088.asc

// 15925
//== Time Pressure, Pt 1

// 15926
//April 16th, 1992.

// 15927
//12:07pm.

// 15928
//Lunchtime.

// 15929
//Harry stomped over to the mostly-deserted Gryffindor table, determining at a
//glance that lunch today was breen and Roopo balls. The ambient conversation,
//Harry could likewise hear, was Quidditch-related; an auditory environment which
//rated somewhat worse than the sound of rusty chainsaws, but better than what
//the Ravenclaw table was still __blithering__ about Hermione. Gryffindor
//House, at least, had started out less sympathetic to Draco Malfoy and had more
//political incentive to wish that everyone would just forget certain unfortunate
//facts; and if that wasn’t the right reason for silence, it was at least
//silence. Dean and Seamus and Lavender were all gone for the holidays, but at
//least that left…

// 15930
//“What was all that ruckus at the Head Table?” Harry said to the Weasley-twin
//group-mind, as he began to serve himself his own plate. “It looked like it was
//just ending as I walked in.”

// 15931
//“Our beloved, but clumsy Professor Trelawney -”

// 15932
//“Seems to have gone and dropped an entire soup tureen on herself -”

// 15933
//“Not to mention Mr. Hagrid.”

// 15934
//A quick glance at the Head Table confirmed that the Divination Professor was
//waving her wand frantically as the half-Giant dabbed at his clothes. Nobody
//else seemed to be paying much attention, even Professor McGonagall. Professor
//Flitwick was standing on his chair as usual, the Headmaster seemed to be absent
//again (he’d been gone most days of the holiday), Professors Sprout and Sinistra
//and Vector were eating in their usual grouping, and -

// 15935
//“You know,” Harry said, as he turned his head away to stare at the ceiling
//illusion of a clear blue sky, “that still creeps me out sometimes.”

// 15936
//“What does?” said Fred or George.

// 15937
//The powerful and enigmatic Defense Professor was ‘resting’ or
//whatever-the-heck-was-wrong-with-him, his hands making fumbling, hesitant grabs
//at a chicken-leg that seemed to be eluding him on the plate.

// 15938
//“Eh, nothing,” said Harry. “I’m not quite used to Hogwarts, yet.”

// 15939
//Harry continued to eat in moderate silence, as various Weasleys discussed some
//bizarre mind-affecting substance called Chudley Cannons.

// 15940
//“What sort of deep mysterious thoughts are you thinking?” said a young-looking
//witch with short hair, sitting nearby. “I mean, just curious. I’m Brienne, by
//the way.” She was gazing at him with one of those looks which Harry had firmly
//decided to just ignore until he was older.

// 15941
//“So,” Harry said, “you know those really simple Artificial Intelligence
//programs like ELIZA that are programmed to use words in syntactic English
//sentences only they don’t contain any understanding of what the words mean?”

// 15942
//“Of course,” the witch said. “I have a dozen of them in my trunk.”

// 15943
//“Well, I’m pretty sure my understanding of girls is somewhere around that
//level.”

// 15944
//A sudden hush fell.

// 15945
//It took a few seconds for Harry to realize that, no, the entire Great Hall
//wasn’t staring at __him,__ and then Harry twisted his head around to look.

// 15946
//The figure who’d just staggered into the Great Hall appeared to be Mr. Filch,
//Hogwarts’s token hallway monitor; who, along with his predatory cat Mrs.
//Norris, constituted a low-level random encounter whom Harry often breezed past
//wearing his epic-level Deathly Hallow. (Harry had once consulted the Weasley
//twins about pulling some sort of prank on this deserving target, whereupon Fred
//or George had quietly pointed out that Mr. Filch was never seen to use a wand,
//which was odd, really, considering how many spells would be useful in that
//position, and it made you wonder why Dumbledore had given the man a position at
//Hogwarts, and Harry had shut up.)

// 15947
//Right now Mr. Filch’s brown clothing was disarrayed and soaked with sweat, his
//shoulders were visibly heaving as he breathed, and his everpresent cat was
//missing.

// 15948
//“Troll -” gasped Mr. Filch. “In the dungeons -”

// 15949
//Minerva McGonagall stood up from the Head Table so quickly that her chair fell
//to the ground behind her.

// 15950
//“__Argus!__” she cried. “What happened to you?”

