Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [44]
At the end of Harry’s story, both Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry with concern, anger, and fear. Ron spoke first,
“How come you’re just telling this to us now Harry?” he asked.
“Because they told me not to! You two are the only people, outside of the Order, to ever know about it.” Hermione sighed,
“Well, Harry, I see your point. We do have to try and rescue Sirius and Lupin. With your mom on You-Know-Who’s side… he’ll be even more powerful. If we don’t do something, no one will, that is, no one except You-Know-Who.”
“Well, I guess you’re right,” said Ron.
“Alright, it settled then,” said Harry, “we will try and rescue them. The only question that remains is… how are we going to do it?” Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
“Well,” said Hermione, “we have to first create a distraction here and leave. Then, we have to somehow get to Azkaban. After that, break in, rescue them both, and get back here before anyone catches us. All the while, prevent anyone from knowing that we have left Hogwarts.” Harry’s smile quickly faded. The more Hermione went on about the plan, the more hopeless it seemed.
“Well the distraction part’s easy,” said Ron. “All we need to do is get everyone inside one room, and then scare them away. And, when’s the next time that everyone’s going to be in the same room at once?” he asked Harry and Hermione, appearing to already know the answer.
“The Halloween feast!”
“But Ron,” said Harry, “the feast is just a little less than a month away. By then, Sirius and Lupin could be going insane, or they could have gone insane! We need to do it as soon as possible!”
“No Harry,” said Hermione, “we should wait. For one, we do need everyone to be in one place, and the Halloween Feast is the closest. Even now, for breakfast, not everyone’s down here. Some are early for class, others are sleeping, and teachers are spread all over the place. Also, we need time to form a plan, and we need to wait a while so that the ministry’s security isn’t as tight around Sirius and Lupin. After a few days of being in Azkaban, your mind starts to go, and you don’t need guards anymore.” Harry was about to argue, but he thought better of himself, and knew that she was right.
By the time their conversation was over, the bell had rung for their first class (Care of Magical Creatures) and Harry didn’t have time to confront Tci…. During breakfast anyway…
It was a very exciting class: almost everybody’s egg hatched, and everyone got their first glimpse of a newborn dragon. Even though they weren’t especially… cute, there was a special aura around them that made all the kids love them.
When the bell rang, Hagrid collected them up, and Harry decided this would be a good time to talk to Tci. Harry ran up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. Tci turned around, looking ecstatic.
“Harry!” he said. “How are you-” he was cut off.
“What do you think you’re doing Tci?” asked Harry angrily. Tci looked shocked.
“What? What do you mean?” he asked, looking taken aback.
“You know, Tci, you saw me!” Harry yelled.
“Saw you… doing… what? Where? What are you talking about Harry?” Tci asked. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
“You mean… you didn’t send me a note saying you saw me… well, did you?!”
“No, of course not Harry!” said Tci. “I would never do anything like that!” Harry looked at Tci, and he couldn’t help but trust him.
“Well then, what were you doing last night by Dumbledore’s office?” asked Harry. Tci’s sadness suddenly turned to an expression of seriousness.
“What? Oh, that! I was… going to see Dumbledore. See, at Durmstrang, we take a Curses class, and I had a few questions