Under Dumbledore, I also found that perfectly reasonable. Laws are far more complicated, I've found. So many people with different opinions have a say in it, that good intentions often get skewed when finding compromises. Besides, House elf slavery is legal, how could I trust the Ministry after that discovery? No, I agree with you. The government has no business knowing who or what you can turn into. Imagine how detrimental it would have been if Sirius had been a registered Animagus! He'd likely still be in Azkaban if so, they take extra measures for Animagi.''
''I'm glad to hear all of that. I plan on doing something very illegal soon,'' Harry admitted, throwing the book he'd been reading on the table. He swallowed down all uncertainty over how they might react, focusing on revealing his plan. ''We need to break into the Ministry.''
Clearly, this was not exactly what Hermione had imagined when supporting him breaking the law. Her eyes went wide and for once, she seemed absolutely speechless. Neither of his friends got the chance to say anything either, for a scream of anger pierced through the silence in the library. The three of them jumped.
''That's Madam Pince! D'you guys reckon someone pranked her to get back at Filch or Umbridge?'' Ron breathed with no little amount of glee. Hermione didn't appear to share the sentiment, looking downright worried as she got up and hurried towards the sound. With slight wariness, Harry followed.
The Librarian was close, a few twists and turns around bookcases and they came face to face with the fuming woman, who was staring at the shelves. ''Look at this state!'' she cried, waving her hands in the air before starting to pull book after book from the shelves. ''And this one belongs in the restricted section! And this one! And this has been reclassified as Transfiguration decades ago, why is it in the Charms section? And this... a banned book! Who has done this? Where's the culprit?'' Her maddened eyes met Harry's. ''YOU! Since when do you use the library for honest studying, huh? Was this you?''
Taking a few hasty steps back, he defended: ''I only came to see what is going on, I didn't touch any of these, I swear!'' Seeking support, he turned to his friend. ''Both of us were over at the reading tables until now. Right, Hermione? Hermione…?'' he trailed off, as the girl didn't seem to be listening at all, a frown on her face as fingers trailed leather spines.
''Say, Madam…'' she started, uncertain. ''When exactly did that book get banned?''
''As soon as Professor Dumbledore became Headmaster of Hogwarts,'' she huffed. ''What is it, Granger?''
''All of the books here were written before 1967,'' she explained, as if the meaning of that statement was obvious. ''The year Dippet retired!'' she added impatiently when Harry gave a blank stare. ''The same year many books were locked in the restricted section. Very shortly after which Professor Dumbledore used his extensive knowledge of magic to come up with a more comprehensive system to categorise the library!''
''So you're saying…'' Harry started, but was interrupted by Madam Pince.
''It's the same,'' she whispered, sounding amazed. The Librarian slowly took another book and started flipping through. ''Here, the priceless life's work of Baruffio. We could never get another copy after a horrible brat decided to play exploding snap in here and set fire to it, damaging the book beyond repair. The worst moment to realise that the fire-proofing charms hadn't been renewed in time,'' Madam Pince sighed. ''But how- oh!'' She dropped the book as fire curled the pages, no more than a few scraps of blackened cover left by the time it reached the floor.
Hermione backed away from the shelves and grabbed Harry's arm. ''Excuse us, Madam Pince,'' she spoke, voice a few pitches higher than usual, already marching back to their previous spot, leaving an utterly confused librarian behind.
Unable to decide whether to feel victorious or simply hollow, Harry rose another silencing barrier as Ron was quickly filled in about what happened. Awed, he uttered: ''You were absolutely right then, this is all the proof we ever needed. Umbridge is manipulating time, and it's wrecking Hogwarts.''
''So I've been saying for ages,'' Harry threw in. Hadn't they already decided to simply accept this theory? It had been the only logical conclusion, he'd thought that at least his best friends had agreed to that reasoning.
''Seeing it with our own eyes is different,'' the redhead argued, instantly backed up by Hermione's frantic whispering: ''Did you see how unstable it is? Local rapid acceleration! Temporary displacement! This is everything I was warned about when being granted access to a time-turner. Whatever Umbridge did to keep it relatively stable before, she's slipping. Either that or it's catching up to her.''
''More teachers on probation mean more jumps back in time to shadow all of them,'' Harry reasoned. ''Not to mention she's been trying to keep up with every single incident. She even took the time to follow me into the dungeons when I was simply on my way to Snape's office to ask about potions. She's such a control freak that she may have thrown caution in front of a Bludger.''
''Yeah, one shot by Fred and George,'' Ron muttered. ''We can't leave this as is, can we? There's no more time for caution either!''
''Yes, so as I was saying,'' he repeated with no small amount of annoyance. ''I'm breaking into the Ministry of Magic. Be it Umbridge or someone else, as long as the Ministry authorises someone to take control over Hogwarts while giving them unrestricted access to one of the most powerful tools magic has to offer, we're done for. Look-'' he said before they could protest the stupidity of this plan. ''I talked to Saeth, and she confirmed that, apart from the few time-turners that have been given out to specific people, all of them are kept inside of the Ministry, in the room of time. As an Unspeakable, her father didn't say a whole lot about it, but enough to trust this fact. Of course, this will get difficult, I can't know how well the place is guarded until I'm in and I'll have to rely on you guys to deal with the time-turner Umbridge currently has so she can't go back to stop me.''
