O.W.L. Tests

The next few days, it was studying, revision, studying, and revision again. The girl’s hadn’t had a moment of peace, not only because of the pile of revision they had to do, but also because of Educational Decrees Umbridge had added. There were probably more rules on the Great Hall wall than in the whole Ministry of Magic.

‘Speaking of the ministry, we need to find a way to get to Dumbledore,’ said Amelia on an agitating day.

They were in the sunny Grounds, worrying about two things, Hagrid’s resignation, and the whole lot of revision they were doing. 

‘Amelia, this isn’t the time. Haven’t we got enough things to think about?’ said Olivia. 

‘Olivia, we can’t let Umbridge take control like that. Next, she’s going to put up an Educational Decree that says: “No friends are permitted to talk with each other unless with permission from the Headmistress”., or something even worse, like: “O.W.Ls will be based upon everything you have learnt from your first-year to your fifth-year”.’

‘She’s got a point, Olivia,’ Isabell agreed.

‘She has but now’s not the time. I’d rather Umbridge adds an Educational Decree like that rather than me failing my O.W.Ls.’

The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake; the satin green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze. June had arrived, but to the fifth-years this meant only one thing: their O.W.Ls were upon them at last. Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to revising those topics the teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere drove nearly everything but the O.W.Ls from the girls’ minds.  

Meanwhile, Draco had found a different way to introduce panic. 

'Of course, it's not what you know,' he was heard to tell Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside Potions a few days before the exams were to start. 'It's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years. Old Griselda Marchbanks, we've had her round for dinner and everything...' 

'Do you think that's true?' Olivia whispered in alarm to Amelia, Isabell and Albert.

‘It is,’ Amelia replied, making Olivia gasp in shock. ‘But, I don’t think that’ll affect anything!’

‘It might affect everything.’

‘She doesn’t side with anyone, her. When she came over for dinner, my father tried talking her into tricking Fudge into giving him a raise. Then, old Lucius Malfoy tried the same thing and well, she didn’t agree to either of them. And she can’t just make Draco pass, I know that’s what you’re thinking.’

They received their examination timetables and details of the procedure for OWLs during their next Charms lesson. 

'As you can see,' Professor Flitwick told the class as they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard. 'Your OWLs are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night. 

'Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody from Ravenclaw. Our new… Headmistress-' Professor Flitwick pronounced the word with the same look on his face that Snape had when he mentioned any new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

'-has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely, because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the Headmistress's new regime at the school.' 

Professor Flitwick gave a tiny sigh; shaking his head.

'However, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about.' 

'Professor,' said Olivia, her hand in the air. 'When will we find out our results?' 

'An owl will be sent to you some time in July, Ms. Dragonheart,' said Professor Flitwick. 'Excellent,' said Forrest in an audible whisper. ‘So we don't have to worry about it till the holidays.' 

Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. Isabell was reading two years' worth of Charms notes with her fingers in his ears, her lips moving soundlessly; Albert was lying flat on his back on the floor, reciting the definition of a Substantive Charm while Olivia checked it against The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5. Amelia was highlighting the important notes and reciting them to herself. Dinner was a subdued affair that night. Isabell, Amelia and Albert did not talk much, but ate with gusto, having studied hard all day. Olivia, on the other hand, kept putting down her knife and fork and diving under the table for her bag, from which she would seize a book to check some fact or figure. Isabell was just telling her that she ought to eat a decent meal or she would not sleep that night, when her fork slid from her limp fingers and landed with a loud tinkle on her plate. 

'Oh, my god,' she said faintly, staring into the Entrance Hall. 'Is that them? Is that the examiners?' 

Albert, Amelia and Isabell whipped around on their bench. Through the doors to the Great Hall they could see Umbridge standing with a small group of ancient-looking witches and wizards. Umbridge, Harry was pleased to see, looked rather nervous. 

'Shall we go and have a closer look?' said Amelia. 

Olivia, Isabell and Albert nodded and they hastened towards the double doors into the Entrance Hall, slowing down as they stepped over the threshold to walk steadily past the examiners. The girls thought Professor Marchbanks must be the tiny, stooped witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had been draped in cobwebs; Umbridge was speaking to her deferentially. Professor Marchbanks seemed to be a little deaf; she was answering Professor Umbridge very loudly considering they were only a foot apart. 

'Journey was fine, journey was fine, we've made it plenty of times before!' she said impatiently. 'Now, I haven't heard from Dumbledore lately!’ she added, peering around the Hall as though hopeful he might suddenly emerge from a broom cupboard. 'No idea where he is, I suppose?'

