Starlight and Moonlight
A Harry
Potter Fan Fiction Piece
"You're a what?"
Sirius exclaimed, staring at Amihan in disbelief.
"Neko-onna," Amihan replied
with a small smile. "A semi-lycanthropic
being indigenous to Japan but can be found anywhere in Asia." Seeing the bewildered expression on her
colleague's face, she decided to try a different explanation. "Think of it this way: an Animagus who
shares the powers of a werewolf."
"Amihan is about as dangerous as I
am on a full moon," Remus chimed in by way of an explanation. "Possibly even more so because a single bite
from a neko-onna – even a very small one – is lethal."
"Fatal!" Sirius drew back, dropping his soupspoon in the process with a
loud clatter. He stared at Amihan
incredulously. "I don't believe
it!" he cried in consternation.
"In her case, however," Remus
continued, "the Change is voluntary. It
doesn't hurt her at all."
"In which case, would anyone mind if
I made a brief demonstration?" Amihan
turned to Minister Dumbledore inquisitively.
"Not at all," Dumbledore motioned
for her to go on. The others also
nodded their consent.
"Very well…"
She had not done it in years and
surprised herself that the shift of shapes from woman to cat still came so
easy. It had always come easy to her,
easier than most as a matter of fact. She just flowed into the form, letting the very substance of her
being flow like water poured from one container to another without a drop
spilling. The Change neither expanded
nor diminished her. She did not dread
it the way Remus dreaded it nor did it jolt her the way most Animagi were
jolted by the Metamorphosis Spell. Indeed, it came as easily as breathing to the raven-haired witch.
Everyone stared in amazement as the
young woman before them shrank into the form of a beautiful blue-black Persian
cat. Grinning, the cat stretched a bit
once the transformation was complete and proceeded to groom herself most
calmly. She walked up to Remus and mewed
softly as she looked up at him.
"Please pick me up," she seemed to
say. The violet-eyed wizard was more
than happy to oblige and soon had her curled up on his lap, purring luxuriously
as he stroked back her soft fur.
"How's a little housecat like that
going to help bring Wormtail down?" Sirius asked, looking at the cat on his
friend's lap rather dubiously. "He's a
wily sort, you know. Even Hermione's
Crookshanks had trouble with him and that cat's a fairly good hunter."
"You'd be surprised, Professor
Black." Sirius choked back an oath as
they heard Amihan's voice from the cat's mouth. Lightly, she hopped off Remus's lap and drew back a bit. To the shock of everyone present, the little
cat grew into a mighty panther that growled menacingly at Sirius. The dark-haired Transfiguration professor
seemed to cringe in his seat as he watched her transform. Snape seemed to enjoy his reaction very
much.
Even Amihan was laughing as she
flowed back into her human form and took her place at the table.
"Amazing!" Hermione exclaimed,
enthusiastically applauding their teacher's demonstration of her powers. "It must've taken you years to
perfect that transformation!"
"Actually, I could transform almost
as soon as I was born," Amihan corrected her with a smile. "Don't tell me you weren't listening to my
lecture on neko-onna, Miss Granger! You can only be neko-onna if you're born into a family of neko-onna."
"It must be real cool to be a born
Animagus," Ron sighed admiringly.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, raising his water
goblet in their teacher's direction. "I'll drink to that!"
"Then that must mean all of you are neko-onna,"
Octavia Lupin joined in.
"Not really," Amihan admitted
wryly. "Mom's the neko-onna doe
but my dad is just a regular wizard – no Animagus skills whatsoever. Of five children, three were born neko-onna
while the only son is a confirmed carrier." A fond smile flickered over her lips as she remembered her family. How proud her father had been when he
realized that three of his little girls were just like their mother! Amihan could almost hear her father's
rumbling basso profundo booming indulgently over her and her two older
sisters but knew that he would always have a soft spot for the sister who had
no powers whatsoever. "Of five, one
turned out a Squib," she said in a lowered voice that throbbed with a tinge of
sorrow long repressed. She looked
uneasy; she obviously hadn't spoken about her sister in years. "My twin sister, Alapaap, used to tag along
behind me every time I went out on a hunt. Yet, I never heard her complain about being the powerless one in a
powerful wizarding family." A single
tear streaked down her cheek as she remembered Alapaap's cheerful face as it
glowed every time her sisters got her presents from whatever school they were
attending or whichever country they were in. Remus tenderly held her hand to comfort her; she smiled gratefully at
him.
