The Crusaders: Year One

Chapter Nine

They were some way from the castle by now and Gyatso came to a stop in the middle of the grassy hills that surrounded Hogwarts. Before them was a tall tree with thick knots in that branches and long vines that hung around the tree, nearly to the ground. The tree shifted and twitched, as though it were alive and asleep.

“Is this the whomping willow that you were talking about at the feast professor?” Aang asked.

Gyatso nodded. “Rather marvelous isn’t it?”

Aang looked at the tree. It would’ve been easier for him to admire it during the day and when he wasn’t so tired.

Gyatso bent over and picked up a small rock from the ground. He chucked it at the tree, startling Aang when the tree came to life once the rock hit it’s trunk. It’s branches thrashed wildly about, like it was searching for what hit the trunk. 

The tree slammed some of it’s heavy branches down to the ground, hard, causing the ground to shake. Aang’s eyes widened and turned brown as the tree swung it’s branches in the air for several long moments before realizing there was no one there to pound. It stood, seeming to pant for a minute before slowly returning to its resting state.

“Whoa,” Aang breathed out after a moment of silence. His eyes returned back to their grey color.

“Much more impressive now, isn’t it?” Gyatso said with a smile. Aang nodded before Gyatso continued, “The whomping willow has been planted to help you during the hard times of the full moon.

Aang blinked in confusion and looked up at the professor. “Um...how?”

“By giving you a protective passageway to a safe house that will keep you from coming back out until you are yourself again,” Gyatso replied before picking up another rock and pointing to the tree. “Do you see that knot at the base there?” 

Aang looked to where he was pointing and nodded. Gyatso aimed carefully and tossed the rock, hitting the knot dead on. Instead of flailing like it did earlier, the tree froze and became silent like a normal tree. 

“Come along, Aang,” Gyatso said as he walked towards the tree.

Aang hesitated, his eyes flickering brown for a second before following the professor. Gyatso pushed some of the lower hanging branches aside as Aang dodged them, afraid to touch the tree so he wouldn’t wake it up. But the tree was frozen and Aang scrambled to Gyatso’s side.

At the foot of the tree, by the knot, there was a hole in the ground that led to a sort of chute into the dark beyond. 

Gyatso held his wand up and said, “Lumos.”

The wand tip lit up and he sat down on the edge of the hole and slid down like he was a child in a playground with one of those big slides. He landed on the bottom and all Aang could see in the darkness was the light of the wand.

“Come on then, Aang, before the willow wakes up again!”

Just as he said that, the tree started to move making Aang and quickly slid down the hole. He found himself in an underground passageway and Gyatso began walking, leading the way with his wand light. Though the tunnel was roughly cut and short, Aang could walk through it just fine since he was relatively short for his age. He was the smallest in his year.

THe two walked for what seemed like hours when Aang asked, “Where are we going?”

“Just a bit further,” Gyatso replied.

Finally, after what felt like half an hour, they came to an upward slope and then a short staircase and a door in the ceiling that Gyatso pushed open. Aang followed him in. They found themselves in a dark shack of a house, though it was sparsely furnished. The windows, however, were completely boarded up, and not a drop of moonlight was seeping through them.

“What is this place?” Aang asked as he looked around.

“This shack used to belong to the old gamekeeper before Jeong Jeong,” Gyatso replied. “Their needs are much different so this place was abandoned. It’s been left unattended for a good many years, unneeded and unused by the stuff at Hogwarts. However, when I heard about your wolfish tendencies, you would need a safe place to go where you would not be bothered by other persons for both their own safety and protection of that very precious human part of you.”

“We’re in the village?” Aang asked as his eyes turned brown. “Won’t somebody hear me? I’m told I’m quite noisy when I’m a...” Aang had stop himself from saying monster, “when I change.”

Gyatso smiled. “Do not worry. I’ve spent most of the year slowly spreading rumors in the village of Hogsmeade that this shack was haunted. I’ve set caterwauling charms upon it to go off at random if anyone gets closer than the fence which surrounds the property. 
“The charms sounded similar to the cries of the werewolf at the full moon. The people of Hogsmeade will know no difference and you will be safely enshrouded here in the cottage until you are well enough to return down the passageway of the school.”

Aang’s eyes teared up as they turned light grey. “You went through all this trouble for me?”

“I am a strong believer in teaching anyone who wishes to learn,” Gyatso replied. “Whatever special preparations it may take to get them here. If a student wishes to be at Hogwarts, and they’re of magical properties, then I shall do whatever is in my power to get them here.”

Aang could hardly believe what he was hearing. Here was a man who saw the human, and not the wolf. He didn’t judge the young boy because of his lycanthropy. 

“Thank you,” Aang said as he wiped away his happy tears. “I don’t know how to repay you for your belief in me.”

Gyatso smiled. “Do great things, and I will be repaid a hundredfold.”

And with that, Gyatso led the way back into the tunnel, pulling the door shut behind them. They walked back through the passageway. Along the way, Gyatso taught Aang the wand lighting spell to light his way for the journeys in the dark tunnel he will have to take.

When they reached the other end, they climbed up the sloping entrance and Gyatso showed Aang a lever at the top that he should pull that would freeze the tree just as pressing upon the knot would, and then they climbed out of the hole.

They rushed back out from beneath the long vines of the tree and across the grounds before the tree stirred.

Gyatso walked Aang back to the Hufflepuff common room and tapped the barrels in the correct pattern. “Sleep well, Aang. I am sorry to have kept you awake, but in the interest of maintaining your secret, you understand why we had to go at this hour.”

“Yes,” Aang replied with a nod.

Gyatso nodded back. “Well, go on and sleep.” Aang walked through the doorway. “I’m sure you’re quite eager to be well rested for your classes tomorrow. If you ever need anything at all, you can ask Professor Iroh to fetch me. Or, if you’d rather, tell that stone gargoyle we met nearby tonight that you enjoy a nice fruit pie.” 

Aang nodded with a smile as the entryway closed.