Chapter Six: Harry's Descent
People were scared enough that Sirius Black had invaded the castle, but nobody was more scared than the Gryffindor students. And for good reason.
"What villains are these that trespass upon my private lands?!" the new subject of the portrait guarding Gryffindor Tower demanded. "Who dares challenge Sir Cadogen?!"
Sir Cadogen fancied himself to be a knight as great and mighty as any other famous knight of old, but the way he was waving his weapon around, nobody could take him seriously. Even the people in the portraits surrounding him laughed as they watched the spectacle he was making of himself.
"Back, you scurvy braggarts!" Sir Cadogen growled, menacingly. "You rogues!"
As he shouted the last part, he had fallen over backwards out of sight. Many of the Gryffindor students and Tony were watching this with mystified expressions.
"Wow, you guys weren't kidding." observed Tony.
"He's barking mad, isn't he, Tony?" asked Seamus.
Tony nodded slowly in agreement.
"What'd you expect?" asked Dean. "After what happened to the Fat Lady, none of the other pictures would take the job."
"But he keeps changing the password." Neville pointed out, holding a small piece of paper in his hands. "That's twice already this morning. I've taken to keeping a list."
He and the other students started heading down the stairs, as Sir Cadogen called out to them.
"Farewell, comrades!" he shouted, cheerfully. "If ever you need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir..."
He paused when his faceplate fell onto his face after he pounded on his chestplate eagerly, and pushed it back up, resuming to smile at the students.
"...Cadogen!" he finished.
"Yeah." Ron agreed, half-heartedly. "We'll call you, if we need anyone mental."
As he and the other Gryffindors headed down the stairs, Riley patted Harry on the shoulder.
"No offense, but we might as well hang a 'Welcome, Sirius Black' sign and defend ourselves." he muttered.
"I'll bring the books." offered Hermione.
The Third Year students arrived at their Defense Against the Dark Arts class minutes later, and Harry and Ron sat at a desk beside Riley. While waiting for Prof. Lupin to arrive, Harry leaned over to the side to talk with Riley.
"Remember, Wood wants to see us later." he reminded his friend. "He wants to go over the strategies."
"Hopefully he'll have rubber insulation for our brooms." said Riley. "Fred and George's stories about getting struck by lightning are freaking me out."
Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut, and the students looked back to see Prof. Snape stroding down the aisle towards the front of the classroom. He held out his wand, and closed the windows, quickly shutting up everyone in the class in record time. When he reached the front of the class, tugged on the string and lowered the projection screen down, before looking at his students.
"Turn to page 394." he spoke.
The students looked at each other, nervously, then began opening their books.
"Why do I get the feeling this lesson isn't going to be fun?" asked Riley.
"Shut up before he whacks you." Tony responded, quietly.
They quickly turned their books to page 394, as Prof. Snape started making his way to the back of the class again.
"Excuse me, sir." called Harry. "Where's Prof. Lupin?"
"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter?" responded Prof. Snape. "Suffice it to say your professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394."
Harry opened up his book, and started flipping through the pages. However, Prof. Snape saw that Ron was taking his time in getting to the right page, and helped him out. The subject of today's lesson was on...
"'Werewolves'?" Ron read, confused.
"But sir, we just learned about red caps and hinkypunks." Hermione's voice pointed out. "We're not meant to start that for weeks."
Ron, Riley, and Tony quickly looked up to see that she was sitting next to Harry, who was just as startled as his friends, and the rest of the class for that matter, were. Prof. Snape, however, did not notice this.
"Quiet." he spoke, warningly.
Tony stood up, gesturing for his teacher to wait before continuing the lesson, and walked over to Hermione.
"You weren't there a second ago." he told her. "I could've sworn that you were not there."
"Don't be silly, Tony." Hermione argued, as if she had been here in class the whole time. "I've been here this whole time."
"No, you haven't. I've been sitting at this desk with Riley, and you were not here."