''Harry-'' Hermione tried to interrupt.
''No, listen to me! I know where I have to search and have enough destructive spells in my arsenal to manage destroying them. I even have a way to get to London quickly!''
''But why does all of this sound as if you're going in alone?'' she asked desperately.
Harry blinked. ''What? Well… because I will go alone. You both have too much to lose. Everyone in the D.A. has. As much as I dislike how famous I am, it does give me leeway that you don't have, why shouldn't I use that for the good of all of us? Fudge forgave me before for blowing up my aunt! Pretty sure everyone else would have been expelled.''
''You're not exactly on his list of favourites anymore.''
''Maybe. It doesn't matter, okay? My point is that I have both a chance and a safety net.''
''Yeah, because we are your safety net!'' Ron exclaimed, getting red. ''Or we're supposed to be! Who went with you into that slimy pipe down to the Chamber? Who solved puzzles with you to get to the Stone? How far would you have gotten in saving Sirius without 'Mione? Or gotten out of the Forbidden Forest with spiders on your heels if I didn't know how to drive my dad's crazy car? Breaking into the Ministry sounds like a party compared to stumbling across You-Know-Who!''
Harry was about to mention that neither of them had ever been there for the parts where he'd actually crossed paths with the Dark Lord, but he probably shouldn't delve into arguments about who faced Voldemort when, if he ever wanted to reveal his current thoughts on the man. ''Who'll coordinate things here then?'' he asked instead. ''I need someone I can absolutely trust to design a plan to keep Umbridge off my tail while gone. Your brothers were right, you're great with thinking up brilliant ideas.''
''There's a whole army itching to jump into action,'' Ron countered. ''Coming up with a plan doesn't mean I'll have to be the one to see it through. Like it or not mate, we're coming with you. Whatever happened to 'lying low' though?''
Absent-mindedly, Harry scratched the back of his hand that had felt the blood quill digging in deeper and deeper last week. He'd healed it by now, of course, and she hadn't given him more detentions since last week Saturday, but there was a phantom itch under the skin that had nothing to do with the blood quill itself and everything with Harry's hatred for Umbridge. ''I was wrong,'' he admitted. ''I was hoping for the picture-perfect opportunity, the ideal situation to strike. It won't come. Even Dumbledore's strike against Umbridge didn't force her to surrender. Apart from making the majority of us finally rebel openly, it only granted her more power. So, I've gone through all the options in my head and concluded that the only thing that would truly make her vulnerable is to take away the advantage she has over us now: time.''
''It's a shame that you can't bring any time-turners back to use against her,'' Hermione thoughtfully spoke. ''With Hogwarts how it is now, that would only destabilise it further, regardless of intention.''
''Not to mention heightening the chance that she confiscates one of them.''
''And after?'' Ron spurred. ''Getting rid of that won't make Umbridge vanish in thin air!''
''No, but what can she do when unable to monitor and manage all the chaos we're creating? She has forty hours of class to fill, homework to grade, tests to prepare, now Headmistress duties on top. If we make enough ruckus in the Ministry, the Aurors could be called back from Hogwarts to bolster the Ministry's defences and then it's her and Filch against hundreds of us. She'll have no support to enforce the rules even if she doesn't voluntarily pack her bags.''
''If,'' Hermione uncertainly repeated. ''I much preferred your previous stance: not interfering.''
''That was only ever temporary,'' he objected, shaking his head. ''It was always out of the question that we'd let her go on her merry way for the remainder of the year. What do you think would happen if a horrible accident were to befall Umbridge due to the curse, but she made it till after the exams? The Ministry might count it as a success still and instate another High Inquisitor or straight up appoint a new Headmaster, I bet you.''
''So… so you want to travel all the way to London and charge into the Ministry?'' she asked. ''Harry, I'm all for getting rid of her too but that sounds… that sounds kind of… unrealistic. Are you sure you thought this properly through?''
His last shred of tolerance was gone now. ''No! No, maybe I haven't!'' he admitted. ''But I have a way to get there and I know where to look! I don't care if they catch me, Hermione! This is about doing the right thing. For you guys, for the entirety of Hogwarts! I do not wish to have it on my conscience to see Dennis, or Melis, or Certus, or any of the younger students we swore to protect, show up to a D. A. meeting with bleeding hands, do you?''
''Of course not!''
''Then believe in me!''
''I'm on board, mate'' Ron muttered, giving a thumbs up.
''Thanks, I appreciate it,'' he nodded, then turned a questioning gaze to his other friend.
