Harry Potter and the Forbidden Passage

Chapter 18: Draco's Detour

The next few days passed by in a blur of activity. It seemed that all of their teachers expected twice as much work out of their N.E.W.T. level students. Harry and Ron already had mountains of homework that were beginning to rapidly accumulate and they felt very fortunate that at least they had fewer classes than the previous year. Hermione, who had opted for nine classes, was even beginning to show signs of stress. But that didn't stop her from nagging Ron and Harry to work twice as hard as normal.

"If you have to face Voldemort again, at least you should be prepared," she explained as she made them practice a basic Conjuring spell for the twenty-seventh time that evening. "We can't always count on chance or the Order to intervene."

"But, Hermione," said Ron, exasperated, "how are Conjured pillows going to help us fight Death Eaters? Are we going to smother them to death?"

Harry laughed and Ron grinned at him. Hermione, on the other hand, didn't look amused in the slightest.

"And what if it was something else? What if it was a weapon?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in concentration and stared intently at the pillow in front of Ron. With an elaborate wave of her wand, it transformed instantly into a silver dagger.

Ron stared at it in awe. "Now that's something we could use."

Hermione frowned. "I don't want to use it, and I don't want you to use it either. I was trying to make a point."

"And a very sharp point it is." Ron grinned devilishly as he gazed down at the dagger.

Hermione rolled her eyes. With another wave of her wand, she transformed the dagger back into Ron's lumpy pillow.

"Ron," she admonished, her tone like that of a mother scolding a child. She frowned disapprovingly at him before she continued.

"Death Eaters are going to use everything in their power in a battle. If we have to face off with fully-trained adult wizards again, then you two have a lot of catching up to do. You're both smart and capable and you have the talent, you just have to try harder. This isn't about grades any more, it's about life and death. If you don't have the knowledge, then your opponent will automatically have the advantage. Now let's try once more and do something a bit larger this time."

As much as Harry hated the extra work, it did seem to be having an effect. Whereas he hadn't been able to Conjure more than a wisp of smoke before, he could now Conjure a number of different objects - nothing that would be useful in a battle to the death, but still it was a start. And, best of all, it scored him house points from Professor McGonagall in their next Transfiguration class.

Despite their carefully laid plans to research Professor Ramsey, none of them had been able to spare the time yet, what with their heavier courseload and Hermione's extra practices. Add to that the Occlumency lessons and Harry didn't even have the chance to visit Hedwig in the Owlery, much less to write a letter to Lupin.

The one advantage to his heavy schedule was that he never had a problem clearing his mind before going to sleep - he was too exhausted by the end of the day. But that also meant that he hadn't really practiced Occlumency before his second lesson with Ramsey and he arrived woefully unprepared Thursday night. Ramsey immediately sensed it and, after a few admonishments, sent him back to Gryffindor Tower to practice the rest of the evening. And this, unfortunately, denied him the possibility of learning anything more about the new professor.

To top off the week, Harry was ten minutes late to the Quidditch tryouts - the one thing he had been looking forward to all week. And as the new Gryffindor Captain, it seemed a very poor way to start off the Quidditch season. By the time he arrived, Katie Bell was already organizing all of the potential Chasers - there were at least a dozen of them.

As he ran over to her on the pitch, she glared disapprovingly and succeeded effectively in making him feel ten times guiltier than he had already. Katie said something to one of the Chasers and handed her the Quaffle. The girl took off on her broom and flew to the far end where Ron was waiting, flying lazily between the three tall hoops. Katie motioned for the other Chasers to wait on the benches and then walked over to him.

"Where were you?" she hissed out of the side of her mouth. They stood side by side and watched the girl, a second-year student, throw the Quaffle at the center hoop and miss it by several yards.

"Sorry, lost track of the time."

The truth was that Hagrid had called him over after dinner to remind him to stop by for a visit the next day. Then, Ramsey pulled him aside to propose an extra Occlumency lesson that weekend to make up for the previous night. He was already late by the time he reached Gryffindor Tower to retrieve his Firebolt.

