The Wolf of Change
Chapter 9 - Carving the Situation
The clear air and frost had the first years in high spirits. The grass crinkled and crunched beneath their shoes as they marched across the grounds, following Professor Sprout - who was keen to give them a special Herbology lesson on her new Whomping Willow.
All one hundred of them circled the wild tree from a good distance, the occasional lashing of its limbs providing a clear enough warning to even the more adventurous of them.
As Sprout began her descriptions of the tree, Trurn Mahbism and his gang of Slytherin thugs started circulating through the crowd. When they reached Remus and his friends it was obvious that they'd stirred up quite a commotion with the others, and this put the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws on guard.
Addressing Sephine and Charlie, Trurn stated "we're setting a dare for the whole year. I'm thinking, that as Ravenclaws, you two will be eager to take part. Maybe even your goody, goody Gryffindor friends will?"
"What's the dare?" Sephine asked.
Mahbism smirked. "To carve something on the trunk of that tree." And pointed at the Willow.
Remus glanced sharply at the Willow, looking at the point that subdued it. Dumbledore had said, "As for the danger to other students, well, we hope that a certain degree of sensibility will be observed around it..." As if to further underline his thoughts, the Willow lashed out a branch particularly close to them. Lily jumped.
"That's possible." Charlie said thoughtfully, examining the tree.
"Be sure to leave the name of your house." Mahbism said before leading his cronies away.
"What do you think, Black?" Charlie asked.
"It could be done, I bet. There must be some gap in the tree's defences." Sirius mused.
"You with us, Seph?"
"Sure."
Lily stared at her friend. "Are you mad? You'll get yourselves killed!"
"It's just a tree!" Charlie exclaimed.
"It's not just a tree! Didn't you hear Professor Sprout? It's the second largest killer in this country!"
"What's the first?" Charlie asked.
"You-Know-Who of course!" Martin barked a laugh.
* * *
The next day the mild frost had escalated to a covering of snow just thick enough for snowballs to be made. It was icy, early snow, not very good for snowballs - however, this didn't stop the optimists at Hogwarts. There was a light-hearted game of Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw going on when a gang of Slytherins stalked over. Three second-years were with Trurn's gang. Two were very thickset and were obviously all braun no brain. The middle boy was tall and slim, with a haughty expression and a cold gleam to his ice-blue eyes. His blonde hair was immaculately plastered to his head with gel.
"What do you say, first-years? Fancy a proper snowball fight?" He drawled.
"You dare to fight us?" Charlie - who was either feeling immensely brave or incredibly stupid - folded his arms and mirrored the second-year's look.
The boy sneered. "I'll risk it."
It did start off as a clean fight. However, when the Slytherins found that they didn't get the overall majority of hits that they were expecting, they began encasing small stones in their snowballs.
Martin was the first to discover this fact - he gave a yelp of surprise as one hit him on the cheek, opening an inch long gash in his brown skin. Charlie cursed the Slytherins loudly and profusely for this, and doubled his attacks.
Whilst the boys concentrated on pure force, Sephine and Lily though a little more about tactics, and succeeded many times in hitting the Slytherins. Sephine snuck up behind Lucius Malfoy - the blonde boy - and threw a particularly icy snowball at the back of his head. His styled hair sprayed out with the snow when it hit, and he looked like some form of tropical bird, blonde plumage sticking out at all angles.
It didn't take much long after that for the teams to come to blows, and they would have continued tearing chunks from one another for a lot longer, but for a terrible shriek that pierced the crisp, clear air.
They all knew where it had come from, and raced towards the Whomping Willow - duels forgotten. A first-year Hufflepuff, Davey Gudgeon, was staggering about near the Willow. He held both hands to his right eye and wailed louder each second. Even from such a distance they could see the blood escaping from between his fingers.
The Slytherin boys stopped and roared with laughter at Davey, not concerning themselves with his injury. By then, Gudgeon's cries had attracted a large crowd, and when Remus and his friends had reached him, Madam Pomfrey was already pushing her way through the crowd.
