''𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙇𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙣.''
⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒
𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑫 𝑷𝑶𝑽
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. Hermione was going to ask you about the scene in class, but you weren't in the dorm room that night. Harry had dropped the subject of the scene you had caused after his, but couldn't help but let the questions flow through his head. Ron had gone with Seamus, Dean and Neville, teaming up to look for you around the grounds of Hogwarts castle.
The twins had a new idea for a prank they set up for the one and only Umbridge, but when they only found Umbridge, they grew worried and abandoned their idea for the time being. One knows it's serious when the twins stop a prank just before the good part.
During Snape's class, he could barely focus on intimidating the Gryffindor's when Malfoy was fidgeting around in his seat, his head whipping from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of you sitting somewhere within' the room. Theo and Blaise were doing the same, panicking more then Malfoy had let the public see.
Daphne and Pansy had teamed up with Blaise and Theo, both moving in duos to look around the school with the other Gryffindor's. During these times, they count for desperate measures. The rather large team of Gryffindor's had teamed up with the small team of Slytherins, in search for the missing Granger.
Umbridge had been sitting in her office, going through the normal classes without being fazed that she had stuck the girl I'm a cellar down in the dungeons. Unfortunately for the girl, nobody had found her and she didn't have her wand with her. Even if she did, the door had a spell placed on it to where it wouldn't unlock, unless you had the right key to do so.
Dumbledore had been made aware of the situation, doing what he could to look for the girl without having to leave his office to do so. He had decided that staying up in his office would be the best plan for now, separating himself from Harry for the time being. Least to say, it wasn't just the people in Hogwarts that were panicking to look for the girl.
A certain eighteen-year-old boy stood in a small cubicle he had at the Ministry, working a few cases of Muggles here and there. While sitting at his desk, he suddenly jolted from a sudden pain that came to his right forearm. It was turning purple, something that hasn't happened in a long while. Something, that didn't mean anything good.
If his forearm was starting to turn into the abnormal color, he knew that something wasn't right. Something bad was happening with you and he intended to find out. He also knew that if his forearm was hurting, then another person's forearm was also starting to turn to the faint color of purple.
Barty Crouch Jr. sat with his back against the stone wall, the walls that he recognized as Azkaban. He had escaped from here once, but the security has gotten tighter since the last time he had been here. With the escape of both Sirius Black and himself, they decided to take more defensive measures.
He was able to freely move around the room, a bed no where in sight. The water splashing up against the wall as a few drops hits him, coming through the window in the corridor and flying through the small barred crack in the door. Barry had decided that he wanted to serve time in Azkaban, instead of trying to escape. Then, he could move around freely.
As he sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, he suddenly jolted up - much like how Flint had. The fingertips of his left hand were starting to turn purple, making him concerned. Like Marcus, Barty knew what this meant. Shooting up to his feet from his spot on the floor, he moved towards the door with his hands gripping around the bars of the small window he had.
''Let me out!'' He yelled, using all his strength to pull the bars from the small window. ''I need to get out of here, something bad is happening.'' He continued to pull against the bars, soon stopping in case his arms popped out of socket.
''Hey, quiet down.'' A guard sternly told Barty, walking past the door as he banged his fist on it.
''Let me out! Just for two hours and then I'll come back.'' Barty tried to bargain.
''Ha! Not a chance. You're in here because you escaped in the first place. Now, why don't you sit down and be a good boy?'' The guard retorted, scowling on the other side of the barred window.
''She's in trouble! Let me out!'' Barty started to yell again, hearing more guards approaching from down the corridor.
''Shut up!'' Another guard came by, smacking Barty's hands away from the bars.
''You have a wife? Damn. Here I thought you were just a lonely hypocrite.'' The other guard let out, rolling his eyes as he turned his shoulder towards Barty.
''Who knew you could actually get someone.'' The opposite guard laughed, both of them soon sharing a loud laughter.
''She isn't my wife, goddamn you.'' Barty cursed, kicking his foot against the metal door before taking a few steps away.
''Yeah, yeah.''
''Whatever you say.'' The guards snickered, taking their positions of walking up and down the corridors and insulting the prisoner's when available. Barty sighed, slowly falling against the wall with his head in his hands. The moon had shone through the small window of the cold room, causing him to slowly lift his head and look at the beautiful sight of the full moon.
Hogwarts had been encased in a dome of moonlight, shining down so bright that torches were barely necessary. Nobody had walked the corridors, since everyone was currently in The Great Hall for dinner before they had to go back for curfew. Malfoy sat at the Slytherin table, ignoring whatever lame tactics Astoria had tried using to get his attention.
