"You're about to tell me something that's going to make me want to go there."
"Harry, please, just hear her out."
"The prophecy that concerns you was given shortly before your parents died, in the hearing of a few members of the Order, as well as a Death Eater, who was spying on us. He heard only a few lines, and ran to his master with what he knew rather than risking getting caught by staying to hear more." She sighed. "Without getting into the content of the prophecy, hearing even part of it is most likely what made Voldemort decide to kill you and your parents, as well as sending the Lestranges after the Longbottom family."
"So... so what's so important about it now?" he asked, trying to wrap his mind around it. "It already happened, didn't it? And why Neville?"
"The prophecy implies that either you or Mr. Longbottom may one day defeat him."
"I'm fifteen," he said immediately, practically instinctively. From the looks of it, Hermione was about to say the same thing.
"Yes, and when he went after you the first time, you were one, if I remember correctly. Voldemort does not seem to assess threats in a way that you or I recognize. While one might think he could spend the time he has before you become a threat to him on other priorities, it is most likely that he has decided to get rid of you first, while you are still young and unaware. There were some who thought that the prophecy had been fulfilled the first time he went after you, but it appears he considered that a mere setback, and not a defeat."
"Then he's just going to keep coming after me, isn't he?"
"Does the prophecy imply that no one else can defeat him?" Hermione asked after a moment.
"Unfortunately, that is correct. It also implies that Mr. Potter is more likely to be the subject than Mr. Longbottom, but that was not something that Voldemort knew at the time, and it is possible he still does not know."
He tried to take everything in, now that it seemed like he at least knew most of what McGonagall had promised to tell him.
It was probably still possible to sneak out, especially if he agreed to go along with her plan so that she would not have to watch him, but Sirius was not in danger like he had thought.
Silently, he found it was easier to back down from his mounting sense of panic after hearing the whole explanation about the prophecy, and perhaps that had been part of the point.
"Professor," he said after a moment of thought. "If the prophecy says that I can defeat Voldemort... how am I meant to do that?"
"That is a question for which I have no answer at this time, Mr. Potter. As your teacher I have done my best to instruct you, and presently, assigned to your protection, I have done all I can to ensure that you do not get yourself killed in the meantime." She sighed. "I am sure it has escaped your notice, but I insisted on returning to Hogwarts as soon as I regained consciousness at Saint Mungo's. So much as a stinging hex would likely give me a heart attack."
Harry was of two minds; he wondered if she would have tried to subdue him magically if it had been a better day for her and he simultaneously remember that she never had before, and she was asking him to do the right thing, now afraid he would suddenly have a change of heart.
Hermione was looking back and forth between them.
"What would you have us do while we're here, Professor?" she asked. "We'll get right on it."
"I want everyone to stay inside the castle until investigators arrive. The High Inquisitorial Squad has no authority. To certify that these words come from the Headmistress, I shall unlock the office of the late Defense teacher, as now that is within my authority."
Instantly he thought back to the office, how he and his friends were all being held hostage in there.
Nothing was likely to have happened to any of them, but diffusing the situation would need a careful hand; if Malfoy and his lot turned violent, immediately, McGonagall was going to be in serious danger, and they might have no other choice if they figured it was all some sort of trick, or worse, it was all true and they were going to get expelled.
"While we're on our way, actually, there's another part of the story we might've left out," he managed, opening the door while trying to sort out his racing thoughts. "The Inquisitor Squad, well, the good news is that they might all be in once place, and the bad news, well, let's get to that when we get to it..."
They reuinited with their friends more quickly than expected, though when they saw McGonagall, it seemed they were less inclined to explain what had happened.
Hermione went ahead and told her part first as Ginny returned her wand. He wondered for a moment why Umbridge had been carrying his own, since he was pretty sure Malfoy had been the one to take it, but he was not going to worry about that.
The Transfiguration teacher would not be delayed by anyone trying to preface the situation for her and opened the door to the office, where the Slytherins were either knocked out, tied up, or petrified.
"That was about what I expected."
"Professor, they were holding us hostage-"
"Now is not the time," the Headmistress said. "As of this moment, I am deputizing each one of you to inform both the teachers and students that Surpeme Undersecretary Umbridge is not with us, and I am taking control of the school during the investigation of the death.
Do not look for Professor Snape. Teachers are to aid in preventing students from going anywhere near the scene and inviting suspicion on themselves."
"Teachers first?" Hermione asked, though she ran off without waiting for an answer, since McGonagall was casting a healing spell on Neville before leaving in a different direction;