Chapter Five: Exposed!

Once they were finished with their butterbeers, they left The Inky Quill and headed back out into the town square. The young witches had now finished decorating the statue of Mad Meg and were using their wands to hang lanterns on twine which stretched from rooftop to rooftop, festooning the whole place with twinkling lights. The young wizards were now trying to move the float through the square, cutting the path it would parade down during the festival. Every so often it would breathe fire, and crowds of tourists would squeal and scramble out of the way.

But the pair of them did not have time to watch the ongoing festivities and so they trailed through shop after cafe after hotel, showing people the photograph and asking anyone if they had seen Peter. But no matter where they looked and who they asked, they always got the same answer as they had in the pub. Peter had not been seen. The town was too busy for anyone to notice him. As far as anyone knew, the small, plump man in the picture had never so much as set foot in Beetje Heks-Stad.

...

It wasn't until they tried the ice cream parlour ( Rolf Rademaaker's Roomijs Winkel ) - after hours of fruitless searching - that they finally struck gold. Showing the picture to Rolf himself, they suddenly saw a look of recognition cross the shopkeeper's face. 'You've seen him?' Remus asked when he saw the way the man's eyes lit up. 'You know him?'

'Ja ja - I saw him. Older - plumper. Going bald. But was him for sure.'

The two men looked at each other in excitement. 'He came in here?'

'He had a double choco mint and raspberry sundae with extra fudge and cream.'

'Sounds like Peter,' Sirius muttered.

'When?' Remus asked. 'When did you see him?'

Rolf opened his mouth to answer - but, just as he did, the tuba under the statue started up - making the most deafening, thundering, discordant squawking noise. Within a moment, the trumpets and cornets and the french horn had all joined in, drowning out all other sounds.

'What?' Remus cried over the din, 'I'm sorry - I didn't hear you…'

Rolf started to yell - straining to make himself heard, but then the chiming of the hour joined in with the brass cacophony. Sirius looked at the clock, hanging above the counter. 'It's one o'clock,' he pointed out, 'train leaves in five minutes, we need to get back.'

So - reluctant to give up on this slim lead, but with no other choice - they said 'thanks' to Rolf and headed back for the station, fighting their way through the crowds. 'At least we know we're on the right track,' Sirius said, once they had put some distance between themselves and the noise of the brass band. 'Little Peter has been here and he'll be headed down through Luxembourg. We just need to catch up with him.'

As they reached the ticket booth, they slipped back into the shadows, Sirius transformed into Padfoot once more and then they showed their tickets, crossed the platform and clambered back up onto the train.

...

When they reached compartment 22B, the Austrian was already laid out on his bunk, snoring again - and Umbridge was sitting on her own bed, reading a tourist leaflet about Mad Meg, which she appeared to have picked up in the Beetje Hecks- Stad museum of local witching history.

'You two were cutting it fine,' she sniffed.

'We were enjoying ourselves,' Remus said calmly. He and the dog got back onto his bed and tried to ignore her. It wasn't to be.

'I spoke to the guard,' she told him. 'They should have fixed the First Class compartments by tomorrow. I should be back where I belong in the morning.'

'You must be very happy.'

She glowered at him. He kept on ignoring her.

There was a great, creaking, groaning noise and then the train began to rumble out of the station. They would now be travelling for hours through the Belgian countryside and then through the border to Luxembourg just after it got dark.

Remus watched the landscape flash past the window, seeing fields and muggle towns and even some cities and then yet more fields, filled with cows. He wondered how far ahead of them Peter already was, if he had already travelled this way - if he had already seen these same fields, these same cows.

He wished he could talk to Sirius; knowing that Peter had been in Beetje Heks-Stad, that someone had seen him, felt like something they needed the chance to talk about. But between Sirius being a dog and the Ministry Hag sitting not five feet away - it seemed unlikely that an opportunity would arise. He wished that - of all the many magical ways the four of them had developed to communicate when they were trapped in separate detentions - telepathy had been one of them.

He had nothing else to do - he figured he might as well give it a go. He turned to look at Padfoot - staring hard at him - his eyes boring straight into the dog's.

'Hem hem.'

He heard a little cough. He ignored it and kept staring.

'Hem hem.'

He kept staring.

'Hem hem.'

Eventually he realised that that irritating sound was the Ministry Hag's attempts to get his attention. And if he kept on ignoring her, the false coughing would keep on happening. At least it would keep on happening until he lost his temper, snapped and hexed her for it. And then he would be in trouble - as she had told the guard last night, she was an important member of Government. And he was … he hoped she never found out what he was. Reluctantly he tore his eyes off Sirius and turned to her instead.

