Aurora | Harry Potter

chapter twenty-eight

"Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you can remember," Harry explains, walking around and watching everyone attempting to conjure their Patronus. "Let it fill you up."

Hagrid's finally come back to school and we found out it's because he's been trying to convince giants to join Dumbledore's cause instead of Voldemort's, Bellatrix Lestrange has escaped from Azkaban and Umbridge is still as hateful as ever. 

"A full body Patronus is the most difficult to produce, but shield forms can also be equally useful against a variety of opponents," Harry says as Ginny successfully produces her Patronus, which is a large horse.

Harry starts to walk towards me, so I close my eyes and try to think of multiple happy memories... anytime I spent with Cedric, being with my friends, the Yule Ball, being with Harry, anything... 

"Expecto Patronum!" I exclaim as I open my eyes. A large white spell emerges from my wand and takes the form of a dolphin, making my mouth grow into a large smile. "Fantastic, Aurora!" Harry says, quickly pressing a quick, cheeky kiss on my cheek.

"Just remember, your Patronus can only protect you for as long as you stay focused," Harry says, so I keep all my focus on happy memories. I can see multiple Patronus Charms being successfully conjured, Luna, Ron, Hermione and others all seeing their full body Patronus'. 

But then, the lights start to flicker and the chandelier on the ceiling starts to shake. I draw my Patronus in and look around the room, everyone's faces displaying confusion. A large booming sound starts to emerge from the other side of a wall, Harry and a young boy, whom I now know is called Nigel, slowly walk up to the wall. 

A pane of glass shatters completely and I stand against the twins, who both have their wands raised at the wall. Harry walks up to the now open wall, a hole in the middle of it, which is when I hear Umbridge's voice.

"I'll make short work of this," she says, then Harry quickly pulls Nigel away as the wall is blown apart, sending pieces of bricks flying everywhere. "Get back!" I shout and parts of the wall tumble towards the group, everyone quickly stumbling backwards.

We all look up to see Umbridge and Filch surrounded by various Slytherin students, including Crabbe and Goyle. Then, Draco saunters across, holding Cho roughly by her robes.

"Get them."

-

I find out later in the Common Room that Cho had been slipped some Veritaserum by someone and when she was questioned by Umbridge, she let it slip what had been going on, out of her control.

Various students, including Harry, are quite mad with her. But I know it wasn't her fault, so I've tried to show her as much kindness as I can when I see her, knowing that she's also struggling to come to terms with Cedric still.

From what I've heard, they'd organised a date together for after the last task, which obviously never happened...

"I've no idea where he's taking us," Ron whispers, which breaks me out of my daydream. Hagrid invited me and the others to his hut, only to take us into the Forbidden Forest, claiming he has something to show us but can't tell us what.

"Hagrid, why can't you just tell us?" Harry asks as we step over various large tree roots and branches, pushing through bushes and bristles. Hagrid stops walking and when I look around him, I see and hear a large group of centaurs charging through the forest.

"I've never seen the centaurs so riled," Hagrid says in a surprised tone, "and they're dangerous at the best of times." He sighs before continuing. "If the Ministry restricts their territory much more, they're going to have a full uprising on their hands."

"Hagrid, please just tell us what's going on?" I ask, just as confused as the other three. "Sorry to be so mysterious, you four... I-I wouldn't be bothering you at all with it, but... with Dumbledore gone... I'll likely be getting the sack any day now."

Oh yeah, Harry said that when Umbridge took him, Cho, Kingsley and the Minister to see Dumbledore, he just vanished with Fawkes and hasn't returned, so as a result... Umbridge has taken over as Headmistress of Hogwarts...

"And I just couldn't leave without telling someone about him," Hagrid finishes, playing with his fingers slightly. "Him?" I ask, still just as confused. Hagrid leads us further into the forest and we're greeted with the behind of a giant.

"Grawpy!" Hagrid shouts, trying to catch the giants attention, "down here, you great buffoon." We all stumble backwards as Grawp stumbles forwards, his eyes looking around in wonder. "I brought you some company," Hagrid says, which is when he notices us four. He storms forward but gets pulled back by a rope, tied around his waist and attached to a nearby tree.

"I couldn't just leave him because... because he's my brother." Me and Ron simultaneously say, "Blimey," as a reaction, all of us watching the large creature. "Well, half brother, really. He's completely harmless, just like I said! A little... high spirited, that's all."

Hermione trips backwards over a branch and Grawp immediately scoops her up, holding her in his hand. "Hagrid, do something!" Ron exclaims as he runs and picks up a large, thick stick. He whimpers slightly as he runs forward, slamming the stick at Grawp's knee, but it just snaps in half and Ron gets pushed back. 

"Grawp!" Hermione shouts, making all of us look up at her. "Put me down. Now." Grawp's face falls and he carefully places Hermione back on the ground, before retreating back to the tree. "Are you alright?" Ron asks, seeing Hermione holding her arm slightly. "I'm fine, just needs a firm hand, that's all," she replies. 

Grawp starts throwing out objects from inside the tree and eventually turns around with the handlebars of a bike, ringing the bell. He holds it out to Hermione, who rings it and hands it back to a very happy Grawp. Hagrid then asks us all just to keep an eye on him if he's not around and we all nod.

I slowly walk forward to Grawp and raise my hand. "What are you doing, Aurora?" I hear Harry ask in a slightly worried voice. I gently place my hand on Grawp's own, giving him a smile before turning around. 

"Letting him know he's got a friend," I reply as I feel a large, heavy hand carefully rest on top of mine.