"Just don't let it happen again," she said irritably.

"It won't," he said stiffly. He was starting to feel a bit annoyed with Katie. Did she actually imagine that he would have been late if he could have helped it?

"Well, we don't have the best turnout," she continued, looking towards the dozen or so Gryffindors seated in the stands. "There are a fair number of Chasers, but only three Beaters. Here's the list," she said, passing him a piece of parchment with the names and positions of everyone who was trying out. "I'd suggest we watch each of them individually and narrow it down, and then we can see how they work together as a team."

He agreed and they watched the second-year girl for a few more painful minutes. She was a capable flyer but she couldn't throw straight if her life depended on it. He knew almost instantly that she would be cut, but not wanting to embarrass her, he let her continue playing longer than necessary. As soon as he thought they'd given her a decent amount of time, he called the next Chaser on the list and repeated the process again.

After watching the first eleven Chasers, he could already feel all hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup again quickly evaporating. Even though a dozen Gryffindors had arrived to try out for the two Chaser positions, none of them so far would make decent replacements for Angelina and Alicia.

He looked down at the clipboard at the very last name and his spirits instantly brightened.

"Weasley, Ginny," he called out, trying to sound professional and suppressing the levity he felt.

Ginny rose from the stands and walked out to the pitch, with her Nimbus Chaser in hand.

He met her gaze briefly and couldn't help himself from grinning at her encouragingly. She frowned and turned away, then mounted her broomstick and sped off to the far side of the pitch. Ron greeted her in mid-air, but even from far away, Harry could see her turn a cold shoulder to her brother.

Ginny hadn't spoken to any of them since Tuesday night when they had refused to tell her what was going on after Harry had revealed the prophecy to Ron and Hermione. Ron seemed to be used to this sort of thing and shrugged it off but Hermione wasn't taking the silent treatment from Ginny quite as well. She and Ginny had become close friends and confidantes over the last few years and Harry knew that it was very difficult for her to lie and keep secrets from Ginny. She never complained, but Harry could tell that she was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. And to be perfectly honest, so was he.

Perhaps he would tell Ginny after all, if only to save them all from her wrath. He had told Hermione that he didn't want to burden Ginny with the knowledge, but in truth he simply wasn't ready at the time to tell her. It had taken enough time and nerve to tell Ron and Hermione, his best friends for the last five years. Telling Ginny simply wasn't something he had planned to do that night. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he didn't feel close enough to her yet to reveal his deepest, darkest secrets. If she only understood that, maybe she would forgive Hermione and Ron at least.

He watched her as she threw the Quaffle and it fell perfectly through the center of the tallest hoop, evading Ron's capture by several feet. She scored several more times in repetition, using a different tactic each time. Her practice had clearly paid off. When she was finished, Harry felt encouraged that his team would at least have two very capable Chasers.

There were only three Beaters who tried out; their two previous beaters, Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke (who both swore that they had practiced all summer together), and a tall, burly-looking seventh-year named Darius Flynn. As it turned out, Katie had badgered Flynn, a friend of hers, into trying out. And it was fortunate she had, because he was a decent player and he hit the Bludger powerfully enough that it clear off the pitch, hurtling towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry had to race at full speed on his Firebolt to retrieve it before it could get lost in the dense foliage of the forest's upper canopy.

After the individual tryouts, Harry narrowed the Chaser list down to six and dismissed those that he crossed off. The remaining players split up into two teams with three Chasers each and Sloper and Kirke as Beaters for one team and Katie and Flynn for the other. Meanwhile, Harry took the position of Keeper opposite Ron. There was no need for a Seeker.

It felt good to be back up in the air playing after almost a year of no Quidditch. When his competitive spirit arose, Harry actually had to remind himself that he was here to assess the players not to win the game. It seemed very odd to play Keeper and survey the game from such a different vantage point. Once he started practices (assuming he was able to assemble a decent team), he thought he might have each of them try out different positions for the first week.