"She's been dead all these years,"
Amihan went on, dabbing off the tear with her napkin. "But I owe her big-time for the help she gave me with the
lycanthropy project, the way she pored over the books while I did the field
work. I'm sure she didn't want me to
brood after she passed away, but I did brood and my heart was consumed
by the thought that I wasn't the perfect witch and was thus unable to prevent
her dying.
"It was only recently that someone
taught me that there are those who suffer from circumstances worse than those
I've been through." Remus looked away
at those words. "At the same time, I
realized that there were more important things than the craving for revenge or
the lust for the destruction of those who get in one's way." Amihan lifted her head and there was an odd
sort of glow in her golden eyes. "Things like trying to reach out to others who are in more pain than you
are, joining forces with former enemies against a common evil…" At that, Snape
slid a sidelong glance at Sirius and sighed. "Even the effort of finding a cure for a condition that has kept someone
from living a normal life, particularly someone who's become very important to
you."
"You've grown up since you left us,
Amihan dear," Dumbledore remarked kindly.
"And you display a most uncommon
maturity for one so young," Marcus Lupin nodded in agreement towards her.
"Have I? Do I?" Amihan smiled in a
self-deprecating manner at their words. "Sometimes I still think I'm the same abominable little git who demanded
perfection from herself and those around her, the little witch who was forever
hatching up plots to stay on top at Hogwarts."
"In any case, I have no doubts as to
your capabilities for catching Peter Pettigrew." Dumbledore addressed both Amihan and Remus at that point. There was a worried air about the Minister's
wise person as he looked at everyone at the table. "We ought to take a page out of Alastor Moody's book, however,
and be on our guard at all times." He
fixed an intent eye on the two remaining Marauders. "Do either of you still have that map of the school you charted
years ago?"
"I do," Remus replied, nodding. "It's over my fireplace in Gryffindor
Tower."
"Excellent. I would advise you to make three copies of
that map, Remus. Give one copy to
Minerva, one to Severus, and one to Amihan. That way, all of you can keep an eye over the school." He looked grim as he set down his
soupspoon. "I shudder to think of what
Pettigrew might do if he ever gets to Hogwarts."
***
"I heard
everything."
The seven of them Floo Powdered back
to Hogwarts and found Minerva McGonagall waiting for them in Remus's
study. Judging from the stricken
expression on her ashen face, what had been said at Basingstoke Hall had shaken
her to the core and she was frightened by the implications.
"Well, we have our orders," Sirius
said as he sat down in one of the armchairs. "What now?"
"Let me check the map first." Remus tapped the parchment over the
fireplace with his wand and intoned the password. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Once again, lines blossomed over the
blank parchment. Intently, eight pairs
of eyes scanned over its surface. To
everyone's relief Pettigrew was nowhere in sight.
"Mischief managed." Remus looked up at the now-empty parchment
and then at his companions. "Three
copies, right?"
"Here: let me." Amihan waved her own wand over the
parchment. "Replicatio Triplicata!"
At once, three copies of the map
fluttered to the carpeted floor. Remus
picked them up and handed one each to Amihan, Snape, and the Headmistress.
"Remus," Amihan studied the
seemingly blank parchment in her hands, "can we change the passwords for our
personal copies?"
"Yes," Remus replied. "Just cast the Encryption Spell over it."
"That can be managed," Snape said as
he rolled up his copy and put it in his pocket. He turned to leave. "In
the meantime, would you please excuse me? I have to write a quiz for my third-year Hufflepuffs."
"Of course." The others nodded and he murmured his
goodbyes.
"I take it that you and Starlight
are to prowl the premises, Remus?" the Headmistress turned to the brown-haired
DADA teacher.
"Between us, we could probably
ferret out Wormtail in a jiff," Remus murmured in agreement. However, the solemn look on his pale face
seemed to contradict his confident words. As his back was turned towards the Headmistress and the others, only
Amihan could see that his face looked worried, even dubious.
The others made their excuses and
left the study, leaving Amihan alone with Remus. She turned to him, golden eyes filled with concern as he wearily
sank onto the sofa.
"He's a wily one, isn't he?" she
asked.
"I'm afraid so," Remus agreed; the
tone of his voice made Amihan's heart sink. "The wiliest yet."
Amihan sat beside him. "You're scaring me, Remus," she admitted
nervously. "Professor Snape did
say something about Pettigrew being a dangerous individual. I haven't hunted in ages and I might not be
of much use."