'What are you doing?' she asked him.

'I'm trying to communicate telepathically with my dog.'

'Why?'

'There's nothing else to do, I'm bored, I feel like talking to him.'

'But he's a dog.'

'Doesn't mean he doesn't have anything interesting to say.' He turned back to Sirius. But now - wised up to why he was getting stared at - Sirius just shrugged his doggy shoulders at him. He couldn't hear what Remus was thinking - and so Remus sighed and gave up. Over on her bunk, Umbridge noted the way the dog had shrugged - and narrowed her eyes.

...

Hours passed. The skies began to darken, the stars began to come out - and the Austrian wizard suddenly awoke with a start, snorting loudly. 'Wo sind wir?'

'Er - what?' Remus asked, furrowing his brow politely.

'Vere are ve?'

'Oh - somewhere near the Luxembourg border, I think - we were supposed to get there around twilight.'

'Danke,' he looked around the small cabin as if expecting to see someone else. 'Und wo ist dein freund?'

'I'm sorry - I don't understand.'

'Your friend,' the Austrian wizard said.

'It's just me and Padfoot,' he gulped nervously - wondering if the man had heard them talking while he slept last night. Perhaps he had not been as out of it as they had thought.

'Nein nein - your friend back in ze town. I see you with him. Tall, dark hair - in ze pub.'

'Oh - him.' He was very aware of Umbridge's eyes on him, but he ignored her. 'He's - er - well - er - he lives in Belgium. I just met up with him for a drink.'

'You were drinking alone when I saw you,' Umbridge said.

'He'd gone to the toilet.'

Her smile became dangerous. 'And yet both butterbeers were for you, you said?'

Thankfully, the Austrian wizard seemed oblivious to any awkwardness he might be stumbling into the middle of. He didn't notice the danger in Umbridge's voice, or the coldness in Remus' eyes. He smiled widely. 'Ah - it is gut to travel and see friends, no?'

'Yes,' agreed Remus, hastily - happy to change the subject.

But Umbridge wasn't letting her suspicions go. She smiled again - her wide, froggy smile that held no warmth or friendship in it. 'And you have friends in Belgium and family in Italy, Mr. Lupin? For one of the most Anglo-Saxon looking men I ever saw, you do seem to spread your acquaintances around Europe.'

'Well - both the Angles and the Saxons came from the mainland - so that would make sense.' He smiled back at her - his was also saccharine. Two could play at that game.

She glowered.

'It is gut you have friends,' the Austrian wizard was nodding. 'Gut to see. You are verevolf, no?'

Remus froze. He felt simultaneously hot and cold and was aware of the blood suddenly ringing in his ears. He felt Sirius freeze beside him and was horribly aware of the way Umbridge had suddenly turned ashen faced and shrunk back from him - cowering in her bunk, her eyes flashing with anger… or maybe just plain disgust.

'What - what makes you say that?' He choked on his words, struggling to get them out. His throat felt like it was closing up, like there wasn't room to squeeze the words out.

'Forgive me,' the Austrian wizard said, and he looked apologetic, as if he realised he had embarrassed Remus and was sorry for it. '- I meant nothing by it. Just - my brother - he is bit by ze volf also. You show the same signs - ze dark circles under ze eyes, you don't have much money because people vill not give you ze job. Your face - your eyes - I see the same look as I see in my brother. Ze hardship - it takes its toll. But it is good if you still have friends. People who love you. Your kind are treated very cruelly. It is not right.'

'Th - thank you. I get by - and I have Padfoot.'

'He must be a great comfort to you at ze full moon.'

'He has been in the past.'

The Austrian wizard beamed at him - and then at Padfoot, 'gut dog!' But in the bunk beneath his, Umbridge was now shaking - quivering with fear or rage or both.

'You…' She struggled to get her words out. She pointed a trembling finger at Remus. 'How dare you? How dare you get on a train and share a living space with normal people? How dare you pretend you are one of us? You - you filthy halfbreed.'

'Madam!' The Austrian wizard cried in alarm, 'there is no need for that - see he is not dangerous.'

'Of course he is dangerous! I knew it. I knew when I saw you there was something wrong about you, something unnatural.' She turned from Remus to fire her anger at the hapless Austrian. 'He is dangerous and he is dirty and he is not fit to travel alongside decent people.' She got off her bunk and drew herself to her full height - which as she was short and squat was not very impressive. She shook from head to foot. 'I'm going to speak to the guard,' she said. 'You have no right to be on this train Mr. Lupin. I will get rid of you!'

