Old Blood at Hogwarts

"Look!" Hermione whispered suddenly, "Who is that? Someone is coming out of the castle again!"

Through the darkness, Aaron, Harry and Hermione saw a man hurrying across the grounds towards an entrance on the outer edge of the school.Something glistened on his belt.

"It's MacNeil! The executioner!" Harry said. "He's gone to find those dementors! We must take action immediately."

He put one foot on Buckbeak's wing, climbed onto his back, then pulled Buckbeak's rope back around his own neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like a rein.Then, Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back, and Aaron helped her put one leg up so that she could sit behind Harry.Finally, Aaron put one foot on a lower branch of the bush, climbed up, and sat behind Hermione.

"Are you all seated?" Aaron asked in a low voice, "We are about to set off."

Hermione quickly hugged Harry's waist tightly, and Aaron hugged Hermione's waist tightly.

Harry pinched Buckbeak's flanks with his heels.Buckbeak flies high into the night sky.

Aaron held Buckbeak between his knees and felt the big wings flapping powerfully underneath.

Harry urged Buckbeak forward quickly.They were gliding quietly to the upper levels of the castle.Harry pulled hard on the rope on his left hand, and Buckbeak turned.

"Hey!" After flying for a while, Harry controlled Buckbeak to slow down.

At last they stopped at a window, but they were still rising and falling in the air, for Buckbeak could not stay in the air otherwise.

"There he is!" said Harry.

They found Blake in the adjacent window.Harry reached out and knocked on the glass hard.

Blake looked up and saw them.He jumped up from his chair and rushed to the window, trying to open it, but it was locked.

"Back off!" Aaron shouted to Harry.

He drew his wand, pointed at the window and shouted, "Open the Alaho hole!"

The window suddenly opened.

"What...what's going on?" Blake said weakly, staring at the hippogriff.

"Come up quickly, we don't have much time." Harry grabbed both sides of Buckbeak's slender neck to steady it. "You must get out of here. The dementors are coming. MacNeil has already gone to call him. They are."

Blake put his hands on the window frame and thrust his head and shoulders out.Fortunately, he was very thin and was able to quickly put a leg on Buckbeak's back, climb onto the Hippogriff's back, and sit behind Aaron.

"Okay, Buckbeak, fly up!" Harry said, shaking the rope. "Fly to the tower. Come on!"

The hippogriff flapped its wings, and they flew upward again, as high as the top of the west tower.Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the crenellation, and Aaron, Harry, and Hermione immediately slid off his back.

"Black, you'd better go quickly," Harry gasped. "They'll be in Flitwick's office any minute and they'll find you gone."

Buckbeak clawed at the ground and raised his pointed head.

"How's the other boy? Ron?" Blake asked eagerly.

"He'll be fine," Aaron said. "Although he's not fine right now, Madam Pomfrey said she can make him better. Come on!"

But Blake was still watching them: "How can I thank you?"

"Let's go!" Aaron, Harry and Hermione shouted together.

Black told Buckbeak to turn around and face the sky.

"We'll see you again," Black said. "You're such a good boy to your daddy, Harry."

He pinched Buckbeak's flanks with his heels.The huge wings spread out again, and Aaron, Harry and Hermione jumped back quickly.The hippogriff flew into the sky, and Aaron and the three watched them watch, watching it and the person riding it getting smaller and smaller.Then, a cloud covered the moon, and they disappeared completely into the sky.

"We have 10 minutes left!" Hermione stared at her watch. "We need to go back to the ward without anyone seeing us - before Dumbledore locks us up."

"No problem." Harry looked away from the sky, "Let's go..."

They slipped through the doorway behind them and descended a steep stone spiral staircase.As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard voices.They stood close to the wall and listened.Sounds like Fudge and Snape.They walked quickly along the corridor at the bottom of the stairs.

"...I hope those dementors don't cause trouble," Snape said. "You'll give him that kiss soon, right?"

"As soon as McNeil gets back with those guys. This whole Blake thing is just embarrassing. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to telling the Daily Prophet that we finally got him, and I dare them Will come to interview you, Snape. And, once little Harry's brain returns to normal, I think he will tell the Daily Prophet how you saved him..."

