Chapter 52
"And," Hermione said as she thought back over the events of the night before. She wrinkled her brow and tilted her head thoughtfully. Had it allreallyhappened just last night?
Oliver cleared his throat and Hermione blinked, coming back to the present with a start. "And?" he prompted again.
"And, uh..." Hermione began again, trying to figure out how best to explain. "A- a dog, um... and uh... a rat." She winced slightly at her description.
"A Hippogriff?" Lee asked disbelievingly.
"And a dog?" George asked.
"And a rat?" Fred said.
"All walked into a bar," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I know!"
Oliver chuckled with an air of confusion. "Hermione," he said. "What are you talking about?"
Hermione shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "An old Muggle joke, that's all."
"Wait," Fred said. "Muggles know about hippogriffs?"
"Ugh!" Hermione said. "That's-"
"Not the point!" Fred and George said in unison.
"Do you want to hear this or not?" Hermione asked them.
"Yes please," the boys all said, making her laugh.
"Okay..." Hermione said. "I'm sure you heard that Harry had the Grim appear in his tea cup in Divination this year?"
"Yeah," George said.
"We all heard about that," Oliver said.
"I think he said he saw one in the clouds during the match we lost," Fred said.
Hermione nodded.
"So what does the Grim or - or a dog have to do with a Hippogriff?" Lee asked.
"Come on guys," Oliver said, putting an arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Give her a chance to tell us."
Hermione swallowed, still not sure how to explain, but was grateful when the boys fell silent with their questions.
"Well," Hermione said and looked up at Oliver after a moment. "We found out that we were wrong. Wrong about everything..."
"What do you mean?" Lee asked, drawing her attention.
"About Sirius Black," Hermione said, looking at each of them. "I - I guess the only way to explain is to start from the beginning. You all know that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and why he was being held, right?"
"Yeah," Lee said with a nod.
"It's said that he murdered a bunch of Muggles when You-Know-Who vanished after his attack on the Potters," George said.
"It's also believed that he escaped to go after Harry, that's why there was such high security at school this year with the Dementors," Fred added.
Hermione nodded.
"What do you mean we're wrong?" Oliver asked.
Hermione sighed, her shoulders slumping for a moment, and bit her lip as she racked her brain to figure out how to explain what had happened.
"I guess..." she began slowly. "The best way to explain is to start at the beginning... at least, the beginning as Harry and I learned the truth."
"Okay..." Oliver said.
"So, when you all saw us... that is, Harry and I, following Harry, Ron and I," Hermione began. "We were sent back in time by Professor Dumbledore. I - I honestly never thought of anyone seeing us from the windows of the castle."
"Lass," Oliver said when she began to deviate from her explanation.
"Right," Hermione said with a nod before she continued. "When Harry, Ron and I went down to visit Hagrid, it was right before Buckbeak was to be executed. Hagrid was arguing with us. He wouldn't let us stay with him for support when it happened. He told us to drink our tea and be off, but before that, he pulled Scabbers out of a pot he was keeping him in and warned Ron to look after his pets better."
"So, Scabbers wasn't really dead, and Ron was having a fit for nothing?" George asked.
Hermione nodded.
"What does Scabbers have to do with anything?" Fred asked.
"Everything," Hermione replied. "This, this is where things get... weird." She paused and took a deep breath. "While we were in Hagrid's hut, someone from outside threw something and broke one of Hagrid's pots, and then something hit Harry in the head. We looked out the window and didn't see anything but noticed that Fudge was coming down the path, and Hagrid rushed us outside from the back door. Harry, Ron and I waited around the pumpkin patch until Dumbledore, Fudge and the executioner went into Hagrid's hut, then headed up toward the castle."
"How is that weird?" Lee asked in confusion.
"Well," Hermione said. "On the way, Scabbers bit Ron and he dropped him. Ron chased him toward the Whomping Willow and Harry and I were warning him away from it when he'd caught Scabbers again, but at the same time, Ron turned pale and pointed behind us. When we turned to look, we saw the Grim standing there, growling and barking. He charged and we thought it was at us, but it jumped over us and headed right for Ron!"
"Wait," George said.
"What?" Fred asked.
"Wasn't everyone saying that it was Harry that the Grim was after?" Oliver asked.
"That's the rumour that was going around after our first Divination class," Hermione admitted. "Anyway, the dog jumped over Harry and I, charged over, biting Ron's leg and pulled him down a hole beneath the tree. It was a while before Harry and I could follow because the tree began its assault. When we were able to follow though, well, we found Ron at the end of the tunnel and he said that it wasn't a Grim or a dog at all, but a man."
