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The group set off back toward the castle, walking slowly to keep themselves hidden under the expanded cloak. The light was fading fast now. By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a beautiful spell around them.
"I am glad your mom stopped them, Hari," Aishi said "Yeah...glad Hagrid is happy," Harry said "And we found the so-called dead rat"
"I said I was sorry!! Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket. "What's the matter with you, You stupid rat? Stay still -- OUCH! He bit me!"
"Ron, be quiet!" Draco whispered urgently. "He won't -- stay -- put --"
Scabbers was terrified. He was writhing with all his might, trying to break free of Ron's grip. "What's the matter with him?" But Harry had just seen -- stinking toward them, his body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting eerily in the darkness --Crookshanks.
Whether he could see them or was following the sound of Scabbers's
squeaks, Harry couldn't tell. "Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!" But the cat was getting nearer -- "Scabbers -- NO!" Too late -- the rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before anyone could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness. "Ron!" Hermione moaned.
The rest looked at each other, then followed at a sprint; as it was impossible to run full out under the cloak; they pulled it off and it streamed behind them like a banner as they hurtled after Ron; they could hear his feet thundering along ahead and his shouts at Crookshanks."Get away from him -- get away -- Scabbers, come here --"
There was a loud thud.
"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat --"
Harry and Draco almost fell over Ron; they all skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump.
"Ron -- come on back under the cloak --" Hermione panted. 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.
"Hey, it's Orion...why is he growling?" Aishi said. Harry reached for his wand, but too late -- the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him on the chest; he keeled over backwards in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth - But the force of its leap had carried it too far; it rolled off him.
Dazed, feeling as though his ribs were broken, Harry tried to stand up; he could hear it 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 jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm.
"ORION NO BAD DOG!!!" Aishi said
Harry lunged forward, and he seized a handful of the Orion's hair, but it
was 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. He heard Draco shriek with pain and fall
too. Harry groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his eyes.
"Lumos!" he whispered. The wand light showed him the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased
Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backwards and forward to stop them from going nearer.
"Guys that is the Whomping willow" Aishi said "and...ORION GET AWAY FROM THE TREE IT WILL HURT..."
But Orion was dragging Ron backwards into a large gap in the roots " ORION LET RONALD GO!!" Aishi said as Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight -- "Ron!" Blaise shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backwards again.
All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root 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.
"Guys -- we've got to go for help --" Hermione gasped; she was bleeding
too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder. "No! That thing's big enough to eat him; we haven't got time --" " Orion is not a wild dog...."
"You named him Orion?" Theo said, " I told you I was caring for a dog...that was the dog!" Aishi said
"Harry -- we're never going to get through without help --" Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles.
"If that dog can get in, we can," Harry panted, darting here and there, dodging the vicious, swishing branches, but he couldn't get an inch nearer to the tree roots without being in the range of the tree's blows.
"Oh, help, help," Hermione whispered frantically, dancing U._ certainly on the spot, "Please..." Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook."Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered uncertainly. She now grasped Sanjiv's arm painfully hard. "How did he know --?"
"He's friends with Orion," said Aishi. "I've seen them together. Come on -- and keep your wand out --" They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, but before they had reached the gap in the roots, Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his bottlebrush tail. Harry went next; he crawled forward, headfirst, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel.
Crookshanks was a little way along, his eyes flashing in the light from
Harry's wand. Seconds later, the others slithered down beside him.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione whispered in a terrified voice. "This way," said Harry, setting off, bent-backed, after Crookshanks. "Where does this tunnel come out?" Sanjiv asked breathlessly from behind him. "I don't know... It's marked on the Marauder's Map but Fred and George said no one's ever gotten into it.... It goes off the edge of the map, but it looked like it was heading for Hogsmeade..." Aishi said as she held Harry's hand
They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double; ahead of them,
Crookshanks's tail bobbed in and out of view. On and on went the passage; it felt at least as long as the one to Honeydukes... All Aishi could think of was Ron and what Orion might be doing to him.... she was drawing breath in sharp, painful gasps, running at a crouch...
And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, and
Crookshanks had gone. instead, Harry could see a patch of dim light
through a small opening. The group paused, gasping for breath, edging forward. All raised their wands to see what lay beyond.
It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up.
Harry glanced at Aishi, who looked very frightened but nodded. Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around. The room was
deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy
hallway. Aishi suddenly grabbed Harry's arm again. Her wide eyes were travelling around the boarded windows.
"Guys," she whispered, "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack." Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair near them. Large
chunks had been torn out of it; one of the legs had been ripped off
entirely.