After only half an hour of play, the game suddenly screeched to a halt. A third-year named Natalie McDonald hurled the Quaffle so hard that it hit Ron square in the chest and nearly knocked him off his broomstick. He dangled from the broom by one leg for a horrifying second before Ginny, who was nearest to him, rushed over and helped him down to the ground.

Harry was already rushing towards the pair of them when he heard laughter coming from the stands. As he turned towards it, he wasn't surprised to see a pale blond-haired boy flanked by two dark-haired behemoths, all laughing as though they had seen the funniest thing in their lives.

"Hit by a little girl!" Malfoy sniggered. "You've reached a new low, Weasel King," Malfoy shouted to Ron, "but at least you actually caught the ball this time!"

In that moment, Harry paused in mid-air, caught between his concern for Ron and his desire to pound Malfoy into oblivion. He glanced back at Ron who was surrounded now by several people. He looked back at Malfoy who was staring malevolently back at him.

"Bravo on assembling such a fine team, Potter. With performances like that, they may actually save us the effort of pulverizing you in the first match!"

"We'll see who does the pulverizing in November!" Harry yelled back. "Now sod off, Malfoy, or I'll tell McGonagall how you caused that accident by distracting the girl."

Malfoy glared back at him and sputtered, "But I didn't -"

"Who do you think she'll believe, Malfoy?" Harry asked with a devilish grin. "I have eleven other people here who will back me up. I'll also remind you that you're interrupting a private Gryffindor team practice."

"Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. We have more important things to do than watching a bunch of flying Jarveys playing Quidditch," Malfoy said scathingly.

Good riddance, thought Harry, as he turned back to Ron and joined the rest of the team. The poor girl who had hit Ron looked terrified, embarrassed, and disappointed all at once. He didn't need to use Legilimency to know what she was thinking - that she would definitely not be joining the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Harry felt a bit sorry for her actually, even if she had hit his best friend with a Quaffle, but he couldn't quite bring himself to give her any sign of encouragement.

"How are you?" he asked Ron anxiously.

"Fine," Ron croaked, his voice a higher octave than normal. His face had become distinctly pale. He was bent over a bit and clutching his sides.

"You don't look fine."

"Well, I…I might have cracked - ahh," Ron winced, "a rib…or two."

"We'd better get you to the hospital wing. Ginny, can you help?" Ginny nodded and Harry turned to Katie. "Can you finish things up and meet us there? We can discuss the team together after Ron's treated."

Katie quickly agreed to his request and he and Ginny started leading Ron gingerly towards the castle. As they began to walk away, he heard Katie addressing the other Gryffindors.

"The tryouts are over, everyone," she said to the assembled crowd. "Thank you for coming. We'll post the final team list on the notice board by morning."

Just as they reached the top of the steep climb back up to the castle, Harry realized that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle should have been only a short distance ahead of them, but they were no where to be seen. All of the Gryffindors were a short distance behind them, but there was no else. But looking towards the horizon, he saw a shadow in the distance - three figures walking towards the Forbidden Forest.

* * * * *

An hour later, Ron's three broken bones were completely healed, thanks to Madam Pomfrey. But she still insisted that he spend the night in the hospital wing in case any signs of internal bleeding developed.

Harry, Ron, and Katie had spent the last hour discussing the tryouts but had come to few conclusions yet. All three agreed unanimously on accepting Ginny and Flynn, but that still left one Chaser position and one Beater position.

"Sloper knocked himself unconscious with his own bat last year, so he's out in my opinion," Katie said, "even if he has practiced over the summer."

"Well, that leaves us with Kirke then, doesn't it?" said Harry. All three of them frowned. It wasn't a great alternative. Kirke was a capable flyer and in fact had improved quite a bit in this respect, but he never hit the Bludger forcibly enough to send it very far.

