Capítulo 151: Chapter 151: Live Well, Harry
Harry and Sirius could only gape in disbelief when Sherlock Forester made contact with Severus Snape and both men suddenly vanished from view! It was as if they were obliterated from existence.
"What in Merlin's name just happened? Where have Professor Forester and Snape gone?" Harry stammered, a mix of fear and intrigue in his voice. His loyal friends Ron and Hermione were equally baffled and unable to come up with a plausible answer.
"Forget about them! We don't have time to question it, we must run now! Hurry!" Sirius's commanding voice cut through their confusion. His grip on Remus Lupin had been released, leaving the man to kneel under the sickly light of the moon. It inflamed his transformation, causing his body to convulse into the fiercest beast. Sirius ushered Harry, Ron and Hermione in the direction of the towering Hogwarts castle.
Lupin, now in the from of a werewolf, let out a chilling, monstrous howl. His animalistic cry was powerful enough to give Harry a temporary pause as they ran. "Peter! We've left Pettigrew back there!" he shouted, half to remind Sirius and half to reassure himself.
Retaining a firm grip on Harry, Sirius dismissed the fearful sentiment. "Leave him! His fate has been sealed! We must reach Hogwarts before Lupin notices us!" Their daunting flight continued without a pause; not even when they were halted by a legion of soul-sucking Dementors at the Whomping Willow's foot. The arriving Dementors filled the air around them with a chilling cold, enough to make Harry's muscles seize up in dread.
Visibly panting, Sirius let go of Harry's hand to face the besieging Dementors. A wave of apprehension crossed Harry's face. "No! Sirius! You mustn't... they'll kill you! They... they'll kill you!" Sirius's determination, however, remained unswayed.
"I had anticipated this when I escaped from Azkaban, Harry. Avenging the death of your parents has been my life's purpose, now keep running!" he admitted gravely, shaking off Harry's attempts of restraint. Sirius chose not to transform into his Animagus form; a dog, as Dementors sensed their victims not by sight but by their human emotions.
"Expecto Patronum!" Sirius bellowed the incantation, his voice echoing through the night. A hint of silver, resembling a shield, floated before him, but failing to conjure a corporal Patronus. His spell was as weak as the one Harry had managed in his first successful attempt, barely keeping back the crowd of Dementors. Sirius, in a desperate bid, escaped from their tightening circle. Though it was a futile run, as more of the wretched creatures closed in from every direction.
Seeing Sirius desperately flee, Harry's instinct was to follow him. He was halted by Hermione's timely intervention. "If you chase after him, they'll kill you too!"
"I barely got to know him," Harry protested weakly, his voice choked with emotion. "He promised to sign my permission slip... he was going to take me in..." His voice trailed off as tears welled up unbidden in his eyes. Overwhelmed by fear, not for his own life, but for Sirius', the only remaining trace of family he'd just stumbled upon, Harry was unable to restrain the torrent of tears. In a cruel twist, he had to watch as Sirius was violently wrenched away from him mere minutes after he got to know him.
As Harry, Hermione, and Ron dashed through the castle's main entrance, they caught one last glimpse of Sirius's path lighting up with a shimmering silver glow, a hauntingly majestic sight against the velvety darkness of the night. Sirius's fate, whether he had survived or fallen prey to the Dementors, remained shrouded in uncertainty. Harry crumpled to the ground, his face a mask of vacant despair, the usual spark in his eyes extinguished. His friends exchanged concerned glances, their hearts heavy with the desire to offer comfort, yet at a loss for words.
Their pensive moment was broken by a flurry of footsteps, as Professor McGonagall, Minister of Magic Fudge, Filch and two officials from the Ministry came rushing down the stairs. Initially intending to leave Hogwarts, they had evidently been taken aback by the commotion outside the castle, the Dementors swarming the grounds like locusts.
"A-ha! It appears they've discovered something!" Fudge's voice rang out excitably.
McGonagall's stern gaze fell upon the trio huddled alone in the corridor. Her brows furrowed, she admonished, "It's well past the curfew, what ever could the three be doing outside your quarters at this time? Get to bed!"
Harry, however, disregarded her and clung onto McGonagall's robes desperately. "Professor! You have to save Sirius! He's innocent! It's Pettigrew who betrayed my parents! Please, help him! He's the only family I have left, please you must help him!" his pleas were fervent.
Ron and Hermione chimed in support, while Fudge looked taken aback at their accusations. "Are they under the influence of some kind of Dark Magic? To hurl such accusations is a serious matter, children!" he murmured inconclusively.