Remus smiled at her. "Oh, hunting's pretty much like flying a
broom," he said. "Once you learn how,
you never forget even if you do get out of practice." His face took on a grim set. "Oh, Pettigrew's dangerous, all right, but he's also a frightful
coward. I daresay that was why he hung
out with us Marauders. Sirius could be
brash enough to take on any number of bullies. James could be counted on to outwit even the wiliest of enemies while I was
sneaky enough to spy on them so we'd know how to counter their tricks. Pettigrew knew that we could take care of
ourselves – and him – in case we got into trouble."
There was a faraway look on Remus's
face as he remembered what Sirius had lashed out during that terrible night in
the Shrieking Shack:
When did I ever sneak around
people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter – I'll never understand why I
didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us…me and Remus…and James…
"I guess that's why he went
over to Voldemort in the first place," Remus continued slowly. "Voldemort was growing stronger with each
passing day and we all feared that he would win out in the long run. I guess Pettigrew saw it fit to turn over to
his side, probably thought it would mean more protection for him in case things
went really wrong."
"Did anyone ever suspect that he'd
gone over to Voldemort?" Amihan asked as Remus put an arm about her to pull her
closer.
"Lily – Harry's mum – had an
inkling," Remus admitted. "She never
liked Peter for some odd reason and picked up a fight with Padfoot when he
chose that little rat for their Secret-Keeper. In fact, she picked up a fight with James over a number of decisions
involving Padfoot and Peter. Why
Padfoot was Harry's godfather instead of me, why Peter was Secret-Keeper
instead of me."
"With all that said, why didn't
they choose you?"
"Believe it or not, Padfoot suspected
that I was the traitor in their midst."
Amihan stared at him in
consternation. "You?" she
cried. "Why? I would understand why they didn't assign you as Harry's
guardian: it is risky to put a little boy into the hands of a man who
turned into a man-eating beast once a month! But why did he think you were a traitor? Was it also because you're a werewolf?" When Remus nodded, rage seemed to burn in Amihan's veins. To her, it was monstrous that Sirius Black
had chosen to be prejudiced against one of his dearest friends at a time when
they really had to stick up for each other. "That idiot!" she grated. "Remus, you'd have given your life for any of them if they asked you
to!"
"Amihan, you have to understand that
this was a time when dark forces were up and about." He smirked ironically as he spoke. "Voldemort was already drafting in Dementors and vampires into
his service. I guess it wouldn't have
been long till he started drafting merpeople and werewolves into the fray. I think Padfoot realized that and decided
that I probably wasn't trustworthy enough to be put under the Fidelius Charm.
"Lily tore into him when she found
out why Peter was Secret-Keeper and not me. All hell broke loose in Godric's Hollow that day when Sirius came in to
tell her and James. She was in full
Tiger Lily mode back then and not even James could restrain her from ripping
Sirius to shreds. Padfoot left their
house badly scratched, as a matter of fact.
"The following day, Lily dropped by
Basingstoke Hall with baby Harry…"
***
"Master
Remus, Mrs. Potter be here."
Nineteen-year-old Remus Lupin looked
up from the Greek text on Minotaurs he had been translating for a new
book. A house-elf was at the door of
the library announcing the presence of Lily Potter and her little son.
"Mistress say to show Mrs. Potter to
library," the elf said. Bobbing a short
bow, the elf left as Remus rose to usher Lily in.
"Tiger Lily!" he exclaimed in
greeting, politely kissing her cheek as he divested her of her gurgling,
squirming little bundle. Little Harry
looked happy to see him.
"Moony!" the baby declared as Remus
tossed him up indulgently.
"Hallo, Harry!" Remus was equally delighted to see the
little boy. Harry was getting to be
like a nephew to the young author who was, alas, an only child. "What brings you and Mummy to Basingstoke
today?" He waved Lily to the couch and
sat beside her. "I take it this isn't
exactly a social call."
"You've heard about Peter, haven't
you?" Lily began without preamble.
"That he's your Secret-Keeper
now? Yes, James clued me in on it
yesterday."
"Well, I'm not happy about
it," she declared hotly. "It should've
been you."
"Me?" Remus stared at her in surprise. "Lily, Peter's every bit as trustworthy as
any of us."
