Fear of a Name

Chapter Seventy-Six: The Patronus

Finally, after over an hour...
"Here we come!" Hermione whispered.
We all three got to our feet. Buckbeak raised his head. I saw Lupin, Ron, and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione; then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next came me, then last came Harry and Sirius. We all began to walk toward the castle.

My heart was starting to beat very fast. I glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon...
"Harry," Hermione muttered, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..."
"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again..." said Harry quietly.

"He's not really escaping," I said thoughtfully. "Well, he sort of is, but we know where he's going to go — Malfoy Manor. He's going to want to become a proper Death Eater again rather than having to hide from the others, who all still think he double-crossed them."
"Anyway, how do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" snapped Hermione. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius; we're not supposed to be doing anything else!"
"All right!"

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. I saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then I saw movement—
"There goes Lupin," Hermione whispered. "He's transforming."
"Harry, Hermione!" I said suddenly. "We've got to move!"
"We mustn't, like I keep telling Harry—"
"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!"

Hermione gasped.
"Quick!" she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The Dementors will be coming any moment—"
"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now — come on!"
We ran as fast as we could, Buckbeak cantering along behind. I could hear the werewolf howling behind us...

The cabin was in sight; Harry skidded to the door, wrenched it open, and Hermione, Buckbeak and I raced past him; Harry threw himself in after us, and bolted the door. Fang, Hagrid's boarhound, barked loudly.
"Shh, Fang, it's us!" said Hermione, hurrying over and scratching his ears to quieten him. "That was really close!" she said, panting slightly.
"Yeah..."

Harry and I were both looking out of the window. It was much harder to see what was going on from here. Buckbeak seemed very happy to find himself back inside Hagrid's house. He lay down in front of the fire, folded his wings contentedly, and seemed ready for a good nap.
"I think I'd better go outside again, you know," said Harry slowly. "I can't see what's going on — we won't know when it's time—"
Hermione looked up. Her expression was suspicious.

"I'm not going to try and interfere," said Harry quickly. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"
"Well... okay, then... I'll wait here with Buckbeak..."
"I'll come with you," I said. "I hate not knowing what's going on."
"Be careful — there's a werewolf out there — and the Dementors," Hermione said anxiously.

Harry and I stepped outside again and edged around the cabin. I could hear yelping in the distance. That meant the Dementors were closing in on Sirius... Harry, Hermione, and I would be running to him any moment...
For a fraction of a second, we both stood, irresolute, in front of Hagrid's door.
You must not be seen.
But I didn't want to be seen. I wanted to do the seeing... I had to know what was going on, and I had to know who it was that Harry had seen conjuring the Patronus...

We started walking to the lake.

And then there were the Dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake... they were moving away from where we stood, to the opposite bank... we wouldn't have to get near them...
Harry began to run, and I quickly followed.
The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, I could see tiny glimmers of silver — our own attempts at Patronuses—

There was a bush at the very edge of the water. I threw myself behind it, and Harry did the same, both of us peering through the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished.
"Come on!" Harry muttered, staring about. "Where are you? Dad, come on—"
I raised my head to look at the circle of Dementors across the lake. Two of them were lowering their hoods. It was time for the rescuer to appear — but no one was coming to help this time—

"Harry, listen to me," I said quietly. "Nobody's coming."
Harry suddenly flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand.
"Harry!"
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled.

And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. I screwed up my eyes, trying to see what it was. It looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away from Harry, across the black surface of the lake. I saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming Dementors... now it was galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the Dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness... they were gone.

The Patronus turned. It was cantering back toward Harry across the still surface of the water. It wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above... it was going back to him...
It stopped on the bank. Its hooves made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head.
"Prongs," I heard Harry whisper.
But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished.

Harry stood there, hand still outstretched. I scrambled out from behind the bush and ran over to him. I heard hooves behind us. Harry and I both whirled around. Hermione was dashing toward us, dragging Buckbeak behind her.
"What did you do?" she said fiercely. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"
"I just saved all our lives..." said Harry. "Get behind this bush — I'll explain."

Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again.
"Did anyone see you?"
"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw me, but I thought I was my dad! It's okay!"
"Harry, I can't believe it... you conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those Dementors! That's very, very advanced magic."
"I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it... does that make sense?"
"I don't know — Harry, Ivory, look at Snape!"