Review note: Hello once again. I finally dished out a few bucks to ff.net for the support services. You know what I discovered? So far I have 64 hits on my last chapter, but I received only 2 reviews (thanks WTL and Nuts). Now I'm not one to demand reviews, and I don't hold my stories hostage until I get enough reviews to satiate my ego, but reviews do stimulate the fingers. Is my story just not exciting enough, and you find yourself too bored or lethargic to roll your mouse over to the review box? Or is my story of such caliber that you find yourself simply speechless with delight after finishing a chapter (insert sarcastic grin)? Please make a poor, overworked, and overstressed college student's day and say a word or two about my story.  Thank you for listening to my rant.

Actual Story Note: Elvish? No, but it's a good guess. This language is not fabricated, but was a resource for Tolkien (one of many).

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The Book of Carmen

Chapter V: The Awakening

~*~

The air was noticeably chilly as Daniel walked down the lonely street and towards his home. He wrapped his robes tightly around him in order to ward off the chill, and quickened his pace, fueled by thoughts of warm soup and a drop or two of bourbon by the fire. The wind picked up and blew against his face as he hurried down the darkened street, and he blinked back the tears that the cold wind had rendered. Suddenly, Daniel picked up a sound that was carried on the icy breeze. He stopped and squinted through the darkness, but could not discern anything from its shadows. "Rubbish," he said and continued on his way.

Moments later a howl reached his ears and Daniel stopped quickly and turned around. For a moment he thought he saw something move across his field of vision, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Daniel removed his glasses and cleaned them on his robes. He put them on again and peered through the darkness. Out of a corner of his eye he saw another movement, and at the same time he heard another soft howl. He quickly fished his wand from his robes and began to walk backwards down the road, his senses alert, and his adrenaline pumping.

Daniel inhaled sharply as another sound came from the shadows, a soft scratching sound. Daniel held his breath and his eyes darted back and forth. The scratching was rhythmic and became louder and louder. "Hello?" Daniel called out, his voice shaking, "Who's out there?" The only response was a sharp intake of breath that sounded guttural and harsh. The scratching sound followed, and sounded like something was being raked against the sidewalk. He backed into a lamppost, but felt no comfort under its light. "I'm armed!" he cried into the blackness, "This is your only warning!" The scraping slowed and finally stopped. Although he could not see his assailant, he could sense that whoever it was they were standing just beyond the reaches of the lamppost's light. Daniel could feel beads of sweat rolling down his face and back, despite the chill of the night. He didn't like this, not one bit. "Please reveal yourself. I do not wish to harm you!" Daniel called out, bringing up his wand defensively.

The scratching resumed and seemed to trace the outer rim of the light's circle. Daniel followed the noise with the tip of his wand. It appeared that his stalker was pacing, as if trying to decide on the next course of action. A sudden realization hit Daniel, and it brought forth a new wave of fear and perspiration. His attacker wasn't human. As if it could read his thoughts a shrill call resounded in the darkness and in response Daniel whispered a few words and blue sparks erupted from his wand. The few seconds of added light allowed Daniel to distinguish a flurry of fur from the night. The creature emitted a high-pitched shriek as Daniel's curse hit its body. Instinctively Daniel brought his hands to his ears. Silence followed the shriek and for a moment Daniel thought that he had killed the creature. However, he soon heard its breathing once more, followed by the long scratching sound that finally crossed into the light, revealing a very long hooked claw. Two glistening pupils appeared seconds later, illuminated by the lamppost. They contracted quickly at the light and then centered on Daniel.

All logic fled Daniel as those two eyes fastened on him. He gave in to the primal reflexes of his mind, and ran into the night. Soon Daniel was out of breath, finding the night air very hard to suck into his lungs. He tried to call for help, but found that he could make little noise. He turned briefly behind him to see if the creature was following him. All he could see were his own robes billowing behind him. He tripped over a limb in the road and fell. He fell hard, which caused all the air in his lungs to quickly escape. His hands and face were scratched, but he paid them little heed. He listened for a moment, but did not hear any sign that he was being followed. He relaxed and gulped in fresh air. His head pounded from the fall and the run, but he struggled to his feet. He was no sooner on his feet, then he was knocked from them.

