in formation – or at least, a part of it. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna were huddled together at the end of Umbridge's corridor.

"Don't you think we should find Margaret?" asks Ron, choosing his words carefully – Neville and Luna did not know where Margaret was from. "She can tell us, can't she?"

"Luna and I tried while Harry was getting the Invisibility Cloak," says Ginny, frowning. "No one's seen her after your exam this morning..."

"After what happened last night, however," says Hermione, biting her lip nervously. "Maybe we should find her later..."

"We don't have time," says Harry, frowning. "Keep an eye out for her, if you can find her while I'm gone..."

But they would not be finding Margaret any time soon, for she was hiding on the boundaries of the Forbidden Forest.

During the History of Magic exam, nearly the entire paper of which she had left, Margaret had watched as Harry fell off of his desk, clutching his head and yelling in pain. Old Professor Tofty had taken him out of the Great Hall whilst the other students watched, and had returned without him.

Little did their classmates know, Harry had just seen a fake, but seemingly very real vision of his godfather being tortured by the Darkest Wizard of all time...

As soon as the exam was over, Margaret dashed from the Great Hall, found an empty corner and teleported to her room where she changed into more comfortable clothes, secured her wand and took a quick bite of the remaining macrons to calm her nerves. When she was as prepared as she could be, she teleported outside.

The sun was setting quickly above. It was strange to think it was only that morning when she was in Paris. It felt like it had been days since then.

In Margaret's opinion, waiting was the hardest part. Every single minute passed excruciatingly slowly as anxiety clutched her heart tighter in its unforgiving grip. The worst part was that she almost wanted the time to freeze. She did not want to go to the Department of Mysteries, she did not want to leave the safe confines of Hogwarts; she wanted to tell Harry that Sirius was perfectly all right at Grimmauld Place and that Kreacher was currently lying to him under Bellatrix Lestrange's orders...

But she could not mess with time like that, else Voldemort's return would never be proven, Fudge would continue to rule, Umbridge would remain at Hogwarts, Dumbledore would not be able to return, and Sirius...

Margaret buried her face in her hands, biting her tongue so hard that she tasted the metallic tinge of blood; but she forced down her sobs. This was no time to cry. She was not weak.

Before long, the sounds of grass under shuffling feet and muffled talking filled the air and Margaret peeked out from behind the tall tree.

A little ways away, Hermione and Harry were leading the striking pink and plump figure of Umbridge toward the forest. The three disappeared amongst the first shade of trees and Margaret, drawing her wand, broke into a sprint in the same direction. Midway through, she paused, her heightened senses alert for the littlest of sounds as she looked around – they were well off the forest path now.

"It's a bit further in!" Hermione's voice sounds loudly from her right, and quickly Margaret follows it, knowing she wanted to be heard. "It had to be somewhere students wouldn't find it accidentally!"

The canopy of trees above was so thick that it seemed to be well past dusk inside the forest. Margaret took advantage of that, ducking behind trees and watched from the darkness as Harry and Hermione came to a stop in the large clearing where Hagrid had kept Grawp. However, the ten-foot giant was nowhere to be seen; the ropes which bound him to nearby trees stumps were lying torn on the ground.

"Well," says Umbridge, looking in between them, "where is this 'weapon'?" When neither spoke up, Umbridge paused as realisation dawned on her patchy face. "There isn't one, is there?" she states. "You were trying to trick me..."

Umbridge pointed her wand at them, her hand shaking. "You know... I really hate children," she speaks quietly before her face contorts into an aggrieved rage; she exclaims, "Look what you've done to me!"

A twig snapped on the uneven hill behind her.

Umbridge whipped around and saw that emerging from the shadows beyond were at least fifty centaurs. Trembling, she stumbled, backing up past Harry and Hermione shield herself with them.

"You have no business here, centaur," she begins shakily. "This is a Ministry matter."

The centaurs closed in threateningly, their bows raised and loaded, pointing at Harry, Hermione and Umbridge.