"Trustworthy? That little rat is trustworthy?" At that point, Remus thought every cliché
about the irritability of red-haired people was perfectly true in Lily's
case. Her green eyes were flashing with
rage. "Moony, I do not trust
Wormtail one single bit. Come to think
of it, I've never trusted Wormtail! Why does he get to be Secret-Keeper and you can't?"
"Aw, Lily!" Remus regarded her sadly. "You do know what I am, don't you?"
"Of course I do! I've known you were a werewolf for years and
I honestly don't know why everyone's making such a big deal about it where
Secret Keeping's concerned!"
"Haven't you heard the rumors,
Lily? They say that Voldemort's been
casting Compelling Spells over Dementors and vampires to do his bidding. Who knows when werewolves will be
next?" He shook his head
regretfully. "I'm sorry, Lily. In this case, we have to trust Padfoot's
judgment. I can't put any of you in
danger, Lily, and you – of all people – should know that."
"But, Remus!" Lily protested,
trembling with a barely suppressed rage. "You know as well as I do that you'll kill yourself first before you
turn traitor on us!"
"Lily…"
"Remus, you know how Peter has been
all these years. He's the sort of
person who will turn his back on his friends if he thinks that they're a
disadvantage to his own safety and security. For all we know, he may already have gone over to Voldemort!" Lily suddenly broke down, tears streaming
down her lovely face. Remus gently put
Harry in his mother's arms and embraced both mother and child consolingly. "It's bloody unfair, Remus," Lily now
wept. "It just isn't fair!"
"Please don't worry about it, Lily,"
Remus murmured beseechingly. "I'm sure
things will work out for best."
"They won't," Lily sobbed bitterly,
cradling her infant son to her bosom. "I am sure that they won't…"
***
"She was
right, you know," Remus sighed disconsolately. "As things turned out, Peter didn't work out fine.
"Peter tattled to Voldemort about
them. Voldemort killed them both. Sirius tried to corner Peter but only got
framed in the process. For the next
twelve years, we all thought Peter was dead and Sirius was the traitor. He spent the next twelve years moldering in
Azkaban, brooding over his innocence to keep the Dementors from driving him
mad. Poor Harry was thrown at the mercy
of Lily's Muggle sister and her dreadful little family.
"And I…"
He didn't have to say it. Amihan realized that Pettigrew's duplicity
had, in one fell swoop, divested Remus of the only three people who could help
him get through the agony of the full moon. Tears were now streaming down his face as that long-forgotten memory
came back to stab him once more as he finished his tale.
Tears were rolling down Amihan's
face as well when she put her arms about his thin body, letting him weep in the
same manner he'd let her when she had to reveal the truth about her sister's
death and the dreadful events that followed. She let him press his ear against her heart, letting its steady rhythm
lull him to healing sleep even as Amihan murmured words of consolation into his
other ear.
***
Time passed
and the full moon came a week before Halloween.
Normally, Padfoot and the younger
Prongs would sit with the gray wolf in Remus's office. This time, however, neither of them were
present as someone else sat vigil with the wolf they called Moony. Instead, Sirius, Harry, and Ron all stood
guard as they sat by the door of Remus's office.
Inside, Amihan sat at Remus's desk,
keeping a close watch over her copy of the Marauders' Map while the large gray
wolf napped by the fire. The
raven-haired witch was frowning as she studied the Map and looked more than a
little worried. The Map was most
certainly effective but, alas, it wasn't perfect. For one thing, it only featured the school itself and, for
another, there was one part of the school that the Marauders had trouble
plotting: the Forbidden Forest.
Amihan wasn't sure if the four lads
had ever made an effort to plot the Forest into the Map, let alone roamed in
it. She herself knew how tricky it was
since the Forest was never the same from one season to the next; she would know
– there were many instances in her childhood when she just couldn't help but
roam the Forest in the form of a cat. None of the beasts in that enchanted wood ever dared to attack her as
they knew that she could be quite a dangerous foe if provoked.
Who would be best to ask if
Wormtail's been in the Forest? she thought as she went over the Map. Mentally, she went over the various
creatures that lived in the Forbidden Forest. The centaurs were bound to be more than a little vague, obsessed as they
were in the movements of the heavens. The Sphinx annoyed Amihan with her constant riddling. That alone crossed her out of the list. One by one, she considered the beasts that
lived in the Forbidden Forest until she hit upon her best possible choice:
Aragog the acromantula. Aragog would
know! His children lurk in all parts of
the Forest and their senses are keen enough to sniff out strangers in their
midst.