Astoria had noticed his weird behavior over the past few days. He never talked to her as much as he used to and he always seemed to be looking for someone that wasn't her. Astoria overheard her parents arranging a marriage for the girl when she had become of age and the lucky person she was meant to be destined with, is Draco Malfoy.
She was over the moon about it, but now, she can't seem to get a word out of him. No matter how much she tried and how much she talked to him. She even went on to talk about Quidditch - which Astoria had seen Malfoy practicing for one afternoon -, something that she knew little to nothing about. The only thing that she knew was that Malfoy had played in the sport.
Tracey Davis had also noticed this, trying to attract Malfoy's attention back on her best friend. But she failed just as bad as Astoria had. Malfoy was set on something, but they didn't know what it was. He never talked about it, never showed emotion about it and never gave a clue. He didn't have any past with anyone here, besides Pansy, but she had moved on from that stage.
Malfoy had done this on purpose. He knew of the arranged marriage between him and Astoria, overheard his parents talking about it one night. His father said that it would be an amazing offer and that they didn't want to have to marry their own cousins for the bloodline to remain pure. That's always what his father said, never interfering with muggles, muggle-born's or half-blood's.
As everyone chatted amongst one another, the Professor's at the table talking about the missing Granger as well. Umbridge had taken her position to stay out of the conversation, a content smile on her face the whole time as she scanned over the students in a sickly way. Of course, she knew where the girl was, she also tempted to keep her there until further notice.
Thunder clapped from the ceiling, making everyone jump in their seats, even the Professors. Nobody had expected this, not even Dumbledore. As the Headmaster fixed the ceiling, he stayed standing instead of sitting. The last time that the roof had done that, Barty Crouch Jr. had entered the room disguised as Mad-eye Moody.
The Golden Trio seemed to pick up on the same information, Hermione pointing out to Ron and Harry. Ron stuffing his face with food, per usual. Harry had furrowed his brows towards the ceiling, his wrapped hand sitting on the table. He had it wrapped earlier after his detention with Umbridge.
Everyone in The Great Hall stayed silent, Filch standing next to the grand doors of The Great Hall. Mrs. Norris sat beside him, her tail swishing from one side to the other. Dumbledore didn't sit down, a look of suspicion painted on his face. He was looking around for anything out of the ordinary, even glancing towards Filch and the rest of the Professors that sat behind him.
Just as the Headmaster grabbed the armrest's of his chair, about to sit down. A familiar ghost had floated through the walls, urgency shown in the way he had rushed in.
''Headmaster!'' Sir Nicholas had shouted, flying past the students and stopping right in-front of the Professor's table. ''Tonight is a dark night for Hogwarts, Headmaster.'' He stumbled over his words a bit, thinking of ways to let out his actual meaning.
''What does that mean, Nicholas?'' Dumbledore questioned, slowly standing back up from his almost seated position.
''The moon shines bright upon the school. A dark force has entered Hogwarts and is now on a rampage.''
''Tell it to me clearly, Nicholas.'' Dumbledore spoke urgently.
''A werewolf, Albus. A werewolf is in Hogwarts!'' Sir Nicholas shouted, watching as Dumbledore's eyes had widened and the students started to tremble in their seats.
The trio looked between each other, all thinking the same thing. They had thought that Lupin was probably the werewolf and that he had taken his Wolfsbane tonight so he wouldn't be much of a threat. Malfoy on the other hand, knew exactly who it was. Filch stood by the doors of The Great Hall, looking towards the Headmaster for further instructions.
Dumbledore silenced the students, everyone lowering their voices and turning to the front of the room.
''I want everyone to stay here until further notice.'' Dumbledore demanded, walking around the Professors table and taking big strides towards the door, the other Professors following right behind him. Filch even tagged along, trusting the Professors to protect him more then the students would've.
Naturally, the students stayed seated and stayed calm for the time being.
Naturally, they all got up about five seconds later and followed after the Professors.
None of these students had experience on fighting a werewolf, only knowing how to define it and what makes a werewolf, well, a werewolf. As the golden trio reached the front of the crowd, Harry had kept his gaze on Dumbledore as Ron looked every which way, looking for the lurking creature.
Hermione had taken the chance to scan the crowd, trying to find anyone who was missing. In her mind, whoever was missing would be the werewolf. Or the werewolf could've been Lupin, but she also doubts that Lupin would come all the way back here just to transform for the night and be taken care of the next morning.
''Guys.'' Hermione spoke up towards the two boys, getting their attention. ''Y/n is the only one missing.'' She gulped, her hands shaking at her sides. Harry's eyes widened, before he turned around and scanned over the crowd of students behind him once.
