Chapter Sixteen: The Resolve of Gryffindor Tendencies
Tear filled, emerald green eyes looked down at him. A strand of red haired fell into the most beautiful face he had ever seen. He wanted to ask her if she was an angel, but he couldn't move even his mouth.
"I love you," she whispered in a choked voice. "Always remember this, Harry. Mumma loves you…Dada loves you…"
He felt safe, safer than he had ever been in his life. A pair of arms closed around him in a hug and tears flowed down his cheeks. He had never cried that much in his life, but right then, he didn't care. Then, there was high laughter and a flash of green light.
"Black is in Flitwick's office, where he can't escape… It's in a tower, you see."
"Yes, that is very well thought out, Minister."
"Shocking business…shocking…miracle none of them died…never heard the like…by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape…"
"Thank you Minister."
"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"
"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."
"Nasty cut you've got there…Black's work I suppose?"
"As a matter of fact, it was Mr. Blake, Minister…"
"No!"
"Black had bewitched him, I saw it immediately. The others as well. A Confundus Charm to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape…They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single handed. They've got away with a great deal before now…I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves, Blake especially."
"Ah, well, Snape, I'm sure you are exaggerating slightly. No child in their right mind would go after a man like that. Blake especially. I have met him before, you know. He is Lucius Malfoy's nephew…"
Harish lay listening with his eyes shut very tight. He felt very groggy. The words he was hearing seemed to be traveling very slowly from his ears to his brains, so that it was difficult to understand…His arms and legs felt like lead; his eyes glued shut…He wanted to lie there forever, on that comfortable bed….
"What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors…you've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"
"No, Minister…by the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances…"
"Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harish, and the girl—"
"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight to the castle."
There was a pause. Harish's brain seemed to be moving faster now, and as it did, a gnawing sensation grew in the pit of his stomach…
He opened his eyes. The first the he noticed was that his face was wet. He wiped his tears on the sleeve of his robes. The second thing he noticed was that it was very dark still. He was lying in a bed in the Hospital Wing. To his left, slumped over in chairs, were Daphne and Draco. Daphne had dark circles under her eyes. Her chest was rising and falling in a slow pattern.
At the very end of the ward, Madam Pomfrey was standing with her back to him, bent over a bed. Harish could just make out a shock of red hair, but he couldn't tell which Weasley it was, as the matron was blocking his view.
Harish moved his head over on the pillow. In the bed to his right lay Hermione. Moonlight fell across her bed, illuminating her open eyes. She looked petrified, and when she saw he was awake, she pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the door. It was ajar, letting a dim yellow light pool into the room, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Severus Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside.
Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to Harish's bed. He turned to look at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate he had ever seen in his life. It looked like a small boulder.
"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on his bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.
"How are the twins?" both he and Hermione asked at the same time. The last time either of them had seen the boys were when a werewolf was rampaging feet away from them.
"Both of them knocked out," she replied. "As for you two, you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're—Blake, what do you think you're doing?"
Harish was sitting up, grabbing his wand off of the bedside table.
"I need to see someone," he said. "Fudge—Dumbledore—anyone!"
"Blake," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly, "it's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the Kiss any moment now—"
"WHAT?"
Harish jumped out of bed and Hermione did the same. His shout woke Daphne and Draco, as well as it had been heard in the corridor outside; next second, Fudge and Snape had entered the ward.
"Harish, Harish, what's this?" Fudge asked, looking irritated. "You should be in bed—has he had any chocolate?"
"Minister, listen!" Harish started. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's—"
But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face.
"Harish, Harish, you're very confused. You've been through a great ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control…"
"NO!" Harish shouted. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"
"Minister, listen, please," Hermione said; she had hurried to Harish's side and was gazing imploringly at Fudge's face. "I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and—"
"You see, Minister?" Snape said. "Confunded, both of them…Black's done a very good job on them…"
"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harish roared.
"Minister! Professor!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed angrily. "I must insist that you leave, Blake is my patient and he should not be distressed!"
"I'm not distressed, I'm trying to tell them what happened!" Harish replied furiously, "If they'd just listen—"
"But Madam Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into his mouth; he choked and she seized the opportunity to force him back onto the bed.
