Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“I dunno how,” said Harry. “But I know exactly where. There’s a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls and they’re at the end of row ninety-seven… he’s trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there… he’s torturing him… says he’ll end by killing him!”

Harry found his voice was shaking, as were his knees. He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to master himself.

“How’re we going to get there?” he asked them.

There was a moment’s silence. Then Ron said, “G-get there?”

“Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!” Harry said loudly.

“But—Harry…” said Ron weakly.

“What? What?” said Harry.

He could not understand why they were both gaping at him as though he was asking them something unreasonable.

“Harry,” said Hermione in a rather frightened voice, “er… how… 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 Hermione, taking 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 Hermione quietly. “You’ve dreamed about the place, that’s all.”

“They’re not normal dreams!” Harry shouted in her face, standing up 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?”

“He’s got a point,” said Ron quietly, looking at Hermione.

“But this is just—just so unlikely!” said Hermione desperately. “Harry, 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 Ron, sounding worried. “He’s been desperate to get out of that house for ages—”

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

“I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!” Harry yelled at her. “Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn’t care about seeing hurt—”

“You know what, I’ve just thought of something,” said Ron in a hushed voice. “Sirius’s brother was a Death Eater, wasn’t he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!”

“Yeah—and that’s why Dumbledore’s been so keen to keep Sirius locked up all the time!” said Harry.

“Look, I’m sorry,” cried Hermione, “but neither of you is making sense, and we’ve got no proof for any of this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there—”

“Hermione, Harry’s seen them!” said Ron, rounding on her.

“OK,” she said, looking frightened yet determined, “I’ve just got to say this—”

“What?”

“You… this isn’t a criticism, Harry! But you do… sort of… I mean—don’t you think you’ve got a bit of a—a—saving-people thing!” she said.

He glared at her.

“And what’s that supposed to mean, a ‘saving-people thing’?”

“Well… you…” she looked more apprehensive than ever. “I mean… last year, for instance… in the lake… during the Tournament… you shouldn’t have… I mean, you didn’t need to save that little Delacour girl… you got a bit… carried away…”

A wave of hot, prickly anger swept through Harry’s body; how could she remind him of that blunder now?

“I mean, it was really great of you and everything,” said Hermione quickly, looking positively petrified at the look on Harry’s face, “everyone thought it was a wonderful thing to do—”

“That’s funny,” said Harry through gritted teeth, “because I definitely remember Ron saying I’d wasted time acting the hero… is that what you think this is? You reckon I want to act the hero again?”

“No, no, no!” said Hermione, looking aghast. “That’s not what I mean at all!”

“Well, spit out what you’ve got to say, because we’re wasting time here!” Harry shouted.

“I’m trying to say—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 just trying to get you into the Department of Myst—?”

“Hermione, 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—was just that, a dream?”

Harry let out a roar of frustration. Hermione actually stepped back from him, looking alarmed.