Harry Potter and the Sect of the Serpent

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Unanswered Questions

Harry didn't sleep, though he knew he ought to. The dormitory was too cold, too silent, too empty, and he left it almost as soon as he'd returned, walking down to the near empty common room, where Ron was busy working at one of the tables.

"All right there, Harry?" he asked as Harry stalked over to the sofa and sprawled onto it.

"Not really," Harry replied in an exhausted monotone.

"Rough lesson?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged.

Ron glanced up at him. "Wanna talk about it?"

Where to start? Harry wondered. Lupin didn't tell me anything I wanted to know, he and Lindell could have been speaking in code for all I understood of their conversation and -- oh yeah -- I'm having bloody scary nightmares again...

"No," he replied tersely.

Ron looked skeptical, but didn't press and Harry lay down on the sofa, staring. He wanted nothing more than to be able to fall back onto the squashy cushions, close his eyes, and drift off into that peaceful blank oblivion of unconsciousness. The only problem was that he was afraid that it would be neither peaceful, nor blank. And being afraid of his own mind made him angry.

Exhaustion eventually overwhelmed him, but just as Harry was beginning to doze, the portrait creaked open and Hermione climbed through

"Look who I found," she said brightly.

Following her, Remus entered the common room. "You'd think the Fat Lady would remember me," Remus said in a slightly indignant tone. "Just because I didn't know the exact password..." he smiled, but his smile faded as he saw the look on Harry's face. "How are you feeling, Harry?" he asked, his pleasant expression slipping seamlessly into one of concern.

"I'm okay," Harry replied sitting up on the sofa, "but I'll be better once you tell us what's been going on."

Remus glanced uncertainly at Ron, who was hurrying over, and at Hermione, making herself comfortable in a nearby armchair. Harry gave Remus a significant look. "I'm just going to tell them anyway," he said.

Remus smiled wryly. "Very well. But this isn't for public knowledge, you three, so keep it under your hats, alright?"

Ron nodded enthusiastically as he perched on the arm of Hermione's armchair.

"The raid was on the Malfoy manor," Remus began. "Narcissa was seen in Knockturn Alley buying illegal Dark Artifacts. The area was being watched after you were attacked, Harry. Kingsley and some of the other Aurors obtained permission to search the Malfoy estates. It went... badly." Remus paused, glancing from Harry over to Ron and Hermione.

"The Aurors had been watching the Malfoy manor for some time and reported the comings and goings of quite a few suspected Death Eaters at regular intervals. Kingsley planned the raid to coincide with the day of the next suspected meeting."

"Which was a bad idea?" Hermione volunteered.

Remus nodded. "They were ready," he said dully. "We can only guess that they knew in advance of the Aurors' plans."

"Who got hurt?" asked Harry in a strained voice.

Remus turned back to look at him. "Several people received minor injuries, but it was Tonks who was hurt most severely. Cruciacus curse. Malfoy was on her for at least a minute before anyone could stop him."

"Has he been arrested?" Hermione demanded. "There hasn't been anything about it in the papers!"

"He was taken in and is being held 'for questioning'," Remus replied. "The Ministry is still hushing it all up. Fudge owes Malfoy a few too many favors..."

"But Tonks," Harry pressed, "she's going to be okay, isn't she?"

Remus smiled. "She'll be fine, but she's off active duty for at least a few months. The spell caused some nerve damage. Hasn't dampened her spirit though. She tried to beat Kingsley about the head with her cane when he went to tell her she'd been put on medical suspension. They released her from St. Mungo's a few days ago."

Harry let out a long breath, unaware that he'd even been holding it. He tried to picture the vivacious young Auror he knew lying in a hospital bed and found his mind couldn't quite make the leap.

"And the Sect?" he asked, voicing the other question that he'd been burning to ask since Remus had arrived. "That is what you were here to see Professor Lindell about, isn't it?"

Remus smiled at him. "Nothing gets by you, Harry. Yes, that's why I was here to see Professor Lindell." He stood abruptly, dusting his hands on his pants. "I've got a room in Hogsmeade for a few weeks if you need me for anything," he said. "Maybe I can even catch a Quidditch match while I'm here. Oh! That reminds me..." He began digging into one of his pockets and produced a small, dark blue vial with a note attached.

"Fred and George asked me to give this to you, Ron," Remus said, handing the vial across. "Said they didn't trust it to the post. Well, I've got to visit the Headmaster before I go, Harry, but I don't doubt I'll see you again soon."

