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chapter fifty three | the veil

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KAYA AND JAEDEN found themselves, along with the other remaining conscious DA members (except Maddie, who was still in the Brain Room with Ron), in the sunken pit where the archway was during the very beginning of their adventure at the Ministry.

They'd been seized just as they'd entered by a fresh swarm of Death Eaters, and were now helplessly struggling to break free.

Diana was being held by three Death Eaters, one of which was covering her eyes so that she couldn't do her little light trick she'd performed back in the Brain Room. She wrestled and kicked, but nothing was working against the strength of those holding her — although she was giving them a tricky task of keeping her still.

"Potter, your race is run. Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy," drawled Lucius Malfoy, removing his mask.

"Let the others go and I'll give it to you!" Harry said desperately.

A few of the Death Eaters laughed.

"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," said Lucius Malfoy, his pale face flushed with pleasure. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you... or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"He's not alone!" Neville shouted, despite being held still by one of the Death Eaters. "He's still got me — still got us!"

"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" sneered Lucius Malfoy. "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause... your death will not come as a great shock."

"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy."

"I KNOW YOU HAVE!" roared Neville, and he fought so hard against his captor's encircling grip that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone Stun him!"

"No, no, no," said Bellatrix. She looked alive with excitement as she glanced at Harry, then back at Neville. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents... unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."

Kaya's mouth dropped open with horror.

"DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM!" roared Neville, who seemed beside himself, kicking and writhing as Bellatrix drew nearer to him and his captor, her wand raised. "DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM HARRY!"

Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!"

Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily holding him off the ground. The Death Eater dropped him and he fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony.

"STOP! STOP IT!" Kaya heard Sadie beg, before her own captor dug his wand into her neck as a threatening gesture.

"That was just a taster!" said Bellatrix, raising her wand so that Neville's screams stopped and he lay sobbing at her feet. She turned and gazed up at Harry. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

Kaya knew what Harry was going to do. She would've done the same — all she could think of now was what would happen after they get what they want.

Will they kill them all on the spot? Or take them captive, force them to join the Death Eaters? Kaya knew Diana could be of good use to them. Not to mention the amount of ancestors the silver-haired girl had that had joined the group. But her? She could see no reason as to why they would want her. They'd do away with her right after the prophecy met Lucius Malfoy's skin.

All she could think of was how worried everyone at home must be. What if they came looking for her? What if they found her? Her cold, lifeless form stowed away in the Department of Mysteries. Kaya remembered how horrifying it was to find her loved ones dead in the maze — and those were just Boggarts.

Harry reluctantly held out the prophecy, and Kaya's stomach sank even further as she watched helplessly as Lucius Malfoy crept further to take it.

And then a commotion sounded above them, with two or more doors bursting open. Six people appeared — Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley and Elizabeth Silverstone.

Kaya had never felt so glad to see two Silverstones in one room.

Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a stunning spell his way.

Elizabeth Silverstone made her way through the chaos as if it were a walk in the park, disarming and duelling anyone who dared step in her way and lighting those that tried to creep up from behind aflame.

Kaya didn't bother sticking around to watch the events unfold — she dived out of the way and made her way around the room, shooting spells when she could to help those around her.

Sirius was duelling with a Death Eater, Kingsley was fighting two at once. Tonks, still halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at Bellatrix. Elizabeth had now conjured up a wave of flames which was crashing around the room and swallowing up any Death Eaters it could.

Kaya saw it head for Jaeden and whichever Death Eater was on his tail, and her heart dropped to her stomach.

"JAE!" she yelled, and he looked at the girl with a frown — before turning around to see the fire coming right at him, an expression of horror suddenly flashing onto his face.

He had no time to move.

Kaya let out a scream as she watched both her best friend and the Death Eater he was fighting become engulfed by the flames. The little colour that was left in her face completely drained, and she sprinted over to where Jaeden had once stood, tears prickling in her eyes.

"JAE!" she yelled yet again.

The wave of fire continued to make it's way around the room, Kaya leaping out of the way onto the tiered seats as it passed. Her head snapped back towards where her best friend should be standing, and let out a dry sob.

He was standing next to a pile of ashes of which Kaya could only assume was what was left of the Death Eater. Jaeden was covered in soot all over, but he was unhurt, or so it seemed. He looked over at the young Bennett with wide eyes, in a state of shock at what had just happened.