// 15951
//Argus Filch staggered forward from the huge doors, his upper body streaked and
//dotted with small crimson dots as though someone had spattered steak sauce over
//his face. “Troll - grey - twice as tall as me - it - it -” Argus Filch covered
//his face with his hands. “It ate Mrs. Norris - ate her all up, in just one bite
//-”

// 15952
//Minerva felt a stab of dismay in her other self, she hadn’t liked the other cat
//very much but the two of them had still been felines.

// 15953
//An uproar started from the Great Hall. Severus stood up from the Head Table,
//somehow doing so without drawing any visible attention to himself, and strode
//out the huge doors without another word.

// 15954
//__Of course,__ Minerva thought, __the third-floor corridor - this
//could be a distraction -__

// 15955
//She mentally consigned all such matters to Severus’s care, drew her wand,
//raised it high, and let out five sharp cracks of purple fire.

// 15956
//There was stunned silence but for Argus’s broken sobs.

// 15957
//“It seems we have a dangerous creature loose in Hogwarts,” she said to the
//faculty at the Head Table. “I will ask you all to aid in searching the halls.”
//Then she turned to the stunned and watching students, and raised her voice.
//__“Prefects - lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!”__

// 15958
//Percy Weasley leaped up from the Gryffindor table. “Follow me!” he said in a
//high voice. “Stick together, first-years! No, not __you__ -” but by that
//time the other prefects were raising their own voices as a renewed babble
//sprang up.

// 15959
//Then a clear, cool voice spoke under the sudden rush of sound.

// 15960
//“Deputy Headmistress.”

// 15961
//She turned.

// 15962
//The Defense Professor was calmly wiping off his hands on a napkin as he stood
//up from the Head Table. “With respect,” said the man of unknown identity, “you
//are not expert in battle tactics, madam. In this situation, it would be wiser
//to -”

// 15963
//“I do apologize, Professor,” said Professor McGonagall, as she turned toward
//the great doors. Filius and Pomona had already risen to follow her, with Rubeus
//Hagrid towering over all of them as the half-giant stood up. She’d been through
//similar experiences too many times, at this point. “Sad experience has taught
//me that on occasions such as these, it is not a good time to take any advice
//the current Defense Professor may offer. Indeed, I think it wise that the two
//of us search for the troll together, so that no suspicions may be cast upon you
//for any untoward events which occur during that time.”

// 15964
//Without any hesitation, the Defense Professor swung smoothly on the Gryffindor
//table and clapped his hands with a sound like a floor cracking through.

// 15965
//“Michelle Morgan of House Gryffindor, second in command of Pinnini’s Army,” the
//Defense Professor said calmly into the resulting quiet. “Please advise your
//Head of House.”

// 15966
//Michelle Morgan climbed up onto her bench and spoke, the tiny witch sounding
//far more confident than Minerva remembered her being at the start of the year.
//“Students walking through the hallways would be spread out and impossible to
//defend. All students are to remain in the Great Hall and form a cluster in the
//center… __not__ surrounded by tables, a troll would jump right over
//tables… with the perimeter defended by seventh-year students. From the armies
//only, no matter how good they are at __duelling,__ so they don’t get in
//each other’s lines of fire.” Michelle hesitated. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hagrid, but -
//it wouldn’t be safe for you, you should stay behind with the students. And
//Professor Trelawney shouldn’t confront a troll on her own either,” Michelle
//sounded much less apologetic about this part, “but if she’s paired with
//Professor Quirrell the two of them together can form an additional trusted and
//effective battle unit. That concludes my analysis, Professor.”

// 15967
//“Adequate, for being put on the spot,” the Defense Professor said. “Twenty
//Quirrell points to you. But you neglect the still simpler point that
//__home__ does not mean __safe,__ and a troll is strong enough to rip
//a portrait door off its hinges -”

// 15968
//“Enough,” Minerva snapped. “Thank you, Miss Morgan.” She looked to the watching
//tables. “Students, you will do as she said.” Turned back to the Head Table.
//“Professor Trelawney, you will accompany the Defense Professor -”

// 15969
//“Ah,” Sybill said falteringly. Beneath her overdone makeup and mess of shawls,
//the woman looked rather pale. “I’m afraid - I’m not entirely well today -
//indeed, I feel rather faint -”

// 15970
//“You won’t have to fight the troll,” Minerva said sharply, her patience taxed
//as usual when dealing with the woman. “Just stay with the Defense Professor and
//do not let him out of your sight for an instant, you must be able to testify
//afterward that you were with him at all times__.__” She turned to Rubeus.
//“Rubeus, I am leaving you in charge here. Keep them safe.” The huge man
//straightened at this, losing his glum look and nodding proudly to her.

