Chapter 14 - The Werewolf and the Rat
Professor Lupin, Ron and Neville looked stunned at her words but carefully considered what she just told them. After all, Hermione was not known for saying anything illogical and not thoroughly pondered upon especially about something as important as Harry's alleged demise.
"Really?" asked Neville hopefully to no one in particular.
"Come to think of it. I have noticed something unusual with the boy too. The other one was not as strong but the one called Lander seemed very powerful." Lupin nodded his head thoughtfully as he tried to recall his past DADA sessions with them.
Ron was apparently in deep thought too and he exclaimed as he realized something vital that he had purposely ignored before. "Hey, Herm. If what you're saying is true then maybe it was really Harry who blocked the 'cruciatus curse' that Blaise ----"
"Excuse me! What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?" exclaimed the properly appalled House head.
Ron shot a nervous look at Hermione before he replied. "Err- Professor, we - Hermione and I - had a run in with some Slytherin a few weeks ago and one of them used the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione but it did not affect her."
"This happened weeks ago and neither of you told me?!?" said the Professor incredulously. "You know that using the Unforgivable is a very serious matter, don't you?"
"Sorry, Professor. We forgot all about it." said Hermione apologetically.
"All right, we'll talk abot this some other time. Stay here for now. I need to contact Malcolm tonight to clear this matter up before we say anything to the others. I don't want to give false hopes to certain individuals." The professor said sternly then he added as an after thought. "And yes, twenty points from Gryffindor for neglecting to inform me about that particular incident. As Head Girl and prefect, it is your responsibility to report any untoward incident to the Headmistress and any professor."
"Yes, sir." said Hermione and Ron apologetically.
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Contrary to what he had told the students, Professor Lupin headed straight to the one place he knew he could find some answers -- Snape's Dungeon. He knew something was up. He could sense it, thanks to his werefolf instincts. He just couldn't place it. Minerva was knowledgeable but in cases like this, he had to admit Snape had more expertise. Besides, those transferees were all placed in his house. It was safe to assume that he knew their backqrounds.
He knocked cautiously on the blasted door. He could have easily walked in but he wanted to extend common courtesy to his fellow professor. He knocked again and pressed his ear against the door to listen for any sign of life.
There was --- A pop and a tiny squeak.
Puzzled, and without a care to what Snape would think, he walked in soundlessly to investigate. That tiny squeak was unmistakeably a rat's and he would stake his reputation that that was not just an ordinary rat.
"Lumos" he uttered and there, in the middle of Snape's office, he found a scared-looking rat who was too terrified to move. His gaze quickly flickered to its paws and immediately noticed that one was made of shining silver metal.
Without wasting time, he shot him the spell to force him to show his human form and quickly followed it up with a body-bind charm.
"What are you doing here, Wormtail?" he asked the thin man venomously, choosing to address him by the name fitting for a traitor like him.
"R-Remus, old friend, I w-want you to know that I'm really sorry for what I did." said the man and Lupin was amazed to see real tears falling down his cheeks.
"It's kind of too late for that now, don't you think?" said Lupin, his wand still pointed at the sniveling figure. He would never make the same mistake twice.
"N-no, it's not. Harry --- "
"What has Harry got to do with this?" yelled Lupin suddenly in a fit of anger. How dare this pathetic excuse of a man speak of Harry's name when he was the one who caused his suffering? "Harry is dead. Are you happy now?"
The thin man whimpered in fright but not once did he avert his eyes from his former friend's murderous stare. "H-Harry is alive, Remus. I know what I have done was unforgivable but I really regret it. Please forgive me."
"Because of your own selfishness, Lily and James died, Sirius wasted twelve years of his life in Azkaban and Voldemort came back to life. I don't think I can ever forget that much less forgive." He paused for a while to give himself time to recover from those nasty memories. "Do you know why I haven't killed you yet?"