'None at all,' said Umbridge, shooting a malevolent look at the trio, who were now standing around the foot of the stairs as Albert pretended to do up his shoelace. 'But I daresay the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough.'

'I doubt it,' shouted tiny Professor Marchbanks. 'Not it Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know... examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did NEWTs... did things with a wand I'd never seen before.' 

'Yes... well...'  said Professor Umbridge as the girls and Albert dragged their feet up the marble staircase as slowly as they dared. ‘Let me show you to the staff room. I daresay you'd like a cup of tea after your journey.' 

It was an uncomfortable sort of an evening. Everyone was trying to do some last-minute revising but nobody seemed to be getting very far. Isabell went to bed early but then lay awake for what felt like hours. She knew he was not the only one lying awake, but none of the others in the dormitory spoke and finally, one by one, they fell asleep. None of the fifth-years talked very much at breakfast next day, either: Amelia was practising incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched; Olivia as rereading Achievements in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred; and Albert kept dropping his knife and fork muttering to himself. Once breakfast was over, the fifth- and seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to lessons; then, at half past nine, they were called forwards class by class to re-enter the Great Hall, which had been rearranged. The four house tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor Flitwick stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet, he said, 'You may begin,' and turned over an enormous hour-glass on the desk beside him, on which there were also spare quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment.

Olivia was writing as quickly as she could, her quill scratching lousy at the parchment. Amelia was writing then pausing, and the cycle continued on. Isabell, as the girls knew, was the “charms expert” and was already done before Albert had reached his tenth question. To add to that, there were fifty questions. 

‘What is the incantation for the charm used to click lock doors open?’ Isabell was whispering to herself. ‘Well… that’s easy. Alohomora…’

‘How did you do?’ asked Olivia anxiously in the Entrance Hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper. 'I'm not sure I did myself justice on the disillusionment charm, I just ran out of time. Did you put in the counter-charm for hiccoughs? I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much. And on question twenty-nine-'

'Olivia, relax, we all did fine,’ Isabell said calmly.

‘Speak for yourself.’

The fifth-years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables had reappeared for the lunch hour), then they trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by mistake.

Isabell’s name was called. Amelia and Olivia gave her a pat on the back. Trembling, she left the chamber with Susan Bones, Terry Boot, and Marcus Belby.  She entered and looked around. There was an examiner already waiting for her. 

‘Are you Isabell Bluesky?’

Isabell slowly nodded as she took out her wand.

‘Well, I would like you to make this pineapple (he pointed at a pineapple) and make it do cartwheels for me.’

Isabell succeeded. On the whole, she thought it went rather well. Her Levitation Charm was certainly much better than a girl Hannah Abbot's had been. Every spell went well for her, and judging by Amelia and Olivia’s expressions, it was the same for them. Albert, however, somehow managed to shrink the rat he was supposed to turn orange. There was no time to relax that night; they went straight to the common room after dinner and submerged themselves in revision for Transfiguration the next day. Amelia thought she did quite well, as did Olivia, and surprisingly Albert but not Isabell.

‘I think I might have mixed the wand movement for the vanishing spell and the throat-clearing spell…’ she told them as they walked to the practical Transfiguration exam.

They all did exceptionally good, considering they had been worrying about other tests to come. They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday (other than a small bite from a Fanged Geranium, Olivia felt she had done reasonably well); and then, on Thursday, Defence Against the Dark Arts. The girls and Albert were sure they did well that day, mostly because they used to be in an illegal organisation to help them with Defence Against the Dark Arts. On Friday, the trio and Albert had an Ancient Runes test. It went exceptionally well.

‘How was it?’ asked Albert, looking pleased with himself.

'I mis-translated ehwaz,' said Olivia furiously. 'It means partnership, not defence,I mixed it up with eihwaz.' 

'Ah well,' said Amelia. ‘That's only one mistake, isn't it, you'll still get-' 'Oh, shut up!' said Olivia angrily. 'It could be the one mistake that makes the difference between a pass and a fail. And what's more, someone's put another Niffler in Umbridge's office. I don't know how they got it through that new door, but I just walked past there and Umbridge is shrieking her head off. By the sound of it, it tried to take a chunk out of her leg-' 

'Good,' said Isabell and Amelia together without the indication of mercy.

'It is not good!' said Olivia hotly. 'She thinks it's Hagrid doing it, remember? And we do not want Hagrid kicked out!' 

'He's teaching at the moment; she can't blame him,' said Isabell, gesturing out of the window. 

‘You really think Umbridge will wait for proof?'

