Before the Hogsmeade Owl Post Office, Evan successfully persuaded Hermione and told her about his plans for tomorrow night.
It was still too early to return to school. He had planned to take Hermione back to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and finish what he had started.
The atmosphere there is very good; perhaps he can also take the opportunity to make his declaration.
But Hermione didn't give him any more chances, she kept avoiding going to that place. Whenever Evan mentioned it, she hurriedly opened another topic.
She was visibly very nervous.
She felt like there was a rush of boiling blood in her body, burning her, and getting her cheeks to sting in the cold.
She bit her lip gently; avoiding Evan's scorching eyes that made her heart throb.
Things developed in a way that she had never imagined. When she first looked up on Animagus's in the library, she had planned to teach Evan a good lesson if he turned out to be that wicked black cat.
Now she knows it for a fact. On the last day of the summer vacation, she was not just holding this naughty guy in her arms, she also… in front of him…
Her face blushed and she didn't know what to do next. What happened in the Tea Shop and in the Post office made her afraid. She feared that Evan would make another move that would make her heart throb again, or maybe confess to her; she had never thought about an answer.
Although deep down in her heart she had feelings for him, isn't all of this just too fast?
Also, how would she go about telling Harry and Ron about the matter? She felt weird and very embarrassed at the thought of this.
She really liked Evan, but she was not sure whether or not she should enter a relationship with him so quickly.
Maybe it would be more fitting to wait a year or two until fourth or fifth grade.
She heard from Angelina and Alicia that girls in Hogwarts usually start having relationships at that age.
In short, she couldn't get with Evan so quickly.
She took a deep breath, and clenched her fist.
She took a peek at his eyes and suddenly realized how clueless she was when it came to relationships.
If Evan was to ask her to be with him, she didn't even have a clue how to reject his request.
Perhaps she should go to the library to look it up in the books that were there, or maybe she should ask Ginny.
In addition to Evan's issue, the fact that Peter Pettigrew was Ron's rat also made her worry.
Unbelievable, an evil murderer was lurking near them for so long.
For three whole years, nobody noticed anything!
From a sensible point of view, Hermione believed that this information should be reported to Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall as soon as possible, to seek their help. This was the wisest choice.
However, she promised Evan that she would not do that.
She wasn't sure that Evan and Black's plan would succeed. She had a strong feeling of unease. Maybe things would not go as smoothly as they thought.
Seeing Hermione's appearance, Evan, knew what she was worrying about.
He knew what he had to say to divert her attention and alleviate her nervousness.
As for the confession, there was no need to hurry, since the mood had been destroyed. He'll look for opportunities later.
"Hermione, aren't you going to buy Christmas presents? We can go to the store on the other side to take a look" said Evan. "By the way, what are you going to give me?"
"It's a secret, Evan, and you'll know when you get it." Hermione was relieved when she saw Evan getting away from the topic of confessing. She looked happy and smiled. "I won't be buying your gift here; I've been preparing it for a long time and I am sure you will be satisfied."
When she saw Hermione's look, Evan suddenly panicked. He remembered that he hadn't thought about giving Hermione anything.
He had originally intended on sending her a "Spell book of Practical Spells," but now it seems to be unfitting.
Since she had to carefully prepare his gift for a long time, it was clearly too shabby to send an ordinary spell book.
Evan thought, what do girls like? Candy? Plush toys or something cute like that?
Knowing Hermione, she would love a book. If it's going to be that, he just needs to find a better one.
Next, Evan and Hermione wandered through Hogsmeade and bought many things.
Time went by and night fell early.
After four o'clock in the afternoon, the sky began to dim. The young wizards returned to Hogwarts one after another, and the shops on both sides of the street lit up.
In the doorway of Gladrags Wizard wear far from the main road, Evan got out of the cloak.
There was only the two of them in this alley, they didn't need to worry about him being caught.
"Evan, it's about time. We should go back to school." Hermione said satisfied. It was very pleasant to spend the day at Hogsmeade.