The attack came quickly; Daniel felt the heavy beast leap on his back, pushing him back to the ground. The heavy claws dug into his robes and skin, and Daniel could feel the beast's hot heavy breath on the nape of his neck. Then the beast sank its jaws into his back, just between his neck and his shoulder blade. Daniel screamed. Realizing it had a poor hold on him, the beast tried to turn him over, but somehow Daniel had managed to hold on to his wand. Keeping hold of what was left of his senses, he thrust the wand at the creature and yelled, and again blue sparks poured from the wand. The creature withdrew and shrieked hideously. Daniel struggled to his feet and ran once more. He couldn't feel his arm and he had become very cold, but he forced his body to move down the road, closer and closer to his house. He was thirty yards away when his body gave into its injuries and he dropped to his knees. He tried once again to call for help, but the plea came out as nothing more than a mere whisper.

Daniel's robes were wet with blood and sweat, and he could hear the faint sound of claws scraping the pavement behind him. His fear outmatched his pain and he struggled to his feet once more. He dragged himself through his yard and up the stairs to his porch. Daniel had reached out and placed a hand on the doorknob, when he heard the same breathing and shrill call, but from another direction. He knew that the beast was still behind him, but this new sound was coming from his right. Daniel released his grip on the door handle, and held his wand with two trembling hands. He suddenly understood. There were two of them.

~*~

"I'm so sorry Harry.  I didn't mean for the bludger to hit you. I was only trying to get your attention. I didn't mean to…to…almost kill you." Ron told to the door outside the hospital wing. Ron had practiced this apology over and over again, but all that he had succeeded in doing was to make himself feel even more guilty. He slid down the wall and sat with his legs crossed, and Harry's faithful broom lying in his lap. He had retrieved it that morning from its unmoving position more than sixty feet above the ground. Ron knew that Harry would be worried about his beloved broom, and thought if he presented Harry with the Firebolt, then it would help the situation. But as he sat there, Ron suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to hop on the broom and zoom out of the window.

The doors opened to the hospital wing and Harry stepped out, still buttoning up his shirt. He jumped when he saw Ron. "Didn't see you sitting there, Ron. You should have come in, maybe that would have spared me Madame Pomfrey's speech about being careful on broomsticks."

"Probably not," Ron said, managing a half-smile.

Harry nodded and smiled, "At least she gave me the all clear for the Hogsmeade trip today."

"That's good."

"Definitely," Harry said and then spotted his broom.

"I…uh…flew up and got it this morning. It was still sitting up there." Ron said.

"Thanks Ron. I was worried that a Slytherin would find it, and put some awful curse on it." He and Ron both shuddered at the thought of anyone harming the Firebolt.

Ron handed Harry the broom, "Here you go, Harry. I assure you that it is curse free."

"Thanks." Harry said, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

That was probably one of the worst things Harry could have said to Ron at the moment, but Ron smiled back the fresh pang of guilt. "Harry…" he began.

"Yeah?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"There you two are!" Hermione yelled from down the hall, "Come on, or we'll be late!"

"We'll be right there!" Harry yelled back. "Come on Ron," he added pulling his friend down the corridor.

Ron sighed and consented to be led, his confession left for another time.

The three raced down the hallways, pausing only long enough for Harry to race up the Gryffindor stairs and put his broom away. They met up with the other students and professors and were soon on their way to Hogsmeade.

~*~

Around two o'clock in the afternoon, Remus Lupin stepped hesitantly through the main doors of Hogwarts. He didn't want to run into anyone, because he knew whoever he ran into would want to ask him questions, especially about the parcel he carried under his arm. Remus was not in any mood to answer questions. In fact he had come here to have his own questions answered.

