Title: Of High School, Werewolves, and Deadly Nightshade
Rating:PG
Altverse: few things you may recognize, few you may not.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I hope I meet expectations and everything. Ps, morphing into your human form takes time, correct?
Disclaimer: yeah yeah,sure sure
Chapter: Six – Curiouser and curiouser
A continuation with a bedtime story.
Peter was out of breath. He reached Professor Dumbledore's office, and began his transformation back to human form. The Professor was obviously in his meeting room. Halfway through, he burst in through the door. Immediately, he noticed another shocked figure in the little room. Mentally, he cursed himself for having been careless. 'Well,' he reasoned. 'Can't worry now.' More important things were going on. His attention was sent directly to the Deputy Headmaster.
"Professor," he panted. "I need your help."
Another voice replied, wanting to be heard.
"You!"
Peter eyed Severus Snape angrily. He swore under his breath.
Severus had seemed to be angered by Peter's presence alone.
"Shut up, Snape," snapped Peter. "There's more than your own at risk. Professor?"
"Mr. Pettigrew, indulge me if I am confused," the professor said. "What in Merlin's name are you doing in my office?"
Peter looked at Severus nervously, and so went closer to Professor Dumbledore, speaking in low tones.
"I'm sorry we never told you, sir," he said urgently, "but there's no time to explain right now. Remus Lupin has broken out of the Shrieking Shack."
Professor Dumbledore looked surprised at Peter's knowledge on this matter and seemed to be a little angered by it, but then Peter's words became clearer.
"That's not all, sir," said Peter. "There's another one out there. A more powerful one, by the sound of it."
The Professor's eyes widened a little and a look of realization crept onto his face.
"Severus," he said. "I need you to do something for me. Go as fast as you can and tell Professor Figg that I have summoned her urgently. And tell Madam Pomfrey that I may need her on Alert."
Severus, still suspicious of Peter opened his mouth to protest, but then caught sight of his teacher's expression. One that brooked no refusal. He settled for narrowing his eyes at Peter, then bowed and left the room quickly.
Peter watched Severus leave the room, unconsciously letting out a sigh of relief. He could have sworn he had heard the professor say to himself, "I should have warned them. Who would think she'd be so powerful.."
He decided not to pursue the subject.
James and Sirius met on the other side of Hogsmeade and transformed momentarily so that they could communicate.
"Any luck?" asked Sirius.
"None," replied James quietly. "You?"
"Nothing." Sirius' tone was grim. "I can't believe we let this happen. Now Dumbledore will have to know and he's going to UC us when he does."
"It won't matter much if Remus is dead, Padfoot." James' voice at this statement would have made anyone realize why he was the unspoken leader of the Marauders. "You know how the villagers are."
The second howl that they had heard earlier was repeated.
Their heads snapped at the direction it had come form.
"Forbidden Forest," said James, morphing. "Let's go."
In Professor Dumbledore's office, Arabella Figg, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had arrived. She was a middle aged woman with a penchant for cats who was arguably the best Defense ADA teacher Hogwarts had ever seen. Unfortunately, she would be retiring in two year's time to be replaced by a young man who had graduated from Hogwarts. Those who had met him could not figure out how he was going to teach the subject, for he was a stuttering little man.
Professor Figg was everything but.
"Something about werewolves?" she asked, hoping that she had not heard Severus' message correctly.
"Indeed," Professor Dumbledore replied. Peter frowned. How had he known?
But Professor Dumbledore was not finished. "Two of them. One cursed and the other a Lycanthaic Ultimage. It seems that they are loose in the village."
Professor Figgs' calm expression had grown steadily more worried as the words 'werewolf', 'two', 'Ultimage' (Peter had no idea what THAT was) and 'loose' had come out from the Deputy Headmaster's mouth.
She checked his desk calendar, and her expression grew worse still. "Oh Merlin.." she almost whispered. Peter had never seen this before. She seemed frightened.
"What does all this mean?" asked Peter.
Professor Figg looked at Professor Dubmledore who nodded at her.
She began distrustfully. "It is the 31st of November, 1975. A very dangerous date concerning werewolves. Why? Because two moons in a magical system parallel to ours have aligned, Selene and Luna."
"The moon Goddess and God," said Peter.
"Correct," said the Professor. "This happens a quarter into every age, and is known even to more educated Muggles as the blue moon. It amplifies the powers of Selene and Luna tenfold, and therefore it also amplifies the power of our own moon, for all moons are their descendants. To werewolves, the blue moon is like a new millennium, a time of celebration, and," her tone grew darker, "a time of wreaking real havoc. If there is even one loose in a magic population, disastrous things will occur. And there are two of them."
