Chapter Twelve: Enter Sirius Black—Dogfather
"RON!" both of the twins shouted, Fred threw off the cloak, heading toward the dark figures. One of them had just been knocked over by a huge animal of some sort. And the creature grabbed the other and disappeared. When George saw Ron disappear, he ran after his twin.
"Hey!" Harish called after them, ridding himself of the cloak as well. "Wait!"
But they continued running. Harish growled and ran after them. After a moment's hesitation, Hermione followed.
HERMIONE—MORE-SLYTHERIN-THAN-THEM-ALL
Ron and Neville went out the back of Hagrid's cabin and kept low so that they wouldn't be seen. Then, they straightened up, Ron clutching a struggling Scabbers. Then, Ron suddenly stopped as they went off the side of the cabin, away from the window and the door.
"Ron—" Neville hissed.
"It's Scabbers, he won't stay put!"
Ron was bent over, trying to keep Scabbers in his pocket, but the rat was going berserk; squeaking madly, twisting and flailing, trying to sink his teeth into Ron's hand.
"Scabbers, it's me, you idiot. It's Ron!" Ron whispered.
They heard a door open behind them and men's whispers.
"Ron! Let's move!" Neville said. "They're going to do it!"
"Okay—Scabbers, stay put—"
They walked forward a couple steps. Ron was completely intent on Scabbers, who was still struggling. Neville was trying his hardest not to listen to the rumble of voices behind them. Ron stopped again.
"I can't hold him—Scabbers, shut up, everyone'll hear us!"
The rat was squealing wildly, but not loudly enough to cover up the sounds coming from the other side of Hagrid's hut. There was a rumble of indistinct, male voices, a suddenly silence, and then, without warning, the unmistakable swish and thud of an axe. Neville swayed on the spot.
A body, low to the ground, was slinking towards them. Neville could make out familiar eyes—the eyes of the devil cat. Scabbers writhed more violently and then—
"OUCH! He bit me!"
"No—shoo—go away!" Neville said, trying to get rid of the cat, but it was getting nearer.
"Scabbers—NO!"
Too late—the rat had finally slipped through Ron's fingers and scampered away. In one bound, the ginger cat was after it before either boy could stop it. Ron darted after his rat, only just managing to grab him as he skidded to a halt against the trunk of a tree.
"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat," Ron muttered, shoving the evil creature off of his chest.
Before Neville could catch his breath, there was the pounding of gigantic paws. Something was bounding toward them out of the dark—a huge, pale-eyed, jet black dog.
Neville reached for his wand, but the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him in the chest, knocking him over. Dazed, Neville sat up just in time to see the dog grab Ron and drag him through a gap in the roots of the tree. Ron hooked his foot around a root, trying to stop the dog from taking him, but with a snap of broken bone, they were gone.
Neville stood up but—WHAP! Something had hit him hard in the face, sending him back ten feet, unconscious. It was right at that point when the twins ran up, skidding to a halt just beyond the reach of the tree Ron had been dragged under—the Whomping Willow.
"Lumos!" Harish said.
His wand lit up, throwing their surroundings into light, making the grass shine silver, and causing the trunk of the Whomping Willow to gleam.
"Where'd your Ron go, then?" Harish asked.
"There," the twins said, pointing to the gap in between the roots.
"I guess you expect us to get in there somehow to help him?" Harish queried helplessly. The twins nodded. "Why? I mean, it's Ron we're talking about."
"He's still our brother," George replied.
Harish stamped a foot. He thought that he had squashed any Gryffindor tendencies out of them! Apparently he had not. The twins started forward, but jumping over branches and ducking to avoid being hit, but soon they were both thrown back near Neville, bleeding.
Then, a cat slunk up to the tree, slithering beneath the branches.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed.
Crookshanks placed his front paws on a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had turned to stone, it stopped. Not a leaf quivered or shook.
"How did he know?" Hermione asked, clutching Harish's arm.
He shook her off and shrugged. Then, he helped the twins up. George went first, pulling himself head first down the hole. Fred followed next and then Hermione. With a sigh, Harish finally went down. He slid feet first down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Crookshanks was a little way ahead, his eyes flashing in the light from Harish's wand.
"This way," George breathed, following Hermione's cat.
"Where does this tunnel come out?" Hermione questioned.
"I am not sure," Harish replied. "It's on the map, but the tunnel goes off the edge of it. I think it goes to Hogsmeade, though."
George lead them along at a very quick pace; or at least, as quick a pace they could go while bent completely double. Crookshanks's tail bobbed in and out of view ahead of them. On and on the passage went. Harish was sure it was as long as the one to Honeydukes. His back was beginning to hurt from being in an awkward position, his head bumped the roof of the tunnel every now and then. His breaths coming in sharp, painful gasps…
And then the tunnel began to rise. Moments later it had twisted, and Crookshanks was gone. Instead, Harish could see a dim patch of light through a small opening. George paused, causing the other three to crash into him. With moans, they all got back up and held their wands ready for whatever they might meet when they exit the tunnel.
The four Slytherins crawled through a whole, staring around at a deserted room. A door stood to their right, leading into a shadowy hallway. Hermione grabbed Fred's arm, her eyes wide. They roamed over the boarded up windows, and then she whispered, "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."