// 15971
//Then Minerva looked at the students, and raised her voice. “It should go
//entirely without saying that anyone leaving the Great Hall __for any
//reason,__ will be expelled. No excuses will be accepted. Am I understood?”

// 15972
//The Weasley twins, with whom she’d been making direct eye contact, nodded
//respectfully.

// 15973
//She turned without another word and marched off toward the hall doors with the
//other Professors behind her.

// 15974
//On the far side of the room, unnoticed on the wall, a clock showed 12:14pm.

// 15975
//…and he still didn’t realize.

// 15976
//__Tick.__

// 15977
//As Harry stared with narrowed eyes at where the Professors had gone out,
//wondering what was actually going on and what it meant, as the students came
//together into a more defensible mass and wands flicked to levitate the tables
//out of their way, Harry still didn’t realize.

// 15978
//__Tick.__

// 15979
//“Shouldn’t the Professors __all __have formed up into pairs?” said an
//older Gryffindor student whose name Harry didn’t know. “I mean - it’d be
//slower, but it’d be safer, I think -”

// 15980
//__Tick.__

// 15981
//Someone else replied to this, raising her voice, but Harry didn’t catch much of
//it, the gist was that mountain trolls were highly magic-resistant and
//incredibly strong and could regenerate but they were still __noisy__ so if
//you heard them coming, it shouldn’t be that hard for a Hogwarts Professor to
//wrap them up in Vadim’s Unbreakable something something.

// 15982
//__Tick.__

// 15983
//And Harry still didn’t realize.

// 15984
//__Tick.__

// 15985
//The crowd noises were subdued, people were talking in low voices to each other
//while they glanced around, listening for the sound of a crashing door or an
//angry roar.

// 15986
//__Tick.__

// 15987
//Some students were speculating in whispers about what the Defense Professor
//could possibly be trying to achieve by smuggling in a troll, and whether he was
//angry that Professor McGonagall had caught on to his attempted distraction, and
//what it was a distraction __from.__

// 15988
//__Tick.__

// 15989
//And the thought still didn’t come to Harry, not until after all the students
//had formed a mass of perhaps a hundred bodies patrolled by proudly grim-looking
//seventh-year-students with their wands all pointed outward, and somebody
//suggested doing a headcount, and someone else replied sarcastically that this
//might have made sense on some other day, but right now practically everyone was
//gone for the spring holiday and nobody really knew how many students were
//supposed to be in the room, let alone if any were missing.

// 15990
//__Tick.__

// 15991
//That was when Harry wondered where Hermione was.

// 15992
//__Tick.__

// 15993
//Harry looked over at where the Ravenclaws had clustered, he didn’t see Hermione
//but then everyone was packed tightly-enough together that you wouldn’t expect
//to see smaller students through the crowd, amid the upper-years.

// 15994
//__Tick.__

// 15995
//Harry then looked over at the Hufflepuffs to see if he could spot Neville, and
//even though Neville was standing behind a much taller student, Harry’s visual
//processing managed to spot him almost immediately. Hermione wasn’t with the
//Hufflepuffs either, not that Harry could see - and she certainly wouldn’t be
//with the Slytherins -

// 15996
//__Tick.__

// 15997
//Harry pushed his way through the packed crowd, stepping beside or around older
//students and in one case just ducking between their legs, until he was standing
//among the Ravenclaws and could definitely verify that, nope, no Hermione.

// 15998
//__Tick.__

// 15999
//“Hermione Granger!” Harry said loudly. “Are you here?”

// 16000
//Nobody answered.

// 16001
//__Tick.__

// 16002
//Somewhere in the back of his mind was a rising sense of horror, as other parts
//of him tried to decide exactly how much to panic. The first Defense class of
//the year was rather fuzzy in Harry’s mind, but he distantly remembered
//something about trolls being able to track prey that was alone and undefended.

// 16003
//__Tick.__

// 16004
//Another track of thought searched frantically through inchoate possibilities,
//what could he __do__ exactly? It wasn’t 3pm yet so he couldn’t reach this
//__now__ using his Time-Turner. Even if he could sneak out of the room -
//there had to be some way to put on his Cloak without being noticed, some sort
//of distraction he could use - he had no idea __where__ Hermione was, and
//Hogwarts was huge.

