XII
The Patronus Wolf
For the next couple weeks, the boys took turns staying up to monitor the Map. They were so fascinated with it, in fact, that it was even helping Ciaran get over his Teddy-phobia. Teddy still hadn't figured out how to turn it off after several days, though, and Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs finally grew irritated with him and told him:
‘If you can't properly manage your mischief, then stop making it!'
"Errr, I'm done making mischief?" Teddy told it that night, tapping it with his wand. After all, that was sort of how he'd turned it on to start with.
"Close enough," the Map ‘sighed', as it went blank.
But for all of their care in keeping a close eye on the Map (and a few more promised detentions for falling asleep in class), they didn't see any new names appear on it.
About the only exciting thing that happened that week was when Hagrid caught Teddy on his free period and asked him to take a box up to "Uncle Harry's" Third Year DADA class. Teddy was about to knock on the door when he heard his uncle lecturing:
"...the words are ‘Expecto Patronum', but it's the thought that counts, really. You can cast spells nonverbally, but we'll get to that later on.
"And don't be disappointed if you fail. This is advanced magic, beyond the O.W.L. level! Right, then, let's give it a go? It looks something like this - EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Harry then yelled, and Teddy peeked in, watching in wonder as the glowing Stag erupted from Harry's wand.
Teddy had seen the Stag before, when his uncle had sent it as a messenger and even used it when Teddy had been so depressed over learning that he was a werewolf. Uncle Harry had brought out the Patronus then to "show him what happiness could do." The Stag was so beautiful, Teddy thought, and it had made him feel a bit better. He'd even tried the charm with his toy wand, but of course, all the toy did was shoot light, much like a Muggle child's flashlight.
Wanting a better look, Teddy slipped in the door quietly. He turned to close it, just as the Patronus wheeled and came charging down the aisle at him!
If it had been a real stag, it might have run him down. Instead, it skidded to a halt right in front of him, bowed its great head, and then nuzzled his face. Teddy couldn't help but to laugh, as it tickled.
Harry just watched, as did the rest of the class. None of them had ever seen a Corporeal Patronus do that before.
"Mr. Lupin, do you know how to knock?" Harry asked, but his tone was not harsh. "Ahhh, the pair of Redcaps I ordered?" He added, and Teddy stared at the box in horror as the Patronus snorted and vanished.
"Nasty little devils that hide in potholes on old battlefields, attacking passersby and even killing them!" Harry explained.
"R-r-redcaps?" Teddy gasped.
"Never trust a Hagrid-parcel," Harry warned him. "Good thing you didn't open it, no?"
Teddy fainted.
"There's been a few sightings on campus over the years, but nothing that the advanced classes haven't cleaned up for us," Harry went on, propping Teddy up at a desk as he continued lecturing...
Fortunately, the rest of the week went more smoothly. By the time classes and Quidditch tryouts were over, and they had done their homework, the boys were all too happy to just go to bed!
Teddy was also beginning to hope that Harry had forgotten about his first pending detention, but he had no such luck. And since they were having Quidditch tryouts, Harry thought that polishing the trophies and servicing brooms would be a fine way to spend a detention - and without wands. He'd been saving up that detention, it seemed.
"Uncle Ron had to do this once," Freddie complained, as he buffed away at some award that was extremely tarnished - and stubborn about coming clean.
Goyle grunted, but that was all he did. It seemed that having to spend detention with two Gryffindors was more of a punishment than he could stand!
"But just think, when we're done, you won't have to see any more of us," Freddie assured him.
"It can't be soon enough," Goyle agreed. "You know," he looked at Teddy, "For a Gryffindor, you did pretty good getting away from us. What I wanna know is how you did it, and without a wand in hand?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Teddy retorted.
Goyle blinked at him. "You know, Michael said you'd have made a good Slytherin. I think he might have been right?"
"I come from a long line of Slytherins, on one side," Teddy reminded him. "Who's ‘Mike'?"
"Flint."
"Oh."
"'Mikey'?" Freddie giggled. "Sorry!" He added hastily, wiping his brow. "Geeez, I'm tired already!"
"Yeah, but you're also a Mudblood-redefined, Lupin," Goyle sneered at Teddy, ignoring Freddie. "I mean, what? Part Hufflepuff-Gryffindor-werewolf-Metamorph-Slytherin - just what the heck are you?"
Both boys just looked at him. Hardly anyone ever used that word anymore, as it was good for a letter to your parents, a week's detention, and 100 points from your House if you did. That, and the fact that Goyle had used the word ‘redefined'.
