Break Out

Sirius was the first to arrive at Grimmauld Place, and the first to see the Ministry guards. It was only a few people, but they were clearly watching the boundary between Number 11 and Number 13.

He stuck to the shadows and pulled his wand.

"Grimmauld Place isn't safe; Ministry's watching it."

He sent the message to Remus, hoping that he hadn't already been taken. Just in case he had, he sent the message to McGonagall and the Weasleys. Someone had to hear it. He didn't know where else they could go, but someone would think of something.

Minerva rarely left Hogwarts over the winter holiday. There was always the chance students would stay at the castle, and the extra time helped to get things done. Now that she was headmistress, it made sense to remain behind.

She'd only just received news about four of her students — including her Head Boy and Head Girl — getting arrested, when another letter landed on her desk. Expedited delivery from the Minister of Magic herself.

Due to recent events, the Ministry has seen fit to restructure Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is clear to the Ministry that it has not been run properly. As such, the Minister of Magic will be arriving later today to speak with you regarding these matters.

In accordance with the newly passed Decree for Proper Educational Standards, you will provide the Ministry of Magic with all requested information and submit to questioning. Also in accordance with the Decree, you will hand control of Hogwarts over to the Minister of Magic, effective immediately. In the process that follows, the existing staff will be evaluated and the Minister will determine if they may stay, yourself included.

If you require additional information regarding these matters, a formal query may be submitted to the Office of the Minister of Magic. Your query will be reviewed within six weeks, and any information the Minister of Magic deems relevant to your query will be provided to you.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Office of Dolores Umbridge, Minister of Magic

Minerva stared at the letter for a moment. Her first several ideas involved turning it into something that would scream when she threw it into the fire, but she realized she needed to retain it. If nothing else, it would provide evidence that could be used against the "Minister of Magic" later. At least, she hoped it would.

She glanced at her clock. It was a little past lunch time, but she needed to get word to her staff immediately.

There was no time for an owl, and her portraits didn't have enough counterparts outside the school.

She drew her wand, but before she could do anything, a shimmering weasel appeared in her office.

"Minerva," it said with Arthur Weasley's voice. "Children are out of Azkaban. Burrow's been taken by Ministry. Trying Grimmauld Place."

The weasel disappeared soon after, leaving her with a brief memory of Peta-Lorrum's winged ferret. A few seconds later, she was moving about her office.

A plan began to form in her head. If they'd gone after the Weasleys, then they'd be going after everyone. Umbridge had declared war on Perks and her friends, so there was no time to lose.

The issue remained that she needed to inform the rest of her staff. She doubted that the Ministry would waste time going after anyone.

First, inform the staff. Second, get a hold of the students.

She got to work casting messenger spells. One by one, she called upon her staff to return to Hogwarts. As much as she hated doing it to them, this was an emergency.

Arthur, Moody, and Bones arrived near Grimmauld Place. They needed to scout ahead, and they agreed that the three of them were the best option to send. They quickly spotted Sirius hiding behind some trees and moved to join him.

"Those three are definitely Ministry," Arthur said.

"They could use a lesson or two about stealth," Moody grumbled. "A first-year could spot them."

"That may be, but we've still got a problem," Bones said. "We can't get inside Grimmauld Place without them spotting us, no matter how many security measures you've got on it."

"Everything that popped into my head," Moody said. "You're right, though. That security will keep out the Ministry no matter what, but they can just as easily keep us in. If we take them out, they'll know where we are, and we'll have to stay put."

"Trapped inside Number 12 Grimmauld Place," Sirius muttered. "My childhood all over again."

"Peta-Lorrum could apparate wherever she wanted," Bones said. "Can Granger do that?"

Before he'd died, Dumbledore had brought everyone up to speed on his and Hermione's attempts at recreating Rose's magic in order to secure Hogwarts from her. Arthur had no idea to what extent they'd succeeded, so he could only answer Bones by shrugging.

"Doesn't matter," Moody said. "There are other places we can go."

"We had to run into the forest for safety," Bones shot back. "That's not a permanent location."

"What about food and water? The Ministry will have that place locked down tight once they realize what's going on."

