94 hp Diagon Alley

weakness. "

Gwen admired Hermione in her heart, and she offered to accompany Harry into Umbridge's office as a symbol of unity and loyalty.

"Well, well, even if we can do these things, I don't expect us to last more than five minutes," said Hermione, and Harry seemed to accept the plan, which made her look a lot easier, "because Filch and those nasty investigative teams were hanging around.

Harry didn't answer, but sprinted out of the classroom and started fighting his way through the crowd milling around outside.The rest of the people in the room looked at each other with wry smiles, only Luna was still struggling with the Department of Mysteries and Sirius.

In just three or four minutes Harry jumped down the last few steps and joined Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Gwen and Luna at the end of the corridor in Umbridge's office.

"Got it," he said out of breath, "are you ready to start?"

Ron strode away, his fiery red hair visible all the way until he reached the end of the passage, Gwen following him a few paces behind him, while in the other direction, Ginny of the same color The bright head swayed among the jostling students, followed by Luna's golden head.

"Come this way," whispered Hermione, grabbing Harry by the wrist and dragging him into an alcove where, on a pillar, the hideous stone head of a medieval wizard was muttering to himself. "Are you sure you're all right, Harry? You're still very pale."

"I'm fine." He answered briefly, and pulled out the invisibility cloak from his schoolbag.In fact, his scar was aching, but not so much that he thought Voldemort hadn't dealt Sirius the fatal blow; it was much more painful when Voldemort punished Avery. "Here," said Harry, hastily throwing the Invisibility Cloak over the two of them, who stood listening intently to the Latin muttered by the stone bust in front of them.

There was a sudden commotion in the direction of the Transfiguration classroom far from the castle, and they heard a member of the action team report to Filch: "There is a screaming Bludger in the classroom—it is said that Peeves did it, and the principal has already Hurry over."

As for their proximity. "You can't come here!" Ginny was yelling to the crowd. "No, sorry, you have to take a detour and take the spiral staircase, someone just released choke gas in this area-"

They heard people complaining, and an unfriendly voice said, "I don't see the gas."

"That's because they have no color," said Ginny angrily, convincingly, "but if you want to go through the gas, so be it, we can use your body for the next idiot who doesn't believe us." to prove.

Slowly, the crowd thinned out.News of the choke-gas seems to have spread; people don't come in that direction anymore.When the nearby area was empty, Hermione said softly, "I think we're about to get moving, Harry - come on, let's get started."

They walked forward in the cloak of invisibility.Luna was standing at the end of the far corridor with her back to them.As they passed Ginny, Hermione whispered, "Good job. Don't forget the signal!" "What signal?" Harry whispered when they reached Umbridge's door.

"If they see Umbridge coming, sing 'Weasley is our king' together," Hermione replied, as Harry thrust Sirius' knife through the crack of the door.The lock clicked open and they entered the office.

The gaudy cats were basking in the pre-evening sun, warming their plates, but otherwise the office was as quiet and empty as last time.Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

They took off the cloak; Hermione hurried to the window and, standing out of sight to those outside, took out her wand and peered into the grounds below.Harry rushed to the fireplace, grabbed the can of Floo powder, and threw a pinch into the hearth, where emerald flames were instantly ablaze.Immediately he knelt down, thrust his head into the dancing flames, and shouted: "12, Grimmauld Place!"

Although his knees were still firmly on the cold office floor, his head began to spin, as if he had just come off a playground carousel.He had been squinting at the whirling ash, and when the whirling stopped, he opened his eyes and found himself looking at the long, deserted kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place.

There was no one in the kitchen.He had expected this to happen, but when he looked at the empty room, it seemed that a hot uneasiness and panic surged in his stomach, which caught him off guard. "Sirius?" he called. "Sirius, are you there?" His voice echoed through the room, but there was no response except for a slight scuffling to the right of the fire. "Who's there?" he cried, thinking it might just be a mouse.Kreacher, the house-elf, slid into his sight.Even though his hands appeared to have been badly injured recently and were wrapped in thick bandages, he looked as if he was very happy about something.

"It's the Potter boy's head in the fire," Kreacher said to the empty kitchen, furtively glancing at Harry with an odd, smug look, "Kreacher is weird, he did it What?"

"Where's Sirius, Kreacher?" Harry asked.

The house-elf gasped and chuckled.

"Master is out, Harry Potter."

"Where did he go? Where did he go, Kreacher?"

Kreacher just giggled.

"I warn you!" Harry said, knowing perfectly well that he couldn't punish Kreacher in the situation he was in, "Where's Lupin? Where's Mad-Eye? Any one of them, are they there? "

"No one's here except Kreacher!" said the elf cheerfully, turning his back to Harry and slowly walking towards the door on the other side of the kitchen, "Kreacher thinks he should go and chat with the mistress for a while now. Yeah. He hasn't had a chance in a long time, and Kreacher's master always keeps him away from her—"

"Where's Sirius?" Harry called out from behind the elf. "Kreacher, did he go to the Department of Mysteries?" Kreacher stopped where he was.Harry could just make out the back of his bald head through the woody chair legs in front of him. "The master didn't tell poor Kreacher where he was going," said the elf softly.

"But you know!" Harry cried, "do you? You know where he is!"

After a moment of silence, the elf let out the loudest giggle. "Master won't be back from the Department of Mysteries!" he said happily. "Kreacher and his mistress will be left alone again!" He hurried on, through the door and into the hall.

"you--"

Before Harry could utter any curses or insults, he felt a sharp pain in the top of his head; he inhaled so much soot that he choked and found himself being pulled back through the flames.At last, in a sudden fright, he looked up and saw Umbridge's pale, broad face.She dragged him out of the fire by the hair and was pulling his neck back as if trying to slit his throat.

"You think," she whispered, turning Harry's neck back a little more so Harry is now looking at the ceiling, "after two sniffs, I'll let another litter picker Dirty critter into my office behind my back? After sniffing in, I put a burglar-sensing spell around the door, you silly boy. Take his wand," she said, looking at Harry out of sight. Someone said aloud, and Harry felt a hand fumble in the breast pocket of his robes and took his wand away, "And hers."

Harry heard a scuffle at the door, and he knew that Hermione's wand had also been taken.

"I wonder why you're in my office," Umbridge said, shaking his fist in Harry's hair, so Harry wobbled too.

"I'm—wanting my Firebolt/Arrow!" he said hoarsely.

"Liar." Umbridge began to shake his head again. "Your broom is securely watched in the basement, and you know it all too well, Potter. Your head is in my fire. You are Who to contact?"

"Nobody—" said Harry, trying to break free from her.He felt some hairs were separating from the scalp.

"Liar!" yelled Umbridge.She pushed Harry away from her, and Harry slammed into the table.Now he saw Hermione pinned against the wall with Millicent Burst wringing her hands.Malfoy was leaning against the windowsill, smiling smugly as he tossed Harry's wand up into the air with one hand and caught it again.

There was confusion outside as several tall Slytherins walked in, each grabbing Ron, Ginny, Luna and - to Harry's bewilderment - Neville, who was being held back by Crabbe I couldn't move my neck and looked like I was about to suffocate.All four of them had their mouths gagged.

"Catch them all," Wallington said, pushing Ron roughly into the house. "This one," he poked Neville with a thick finger, "to stop me from grabbing her," he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the big Slytherin who was holding her The girl's calf, "So I brought him too."

"Very well, very well," said Umbridge, looking at Ginny who was struggling, "well, it seems that soon, Hogg