"I'm annoyed," Teddy growled at him, realizing that it was just days from full moon, and that Jack was in bed, nauseous, from the Wolfsbane Potion. They had decided on a lead-up protocol for Jack, just as Remus Lupin had once endured. Teddy didn't envy Jack at all in that respect, but he was also very worried about how THIS change - seeing as how The Wolf had been aggravated last time - was going to turn out. He tried not to think about it as he polished a trophy with his Uncle Harry's name on it: "Most Exciting Quidditch Accident!"
About then, Argos walked in. "Problems in here?" He asked. "Harry sent me to check?"
"No, it's good, thanks," Teddy told him.
"You can talk to dogs?" Goyle scoffed. "Prove it, then, Mutt-mouth!"
"Argos, that last potion - shaken or stirred?" Teddy asked, "Wag your tail for shaken, shake your head for stirred?"
Argos wagged his tail and growled softly. Goyle just stared at him.
"Don't worry, he only bites things that taste good," Teddy assured him.
"So, you really don't know if you're a werewolf or not? How can you NOT know?" Goyle asked, keeping an eye on Argos, seeing as how Teddy had just proven that they could indeed converse.
"Well, you thought I was the dog, in class," Teddy replied, "Why can't you figure it out?"
Freddie just watched, amused, as his cousin ‘fenced' with Goyle. It was clear that Goyle was quite unarmed for such a battle of wits.
"It's like telling an idiot to go and sit in the corner in a round room - he'll be at it for days," Teddy sighed, when they were finally done.
"'Mikey'," Freddie was still snickering. "What a name for a kid like him! Nice of Madame P. to fix his teeth, though?"
Teddy didn't say a thing about that as they made their way back to their dorm room, after picking up their wands from Harry. It was getting on into evening, they still had homework to do, and their arms ached from all the buffing.
"Anything new?" Freddie asked Lee and Ciaran when they got back. He then collapsed on his own bed; it seemed that the climb had finished off his energy.
Argos wandered around the room as the boys all studied the Marauders' Map. His hackles were up, and it was chilly again. Lee and Ciaran had on sweaters.
"Quiet, Jack's asleep," Ciaran told them.
"Maybe? You know anyone named ‘Demen'? He or she was right on the edge of the Map, but then we lost it at where the forest begins?" Lee asked.
"Unfold it more here," Freddie suggested, "You're cutting off the edge of the building." Lee did that.
"'Damon' - ‘Damien'?" Teddy asked. "There's a ‘Damon' in Slytherin House?"
"No, it said ‘D-e-m-e-n'," Ciaran nodded seriously, scratching at his head where his hair was growing back just enough to brush flat again. He sighed.
On impulse, Teddy held out his hand. "Just try not to burn it off again?" He asked, as Ciaran reluctantly took his hand. The boys gasped as Ciaran's hair grew back out to cover his ears and down the back of his nape.
"Thanks!" Ciaran smiled at him, feeling at his full head of hair in wonder.
"Back to the map?" Teddy asked, as if nothing at all had just happened.
"It didn't say ‘D-e-m-o-n', I hope?" Freddie worried, as Kreacher suddenly appeared with sweet snacks and hot cocoa for them all.
"Kreacher, what's this?" Teddy asked.
"Kreacher is hearing that things are better for Master Teddy?" Kreacher smiled, sneaking Freddie a wink.
"Guys, this is Kreacher, my house elf and good friend," Teddy introduced him. Kreacher sniffled, embarrassed, then proceeded to have what appeared to be a nervous collapse at such compliments. He then vanished with a muffled POP!
"To think what kind of party he'll throw us if you make the team!" Freddie laughed, as they attacked the platter.
"Whyis it so cold in here again?" Teddy complained, as they tried to catch up their homework.
"Dunno, but you know, we're all too sugared-up to sleep now?" Freddie grinned at him. Sugar, it seemed, had that affect on Freddie. It had also begun to make Teddy quite jumpy, as he wasn't used to it at all.
"Teddy, yer the best!" Ciaran told him, patting his own head again, "I can't believe we didn't like yeh at first!"
Teddy decided to let that one go. He didn't want to ruin it, after all. "'Demen'," he wondered, as he stared up at the nearly full moon. Then he had an idea.
"Guys, I have another surprise for you," Teddy informed them. "If the Map can't go that far, then how about we do?"
"Sneak out? ‘Rrr'yeh daft?" Ciaran asked. "We'll be caught!"