"But we need somewhere to get our bearings."

"Perhaps we should ask everyone else," Arthur suggested, hoping to stop a fight before it broke out. "Someone should wait here for the children. I'm sure this will be their first stop."

He thought back to the four of them in Azkaban. It was a horrid thought that he suspected bothered Sirius more than any of them. He looked at Sirius, hoping for some indication that he understood how bad it was.

Arthur found that it surprised him to see that Sirius did understand.

"They'll go home first," he said. "They'll want to be with family, friends, anyone familiar. After being around Dementors for that long, you grab at whatever happy memory you've got."

"Like getting revenge on an old friend?" Bones asked.

"Like checking on the only family you've got left," Sirius snapped. "Making sure you didn't make a complete mess of things."

"Let's go back to the campsite," Arthur said before more fighting broke out. "We'll all go, then send someone back here once we all know where to go afterwards. I think sending pairs would work best."

Arthur knew he didn't have the tactical minds of either Moody or Bones, nor the survival instincts or street smarts of Sirius that avoided him capture for so long, but he had the mind of a father. There was no way he was sending any of his remaining children in alone. The only thing he'd found that comforted his wife was that the four — possibly even six — of them were together.

Sally-Anne did her best to avoid rubbing her hands together. The uniforms wouldn't be enough; they had to look like they belonged. Once they got to shore, they could leave and never look back.

They stayed together on the ship, keeping to themselves, trying not to draw attention from the rest of the crew. They were sitting around a table inside the cabin, keeping their heads down and hoods up. It'd been fortunate that the ship had set out immediately, but if they felt that there was an urgent need for reinforcements, did they know that prisoners had escaped?

<By the time we reach land, they'll know,> Ron said when she asked. <It's Ministry protocol to talk to families, so they'll have tried taking everyone.>

<Wait, what?> Harry asked. <As in, taken them in for questioning?>

A familiar feeling of unease arose as Sally-Anne remembered how easily the laws were changed, and how much she'd relied on Umbridge doing just that: changing them. She'd promised a better, safer world. Some world it'd turned out to be.

<But what about Mum and Dad?> Ginny asked. <Are you saying they'll be on the next boat here?>

Ron shook his head.

Sally-Anne looked at Harry, who was the only one allowed to look at the other people on the boat. This was because he could do it and not get caught. If anyone suspected them, he'd know. Even then, not for the first time, Sally-Anne missed the earpods and doublespeak.

<What about my mum?> Sally-Anne asked.

Ron reached over and took her hand for a moment.

<We'll get her out, Princess,> he said. <I promise.>

Part of her wanted to scream that he couldn't promise that. No one could promise that her mum would be safe, but when Ron said it, she believed him.

<Whatever Brain was doing in Azkaban,> Harry said, <I think that's the end of it.>

Sally-Anne frowned at him, wondering where he'd gotten that idea.

<Agreed,> Ron said. <She's put too much work into not getting caught, so getting arrested wasn't like her. She's got all of Rose's tricks, which probably means dim door, so there's no reason she should've been caught in Gringotts. That, and she had no problem getting out of Azkaban. Bloody Azkaban couldn't hold her.>

<Ronald! Language!>

<What? Right, sorry. If that thing in Hogwarts is trying to find her, it knows right where she is now. If she could've left any time, I think she didn't because there's something there she needs. Something she must've pushed aside for us.>

Sally-Anne smiled at that idea. After months of not knowing how Hermione was doing, or what she was doing, it was nice to know that she was still looking out for them.

<If she's finished,> Ron continued, <then she can get your mum out.>

Sally-Anne fought back the urge to laugh. If they hadn't been trying to hide, she would've kissed Ron again.

Ron shot her a crooked smile.

<It's the least I could do after I screwed up back at the Ministry.>

<What? I'm the one that forgot about my gloves. You had to cover for me.>

<Before we all start trying to blame ourselves,> Harry said, <remember that we're safe now. We'll be back soon, and if we need to, we can always apparate off this ship. There's no sense dwelling on past mistakes.>

Sally-Anne looked at Harry. He offered a small smile.