// 16005
//__Tick.__

// 16006
//Another part of his mind tried to model possibilities. From what that other
//student had said, trolls weren’t __silent__ predators, they were noisy -

// 16007
//__Hermione won’t have any idea it’s a troll, so she’ll go investigate the
//noise. She’s a heroine, isn’t she?__

// 16008
//- but Hermione now had an invisibility cloak and a broomstick in her pouch.
  //Harry had insisted on that part for both her and Neville, and Professor
//McGonagall had told him it’d been done. That ought to be enough to let Hermione
//get away, even if she was lousy on a broomstick. All she had to do was get onto
//a section of roof, it was a clear day and sunlight was supposed to be bad for
//trolls somehow, Harry remembered that part and therefore Hermione would
//remember it exactly. And surely, even if Hermione wanted to prove herself
//again, she couldn’t possibly be dumb enough to attack a mountain troll.

// 16009
//__Tick.__

// 16010
//She wouldn’t.

// 16011
//__Tick.__

// 16012
//That just wasn’t __her.__

// 16013
//__Tick.__

// 16014
//And then it occured to Harry that somebody had previously tried to frame
//Hermione Granger for murder using Memory Charms. Had done so inside Hogwarts,
//without setting off any alarms. And had arranged for Draco to die slowly enough
//that it wouldn’t set off the wards until at least six hours later when nobody
//could use a Time-Turner to check. And that whoever was clever enough to
//infiltrate a troll past the ancient wards of Hogwarts without the Headmaster
//coming to investigate the strange creature, could be clever enough to
//__also__ take the obvious step of jinxing Hermione’s magic items…

// 16015
//__Tick.__

// 16016
//There was a part of him that felt something like slowly rising panic as
//perspective shifted, a Necker Cube changing orientation, what the __hell__
//had Harry been thinking, letting Hermione and Neville be kept inside Hogwarts
//just because of them being given a few stupid trinkets, that wasn’t going to
//stop anyone who wanted to __kill them__.

// 16017
//__Tick.__

// 16018
//Another part of his mind put up resistance, that possibility wasn’t
//__certain__, it was complex and the probability could easily be under 50//.
//It was easy to imagine going into a huge panic in front of everyone and then
//Hermione getting back from the washrooms outside the Great Hall. Or if the
//troll ended up not going anywhere near her… like in the story of the boy who
//cried wolf, nobody would believe him the next time if she really was in
//trouble; it could use up reputational credit that he would later need for
//something else…

// 16019
//__Tick.__

// 16020
//Harry recognized an instance of the fear-of-embarrassment schema that stopped
//most people from ever doing anything under conditions of uncertainty, and
//squashed it down hard. Even then it was strange how much willpower it took to
//muster the decision to shout out loud in front of everyone, if he just hadn’t
//seen Hermione in the crowd it was going to be embarrassing…

// 16021
//__Tick.__

// 16022
//Harry drew in a deep breath and shouted as loudly as he could,
//__“Hermione Granger! Are you here?”__

// 16023
//The students all turned to look at him. Then some of them turned around to look
//around themselves. The noise around the room went down in volume as some
//conversations stilled.

// 16024
//__“Has anyone seen Hermione Granger since - __since around ten-thirty
//today or so? __Does anyone have any idea where she might be?”__

// 16025
//The background babble stilled further.

// 16026
//Nobody raised their voice to shout anything at him, in particular not,
//__Don’t worry, Harry, I’m right here.__

// 16027
//“Oh, Merlin,” somebody said from nearby, and then the background babble started
//up again, taking on a new and excited tone.

// 16028
//Harry stared down at his hands, shutting out the yammering and tried to think,
//think, __THINK -__

// 16029
//__Tick.__

// 16030
//__Tick.__

// 16031
//__Tick.__

// 16032
//Susan Bones and a redheaded boy with a battered-looking wand both shoved their
//way through the crowd to Harry at the same time.

// 16033
//“We’ve got to let the Professors know somehow -”

// 16034
//“We’ve got to go find her -”

// 16035
//__“Find her?”__ Susan snapped, rounding on the other boy. “How’ll we do
//__that__, Captain Weasley?”

// 16036
//“We’ll go off and __look__ for her!” Ron Weasley snapped back.

// 16037
//“Are you nuts? There’s already Professors searching the hallways, what makes
//you think we’ve got any better chance than them of running across General
//Granger? Only __we’ll__ get eaten by the troll! And then expelled!”

// 16038
//It was odd, how sometimes hearing bad ideas made the right idea obvious by
//contrast.