"No, we won't," Teddy assured him, as he shook out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over his head. "Let's go see who ‘Demen' is?" His disembodied voice asked.
All three of them gasped. Jack snored.
"It's just like that Cloak from the Beedle story!" Lee exclaimed. "The Cloak, the Stone, and the Deathstick!"
"And if we're careful, we can all get under it, we're small enough," Teddy said, as his head popped out of nowhere. "Grab the Map, Lee! And let's go!"
There were two small problems with their plan - one was that their feet showed when they walked, and they had to stoop and hold tight to one another, much like a traveling group-hug. The other was that Mrs. Morris intercepted them on the stairs, and while she couldn't see them, she could smell them. She took off at once, yowling for Filch the whole way. The boys ran, not caring if their shoes showed. They ducked into a classroom, dived out an open window, landed in some bushes, and then scampered down along a greenhouse. They put the Cloak back on as they crossed the open lawn.
"Lumos," Teddy whispered, checking the Map. "OK, we're clear all the way to the Pitch, other than Nick, and he won't mind. Hagrid's in his cabin."
"This is great!" Lee laughed. "Where'd you get this stuff, again?"
"I have my sources," Teddy nodded, as they sat down in the lee of the shed, pulled off the Cloak, and watched the Map.
"Nice night for it," Freddie commented.
"Hey, look! Professor Malfoy's headed to Greenhouse Three?" Teddy pointed out. "Oh, never mind, wolfsbane," he muttered. "Must have to pick it under moonlight?"
"What's it for?" Ciaran asked, and Teddy groaned.
"You use it in a potion that keeps werewolves nice and tame," he offered, waiting for what was coming...
"Oh, well tha's good!" Ciaran agreed. "So, er yeh like, domestic, er what? Yeh play fetch?"
Teddy felt his face go pink and his hair go magenta.
"You tell anyone that, and I'll Sticky-Charm you to a goal hoop in your underpants!" Teddy threatened him, but they all had to laugh about it. Still, Teddy didn't mention the fact that he couldn't take the potion. It had been hard enough getting them to accept him thus far, and he just couldn't risk it.
"What's all this?" Sir Nicholas asked, "Gryffindors! And out of bounds after dark! Typical," he added, as he joined them.
"Looks like Harper's out, too, sneaking around the entrance hall?" Lee pointed at the map, where Colin's name appeared. "Wasn't he one of your Hogsmeade buddies?"
"Yeah," Teddy agreed, "He always was kinda nosey. Good fer Ravenclaw," Teddy agreed, staring at the forest. "Guys, I'm worried about Jack," he then added seriously, looking out over the moonlit landscape and feeling like he just wanted to jump up and run and run...
It was disconcerting, and he wondered why he thought that?
"It is a good night for running, and hunting," Argos said, as he appeared among them. The boys all jumped.
"This Map needs work, where dogs is concerned," Lee complained. "Where did you come from?"
"You were not watching the Map?" Argos asked. Again, Teddy translated for him.
"You guys need to learn to speak dog-language," Teddy told them. "Hey, look!" He then exclaimed, pointing at the Map. "What's Jack doing out of bed? Thought he was ill?"
"He's headed for Hagrid's, looks like," Freddie guessed.
"Trouble," Teddy sighed. "Tha's why they all go to Hagrid. And he's out of bounds!"
"So are you lot," Nick reminded them, as Teddy flipped the corner of the Map for a better view. "At least your friend Colin had some sense? I see he's gone?"
"Hey, look! It's that Demen-guy again!" Lee then pointed, "Just came out of the forest behind Hagrid's place!"
"If he comes over here to mess with the brooms again, we've got him!" Freddie declared. "He can't see us from here," he figured, "So when he comes this way, we all stun him!"
"Smashing," Nick agreed. "Then I'll go inform the Staff that you've captured the culprit!"
Teddy and Argos both growled softly as an errant breeze then brought their sensitive noses the smell of rot and decay and wet dirt. That breeze was cold as well, and the boys shivered.
"You smell that?" Teddy asked, but no one else did.
"Let's go back," Ciaran whimpered.
Teddy turned his lit wand closer to the Map, and his blood ran cold.
The mystery word was not ‘Demen' -
Now that it was fully on the Map, in range of its powers, the word read: DEMENTOR!
"BLOODY F****'N HELL!" Teddy swore loudly, jumping to his feet and gripping the now-vibrating Fire-Wolf wand. Argos jumped between the boys and Hagrid's cabin, shifting into the form of the white wolf. His eyes blazed blue/cyan, almost like bonfires, and he howled a long and threatening howl that Teddy's instincts told him was a challenge.