Harry's pleas went unanswered, and the adults refused to believe their version of the story. McGonagall instructed Filch to lead them away, and he gladly complied. The trio was reluctantly herded back to the Gryffindor common area, but as lay in his bed, Harry remained awake, silently brooding over the day's events. The deepest despair one can endure is to cradle hope in their heart, only to witness it savagely torn asunder before their very eyes.
Suddenly, Harry stood up, as if struck by a revelation, "We have to inform Professor Dumbledore! He'll understand that Sirius is innocent!"
"What can Dumbledore possibly do for us?" Ron retorted. But Harry's attention was consumed by this sliver of hope, clenching it tightly with no intention to consider otherwise. He procured his trusty Invisibility Cloak, wrapped Ron and Hermione along with him, and snuck out of the common room.
Eventually, they made it to the third floor, in front of the stone gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. Lacking the access password, they pleaded with the guardian, "Please let us in! We need to meet Professor Dumbledore! It's urgent!" Surprisingly, the normally stern gargoyle conceded, possibly after communicating with Dumbledore himself, and they hurriedly mounted the spiral staircase leading to the Headmaster's office on the eighth floor.
Dumbledore, looking mildly surprised at their late-night visit, carefully set his quill down and inquired in his usual calm voice, "What brings me the pleasure of this late night visit? You're aware it's past curfew, are you not?"
Anxious and incapable of any more patience, Harry recounted the evening's ordeal to Dumbledore. His supremely fast-paced account, with essential details missing, was supplemented by Hermione and Ron. Thus, Dumbledore was swiftly briefed.
Harry pleaded once more, "Professor, can't you stop the Dementors from hunting Sirius? It's Pettigrew who betrayed my parents, not him!"
Harry's frantic pleas were met with Dumbledore's regrettably shaking head. "I do not command the Dementors nor the Minister, Harry. And our peers are likely to interpret your words as a consequence of Black's influence, Fudge doesn't tend to put much trust in the words of children unfortunately," he said.
Harry's disbelieving eyes met Dumbledore's serious countenance, and felt the world crumble beneath him. In his time in the wizarding world he never once thought it possible that Dumbledore could be powerless to solve any problem. He had become used to believing Dumbledore could find a solution to all their troubles, even when everyone else could only despair.
It was this unwavering faith that made the revelation all the more devastating. The sanguine belief he clung to, the one hinting Dumbledore would magically conjure up a plan, came to naught. Hope was finally brought to its knees.
"What we need at this time," Dumbledore began, a solemn note colouring his voice, "is time." His cerulean gaze flitted between Harry and Hermione.
"But, "Hermione made an attempt to cut in, yet her widening eyes indicated that she had just had a revelation. "Oh," was her simple response.
Harry and Ron were too engrossed in voicing their concerns to notice this subtle change. Dumbledore, however, was already on his feet, extracting a pocket-watch to confirm the time. "Forty minutes past the midnight. Four turns should suffice," He instructed. "I will leave now. If all goes well, you may manage to save more than one life tonight. But remember, you can't be seen, Miss Granger, you know the rules, you understand the implications. You must remain unseen."
Harry was attempting to comprehend the situation when Dumbledore moved towards the exit. He paused with his hand on the doorknob to add, "Good luck." His cryptic parting words were almost swallowed by the heavy door's thud.
"Good luck?" echoed Harry. "Turn four times?" He sounded puzzled. "What kind of a plan is that?"
In the interim, Hermione was hurriedly rummaging in her collar, finally pulling out a sleek golden chain. Ron and Harry were still adrift sea of confusion, but Hermione went ahead and looped the chain around their necks. Tugging it taut, revealed an ornate golden hourglass. Without wasting any time, Hermione twisted the hourglass back four times. The room, with the headmaster's desk softly lit by flickering candles, evaporated from view. They felt as if they were soaring backwards at an impossible speed. The landscape was a dizzying blur of vague shapes and hues, their ears filled with a muffled throb. Attempts to voice their concerns proved futile as they couldn't hear their own words.
Then abruptly, the solid floor of the headmaster's office emerged under their feet once again.
"We've travelled back four hours, back to when we were preparing to visit Hagrid!" Hermione declared, her hands firmly clutching Harry and Ron's. They exited the office, with Harry and Ron still bemused. Ron croaked, "That necklace... it controls time?"