Isabell shrugged. They had the Potions test the next day. The written test was extremely difficult, but the practical was fine, mostly because Snape wasn’t the one testing them. The girls were determined to perform well in Tuesday's Care of Magical Creatures exam so as not to let Hagrid down. The practical examination took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where students were required to correctly identify the Knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs (the trick was to offer them all milk in turn: Knarls, highly suspicious creatures whose quills had many magical properties, generally went berserk at what they saw as an attempt to poison them); then demonstrate correct handling of a Bowtruckle; feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns; and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick unicorn. The girls could see Hagrid watching anxiously out of his cabin window. When Olivia's examiner, a plump little witch this time, smiled at her and told her she could leave, Olivia gave Hagrid a fleeting thumbs-up before heading back to the castle. The Astronomy theory paper on Wednesday morning went well enough for them. When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock for the practical Astronomy test, they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still with no animation. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star-chart they had been given. Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the: ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished. As Isabell completed the constellation Orion on her chart, however, the front doors of the castle opened directly below the parapet where he was standing, so that light spilled down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. Isabell glanced down as she made a slight adjustment to the position of her telescope and saw five or six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness once more. Isabell put her eye back to her telescope and refocused it, now examining Venus, a bright fiery planet standing quiet and still as though waiting for the students to examine its beauty and spherical shape. She looked down at her chart to enter the planet there, but something distracted her; pausing with her quill suspended over the parchment, she squinted down into the shadowy grounds and saw half a dozen figures walking over the lawn. If they had not been moving, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they walked. Even at this distance, Isabell had a funny feeling she recognised the walk of the squattest of them, who seemed to be leading the group. She could not think why Umbridge would be taking a stroll outside after midnight, and why she would be accompanied by five others. Then somebody gave a throat-clearing cough behind her, and she remembered that she was halfway through an exam. She had quite forgotten Venus's position. Jamming her eye to her telescope, she found it again and was once more about to enter it on her chart when, alert for any odd sound, she heard a distant knock which echoed through the deserted grounds, followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog. She looked up, her heart hammering. There were lights on in Hagrid's windows and the people he had observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door opened and she distinctly saw six sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence. Isabell felt very uneasy. He glanced around to see whether Amelia, Olivia or Albert had noticed what she had, but Professor Marchbanks came walking behind her at that moment and, not wanting to look as though she was sneaking looks at anyone else's work, Isabell hastily bent over her star-chart and pretended to be adding notes to it while really peering over the top of the parapet towards Hagrid's cabin. Figures were now moving across the cabin windows, temporarily blocking the light. She could feel Professor Marchbanks's eyes on the back of her braided hair and pressed her eye again to her telescope, staring up at the moon though she had marked its position an hour ago, but as Professor Marchbanks moved on she heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Several of the people around Isabell ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough. 

'Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls,' he said softly. 

Most people returned to their telescopes. Isabell looked to her left. Olivia was gazing transfixed at Hagrid's cabin. Amelia was doing the same. 

'Ahem… twenty minutes to go,' said Professor Tofty. 

They both jumped and returned at once to their star-chart. Isabell looked down at her own and noticed that she had mis-labelled Venus as Mars. She bent to correct it. There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people yelled in pain when they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes as they hastened to see what was going on below. Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to stun him. 

'No!’ yelled Amelia. 

'My dear!' said Professor Tofty in a scandalised voice. 'This is an examination, you know!' 

But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star-charts any more. Jets of red light were still flying about beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him… he was still upright and still, as far as the girls could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds. 

'Be reasonable, Hagrid!' a man yelled.

'Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!' Hagrid roared.

The trio could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting to defend Hagrid, leaping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit’s body from the ground and threw him; the man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again. Isabell looked round at Amelia and Olivia and saw that they, too, were looking scared. None of them had ever seen Hagrid in a real temper before.

'Look!’ shouted Albert, who was leaning over the parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where the front doors had opened again; more light was spilling out onto the dark lawn and a single long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn. 

'Now, really!’ Professor Marchbanks said anxiously. 'Only sixteen minutes left, you know!' 

But nobody paid her the slightest attention. They were watching the person now sprinting towards the battle beside Hagrid's cabin. 

'How dare you!' the figure shouted as she ran. 'How dare you!' 

'It's Mcgonagall!' whispered Olivia. 

'Leave him alone! Alone, I say!’ said Professor Mcgonagall's voice through the darkness. 'He has done nothing, nothing to-' 

The class yelled. The figures around the cabin had shot no fewer than four stunners at Professor Mcgonagall. Halfway between cabin and castle the red beams collided with her; for a moment she looked luminous and glowed an eerie red, then she lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more. 

'Merlin’s beard! Outrageous behaviour!' shouted Professor Tofty, who also seemed to have forgotten the exam completely.

