Chapter 19 – The Lion and the Unicorn

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A low snuffling sound startled Harry, who was considerably closer to the Forest trees from his aconite harvesting.  Harry's head snapped up.  "What was that?"

Professor Myfanwy looked up from the plant she was examining.  "Hmm?  Did you hear something Harry?"

The snuffling sound repeated itself, this time accompanied by a low growl and a scratching.  Professor Myfanwy stood and silently joined him, her eyes peering into the inky darkness of the trees.  Harry glanced toward the safety of the castle sitting in the distance.

As he looked back to the tree line he choked back a cry.  Shining eyes glared at them, glittering balefully in the light of the full moon.  "Werewolves."  Professor Myfanwy answered his unasked question as she stepped closer to him and slung her own satchel around his neck, not taking her eyes off the monsters in the trees.  "Harry.  Don't panic.  I'm going to have to ask you to climb on my back and hold on very tight in a moment."  She said levelly.  Harry glanced at Myfanwy, trying to figure out what she meant when she suddenly turned into a unicorn!  Professor Myfanwy was an Animagus!

The unicorn kneeled to allow Harry to climb onto its back.  He quickly clutched at the shining mane, wrapping his hands in the silky strands to keep from falling as she rose back to her feet and spun away from the trees.  The werewolves howled in frustration, pounding out of the trees to chase the fleeing pair.

They heard the monsters snapping and howling further behind them and the unicorn tossed her head in frustration.  Harry held on for dear life as his ride switched directions away from the castle and sped at a dead run parallel to the trees of the Forbidden Forest.  They seemed to fly past the trees, quicksilver in the moonlight.  Moments later they pounded up to the door of Hagrid's cabin.  Unicorns were fast; they had gained a few moments from the pack.  Professor Myfanwy turned back into herself and pushed Harry towards the door.  "Get inside, Harry!  I'll get rid of them!"  Then the unicorn was back, ebony to silver horn gleaming in the moonlight.  Harry didn't waste anymore time.  He jerked Hagrid's door open and ran in, slamming it behind him.  Hagrid stood up, surprised at the commotion and Harry's sudden entrance.  Fang leaped on Harry, slobbering all over his face.

Hagrid quickly led Harry to a chair, asking what was wrong.  "Werewolves, Hagrid!"  Harry cried.  "Werewolves attacked Professor Myfanwy and I!  And she went back out to drive them off!"

"Ah, don' worry none, Harry."  Hagrid told him, sitting back down by the fire and gesturing Harry into a chair.  "There's not a werewolf alive that can catch a unicorn.  And not a magical creature alive that'd harm Rowan Myfanwy."

"A unicorn."  Harry whispered, shocked.  Suddenly he leaped to his feet, realizing what that meant.  "Hagrid!  Professor Myfanwy's an animagus!  She's a unicorn animagus just like the one in my dream!"

"Of course I'm an animagus."  Professor Myfanwy's voice suddenly asked from the doorway.  Harry started and looked back.  Professor Myfanwy stood with her back to the wooden door, cold eyes strangely intense.  "I can't very well study wild werewolves as a human, you know.  Now what dream?"  Harry hesitated, unsure of how much to say when Professor Myfanwy suddenly nodded.  "Oh right.  Dumbledore told me about that.  Yes, Harry, I am your unicorn."  She confirmed.

Professor Myfanwy flicked her wand at the table and a tea service appeared quickly pouring itself into three cups of fragrant chamomile tea.  She handed one to Harry and a larger one to Hagrid before taking one herself.

"Here, Harry.  It's best with honey."  She smiled slightly, a distracted ghost of her usual teasing grin.  "Not all my concoctions are as bad as Remus makes them out to be."  Professor Myfanwy spooned a dollop of dark honey into hers and stirred thoughtfully.  "Hagrid, have any of the centaurs said anything about strange happenings?  Perhaps I should speak to them."

"What do yeh want ter talk to those dreamers and stargazers for, Rowan?"  Hagrid asked, puzzled.  Harry silently agreed it was a rather odd request.  The centaurs he had met were all more concerned with the future than the present.  They probably wouldn't care one way o' the other if the werewolves're actin' funny.

"Stargazers.  Exactly.  The werewolves are bound to the moon," she replied, expression still distant.  "Astronomical anomalies could be affecting them.  Though Remus hasn't said anything."  She shook her head, focusing back on the present.  "I don't like this."  She thought silently for several more minutes before draining her cup and rising quickly.  "Would you see Harry back up to the castle, Hagrid?"  Professor Myfanwy requested, quickly magicked her teacup and saucer into the sink.  "And tell the Headmaster what's happened.  I'm going to go find Moony and Padfoot.  This whole thing stinks of Death Eaters."