"You're not here in class right now."
Tony spent the next ten seconds trying to form words, but it ended up in splutters and stammers. Finally, Riley walked over to escort his best friend back into his seat.
"Come on, Tony, let's get this class over and done with." he told him. "You can continue now, sir!" he added, looking back at Prof. Snape.
Prof. Snape stared at the two boys for a moment, then started making his way back towards the screen.
"Now, which one of you can tell me between an Animagus and a werewolf?" he asked.
Predictably, Hermione raised her hand. And predictably, Prof. Snape ignored her.
"No one?" he asked. "How disappointing?"
"Please, sir." Hermione sighed, exhasperated. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal, a werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he got the chance. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."
Draco made a howling noise similar to a werewolf's, causing Crabbe to laugh.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." said Prof. Snape.
Then he turned his attention to Hermione.
"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger." he said, his eyes boring into the female Gryffindor's. "Are you incapable of restraining yourself, or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"
"He's got a point, you know." Ron whispered to Hermione.
"Five points from Gryffindor."
Tony glanced at Hermione for a moment, then looked at Prof. Snape.
"No offense, sir, but she just answered the question." Tony pointed out. "I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but..."
"Anymore of your interruptions, Mr. Gabriel, and you will be served a detention." Prof. Snape told him.
As he returned to his lecture, Hermione gave her friend a quick smile of thanks. Meanwhile, Draco had just sent an origami bird towards Harry.
"As an antidate to your ignorance, and on my desk by Monday morning, two rolls of parchment on the werewolf with particular emphasis on recognizing it." announced Prof. Snape.
The students groaned instantly.
"Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow." complained Harry.
Prof. Snape quickly marched over to his desk.
"Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter." he advised his student. "Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page 394."
He started making his way to the back of the classroom again, while Harry unfolded the origami bird that flown over to his desk. Tony glanced over at him, then at Riley.
"What about lightning striking you?" he asked, quietly.
"Tony, if anyone on our team gets struck by lightning tomorrow, I will kill you." replied Riley.
The next morning, on a cold, stormy day, the students gathered outside to watch Gryffindor play against Hufflepuff. Despite the freezing downpour and the thunder, the students' spirits were not dampened. Riley flew down before the Gryffindor bleachers, and knocked a Bludger away, while the Gryffindors behind him cheered.
"Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor!" the Gryffindors cheered.
"Go, Harry!" shouted Hermione. "Go, Harry!"
"Knock 'em out, Ry!" yelled Tony.
They watched as their friends zoomed through the air, trying to do their jobs. Harry was pursuing the Golden Snitch the best he could, while Riley was trying to keep the Bludgers away from him. Unfortunately, lightning tended to strike the players now and then. One of the Chasers of the Gryffindor team was the recent victim of one, and was sent crashing to the ground when the tail of her broomstick was struck.
"This could be bad." observed Seamus.
"Perhaps they should've postponed it for another day." agreed Neville.
"Were you here for the last two games?" asked Ron.
Riley looked up, and saw that Harry and the Hufflepuff Seeker were flying further upwards into the sky, around where the teachers were sitting. Then he heard a wooshing sound, and saw a Bludger heading his way. He raised his bat to strike it back, but before he could, there was a flash of light, and the young Beater felt intense pain throughout his body, and lost control. His friends watched as he crumpled to the ground, and leaned over the railing. Riley laid on the soggy ground, face-up, and barely conscious.
"Riley!" shouted Ron. "Riley, you alright?!"
Riley heard his friend shouting at him, and looked up at the sky, stunned. His whole body was in pain, and he couldn't move his arms or legs. Not even his pinky finger. The others looked back up at the sky, worried now more than ever. They hoped that Harry wouldn't be struck next. Unfortunately, the two Seekers weren't so lucky. The Hufflepuff Seeker ended up being struck by lightning as well, and Harry, well, he almost had it far worse. Several Dementors flocked into the sky, and swarmed around him. Suddenly, Harry had fallen off his broomstick, and was now plummeting towards the ground. Several people in the crowd were screaming with fear, if Harry had crashed from that height, he would never have survived.
