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Aurora Areli
IT FELT LIKE I had just swallowed several large rocks as the four of us stood transfixed with horror under the Invisibility Cloak. I wiped the tears from my face with shaking hands, and blinked slowly at the reddish light that the dying sun cast over the long-shadowed grounds. Behind us, I could hear a wild howling.
"Hagrid," Harry muttered. He dropped his arm from around me and made to turn back, but Ron and I seized his arms.
"We can't," Ron said, his face paper white. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him . . ."
Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven.
"How — could — they?" she choked. "How could they?"
"Come on," Ron said. His teeth appeared to be chattering.
So we set off back towards the castle, walking slowly to keep ourselves hidden under the Cloak. Light was fading so fast, that by the time we reached open ground, darkness was settling around us like a heavy blanket.
"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly, like one of Hagrid's Flobberworms. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. "What's the matter with you? 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 —"
"Then make him stay put!" I hissed, but easier said than done. Scabbers was plainly terrified. He was writhing with all his might, trying to break free of Ron's grip.
"What's the matter with him?"
My eyes snapped over to where I had just seen out of my peripheral, a certain ginger-haired cat slinking towards us. His body was low to the ground, and his wide yellow eyes were glinting eerily in the darkness — Crookshanks. Whether he could see us, or was simply following the sound of Scabber's squeaks, I couldn't tell.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"
But the cat was getting nearer —
"Scabbers — NO!"
In a split second, Scabbers had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground and scampered away. In one graceful leap, Crookshanks had sprang after him, and before Harry, Hermione or I could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and hurtled away into the darkness.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.
She, Harry and I looked at each other, then made a silent agreement and followed at a sprint. It was impossible to run full out under the Cloak, so we pulled it off and allowed it to stream behind us like a banner as we dashed after Ron; I could hear his feet thundering along ahead, and his shouts at Crookshanks.
