As the Sister of Harry Potter

SARLANDA

A Patronus came to me at a little after sunset. Kingsley’s Lynx bound into my dorm, and I immediately set down my book.

“Sarlanda, you need to get to the Ministry now. Death Eaters have broken in to steal the Prophecy, and Harry is caught up in the middle of it,” it said urgently before fading away. I threw on my cloak and took off out the door, gripping my wand so tightly my knuckles were turning white. I didn’t meet anyone as I sprinted through the castle. No students, no teachers… it was kind of foreboding.

I was still unchallenged as I walked out the oak front doors at a brisk pace. I wondered where the hell Snape was, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kingsley’s message. Harry was at the Ministry… that almost one hundred percent meant that Jen, Hermione, and Ron were there as well. How had they even left the grounds?

The five minutes it took to get outside the grounds seemed to last an eternity. I turned and Apparated into the front entrance hall of the Ministry. Tonks, Kingsley, Remus, Moody and Sirius were there. Not Snape, but Sirius. I opened my mouth to say something about it, but changed my mind as we started sprinting to the golden lifts. My mind whirled, and it was hard to keep my composure when my adrenaline was pumping so hard. Who all had gone with Harry? Was anyone hurt, or – dare I say it – dead?

No. I didn’t need to dwell on these “what if’s.” I needed to focus on fighting Death Eaters.

Down the ominous corridor to the Department of Mysteries, through the rotating doors, and BAM, Kingsley broke down the door to the top of the Veil room. There were Death Eaters surrounding the sort of amphitheater, among them my ex-father and dear auntie Bellatrix, who had given me my middle name. But down in the pit with the stone arch and fluttering veil was Harry holding the Prophecy and Neville Longbottom with a broken nose. Everyone charged down the steps to the Death Eaters, but something stopped me.

Whispering voices came out of no where, mesmerizing me. I couldn’t quite place the source, but they seemed to be coming from the stone arch and veil. Everything seemed to fall into slow motion. I took slow steps down the stone stairs, trying to make out what the voices were saying. A few spells whizzed inches past my face, spraying my long dark hair that I had forgotten to tie up all over the place. I think Lupin yelled something at me, but it was muffled. All I could hear were the intoxicating voices behind the veil.

But when I heard a crashing BOOM, I was brought back to my senses. Life sped back up, and I ducked a curse. The boom was reverberating all around, but it definitely wasn’t coming from this room. I started running through the madness to get to the room where it had came from, my hands covering my head.

“Sarlanda!” I heard Tonks shout just before I dove into the door where my curiosity lay in waiting.

I was in what I assumed to be the Prophecy Hall, but it was a total mess. Several shelves had fallen over, and I picked my way across the field of thin shattered glass. Another shelf of prophecies fell a little ways off, with a sickening crunch to match before it fell to the ground with a thundering boom. I also caught a scream in the mix.

Jennifer’s scream.

I started running, crushing shattered glass under my school flats, praying they wouldn’t slip. But I was caught off guard by the black ice that coated the floor, and I skidded right into a shelf. Not my most graceful moment, I assure you.

“What the hell are you doing here, sister?” snarled a deep voice, and I turned to see Lance standing over a defeated Jennifer, blood trickling out her skull and his wand pointed over her chest.

“I’m no sister of yours,” I spat back. “And you’re no brother of mine.” I held my wand up at the ready. “You’re not going to be messing up our lives anymore, Lance.”

A look of revelation came over Lance’s face. “Oh, you came here with the Order of the Phoenix, didn’t you? Pft, what a joke,” Lance scoffed, shifting all his focus to me now. “What’s the matter? Did the Dark Lord’s power scare you?”

“No, I’d just rather not be a psychopathic murderer like you.” I began backing away as he advanced, trying to lead him away from Jennifer. Plus, I wanted more room to be able to fight.

“Come on Sarlanda, don’t you know you’re on the wrong side? The Dark Lord could use you. You’re very powerful, and I think you’re making a bad choice, siding with the losers. You honestly think Harry Potter will ever be able to defeat the Dark Lord?” Lance asked snidely, his voice growing with every word until he was practically shouting.

“You’re the one who’s on the wrong side Lance!” I yelled back. “And I think it’s time someone taught you a lesson!”

By then, our instincts kicked in and we sent spells flying at each other. I could barely keep up. ‘Dammit, I used to be better than him,’ I thought in frustration, rebounding his Stunning Spell and sending one of my own. I barely ducked a Cruciatus Curse, panting. “What happened to you Lance? Besides you joined Voldemort?” I asked, trying to buy time. I kept glancing around for something useful. Use your surroundings, use your surroundings… that was the one thing that I learned of value from the Fake Mad-Eye last year.

“He taught me things. Ways to make myself stronger, much more powerful than you,” he bragged. “I’m practically his right-hand man now.”

I snorted. “Then you obviously don’t know Voldemort very well. He doesn’t trust anyone,” I retorted, crunching glass under my shoe. Glass.

I started twirling my wand around me, making the glass rise off the floor. Lance looked confused for a moment, and by the time he realized what was going on, my charm was nearly complete. I had trapped Lance in a thick glass coffin where he stood. I expected him to panic, but he just grinned evilly. Then the glass exploded, and I covered my eyes and collapsed to the ground from the force of the explosion.

When I looked back up, Lance was gone. “Dammit,” I cursed under my breath. After I made sure Lance really was gone, I went back to Jennifer, who was still out cold, but not dead thankfully. I picked up her wand, pocketed it, and then levitated her so I could move her. She had a really nasty cut on the back of her head, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage. I began working my way back to the Veil room, wondering how the fight had turned out for everyone else. I didn’t hear any battle noises, so I re-entered the room.

Members of the Order were collecting battered students. Neville’s nose was still broken, Luna was a bit battered, and Ginny’s ankle was broken. Ron, Hermione and Launa were all unconscious, and Ron had weird tentacle marks all over him. But there was no Harry, no Sirius, and a tearful Hyden, who sat on a stone step. I propped Jen up against a step and went to sit by Hyden. “Hyden… where’re Harry and Sirius?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“Dumbledore took Harry, but…” Hyden’s shoulders shook as some more tears slid down his face. “Sirius is… gone. Bellatrix killed him.”