Immortal Magic (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Allison's Point of View.

The world continued to spin violently around us before finally slowing. I stumbled slightly as my feet hit solid ground again, Harry grabbing my arm to steady me.

"What just happened?" he asked breathlessly. I quickly slipped the Time-Turner back beneath my clothes before removing the chain from around Alice, Jasper, and Harry's necks.

"We went back three hours," I whispered. Harry blinked at me. "You mean," I clapped a hand over his mouth suddenly. "Shh."

All four of us froze. Footsteps echoed faintly through the Entrance Hall outside the storage cupboard. I exchanged a look with Jasper before focusing harder.

"That's us," I whispered quietly. Jasper nodded slightly beside me. "Four heartbeats," he murmured. "Moving slowly." "Because we're under the Invisibility Cloak," I explained softly.

Alice frowned in confusion. "Invisibility Cloak?" "It belonged to Harry's dad," I told her quietly. "He got it our first year." Harry looked between the Time-Turner and me in complete disbelief.

"So Hermione and you have been doing this all year?" I sighed and leaned back against the wall. "McGonagall gave us the Time-Turners at the start of term," I admitted. "It's the only reason Hermione and I can take all our classes."

Harry stared at me. "You should've told us." "We wanted to," I said honestly. "But McGonagall made us swear not to. She had to get special permission from the Ministry just to let us use them."

The footsteps outside slowly faded away. I peeked carefully through the crack in the cupboard door before relaxing slightly. "They've gone down to Hagrid's."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "So what exactly are we supposed to do?" I shook my head. "I don't know. Dumbledore just said we needed more time." Alice tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Then maybe something happened tonight that you're meant to change." Her words made me pause. Then suddenly it hit me. Buckbeak.

My eyes widened at the same moment Harry's did. "Buckbeak," we both said together. Harry turned to me immediately. "If we save Buckbeak," "He can carry Sirius away," I finished.

Understanding lit Harry's face instantly. "That's it." Jasper pushed himself off the wall. "Then we should move." We slipped quietly from the storage room and hurried across the Entrance Hall toward the front doors.

"I'm beginning to understand why you lot end up in the Hospital Wing every year," Alice muttered as we raced down the stone steps. Harry snorted. "You're only just figuring that out?"

Despite everything, I laughed quietly. The grounds were dark now, shadows stretching across the lawns beneath the moonlight. "We need to stay out of sight," I warned quickly as we hurried toward the greenhouses. "If anyone sees us, we're finished."

"Comforting," Harry muttered. We circled the greenhouses before crouching beneath the trees near Hagrid's hut. From there, we could see everything.

The execution committee. Fudge. Dumbledore. Hagrid. And ourselves emerging from the hut beneath the Invisibility Cloak. "This is officially the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry whispered.

I couldn't exactly disagree. We watched as our past selves disappeared down the hill beneath the cloak. "Okay," I whispered. "Now we wait until they've officially seen Buckbeak."

"Why?" Alice asked quietly. I shrugged slightly. "If we take Buckbeak before they see him, they'll assume Hagrid set him free, and he'd get into trouble."

Harry looked over at me softly for a moment before turning back toward Buckbeak. "There," I whispered suddenly. "Fudge saw him." Harry immediately darted from the shadows before I could stop him.