<I'm sure you get tired of hearing this,> she began.

Harry's smile broadened a little.

<I'm never going to be tired of hearing that.>

The ship lurched around, nearly throwing them off their seats.

<We're here,> Harry said. <Nearly home.>

Alex sat near Grimmauld Place, watching the Ministry Workers. People walked by, paying them little mind. They must've been the three most conspicuous people in Britain. How had the Statute of Secrecy been upheld for so long? Wizards were awful at it.

"You'd think they'd try to blend in at least," she muttered.

"Nah," her companion said, "Ministry's too full of itself. Like Percy. That's why he joined, you know."

Alex rolled her eyes at Charlie.

"You sound like Fred and George."

"Of course. They got their sense of humor from me, just like Ron got his good looks from me."

"Did a Weasley just complement another Weasley? I might die of shock."

Charlie chuckled.

"Out of everyone, why'd you volunteer?" he asked.

"I said it before: Sally-Anne will need support when she gets out of there, and I want to be around to offer it."

He chuckled again.

"What?"

"Tonks had you pegged. Everyone's big sister."

She blushed, which only made him laugh more, which only made her want to slap him.

"I remember you," Charlie said. "Walking around like you had to tend to everyone. Like if someone was upset, it'd be your fault."

The more Charlie talked, the more annoyed it made her. Not only was that somewhat accurate, but she hated remembering any of her earlier years at Hogwarts.

"I was going through some things," she said. "I'd rather not talk about it. What about you? Why'd you want to wait here?"

He looked at her for a moment, then arched an eyebrow.

"Honestly?"

"There's no better way to answer a question."

He turned away and focused on Grimmauld Place.

"I'm worried about Ron."

"Not Ginny?"

"Her too, and Harry and Sally-Anne, but Ron's like me. Growing up, I was always 'Bill's Little Brother', but he's got it worse. He had to be 'Bill and Charlie's Kid Brother', or just another Weasley, or 'Fred and George's Brother'. At least Ginny's the girl of the group, so she's not just another Weasley. It's not easy having such a big family, though."

Alex thought back to Sally-Anne and her friends and smiled.

"You've got nothing to worry about. Sally-Anne's told me Ron's grown up a lot."

"Well, I suppose one of us had to eventually."

Alex covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Thanks," she said. "I can't remember the last time I laughed."

"It's important to laugh at times like these." In a poor impression of someone elderly, he said, "'The darker a situation, Charles, the more important it is to find joy.'"

Alex smiled. She was sure Dumbledore had told her that same thing.

"Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore."

Alex could still remember where she'd been when she'd heard about him. It didn't feel right. She could sort of understand Rose killing Lavender. She hated the idea of one of her former charges killing another, but Rose had always seemed apathetic towards Parvati and Lavender. But Dumbledore, Rose respected. There had always been two people to whom Rose would listen: Dumbledore and Hermione. While she'd argue with both, she'd always at least listened. Something else was going on, she was sure of it. And knowing Hermione, she'd have an answer for her.

After they got off the boat, Harry and his friends spotted the first hurdle. There were several guards checking everyone leaving.

<Let's move to the back of the ship,> Ron said. <Then we can apparate.>

<Wouldn't they have put a ward up already?> Harry asked.

<It's too late to worry about that. Let's move.>

Together, they moved towards the back of the boat. Harry kept an eye out for anything that would stop them, but to his surprise, most of the security was in getting off the boat. This only served to make him more concerned.

They'd just reached the back when someone shouted.

"You lot! Stop right there!"

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and focused on Grimmauld Place. He had a feeling the Ministry would've had eyes on it, but he had no choice. They had to escape.

He felt the sensation of being ripped through a small hole, then he and Ginny appeared in a secluded area not far from Number 12 Grimmauld Place. A moment later, Ron and Sally-Anne arrived.

"Don't move."

Harry immediately felt a wand pressed to his throat. He had his in his hand, but he didn't know if he could get a clear shot at his attacker.

Fortunately, there was only one attacker, and four of them. Ron drew his wand, keeping himself between the girls and Harry.

"Drop your wand," the attacker said. "Or your friend here's gonna have a bad day."

