Hogwarts - Black Lake
Lupin: I'm sorry about your broom, Harry. There's no chance of fixing it?
(Harry shakes his head in response to Lupin's question, then -- WHOOSH! -- sets Hedwig free of her traces. As she soars into the sky, Harry and Lupin watch from the lake's edge)
Harry: Why do they affect me so, Professor? I mean, more than everyone else...
Lupin: Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with nothing but his worst experiences. You're not weak, Harry. The Dementors affect you most, because there are true horrors in your past. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
Harry: I'm scared, Professor.
Lupin: I'd consider you a fool if you weren't.
Harry: I need to learn how to fight them. You could teach me, Professor. You made that Dementor on the train go away...
Lupin: There was only one that night...
Harry: But you made it go away.
Lupin: I don't pretend to be an expert, Harry. But yes, I can teach you. Perhaps after the holiday. For now, though, I need to rest. I'm feeling... tired.
(Harry turns, studies Lupin's haggard face. A weary smile appears as Hedwig's reflection glides over Lupin's irises)
Lupin: Beautiful...
(Harry looks up, watches Hedwig pinwheel through the blue, past the clock tower and away. The skies pales, and snow begins to fall)
Hogwarts Castle Grounds
(Weeks later the Hogwarts Castle is dusted in white. Harry, framed in a window of the clock tower, stares out, looking forlorn. In reflection, snow falls on the glass. A ragged line of students follows McGonagall toward the bridge)
-----Time Skip-----
(Footprints appear in the snow, moving quickly to join the other students. Suddenly, Fred and George appear, heading the opposite way and... the footprints reverse themselves... as if Fred and George were escorting an invisible person)
Fred: Clever, Harry.
George: But not clever enough.
Fred: Besides, we've got a better way.
Entrance Hall
(The great doors open and Fred and George enter. The invisibility cloak drops and Harry is revealed, looking cross. Instantly, Fred slaps a worn roll of parchment into his hand. Harry unfurls it. Frowns. It's blank)
Harry: What's this rubbish?
Fred: Rubbish he says. That there's the secret to our success.
George: It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me.
Fred: But we've decided your need's greater than ours. George, if you will...
George: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.
(George touches his wand to the parchment and intricate ink lines surface in the fiber of the paper, spread like veins. Harry reads the curious words at the top)
Harry: "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfootand Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map"...?
George: Ah... Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. We owe them so much.
Harry: Hang on. This is Hogwarts! And that... No. Is that really...
(Harry points to a small moving dot labeled "Dumbledore.")
Fred: Dumbledore.
George: In his study.
Fred: Pacing.
George: Does that a lot.
Harry: You mean, this map shows...
Fred: Everyone.
Harry: Everyone?
George: Everyone.
Fred: Where they are.
George: What they're doing.
Fred: Every minute.
George: Of every day.
Harry: Brilliant! Where'd you get it?
Fred: Nicked it from Filch's office, of course, first year. Now listen. There's seven secret passageways out of the castle. But we'd recommend...
Fred And George: This one.
George: The One-Eyed Witch on the third floor.
Harry: The One-Eyed...
Fred: Witch, right. But you best hurry. Filch is heading this way.
(Fred and George start to go)
Fred: Oh. And, Harry? When you're done, make sure to give it a tap and say, "Mischief managed." Otherwise, anyone can read it.
Divination Stairwell
(Harry approaches a statue of a hump-backed, one-eyed witch. Harry traces his finger along the tattered surface to an ink figure labeled "Harry Potter." A tiny speech bubble appears: "Dissendium.")
Harry: Dissendium?
(CLICK! The witch's eye opens and the statue pivots, revealing a dark opening in the floor. As Harry crouches, squinting, a cool draft of air ruffles his hair)
Underground Passageway
(A tiny light bobs in the distance, fracturing the darkness, then Harry appears, the tip of his wand glowing, map in hand. On the map "Harry Potter" glides across the parchment. Harry stops, cranes his neck. Stone steps. Taps the map)
Harry: Mischief managed.
