“Open up, Hagrid!” Harry shouted, knocking on the door of Hagrid’s hut.
There was a thumping-banging sound from inside and a moment later the door opened wide. Hagrid came out, arms wide. “Harry!” he shouted, enveloping Harry right into his chest, and squeezed him tight. “‘ow’ve yeh been then?”
“Been alright,” Harry replied, his voice pitched from the pressure being put on his rib cage. “Better if I could breathe, though,” he added.
“Sorry, sorry,” Hagrid said, putting Harry down gently. “Whatter yah doin’ here? and at this hour?” Then his eyes moved through the crowd of faces behind Harry in the dark and he realized there was quite a crowd. “Ron! And ‘ermione, too!” he cried out. “And Ermalene, yeh’re back from the Hall o’Ancestors?”
“Ermalene’s back?” Andy’s voice carried from inside the hut. “Oi! How’d it go Erma?!”
“Wonderfully!” she called over the shoulders of everyone in front of her.
Ron glanced back across the grounds, to the glowing headmistresses’ window. “P’raps we should go inside before we all catch up?” he suggested.
“Oh righ’ right’,” Hargrid said, stepping back, “C’mon in ev’rybody.” He waved his arm for them to go ahead into the cabin.
Andy was sitting at Hagrid’s giant table, looking like a little kid with his legs unable to touch the floor on a chair big enough to sit both him and Ermalene - which she proved a moment later by climbing up next to him while the adults all hugged and greeted each other. Andy took her hand, “How’d the Hall of Ancestors go?”
“Did you find your family?” Andy asked, eyes wide.
But before Ermalene could tell him what happened, Harry said, “We need to get going. I just wanted to make sure Ermalene got into your care and would be safe, Hagrid.”
“O’course she’s safe --” Hagrid started, but Ermalene’s trill broke across him.
“What do you mean by that!”
Harry had already turned to the door, followed by Ron and Hermione. “I mean that you’re going to stay here with Hagrid,” Harry said.
Andy looked confused, “Where else would she be going?”
“To save my father!” Ermalene shouted, standing up from the chair, “Which is where they’re going!”
“Yes but, Ermalene, it isn’t safe,” Hermione pleaded, “We’ll bring him right back here as soon as we’ve saved him, we promise!”
Ermalene shook her head, “I didn’t come all the way to London just to look at a tapestry and not do anything about what it says. I want to help find my father.”
Harry took a deep breath, “Look, you’re too young for going into situations like this. You’re only seventeen.”
Ron looked up sheepishly, “Uhh.. mate… we were only seventeen… when we… you know… took on the Dark Lord and all his Death Eaters.”
“That was completely different!” squeaked Hermione.
“How?” Ron asked.
“Because we - we were - you were - I - because --” Hermione spluttered, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Yes?”
“Because Harry was the Chosen One,” Hermione said finally, pointing at Harry.
Harry looked at Ron, “Are you saying you want us to bring along your Great Nephew and his girlfriend?”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Andy said at exactly the same time that Ermalene said, “I’m not his girlfriend.”
The Trio ignored this outburst.
Ron shook his head, “No I’m just saying that the age card probably isn’t the one you want to be playing to convince them is all. If they’ve read a single book they’ll refute it in a second flat, mate.”
Hermione rolled her eyes, “Those were different times and it was insane that we were put into that situation. Why are we even talking about this still?”
“Because I’m coming,” Ermalene injected. “I don’t care what you say.”
Harry rubbed his forehead. “You’re staying here.”
“I’m not!”
“It’s safest if yeh do, though, Ermalene,” Hagrid said, “C’mere and we’ll have some rock cakes an’ tea.”
“I’m going. To help. Find. My father.” Ermalene said through gritted teeth.
“You’re not coming!” Hermione shrieked, “I forbid it!”
Harry held up his palms, “Oi. Stop it. All of you. This fighting is ridiculous. Ermalene, you’re too young.”
“She’s of age,” Andy said, standing up, “We both are.”
“Not in your country,” Hermione said.
“But we aren’t in our country,” Andy replied.
Hermione looked at Harry for back up.
“We’re not discussing this anymore,” Harry said. “You are absolutely not allowed to come with us to the Great North Woods. I mean it.” He turned to the door, “Okay, Ron, Hermione, let’s go.”
Ermalene crossed her arms angrily as the Trio waved to Hagrid and walked out the door into the dark grounds. Hagrid said goodbye, then turned to Andy and Ermalene. “Well now,” he said, “Let me brew us some tea and we’ll talk ‘bout what happened in the Hall of Ancestors. I’m dyin’ ter hear what Dumbledore said.” He left the room.
Andy looked at Ermalene. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“What?”
“Let’s go wherever it is they just went.”
Ermalene said, “But Harry just said we are absolutely not allowed to go with them.”
“With them,” Andy said. “That’s the keyword.”
“The loophole,” Ermalene grinned.
“C’mon,” he said, “Before Hagrid comes back with that tea kettle.”
The two of them grabbed their wands and rushed for the door of the cabin, disappearing into the night before Hagrid could come back from the kitchen. When he did, he looked around in confusion before realizing exactly what had happened.
As they hurried across the grounds, out of the range of the protective enchantments, Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, running backwards as he said, “So the plan. Right. The caterwauling charm sets off and she obviously responds to it really quickly. So we apparate onto the path, set the thing off, then disapparate again off to some place else within the charm’s circumference but far off enough she won’t find us too quickly. Then we… I don’t know, we find Lysander, I suppose.”
