Everything seemed to happen so quickly, but only when Harry looked back on it. In the moment, he understood everything that happened, as it happened. When he started to ask himself how it all happened, or how it went so far, that was when things became unclear. It was not as if he had been lucky for most of his life, but he had been lucky in his own mind, because for him, not seeing someone die right in front of him was luck. Cedric broke something in him, and for the life of him, he had never thought the same would happen with the witch who had disrespected his memory, and yet, there she was, choking on blood after an arrow pierced her lung.
He had no idea what Hermione was thinking when she dragged the two of them out to the Forbidden Forest, but from the expression she was wearing now, this was not part of the plan. She grabbed him by the shoulders and had him get up a moment after he had his wand back.
"Harry," she said. Perhaps it was hard for her to form words. "Harry."
"I... I didn't want her dead," he choked out. Why was he choking? Despite the Cruciatus, there was no blood in his throat. "I... they can't just-"
"Harry, there are two things... I didn't want her dead either, but they absolutely can-" She looked back at the centaurs, who were regarding them uneasily. "She attacked them with a wand on their allotted land. Killing her might be... garish, but it's perfectly within their rights." She frowned. "In 1588, they were granted this land specifically under the pretense that it was for their protection. I highly doubt they were meant to be protected in a land that would also become home to hags and acromantulae- but if the intent is that they were meant to be safe here, then it should hold up..." She trailed off, probably thinking of how it would all work out.
He and Ron had been skeptical about some of the things their friend had said about magical creatures and about how they should be treated, but it was not like she was just going to make up some historical event out of whole cloth. His first reaction faded, and a second response came, one of sympathy for the centaurs. Were they going to get completely shafted just because they were not human? They were clearly defending themselves; after a single spell from the self-appointed Headmistress, one hit her with an arrow that must have been flying too quietly and not as ostentatiously as the colorful flash of spellfire.
"She failed," he said as they started to walk away almost automatically, which was probably for the best.
"I'm sorry?"
"She failed in just about every possible way. She was supposed to be our teacher in Defense, but she couldn't defend herself. If she's always... believed that the centaurs are violent uncontrollable creatures, why didn't she let anyone say that they were a threat to us, and we needed to learn magic? She should have known that the real world wasn't the risk-free environment-"
"Harry, I can't explain it. Maybe she thought they would just bow to her because she was from the Ministry."
They said nothing else for a while. Seemingly random thoughts occurred to him as they trekked back across the grounds. Was it bad that he was trying to justify everything that had happened? It was not as if he and his friend had knowingly led their teacher into a death trap; there was no way they could have known they would run into centaurs, or that if they did, her immediate response would be to use magic on them. Technically, they were her captives the entire time; she had their wands until she dropped them after getting killed. Something like a sympathetic response fired when he dove for his wand as soon as he could regain it; it was like when Cedric died and he went for the cup. All of a sudden he was glad that none of the centaurs thought that he was getting his wand to avenge her or something mad like that.
"Harry, Professor McGonagall is Headmistress now. If she's returned from Saint Mungo's-"
"What?"
"I was just thinking of how the Ministry will respond and... even if they send someone else here in a few days, right now, there is no one who can oppose her. If Umbridge is dead, there is no way of saying that Professor McGonagall is not Headmistress; the position automatically goes to her. We can have her help to rescue Sirius, if-" She seemed to catch herself as they reached the castle, where they could regroup with the rest of the DA. "We couldn't get anyone to talk to us at Grimmauld Place, but she could simply apparate there- there's no one right now who can tell her what she can and can't do-"
It was all making too much sense to say no. His sense of urgency had all come from the fact that their worst nightmare controlled the school, and her lackeys were all over it, and their plan had been discovered, so they had to get out as soon as possible- the whole thing dissolved far more quickly than it had built up. Her squad of jumped-up Slytherins was no longer jumped up. Was everything really so simple, though?
"We'll just have to see," he said after a second. He could try to think everything out, but there were too many unknowns, and there was still a good chance that his one and only godfather was in danger, which should really take priority. With McGonagall, though, they could get there even more quickly- or at least she could. "Is she able to make a portkey?" he asked.
"I don't know," Hermione admitted as they went through the school. At the moment, there was no one to stop them. "She certainly is skilled with various magical arts, but I suppose I never saw her make one... I also suppose that I never saw her apparate, but I just assumed that was a general skill most adults have- Harry, are you thinking of getting us all to the Department?"
"It's what makes the most sense," he said. "Right after we confirm that he's missing, we need a plan to get over there. McGonagall can't stop Voldemort on her own-"