The High that every Gryffindor was on, especially those on the Quidditch Team, had yet to come down a week after the match. Madam Pomfrey had insisted Jake spend the night in the Hospital Wing after what had happened, and he didn't try to fight her on it, because the last thing he had remembered was flying high into the sky after the Snitch, it getting extremely cold, and then he must have been struck with hypothermia or something and passed out. He had awoken in Katie's arms, and at the time he thought nothing of it, just embracing the warm feeling, but the more he thought about it, the redder his cheeks had become. He hadn't honestly minded it much, Katie was a very pretty girl after all.
Everyone's moods had been basically stomped on and ground into the Castle floors with the Exams being so close. Even Fred and George were seen studying more than cracking jokes or pulling pranks, and that was probably because it was their O.W.L year, which stood for Ordinary Wizarding Level. Percy was studying more than anyone except for maybe Jake and Hermione, and he was taking N.E.W.T Level classes, which stood for Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests.
Jake and Hermione were thankful when Harry and Ron both had stopped trying to ask them how they were going to get to all of their exams. The teachers were aware, or at least McGonagall was, that they shared a Time Turner.
While the both of them were rummaging through a mountain of papers, Hermione had flown in, holding a letter. Harry took the letter and read through it quickly, "It's from Hagrid... Buckbeak's appeal is set for the Sixth of June."
"That's the day we finish our exams," Jake said as he handed Hermione her Arithmancy book.
"They'll be at Hogwarts to do it... and they're bringing... an Executioner!?" Harry asked loudly.
Hermione looked up, the color draining from her face, "That sounds as though they've already made their answer!?"
"They can't do this!" Ron said angrily, "After all of that research I found for the appeal!"
Jake looked out the window; an oddly sapphire blue sky was clear of clouds. He had noticed lately that Draco had a revitalized swagger to his walk, and this must be the reason why.
*******
When exams finally hit, an unnatural hush had fallen all over the Castle. Everyone was taking them seriously like they usually did, but this seemed worse somehow.
After their Transfiguration Exam, Hermione began complaining about how her Tortoise looked more like a Turtle after she turned it from a Teapot, and that she could've done better.
Jake had managed a flawless Transfiguration, and McGonagall applauded him accordingly, telling him he did better than last year. On the bright side, they both felt great about Arithmancy.
Their Charms exam went off without a hitch, and Hermione and Jake both did the Cheering Charm flawlessly, much to Flitwick's satisfaction. Ancient Runes Jake didn't feel the greatest about; not perfect, but almost. He was sure Hermione did perfectly.
The next day was their Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, and Astronomy exams, and they had an easy Exam for Hagrid's class. He was so preoccupied, that he gave them Flobberworms to keep alive to the end of the exam to pass. No one really complained, but it was horribly boring.
"Beaky's gettin' a bit depressed..." Hagrid told them during the exam without making it obvious, "Bin cooped up fer too long. But still... we'll know day after tomorrow - one way or the other."
Potions was that afternoon and Jake, as expected, made the perfect Confusing Concoction. If Snape gave him anything less than a perfect score, he was going to have serious words with Dumbledore.
Astronomy was easy enough, being at Midnight made it all the more enjoyable. History of Magic Jake and Hermione did with ease, as even though it was the most boring class in the world, it wasn't by any means hard, just hard to stay awake.
Herbology was on Wednesday morning and Jake came the closest he had been all year to outright torching the Tentacula, but Sprout managed to calm him down, putting some sort of Calming Charm on the plant. Unfortunately, being under the sun in early June wasn't a good thing for them, as the back of their necks had gotten sunburned, but Dean had some Aloe that his mother had sent to him mid-May, and gave a little bit each to his Gryffindor friends.
The day after that was Thursday and their last Exam day. Defense was in the morning and Jake was the most prepared for it because he had the highest Defense score in the class. Harry had also proved to do well and received full marks on his exam. Hermione went before Jake and had almost received a perfect score, but with the stress of exams looming over her, her Boggart had changed to McGonagall who was yelling that she'd failed everything and shamed the Gryffindor name. She ran screaming out of the exam course Lupin set up for them. Lupin asked Jake to calm her down before he went into the Course.
After he calmed her down, Jake went last and when he got to his Boggart, it was still a Dementor. He heard his mother pleading with his father as he aimed his wand and yelled " Expecto Patronum! " And the silvery shield came from his wand and blocked the Dementor, and even though it wasn't a Corporeal Patronus, he forced the Boggart back into the Trunk.
