PHANTOM FIGURES | harry potter

90. fight and flight

     Aspen had no idea what Hermione was planning, or even whether she had a plan. Aspen made sure to walk closely behind her, knowing it would look very suspicious if she appeared not to know where they were going. She did not dare attempt to talk to her; Umbridge was walking so closely behind them that she could hear her ragged breathing.

     Hermione led the way down the stairs and into the entrance hall. The din of loud voices and the clatter of cutlery on plates echoed from out of the double doors to the Great Hall. It seemed incredible to Aspen that twenty feet away people who were enjoying dinner, celebrating the end of exams, not a care in the world...

     Hermione walked straight out of the oak front doors and down the stairs into the balmy evening air. The sun was falling toward the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest now as Hermione marched purposefully across the grass, Umbridge jogging to keep up. Their long dark shadows rippled over the grass behind them like cloaks.

     "It's hidden in Hagrid's hut, is it?" said Umbridge eagerly in Harry's ear.

     "Of course not," said Hermione scathingly. "Hagrid might have set it off accidentally.

     "Yes," said Umbridge, whose excitement seemed to be mounting. "Yes, he would have done, of course, the great half-breed oaf..." She laughed and said, "Then... where is it?" with a hint of uncertainty in her voice as Hermione continued to stride toward the forest.

     "In there, of course," said Hermione, pointing into the dark trees. "It had to be somewhere that students weren't going to find it accidentally, didn't it?"

     "Of course," said Umbridge, though she sounded a little apprehensive now. "Of course... very well, then... you three stay ahead of me."

     "Can we have your wand, then, if we're going first?" Harry asked her.

     "No, I don't think so, Mr. Potter," said Umbridge sweetly, poking him in the back with it. "The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I'm afraid."

     As they reached the cool shade of the first trees, Aspen tried to catch Hermione's eye; walking into the forest without wands seemed like an awful idea, but she trusted Hermione. Aspen knew the centaurs were not in good spirits, and if they found them they would probably get killed. The only other reason they had been in the forest lately was for Hagrid's brother, but surely... Hermione merely gave Umbridge a contemptuous glance and plunged straight into the trees, moving at such a pace that Umbridge, with her shorter legs, had difficulty keeping up.

     "Is it very far in?" Umbridge asked, as her robe ripped on a bramble.

     "Oh yes," said Hermione. "Very well hidden."

     Aspen soon abandoned the Grawp idea when she noticed Hermione was not taking the path they had followed to visit him, but the one she had followed three years ago to the lair of the monster Aragog. Hermione had not been with them on that occasion; Aspen doubted she had any idea what danger lay at the end of it.

     "Er - are you sure this is the right way?" Harry asked her pointedly.

     "Oh yes," she said in a steely voice, crashing through the undergrowth with what Aspen thought was a wholly unnecessary amount of noise. Behind them, Umbridge tripped over a fallen sapling. None of them paused to help her up again; Hermione merely strode on, calling over her shoulder, "It's a bit further in?"

     Aspen knew Hermione would never make this much noise in the forest if she was actually trying to stay hidden. Why was she trying to attract monstrous creatures to them? Because of Umbridge? Aspen was afraid that would backfire since Umbridge was the only one with a wand.