MAELSTROM

CHAPTER NINETEEN-LUKE'S VISIT

"That's impossible," I said. "You-Know-Who would have to have some means to get to Remus. Like a diary or something else. Remus hasn't accepted anything strange from anyone. It has to be something else."

"The Imperius curse?" James suggested then.

"That's a possibility…" I said slowly. "But then who?"

Carrie just sobbed into James' shoulder.

James put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

CARRIE.

I just pressed my face into James' shoulder and sobbed.

I couldn't believe it was Remus that tried to smother me…but we still don't know who was the cause for Molly's death.

"Hey," Lily said suddenly. "If Remus' was having moments of a lapsed memory, we don't know if it was him that caused Molly's death with the Seal Placement charm."

"I was unfortunately thinking the same thing," James said quietly.

"Maybe we should tell Dumbledore to give him a Veritaserum potion," Lily said quietly.

"It's late now," James said as he released me. "I think we really should get some sleep."

I was too frightened to sleep by myself. I held onto James for a bit.

"We could stay here," James said softly.

After a while, I ended up dozing off, leaning against James.

JAMES.

Carrie fell asleep with her head resting against my shoulder under my arm. Lily curled up down the other end of the couch and fell asleep too. I fell asleep too.

The next morning, we immediately woke up and headed down to see Remus.

Professor Anicks was taking first guard.

"Sure," she said softly as she let us into the room.

We stepped in.

The house elves had brought Remus some food and water. Thank God Dumbledore wasn't the type to let anyone starve even if they did something horrible.

Remus was sitting on the floor, this time with his hands cuffed to the wall next to his ears.

"If I change, I can't go far," he explained quietly. "Dumbledore assures me that he'll find out what's going on."

"James thinks that you might be under the influence of the Imperius Curse," Lily said.

I saw a flicker of hope in Remus' blue eyes.

"Really? Would that explain my actions?" he asked.

"Probably," I said.

Remus' eyes moved onto Carrie.

Carrie was hugging herself and biting her bottom lip.

I knew this was killing her. I also knew just how much she and Remus loved each other.

"How are you?" Remus asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Carrie replied.

To my surprise, Carrie went over to him and dropped to her knees beside him. Remus kept his eyes on her the entire time.

"I love you so much," Carrie whispered as tears formed in her eyes. "I just want you to be okay."

"I know," Remus said quietly. "I love you too."

She put her face close to Remus' and kissed him. He kissed her back.

After a few moments they pulled back.

"Come on," I said softly.

We gave Remus a reassuring wink and wave before we left the dungeon.

CARRIE.

We headed down to breakfast.

Just then, the owl post arrived.

A letter was dropped almost in my eggs and sausage. I reached for it. On the front had my name in neat print:

Carrie Owens

The Great Hall: Gryffindor Table

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Who's it from?" Lily asked leaning close to read it.

"I'm not sure," I said bewildered.

I opened the letter and began reading. My eyes got wider and wider and filled with dread and fear.

"It's from Luke," I choked out.

At that, James dropped his fork onto his plate with a clatter and got up from his seat. He came around and sat down next to me on my other side. Both he and Lily leaned in to read the letter:

Dearest Carrie,

How are you? I gather you've heard I broke out of Azkaban. Pretty slick huh? Anyway, I'm coming to your charming school! I can't wait till we meet again. Guess you're wondering how I managed the breakout…well there's two ways…1-I learned how to be an Animagus. That's something I never told you. 2-my best friend helped me and promised me power and he's actually doing well considering his power isn't fully there, but he's gathering followers and plans to start a war. It's going to be really exciting!

Anyway, I'm on my way! Give my best to your lovely friends.

Luke Warner

"Um," Lily said slowly keeping her eyes on the letter. "Judging from that, it sounds like Voldemort is his 'best' friend."

"I was thinking the same thing," James said slowly. "We should show Dumbledore this."

"Most definitely," Lily agreed.

So the three of us headed up to Dumbledore's office.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. "What can I do for you?"

"This just arrived for Carrie," James said taking the letter from me and showing it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore scanned the letter.

"Oh dear," he said quietly. "I remember Mr. Warner. He abused you didn't he?"

At this, Dumbledore raised his eyes to meet mine.

There was pain in his eyes.

"Yes," I said quietly.

"Sir, we're thinking Remus might be working under the Imperius curse," Lily said.

Dumbledore moved his eyes onto her.

"That would prove a big possibility," he said thoughtfully. "Because we've already ruled out anyone working for Voldemort."

"Actually, we're thinking Luke is," James said. "Look at line four."

Dumbledore skimmed it.

"Oh yes," he said nodding. "That would certainly be a big clue and it does seem like Luke's coming right out and telling you."

"I think Carrie should be in protective custody," Lily said hugging herself.

"I think that would be wise," Dumbledore said. "I'm willing to let Remus protect as well as James…but I would advise changing."

We looked at each other.

"You mean change into the Animagi?" James asked slowly. "And Remus into the wolf? Suppose he goes bonkers again?"

"I'm going to put a special charm on him. It will make him repel the Imperius curse…plus, I'm going to have to induce the transformation. Professor Anicks can give him the potion," Dumbledore said calmly.

"That might be a good idea," Lily said uncertainly. "But James is a stag. Where could we go?"

"The Great Hall," Dumbledore said. "It's large enough for James to change but we'd also be able to keep an eye on things."

"What about breakfast, lunch and dinner? Won't the other houses be suspicious?" I asked.