‘Oh my!’ squealed Professor Marchbanks.

'COWARDS!' bellowed Hagrid; his voice carried clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. 'RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT! AN' THAT!' 

Hagrid took two massive swipes at his closest attackers, and judging by their immediate collapse, they had been knocked cold. The trio saw Hagrid double over, and thought he had finally been overcome by a spell. But, on the contrary, the next moment Hagrid was standing again with what appeared to be a sack on his back—then Amelia realised that Fang’s limp body was draped around his shoulders. 

'Get him, get him!' screamed Umbridge, but her remaining helper seemed highly unwilling to go within reach of Hagrid's fists. Indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over. 

Hagrid had turned and begun to run with Fang still hanging around his neck. Umbridge sent one last stunning spell after him but it missed; and Hagrid, running towards the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness. There was a long minute's silence as everybody gazed open-mouthed into the grounds.

'Uhm... five minutes to go, everybody,’ Professor Marchbanks said quietly.

Although they had only filled in two-thirds of their charts, the girls were desperate for the exam to end. When it came at last they forced their telescopes quickly back into their holders and dashed back down the spiral staircase. None of the students were going to bed; they were all talking loudly and excitedly at the foot of the stairs about what they had witnessed. 

'That evil woman!' fumed Olivia, who seemed to be having difficulty talking due to rage. 'Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!' 'Hagrid did well, didn't he?’ said Albert, who looked more alarmed than impressed. 'How come all the spells bounced off him though?' 

'It'll be his giant blood,' said Olivia, fury still taking control of her body. 'It's very hard to stun a giant, they're like trolls, really tough…’ explained Isabell. 

‘But did you see Professor Mcgonagall... four stunning spells straight in the chest and she's not exactly young, is she?' Amelia realised sadly.

People around them were drifting away, still talking excitedly about what they had just seen. 

'Yeah, I saw… At least they didn't get to take Hagrid off to Azkaban,' replied Isabell, sighing.

‘He’s probably off to join Dumbledore, wherever that old man is.’

People in the common room talked about nothing but what happened. Some people, hungry for attention, said they were down there and heard everything. It was nearly four in the morning before the common room cleared.

The next day, their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until that afternoon. The trio spent the morning revising a pile of notes they, or rather, Olivia, had written in class. The fifth-years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their face-down examination papers. 

'Turn over your papers,' said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hour-glass. 'You may begin.’

Papers flicked in harmony and the quills began scratching the parchments. An hour into the examination, an event took place. Harry Potter had passed out. 

‘Potter saw dementors again?’ Draco laughed in the corridor after the exam had ceased, pulling over his cloak hood to imitate a dementor and making alien-like sounds. 

‘Shut up, Draco,’ Amelia muttered irritably. 

They were heading to lunch (‘I deserve ramen for all the exams we took so far,’ Isabell mumbled), when Albert spotted jet black hair that was shaking badly.

‘Harry!’ yelled Olivia.

‘Leave me alone!’ 

The girls looked at each other then at Harry. Olivia caught Harry’s eyes for a second then images started forming in her mind. 

‘V-Voldemort has Sirius, and you want to go to the ministry to save him.’

Harry’s head turned sharply to Olivia’s direction. So did Amelia, Isabell and Albert’s. 

‘How did you know that?’ Harry asked suspiciously. 

‘My “power”.’

‘We’re coming, Harry,’ said Amelia hastily. 

‘No!’

‘Please, Harry. You can’t go alone.’

Harry stared at them, his eyes narrowed to slits. 

‘Let them help, Harry,’ said Hermione, who they had not noticed until that moment.

‘F-fine. And we’ll need a plan.’

'Harry,' said Hermione in a rather frightened voice. ‘Er ... how-how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realising he was there?' 

'How do I know? '  bellowed Harry. 'The question is how we're going to get in there!' 

'But ... Harry, think about this,' said Hermione, taking a step towards him. ‘It's five o'clock in the afternoon... the Ministry of Magic must be full of workers... how would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Harry ... they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world ... you think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?'

‘I saw it with my own eyes Hermione!’ raged Harry.

'You've never been there, Harry,' said Hermione quietly. 'You've dreamed about the place, that's all.' 

'They're not normal dreams!’ Harry shouted in her face, standing up and taking a step closer to her in turn. 'How d'you explain Ron's dad then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?'

'But this is just-just so unlikely!' said Hermione desperately. 'Harry, how on earth could Voldemort have gotten hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all the time?'

‘She’s got a point,’ said Olivia quietly.

‘I dunno! Look, we need to go. Sirius is being tortured now.’