Ron was panting - having gotten along in the middle in his years of working at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes while eating Hermione’s home cooking. “That’s a … bloody … thought out … plan,” he muttered sarcastically.
Harry shrugged, “Better than ‘go hunt some Horcruxes’ was, really.” He turned to Hermione. “So, Hermione, gorgons. Anything we ought to know about them before rushing into this?”
“Well, honestly, I don’t know because this one isn’t a proper gorgon, you said, right? In classic muggle mythology the gorgon had the power to turn their enemies to stone just by looking at them, though, mind you, that is a muggle source,” she answered with a shrug. They got to the edge of the enchantments and came to a stop. “Obviously this woman doesn’t have that sort of power or else you’d be stone, Harry, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Harry said.
Ron looked around. “Are we going in to kill it, then, or just to get Lysander and get the bloody hell out of there?”
“Whatever it takes,” Harry answered.
“If we don’t kill it then we’ll have to bring it to Azkaban, won’t we?” Hermione pointed out, “Otherwise she’s just going to keep coming back. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a gorgon coming after me.”
“Me, either,” Harry agreed.
“Okay then,” Ron said, “That’s settled.”
Harry took a deep breath. “Are we ready?” he asked.
“Just like old times, ‘ey?” Ron asked, looking around at the other two as they joined hands to disapparate together. “Half expect to open my eyes in the Forest of Dean.”
“Well, you’ll be in a forest,” Hermione replied.
“Remember,” Harry said, “In, set the alarm off, then to another spot.” He looked at Hermione. “You better do the actual apparating. You’re the best at group apparition.”
Hernione blushed, but then she turned on the spot and the three of them went hurtling to the Great North Woods together, hand in hand.
They ran along, following the light of the Trio’s wand light glowing through the darkness ahead of them, keeping at a safe distance. Through the gates of Hogwarts and out into the woods along the path to Hogsmeade. When they’d passed through the enchantments that protected the grounds of Hogwarts, the three of them disapparated.
Andy grabbed hold of Ermalene’s elbow, “Okay so before we go disapparating after them, fill me in on what’s going on a little bit?”
“I found my name on the Ravenclaw family tree,” she explained. “I’m… I’m descended from Rowena Ravenclaw. That’s why the Grey Lady was so kind to me. She’s Helena Ravenclaw, my great-great-great-several-times-over-great grandmother.”
Andy’s eyebrows had shot up.
“My father’s name is Lysander Scamander,” Ermalene continued, but before she could finish, Andy cut in --
“Isn’t that the bloke from the Patronus at Harry’s auror office?” Andy questioned.
Ermalene nodded furiously, “Yes,” she said, “And that’s why we need to go to the Great North Woods and find him and get him away from the Gorgon, Medusa.”
“Wait, so there really is a gorgon?” Andy asked, behind his spectacles, his eyes went even wider than they had been before.
“Yes,” Ermalene said again.
“And you want to go to the woods and try and fight it off ourselves?”
“Well Harry Potter’s there, isn’t he? It’s not really by ourselves. The three that killed the greatest dark wizard of all time are on our side, already there. We’re just… helping a bit. Because it’s my father.” Ermalene replied.
Andy nodded, “Okay then. Grab my arm.”
Ermalene smiled and grabbed on. “Thank you,” she said.
“I told you I’d not rest ‘til we found your family,” Andy answered, “And if that means saving him from a blood thirsty gorgon -- then, well --” With that, he turned on the spot.
When Ermalene opened her eyes it was to the hazy view of the stars through the treetops and a figure in the road before them. Before she’d even fully gotten her wits about her, she withdrew her wand and moved into a defensive stance. She felt Andy do the same. The woods were silent aside from the panting of the person they faced. She blinked slowly, trying to regulate her eyes to the extreme dark - even more dark than the woods outside of Hogwarts had been. They were truly deep in the forest now.
“Expelliarmus,” she heard Andy’s voice and the figure’s wand flew into his hands. He handed it to Ermalene, keeping his defensive stance.
“Who are you?” came a tremulous girl’s voice.
Ermalene could just make out the mass of black curls that covered the girl’s head like a tangled mane and smudges of dirt on her face, as though she’d been running through the trees with the branches hitting her. She squinted at the pale face, and her heart jolted, the breath rushing out of her lungs in surprise.
Andy’s voice was rough, “You first, as you’re the unarmed one!” She looked over at him. He was squinting at the girl, too, the same as she was, the same look of surprise on his face, despite the gruffness of his voice.
“I’m Astarte Gaunt,” the girl said and she moved aside. Ermalene’s eyes went wide as moonlight fell upon the man laying on the ground behind her.
“I’m Ermalene Talon, and this is Andy Weasley,” she said quickly, touching Andy’s shoulder to get him to look behind the girl at the man whose face she recognized from the tapestry.
“This is Lysander Scamander.”
Ermalene nodded, “I know… he’s my father.”
Astarte Gaunt stared at her, “Your father?”
“Yes,” Ermalene lowered her hand from Andy moved forward toward Lysander, who stared up at her in awe from the ground.
“But he’s my father,” Astarte said, confused.
“He’s both our father,” Ermalene said, and she knelt down, looking into Lysander’s eyes. “Are you hurt?”
Tears filled his eyes, “So Felicity -- she -- she had you,” he whispered. “I always wondered.”
Astarte was about to ask who Felicity was, who this girl was that appeared literally out of no where and lay claims to her father, when suddenly there was a crashing through the woods that interrupted her, and in a burst of speed, someone broke into the road directly in front of them.