"Lower your weapons," commands Umbridge arrogantly, shaking now not only with fright but also with indignation. "I warn you: Under the Law Fifteen B, as creatures of near-human intelligence-"

An arrow flew so close to her head that it caught her mousy hair in passing causing her to let out an ear-splitting scream.

"FILTHY HALF-BREEDS! BEASTS! UNCONTROLLED ANIMALS!" she shrieks, pointing her wand at the centaur who had shot the arrow, bellowing, "Incarcerous!"

A rope flew from her wand and caught the centaur around his neck, beginning to strangle him, before winding around his torso and arms as well. He gave a cry and reared onto his hind legs in an attempt to free himself, but lost his balance and tumbled painfully down the slope.

Hermione rushed forward onto her knees, attempting to pull at the tightly bound ropes. Harry followed suit, but standing guard behind her.

"Please!" she cries, turning to Umbridge. "Please, stop it! Please!"

"No, enough!" bellows Umbridge, positively maniac. "I will have order-"

"Relashio!" The ropes come free off of the centaur, and Umbridge whipped around to the perpetrator. "Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew off to the side, disappearing somewhere in the undergrowth.

"Xen-! ARGH!"

Her yell turned into a scream as she was lifted off of her feet and eight feet into the air. Grawp looked at her in confusion as she wriggled and flailed around, screaming in his hand. The centaurs thundered forward, bellowing with rage and loading their bows.

"HAGGER!" roars Grawp.

Harry seized Hermione by the arm and hastily pulled her around the raging centaurs towards where Margaret stood, wand raised.

"NO!" Hermione screams as they begin shooting arrows at Grawp. "No! It's not his fault! He doesn't understand-!"

Grawp looked from Umbridge then down at the centaurs with child-like bewilderment. When another few arrows lodged themselves in his face, he let out a cry of pain. Pebble-sized droplets of his blood showered down as he dropped Umbridge amongst the centaurs and took a massive swipe at a nearby centaur, sweeping it right off its feet.

"Harry," Margaret breathes, pulling him and Hermione further away by the neck of their robes. "We need to run-"

"GRAWP WANT HAGGER!"

"Potter, do something!" shrieks Umbridge desperately as two centaurs seize her by the arms while some shoot up at Grawp. "Tell them I mean no harm!"

"I'm sorry, Professor," says Harry, sounding anything but sorry, "but I must not tell lies."

"Noooooo!" Umbridge shrieks. "I AM SENIOR UNDER-SECRETARY...! NO! UNHAND ME, YOU ANIMALS-! LET ME GO-! NO-! NOOOOO...!"

At that very moment, Grawp decided he no longer wanted the unwanted company in his clearing. He stomped his feet loudly causing the ground to shake underneath them. The centaurs turned at once towards the giant, loading their bows.

Grawp looked down at Hermione; blood was still trickling down his face, his misshapen eyes were teary.

"Hermy," he says in a deep, rumbling voice.

"Goodness," Hermione breathes, "he- he remembered!"

"HERMY!" Grawp roars, causing the centaurs' arms on their bows to tense. "WHERE HAGGER?"

"I don't know!" squeals Hermione, looking like she was about to faint. "I don't know where Hagrid is, Grawp, I'm so sorry!"

"Get away from here, giant!" calls a centaur angrily. "You are not welcome among us!"

"GRAWP WANT HAGGER!"

One of his giant hands swooped down upon them and knocked a snow-white centaur off of its hooves.

Apparently, that was what the centaurs had been waiting for, as the next moment, fifty arrows went soaring through the air at the giant, causing him to howl with pain and rage. He straightened up again, rubbing his face with his enormous hands, breaking off the arrow shafts but forcing the heads in still deeper.

He yelled and stamped his enormous feet and the centaurs scattered out of the way.

Margaret seized both Harry and Hermione's arms, both of whom were nearly shell-shocked, and pulled them backwards.

"RUN!" she shouts over the chaos.

The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the blundering giant grew fainter and fainter as they ran through the darkened forest, not stopping until they could no longer hear them.

