¹𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 ─ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲

BLACK

"Ron!" Matilda shouted after him.

Before she could stop herself, Tilly ran out from underneath the Cloak after Ron. As she ran off Harry and Hermione pleaded with her to come back, but she ignored them, continuing to run farther into the darkness. A few feet in front of her, Tilly could hear Ron's feet thundering along and his shouted threats to Crookshanks.

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

There was a loud thud.

"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat —"

Finally, running up on him Tilly had almost fallen overtop of Ron; she had skidded to a halt just in time to stop beside him. Harry and Hermione came into view only seconds after Matilda, without the Invisibility Cloak hiding them. Ron was sprawled out on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump.

"Ron, — you best — get back under — the Cloak — NOW!" Tilly panted angrily if she had known that she would be running through the forest she'd of worn different shoes. "I've about had it with chasing after you!"

But before they could cover themselves again, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws. . . Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow — an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog.

Tilly reached back behind her for her wand, but too late — the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit Harry on the chest; he kneeled over backward in a whirl of hair.

The dog rolled off him. In a daze and clutching his ribcage, Harry tried to stand up; the dog was growling as it skidded around for a new attack.

Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward them, he pushed Harry aside; the dog's jaw fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Tilly pulled out her wand, but it was too risky to throw any spells, she could hit both the dog, and Ron, and she wasn't about to allow herself to take that risk. The dog began dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll —"

Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face he was knocked off his feet again. Hermione shrieked with pain and fell too.

"Lumos!" said Tilly.

She offered them some light. This whole time they have been standing in the dark.

"It's just the Whomping Willow," said Tilly, mostly to Hermione so she'd stop with the screaming. "It's trying to stop us from getting any nearer."

And there, at the base of the trunk, was the dog, dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots — Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight —

"Ron!" Harry shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backward again.

All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground — but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.

"Harry — we've got to go for help —" Hermione gasped; she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder.

"You've got to be joking!" said Matilda, in more of a panic than she had ever been. "He's likely to be dead and chewed up by the time someone gets to him!"

Hemione and Tilly turned to Harry, they were waiting for him to choose who was right.

"Hermione, Tilly's right," said Harry, and Tilly let out a sigh of relief. Even if Harry hadn't agreed with her though, she would have just went on to find Ron herself. "That thing's big enough to eat him; we haven't got time!"