Harry nodded dumbly as Remus stood, smiled uncertainly at Harry, and headed out of the tower. He clenched his jaw, trying to swallow the anger rising in his throat. Remus seemed determined not to tell him anything about... anything these days.

"What is it, Ron?" Hermione asked, trying to peer around Ron's elbows as he read the note from his brothers.

"Brilliant!" Ron crowed, hopping up off of the armchair and over to sit next to Harry. "This is bloody brilliant! I thought they'd forgotten."

"Forgotten what?" Harry asked, tearing his gaze away from the closed portrait door.

"Well, after you told me what happened to Gwyn, I knew we just had to figure out a good way to get back at Malfoy, so I er... special ordered something from Fred and George."

Harry stared at him. "You didn't tell them what happened, did you? I swore you to secrecy!"

Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "No! Well, not as such, anyway. I only told them that Malfoy had done something awful and that we needed to get back at him but good."

Harry sighed, envisioning Gwyn's fury if she ever found out that he'd told Ron and Hermione -- and apparently the twins, by proxy -- about what Malfoy had done.

"Alright, so what is it then?" he asked. Since they already knew, it might be worthwhile to see what the twins had sent.

Ron frowned at the note again. "Dunno," he said at last. "They don't say specifically what it does, but they do say it'll be brilliant and not to be too close by when it takes effect." He held out the little blue vial for Harry, who took it, turning it over in his hands and watching the liquid slosh around inside.

"I don't know about this," Hermione said skeptically.

"An eye for an eye, Hermione," Ron said with a disdainful shake of his head.

"You don't even know what it does!" she countered. "How is that an eye for an eye?"

"I'll think about it," Harry said, interrupting the argument before it had a chance to escalate. Hermione harrumphed and sat back in her armchair, bringing her book up to her face. Ron stuck his tongue out at Hermione and rolled his eyes at Harry.

Harry stretched out on the sofa again, his anger still smoldering under the surface. What exactly was everyone playing at, telling him one minute that he ought to know everything, and then casually neglecting to tell him anything. He closed his eyes, trying to process the day, and all that had happened.

When he opened them again, the shadows in the room were long, the only light the golden flickering of the fire, and there was a warm weight next to his feet. He raised his head and saw Ginny sitting there, watching him..

"Urg," Harry grunted, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked. His stomach growled noisily now that it realized the rest of him was awake to listen.

Ginny shrugged. "Dinner's already started," she said, "and you missed lunch."

"Yeah," Harry replied, rubbing his stomach. Ginny smiled slightly. "Thanks for waking me up."

"Actually," she added, turning and looking into the newly-lit fire, "there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Harry adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and willed himself to be alert, but Ginny didn't immediately continue. "Everything okay?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"I... I don't know," she answered quietly. "Okay, I'm just going to tell you, but you have to swear on your Firebolt that you won't laugh or anything."

"Why would I laugh?" Harry asked.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "Just swear."

"Okay! Okay, I swear."

Ginny took a deep breath, still eyeing him as though she were looking for any sign of an errant giggle. "I think... I think I had a vision."

Harry stared at her. "A what?"

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!" Ginny said defensively.

"Who's laughing?" Harry quipped.

Ginny got up and started pacing, her hands clasped firmly behind her back.

"So, are you going to tell me about it?" Harry prompted.

Ginny sighed and paused, putting her face in her hands and rubbing her eyes. "It all sounds so stupid when I say it out loud..." she began. "I was in Divination, just before the Christmas hols, and Firenze was teaching us about fire scrying. So we're all staring at this fire, and all I could think of was how stupid it was, and how I wished the lesson were over, when all of the sudden, there were shapes in the smoke."

She started pacing again, wringing her hands in the fabric of her robes a gesture that reminded Harry of Mrs. Weasley when she was anxious. "And they weren't just any shapes either. I saw..." She paused again and looked directly at him. "I saw you, Harry."

Harry shifted uncomfortably in her intense gaze.

"I saw you with that memory box from Professor Lindell, and I felt -- well, to tell you the truth, I felt terrible! I got all sad and anxious and twisted up inside. And then," she shrugged. "Then it was gone.

"I thought at first that I'd fallen asleep, because that's how I felt when it was over, like I'd just woken up from a dream. And then you showed up at our house with that box, and I got scared again, but there wasn't anything wrong with the box, that time, just Professor Lindell's memory, which wasn't really bad, so I thought I'd been wrong or something."

