The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

What Brothers Do

Sarah made sure to stand up and muster some dignity before she removed the disillusionment charm. 

"Nice to see you, too."

Jacob frowned, then rolled his eyes at the sight of Barnaby. 

"You stay there," he said to Elena as he strode over to Merula's cot. "What happened?" he asked, kneeling down beside her. 

"Your sister, what else?" said Merula. She was acting weaker than she was, but she was unable to hide the smirk on her face. "She got me splinched when she brought me here."

Jacob turned back to Sarah. "Why did you come here? And please tell me you have an extremely good reason for being with those two again." He nodded at Barnaby. 

"Crikey, next time Death Eaters are about to kill us, I'll just let them do it I guess," said Sarah, annoyed. "We had to make a quick escape, and the forbidden forest was the first place I thought of. I admit it wasn't the best hiding place, but once we got here, Merula was too badly injured to travel somewhere else."

"Thanks to you," she said.

Sarah bit back a harsh reply, answering Jacob's other question instead. "Barnaby and Elena were here when we arrived. They'll have to leave though, now that Snape's on the lookout. I think...I think they should come with us."

"You know why we can't do that."

"We can trust them. Barnaby's proven that time and time again. Aiden Andrel hasn't bothered him or Elena in weeks. They want to help us."

Jacob looked back to Merula. 

"And you're seriously okay with this?"

"Of course not. But, I've been on my death bed this whole time, there wasn't much I could do."

"'Scuse me," said Hagrid, finally recovering at the sight of Jacob Spellman, alive before him. "Does someone wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

"No," said Jacob. "Sorry Hagrid, but you're not exactly famous for keeping secrets."

"Thanks for asking how we've been, by the way," said Sarah. "Aren't you even a little bit curious about why we're all hiding in a cave with a giant?"

"Believe it or not, the giant's the least troubling thing about this situation," said Jacob. 

He conjured a chair and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Sarah only just noticed how awful he looked. His skin, normally darker than hers, had become pale and sickly. He had dark bags under his eyes, which were red with tiredness. "We need to get out of here. How soon until you can travel?"

"Right now," said Merula. She swung her legs off the cot and stood--too quickly. Jacob had to jump up and stop her from falling. "I'm alright," she insisted, standing up straight. 

"She could maybe travel if we used the knight bus, or if we had a flying carpet," said Sarah. "But in this state, I don't think she should appartate. She'll probably splinch herself again."

"You splinched me! I'd never be stupid enough to splinch myself!"

"Alright, alright," said Jacob. Sarah could practically hear him thinking. "I could leave and come back for you, but this many magical presences in one place won't go unnoticed for long."

"No one's ever been found up 'ere before," said Hagrid. 

"And yet here I am," said Jacob. "I notice there was no spell preventing me from apparating directly inside this cave."

All heads swiveled to Sarah. Her stomach squirmed; she hadn't thought to put up the enchantments she'd lowered when she and Barnaby left. 

"Hang on, I'm not the only that should remember to put up defensives," she bellowed. "And anyway, you wouldn't have been able to apparate here if you weren't rooting around in my brain!"