Keeping her voice down, Hermione replied, "Yes, it's called a Time-Turner. Quickly, Harry, the Invisibility Cloak."
Ensconced under the Cloak, Hermione began to elaborate on the Time-Turner. "It was given to me by Professor McGonagall on the first day of the year. You need to excel academically to gain permission from the Ministry of Magic to use it, and it can only be used for educational purposes. I had to swear to never disclose this secret, which is why I never mentioned it before. This is also the reason why I can attend multiple classes concurrently!"
Harry's breaths grew shallow and ragged. "That's great, but what's the plan now? How will we save Sirius?"
Hermione just shook her head, her lips curving downwards at the edges in defeat. "At this moment, Buckbeak's fate is still undecided, so perhaps we could rescue him first and find another way later. The Professor did say that we could save more than one life.."
Cloaked in the mantle of invisibility, the trio managed to slip undetected into Hagrid's backyard. They set Buckbeak free before the executioner dispatched by the Ministry could carry out his task. Following this, they watched their past selves from four hours ago, ensnared by Malfoy and his sycophants.
"I was such an easy target then," Harry muttered, partially concealed under the Cloak. They kept at a safe distance from the actual unfolding of events, choosing to remain on the fringes of the Forbidden Forest as to avoid being seen. They waited until they saw a group emerge from the woods, with Peter Pettigrew in custody.
The confluence of events from earlier that night was a spectacle they were forced to behold once again: Sherlock's and Snape's abrupt disappearance, Lupin's transformation into a werewolf and Sirius attempting to lead them away. Against their instinct, they refrained from accompanying their past selves and chose to watch as Lupin, whilst in his lycanthrope form, yielded to his beastly instincts and viciously assaulted the motionless Peter on the ground.
He bit him once, causing Peter to jolt awake in immense anguish. Unwilling to waste any moment, Lupin bit him again, tearing a substantial portion of flesh from Peter's shoulder. Peter's screams sliced through the forest before he abruptly disappeared from the scene, obviously assuming his Animagus form to escape. Harry instinctively moved forward to prevent Peter's escape, but Hermione swiftly held him back and whispered, "Don't. For a regular wizard, a werewolf's bite is a fate worse than death."
Keeping their pace, they followed Sirius' path and observed as he purposely veered away to fend off the Dementors. Harry's voice was barely audible as he muttered, "Of course! I should have known..."
Harry's discerning gaze took in Sirius' trail of action, and he recalled the blinding flash of silver that he had witnessed from the castle. Leaving Hermione and Ron under the protective confines of the Invisibility Cloak, Harry ventured out into the darkness, charging in the direction Sirius disappeared in. "Stay back and wait for me!" he instructed.
The night air sharp against his skin, and echoes of Professor Sherlock teaching the Patronus Charm resonating in his mind. "Happiness, pure happiness," he chanted softly to himself. His steps never faltered in his pursuit of the Dementors. Memories from the summer with Sherlock danced before his eyes, flooding him with happiness. He relived the terror and awkward joy of his thirteenth birthday, the only one that had ever been celebrated. And he relived Sirius' discomfort when revealing he was his godfather, nervously offering to take him in if he'd like.
These thoughts lifted Harry's spirits and fortified his resolve. The chilling aura projected by the Dementors was gradually chipped away, but he continued to keep running. His mother's voice nudged his consciousness, not pleading or wailing, now uttering something different, "Live well, Harry. Live without regrets."
Swamped by Dementors, Harry could barely see Sirius at the centre, incapacitated, unable to summon a Patronus. He brandished his wand without hesitation, his heart beating relentlessly against his ribs, but no longer succumbing to any fear. Grasping Sirius' icy hand tightly, he roared out the incantation, "Expecto Patronum!"
A shockwave of silvery light burst from his wand, no longer a formless mist but a formidable, radiant stag. The spectacle was awe inspiring, lighting up the sky as the mighty Patronus sprinted into the thick of Dementors, single-handedly forcing them to break rank and flee into twilight. "Wake up, Sirius! Please just wake up!" Harry cried out, hugging the lifeless shell lying on the damp forest floor.
Finally, beneath the silver glow, Sirius' bright eyes slowly fluttered open, fixating on Harry. "Run! Fudge is coming! Go, quickly!" Harry urged, helping Sirius to his feet. Still disoriented, Sirius turned to leave, but not before murmuring, "I'll write to you."
Then Sirius morphed into an imposing black hound and disappeared into the night.
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