Wormtail shook his head in despair. He knew it would be difficult to face his old friend after what happened but he never realized that it would be this overwhelming.
"I don't want to kill you yet because I want to clear Sirius's name even after his death. I don't want people to remember Sirius as a murdering traitor who betrayed his bestfriends. I want people to regard him as the great person he was --- unlike you."
Wormtail flinched inwardly at his harsh words but he couldn't say anything in his defense. What Lupin said was true - he was a murdering traitor who betrayed his best friends, even endangered their son's life several times. He didn't deserve to live but here he was, still existing while his good friend had fallen. Harry Potter had saved him before but maybe he shouldn't have.
"You know why I haven't taken my own wretched life yet?" said Wormtail in a defeated tone.
Lupin looked at him in surprise. He was not expecting this. "Why?"
"Because I owe Harry my life and I want to be there when he needs it. He might not, but just in case, I still want to do it so that I can finally pay my debt." stated Wormtail unfalteringly, his meaning not lost on Lupin.
"Wait - did you say Harry is alive?" asked Lupin.
Just then, the door's dungeon flew open and revealed two teenage boys and a girl who were slightly panting for breath as they rushed inside the dimly lit office.
"Professor, we have something to tell ---" The three stopped suddenly when they noticed the scene before them.
"Yes?" prompted Lupin with one eyebrow raised in a questioning stare.
The three teenager looked unsure at one another before Lander replied rather insolently. "We didn't come here for you, Lupin. Where's Professor Snape?"
The professor scrutinized the new arrivals carefully until something clicked on his mind. "Harry, you can cut the pretense now. I know." he stated and watched their reactions closely. It was a gamble but he was willing to take the risk.
Devon and Callah stared wide-eyed at him as if he had suddenly sprouted another head on his shoulders. The professor watched with a combination of suspense and amusement as the two silently debated between themselves on what to say or do next. But nothing could have prepared him from Lander's reaction. The boy casually waved his right hand and unceremoniously shot colorful sparks at him. The impact made him stagger backwards and he became instantly horrified at the idea that he had miscalculated in his deductions. He raised his wand to disarm the boy but then he realized that the boy did not have his wand out. 'How could this be?' he thought. Now that the initial shock had worn off, he also took note of the fact that he did not feel any pain at all.
The others just smiled knowingly at him as if attacking a professor was a common occurrence in that room. He glared at the students and summoned his most authoritative voice.
"What was that for?" he asked Lander.
"Sorry, Professor. That's just to make sure that you're really who we think you are. One can never be too careful these days if you know what I mean." replied Lander as he gave him a warm smile. "I knew it would not take you long to figure that out." he added.
"Actually, it was Ron and Hermione who gave me the idea. So I take these other two are Ginny and Draco, am I right?" replied Lupin, his relief at being correct was very evident.
"Fortunately, yes, or you would have found yourselves in big trouble now. That was a very dangerous risk you took, Professor." said Ginny in mild reprimand.
"Yeah." Lander agreed. "And you can release the body-bind hex on Wormtail. He's on our side now. He already volunteered to be turned over to the ministry after we finished the problem with Voldemort but as of now, he's here to help us." explained Lander.
"What about Ginny and Draco?" said Lupin as he removed the hex on Wormtail.
"Well, they haven't really killed anyone yet so I guess the ministry will be lenient with them."
"And Snape knew of these plans?" asked the surprised Professor in amazement.
"Yeah - both he and McGonagall knew. In fact, he helped us concoct this particularly cunning scheme." said Ginny, grinning in amusement at the recollection of the usually feared Potions Professor partaking in this charade.
"Harry, we're wasting time. We need to see Snape and McGonagall now!" said Draco as he checked his silver watch for the time.
"Oh, I forgot! Professor, Wormtail, I think you better come with us. There's an urgent matter that we need to discuss right now."
"Yes, I think we have and I think McGonagall and Snape are discussing Lavender's prophecy right now." said Lupin as he followed them to the Headmistress' office.