''I'd feel better if we had some more input on this,'' Hermione spoke, now more firmly. ''To ask an adult about it. Maybe Professor Flitwick, or Professor McGonagall…''
Calming down slightly, Harry started gathering his books. ''Yeah… yeah, you're right. Another perspective and some more info might be good.'' Her relieved look vanished when he continued: ''I'll mirror-call Sirius about it. Can you gather everyone for a meeting?''
''Another one with the full team?'' Ron asked.
''We'll see how many show up on such short notice, not everyone will be checking their Galleons every hour of the day. I doubt we can get the whole army to gather. Set a meeting for… in an hour, I suppose. I want to have enough time left to decide the who and when.''
A little while later, he dropped onto his soft bed, mirror in hand. Gryffindor tower was almost empty and the dorms certainly so, but Harry closed the curtains just in case, cast a silencing barrier and lit the tip of his wand. ''Sirius?'' he urgently asked. ''Sirius!''
It didn't take long at all until his godfather came into view, looking as if he'd just showered, hair damp and sticking out everywhere. ''Pup!'' The broad smile was instantly contagious, and they simply grinned at each other for a while. ''How were the first two weeks back at Hogwarts?''
''In one word: surprising. Umbridge feels comfortable enough with the Aurors she picked to let her true colours shine through more than before, Dumbledore left with a spectacle, followed by the Weasley Twins, and the whole school has been in an uproar ever since.''
''Ah yes, the Twins… Molly is furious with worry now that they settled in Knockturn of all places without having finished their education. I personally think they made the absolute best decision possible. Brilliant minds like theirs are wasted on academic study, they've been inventing the most ingenious items and spells for years already. Doubt they needed history lessons for that.''
''You're right,'' Harry agreed. ''That isn't what I called you for though.''
''Okay, okay, I'll get to it,'' Sirius groaned. ''Order business. Tonks and Kingsley seem to be the only Aurors left who haven't been given the task of tracking Dumbledore down as they are still on my track as far as Fudge knows. No, I don't know where he is currently, showed up only once at my house. Dumbledore gave everyone who was here some strange instructions before heading off to who-knows-where.''
It hadn't been the info Harry had been looking for, but news of Dumbledore's activities piqued his interest. ''What kind of instructions are you talking about?''
''Everyone who has a scrap of free time should scour the Eastern and Southern coastlines in search for a cave embedded in a cliffside. Found lots of them so far, but apparently not the one he was searching for.''
Harry swore. ''Wasting no time, I see,'' he sighed. At Sirius' questioning look, he explained: ''Dumbledore is convinced Voldemort hid something in a cave. He's right too, but that item is long gone. It was relocated years ago. However, I'd prefer it if Dumbledore didn't discover that for as long as possible. Once he gives up on that trail, he'll likely change targets and tactics. Possibly to me if I'm unlucky.''
An expression of pure horror crossed his godfather's features. ''You're barely fifteen! Don't you… don't you think that Dumbledore has enough honour to at least-''
''-What, let me graciously live till adulthood before finishing me off? Very honourable.'' Harry bitingly finished the sentence, which was answered with a grimace. ''I can't know for sure how much time there's left before Dumbledore starts to hunt me, I'd rather not let down my guard. Order business aside… no, I really don't need to hear more right now, Sirius. I know Voldemort is displeased about how little I knew, but there's more important matters at stake.''
Sirius listened attentively as Harry explained his reasoning for needing to halt Umbridge's advance, elaborating on her dangerous flirtation with time magic and finishing with: ''So… I'm going to break into the Department of Mysteries.''
He'd been right to trust his godfather with this information, Harry could see that right away. There was neither shock nor disapproval in Sirius' shining eyes. The man flashed a smirk. ''That's my kiddo,'' he fondly said. ''Always taking action into your own hands when no-one else is going to do it for you. Gryffindor is so lucky to have you.''
Pride swelled in Harry's chest, all last traces of hesitance about this plan vanishing. ''Do you have any advice for me?'' he asked eagerly. ''You were an Auror, right? Are there patrols or anything? Guards? I recall that Mr Weasley and Bill were on watch in front of the door to the Department of Mysteries for the Order at night, how could they be there without being thrown out? Is there an alarm I should take care of?''
Sirius' barking laugh cut through his stream of questions. ''One thing at a time, mister impatient! I know you're full of energy and ready to barge down the doors, but we do have a few minutes left. To answer you… let's see. In my time, there were a few Aurors stationed on night duty usually, but they didn't guard the Ministry itself, only dropping by the office every now and then if necessary. There are no guards per se… Little of value is kept inside the main part of the Ministry. Important documents and such are guarded far more effectively than with people: wards, magical locks, some with mild curses. A few with major curses that nobody talks about. Walking the corridors unnoticed isn't the problem at all. Arthur stayed after work and Bill simply walked in. They didn't attempt to get into the Department of Mysteries after all…'' Sirius frowned. ''Speaking of which, did you know why they were there? Is it part of my contract to elaborate on that?''
Harry waved the concerns away. ''I already know, but it's not the Hall of Prophecies I am after.''