"How can we contain these two? It is essential," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Well, this would never have been used. But in these circumstances, there is a drug that could make the pair docile and susceptible to magic temporarily. But there may be side effects."
The teacher seemed genuinely reluctant.
"What?" persisted Peter.
"You see, the blue moon is also a time of mating to werewolves. A likely couple such as you have mentioned would first destroy a few things then mate. But since the she-wolf is an Ultimage, she will have a very dominant persona as a wolf."
"And they'd destroy each other.." Peter realized.
"At midnight, when the atmospheres are right." Agreed Professor Figg.
"Midnight?" cried Peter. "That's in ten minutes!"
"How soon can you prepare the drug for two?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"One and a half minutes," the woman replied squarely.
"Prepare it," said Professor Dumbledore. "Peter will deliver it. Then we can bring them to be secured."
"It has to be injected physically. Right into the system, or digested, and they have to be together. And if the she-wolf loses the initial fight, they will probably mate."
"We shall bridge that gap when we come to it. Go now."
Peter was performing a charm that would let him communicate, one way, with Sirius and James.
"Prongs, Padfoot. It's Peter. There is a drug available that will allow the werewolves to be bewitched and contained. I am bringing it to you in two minutes time. You must find them, keep them in one place and do not let them destroy each other or yourselves. They will begin fighting each other in a few seconds, but we need all the time we can spare. The she-wolf is stronger than Remus and she will kill him if they still roam free, he's threatening her dominance, especially in the Forest."
He had heard the howl as well.
"I'm coming. Make sure you hold them off."
Prongs and Padfoot had gotten the message and they looked at each other grimly as they chased the werewolves. The first feral howl had to have been a challenge then. The response came, Remus' response.
They came to a clearing where two wolves were circling each other, growling maliciously, waiting to tear their opponents' throats out.. The first was definitely Moony; Padfoot and Prongs could recognize him. The second was unfamiliar, but they had expected that.
An arctic wolf, it would have appeared to anybody else. The she-wolf's coat was sleek and pristine. Her appearance was not as messy as Remus' usually was this far into the night. She was more menacing, more dominant in a way.
Prongs and Padfoot joined in the fray, trying to keep their friend and themselves alive. The two werewolves turned on them instead and soon, Padfoot had been thrown aside, nearly unconscious. This broke his mental concentration and he was a wizard before he had hit the ground.
Just then, Peter showed up. He was holding two wands, their tips glowing lavender.
"They're projectiles," he said. "We have to aim the cherry bombs straight at them. Instant knockout."
Professor Figg had encased the drug inside a pair of exploding containers.
Sirius looked slightly groggy, but managed to grasp what his friend was saying.
Prongs was knocked out as well, and two wolves began to advance slowly on Sirius and Peter.
"One," Sirius said. The wolves came closer, and Peter stiffened.
"Two."
They were tensing up on their hind legs, ready to pounce. They pounced.
"THREE!"
The charms hit the werewolves squarely in their chests while they were in mid air, and they landed, unconscious on Peter and Sirius respectively.
"I told you he'd put on weight," mumbled Sirius.
A second later, the wolves got up silently and synchronically. In step, they headed back to the castle.
"Professor Dumbledore must be bewitching them. I think he's going to lock them up in his office."
Sirius said that he did not wish to know until he had gotten some chocolate. Evidently he and James had suffered serious injuries, and Peter helped his friends to the Hospital Wing.
It so happens that when the sun rises, the light is again balanced between night and day. This has the reverse effect on werewolves as the twilight the night before. All of them wake up at the same time, but Lycanthaic Ultimagi are so unpredictable, who could tell?
The next morning
Remus felt his eyes open. This happened all the time, yet it felt different today. He took a deep breath, enjoying a strange but pleasant scent and the morning sunshine.
Sunshine? He slept in a dormitory with the curtains drawn. There was no sunshine!
Remus was slightly puzzled, but he was feeling exceptionally bright this morning. As he came to his senses, he realized he was naked, with a blanket covering him..and somebody else. He was in the arms of somebody he could not recognize, also, it appeared, indecent.
'I wonder who she is,' he mused carelessly.
Belladonna awoke. She was feeling very, very good. But there was no reason why. She could feel the sun on her face, and her eyes were closed. She stayed this way, relaxed, for about a minute.
Then she got the feeling that somebody must have been watching her, and that she was not wearing her nightclothes.
Without warning, her blankets moved. Somebody else was in that bed.
Furious, she opened her eyes and screamed at what met her view.
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