'Look, I'm sorry,' cried Hermione. ‘But none of you are making sense, and we've got no proof for any of this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there-’

‘I’VE SEEN THEM!’ Harry roared.

‘B-but Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it's the kind of thing he does, he knows you're the—the sort of person who'd go to Sirius's aid! What if he's just trying to get you into the Department of Myst—?' 

'Hermione, it doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not—they've taken Mcgonagall to St. Mungo's, there isn't anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don't go, Sirius is dead!' 

'But Harry, what if your dream was-was just that, a dream?'

Harry let out a roar of frustration. Hermione actually stepped back from him, looking alarmed.

‘IT WASN’T A DREAM!’ he shouted. ‘IT WAS ALL REAL! AND IF WE DON’T GO NOW, SIRIUS WILL BE DEAD BY THE TIME WE REACH THE MINISTRY!’

The classroom door opened. The girls, Albert, Ron, Harry and Hermione whipped around. Ginny walked in, looking curious.

'Hi,' said Ginny uncertainly. 'I recognised Harry's voice. What are you yelling about?' 

'Never you mind,' said Harry roughly. 

Ginny raised her eyebrows. '

There's no need to take that tone with me,' she said coolly. 'I was only wondering whether I could help.' 

'Well, you can't,' said Harry shortly.

'Wait,' said Hermione suddenly. 'Wait ... Harry, Ginny, Isabell, Amelia, Olivia and Albert can help.' 

Harry and Ron looked at her. 

'Listen,' she said urgently, 'Harry, we need to establish whether Sirius really has left Headquarters.' 

'I've told you, I saw-’

'Harry, I'm begging you, please! '  said Hermione desperately. 'Please let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London. If we find out he's not there, then I swear I won't try to stop you. I'll come, I'll do—do whatever it takes to try and save him.' '

Sirius is being tortured now!' shouted Harry. 'We haven't got time to waste!' 

'But if this is a trick of Voldemort's, Harry, we've got to check, we've got to.' 

'How?’ Harry demanded. 'How're we going to check?' 

Hermione went silent.

'I have an idea,’ said Isabell in a low voice. ‘We'll have to use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him. We'll draw Umbridge away again, but we'll need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny and two others.’

‘I’ll do it,’ said Albert.

‘So will I,’ Olivia agreed, smiling at Albert.

'Ok,' Harry said aggressively to Isabell and Hermione. 'Ok, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now.'

‘Right,' said Hermione, twisting her hands together and pacing up and down between the desks. 'Right... well... two of us have to go and find Umbridge and—and send her off in the wrong direction, keep her away from her office. They could tell her—I don't know—that Peeves is up to something awful as usual ...' 

'I'll do it,' said Ron at once. 'I'll tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department or something, it's miles away from her office. Come to think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if I met him on the way.'

‘I could help,’ Amelia suggested.

Hermione nodded hastily and continued pacing, clearly thinking hard.

‘Olivia, Albert and I can stand at either end of the corridor, and warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garrotting Gas,’ said Ginny.  

Hermione looked surprised at the readiness with which Ginny had come up with this lie.

Ginny shrugged.

'Fred and George were planning to do it before they left.' 

'Ok,' said Hermione. 'Well then, Harry, you, Isabell and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius-’

'He's not there, Hermione!'

'I mean, you can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I and Isabell keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone, someone’s already proved the windows a weak spot, sending those Nifflers through it.'

‘But… even if we do all that, I don’t think we’ll be able to bank on more than five minutes,’ said Amelia suddenly. ‘Not with Filch and the Inquisitorial Squad floating around like nosy flies.’

'Five minutes will be enough,' said Harry impatiently. 'C'mon, let's go-’

'Now?' said Hermione, looking shocked. 

'Of course now!’ said Harry angrily. 'What did you think, we're going to wait until after a nice little dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!' 

'I—oh, alright,' she said desperately. 'You go and get the Invisibility Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, ok?'

Harry nodded as he bolted outside the door like a frayed lightning bolt. Everyone else headed to the corridor of Umbridge’s office and stayed there, huddled closely and quietly.

'All right,' whispered Hermione as a gang of loud sixth-years passed them. 

'So Ron, Amelia—you go and head Umbridge off... Ginny, Albert, Olivia, if you can start moving people out of the corridor... Harry, Isabell and I will get the Cloak on and wait until the coast is clear...' 

Ron and Amelia strode away; meanwhile Ginny, Olivia and Albert’s heads bobbed between the jostling students surrounding them in the other direction. Harry covered himself, Hermione and Isabell with his invisibility cloak.

'You can't come down here!' Ginny was calling to the crowd. 'No, sorry, you're going to have to go round the other staircase, because someone's let off Garrotting Gas just along here-' 

They could hear people complaining.