"So what about the other Chaser position?" he asked. He couldn't really see any advantage to any of them.

"Perks was good at passing, but her scoring was inconsistent. Still, she worked well with her team, so I guess I'd vote for her," said Katie.

"What about that third-year girl?" Ron asked. "The one who hit me with the Quaffle. She was a pretty good flier."

Harry and Katie each stared at Ron as though he'd gone mad.

"Natalie McDonald?" Katie asked, looking entirely bewildered.

"She's the reason you're in here, Ron," said Harry. "If she did that to another Keeper, we could be disqualified from a match."

"I'm not saying she should be a Chaser."

"Then what are we talking about?"

"Think a minute, Harry," said Ron. "She's too aggressive and Kirke isn't aggressive enough. Switch them. Make Kirke a Chaser and Natalie a Beater."

Harry and Katie exchanged a glance of mutual surprise.

"You know, that just might work," he said, astonished that he was even thinking about adding the same girl that he was sure he would dismiss only moments ago. He felt somewhat in awe of Ron's strategically-minded observation, though he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised considering Ron's aptitude for chess.

"All right," Katie agreed, "let's try it. And if there are any problems, we can switch them back and I'll work with Natalie on her throwing. I think she might be all right as a Chaser with more practice."

"Are we all agreed, then?" Harry asked. "We'll add Ginny and Kirke as Chasers and Natalie and Flynn as Beaters."

"Agreed," Ron and Katie said simultaneously with enough confidence in their voices to make him think that maybe dreams of the Quidditch Cup weren't so lost after all.

* * * * *

True to their word, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny left the castle after lunch the next day to visit Hagrid. Ron had finally been allowed to leave the hospital wing earlier that morning. He had joined them in the Great Hall for breakfast and ate so heartily that no one would have guessed that he'd broken three ribs the night before.

Ron's injury must have had some effect on Ginny because suddenly overnight she seemed to have forgiven them. She sat with them at breakfast and chatted as though the past few days hadn't happened. As a sort of peace gesture, Hermione invited her along for their visit with Hagrid.

It was a pleasant day - warm with a slight breeze - and most of the students were spending their Saturday outside on the grounds. There was distant laughter coming from the lake where many of them were studying or lounging about. And in the distance, tiny figures on broomsticks could be seen flying over the Quidditch pitch. Blurs of blue and silver indicated that the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was holding their own tryouts. Harry wondered vaguely if Cho was there even though she had said she would not be on the team this year.

The area around Hagrid's hut was quiet in comparison. The gardens, where the pumpkins for the Halloween Feast had already grown to roughly the size and shape of a younger Dudley Dursley, were still and silent. The paddock beyond was empty, absent of any of Hagrid's usual assortment of strange and dangerous creatures.

"Hagrid?" Hermione called loudly as they reached his hut.

Harry knocked on the huge wooden door. There was no answer or sound from within except for Fang's barking. After several more attempts, Ron walked around the side and peered through a low window.

"He's not in there," Ron said after a moment, still looking through the dusty window. "Only Fang."

Harry stopped knocking and looked curiously at the others. "That's odd. He told me just yesterday to come at noon."

Hermione turned without a word and walked back towards the paddock so intently that the rest of them followed immediately.

"I think we might be able to find out where he went," she explained.

As they reached the paddock, she led them around to the gate.

"I was right!" she declared triumphantly, looking at the muddy ground. "I noticed when we walked by the paddock that the gate was open. And I knew that this area would be really muddy after the storms this week, so if Hagrid opened the gate anytime recently, his tracks would still be here. And see, there they are!"

She pointed to the ground next to the gate where there was a jumble of footprints mixed with semicircular marks which may have been hoof prints. They followed the tracks around the side of the house and through the gardens. From there, the prints could clearly be seen leading back on a well-trodden path to the edge of the trees and straight into the Forbidden Forest.

"He's probably visiting Grawp. Do you think we should find them?" Harry asked.