"I'm going to set up a special hall down in the kitchen area. I'll tell them that the Great Hall is being redecorated for the Valentines Day Dance," he winked.

"Alright," James said nodding.

"You do realize of course that it could be days spent in the Great Hall," Dumbledore said.

"We know and we don't care," Lily said firmly.

"Okay,"

With that, we, including Dumbledore, left the office.

We went and got Remus. Dumbledore put a charm on him before Professor Anicks gave him the Lupine Potion, which induces the werewolf transformation.

Remus changed into the gray wolf.

Once that was done, we headed down to the Great Hall. Dumbledore moved the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables against the wall. The Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables remained where they were.

He conjured sleeping bags against the wall.

"Naturally, I'll have a teacher keep watch as well," Dumbledore said. "First, I will have Professor Gray keep watch. I myself will also take a turn."

The wolf sat on his haunches next to my leg and looked up at me, panting.

"Thanks Professor," I said gratefully.

"You're most welcomed," Professor Dumbledore said gently. "Food will be brought to you by the house elves. Right now I've got to go and make a makeshift hall down in the kitchen area. You will be of course excused from classes until we know what Luke is up to."

I nodded.

Once Dumbledore left, James changed into the stag.

"Wow," I breathed.

I've never seen James as a stag before. He was a beautiful golden brown with a bit of a white patch on his forehead. The massive horns curled outward and upward.

His hooves were black and a bit shiny. He even had a tuft of a tail. His big brown eyes moved onto Lily.

"Oh nice," Lily teased. "You show affection when you're a deer. Too bad I didn't have bright headlights."

I laughed.

The stag stamped a foot impatiently and gently went to nip at the sleeve on Lily's robe.

She laughed too and rubbed the stag's forehead.

The sun shone brightly through the windows of the Great Hall.

"I feel like I'm in a time out," Lily whined as she sat down on the Ravenclaw table.

I sat down on the floor on top of my sleeping bag. The wolf came over to me and sat down on its haunches beside me. He continued to pant.

"Arthur and Molly are dead because someone is after me that wants me dead," I muttered, drawing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

The stag came over and lowered his head.

He gently nudged me with his black deer nose and licked my hand.

I reached up to pat the stag on the shoulder.

"Carrie, none of this is your fault okay? Molly and Arthur came here to protect you," Lily said softly as she got up and came over to me. She sat down beside me.

The stag buckled his legs and laid down in front of us.

His legs were tucked underneath him.

James rested his head on my feet. The horns were inches from my face.

"James, watch were you put those," Lily scolded lightly pushing the stag's head.

James ears flattened and he went to take a bite out of her hand.

"Whoa!" Lily said pulling her hand back. "Fine! But if you gore Carrie I'm not saying I told you so!"

The wolf barked and he too, curled up against Lily, tucking his hind legs beneath him. He rested his head on Lily's thigh.

"Nice," Lily sighed. "Remus, you're supposed to be in love with Carrie and here you are curled up against me. James is curled up against Carrie. Go figure."

"We know at least that they're here to protect us and that's the main thing," I replied rolling my eyes.

"Yep," Lily replied.

Darkness fell.

We climbed into our sleeping bags and laid on our backs staring up at the enchanted ceiling.

The stag was once again curled up against me and the wolf against Lily.

Suddenly, the glass blew in.

We protectively covered our faces with our arms as shards of glass showered us.

Lily and I screamed.

Immediately, the stag and wolf were on their feet.

The wolf began snarling viciously. His ears were pinned back and his top lip was pulled back exposing white canines and incisors.

The stag lowered his head in a 'charge' position in front of Lily and I. We hugged each other in fear.

Something jumped through the window and landed on top of the Slytherin table.

As light fell across it, we could see it was an animal…a very large animal.

It was a large black panther.

The panther gracefully leaped off the table and began walking steadily toward me. The tail was swinging back and forth and the cold yellow eyes with the vertical pupil were locked on the stag and wolf.

"Please be careful guys," Lily whispered hugging me tighter.

The panther snarled and took a swipe at the wolf, but the wolf snapped his jaws.

"Stupefy!" Professor Gray's voice said from the entrance way. A jet of yellow shot out from the tip of her wand, which was aimed at the panther.

The panther dived out of the way and lunged for the teacher. She backed away and ended up falling and hitting the back of her head on a table. She was knocked out cold.

The panther turned and charged us.

Lily and I screamed again and that's when the stag sprung to life. James lowered his head and charged the panther.

The panther was caught in his antlers and James flung his head upward. The panther sailed cleanly over us and crashed onto the Slytherin table, snapping it half.

The stag turned around and prepared to charge again. It pawed the floor.

The panther didn't get up.

"I thought we could be friends, Carrie," a voice said from the table.

Just then, Luke stood up in replace of the panther.

"The panther…was you?" I cried.

"Yes," he smirked. "It was me all along. I put the Seal Placement charm on your school so you couldn't get back in. I was hoping you'd be the one to die, but Molly Prewett was just a bonus…I put the Imperius Curse on your beloved boyfriend, who, by the way, makes a better dog."

The wolf snarled angrily and now the whites of his eyes were showing.

"Kill her," Luke said to the wolf.

But the wolf remained as he is and continued to snarl at Luke.

"Sorry buddy," Lily said. "But there's a charm on him. He's able to repel the Imperius Curse."

"Shit," Luke said angrily but then he smirked again. "Ah, but what about your dear stag?"

He raised his wand at the stag.

"Imperius!"

At that, the stag turned and his head was now lowered at us. The gray wolf jumped in front of us and snarled protectively.