Chapter XIV - Sightings
October came quickly, and with it the chill of autumn swept through the castle. Dumbledore was keeping fires lit during dinner in the Great Hall, when the temperature dropped drastically upon nightfall. The first Hogsmeade weekend was announced, which heightened the moods of the students before Umbridge's disbanding of all student organizations two days later. Trelawney was forced to go on probation, adding to the stress of the other professors who could to very little to help the situation.
Harry, on the other hand, had taken the time to form what he and many other students had come to call "Dumbledore's Army," which met in the secrecy of the Room of Requirement. Outside of this sanctuary he was still receiving detentions and enduring the anger that so often overtook him, and it seemed the one thing that made him feel any better, outside of writing to Sirius, was the end of the day.
Harry sat in the fifth year Boy's Dormitory, watching out the window with little interest about what lay outside. Moonlight hung in the clouds above, and the trees of the Forbidden Forest below. A cool wind swept through the land, washing the moon with those clouds and rustling those trees in unison with a faint rushing.
It was between the treetrunks that Harry first spotted it- an orange something, vibrant against the dark scenery around it. It was low to the ground, he knew immediately, and it was soon clear when he sat up and watched with interest that it was four-legged. It wound its way here and there, head lowered, but facing the castle. And then, all at once it looked toward Gryffindor Tower- straight toward him.
Harry froze. The creature's gaze remained settled on him for a few more moments before trailing off to another part of the castle. Why wasn't it doing anything? Why was it just standing there, staring, like-
And then he heard the cry.
From around the castle's side swept a magnificent creature, its fiery-hued feathers striking an eerie glow in the moonlight. It descended rapidly toward the orange beast before alighting on the ground beside it. Harry was struck with the sudden realization that it was Fawkes.
Fawkes had left Dumbledore's office to meet down there with- with- whatever-that-was.
And then it hit him. Suddenly a picture of a fox flashed in his mind's eye, but no, that wasn't quite right. So he thought a bit on it, watching Fawkes and this thing far below, and raised that fox a little more off the ground, made it a little taller than he had imagined initially...
Harry threw on his Invisibility Cloak and left the dormitory in an instant, taking the Grand Staircase down until he reached the floor he needed. Through the corridor he went, past a few doors until he reached the one he was looking for. Stilling his breathing he pressed close to it before banging the knocker on it and took a step back.
A few moment later the door opened and out stepped a confused professor. Harry pulled the Cloak from his face and her eyes widened in surprise. "Harry- What-?"
"Professor DiNozzo. I wanted to ask you something."
"In the middle of the night? Hold on-" She stepped out and glanced around before opening the door to the classroom a little wider. "Come on in."
Harry walked inside and waited a moment before speaking again. "I know Sirius and Lupin know about my using my Cloak so you must too- Sirius said before that you did- anyway, I had a question."
She rubbed her face and nodded. "Go on..."
"Are there maned wolves in the Forbidden Forest?"
There was no answer for a few seconds.
"What?"
"Are there maned wolves in the Forest? I saw one just earlier; Fawkes flew down to it."
She blinked. "Fawkes...? Harry, go back to your dormitory."
"What? But Professor-"
"Harry, please go back to your dormitory." She was already heading to the door, opening it. "I don't want to catch you sneaking out again, either. Go back and I'll tell you what I can tomorrow."
He watched her leave the room, headed straight to Dumbledore.
"Professor!" Rosemary pushed through the door into Dumbledore's office, looking as though she had rushed this entire way. "Headmaster, I think we need to look into the Forbidden Forest as soon as possible. Wait- why are you awake?"
Dumbledore looked up from his desk and smiled. "Professor DiNozzo, what a delightful surprise. Although I dare not say it's too delightful, considering your sudden entrance and the look on your face. Alas, it was Fawkes that awakened me, and as you can see he's yet to return from wherever he's gotten off to."
"Prof- Dumbledore-" she said, leaning on his desk and trying to catch her breath. "Harry just showed up at my door to tell me that he saw a maned wolf in the Forbidden Forest. With Fawkes."
"A maned wolf? With Fawkes?"
"Yes."
Dumbledore stood slowly and seemed to think this over for a moment. "Did he say where he saw it?"
She shook her head. "No. Should we do something?"
He turned and walked to a window, looking out on the land before him. "Fetch Minerva and Severus, if you will. Is Harry still in your office?"
"N-no, I sent him back to his dorm-"
"Good. If you would be so kind as to leave any further information from his knowledge..."
She nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll get Professor McGonagall and Snape." With that she left to fetch the others.
In the depths of the Forbidden Forest, a ghostly hound slunk through the shadows, a mist following it as it went. There was something new here, something it didn't recognize. Curiosity and the need to protect its haunt drove it to seek out the intruder.
In a matter of seconds it sensed the intruder and closed the distance between them. Its sightless eyes followed the strongest point of the sensation almost like radar, and through the trees an orange-and-black figure walked. Intent on scaring this creature away, the gytrash approached.
But it was an action it would soon regret, for the sensation intensified and the mist around it became drawn toward this living thing in a way that it had never experienced before. It was almost a magnetic pull, as though the other canine was sucking the very essence out of the gytrash.
With a shriek the gytrash pulled from the other creature, fleeing from the evil that emanated from it. There was something not natural about it, and the gytrash could tell.
"Keep an eye on the grounds." Dumbledore's soft voice filled the otherwise silent room. "Voldemort's control still stands, and we cannot assume she is in any way freed of it, even here."
McGonagall's face bore concern. "And the students?"
"I will announce the closing of the grounds tomorrow morning, and we will keep our eyes on the goings on throughout the castle."