Out of the Fire

Harry immediately excuses himself from the exam and runs to the hospital wing, desperately trying to find Professor McGonagall. Unfortunately, her injuries are so serious from being stunned four times that she has been moved to St. Mungo’s Hospital. 

Unable to find Professor McGonagall, Harry finds Hermione and Ron to tell them what he has seen in his dream: the room in the Ministry of Magic Department of Mysteries that has lots of glass spheres where Sirius Black is being tortured by Voldemort. Ron immediately sides with Harry, but Hermione is skeptical and wonders whether this vision was really just a bad dream. 

Harry insists on going to the Department of Mysteries immediately, but Hermione puts her foot down. She demands that Harry seek more proof and suggests that he might just be wanting to save people, something that Voldemort knows Harry is fond of doing. Voldemort might be luring Harry to the Ministry of Magic on purpose. 

As a result of this conversation, they stage a diversion that will get Professor Umbridge out of her office for a few minutes so that Harry can visit Grimmauld Place via floo powder and the fire. The diversion works at first and Harry is able to use floo powder, stick his head in the fireplace, and appear again at Grimmauld Place. 

Harry looks around, but he sees no one but Kreacher, the house elf. Kreacher looks a lot happier than Harry remembers him. Kreacher insists that no one is there and that Sirius won’t come back from the Ministry of Magic either. Suddenly Harry is pulled out of the fire by Professor Umbridge, who has placed spells on her office to have it watched after the last incident. 

As Harry looks around, he notices that Umbridge has gagged everyone who was helping him create the diversion. Umbridge demands to know what Harry was doing and who he was trying to contact. She calls Snape into her office and demands Veritaserum to force Harry to tell the truth. 

Snape informs Umbridge that she used the last of it in her previous attempt, so Umbridge puts Snape on probation. Suddenly Harry realizes that Snape is also a member of the Order of the Phoenix. In a last ditch effort, Harry yells, “He’s got Padfoot! He’s got Padfoot at the place where it’s hidden!” Snape shows no signs of recognition and tells Umbridge that he doesn’t know what Harry is talking about.

After Snape leaves, Professor Umbridge spouts the truth. She is going to use one of the forbidden curses, the Cruciatus Curse, on Harry and doesn’t mind doing so behind the back of the Ministry of Magic. She is also the one who ordered the dementors after Harry during the summer months. 

Just as Umbridge is about to cast the spell, Hermione pretends to crack and tells Umbridge that Harry was trying to contact Dumbledore because “the weapon” is ready. Umbridge demands to see the weapon and leaves with Harry and Hermione.