As the clock reached half past eleven, Su Er hurried out of the Headmaster's Office and headed straight for the Room of Requirement. There was still a bottle of Polyjuice Potion there, probably enough to see him through this stretch.
The generous handful of ingredients supplied by that kind soul (not) had all been used up. After this, the identity of Mr. Aibo could only disappear.
It did not matter. After doing something like this, he could no longer appear in public under that identity anyway.
He had completely forgotten that Hagrid would be forced to leave Hogwarts Castle tonight. If Dumbledore had not just asked him through the mirror behind the portrait to keep an eye on Umbridge's movements tonight...
At eleven forty, Su Er put on his transformation item and changed into someone else. After casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself, he opened the Secret Passage behind the portrait of the grimacing Wizard in the same corridor and slipped inside.
He had to hurry. Ideally, he would get Hagrid out of Hogwarts Castle before Umbridge and the others made their move.
Meanwhile, in the pitch-black night, the Castle's great doors opened. Six people emerged from the Entrance Hall into the moonlight and rapidly approached the hut beside the Forbidden Forest, whose colors had deepened after nightfall.
Too late. He was a step too late after all.
Frustrated, Su Er hid in the pitch-black night with the help of his Disillusionment Charm. Not even the moonlight could find him. At the same time, his wand slipped discreetly into his palm.
He knew Hagrid would not surrender without a fight, especially when Umbridge wanted to pin fabricated charges on him.
In the light from the wooden hut's window, a dozen paces away, seven silhouettes were outlined, their movements gradually growing