''No, that's not possible.'' Ron waved his hand at the girl, not wanting to believe what he and just heard. ''When would she have even became one? Who did she get bit by? When did she get bit? These are questions without answers, Hermione.'' Ron tried defending.
''I think Hermione might be onto something.'' Harry spoke up for the brunette. ''But Y/n isn't the only one missing.'' Harry looked back at the crowd, his jaw tensed as he did so. Hermione furrowed her brows, looking back towards the crowd behind them.
''Alright then, who else is missing? And don't tell me it's someone like Bones or Cho Chang.'' Ron shook his head, bringing a hand up to wipe some of the sweat that was forming. Even thought Harry had given the ginger a weird look at the latter's name, he spoke up again.
''Malfoy isn't in the crowd.'' He pointed out, seeing Hermione gasp and turn back around to face the front. ''What?'' Harry asked, turning back around next to Hermione. ''Did you find something out?'' He asked.
''Not yet. I can't even decide who the werewolf is.'' She shrugged.
''Well, we know one thing.'' Ron pipped up.
''And what's that?'' Hermione quizzed the ginger.
''It's either Y/n or Malfoy. None of them are here.'' Ron responded, both Harry and Hermione knowing that Ron was right.
A sudden growling came from the end of the corridor, causing Dumbledore to stop, which also happened the stop the mass crowd of students behind him. Everyone had their wands positioned in their hands, ready to use and a spell in mind for whenever the beast decides to attack them. Dumbledore cautiously took a step forward, his wand held high.
Moody had turned the corner, his prosthetic leg scratching against the ground.
''Had I missed something?'' He questioned, looking around at everyone's wands and defensive stances.
''Alastor, glad you could make it.'' Dumbledore walked up to Moody, both of them shaking hands before Dumbledore discussed the situation at hand. ''There is a werewolf roaming the corridors. Have you seen it on your way in?''
''No, but I thought I heard something weird coming from the floor above.'' He gestured up. ''Either there or the bathrooms down here.'' Moody then gestured to a lonely looking door down the corridor. Everyone knew that Moaning Myrtle liked to float around there. Though, one could never be too sure.
''I would send you up there, but not alone.'' Dumbledore denied.
''How about he isn't alone, then?'' Another voice came from behind the small mass out students. Instantly, they had created a pathway to where the staff were currently all standing. Marcus had his wand gripped in his left hand, scratching at his right hand a few times due to the vow.
As Marcus walked up towards Dumbledore, he stood there a little dumbfounded at the sudden appearance. The Headmaster hadn't called for Marcus and wouldn't think to call for him in the first place. Marcus had seen this, but decided to stay quiet for the moment.
''Alright. Mr. Flint, you and Alastor will search the top floor.'' The Headmaster switched his gaze between the two, before looking back at the other Professors. ''The rest of us will look down here. Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick.'' Both of the names Professors looked towards the Headmaster. ''Keep the students under control.''
With that, everyone did as they were told. McGonagall and Flitwick calmed the students, moving them to a spot where the werewolf didn't have such an easy chance to attack the students. Dumbledore moved towards the bathroom on the bottom floor with Snape and Sprout following behind him.
Umbridge was no where in sight, deciding not to take this investigation with the others and moving down to where she had kept the Granger girl in the dungeons. She looked behind her every now and then, watching to make sure the werewolf wasn't stalking her when she wasn't looking.
She grasped her wand in her hand as she descended down the steps of the dungeon, coming closer and closer to the room where the Granger girl is kept. When she had reached the room, the door was discarded and there was a hole where the door was supposed to be. The metal door had been thrown off to the side, bent and twisted in a way that no human could make it.
Umbridge started to panic, rushing to leave the dungeons and keep herself somewhere safe and away from wherever the werewolf could possibly be waiting for it's next victim. A howl erupted from somewhere amongst the school, making Umbridge jump and the students start screaming.
Marcus Flint and Alastor Moody had made their way up the staircases, searching every corridor and closed door for the creature. Dumbledore had asked the ghosts to help search the grounds, since they could search faster and further then the staff could. Peeves was a little stubborn about the demand, but had listened nonetheless.
''Zabini, Nott.'' Harry quietly called to the two Slytherin's. Blaise and Theo had both turned to look towards the trio, silently asking what they wanted. ''Where's Malfoy?'' He asked. Theo turned to Harry with a confused look.
''Why do you want to know where he is?'' Blaise asked.
''Malfoy might be the werewolf.'' Hermione simply answered.
''Look, I don't care about the werewolf at the moment.'' Theo harshly whispered to the three. ''I want to know where Y/n is, have any of you figured that out?''