// 16039
//“__All right everyone! Listen up!__”

// 16040
//People turned to look.

// 16041
//“__QUIET! EVERYONE! SHUT UP!__”

// 16042
//Harry’s throat ached after that, but he had everyone’s attention.

// 16043
//“I have a broomstick,” Harry said as loudly as he could manage with his throat
//still hurting. He’d remembered Azkaban, and the broomstick which had only sat
//two, when he’d requested one that could carry three. “It’s a 3-seater. I need
//one seventh-year from the armies to come with me. We’re going to fly through
//the hallways as fast as possible looking for Hermione Granger, pick her up, and
//come back immediately. Who’s with me?”

// 16044
//The Great Hall became entirely silent, then.

// 16045
//Students glanced at each other uneasily. The younger students looked
//expectantly at the older students, while they in turn turned to look at the
//students who were guarding the perimeter. Most of those were staring straight
//ahead, pointing their wands just in case the troll picked that moment to burst
//through a wall.

// 16046
//No one moved.

// 16047
//No one spoke.

// 16048
//Harry Potter spoke again. “We’re not going to __fight__ the troll. If we
//see it we’ll just fly away and there’s no way it’ll be able to keep up with us
//on a broomstick. I’ll take responsibility for squaring it with the
//administration. __Please.__”

// 16049
//People went on looking at other people.

// 16050
//Harry stared at the silent crowd, the dozen seventh-years looking sternly
//outward, feeling the coldness coming over him. Somewhere in the back of his
//mind, Professor Quirrell was laughing scornfully and mocking the idea that
//ordinary fools would ever do something useful of their own will, without a wand
//pointed at their heads…

// 16051
//__Tick.__

// 16052
//The standard remedy for bystander apathy was to focus on a single individual.
//“All right,” Harry said, trying to keep the commanding voice of the
//Boy-Who-Lived who didn’t doubt obedience. “Miss Morgan, come with me, now.
//We’ve got no time to waste.”

// 16053
//The witch he’d named turned from where she’d been staring steadily out at the
//perimeter, her expression aghast for the one second before her face closed up.

// 16054
//“The Deputy Headmistress ordered us all to stay __here__, Mr. Potter.”

// 16055
//It took an effort for Harry to unclench his teeth. “Professor Quirrell didn’t
//say that and neither did you. Professor McGonagall isn’t a tactician, she
//didn’t think to check if we had missing students and __she__ thought it
//was a good idea to start marching students through the hallways. But Professor
//McGonagall __understands__ after her mistakes are pointed out to her, you
//saw how she listened to you and Professor Quirrell, and I’m certain that she
//wouldn’t want us to just ignore the fact that Hermione Granger is __out
//there, alone -”__

// 16056
//__Tick.__

// 16057
//“I’d expect the Professor to say she’d not wish any more students roaming the
//halls. The Professor said if anyone left for any reason, they’d be expelled.
//Maybe __you__ don’t need to worry because you’re the Boy-Who-Lived, but
//the rest of us __do!__”

// 16058
//__Tick.__

// 16059
//Somewhere in the back of his mind, Professor Quirrell was just laughing at him.
//Expecting some __normal__ person to act without perfect strategic clarity,
//without a clear focus of responsibility on them personally, when they had a
//__good excuse to do nothing… __“A student’s life is at stake,” Harry said
//in a level voice. “She could be fighting the troll right now. Out of curiosity,
//does that mean anything to you at all?”

// 16060
//__Tick.__

// 16061
//Miss Morgan’s face twisted. “You - you’re the Boy-Who-Lived! Just go off by
//yourself and snap your fingers, if you want to help her!”

// 16062
//__Tick.__

// 16063
//Harry was hardly even aware of what he was saying. “That’s just cleverness and
//bluffing, I don’t have any power like that in real life, a young girl needs
//your help __now are you a Gryffindor or not?”__

// 16064
//“Why are you saying any of this to __me?__” cried Miss Morgan. “I wasn’t
//left in charge here! Mr. Hagrid was!”

// 16065
//There was an awkward pause that suffused the whole room.

// 16066
//Harry spun to look up at the huge half-giant towering over the crowd of
//students, as all other heads also turned toward him as one.

// 16067
//“Mr. Hagrid,” Harry said, trying to keep his voice commanding. “You need to
//authorize this expedition and you need to do it now.”

