Black and White

21

"This is top-secret, right?" Hagrid tells us as we sit around his table with mugs of what is supposed to be tea. He holds a piece of raw meat to a bruise on his face. "Dumbledore sent me to parley with the giants."

"Giants?" Hermione gasps.

"Shhh," Hagrid warns.

"You found them?" I ask. I had always heard they were too hidden away.

"Well, they're not that hard to find, to be perfectly honest," Hagrid admits. "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. The Death Eaters. Trying to persuade them to side with You-Know-Who."

"Did they?" Harry asks.

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

"And they did this to you?" Harry asks, motioning to the bruise on Hagrid's face.

"Not exactly, no," Hagrid admits, giving the meat to Fang. As the wind blows, he tells us, "It's changing out there. Just like last time. There's a storm coming, Harry. We'd all best be ready when she does."

That's when the mark starts hurting again. Not the way it did when Harry was having the dream. This isn't burning, but a sharp, stinging pain. I grab my forearm, and they all look at me. By their expressions, I know the fear is written across my face.

"I have to go," I say, then run out of the hut, all the way to Snape's office.

The potions master opens the door as if he's been waiting for me and pulls me inside, where Draco is already sitting on the black leather couch against the wall. I sit beside my cousin, and he takes my shaking hand.

"I realize this is the first time either of you have felt this," Snape says, "but you will have to learn to not react to it."

Using his wand, he gives us both a cup of hot camomile tea, which we accept.

"Do... do we have to answer?" I ask.

Snape gives me a look. "Usually, yes. Not this time," he clarifies. "This call is for the ones in Azkaban, so they know who is responsible for their release."

Release, I think. That means all the Death Eaters who were caught before are free again. Free to do Voldemort's bidding.

The following morning, it's all over the Daily Prophet, that ten high-security prisoners have escaped, and that the muggle prime minister has been informed. But the blame has been placed on Dad. By lunch, it's as though I'm a Lestrange again. People seem to have the same reaction to my presence as they did during my first year. They either hate me, are afraid of me, or both. Well, all except for those in Dumbledore's Army.

In Dumbledore's Army, however, Harry is stepping up our game. He wants to teach us the Patronus Charm.

"Make it a powerful memory," he tells us. "The happiest you can remember. Allow it to fill you up. Keep trying, Seamus. George, your turn now."

George, like most, is able to produce a silvery wisp. But I just sit on the sidelines.

"A full-bodied Patronus is the most difficult to produce," Harry explains. "But shield forms can also be equally useful against a variety of opponents."

Ginny manages to make a horse explode from her wand, neighing as it does.

"Fantastic, Ginny," Harry compliments. "Just remember, your Patronus can only protect you for as long as you stay focussed. So fucus, Luna."