Sirius cocked his head and gave him a piercing stare. ''Don't you want to know? Voldemort himself doesn't, does he? Not the entirety.''
Harry faltered at the question, nervously licking his lips. ''No,'' the teen admitted. ''He doesn't appear to be interested in finding out either. We're- we're better off not knowing. Voldemort admitted himself that he can't be sure what will happen if we ever figure out the exact lines of the prophecy and it turns out to reveal we have to kill each other or something. Life is good as it is now. Why ruin that with a few words of the future?''
''To change it?'' the other suggested. ''If I were you, I'd want to know to see if it's something I want to prevent or not.''
That made Harry pause. Could prophecies be prevented? Since Voldemort didn't wish to have a lengthy discussion about the topic, Harry hadn't had the chance to gather information on prophecies. Whenever it had been touched upon, it seemed like Voldemort was certain of the words having to come true. He was suspicious of divination since his first downfall and wished to ignore the prophecy existed, yes. But I was out of fear, a fear that all they'd reached together would fall to bits when they'd know for certain what the future would hold. In a way, Harry supposed part of the prophecy had come true already, as hearing the first lines of it had made the Dark Lord target Harry, which had led to their soul connection and everything else that bound them now. Had it not been made, had Snape not repeated the snippets he'd heard back to his Lord, Harry might have grown up normally…
A daydream of a happy life with his parents fell apart with a shake of his head. They'd still been at war, soldiers for Dumbledore who might have perished any following day. Had Voldemort not died in in the instance he had, the Wizarding war would have kept raging, the Dark Lord unstoppable until reaching his goal of toppling the Ministry and installing his own regime as he'd imagined that to be the perfect solution back then. A vision swam in his mind, of Voldemort's bare feet stained with the blood of his enemies as he walked towards a lonely throne. What a broken, bleak life that would have been.
''Harry? Kiddo?''
''Sorry, was a bit out of it, I'm tired,'' he admitted, rubbing his face. ''Do you really think the future can be changed? That a prophecy is simply one version of events, a possibility?''
''It has to be,'' his godfather responded with a surprising amount of conviction. ''The alternative would mean that life, for every person on this earth, is fixed. If one can see into the future and see only what will definitely happen, it would erase the idea of free will, of good and evil and the possibility of true redemption. We're not acting in a play, Harry, there's no script that we can skip to read the ending of our story. It would make everything we strive for meaningless. That cannot be. Why would we exist at all? No, I refuse to believe that the future is set, for it would mean that no mistakes have been made in the past. That Lily and James were doomed to never grow old and happy together, rather than that someone else ruined it for them, someone who still deserves payback for it.''
''My parents are at peace now, Siri,'' Harry reminded him, before his godfather could elaborate on all the ways he wished to take revenge on Voldemort. ''Any vengeance would be for the living, not the dead. I can't let you go after their murderer, you know that.''
''That you forgave him doesn't mean I have to,'' the man whispered, the fire in his eyes dying. He appeared to struggle with himself, a shadow falling over his face as he turned away. ''Except it does, doesn't it? It would grieve you to know I still haven't found peace with it. It would pain you and I- I can't-''
''Breathe, Sirius,'' Harry frantically spoke in worry as the other's breath grew shallow and ragged. Instantaneously, his godfather inhaled deeply.
''Thank you,'' the other rasped. ''Sorry for… all that. I didn't wish to show you my doubt anymore. I know you'd do anything to protect him, even if that means forcefully stopping me if I'd attempt to attack him.'' Harry didn't need to answer that, so he opted not to. They eyed each other, both wishing there wasn't glass and hundreds of miles of distance between them. ''So, how do you plan on getting to London? Floo?''
''Impossible, the only place we could floo from is Umbridge's heavily guarded office. I mean, we could probably distract her long enough to break in and use that, but chances that she'll notice that we're up to something would dramatically increase. No, I plan on using Thestrals. There are enough of them in the forest and I've flown on them before.''
Two bushy eyebrows rose. ''Okay… unexpected. Also incredibly wicked,'' Sirius commented with a hint of respect. ''That might just work. You'd better be fast with it though, even with a Thestral's speed it'll take a while to reach London, and there isn't much time left for a trip back and forth.''
''Oh,'' Harry said, startled. ''I didn't… I didn't plan on going today, specifically.''
''Why not? There isn't much left of the school year in the first place, do you really want to wait another week? From my experience, a Sunday is your best shot of finding the Ministry completely empty. Every other day of the week, there will be employees working during the day and possibly staying late. Some departments have Saturday shifts too. On Sunday there's only activity in the Auror office as crime never rests, but as I mentioned, that's only inside the office itself. It would grant you a much larger time-frame. I doubt you would like to be exhausted from a full day of class and then try to fly back and forth, returning in the wee hours of morning without a chance to sleep before having to head back to class.''