"Ghosts didn't do that," Blaise said slowly shaking as he hid behind Sanjiv. At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. All of them looked up at the ceiling. Aishi's grip on
Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in his fingers. He removed her hand and held it with his hand as a sign of comfort for his girlfriend.
Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and UP the crumbling
staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the
floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made by something being
dragged upstairs. They reached the dark landing.
"Nox," they whispered together, and the lights at the end of their wands
went out. Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard
movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. They exchanged a last look, a last nod.
Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open. On a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings lay Crookshanks,
purring loudly at the sight of them. On the floor beside him, clutching
his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron. Blaise and Hermione dashed across to him.
"Ron -- are you okay?" Blaise said, "Where's Orion?" Aishi asked "Who is Orion but he is not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap --" "What --" Harry said
"He's the dog... he's an Animagus."
Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around fiercely and drew out his sword as well and Sanjiv drew out his trident. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them. A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, that it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius
Black.
"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them. Everyone's wands and weapons shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them and the weapon he let fall on the floor. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry.
"Aishi...the dog you have been feeding was a man!!"Draco said, "I SEE THAT MALFOY!" Aishi said embarrassed and annoyed"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely. His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you) not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier...."
"Sirius Black I presume, " Harry said standing protective in front of aishi. He nodded
"Nice to see you again Prongslet and you too cubbie" he said "Prongslet?" "Cubbie?" Harry and Aishi said as the other boys snorted at the nickname
" SHUT UP ASSHOLES," Harry said pissed at the boys
"Well then...there'll be only one murder here tonight," said Brack, and his grin widened. "Why's that?" Aishi shivered "That is for you all to soon see"
And then came a new sound Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor -- someone was moving downstairs. "WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE -- SIRIUS
BLACK - QUICK!"
The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and Harry
wheeled around as Professor Lupin, Dev, and Krishna came hurtling into the room.
"Stop kids.. " Dev said moving the kids away with Krishna's help. Percy came forward with Severus and Samuel.
"Persephone! You're here! Your....." Sirius was then judo-flipped by percy again and she grabbed her shoe and chased him around the room. " YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH I AM ABOUT TO;@&#:£&@*!&;#&×&, ahahwjw &#; ×*×>:!; @;*+; **& "
Harry covered Aishi's ears as his mom swore and chased Sirius black around the room Samuel was filming the whole thing and smirking mischievously.
" what is going on!!" Blaise asked, " How do you know we are here?!"
"The map....the marauder's map we used earlier" Remus said
"How do you know to use the map?"Sanjiv asked
" Because he is Moony," Aishi said " One of the makers of the map"
"Indeed " He said "I am one of the makers along with Sirius and our friends back in Hogwarts. "
" Are you sure you can trust him!?" Hermoine said
"Why do you say that hermoine?" Harry said " Because he is a werewolf, Harry! He is a monster!"
"Smart girl....when did you figure it out?"
"The lesson on werewolves. It made sense and I have been keeping the secret " Hermione said
"Wait I thought everyone knew he was a werewolf?" Aishi said, "No one you knew?"
"How do you know?" Hermione "Since when?"
"Since we first met him...I saw the signs and he smelled of wolfsbane which I and Professor Snape have been making a few times during healing arts. I knew he was a werewolf."
"Aishi werewolf are dangerous, if you had known why you never told anyone."
"Oh please he is not dangerous why should I be scared of a werewolf who folds his socks...I have seen his suitcase in the office. Plus look at him...his vibe is more of a sweet cinnamon roll with chocolate not scary ass man."
The adults were holding their chuckles as Remus blushed embarrassed remembering someone said the same thing. Even the two ghosts hiding were holding their laughter.
"I mean she has a point" Harry said and the boys agreed. "Anyway they why you're all here and why did Black attack Ron."
"Yeah I mean he could have attacked me as Orion" Aishi said
"You named Sirius Animagus self...Orion?!" Samuel said before bursting out laughing
"What is so funny?" "Well um..." Percy said, " Harry remembered when I said that Sirius has a bad history with his parents?"
"Yeah?" Harry said " His dad is named Orion"
That clicked and everyone was laughing except for Aishi who was blushing and Sirius who was annoyed" OH GROW UP! "
"Sorry..it...just..sorry. right....to business " Lupin said "There is something we all have come for. The real danger was under our noses."
Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers. "What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him."What's my rat got to do with anything?"
"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly. "What d'you mean -- of course, he's a rat --" "No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."
"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."
The golden group looked shocked as all the adults surrounded Ron and Scabbers.
"It makes sense....the missing finger...Hari didn't it say on the news 12 years ago that the only thing left of Pettigrew was a finger" aishi said
Harry gasped and looked at Scabbers before his expression went dark and deadly.