Black's Prophecy || Book 3

Twenty

A loud slashing sound sounded from behind them and Cordelia drowned everything out. Julius' grip on her arm tightened just like Lorenzo's grip on her other hand.

She didn't hear anything, just felt the firm grip of her friends on her, supporting themselves as much as herself.

She could only feel the tug of the incoming moon on her spine and the fast rush of evening wind. Something nudged her forward and she snapped out of her stupor and glanced over her shoulder at Julius, pale and tired, looking at her with concerned eyes.

They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly to keep themselves beside the golden trio, hidden under the cloak. The light was fading fast now.

By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. "What's the matter with you, You stupid rat? Stay still—OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute—"

"He won't—stay—put—"

Cordelia downed a potion, making her visible again and Enzo and Jay followed her suit. They started at the shiny waves in the air, giving away the position of the three students.

"What's the matter with him?" They heard.

Inside Harry had just seen—stinking toward them, his body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting eerily in the darkness—Crookshanks. Whether he could see them or was following the sound of Scabbers's squeaks, Harry couldn't tell.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"

But the cat was getting nearer—

"Scabbers—NO!"

Too late—the rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness.

"Ron!" Hermione moaned.

Hermione and Harry appeared too, running after Ron. Cordelia groaned and ran after the three along with the rest following the thundering sound of footsteps and Ron's hollering.

"Get away from him—get away—Scabbers, come here—"

There was a loud thud.

"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat—"

All of them skidded to a stop, one after other, almost toppling over each other over Ron who was on the ground, panting.

The rat was back in his pocket and Cordelia had half a mind of using 'avada kedavra' on him.

But before any one of them could get covered again, soft pounding sounded through the grounds and before anyone the marauders whipped around to see a jet black, huge dog with familiar eyes bounding towards them. 

He got closer, and now the pounding caught the attention of golden trio as well and they turned to it as well.

Cordelia glared at the dog, telling him silently not to do anything rash but she reckoned the sight of Pettigrew has turned him crazy because he pounced at Harry, sending him keeling over backwards before skidding, growling and pushed Harry aside before fastening his jaw around Ron's outstretched arm.

Harry lunged forward and grabbed Sirius' fur and Cordelia winced slightly, that was got to hurt.

Cordelia was going to follow but stopped, pulling Enzo and Jay back, being closest to her as soon as her ears caught the noise of branches cutting through air.