''Good to know,'' Harry muttered. This revelation did suddenly force him to hit on the gas, so to speak. If he only had today or next week Sunday, then Sirius was entirely correct in that no, Harry didn't want another full week of Umbridge terror. The longer they waited, the higher the chances that all the new drastic measures would make life more difficult and have them lose the advantage of the chaotic state Hogwarts was in right now. He was further pressured by the distortions in time he'd witnessed. ''Today, then,'' he decided. They'd all just have to roll with it. ''That means I have to go soon, my Defence group is meeting in a bit to talk it over and come up with a way to snatch Umbridge's own time-turner while I will attempt to destroy the rest.''
''Hey, if you need back-up…'' Sirius hinted.
Harry forced a wry smile. Fighting with his godfather by his side sounded awesome in theory, but… ''You're a wanted man, Sirius. It would be insanity to break into the Ministry when you and the rest of the Order have tried so hard to let everyone think you're far abroad. I don't know what kind of security awaits in the Department of Mysteries itself, but in the case that I will be trapped there, I can't drag you down with me. It'll be far more helpful if you keep an ear out for whatever Dumbledore is doing at the moment. I'll tell you all about my trip when I get back. If I get back. I only wish that Ron and Hermione wouldn't be so persistent about coming with me, it'd be much easier to sneak in with my invisibility cloak alone.''
''Friendship is one of the most valuable things on this earth, kiddo,'' Sirius sagely spoke. ''And it's forged in fire. Take them with you, you'd regret it if you wouldn't.''
Harry groaned slightly, having hoped that his godfather would have said the opposite. ''Fine. If they really want to come, I'll bring them along,'' he grudgingly agreed.
''Take my knife with you, it opens any door, remember? Could come in handy, though I have to warn you that it might not survive every encounter with hostile wards.''
''I will, thanks.''
After saying their goodbyes, Harry went to his trunk and withdrew the cloak and the knife Sirius mentioned. His eye fell on the second mirror, his lifeline to Barty. After deliberating for a moment, he slid Sirius' mirror in between a heap of soft socks to not damage the glass and held up Barty's. Going to the Ministry without having been able to warn Voldemort about it wasn't smart, Harry knew that. The Dark Lord was partially to blame himself though, having only been interested in hearing about Dumbledore in their last shared dream, not letting Harry get a word in about Umbridge until Harry had been abruptly woken up. They hadn't dreamt together after anymore and the Gryffindor suspected it had something to do with that potion Voldemort mentioned, which allowed him to stop 'wasting' time on sleeping and be productive for far longer. With the turbulent changes in Voldemort's life between revealing his revival and quitting his job at the Daily Prophet only days ago, the man probably had opted for staying awake to get everything he wanted done.
He shut the hangings again and called out for Barty, displeased when neither the Death Eater nor Voldemort showed. Well, he tried. As he was getting up again, Harry heard footsteps that sounded like someone was running up the stairs. With a quick beating heart, Harry threw the trunk open and dropped the mirror on top of it before shutting the lid – just in time to see Neville barging in. ''Harry, there you are!'' he panted. ''I think everyone gathered who could come. Ron sent me to check if you're ready since the whole group is getting a bit antsy. He said you have a plan? That we're finally doing something?'' The eagerness in his voice was hard to miss. Somehow, Harry felt like he was going to have to convince Neville very hard not to tag along too. He hadn't considered that when deciding to discuss it with his army. Who else would wish to join like his best friends did? Merlin, he could already feel a headache forming.
The answer, of course, turned out to be most of them. From the moment he entered the Room of Requirement, Harry was bombarded by, 'I'll come too, right?'' and, ''Finally the chance to join a Potter adventure!'' The only ones who were more than hesitant about putting their heads on the line were the Slytherins, who appeared boggled at the enthusiasm at which their peers wanted to dive into danger. Harry didn't bother addressing individual questions, not wishing to waste time. More students had shown up than he'd thought, about two third of the D. A. ''Here is how it's going to be,'' he firmly spoke, raising his voice. ''This is a covert mission, in and out with no-one the wiser. Hermione, how much does everyone know?''
''Err, Ron boasted about sticking it to the Ministry,'' she answered with a pained smile, while Ron sheepishly grinned.
''Got a bit enthusiastic, sorry.''
Throwing a mild glare at his friend, Harry rectified: ''We're not going to storm the Ministry's gates or taking on a hoard of Aurors. In fact, most of the actual action is going to happen inside Hogwarts. We need to split into two groups: a small – and I mean small – team who goes to the Ministry of Magic and the rest here, scattered throughout Hogwarts. The goal is to erase Umbridge's access to time-turners, both the one she has now and the ones she doesn't but could get her hands on. Without them, she'll be tied to all the bureaucracy she heaped onto herself and have no time left to torment us. Once that succeeds, we can move onto phase two, which is still in the works: driving her mad enough to get her out.''
''I thought the whole time-turner stuff was a theory?'' Ginny asked, who'd expressed doubt over it before.
