Disclaimer: Harry Potter and most of the characters are J.K. Rowling's creation. Clarissa, however, is a figment of my imagination.
Chapter 2
Everything was quiet and still for a moment until Potter's clever and charming wit thought of something for him to say.
"Woah!" Ladies and gentlemen… The Chosen One!
I rolled my eyes. "Come on," I said.
As we started walking back the way we came, my sense of direction kicked in. I could tell Potter wanted to say something but he kept his mouth shut and I didn't goad him. I was focusing on Part 1 of Plan A as we neared Hogwarts. I had a Plan B, should Plan A fail. It was an instinct born of things gone wrong. And, boy, could things go wrong, I thought bitterly. But I had save Plan B and its existence kept to myself. I just prayed it came down to it. I doubted it would, but one could always hope. But right now I had to focus on Plan A. Part 1 was now complete and Part 2 was coming up: finding Granger. Now I just had to figure out how to do it… I couldn't just barge in and demand to see Hermione Granger. For all we knew Dumbledore was right and she was living in Hogwarts under a false name. I turned to ask if Potter had any bright ideas when I heard an abrupt howl. The howl was close to my right, maybe 30 feet away. Too close to even have a chance at running. I could tell Potter knew what had made the noise, too. But, of course he would. His beloved Professor Lupin was of the same species.
But while Potter didn't seem too keen on the thought of facing another werewolf, I was raring and ready to go. I quickly took out my wand and positioned myself to the left. Potter was next to me, standing tensely with his wand drawn, too. And then we saw it.
It was big and ugly. It was sickeningly skinny with its ribs jutting out. Its nostrils were flaring as it sniffed us out. When it saw us, its whole body went on alert, it hungry eyes staring right into mine. I smiled. It charged.
Potter was quick as he sent a stunning spell its way, but he missed and the werewolf kept charging. I ducked as it leapt and its claws caught thin air where my head would have been. My victory only lasted a moment though, because while it was still airborne the werewolf twisted its grotesque body around so that when it landed, it was facing me. It was coming at me again but this time I took charge and threw Sectumsempra at it, but the spell hit a tree instead causing it to slash into pieces and fall. I had to jump to avoid the destroyed pieces and that put me closer to the beast.
It, too, saw my closer proximity and lunged at me with amazing accuracy but suddenly it stopped in midair, as if it had hit an invisible wall. I looked over to see that Potter had cast a Protego charm. I nodded my approval of this action and stood up lazily. I was in no rush as I stalked toward the predator turned prey, ready for the kill. But before I could say those two fatal words, my wand flew out of my hand and landed in the open palm of an old man.
Boy, was I losing my touch. I'd been taken off guard by a werewolf and disarmed by an old geezer. Wait- I'd seen this man before, although never in person. His portrait, though, hung in the Hall of Hogwart's Headmasters. His pictures also filled many historical books about Hogwarts. I recognized that face instantly to be that of the face of Dippet, the school's former headmaster. He gave us a cool look and said quietly but firmly, "Enough."
The werewolf whimpered, but Dippet gave it a hard look and said, "Cytus, enough," and the thing backed down. Then Dippet turned that look on me and Potter.
"Who are you and what is your business here?" he asked coldly, as if we were criminals. Too bad for him I had had to renounce my criminal ways.
I stepped forward, taking control. "Sir," I said in a charming voice. "I am Clarissa Reynold and this is Harry Porter. We stumbled into this forest and we've been walking around for days. We're lost," I added to sum up our "situation."
"Really?" Dippet asked, not buying it at all. "And just how did you end up here? And how did you find Hogwarts?"
This was too easy. "Grindenwald attacked my family. Our family. We knew Hogwarts would be a safe place for us. But I read that you couldn't Apparate inside of the Hogwarts grounds, but we also read about the Forbidden Forest, and guess we could Apparate here. Like I said, we've been roaming around for days. And then we were attacked by your…pet."
The werewolf growled in protest but I paid it no mind. My focus was on the old man's reaction to my word. It was very critical that he feel at least a little sympathy. He considered my words carefully and then, finally, he seemed to accept them.
"I am terribly sorry for your troubles with Cytus. Hogwarts has been threatened by Grindenwald as you probably know, and his followers have been beginning to start out younger and younger. Cytus is here to guard the forest. I do apologize, children, but I am sure you understand."
We nodded. "Of course, sir."
"Good. Then I am sure you will understand our need to check you both for the mark of Grindenwald," he said and I knew we didn't exactly have a choice.
I nodded my consent and lifted up my left and right sleeves. My right forearm was perfect, unblemished. My left, on the other hand, was tainted with the dark ink that symbolized my allegiance to my father. The Dark Mark. My father had gotten the whole mark idea from Grindenwald, but lucky for me the Marks were completely different. But Dippet didn't yet know what my Mark meant and simply gave it an interested glance. Potter on the other hand looked on it with disgust and contempt, unable to pry his eyes away as he, too, lifted up his sleeves. His forearms were both flawless. Dippet gave us an approving nod and gestured for us to follow him.
"You both were very lucky that Cytus didn't tear you apart. How did you manage to hold him off? Most full grown witches and wizards would have been wolf food."
"We are living in a time of war, sir," Potter answered truthfully. "We had to learn to protect ourselves." Of course Professor Dippet didn't know that ours was a different war in a different time. But that didn't matter. War was war. And he knew what war was like. He nodded his understanding to us.
Meanwhile, I was a little disappointed about not being able to finish what I had started with that werewolf. I was contemplating the idea of making up some excuse to go back and provoking him when all of a sudden a jet of red light flew past my head, only missing me by centimeters. Before I could turn and defend myself, though, a great weight had knocked me down. I felt my head hit something hard and then a terrible growl ripped through the air. I heard shouts follow it for a few seconds before I realized what was going on. It was an ambush. Jets of light filled the sky. The last thing I saw before everything went dark was a deadly green stream of light rushing right towards me.
Author's Note: Well everyone, here's Chapter 2. I'd really appreciate if everyone reviewed and told me what you think. Tell me what I did well and what I can improve on. I'm always interested in improving my writing style. Thanks for reading!