"Now please, Minister, these children need care. Please leave."
As Harish sat, thinking and chewing, he suddenly realized that Sirius needed to stay a secret. If Dumbledore knew that he was innocent, then he would try to get the man back on his side. He may even find out who Harish really was. There was no way he could let that happen.
As he realized this, Dumbledore himself walked into the ward. Harish swallowed his chocolate with great difficulty and stood up again.
"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black—"
"For heaven's sake!" Madam Pomfrey said hysterically. "Is this a Hospital Wing, or not? Headmaster I must insist—"
"My apologies, Poppy but I need a word with Mr. Blake and Miss Granger…"
As they began to argue, Harish stepped over to stand beside Hermione and whispered in her ear, "They must not know he's innocent."
Hermione shot him a confused look but Harish raised an eyebrow before turning back to the Headmaster.
"I suppose Black's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in the children's minds?" Snape spat. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive—"
"That, indeed, is Black's story," Dumbledore replied, surveying Snape closely through his half-moon glasses.
"And does my evidence count for nothing?" Snape snarled. "Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign on him on the grounds."
Dumbledore sent him a glance. Harish let his head go limp before snapping it back up again.
"I would like to speak to Harish and Hermione alone," Dumbledore said sharply as Snape opened his mouth to say something else. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Greengrass—please leave us."
"Headmaster!" Madam Pomfrey sputtered. "They need bed rest—"
"This cannot wait," Dumbledore said calmly. "I must insist."
And so, with a few last words, each of the adults slowly left. Then, Draco and Daphne followed silently. Then, Dumbledore shut the door behind them.
"Now, to get down to business," he said, walking over to them. Harish shot Hermione a look that told her to leave the talking to him. "Is Sirius Black innocent?"
"I don't know sir," Harish replied, sounding and looking completely innocent. He pushed his memory of confusion, and not knowing who to trust to the surface of his mind. The rest of it, he locked away where Dumbledore wouldn't be able to see it.
"Did you see Pettigrew?"
"No."
"What about Mr. Weasley's rat?"
"It was there."
"Was it missing a toe?"
"…No."
Harish felt as though he was being x-rayed. Then, Dumbledore said, "Very well. I trust you. Now. I am going to lock you in. I advise you to get some sleep—both of you."
And with that he walked out of the room, thinking that Sirius Black was just deluded from his time in Azkaban.
As soon as he was out of the room and the door was shut once more, Hermione walked over to Harish. She pulled something out of her robes and threw it around their necks.
"What are you—"
"Hush, we don't have much time before Madam Pomfrey returns," she said, turning a little hourglass as she spoke.
She turned it three times. Harish reached out a hand to bring it closer so that he could see what it was, but Hermione slapped his hand away.
"Do you have a watch?" she asked.
"It's five minutes to midnight," he said, checking it. She nodded.
When he looked up, a blur of colors were rushing past them. It felt as if he was flying backwards. Harish's ears were pounding. He tried to yell, but he couldn't hear his own voice. And then solid ground was beneath his feet again and everything had come into focus.
He was standing next to Hermione in the deserted entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. He looked wildly around at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck.
"Hermione, what?"
"In here!"
Hermione seized his arm and dragged him across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind them.
"What—how—Hermione, what happened?"
"We've gone back in time," Hermione whispered, lifting the chain off of Harish's neck. "Three hours back…"
Harish found his leg and gave it a hard pinch to make sure he wasn't still unconscious, and dreaming.
"But—"
"Shhh! Listen! Someone's coming! I think—I think it might be me!"
Hermione had her ear pressed against the cupboard door.
"Footsteps across the hall…yes, I think it's me going outside to look for you!"
"Are you telling me that we're in this cupboard we're outside too?"
"Yes," Hermione said, ear still glued to the door. "I'm sure it's me. It doesn't sound like more than one person…and I'm walking quickly so that I can get you three goons inside before we all get in trouble…"
She trailed off, still listening intently.
"I've gone down the front steps…"
Hermione sat down on an upturned bucket, looking desperately anxious, but Harish wanted answers to his questions.
"Where did you get that thing?"