On rising, she went over to where
Moony lay fast asleep. Sitting next to
him, she gently smoothed back his fur and whispered into his ear. "Wake up, Moony," she whispered. "I think I've found a way to look over the
Forest."
One golden eye opened and looked
inquisitively at Amihan. His tail
wagged eagerly.
"Oh, you naughty wolf!" Amihan laughed as the wolf got up and
proceeded to lick her face in a most playful manner. "You weren't asleep at all!" She was in no danger of being hurt by him, as neko-onna were
immune to werewolf bites. She scratched
him behind the ears while purring like a cat. "You must be hungry," she said and took a small plate of rice-flour
cakes off the desk and set it before him. "Here: I steamed these for you. They're very nice. Eat up whilst
I get the others ready to go."
She walked up to the door and
motioned for Sirius to come in. "You'd
better tell Potter and Weasley to go back to Gryffindor Tower," she told
him. "The three of us are going out."
Sirius raised an eyebrow at
that. "The three of us?" He pointed out the door. "Do you honestly think that Harry and Ron
can resist going after us?" he demanded. "Heck, they'll even drag Hermione and Ginny along given half the
chance! Best that we take them with us,
Starlight."
"Have you taken leave of your
senses, Sirius?" Amihan glared at him
furiously. "I can understand if you
want to take Potter along as he is an Animagus, but you're putting the
rest of them in mortal danger!"
"Starlight, these kids have been
through more danger than you probably ever will." Sirius hadn't meant to be snide, but he knew that the younger
teacher had not been with them long enough to know what sort of hair-raising
adventures the youngsters had over the past several years. "Let them come along. It's not like none of us know how to deal
with the beasts in the wood."
A sudden sharp bark made both of
them turn. Moony was bristling angrily
at Sirius. He obviously agreed with
Amihan that it was unnecessary to put the students into another precarious
situation. The gray wolf growled
menacingly at Sirius and slowly began to advance towards him.
"He obviously disagrees with you,
Sirius," Amihan noted mildly. "Let me
talk to the boys."
"No, you'd better let me do the
talking." Sirius trembled visibly as
the wolf continued its slow, relentless advance. Sirius went out, slamming the door behind him hastily in the
process.
"You didn't have to scare him,
Moony," Amihan chuckled, squatting beside the wolf who now sat on his haunches,
tongue lolling out in lupine laughter. She hugged the wolf who was only pleased to lick her face again. "You really are full of tricks, aren't you?"
***
Just to
make sure that Remus didn't attack anyone unnecessarily while he was a wolf
despite the dose of Wolfsbane Potion he'd taken the previous week, Amihan used
an old trick used among neko-onna who were bonded to werewolves: she
tied a strand of her hair about his tail before they went out of his office.
To Sirius's surprise, Amihan brought
them to the front door of Slytherin Tower.
"Pure-blood," she told the
moss-covered wall before them. The wall
slid open to reveal a high threshold just like the one at Gryffindor
Tower. "Wait for me here," she advised
Sirius and Moony. "There's someone we
have to take along."
"You're going to take the ugly git
with us?" Sirius thought that nothing
could have been more appalling. "You're
insane!"
"Shut up, Sirius," Amihan grunted
impatiently. As she climbed up the
threshold, she patted Moony's furry head affectionately. "Be a nice wolf and stand guard over your
friend, Moony," she asked him. "If he
strays out of line, you have every right to nip him. Okay?" Moony laughed; needless
to say that Sirius looked more than a little put out with his best friend as
Amihan disappeared through the entrance hole.
"Whose side are you on?" Sirius
muttered to the still-laughing wolf sitting beside him.
Meanwhile, Amihan had entered the
Slytherins' territory and was greeted in their common room by the sixth-years.
"Malfoy, where's your Head of
House?" she asked the pale-haired Slytherin prefect.
"I'll get him, Professor," Draco
replied, rising to his feet. "He's up
in his study."
When Draco had gone, Amihan looked
over the Slytherin sixth-years. They
were an unruly lot according to the other teachers, but they had always been
well-behaved in her class save for the one time that Draco had volunteered to
help her drive Professor Lupin up the wall. One might even say that they were almost afraid of her; she supposed
that Snape had told them about what she was and how she was definitely more
dangerous than Professor Lupin on a full moon. That was enough to keep even the worst bullies in check.
