Chapter 5
The Time It Is A'Changin'

A short while later, we were sneaking out of the castle. When we made it to Hagrid's, you could hear the dread in his voice at our knocks on his door.

"Ey tol' yeh not to come. Yull get in trouble, yeh will," said Hagrid, his voice anything but it's normal, cheerful tone as we came out from under the cloak.

"We had to come," I replied with tears threatening to pour out of my eyes. I love Hagrid so much. He is the kindest, soft-hearted person I have ever met. He dotes over his animals like a mother hen. And he has been so good to Harry, Ron, and me that I cannot bear to see him this way.

"Okay," replied Hagrid as he started to make tea for us. But yeh'll have ter leave before they get here. I don' wan' yeh here for—uh—uh—you know."

Suddenly, the milk jug dropped from his trembling hand spilling contents all over. I jumped up to clean up the mess. As I pulled a second jug from the cupboard, I saw something inside it. It was Scabbers. I grabbed at him, but he fought to stay in the jug Finally, I managed to pull him out. He looked horrible. He had patches of hair missing and looked like he was starving. As I handed him to Ron, I demanded an apology.

"Yes—yes," sputtered Ron as he looked at me like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I'll apologize to Crookshanks the next time I see him."

I glared at him like he was the dimmest person on Earth.

"Wha—what?" he bleated, his eyes searching for the source of my anger.

"I meant me, you pillock,"

"Oh—uh—er—right. I'm sorry, Hermione. "I—I—I—I—" he choked out like a man hearing the blade on the guillotine being released.

Mercifully, I cut him off with a sour-sounding "Forget it."

We continued our sad conversation until we heard noises and some voices coming from outside of Hagrid's cottage. Hagrid looked out the window and turned back to us. "Yeh have ter leave. We'll get in trouble if they find yeh here. C'mon, now. Yeh can go out the backdoor."

Scabbers was going crazy the entire time Hagrid was trying to get us out of the door. As we finally made it outside, we heard knocks at his front door.

There was nothing we could do except go back to the castle. Scabbers continued his frenzy as we walked. Suddenly, we heard the whoosh of the executioner's axe cutting the air and a dull thud. "They did it," I squealed as I swayed and fell against Harry. "I can't believe—"

Darkness was falling. We started walking toward the castle under the cloak. Then there was some movement and a noise in front of us. A pair of yellow eyes came out of the shadows. It was Crookshanks. "Crookshanks! No! Go away," I said to no avail.

Ron jumped as Scabbers bit him and broke free. Crookshanks started bounding after Scabbers. Ron threw off the cloak. He chased them while cursing at Crookshanks. Then, there was a thud. Ron had caught Scabbers and stuffed him in his pocket as Crookshanks hissed.

As we approached Ron, a giant, black dog toppled Harry. As it turned for another attack, Ron pushed Harry and the dog grabbed his arm. We moved to rescue him but something struck Harry and slashed me across the face. Harry lit his wand. We were under the Whomping Willow.

We scrambled out of reach of the limbs as we saw the dog dragging Ron head-first into a hole at the tree's base. Ron fought valiantly in a losing cause as we tried to figure out a way to get past the swinging branches. Then there was a crack. We saw Ron's broken leg as it disappeared.

"We've got to save him," I cried.

"We can't get past the branches," said Harry.

Then, in a flash, Crookshanks dodged through the chaos and jumped on a knot next to the hole. The tree ceased to move.

"Crookshanks! How?" I screamed.

"He's a friend of the dog," snarled Harry. "I've seen them together."

I was upset, but we needed to help Ron. We hurried to the hole. Harry jumped in and I followed. We found ourselves in a tunnel like the ones going to Hogsmeade from the castle. We could see Crookshanks in front of us. With our wands lit, we walked forward. Eventually, we found ourselves peering into a room with boarded windows, smashed and broken furniture, and layers of dust.

I was so frightened I nearly squeezed Harry's arm until it broke. We climbed up into the room and followed a trail made by something being dragged through the dust down a hallway until we came to a door. " What is this horrible place? Where are we? Can it be— " I thought in disbelief.

"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," I said to Harry. Just the notion was horrifying.

We could noises from above us. We followed the trail upstairs to a door. We were prepared for the worst as we both held our wands at the ready. Harry kicked open the door. There, on a fancy four-poster was Crookshanks. He was purring. To the side was Ron. His broken leg was bent at an unnatural angle and made me feel sick inside. I can't imagine how badly it must have hurt.

"Ron," I said, almost crying as I ran to him. "Are you okay? Where's the dog?"

"There—there's no dog," groaned Ron, pointing behind us as he grimaced from the pain. "It—it's–-a—a-trap. He's the dog. He's an animagus."