"It's called a Time-Turner," she whispered, "and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to my classes. Professor McGonagall made me swear not to tell anyone about it. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them I was a model student and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies, but now…"
"Now you have betrayed her trust?"
Hermione nodded miserably.
"Look, can't we get somewhere where we can see what's going on?"
"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "We cannot be seen!"
"I have my cloak!" Hermione looked hesitant. "Look, we'll need to go out there, anyway."
"Why?"
"When I first woke up, Fudge was telling Snape that they put him in Flitwick's office so that he can't escape. His office is in the North Tower, about five floors up! We need to get Buckbeak, unless you think all three of us can fit on a broom."
"Fine," Hermione replied. "We'll rescue Buckbeak…But we can't mess our timelines up any more than that!"
Harish nodded and pulled the Cloak out of his pocket. He threw it around the two of them and they exited the cupboard. Once they had gotten outside, they saw that the sun was slowly crawling toward the bottom of the sky.
"We need to go around the right side of the cabin," Hermione whispered as they walked slowly toward it. "Neville and Ron exit the left side."
"I believe I can safely say that this is the weirdest thing I have ever done," Harish whispered in return.
"Let's move along a bit," Hermione muttered. "We need to get closer to Buckbeak."
They crept over to the trees behind where the hippogriff was. Harish started forward, so that they could get the hippogriff and be done with it.
"No!" Hermione whispered. "We can't get him until the Minister sees him! Otherwise, he'll think that Hagrid set him free!"
Harish groaned.
"I don't care if the gamekeeper's blamed! If we don't get it now, we'll only have about sixty seconds to set it free!"
He started forward again. Hermione tugged at his arm. Just then, the Minister walked outside along with Dumbledore and the executioner.
"See?" Hermione hissed. "If you had gone then, they would have seen you!"
Harish rolled his eyes, but stayed put.
The men walked down to the cabin and knocked on the front door.
"I'll be there in a minute!" Hagrid called out.
His back door swung open and Ron and Neville poked their heads out of the back. Harish looked up the hill to see himself, Fred, George, and Hermione turn to look at the cabin.
"This is so weird," he muttered.
Hermione shushed him and he rolled his eyes again.
Ron and Neville were out of sight now, as they were creeping along the opposite side of Hagrid's hut. Hagrid then stomped to the door and let the men inside.
"Where is the beast?" came the cold voice of Macnair.
"Out—outside," Hagrid croaked.
Macnair's face appeared at Hagrid's window, staring at Buckbeak. Then, they head Fudge,
"We—er—have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, you're supposed to listen too—that's procedure—"
Macnair's face vanished from the window. It was now or never.
"Wait here," Harish whispered to Hermione. "I'll do it."
He took the cloak off and stuffed it into his pocket again. Hermione ducked behind a tree so that she couldn't be seen. As Fudge's voice started again, Harish darted out from behind his tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch, and approached Buckbeak.
"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall be executed on the sixth of June at sundown—"
Careful not to blink, Harish stared up into Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. Harish slashed the rope tying Buckbeak to the fence with a cutting spell.
"…sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair…"
"Come on, Buckbeak," Harish murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly…quietly…"
"…as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here…"
Harish threw all his weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak dug his front feet into the dirt.
"Well, let's get this over with," came Macnair's reedy voice. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside—"
"No I—I wan' ter be with him…I don' wan' 'im ter be alone—"
Footsteps echoed from within the cabin.
"Move, Buckbeak!" Harish hissed, getting out his Cloak, just in case.
He tugged harder on the rope around the hippogriff's neck. It began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten teen away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door.
"One moment, please, Macnair," Dumbledore said. "You need to sign too."
The footsteps stopped. Harish heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster. Hermione's white face was sticking out from behind a tree."
"Hurry, Harish," she mouthed.
Harish could still hear Dumbledore's voice talking from within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging tort. They had reached the trees…
"Quick! Quick!" Hermione moaned, darting out from behind the tree to help.
She seized the rope and the two of them pulled on it to make the hippogriff go faster. Harish looked over his shoulder; they were now blocked from sight. They couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all.
"Stop!" he whispered to Hermione. "They might hear us—"
Hagrid's back door opened with a bang. Harish, Hermione, and Buckbeak all stood quite still. Even the hippogriff seemed to be listening intently. There was silence for a moment…then—
"Where is it?" Fudge asked. "Where is the beast?"
