Chapter Nine:

Padfoot

Sirius and Remus continued to fly high above the castle. As James predicted, Remus was relaxed by the flight. They flew high and slowly over the top of the castle, then swooped down near the Forbidden Forest again. Once near the edge, they turned and flew along it, high above to stay out of view.

"What say we retire after a few more minutes?" Asked Remus. Sirius nodded. Just then, however, something caught their attention.

"Remus! Sirius, help!" They turned to see Lily, Mary and Peter flying fast at them.

"Nott and the others are on our tail!" Mary screamed. It was true. Remus and Sirius stopped dead and looked at the following trio. They had drawn their wands.

"Fly!" Yelled Sirius. Mary, Lily, and Peter roared over them, and Sirius and Remus accelerated to catch up.

"Why don't we take them?" Asked Remus.

"Do you know any dark spells?" Responded Sirius. Remus nodded. Sirius looked over to see Peter. He was not lagging behind, rather flying nearly out of control on a broomstick more powerful than he could handle. Sirius quickly swerved over to Peter, and reached out.

"Grab my hand, Peter!" Sirius yelled. Peter reached out. His broom was flying up and down rapidly, and was beginning to slow down.

"Come on Peter!" He yelled again. Nott, Avery, and Malfoy were approaching. Soon they would be close enough to curse accurately. Sirius swerved radically again, and nearly colliding with Peter, gripped his hand tightly. Now, however, Lily and Mary, riding inferior broomsticks, began to lag behind.

"Under the tree line!" Yelled Sirius, and the grouped dove beneath the leaves. Remus landed first, swiftly dismounting, tossing his broom to his left and drawing his wand with the right. Next, Sirius brought Peter and himself down safely, then Lily and Mary.

The five quickly ran to the nearest tree, crouching around it, holding their brooms and wands out. They were silent as the three Slytherins passed over. They began to descend into the forest.

"Wands at the ready!" Whispered Sirius. Immediately, Sirius and Lily yelled,

"Ferio!", both striking Nott and knocking him off his broom.

"Ferio!" Came Remus next, knocking Malfoy away.

"Expelliarmus!" Said Mary, parting Avery from broom and wand. They began to get up quickly.

"Come on!" Yelled Sirius. "Let's go!" Remus grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Why? We can take them!" Sirius shook his head.
"Not them!" He said. "Krupp!" Beyond Avery, Nott, and Malfoy, came Krupp, leaning heavily on his staff.

The five quickly dove, their leap heightened by the flying power of their broomsticks. They landed behind a large-rooted tree, peeking only their heads above the root.

"Avery! Malfoy! Nott! What are you doing here?" He had an older student with him.

"But sir...the Gry-"

"No excuses! This area is off limits! GO!" He pointed a stern finger towards the castle, and the Slytherins reluctantly flew off.

"I've never seen Krupp get so mad at Slytherins!" Whispered Lily.

"That's Firmus Constance!" Whispered Sirius. "The same one that was almost killed! That Krupp almost killed!"

"He's going to try again!" Said Remus.

"We've got to stop him!" Said Mary.

"What is Firmus doing out here? With Krupp?" Asked Lily.

"I heard Evus talking about it." Said Remus. "That Krupp made him come and take one-on-one classes because he's not doing well. Evus seems to think that there are others doing much worse than Firmus; in fact he thinks Firmus is one of the best. It doesn't make sense."

"It makes perfect sense." Said Sirius. They nodded. "Come on." He said.

They crept along closer to where the two stood.

"Alright, Constance, I have planted the herbs necessary to create the Beatiserum. I'll leave preparation to your Potions class. Go, search!" Firmus nodded and ran off. Krupp smiled.

"You four stay here." Said Sirius. "Watch Krupp. I'll go after Firmus."

"Why just you?" Asked Remus.

"Any more and Krupp'll see. Stay here!" He warned and dashed off, leaving his broom.