// 16068
//Rubeus Hagrid looked conflicted, though that was hard to judge with his vast
//head so surrounded by his unshorn beard and locks; only his eyes looked alive,
//embedded in all that hair. “Eh…” said the half-giant. “I was tol’ to keep yeh
//all safe -”

// 16069
//“Great, now can we also keep Hermione Granger safe? You know, the student
//framed for __a murder she did not commit__ who needs __someone to
//help her?”__

// 16070
//The half-giant startled as Harry spoke the words.

// 16071
//Harry stared at the enormous man, desperately willing him to pick up on the
//hint, hoping the words hadn’t given it away to anyone else - he couldn’t be
//just muscle, surely James and Lily had been friends with this man out of more
//than pity -

// 16072
//“Framed?” called out an anonymous voice, from somewhere over near where the
//Slytherins gathered. “Ha, are you still on that? It’d serve her right if she
//did get eaten.”

// 16073
//There was some laughter, even as cries of indignation came from elsewhere.

// 16074
//The half-giant’s face firmed up. “Yeh stay here, lad,” Mr. Hagrid said in a
//booming tone that was probably meant to be gentle. “I’ll go and look fer her
//meself. Truth is, trolls can be a mite tricky - yeh’ve got to catch ‘em by an
//ankle and dangle ‘em just right, or they’ll rip yeh clean in half -”

// 16075
//“Can you ride a broomstick, Mr. Hagrid?”

// 16076
//“Eh -” Rubeus Hagrid frowned. “No.”

// 16077
//“Then you can’t search fast enough. __Sixth-years! Calling all
//sixth-years! Are there any sixth-years here who aren’t worthless cowards?”__

// 16078
//Silence.

// 16079
//“__Fifth years?__ Mr. Hagrid, tell them they’re authorized to go with me
//and keep me safe! __I’m trying to be sensible, damn it!__”

// 16080
//The half-giant wrung his hands with an agonized expression. “Eh - I -”

// 16081
//Something snapped inside Harry and he started to stride directly toward the
//doors to the Great Hall, pushing aside anyone who didn’t get out of his way as
//though they were doughy statues. (He didn’t run, because running was an
//invitation for somebody to stop you.) Somewhere in his mind he was moving
//through an empty room filled with mechanical puppets by whose meaningless
//lip-moving noises he’d been __distracted__ -

// 16082
//A huge figure interposed itself in his way.

// 16083
//Harry looked up.

// 16084
//“I can’t let yeh do that, Harry Potter, not yeh of all people. There’s strange
//things afoot in this castle, and someone might be after Miss Granger - or they
//might be after __yeh.__” Rubeus Hagrid’s voice was regretful but firm, and
//his gigantic hands lay at his side like forklifts. “I can’t let yeh go out
//there, Harry Potter.”

// 16085
//“__Stupefy!__”

// 16086
//The red bolt crashed into the side of Hagrid’s head and made the huge man
//startle. His head snapped around faster than anything that large should’ve
//moved, and bellowed, “__What do yeh think yeh’re doing!__” at the young
//form of Susan Bones.

// 16087
//“__Sorry!__” she screamed. ”__Incendium! Glisseo!__”

// 16088
//The huge man’s hands, now slapping at the fire in his beard, didn’t quite
//manage to catch himself as he crashed to the floor, but it didn’t matter by
//then because Harry was past him and -

// 16089
//Neville Longbottom stepped in front of him, looking desperate but determined,
//the Hufflepuff boy’s wand already level in his hand.

// 16090
//Harry’s hand went for his wand in a sheer reflex action, he barely managed to
//check himself before Neville could fire on him, staring at his Lieutenant as
//though the world had gone mad.

// 16091
//“Harry!” Neville burst out. “Harry, Mr. Hagrid’s right, you __can’t__,
//this could all be a trap, they could be after __you -__”

// 16092
//All of Neville’s muscles went rigid and he toppled to the ground, stiff as a
//board.

// 16093
//A pale-looking Ron Weasley stepped out from behind Neville, his own wand level,
//and said, “Go.”

// 16094
//__“Ron, you madman, what are you doing -__” came a voice distantly
//identifiable as Miss Clearwater’s boyfriend, but Harry was already dashing for
//the door without looking back, even as Ron’s voice and Susan’s voice rose again
//in incantation. There was a huge indignant bellow, and unknown voices began to
//yell.

// 16095
//Then Harry was through, his hand reaching into his pouch and his voice was
//saying __“broomstick”,__ as behind him the great doors began to swing shut
//again.