"Crabbe and Goyle," she now snapped
at Draco's two burly cohorts. "I want
you to stand guard after Professor Snape and I leave." She eyed the rest of the class grimly. "If you value your safety, none of you will
follow us."
"Bet you the Gryffindors will be
after you," Pansy Parkinson muttered glumly.
"That's what you think,
Parkinson. But, no: even the Gryffindors
aren't going to be allowed out tonight."
"But, Professor…"
"That's enough, Parkinson!" Amihan
snapped at the grim-faced Slytherin girl. "Now: I want the lot of you upstairs in your dormitories as soon as we
leave." Presently, she spied Draco and
Snape coming down the spiral staircase. "Malfoy, be sure to take everyone up to their rooms after this."
"Yes, Professor," Draco replied
somewhat reluctantly.
Snape nodded to Amihan and the two
of them went out of the Tower. When the
door creaked shut behind them, Draco swore underbreath and motioned for them to
gather round.
"I think they're after Peter
Pettigrew," he told his fellow Slytherins. "I heard Professor Snape talking about it with Sinagtala and Lupin
yesterday. Sinagtala wants to prowl the
grounds tonight; she said something about wanting to explore the Forbidden
Forest and Hogsmeade, too."
"And you want to go after them?"
Blaise Zabini snapped at Draco. "You a
nutter or something, Draco? You
remember the last time you went into the Forbidden Forest – you almost
got killed!"
"Don't go, Draco!" Pansy begged him
tearfully. They'd become a couple since
the Yule Ball in their fourth year and, though both of them were rather mean to
everyone else, it was obvious that they cared deeply for each other. "It was bad enough the last time!" She grasped his hand suddenly. "If you're going, you'd better take
me along with you."
"Pansy!" Draco was shocked. "No
way!" he snapped. "It's much too
dangerous. Besides…" He drew a deep breath and spoke in a grim
voice. "Pettigrew's mine. He blew the whistle on my father and got him
sent to Azkaban. I'm going to kill him,
Pansy." There was a shocked intake of
breath in the room as the class gasped in horror. "I'm going to kill him and I don't want you there: it's not going
to be a pretty sight."
"I don't care!" Pansy cried. "I'm going with you!"
Draco's shoulders fell in defeat,
crushed by the tears running down her face. "All right," he agreed in a subdued voice. "Might as well; you'll pick a fight with me if I don't,
anyway. Crabbe, come with us. Goyle, stay behind and help Blaise stand
watch. The rest of you: get to bed!"
***
Meanwhile,
things were none the better at Gryffindor Tower on the other side of the
school.
"Something's up," Harry muttered as
he and Ron clambered into the portrait hole. "I think Sinagtala's figured out that the Marauders' Map doesn't cover
the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade."
"That doesn't sound good, Harry,"
Ron mused as they sat down in the common room. "For all we know, Wormtail could be lurking in there and he'd probably
be able to catch us off-guard!"
The boys regarded each other, each
feeling the other's impatience and restlessness. They'd gone through times like these together, times when they
really shouldn't have been barging into things. But Wormtail said that he would be after those who threw him into
Azkaban – and that included both of them and Hermione. This was definitely no time to be sitting
down lest they were caught flat-footed in the long run.
"What are you two doing here?" They looked up to see Hermione coming down
the girls' staircase. "I thought you
were out sitting with Remus in his office."
"They've all gone out," Ron told her
as he took her by the hand. He
explained that Amihan had a number of suspicions and how they would be going
out to investigate. "It must be really
bad," he opined. "They're even taking Snape
with them!"
"What's going on?" On looking up, they saw the rest of their
class coming down the stairs. "Professor
Lupin's all right, isn't he?"
Hermione excused herself, going
upstairs to change. The others stared
at Harry and Ron in bewilderment.
"He's okay," Harry assured them,
relieved as he was that Ginny hadn't wakened. Otherwise, she'd be begging him to tag along. "But they're out hunting; Snape's with them, too."
By hunting, the other Gryffindors
knew what he meant. At once, they began
to babble nervously among themselves. Harry was quick to shush them lest they woke the seventh-years and the
younger kids with their chatter.
"We're going after them," he said
determinedly. "If Wormtail's in there,
I want dibs on him. I stopped Remus and
Sirius from killing him and see what happened afterwards: he got Voldemort
back." He sighed. "He's partly responsible for Voldemort's
killing my mum and dad – and I refuse to let him get away this time! He's gotten away thrice already and there's
no way I'll let him go a fourth time."