"It was tied here!" Macnair shouted furiously. "It was just here—I saw it!"
"How extraordinary!" Dumbledore said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Beaky!" Hagrid said huskily.
There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger. Then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs.
"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"
Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to his master. Harish and Hermione dug their heels into the ground to stop him. Then, with some difficulty, they dragged him back and tied the rope around a tree for the moment.
"Someone untied him!" Macnair was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest!"
"Shouldn't we search the skies?" Fudge asked. "I mean, he is a winged beast after all."
"Do what you must," Dumbledore said. "But I would like something to drink, Hagrid. A cup of tea would do. Or a large brandy."
"O'—o' course Perfessor," Hagrid replied. His voice was weak with happiness. "Come in, come in…"
Harish and Hermione listened closely. They heard footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the snap of the door, and then silence once more.
"Now what?" Harish asked, untying the rope from the wide tree trunk.
It was odd, asking that question. Usually he was the one being asked.
"We'll have to hide in here," Hermione said, who looked very shaken. "We need to wait until they've gone back. Then, we can wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to the castle. Sirius won't be there for another couple of hours…Oh, this is going to be difficult…"
She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the forest. The sun was setting now.
"We are going to have to move," Harish said. "We will need to see the Whomping Willow so that we can see what is going on."
"Okay," Hermione said, getting a firmer grip on Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to—"
"Stay out of sight, yeah, yeah, I know…"
They moved around the edge of the forest, darkness falling thickly around them, until they were hidden behind a clump of trees through which they could make out the Willow.
"There goes Ron," Harish said, pointing to where Ron sprinted toward the Willow after Pettigrew.
"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat—"
"There's Sirius!" Hermione exclaimed.
A giant black dog bounded out of the forest, past the entrance to Hogwarts, and to Ron, knocking Neville over in the process. He and Ron disappeared out of sight with a shout and Hermione winced when the boy's foot was broken.
"There are the twins," Harish muttered.
The twins had seemingly appeared out of thin air and were darting towards the Willow. Then, Harish and Hermione appeared before dashing after them.
"Hey! Wait!" the other Harish called.
"It looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" He asked, watching as Neville was thrown back. "Ouch—look, George just got walloped by the tree—and so did Fred—this is weird—"
The Whomping Willow was creaking and lashing out with its lower branches; they could see the twins darting here and there, trying to get closer to the trunk. Harish was standing out of reach of the branches with Hermione. Then, the tree suddenly froze.
"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," Hermione said.
"And there we go…" Harish muttered. "We're in."
The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move again. Seconds later, they heard footsteps quite close by. Dumbledore, Macnair, and Fudge were making their way up to the castle.
"Wow," Harish said with a laugh. "Look how close we were to getting caught."
"Right after we had gone into the passage!" Hermione said.
They watched the three men climb the castle steps and disappear from view. For a few minutes, the scene was deserted. Then—
"Here comes Lupin!" Harish said as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and haring toward the Willow. Harish looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely.
The watched Lupin levitate a branch from the ground and prod the know with it. The tree stopped fighting, and Lupin disappeared as well, right into the gap in its roots.
"If only he had grabbed the Cloak," Harish said. "It's just lying there…"
"You're not going out there to get it," Hermione told him.
"Of course not!" Harish said holding up his own version. "I still get it back!"
A moment later Hagrid made his way up to the castle, singing at the tops of his lungs, and weaving slightly as he walked. A large bottle was swinging from his hands.
"Ugh," Harish said wrinkling his nose. "Is he drunk?"
Hermione shook her head before straining to hold Buckbeak as he tried to get to Hagrid again.
"No, Buckbeak!" she hissed.
Harish grabbed the rope and helped her hold the hippogriff. They watched Hagrid meander tipsily up to the castle. Once he was gone, Buckbeak stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly.
Harish rubbed his beak.
Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open yet again, and Snape came charging out of them, running toward the Willow. Harish laughed quietly when he slipped on the Cloak. Then, the man looked at it a second, holding the liquid cloth in his hands, before throwing it on himself and disappearing. Harish and Hermione saw a long branch hover in mid-air, a lone hand holding the end of it. It prodded the knot on the trunk and then dropped to the ground.
