Werewolf
Chapter Three
Harry's POV
I was just sitting around in one of the many rooms on the first floor at Grimmauld Place, talking to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, when this girl walked in. I thought I recognised her, and then realised that she was one of the younger girls in Ravenclaw.
"Hello." I said nervously.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Ron, blunt and to the point as always.
"My name is Harriet." She replied. "I've come here with Remus."
"Lupin's here?" asked Fred. "Cool! We haven't seen him for days." I knew the twins were trying to find out more about the Order from him, since they'd completely given up on their parents.
"Why are you with Lupin?" queried Hermione. "Are you related or something?" Somehow I couldn't imagine her being his daughter. He would surely have mentioned a wife, even if she was dead, besides which, this girl looked nothing like him. She had long black hair, grey-blue eyes, and she wore glasses.
"No. We aren't related. He's. helping me to hide." I could see that she wasn't going to say anything apart from answering the questions. So I decided I'd just have to ask her some more.
"Hide?" I asked. "Who are you hiding from?" The others all seemed interested too. They were staring at her, waiting for her to answer. She just stared at the floor.
"The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures." She mumbled, awkwardly.
"Huh?" grunted Ron. "They deal with dangerous magical creatures, so what would they want with a girl like you?"
"Honestly Ron!" Hermione cut in. "You really are thicker than I thought! It's obvious isn't it Harry?" I just shrugged, seeing as I had no idea what she was on about either. The difference between Ron and me was that I'd perfected the art of not voicing my ignorance around Hermione. Ginny looked pretty confused as well.
"Do I have to spell it out?" sighed Hermione. "Really!"
"No." said Harriet, in a low voice. "I'll tell them - I'm a werewolf." Suddenly it all made sense. She was with Lupin, and he's a werewolf.
"Oh!" gasped Ginny. "And the Committee for the." she gasped again, realising the same thing I had just worked out. "the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, they want to. Oh God, that's horrible! Why?"
"I am not in control of what I do at the full moon. I escaped from my home and killed a man." She said it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, I couldn't understand it. I had never killed anyone, and I didn't want to. I had seen someone die, and that was bad enough. Quite honestly, I was terrified at the thought of one day having to kill.
"So, d'you think they're going to be looking for you? I mean, surely it could be any werewolf that did it, as far as they know?" said Ron.
"I was caught that morning by the Werewolf Capture Unit. They know it was me alright! They took me back to my family until my trial." I knew what the trial would be like, having heard about it from Hagrid. The Committee didn't care who was to blame, so long as they had an excuse to cut another animal's head off. Luckily we had managed to rescue Buckbeak the hippogriff, who was in fact in the house at the time, head still attatched. I shivered at the thought - was that what they wanted to do to Harriet?"
"So they found you guilty then? I don't think the Committee ever lets any animals off. Not calling you an animal of course, but you know what I mean." Said Hermione.
"Yes. They were going to. to kill me last night. If it hadn't been the full moon last night, then I wouldn't be here. I should have been dead by now." she sounded as if she hadn't really grasped what was going on, she was so confused.
People felt sorry for me, because of my parents being murdered when I was a baby, and my confrontations with Voldemort. And I would agree that my life was far from ideal. But I really thought that my problems were nothing compared to Harriet's. I had been certain a couple of times before that I was about to die, but only for a short while. It must be so much worse to know that in a week, or a day or however long they tell you, you'll be dead, and you can't do anything about it. Not to mention all the prejudice I had noticed about werewolves, and the monthly transformations, which Remus had said were terribly painful. Even Remus who seemed fairly calm and accepting about his condition, rarely mentioned it, even when he was with close friends.
I snapped back to the real world, where Harriet was telling us about what had happened since her trial. "Dumbledore was arrested. I was at his trial for a while, but they took me out part way through, so I don't know whether he was sentenced to anything-"
"What?" I shouted. "You mean Dumbledore could be in Azkaban?"
Coincidencially, it was at that moment that a clunking sound was heard, from downstairs. It was a noise that all of us, except Harriet, recognised - the front door. A familiar voice drifted up the stairs.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come and explain about at all this sooner. I was somewhat delayed."