"How—?" Kaya frowned, making her way over, a few tears spilling out of her eyes. "What?"

Jaeden panted, also confused, and his eyes shifted over to the fire being cast by Elizabeth Silverstone, still crashing around like a riptide around the room. It passed through Harry and Sadie, through Neville, through Sirius, through Jess and Jake... and yet they all reappeared out of it as Jaeden had, the only effect the fire having on them was covering them in soot.

However, the same couldn't be said for the Death Eaters, who turned to ashes almost as soon as the fire met them.

"I don't..." Kaya shook her head with astonishment.

"Silverstone magic," said Jaeden, still having to catch his breath back.

Kaya turned around at the sound of a crash, and saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back towards the fray.

"Harry, take the prophecy, gather the others and run!" Kaya heard Sirius yell, and turning to see him dashing to meet Bellatrix.

Kaya and Jaeden ran across the room to Harry, who, alongside Sadie, was trying to help Neville stand.

He must've been hit with some sort of curse — Neville's legs were lying in every direction, they would not support him, and then, out of nowhere, a man lunged at them. All three fell backwards, Neville's legs waving wildly like an overturned beetle's. Harry had his left arm held up in the air to try to save the small glass ball from being smashed.

"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" snarled Lucus Malfoy, pressing his wand in between Harry's ribs.

Kaya shot a spell at him, but missed.

"Sadie, catch it!" Harry said, flinging the prophecy across the floor. Sadie grabbed it, holding it firmly against her chest.

Malfoy pointed the wand instead at the blonde girl, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder and yelled, "Impedimenta!"

Malfoy was blasted off his back, Kaya and Jaeden having to duck so that he wouldn't crash into them. He smashed into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now duelling.

Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and the four surrounding him, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them.

"Round up the others and GO!"

"We'll go and get Ron and Maddie," said Kaya.

"Be careful," Harry nodded, as he and Sadie heaved Neville up yet again.

The brunette and her best friend glanced at each other, before turning around and sprinting, dodging and ducking any spells or debris that flew their way.

They sprinted up the steps, Jaeden deflecting a spell that had been shot at them. They were about to reach the doorway, Kaya running first, but coming to a halt as she was about to crash into somebody.

The two looked up at who they'd almost surged into, and their eyes grew wide.

"Dumbledore," Jaeden choked out.

Dumbledore. He was here — his wand aloft, his face white and furious.

The pair stepped back and to the side as they watched the man speed down the steps past Neville and Harry. But Harry hadn't caught sight of him, yet. He was panicking over Sadie, who looked as though she had literally been frozen. Kaya did not know any spells that could freeze people. She was in disbelief — the girl could not be dead, surely?

Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realised he was there and yelled to the others.

"We could live!" Kaya suddenly said, turning to Jaeden with bright eyes. He let out a laugh of relief.

"We could live!" He repeated, almost in disbelief.

One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line.

Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival.

Sirius ducked Bellatrix's jet of red light. He was laughing at her.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

Everyone almost froze. It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.

Kaya felt cold as she watched, her once hopeful expression now turning to dismay.

Sirius fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place. And Bellatrix let out a triumphant scream.

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "SIRIUS!"

Kaya clasped a hand over her mouth and watched the poor boy wail with desperation. He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps.

But as he sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry—"

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"—it's too late, Harry."

"We can still reach him—!" Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry... nothing... he's gone."

"He hasn't gone!" Harry yelled.

He fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had. "SIRIUS!" he bellowed. "SIRIUS!"

"He can't come back, Harry," said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. "He can't come back, because he's d—"

"HE—IS—NOT—DEAD!" roared Harry. "SIRIUS!"

"What's going on?" A voice behind Kaya and Jaeden spoke, and they turned to see Maddie in the doorway of the Brain Room.

"Sirius..." Jaeden said, no emotion in his voice.

Maddie frowned at Jaeden with confusion for a second, before her eyes flickered around the room and she noticed the other members of the Order here, realisation setting in. She shook her head, in disbelief. She didn't say anything else.

"Ron?" Kaya asked. Maddie looked back at her, struggling to find the words, but managing to say,

"He's okay,"

Kaya sighed with relief.

Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilised by invisible ropes. Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay, and was attempting to revive her. Behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts and cries. Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix.