"False alarm," Harry said, suddenly remembering the context of her words from their previous conversation.

Ginny nodded. "But then, when George opened the box in Ron's room, I just knew--" She broke off suddenly and plopped back down onto the sofa. "I just knew," she repeated softly.

"So, your vision came true?" Harry asked.

Ginny shook her head. "That's just it! I don't know. I suppose so. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it meant something else entirely." Her face fell and she hunched her shoulders sulkily. "Maybe it was just an undigested bit of lunch."

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Harry asked. Ginny shook her head again dejectedly.

"It's all so hard to believe!" she said, exasperated. "I mean, I'm not even good at Divination. I've never been able to see anything in my crystal ball, and tealeaves always just look like a soggy mess to me."

Harry could relate to that, anyway. Divination had never been anything to him but an exercise in futility and creative assignments, making up predictions and pretending to interpret his dreams. It had always seemed a load of rubbish, yet now he knew that some prophecies could be real...

"Maybe you should talk to Firenze about it, or Professor Trelawney--"

Ginny snorted and shook her head violently. "No," she said firmly. "I mean, they'd probably just give me extra homework, wouldn't they?"

"But Ginny, if you really do have a gift..."

"I don't," Ginny replied flatly. "It was a fluke. Just a coincidence. Who knows what Firenze puts in that fire anyway, know what I mean?"

She stood up abruptly and walked a few steps before turning to look at him. "I'm sorry for being such a wally. Let's just go get something to eat before Ron devours it all."

"You're not a wally," Harry retorted, getting to his feet, "but dinner sounds like an excellent idea."

They made their way down to the Great Hall in silence. Harry couldn't help but feel impressed that Ginny seemed to have had a real vision, when he himself had never been able to predict so much as the correct answers to his Divinations exams.

Ginny left him at the head of the Gryffindor table and went to sit with some of her other friends. Harry quickly made his way to where Ron and Hermione were just finishing up dinner.

"We were just wondering if you were going to make it," Ron grinned as Harry took his seat. "Hermione was debating calling off the DA meeting."

Harry shook his head vehemently as he loaded up his plate. "No. The meetings are too important. You guys should go on even if I'm not there for some reason."

"But Harry," Hermione said gently, "you're the reason we have the DA meetings."

Harry scoffed. "I thought we had the meetings to learn defense."

"Yes. From you."

Harry blinked once or twice and concentrated on finishing his dinner.

As the trio made their way up the corridor to the Room of Requirement, Harry noticed that someone was already waiting for them. When he realized who it was, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"P-Professor?" he asked, stunned.

Professor Lindell turned to look at them. Dressed in her ubiquitous navy robes, she almost melted into the shadows of the rarely used corridor.

"Mr. Potter," she replied coolly. "I was beginning to wonder whether your friend Mr. Lupin was having me on when he said that this was the place for your club meeting. Good evening Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley."

"Have you decided to observe, then, Professor?" Hermione asked in a falsely cheerful tone.

Professor Lindell inclined her head. "Mr. Lupin is of the opinion that it will be worth my while," she said. "But not to worry; I don't intend to interfere."

Harry nodded and proceeded to walk back and forth in front of the wall, thinking about the DA's meeting room, trying to ignore Professor Lindell's questioning gaze and raised eyebrows. On the third turn, the door appeared, and Harry held it open for her.

"Extraordinary!" Lindell said quietly as she entered the room. "What an ingenious use of a concealment charm. How did you find this place?"

Harry shrugged. "Er... Professor Dumbledore told me about it," he said uncomfortably.

"It's not only a concealment charm, Professor," Hermione added enthusiatically. "It's got to be a good deal more than that; the room provides whatever it is you need."

Harry left Hermione and Professor Lindell speculating on the spell structure of the room as he straightened the dark detectors on the table, pulled some books off of the shelves only to replace them, took the cushions out of the cupboard, put them back again, and so on. Ron sidled over to him as a few people began arriving.

"Are you sure you're up for this, mate?" he whispered. "'Cause it's OK if you're not."

"I'm fine," Harry said dully.

"Hi Harry," Neville said coming up to them. "Hi Ron. Listen, Harry; Phoebe, Mo and Natalie are still having trouble with stunning, so I thought Luna and I could work with them separately tonight, if that's OK with you."

"Yeah sure," Harry replied distractedly, glancing quickly at Professor Lindell, who was watching him intently from the other side of the room. "That sounds good."

