Fear of a Name

Chapter Seventy-Eight: We Did It

We slipped through the doorway behind us, and down a tightly spiralling stone staircase. As we reached the bottom of it, we heard voices. We flattened ourselves against the wall and listened. It sounded like Fudge and Snape. They were walking quickly along the corridor at the foot of the staircase.
"...only hope Dumbledore's not going to make difficulties," Snape was saying. "The Kiss will be performed immediately?"
"As soon as Macnair returns with the Dementors. This whole Black affair has been highly embarrassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to informing the Daily Prophet that we've got him at last... I daresay they'll want to interview you, Snape... and once young Harry's back in his right mind, I expect he'll want to tell the Prophet exactly how you saved him..."

I caught a glimpse of Snape's smirk as he and Fudge passed our hiding place. Their footsteps died away. We waited a few moments to make sure they'd really gone, then started to run in the opposite direction. Down one staircase, then another, along a new corridor — then I heard a cackling ahead.
"Peeves!" Harry muttered, grabbing mine and Hermione's wrists. "In here!"
We tore into a deserted classroom to our left just in time. Peeves seemed to be bouncing along the corridor in boisterous good spirits, laughing his head off.
"Oh, he's horrible," whispered Hermione, her ear to the door. "I bet he's all excited because the Dementors are going to finish off Sirius..."
"And me," I added.
Hermione just checked her watch. "Three minutes!"

We waited until Peeves' gloating voice had faded into the distance, then slid back out of the room, and broke into a run again.
"Hermione — what'll happen — if we don't get back inside — before Dumbledore locks the door?" Harry panted.
"I don't want to think about it!" Hermione moaned, checking her watch again. "One minute!"
We had reached the end of the corridor with the hospital wing entrance. "Okay — I can hear Dumbledore," said Hermione tensely. "Come on!"

We crept along the corridor. The door opened. Dumbledore's back appeared.
"I am going to lock you in," I heard him saying. "It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."
Dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it.
Panicking, we all three ran forward. Dumbledore looked up, and a wide smile appeared under the long silver moustache. "Well?" he said quietly.
"We did it!" said Harry breathlessly. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak..."
Dumbledore beamed at us.

"Well done. I think—" He listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. "Yes, I think you've gone too — get inside — I'll lock you in — Miss Riddle, you shall have to come with me — I said I would take you up to where Mr Black was—"
Harry and Hermione slipped back inside the dormitory. It was empty except for Ron, who was still lying motionless in the end bed.

Dumbledore locked the door behind them, then turned to face me.
"I shall have to tie you up, I'm afraid," he said. I just nodded slightly.
He snapped his fingers, and thin, snake-like cords wrapped their way around my wrists and mouth for the second time that day. He snapped his fingers again, and the ends of the cords that were binding my wrists flew to his hands.

We started to walk up to Flitwick's office. My heart was pounding in my chest; it was so loud, I was sure it could be heard all over the castle. And then, after a few minutes, I heard a distant roar of fury echoing from somewhere above me.
"It sounds like they've just found out," Dumbledore said, not sounding bothered at all by this fact.
If my mouth hadn't been covered with rope, I probably would've smiled.

I could hear angry voices, growing louder and louder, and then Fudge and Snape came into view.
"HE CAN'T HAVE JUST VANISHED!" Snape yelled.
I looked up at Dumbledore, not quite sure what to do.
Leave it to me.
I nodded slightly.

"Ah, Dumbledore," said Fudge.
"Is something wrong, Cornelius?"
"Ah — well—" He scratched his head. "Black seems to have disappeared."
"HE HAS NOT JUST DISAPPEARED!" Snape yelled. "THIS IS POTTER'S WORK, I KNOW IT!"
"Severus, think about what you're saying... the boy isn't going to help the man who betrayed his parents to escape—"
"YOU HEARD WHAT HE SAID EARLIER, HE BELIEVED BLACK WAS INNOCENT!"
"He wouldn't—"
"YOU DON'T KNOW POTTER LIKE I DO! HE DID THIS, I KNOW HE DID!"

"He must have disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out—"
"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Snape roared, as we neared the hospital wing again. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS — HAS — SOMETHING — TO — DO — WITH — POTTER!"
Dumbledore — who was looking as though he was quite enjoying himself — had vanished the ropes from my wrists and mouth by now, but he motioned for me to stay silent.
"Severus — be reasonable — Harry has been locked up—"

BAM.
Snape blasted the door to the hospital wing open.
Fudge, Snape, and Dumbledore went striding into the ward, with me following quickly behind.

"OUT WITH IT, POTTER!" Snape bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"Professor Snape!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "Control yourself!"
"See here, Snape, be reasonable," said Fudge. "This door's been locked, we just saw—"
"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" Snape howled, pointing at Harry and Hermione. His face was twisted; spit was flying from his mouth.

"Calm down, man!" Fudge barked. "You're talking nonsense!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW POTTER!" shrieked Snape. "HE DID IT, I KNOW HE DID IT—"
"That will do, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly. "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"
"Of course not!" said Madam Pomfrey, bristling. "I would have heard them!"
"Well, there you have it, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."

Snape stood there, seething, staring from Fudge, who looked thoroughly shocked at his behaviour, to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward, not even seeming to notice me.
"Fellow seems quite unbalanced," said Fudge, staring after him. "I'd watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore."

"Oh, he's not unbalanced," said Dumbledore quietly. "He's just suffered a severe disappointment."
"He's not the only one!" puffed Fudge. "The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day! We had Black cornered, and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story of that Hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughing stock! Well... I'd better go and notify the Ministry..."

His voice trailed off, and he looked at me. I took a small step backwards, not liking the look in his eyes.
"We still have Riddle though..."
And for the third time that day, ropes twisted their way around my wrists and mouth, this time from Fudge's wand. Dumbledore immediately removed them again.

"Dumbledore—" Fudge started, but Dumbledore cut him off.
"As you no longer have Mr Black, you cannot give enough evidence that Miss Riddle was helping him in any way."
"Very well..." Fudge said resignedly, obviously realising he wasn't going to win this particular argument, and also that he would receive hell from people if it got out he'd ordered for a thirteen-year-old girl to get the Dementor's Kiss.

"And the Dementors?" said Dumbledore. "They'll be removed from the school, I trust?"
"Oh yes, they'll have to go," said Fudge, running his fingers distractedly through his hair. "Never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent boy... completely out of control... no, I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight... perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance..."
"Hagrid would like that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry and Hermione. As he and Fudge left the dormitory, Madam Pomfrey hurried to the door and locked it again. Muttering angrily to herself, she headed back to her office.

As I went over to Harry and Hermione, smiling slightly, there was a low moan from the other end of the ward. Ron had woken up. I could see him sitting up, rubbing his head, looking around.
"What — what happened?" he groaned. "Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?"
Harry and I both looked at Hermione.
"You explain."