// 16096
//Harry continued running through the Entrance Hall even as the long three-person
//broomstick and its sets of stirrups began to protrude from the pouch, repeating
//a number of swearwords in his head and thinking __this is what happens
//when you try to be sensible __with the part of his mind that wasn’t trying to
//figure out a search pattern to cover places where Hermione might be. The
//Library was on the third floor and practically on the other side of the castle…
//Harry had almost reached the great marble staircase by the time the broomstick
//was in his hand and __“Up!__” he was in the air and accelerating up toward
//the second floor -

// 16097
//“__Gah!__” Harry screamed, and barely managed to spin his broom in the air
//so that he didn’t impale one of the human figures lurking at the top of the
//stairs. There was a ghastly moment of trying not to fall off the broom, perform
//the twists that would keep him in the stirrups, despite being really close to
//the ground and having almost no room to maneuver and then -

// 16098
//“__Fred? George?__”

// 16099
//“We can’t figure out how to find her!” one of the Weasley twins blurted, hands
//twisting in distress. “We snuck out because we thought we could find Miss
//Granger - there __has__ to be a quick way to find anyone inside the
//Hogwarts castle, we’re both sure of it - but we can’t figure out what it is!”

// 16100
//Harry stared at both of them, from where he was hanging upside down from the
//broomstick where his desperate maneuver had brought him, and entirely by reflex
//his mouth said, “Well, __why__ were you so sure you could find her?”

// 16101
//“We __don’t know!”__ cried the other Weasley twin.

// 16102
//“Have you been able to find people inside Hogwarts before?”

// 16103
//“__Yes! __We -” and the Weasley twin who was speaking stopped abruptly,
//both redheads staring off into the distance with a blank expression.

// 16104
//There was a thundering crash, as of two huge doors being shoved open by someone
//very, very strong.

// 16105
//Harry spun around in the air to present the two open stirrup-positions on the
//broomstick to the Weasley twins, he didn’t say anything, there was no reason
//for them to give away their positions if they didn’t have to. Time seemed to
//move too slowly as the Weasley twins scrambled into the stirrups, Harry’s heart
//beating hard despite his mental calculation that Mr. Hagrid, running, shouldn’t
//reach even the foot of the stairway in time. Then the three of them were
//accelerating __hard __and away toward the nearest corridor, the stone
//floor beneath them blurring and the walls seeming to make an audible whooshing
//sound (though that was just the wind in their ears) as they went past; Harry
//remembered that he was riding a longer three-person broomstick barely in time
//to __slow down__ for the next turn.

// 16106
//And now all the broomstick seats were occupied, but if they actually found
//Hermione then - Harry could put on the Cloak of Invisibility, that should hide
//him from the troll, and that would free up a seat for Hermione -

// 16107
//Harry ducked hard before a sudden archway took his head off.

// 16108
//“We found Jesse!” the Weasley twin seated behind Harry blurted. “I know we did!
//That time we needed to tell him that Filch was hunting for him!”

// 16109
//“How?” Harry said, most of his brain engaged in not dying in a horrible air
//accident. He should have slowed down for safety, but there was a tension rising
//in him, a sourceless dread. He __couldn’t__ slow down, something terrible
//would happen if he slowed down…

// 16110
//“We -” said the Weasley twin seated lower down. “We can’t remember!”

// 16111
//Another sharp turn taken at, Harry estimated, roughly 0.3// of the speed of
//light, and they were going through a twisty curving corridor that Harry always
//took to get from the Great Hall to the library only it __wasn’t__ the
//shortest way if you were __on a broomstick,__ he should’ve taken the long
//straight West Corridor instead -

// 16112
//The part of his brain that wasn’t steering caught up with reality.

// 16113
//“Someone’s been tampering with your minds!” Harry yelled, as he weaved through
//the curving corridor so fast that the tail-end Weasley sometimes lightly
//smacked into the wall as the length of the broomstick conflicted with Harry’s
//maladapted air skills.

// 16114
//“__What?__” cried Fred or George.

// 16115
//“Whoever got to Hermione messed with your minds too!” It could be an
//Obliviation, it could be a False Memory that hadn’t been planted right, but
//right now Harry couldn’t __think -__

// 16116
//The broomstick turned and shot upward beside a spiral staircase, all three of
//them flattened themselves against the broomstick so they could make in through
//the gap in the ceiling that opened onto the third floor, and then they were in
//front of the library, the broomstick slowing to a halt with a shriek despite
//the lack of anything it could be friction-braking against. Harry shot the
//Weasley twins a quick glance to __stay put__, as he clambered off the
//broomstick to shove open the doors of the library, controlling his breathing as
//he shoved his head inside.