Teddy's hair turned black, and his eyes changed to match Argos' eyes.
The temperature began to drop. They could see their breath. "WHAT IS IT?" Lee gasped, as they just stared, shivering, at Teddy and Argos.
On the Map, the Dementor was closing on Hagrid's cabin.
So was Jack.
"It's a Dementor!" Teddy explained, "The name was at the edge of the Map, cut off! Guys, RUN!" He repeated. "Get Uncle Harry! Get Kreacher! Get anyone!"
Freddie scampered with Nick following him, but Ciaran froze. Lee was trying to drag him off, shouting at Teddy to "C'MON!" the whole time, when the Dementor-dot vanished.
"What the...?" Teddy wondered, looking at the Map again and turning up his wand's light. He stared at their dots, with the Freddie-and-Nick-dots making good time to the castle.
Then a small speck appeared, and Teddy thought it was dirt on the Map. He brushed at it, the letter "D" appeared, and too late, Teddy realized that the Dementor was falling out of the sky at them!
"RUN, DAMMIT!" He cursed, throwing the Cloak over Ciaran and Lee as he and Argos looked up to see a black nightmare descending upon them.
The air turned colder.
Frost blanketed the ground.
Teddy's hot breath froze, hanging in a heavy cloud.
Beneath the Cloak, Ciaran screamed.
"I will hold him off! He cannot hurt ME!" Argos barked, throwing himself between the Dementor and Teddy as an alarm began to go off all across the Hogwarts Grounds. "RUN, TEDDY!"
But what's the point? Teddy wondered, as he thought about the train ride, the way the boys had treated him, and how bad he just wanted to go home. He hated Hogwarts, really, and if the Dementor got him, who would miss him? He was just another student, even to Uncle Harry, after all. It just wasn't worth the effort to run. Wouldn't he be better off if he just let it get him?
Argos growled in rage, lunging and knocking Teddy down as the Dementor narrowly missed him. It spun, and the breeze from its wake blew the Cloak off the other two boys. Argos' body then began to glow with an odd blue light, and the Dementor paused. Teddy dropped the Map, just as another name appeared on it.
But Teddy didn't see it, as the Map lay forgotten on the frosty grass.
Ciaran screamed again, and the Dementor was on him in an instant.
Teddy blinked in surprise. "What am I doing?!" He asked, as Argos lunged again. The white wolf grabbed the Dementor by its ragged cape, but the cape ripped. Argos rolled and attacked again, biting the Dementor's arm. It seemed to recoil, then shook Argos off.
"Help me!" Argos barked, and Teddy's instincts took over as the Dementor headed for Ciaran and Lee again.
He stepped between them, wand drawn.
The Dementor hesitated.
"They can't hurt animals!" Argos had said, and Teddy repeated those words like a mantra. He summoned up all of his Magic then, turning it inwards and upon himself, just as Professor McGonagall had been teaching him for so long.
But random fur and sharp teeth wouldn't be enough. He concentrated harder.
He opened his glowing eyes, stared up at the not-yet-full-moon, and for the first time in his life, prayed to any Deity that might be listening to him for the transformation to take him.
"I need you!" Teddy called out to the part of him that was The Wolf.
Teddy's hair began to grow and turn white as he stared longingly at the nearly-full moon.
"I NEED YOU!" He screamed aloud, putting aside his fears and giving himself over totally to what he knew he must do. I'll remember, I'll remember, I'll be in control! He kept telling himself.
And then Teddy Lupin changed form as The Wolf came.
But it was not slow and painful. This time, it was different.
In a twinkling, his clothing fell away. There was no pain; just a feeling of melting and flowing into a new shape as his Metamorphmagus powers embraced the coming Wolf - joining with Him and celebrating His arrival.
And then a smaller white wolf attacked in concert with Argos.
On the ground before him, Teddy-the-wolf saw Lee curled up in a ball and sobbing. Next to him, a stream of flesh-colored mist was being sucked out of Ciaran's face. The boy was staring at the Dementor in horror, his mouth open in a silent scream. The Dementor leaned in closer, and Teddy's mind cleared at once.
He lunged at the Dementor, knocking it away as Argos came in, savaging at its face. The two wolves rolled it, but the two boys didn't get up. All they could do was lie there and cry.
"We cannot kill it!" Argos howled, as Teddy bit into the Dementor's leg. A horrible taste of rotted, dead meat filled his mouth, and he retched.