Harry frowned. He'd heard that voice before.

"Charlie?" he asked.

They all pulled off their hoods, then the wand receded.

"Damn!" Charlie hissed. "Finally, an excuse to hex my brother and sister, and I throw it away."

Harry rolled his eyes as another figure grabbed Sally-Anne.

"I was so worried about you," Alex said, squeezing the life out of Sally-Anne. "Are you alright? We've got camp set up near the Burrow. We can't go home, the Ministry's got everything under watch."

"Alex," Sally-Anne said, hugging her back. "It's so good to see you. Of all people… I am so glad to see you."

Charlie held his wand to his lips, whispered something, then waved it away.

"Others will be here soon," he said. He scanned them for a moment. "What about Hermione and Luna?"

Ron shook his head.

"Hermione got us out, and mentioned something about meeting with Luna. I don't know where they went or what they're doing."

"We'll have to worry about them later," Alex said. "If Hermione's like Rose, she'll be able to find us wherever we are. You four have got to get to camp."

Sirius and Mr. Weasley appeared. Sirius went straight for Harry and grabbed him.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Harry held him and heard a familiar sound.

"I'm fine. Are you crying?"

"What?" Sirius pulled back, wiping away tears. "No, of course not. I'm…"

"You've got something in your eye," Charlie stage-whispered.

"What he said," Sirius said.

"Come on," Arthur said. "We've got your things back at camp."

"Good," Ron said. "We've got a lot to fill everyone in on."

It wasn't long before the staff of Hogwarts had assembled in the staff room. While Minerva would've rather used her office, she knew how cramped it got with everyone.

"What about Harry and his friends?" Remus asked after she'd explained the situation.

Minerva glanced at Hagrid, who was trying not to sob. He kept blowing his nose into a large handkerchief, but otherwise kept himself to himself.

"They'll have to take care of themselves. I've known them plenty long enough, and those children are more than capable. I've had news that they escaped."

There were varying levels of surprise from around the room.

"How'd they manage that?" Filius asked.

"I imagine the answer's Ms. Granger," Minerva said. "We all know she's been recreating Ms. Peta-Lorrum's magic, so it hardly seems surprising that she'd be able to orchestrate a breakout."

"You all talk about Peta-Lorrum like she was some all-powerful witch!" Horace exclaimed. "She couldn't have been quite so magnificent."

He had one thing right: "magnificent" wasn't a word Minerva would've used to describe Peta-Lorrum. Most of those words weren't appropriate in the current company.

"She killed Dumbledore," Remus said. "What else do you need to know?"

The Potions Master turned a faint shade of red and muttered an apology.

"What happens next is up to the Ministry," Minerva said. "Knowing what we do about Dolores, she'll get rid of any of us that don't bow down to her the moment she enters the building. That means I'll be gone." She turned to her joint Astronomy professors. "Sybill, Firenze, I'm afraid it's not likely either of you will be staying here. Hagrid, same with you. I'm terribly sorry."

"I don't particularly want to work for her again anyway," Firenze said. "I'm more forgiving of humans than my fellow Centaurs, but that woman's too much for me."

"What about the students?" Pomona asked. "When will they be informed? We should tell them, to avoid a surprise when they get back."

"Or to give them a chance to run away," Remus muttered.

"We will send letters to everyone immediately. There's no telling when Dolores will be taking over, but I imagine she will be settled into my office before the new term begins. Those of you that feel you can work for her, please stay behind to support the students however possible. They'll need all the help they can get."

The eight of them arrived in the middle of a forest. As far as Sally-Anne could tell, there was nothing important about it. She couldn't see much of anything through the trees. Still, Alex led her forward towards a thick group of trees.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Sally-Anne asked.

Before she could answer, Alex walked straight through the trunks ahead of them. At once, Sally-Anne realized what it was, then walked through the trees after her.

Mrs. Weasley was the first to greet them when they arrived. She went right for Ron and Ginny, then Sally-Anne and Harry, neither of whom had managed to get away in time.

Sally-Anne was happy for the affection, but she wanted to see her own parents. She wished for some word from Hermione, but so far, she'd gotten nothing.