There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Kingsley hit the ground yelling in pain, as Bellatrix Lestrange turned tail and ran. Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it. She was halfway up the steps now.

Kaya, Jaeden and Maddie all raised their wands, as Elizabeth Silverstone began to conjure up another fire spell. Harry ripped his arm from Lupin's slackened grip, just as Lupin cried out,

"Harry — no!"

Kaya was the first to shoot a spell at Bellatrix, but she was too quick and fired one back. Kaya deflected it, but not before Bellatrix could fire another.

Kaya felt something brush against her face and suddenly all the feeling in her body had vanished. She toppled back, entirely senseless, before crashing to the ground.

The last thing she saw before being plunged into darkness was Jaeden and Maddie raising their wands.

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The young Bennett awoke to a very uncomfortable bright light, one that made her wish she hadn't opened her eyes so quickly. She lay there for a second, the previous events running themselves through her brain to help her recap on what actually just happened.

She heard voices, and knew exactly who they belonged to, as she listened to them speak.

"How's your head, Mads?"

"...Perfect, that's why I have to wear this fucking massive bandage,"

A laugh sounded from Kaya's left, and she turned to see her best friend sitting with his pillows propped up so that he could lean backwards on them. He grinned upon noticing she was awake.

"Here she is," he said.

It took a moment for Kaya to speak. She sat up, and scanned the room. Everyone at Hogwarts that had come to the Ministry was here in the hospital wing — everyone except Harry. Sadie was no longer frozen and was sleeping, alongside Chad, Jess and Jake. Maddie was awake, her head all bandaged up, and Ron was sitting in the bed next to her. Diana and Ginny were also up and observing the scene around them, Ginny's ankle seemingly freshly mended.

"That," Kaya said, after a moment's silence. "Was fucking dreadful,"

"You don't say," Jaeden replied.

"What happened?" Kaya asked. "Last thing I remember was Bellatrix."

"Yeah," Jaeden nodded. "She got you good. Kicked my ass straight after, the only one that managed to dodge her was Maddie. Harry raced after her, and then You-Know-Who showed up,"

"Huh?!" Kaya interrupted with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," Jaeden nodded. "Dumbledore fought him off though, and Harry's okay, so,"

"Christ," said Kaya, with a sigh.

It was at this point the door burst open, followed by a red-headed girl and a blonde boy, storming in as fast as they could.

"You — fucking — idiots!" Maisie said in a hushed voice. Kaya knew she probably would've yelled if Madame Pomfrey didn't scold her for it. "What were you thinking? You could've died!"

"Nearly did," Jaeden said. Kaya shushed him.

"That doesn't help," she told him, before turning back to Maisie and Milo. "We really didn't,"

Maisie wrapped her in a hug that was so tight Kaya thought she might pass out — especially from all her hurting limbs. Milo's hug was more warm and loving.

"If you two had died," Maisie said, unable to choke anything else out.

"Do you know how worried we were when we realised you two were missing?" Milo said. "We thought Umbridge had... well, we didn't know! And the twins, and Lee..."

"You've spoken to them?" Kaya asked, suddenly more alert.

"When we realised you'd gone as well as the others, we wrote to them in that book. They were all panicked. I think they contacted the Order... not sure how the Order figured out where you all were, though,"

Kaya wanted to see Fred so badly. She missed him terribly. She thought she was going to die, days before, but here she is. And she couldn't imagine how he must've felt at the news of her missing.

"Does anyone else know? About what happened?" Jaeden asked.

Maisie and Milo exchanged glances, before Milo said,

"Pretty much everyone knows,"

Kaya had to stay in the hospital wing for days, due to what had happened to her at the Ministry.

Whatever curse Bellatrix had put on her that caused her to be knocked out had Madame Pomfrey giving her all kinds of potions throughout the day — Kaya didn't really know why, but she didn't bother asking.

Weirdly, the thing that had the most impact on her wasn't the different spells and curses that had met her body during the fight — but instead, the toll of which the Maze of Horrors had taken on her.

She'd learned that the room herself and Diana had wounded up in which she'd named 'The Maze of Horrors' was actually The Room of Fear, which explained the Boggarts. Wizards had used it to study the effects of terror on different people, and, well, it certainly had a huge one on Kaya.