He exited the course with a triumphant smirk and had also received full marks.
As they headed back up to the Castle, the most peculiar sight was before them; Cornelius Fudge was standing there, sweating slightly in his pinstriped cloak. When his eyes caught Harry and Jake he started towards them, "Hello there Harry, Jake, just had an exam I expect? Nearly finished."
"Yes," Harry said simply.
"About, yeah," Jake said, trying to keep his voice cordial sounding instead of stiff with the Minister. Being considered an adult was a privilege, after all, Dumbledore made sure he understood that.
"Lovely day," he said and looked out to the lake, "Pity... pity..." He sighed deeply and looked back down to them, mainly Harry, "I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a Mad Hippogriff. As I needed to come to Hogwarts anyway to check up on the Black situation, I was asked to do so."
"Does that mean the appeal has already happened?" Ron interrupted, stepping forward.
"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge said, looking curiously at Ron.
"Then you might no-" Ron began, but Jake was on him and placed his hand over his mouth.
"Don't mind him, Minister, he's starving for food and when he's hungry, he'll try and talk your ear off," Jake lied, hoping Fudge bought it.
"Ah," was all Fudge said. He was about to walk away, but turned back to Jake, "I'm sorry about what happened to your eye, for the record."
"Thank you, Minister," he said and just before Fudge went up to the Castle, two men came out and began talking to him.
The four of them walked past them and up to the Entrance Hall. Only when they were surely out of earshot did Jake remove his hand from Ron's mouth, "What'd you do that for?"
"Ron, your dad works for the Ministry, you can't go around saying whatever you want to the Minister without incurring possible consequences!" Jake yelled.
Ron realized his mistake and looked at the floor, "We just have to hope Hagrid keeps his cool," Hermione said, "Otherwise..." she trailed off.
It was only during their lunch period did Jake and Hermione remember that their Exams were over as they had dropped Muggle Studies. They had a free period while Harry and Ron had Divination.
They returned to the Common Room to try and relax, but knowing that Buckbeak was as good as dead, they had a difficult time doing so.
"Do you really think Hagrid will keep his cool?" Jake asked her.
"No... I don't like to be mean with my words about this, but Hagrid gets overly emotional, especially when it brings him potentially to tears..." she trailed off. She then changed gears quickly, "How do you think you did in Potions?"
"If I don't see a perfect score, I'm going to Dumbledore. Snape can be biased all he wants, but I made that Potion perfect," Jake said with confidence.
Hermione smiled at him, admiringly, 'I know you did. Overall, you did better than me in most of the Exams... you make me feel proud to be your best friend.'
*******
Hermione, Jake, and Ron were all sitting in a corner of the Common Room after he'd got back from his Divination exam. They'd already been there, feeling uneasy and when he showed up, he knew why and felt the same. Hagrid had lost the Appeal, and Buckbeak was set to be executed at Sunset.
Harry walked in, looking like he'd just been told he was actually a Slytherin since First Year. "Professor Trelawney's..." he was panting as he walked up to them, "just told me-"
He must have seen their faces, because he stopped talking. Ron began to speak weakly, "Buckbeak lost... Hagrid sent this just before I arrived here..."
Harry read the note after Hermione handed it to him, "We've got to go," he said at once, "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the Executioner!"
"Sunset, though?" Ron asked him, "We'd never be allowed... especially you, Harry."
Harry sat down, sulking, "If only we had the Invisibility Cloak..."
"Where is it?" Jake asked, tearing his gaze from the window for the first time in a half hour.
"It's in the passageway of the One-Eyed Witch," Harry said and Jake let out a chuckle, finding the humor in the fact it was a One-Eyed Witch. "Problem is, if Snape sees me anywhere near there again, I'm going to be in serious trouble."
"That's true," Jake confirmed, standing up, "If he sees you there."
"Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"Where do you think?" Jake asked back and walked out. He returned a half hour later with the Cloak under his robes. Hermione was smiling in awe of him. Honestly she had been about to do the same thing, but he beat her to it. She ultimately decided she could live with it, but only because it was him.
*******
That evening at Dinner, they had gone down with everyone else, but they did not follow. Harry had to hide the Cloak, and they all skulked off into an empty classroom until the coast had been clear. They all squeezed under the Cloak, barely able to fit all four of them, and they exited the Castle and down the stone steps, the sun had already begun to set behind the Canopy of the Forest.
