Chapter 5: Finding Hermione
That night Harry sat on his four poster bed and thought about the Hogwarts he had just seen - a ruined castle overpowered by Dementors: the lawn was unkempt and dead of all life; the Great Hall was dirty, dark, and grimy, as was the rest of the castle; the staff looked depressed beyond words and no longer cared about what happened to their once precious Hogwarts.
But it was not Hogwarts. At least not anymore.
How could anyone want to go here? It was so dismal and gloomy and so devoid of any happiness that Harry didn't think he could bear to stay here for another moment. But perhaps no one knew the joy Hogwarts could bring, because they never experienced before. And yet . . . and yet . . . Harry couldn't settle with the injustice of it all.
Since Muggleborns were not allowed to attend Hogwarts, the amount of students was considerably less. Only himself and
Seamus were the Gryffindor Sixth Years and right now Seamus was off somewhere with Parvati, so he didn't have
anyone to worry about noticing his aberrant behavior right now. His mind was made up. Harry had just decided to leave
Hogwarts.
What I need, thought Harry, is someone that can help me. What…no, who I need is Hermione.
But Hermione wasn't there. She didn't know about magic or Voldemort or anything about the Wizarding world - her life was probably completely different and uncomplicated. What if I went and found her and told her everything - that she was a Witch that saved my life numerous times and that I need her, right now, to tell me what to do…I can't do that. She wouldn't believe me or understand about anything that's happened. She wouldn't even know who I was. The last thought was the most distressing and painful one.
A little voice inside Harry's head spoke up. I've got to try.
~*~
The cold night air streamed around him as he sped along under the starry night sky, heading south. He had no idea where
her house would be, or where he was going - he only knew that he just had to get away from
Hogwarts as fast as he could.
Before he had left, Harry had gone down to the Gryffindor Common room and said goodbye to Aubrianna, even though it
pained him much to do so.
"Please tell Mum and Dad I love them," he had said. Aubrianna's face twisted in confusion.
"What are you going on about, Harry?"
"Just tell them Bri! I love you too." He kissed her on the cheek and then went back up to the Dormitory.
Then, he took his new Firebolt and flew out of the window.
Moments passed slowly as Harry's knuckles on his Firebolt turned white and then started to turn blue. He passed over small towns, forests, and lakes. It took him a while to come to his senses and finally say `What the hell am I doing? I don't even know where her house is!' But then he remembered a spell Hermione had taught him in the beginning of their Sixth Year when he was looking for his Transfiguration book:
"Just say `Dirto Rehhuse' and then the thing you're looking for and a map will appear before you with instructions on how to find it," she had said, showing Harry the correct wand movements.
So Harry tried it. "Dirto Rehhuse Hermione Granger's House!" He flicked his wand. Surprisingly a map appeared before him with a red dot labeled "Harry Potter" and another labeled "Hermione Granger's House." The Harry Potter dot was on one side of the map while Hermione Granger's House dot was on the other. The map showed Hermione's house in the middle of a fairly decent town and her house was of average size. Harry estimated that it would take him to the end of the night to get halfway to her house and he'd have to finish his journey the next night. Flying in the daylight would be too dangerous.
With that said, Harry traveled until he could see the sun rising on the horizon. He slowly descended into the thick forest he was flying over until he was level with a rather large and thick branch. He slid off his broom onto the branch, caught up the Firebolt and wedged it securely in some smaller branches and leaned against the hard bark of the tree's trunk, closing his eyes. Within a few moments, he fell sleep.
Harry awoke to the sound of birds chirping. Loudly.
He opened his eyes blearily and looked up to see three birds sitting on the branch next to him. "Shoo," Harry muttered, waving his hand at them sleepily. They stayed where they were, chirping away ceaselessly. Restlessly Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I could have slept a couple more hours if it wasn't for you lot," he muttered angrily, glaring at the birds.
He could tell by the sun that it was somewhere in the mid-afternoon. He took out the map and estimated he could probably reach Hermione's town by evening, and be at her house before midnight, if he started traveling now. He figured that if he flew just above the ground through the forest that he shouldn't be spotted easily. With that final thought, Harry dropped his Firebolt to the ground and carefully lowered himself down out of the tree until he could safely drop from a lower branch to the ground. Once on his feet, he picked up the Firebolt as his stomach rumbled. I should have brought along some food, Harry thought.
Traveling through the forest was very slow compared to open flight. The trees were old with thick trunks and many thick lower branches. Harry found himself frequently having to get off his broom to avoid flying through dangerous spots. After a while, his face and arms were scratched and bloody and his robes had been torn in several places. Finally, near sunset, the forest began to thin out and Harry could see the signs of a town straight ahead.
"Yes!" he muttered, speeding up to reach the edge. He jumped off and looked around; he was at the edge of a fairly large town, similar to Surrey where the Dursleys lived. The houses were comfortably large and had extremely neat lawns with long driveways. Holding his broom in one hand and the map on the other, Harry slowly began the walk to Hermione's address.
People passing by in cars and or on the street gave him odd stares as they saw him. Harry figured the stares were because of his Firebolt or his torn black robes and the multitude of small cuts and scrapes on his face and arms. Focused on his purpose, Harry paid no attention to the whispering and stares. He had to find Hermione, and whether or not she was going to be of any help or not, Harry thought it was quite worth the risk.
Dusk gave way to darker evening as Harry made his way into the heart of town. Soon enough, the only light was the bland orange light from the streetlamps along the sidewalks. . At the end of a particularly long street, Harry held the map up to the streetlamp to get his bearings and saw that Hermione's house was only a few blocks over from where he stood.
A few raindrops splattered on the map and Harry looked up at the sky to see dark, swirling clouds had covered the once starry sky. He made his way down the street as the rain started to come down harder. The rain streamed down Harry's face, making it hard to see through his glasses. His robes were rapidly soaked straight through to his skin.
At last, Harry spotted mailbox number 28, Lark Lane. This is it , he thought. I'm finally here. Half of him wanted to mount his Firebolt and fly away into the rain, back to the serene comfort of his home where his mother and father were; yet another half, the stronger half, knew that he had to save Hogwarts and the Wizarding World from suffering under Voldemort's rule.
His heart hammered against his chest when he finally reached the front door and rang the doorbell.
Harry could hear voices within. "Someone get the door!"
"All right, Daddy!" Harry's stomach lurched as he recognized the voice. . The door swung open and Hermione, looking as beautiful as ever, stood there staring blankly at Harry, who tried to straighten his appearance even though it was truly hopeless. His soaked clothes were sticking to his body, his wet hair was messier then ever and dripping down his face along with a little blood from the gashes on his forehead and cheeks.
"Hello, Hermione."