"Seamus, you and Lavender keep watch
tonight," Hermione advised her fellow Gryffindor prefect as she came down. Her cat, Crookshanks, was in her arms. The big ginger cat looked more than a little
annoyed at having been roused from slumber. The sandy-haired boy nodded to Lavender and they took their places in
chairs by the door. Hermione turned to
the others. "The rest of you get back
to bed. If I'm right, we'll be out most
of the night."
"C'mon," Ron urged them. "They're probably out of the castle by now."
"Very well, then." Harry nodded to his companions. "Let's go."
***
The four professors stopped by Hagrid's hut before they forayed into the Forest. Luckily, Hagrid couldn't sleep that night and had been up knitting a hideous orange sweater when they arrived.
"Yeh picked a beau'iful night for
huntin', Starlight," he commended the young professor. "Pity yeh have ter go after some pretty ugly
prey, though."
"Positively hideous, Hagrid," Amihan
smiled at the giant gamekeeper. "Actually, we popped by for a bit of advice about Aragog. He's still here, isn't he?"
"Yeah, gone blind now has Aragog,"
Hagrid admitted sadly. He had
raised the acromantula patriarch himself at the price of getting expelled from
Hogwarts. "Still lives in th' deepest
neck o' the Forest. Has his young `uns
do his huntin fer him. Why'd yeh ask?"
"Would Aragog attack any of us in
our animal forms?"
"Nah. Them acromantulas feed on humans or pigs or cows or such. Yeh won't be in no harm if yeh see `im as
Animagi." Affectionately, he patted
Moony's head. "Good ter see yeh,
Remus. Now, yeh and Starlight
won't be in no danger. Aragog and his
kin don't care much fer the likes o' yeh. Scared stiff o' yeh is what they are." Absently, he added that the old acromantula might remember Amihan. "Knows that yeh used to come visit `im wi'
me years ago, y'know."
"That settles it," Snape
murmured. "We change forms."
"What do you mean we,
slimeball?" Sirius roared at him. "You
couldn't possibly be an Animagus!"
"You're wrong, Sirius," Amihan
corrected him in an annoyingly mild tone. "Did you honestly think there were only three unregistered
Animagi running around Hogwarts during your time? If you did, well, I'm sorry to say that you're wrong. There were four of you. Show him, please, Professor Snape."
"With pleasure." Snape stuck his wand out to one side. "Metamorphose!" he roared. To Sirius's astonishment, he turned into a
large black snake that hissed contemptuously at the wide-eyed Transfiguration
professor.
"You'd better change form as well,
Sirius," Amihan advised him as she melted into the form of the blue-black
panther. "We're going in."
***
Aragog the
acromantula, patriarch of the giant spiders who dwelt in the Forbidden Forest,
was surprised when a familiar presence was ushered before his web.
"Cat-child!" he greeted Amihan with
some surprise, clicking his pincers. "You have been long in your absence. What are you doing here? Where
is Hagrid?"
"Hagrid is in his dwelling, Lord
Aragog," the panther-witch replied respectfully. "My companions and I hunt the one they call Wormtail."
"Ah, the disciple of the
Unnamable. Yes, I have been made aware
of his escape. You need not worry: my
children patrol these woods at night and they have been most keen in advising
me of what goes on here." But the old
acromantula looked disturbed as he regarded them with sightless eyes. "Yes, the disciple has been spotted
here. He lurks in here like a
hunter-beast waiting for prey."
A younger acromantula crawled up
Aragog's web and muttered something with loud clicks of his pincers.
"Magog tells me that he advances
towards the school," he informed the hunters. "Be careful, Cat-child; he is a most dangerous foe."
"And am I not dangerous
myself, Lord Aragog?"
"Yes, you are a most dangerous enemy
to have, Cat-child. But this one you
hunt…" Aragog's voice trailed off as he
suddenly grew alert. The other
acromantulas around him also began clicking their pincers frantically. "Wait!" the old acromantula thundered. "There be humans in the wood!"
"Children!" the young acromantula
called Magog declared. "Not much meat
on them, but they will be sweet enough for a treat, my lord."
The panther rolled her eyes up in
annoyance. Moony and Snape stared at
each other in bewilderment. Behind her,
the great black dog's tongue lolled out of his mouth in laughter.
"The children are with us, Lord
Aragog," Amihan now advised the old acromantula. "I would rather that none of your children hurt them."
"As you wish, Cat-child." Aragog clicked his pincers to warn his
children away.
