"Ow! Sirius, stop stepping on my foot!"
"Shut up, you two. We don't want to get caught."
"But Prongs! He stepped on my foot!"
"Prongsie said shut up, Wormtail."
It was the full moon and the marauders are on their monthly trip to the Shrieking Shack to visit Remus. They reached the Entrance Hall without further incident.
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Lily was furious. Minutes ago, she heard sniggering and, suddenly, the portrait hole opened on its own accord. She's heard enough rumors about James' invisibility cloak to guess who it was.
"Sneaking out again? They're gonna lose all the points I got for knowing Cheering Charms!" she yelled at Alice.
"God, Lily. If your so concerned about that, why don't you go after them."
"I think I will." And she stormed off.
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Harry looked out the window.
"Gin, it's a full moon tonight… you think they'll be alright?"
"Harry, they've been doing it for months. I'm sure they're alright. Now stop worrying and snog me senseless."
Ren was not looking forward to their snogging session.
I'd rather not witness that.
And she slithered out the door.
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"Stop fidgeting Wormy, and press the bloody knot!"
"Alright, alright. Stop poking me!"
Wormtail transformed into a black rat and scurried toward the base of the tree, avoiding the swinging branches. He pressed his paw into a small knot and the tree abruptly froze.
"Let's go."
"Way ahead of you Prongs."
Sirius transformed into a massive, black dog while James transformed into a magnificent stag. They entered the hole between the tree's roots. Wormtail was about to enter when the tree came back to life and hit him in the face with one big branch. It sent him flying towards the hole where Padfoot picked him up in his mouth.
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Lily could not believe her eyes.
They're animagi? But that's illegal!, she thought.
Then she followed them into the tunnel.
"James? Sirius? Peter? James?" she called out into the darkness.
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"James? Sirius? Peter? James?"
The animals heard this and panicked.
Lily!, James thought, why is she here! Then, she said my name twice! But more importantly, why is she here!
Sirius however was frantic. Crap, crap, crap, crap…
Wormtail is strangely calm. I like cheese… whether this is the effect of the blow he took a while ago is unknown.
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He is again furious. Trapped in a wooden cage. No prey, nothing to bite, to scratch, to ravage. Then he perked up. He smelled his usual company. The stag, the dog and the rat…but he smelled something else. Something vaguely familiar. Something that his instincts told him to attack at the next possible opportunity. A human. He sniffed the air and clawed a wooden board until it revealed a dark hole. He remembers it. The exit that he and the animals use every month. The stag lifts a patch of the floor to reveal the tunnel. He howled into the night and ran into the darkness.
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Lily heard the howl. She knew that she has to run but she was frozen in fear. She heard something running towards her.
"Lumos."
The tip of her wand emitted a light which allowed her to see the stag galloping towards her. It pushed her out of the tunnel with its antlers. More noises from the tunnel and another howl. A shaggy black dog came bounding into view, a rat perched on top of its head. Last to come out was a full-fledged werewolf.
"Oh shit…"
The werewolf stared at her for a while before lunging. She stood frozen, knowing that she is gonna die. She closed her eyes, expecting a sharp pain somewhere, but it didn't come. She opened her eyes to find the werewolf caught in the stags antlers.
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He can't take it. The stag was between him and his prey! He howled into the night and flailed. One of his limbs got unstuck from the stag's antlers and he slashed the stag in the side. Grunting in pain, the stag limped backward. He lunged for the girl again, but the stag blocked him again. Anger surged through him and he went berserk. He scratched and bit the stag, which after some time, buckled and collapsed. He looked up and saw the girl.
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Stupid Lily!, Sirius was thinking, what was she doing in that tunnel!?
He sprinted as fast as he can towards the source of the growling, grunting and howling sounds. What he saw shocked him. James was bloody unconscious. Make that bloody and unconscious. Remus was inching towards Lily. So, Sirius did the only sensible thing at the time.
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Lily was frozen in terror. She stared as the werewolf moved closer. Then, as it was about to strike, a black blur shot from somewhere and hit the werewolf. She turned and saw the black dog wrestling with the wolf on the ground…and losing. She felt a weak nudge on her shoulder and saw the stag, covered in blood, gesturing towards the castle. She nodded and ran.