She awoke often in the night with blood curdling screams, so intense that Madame Pomfrey had to use the 'Silencio' charm on her before coming to her aid, to ensure peace for the rest of the hospital wing. Once she woke up, Kaya usually never went back to sleep, resulting in her being in a very tired state twenty-four-seven.

Sometimes little things would trigger flashbacks — like when Madame Pomfrey would enter the hospital wing during the middle of the night to give someone a potion, the sight of a figure turning a corner in the darkness would send Kaya into a panic.

Once Kaya heard someone scream outside the hospital wing — not a terrified scream or anything, it had sounded like someone had played a prank on their friend, but that was enough to give Kaya flashbacks to all the wails she heard beyond the walls of the maze.

It was a living hell for her, at the moment.

But it could only get better — at least, that's what she hoped. Madame Pomfrey was giving her the Sleeping Draught to help her, and her friends were incredibly patient with her, reminding her where she was and that she was safe.

Fred had tried everything he could to come and visit her, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to sway the school into letting him into the hospital wing.

To make up for it, he instead sent her all kinds of flowers and gifts — ones that warmed her heart and made her miss him even more. They both wrote to each other in their connected book as often as they could, and Kaya often gushed about how proud she was that his and George's joke shop was doing well.

She couldn't wait to get out of Hogwarts and go and see them.

And then after a few days, Harry finally came to visit and Hermione received a Daily Prophet, holding all the news inside of whatever the public had been told of their little adventure to the Ministry.

HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS

"In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this country and is once more active." Milo read.

'"It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord — well, you know who I mean — is alive and among us again," said Fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters. "It is with almost equal regret that we report the mass revolt of the dementors of Azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry's employ. We believe the dementors are currently taking direction from Lord — Thingy."

"Lord Thingy," Kaya repeated, pulling a face.

'"We urge the magician population to remain vigilant. The Ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary home and personal defence which will be delivered free to all wizarding homes within the coming month."'

"The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurances that there was "no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumours that You-Know-Who is operating amongst us once more."

"Details of the events that led to the Ministry turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that He Who Must Not Be Named and a select band of followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening."

"Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has so far been unavailable for comment. He has insisted over the past year that You-Know-Who is not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but is recruiting followers once more for afresh attempt to seize power. Meanwhile, the "Boy Who Lived—"

"There you are, Harry, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow," said Hermione, looking over the top of the paper at him.

There was a rather large group in the hospital wing at this moment. Everyone who had been able to leave was back visiting, alongside Maisie and Milo, who seemed to want to be by Kaya and Jaeden's side every second now, in case they vanish and end up on some kind of death mission again.

"He's the 'Boy Who Lived' again now, though, isn't he?" said Ron darkly, referring to the newspaper being read. "Not such a deluded show-off any more, eh?"

He helped himself to a handful of Chocolate Frogs from the immense pile on his bedside cabinet, threw a few to Maddie, Harry and Ginny and ripped off the wrapper of his own with his teeth. There were still deep welts on his forearms where the brain's tentacles had wrapped around him. According to Madam Pomfrey, thoughts could leave deeper scarring than almost anything else, though since she had started applying copious amounts of Dr. Ubbly's Oblivious Unction there seemed to have been some improvement.

"Yes, they're very complimentary about you now, Harry," said Hermione, scanning down the article. '"A lone voice of truth ... perceived as unbalanced, yet never wavered in his story ... forced to bear ridicule and slander..' Hmmm," she said, frowning, "I notice they don't mention the fact that it was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering in the Prophet..."

"Embarrassing for them," said Sadie.

Hermione winced slightly and put a hand to her ribs. The curse Dolohov had used on her, though less effective than it would have been had he been able to say the incantation aloud, had nevertheless caused, in Madam Pomfrey's words, 'quite enough damage to be going on with'. Hermione was having to take ten different types of potion every day, was improving greatly, and was already bored with the hospital wing.

"You-Know-Who's Last Attempt to Take Over', pages two to four. 'What the Ministry Should Have Told Us', page five, 'Why Nobody Listened to Albus Dumbledore', pages six to eight, 'Exclusive Interview with Harry Potter', page nine... Well," said Hermione, folding up the newspaper and throwing it aside. "It's certainly given them lots to write about. And that interview with Harry isn't exclusive, it's the one that was in The Quibbler months ago..."