"But I would appreciate it if
your children could capture them for me."
Magog leapt into action, springing
off the web. He clicked at a number of
others to follow him. Before long,
there were screams coming from close by.
"Yours?" Snape hissed over to
Moony.
"Most likely," the wolf growled in
annoyance.
To Snape's surprise, however, not
only did Magog return with Potter, Granger, and Weasley but he also returned
with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Parkinson.
"What are yours doing out so late?"
Moony asked the mortified black mamba coiled beside him.
"I really wouldn't want to know."
"What's this?" Amihan flowed back into her human form and,
hands on her hips, stared down the shamefaced six the acromantulas had taken
before her. "I half expected the Gryffindors
to sneak out but I sure as heck wasn't counting on Slytherins being
here, too!"
Harry and Draco slid embarrassed
glances at each other. Oh, boy! they
seemed to tell each other. We're both
dead now…
There was a plaintive whine behind
Amihan and a pleading sort of hiss. When she turned, she saw both wolf and snake gazing at her
beseechingly. With a sigh, her
shoulders fell and she relented.
"As both your Heads of House have
begged me not to take points from either of your Houses, I won't." However, Amihan drew herself up with arms
crossed at her chest. "But you still
owe me and explanation why you're all up and about."
"Wormtail got my father thrown into
prison," Draco replied bitterly. "I
wanted to pay him back for what he did."
"Accio!" Amihan pointed her wand at him and a small
dagger flew into her free hand from one of his pockets. "By killing him, I suppose? Malfoy, I thought better of you." Draco hung his head remorsefully. "And, Potter?"
"Wormtail helped kill my parents,"
came the anguished reply. "It was my
fault why he got away and Voldemort returned."
"So now you want to make amends by
killing him?" Amihan shook her head in
dismay. "Potter, I'm very disappointed
in you." She sighed again. "Well, there's no help for it now, I
guess. You may as well come with
us. But Potter? Change form: it's safer that way."
She bade Aragog and his family
farewell and thanked them. Amihan
flowed back into the form of the panther and led them out of Aragog's lair.
They wandered throughout the
Forbidden Forest, carefully avoiding the more dangerous beasts that lurked
within. For once, neither Gryffindors
nor Slytherins sniped at each other, mortified as they were at having been
caught in the presence of their Heads of House. Hermione and Pansy began to tire around midnight and Harry agreed
to carry them on his back while he was in his Animagus form.
"This is getting to be rather
futile," Padfoot grunted towards dawn. "We've been running around in circles for hours!"
"You're getting old, Padfoot," Moony
laughed, nipping at his friend's flank as he and the others sped along. Suddenly, he came to a halt and sniffed
about. "Hold it!"
Amihan also caught the scent and
growled to the others to hold fast.
"From that direction," Moony told
her, pointing east with his snout. "Let
me go, Amihan. Just to make sure
it's safe."
"Be careful," Amihan mewed
worriedly, nuzzling him. Moony nuzzled
her back and loped off in search of Wormtail.
Amihan, Sirius, and Snape all
changed back and regarded each other worriedly.
"He's here, isn't he?" Sirius's face looked bleak.
Amihan nodded without looking this
way. Within her, her heart was pounding
with worry.
"Get the kids back to the castle,"
she told her colleagues.
"But…" Both Sirius and Snape
hesitated.
"Just go!" When Amihan spun around to face them, they saw that her face was
deathly pale and she was trembling. Fists clenched at her sides, she rounded on them. "Don't expose them to any more danger, for
crying out loud!" she cried.
Snape noted that it was getting
light. The first rays of sunshine were
beginning to light up the sky. Sharply,
he motioned for the students to follow him back to Hogwarts.
"Are you sure you know what you're
doing?" he hissed to Amihan in passing.
"I do." Amihan desperately tried to stay calm. "Just get them…"
A scream sliced through the still
air of the Forest – a scream filled with pain. It was the scream of a defenseless person attacked by something – or
someone…
Amihan's heart went lickety-split as
she dashed in the direction the wolf had gone earlier.
"Remus!" she cried. "Remus, where are you?"
Sirius blanched and Snape's eyes
widened in horror. Harry shook his head
in disbelief, changing back to his human form as the girls got off his back
when they heard that scream. Ron and
Crabbe both stood stock-still, their faces ashen.
"He didn't find Wormtail," Draco
murmured in shock. "Wormtail found
him."