"A man?" Lee asked.
Hermione nodded.
"You mean an Animagus?" Oliver asked.
Hermione nodded again.
"Well," George said.
"Who was it?" Fred asked.
"Sirius Black," Hermione said.
"SIRIUS BLACK!?" the boys all shouted in surprise.
"Are you going to let me finish or not?" Hermione asked.
"Yes!" the boys said in unison.
"Please go on, lass," Oliver encouraged.
Hermione sighed and ran her fingers through her hair and looked at the twins. "Look, before I go on, I wanted to tell you, I know about the map you gave Harry. I really should be mad at you for it considering that if things didn't turn out the way they had, if the map fell into the wrong hands, it could have led straight to Harry."
"We don't know what you're talking about," Fred said.
"Oh, come off it," Lee said looking at them. "Sheknows."
"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" George asked.
Hermione made a disbelieving face, and rolled her eyes.
"No," she said. "I just wanted to make you aware of the seriousness of the situation, but also..." She paused for a moment and exhaled, relaxing. "But also to thank you."
"What?" the twins asked, confused. "Why?"
"Because," Hermione continued. "If you hadn't given Harry the map, he wouldn't have discovered the truth."
"Okay, wait, wait," Lee said. "Hold up, I'm confused. What does the map have to do with all of this?"
"Yeah," Oliver said. "They just use it for tracking where people are so they can sneak around without getting into trouble."
"During our first Hogsmeade weekend, when you gave Harry the map, he disappeared on us when we overheard the Minister talking with Madam Rosmerta outside The Three Broomsticks. Ron and I followed his footprints and found that he had followed them inside. We tried to follow, but were told by the shrunken heads that no underage wizards were allowed on that day. We waited and then followed his footprints when he exited sometime later. He was upset. He told us that he found out that Sirius Black had betrayed his parents, and that he'd been their friend," Hermione revealed.
"Then, Harry told me last night on the way back to the common room that Ron was still having nightmares from our bogart lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts. One night, when Ron was woken from a nightmare, Harry had been looking over the map and found something curious. He saw Peter Pettigrew's name on it. He snuck out and was trying to catch him. He was so focused on finding him that he was caught by Professor Snape. Professor Lupin came to his rescue, and took the map from him. Harry said that Professor Lupin acted strangely when he told him what he had seen on the map, and was shooed off to bed," Hermione said.
"Wait, s-so Peter Pettigrew is alive?" Lee asked. "I remember hearing the story, didn't the Daily Prophet report that he'd been killed and all that was left was a finger?"
"Yes," Hermione said, nodding. "But last night, I saw him myself."
"But..." Fred said.
"But how?" George finished his brother's question.
"Last night we discovered that Peter Pettigrew was also an Animagus," Hermione said. "Pettigrew, we learned, was the rat, and he was the one who betrayed Harry's parents, not Sirius Black. Sirius told us that he saw the article of your family in Egypt when the Minister visited Azkaban. He saw Pettigrew in his Animagus form, missing a toe."
"WHAT?!" The twins roared, coming up off their seats in anger, realising that the rat was the very same as the one that had been passed down in their family as a pet.
Hermione nodded. "Do you remember what the map said when you first activated it?"
"Yeah," George said.
"It said 'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs proudly present the Marauder's Map. Why?"
"We learned that Professor Lupin, Harry's dad, Sirius, and Pettigrew were friends in school; they created the map. I wanted to thank you again for giving Harry the map. He'll be putting it to good use. The truth is," Hermione said, and paused, exhaling heavily. "Pettigrew escaped last night."
"Oh, you gotta be kidding!" Fred said incredulously, running his hand through his hair.
"How?" George asked.
"We were bringing him back to the castle and... there was a distraction," Hermione hedged. "He used it to transform and escape."
"Distraction?" Lee asked, confused.
"Professor Lupin," Fred said.
"He changed, didn't he?" George asked.
"What?" Oliver asked.
"How did you know?" Hermione asked, surprised.
Fred and George smiled.
"Let's just say that we're good at sneaking around," Fred answered.
"We overheard mom and dad talking when they heard that Professor Dumbledore hired him to teach DADA," George added.
"What are you talking about?" Lee asked.
Hermione raised her hand, signalling the twins to continue.
"Kinda cool, isn't it?" Fred asked.
"What?" Oliver returned.