Out of the shadows came something that looked more like a zombie than a person. He was emaciated and filthy. His eyes were sunken in waxy skin stretched over a skeletal face with pale eyes and yellow teeth. His matted hair hung to his elbows. We knew it was Sirius Black.

With a flip of Ron's wand, he disarmed us. The scene that was to unfold from there was the most surreal event of my life. I can only recall portions of it. I was so scared and confused that I think my mind blocked much of it out.

After a moment, he spoke. He thanked Harry for coming instead of running for help. Harry tried to charge Black but Ron and I grabbed him. I cannot believe Ron was able to stand. It must have hurt so much. He's so brave.

I screamed "NO!" but Ron hollered at Black. He said if he was going to kill Harry, he'd have to kill us, too.

Black told Ron to lie back down so he would not hurt his leg more. Why was he being so compassionate? I was confused. Then Harry broke free and charged Black. I was screaming. They fought fiercely. Finally, Black gained the advantage as I squealed. I kicked Black and Ron managed to grab his wand hand forcing him to drop our wands. Harry scrambled to grab his wand. We were gaining the advantage. Then Crookshanks betrayed us. He grabbed Harry's arm with his claws.

Harry flung him away and picked up his wand. Ron collapsed on the bed. I was sitting, crying as Harry approached Black with his wand pointed at him. Was Harry going to kill him? Was he going to become a murderer?

Black started talking, delaying things as Harry seethed. They went back and forth. Black begged Harry to listen to his story before Harry killed him. Then Crookshanks jumped on black, covering his heart. As I cried, Harry raised his wand. He was going to kill Black and Crookshanks if he did not move.

There was a silence as Harry gathered his nerve. Then, we heard footsteps coming from below. I panicked and started hollering for help. A moment later, the door flew open and Professor Lupin entered ready for whatever confronted him. He looked around and disarmed the startled Harry with the Expelliarmus spell.

"Where is he?" growled the professor. Black hesitated before pointing at Ron. Then Lupin lowered his wand and helped Black to his feet. They hugged as our hearts fell. They were friends. He was not here for us. He was here for him. " WHY? What is this all about? " my mind screamed.

I screamed at Lupin. I asked him why. I had been covering for him. I knew his secret. Finally, I blurted out that he was a werewolf. He asked me how I knew. I told him about Snape's essay. He told me I was brilliant. I felt stupid for not turning him in earlier.

Then Lupin did something crazy. He gave us our wands and put his away. He asked again for us to listen. I felt compelled.

The next several minutes were surreal. At first, we thought they were both insane. We heard a tale of four friends. When one turned out to be a werewolf, the others covertly became animagi to support him. We found out one of them was Peter Pettigrew. He was actually responsible for the death of Harry's parents. He had been hiding as Ron's rat for twelve years to avoid the Death Eaters who would kill him if they found him. We heard the real story of the Shrieking Shack. We heard about Snape and how he fought against Lupin being there because of their history. Snape had learned Lupin was a werewolf because of a joke Black was trying to play on him. Lupin said he thought Black was guilty until tonight when he saw Pettigrew on the map while watching them. It was a maze of confusion.

I am certain more was coming, but suddenly, Snape appeared. I screamed and Harry nearly toppled over. Snape had been hiding just outside the door using the invisibility cloak Harry had dropped while we were trying to fend off the Whomping Willow.

Snape said he had found the map in Lupin's office when he went there to deliver the Wolfsbane potion to him. It showed him our location. Lupin started begging him to listen to the rest of the story before acting on his hatred of Sirius and him.

Instead, Snape bound Lupin and threatened to kill Black. I begged him to listen before acting. He told me to shut up. He said Harry, Ron, and I were out of Hogwarts if he had his way. " Why has he always hated me? Why can't he appreciate my academic prowess and hard work? ' He is so unfair. I have cried myself to sleep more than once because of him.

Snape started arguing with Harry. Suddenly, like magic, Ron, Harry, and I all shot disarming spells at him. He splattered against the wall and fell into a crumpled mess. I fell to the floor. "We attacked a teacher," I cried. "We're going to get in so much trouble."

Sirius was angry at us. We should have left Snape to him, he said. He went on to tell how he knew Scabbers was Peter and how he knew where to find him. It all made sense, somehow. Scabbers had been looking ill all year. I was starting to believe him.

Harry and Professor Lupin were still skeptical of Sirius as he continued to accuse Ron's rat of being Peter Pettigrew. Finally, he convinced them and with some waves of their wands, Peter Pettigrew appeared in front of us looking just as tattered and ill as Scabbers did.

The next few minutes were a blurry mass of Peter appealing and groveling for his life mixed with Sirius ready to kill him and Lupin trying to restrain him to a point. I was scared and crying next to the bed where Ron was fighting the pain of his broken leg. Ron was so brave attempting to fight. I felt so sorry for him. I wish I could have eased his pain.