"Dad sold it to them," said Luna. "He got a very good price for it, too, so we're going to go on an expedition to Sweden this summer to see if we can catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, then said, "That sounds lovely."

Maddie made a quiet snort which Luna luckily didn't catch.

"So, anyway," said Hermione, sitting up a little straighter and wincing again, "What's going on in school?"

"Well, Flitwick's got rid of Fred and George's swamp,' said Ginny, "He did it in about three seconds. But he left a tiny patch under the window and he's roped it off—"

Why?' said Hermione, looking startled.

"Oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic," said Ginny, shrugging.

Kaya smiled with pride.

"I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George," said Ron, through a mouthful of chocolate. "They sent me all these, you know," he told Harry, pointing at the small mountain of Frogs beside him. "Must be doing all right out of that joke shop, eh?"

"Look at her, smiling to herself over there amongst that garden of flowers surrounding her bed," Maddie said jokingly, nodding at Kaya in her own bed across the room. "Absolutely lovesick,"

"Gross, if you ask me," Jaeden added, with a teasing glance.

"Fuck off!" Kaya responded, throwing one of her pillows at the two.

"So has all the trouble stopped now Dumbledore's back?"

"Yes," said Neville, "Everything's settled right back to normal."

"Typical, now that we're about to leave," said Maisie.

"I s'pose Filch is happy, is he?" asked Ron, propping a Chocolate Frog Card featuring Dumbledore against his water jug.

"Not at all," said Ginny. "He's really, really miserable, actually..." She lowered her voice, slightly. "He keeps saying Umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts..."

Everyone looked around. Professor Umbridge was lying in a bed in the far corner of the hospital wing, gazing up at the ceiling. Dumbledore had strode alone into the Forest to rescue her from the centaurs — how he had done it — how he had emerged from the trees supporting Professor Umbridge without so much as a scratch on him — nobody knew, and Umbridge was certainly not telling. Since she had returned to the castle she had not, as far as any of them knew, uttered a single word. Nobody really knew what was wrong with her, either. Her usually neat mousy hair was very untidy and there were still bits of twigs and leaves in it, but otherwise she seemed to be quite unscathed.

Maddie had hurtled the middle finger at her as often as she could, making the others giggle, but Umbridge didn't seem to notice or respond.

"Madam Pomfrey says she's just in shock," whispered Hermione.

"Sulking, more like," said Ginny.

"Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this," said Ron, and with his tongue he made soft clip-clopping noises. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking around wildly. Maddie laughed.

"Anything wrong, Professor?" called Madam Pomfrey, poking her head around her office door.

"No... no..." said Umbridge, sinking back into her pillows. "No, I must have been dreaming..."

Maddie waved her fist at the woman as she lay back down, and mouthed something to her that looked an awful lot like 'Wanker!'

"You know, I really love centaurs!" Jaeden said loudly and clearly. Kaya muffled her laughter by clasping her hand over her mouth.

"Speaking of centaurs," said Hermione. "Who Divination teacher now? Is Firenze staying?"

"He's got to," said Harry, "The other centaurs won't take him back, will they?"

"It looks like he and Trelawney are both going to teach," said Ginny.

"There's no way that's going to work," Sadie said, with a frown. "They're both so different?"

"Bet Dumbledore wishes he could've got rid of Trelawney for good," said Ron, now munching on his fourteenth Frog. "Mind you, the whole subject's useless if you ask me, Firenze isn't a lot better..."

'How can you say that?' Hermione demanded. 'After we've just found out that there are real prophecies?

"It is a shame it broke," said Jess.

"Yeah, it is," said Ron. "Still, at least You-Know-Who never found out what was in it either — where are you going?" he added, looking both surprised and disappointed as Harry stood up.

"Er — Hagrid's," said Harry. "You know, he just got back and I promised I'd go down and see him and tell him how you two are."

"Oh, all right then," said Ron grumpily, looking out of the dormitory window at the patch of bright blue sky beyond. "Wish we could come."

"Say hello to him for us!" called Hermione, as Harry proceeded down the ward. "And ask him what's happening about... about his little friend!"

Kaya frowned, not having a clue what Hermione was talking about.

"Do you mean Fang?" Maddie asked.

Hermione hesitated for a second, before she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I mean Fang,"