prompt for April 23rd - Harry Potter/Sneakers
Prompt for April 23:
This is not about...
Harry's steering the dragon as best anyone can steer a giant blind beast - it's giving Ron a new appreciation for how well Whistler navigates - and Hermione's trying to ignore their current height. That leaves Ron to watch the scenery pass under them, wonder what the Americans did with their non-involvement in the Gringotts break-in, and marvel that they've made it this far at all.
For a second or two, he thinks it might be the cup affecting him the same way the locket did. But the cup is safely in Hermione's bag, since they ended up being unable to destroy it at the bank, and anyway, it would be much harder to wear than a piece of jewelry. It really is a miracle they've done so well, especially given the number of times they've thrown away perfectly good advice.
It's amazing, what you can see in hindsight.
When they decide to jump off the dragon, Ron gives the other two a bit of time to recover and tries to find something to eat. While his woodland skills have sharpened over the last few months, he doesn't see anything he recognises as safe to eat, and at this stage of things, he'd rather not take the chance of getting them all sick. Food is, unfortunately, going to have to wait for one of them, or until they go on to the next place.
He sits down with the other two when he returns, watches the lake they landed in, and finally says, "We should have listened to Carl."
"How do you mean?" Harry says.
"Well, lots of things, but in particular when he tried to help us with this mess."
Hermione bristles almost immediately; Ron almost wishes it were a surprise. "They only know Muggle banks, Ron. It would have only slowed us down. We don't have time to get this wrong."
"We nearly did get it wrong, that's the problem! He didn't want to slow us down. None of them wanted to slow us down. They wanted to help us get through this as best we can. Don't you remember what they said when they found us? If this really takes hold, they'll be the first victims. Slowing us down wouldn't help them at all."
"Don't be simple. Magic got us all into this mess, so it's probably the only thing that can get us out--"
Ron sighs. "If that were the case, the Americans wouldn't have helped me find you two again. I would have had a bugger of a time finding your camp if not for their tracking device. We can out-think the other side if we just let ourselves."
He can't believe he's the one who's finally saying it, and not her - and from the way Hermione splutters, she can't believe it either. Harry doesn't say anything, and a tense silence takes over for a few moments.
"Well," Hermione finally says, "if we're meant to out-think anyone, where do you suggest we start?"
"We have to go to Hogwarts," Harry says, and Ron frowns.
"I kind of think You-Know-Who will expect that--"
"We have to. As soon as possible. There's a Horcrux in there, I'm sure of it, we probably should have looked for it last year. We have to go there, and we have to go there now. It might speed things up, but hopefully no one's expecting us to be there now and we can beat them."
"I don't know," Hermione says. "We can certainly Apparate to Hogsmeade from here much more easily than we could have done from the bank, but we'd put everyone there in danger."
Ron just looks at her. "They've been in danger all bloody year, to hear Ginny tell it. And Harry's right that if there's a Horcrux there, we need to get to it before You-Know-Who does. It may not be our soundest plan, but it's all we've got."
"Besides, I don't see anything here we can eat," Harry adds. "Hogsmeade will at least have the inns."
Hermione looks between the two of them for a bit, then sighs. "All right. But I still wish we could sort this out a bit more, if we're meant to be out-thinking people."
It becomes painfully clear that she's right, when they get to Hogsmeade and set off the Caterwauling Charm, but Ron still thinks they've done all right, especially without the Americans on hand. He suspects Carl, at least, would be glad they're actually doing something.
This is not about...
Harry's steering the dragon as best anyone can steer a giant blind beast - it's giving Ron a new appreciation for how well Whistler navigates - and Hermione's trying to ignore their current height. That leaves Ron to watch the scenery pass under them, wonder what the Americans did with their non-involvement in the Gringotts break-in, and marvel that they've made it this far at all.
For a second or two, he thinks it might be the cup affecting him the same way the locket did. But the cup is safely in Hermione's bag, since they ended up being unable to destroy it at the bank, and anyway, it would be much harder to wear than a piece of jewelry. It really is a miracle they've done so well, especially given the number of times they've thrown away perfectly good advice.
It's amazing, what you can see in hindsight.
When they decide to jump off the dragon, Ron gives the other two a bit of time to recover and tries to find something to eat. While his woodland skills have sharpened over the last few months, he doesn't see anything he recognises as safe to eat, and at this stage of things, he'd rather not take the chance of getting them all sick. Food is, unfortunately, going to have to wait for one of them, or until they go on to the next place.
He sits down with the other two when he returns, watches the lake they landed in, and finally says, "We should have listened to Carl."
"How do you mean?" Harry says.
"Well, lots of things, but in particular when he tried to help us with this mess."
Hermione bristles almost immediately; Ron almost wishes it were a surprise. "They only know Muggle banks, Ron. It would have only slowed us down. We don't have time to get this wrong."
"We nearly did get it wrong, that's the problem! He didn't want to slow us down. None of them wanted to slow us down. They wanted to help us get through this as best we can. Don't you remember what they said when they found us? If this really takes hold, they'll be the first victims. Slowing us down wouldn't help them at all."
"Don't be simple. Magic got us all into this mess, so it's probably the only thing that can get us out--"
Ron sighs. "If that were the case, the Americans wouldn't have helped me find you two again. I would have had a bugger of a time finding your camp if not for their tracking device. We can out-think the other side if we just let ourselves."
He can't believe he's the one who's finally saying it, and not her - and from the way Hermione splutters, she can't believe it either. Harry doesn't say anything, and a tense silence takes over for a few moments.
"Well," Hermione finally says, "if we're meant to out-think anyone, where do you suggest we start?"
"We have to go to Hogwarts," Harry says, and Ron frowns.
"I kind of think You-Know-Who will expect that--"
"We have to. As soon as possible. There's a Horcrux in there, I'm sure of it, we probably should have looked for it last year. We have to go there, and we have to go there now. It might speed things up, but hopefully no one's expecting us to be there now and we can beat them."
"I don't know," Hermione says. "We can certainly Apparate to Hogsmeade from here much more easily than we could have done from the bank, but we'd put everyone there in danger."
Ron just looks at her. "They've been in danger all bloody year, to hear Ginny tell it. And Harry's right that if there's a Horcrux there, we need to get to it before You-Know-Who does. It may not be our soundest plan, but it's all we've got."
"Besides, I don't see anything here we can eat," Harry adds. "Hogsmeade will at least have the inns."
Hermione looks between the two of them for a bit, then sighs. "All right. But I still wish we could sort this out a bit more, if we're meant to be out-thinking people."
It becomes painfully clear that she's right, when they get to Hogsmeade and set off the Caterwauling Charm, but Ron still thinks they've done all right, especially without the Americans on hand. He suspects Carl, at least, would be glad they're actually doing something.