Sirius followed Firmus for some time, being sure to keep out of Krupp's line of vision. Firmus ran along fairly quickly, navigating the forest quite well. Sirius began to lag behind. Just as he thought he might lose him, Firmus stopped. He was examining a plant. Sirius caught up, and hid behind a tree. He looked back; Krupp could not see them anymore. Sirius thought of accosting Firmus, but shrank back. He thought perhaps Krupp had some magical eye on him.

Firmus knelt down by the plant. He pulled out his wand and began to examine the leaves. Occasionally he would mutter something, and a small glimmer would come from his wand, and the plant would move about in some way. After a few minutes of this, Firmus stood up and pointed his wand. The plant was brought out of the ground, and he stuffed it into a small sack. He ran on.

Sirius followed yet again, but soon he lagged behind even further. By the time he found Firmus again, he was halfway through the process of checking out the plant. Sirius only had a moment to breath when Firmus pulled it up and put it in his sack. He started off again.

"Firmus!" Sirius half-yelled, half-whispered. Firmus turned at the sound.

"Firmus Constance!" Firmus couldn't make out the figure standing before him.

"Lumos!" Said Firmus. Sirius was illuminated brightly.

"Sirius Black? The Gryffindor beater? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Firmus, listen, you've got to-"

"It doesn't matter." Said Firmus quickly. "You've got to help me." Sirius stopped.

"What? Help you?"

"Yes. Krupp gave me an impossible assignment. He said I've got to collect all the plants necessary to brew the Beatiserum! And I've got a time limit. I'm only a fifth year, this is advanced Herbology stuff!" Sirius simply looked at him.

"Come on! Will you help me? I've got..." He rose his wand and muttered something. A circle appeared in front of him.

"I've only got thirty minutes to go!" Apparently, it was a clock. "Will you help me? Here, I can give you the samples of the plants I need." Sirius accepted, stepping forward to take the samples.

"Thanks a lot, Sirius." Said Firmus, and he dashed off. Sirius looked at the samples. He recognized the two that Firmus had already gotten. He looked at the others.

Knowing time was slim, he dashed off in the direction opposite of that in which Firmus ran. He ran as fast he could, looking at all the growth. He kept looking back at all his plants, and stopping because he couldn't tell whether he had found a match or not. After five minutes he had come up with nothing.

"Agh! Firmus is going to be in trouble. I've got to..." He concentrated hard. What could he do to find the herbs? What skills did he have? What spell could he use?

He thought over everything he learned...locating spells...perhaps the Summoning Charm? No, he had to know where the object was to do that! He thought over everything...his Animagus spells. No, those couldn't help him now, they were just partial Transfigures, nothing without knowing them all. Or could they? Peter used his partial Transfigures to help...yes, yes, they would definitely help!

"Existo mens immanotruculentus! Existo nasus immanotruculentus!" Suddenly he lurched over. His face became a little elongated, his jaw protruding. His skin became darker, his body bigger. He got down on all fours. He sniffed one of the herbs. Immediately, it was like he could smell the whole forest. Scents came at him, battering his senses with smells of all kind. Then, he smelled it, something very similar to one of the herbs. He shot off at it.

In his dog-like state, he navigated the forest much better. He moved faster, and ripped across the root covered ground. It was a matter of seconds before he came to the plant, collected it, and moved on to the next.

After three more herbs collected, there were only a few to go. It was when he found his fifth that he finally ran into one of the reputed dangers of the Forbidden Forest. As he ran along, scanning the forest carefully, a huge beast popped out from behind a tree.

It roared at Sirius and approached him.

"A hippogriff!" He said. He rose his wand. "Ferio!" He said, and the hippogriff was knocked back. But it charged again.

"Ablego!" He yelled. The hippogriff stopped dead where it stood, then suddenly flew backwards. It landed in a crumpled heap, and ran off.

"Sirius!" Sirius turned about. He couldn't have much time left. "Sirius!" Repeated the sound. It was Firmus. Sirius saw him, a ways away. He quickly bounded towards him, dashing as fast as he could. Firmus was looking in the opposite direction, searching for Sirius. Sirius finally made it to the clearing where Firmus was, but forgot, he was still in his Grim-like state. Just as Firmus turned around, he turned himself back to plain old Sirius.

