THE TRUTH UNTOLD | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

𝘅𝘅𝘅𝘃𝗶𝗶 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗹𝗳

'Run,' whispered Sirius. 'Run! Now!'

But Gwen couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. Harry leapt forward, but Sirius 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' fur was on end again, he was backing away--

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared before them. He had transformed. The enormous, bear-like dog bounded forwards. 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--

Gwen stood, transfixed on by the sight. She didn't even reach for her wand. Her body was rooted to the spot--

Hermione's scream shocked her from her senses.

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

'Expelliarmus!' Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. 'Stay were you are!' Harry shouted, running forwards.

Too late; Pettigrew had transformed. Gwen saw his bald tail whipping out of sight and heard a scurrying through the grass.

Gwen pointed her wand, following the sound, but in the dark it was impossible to see the rat.

There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Gwen turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest--

'Sirius, he's gone!' Harry shouted. 'Pettigrew transformed!'

Sirius was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws were fading to silence as he pounded away across the grounds.

Gwen, Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron.

'What did he do to him?' whispered Hermione. Ron's eyes were only half closed; his mouth hung open. He was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing.

'I don't know,' Harry murmured.

Gwen fought around in her mind. There was a spell to undo this, she knew. She'd seen it somewhere in one of her Charms books. She looked around helplessly. Black and Lupin both gone... they had no one but Snape for company, who was still lolling, completely unconscious, in midair.

'We'd better get them back up to the castle,' said Harry. 'Come--'

Then, out of the darkness, they heard a yelping, a whining; a dog in pain.

'Sirius,' Harry muttered, then dashed off into the darkness.

With a helpless look at each other, Gwen and Hermione followed. There was nothing they could do for Ron at the moment, and Sirius sounded like he needed help...

The three of them followed the yelping at a run; it seemed to be coming from the lake. They pelted towards it, and Gwen, running flat out, felt the cold without realising what it must mean--

The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lake's shore, they saw why-- Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.

'Noooo,' he moaned. 'Noooo... please...'

And then Gwen saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake towards them. She spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating her insides, fog starting to obscure her vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them...

'Hermiione, think of something happy!' Harry yelled, and he and Gwen raised their wands at the same time--

Gwen threw her mind back to her happiest memory-- her and her siblings, running through the long grass--

'Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!'
Black gave a shudder, rolled over and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death.

It's OK, Gwen told herself, You'll be back soon, home. To Eddie and Felix and Luce...

'Expecto Patronum! Hermione, help!' Gwen shouted. 'Expecto Patronum!'

'Expecto--' Hermione whispered. 'Expecto-- Expecto--!'

But she couldn't do it. The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall around Gwen, Harry and Hermione, and were getting closer...

'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' Gwen and Harry were yelling. Tom's face was fighting free in her mind.

A thin wisp of silver escaped Gwen's wand, joined by one from Harry's. They hovered like mist before them. At the same moment, Hemione collapsed beside them.

Gwen was on her knees. Harry fell to his beside her.

Remember Eddie. Remember Felix. Remember Lucille.

'Expecto-- Expecto Patronum--!'

She fought for anything. Theo came to mind, and the wisp enlarged, ever so slightly. She felt Harry next to her, remembered his kindness, his loyalty, his friendship. Remembered Hermione and Ron...

By the feeble light from their formless Patronuses, a Dementor halted, very close to them. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Gwen and Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.

'No-- no--' Harry gasped. 'He's innocent--'
Gwen could feel them watching, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around them. Then, the nearest Dementor raised both its rotting hands-- and lowered its hood.

Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, grey, scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth... a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.

A paralysing terror filled Gwen so that she couldn't speak or move. The Patronuses flickered and died.

White fog was blinding her-- she had to fight-- Harry dropped to the ground beside her-- Tom's voice was echoing loudly-- a screaming filled her head--

She groped in the mist for Harry... felt him huddled over Sirius' body...

But a pair of strong, clammy hands wrapped themselves around Gwen's neck. They were forcing her face upwards... she could feel its breath... it was going to get rid of her first... she could feel its putrid breath... Tom was beckoning her to him... someone was screaming...

And then, through the fog that was drowning her, she saw a silvery light, growing brighter and brighter... she felt herself falling backward into the grass...

Two giant, silvery animals were galloping across the lake... the screaming had stopped... Tom's voice was gone...

Something was driving the Dementors back, those two giant, silvery animals were headed straight towards them...

Sick and shaking, Gwen let the fog consume her... she knew this feeling, she'd had it last year... her eyes dimmed and closed...