The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the blundering giant grew fainter and fainter as they ran through the darkened forest, not stopping until they could no longer hear them.

As he ran, Harry's scar gave another jolt of pain, and a wave of terror swept over him. They had wasted so much time; they were even further from rescuing Sirius now. Not only had Harry managed to lose his wand but they were stuck in the middle of the Forbidden Forest with no means of transport whatsoever.

"Smart plan," he spits at Hermione and Margaret, keen to release some of his fury. "Really smart plan. Where exactly are we going from here?"

"Just follow, Harry!" Margaret says over her shoulder, mildly exasperated.

"Wait!" Hermione exclaims, running behind the two. "Margaret – is it true? Is Sirius really-?"

"Hermione, I saw it!" exclaims Harry, ducking under a low branch at last second. "Voldemort's got him – Kreacher said Sirius went to the-"

"Yes, but Harry, can you really trust Kreacher?" asks Hermione, her voice a bit far as she cautiously jumped over a fallen tree trunk. "And how exactly are you planning to get all the way to London?"

Margaret abruptly skidded to a stop on the mossy forest floor, almost causing Harry to run into her from behind.

"Here!" she shouts, panting as she waves her hands above her head. They were now standing in the clearing where Hagrid had shown them the thestrals.

"Margaret! Harry! Hermione!"

Harry craned his neck, a spark of hope igniting within him.

Rushing off the forest path were Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna. All of them looked a little worse for wear – there were several long scratches running the length of Ginny's cheek, a purple lump swelling above Neville's right eye, Ron's lip bleeding worse than ever – but all were looking rather pleased with themselves.

"How did you get away?" asks Harry in amazement, taking his wand from Ron.

"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm; Neville brought off a really nice Impediment Jinx," says Ron airily, handing back Hermione's wand too. "But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy with Bat-Bogey Hex – it was superb! Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"

"She got carried away by a herd of centaurs," says Harry.

"And they left you behind?" asks Ginny, astonished.

"No, Grawp chased them away."

"Who's Grawp?" asks Luna interestedly.

"Hagrid's little brother," Ron answers before promptly turning to Margaret. "Anyway, nevermind that – Margaret, now that you're here, you can tell us if You-Know-Who's really got Sirius or-?"

"Yes, he's got Sirius, Ron," Harry snaps, face scrunching up in pain as his scar gives another painful prickle. "But I can't see how we're going to get there to help him..."

Margaret was now looking over her shoulder at the empty gloom between two trees before turning back to Harry and Hermione and scanning their clothes which had only a few splatters of Grawp's blood on them.

"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" said Luna almost matter-of-factly.

"Okay," Harry begins irritably, rounding on her, "first of all, 'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and Ron's the only one with a broomstick, so-"

"I've got a broom!" Ginny interrupts.

"Yeah, but you're not coming," Ron tells her angrily.

"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!" Ginny counters.

"You're too-" Harry begins but she interrupts him.

"I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer's Stone," she says fiercely, "and it's because of me Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office-"

"Yeah, but-"

Margaret cut them off by giving a wild cry towards the gloom, her hands cupping her mouth. The lot of them, except Luna, turned to her with a start. She gave another cry.

For a moment, nothing happened except them staring at her like she was a nutter. Then Luna smiled, stepping forward.

"Good thinking, Margaret," she says serenely, strolling over to the space between two trees from where the first thestral had emerged, white eyes gleaming eerily.

"Yes!" whispers Harry.

"Harry, listen to me," Margaret says urgently. "Act like I'm not here. Do what you need to do – be sure of yourself... You understand? Leave the rest to me," she says more confidently than she felt.

Harry nodded, feeling a little grateful for her words, and moved towards the second thestral.

"What?" mutters Neville in puzzlement. If they noticed him, they didn't answer.

"Is it those mad horse things that you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?" asks Ron, squinting at the air Luna was petting.

"Yeah," says Harry.

"How many?"

"Just two."

"Well, we need four," says Hermione.

"Five, Hermione," Ginny corrects, scowling.

"I think there are seven of us, actually," says Luna.