"What was that?" Firmus asked wildly. He had seen.

"I...er..." Firmus pointed at him.

"You're a bloody werewolf!" Sirius quickly put up his hands.

"No, no, I'm not! I swear!" Firmus gritted his teeth and raised his wand.

"Stay away! You won't bite me!" He cried. Sirius shook his head.

"It's not even a full moon! I'm not a werewolf!" Firmus's cold face softened a bit. He lowered his wand slightly.

"Well...then...what was that? You were...so different." Sirius gulped.

"Listen, I...I...I'm trying to become an Animagus!" Firmus looked at Sirius dumbly.

"A...an Animagus?" Firmus asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Yes...I...er, it's an incredible challenge but I think I could do it. I...just...er..."

"That's amazing. Isn't that against the law?" Asked Firmus.

"Er..." Sirius put his head down. He couldn't tell him about Remus. "Yeah...sort of. I...."

"Don't worry." Said Firmus. "Your secret's safe with me." Sirius looked up and smiled. Firmus's eyes suddenly widened.

"We're going to be out of time! Did you find any?" Firmus asked. Sirius nodded and handed him what he collected.

"These are all the ones I didn't find! These are the rest! Thanks a lot, Sirius! I've got to get back to Krupp before time runs out!" Firmus commanded his wand to point him north, and he dashed off towards Krupp. Sirius followed still.

They ran for a while when Firmus came to a stop. Sirius looked around. He saw the place where they had hidden. The others weren't there. Sirius looked around wildly.

"Professor Krupp?" Came Firmus's voice. "Professor! I've got the herbs!" He yelled. Sirius walked up to him.

"Sirius! Have you seen Krupp?" Sirius shook his head.

"Have you seen my friends?" Sirius asked. Firmus's eyes rounded and he shook his head.

"Do you know the way back?" Firmus asked. Sirius gulped and looked at where his friends had been. It was very dark. He couldn't tell if his broomstick was there or not.

"Lumos." He said, lighting his wand as Firmus had.

Thump. Thump. Boom. Thump. Thump. Boom.

"What's that?" Asked Firmus. Sirius and he stood back to back. Their wands extended. Suddenly, a huge figure leapt out at Sirius.

"Watch out!" He yelled and dove away. Firmus turned, but could not escape. Instead he simply shouted the first spell that came to mind.

"Ferio!" The figure was knocked back. It was a very simple hitting spell, but at Firmus's level, he could pull it off as effectively as anyone could. Sirius shone his light on the shape.

It was a dragon. Sirius screamed. Firmus regained his wits.

"Confundo!" He yelled. The dragon was knocked back and seemed dazed. It seemed to be a young dragon, it was only the size of Firmus. It was white with small brown markings about its body. In a moment, however, it regained its wits, and opened its mouth. Along with a ferocious roar, the dragon belched blue flames at Firmus.

"Circumvalo!" He stuttered, and a solid white barrier appeared to block the flames. Sirius ran up to Firmus to help him.

"Keep the light on him!" Yelled Firmus. "In his eyes!" Sirius nodded. He flashed it around at the dragon's face. Wanting to do more, he began moving towards the spot his broom lay, keeping the light on the dragon.

He came to the ridge, behind which they had hid. Firmus was having a hard time defending against the beast. They moved about, and now the stood so that Sirius was directly behind Firmus, the dragon was facing both of them.

It launched another fireball at Firmus. He blocked, but it knocked him down. Sirius had to act now.

"Solarus!" He yelled. The light on his wand, already activated, blazed with the might of the sun for a few moments. The entire forest was illuminated, and the dragon recoiled, putting his hands over his eyes. As the light quickly faded, Sirius leapt down and grabbed his broom. As it trickled to a light dimmer than it was in the first place, Firmus returned to his feet.

"Ablego!" He yelled, and the dragon was lifted up and tossed backwards. It landed hard. Firmus didn't stop there.

