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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 kneeled down behind the pumpkin patch, watching the committee, Dumbledore, and Hagrid have a conversation. With a nervous Buckbeak on a chain. All Marina wanted to do is go feed it some meat, showing her nurturing side.
"Wait here," Harry whispered to Marina. "I'll do it."
"Oh please, you couldn't break that chain without me if your life depended on it. I'll go with you."
Harry smiled quickly. As Fudge's voice started again, the two darted out from behind the patch and approached Buckbeak.
"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the Hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall he executed on the sixth of June at sundown—"
Marina and Harry stared up into Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. Harry began to fumble with the knot of chain tying Buckbeak to the fence.
"Do you need help Harold?" Marina said ementionless.
"No, this is easy. Just keep Buckbeak quiet..." Harry told her, Marina could easily tell he was struggling.
"... sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair..."
"Come on, Buckbeak," Marina murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly... quietly..."
"How come you talk to him so nicely?" Harry whispered losing focus.
"Are you seriously jealous of a damn hippogriff? Shut up and break the chain already!" Marina whispered-shouted.
"... as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here..."
Harry threw all his weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak had dug in his front feet.
"Oh move out the away you moron." Marina said, pushing Harry out of the way lightly.
Marina then quickly broke the chain with her foot, while Harry tied a rope around Buckbeak's neck.
"Well, let's get this over with," said the reedy voice of the Committee member from inside Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside —"
"No, I — I wan' ter be with him... I don' wan' him ter be alone —" Footsteps echoed from within the cabin.
"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed.
Harry tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The Hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door.
"One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign too."
The footsteps stopped. Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster. Marina brushed the Hippogriff's feathers kindly.
Harry could still hear Dumbledore's voice talking from within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had reached the trees...
As the two moved back into the forest. They were now blocked from sight; they couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all.
"Stop!" he whispered to Hermione. "They might hear us."
Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Harry, Hermione, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the Hippogriff seemed to be listening intently. Silence... then —
"Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the Committee member. "Where is the beast?" "It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"
"How extraordinary," said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.
"Beaky!" said Hagrid huskily.
There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger. And then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs.
"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"
Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to Hagrid. Harry and Hermione tightened their grip and dug their heels into the forest floor to stop him.
"Someone untied him!" the executioner was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest."
"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. "Search the skies, if you will... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."
"O' — o' course, Professor," said Hagrid, who sounded weak with happiness. "Come in, come in..."
They heard footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the snap of the door, and then silence once more.
"Now what?" whispered Harry, looking around.
Marina breathed. "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius's window. He won't be there for another couple of hours... Oh, this is going to be difficult..."
She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the forest. The sun was setting now.
"We're going to have to move," said Harry, thinking hard. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on."
"Okay," said Marina as Buckbeak purred into Marina's neck. "But we've got to keep out of sight."
They moved around the edge of the forest, darkness falling thickly around them, until they were hidden behind a clump of trees through which they could make out the Willow.
"There's Ron!" said Harry suddenly.
"Poor guy — I should have been with him in the hospital wing." Marina mumbled. Harry rubbed her back kindly. Making her slap his arm gently.
A dark figure was sprinting across the lawn and its shout echoed through the still night air.
"Get away from him — get away — Scabbers, come here —"
And then they saw two more figures materialize out of nowhere. Harry watched himself, Hermione, and Marina chasing after Ron. Then he saw Ron dive.
"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat —"
"There's Sirius!" said Harry. The great shape of the dog had bounded out from the roots of the Willow. They saw him bowl Harry over, then seize on...
"Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" said Harry, watching the dog pulling Ron into the roots. "Ouch — look, I just got walloped by the tree — and so did Hermione — this is weird —"
Marina burst out laughing quietly as she watched Harry get hit by the tree. "Oh I could watch you and Granger get hit all day."
The Whomping Willow was creaking and lashing out with its lower branches; they could see themselves darting here and there, trying to reach the trunk. And then the tree froze.