Between his sobs, Davey spluttered to the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, "I dropped my Swiss Army Knife! It's under that horrid tree and my dad got me it for my eleventh birthday, as a reward for my getting into Hogwarts! If any of you lot get past that accursed thing, get my pocket knife back, please!"
"Did you mark the tree?" Charlie asked in surprise.
"No! I barely got close!" Gudgeon wailed.
Before anyone could say anything further, Madam Pomfrey strode up, looking the angriest anyone had ever seen her. "I told Dumbledore it was wrong to bring that thing here! I told him someone would be injured! The risk was not justified!" For a reason unknown to the others, she cast a murderous glare at Remus as she led Davey away.
"Jeez! What a mess!" Sephine exclaimed, looking down. The snow was dotted with blood that had trickled though Davey's fingers.
"D'you think he lost the eye?" Martin asked.
"With the noise he was making I wouldn't be surprised!" Sirius muttered.
"Can any of you see his knife?" James asked, peering at the foot of the Willow.
It didn't take Remus long to find it. "Yeah, right there." He pointed.
"Oh, I see." Sephine nodded.
"You two must be hallucinating!" Lily moaned. "I can't see a thing!"
"Me either." Martin agreed. "I don't know what you guys are looking at, but there's no knife there!"
Sephine shrugged. "I see what I see and I see a knife! If you guys don't then you don't - but I do!"
"You sounded just like your parrot there." Sirius laughed.
"That nearly made sense, Seph. Congratulations." James said as they turned back towards the castle.
* * *
Remus was waiting for Charlie and Sephine outside Professor Trugin's office later that day when a voice he'd hoped he'd never hear again whispered in his ear. "Hello again, Remus! I shan't waste time boasting about what fun we had last time - It may give you the opportunity to run away! Imperio!"
* * *
This time Remus woke up in his bed in the Gryffindor dormitories. He leapt from the bed, desperate to find out what had happened this time, yet not wanting to know at all.
The Common Room was empty of first years, which was unusual for that time of day. Remus frowned more deeply and made his way through the corridors. He glanced at his watch briefly. He had absolutely no recollection of the last three hours.
When he got to the main doors, he took a long look across the grounds. There appeared to be a large group of people around the Whomping Willow yet again.
Remus ran to the crowd, but when he got there, his pace slowed considerably, and he took his time making his way to the front, having a feeling that this had something to do with Colonel Collins and the wolf.
"Remus! Where have you been? Take a look at this! Someone's written loads on the Willow! Imagine how long they'd have had to keep dodging the branches to do that! And they didn't even say which house they were in as far as I know..." Lily's voice was full of excitement.
Sephine was craning her neck and squinting at the trunk of the Willow. "I...I can't make it out..."
Remus forced his gaze to the tree. "It...it goes right round the trunk!"
"What does it say?" Paul Fevner came up behind him. "Can you read it, Remus?"
"Um...It's part of the Sorting Hat's song as far as I know...'You might...belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart, Their dare- daring...nerve and chival...ry, Set Gryffindors...apart.'"
"So a Gryffindor did this?" Martin seemed terribly excited.
"No...There's more..." Remus said wonderingly. He began to walk around the tree, reading aloud as he went. His friends followed, listening attentively. "'You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true, And unafraid of toil. Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind. Or...perhaps in Slytherin, You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means, To achieve their ends...!' What in Knockturn Alley can it mean?" Remus asked.
"Maybe it was someone who felt they'd been Sorted unfairly, and doesn't like the house they're in." Sephine whispered thoughtfully.
Remus did a double take. "What?"
"You know...like, they thought they were chivalrous and bold, and they were put in Slytherin or something..."
"Wow, that's quite deep, Seph..." Remus said just as thoughtfully, surprised at such a comment coming from her.
She shrugged it off. "I'm not in the 'wise' house for nothing!"
They turned to go back to the warmth of the castle, the chill air just beginning to bite at exposed noses and ears. Remus thrust his hands deep in his pockets before his fingers got the opportunity to go pink, and nearly stopped moving when he felt Davey Gudgeon's Swiss Army Knife in his hand.
