That was really weird, I didn't get the emails until like 8 hours after I'd posted them. i'm gonna leave that thing there though so it doesn't mess up the numbers and reviews though... Anyway, please review, I love hearing what you guys have to say! Here's your next chapter. :3
Oh, and a lot of you have requested certain things like the reincarnation of Fred meeting George, and stuff like that. I am going to do my best to include all of those, so if you have anything you'd really like to see, just say so! Don't be too detailed of course, but yeah.
Before they knew it, the night of the full moon had arrived. They left their rooms after night had fallen and left the school through the same secret entrance they had used the week before, carefully avoiding Peeves and the caretaker along the way. They managed to escape the castle unseen and wove their way across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut and the dark trees beyond it. They had hidden some supplies behind a wood pile in Hagrid's garden that afternoon, hoping that the giant wouldn't notice, and much to their relief it was still there. Each of the eight students grabbed as much as they could carry, and then Jack and Tavish led them into the trees.
Jack and Tavish hoped silently that they were leading everyone in the right direction; they had only walked this trip once before, and it had been dark - and they hadn't really been paying attention. After what seemed like ages they heard the trickle of the river and emerged from the trees to see the wide, sloping bank that they had seen last time. They hadn't come out onto the river at the right spot, however; the stone platform was no where to be seen, nor the giant tree they had hidden in.
"Upstream or downstream?" Jack whispered, and Tavish shrugged hopelessly.
"I haven't got a clue, mate," Tavish whispered back.
"Well... We walked upstream to the portkey," Jack said slowly, "And I don't remember walking by here, so there are two options. One, the stone platform is a little bit upstream from here, and the place where the portkey was is even further upstream..."
"Or we're way off and it's like three kilometers downstream," Tavish finished with a groan.
"Just go upstream, we'll know if we're wrong sooner," Teddy cut in. Tavish and Jack agreed, and they turned and followed the river. The woods were silent and dark except for the moonlight reflecting off the water, and it seemed as though time stood still. No one wanted to break the silence, so they did not speak; the crunch of their shoes and the whisper of the water were quiet backdrops to their journey. After a few minutes, much to their relief, they saw the large stone platform on the opposite side of the bank.
"This is where you saw him last time?" Rom asked doubtfully, pulling off his shoes and socks before stepping into the water.
"Aye," Tavish said, pulling off his own shoes and rolling up his trousers. "We heard him on that platform the first time. So, we'll head back there and see..." He waded into the water with Rom, and the others trailed in after them. The water was cold, as it should be at the end of November, and it made their feet numb and painful. They walked quickly to the other side, eager to be out of the water, and jumped up on the stone with a shiver.
"That was downright unpleasant," Lucy said with a grimace. "We should have brought brooms and flown over that. Hey, wait, what's this?" Lucy was staring down at something in the stone, and the others came to look. It was the engravings that the boys had read the first time: Komm zu mir, Werwolf
"Oh, no," Rom moaned. "Tell me you didn't read this out loud?"
"We did," Jack said with a frown, "Why? What's the matter?"
"It's a summoning charm," Rom said, rubbing his hands over his face. "It is meant to summon a werewolf to you. It literally means come to me, werewolf."
"So what? That's a good thing," Jack said. "It'll ensure your dad shows up again this time."
"But that's why he didn't come home," Rom moaned. "Because he was out looking for whoever called him this entire time! As a werewolf, too, because you summoned the werewolf.
"Okay, great, so he's looking for me," Jack said. "I read it. He'll find me, we'll trap him, the sun will rise and everything will be good again."
"As a werewolf," Rom repeated. "You summoned a werewolf, not my father. That means he's been a werewolf for the past month."
"Oh," Jack said awkwardly. "Well, will saying it again undo the spell?"
"Maybe," Rom said, throwing his hands into the air. "I don't know. I'm a first year, I'm not a bloody charms expert!"
"It's worth a try," Lucy said. "But at the very least, once he finds you the charm is fulfilled. The only issue will be having him not tear you into itty bitty pieces once it wears off. Before we try anything, we should set this stuff up." She gestured to the piles of stuff everyone had in their arms, and the boys nodded.
"He can't climb that tree," Tavish said, pointing to the tree they had hidden in the month before, "So perhaps we should use that as our base?"