'I can't see any gas,’ a student’s voice said.

'That's because it's colourless,' said Olivia in a convincingly exasperated voice. ‘But if you want to walk through it, carry on, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who doesn't believe us.'

The student looked at Albert’s wand then sniffed the air. He coughed. Albert raised his eyebrows and looked at Olivia, who was slowly putting her wand back in her pocket. He grinned. Slowly, the crowd thinned. The news about the Garrotting Gas seemed to have spread as people were not coming this way any more. Amelia and Ron were off to look for Umbridge. They realised she was in a lesson. They knocked on the door, as slowly as possible. The bell rang and they quickly opened the door.

‘Enter,’ she said in her girlish voice.

Ron and Amelia were about to say something when Umbridge stopped them.

‘I know he’s in there…’

Meanwhile, Isabell was standing outside the door with her wand out, in case there was any sight of Umbridge. She spotted sleek, platinum blonde hair which she knew belonged to Draco. But it wasn’t only that blonde hair that appeared, he was followed by a couple of people, each of whom were holding someone. 

‘Take her, Warrington,’ a voice said. 

Before Isabell could see or hear anything else, she was gripped tightly and shoved inside a room.

‘Well, well, well.’

Isabell opened her eyes and saw members of the Inquisitorial Squad holding each of the accomplices that helped Harry, along with Luna and Neville. Goyle was suffocating Albert, who was struggling. Pansy was holding two people, Olivia and Ginny, each held tightly by one arm. Amelia, who looked livid, was being held by Forrest, who had a smirk plastered on his face.

‘You broke the promise,’ Amelia whispered, not looking at Forrest.

Forrest didn’t reply.

‘Why…’

Ron, Hermione, Luna and Neville were each held by a large-looking Slytherin. Umbridge walked over to Harry and held his hair as though she was pulling it out of his scalp.

'You think,' she whispered, bending Harry's neck back, so that he was looking up at the ceiling. 'That after two Nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand,' she barked at Draco. 'Hers, too.'

Draco walked over to Harry, pulled out a thin looking stick from his pocket, then went over to Hermione. She gave him the wand without any hesitation, though she looked as though she unwillingly did that. 'Got 'em all,' said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly forwards into the room. 'That one (he poked a thick finger at Neville) tried to stop me taking her (he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of the large Slytherin girl holding her) so I brought him along too.' 

'Good, good,' said Umbridge, watching Ginny's struggles. 'Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?' Draco laughed loudly and hysterically. Umbridge gave the trio a wide, complacent smile and settled herself into a fur-covered armchair, blinking up at her captives like a toad in a flowerbed.

‘So, Mr. Potter.’

Umbridge let go of Harry, making him fall hard on the ground, and started walking slowly across the room. 

'You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent these buffoons (she nodded at Amelia and Ron) to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so.'

Harry stayed silent, but Amelia didn’t.

‘You old hag-’ she began.

‘Tut, tut, tut. Your father will be very mad at you…’

‘I don’t care what my father thinks!’ Amelia spat. ‘I’d be delighted if you fire both my parents! I- Emily isn’t my m-’  

Umbridge giggled then looked back at Harry.

‘Clearly, it was important to you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Perhaps the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it is Minerva Mcgonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anybody.’

The Inquisitorial Squad burst into laughter, Forrest leading them.

‘That’s enough, Mr. Osborn,’ snapped Umbridge, silencing them instantly.

‘It’s none of your business who I talked to!’ Harry yelled.

Umrbidge giggled again, positioning herself in the armchair as she seated herself on it again. 

'Very well,' she said in her most dangerous and falsely sweet voice. 'Very well, Mr. Potter...  I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco, fetch Professor Snape.'

There was silence in the office except for the fidgetings and scufflings resulting from the Slytherins' efforts to keep Olivia, Isabell, Amelia and the others under control. The girls seemed to have realised something at the same time. Snape. He was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix and could help them save Sirius Black. They looked at Harry and tried to find a way to inform him without Umbridge knowing. But they didn’t need to; Harry already had the same interpretation. A moment later, footsteps were heard in the corridor outside and Draco entered the room, closely followed by Snape. 

'You wanted to see me, Headmistress?’ said Snape, looking around at all the pairs of struggling students with an expression of complete indifference. 

'Ah, Professor Snape,' said Umbridge, smiling widely and standing up again. 'Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please.' 

'You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter,' he said, looking at her through his greasy curtains of black hair. 'Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be enough, I sufficiently remember.'

Umbridge flushed. 

'You can make some more, can't you?’ she said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious. 