Harry looked around and saw that most of the group had already arrived. Professor Lindell was looking around at each student in turn. Harry cleared his throat, and the whole lot of them went silent. He suddenly felt unusually self-conscious. "We're going to continue with healing charms tonight," he said, "so anyone interested in that can go with Hermione. Neville and Luna are going to be practicing Stupefy, so anyone who wants to join can practice with them, and the rest of you will be dueling with me."

The students quickly started talking as they broke up into their groups. Hermione, Padma, and a few of the others sat down in a corner with Hermione's books on first aid, Neville and Luna got out some cushions for their remedial stunning, but the vast majority of the students crowded around Harry.

"Pair up," he instructed them, and they quickly did so, partners bowing to each other as around them spells began to fly.

Harry walked between the pairs, trying not to look at Professor Lindell, who was sitting quietly in a corner. He passed Justin and Ernie, who were hexing one another with gusto. Ernie hit Justin with a Tarrantallegra jinx that sent him flying across the room, legs flailing as if independent from his body. Ernie doubled over with laughter as Justin fell over and practically kicked himself in the head.

"Finite incantatem," Justin muttered, ending the spell. He threw a black look at Ernie and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

Ernie fell backwards onto his bum, his wand shooting out of his hand like a firecracker.

"Bad form!" he complained as he gingerly rubbed his injured pride.

Harry laughed. "You left yourself open, mate," he said good-naturedly, offering Ernie a hand up. "If he'd been a Death Eater, you'd be toast." Ernie nodded solemnly.

Harry turned away and noticed Professor Lindell looking right at him, smiling her slight half smile. She walked towards him.

"I am impressed, Mr. Potter," she said quietly as she and Harry moved towards the back of the room. "I had no idea you were attempting such advanced spells in this club." She looked at him sideways over the tops of her glasses. "You take all this rather... seriously, don't you?"

Harry shrugged. "I suppose I do," he answered slowly. "I just want them to be ready."

"Ready for what, exactly?" Professor Lindell asked sharply.

"Anything," Harry replied.

In Neville's group, Phoebe and Mo were practicing stunning one another while Luna helped Natalie with her technique. Neville was reviving each student that fell.

"Stupify!" Phoebe said firmly. The spell hit Mo in the chest and he toppled backwards onto the cushions they had spread over the floor.

"That's loads better," Neville said encouragingly as he woke Mo with a quick incantation.

"All right, Neville?" Harry asked. Neville grinned and gave him a thumbs-up as he helped Mo to his feet. Phoebe smiled shyly.

"It seems to me that you're concentrating on offensive spells," Professor Lindell observed.

"Er, yeah, I spose," Harry replied. "But we've done Protego. What else is there?"

Lindell straightened her glasses. "Well there are other defensive spells."

"Like the shield charm you came up with?" Harry asked.

Professor Lindell smiled. "Certainly, though that's not the only one."

Harry thought for a moment. "Would you teach it to us?" he asked.

Professor Lindell looked pensive. "That wasn't part of our agreement, Mr. Potter. I'm not here to intrude, or to undermine your authority."

Harry thought about that, then shrugged. "It isn't really about who's in charge, is it? I mean, that's not the point."

"What is the point?" Lindell asked.

"They need to be able to protect themselves," Harry said simply. "Anything that will help them do that is okay with me."

Professor Lindell gave him an appraising look.

Harry slept like a rock that night, barely even making it out of bed and down to the Great Hall in time to grab a few pieces of toast before hurrying off to his lessons. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, everyone was buzzing about how they'd never known that Professor Lindell could be so cool, and about the wicked shield charm she'd taught to the DA the night before. Unfortunately, "cool" Professor Lindell didn't seem inclined to give them any less work, as she assigned them a three foot essay on spell creation, due in a week.

The weather had finally broken, so by the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way down to Hagrid's hut, the sun was shining feebly through a veil of high, thin clouds that shrouded the grounds in grey light.

When they arrived at the paddock behind the hut, students had arranged themselves around the half a dozen or so fires that Hagrid had lit to keep them all warm. Most of the students were already setting out their quills and parchment in anticipation of more notes on chimeras.

The trio chose a nearby fire and Harry began fishing about in his satchel for supplies. Suddenly, Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Harry!" she hissed.

Harry looked up. Three figures were rounding the corner of Hagrid's hut: Hagrid himself, Professor Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy.