Harry finally decided to take Peter to the castle so Sirius could be cleared of his crime and Peter could take his place in Azkaban. Lupin bound and gagged Pettigrew. Then he splinted poor Ron's leg. We made our way out past the willow with Crookshanks leading the way. Lupin and Ron were chained to Pettigrew. Snape was floating behind them like an upright, limp puppet. Harry, Sirius, and I followed.

I listen to Sirius invite Harry to leave the Dursleys and come live with him. Suddenly, the moon appeared. Lupin had not taken his potion. He began transforming as I screamed.

Before I knew it, Sirius had changed into a dog and started fighting with Lupin. I was too terrified to move. Pettigrew grabbed Lupin's wand and stunned Ron and Crookshanks. Harry got out his wand and disarmed Pettigrew. But he was too late. Pettigrew changed into Scabbers and disappeared into the tall grass. " This can't be happening, " I thought.

Lupin broke free and ran off into the darkness with Sirius in pursuit. Ron and Crookshanks were on the ground, still heavily stupified. Snape was still floating nearby. "Yes," I cried. "This is horrible. What spell did he use?"

"We've got to get them up to the castle," said Harry.

Then, we heard the yelping of a dog in pain. "Sirius!" We looked at each other and started to run in the direction of the noise. " What has Luping done? Has he injured Sirius? " I thought but the reality was worse.

The painful yelps stopped as we reached the shore of a small pond. Then, we saw him across the water. Sirius had changed back into his human form. He began crying out "NO! Please no."

The temperature started plummeting. Harry started trying to cast the patronus charm. I tried to help by casting it, too. However, I could not do it. The dementors were descending on the three of us. My knees failed me. Suddenly, everything went black.

When I woke up, I was in a bed. I looked around and determined I was in the school's hospital wing. Harry was in a bed next to me still unconscious. Far down the way, I could see Madame Pomfrey attending to Ron. " Poor Ron, I hope she is fixing his leg. He was so brave. I— " I stopped as I heard voices. It was Snape and the Minister Cornelius Fudge. They were discussing what had happened.

Snape said he did not know exactly how things transpired. By the time he arrived, the dementors were retreating. We were unconscious. He said he bound and gagged Sirius before transporting all four of us up to the castle. The Minister said he was going to give him an award, the Order of Merlin First Class if he had his way, for saving us and capturing Black.

Snape said he believed we were mostly victims of Black. He thought Sirius had bewitched us to help him. He went on to out Lupin as a werewolf. Still, if it were up to him, we would be expelled. " How could he want us expelled? That's so unfair. We're innocent. My life will be over if I get expelled. " My mind was in panic overload.

As I continued to listen, I saw Harry's eyes open. I pressed a finger to my lips to keep him quiet. As we secretly listened, nothing positive was being said on our behalf or Sirius'. Madame Pomfrey walked up to us carrying an enormous piece of chocolate. She sat it down on the table between us and started breaking off pieces with a small hammer.

"How's Ron?" we inquired. She said he was fine and that we would have to stay in the hospital wing until she was satisfied that we had recovered sufficiently.

Harry sat up determined to see the headmaster right away. I said I wanted to join him. Madame Pomfrey told us to lie back down. We had nothing to worry about. Sirius was being held upstairs and the dementors would be performing the kiss any time now.

We jumped up. We needed to see Dumbledore right away. However, the commotion caused the Minister and Snape to come in. We started pleading our case to them. However, Fudge was not sympathetic to our appeal. Snape claimed our appeal was further proof we had been confounded.

Then, Dumbledore joined them. Madame Pomfrey started to pitch a fit about the hubbub. She tried to chase Dumbledore, Snape, and the Minister out of her clinic. However, Dumbledore insisted he wanted to talk to Harry and Hermione alone. After some contentious words, the Minister, Snape, and Madame Pomfrey left.

Dumbledore told us to listen to him because time was limited. He explained that the words of three thirteen-year-old wizards would not convince many against the words of so many adults. And we could not wait until Professor Lupin was human once again. Even though Dumbledore said he believed us, we felt a sense of inevitable doom descending on Sirius and us. Then, he said something that changed everything.

"What we need," he said as he looked me in the eyes, "is more time."

"But—" I started to reply, then it hit me. "Ohhhh—"

Dumbledore told us Black's location and noted that more than one innocent life could be saved if we succeeded. He reminded me of the law and the importance of not being seen as Harry looked at us with a confused look. As he exited the room, he said "Three turns should do it."