"Yeah, I'm really hungry. I really should go back for dinner." Evan looked up and saw a huge full moon looming in the sky.
He didn't know what happened to Harry and Ron, yes, and Professor Lupin. He must be hiding in his own office.
"See you in the Grand Hall. I'll go through the secret passage of the Honeydukes…"
Evan suddenly stopped as he saw a ragged, fierce looking silhouette of a man appearing in the alley, about ten meters away from him and Hermione.
He was immediately alert and he felt a dangerous aura from this person.
Through the dim candlelight in the shop, Evan noticed that the man's slender limbs were in front of him. His grey hair and beard were knotted together. A torn black robe was very uncomfortably tight on his body, and his dirty fingers had long yellow nails.
He looked extremely excited. He raised his hear and growled.
His voice was weird, and Evan never heard it before. In addition to that, he could smell the strange odour of that man's body. He smelled like mud, sweat, and … and without a doubt, there was also a smell of blood!
"Delicious little children, what a great pleasure!" The man saw Evan and Hermione, and suddenly grinned and showed his sharp teeth.
Looking at his eyes, Evan saw danger. He and Hermione were his prey. He hurriedly pulled out his wand.
"Be careful, Hermione!" said Evan.
"What?!" Hermione blinked, not responding.
"This guy looks a bit off, just take out your wand quickly." Evan put Hermione behind him and shouted, waving his wand. "Stupefy!"
A thick red light flew out of his wand, and the other person's face was still in shock. He did not expect that Evan would attack so quickly.
The next second, he was knocked up in the air by Evan's spell and fell to the ground.
He quickly Rose, evading Evan's next spell, and a terrible roar in his mouth.
Seeing the man's reflexes, Evan's pupils shrunk. Not only did he not faint when hit with Evan's Stupefy, he also still had enough strength to avoid his next one.
Evan was sure that his spell wasn't weak at all.
This only means that the man's body was just too resistant to it.
Strong beyond imagination, far more than ordinary people, and even beyond the limits of a human being!
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"Damn, you dare to attack me. I so want to tear your throats off, they look so tasty! The boy can make for a nice supper, and the girl can be the sweet dessert!"
He raised his filthy hand to wipe the bloodstain off his forehead. He then stuck out his tongue and licked the blood off of the back of his hand, slowly, gently, disgustingly. His face showed that he was still craving more.
Seeing that, Hermione's little face turned pale.
She hurriedly pulled out her wand and approached Evan.
"Go away, this isn't where you should be. The Aurors and the Dementors are nearby…" Evan's wand was still pointed at his opponent, and its tip emitted a faint glow.
"Before they rush over, I would be long gone!" The man scratched his teeth with his yellow fingernails and smiled grimly. "You two are just too unlucky. I thought it would take me much longer to find my prey. Ever since I received the letter from him, my companions, those cowards, all went to the Muggle streets. Only I came to Hogsmeade, because I know that a young wizard's blood is far more mesmerizing than that of a little Muggle."
Just as he finished his words, a sharp voice was heard. It was that of a man with a black mask that appeared beside him.
"Hurry up Greyback! You only have one minute. I took the risk and promised to come all the way here with you just for Galleons, not to listen to your nonsense. Hogwarts is not too far from here and I don't want to provoke Dumbledore." He looked disdainfully at Evan and Hermione, and said in an anxious, sharp voice. "As for these two, take a bite off each of them, and remember to keep them alive. Along with the Muggles that the others prepared, they should make him satisfied."
A bite off each of them? That doesn't sound very pleasant.
Evan's body was stiff, and his mind was fully focused. The conversation between the two reminded him of someone. That, along with the man's appearance made him almost sure of his identity.
He's Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf that transformed professor Lupin.
As everyone knows, he is, perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today. He regards it as his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible.
He specialises in children… Bite them young, he says, and raise them away from their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. Thus, they would spread fear and despair themselves. Because of his long-term consumption of human flesh and blood, he always wanted to eat that, even when it wasn't a full moon.