'Certainly,' said Snape, his lip curling. 'It takes a full moon cycle, a long time, so I should say it will be done in around a month.'

‘A month?’ shrieked Umbridge, her chest heaving. 

Snape nodded.

'A month! But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person unknown!' 

'Really? Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much willingness to follow school rules,’ said Snape, showing a faint sign of interest as he looked round at Harry.

The girls tried to show any sign that they needed help. But it was impossible, the Inquisitorial Squad were suffocating them, banning them from moving an inch.

'I wish to interrogate him!’ repeated Umbridge angrily, and Snape looked away from Harry back into her furious face. 'I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!'

'I have already told you that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter, and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did, I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling.'

Snape looked back at Harry, as though knowing he wanted to tell him something. He looked at the trio, whose mouths were covered by the hands of their capturers. 

'You are on probation!’ shrieked Professor Umbridge, as Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. 'You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!' 

Snape gave her a sarcastic bow and turned to leave. The girls knew their last chance of letting Snape know what was going on was walking out of the door. 

'He's got Padfoot!’ Harry shouted, right when Snape was about to exit. 'He's got Padfoot… at the place… where it's hidden!' 

Snape stopped with his hand on Umbridge's door handle.

'Padfoot?’ demanded Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. 'What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?' 

Snape looked round at Harry. His face was expressionless. The trio could not tell whether he had understood or not, but Snape did not dare speak more plainly in front of Umbridge. 

'I have no idea,' said Snape coldly. 'Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a potion that makes you say nonsense. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little. If Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I am afraid I shall have to mention it in your reference if ever you apply for a job.’ 

He closed the door behind him with a snap. Snape was their last hope, and it was gone. They all looked at Umbridge, who seemed to be feeling the same way. Her chest was heaving with rage and frustration. 

'Ah.. well.  I am left with no alternative ... this is more than a matter of school behaviour.. this is an issue of Ministry security ... yes ... yes ...' She seemed to be talking herself into something. She was shifting herself nervously from place to place, staring at Harry, her bulging toad eyes not blinking, beating her wand against her empty palm and breathing heavily. 

'You are forcing me, Potter. I do not want to, but sometimes circumstances justify the use… I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice...' 

Draco was watching her with a hungry expression on his face. 

'The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue,' said Umbridge quietly. 

'No!’ Olivia and Hermione both yelled. 'Professor, it's illegal!’ 

But Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty eager, excited look on her face that the trio had never seen before. She raised her wand. Albert looked at the girls, who looked back, their faces pale.

'The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law!’ squealed Hermione.

'What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him,' said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Harry's body, apparently trying to decide where it would hurt most. 

'He, Cornelius, never knew I ordered dementors to go after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same.' 

'It was you?’ gasped Isabell. 

'You sent the dementors after me?' Harry said inderculously. 'Somebody had to act,' breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Harry's forehead. ‘They were all deciding about silencing you somehow… expelling you… but I was the one who actually did something about it... only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today though, not now-' 

She took a deep breath, holding her wand steadily in her hand.

'Cruc-’ 

'NO!’ shouted Hermione in a cracked voice from behind Millicent Bulstrode. 'Harry—Harry- we'll have to tell her!'

‘No!’ the trio yelled.

‘Of course not!’ Harry shouted, struggling through Umbridge’s grip.

‘Er-my-knee, are-are you ou-out of your mind?’ demanded Ron, struggling to talk because of how hard his captor was holding him.

'We'll have to, she'll force it out of you anyway, what's... what's the point?'

Hermione began to cry weakly into the back of Millicent Bulstrode, the Slytherin girl that was holding Hermione. Millicent stopped trying to squash her against the wall immediately and dodged out of her way looking disgusted. 

'Well, well, well!’ said Umbridge, looking triumphant. 'Little Miss Know-it-all is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!' 

'Hermione, no!' shouted Ron through his gag. 

Isabell was staring at Hermione as though she had never seen her before. Olivia, still choking for breath, was gazing at her, too. But Amelia had just noticed something. Though Hermione was sobbing desperately into her hands, there was no trace of a tear. 

'I'm-I'm sorry everyone,' sobbed Hermione. 'But-I can't stand it-' 

'That's right, that's right, girl!' said Umbridge, seizing Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the abandoned fur chair and leaning over her. 'Now then ... with whom was Potter communicating just now?' 'Well,' gulped Hermione into her hands. ‘He was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore.'

The trio froze, their eyes wide. Fortunately, the attention of Umbridge and her minions was focused too much upon Hermione to notice these suspicious signs.

'Dumbledore?’ said Umbridge eagerly. 'You know where Dumbledore is, then?' 

