𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐞 | h. granger

lxvii | patronuses

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
patronuses

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐗 𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐇𝐔𝐓 the moment they heard that he was back. Unfortunately, a certain pink toad had also had the same idea to visit him, because Umbridge's annoying voice could be heard inside.

"Alright, let me handle this." Dakota pulled out her wand, but Hermione quickly snatched it from her.

"Dakota, no," she scolded.

Dakota sighed in disappointment as they crouched down on the side of the hut, peering in through the window.

Umbridge was demanding for Hagrid to tell her where he had been, to which he replied that he had been away for his health. She then said that if she was him, she wouldn't get too used to being back and wouldn't even bother unpacking at all.

"Is that a threat?" Dakota snatched her wand back from Hermione. She pointed it at Umbridge when she stepped out of the hut and was just about to curse her when Harry took it away.

"Kody, no," he said.

"Kody, yes," Dakota argued.

"Kota, no," Hermione scolded once more.

Dakota sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Kota, no," she mumbled.

Once Umbitch was gone, the Legacies hurried inside his hut, eager to hear about why he had been away for so long. They sat around the table with cups of tea. Fang, Hagrid's boarhound, was laying at Lyra's feet.

"This is top secret," Hagrid began. He was holding a cold, raw slab of meat to wounds on his face. "Dumbledore sent me to parley with the giants."

"Giants?!" Hermione gasped.

"Shh." Hagrid held his finger up to his mouth.

Hermione lowered her voice to a whisper. "You found them?"

"Well, they're not that hard to find to be perfectly honest. They're so big, see? I tried to convince them to join the cause, but I wasn't the only one that was trying to win them over."

"Death Eaters?" Lyra asked quietly.

"Yes." Hagrid nodded. "Trying to persuade them to join You-Know-Who."

"Did they?" Harry asked.

"I gave them Dumbledore's message. Suppose some of them remember he was friendly to them, I suppose."

Dakota eyed the cuts and bruises on Hagrid's face. "Did they do that to you?" she asked, motioning to her own face.

"Not exactly, no." Hagrid pressed the slab of meat to his face, but Fang barked, drooling as he eyed it. Hagrid tossed it to him, and the dog began noisily and contently gobbling it up.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. A cold wind blew in through the open window. Hagrid stood up and went over to look out, the six friends right behind him.

"It's changing out there," he said gravely. "Just like last time. There's a storm coming, littluns. We'd all best be ready when she does."

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There had been a mass breakout from Azkaban. One of the escapee's was Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband. If Lyra thought last summer was hard with the Dark Lord moving in, this summer was sure to be an absolute nightmare with two brother-in-laws that don't want her around.

But Lyra wasn't the only one this was affecting.

She and Harry found Ophelia and Neville in the Room of Requirement. They were looking at the picture of the original Order of the Phoenix that Harry had hung up.

Ophelia wasn't one to cry much. She had to stay strong for her little brother and his friends. But after reading that morning's issue of the Daily Prophet, all the emotions she'd been trying to suppress about her parents being tortured to the point where they didn't even recognize their own children came pouring out.

She wiped away a stray tear when she spotted Harry and Lyra. She forced a smile, but Lyra, of course, saw right through her. The younger girl wrapped her arms around her waist in a comforting hug.

"Lia, I'm so sorry," Lyra whispered.

"You don't need to apologize, Lye," Ophelia reassured her.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, confusedly looking between the Longbottom siblings. "Are you guys okay?"

Neville took a deep breath before saying, "Fourteen years ago. . .two Death Eaters, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. . .used the Cruciatus Curse on our parents. She tortured them for information, but. . .they never gave in." He turned his gaze away from the photograph to look at Harry. "I'm quite proud to be their son. But I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to know just yet."

Ophelia put an arm around her little brother. "We're gonna make them proud, Nev." She kissed his forehead before pulling him into a hug. "That's a promise."

After classes that day, Harry and Aliyah were teaching the DA how to perform the Patronus Charm. Lyra worked with Neville and Ophelia while Dakota practiced with Hermione.

Aliyah and Harry had told them to think of the happiest memory they could remember. Dakota had tried with the night Hagrid told her she was a witch and took her and Harry away from the Dursleys, but nothing had happened. She thought of the first time she performed real magic by making her feather levitate in charms class, showing the purebloods in Slytherin that she was just as much a witch as they were, but the result remained the same.

Finally, a memory from first year came to mind. She, Hermione, Harry, and Ron had just saved the Sorcerer's Stone. They had all been awarded last minute points at the end of term feast, making Gryffindor the winner of the House Cup. Although she was disappointed that Slytherin lost, she was happy with what she and her friends had accomplished. That mission sealed the bonds of friendship that she has with them, and if it weren't for their very first adventure four years ago, she and Hermione wouldn't be as close as they were today.

"Ready to give it another shot?" Hermione asked, smiling softly when Dakota nodded. "I've got a really good feeling about this one. Third time's a charm, right?"

"Right." Dakota took in a breath. Concentrating hard on her memory, she flicked her wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery light came out of the end of her wand. It assumed the form of a doe and pranced around the Room of Requirement.

As the light from the many Patronuses faded from the room, a thudding noise could be heard from outside. Harry went over to investigate, as he did so, the wall where the secret entrance was located blasted down, revealing Umbridge, the smug faces of the Inquisitorial Squad, and a very guilty looking Cho Chang.

"This hag is getting on my last fucking nerve," Dakota grumbled as they were all sentenced with a weeks worth of detention. She looked at Hermione with a small pout. "Are you sure I can't hex her, Mione?"

"Positive."