Rowan accompanied them back out the door, transforming into the watchful unicorn the instant they stepped outside.  She waited until Harry and Hagrid were halfway to the castle before disappearing into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

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Padfoot waited patiently beneath the trapdoor to the Shrieking Shack, keeping a keen nose on the proceedings above him.  Moony never liked anyone around during the transformation itself but as soon as the familiar man-scent fully switched to wolf, Padfoot nosed the trapdoor open and let out a soft questioning bark.  The soft clickety of sharp claws on wood answered him as Moony wobbled into view.  Moony sat back on his haunches, gaining his bearings and waiting for the last of the pain to subside.

Moony spotted Padfoot's head poking up comically from the floorboards and let his tongue loll out in canine laughter.  Padfoot barked at him and disappeared into the hidden tunnel.

Padfoot and Moony sprinted down the tunnel, excited to escape. Despite the war, despite He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and despite annoyingly skittish mediwitches, Padfoot truly looked forward to roaming the Forbidden Forest with Moony that night.

The two nosed their way out between the roots of the Whomping Willow and noticed the unusual stillness of the branches above their heads.  Padfoot looked toward a particular knot on the tree roots.  Crookshanks sat there, paw firmly on the knot, freezing the tree.  A few seconds later, Orion appeared out of the darkness with a protesting fairy clamped in his jaws.  Orion's black pelt made it look disconcertingly as though a disembodied cat's head floated out of the darkness, lit by fairy light.

The cats waited until the dog and the wolf stepped beyond the boundaries of the tree before Orion released the fairy and he and Crookshanks tore off after it, dodging willow branches.

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Padfoot and Moony tore through the trees, chasing each other into the depths of the Forbidden Forest and acting like a pair of roughhousing puppies.  So far they'd scared three centaurs, fought off a pair of very large rodents, outrun a herd of ominous bunnies and very nearly ran through a pair of ghosts looking for a bit of privacy.

Padfoot crept silently through the thick underbrush, then leaped blindly through and ramming into the furry weight of Moony.  Moony scrabbled fruitlessly at the edge of the muddy slide he stood on before disappearing into the weeds with a snarl followed by a loud yelp and a splash.  Padfoot's tail wagged smugly as he carefully ventured down after his friend.

Suddenly the hillside beneath his paws gave way, sending Padfoot careening the rest of the way down the hillside with a howl.  Moony laughed wolfishly at the large dog as Padfoot joined him at the bottom with a spectacular flop into the stream.  Padfoot struggled to his feet and mock-growled at Moony before sacking him, soaking them both.

Soon canine dignity was forgotten as they splashed like overgrown pups.

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A blindingly white unicorn leaped into the clearing; one with very familiar markings.  The unicorn disappeared instantly, replaced by a much smaller witch in white velvet robes.

"There you are!"  She gasped, breathing hard.  "And Moony's still sane?"  Padfoot returned to his normal form with a quick *POP* and frowned.

"What do you mean still sane?  What's going on?"

"A pack of werewolves attacked Harry and I," Rowan told him, momentarily shoving all earlier awkwardness and emotional entanglements to the back burner.  "Harry's safe, back in the castle."  She assured them both.  "But those wolves scared me, Padfoot.  They weren't normal."

Moony settled on his haunches and yipped bitterly at her.  Rowan answered him distractedly.  "Of course, werewolves aren't normal, Moony.  But the Alpha's eyes were glowing."

"A Watching Charm," Sirius concluded.  "Anything else unusual?"

"Yes," her eyes narrowed.  "It's like they were under the influence of the Imperious Curse.   They weren't responding to me at all."  Moony added another growl.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Rowan.  "Translation?"

"'No sane werewolf chases a unicorn,'" she answered.

"Unless the person controlling it knows the unicorn is a certain animagus," Sirius growled dangerously, his eyes flashing.  "Wormtail."

"No, Padfoot," Rowan snapped.  "I'm registered with the Ministry.  Anyone who bothered to look would know what I look like!  You're obsessed!"

Sirius glared at her and started to retort, but Moony snarled at them both.  Rowan blinked and flushed slightly.

"That would be 'stop fighting, you two!' am I right?"  Sirius asked sardonically.  Rowan nodded.  "Have you told Dumbledore yet?"

"I sent Hagrid," Rowan reported.  "But he'll want to talk to me."

"Then let's go.  Come on, Moony," Sirius melted back into the form of Padfoot.  Moony looked startled at the suggestion.

"You didn't think we'd leave you behind, did you?"  Rowan smirked at him.  Moony put his muzzle between his paws, making it clear he'd rather be left behind.  "Stop whining."  Rowan reached down and scratched his ears.  "At the very least you get to scare Snape."  Padfoot's tongue lolled out in canine laughter at her comment then barked sharply for her to hurry up.

Rowan raised an eyebrow at him.  "Do you really want to race me, Padfoot?" she asked sweetly, taking a few measured steps toward him.  Padfoot ducked as she transformed mid-step and leaped daintily over their heads.  Rowan flicked her white lion tail in amusement and plunged into the undergrowth.  Moony looked at Padfoot and shook his ruff in exasperation before bounding after their friend.  Padfoot's tongue lolled out as he rushed to follow, half expecting a stag to bound out of the forest trees and join them.  For the first time in a long time things felt almost right.

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