Greyback was Voldemort's most loyal supporter. During the first Wizarding War, he was one of the most deterrent weapons that the Dark Lord had on his side.
Voldemort assigned him to bite those who did not obey him, and such threats often worked.
After Voldemort's fall, Greyback was lucky enough to escape and not be captured in Azkaban. However, because of the Aurors' pursuit, he also hid himself and rarely made any public appearance. Many wizards had even hoped that he actually died.
Obviously, their expectations were completely wrong.
Evan did not know how Greyback suddenly appeared here in Hogsmeade, and unluckily in his and Hermione's way.
First, it was Sirius Black, and now it's Greyback. This year's Hogsmeade has been really busy! They are the most dangerous fugitives pursued by the Ministry of Magic. Fudge certainly would send over another 500 Dementors if ever he knew about all of this.
Moreover, after listening to the man with a black mask next to Greyback, Evan knew that they were clearly plotting something. Does this have anything to do with Voldemort?!
Evan looked at Greyback with vigilance. Although curious, he knew very well that it was not time to study such a man.
No matter what they were plotting, the most critical thing now is to protect Hermione.
"This guy is a werewolf, you go!" Evan kept Hermione behind him. "I'll hold them off and you go find a professor to help!"
Hermione shook her head, although her eyes were full of tears, they were also unwavering.
She did not speak, took her wand and took a step forward, standing in line with Evan, showing her determination to stand by him.
Seeing Hermione's determination, Evan sighed as he knew that no matter what he would say, she could never leave him alone and run away. Just as it was impossible for him to abandon Hermione, it was out of question for her as well, there was no other way to do this but for them both to hold their ground.
"So be it. On the count of three, we attack together!" Evan whispered. "Make sure that you protect yourself, and remember that if all goes wrong, you should run."
Just as Evan finished talking to Hermione, they both heard the man with the black mask talking anxiously.
"Hurry up, Greyback. We don't have time!"
"Shut up, coward!" growled Greyback. "Don't push me around. You just came to help…"
Halfway through his words, he stopped talking.
He saw a red light coming his way, and he hurried to his right to evade Hermione's spell.
Just as he wanted to take a breath, Evan's spell followed.
He fell to the ground to dodge Evan's spell, but in vain. He was too careless. Evan's spell had a tricky pathing. He rolled on the ground, but his right leg was eventually hit.
Evan knew that Greyback's body was very resistant to magic. He didn't use Stupefy. This time, he used Petrificus Totalus
Under its effect, Greyback's body turned blue-grey in the blink of an eye, and it became as stiff as a wooden board.
"Damn it! I'm going to kill you!" Greyback screamed, struggled to stand up, and then quickly fell to the ground.
"That's enough, you stupid werewolf!" The man with the black mask hurriedly took out his wand. "I must have been out of my mind! I only came with you here for Galleons."
As he said that, he cast a few spells that were sent towards Evan and Hermione.
The rays emitted by his wand were all green, like fireflies. Needless to say, they were all curses, and the two hurried to dodge them.
The masked man took the opportunity to rush over to Greyback wanting to undo the spell.
But Evan did not give him the chance to do so; he hurriedly cast a spell towards him.
He evaded it and attacked the two.
Both sides were launching spells and it was an all-out battle.
Although he was stronger than Evan and Hermione, the masked man was struggling to deal with them. And with their joined effort, they were both struggling to cope with him.
After a while, it was impossible to determine who was to win the battle, and the masked man wasn't getting any chance to undo Evan's spell.
Over time, he looked very anxious as the situation became more and more unfavourable to him. He screamed anxiously, and that obviously affected his focus, and his following spells flew over Evan and Hermione.
Although it was very exhausting, the two of them clung to their teeth. If they persist for a few more minutes, recue should arrive eventually.
As the battle went on, it seemed that they might actually be able to capture their two enemies.
Just as Evan thought that the victory was at hand, the situation suddenly turned.