They reach Hagrid's Cabin in no time and knocked. He opened the door after a minute and looked around, pale faced, "Hagrid, it's us, we're under the Cloak!" Harry said to him, "Let us in so we can take it off."
"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered distractedly. He closed the door and Harry threw the Cloak off them all. Hagrid wasn't crying, and he didn't throw himself upon them. He looked like a man who didn't know where he was or what to do, "Wan' some tea?" He asked as his great hands began to shake erratically.
"Where's Buckbeak, Hagrid?" Hermione asked quietly and hesitantly.
"I - I took him outside," Hagrid said as he began spilling milk all over the table. "He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an' - an' smell fresh air - before..."
His hands trembled so violently that the milk jug slipped from his grasp and shattered all over the floor, "I'll do it, Hagrid," Hermione quickly jumped up and hurried over to start the clean up process.
"There's another one in the cupboard..." Hagrid said, sitting down and wiping his forehead on his sleeve. Jake went over to the cupboard to retrieve it.
"Isn't there anything anyone can do?" Harry asked, grasping for anything to hope for, "Dumbledore-"
"He's tried," Hagrid said sullenly, "He's got no power ter overrule the Committee. He told 'em Buckbeak's all right, but they're scared... yeh know what Lucius Malfoy's like... threatened 'em, I s'pect... an' the executioner, Macnair, he's an ol' pal o' Malfoy's... but it'll be quick an' clean... an' I'll be beside him..."
Jake had halted in getting a new milk jug to listen to Hagrid talk. A single tear ran down his face as he opened the cupboard and pulled out the milk jug. He went to pour a milk bottle into the empty jug when something moved in it. He peered into the jug and could not believe what he was seeing, "Ron!" He got everyone's attention, "I think you owe Chloe and Crookshanks an apology."
"What for?" Ron asked, more curious than spiteful.
"Because Scabbers is alive," He walked over to Ron and let him peer into the jug.
Ron gasped and held his hands out so that Jake could drop the rat into them. When he was in his hands, Jake noticed he was trying desperately to get back into the jug. "Scabbers!" Ron said happily, "Scabbers, what are you doing here?" The rat struggled desperately to get free of his grasp. Ron held him up to the light and the rat looked absolutely dreadful. He was thinner than ever, large tufts of hair had fallen out leaving wide bald patches, and he was squeaking annoyingly, as though he was afraid of something. "It's OK, Scabbers! No cats or birds! There's nothing here to hurt you!"
Something suddenly flew in through the window, breaking the empty milk jug. Another something flew in through the window again, but this time it hit Jake right on the eye-patch. It didn't hurt thanks to the protection charm Pomfrey put on it, but it did turn him around and his eye widened, "Guys! They're coming! We gotta go!"
Everyone turned to see that a group of men were in fact walking down the castle steps. "Yeh gotta go," Hagrid said, every inch of him trembling, "They mustn' find yeh here... go on, now."
Ron stuffed Scabbers into his pocket, Hermione picked up the cloak, and they all scurried out of the back door. The four of them went up and around the path near the edge of the Forest. It was cumbersome trying to all move underneath the Cloak, so they got in the treeline and removed it. Harry stuffed it safely away and they watched the men, which included Macnair, Fudge, and Dumbledore. Hermione suddenly turned around, "Hermione?" Jake spoke her name inquisitively.
"I thought I saw... never mind..." she turned back around and they hurried along the Forest edge. Ron was struggling to keep Scabbers still all the while. They were walking up the path and back into the Castle when distant voices caught their attention. They all turned around, just as the Axe was raised into the air, before it was violently brought downward. They all stood there, motionless, "They... th-they..." Hermione whispered and began to cry. She looked up at Jake, but he had a distant look in his eye. She got closer to him for some sense of comfort, and she felt a little better when his arm went around her, holding her closer to him.
"Hagrid," Harry said, and made to go back down the path. Jake reached out and grabbed his shirt, jostling Hermione in the process.
"Harry, we can't. If we are caught out, and they know that we've been to see him, it'll put him in more trouble, and get us into a lot of trouble," Jake said. If Fudge caught him out here like this, it might be cause enough for him to revoke his legalized Adulthood.
Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven, "How - could - they!?" She choked out.
They turned to finally set into the Castle, but Scabbers wasn't holding still and he was trying to violently break free from Ron's grasp, going so far as to bite him.