"You want to visit a giant?" Ron asked incredulously. "Let's just wait here. I'm sure he'll be back soon. I mean, he was expecting us, right?"

Ignoring this, Harry pursued the trail up to the edge of the forest and stared into its dark depths. The forest was so dense here that it was hard to see past a few yards. Without a pause, he stepped onto the rough path that continued into the forest. Before he'd walked even a few paces, Hermione pulled sharply at his sleeve.

"Wait, Harry, we can't go into the forest alone. What about the centaurs? Those look like hoof prints next to Hagrid's and if you follow them, you'll be headed straight for the centaurs."

"And I'm not too keen on running into Hagrid's little brother either," added Ron.

Harry frowned and looked at them reproachfully. Centaurs and giants seemed trivial now to him. But on second thought, he supposed that barging straight into the forest might not be the best idea.

They agreed to a compromise and walked along the edge of the forest together, looking for any sign of Hagrid and calling out his name occasionally. After fifteen minutes, they had walked around to the opposite side of the castle and Ron was showing signs of impatience.

"Come on, Harry. Give it up. Hagrid's probably back waiting for us already. Let's go and -"

"Shh!" Ginny hissed, holding one finger to her lips and commanding silence. "Look," she whispered, pointing in between the trees to a small clearing not far from the where they stood.

They heard a squawk, something like the screech of a bird of prey. Then there was a flash of grey feathers as the creature spread its wings. Its head suddenly jerked upward and swallowed whole a piece of meat that was dripping with blood. The moment of horror that he felt in that brief second vanished when he recognized what he was seeing.

"It's Buckbeak!," Harry said aloud, astonished to see the hippogriff wandering the forest on its own.

"Those hoof prints," Hermione remarked with sudden realization, "They must have been Buckbeak's."

Harry walked over to the hippogriff very slowly, hoping not to startle it. Buckbeak took no notice though as he swallowed what Harry could only presume were the hind quarters of a rabbit.

"Buckbeak," he called out, trying to alert the hippogriff to his presence before he came too close. The hippogriff looked up. It crooked its head to one side in a birdlike manner and stared at him.

Harry wasn't sure if Buckbeak recognized him and was prepared to bow to him. He began to lower his head and the hippogriff suddenly charged towards him. Just as he held up his hands to fend off the attack, the hippogriff nuzzled its beak against his shoulder affectionately.

Shaking off the fear that had temporarily paralyzed him, he patted the hippogriff's beak in response. As he stroked Buckbeak's neck, he noticed a rope tied around it which trailed to the ground. He held up the frayed bit of rope for the others to see.

"It looks like he's escaped."

"I think he's done more than that," Ron said, crinkling his nose in disgust. He was staring at something in the grass near his feet.

They all stepped closer to see what Ron was looking at. Hermione let out a small yelp and Ginny turned her head. There was another rabbit stretched out there with its head bent backwards in a very unnatural state.

Ginny gasped. "That's not all. There are two dead mice over here," she said, pointing to another area of the clearing.

Instantly, they all began searching the clearing. Within moments, they had found a dove with a broken wing and five crumpled bowtruckles beneath an old oak tree that was pocked with scorch marks.

"Something's very wrong here," said Ginny nervously.

Buckbeak craned his neck down to take another bite of the rabbit.

"Buckbeak! NO!" Hermione yelled.

The hippogriff paused briefly but then stripped away another piece of flesh with its beak.

"We have to stop him," Hermione said anxiously, tugging uselessly at the rope.

"Hermione, relax," said Ron. "I know it's disgusting, but at least it's already dead."

"You don't understand. I think it's a trap. All of these animals are set out here like bait. They could be poisoned for all we know. We have to take Buckbeak back to Hagrid's."

After a considerable amount of effort, they were able to prod the hippogriff away from the clearing. They came across Hagrid midway on the walk back.