Black gore was oozing from the wounded Dementor's body, but it was relentless in its attack. It batted the two wolves away, then descended upon the two helpless boys again, feasting upon their happiness and leaving them with only the most dreadful moments of their lives.
Teddy screamed for Freddie to hurry - to bring Uncle Harry - but it came out as a high-pitched howl.
"Wha's goin' on out here?" Hagrid bellowed, as he burst out of his cabin with Jack Abbott in tow.
"It's coming from the Pitch!" Jack observed, as a wolf howled.
"Back inside!" Hagrid told him, but Jack growled at him. Hagrid blinked.
"No chance!" Jack replied.
"Wand ready!" Hagrid then ordered the boy, drawing his pink umbrella and charging towards the battle with Jack in hand.
If there was just ONE more of us, Teddy thought desperately, We could take him!
Again, he and Argos attacked.
Again, the Dementor threw them off, its frenzy to take the two boys' Souls giving it strength.
Then Teddy felt something under his paw.
Lying on the ground was his wand.
"This better work!" He barked, as an idea that was so crazy that it had to work came to mind!
Teddy scooped up the wand in his muzzle and bit down on the handle, turning his head to aim.
There was only one spell that would help them.
"And I'm too little to do it," Teddy worried, as he swallowed hard and tried to think happy thoughts.
Nothing happened.
"I can't do it in this form!" Teddy cried, shaking the wand like a wolf might shake his prey to death and biting into the handle so hard that he left teeth marks.
‘Hunt them down, kill them!' The Wolf snarled from inside of Teddy, ‘The prey is before us! Take it! We know how!'
And The Wolf exulted.
And Teddy knew that He was happy...a happy memory...
"'I'm scared ‘o you,'" Teddy and The Wolf both remembered Ciaran saying, but on the heels of that memory came another - then another, and another:
Chocolate cakes and cocoa and sweets, hot and fresh on the tray that Kreacher that was passing around.
Little Albus was laughing.
"Up for Quidditch Chaser, and sub-position?"
"Fetch, Teddy!" James was calling, as he threw a stick.
"Teddy, I'm really sorry!" Freddie was saying, almost in tears.
The fish was almost as big as he was!
Flint smiled at him, his teeth perfect.
Albus and James were hugging him.
"You're not dangerous."
"Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs present..."
"Let's go out for a look!"
"You're the best, Teddy!"
And then Teddy remembered his Uncle Harry putting him to bed, when he'd thought that no one - not even his uncle - cared anymore. Uncle Harry had held him, and told him everything would be fine... "I love you, Teddy. More than I can tell you!"
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Teddy-the-Wolf howled, and the Fire-Wolf wand exploded into a miniature supernova that lit up the entire Pitch like noonday.
It was no wisp of silver-blue light, either.
It was red and gold light, and it looked like a fireball that was forming up into something Corporeal.
Teddy steadied his jaws, willing it, and a harsh growl escaped his throat.
It was a growl of defiance, a growl that warned the enemy, "I will protect my friends at all costs!"
"Wha' in the name of...?" Hagrid gasped, as he came running, with Jack in tow, and saw the explosion of light.
And in that light, they saw the Dementor.
And three wolves.
Teddy Lupin's Patronus was a wolf, and it blazed as if its fur were literally on fire.
Beside it, Argos began to glow silver-blue again as Teddy steadied his wand, focusing, clearing his mind of every thought except for one:
"I love you, Teddy!"
And when the Patronus Wolf struck, the Dementor shrieked in agony.
But Teddy's Patronus did not drive it off.
Instead, it began tearing the foul creature limb from limb as Argos blocked its retreat at every turn. For every move the Dementor made, it ran right into another wolf.
"Oh my goodness! Hagrid?" Professor McGonagall cried, as she and most of the staff arrived on the scene with a very excited Freddie and Sir Nicholas. They all stopped and just stared.
Before them all, the Patronus Wolf had the Dementor down, his powerful jaws locked on its throat.
"TEDDY!" Harry yelled, but Hagrid stayed his hand as Harry drew the Elder Wand.
"He's right there," Hagrid pointed to the smaller wolf with the wand clenched in his teeth. "An' it don' look like he needs no help ter me!"
"He's finally done it!" Professor McGonagall breathed, pride evident in her voice.
"H-Harry?" Hermione gasped. Ron just pointed, his mouth agape.
Indeed, it appeared that Teddy's Patronus needed no help at all.