As it grew darker, they almost missed something approaching them. It was a familiar something, being Hermione's Cat, Crookshanks, "Crookshanks! No, go away!" She tried to get her cat to leave, "Crookshanks! Go away!"
He didn't listen to her and kept coming closer. Scabbers finally freed himself from Ron's grasp and made a Mad dash away from them. Crookshanks made a Mad dash himself after the rat, and Chloe, who must have been flying overhead, swooped down to try and get the rat as well.
"Chloe!" Jake hissed at his bird, but she refused to listen.
Ron bolted from there and after his Rat. The other three followed him, which was thankfully away from Hagrid's Hut. Ron chased Scabbers for a few minutes, trying to get him before either animal did. He succeeded, and both animals backed away, which Jake found odd, or at least he did until he saw a massive Black Dog. He immediately came to the conclusion that that dog was the one Harry mentioned he saw.
He doubted it was a stray, though. Things were too convenient for it to belong to someone as well. Which left only one conclusion he could draw to. 'That Dog... that - that must be Sirius Black.'
The Dog lunged for Ron, grabbing him by the arm and dragged him away underneath a tree. Ron tried to hang on with his leg as it was caught on the tree, but a sickening crack was heard; Ron's leg had been completely broken and probably dislocated.
Crookshanks and Chloe were both nearby and got closer to them, but stopped a few feet away, Chloe came to rest on the ground next to Crookshanks, "Why did they stop?" Hermione asked.
Jake looked back to the tree in time to see a branch rapidly approaching. He shoved his two friends and then fell backwards himself, the branch impacting the ground where they had just been, "Of all the trees, it had to be this one!" He yelled angrily.
They began to dodge tree branches while Crookshanks ran forward towards the tree. They each had minor cuts and scrapes, Harry had a decent gash on his temple, and Hermione had a split upper lip on its left side, but other than that, they were fine. Crookshanks had disappeared under the tree, but then, it suddenly stopped attacking them.
Chloe took the chance to fly down the hole at the base of the tree. The three of them also took the chance before Crookshanks decided to not let them through.
"How did Crookshanks know?" Hermione asked.
"He and Chloe are friends with that big dog," Harry said grimly, almost spitefully, "Get your wands out."
They all did and crept along the underground path, following the two pets. They had to almost crawl on all fours to keep going, but soon the tunnel began to open up again, "Where does this tunnel lead?" Hermione asked them.
"I don't know, but my best guess is towards Hogsmeade. Fred and George said it had never been gotten into that they knew of, and it's opening is marked on the Marauder's Map, but goes off the map's edge," Harry said, being informative.
"If it goes to Hogsmeade... I think I know where it comes out," Jake said.
"Where?" Hermione asked.
"Think about it, what's the one place no one has gone to in Hogsmeade? The one place that someone would be raving about in the Great Hall at Dinnertime?" He asked her.
She gasped upon realization, "The Shrieking Shack!"
"Exactly... I have a theory that the Shrieking Shack isn't exactly haunted. Not by Ghosts at least," Jake said and they came to an area somewhere underneath the Shack, scratch marks were everywhere and some furniture was destroyed all over.
"Ghosts didn't do this..." Harry said in agreement.
At that moment, they heard a creaking above them. They carefully and quietly walked up the wooden staircase nearby to a landing, and it was dark up there, especially in the dark of night.
They came across a door and they heard rustling behind it. Jake walked up to the door and listened a moment. He heard the rustling a bit more clearly, but couldn't tell if there was more than one person or not. He grabbed the knob and twisted, but it didn't budge. 'Alohomora,' he said, unlocking the door. They crept in carefully and saw Ron laying on the floor beside a dusty four-poster bed that Crookshanks was laying on. They all rushed over to him.
"Ron, are you okay?" Hermione asked him.
"Where is Sirius Black?" Jake asked him.
"How do you-" Harry was about to ask him, but the door behind them closed and it was revealed that Black was standing behind it.
He was mangy looking and in desperate need of a bath with how he looked and smelled. He aimed a wand, Ron's wand, Jake assumed, at them, " Expelliarmus !" He said and all three of their wands flew out of their hands.
Jake wasn't worried, though. He knew if Black even dared to threaten Hermione, he'd go all Wandless Magic on this fool, but there were a few questions he had for the man.
With them disarmed, mostly, he did walk over in front of Hermione, putting himself in between her and Black. The one thing Black found odd was that none of them were as afraid as he expected, "Considering what the papers are saying about me, I figured you three would be more terrified?"