Hogsmeade - Honeyduke's Sweetshop
(Crates. Huge rolling bins. A wood staircase. A trapdoor lifts. Harry's eyes appear. As he pulls himself up, a door bangs open. Dense chatter roars from above. Quickly, Harry hides, watches a man's boots descend the stairs. Then...)
Woman: A box of Jelly Slugs as well, Horace. We're nearly cleared out.
(Horace grunts, begins moving boxes. Harry looks up to the cellar door, takes out the invisibility cloak. The cellar door of the sweet shp eases open -- but no one appears. We track through a sweet tooth's dream, swarming with customers.
Up ahead, Neville prepares to lick the lollipop in his hand, when it simply floats from his fingers and out the door... into the misty, fog-shrouded chaos of Main Street. As the lollipop drifts on, footprints appear in the snow below...)
Shrieking Shack
(At this elevation, the mist hangs in thick, undulating veils, the Shrieking Shack an eerie silhouette in the gloom. Ron and Hermione stand next to Y/n, stiffly, attempting, as best they can, to conceal the fact that, basically, they're scared stiff while Y/n looks at them amused)
Hermione: It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain. Did I mention that?
Y/n: This is the thrid time.
Hermione: Should we move a bit closer?
Y/n: Sure.
(Y/n starts to walk towards the shack while Hermione and Ron look at him and then at each other)
Ron: Huh? Oh... All right...
(They take a step after Y/n who turns to look at them. One step. Stop dead)
Y/n: You two coming or what?
Ron: No, it's fine from here.
Hermione: Perfect.
(Just then, voices echoe and three figures appear over the rise, phantoms in the mist. Malfoy. Crabbe. Goyle. Pike)
Y/n: Here comes the clown show...
Draco: Well, well. Look who's here. You three shopping for your dream home? Seems a bit grand for you, Weasel Bee. Don't your family all sleepin one room?
Ron: Shut your mouth, Malfoy.
Draco: Now that's not very friendly. Boys, I think we're going to have to teach Weasel-Bee to respect his superiors.
(Y/n and Hermione let out harsh chuckles)
Hermione: Hope you don't mean yourself.
Y/n: I think he does. It's kinda sad if you think about it...
(Malfoy's eyes shift, regard Hermione with disgust)
Draco: How dare you speak to me, you filthy, little mud --
(SPLAT! Malfoy takes a snowball to the grill. Splutters)
Draco: Who did that!
(Malfoy glances about in confusion, when -- SPLAT! SPLAT! -- he takes two more. Y/n smiles while looking a tad bit confused. Hermione and Ron glance about uneasily)
Draco: Well, don't just stand there!
(Crabbe and Goyle start for Y/n, Ron and Hermione, when --FLUMPH! -- their knees go out and they fall head first into the snow. Draco begins to back away fearfully, eying the mist...)
Draco: Wait a minute, there's something out here -- Aaaaaaahhhh!!!
(Malfoy's ski mask is pulled over his eyes, he's spun about, given a rough kick to the ass and sent stumbling over the rise and out of sight. Instantly, Crabbe and Goyle join him. Ron and Hermione stand frozen, exchange a nervous glance, and dash off when -- FLUMPH! -- they both go flying, land on their pants in the snow. As they sit up, they hear two boys laughing, Y/n and someone else. Hermione's eyes narrow in suspicion)
Hermione: Harry...? Harry?
Y/n: Come one, get out Harry.
(The Invisibility Cloak drops. Sure enough. Harry stads there grinning)
Ron: Bloody hell, Harry! That was not funny!
(But he's smiling. They all are. As he and Hermione pelt Y/n and Harry with snowballs)
Main Street
(The four trudge through the swirling snow. Harry's donned Hermione's scarf and Ron's hat to disguise himself)
Ron: Those weasels! Never told me about any Marauder's Map!
Hermione: But Harry isn't going to keep it. He's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall, aren't you?
Y/n: Sure thing. Let's givit away along with his invisibility cloak, his pack of exploding snap cards, his --
Hermione: Oh, shush Y/n.
Fudge: Rosmerta, m'dear!
