Obliviate {Book 1--EDITING}

27. The stag and doe^

"Yes," Hermione broke the silence. "It's us, going down to Hagrid's."

"Are you telling us," Harry hissed. "That we're in this cupboard, but we're also out there too?"

"Yes," Hermione said her ear at the door. "It sounds no more than four pairs of feet..."

"Right then, are you an actual time-lady, or did you scrap down the TARDIS for a tiny one?" I demanded.

"It's called a time-turner," Hermione began. "I've been using it to get to lessons. McGonagall made me swear not to tell anybody. I've been doing hours over, but---" She trailed off.

"You don't understand why three hours in the past will help Sirius." I added.

"Well, three hours ago, we were on our way down to Hagrid's..." Harry trailed off. He was in such fierce concentration, that he looked like he was trying to lay an egg. "More than one innocent life can be saved..."

"Buckbeak!" I shouted, and Hermione fell from the bucket she was sitting on with fright. "He told us where the window is! We have to fly there, and save Sirius! They can escape!"

Hermione looked astounded. "If we can do that without being seen, it would be a miracle!"

"Well, we've got to try, haven't we?" said Harry. He stood up and pressed his ear against the door. "Doesn't sound like anyone's there... Come on, let's go."

Harry pushed open the cupboard door. The entrance hall was deserted, and we hurried out into the shadowy grounds.

"We'll run for it," I told her determinedly. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout —"

"We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"

I set off at a sprint, the others behind mine. Tearing across the gardens, trying to avoid stepping on the cabbages I leapt into the shadows of the trees, panting like I'd ran a marathon.

"Right," she gasped. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's... Keep out of sight, Harry..."

We made our way silently through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the forest. Seeing the hut through the forest, I felt like I was in some sort of twisted nightmare as I saw the six of us go inside of the hut.

"Wow, does my hair really look that minging from the back?" I cringed. "Ugh, I need to grow my hair out!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Move along a bit, we need to get nearer to Buckbeak!"

Creeping through the edge of the trees, I could see Buckbeak, tied to the fence, looking miserable.

"Now?" Harry whispered.

"No!" said Hermione. "If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"

"That's going to give us about sixty seconds," I said nervously. This was starting to seem impossible.

At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin.

"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione whispered. "Gennie's going to find Scabbers in a moment —"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Gennie's shriek of surprise.

"Hermione," said Harry suddenly, "what if we — we just run in there and grab Pettigrew —"

"No!" said Hermione in a terrified whisper. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen —"