The Princess of Light

Chapter 5.35 (Out of the fire)

"Harry...." Aurora sighed.

"What? What?" Said Harry.

He could not understand why Aurora wasn't as panicked and eager to leave as he was. She even looked at him as though what he was asking her was unreasonable.

"Harry," said Aurora calmly, "how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realising he was there?"

"How do I know?" Bellowed Harry. "The question is how we're going to get in there?"

"But...Harry, think about this." Said Aurora, still looking very calm and patient. She took a step towards him. "It's five o'clock in the afternoon...the Ministry of Magic must be full of workers...how would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Harry...they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world...you think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?"

"I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry shouted. "Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been completely empty whenever I've been-"

"You've never been there, Harry." Said Aurora quietly. "You've dreamed about the place, that's all."

"They're not normal dreams!" Harry shouted in her face, straightening and taking a step closer to her in turn. He wanted to shake her. "How d'you explain Ron's dad then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?"

"Harry, you need to listen to me. How on earth could Voldemort have got hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all the time?"

"Sirius might've cracked and just wanted some fresh air." Said Harry. "He's been desperate to get out of that house for ages-"

"But why," Aurora persisted, "why on earth would Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon, or whatever the thing is?"

"Sirius's brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!" Said Harry. "And that's why Dumbledore's been so keen to keep Sirius locked up all the time!"

"Look, I'm sorry," said Aurora, her calm gone all of a sudden as she stepped right into Harry's face. Her eyes were burning into his, trying to make him see reason. "but you're not making any sense, and we've got no proof for any of this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there-"

"I saw them!"

"Harry, you have a hero-thing." Aurora said, changing the course of the conversation hoping it would help.

"A what?"

"Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it's the kind of thing he does, he knows you're the - the sort of person who'd go to Sirius's aid! What if he's trying to get you in the Department of Myst-?"

"Aurora, it doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not - they've taken McGonagall to St Mungo's, there isn't anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don't go, Sirius is dead!"

"But Harry - what if your dream - was just that, a dream?"

Harry let out a roar of frustration. It was so loud, so furious and powerful, that Aurora was sure any other person would have taken a step back. Harry's powerful magic was radiating of him in waves, trying to intimidate Aurora. "You don't get it!" Harry shouted at her. "I'm not having nightmares, I'm not just dreaming! What d'you think the Occlumency was for, why d'you think Dumbledore wanted me prevented from seeing these things? Because they're REAL, Aurora - Sirius is trapped, I've seen him. Voldemort's got him, and no one else knows, and that means we're the only ones who can save him, and if you don't want to do it, fine, but I'm going, understand?"