"Circumpulso!" He shouted, and a vibrant green pulse of magic shot from his wand, smashing into the dragon.

"Battuo!" he yelled again, knocking the dragon into a huge tree. The dragon had had enough of that, however, and leapt to his feet. He immediately unleashed three fireballs, side by side, at Firmus. He tried to run away, but tripped on a large root.

"Firmus!" Sirius yelled. He mounted his broom quickly and flew to Firmus. He grabbed his hand and flew barely out of the way. Sirius's strength gave way, however, and Firmus fell back to the ground.

"Circumvalo!" Firmus yelled, as another fiery blast came at him.

"Wallo!" Yelled Sirius. The magical shield Firmus had produced was enlarged, and the fireball was absorbed. Firmus remained standing.

"Expecto Demori!" Firmus shouted, blasting the fire back. It struck the dragon, but seemingly had no effect. It leapt at them. Sirius again swooped down to Firmus. He grabbed him by the arm and lifted him up, flying away from the dragon.

Firmus was heavy for a Sirius, however, and he began to lose Firmus again. Taking his hands off the broom, he took out his wand and pointed it at himself.

"Existo mens immanotruculentus! Existo nasus immanotruculentus!" Suddenly, Sirius felt Firmus get lighter. He lifted him up onto the broom, and navigated it through the forest.

Firmus looked back at the dragon. It was gaining.

"Quickly, Sirius! Dart through the trees!" Sirius maneuvered back and forth through the forest. It had no effect however. The dragon was small and zipped through the forest as agilely as Sirius's broom, if not more so. It was gaining on them.

"Come on, Sirius!" Firmus yelled. "Battuo!" He shouted, but the dragon dodged his spell. It sent another fiery blast at them.

"Sirius!" He yelled. He grabbed Sirius's arm, and pulled the broom downward. It went off to the right, dodging the blast. With the weight of the two of them, however, Sirius could not bring the broom back up.

"Pull up!" Firmus yelled. Sirius gripped the front of the broom and wrenched upward with all his might. Just as they were about to plow straight into a tree, Sirius managed to pull it to the left and up slightly, lessening their hard impact with the ground.

The broomstick immediately snapped in two under the impact, and they rolled forward. Sirius quickly got up.

"Firmus!" He looked around. "Firmus!" He spotted him. Firmus was lying on the ground, unconscious. Sirius ran to him.

"Firmus! Firmus, wake up!" He shook him. Nothing. Sirius turned around. The dragon had landed not twenty meters away. The dragon stood for a moment. It opened its mouth.

"Circumvalo!" Sirius yelled. The dragon sent a huge blue fireball at him. The shield stopped it, but knocked Sirius back, putting Firmus between him and the dragon. The dragon opened its mouth for another.

Sirius leapt over Firmus and pointed his wand.

"Ferio!" He yelled. The dragon was struck in the mouth and fell back. It quickly regained its composure, however, and shot another him. Sirius put up another shield. He gripped his wand with both hands and put his foot against a root. The fireball struck hard, but Sirius remained standing. It pushed him back, but he quickly was pointing his wand at the dragon again.

"Ferio!" He shouted and got the dragon between the eyes. It took a step back, but fired another. Sirius blocked it, but the force of it turned him around. As he turned he launched another Ferius Spell at the dragon. This one hit it in the shoulder. It recoiled again, and looked at Sirius. It took a few creeping steps toward him. Sirius bent over, still watching the beast, as he panted heavily.

The dragon reared up again and sent more flames at him. Sirius blocked once more, and stayed on his feet. The force of the fire kept coming, however. Sirius again held his wand with both hands. The dragon was continuously launching the blue flames at him. It was slowly pushing him back. It forced him to his knees.

Sirius felt Firmus at his feet. Sirius was being pushed so hard he didn't think he could hold up. He was completely exhausted and his arms hurt, but he kept up.

"Help..." He said hoarsely, as tears began to flow down his cheeks. "Help!" He yelled louder. He could do nothing now...this was it. The shield began to dim, and the flames only intensified.