As they stood and watched, stunned, the blazing wolves continued to shred the Dementor until in one final snap, the Patronus Wolf bit clean through the creature's neck and its head exploded in a spray of gore. Its ragged and savaged body twitched upon the ground, then began to dissolve in a hiss of foul-smelling smoke.
The fiery Patronus Wolf then raised its magnificent muzzle to the nearly full moon and howled in triumph.
Then it vanished.
The smaller wolf collapsed, dropping the smoking wand in the grass.
"TEDDY!" Harry cried, running to him and cradling his perfect head in his lap, stroking his fur in disbelief and mounting pride all at once. "He's...he's not responding?"
"Let's get him ter my place," Hagrid said grimly, taking the limp little wolf in his arms as the staff began helping the boys.
Professor McGonagall summoned chocolate from the kitchens and began liberally feeding it to the stunned boys.
Jack Abbott carefully picked up Teddy's wand, and he could feel the bite marks in the handle. He offered it to anyone that would take it, but no one would.
"Take it to Harry," Hermione advised him. "If it's anything like your wand, I don't think it would appreciate any of us touching it."
Jack nodded and scampered off after Hagrid and Harry.
Hermione and Ron conjured blankets for the boys, who were both shivering so badly that they kept dropping the chocolate and had to have it fed to them.
Ron bent down and picked up a piece of parchment. He lit his wand, looked at it with wide eyes, and whispered, "Mischief managed." He then handed it silently to Freddie with a knowing little nod. He then conjured stretchers for the boys, and he and Neville levitated them back towards the castle.
"What about Teddy?" Freddie asked, his voice quavering with worry as he picked up the Cloak and wadded it up under his arm. He then wobbled a bit, and Ron caught him as he collapsed.
"Hagrid will take care of him," Professor McGonagall assured him. "And in the meantime, you, Mr. Weasley, will report to Madame Pomfrey with your friends!"
"But...but I'm not hurt?" Freddie squeaked.
"No, but you look like hell," Ron told him.
"You've taken a chill, running around at night!" McGonagall assured him, trying to make light of it, even though it was apparent that she, too, was almost sick with worry.
"Oh," Freddie mumbled in defeat, "Maybe you're right."
"And to think, term just started," Neville sighed.
* ^..^ *
o
"You call that a diagnosis?!" Harry demanded of Hagrid, who had just made Teddy-the-wolf a bed near the fireplace. "And you!" He demanded of Argos, who looked almost as worn out as Teddy.
Argos just whined and wagged his tail, though. Harry might have still been a Parselmouth, but it got him nowhere with the dog.
"Harry," Hagrid repeated calmly, as if addressing a terrified student (in which Hagrid had a lot of practice!), "His heart's strong, his nose is cold and wet, and his pupils are responsive." Hagrid cleared his throat. "Although they're a dead giveaway for werewolves," he added. "He's just exhausted, is all - magically and physically. Don't disturb him, and jus' let him sleep it off. He'll be fine come mornin' - maybe by lunchtime, at the latest. We leave a dish o'water an' food here for him, and when he's ready, he'll get up. Trust me on this one, Harry? Have I ever steered yeh wrong before?"
"One word, Hagrid - ‘skrewts'," Harry muttered, "I'm insisting on a Staff meeting, as soon as we sweep the perimeter. Let's go, then!" He declared, as he sent his Patronus with the message. Moments later, and Kreacher appeared at the cabin.
"Take Jack back, then return and protect the Heir," Harry ordered him. Kreacher nodded grimly.
But Harry and Hagrid found nothing on the grounds.
*****
Some ways back in the forest, a black wolf growled angrily to himself and stalked off into the night.
*****
On their way to the meeting, they stopped by the Hospital to check on Freddie, Ciaran, and Lee. Jack had already been kicked out.
Freddie was sitting up in bed, looking pale and shaky as steam drifted slowly out of his nose and ears. Lee and Ciaran, however, were much worse off. Both of them were tucked in under several blankets, still shivering, their ears steaming as well, and just managing to keep nibbling on small blocks of chocolate.
"Can they talk?" Harry asked Madame Pomfrey.
"Two minutes, Potter," she warned him, "Then I'm sedating them. You can have them back tomorrow. And where's the other one? We're one boy shy of a pack here?"
"'Pack'?" Harry asked.
"Oh, he's sleepin' at my place, poor little thing," Hagrid told her. "Jus' wore hisself out. Can't be bothered tonight, yeh know?"
"Wait, wait, wait," Madame Pomfrey objected, "If you're taking care of him, that means...?" She glanced at the boys, "But the moon isn't full?!" She exclaimed.
