Fight and Flight (OP)

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Harry and Hermione leading Dolores Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest

Fight and Flight is the thirty-third chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The Secret Weapon

This chapter picks up where Out of the Fire left off: following Harry Potter and Hermione Granger out of Dolores Umbridge's office as they lead Umbridge to the Forbidden Forest in order to alledgedly show them the "secret weapon" that the D.A. had been working on.

Harry has no idea of what Hermione's plan is, and is unable to ask her; Umbridge is following them closely, despite Hermione's hurried pace. They descend the stairs to the Entrance Hall (the doors to the Great Hall, according to Harry, are twenty feet away from the stairs) and continue out of the Hogwarts Castle's oak doors.

At first, Umbridge suspects that she is being led to Hagrid's hut, but Hermione reminds her that Hagrid would've set the device off accidentally. A scornful comment about Hagrid's being a half-breed follows, and Harry feels a strong urge to strangulate her.

Harry's scar, incidentally, is still throbbing, but it has not yet burned white-hot, as it would had Voldemort killed Sirius.

The three enter the Forest; only Umbridge has her wand. Harry gets increasingly more alarmed as he realises that Hermione is unknowingly leading them in the path towards Aragog's lair and not, as he previously had assumed, Grawp's area. She is being purposefully loud: "I want us heard," she whispers to Harry. "You'll see..."

The centaurs

Suddenly, they are surrounded by about fifty centaurs, threatening the three with bows and arrows. Umbridge attempts to use Harry as a human shield, but he wrenches himself free.

A chestnut-bodied centaur named Magorian interrogates Umbridge, displaying contempt for her status as a Ministry of Magic employee. When she starts quoting laws made by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures regarding attacks by "half-breeds" on humans, she sets off another centaur, called Bane, whom Harry had previously met (PS15).

Despite Hermione's warnings, Umbridge continues, pointing her wand at Magorian, "Law Fifteen 'B' states clearly that 'any attack by a magical creature who is deemed to have near-human intelligence, and therefore considered responsible for its actions—"

This, of course, infuriates the centaurs. Umbridge is driven far past the point of reasoning when yet another arrow zooms past her. She attempts to use the Incarcerous spell (which conjures thick ropes to wrap around Magorian's torso), but this is, of course, useless: the rest of the herd charges, bellowing with rage. Umbridge tries to Stun one of them, but is lifted high into the air by Bane; her wand falls on the ground.

This chapter summary is not done yet. Please be patient.