Snape and Fudge walked past where Aaron, Harry, and Hermione were hiding, and Aaron saw a smirk on Snape's face.The sound of their footsteps died away.Aaron, Harry and Hermione waited for a while to confirm that they were really gone before starting to run in the opposite direction.Down a flight of stairs, and another down, running through an untraveled corridor, and then they heard a gurgling sound ahead.

"It's Peeves!" Harry murmured, "Right ahead!"

"We were seen by it." Aaron said, "Hurry up and hide."

They ran to an empty classroom on the left in time.Peeves seemed to be in a very good mood and was skipping along the corridor, enjoying himself very much.

Aaron put his ear to the door and whispered, "I bet he's so happy because the dementors are coming to kill Sirius."

Hermione looked at her watch and said, "Only three minutes left."

It wasn't until Peeves' gloating voice disappeared in the distance that they slipped out of the classroom again.Run away quickly.

"Hermione... what would have happened if we... hadn't... gone back before Dumbledore locked the door...?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"I don't want to think about it!" Hermione looked at her watch again, "One minute!"

They had already reached the entrance of the school hospital at the end of the corridor.

"We're almost there." Aaron said nervously, "Come on."

They bent down the corridor.The door opened and Dumbledore stepped out.

"I've locked you up here," they heard him say. "It's five minutes to midnight. Just three turns, Miss Granger. Good luck to you."

Dumbledore exited the room, closed the door, took out his wand and locked the door with magic.Aaron, Harry and Hermione ran forward in panic.Dumbledore looked up and smiled under his long mustache.

"We did it!" Harry said breathlessly, "Sirius left, riding Buckbeak..."

Dumbledore looked at them with a smile on his face.

"Good job. I think..." He listened nervously for any sounds in the school hospital, "Okay, I think you guys are leaving too. Go in...I'm going to lock you up."

Aaron, Harry and Hermione slipped back into the ward.The place was empty except for Ron.Ron was still lying unconscious on the bed.The door lock clicked softly behind them, and Aaron, Harry and Hermione each crawled back into their beds, Hermione tucking the timer back under her robes.Madam Pomfrey returned from her office shortly.

"I heard the principal left, didn't you? Can I take care of my patients?"

Madam Pomfrey was in a bad mood, and Aaron, Harry, and Hermione thought it would be best for them to quietly accept the chocolates she offered them.

Madam Pomfrey stood in front of their bed and watched them eat the chocolate.When they all took the fourth piece of chocolate from Madam Pomfrey, they heard an angry roar from somewhere above...

"What's going on?" Madam Pomfrey asked in panic, "Really, they will wake everyone up! What do they think they are doing?"

Madam Pomfrey stared at the door.

Now they could hear angry voices.

"He must have transformed and left, Severus, we should leave someone in the room to watch him! This kind of escape..."

"He has not transformed!" Snape shouted, "No one can transform or restore in the castle! This matter... has... something to do with... Potter!"

"Severus...be reasonable...Harry is locked up..."

boom!

The door of the school hospital was knocked open.

Fudge, Snape and Dumbledore strode into the ward.Fudge's face was full of anger, Snape was furious, and only Dumbledore looked calm.

"Say it, Potter!" Snape growled. "What good have you done?"

"Professor Snape!" screamed Madam Pomfrey, "mind yourself."

"You see, Snape, be sensible," Fudge said. "The door is locked. We just saw..."

"They helped him escape, I know it!" Snape shouted, pointing at Aaron, Harry and Hermione.His face was twisted and spittle flew from his mouth.

"Calm down, my friend!" Fudge shouted. "You're talking nonsense!"

"You don't know Potter!" screamed Sneep, "He did it, I know it was him!"

"Okay, Severus." Dumbledore said calmly, "Think about what you are saying? When I left the ward 10 minutes ago, the door was locked. Madam Pomfrey, these students left Going to bed?"

"Of course not!" Madam Pomfrey said angrily, "I have been guarding them since you left!"

"Okay, you heard me, Severus." Dumbledore said calmly, "Unless you mean that Aaron, Harry and Hermione can be in two places at the same time, I don't think it's better to find them again. There’s no point in trouble.”

Snape stood there emotionally, glaring at Fudge and Dumbledore.Fudge was shocked by Snape's words and actions, and Dumbledore's eyes blinked behind the glasses.Then Snape turned around and walked quickly out of the ward, his robes rustling behind him as he moved.