"We already know, Ma'am," Freddie supplied helpfully, fidgeting in his bed. "Can I have some more juice, please?"
"H-he...he t-turned into a w-w-wolf!" Ciaran stuttered, squinting to see who it was. "S-s-sir! He d-did it r-right in f-front of us! T-Teddy's a real w-w-wolf!"
"Oh, boy," Harry groaned.
"I gotta learn how to do that!" Freddie exclaimed, "I bet it's just wicked!"
"It was kinda cool, what I remember of it," Lee mumbled, "But that black ghost-thing, that was...was...," he viciously bit his chocolate then, and snuggled down into his bed, pulling the blanket up over his head.
(A blanket over your head, any young boy could tell you, was the best defense against the Dark Arts that you could have.)
"That was called a ‘Dementor,' boys," Harry told them, "One of the foulest creatures to walk the earth. They suck all the happiness out of you, and worse," Harry explained.
"I remember Teddy got between us," Lee sniffled, "It was horrible!" He then exclaimed. "I felt like I'd never be happy again!"
"That's what they do," Harry told him, as he moved to tuck Ciaran and Lee both in. "But it's gone now. Teddy...killed it," He added. "It won't be back."
"They need rest, Potter," Madame Pomfrey told him. "I'll be down in a bit?"
Harry nodded, and he and Hagrid left.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," Malfoy greeted them in the Staff potions lab. "And why is my lab suddenly the new conference room?"
"Because we just can't get enough of you," Ron smarted off at him.
"I saw what happened," Malfoy ignored him, "Congratulations, Potter! Seems your pup has finally come into his own?"
"And where were you?" Ron demanded, as Hermione kicked his shin.
"I was picking wolfsbane," Malfoy informed them haughtily, "You know, there's sort of epidemic going on right now, in case you didn't notice? I wondered who the second and third wolves were tonight, though. Splendid view, too, I might add?"
"And you just happened to be outside when a Dementor got onto the grounds and attacked the boys?" Ron asked, "Saw the whole thing from the safety of the greenhouse, ehhh?"
"Weasley, if you are suggesting that I had anything to do with this, then I'd say you need to check into the Psych Ward at St. Mungo's! How dare you insinuate that I had anything to do with this?"
"But you didn't run to help, either did you?" Ron retorted.
"Lupin didn't need my help," Malfoy looked away, which silenced Ron in itself.
"Knock it off, both of you," Harry ordered them. "Now, does anyone know for sure what happened tonight?"
"Perhaps I can be of help?" Sir Nicholas offered, as he drifted in through the locked door. "I was there, you know?"
"You were?" Hermione asked. "Why?"
"Watching the broom sheds," Sir Nicholas answered. "It seems your boys," He said to Harry, "Got some crazy notion in their little heads to sneak out and stand guard with me, hoping to apprehend the notorious ‘Broomstick Curser' or something?"
"And?" Harry nodded at him to go on.
"It would seem that the boys sneaked out undetected, somehow," Nicholas continued, "And arrived at the sheds. They were studying a map of some kind, I think - perhaps notes? I doubt it was homework! Either way, they were very interested in it and seemed to know when someone known as ‘Demen' was coming out of the forest and towards Hagrid's cabin."
Hagrid blinked in surprise.
"A map?" Ron asked slyly. "Do tell?" He elbowed Harry.
"Any idea why Jack was sneaking out to your place?" Hermione asked Hagrid. Hagrid blushed.
"Poor little guy's really upset," Hagrid offered innocently, "I told him to come anytime if he needed to talk. Woke up, an' all his friends were gone?"
"He's been having the potion for a few nights," Madame Pomfrey put in, as she came in. "The boys are all asleep, by the way, and they'll stay that way until lunchtime tomorrow. How was Abbott, Hagrid?" She asked.
"Seemed fine ter me, other'n a bit down," Hagrid nodded, "Wouldn't eat, tho - said the potion was tearin' his stomach up?"
"We should probably just schedule a middle-of-the-night tea," Ron proposed.
"At the rate your nephew is drinking anything he can find, it might be a good idea," Madame Pomfrey agreed.
"So where were we?" Nicholas asked.
"You were in the shed when the boys showed up, almost as if they had inside information?" Dean offered. "Was I the only one who slept through this?"
"Yes, the Dementor was heading for Hagrid's, then it changed course, it seemed, and attacked the boys! That dog, Argos? He attacked it," Nicholas explained, putting on a flare of the dramatic, "And then Teddy threw himself between the Dementor and the boys, while Freddie and I ran for help!"