"Being taught by a werewolf," George said with a grin.
Lee choked.
"Smooth," Hermione said and shook her head, as she put her head in her hands. "Really smooth, you guys."
"I thought there was something strange going on," Oliver admitted. "What?" he asked when Lee looked at him, his expression disbelieving. "Oh, come on," he continued. "Didn't you notice that he was absent from class every month?"
"Right around the full moon?" Fred continued, and he and George shared a laugh.
Lee shook his head as if to clear it. "So that's it?" he asked after a moment. "What about when we saw you and Harry following... yourselves?"
"Well," Hermione said. "Like I said earlier, that was where things got weird."
"How so?" Oliver asked.
"When we were in the tunnel, Professor Snape showed up, and Harry attacked him, hitting him with a disarming charm when he tried to apprehend Sirius, who was explaining things to us, and the charm hit him so hard, he was knocked out. Professor Lupin and Sirius continued their explanation, and showed us that they spoke the truth. They cast a spell on Scabbers that forced him to transform in front of us. We were heading back up to the castle, bringing Pettigrew in order to clear Sirius' name when the moon came out not long after we exited the tunnel. We would have been attacked by Professor Lupin if it weren't for Professor Snape trying to protect us, and Sirius changing in an attempt to draw him off. It didn't work out that way though," Hermione said, with sadness in her tone.
"What happened?" Oliver asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Well, Sirius was hurt, and Professor Lupin turned back toward us, but was distracted by a howl from the forest and ran off. Harry took off after Sirius afterward, ignoring Professor Snape, and the Dementors showed up. It was during the time that Professor Lupin was changing, that Pettigrew escaped," Hermione said. She paused, and swallowed. "Now comes the weird part."
"Okay," Lee said.
Hermione hesitated and saw that she had their utmost attention, a shiver coursed down her spine as she felt Oliver shift, moving his arm from around her shoulder and begin rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"We're listening," the twins said.
Hermione took a deep breath.
"So, after the Dementor attack on Sirius and Harry, we followed Professor Snape toward the lake and witnessed a large Patronus chase off the hoard of Dementors. Professor Snape said only areallypowerful wizard could have conjured it. Once the Dementors were gone, he levitated Sirius and Harry and we headed to the castle where we took Ron and Harry up to the infirmary, where I stayed with them and Professor Snape took Sirius to Professor Dumbledore and he was locked in the tower, awaiting his fate, the Dementor's kiss."
Hermione paused, and noticed, aside from Oliver, who was still rubbing her back, the boys were enraptured by the story, and were on the edge of their seats.
"When Harry came to, I told him what was happening, and it wasn't long after that Professor Dumbledore came to see us, and instructed me to use the Time-Turner. Ron was left behind because he couldn't walk after Sirius bit him earlier, so I took Harry with me instead. When you saw us from the window, we were on our way to Hagrid's. At the time, we didn't know what we were doing, we were just going. When we got there, it took me a moment to realise that I was the one who threw what turned out to be a snail shell and broke Hagrid's pot, and another that I hit Harry in the head with. When we got there, Harry - the one with me - wanted to storm in and get Pettigrew, but like I told you, bad things happen to people who meddle with time, and I didn't let him go," Hermione paused for a moment.
"You're right," Fred said.
"That does sound weird," George added.
"And it was pretty strange for us to see you following - well, you," Lee agreed.
"Yeah," George said.
"The only one who seems to have taken it in stride was Ollie here," Fred said, suspiciously.
"That's because I already knew. Professor McGonagall and I both confirmed that when we were in her office yesterday," Oliver said.
"So, you didn't let Harry go in..." Lee said, turning the attention back to Hermione and the story of what had happened the night before.
"No, I didn't," Hermione confirmed. "It was right before that, Harry pointed out to me that Buckbeak was still alive - we had been so concerned about not being seen, that I hadn't noticed, and that's when Dumbledore's comment to us in the infirmary before we went back in time came back to me. That if everything went well, we could save two innocent lives."
"Don't stop there," George said.
"Yeah, tell us what happened!" Fred added.
"Alright," Hermione huffed. "Keep your shirt on!"
She took a breath and rolled her eyes as they tried to figure out that expression, and she continued, "I had to stop Harry from going to get Buckbeak then, knowing that Hagrid would be blamed for letting him go if the Minister didn't see him first. After hitting Harry where he was in Hagrid's hut, we had to hurry into the trees behind the pumpkin patch because we were coming out the back door. We watched from our hiding place in the trees, as our earlier selves watched Hagrid let Dumbledore and the Minister enter his hut, and we saw that Dumbledore was pointing out things near Buckbeak before they entered to make sure that the Minister saw him there," Hermione explained.