"So long as Jake's here, we have no reason to be. If you put me in danger, he's an almost unstoppable force," Hermione said, peering from around Jake's arm to tell him as much.
"No matter, I had a feeling you all would come to help your friend. Especially you, Harry. You're that much like James. He'd have done the same for me in a heartbeat," Sirius explained.
In his peripheral, Jake saw Harry move forward, but he grabbed him, "Harry, cool your jets, will you?"
"If you want to kill Harry," Ron said, struggling to stand up, "You'll have to kill all of us."
"Lie down," Black said in an oddly sympathetic voice, "You'll damage that leg even more."
"Didn't you hear me?" Ron asked and was about to go on.
"Ron," Jake said sternly, "Lie. Down. Crookshanks, could you please move?"
The cat blinked at him, but hopped off and went over to a table, which Jake only noticed that his bird was on. Ron begrudgingly laid down on the bed.
"There'll be only one murder here tonight," Black said, his voice changing to that of a maniac.
"Why's that?" Harry spat at him, Jake maintained his firm grip on Harry's arm, "Didn't care last time did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all of those innocent Muggles to kill Peter Pettigrew did you? Gone soft in Azkaban, have you?"
"Harry, shut up. You haven't gotten all sides to the story," Jake tried to reason.
"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry yelled.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW!?" Jake spun him around as he yelled, facing him directly, "How do you know? Because the Minister said so?"
"You weren't there, Jake, you didn't hear them talk about it!" Harry yelled.
"Think about it a moment! Back on the night he was in our dorm room! If he wanted you dead, he could've easily done so, but he was over Ron's bed... you wanna know why I think he was over Ron's bed?" Jake asked. Sirius was standing carefully in the dark, wanting to see where this went before he acted.
Harry struggled against his grip, but it was like iron welded around something, he wasn't letting go, "Why?" He asked angrily.
"He was looking for someone, but obviously not Ron. Who would be in the bed otherwise?" Jake asked.
"What do you mean? Just Ron," Harry looked at him like he was having a lapse in judgment.
"Really? No one else? No one small and furry?" Jake helped him out a bit.
"Scabbers?" Harry asked, dumbfounded, "Why would he be after Scabbers?"
"That's something I asked myself almost every day since it happened, 'why would Sirius Black be looking for Scabbers?' But it wasn't until recently when I came up with my own answer... Scabbers is like Black... an Animagus. Why else would he live for twelve years?" Jake said, making a lot of good points.
"And Crookshanks and Chloe, they both knew..." Hermione said, trailing off as realization hit her.
"Those are both the most intelligent pets I've ever seen," Black spoke up, which only fueled the hatred Harry had for him at that moment.
"But how do YOU know, Jake? How do you know any of this?" Harry asked with venom in his voice.
"I don't KNOW anything right now, it's all conjecture at the moment, but unlike how you're acting right now, I'm willing to listen to Black's side of the story. I've heard the tale from people who found the aftermath of the scene, but we haven't actually heard it from someone who was there," Jake said, letting go of Harry.
"I don't need to hear his story! I know he killed my parents!"
"I don't deny that I may as well have killed them, Harry," Black said, "but like Jake said, if you knew the whole story, if you understood it-"
"I understand it a lot better than you think!" Harry's voice shook horribly as he yelled at Black. "You never heard her, did you? My mum... trying to stop Voldemort killing me... and you did that... you did it..."
Harry eyed him for a moment longer, before he suddenly broke out into a run and tackled Sirius Black, grabbing his wand out of Black's hand, aiming it at his chest. Crookshanks and Chloe sprang into action and got on top of Black. Harry showed no sign of caring they were in the way, and even though his pet was in Harry's way, it was only when Hermione let out a sob that Jake did something about it. He ran over to Harry and pulled him violently off Black, restraining him. Hermione heard movement down below them, "WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE - SIRIUS BLACK - QUICK !"
The room door suddenly burst open and Professor Lupin was standing there, his wand aimed at them, but he hesitated for a moment when he saw Jake. He was getting angry, and Lupin knew that the worse it would be the angrier he got. Lupin put his hands up, "Jake, will you let me explain myself?"
"It's not me - that needs the - explanation," he said, looking to the struggling Harry he was restraining.
"Harry, please? Can I explain the situation?" Lupin asked him.
Harry looked frustrated, but stopped struggling. Jake did not let him go, however. "Fine, explain yourself, not like I'm going to be given a choice."