"What prophecy?" asked Wormtail, eager to join the conversation now that he was confident that he was safe from Lupin's wrath.
"I'm not so sure but McGonagall seemed very excited. She mentioned something about it being the 'Lost Prophecy'."
"THE LOST PROPHECY!" exclaimed Harry, Draco, Ginny and Wormtail at once that made Lupin very curious....very curious indeed as he allowed himself to run with the four extremely agitated individuals. Why was the the trip to the Headmistress' office taking so long?
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"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord had come…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...A terrible thunderstorm would arrive at the time when the final battle shall be fought...Seven loyal allies shall be with him...but one will not survive...The Dark Lord would invoke the spirits but the one would entrap their souls...his servants shall be overcome...he shall perish by his own sword ...and his remains shall reside at the snake's chamber till the end of time...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord had come..."
The headmistress silently waited as the new arrivals read the copy of the prophesy she had conjured as soon as they had arrived. Though she had always been skeptical about the Divination teacher, she had some reverence when it came to true predictions. From what she had witnessed, she could safely assume that Lavender did not just come up with an elaborate theory.
"How the hell can we know when a 'terrible storm' will come up? And who are the 'seven allies'? Stupid prophesy, can't it be more specific?" commented Draco moodily as he finished reading the prediction.
"Watch your language, Mr. Malfoy." said McGonagall sternly.
"To be honest, I'm more concerned about the 'invoking the spirits' part...It sounds scary." stated Ginny in deep thought.
Harry was unusually silent as the others discussed the possibilities. He was more concerned about the identity of the person who shall not survive the battle. Seven allies shall be with him...therefore, they were people who were very close to him. Threfore, another close friend of his would be sacrificed again and be added to the mounting figure of casualties of war. Just another damn figure... He sincerely hoped he could prevent it from happening but what if he could not?
"What do you think, Harry?"
"W-what?" Harry's line of thought was broken and he immediately snapped to attention.
"We're discussing a very important matter here, Potter." reminded Snape. "We want to know your opinion about what you've heard at Mr. Zabini's party. "
"Oh, that." Harry sighed heavily. Voldemort was making his move now and he was feeling very distracted. 'Great...just great.' he thought grimly. "Apparently, the death-eater parents of some Slytherins were too damn confident for comfort. Voldemort is going to launch a nasty attack on the Wizard's celebration of his supposed defeat -- making a mockery of the Ministry and of the Order and DA as well."
"Maybe we should just postpone the celebration." suggested Wormtail. His hands clutching his head as if it was about to break.
"It's in two weeks time. Do we have enough time to prepare for a counter-attack?" asked Lupin, his mouth set on a thin line.
"No but we cannot wait for that 'terrible storm' to come either. It just have to adjust its schedule. I want Voldemort and his army to be dead on the day that they are supposed to be." declared Harry stubbornly, determined to end this battle once and for all. He was tired of hiding. Tired of wearing Slytherin robes and not be able to play Quidditch. And most of all, he missed Luna and his best friends.
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Harry, Ginny, Draco and Wormtail were now at the Room of Requiments. While the Order members were holding a meeting, Harry had decided to call a conference of his own. It was time for the DA members to know the truth. It would be necessary for them to know that he was still alive to give them hope and the strength to fight in the upcoming battle. He did not have the time nor patience to discern who the 'seven allies' were. But surely they would come from the DA or Order members only. They were the only ones loyal to him at the moment considering that the rest of the wizarding world were still confused about what's happening.
As he gripped his fake galleon tightly, he noticed the tension in his three companions' faces.
"Are you sure they would come? They might think it's a trick." said Ginny apprehensively.
"Are you sure you want Wormtail and I to join you? Somehow, I get the feeling that they won't be overjoyed with this." Draco stated the obvious.
Harry only rolled his eyes in exasperation before he replied. "We'll see."