"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," she mumbled.
"And there we go..." Harry muttered. "We're in."
The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move again. Seconds later, they heard footsteps quite close by. Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge, and the old Committee member were making their way up to the castle.
"Right after we'd gone down into the passage!" said Marina. "If only Dumbledore had come with us..."
"Macnair and Fudge would've come too," said Harry bitterly. "I bet you anything Fudge would've told Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot..."
They watched the four men climb the castle steps and disappear from view. For a few minutes the scene was deserted. Then —
"Here comes Lupin!" said Harry as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and halting toward the Willow. Harry looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely.
They watched Lupin seize a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting, and Lupin, too, disappeared into the gap in its roots.
"If he'd only grabbed the cloak," said Harry. "It's just lying there..."
He turned to Marina.
"If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and —"
"Your so thick! We can't be seen for the hundredth time!"
"RiRi...I can't just stand here and watch it happen! I'm going to grab the cloak!"
"Harold!"
Marina seized the back of Harry's robes not a moment too soon. Just then, they heard a burst of song. It was Hagrid, making his way up to the castle, singing at the top of his voice, and weaving slightly as he walked. A large bottle was swinging from his hands.
"See?" Hermione whispered. "See what would have happened? We've got to keep out of sight! No, Buckbeak!"
The Hippogriff was making frantic attempts to get to Hagrid again; Harry seized his rope too, straining to hold Buckbeak back. They watched Hagrid meander tipsily up to the castle. He was gone. Buckbeak stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly as purred into Marina's neck.
Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open yet again, and Snape came charging out of them, running toward the Willow.
Harry's fists clenched as they watched Snape skid to a halt next to the tree, looking around. He grabbed the cloak and held it up.
"Get your filthy hands off it," Harry snarled under his breath.
"Oh relax you knucklehead. You'll beg your precious cloak later."
Snape seized the branch Lupin had used to freeze the tree, prodded the knot, and vanished from view as he put on the cloak.
"So that's it," said Marina quietly. "We're all down there... and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again..."
She took the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it securely around the nearest tree, then sat down on the dry ground, arms around her knees.
"So..." Harry whispered sighing next to Marin.
"So what happened with the dementors? I can't remember what happened..."
He then explained what he'd seen; how, as the nearest Dementor had lowered its mouth to Harry's, a large silver something had come galloping across the lake and forced the Dementors to retreat.
"What is it a patronus?" She asked.
"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the Dementors go, so yes. It was a real Patronus. A powerful one."
"But who conjured it then?"
"Maybe it was Dumbledore." Marina said. "It must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those Dementors away... If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see —?"
"Yeah, I saw him," said Harry slowly. "But... maybe I imagined it... I wasn't thinking straight... I passed out right afterward..."
"I think —" Harry swallowed, knowing how strange this was going to sound. "I think it was my dad."
Marina flinched at hearing that come out of Harry. Half of the time, Marina almost misstated Harry for James half the time shortly after she met him. And all she could see in Harry's eyes was Lily.
"You think...you saw his ghost maybe?" Marina said sympathetically.
"I don't know... no... he looked solid..."
"But then —"
"Maybe I was seeing things," said Harry. "But... from what I could see... it looked like him... I've got photos of him..."
"I know it sounds crazy," said Harry flatly.
"I believe you..I mean...your total blonker....but...I think may be partially right some how." Marina told him as they stared at each other. Harry blushed as Marina looked away.
He turned to took at Buckbeak, who was digging his beak into the ground, apparently searching for worms. But he wasn't really watching Buckbeak.
The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Marina sat with her face turned toward the Willow, waiting.
And then, at last, after over an hour... "Here we come!" Marina whispered.
She and Harry got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron, and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione... then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next came Harry and Black. They all began to walk toward the castle.
"Potter," Marina muttered as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do..."
"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again..." said Harry quietly.
"Fine...why don't you go find a rat in the dark!" Marina shot.