"Hermione, do something!" yelled Tony.
"What do you want me to do?!" asked Hermione.
"You're the smart one!"
However, Harry's fall started to slow, and he landed gently onto the ground. Two players flew down towards Madame Hooch, and began talking with her. Madame Hooch then blew her whistle, and looked around at the students.
"Tie game!" she shouted. "Both teams agreed to a tie!"
The students and teachers then began moving off of the bleachers and headed back to the school. A few hours later, the remainders of the Gryffindor team, Ron, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ginny, and Tony arrived at the infirmary to see their friends to make sure that they were alright. Harry looked alright, but Riley looked a little fried and was twitching occasionally. Madame Pomfrey told the group that Riley was going to take a while, but Harry would be coming around soon since he wasn't all that banged up.
"He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" asked Ron.
"Peaky?" repeated Fred. "What do you expect? He fell over a hundred feet."
"Yeah, come on, Ron. Let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see what you look like." said George.
"Probably a right sight better than he normally does." Harry joked, weakly.
The others looked down at him, relieved. He had woken up at last.
"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, as Harry started to sit up.
"Oh, brilliant." replied Harry.
"You gave us a right good scare, mate." said George.
"What happened?"
"Well, you fell off your broom." replied Ron.
"Really? I meant the match. Who won?"
"No one. Wood asked for a draw, since both Seekers were out." explained Tony. "Guy knows a lot about honor."
Harry nodded, a little relieved.
"Right. No one blames you, Harry." said Hermione. "Dementors aren't supposed to be inside the grounds. Dumbledore's furious. As soon as he saved you, he sent them straight off."
"I've gotta tell you, seeing him angry is a lot scarier than seeing Prof. McGonagall angry." chuckled Tony. "And that's saying something."
"There's, uh, something else you should know, too." Ron announced, uneasily. "Harry, um,..."
Harry noticed at last the bundle in his arms, and watched as Ron stepped forward.
"When you fell, your broom, it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow, and..." Ron continued, nervously. "...well,..."
He unwrapped the bundle a little revealing the splintered remains of Harry's prized broom. The Nimbus 2000 was now in shambles. Then Harry noticed that someone was not with the group.
"Where's Riley?" he asked.
As he asked this, the crowd either nodded or pointed to the side. Harry looked beside him, and saw Riley laying on the bed beside him, knocked out.
"He's going to be there for a while." explained Tony.
Another month came and went, and the injured Quidditch players recovered in time. According to Madam Pomfrey, Riley was suffering from paralysis, and had to use a cane to help him walk until he recovered, which he and his friends were told could take days. Other than that, he had an occasional twitch and stutter, which several of the Slytherin students took to mocking. Within days, the other students and teachers started adapting to the stammering, which had started to get better over time, but the twitches took longer.
Finally, on the day before the holidays, a large group of them left for another Hogsmeade weekend. Despite Riley's protests, Hermione, Ron, and Tony insisted that he join them on this one. However, Riley and Tony spent most of this visit discussing what to do over the holidays with Draco Malfoy.
"How ab-b-bout an all-night gaming and m-movie fest?" suggested Riley.
"Somehow, he doesn't seem like the game and movie type." said Tony.
"Well, we've got t-to try."
"I know, I know. If we meet up with my aunt, I'll ask her for suggestions."
They soon caught sight of Ron and Hermione standing by the fence looking out at the horizon.
"Do you want to move a bit closer?" asked Hermione.
Ron looked at her, startled.
"To the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione corrected herself.
"Oh. Actually, I'm fine here." responded Ron.
"I thought I sensed chemistry between you two." Tony teased, as he walked towards the two.
Hermione and Ron turned to face him and Riley as they walked their way.