Chapter 9 - Carving the Situation
The clear air and frost had the first years in high spirits. The grass crinkled and crunched beneath their shoes as they marched across the grounds, following Professor Sprout - who was keen to give them a special Herbology lesson on her new Whomping Willow.
All one hundred of them circled the wild tree from a good distance, the occasional lashing of its limbs providing a clear enough warning to even the more adventurous of them.
As Sprout began her descriptions of the tree, Trurn Mahbism and his gang of Slytherin thugs started circulating through the crowd. When they reached Remus and his friends it was obvious that they'd stirred up quite a commotion with the others, and this put the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws on guard.
Addressing Sephine and Charlie, Trurn stated "we're setting a dare for the whole year. I'm thinking, that as Ravenclaws, you two will be eager to take part. Maybe even your goody, goody Gryffindor friends will?"
"What's the dare?" Sephine asked.
Mahbism smirked. "To carve something on the trunk of that tree." And pointed at the Willow.
Remus glanced sharply at the Willow, looking at the point that subdued it. Dumbledore had said, "As for the danger to other students, well, we hope that a certain degree of sensibility will be observed around it..." As if to further underline his thoughts, the Willow lashed out a branch particularly close to them. Lily jumped.
"That's possible." Charlie said thoughtfully, examining the tree.
"Be sure to leave the name of your house." Mahbism said before leading his cronies away.
"What do you think, Black?" Charlie asked.
"It could be done, I bet. There must be some gap in the tree's defences." Sirius mused.
"You with us, Seph?"
"Sure."
Lily stared at her friend. "Are you mad? You'll get yourselves killed!"
"It's just a tree!" Charlie exclaimed.
"It's not just a tree! Didn't you hear Professor Sprout? It's the second largest killer in this country!"
"What's the first?" Charlie asked.
"You-Know-Who of course!" Martin barked a laugh.
* * *
The next day the mild frost had escalated to a covering of snow just thick enough for snowballs to be made. It was icy, early snow, not very good for snowballs - however, this didn't stop the optimists at Hogwarts. There was a light-hearted game of Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw going on when a gang of Slytherins stalked over. Three second-years were with Trurn's gang. Two were very thickset and were obviously all braun no brain. The middle boy was tall and slim, with a haughty expression and a cold gleam to his ice-blue eyes. His blonde hair was immaculately plastered to his head with gel.
"What do you say, first-years? Fancy a proper snowball fight?" He drawled.
"You dare to fight us?" Charlie - who was either feeling immensely brave or incredibly stupid - folded his arms and mirrored the second-year's look.
The boy sneered. "I'll risk it."
It did start off as a clean fight. However, when the Slytherins found that they didn't get the overall majority of hits that they were expecting, they began encasing small stones in their snowballs.
Martin was the first to discover this fact - he gave a yelp of surprise as one hit him on the cheek, opening an inch long gash in his brown skin. Charlie cursed the Slytherins loudly and profusely for this, and doubled his attacks.
Whilst the boys concentrated on pure force, Sephine and Lily though a little more about tactics, and succeeded many times in hitting the Slytherins. Sephine snuck up behind Lucius Malfoy - the blonde boy - and threw a particularly icy snowball at the back of his head. His styled hair sprayed out with the snow when it hit, and he looked like some form of tropical bird, blonde plumage sticking out at all angles.
It didn't take much long after that for the teams to come to blows, and they would have continued tearing chunks from one another for a lot longer, but for a terrible shriek that pierced the crisp, clear air.
They all knew where it had come from, and raced towards the Whomping Willow - duels forgotten. A first-year Hufflepuff, Davey Gudgeon, was staggering about near the Willow. He held both hands to his right eye and wailed louder each second. Even from such a distance they could see the blood escaping from between his fingers.
The Slytherin boys stopped and roared with laughter at Davey, not concerning themselves with his injury. By then, Gudgeon's cries had attracted a large crowd, and when Remus and his friends had reached him, Madam Pomfrey was already pushing her way through the crowd.