"Sure," Lucy said, and led the way towards the tree, her shoes still in hand. She dropped her supplies at the foot of the tree and started sorting through them, spreading out a tarp on the ground as flat as she could. "Duro," she commanded, and the tarp turned into a sheet of stone. "Severin, would you come help me with this?" she asked, and Sev came over and helped her push the thin sheet of stone upright to form a wall. Another simple charm locked the stone in place, and they repeated it four times over to create a box with three sides and a bottom. The final pannel was laid flat, and would be pushed upright once the werewolf was inside to imprison him.
They just had to hope he wouldn't be able to jump over the walls.
"Okay, what's next?" Lucy asked, glancing around.
"We tie ropes to the extra wall so we can pull it up from the tree," Severin suggested. Lucy beamed at him,
"Great idea, Sev."
"Great idea, Sev," Jack mumbled under his breath as he grabbed the ropes, snorting slightly in derision. Luckily, neither Lucy nor Severin heard. Teddy heard, however, and fought back a chuckle.
"Jealous?" he whispered, elbowing Jack slightly in the ribs.
"Am not," Jack hissed back. "Hush. Help me with these ropes, will you?" Teddy laughed louder and took one of the spare ropes from Jack's hands, then tied it to the stone as Severin had suggested. Just as he finished tying the rope, they heard a howl come from the other side of the clearing. Chills raced down their spines and Jack felt his heart leap into his throat, fear filling his mind.
"Looks like we didn't need to call him again," Tavish said, his face pale. "He's coming looking for you, Jack."
"Seems like it," Jack said, trying to keep his voice even and not squeaky (it simply wouldn't do to squeak in front of Lucy).
"But we haven't finished setting everything up!" Lucy said with distress. "We still had to bind the walls and hang a distraction and -"
"No time," Teddy said. "Everyone, up in the tree. This'll hold." With another howl, the werewolf emerged from the trees in the distance and paused, sniffing the air. After a moment it lowered its head and trained red eyes on them. With a panic, Flynn and Serafin scrambled for the tree and jumped up into the branches, practically scrambling over one another to get high into the branches. Severin and Lucy followed them, and then Teddy climbed up a bit more calmly. Jack ran for the tree too, and Tavish was on his heels when he noticed Rom wasn't running.
"Rom, come on, he's almost here!" Tavish said.
Rom stepped towards the tree slowly, keeping his eyes trained on his father's approaching form. "I've never seen him like this before."
"We don't have time for this," Tavish growled, and slapped Rom across the face. Rom jumped, coming to his senses, and his eyes widened. "Go for the tree, now, Rom!" Rom nodded and turned, climbing the tree rapidly and Tavish disappearing into the branches after him. They climbed about twenty feet into the tree before realizing they had left the ropes on the ground, and without them there would be no way to close the box.
"Bloody hell!" Jack yelled, slapping his palm against his forehead. "The ropes! I'll go back and get them-"
"Are you joking?" Flynn yelled. "Are you a wizard or not?"
"Right," Jack said, slapping his forehead again. He pulled his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at the ropes, then yelled, "Accio ropes!" The ends of the ropes snaked through the air and slapped into him, nearly knocking him from his branch. He scrambled to grab them and clutched them tightly to his chest, then wrapped them around the branch to hold them in place. Jack climbed lower in the branches just as the werewolf approached. The werewolf spotted him in the tree this time, unlike last time, and growled up at him. Jack climbed out on a branch over the stone room in an attempt to lure the werewolf inside, and the werewolf growled and snorted, circling around until it found its way inside the stone room and stood directly under Jack, howling and snapping.
"Pull the ropes!" Jack yelled, and Flynn and Serafin scrambled down a few branches to where Jack had left the ropes. They yanked on them yard, tugging the sheet of stone up behind the werewolf. It spun, growling and snorting, to stare at its new prison. It slammed against the stone and nearly yanked Flynn and Serafin from the tree, but they held on to the branch with their legs and started tying the ropes into place. It turned back and watched Jack with hungry eyes, and he wasted no time scrambling higher into the tree.
"What now?" Serafin panted, his rope securely tied to the tree.
Rom looked at them grimly. "We wait for sunrise."