𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 | √

⎡94⎦

There were no means of steering; the dragon did not even know we were there, and I knew that if it turned sharply or rolled in midair, we would find it impossible to cling onto its broad back. Nevertheless, as we climbed higher and higher, London unfurling below us like a gray-and-green map, my overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape that seemed impossible. Crouching low over the beast's neck, I clung tight to the metallic scales, and the cool breeze was felt nice whipping through my hair; the dragon's wings beating the air like the sails of a windmill.

Soon, the coast was beneath us as the dragon flew near the water. This caused immediate dread.

"We're dropping!" I yelled.

"I say we jump!" Ron shouted.

"When?" Hermione asked.

"Now!" I shrieked. I plummeted feet-first toward the surface of the lake. The drop was greater than I had estimated and I hit the water hard, plunging like a stone into a freezing lake. I kicked toward the surface and emerged, panting. The others emerged, all spluttering and gasping. I looked around trying to find land when I noticed the nearby bank. I swam over to it, kicking and using all my strength. Together we washed up onto the land.

"He knows. You-Know-Who. He knows we broke into Gringotts. He knows what we took, and he knows we're hunting Horcruxes." Harry said. He must have had another vision.

"How did he know?" Hermione asked panting as we climbed up the hill.

"I saw him."

"You let him in?" He nodded "Harry, you can't do that!"

"Hermione, I can't always help it! Well, maybe I can. I don't know!"

"Never mind that! What happened?" I asked.

"Well, he's angry and scared too." Hermione pulled out her bag and from her bag a serum. "He knows, if we find and destroy all the Horcruxes, we'll be able to kill him." Hermione got down on her knees and opened the pipette, squirting the serum onto our sore and calloused hands. "I reckon he'll stop at nothing to make sure we don't find the rest. And there's more. One of them is at Hogwarts."

"What?" Hermione asked. "You saw it?"

I took off the cape of my dress and wrung out my hair. Harry took off his shirt. I grabbed a towel from the ground and wrapped it around my body.

"I saw the castle. And Rowena Ravenclaw. It must have something to do with her. We have to go there, now!"

"What, we can't do that!" Hermione shrieked "We've got to plan, we've got to figure it out!"

"Hermione, when have any of our plans ever actually worked?"

Harry was putting on a dry shirt. "We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose."

"He's right!" Ron said putting on his shirt. "One problem: Snape's Headmaster now, we can't just move freely from the front door!"

"Well, we'll go to Hogsmeade, to Honeydukes. Take the secret passage in the cellar. It's... There's something wrong with him. It's like, you know, in the past... I've always been able to follow his thoughts. And now everything just feels disconnected."

"Maybe it's the Horcruxes. Maybe he's getting weaker. Maybe he's dying!" I suggest.

"No! No, it's... It's more like he's wounded. If anything, he feels more dangerous."

"Right well, let Hermione and I change in peace before we do anything. I cannot do anything in this dress." Ron and Harry nodded and went off around the bank so Hermione and I could change. I put on jeans and a shirt with a jacket and Hermione did the same. We called the boys back over as I was pulling my hair up and out of my face.