''No, we haven't.'' Ron shook his head, watching was Pansy and Daphne made their way to the five.
''What are we talking about?'' Pansy whispered.
''Who the werewolf is.'' Hermione responded.
''And where Y/n is.'' Theo retorted, glaring at Hermione for a short time. Blaise put his hand on Theo's shoulder, trying to calm the boy down.
''Well, we don't know where Malfoy is either. He was at dinner but left after the announcement of the werewolf roaming the halls.'' Daphne brought up with a small shrug.
''So Malfoy isn't the werewolf?'' Harry asked.
''No, he isn't. The moon had already came up by the time we started eating. It has to be someone else that isn't here.'' Blaise shook his head, looking over the crowd to search for any other missing heads.
''No sign of it on the first floor.'' Dumbledore loudly spoke towards McGonagall.
''Have you checked with Alastor?'' She asked, her voice laced with worry. Dumbledore momentarily looked down, before a familiar voice had shouted from across the school.
''Run!'' It shouted.
''Alastor.'' Both Dumbledore and McGonagall spoke at the same time, running off to find Flint and Moody. The students had followed, not wanting to risk being by themselves in the corridor when the Professor had left to look for Moody and Flint.
Turning down a few corridors, Dumbledore had suddenly came to an abrupt stop, his arms out to keep everyone behind him. The students had a perfect view, the werewolf at the very end of the corridor with Alastor and Marcus standing a few feet in-front of Dumbledore. The werewolf hadn't moved, just stood in place and panted with it's gaze settled upon the mass amount of students.
''Holy shit.'' Daphne whispered lowly, not wanting the werewolf to make any sudden movements from her loud voice.
''That's not Lupin.'' Hermione informed, seeing as this werewolf had fur and was slightly smaller then Lupin.
''Who is it then?'' Harry asked, looking between the werewolf and Dumbledore. The Headmaster was slowly raising his arm with his wand in hand, making it so it had pointed in the general direction of the werewolf. Snape didn't seem to do anything, his wand tucked away as he looked at the werewolf.
Snape knew who it was and he knew what was happening. He knew that she hadn't taken her Wolfsbane, so now the school was in danger and she didn't know it. If everybody died tonight, then she wouldn't have any memory of the event. She would be completely oblivious to killing everyone around her, Snape wasn't able to help at the moment.
The only thing he did, was back away and slowly turn the corner. He was looking for Umbridge, having a hunch that she was supposedly behind this. McGonagall stood in-front of the students, behind Dumbledore, watching the werewolf that watched them.
''Alastor, careful.'' Dumbledore lowly warned. ''This creature is still a human.''
''I know that, Albus. I'm not an idiot.'' Alastor harshly whispered back, his wand pointed towards the creature. Marcus had taken a careful step forward, slowly dropping his hand when the werewolf set it's gaze on the boy. ''Flint, what are you doing?'' Alastor went to drag the boy back to his spot, only for Marcus to shrug his hand off his shoulder.
''Just be patient with me.'' He gestured with his hand behind him, not looking away from the werewolf at the other end of the corridor. The werewolf snarled, making everyone take a subconscious step back. ''It's alright, we're not going to hurt you, I promise.'' Marcus tried calming the creature.
''It's a werewolf, Flint. Not a dog.'' Alastor retorted.
''It's close to one, now let me do my job.'' He turned from Alastor and back to the werewolf, watching as she had taken a small step forward.
The students were more then terrified, someone was bound to die tonight and none of them wanted to be that victim. Hermione frantically searched her brain for something that could help, but she didn't search much on werewolves and she knew that nothing would help at this moment.
Hermione knew that her sister used to search on magical beasts for a long time, during their first few years at Hogwarts. She would be useful in this situation, wherever she was. Hermione furrowed her brows, not seeing Snape anywhere around the crowd. Where had he gone off to?
The werewolf took another step forward, growling at the crowd with each closer step. Dumbledore also took a step forward, wand at the ready. Suddenly, the werewolf had jumped forward, coming closer and closer to killing the crowd before Dumbledore had shouted.
''Incarcerous!''
Ropes had now bound the creature, keeping it to the floor so it hadn't moved any closer and become a bigger danger to the students. The students hadn't cheered, but watched as the werewolf tried getting out of the ropes. Alastor turned to Dumbledore, along with Marcus, talking about what to do with it in the time being until morning.
As they talked, the werewolf had tried finding a way out of the ropes. It had no control over itself, seeing everything in a red hue. The only thing it wanted was to kill all the humans in the corridor, which was the very intent of every werewolf. Thrashing around in the ropes, the werewolf brought it's arms up and started to chew at the ropes.