"He did that?!" Harry breathed.
"He must have inherited a tendency to sacrifice himself for others?" McGonagall smiled at him. "I think you must have done something right in raising him, Harry?"
"If this gets any more cloying, I may vomit*," Malfoy groaned. "And I suppose he'll get a whole stack of House points for casting a successful Patronus Charm?"
"He cast that Patronus?!" Neville squeaked, "At his age?!"
"It was a red and gold, burning wolf!" Harry smiled broadly. "You saw it! And it tore that Dementor to bits!" He added viciously. Malfoy stood up on a chair and pulled up the hem of his robe.
"OK, OK, I get it," Harry sighed, but he was still smiling.
"Harry, it is getting a bit deep in here," Hermione grinned back at him, "But that's absolutely marvelous, to say nothing of the transformation!"
"He transformed into what?" Dean asked.
"A wolf," Harry smiled again.
"A wolf of a different color, if you ask me," Ron added, "He certainly wasn't a werewolf! He looked a lot like Argos, in fact?"
"A familiar template," Professor McGonagall put in, "He transformed into what he knew."
"So he talks to dogs, casts flaming Patronuses, turns into a wolf-dog, he's a werewolf pup who plays with toys, he flies like a maniac - Did I get it all?" Malfoy asked, wrinkling his nose. "My, you have been busy, Potter. Good thing he wasn't twins?"
"You forgot the Metamorphmagus thing," Hermione put in.
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "OK, so maybe he is twins after all?"
"Gentlemen, as much as I'd like to talk about Teddy all night," McGonagall interrupted them, "Do we have any more leads on who might be behind this?"
"Some," Harry muttered. "But each one as unlikely as the rest."
"Well, a great deal of your list doesn't work out," Hermione said. "I think we need to look beyond the original Death Eaters, really, and add to the mix anyone who might have a serious reason to hate werewolves."
"It's a safe bet you can scratch Crabbe and Goyle," Malfoy added, "Crabbe's dead. That, and Azakaban's Dementor-free juvenile ward turned the lot of the questionable Slytherin students from my day into sobbing little wrecks right after the Battle of Hogwarts."
"I don't want to point fingers, Malfoy," Harry said, "But what about your father?"
Ron snorted. Malfoy went even paler than usual at the mention of his father.
"After his lawyers and money, and your testimony, Potter, got him out of Azakaban , and mother left him, he tried to blame the whole thing on me," Draco offered, which got their attention at once. "He put it all down to the Dark Lord using Greyback as a threat to me, in order to control him, which got many of the charges dropped. I don't want to go into it, but...suffice it to say, Potter, there's got to be a good reason why mother left him. I wouldn't know, though," he paused, not sounding like the old Draco at all, "Since I was, ahhh, indisposed at the time?"
"I'm not touching that one," Ron held up his hands, as everyone looked at him for a smart retort.
"There must have been something to it, though," Neville offered quietly. "Otherwise, how could he have lied his way out of that at trial? It would have been detected?"
"I refuse to believe that my father cared enough about me, failure of a junior Death Eater - which I had no choice but to become - that I was," Malfoy shook his head. "If it hadn't been for Professor Snape's last letter clearing my name, I don't think I...I...," he shook his head again. "It's neither here nor there. But my father certainly would have motive, Potter. You've been chasing him around since, what, your Second Year, when you freed Dobby? Your hatred of one another is almost legendary, you know? If he's in on this - and I can't say he's not - then good luck catching him at it!"
"He certainly would have the skills," Harry mused, "And someone like him doesn't need to have a reason to hate Teddy - he just would." He thought for a bit, stalking about the room. "Have you spoken to Narcissa yet?"
"What would the happy divorcée know about it?" Ron asked. "I thought she and Andromeda were too busy being the Gran-types now?" He shook his head. "I can't believe they speak to my Mum," he added. "Or that Mum hasn't tried to kill them yet!"
"Wounds heal, sometimes," Harry told him, taking in the stunned look on Draco's face. It seemed that the idea of his mother having tea with Molly Weasley was more than he could take in at that time. "Being an Auntie to Teddy probably changed her a lot, seeing as how she doesn't have any grandchildren yet?"
"Right," Malfoy sighed, catching Harry's little white lie. "Only one last Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black left, you know?" He offered, as he checked the happily bubbling potion again.
"Yes," Harry wondered, his eyebrows going up.