(Up ahead Cornelius Fudge emerges from a Ministry sleigh as Hagrid swings the door clear and -- with unfortunate ease -- rips it clean off the fittings. Fudge joins McGonagall and a barmaid: Rosmerta outside the Three Broomsticks pub)
Hermione: That's Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her.
Ron: It's not true!
Y/n: It totally is, you're looking at her all the time.
Harry: Shhh.
Fudge: I trust business is good?
Madam Rosmerta: It'd be a right sight better if the Ministry wasn't sending Dementors into my pub every other night.
Fudge: We have a killer on the loose.
Madam Rosmerta: Sirius Black? In Hogsmeade! And what would bring him here?
Fudge: Harry Potter.
Madam Rosmerta: Harry Potter!
(Fudge looks around nervously, then jerks his head toward the pub. As he leads Rosmerta and McGonagall inside. Y/n, Ron and Hermione look around for Harry...)
Y/n: Harry?
(He's gone. Footprints track through the snow, into the pub)
Three Broomsticks
(As Harry threads through the teeming pub, past a sign: "No Underage Wizards" and nearly collides with somevery strange-looking patrons. Y/n, Ron and Hermione ripple briefly past a frosted window, then... three shrunken heads swing into view)
Head: So I says to him, "Careful, Ned. Don't want to go losing your head!"
(As the three heads cackle hysterically, bobbing up and down on their strings, Harry turns just as an unshaven wizard's arm whips down and a dart goes whistling right toward Harry's eyes. Harry ducks, pivots, and -- THWOCK! -- sees the dart pierce the cork of the disfigured dartboard behind him.
Harry hurries on, trailing Fudge and McGonagall up a dark stairwell as Rosmerta leads them into a small back room. As the door starts to close, Harry rushes forward: SLAM! Too late. The knob turns, the door opens and snow flutters off the sill of a half-open window. McGonagall turns, frowning, and re-closes the door, harder this time, then joins Fudge and Rosmerta)
Madam Rosmerta: Come on then. Let's hear it.
McGonagall: Years ago, when Harry Potter's parents were marked for death, they went into hiding. Few knew where they were. One who did was black. And he told...
Madam Rosmerta: You-Know-Who. I've heard this rot. It was all over The Daily Prophet back in the day. And I'll say now what I said then: Of all the boys I ran out of here, Black's the last who would've gone over to the dark side. Hearsay. That's all the Ministry had. Hearsay.
Fudge: Ha! Tell that to Peter Pettigrew!
Madam Rosmerta: Peter Pettigrew?
McGonagall: Little lump of a boy? Always tagging after Black and...
Madam Rosmerta: I remember him. What's he got to do with it?
McGonagall: After the Potters were killed, Pettigrew went looking for Black. And, unfortunately... found him.
Fudge: Black was vicious. He didn't kill Pettigrew. He destroyed him. A finger. That's all that was left. A finger -- there's your hearsay.
(Rosmerta looks to McGonagall. She nods grimly)
McGonagall: Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead. And now he wants to finish what he started.
Madam Rosmerta: Harry.
(McGonagall nods, then looks pained)
Fudge: But that's not the worst of it.
Madam Rosmerta: What could be worse?
McGonagall: This: Sirius Black was and remains today... Harry Potter's god father.
Main Street
(BLAM! The pub doors fly open, reveal Main Street, where Y/n, Ron and Hermione wait, rubbing their hands against the chill. As they look down and footprints appear in the snow. Y/n, Hermione and Ron look at the footprints for a second before walking after them. A poster of Black is fluttering against a lamp post: "Have you seen this wizard?")
Outskirts of Town
(At the end of a rocky outcrop, the footprints end and sobs are heard. Ron grabs Hermione's shoulder, discouraging her from going further, but she does, filling the footprints with her own, then kneeling and -- very gently -- drawing the cloak from Harry. He stares into the mist, eyes stinging with tears)
Harry: He was their friend. And he betrayed them. He was their friend. I hope he finds me. But when he does, I'm going to be ready. When he does, I'm going to kill him.
