The Werewolf Slayer
It was a dark, cold night. A thick fog hung over a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. Through the fog, a large full moon shone down. Superstitious muggles always avoided going out on full moon nights, as did witches and wizards who had enough sense. Those without the sense, would go out regardless, should they choose. Strolling across the village square was one such wizard, a young man with shining, golden hair. He was handsome in a dainty sort of way and held a paper bag to his chest with each hand. Because of the very same lack of sense that had compelled him to venture out under a full moon, the wizard wore brightly coloured robes, gleaming gold to match his hair, with a purple shirt and ruffles. To any muggle, he would simply be considered a freak, but he would be condemned by other wizards for his relaxed attitude towards the Statute of Secrecy, and maybe even given an official warning by a ministry official.
The man's relaxed attitude evaporated when a sound echoed across the village. It was a long, drawn out howl. He spun around, wide-eyed. Even though he hadn't paid much attention at Hogwarts, an incident involving his girlfriend at the time, a game of truth or dare, a crate of firewhiskey, and the Forbidden Forest meant that, to this day, he recognised a werewolf howl when he heard one.
He quickened his pace, shifting his paper bags around so he could produce his wand from his pocket without dropping them. The howl sounded again, louder this time, and was followed by the sound of muffled footsteps, far too rapid to belong to something with only two feet. Giving a quiet yelp, the man broke into a jog, sweating slightly and constantly peering over his shoulder.
He ran faster and faster as the footsteps got closer and closer, the noise echoed through the still air, making it hard to pinpoint its source, and it was far too late, that the hapless wizard realised he was running straight towards it.
He stopped running and slowed to a halt as a blurry figure swam into view through the fog ahead of him. Prowling on all fours line a lion, except with a broader upper body and a long snout. As it approached, it rose up to two feet, and swished its bushy tail left and right. A menacing growl seemed to shake the very air.
The wizard gave a high-pitched scream and dropped his bags. An even amount of food and hair products rolled out of them. He raised his wand with trembling hands and sobbed feebly, as the hairy monster slowly advanced, arching its back in preparation to pounce. Opening and closing his mouth several times, the wizard desperately tried to think of a spell he could use, before eventually crying,
"Wolf-Blasty-Go-Awayey!"
He looked forwards optimistically as he flicked his wand, only to see a bouquet of tulips materialise in front of him and fall to the floor. With another howl, the werewolf sank down to all fours and charged. The wizard threw his hands over his eyes and screamed again. Moments before he expected to feel claws sinking into his flesh, the wizard instead felt a meaty hand clasp his shoulder and forcefully throw him aside.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Boomed a deep voice.
Opening his eyes, the young wizard saw an older man standing where he had been. He wore a grotty, black coat and greasy hair hung down to his shoulders, and even in the perilous situation, the younger wizard couldn't fail to notice the prominent boil on one side of his nose.
As he shouted the incantation, the newcomer swished his wand like a whip, and the werewolf was hoisted into the air, sailed over his head and came crashing down behind him.
"Run you fool!" Bellowed the older man, as the other scrambled fearfully across the ground.
Only too happy to oblige, he climbed to his feet and sprinted into the fog, leaving the older man to his fate. The older wizard scowled his disapproval of the other's cowardice, even in doing exactly as he had said.
The werewolf climbed back to its feet and snarled. Having been denied food at the last second, it had just become a great deal angrier. It stepped towards the old man, more cautiously this time, proving the dormant ingenuity of the human being inside it.
Backing away carefully, the wizard swung his wand like a sword.
"Stupify!"
The stunning spell barely made the creature hesitate. The wizard cast another and another. Red balls of light flew through the air like fireworks, but the werewolf advanced as if they were scarcely a nuisance.
The fur-covered beast pounced again. This time, the man twisted on the spot and, with a loud crack, vanished without a trace. He reappeared across the road, leaving the beast to pounce harmlessly onto thin air.
The wizard gritted his teeth, the werewolf had pounced twice now, and hadn't eaten on either occasion, which meant it was agitated and even more bloodthirsty than usual. He needed to end this fast. With a burst of inspiration, the old man began to run down the street, an action anyone would consider foolish when facing a predatory creature. Sure enough, the werewolf jumped onto all fours and ran after him, but as soon as it did, the old wizard pointed his wand over his shoulder.
"LUMOS CREPITUS!"
For a split-second, a flash like a thousand cameras lit up the area. Caught completely unaware, the werewolf withdrew, whimpering feebly and trying to rub its eyes with its paw. The old wizard continued to run, knowing the monster wouldn't be stunned for long. He pointed his wand ahead of him and shouted his next spell.
"ACCIO TINDERBLAST!"
The distant sound of breaking glass from the direction of his home, assured the wizard that his spell had been successful, but behind him, he heard the growl of the recovering werewolf, which urged him to run faster.
Something flashed into view under a distant streetlight, flying towards the sprinting wizard. It was a broomstick, an old one. It had none of the flash of the new Nimbus models, and was basically just a tree branch with bristles, but it flew faithfully towards its owner nonetheless.
The old wizard reached out his hand and breathed anxiously as he ran as fast as he could, away from the racing footsteps he could hear behind him again. As soon as his hand clasped the wooden broom, the wizard was hoisted up into the air like a fish on a line, missing the wolf's incoming claws by inches. When he was a safe distance up, the wizard looked down. The werewolf was pacing around in a circle staring up at its slippery dinner and growling.
With his free hand, the wizard began swishing his wand left and right. With each stroke, a heavy chain materialised in the air and flew at the werewolf, constricting it like a snake, after which the ends would bury themselves in the concrete. The werewolf resisted at first, but before long, it was overwhelmed. The chains dragged it down to the ground and pinned it, leaving the monster powerless to do anything but growl its resentment to its defeat.
The wizard descended gracefully and landed besides the werewolf, dropping his broom to the ground as he did. He was just about to summon his owl with a sharp whistle, so he could alert the authorities from the ministry, when he heard footsteps again. Not the rapid racing of another predator, but the hesitant steps of a human.
Ready to erase the memory of an inquisitive muggle, the wizard turned. But to his surprise, the young wizard from earlier had returned, more surprising still, was the fact that his wand was pointing squarely between the older wizard's eyes.
"OBLIVIATE!"
An hour later, a small crowd had gathered around the restrained beast. The first few wizards to arrive had cast a muggle-repelling spell, and they had then sent an owl to St Mungo's hospital, both for the administering of Wolfsbane Potion to the creature chained to the road, and to take the old man, lying on a pavement, feebly babbling requests that someone tell him his name.
"Careful with that one." Warned the gold-clad wizard, as an elderly witch approached him cautiously. "He took one look at the beast and the poor chap went doolally. No telling what he'll do. I tell you, it's jolly good fortune I was here to save the day, or else he'd be looking a great deal worse!"
The witch backed away from the babbling old man, nodding in understanding of the wizard's warning.
"But… what happened here? I mean, how the devil did you subdue such a creature?" She asked, sounding somewhat awestruck.
The wizard chuckled a brushed a lock of golden hair from his eyes.
"Oh… just another thrilling adventure of Gilderoy Lockhart!"