She headed for the door, sliding it open - 'guard! guard!' She stepped out into the hallway - yelling the whole time .

'Madam no - there is no need!' The Austrian wizard scrambled down from his bunk and gave Remus a look of remorse, 'I am so sorry!' and he chased her down the train. 'Please, Madam, you must reconsider!'

But, from inside their compartment, they could still hear Umbridge screeching for the guard and occasionally banging on doors and shouting 'werewolf - werewolf on the train, help me chase him off.' And then came the sounds of other doors opening, and crowds gathering - and an ominous rumble as a mob began to form.

...

Left alone together, Sirius transformed back into himself. His face was bloodless and his eyes were shining. 'What are we going to do? Can they really kick you off just for being a werewolf?'

As soon as their companions had left the compartment, Remus had got to his feet and started packing the case. Slowly and methodically he folded their pajamas and robes and put the washbag back inside. Outwardly his movements were calm and measured - but he could feel the heat on his cheeks and his heart was banging wildly in his ribcage.

'Legally? No. But no one will want a werewolf on the train - no matter how distant the next full moon. They will ask us to leave. If we are lucky, they will ask us to leave politely. And if we don't, no doubt they will discover a problem with our tickets. That's if they can hold back the mob.'

He put the last of their things in the suitcase, closed it up and tied the string, knotting it neatly once again.

'So we just give up?' Sirius asked. 'We leave?'

'One way or another - they won't give us a choice.' He smiled wryly. 'Welcome to my life.'

'That stupid Austrian wizard.'

'It wasn't his fault - he was being friendly.'

'No. It was the toad's fault. She's one to talk about being a halfbreed. She's part amphibian. Slimy bitch.'

'There's no need to name-call.'

'Moony, there is every need to name-call.'

'It won't fix anything.'

'It makes me feel better.' His grey eyes were suddenly anxious and yet strangely soft at the same time. 'Are you alright? The things she said - she had no right, Remus. They're not true.'

'Aren't they?'

Sirius flushed bright red and opened his mouth as if to fire off a furious retort at Remus' words … but he was cut off by the door sliding open again without any warning.

'How dare you put me in a compartment with a werewolf!' Umbridge was shrieking at a harassed looking guard. 'Who knows what he could have done to me in the night? A dangerous beast in with a single woman - what were you thinking? How could you let this happen? I will be demanding compensation and I want him off - off! Him and his mangy d-'

Her eyes travelled the compartment, to where both men were standing - frozen. They were both staring back at her - feeling panic and defeat and desperation crash around them. They were caught red handed.

Her eyes widened as she looked at Sirius, as she looked him head to toe - placed him in her mind and found a name for him. She opened her mouth - pointed and began to shriek. 'Sirius Black! Sirius Black in 22B - everyone - don't let him escape. Sirius Black! We've got him!'

And within moments there was a great crowd gathered around the door, peering in at both the mass-murderer and the werewolf - who were both still standing, frozen in place.

'Grab him! GRAB HIM!' Umbridge shrieked.

And Remus came back to his senses. Adrenaline was coursing through him - making him tremble - but also spurring him on to act quicker and be more daring than he ever knew he could be. He shoved the case into Sirius' hand, drew his wand, ignored the alarmed cries of the crowd, who clearly thought he was about to attack them, and pointed it at the window instead.

'Reducto' he bellowed at the top of his voice. There was a smashing, crashing sound as the window was blown clean from the wall of the train. He yelled again 'reducto reducto' and the wall itself was blown away too. It smashed to earth, as the train kept on thundering by, and sparks were visible in the distance where it landed. The wind now howled into the compartment, whipping their hair around and sucking them towards the hole.

The gathered crowd screamed and grabbed hold of whatever they could - including each other - to stop themselves being blown overboard.

But that was precisely what Remus wanted. He grabbed Sirius, bundled him to the hole in the wall and yelled: 'jump!' He gave him a shove and Sirius flew off the train, disappearing in the darkness.

Remus risked one last backwards glance at Umbridge. She was clutching onto the door frame - her hair was blowing around wildly and her face was twisted in anger. 'You filthy animal!' she yelled at him over the sound of the whistling wind.

And then he too jumped from the speeding train. He felt himself fall through the darkness and then crash down onto the hard ground, landing with a bump and rolling several feet away from the tracks. The train thundered past … and within seconds, the final carriage had vanished into the night.