Looking around at the small cluster of people, she saw that Ron had been right. In addition to Alex, Sirius, and the Weasleys, a good chunk of the Order of the Phoenix was there. Admittedly, there weren't a lot of them, but they did have Moody and Madame Bones.

"What happened?" Mr. Weasley asked. "What were you four doing at the Ministry of Magic?"

Sally-Anne looked at her friends, wondering how much was too much to tell them. Fortunately, Harry knew the answer to that.

"Umbridge kidnapped Sally-Anne's mum to get to Sally-Anne. She's still cross at us. She considers Sally-Anne a traitor, so she wanted to get to her first. We tried to rescue her, but… well, Umbridge was waiting for us."

"We didn't kill anyone," Ginny said, tears in her eyes. "Honest, I didn't—"

"We know you didn't," her mum said, sweeping her up in a hug. "Don't worry about it. This is all that awful woman's doing."

"Umbridge killed Scrimgeour," Harry said.

"She put him under the Imperius Curse first," Ron added. "Ordered him to attack Ginny, hoping she would retaliate and kill him."

"Umbridge doesn't understand friendship," Sally-Anne said, "so she didn't count on Ginny being a better person, or having the support of her friends."

They let that sink in for a moment. No one was surprised that Umbridge would break the law; she'd already used one of the Unforgivable Curses before, so using the other two wasn't a stretch of the imagination.

"While this is very sweet," Bones said, "we shouldn't stay here for long. We'll need a new base of ops."

"Got an idea, then?" Moody asked.

"Have you?"

"Ladies first."

"No, age before beauty."

"That's what I said: you first."

"Children, behave!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "Or I'll separate you two!"

Sally-Anne found herself holding back a laugh. Even Ginny was smiling. She caught Ron's eye and smiled at him. They'd been in Azkaban not long ago, but finally, things were starting to feel hopeful again.

"We'll keep moving," Sirius said. "Figure it out where we're going later."

Bones and Moody protested, but he added, "I stayed ahead of all of you by always being on the move. I had a goal in mind, but apart from that, I kept moving."

"That's good for a single person," Ron said, "but we've got a big group. We're going to be spotted eventually."

Sally-Anne looked around, for once hoping Ron was wrong. She'd just gotten back with the closest thing she had to family at the moment, and he was suggesting they split up. She didn't want to leave them, not just yet.

"We've got the area warded to Hell and back," Charlie said. "Why go now? You can't apparate in here, you can't get inside unless we let you in. We're safe for now. Let them rest a moment. They just got out of Azkaban, for Merlin's Sake!"

"Set up a watch," Kingsley said. "If there's trouble, get the kids out first."

"Three of us are 17," Ron said.

"I'll set up a spot for them to sleep," Bones said. "Since they're so grown up, they can pull their weight and help me."

Mrs. Weasley got a look like she was about to argue against such an unspeakable thing, but Sally-Anne agreed to help her anyway. If nothing else, it occurred to her why Bones wanted to be away from listening ears for a moment.

Sure enough, the first thing out of Bones's mouth was "do you know why your mum was taken?"

Sally-Anne glanced over her shoulder to make sure the other adults had all found something else to do.

"She's the head of ESIS," she said in a hushed voice.

"Umbridge is going to start a war if she's not careful," Ron said.

"That's likely what she's trying to do," Bones said. "I've made contact with Eric. He's got your dad safe, Sally-Anne. Along with the Grangers."

Sally-Anne smiled, then mentally tallied everyone.

"What about Luna's dad?" she asked.

Bones shook her head.

"Ministry's been to his house. We saw them go in and out, but he's still there. Likely they've threatened him into keeping quiet about it, hoping Lovegood will go back there."

Sally-Anne nodded, knowing that Luna would handle that when she got back. She'd seen how defensive Luna got when the topic of her father came up.

The strangest thought occurred to Sally-Anne just then. She didn't know where it'd come from, but it was mad enough to work.

"Speaking of people in the Ministry," she said, "I think I know where we can stay."

章 177: Break Out

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章 177: Break Out

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