"We're about to g-go g-g-get a warm drink." Riley stammered, pleasantly. "You guys up f-f-for it?"
"Yeah." replied Ron.
"So, I hear you guys are going back home for the holidays." said Hermione. "I thought that we agreed to spend our Christmases at Hogwarts."
"Oh, Grandpa Neil's coming by, and he wants to see us." Tony lied, casually. "We just can't turn down one of his visits."
"Well, well, look who's here." a familiar voice announced.
The group turned to see Draco, Crabbe, and a third Slytherin male approaching them.
"You two shopping for your new dream home?" asked Draco. "Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasle-Bee? Don't your family sleep in, uh, one room?"
"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." growled Ron.
"Ooh, not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasle-Bee how to respect his superiors."
Draco and his two cronies began cracking his knuckles, eager for a fight. Hermione laughed, as she and Tony stepped forward, ready to fight.
"Hope you don't mean yourself." she retorted.
"How dare you talk to me!" snarled Draco. "You filthy little Mudblood!"
"At least she doesn't write home to daddy saying he got a boo-boo." Tony pointed out, smirking.
Draco glared at him, then reared his fist back, ready to punch him.
"Now that's what I'm talking about." grinned Tony. "Bring it on!"
Before a fight could occur though, a snowball struck Draco on the shoulder. The others looked around, wondering who threw it. There was no one else around besides the seven of them.
"Who is that?" called Draco.
His voice carried a hint of panic, as did his expression. Whoever threw the snowball was doing a good job of getting his goat. Suddenly, another snowball was thrown at him, but there was nobody around who threw it. More and more of them started to pelt the leader of the bullies, while Tony laughed, impressed.
"Don't stand there!" Draco snapped, shoving Crabbe back a little. "Do something!"
"What?" asked Crabbe.
Suddenly, the hat on the third bully's head was pulled down over his eyes, and Crabbe's pants were yanked down, causing him to yelp in surprise. As Crabbe reached down to pull his pants back up, he was shoved headfirst into the snow. Tony and the other Gryffindors burst into laughter, but none were laughing as hard as Hermione and Tony. The third Slytherin bully's scarf flew up, and he yelped in fear as he was turned around and around and around. Then Draco suddenly fell over again, and the other boy did as well. Next, Draco was dragged towards the opening in the fence, and tried in vain stop himself.
"What's up, Malfoy?" asked Ron. "Lost your skis?"
Draco finally got free, and scrambled back towards his friends, while the other four laughed harder than ever. It was then Draco decided to book it, and shoved his way past his friends to get out of there first.
"Get out of the way!" he yelped. "Move!"
"Malfoy! Wait!" whined Crabbe. "Wait!"
As the three bullies ran out of sight, Hermione, Tony, Ron, and Riley laughed at them, only for something to grab at the strings at the end of Ron's cap, making it seem like a ghost was lifting them up and down. One of Riley's comic books flew out of his bag, while a lock of Hermione's hair started floating up and down as well.
"Harry!" Hermione scolded, playfully.
Harry emerged from his Invisibility Cloak, laughing as well. His friends laughed with him, while Ron looked at him, startled.
"Bloody hell, Harry." he spoke, shaken up a little. "That was not funny."
"You're r-right." agreed Riley. "That w-w-was priceless!"
"I wish I thought of that!" laughed Tony. "You've gotta tell the twins that one!"
As the five friends made their way back to the village, Harry explained what had brought him here. The twins had given him something called a Marauder's Map, which contained a map of Hogwarts and it's surroundings, plus every hidden passageway contained within Hogwarts. By using it and hiding under his Invisibility Cloak, Harry came to Hogsmeade to enjoy a trip with his friends.
"Those weasels!" growled Ron. "Never told me about any Marauder's Map.
"Harry's not going to keep it." Hermione pointed out. "He's going to turn it over to Prof. McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?"
"Oh, sure. Along with his Invisibility Cloak."