Chapter Three
Harry's POV
I was just sitting around in one of the many rooms on the first floor at Grimmauld Place, talking to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, when this girl walked in. I thought I recognised her, and then realised that she was one of the younger girls in Ravenclaw.
"Hello." I said nervously.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Ron, blunt and to the point as always.
"My name is Harriet." She replied. "I've come here with Remus."
"Lupin's here?" asked Fred. "Cool! We haven't seen him for days." I knew the twins were trying to find out more about the Order from him, since they'd completely given up on their parents.
"Why are you with Lupin?" queried Hermione. "Are you related or something?" Somehow I couldn't imagine her being his daughter. He would surely have mentioned a wife, even if she was dead, besides which, this girl looked nothing like him. She had long black hair, grey-blue eyes, and she wore glasses.
"No. We aren't related. He's. helping me to hide." I could see that she wasn't going to say anything apart from answering the questions. So I decided I'd just have to ask her some more.
"Hide?" I asked. "Who are you hiding from?" The others all seemed interested too. They were staring at her, waiting for her to answer. She just stared at the floor.
"The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures." She mumbled, awkwardly.
"Huh?" grunted Ron. "They deal with dangerous magical creatures, so what would they want with a girl like you?"
"Honestly Ron!" Hermione cut in. "You really are thicker than I thought! It's obvious isn't it Harry?" I just shrugged, seeing as I had no idea what she was on about either. The difference between Ron and me was that I'd perfected the art of not voicing my ignorance around Hermione. Ginny looked pretty confused as well.
"Do I have to spell it out?" sighed Hermione. "Really!"
"No." said Harriet, in a low voice. "I'll tell them - I'm a werewolf." Suddenly it all made sense. She was with Lupin, and he's a werewolf.
"Oh!" gasped Ginny. "And the Committee for the." she gasped again, realising the same thing I had just worked out. "the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, they want to. Oh God, that's horrible! Why?"
"I am not in control of what I do at the full moon. I escaped from my home and killed a man." She said it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, I couldn't understand it. I had never killed anyone, and I didn't want to. I had seen someone die, and that was bad enough. Quite honestly, I was terrified at the thought of one day having to kill.
"So, d'you think they're going to be looking for you? I mean, surely it could be any werewolf that did it, as far as they know?" said Ron.
"I was caught that morning by the Werewolf Capture Unit. They know it was me alright! They took me back to my family until my trial." I knew what the trial would be like, having heard about it from Hagrid. The Committee didn't care who was to blame, so long as they had an excuse to cut another animal's head off. Luckily we had managed to rescue Buckbeak the hippogriff, who was in fact in the house at the time, head still attatched. I shivered at the thought - was that what they wanted to do to Harriet?"
"So they found you guilty then? I don't think the Committee ever lets any animals off. Not calling you an animal of course, but you know what I mean." Said Hermione.
"Yes. They were going to. to kill me last night. If it hadn't been the full moon last night, then I wouldn't be here. I should have been dead by now." she sounded as if she hadn't really grasped what was going on, she was so confused.
People felt sorry for me, because of my parents being murdered when I was a baby, and my confrontations with Voldemort. And I would agree that my life was far from ideal. But I really thought that my problems were nothing compared to Harriet's. I had been certain a couple of times before that I was about to die, but only for a short while. It must be so much worse to know that in a week, or a day or however long they tell you, you'll be dead, and you can't do anything about it. Not to mention all the prejudice I had noticed about werewolves, and the monthly transformations, which Remus had said were terribly painful. Even Remus who seemed fairly calm and accepting about his condition, rarely mentioned it, even when he was with close friends.
I snapped back to the real world, where Harriet was telling us about what had happened since her trial. "Dumbledore was arrested. I was at his trial for a while, but they took me out part way through, so I don't know whether he was sentenced to anything-"
"What?" I shouted. "You mean Dumbledore could be in Azkaban?"
Coincidencially, it was at that moment that a clunking sound was heard, from downstairs. It was a noise that all of us, except Harriet, recognised - the front door. A familiar voice drifted up the stairs.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come and explain about at all this sooner. I was somewhat delayed."