Hogwarts Castle Grounds
(Butterflies flutter over the great green lawn. The giant squid breaks through the last glaze of ice on the Black Lake. The Whomping Willow shakes the water from its branches)
Astronomy Room
(The dying sun streams through high windows, painting Harry's face a fierce amber-red as he stands opposite Lupin. ancient charts drape the walls while gleaming spheres of spun glass orbit one another silently. Lupin paces before a large trunk)
Lupin: You're sure about this, Harry? This is very advanced magic. Well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level.
Harry: If Black can fight the Dementors, I need to know how too.
(Lupin studies Harry -- as if conflicted -- then decides)
Lupin: Very well. The spell I'm going to teach you is called the Patronus Charm. Ever hear of it?
(Harry shakes his head)
Lupin: A Patronus is a kind of positive force. For the wizard who canconjure one, the Patronus works something like a shield. The Dementor feeds on it instead of him.
(Just then, the trunk rattles violently. As Harry's eyes wander, Lupin snaps his fingers, brings his attention back)
Lupin: But in order for it to work, you must think of a memory. And not just any. This memory needs to be a very happy one. And powerful.
(Without either one of them noticing black and blue smoke like substance seeps into the room thought a crack on a window, the smoke flies into a dark space up at the cealing and reforms into Y/n. Harry thinks a bit. Then... nods)
Lupin: Got something? Good. Let it fill you up. Lose yourself in it. Then speak the incantation: Expecto Patronum. Without your wand...
Harry: Expecto Patronum...
Y/n: 'The patronus charm..? Interesting.'
Lupin: Right then. Shall we?
(Harry nods, raises his wand. Lupin, watching closely, reaches over, grips the lid of the trunk)
Lupin: Concentrate, Harry. Concentrate...
(As Lupin flings open the case, Harry opens his eyes. In the sun's blood-light, the Dementor looks particularly horrific)
Harry: Expecto... Patronum...
(The torches on the wall flicker as a shill breeze fills the chamber. A scream echoes distantly. Harry's hand trembles. His eyes begin to roll up...)
Harry: Expecto... Expecto...
Lupin: Here!
(CRACK! -- the Dementor mutates into a silvery white orb, Y/n looks at the orb in curiosity)
Y/n: 'The moon. Why would he be sacred of the full moon...?'
Lupin: Riddikulus!
(Lupin flicks his wand, sends the orb back into the packing case. Harry stands blinking. Dazed. Lupin fishes a chocolate frog from his pocket. Presses it into Harry's trembling hand)
Lupin: Quickly.
(Harry studies the frog. Takes a bite. Begins to recover)
Harry: That's one nasty Dementor.
Lupin: Boggart, Harry. The real thing would be much, much worse. Just out of interest, what were you thinking of? What memory did you choose?
Harry: The first time I rode a broom.
Lupin: That's not good enough, Harry. Not nearly.
(Harry glances toward the window, at the bloody sun)
Harry: There's another. It's not happy exactly. I mean, it is. It's the happiest I've ever felt. But it's... complicated.
Lupin: Is it strong?
(Harry looks up into Lupin's eyes. Emotional. Nods)
Lupin: Then let's try it.
(Harry takes a breath. Tosses the frog aside. Poises himself)
Lupin: Think, Harry, think --
Harry: Just do it!
(Lupin blinks at Harry's quiet fierceness. Opens the packing case. Instantly, the Dementor appears again. A chill fills the air. The hair skates off Harry's scar. He sets his jaw...)
Harry: Expecto Patronum!
(Harry's hand trembles. His whole body trembles. But he holds his ground, when -- WHOOSH! -- a huge silver shadow bursts from the end of his wand, hovering between him and the Dementor. The Dementor falters... Harry's legs like water... Y/n who has seen enough turns to smoke and leaves the room)
Lupin: Riddikulus!
(CRACK! The Dementor vanishes. Harry's arm drops. Slack. Lupin eyes Harry with a kind of awe. His voice barely a whisper)
Lupin: Well done.
Harry: I think I've had enough. For today.