Professor Lupin, Ron and Neville looked stunned at her words but carefully considered what she just told them. After all, Hermione was not known for saying anything illogical and not thoroughly pondered upon especially about something as important as Harry's alleged demise.
"Really?" asked Neville hopefully to no one in particular.
"Come to think of it. I have noticed something unusual with the boy too. The other one was not as strong but the one called Lander seemed very powerful." Lupin nodded his head thoughtfully as he tried to recall his past DADA sessions with them.
Ron was apparently in deep thought too and he exclaimed as he realized something vital that he had purposely ignored before. "Hey, Herm. If what you're saying is true then maybe it was really Harry who blocked the 'cruciatus curse' that Blaise ----"
"Excuse me! What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?" exclaimed the properly appalled House head.
Ron shot a nervous look at Hermione before he replied. "Err- Professor, we - Hermione and I - had a run in with some Slytherin a few weeks ago and one of them used the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione but it did not affect her."
"This happened weeks ago and neither of you told me?!?" said the Professor incredulously. "You know that using the Unforgivable is a very serious matter, don't you?"
"Sorry, Professor. We forgot all about it." said Hermione apologetically.
"All right, we'll talk abot this some other time. Stay here for now. I need to contact Malcolm tonight to clear this matter up before we say anything to the others. I don't want to give false hopes to certain individuals." The professor said sternly then he added as an after thought. "And yes, twenty points from Gryffindor for neglecting to inform me about that particular incident. As Head Girl and prefect, it is your responsibility to report any untoward incident to the Headmistress and any professor."
"Yes, sir." said Hermione and Ron apologetically.
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Contrary to what he had told the students, Professor Lupin headed straight to the one place he knew he could find some answers -- Snape's Dungeon. He knew something was up. He could sense it, thanks to his werefolf instincts. He just couldn't place it. Minerva was knowledgeable but in cases like this, he had to admit Snape had more expertise. Besides, those transferees were all placed in his house. It was safe to assume that he knew their backqrounds.
He knocked cautiously on the blasted door. He could have easily walked in but he wanted to extend common courtesy to his fellow professor. He knocked again and pressed his ear against the door to listen for any sign of life.
There was --- A pop and a tiny squeak.
Puzzled, and without a care to what Snape would think, he walked in soundlessly to investigate. That tiny squeak was unmistakeably a rat's and he would stake his reputation that that was not just an ordinary rat.
"Lumos" he uttered and there, in the middle of Snape's office, he found a scared-looking rat who was too terrified to move. His gaze quickly flickered to its paws and immediately noticed that one was made of shining silver metal.
Without wasting time, he shot him the spell to force him to show his human form and quickly followed it up with a body-bind charm.
"What are you doing here, Wormtail?" he asked the thin man venomously, choosing to address him by the name fitting for a traitor like him.
"R-Remus, old friend, I w-want you to know that I'm really sorry for what I did." said the man and Lupin was amazed to see real tears falling down his cheeks.
"It's kind of too late for that now, don't you think?" said Lupin, his wand still pointed at the sniveling figure. He would never make the same mistake twice.
"N-no, it's not. Harry --- "
"What has Harry got to do with this?" yelled Lupin suddenly in a fit of anger. How dare this pathetic excuse of a man speak of Harry's name when he was the one who caused his suffering? "Harry is dead. Are you happy now?"
The thin man whimpered in fright but not once did he avert his eyes from his former friend's murderous stare. "H-Harry is alive, Remus. I know what I have done was unforgivable but I really regret it. Please forgive me."
"Because of your own selfishness, Lily and James died, Sirius wasted twelve years of his life in Azkaban and Voldemort came back to life. I don't think I can ever forget that much less forgive." He paused for a while to give himself time to recover from those nasty memories. "Do you know why I haven't killed you yet?"
