Aurora | Harry Potter

chapter seventy-seven

We Apparate into Hogsmeade, but before any of us even have a chance to do anything, a Caterwauling Charm is set off and a horrible, cat-like screeching starts to go off. It rebounds off every building nearby, overlapping repeatedly and lights start to flicker on, signalling that we need to get moving. "Quick, through here," I whisper, pulling Harry's sleeve as I dash into the nearest building, hearing the group follow close behind me. We all duck behind a table covered with a large sheet, all of us clutching our wands.

Hermione flinches ever so slightly as the sound of sheets being torn away and when I look over the top of the table, very carefully, I see two Snatchers looking around the area. Just as they start to close in on the four of us, another alarm is set off and they hurry away, exclamations to one another growing fainter by the second. Once they've completely disappeared, the four of us sprint out of the open building and through a series of alleyways, eventually coming to a halt at the sight of a locked gate.

"In here," a voice calls out and when I look to my left where the sound came from, my heart falters for a second. A man is stood in the doorway, a man who bears a very similar appearance to Albus Dumbledore, but there are slight differences; his hair and beard is a lot darker, his face holds a lot of seriousness and there is a noticeable darkness behind his eyes. After I walk in first and then turn around to Ron and Hermione, both of them have the same look of shock on their face. 

"You guys saw too?" I whisper to them after they walk down the stairs with me, still rather surprised by what I just saw. The two of them nod and that's when I turn to look at the portrait; a young girl dressed in blue and holding onto a book, light chestnut brown hair flowing just past her shoulders. But then, I get distracted by a mirror hung to the side showing... Harry's face. "Harry," I call out, aware that he is somewhere behind me, "I can see you in this mirror." Slightly confused, he walks over to me and his eyes widen with realisation upon looking at the mirror.

Just as he raises his arm up, the shard of mirror in his hand matching the missing piece, a door nearby shuts and the large man calls us out. "Bloody fools," he grumbles, looking across at all of us, "What are you thinking, coming here? Have you any idea how dangerous it is?" Completely disregarding the man's questions, Harry responds with naming him. "You're Aberforth. Dumbledore's brother."

That's why he looked similar. 

"You're the one who sent Dobby," Harry remarks and after Aberforth asks where we've left him, I reply saying that the last time we saw him was at Shell Cottage. "Who gave that to you? The mirror?" Harry asks Aberforth, questioning him about the mirror hung beside the portrait of the girl, who reveals that it was given to him by Mundungus Fletcher almost a year ago. As Harry tries to argue that he shouldn't have done so, Aberforth interrupts him and acknowledges that the mirror previously belonged to Sirius.

My heart sinks in my chest at the mention of Harry's godfather, unable to forget his tragic murder by the hands of his deranged cousin. 

Aberforth briefly leaves the room and when he comes back, he places a tray of bread and Butterbeer on the table. Hermione and Ron quickly take a glass and some of the bread, but I stay close to Harry stood by the portrait, feeling unable to stomach anything right now. "Do you hear from anyone else in The Order, at all?" I ask, to which Aberforth bluntly responds with, "The Order's finished."

He proceeds to claim that You-Know-Who has already won, and that anyone trying to say otherwise is practically killing themselves. I feel Harry tense up slightly beside me, but I take his hand in mine and stroke it gently, trying to calm him back down. "We need to get back to Hogwarts, tonight," I reply, trying to sound as collected as I possibly can. "Dumbledore gave us a job to do," Harry adds, "we've been hunting Horcruxes and we think the last one's inside the castle, but we'll need your help getting in."

Aberforth states that the mission Dumbledore has set us on is a suicide mission and that we should all just go home, but I retort back. "Dumbledore trusted Harry to see this through, and he trusts the rest of us to help him in any way possible." The raised and slightly angered voice of Aberforth snaps back, asking what makes any of us think that we could trust Dumbledore, which just makes Harry tenser. 

"In all the time you knew him, did he ever mention my name?" He continues, staring directly at Harry now, "Did he ever mention hers?" He gestures to the portrait behind us, and I feel inclined to shake my head in response, but I hold back. He continues to have a go at Harry, calling him a liar to Aberforth and to himself, raising his voice even more at him. 

"I'm not interested in what happened between you and your brother," Harry responds, his tone incredibly calm, "I don't care that you've given up. I trusted the man I knew. We need to get into the castle tonight." Unable to read the following expression in Aberforth's face, I watch as he whispers, "You know what to do," to the girl in the portrait, before she walks down the long path and he walks off to another side of the room.

Hermione speaks up: "That's your sister, Ariana, isn't it? She died very young, didn't she?" Aberforth turns around a little, glass in hand, and his tone continues to grow more sinister. "My brother sacrificed many things, Mr. Potter, on his journey to find power... including Ariana... and she was devoted to him. He gave her everything." Just as he turns away, Hermione mumbles a thank you to him. 

As they start to mumble amongst themselves, I step closer to the portrait, the figure of Ariana closing back in. But, there's someone else with her. "She's coming back with someone," I observe, and the rest of the group turn to see my observation. Before we can see who is with Ariana, the portrait swings open to reveal a very familiar face.

"Neville!" I exclaim, my eyes wide with surprise and the corners of my mouth turned up into a beaming smile. The kind-hearted Gryffindor steps out of the portrait entrance and as soon as his feet touch the floor, I pull him into a warm embrace, my arms wrapping around his back tightly. "It's so good to see you," I whisper to him. "It's great to see you, too," Neville replies, his voice bringing an immediate sense of comfort. 

After I pull away from him, Neville briefly says hello to the rest of the group and mentions to Aberforth that he's expecting a few more people to come through, to which the large man just nods in acknowledgement. Then, we all climb into the portrait corridor, ready to get back to Hogwarts.