(Lupin nods. Watches Harry move to the door)
Lupin: So you know, Harry: You'd have given your father a run for his money. And, believe me, that's saying something.
(Harry ponders this. Then speaks, deep inside himself)
Harry: I was thinking of him. And Mum. Seeing their faces. They're just talking to me. Just... talking. That was the memory I chose. I don't even know if it's real...
(Harry grips the door, pushes past)
Harry: But it's the best I have.
Gryffindor Common Room
(All the boys asleep. All except Harry, who lies in bed, studying the photo of his parents, barely visible in the fluttering light of a guttering candle. As the flame dies with a soft hiss, all goes black)
Seventh Floor Corridor
(A windowpane rattles, up high, the corridor thatched in shadow. Slowly... a shadow engulfs Sir Cadogan, dozing agains this tree...)
Gryffindor Common Room
(A whistle shrieks. The enchanted Sneakoscope, whirling madly, skitters across the bedside cabinet and -- CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! -- taps against a water glass, sending shafts of red light pinwheeling over the photo of Harry's parents...)
Ron: Aaaahhhh!
(Y/n and Harry bolt up and see a silhouette etched on the window -- a man clutching a knife. All the boys are up now. Screaming. Amid the chaos, Y/n takes out his wand and Harry grabs his wand)
Y/n: Everybody out!
(The others flee. Y/n and Harry face the hulking shadow, wands poised)
Harry: Show yourself.
(Crash! The water glass shatters on the floor and Scabbers darts past Y/n and Harry's bare feet, chased by Crookshanks. Seizing the moment, the silhouette grasps the curtains and swings through the open window while Y/n throws a spell at them, barely missing and cracking the brick wall, the silhouette plunges into the night. Harry rushes to the window, looks down. The silhouette leaps from ledge to ledge with an animal's grace, then... vanishes. Y/n sweeps Ron's curtains aside. His bed is... empty)
Y/n: Ron! Ron!
(Y/n's eyes flash toward the window and Harry, when... Ron pokes his head out from under the bed)
Ron: Is he gone?
-----Time Skip-----
(The entire Gryffindor House, in pajamas, stand before McGonagall, who wears a tartan robe and an expression of singular irritation)
McGonagall: That's preposterous, Weasley. How could Sirius Black possibly have got through the portrait hole?
Ron: I don't know how he got in! I was a bit busy dodging his knife!
(Just then, a curiously content Crookshanks wends his way through Ron's legs)
Ron: And this bloody cat ate my rat!
Hermione: That's a lie!
Ron: It is not and you bloody well know it!
McGonagall: Silence!
(McGonagall turns then and everyone follows her eye to Sir Cadogan who, sensing the attention, perks up instantly)
McGonagall: Sir Cadogan. Is it possible that you let a mysterious man enter Gryffindor Tower tonight?
Sir Cadogan: Certainly, good lady! He had the password. Had the whole week's, in fact. On a little piece of paper.
McGonagall: Which abysmally foolish person wrote down the passwords and then proceeded to lose them!
(Every eye shifts once more, Neville. McGonagall sighs)
McGonagall: Is it always going to be you, Longbottom?
Neville: I'm afraid so, ma'am.
McGonagall: While we know Sirius Black is gone tonight, I think you can safely assume he will, at some future time, attempt to return. Let me be clear. You are not to move about the castle alone. And you are not to write down the password! Understood!
(A collective nod of the head. McGonagall gives the ties of her robe a sharp tug, collects herself, and exits)
McGonagall: Very well then. Go to bed.
(As the students drift off, Ron casts a last angry glance toward Hermione, who now holds Crookshanks in her arms)
Harry: I could've killed him.
(Y/n and Hermione turn, sees Harry staring out the window)
Harry: He was right there. Close enough to touch. I could've killed him.
(Hermione sighs and walks back to the girls dorm. Y/n places his hand on Harry's shoulder and looks down at him with no emotion)
Y/n: You could have, but you didn't. If you want to kill a man, you can't hesitate...
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M3, CHAPTER 7 IS DONE :)
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Word Count: 3278