"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" Harry tells them heatedly.

"We were all in the D.A. together," Neville speaks up. "It was supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real – or was that all just a game?"

"No, of course it wasn't-"

"Then we should come too," says Neville simply. "We want to help."

Right at that moment, no fewer than six or seven thestrals picked through the trees and made their ways into the clearing, effectively cutting off any argument Harry had.

"Fine," says Harry irritably. "It's your choice, then. Pick one and get on."

Soon enough, Luna and Margaret had helped the rest onto the backs of four thestrals and weaved their hands into the horses' manes for balance; before getting on two themselves. And just as soon, they were flying out of the forest, higher and over the Hogwarts castle and its grounds.

Margaret had never flown before in a magical way, and she won't lie, it was a bone-chilling experience at first. Stifling her scream, she clenched her arms and legs tightly around the horse's bony rump to avoid sliding off its back. But after a while, she got used to the weightless sensation and began to relax a bit.

"This is bizarre!" Ron exclaims shakily.

Margaret shot a look back at him and understood why – he was flying hundreds of kilometres an hour without any visible means of support. A little ways away, Neville looked green and was shivering; whilst Hermione had her eyes tightly shut and face buried in the horse's mane; and Ginny looked pale but she stared ahead at Harry's figure determinedly.

"If I could just see it-!"

"You better hope it stays invisible," Harry tells Ron darkly over the wind.

The thestrals streaked gracefully over Hogsmeade, past the small village and above the highlands of Scotland. The sky turned to a dusky purple littered with tiny silver stars, and soon it was only the lights of Muggle towns that gave any clue of how far from the ground they were or how very fast they were travelling.

Margaret nuzzled her face in the thestral's mane, readjusting her grip around it.

For a while, she absently observed the distant towns and villages, imagining people's ordinary lives and their mundane problems; she watched as they crossed the Scottish borders below and entered England. At any other time, this would have been the most thrilling experience of her life; but not today.

The cold air was slightly painful against her hands and face, but she welcomed the discomfort. It took her mind off of the remorse twisting in her heart...

She must have slipped in and out of consciousness after that, for the next thing she noticed was her stomach jolting. Hermione gave a shriek of terror next to her as the thestrals all changed position.

They were descending at last: In the distance was the Big Ben by the majestic River Thames. They could see the tops of buildings, streams of headlights on the freeway, squares of pale yellow that were windows.

And quite suddenly, it seemed, they were hurtling toward the pavement and the thestrals touched the ground as lightly as shadows.

Margaret slipped off of her thestral's back with ease, a smile growing on her face as she petted its shiny neck and whispered a thank you. The thestral, as though understanding her, gave a soft neigh.

Harry landed in the front, dismounted and began looking around. Ron landed a short way away and toppled immediately off his thestral onto the pavement.

"Never again," he wheezes while looking at the ground so happily as though he might kiss it. "Never, ever again... that was the worst-"

Hermione and Ginny touched down on either side of him. Both slid off their thestrals a little more gracefully than Ron, though with similar expressions of relief at being back on firm ground. Neville jumped down, shaking, but Luna dismounted smoothly.

"Where do we go from here, then?" Luna asks Harry politely, as though this was all an interesting day-trip.

Margaret glanced around at their surroundings, spotting the overflowing dumpster and the vandalized telephone booth by its side, both faded as ever under the glaring orange light of the streetlamp.

"Over here," says Harry quickly, giving his thestral a quick, grateful pat, before leading the way to the telephone booth and opening the door.

Margaret was on his heel, entering quickly. Ron and Ginny marched in after her; Hermione, Neville, and Luna squashed themselves in after them; Harry took one glance back at the thestrals, who were now foraging for scraps of rotten food inside the dumpster, then forced himself into the box after Luna.

"Six-two-four-four-two, right?" asks Margaret, picking up the receiver.

"Yes," says Harry, and she promptly turned the numbers on the old dial.

A cool female voice sounded from the air. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Margaret Xenakis," Harry speaks very quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood... We're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"

"Thank you," says the cool female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."