Harish 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," he said slowly.
At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. All four of the teenagers looked up at the ceiling. Quietly as they could move, they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where there were tracks of something being dragged upstairs. They reached the dark landing.
"Nox," Harish whispered, his light going out.
Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep purring. The four of them exchanged a few last looks before Harish kicked the door wide open, his wand clutched tightly in his hand.
On a magnificent four-poster bed was Crookshanks, purring loudly at the sight of them. On the floor beside him, clutching an ankle that was at an odd angle, was Ron. The twins walked over to him and Harish and Hermione followed more slowly.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Harish replied, turning to the twins. "What are we doing here?"
"Helping Ron—"
"Of course."
Ron regarded them suspiciously.
"Where's the dog?" Hermione asked.
"There is no dog, Granger. It's a trap," Ron replied. His teeth were gritted in pain.
"What do you mean?" Harish asked.
"It's him. He's not a dog, he's an animagus!"
Harish wheeled around to see a tall, very thin man shut the door to the room with a snap. He had filthy, matted hair that hung near his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of his deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tight over his face that it resembled a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black.
"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them.
All four of the Slytherins' wands shot out of their hands and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harish.
"I thought you'd come for your friend," his said hoarsely. He sounded as though he hadn't used his voice in a while. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful…It'll make everything easier…"
"My father?" Harish asked.
His father didn't seem the type to run after anyone.
Ron stood up shakily on his one good leg. Something flickered in Black's shadowed eyes.
"Lie back down," he said quietly to the boy. "You will damage that leg even more."
Ron didn't move. Harish walked over and forced the boy down before setting himself on the dusty bed, across from where Black was still standing.
"I think we have much to talk about," Harish said.
"No," Black said, starting to move toward Ron. "No time to talk. I've waited too long…"
Before Black could take another step, there was another sound—
Muffled steps were echoing up through the floor—someone was downstairs. Every single person in the room froze and listened as they drew nearer. Then, the door swung open to reveal Lupin, standing there, his face bloodless. The professor's eyes took in the room before him. He glanced at Hermione and the twins standing in the corner, then his eyes moved to Ron, who was clutching a squealing Scabbers, to Harish on the bed, and then finally to Black, who was standing in the center of the room.
Lupin then lowered his wand, walked into the room, shut the door behind him, and embraced Black like a brother. Then, he spoke in an odd voice that shook with some suppressed emotion.
"Where is he, Sirius?"
Black didn't say a word. Slowly he lifted a wasted hand and pointed a thin finger at Ron.
"But then…" Lupin muttered. "Why hasn't he shown himself before…Unless—unless you switched without telling me."
Very slowly, Black nodded.
Harish drew his eyebrows together, confused. What was going on here?
"I trusted you!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. "I kept your secret! And all this time, you've been his friend." She turned to the others. "He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes!"
"How long have you known?" Lupin asked. Though he was pale, his voice was oddly calm.
"Since I finished Professor Snape's essay," Hermione replied.
"Well, well, you really are the brightest witch in your year, but not up to your usual standards. You only got one out of two right. I have not been his friend, but I am now…"
Lupin pulled the wands out of Black's hand.
"Here," Lupin said, tossing their wands back. "You're armed and we're not. Now will you listen?"
They all nodded.
"How did you know he was here?" Harish asked.
"The map," Lupin replied. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it—"
"You know how to work the map?" Harish asked.
"Of course I know how to work it," Lupin replied impatiently, waving his hand. "I helped write it. I'm Moony—that was my friends' nickname for me in school."
"You wrote—?" The twins asked in awe.
"The important thing is that I was in my office looking at it, because I had an idea that Ron and Neville might try to sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his hippogriff was executed. And I was right wasn't I?" Harish glanced at Ron before turning back to Lupin. Lupin had started to pace up and down the room. Little patches of dust rose at his feet.
"You might have been wearing your father's cloak—"
"My father's—How do you know about it?"
"The number of times I saw him disappearing under it," Lupin replied dismissively. "Anyway, I could still see the four of you on the map as well. Then when Ron and Neville left Hagrid's hut, they were joined by someone else—"
"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "We weren't joined by anyone. There was just the two of us."
"No, the three of you," Lupin plowed on. "And I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought the map was malfunctioning."
"No one was with us!" Ron insisted.
"And then I saw another dot, moving fast past you and towards the three near the willow, labelled Sirius Black…I saw him collide with Neville; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Willow—"
"One of us!" Ron said angrily, but Harish was beginning to understand who the third person was.
"No Ron, two of you," Lupin replied. He had finally stopped pacing and was now staring at Ron. Then he asked evenly, "Do you think I could have a look at that rat?"
"What?" Ron squawked. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"
"Everything," Lupin replied. "Could I see him please?"
Ron hesitated before holding Scabbers up. The rat was now thrashing so wildly that Ron had to grasp him by his smooth tail. Crookshanks stood up and let out a low hiss. Lupin moved closer to Ron, his eyes fixed on the rat.
Ron held Scabbers close to him again. "What?" he repeated. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"
"That's no rat," Sirius Black suddenly croaked.
"What d'you mean—of course he's a rat—"
"No, he's not," Lupin said quietly. "He's a wizard."
"An Animagus," Black clarified, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."