A Young Wizard's Journey - Order of The Phoenix

Heavy Burdens

'Leave him alone! Alone, I say!' said Professor McGonagall's voice through the darkness. 'On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such-'.

The scream ripped from her throat before she could stop herself, and she heard several of the other girls echo it nearby. No fewer than four Stunners had shot from the figures around the cabin toward Professor McGonagall. Halfway between the cabin and castle the red beams collided with her. For a moment she looked luminous, illuminated by an eerie red glow, then was lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.

Then came the dreadful roar, the noise of anger, anguish, and hatred. The roar that came from the person she loved most.

'MUM!'

Hermione watched in horror as Y/N sprinted to the edge of the tower, leaping from the edge. Several of the girls screamed again, and a couple of the boys let out a strangled yell, but all Hermione could do was watch as the speck descended out of sight.

Then, his voice rang out again.

'ARRESTO MOMENTUM!'

The next moment, the golden phoenix burst from his wand and took flight, giving an angry, gritty cry of rage that matched their owners. Eternus took flight, spreading their wings wide and presenting a large outline of the phoenix against the grounds as Y/N rushed to Hagrid's rescue.

The ensuing duel, flashes of light ripping across the grounds, the voices of Y/N, Hagrid and their attackers travelling upwards towards the castle and then... silence.

Well, silence to everyone but Hermione.

She could feel his eyes on her, she knew that where he was, he was staring up at her now. Probably blaming himself again, thinking he'd done wrong, or let her down. But she'd never been prouder of anyone in her entire life.

Springing into action like that, defending his mother, was one of the many reasons she loved him.

'I know you'll come back to me,' breathed Hermione, 'and until you do, I can look after the others, you do what you need to do. I love you.'

And as she felt a singular tear slip from her eye and travel down her face, she watched as a pillar of fire formed in front of Hagrid's hut. Y/N had made his departure.

She'd only let the one tear fall, and when she turned back towards Harry and Ron, both of whom were looking at her aghast, she smiled happily at them.

'He can take care of himself,' she said consolingly, 'come on, we've got an exam to finish.'

Ron's face still looked thunderstruck, but Harry's went stony, he gave her a short nod and turned back to his telescope, just as Professor Tofty said feebly,

'Um... five minutes to go, everybody.'

Once the exam had finished, she, Harry and Ron stuffed their telescopes back into their bags and began the descent with the rest of the class.

'That foul, evil, woman!' gasped Hermione. 'I'm glad Y/N managed to show her up. Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night and attacking McGonagall!'

'She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like Trelawney's,' said Ernie Macmillan sagely, squeezing over to join them.

'Hagrid did well, didn't he?' said Ron, who looked more alarmed than impressed. 'How come all the spells bounced off him though?'

'It'll be his giant blood,' said Hermione shakily. 'It's very hard to Stun a giant, they're like trolls, really tough.'

'Not surprised we got Y/N to teach us after a display like that though,' said Ernie. 'Amazing work. Well, I'm off to bed. Night, all.'