¹𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 ─ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲

TIME-TURNER

There was a pause. Matilda's fogginess seemed to be lifting, and her brain was moving faster, and as it did, her memories slowly started to flood back in. 

She opened her eyes. 

Everything was slightly blurred. Somebody had taken her down from the bow it had been up in earlier. She was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the very end of the ward, she could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to her, bending over a bed. Matilda squinted. Ron's red hair was visible beneath Madam Pomfrey's arm.

Matilda moved her head over on the pillow. In the bed to across from her lay Harry, Hermione to his right. Moonlight was falling across her bed. Their eyes were open too. Hermione looked petrified, and when she saw that Matilda was awake, pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside.

Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to Harry's bed. He turned to look at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate she had ever seen in her life. It looked like a small boulder.

"Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on Harry's bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.

Matilda threw her white covers aside and stepped out of her hospital bed. She made her way over to stand in-between Harry and Hermione's beds. 

"How's Ron?" said Matilda, startling Madam Pomfrey, Harry and Hermione nodded, also wanting to know how their friend was doing. 

"He'll live," said Madam Pomfrey glaring at Matilda for being up from her bed. "As for the three of you, you'll be staying here until I'm satisfied you're – Potter, what do you think you're doing? You and Miss Winters should be resting!"

Harry was sitting up, putting his glasses back on, and picking up his wand.

"I need to see the headmaster," he said.

"Great," said Matilda, smiling. "I'd be glad to accompany you." 

"Potter, Winters," said Madam Pomfrey soothingly. "It'll be all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The Dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now—"

"WHAT?" 

Harry jumped up out of bed; Hermione had done the same. But his shout had been heard in the corridor outside; next second, Cornelius Fudge and Snape had entered the ward. "Harry, Harry, what's this?" said Fudge, looking agitated. "You all should be in bed — have they had any chocolate?" he asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously.

"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the Dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's —"

But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face.

"Harry, Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control..."

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"

"Harry's telling the truth," said Matilda, daring the Minister to insist that she was confused. "Black, he's innocent. Peter Pettigrew, he's the one who should be going to Azkaban!"

"Minister, listen, please," Hermione pleaded; she had hurried to stand beside Harry and Matilda. "We all seen it. Peter Pettigrew, he's an Animagus!"

"You see, Minister?" said Snape. "Confunded, all of them... Black's done a very good job on them..."

"Confunded?" Matilda questioned. "You've told him we've been confunded?"