The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

The Call

She'd expected the sliver doe, but instead she was met with a lynx, floating before her. Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke to them. 

"War is striking Hogwarts. The Dark Lord is preparing an attack upon the castle. If you should wish to fight, apparate as swiftly as possible inside the Hog's Head Inn. We will be defending our home."

The patronus vanished. Sarah stood there staring at the place it had been, her heart thumping madly. She turned to find the others standing behind her. 

"Well," she breathed. She'd been waiting for this moment, but now that it had actually come, her brain seemed to be malfunctioning. "Well...I guess we better go, then."

She strode passed them and into the tent, though it felt more like she was floating. She seemed to have little feeling in her legs. 

She heard Jacob and Merula arguing as she conjured a privacy wall in front of her bed to change, but she paid them no mind. She almost donned the robes she'd been wearing earlier that day, but they smelled too much of sweat and fear. She needed to avoid fear for the next few minutes if she was going to do what she needed to do. If she couldn't summon courage, this strange numbness would do.

She dug in her bag instead for the robes Charlie had given her when she visited the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary--strong but light, and covered in dragon scales. She tried to dress quickly but but carefully, and when she stepped around the wall, pulling her hair back into a tight ponytail, she found Merula dressed for battle too, in her enchanted black Curse-Breaker's robes. 

"Sarah, we can't go," said Jacob, abandoning his attempts at reasoning with Merula. "I've said it a thousand times, You-Know-Who can't be killed! We'd be walking straight into another massacre, like at Gringotts."

"So, it's just coincidence that Harry Potter, the Chosen One, broke into the same vault you were certain was holding a horcrux?" she asked. 

"Of course not," said Jacob. "But we don't know if Potter's destroyed it yet, or if there are others out there. We've got to be sure. This isn't the right moment."

"It may not be the right moment, but its happening," she said, fighting the quiver that threatened to erupt in her voice. "Hogwarts is under attack. There'll be innocent kids and teachers there. The rest of the Order will be there. I'm going to do my part to help protect the school."

Jacob moved to block their exit to the tent. "If he can't be killed, everyone who stands against him at Hogwarts will be slaughtered. Then there will be no one--no one--left who knows how to stop him."

Sarah took a deep breath. The feeling was returning to her fingers, which wasn't good. She couldn't cope with feelings. She had to move now, before she took Jacob's advice and ran away.

"I can't let everyone I know die without trying to stop it, Jacob. I'm going. You don't have to come with me, but...I'd be happy if you did. I don't want to be split up anymore."

She met his eyes, saw the desperation in them. But, she was certain that he was wrong. This was the right moment, the only moment. She was as certain as she had been each time she'd crossed the threshold into a cursed vault. This was her task, to support Potter, to avenge Dumbledore, to protect her friends. 

"I'm going," said Merula. "I'm leaving in the next two minutes, with or without the rest of you."

Sarah looked at Barnaby, who started at the recognition, but nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm going with you."

Elena nodded. 

Jacob rubbed at his face furiously. 

"Alright, then."