"Come on, H-Hermione. Maybe this can work out for our si-si-side." Riley stated, looking at Hermione. "Maybe Harry can use this to keep a-a look out for Sirius Black."
"Yeah, that's the kind of thing we need on our crazy little adventures." agreed Tony. "We can know where the bad guy is and who it is this time."
Hermione glared at the two, as they smiled back at her, innocently. Then she looked over at an older woman standing nearby, fixing her sign.
"Oh, look who it is!" she exclaimed. "Madam Rosmerta! Ron fancies her!"
Harry, Riley, and Tony slowly turned to stare at Ron, all three raising an eyebrow.
"That's not true!" the latter defended.
Then they heard familiar voices talking, and saw Prof. McGonagall and Hagrid nearby the Three Broomsticks, talking with someone. An older man in black robes and a black hat standing in a carriage.
"Allow me, Minister." offered Hagrid.
He reached down, and pulled the door open, then off completely.
"Oh, thanks!" the other man responded.
"Who's that?" asked Riley.
"Cornelius Fudge." replied Ron. "The Minister for Magic."
"Oh, so that's him." said Tony. "Cool."
They watched as the grown-ups continued to talk. Madam Rosmerta was complaining about the dementors showing up around her pub, then the subject shifted to Sirius Black being in Hogsmeade, then suddenly Fudge leaned in to mutter something in Madam Rosmerta's ear.
"Harry Potter?" Madam Rosmerta exclaimed suddenly.
Prof. McGonagall and Fudge quickly shushed her, looking around to make sure that nobody was looking or listening, then ushered her inside. Suddenly, Harry vanished out of sight, and his friends looked at where he was standing to find footprints appearing in the snow, leading up to the pub.
"Harry!" Hermione called out to her friend, quietly.
She and the others followed after him, hurrying into the pub, but were stopped from coming in any further by several talking shrunken heads.
"I say, no underage wizards allowed in today!" one of them hollared.
"Shut the damned door!" another one barked.
Tony was too stunned to respond, while Riley bowed his head, apologetically.
"S-Sorry." he said.
"Why are you apologizing?" asked Hermione. "They're the ones being rude!"
"Thick heads." agreed Ron.
As Hermione started to close the door, they could hear the talking heads still talking about what Ron said, and calling them "whipper-snappers".
"We need walkie talkies for this kind of thing." muttered Tony.
"He's probably going to be a while." said Hermione. "Riley, do you have any of your books?"
"Yeah." replied Riley.
The four friends walked to the side, and sat down on a bench. Riley distributed three books to his friends, and took one out for himself, all four of them beginning to read while waiting for Harry. Ron, however, examined his book curiously.
"'Howl's Moving Castle'?" he read. "Is it any good?"
"Yeah." answered Riley. "I-It's got magic i-in it."
As the friends waited for Harry to return, they began to read the books. Then after a few minutes, they saw footprints appear in the snow.
"That was fast." commented Tony.
To the group's surprise though, Harry didn't meet up with the others. Instead, he shoved his way through a group of carolers, and Hermione, Ron, Tony, and Riley hurried after him, apologizing to the carolers as they passed. They made their way up a hill, and looked around for any sign of Harry, then they stopped when they heard something. The sound of someone crying. Hermione was the first to walk towards Harry, and the boys cautiously followed after her, but at a distance. Hermione reached up, and pulled the cloak off of their friend, revealing him, then Harry looked up at her.
"Harry, what happened?" asked Hermione.
Harry didn't answer immediately, but the others could tell that it was bad.
"He was their friend." he spoke finally. "And he betrayed them."
His face then slowly changed from a look of pain and sadness to rage.
"He was their friend!" he shouted.
The others didn't know who Harry was referring to at first, but then realized that he meant Sirius Black.
"I hope he finds me." declared Harry. "Because when he does, I'm going to be ready. Because when he does, I'm going to kill him!"
Double update. Merry Christmas, guys!
Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.