''Earlier today, part of the library transformed back to the state it had been in thirty-ish years ago. It gave Madam Pince the scare of her life,'' he explained, causing less concerned faces than he'd liked and far more sniggers at the expense of the strict librarian. ''As funny as her reaction initially was, the implications are grave. I cannot stress the fact that we don't want Hogwarts to vanish overnight because Umbridge wishes to keep an eye on all of us personally.'' There, enough concern, finally. ''Which is also why we will strike fast, now the iron is still hot. It's been less than two weeks since Dumbledore left and I don't think Umbridge is quite used to the chaos yet. Nor will she expect us to hit in London instead of Hogwarts.''
''How the fuck are you gonna get to London, Potter?'' Seamus shouted.
''Don't worry about that part,'' he said. ''Focus instead on what you can do here. Ron, you're the best of us in coming up with ways to improvise situations to our advantage. What I need is to keep Umbridge unaware of our disappearance from Hogwarts for the entirety of the day, as well as a way to steal her time-turner, of which we don't know the location.''
Positively glowing at the praise, Ron stepped forward and stuck out his chest. He was met with a few uncertain glances, especially from the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. For once, the looks didn't appear to bother the redhead. ''We have to use all of our knowledge and piece that together,'' he confidently said, drinking in the spotlight. It made Harry smile. ''First of all, Umbridge is paranoid, absolutely wants to double-check everything herself. There's no way she'll leave it somewhere in her office. Also, to adapt quickly, she'll want to be able to use it at any time. Ergo, she must have it on her person. Since she likes lots of tacky jewellery though, I doubt she'll be wearing it. Time-turners look rather delicate and intricate, nothing Umbridge would want to be seen dead with. It's more likely that she has it stuffed in that ugly small handbag of hers. So, we're going to need multiple teams…''
Harry listened in honest amazement as Ron came up with a far more intricate plan than he could ever have thought of: using groups of different houses for various tasks: to distract, to rile up students who weren't part of the D.A., to keep Filch and the Aurors busy, to finally snatching the time-turner itself and replacing it with a fake which Hermione would provide. Hermione was more than ready for that task, having an excellent memory and skills at Transfiguration that would allow her to craft a fake that would fool anyone until attempting to use it, although she did plan on adding a Confundus charm to buy a few minutes to get away if that were to happen. Harry found it almost a pity that he'd be away from Hogwarts and miss the show going down. It also served to ease the restlessness of every single member, as all of them received a task, even the Slytherins, who were key in making Umbridge drop her guard by starting fake accusations against Gryffindors to erase suspicion from themselves.
''So, Parksinson,'' Ron addressed the Slytherin prefect. ''You surely can convince some of your other minions to back you up with this and pretend to take up Umbridge's offer of the month to work with the Aurors. Spin up a sob story or so, you're good at that right?''
''Sure, King,'' Pansy sneered. ''Draco can help me, won't you, dear cousin?''
''I don't think so,'' Draco grimaced, running a hand through his already slicked-back locks. ''As much as I hate to say this… I have no choice but to join Harry.''
The room fell silent. ''You're not coming with us,'' Harry protested. ''No offence, but you have an excellent record of bolting when things get too hot in the cauldron. I remember two such occasions in the Forbidden Forest alone.''
''I have a responsibility,'' Draco ground out, cheeks flaming red at the accusation of being a weak coward.
''This is not a family matter,'' he reminded. ''I need people whom I'll know have my back, always. Preferably those who are known to be brave, loyal or smart.''
''A covert mission would require cunning, too,'' Astoria spoke up. Harry suspected she was trying to get plus point with her fiancé, but was nonetheless mildly impressed that she'd raised her voice.
''Okay, good point,'' he admitted reluctantly.
''And Slytherins are loyal to family,'' she continued, head held up high.
He turned a desperate look to Ron and Hermione, who both were clearly just as uncomfortable as Harry was at the idea of Draco tagging along. ''We, err… wanted as few people as possible for optimal sneakiness.''
''Bullshit,'' Draco cut in, looking even more embarrassed and a tad aggressive. His stance was rigid and eyes narrowed. ''You told me to do something useful with my skills, Scarhead, so that's what I am going to do! Like it or not, I'm coming with you!''
''Well if he is, I certainly am to keep an eye on him,'' Ginny huffed, giving Draco a suspicious glance. ''You need fighting power, I'm in!'' Next to her, Luna dreamily nodded along, slipping her hand into Ginny's. Before long, the entire group was squabbling about who'd get to go to the Ministry of Magic again.
''Quiet, all of you" Harry yelled, thoroughly fed up now. It did little until he pulled his wand and let his Patronus gallop through the crowd. All eyes turned to him again.
''No-one else is coming. Ron, Hermione, Draco and I. Final decision. At least three of us have experience with the stakes such an 'adventure' brings. If any of you are caught by Umbridge here at Hogwarts, she'll probably hurt you, yes. She may even expel you. Us four? Leaving Hogwarts to break into the most secret place in our government's offices? We could go to Azkaban. Lose any chance of our future livelihoods. If we're unlucky and we are caught by some unknown security measure, we could well end up dead.'' He gave his 'brother' a piercing stare, who'd gone from red to pale as could be now. ''I'm not going to let anyone younger than myself tag along, no matter how much fighting power you think you can bring. My preference is to be in and out unseen anyway. The rest of you will follow Ron's plan. Got it?'' The few mutters he received were not very satisfying. Realising they were wasting precious time here, Harry took a deep breath.
