There was a darkness lurking on the edge of the horizon, a war to end all wars approaching. Lord Voldemort was returning, and there was nothing they could do but be prepared for when he did, no matter how many people were killed in the process.
...
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Millie's mind had gone blank with shock. The six of them stood transfixed with horror under the shelter of the first line of trees belonging to the forest. The very last rays of dying sun were casting a bloody light onto the bloody scene below them. Then, behind them, the sound of a wild, grief-stricken howling filled her ears.
"Hagrid." She whimpered, making to turn back, but a trembling Alyssa grabbed her arms and stared her in the eyes.
"We can't." She said. Her voice cracked as she spoke and her face was paper white, the skin stretched over the bones of her cheeks with absolute sickening disbelief. She felt bile rise up in her throat at the thought of what the scene below her would undoubtedly look like: Buckbeak, thrashing on the ground, his head no longer attached to his body, blood staining the earth around him, Hagrid sobbing, the executioner grinning, crows taking flight. The very thought of it made a wave of dizziness wash over her. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him, you know that as well as I do, Millie."
Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven, and her skin had a greenish tone to it that suggested she was about to throw up. "How - could - they?" She croaked. "H- how could they?"
"Come on." Jess said softly, battling back the tears that welled in her eyes as she bunched her sweater closer to herself and grabbed Alyssa's hand. They set off back up towards the castle, Harry, Hermione and Ron hidden below the Cloak but Jess, Millie, and Alyssa just wandering without shelter. They couldn't find it in themselves to care if they were caught or not. By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them.
"Scabbers, keep still." Jess heard Ron hiss from somewhere in front of her, and she could hear the sounds of the struggling rat squeaking and squirming in his owner's grip. "What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still - OUCH! He bit me!"
"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione hissed urgently as Alyssa shushed him. "Fudge'll be out here in a minuet-"
"He won't - stay - put. What's the matter with him?"
Jess spotted the answer as soon as he had asked the question. Slimming towards them, his body low to the ground and wide, yellow eyes trained on the struggling rat was Crookshanks. "Crookshanks! No, go away, Crookshanks!" Hermione was moaning as Jess moved forward to aim a kick at the cat, but Crookshanks was getting closer and closer, until-
"Scabbers - NO!"
It was too late. As if materialising from nowhere, the rat slipped from between Ron's fingers and hit the ground, scampering through Millie's legs and away into the darkness. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before anyone could stop him, Ron was quick to follow.
"Ron!" Jess yelled, no longer to keep quiet as she sprinted after him.
"Jess! Wait! Slow down!" Millie yelled, darting after her friend, and Alyssa barely had time to share an exasperated yet panicked look with Hermione and Harry before she too took off in the direction of the forest. The Invisibility Cloak streamed behind them like a banner as Harry tossed it aside into the darkness, hurtling after Ron. They could hear his feet thundering along ahead, and his shouts at Crookshanks only grew louder.