// 16117
//Hermione Granger wasn’t there.

// 16118
//Madam Pince, who was eating a sandwich at her desk, looked up with a sudden
//glare. “Library’s closed!”

// 16119
//“Have you seen Hermione Granger?” Harry said.

// 16120
//“I said the library’s __closed,__ boy! Lunch hours!”

// 16121
//“This is extremely important. Have you seen Hermione Granger or do you have any
//idea where she might be?”

// 16122
//“No, now be off!”

// 16123
//“Do you have any fast way of contacting Professor McGonagall in an emergency?”

// 16124
//“Eh?” said the librarian, startled. She rose up from behind her desk. “What is
//-”

// 16125
//“Yes or no. Please answer immediately.”

// 16126
//“Ah - there’s the Floo -”

// 16127
//“She’s not in her office,” Harry said. “Do you have any other way of reaching
//her. Yes or no.”

// 16128
//“Young man, I insist that you -”

// 16129
//Harry’s brain flagged this as __I’m talking to NPCs again __and he spun on
//his heel and dashed back for the broomstick.

// 16130
//“Stop!” cried Madam Pince, bursting too late from the doors as Harry and the
//Weasley twins shot off again, out of the librarian’s sight. The pressure in
//Harry’s mind still rising, like a physical hand squeezing his chest, __he
//had to find Hermione__ and he had no other notion of where she could be, unless
//it was the witches’ dorms in the Ravenclaw tower and that he couldn’t enter.
//Searching all of Hogwarts bordered on a mathematical impossibility, there
//probably was no continuous flight path that entered all the rooms at least once
//- __why__ hadn’t he thought to demand for Hermione and Neville and him to
//be given a set of those neat little mirrors the Aurors used to communicate -

// 16131
//The realization that he was being __stupid__ hit Harry like a blow to the
//stomach. He didn’t need mirrors to send a message, he hadn’t needed mirrors
//since January. Harry slowed the broomstick to a halt in midair of a hallway,
//his wand already coming into his hand, the driving will to __protect
//Hermione Granger__ rising to the front of his mind like a sun of silver fire and
//flowing down his arm as he cried

// 16132
//“__EXPECTO PATRONUM!__”

// 16133
//and the blazing white humanoid burst into existence like a nova, the Weasley
//twins’ voices crying aloud in shock.

// 16134
//“Tell Hermione Granger - that there’s a troll loose in Hogwarts - it could be
//hunting for her - she needs to get into direct sunlight, now!”

// 16135
//The silver figure turned as though it was departing, and then vanished.

// 16136
//“Merlin’s underpants,” breathed Fred or George.

// 16137
//The silver outline blasted back into the world, and said in the strange outside
//version of Harry’s own voice, “Hermione Granger says,” the blazing figure’s
//voice became higher-pitched, __“AHHHHHHHHH!__”

// 16138
//Time seemed to fracture, like everything was moving very quickly and slowly at
//the same time. A desperate impulse to accelerate the broomstick, fly at its
//maximum speed, only Harry didn’t __know where__ -

// 16139
//“If you know where she is,” Harry shouted to the blazing humanoid figure,
//staring into it as though it were a sun, “then __take me to her!”__

// 16140
//The silver blaze moved and Harry accelerated after it, the Weasley twins giving
//out high-pitched shrieks behind him as he fired through the air like a
//cannonball, moving faster than sanity, he didn’t focus on the walls whizzing
//past him or how fast he was moving, just followed the silver light through
//corridors and flying up staircases and blitzing through doors that Fred or
//George cried desperate incantations to open and it was __all still taking
//too much time,__ somewhere deep inside Harry felt like he was sinking through
//molasses as windows and portraits shot past.

// 16141
//The broomstick screamed through a final turn that whacked one of the Weasley
//twins against the wall not quite as hard as a Bludger would hit, and then they
//followed the brilliant Patronus through an open space in the ceilings, blasting
//up and upwards, rising past one floor and then another in less than a breath.

// 16142
//His Patronus slowed to a halt (Harry braking hard in response) just as they
//reached the level of a wide-open floor space that that spread out until it
//escaped the ceiling and turned into an outdoor terrace, a spread of tiled
//marble open to the air and sky -