"Okay...fine. I'm sorry." Harry whispered.
"It's fine. Now shut up for once."
"Okay."
The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement —
"There goes Lupin, he's transforming. Shit that's so disturbing — "
"RiRi!" said Harry suddenly. "We've got to move!"
"We mustn't, I keep telling you —"
"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!" Harry screeched.
"Quick!" she shouted, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The Dementors will be coming any moment —"
"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now — come on!"
They ran as fast as they could, Buckbeak cantering along behind them. They could hear the werewolf howling behind them...
The cabin was in sight; Harry skidded to the door, wrenched it open, and Marina and Buckbeak flashed past him; Harry threw himself in after them and bolted the door. Fang the boarhound barked loudly.
"Shut up Fang, it's us!" said Marina, hurrying over and scratching his ears to quieten him.
"That was really close!" she said to Harry.
"Yeah..."
"I think I'd better go outside again, you know," said Harry slowly. "I can't see what's going on — we won't know when it's time —"
"I'm telling Potter I will beat the crap out of you if your going —"
"I'm not going to try and interfere," said Harry quickly. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"
"Well... okay, then... let's go."
"Y'know we're getting quite along aren't we Marina?" Harry smiled.
"Like my dead ass we are."
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𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐀 stop amoung the lake, dementors were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake... They were moving away from where the two stood. The only thing Marina could think of was when would Harry's father come save them.
The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, she could see tiny glimmers of silver — his own attempts at a Patronus —
There was a bush at the very edge of the water. Marina and Harry threw themselves behind it, peering desperately through the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished. A terrified excitement shot through him — any moment now —
"Come on!" he muttered, staring about. "Where are you? Dad, come on —"
"I don't think he's coming Harold..." Marina whispered, so terrified was clutching on Harry's arm.
Harry raised his head to look at the circle of Dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. It was time for the rescuer to appear — but no one was coming to help this time —
Marina then let go due to realization.
"Wait. It's not your dad whose saving us! It's you!" Marina shrieked.
Harry smiled as — flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM! " he yelled.
And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake. The animal lowered its head and charge at the swarming Dementors... Now it was galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the Dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness... They were gone.
"You saved us!" Marina laughed as she hugged Harry, making Harry laugh as well, then she let go quickly with a disgusted look.
The Patronus turned. It wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above... it was coming back to him...
It stopped on the bank. Its hooves made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head.
"Prongs," Harry whispered.
As the two walked back to Buckbeak, Marina couldn't help but feel impressed with Harry's ability with advanced magic.
"That was fucking cool Potter. So cool!" Marina told him.
"Thanks." Harry said with a tint of red on his cheeks.
"I can't believe it... You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those Dementors! That's very, very advanced magic."
"I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it... Does that make sense?"
"I don't know — wait, look at Snape!"
Together they peered around the bush at the other bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harry, Marina, Hermione, and Black onto them. A fourth stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle.
"It's nearly time Y'know ," said Marina, looking at Harry's watch. "We've got about forty five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing..."
They waited, watching the moving clouds reflected in the lake, while the bush next to them whispered in the breeze. Buckbeak, bored, was ferreting for worms again.
"Do you reckon he's up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. He looked up at the castle and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower.
"Yes! Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"
Marina stared at the castle. The man was hurrying across the grounds, toward one of the entrances. Something shiny glinted in his belt.
"Macnair!" said Harry. "The executioner! He's gone to get the Dementors! This is it, Marina —"
"Yes! Finally ride this thing!" Marina giggled.
Harry climbed onto Buckbeak's back and put is hand out to Marina. Who shrugged and climbed on without his help. He pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins.
"God! Ginny's gonna be so freaked when I tell her I rode a hippogriff!" Marina said.
"Ready?" he whispered to Marina. "You'd better hold on to me —"
"Im not risking getting any strange diseases from you." Marina scoffed.
Harry then nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.