"What is he doing here?" Harry whispered, glowering at Malfoy as he passed.

"Looks like he's back in the class," Hermione said in a low voice as Malfoy sat down at another fire and began taking his things out of his bag. He did not look happy.

Neither did Hagrid.

He was waving his enormous hands as he argued with Dumbledore, who was looking as placid and inscrutable as ever. Harry scowled, certain that Dumbledore was explaining to Hagrid that everyone deserves a second chance. Harry wasn't so sure he believed it.

Harry turned away from Malfoy in disgust as Gwyn appeared at the edge of the paddock. She scanned the logs and stones that had been placed around the fires, searching for an empty seat. Setting her jaw, she strode towards them.

"Hi Gwyn," Hermione said cheerfully as Gwyn sat down in an empty space next to Ron. She glanced over at Harry, then back at Hermione.

"Hello," she said in a cold tone. "I hope you don't mind me sitting here, Hermione, but there aren't any other seats." She frowned darkly in Malfoy's direction.

"At least I still rank better than him," Harry grumbled in what he hoped was a bitingly sarcastic tone.

Gwyn glanced at him expressionlessly. "Marginally," she replied.

Professor Dumbledore had disappeared back up the hill towards the castle, and Hagrid was now approaching the front of the class, casting a series of wary looks in Malfoy's general direction.

"All righ' then all righ'. Settle down you lot. Got a big surprise fer yeh today."

Harry felt Hermione stiffen next to him anxiously, and he felt his own stomach drop uncomfortably. Hagrid's idea of a big surprise was generally what other people referred to as a big disaster waiting to happen. Some of the other students also started muttering and looking around nervously.

"All righ' Tony! Bring 'im in!" Hagrid called, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting into the woods. Everyone turned to stare, to see who on earth 'Tony' was and what in Merlin's name he was bringing.

Tony turned out to be an enormous man who very likely had a troll somewhere in his family tree. Whereas, upon first meeting, Hagrid was simply too large to be believed, Tony was too large and far, far too ugly. His forehead was Cro-Magnon in appearance, his nose the size and shape (and color) of a wizened yam, his hair like thick curls of rusty barbed wire, and his skin was thick, and dark, and leathery. Hermione and Gwyn made similar eeping noises, but it wasn't clear if they were more startled by Tony, or by what Tony was leading into Hagrid's garden.

At the end of a simple leather dog lead, was a chimera.

"Hagrid!" Hermione squeaked. "Hagrid, you promised..."

"Eh," Hagrid replied unconcernedly as he took a few steps towards the mythical creature sniffing his scarecrow, "I only promised yeh that I didn't have one. An' I don't! This feller's on loan."

Harry couldn't take his eyes off of the beast standing in front of them. The chimera was a deep reddish brown color from the tips of its impressive mane down to the hissing serpent at the end of its tail. It was roughly the size of a regular lion, though rather taller, and standing on what were clearly four cloven goat's hooves. It yawned impressively, showing off identical rows of sparkling feline teeth. Several of the girls in the class gasped as it growled softly and nuzzled Tony in the back. He scratched it behind the ears.

"Gather round, gather round!" Hagrid called happily, motioning the students forward. Slowly, they approached him, staying close together in a group, and keeping as much distance as possible between themselves and the chimera. Hermione had one hand pressed over her face in disbelief, and seemed to be trying to discretely behind Ron. Gwyn came up and stood next to Harry, and he tried to ignore her.

"Tony 'ere's from the magical zoo'logical gardens in Cairo," Hagrid said, beaming as he moved towards Tony and the chimera. "This is one of only four chimeras in captivity, an' 'e's a right friendly beast, ain't 'e Tony?"

Tony grunted, turned his head to one side, and spat spectacularly into Hagrid's compost.

As Hagrid lectured about the chimera, Malfoy started moving from the front of the group towards the back and off to the side. He paused momentarily near Harry and Gwyn, and Harry glared at him. "Keep moving," he growled.

Malfoy sneered at him. "Shut your trap, Potter."

"...be makin' observations," Hagrid was saying, "and fillin' up those drawings we started last lesson, a'right ye? So get to work! A chimera waits for no man, eh Tony? Ha!"

Harry dug into his satchel for the diagram of a chimera he'd been copying from the book, all the while keeping one eye on Malfoy, over on the other side of the wide circle of students that was forming -- the students giving the chimera and its handler a wide berth.

"How do you suppose he wormed his way back into this class?" Ron whispered as they perched on a fence post and pretended to work on their diagrams.