He was relieved, although somewhat curious, when he reached Dumbledore's office without seeing another soul. He knocked on the headmaster's door and it soon opened (on its own accord) and revealed the room's occupants. Dumbledore sat behind his large desk. He welcomed Remus with a smile, but he looked tired and his eyes seemed somewhat distant. Will stood next to Dumbledore and was looking through some papers, which sat on the corner of the desk. Will's tall, lean form next to Dumbledore's seated figure, made Will look even larger than he actually was. Will also smiled at Remus and went over to greet him. "Glad you could make it so quickly. We have some things we need to discuss." Will said and then took the Book of Carmen from Remus, who gladly relinquished the item.

"I didn't see anyone in the halls." Remus said, taking a seat in front of the large desk.

"Most of the older students are enjoying one final weekend in Hogsmeade before the holidays. The younger ones are probably in their towers, finding someway to pass the time." Dumbledore said.

Remus nodded. "Have you found a way to destroy that monstrosity?" he asked, motioning towards the Book of Carmen.

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, I'm afraid that solution still eludes us."

"Then why am I here?"

Dumbledore looked at Will, who took that as his cue to speak, "Well I've been doing some digging and I've found…well I'm pretty sure that I've found…mind you there could be other explanations."

"Will, the point please?" Remus asked.

"Yes, of course." Will said and then flipped through the stack of papers. He fished out a Daily Prophet, looked at it briefly, and then tossed it over to Remus.

Remus looked at the story that Will had circled and read the headline: "London witch attacked by a vampire while vacationing in Nice." Remus raised an eyebrow quizzically at Will. "I don't understand. This is tragic, of course, but what does it have to do with the Book?"

Will picked up the entire stack of papers that he had been looking at and placed them all in Remus' lap. "Attacks on people by dangerous creatures have increased tenfold in the past two months, and not just in France." Remus flipped through the papers, some were in English, while others were in German, Russian, and Chinese. Remus didn't know most of these languages, but the pictures relayed the gist of the articles. Will continued, "The most shocking of these attacks happened last night. A man was walking home from a pub when he was attacked by a Beithir."

"Where is that article?" Remus asked.

Will leaned against Dumbledore's desk, "There is no article. The attack was so terrible that it was not released to the public. There was hardly anything left of him, Remus. The poor souls who found the…err…body had to have their memories erased, like common Muggles."

"I'm afraid that I still don't understand." Remus said.

"Beithirs are quite rare. The last time one was spotted was well over a hundred years ago. There were signs at the victim's house that indicated that there were not one, but two Beithirs at the scene. Once you add in the fact that people are being attacked throughout the world…"

"I think the point that William is trying to make," Dumbledore said cutting Will off, "is that this isn't mere coincidence. It would have to take a great evil to draw out the Beithirs and to cause so many dangerous creatures to become even more blood thirsty."

"Are you suggesting that the Book is drawing them out?" Remus asked.

Will nodded.

"But how?"

Dumbledore and Will exchanged glances, "Selene." Will said.

"Selene? How did you find out about her?"

"I told him." Dumbledore said, "I thought it in all of our best interests to disclose all the information of recent events to William. He has proven himself to be a trustworthy individual, and is one of the few people who dislike the Ministry enough to help us."

Remus nodded and swallowed hard, "How does Selene figure into this?"

"When Selene used the Book to perform Geist Legatura, the Book got a taste of her magic. I figure that her magic rekindled the Book's lust for magic and now it wants more. It has Voldemort's evil to feed upon, and therefore it grows stronger." Will said and then paused. He had never been friends with Selene while they were at school, but he knew that Remus had been close to her, which did not make what he had to say very easy. He cleared his throat, "However, even that power was not great enough to break through into the physical realm. For that, the evil needs a conduit, a living presence."

"Selene." Remus said, running his hands through his already tangled hair.

"Yes. Geist Legatura, the soul binding spell. They are forever bound, Selene and the Book. It is using her as an outlet into the world."

"Does she know this?"

"We don't think so." Dumbledore said, "We have made plans to discuss it with her and Sirius and to discuss what can be done about it."

Remus nodded and then paused suddenly, "Wait a second. Will said that the evil in the Book of Carmen acts as a beacon to other evils, that it draws the evil to itself. This would mean that the Book is…"

Dumbledore nodded in understanding, "bringing these creatures to Hogwarts."

~*~

And that's not a good thing.