The War Hammer of Hogwarts - Harry Potter

Dumbledore Plays Favorites

Harry: YN!  Ron!  Ginny's okay!  I've got her!

I grinned and Ron sighed in relief.  He peered through the hole we'd managed to make and grinned.

Ron: Ginny!

He thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first.

Ron: You're alive!  I don't believe it!  What happened?

He tried to hug her but Ginny held him off, sobbing.

Ron: But you're okay, Ginny!  It's over now, it's... where did that bird come from?

A phoenix had swooped through the gap after Ginny.

Harry: He's Dumbledore's.

YN: Why do you have a sword?

Harry: I'll explain everything later.  Where's Lockhart?

I snorted and Ron grinned.

Ron: Back there.  He's in a bad way.  Come and see.

Led by the phoenix, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, we walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe.  On the way there, a sword formed in my hand.

YN: Hey Harry.  You wanna...

Harry: No thanks, YN.

YN: Aw, man.

The sword crumbled to dust.  When we reached the pipe, Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting there, humming to himself.

YN: His memory's gone.  Ron's wand strikes again.

Ron: The charm backfired.  Hit him instead of us.  Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are.  I told him to come and wait here.  He's a danger to himself.

Lockhart peered up at us all.

Lockhart: Hello!  Odd sort of place, this, isn't it?  Do you live here?

YN: Nope.

Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry, who bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.

Harry: Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?

I shook my head, but the phoenix had swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark.  He was waving his long golden tail feathers.  Harry looked uncertainly at him.

Ron: He looks like he wants you to grab hold... but you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there.

Harry: Fawkes isn't an ordinary bird.

He turned quickly to us.

Harry: We've got to hold on to each other. Ginny, grab Ron's hand.  YN, grab Ginny's.  And Professor Lockhart-

Ron: He means you.

Harry: You hold YN's other hand.

I groaned as Harry tucked the sword and the Sorting Hat, which I hadn't noticed before, into his belt.  Ron took hold of the back of Harry's robes, and Harry reached out and took hold of Fawkes' tail feathers.  An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through my whole body, and next second, with a whoosh, we were flying upwards through the pipe.

Lockhart: Amazing!  Amazing!  This is just like magic!

The cool air was whipping through my hair, and before I'd stopped enjoying the ride, it was over.  All five of us were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Lockhart straightened his hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.  Myrtle stared at me.