"So that's it," Hermione said quietly. "We're all down there now…"
"All we do is wait," Harish said.
Hermione tool the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it to the nearest tree. Then, she sat down on the dry ground, arms around her knees. Harish sat down beside her a moment later with a grunt.
"There's something I don't understand…" Hermione said after a minute. "Why didn't the dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out….there were so many of them…"
"Someone made them retreat," Harish replied. "Right before I passed out as well, all I could see was this blinding light that was forcing the dementors back. It was really powerful, though. Then, something huge and silver flew out over the three of us."
"Who cast it?" Hermione asked.
"Well—no—it's crazy…"
"What's crazy? Who did you see?"
"I thought I saw my father, but there is no way he could have been there."
Harish looked over at where Buckbeak was digging worm out of the ground. He wasn't really watching, though. He was thinking. He was thinking about his real parents and his father, Voldemort. If Voldemort had killed his parents, intending on killing him, why hadn't he done it? Why did he choose to adopt him instead? Harish shook his head. It was too confusing to think about.
The leaves rustled overhead in the breeze. The full moon drifted in and out behind the flowing clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned toward the Willow, waiting. Harish let out a sigh and laid back with his hands under his head. And then, at last, after an hour of staring up at the sky…
"Here we come!" Hermione whispered.
She and Harish got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron, and Snape emerge from the tunnel, followed by Fred, Pettigrew, and George. Next came Hermione, Harry, and Black. They all began to walk up to the castle.
Harish's heart started beating very fast. He looked up at the sky. At any moment the cloud was going to move to the side and uncover the moon. Harish watched with bated breath as the moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement—
"There goes Lupin," Hermione whispered. "He's transforming."
"Hermione, we've got to move."
"But we can't—"
"Interfere, I know. But what if Lupin comes our way?"
Hermione gasped before scrambling up to untie Buckbeak.
"Quick!" she moaned. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where could we hide? The dementors will be coming any moment—"
"Back to Hagrid's!" Harish exclaimed. "It is empty now—come on!"
They ran as fast as they could, Buckbeak cantering behind them. They could hear the werewolf howling behind them…
The cabin was in sight. Harish skidded to the door, wrenched it open, and ushered Hermione and Buckbeak inside. Then he followed and shut the door quickly behind him. Fang the boarhound barked loudly.
"Shhh! Fang! We won't hurt you!" Hermione exclaimed, hurrying over to quiet him. "That was really close!" she said to Harish.
"Yeah, it was," he agreed, pointing out the window. Over by trees, sniffing where they had just been sitting for the past hour, was the werewolf.
"You don't think he'll follow our scent here?" Hermione asked worriedly.
Harish shook his head.
"We, I mean the other we, would have been able to hear if he—he—"
"Yeah…"
Buckbeak trotted over to the fire, laying down contently and folding his wings above his head. He seemed ready for a good nap.
"I think I'd better go outside again, you know," Harish said slowly. "I cannot see what's going on—we won't know when it is time—"
Hermione looked up suspiciously.
"I'm not going to try to interfere," Harish said quickly. "But if we don't see what is going on, how are we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"
"Well…okay, then…I'll wait here with Buckbeak…but Harish, be careful—there's a werewolf out there—and the dementors—"
Harish shook his head as he stepped outside again and edged around the cabin. He could hear yelping in the distance. That meant the dementors were closing in on Sirius…He and Hermione would be running into him any minute…
Harry stared out toward the lake, his heart doing a kind of drumroll in his chest, Whoever had sent that patronus would be appearing at any moment. For a fraction of a second, he stood irresolute in front of Hagrid's door. You must not be seen. But he didn't want to be seen. He wanted to see. He had to know…
And there were the dementors, They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake…They were moving away from where Harry stood to the opposite bank…He wouldn't have to go near them…
Harish began to run. He had just realized something. ..
The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. It seemed as if Harish's hunch was proving to be right. On the opposite bank, he could see tiny glimmers of silver—his attempts at a patronus.