"Must've broke loose from the tree I'd tied him ter," Hagrid explained. "Thought he'd like a walk in the forest, yeh see. Bin lookin' fer him over an hour now. Hope he didn' cause you lot any trouble."

They glanced anxiously at one another. Hesitantly, Hermione started to explain where they had found Buckbeak and her concerns about the other creatures they had found there.

"Yeh say they were all small animals, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded. They had reached the paddock now and Hagrid prodded Buckbeak through the gate, locking it in place behind him. He looked carefully at the hippogriff, who was now preening his feathers unconcernedly.

"Hmm…Well, he looks fine ter me, but I'll keep an eye on him this evenin'. If he was poisoned, I reckon Beaky'd be showin' some sign of it by now.

"But, it's still ruddy strange, isn' it? I don' know of anythin' in the forest that'd kill all of those animals an' jus' leave 'em ter rot."

It was odd, Harry agreed. What kind of creature would kill small animals for any reason other than food? And whatever had killed them hadn't discriminated between magical and non-magical creatures. It seemed as though any creature within that clearing had suddenly been struck dead.

"Listen, I'd like all of yeh ter stay fer a bit," said Hagrid, "but, considerin' this...I think I'd ought ter walk yeh back ter the castle."

"But you said you had something to show us, Hagrid," said Harry..

"Oh, that," said Hagrid dismissively as he began to lead them back to the castle. "Well, I jus' wanted yeh ter meet Grawpy's new pet. But he's in the forest o' course an' it's not worth riskin' yer necks ter go see him."

"New…pet?" asked Hermione, who seemed to have turned a shade paler.

Any pet that could be a match for Grawp had to be enormous. And considering Hagrid's history with interesting creatures, it was most likely dangerous as well. But still, Harry felt a bit sorry for any creature that was forced to become the companion of a 16-foot giant.

"Wanted ter find him a lady friend," Hagrid continued, "but Grappy'll have to do fer now."

"Grappy?" Harry asked, not quite sure that he had heard correctly.

"Yeah. Thought it was funny - Grappy and Grawpy."

"What exactly is Grappy, Hagrid?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Well, he's a Graphorn, o' course."

"Oh, a Graphorn. Of course," said Hermione, sounding somewhat hysterical. "Oh yes, a Graphorn would make a lovely pet, really marvelous."

"Yeah," agreed Hagrid, who had obviously mistaken Hermione's sarcasm for enthusiasm. "Graphorns are huge animals and their hides are tough as boulders - tougher than dragons yeh know, so I don' have to worry about Grawpy playin' a bit rough."

"That's…er…really wonderful, Hagrid," said Ginny kindly.

Hagrid smiled warmly at her. "Yeah. Grawpy seems to like him well enough. Gettin' along thick as thieves, those two. Wait, yeh haven't even met Grawpy yet, have yeh? An' Ron neither. It'll be nice for him ter meet some new friends."

Ron and Ginny shared a nervous glance and smiled meekly at Hagrid in response.

"Well, o' course I'll introduce yeh sometime soon," Hagrid said happily, "once we find whatever's bin killin' those animals. Don' worry 'bout it. Might jus' be some thestrals who were scared off from their prey. But I think I'll take a look at that clearin' in the forest 'fore it gets dark. Do yeh remember where it was exactly?"

They had reached the base of the castle now and were standing at the top of a steep hill. Harry looked down at the grounds and his eyes followed the tree line that marked the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It all looked the same from here and he tried to remember something specific about the location. Just before they had found Buckbeak, he remembered hearing the Ravenclaw players on the Quidditch pitch and spotting the snitch sparkling in the sky above.

With complete certainty, he pointed to the dark patch of forest just beyond the pitch. Still staring at that section of the forest, he was jolted with a sudden intense feeling of déjà vu. The memory flashed in his mind of three figures walking back towards the forest - to the very place where he was pointing. With a sense of deep revulsion, he suddenly realized that the monsters they were searching for were entirely human.