"After Hagrid let the Minister, Professor Dumbledore and the executioner in and was signing forms, Ron and our earlier selves took the chance to head up to the castle. While our earlier selves headed back up toward the castle, Harry and I moved back toward the pumpkin patch. While watching the window, Harry crept over and got Buckbeak loose, but was having a hard time getting him to move so I had to go and grab some ferrets that Hagrid had set aside, in order to get him to follow us into the trees," she finished her confusing tale.
"Wow," George said.
"I'm impressed," Fred added.
"I think we all are," Lee said.
"Yep," Oliver interjected. "I think we can all see why our Hermione here was sorted into Gryffindor."
Hermione blushed at the praise, but fought it back as she continued, "After we freed Buckbeak, we headed along the edge of the forest till we could see the Whomping Willow and waited. By the time we got there, we saw Professor Lupin head down into the tunnel, followed not far behind by Professor Snape. It seemed like time dragged when we were in the tunnel to start with, but in reality, it wasn't long before we saw ourselves exit the tunnel again. We witnessed Professor Lupin transform again, and I did the only thing I could think of. I cupped my hands around my mouth and howled. Harry freaked out next to me, and tried to stifle the sound, asking what I was doing, but I knocked him back, explaining that I was saving his life. As we looked back up the hill, Professor Lupin was stalking toward Harry, but when I howled again, he headed toward where we were hiding. Something I hadn't thought about."
"Don't stop there!" Fred protested.
"Yeah, tell us what happened next!" George added.
Hermione looked at Lee who was also sitting on the edge of his seat, and Oliver who just laughed and shook his head, motioning her to continue.
"Well, we hid among the trees, avoiding him, but Professor Lupin has an acute sense of smell. While we had thought he had gone the other direction, we ended up backing right into him - well, within a few feet anyway. It was really scary. When he was about to attack us, Buckbeak came to our rescue and chased him that, knowing we were cutting it close, we headed to the lake."
She paused, swallowing before she continued, "For this part, I have to tell you first that when Harry woke up in the infirmary, he said something to me that made me think he'd lost his mind. He told me that he had seen his dad casting the Patronus across the lake."
She paused again and looked at them, but they sat in rapt attention waiting for her to continue.
"While we waited at the lake, Harry was adamant that his dad would come and save him and Sirius. In fact, he didn't move until I pointed out that the Dementors were killing them. Now, I know that you have to have a really strong, happy thought in your head to conjure a Patronus - I read about them when Harry said that Professor Lupin was going to teach him after the attack at the Quidditch match. I don't know what thought he had in his head, but it wasreallystrong. I've never heard Professor Snape praise anyone for anything before - but he himself said only someone really strong could have conjured the Patronus like the one that chased away so many Dementors."
Hermione paused again, shaking her head as she thought about how unusual it had been to hear Professor Snape praise anyone who wasn't in his own house.
"There was no time to waste afterward, we had to get back to the castle right away. I think that's the only reason Harry was able to get me on Buckbeak because - I'm sorry, Oliver," she said, pausing to look at him. "I still don't like flying."
"It's okay," Oliver said with a sad but understanding smile as he rubbed her back.
"Anyway," Hermione said after she smiled back and then returned her attention to the others. "We headed up to the tower and freed Sirius. Buckbeak landed in the clock tower courtyard near the hospital afterward and Sirius and Harry spoke for a bit. He thanked us for helping him and believing in his innocence. Harry wanted to go with him, I could tell, but Sirius wouldn't let him. The clock began to strike as Sirius flew away with Buckbeak, and Harry and I ran up to the hospital wing, we peered inside and saw ourselves leave before we walked in," she paused a moment and laughed as she continued, "thoroughly confusing Ron who had been talking to us just prior to our time travel."
"Wow!" Lee said his expression incredulous. "That was some adventure!"
"Definitely," the twins agreed.
"Now I understand why you didn't want to take advantage of Dumbledore's offer for you to be in our class. Harry would have been lost or even killed if it weren't for you," Lee said.
Hermione blushed and rose to her feet. "Well, I should probably get going... Professor McGonagall is waiting on me."
Oliver nodded, and he and the others got to their feet and followed her back toward the castle, still marvelling over the story they'd just heard.