''The work you will all do here ensures that our efforts won't be for naught, that we can return to Hogwarts safely. If Umbridge catches onto our plan, she'll reverse time to stop us and we'll have blown our chance. We need all of you to give your best shot at acting out so she doesn't realise we're gone. The earliest she is allowed to realise is tomorrow morning, when all time-turners have been destroyed, including hers''
''- err… wait a moment,'' Ron interrupted. ''Did you say 'tomorrow morning? You're not… we're not doing this today, are we?''
''A responsible adult and ex-Auror whom I asked for advice said that Sundays are the best option,'' he replied with a hint of sugar in his voice. ''Unless you want to twiddle thumbs until next week-''
''Then we need to get going!'' Hermione exclaimed, wide-eyed. ''I'll go to the dorms to work on that counterfeit time-turner! Thank Merlin I already practised this week since Fred and George suggested switching it out. I'll be back soon!''
She rushed out of the room and Harry wasted no time, organising groups together with Ron. Cedric, Cho and Adrian instantly rushed to help, knowing best who got along and which strengths everyone had. They'd all been rather quiet during Harry's talks before, which was appreciated as for once he hadn't wanted much new input in this already established plan. ''Would rather have the fourth person be you instead of Draco,'' he quietly murmured to Cedric in concern, however. ''Good old times and all that.''
The Hufflepuff smiled. ''My place is here, protecting the young ones. If I'd known the Tournament had been so much plain fighting instead of games of wit, I'm not sure if I'd have signed up for it in retrospect. I mean, it sure was a blast and I made some friends for life, but I'd rather not spearhead missions that could kill me,'' he said with a good-natured smirk. ''I'll leave that to the Gryffindors among us. You can be assured that I'll have your back here instead.''
''I know, I value that a lot.''
Once everyone knew what to do and whom to stick close to, came the waiting game. Conversation turned frantic, nerves rising as minutes ticked by. Ron bumped shoulders with him. ''Sure we don't want to wait till after dinner?'' he asked in concern. ''Besides getting some energy, won't it be suspicious if four people are missing from the dinner table, especially when it includes us three?''
''We'll have to take that chance. We don't realistically know how long we'll be gone. Who knows how large the Department of Mysteries is or how long it'll take for us to get into it. Not to mention the travel. Hopefully there'll be enough going on by dinner time that no version of Umbridge will have the chance to eat in peace.''
''Spreaking of the travel…'' Ron started, but in that moment the door opened again and Hermione stormed back in, frizzy hair sticking out in spikes.
''Was as fast as I could,'' she coughed, clutching a beaded purse with one hand and holding up an impressive duplicate of a time-turner with the other. ''It isn't perfect,'' the girl worriedly spoke. ''I didn't recall whether the details on the sides were only stars or if the middle ones were moons, or the exact amount of sand in it but-''
''It's fine, Hermione,'' Harry reassured her, placing both hands on her shoulders and making his friend meet his eyes. ''Umbridge won't have the chance to study it so closely, nor would I imagine she would feel the need to after using it so often. It's not exactly a new trinket to her, why should she give it a second glance? For our purposes, it is perfect.'' He then spun around to face the shuffling crowd. ''Make her life hell,'' Harry simply said. ''We'll try to return as soon as we can with good news, so keep your spirits up and remember: nothing is as strong as a united front.''
The group burst out in cheers, shouts of encouragement coming even from the ones who'd been disappointed in being left out before, like Ginny and Neville. He'd have taken them all over Draco in a heartbeat, but tried very hard to remind himself of the importance of unity as he beckoned the Slytherin to join them. ''I hope you fly better on a horse than on a broom,'' he joked to ease the tension.
With mild confusion, Draco muttered: ''I fly good on anything, Scarhead. Let's go.''
Astoundingly, Draco did actually fare better than either Ron or Hermione, despite none of them being able to see the Thestrals. Harry found it an interesting detail about his brother that he hadn't thought of during Care of Magical Creature class before. One would expect the child of a Death Eater to have seen some death by the age of fifteen, but the way Draco had blindly grasped in front of himself while the draconic horse looked at him from the side, he truly could not see the creatures, meaning he'd never witnessed another person pass before.
Hermione had most trouble, sitting a bit awkwardly on her Thestral and looking down in doubt at the ground beneath her. ''I'm amazed you were able to call them so fast, and so many,'' she commented, perhaps as a way to distract from the strange experience. ''What was that noise you made? Hagrid cried out, didn't he?''
''Thestrals make a lot of noises,'' he curtly said, secretly immensely glad that his attempt of imitating the way Voldemort had called out to them had even worked to attract these Thestrals. It had only taken a few tries, aided by Harry's memory being a whole lot better in recalling any of his partner's movements and noises – like that one pleased hum when his fingers had lightly caressed Voldemort's side at the beach – than with literally anything else.