Between his sobs, Davey spluttered to the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, "I dropped my Swiss Army Knife! It's under that horrid tree and my dad got me it for my eleventh birthday, as a reward for my getting into Hogwarts! If any of you lot get past that accursed thing, get my pocket knife back, please!"
"Did you mark the tree?" Charlie asked in surprise.
"No! I barely got close!" Gudgeon wailed.
Before anyone could say anything further, Madam Pomfrey strode up, looking the angriest anyone had ever seen her. "I told Dumbledore it was wrong to bring that thing here! I told him someone would be injured! The risk was not justified!" For a reason unknown to the others, she cast a murderous glare at Remus as she led Davey away.
"Jeez! What a mess!" Sephine exclaimed, looking down. The snow was dotted with blood that had trickled though Davey's fingers.
"D'you think he lost the eye?" Martin asked.
"With the noise he was making I wouldn't be surprised!" Sirius muttered.
"Can any of you see his knife?" James asked, peering at the foot of the Willow.
It didn't take Remus long to find it. "Yeah, right there." He pointed.
"Oh, I see." Sephine nodded.
"You two must be hallucinating!" Lily moaned. "I can't see a thing!"
"Me either." Martin agreed. "I don't know what you guys are looking at, but there's no knife there!"
Sephine shrugged. "I see what I see and I see a knife! If you guys don't then you don't - but I do!"
"You sounded just like your parrot there." Sirius laughed.
"That nearly made sense, Seph. Congratulations." James said as they turned back towards the castle.
* * *
Remus was waiting for Charlie and Sephine outside Professor Trugin's office later that day when a voice he'd hoped he'd never hear again whispered in his ear. "Hello again, Remus! I shan't waste time boasting about what fun we had last time - It may give you the opportunity to run away! Imperio!"
* * *
This time Remus woke up in his bed in the Gryffindor dormitories. He leapt from the bed, desperate to find out what had happened this time, yet not wanting to know at all.
The Common Room was empty of first years, which was unusual for that time of day. Remus frowned more deeply and made his way through the corridors. He glanced at his watch briefly. He had absolutely no recollection of the last three hours.
When he got to the main doors, he took a long look across the grounds. There appeared to be a large group of people around the Whomping Willow yet again.
Remus ran to the crowd, but when he got there, his pace slowed considerably, and he took his time making his way to the front, having a feeling that this had something to do with Colonel Collins and the wolf.
"Remus! Where have you been? Take a look at this! Someone's written loads on the Willow! Imagine how long they'd have had to keep dodging the branches to do that! And they didn't even say which house they were in as far as I know..." Lily's voice was full of excitement.
Sephine was craning her neck and squinting at the trunk of the Willow. "I...I can't make it out..."
Remus forced his gaze to the tree. "It...it goes right round the trunk!"
"What does it say?" Paul Fevner came up behind him. "Can you read it, Remus?"
"Um...It's part of the Sorting Hat's song as far as I know...'You might...belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart, Their dare- daring...nerve and chival...ry, Set Gryffindors...apart.'"
"So a Gryffindor did this?" Martin seemed terribly excited.
"No...There's more..." Remus said wonderingly. He began to walk around the tree, reading aloud as he went. His friends followed, listening attentively. "'You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true, And unafraid of toil. Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind. Or...perhaps in Slytherin, You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means, To achieve their ends...!' What in Knockturn Alley can it mean?" Remus asked.
"Maybe it was someone who felt they'd been Sorted unfairly, and doesn't like the house they're in." Sephine whispered thoughtfully.
Remus did a double take. "What?"
"You know...like, they thought they were chivalrous and bold, and they were put in Slytherin or something..."
"Wow, that's quite deep, Seph..." Remus said just as thoughtfully, surprised at such a comment coming from her.
She shrugged it off. "I'm not in the 'wise' house for nothing!"
They turned to go back to the warmth of the castle, the chill air just beginning to bite at exposed noses and ears. Remus thrust his hands deep in his pockets before his fingers got the opportunity to go pink, and nearly stopped moving when he felt Davey Gudgeon's Swiss Army Knife in his hand.