The young Marauders and the Golden Trio

Chapter 13: Joanne's story

~Joanne~

It happened five years ago, the full moon was just rising up; the dark clouds came rolling in with its angry thunder, it looked like it was about to rain. Annabeth, my daughter, was held tightly in my arms; she was scared of the rain, the coldness, the noise, how the clouds covered everything like the sky, the moon, the stars even the sun. She was to go Hogwarts in a year and she showed a lot of signs of magic like lifting things from table without actually touching them or that time when we saw a pink haired lady wearing a pink dress, pink sandals and carrying a pink handbag and Annabeth thought it would be funny to turn her skin pink too! It was a story that lasted for six months.

Anyway on that night there was a loud knock on the door, who would want to come to people's houses on a night like this? It must be someone wanting shelter, there are some homeless people around our little village or it could be a traveller, they come a lot too. I put Annabeth on the big armchair and switched on my lamp as I went to answer the door. I opened it just a fraction but the cold air still rushed though me, and there, in front of me was a hooded figure in a black cloak, I couldn't see his face, he must be a wizard, and he said in deep but desperate voice

"Can I come please, it's very cold out here?"

I said of course and let him in. he limped into my cottage, he must have been hurt, I was going to ask what was wrong when I saw his face, I knew who he was, Fenrir Greyback he had scars and wrinkles across his face with his golden eyes staring hungry at me then suddenly he crouched to the floor, fur was growing on his hands and face his body was becoming more wolf like, Annabeth slowly poked her head out the door, I had to get her away.

"Annabeth!" I screamed "run!" but it was too late; Greyback had finished with his transformation and he leapt towards Annabeth and got his teeth into her t-shirt and smashed out the window leaving me in shock, it was the last time I saw Annabeth. I realised that Greyback had left his cloak behind, I picked it up and a thin cardboard box fell out of one of the pockets. I looked inside the box and it was a game like Snakes and ladders, but on each ladder and snake was very small writing, it was Curses and Fortunes. What would a werewolf want with a game like this it was illegal? Well this is Fenrir Greyback we're talking about, so of course he would have some stuff he shouldn't, but why would he have it on him? What would he get out of it? Maybe it held the key to where Grayback is taking Annabeth. But the game is dangerous particularly if Greyback had it.

So to that day I played the game deep down in the cellar hoping to get some answers but the strange thing is every time I landed on a curse or a fortune nothing would happen and at the end I would go and cry in my bedroom for the loss of Annabeth and how I couldn't protect her and over time I grew a hatred towards werewolf's and Greyback. Werewolf's come to Scotland often to get away from the city and from the comets to live a new life and I always felt sorry for them, it wasn't their fault they were bitten and some were really nice people but some were savages and greedy but I didn't care anymore, nice or not a werewolf is a werewolf, they are monsters, creatures of the dark and should be locked up from the rest of the world or killed!

One night a year after Annabeth had disappeared I received a little note in a black envelope I had to read the letter ten times until I could get it in my head

Joanne

If you want a chance to get Annabeth back, meet me under the old oak tree in the fields at twilight

That was all it said, no name, no address. Nothing. I mean what I could know is that it could be a trap, what if Grayback sent it, all sorts of thoughts were rushing through my head was I to go or not? In the endafter a long battle with myself I decided to go to the old oak tree and see this person.

When the clock was at five minutes to midnight I got my coat, even though it was a warm night, and set off towards my destination.

There was no one there at the old oak tree, it was a clear night, the crescent moon was high in dark blue sky, Annabeth once said the crescent moon looked like a banana. Suddenly a huge bat swooped in, flying over my head, behind a tree, then a shadowed figure in a black cloak came out from behind the tree.

"Hello" I said in a quiet voice, no more than a whisper.

"Hello" he answered in a casual voice, like he was just passing by, but he sounded quite young though, maybe eighteen or less then he took a step closer to me "Joanne Rowling I presume."

"Yes" I say in the same quiet voice.

"Oh there is no need to be frightened my dear lady," he said warmly "I maybe a vampire but I won't hurt you, not that I would want to, My name is Timoken" with that he pulled the hood on his cloak down revealing a young looking teenager, he looked about eighteen with long silken black hair and bright blue eyes, he looked very friendly... but vampire's don't exist.

"I'm here to warn you about the dangers that might come to yourself and maybe to you daughter Annabeth" he said, a jolt went though me

"You know where she is?" I asked "you said on the note!"

"Yes and...no" he confessed "it's hard to say really."

"Just spit it out!" I snapped

"Me and my people know the place but sadly the question is 'where' and 'when' in that place."

"When?"

"We say that she is in another time, that is how she is hiding."

"WHAT!" I shouted "Are you trying to tell me that Greyback, the most bloodthirsty werewolf of them all has taken her back in time, you can't do that! Not even the great wizard Merlin could do it!"

"This has nothing to do with the werewolf" he said as calmly as he can "this has to do with Annabeth and that lamp in your sitting room" he continued "we think the lamp you own belongs to a man called Phineas Nigellus Black who died years ago."

"Then if he died years ago it doesn't belong to him, OH THE HECK!" I shouted "what does this has to do with my stupid lamp, are you playing games boy?"

"Well if you just let me finish my sentence I will explain" he sighed "look, in 1851 an evil man called Sirius Black 1st wanted to make time travel possible but died trying and his son Phineas Nigellus Black, just as bad as his father, decided to carry out the time travel plan. He got two lamps that looked alike and put some really complicated spells on them, which took years, but when he died the two lamps got separated somehow; one is in Black house but the other one is still lost."

"So you think I have the lost lamp" I said in disbelief.

"Yes, we don't know how it works but when it does the people in the room disappear."

"But it's not possible" I said "That monster took little Annabeth I saw it with my own eyes!"

"We can only guess at that" he said "it's possible that lamp doesn't work straight away, because you left Annabeth in room by herself she might of got some of magic inside her from the lamp and then went back in time a few moments later when Greyback had took her."

"But how does the lamp work?" I ask

"We are not sure but that's what we want to find out" he smiles "let my friends come to your house every week, they will be looking for signs of any time travel and we might find the clues to get your daughter back, do you accept?"

"If it's to get Annabeth back, then I accept"

Then from that day till now vampires come to my house to look around, they were very nice but when someone knocked at the door they would freeze up and stare at the door, I would tell them to hide in the basement ,ut I always get nervous in case they lose control and decide to take their blood, and still they come now and again but they never find anything to do with Annabeth and my lamp still stays the same.

And I haven't seen Timoken in years.

I don't know what to say expect this is the hardest chapter I've ever wrote.