"Dunno," Harry said truthfully, angrily chewing on the end of his quill as he watched Malfoy on the other side of the paddock. "Maybe his father had something to do with it."

"But his father's in prison," Hermione whispered. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore just decided to give him a second chance."

"Some people don't deserve second chances," Harry huffed. Suddenly, Harry pitched forward as something bumped him from behind. "OW! What the--"

"Pardon," Phillipe Fontaine said, catching his own balance from where he'd tripped over a root in the soil and collided with Harry. "I wanted a better view of the creature," he explained, then shrugged apologetically as he moved off to one side. "I will try not to fall over, yes?"

Harry shrugged back and turned to say something to Hermione, but stopped when he heard Padma yelling.

"Just what do you think you're doing? Professor! Professor Hagrid!"

"What's goin' on?" Hagrid asked, breaking away from his conversation with Tony.

"Malfoy did a duplication spell on my diagram," Padma spat.

Hagrid frowned deeply as he approached Padma and Malfoy, standing together near the corner of the hut. "S'that true, Malfoy?" he demanded in a low voice.

For his part, Malfoy looked unconcerned. "Everyone else has a head start. I was only trying to catch up, as Professor Dumbledore said."

"Catching up don' mean cheating!" Hagrid countered. "I knew I oughtn't er let you back in ter this class! I--"

CRACK!

Everyone jumped and started looking around for the source of the sound. Harry scanned the rest of the class, but everyone seemed to be doing the same. Even Tony reached up and scratched his head, looking for the source of the sound, the chimera's leather lead dangling loosely from his hand.

Harry's eyes widened, and he turned his head just in time to see the beast shake its head in frustration or perhaps pain. It opened its eyes, looked directly at Gwyn across the circle, and growled.

"Get down!" Harry hissed. Next to Harry, Hermione turned her head sharply to look and barely stifled a scream. Ron's eyes went as big as an owl's when he realized what was happening, and he slowly reached out for Hermione's arm.

"Stay still!" Hagrid said suddenly. "Jus' stay still, Gwyn. He ain't interested in you, so long as you don't make no sudden moves or noises. Tony what--"

Just then, Phillipe shifted his weight and snapped a twig under his foot.

The chimera's head whipped around. Tony reached out to try to grab it by its heavy collar and the lion's head roared and snapped at him. Tony overbalanced and fell backwards to the ground.

Harry barely had a moment to react as he realized what was happening. The chimera roared again and reared up on its hind goat legs, its serpent tail flicking back and forth angrily and hissing all the while. As it came down, Harry dove to his right, crashing into Phillipe and shouting "Ultro!" as they fell, praying that Lindell's shield charm would work in a pinch.

They hit the ground hard, Phillipe's elbow digging into Harry's ribs. Harry turned his head just in time to see two oversized goat hooves headed straight for his face, and he squeezed his eyes shut, throwing up his arms to try to deflect the blow.

But the blow never came.

After a few moments, Harry realized he was still in one piece. He lowered his arms slightly and chanced another look.

A luminescent blue bubble had appeared, surrounding him and Phillipe. On the outside of it, the chimera was still roaring -- though Harry could no longer hear it -- and bucking, kicking harmlessly at the bubble with its hind legs. Harry stared at it, fascinated and horrified all at once, trying not to think about what might happen if the shield he had conjured gave out. Beside him, Phillipe seemed to be unconscious, and on closer inspection, Harry reasoned that he might have hit his head on a large stone when Harry tackled him.

Without warning, the arm Harry was leaning on began to shake, as though it wasn't strong enough to hold him up off the ground any longer. A jolt of panic washed through him as he realized that his own energy was what was holding up the shield, and it was fading fast.

A safe distance away, Harry saw Tony and Hagrid talking to Hermione. She was white as a sheet, but she nodded, pointed her wand at the chimera, and a dim, purplish grey mist shot out of it. The mist floated across the garden towards the chimera, enveloping it.

The chimera roared again, and Harry couldn't help but be fascinated, as it was like watching a film with the sound turned off. Suddenly, the great beast sneezed. It stopped kicking at Harry and sneezed again, took a few steps, yawned, and then abruptly collapsed to the ground.

Though he was now trembling all over from the exertion of holding up the shield, Harry waited until Hagrid came rushing forward before he felt safe. He just managed to speak the incantation to lower the bubble before collapsing into a heap himself.