Wormtail shook his head in despair. He knew it would be difficult to face his old friend after what happened but he never realized that it would be this overwhelming.
"I don't want to kill you yet because I want to clear Sirius's name even after his death. I don't want people to remember Sirius as a murdering traitor who betrayed his bestfriends. I want people to regard him as the great person he was --- unlike you."
Wormtail flinched inwardly at his harsh words but he couldn't say anything in his defense. What Lupin said was true - he was a murdering traitor who betrayed his best friends, even endangered their son's life several times. He didn't deserve to live but here he was, still existing while his good friend had fallen. Harry Potter had saved him before but maybe he shouldn't have.
"You know why I haven't taken my own wretched life yet?" said Wormtail in a defeated tone.
Lupin looked at him in surprise. He was not expecting this. "Why?"
"Because I owe Harry my life and I want to be there when he needs it. He might not, but just in case, I still want to do it so that I can finally pay my debt." stated Wormtail unfalteringly, his meaning not lost on Lupin.
"Wait - did you say Harry is alive?" asked Lupin.
Just then, the door's dungeon flew open and revealed two teenage boys and a girl who were slightly panting for breath as they rushed inside the dimly lit office.
"Professor, we have something to tell ---" The three stopped suddenly when they noticed the scene before them.
"Yes?" prompted Lupin with one eyebrow raised in a questioning stare.
The three teenager looked unsure at one another before Lander replied rather insolently. "We didn't come here for you, Lupin. Where's Professor Snape?"
The professor scrutinized the new arrivals carefully until something clicked on his mind. "Harry, you can cut the pretense now. I know." he stated and watched their reactions closely. It was a gamble but he was willing to take the risk.
Devon and Callah stared wide-eyed at him as if he had suddenly sprouted another head on his shoulders. The professor watched with a combination of suspense and amusement as the two silently debated between themselves on what to say or do next. But nothing could have prepared him from Lander's reaction. The boy casually waved his right hand and unceremoniously shot colorful sparks at him. The impact made him stagger backwards and he became instantly horrified at the idea that he had miscalculated in his deductions. He raised his wand to disarm the boy but then he realized that the boy did not have his wand out. 'How could this be?' he thought. Now that the initial shock had worn off, he also took note of the fact that he did not feel any pain at all.
The others just smiled knowingly at him as if attacking a professor was a common occurrence in that room. He glared at the students and summoned his most authoritative voice.
"What was that for?" he asked Lander.
"Sorry, Professor. That's just to make sure that you're really who we think you are. One can never be too careful these days if you know what I mean." replied Lander as he gave him a warm smile. "I knew it would not take you long to figure that out." he added.
"Actually, it was Ron and Hermione who gave me the idea. So I take these other two are Ginny and Draco, am I right?" replied Lupin, his relief at being correct was very evident.
"Fortunately, yes, or you would have found yourselves in big trouble now. That was a very dangerous risk you took, Professor." said Ginny in mild reprimand.
"Yeah." Lander agreed. "And you can release the body-bind hex on Wormtail. He's on our side now. He already volunteered to be turned over to the ministry after we finished the problem with Voldemort but as of now, he's here to help us." explained Lander.
"What about Ginny and Draco?" said Lupin as he removed the hex on Wormtail.
"Well, they haven't really killed anyone yet so I guess the ministry will be lenient with them."
"And Snape knew of these plans?" asked the surprised Professor in amazement.
"Yeah - both he and McGonagall knew. In fact, he helped us concoct this particularly cunning scheme." said Ginny, grinning in amusement at the recollection of the usually feared Potions Professor partaking in this charade.
"Harry, we're wasting time. We need to see Snape and McGonagall now!" said Draco as he checked his silver watch for the time.
"Oh, I forgot! Professor, Wormtail, I think you better come with us. There's an urgent matter that we need to discuss right now."
"Yes, I think we have and I think McGonagall and Snape are discussing Lavender's prophecy right now." said Lupin as he followed them to the Headmistress' office.