Emerald eyes darting back to Hogwarts in concern. It was day still, a factor he hadn't taken into consideration when planning to use Thestrals for their flight. Taking to the skies on black, winged horses would look mighty suspicious to anyone watching from the windows. He crossed his fingers that Umbridge was already distracted. They certainly weren't far away enough to not be spotted at all, not having wanted to upset anything in the forest and thus rather calling the Thestrals out of it while standing at the edge. Ron had suggested asking Hagrid for his expertise, until Hermione reminded sternly of the fact that that Hagrid was the most likely person at school right now to be under surveillance. Even trying to argue that asking about Thestrals technically didn't break Umbridge's rules about teachers only being allowed to talk about their subject matter, didn't make the girl budge in her argument that involving Hagrid was a bad idea all around.
As much as he disliked it, Harry had to give her a point. Earlier this week, he'd attempted to give Hagrid Firenze's warning, which had simply been waved away. For all of Hagrid's strengths, recognising when he was in a dangerous situation was not one of them. Even without knowing what attempt Hagrid was supposed to give up, it couldn't be anything innocent like raising bowtruckles.
''Sit tight, everyone,'' he warned, then brushed the Thestral's muscled neck and asked: ''So… we need to go to the Ministry of Magic in London. Visitor entrance,'' he added, not knowing a different way to get in.
''Why that entrance, how about the employee- AGH'' Draco's protesting was cut off when the Thestrals broke into a sprint, not towards the meadows as expected, instead deeper into the forbidden forest again. Having experienced flying with these animals before, Harry decided to trust their instincts instead of worrying about it, clinging on and pressing close to the warm back to give minimal wind resistance. When heavy wings finally unfolded and took them away from the earth, Hogwarts was a tiny speck in the distance. The four creatures circled around a mountain top, giving them a last view of the stunning landscape before it disappeared in streaks.
It was the same neck-breaking speed he'd asked the Thestral for last time, only now that it lasted for longer than a joyride, Harry understood why Voldemort had warned about flying like that only in emergencies. It turned out that rollercoasters were a lot less fun when you weren't sure when the ride was going to end, limbs were cramped and frozen from holding on for dear life and a whistling in one's ear from the constant battering of the wind was maddeningly constant. Only the sights made up for it: winding roads and tiny villages passed them by far below. Rivers glistened silver in the light that streamed down on them. Harry wondered what time it was now, or when the sun would set. Fields made way for more densely packed road and rows of houses, suburbs stretching out until they flew into the heart of London. Like always when it came to magic, Harry wished he knew more about how much it collided with the Muggle world, when the Thestrals dove down and landed on the side-walk of a busy street.
''Can- can they not see us?'' Hermione whispered as a lady hurried past, staring straight ahead instead of turning to look at the four people who'd just descended from the sky and who must appear to be floating now (even when assuming she'd seen death, Harry wasn't completely sure whether Muggles could ever see Thestrals, much like Dementors were apparently invisible to them.)
It was cleared up by Draco, who answered: ''Owners of large creatures, winged ones especially, that could be spotted by Muggles, are required to cast specific anti-Muggle Disillusionment charms upon them regularly. That's a standard procedure that Hogwarts has to follow just like any private owner would, since animals like these can travel long distances. The radius of that charm likely includes any rider.''
Grateful for having an answer to that dilemma, Harry steered them into a deserted back alley before dismounting – it wouldn't do to appear out of nothing on the street – and hesitantly asked: ''Will you wait here for us?'' A low hum sounded in return, his Thestral affectionately nuzzling its strange snout against Harry's face. It then dived straight into a garbage can to find tasty morsels of rotten food.
''I'll take that as a yes,'' he said. ''So, guys, ready or not, we're going in.''
AN: Regarding school punishment: there have been some debates in this fandom about how Umbridge ever got away with physical punishment and all that, but while the books make it seem like corporal punishment was a thing from ages past since Dumbledore stopped it when he became Headmaster, in our world and thus also Muggle Britain, this was very much legal during the events of HP! While state schools officially stopped with it in 1986, for private schools it only became illegal in 1998 in England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in Northern Ireland! So Muggles would probably even have less difficulty with it in this time than mages, who'd already gone about 3 (?) generations of it being banned from Hogwarts.
By the way, for the look of Thestrals, I find the movie version absolutely wicked so if it wasn't clear before, when describing their looks I'm leaning more towards the movies for once. I know they actually have pretty thick manes and horse tails in the book instead of being rather hairless.
Soooo announcement for the next chapter: I managed to write ahead and chapter 82 turned out to be, errr, pretty massive. It consists of three closely linked parts from different POV's. So, instead of posting all of it in 3 weeks from now, I have decided to post part 1 next week already, part 2 in two weeks and then the final part in three weeks. So for the coming time, you actually can look forward to a couple of weekly updates ^^
Please read and review! :D
xx GeMerope