'Well ... no!’ sobbed Hermione. 'We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head-' 'Idiot girl! Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!’ shouted Umbridge, disappointment etched in every line of her face. 

'But-but we needed to tell him something important!’ weeped Hermione, holding her hands more tightly over her face, not out of anguish, Umbridge did not know, but to disguise the continued absence of tears. 

'And that is?’ said Umbridge with a sudden surge of excitement. 

Hermione stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Olivia realised that, though Umbridge didn’t. She thought Hermione was taking a deep breath.

‘Go on, girl, tell me!’ 

'We ... we wanted to tell him it's ready…' said Olivia. 

Heads turned sharply to her direction. 

'What's ready?’ demanded Umbridge, and now she grabbed Hermione's shoulders again and shook her slightly. 

'The... the weapon,' said Hermione, going on with Olivia’s plan. 'Weapon? Weapon?’ said Umbridge, her eyes seeming to pop with excitement. 'You have been developing some method of fighting against the Ministry?’

On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?' 

'Y-yes, but he had to leave before it was finished and n-now we've finished it for him, and we c-c-can't find him t-t-to tell him!' 

'What kind of weapon is it?’ said Umbridge harshly, her stubby hands still tight on Hermione's shoulders. 

'We don't r-really understand it,' said Hermione, sniffing loudly. 

Umbride’s face looked disappointed, then she realised it and tried to hide it.

'We j—j—just did what P—Professor Dumbledore told us t—t—to do,' Hermione added.

Umbridge straightened up, looking pleased with what she had found out. 

'Lead me to the weapon,' she said.

'I'm not showing... them,' said Hermione in a high-pitched voice, looking around at the Slytherins through her fingers. 

‘It is not your choice, Ms. Granger.’

‘Fine. Show them all, for all I care! You may as well show the whole school!’

Umbridge glanced swiftly and suspiciously around at her Inquisitorial Squad, her bulging eyes resting for a moment on Draco and Forrest, who were too slow to disguise the look of eagerness and greed that had appeared on their faces. Umbridge gazed at Hermione for another long moment, then spoke in what she clearly thought was a motherly voice. 

'Alright, dear, let's make it just you and me... and we'll take Potter, too, shall we? Get up, now.' 

'Professor Umbridge, I think some of the Squad should come with you to look after-’ began Draco eagerly, looking at Forrest, who also still had an eager look on his face. 

'I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Mr. Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?’ asked Umbridge sharply. 'It does not sound as though this weapon is something that school children should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these (she gestured around at the trio, Albert, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna) escape.' 

'Alright,' said Malfoy, looking sulky. 

Forrest leaned back against the wall in disappointment. 

'And you two can go ahead of me and show me the way,' said Umbridge, pointing at Harry and Hermione with her wand.

They all watched as Umbridge, Harry and Hermione exited the room. 

‘Now that Professor Umbridge isn’t here, let’s have some fun with you all, shall we?’ said Draco mischievously, walking from the corner and sitting on Umbridge’s chair.

Olivia mouthed something to Amelia, Isabell, Albert and the others, but they didn’t quite get it.

How should I tell them to use their wands…?

A voice in her head replied.

Use your wand, silly.

Olivia smiled to herself. She took out her wand so fast it seemed to be a blur, she stupefied Crabbe and Goyle first, who fell on top of each other unconscious. Forrest acted quickly and took out his wand, not realising that he had let go of Amelia, who kicked him hard on his shin. Draco took out his wand, but Amelia snatched it from him and stuffed it in her pocket, and Olivia caused him to be unconscious like his followers, Crabbe and Goyle. 

‘Amelia!’ she heard Olivia yell at her. 

Forrest held Olivia, who tried to run away from him, only to surrender to his grip. 

‘Anyone moves and I’ll throw her out,’ he said darkly, opening the window and making Olivia lean in. 

‘No!’ Albert spoke through his gag. ‘Don’t you dare!’ 

‘Forrest, no!’ Amelia said. ‘I-I’ll do it! I’ll do whatever you wanted me to do!’

‘Amelia, Amelia, Amelia… Do you really think I would not break a promise? Do you really think I’m now such a good Slytherin and a friend of yours? On the contrary-’

‘I never agreed to the friend part.’

‘More proof that… not all of us tend to keep our word…’ he cooed, pushing Olivia more against the window. 

Amelia and Albert looked helplessly at each other, then at Forrest, the dark twinkle in his grey eyes compounding to the evil aura he gave. Ginny, Ron, Neville and Luna began duelling the other Slytherins, and surprisingly, the battle ended quite fast. Amelia looked at Forrest’s eyes and focused on them, and his irises flashed with a yellow glow, and Amelia felt herself fall into a dark room.