"What prophecy?" asked Wormtail, eager to join the conversation now that he was confident that he was safe from Lupin's wrath.
"I'm not so sure but McGonagall seemed very excited. She mentioned something about it being the 'Lost Prophecy'."
"THE LOST PROPHECY!" exclaimed Harry, Draco, Ginny and Wormtail at once that made Lupin very curious....very curious indeed as he allowed himself to run with the four extremely agitated individuals. Why was the the trip to the Headmistress' office taking so long?
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"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord had come…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...A terrible thunderstorm would arrive at the time when the final battle shall be fought...Seven loyal allies shall be with him...but one will not survive...The Dark Lord would invoke the spirits but the one would entrap their souls...his servants shall be overcome...he shall perish by his own sword ...and his remains shall reside at the snake's chamber till the end of time...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord had come..."
The headmistress silently waited as the new arrivals read the copy of the prophesy she had conjured as soon as they had arrived. Though she had always been skeptical about the Divination teacher, she had some reverence when it came to true predictions. From what she had witnessed, she could safely assume that Lavender did not just come up with an elaborate theory.
"How the hell can we know when a 'terrible storm' will come up? And who are the 'seven allies'? Stupid prophesy, can't it be more specific?" commented Draco moodily as he finished reading the prediction.
"Watch your language, Mr. Malfoy." said McGonagall sternly.
"To be honest, I'm more concerned about the 'invoking the spirits' part...It sounds scary." stated Ginny in deep thought.
Harry was unusually silent as the others discussed the possibilities. He was more concerned about the identity of the person who shall not survive the battle. Seven allies shall be with him...therefore, they were people who were very close to him. Threfore, another close friend of his would be sacrificed again and be added to the mounting figure of casualties of war. Just another damn figure... He sincerely hoped he could prevent it from happening but what if he could not?
"What do you think, Harry?"
"W-what?" Harry's line of thought was broken and he immediately snapped to attention.
"We're discussing a very important matter here, Potter." reminded Snape. "We want to know your opinion about what you've heard at Mr. Zabini's party. "
"Oh, that." Harry sighed heavily. Voldemort was making his move now and he was feeling very distracted. 'Great...just great.' he thought grimly. "Apparently, the death-eater parents of some Slytherins were too damn confident for comfort. Voldemort is going to launch a nasty attack on the Wizard's celebration of his supposed defeat -- making a mockery of the Ministry and of the Order and DA as well."
"Maybe we should just postpone the celebration." suggested Wormtail. His hands clutching his head as if it was about to break.
"It's in two weeks time. Do we have enough time to prepare for a counter-attack?" asked Lupin, his mouth set on a thin line.
"No but we cannot wait for that 'terrible storm' to come either. It just have to adjust its schedule. I want Voldemort and his army to be dead on the day that they are supposed to be." declared Harry stubbornly, determined to end this battle once and for all. He was tired of hiding. Tired of wearing Slytherin robes and not be able to play Quidditch. And most of all, he missed Luna and his best friends.
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Harry, Ginny, Draco and Wormtail were now at the Room of Requiments. While the Order members were holding a meeting, Harry had decided to call a conference of his own. It was time for the DA members to know the truth. It would be necessary for them to know that he was still alive to give them hope and the strength to fight in the upcoming battle. He did not have the time nor patience to discern who the 'seven allies' were. But surely they would come from the DA or Order members only. They were the only ones loyal to him at the moment considering that the rest of the wizarding world were still confused about what's happening.
As he gripped his fake galleon tightly, he noticed the tension in his three companions' faces.
"Are you sure they would come? They might think it's a trick." said Ginny apprehensively.
"Are you sure you want Wormtail and I to join you? Somehow, I get the feeling that they won't be overjoyed with this." Draco stated the obvious.
Harry only rolled his eyes in exasperation before he replied. "We'll see."