The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Cease Fire

Sarah nodded. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Have you seen Barnaby?"

"No," she said, her brow furrowing with worry. "I heard he was up with a group defending the Northern battlements, but they fell. Aberforth brought back the survivors."

Survivors. Sarah's heart suddenly remembered to beat at the words, and it did so rapidly, as if to make up for lost time. Sarah glanced back at Jacob, careful not to look at the knife. 

"Go find Barnaby," said Penny. "I promise I'll let you know as soon as there is any change in Jacob's condition."

"Thank you."

Sarah walked about the hall, her eyes searching the bodies, making sure to flick them away as soon as she spotted no trace of chestnut hair or emerald eyes. She had no desire to see how many friends she'd lost. 

She couldn't help but spot the bubblegum pink locks on the floor, though. There lay Tonks, the bright eyes Sarah had seen nearly everyday for seven years forever dimmed. On either side of her lay Lupin and Tulip. 

Sarah picked up her pace, as if by running away from the awful sight, she could make it untrue. It was a mistake, a trick; none of it was really happening. 

She searched the castle rapidly, asking any passerby if they'd seen Barnaby, until she reached the doorway that led to the Northern battlements.

Or rather, what had once been the Northern battlements. Sarah had to hold onto the door to keep from falling to the rubble below as she gaped down at a line of stone debris from one tower to the other. Her eyes scanned the cracked bits of stone for any sign of him, but found nothing. 

She thought madly of some way to ensure he wasn't trapped somewhere in the rubble. "Accio Ring!" she said, thinking of the silver ring of his family crest he wore. Nothing happened. "Homenum Revelio!" Again, she waited, but there was no change. No living presence was anywhere near this part of the castle. 

Refusing to contemplate what that might mean, she sprinted back down the tower to comb the nearby grounds for some sign of where he'd gone. 

As she charged out of the destroyed courtyard, she spotted him, leaning on a collapsed column, looking out over the forest. 

"Oh, thank g--" she managed to let out, before he jumped from the column and squeezed her in a one armed hug. 

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, anger warring with relief in her gut as she looked him over. He looked terrible. His face was covered in scratches and dirt, and his left arm hung down, strange and still. 

"Waiting."

Before Sarah could ask more, Barnaby stiffened, his eyes narrowing as he stared out in the direction of the lake. Sarah turned, readying her wand. Perhaps fifty feet ahead of them, walking toward the village, she spotted Elena Andrel. She was supporting a limping figure, presumably Aiden. She must have sensed them watching, because she stopped and looked straight at Barnaby. Barnaby gave her a nod. Elena turned and continued their flight. 

Sarah watched them until they'd vanished from view. 

"Was that what you were waiting for?"

"Not that."

He leaned back against the pillar, grunting in pain. 

"B, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he said, grinning a little. "I was on top of the battlements when they fell. I thought I was done for, but then I remembered that spell you used earlier. Arresto Momentum! I must have thought of it a little to late, though. I still hit the ground pretty hard."

He indicated his left arm, which he seemed unable to move. 

"Here, let me." Sarah repaired his dislocated arm, his cut face, several cracked ribs and a twisted ankle. Barnaby's face scrunched up as she worked, but he made no noise. 

"Why didn't you go to the Great Hall?" she asked. "Madam Pomfrey could have done that ages ago."

"I've been waiting, like I said."

"For what?"

His eyes caught something behind her again. "That."

Sarah turned to see a small figure walking by, toward the Forbidden Forest. 

"Merula, wait!" she called. She and Barnaby hurried after her. 

"For the love of all the Dark Arts!" she groaned, spinning around to face them. "What do you want?"

"I want to know what you think you're doing," said Sarah. 

"None of your business, Spellman. You're not my prefect anymore." 

"She's going to the forest," said Barnaby. "I knew as soon as You-Know-Who said he was there that you'd probably try to sneak off to find him."

Sarah stared at Merula, but Merula just stomped her foot.

"I don't see why I'm the only one! We know he's in the bloody forest, why aren't we storming in there to kill him once and for all?"

"Because it'd be just like at Gringotts," said Sarah slowly, mulling over Penny's words from earlier. "I think it's got to be Harry Potter. Nobody but Harry can kill him." 

"Well then, where the hell is he?" said Merula. "Hiding in there, saving his own skin?"

"We've got to give him a chance," said Barnaby. "That's what this whole night has been for, hasn't it?"

"Fine, I'll give Potter his chance," said Merula. She scowled, her eyes hard as steel. "But, if he fails to take it, then I'll take mine."

Merula stomped toward the forest again, and Sarah hurried to follow. Merula spun around and thrust her wand in Sarah's face. 

"Let me do this, Spellman. The Death Eaters robbed me of my mother, of my life, everything." She closed her eyes to hold back a tear. The hand holding the wand shook. "Please. If we've ever been friends, then just...let me try to take it back."

"It's because I'm your friend," said Sarah haughtily, moving the wand out of her face, "that I'm going with you."

"What?"

Merula stared at her. Sarah nodded. She couldn't go back and face the dead without doing something to show for it. Merula was right. Diego was right. If she could do anything to ensure Voldemort didn't set foot at Hogwarts again, then she would try, no matter the cost. They would go into the forest, the three of them, and face death as they had so many times before. 

Merula took a deep breath. She turned and resumed her walk, now with Sarah and Barnaby on either side of her. Harry Potter's hour was almost up. Sarah wondered what he was doing now. Hopefully, he had a plan. Well, the three of them would buy him some time, if nothing else. 

They found their way into the forest and crept slowly on, toward the unforgiving silence that awaited them.