pretty girl diggory- R.Weasley

3:15

     Celeste had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry, Celeste, and Hermione brought up the rear. 

    Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand.  Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Celeste had the impression Black was making no effort to prevent this. 

     They walked quietly through the tunnel until they reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk k, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.

     Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry, Celeste, and Hermione to pass. 

     At last, all of them were out. The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Harry's mind was buzzing. He was going to leave the Dursleys. He was going to live with Sirius Black, his parents' best friend. ...He felt dazed. ... What would happen when he told the Dursleys he was going to live with the convict they'd seen on television...!

     "One wrong move, Peter," Lupin said threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest. 

     Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his chin bumping on his chest. And then —

      A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.

     Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry, Celeste, and Hermione stopped. 

     Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake. 

     "Oh, my —" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

     "Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now."

     But Harry couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back.

     "Leave it to me — RUN!"

     There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away — 

     As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backwards, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other — 

    Celeste stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted her — 

     Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light — and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang — Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.