I pulled my long chain with the time turner out from under my robes. I called Harry close and tossed the chain over his head. I gave the little hourglass three turns. A feeling of flying backward came over us. Then, we were standing in the entry hall of the school. Harry started to speak but I pulled him into a broom closet before he could protest. I explained that we had gone back in time three hours and it was critical that we not be seen.

We heard ourselves pass by as we sorted out what Professor Dumbledore wanted us to do. We figured out he wanted us to save Buckbeak and then use him to fly up to save Sirius from Flitwick's office.

We carefully left the castle and made our way down to Hagrid's. We hid in the trees as we watched as our other selves arrived under the invisibility cloak and appeared as we went inside. I was comfortable with what I saw, but Harry was pretty freaked out.

Everything was going well until the crash and sound of breaking pottery. "That's the milk jug," I said. "We're about to discover Peter." This caused Harry to want to dash in to capture him. But I held him back with all my strength telling him, "We can't be seen, Harry. McGonagall warned me about this. We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws. Besides, she said wizards have gone crazy, injured, and even killed their other selves when they meet themselves. We have to stay hidden."

We stayed out of sight. We saw the Dumbldore, the Minister, McNair, and the old committee member coming as our other selves left. Harry wanted to move Buckbeak but I made him wait until after they had seen him tied in the garden. Then, with considerable difficulty, Harry coaxed Buckbeak to follow us into the forest.

The group came out for the execution a short time later. There was a lot of confusion and upset. Finally, they left. We made our way to where we could view the Whomping Willow. A couple of moments later, we saw Ron chasing Scabbers. Then Sirius appeared in his dog form. Pain raced through me. I was going to see Ron dragged into the tree and his leg broken again. I wanted to race up and save him. " Be brave, Ron, " I thought. " Everything will be okay. " Now I knew how Harry was feeling earlier.

We waited quietly until Lupin appeared. Harry wanted to get his cloak before Snape found it. I stopped him just in time to not be seen by a drunken Hagrid making his way to the castle.

Snape finally appeared and took the cloak as Harry seethed. He went in. After a long time of waiting while we heard muffled shouting and fighting, Crookshanks appeared followed by everyone else, including Peter Pettigrew. An unconscious Snape was floating along. Then, the hell we knew was coming broke loose. What we had not expected was Lupin eventually running in our direction. We released Buckbeak and ran. We hid in Hagrid's cottage until we felt it was safe.

Harry eventually went out to watch for the dementor. I hid inside with Buckbeak. I could hear Lupin and then Sirius' cries. Finally, I heard Harry scream "Expecto Patronum!" I had to act. I ran out of the door with Buckbeak behind me.

"What happened?" I asked as I ran up to Harry. He explained that he had just saved all of our lives. He had not seen his father. He had seen himself conjure the patronus. It was a stag. He knew he could do it because he already had. It was very confusing but before I could sort it out, Snape regained consciousness and started conjuring stretchers to take us to the castle. As we watched, he made his way up until they saw McNair coming to summon the dementors. We knew we had to act.

We got onto Buckbeak and took off. It was totally scary. I clutched Harry with all of my might and closed my eyes. We ducked and swooped up to the castle and next to Flitwick's window. I waved my wand and said 'Alohomora'. The window opened and Sirius clamored onto Buckbeak. We made it onto the roof and dismounted. Harry urged Sirius to go. After a moment, he climbed back onto Buckbeak and disappeared.

We smiled at each other. We had been successful. Sirius and Buckbeak were saved. Then, all of a sudden, I realized we only had a couple of minutes to get back to the infirmary before Dumbledore locked the door. We started sprinting.

Then, we were interrupted by Snape and Fudge talking. Snape was beside himself with joy at the idea of the execution. We hid in a classroom until they were gone. Then, as our time was expiring, we had to hide again, this time from Peeves. Finally, with no time to spare, we made it to the infirmary just as Dumbledore was backing out of the door and telling us he was going to lock us in. We ran up to him and told him of our success. He was delighted, then hurried us in as he locked the door behind us.

Snape and Fudge had a fit we could hear through the windows when they discovered Sirius' disappearance. Snape was convinced Harry was somehow to blame. They came into the infirmary deadset on extracting a confession. However, Dumbledore said we were locked in here the whole time and Madame Pomfrey backed him up. They left, unhappy and clueless about the real events. All that was left to do was to explain everything that had happened to Ron now that he was awake. I held his hand and told him the story. I am not certain he believed all of it but I enjoyed telling it. He had been so brave.

The rest of the year loomed. We all passed all of our classes. Gryffindor won the House Cup. I turned in my time turner. I did not want another year like this one. Ron talked about Harry living with them over the summer and all of us going to the Quidditch World Cup. The highlight of the year's end was a letter from Sirius telling us he was safe and a note telling Harry he had permission to go to Hogsmeade from now on. It also gave the owl to Ron as a replacement for Scabbers.