Before it could bite through the ropes entirely, a ferret scurried into view. It was the only thing that hadn't looked red. It was the normal colored albino ferret, standing on it's hind feet in-front of the werewolf. The ferret had placed it's front paws on the werewolf's nose, asking if it was alright with a squeak.
The werewolf hadn't answered, just stared at the ferret with a far away look. While the ferret looked back at the ground, the werewolf had freed itself from the ropes and slowly stood back up. A scream erupted in the crowd of students, everyone looking back to Astoria as she pointed towards the now standing werewolf.
They turned back around, seeing the werewolf stumble a bit before composing itself. The albino ferret still stood beside the werewolf, not knowing what to do in a situation like this. Hermione had noticed the small creature, knowing that she had remembered it from somewhere. The werewolf snarled at the crowd, standing on it's hind feet to be more intimidating then it already was. Not that it had any competition at the moment.
With the albino ferret standing beside the werewolf, it had decided to take action and try to calm the werewolf down enough to where it would possibly roam away. But that plan had instantly gone out the window when the creature had started to move forward. Students started screaming, running down the corridor.
The ferret had climbed it's way onto the werewolf's shoulder, biting it to try and avert it's attention from the stupid students. It had worked, but not in the way that the ferret had hoped. The werewolf yelped, reached back to grab for the ferret and threw it to the side. The ferret had hit the far wall, letting out a small squeak from the sudden action as it laid there.
As the werewolf went to try it's luck with a student, it ran forward and was about to snap it's jaw before another spell was sent it's way.
''Petrificus Totalus!'' Moody shouted, watching as the werewolf had stopped mid-attack. The student panted, running away to find her group of friends. Everyone suddenly stopped running, watching the werewolf fall to the floor with opened eyes and small breaths, jaw slightly hung open.
''Good job, Alastor.'' Dumbledore patted the man on the back, breathing out a sigh. Marcus had looked down at the werewolf with sympathy. He didn't want anything bad to happen, but now he thinks that something worse then bad would happen. This might've been one of the things. Marcus needed to pay a visit to Azkaban later, going to tell Barty of the news.
As the trio and the few Slytherin's had gathered around the petrified werewolf, they looked around to find any identification of who it might've been. Theo crouched down in-front of the werewolf, tilting his head a bit to see it from different perspectives.
Fred and George happened to also be there, petting a few strands of the werewolf's fur. The creature had blinked, looking at all the people surrounding it. Bloodlust had came back to the werewolf, but it couldn't move and could barely make a sound. Ron had went off to find Ginny, wanting to reassure himself that she was still alive. The twins stayed with the younger ones, thinking that they could steal a few werewolf hairs at the time.
As Theo continued to look at the werewolf, a tear slipped from his eye. He knew who the werewolf was now, there was no denying that.
''Blaise.'' Theo meekly spoke, another tear flowing after the previous one.
''Theo? Are you okay? What happened?'' Blaise asked, crouching down next to the boy. Pansy and Daphne stood behind the boys, Hermione and Harry walking over to listen to what the boy had to say.
''I know who it is.'' He sniffled, trying his best to hold back the tears.
''Who is it?'' Hermione asked, her gaze switching between the sniffling boy and the creature in-front of them.
''It's Y/n.'' Theo cried out quietly. Blaise had dropped his hand from Theo's shoulder, tears starting to brim his own eyes. Daphne had gasped, hugging Pansy from beside her.
''Harry. .'' Hermione whispered out, her breaths fast and cut off.
''Hermione, calm down. Alright, relax.'' Harry tried to calm the girl down, patting her back as she leaned against him.
The twins shared a look, both of sympathy and realization. They might've overheard a small part of the conversation that she had with Lupin the night they came to the hideout for the Order. But they never brought it up, because they didn't want to be in trouble for 'accidentally' eavesdropping. Even if they didn't say it out loud, they knew that having a werewolf friend is wicked.
Malfoy was still at the end of the corridor, nobody taking notice of him. He wanted it to stay that way for a short while, as he laid on his back against the floor, gripping his hurting shoulder. He didn't intend to be thrown by her, but his plan of calming her had been no good. Slowly, he stood up and made his way out into the courtyard.
He limped a little bit, twisting his ankle during the fall. Sitting against the tree with his back against the trunk, he tilted his head so that he was looking up towards the sky. Sure, he possibly needed healed, but he first needed to know what they were going to do with the girl until the morning. He made a promise to himself to be there for her during nights like these.
Then, he wanted to find out what had happened beforehand. He wanted to find out who had done this, wanting to take matters into his own hands this time.