Chapter 1: Third Year

Takes place in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban after the events in the Shrieking Shack.

It certainly wasn't a testament of Harry's self-preservatory instincts. To be completely honest it was downright stupid, but one does stupid things for his friends. The moment Harry looked into Professor Lupin's eyes after he had gazed at the full moon he knew that the man hadn't taken the wolfsbane potion that day. He immediately spotted his slightly dilated pupils and his staring off into nothing. He knew they were screwed. Sirius knew it too, and by the looks of it so did Hermione. Ron seemed to be the last to catch on, only realizing what was happening when their professor started to transform. Sirius screamed at them to run while changing into his Animagus-form. They did, or rather tried to. Ron's limping gait slowed them down considerably, even though both Harry and Hermione helped him to move as fast as possible. But it was for naught.

They heard a shriek and then a low whine. When Harry turned around to see what was happening he saw Sirius lying on his side, still in his dog-form, bleeding from a gash to his torso and struggling to get up again. In the meantime the werewolf advanced on the trio until he was only an armlength away from them; Hermione screamed. Harry let go of Ron who, without the support of his friend, crashed to the ground. Knowing that he had no knowledge of magic powerful enough to fend off a werewolf he did the only thing he could think of: He positioned himself in front of his friends and spread his arms in a weak effort to shield them. What did Professor Snape tell them in Defense Against the Dark Arts? A werewolf has no knowledge of the human which is his vessel. The wolf would even kill the people closest to its vessel. The wolf didn't hesitate.

Long yellow claws slashed at Harry, throwing off his glasses, breaking the skin of face and ripping through his clothes. When he fell down the wolf did it again. And again. And again, until his face, arms and torso were nothing more but a bleeding mess. Harry was absolutely certain that this was where he would die. The pain of his numerous injuries was overwhelming and he just waited for unconsciousness and death to take him. Vaguely he heard the voices of his friends, screaming and begging the wolf to stop, even though they had to know that it wouldn't. Then suddenly the onslaught ended. Harry lay at the floor gasping for breath and bleeding when he saw as the werewolf sniffing the air and dashing off in the direction of the forest. He couldn't believe it – he was still alive. The next thing he knew was that his friends were shaking him, screaming at him to not fall asleep. He looked at them, beyond exhausted, and watched their surroundings. As he did he noticed that an important person was missing. "Pettigrew?", he asked weakly. "He got away while you were attacked mate, grabbed my wand and transformed into a rat again. I'm sorry mate… but that's not important right now! What's important is that we get you to Madame Pomfrey as fast as possible!", Ron told him, panic evident in his voice. Just as he finished speaking Snape made an appearance again. When he spotted them on the ground, blood all around them and Harry injured he came to an abrupt halt, staring at them wide eyed and mouthing "Potter…". His stupor didn't take long to dispel though and he rushed to Harry's side. "Potter, I swear you're going to regret attacking a teacher! And how did you get yourself into this mess?! Did your beloved Professor Lupin get to close, huh? Just wait until I tell the minister of this, Lupin will rot in Azkaban for this! Finally I have proof of how unresponsible and dangerous that man is, along with his dear old friend Black! Where is he!?". Snape was enraged and Harry knew he only had a split second to act out the plant that had formed inside his head while Snape was ranting at him. The moment his teacher turned away in search of his godfather Harry raised his wand, which had miraculously remained in his hand throughout the whole attack. Before Snape could react or even properly look at him Harry said loudly, putting as much power and magic as he could spare into the spell "Stupor!" Once again their professor was thrown back, with even more force than before, mirroring the desperation in which the spell was cast. He was out cold. "Harry! What did you do?! We need his help!", Hermione said perplexed, looking between her teacher and best friend. Meanwhile Sirius changed back to his human form once more and limped towards them, clutching his side in pain.

"No. He wants to rat out both Sirius and Professor Lupin, we can't let that happen, I can't let that happen…". Harry panted heavily by the end of his statement. When he caught his breath again he turned to Sirius who was staring at his godson's battered and broken form in horror. "Sirius." No reaction. "Sirius!" Said man startled and looked up into his godson's eyes.

"You have to obliviate Snape. He can't know of anything that happened tonight, especially not of Professor Lupin attacking me. Make him think he came here to find Professor Lupin when suddenly he fainted. Let him think that he hasn't been feeling well all day long. Position his body to fit the story and then get away from here! You have to flee! Use your Animagus-form so the dementors won't find you." Harry spoke in a rush. He could practically feel their time running out, but Sirius just continued to stare at him, as did his friends. Harry painstakingly got up on his elbows to better look at his godfather and continued "Snap out of it, we don't have time for this! Did you understand what I need you to do?"

"I… You… Yes, I understand. I need a wand… Harry held out his wand and Sirius took it, almost as if in a trance. He went over to Snape and did as Harry asked, healing the slight scratches the man had achieved and fixing his clothing so all evidence of a fight were gone.

When he returned Harry's wand he looked he straight into his eyes – Lily's eyes – and told him: "I can't even begin to describe to you how sorry I am this happened, and I will never be able to repay the debt of you protecting Remus from the Ministry. Thank you… I… Thank you." He looked to the ground when he was done speaking, his eyes burning with shame and tears.

"It's okay, you're welcome", Harry answered weakly, feeling his consciousness slipping away for good this time, "…go now…" was the last thing he said before he knew no more.