There was a bush at the very edge of the water. Harish threw himself behind it, peering through the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of silver suddenly vanished. A terrified excitement shot through him. It was a foreign feeling, something he had never felt before.
Then, he leapt out and shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Out of the end of his wand burst his huge basilisk. It flew across the lake and stared the dementors down, causing them to fly away back to their posts. Huge waves of light radiated out of his wand, going outwards. The dementors were retreating…They were gone.
The great serpent turned and came back toward Harish. It stopped on the bank. It left no trace that it was there and it gave out light. It stared at Harish with its large eyes. Slowly, it bowed its head and disappeared.
Then he heard hooves behind him—the teen turned just in time to see Hermione dashing toward him, dragging Buckbeak behind her.
"What did you do?" she asked fiercely. "You said you were going to keep a lookout!"
"I just saved all our lives…" Harish replied evenly. "Get behind here—behind this bush—I'll explain."
Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth hanging open.
"Did anyone see you?"
"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw me but I thought I was my father. That's why I could cast the patronus so well. I knew I could do it because—well—I had already done it! Does that make sense?"
"I don't know—Harish, look at Snape!"
Together they peered around the bush at the other bank Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harish, Hermione, and Sirius onto them. Three stretchers floated behind him, each containing a shock of red hair.
"What happened to the twins?" Harish asked, watching as Snape moved away toward the castle with the stretchers ahead of him.
"I don't know," Hermione said, looking at her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until we need to be back in the Hospital Wing again. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anyone realizes we're missing…"
They waited, watching the moving clouds reflecting in the lake. The bush next to them whispered in the breeze. Buckbeak, bored, was ferreting for worms again.
"Do you think he is up there yet?" Harish asked, checking his own watch.
He looked up at the castle and found Flitwick's office.
"Look!" Hermione exclaimed quietly. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out!"
The two of them stared through the darkness and watched as a man hurried across the grounds, toward one of the entrances. Something shiny glinted in his belt.
"Macnair!" Harish whispered. "The executioner! He must be going to get the dementors!"
Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back and Harish helped her up. Then, he placed his foot on a nearby branch, put his hands on Buckbeak's back, and swung himself onto the hippogriff in front of Hermione. He pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins.
"Ready?" he whispered to Hermione. "You'd better hold on to me—"
He nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.
Buckbeak soared straight into the dark sky. Harish gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully beneath them. Hermione was holding Harry very tight around the waist; he could hear her muttering, "Oh, no—I don't like this—oh, I really don't like this!"
Harish urged Buckbeak forward. They were gliding quietly toward the upper floors of the castle…Harry pulled hard on the left-hand side of the rope, and Buckbeak turned. Harish was trying to count the windows flashing past—
"Whoa!" he said, pulling backward as hard as he could.
Buckbeak slowed down and they found themselves at a stop, unless you counted the fact that they kept rising up and down several feet as the hippogriff beat his wings to remain airborne.
"He's there!" Harish said, spotting Sirius as they rose up beside the window. He reached out, and as Buckbeak's wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the glass.
Black looked up. Harry saw his jaw drop. He leapt from his chair, hurried to the window, and tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Stand back!" Hermione called to him as she took out her wand.
"Alohamora!"
The window sprang open.
"How—how—?" Black asked weakly, staring at the hippogriff.
"I had a random resolve for Gryffindor tendencies," Harish replied as he helped the convict onto Buckbeak's back.
"What?" Sirius asked.
Harish and Hermione both laughed.
"You've got to get out of here—the dementors are coming—Macnair's gone to get them."
Black nodded and gripped the hippogriff firmly.
"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" Harish said, shaking the rope. "Up to the tower—come on!"
The hippogriff gave one sweep of its mighty wings and they were soaring upward again, high as the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the battlements, and Harish and Hermione slid off him at once.
"Sirius, you'd better go, quick," Harish panted. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you're gone."
Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head.
"Just—just come to Ottery St. Catchpole once summer starts. That's near where the twins live. I'll get you then and you can come and live with us."
"How can I ever thank—"
"GO!" Harish and Hermione shouted together.
Sirius wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky. He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Harish and Hermione jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more… The hippogriff took off into the air…He and his rider seemed to become smaller and smaller as Harish gazed after them…then a cloud drifted across the moon…They were gone.