Blah, blah, blah… Same as always…. Don't own, wish I did…
STILL WIP (probably will be for a while!)
Harry Potter and the Last Black The Hidden Truth
"What did you say Harry?" Sara asked.
"N-n-nothing." Harry replied. Suddenly Harry felt like his head was being smashed to bits.
"You think Remus Lupin is dead?" Sara spoke softly, "No, he isn't you're mistaken, you're lying, you have no clue what you are talking about." She said strongly.
"What?" Ron shouted, "Where did you come from?"
"I'm terribly sorry for my outburst, and I am sorry for eavesdropping, but I heard mention of Remus Lupin, and well, I had to listen in." Sara's voice was a tad shaky, "The reason I shouted, was because I know Remus, he was the one who suggested that I teach here. He had told me that Dumbledore was a great Headmaster, and would treat me kindly, even though I am a bit different, said that Dumbledore gave him his trust even though he'd known that Lupin was a werewolf and a friend of Sirius Black. I guess I was just a little shocked to hear that you think he's dead."
"We don't think he's dead." Hermione said, "He's just missing that's it, he'll be back." Hermione's voice had a hint of uncertainness.
"Was your father friends with him too?" Harry blurted out.
"Harry, what do you mean 'too'?" Ron asked.
"Yes." Sara replied.
"What are you two going on about?" Ron asked again, "Harry is there something we don't know?"
"Well, er, you see…" Harry mumbled.
"It's okay Harry, you may tell them, they know Lupin, and I am guessing they are your closest friends, but first follow me to a place where we cannot be overheard by a passer-by." Sara said, walking in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
"Erm, Professor, where are we going?" Hermione asked.
"I'd like to know that too, and what can Harry tell us that he wasn't going too?" Ron asked again.
"I will let you know when we get to where we are going." Sara replied, and all the while, Harry walked slowly behind them all, thinking about everything that was going on, and it was only the first day of class.
Sara led the group to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and was about to take a step into the forest, when Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, "We aren't going in there, are we?" she gulped.
"Yes, we are, this is the only place we are certain to not be heard by passing students, and I am sure that there is no way student would be in an off-limits area at dusk." Sara said, leading the way into the forest. Carefully Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed closely behind her. As they walked along in the forest, Harry and Hermione realized that they were heading in the direction they had lead last year's Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, straight into the heart of the Centaur's territory.
"Professor, I don't mean to be rude, but we are going in the direction of the Centaur's land." Hermione said in a nervously quiet voice.
"What? Centaurs?" Ron's voice shook with fear.
"It's okay, Centaurs are not dangerous, one is even a teacher up at Hogwarts, besides, and didn't you know that?" Sara replied, not seeming to care.
"Yeah, we know that, but he's not like the others, he actually kind to humans." Hermione said.
"Oh, I know he's not like the others, but he's still a Centaur." Sara replied. Suddenly the sound of pounding hooves could be heard, and they were moving steadily closer.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione pulled out their wands, but Sara signaled to put them away, when none of them moved to do so, Sara whispered, "Put those things away, they will not harm us, I assure you of that, as long as you do not threaten them."
Reluctantly Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped their wands back into there robes. Was she trying to get them killed?
Soon the hoof beats were just up ahead. Sara stood still, and motioned for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to come up close behind her. They moved behind her, and as soon as they were only a foot from her, and large Centaur jumped out at them.
"Who are you humans?" Harry recognized the animal as Bane, the leader of the Centaurs of the Forbidden Forest, "What are you doing in my forest? Get out or be killed."
"Good evening Bane." Sara spoke easily, and unafraid of Bane's threat.
"Well, if it isn't Sara." He nodded his head at her, then looked behind her, "What are you doing bring those students into my forest?"
"One, it isn't your forest, and two I don't think it is any concern to you why I do what I do, so please, call back your Centaurs, and I will be on my way. I must pass through the territory you claim to be yours to get to where I must go. Step aside." Sara's voice was firm, and if Harry had been one of those Centaurs, he would have done as she had said, but Bane stood firm, rooted to the spot.
"I trust you, but not those humans." Bane said, "How do I know they are not going to threaten my people?"
"Take a close look at the boy to my left," Sara said, nodding over her left shoulder, "that boy is none other than Harry Potter; now tell me, you don't think that he is going to threaten you? Not when you are doing so much to help him."
"He is the Potter boy, but last year he was the reason several of my men were injured, I cannot forgive that." Bane said.
"And you are the reason Mari's child was killed, and I have not killed you. I forgave you, yet I will not forget it. If you wish to punish this child for what happened last year, I might have to take back my forgiveness, and trust me; you do not want that to happen." Sara's voice was cutting Bane down, like a knife to the flesh.
"Right," Bane said, a sudden hint of fear in his eyes and voice, "I will forgive those humans, but let it be known, only can humans enter my forest with you." Bane tilted his head back and bayed loudly, a call which Harry assumed to be telling all the Centaurs to step down and allow them to pass.
"Thank you Bane, you were wise to keep me as your friend." Sara said, as she stepped forward. Bane moved aside, and Sara, Harry, Ron, and Hermione passes him. As the group travled farther into the forest, they passed several other Centaurs, and each one bowed its head towards Sara.
"Bloody hell, how come they listen to you?" Ron whispered as a group of rather mean looking Centaurs bowed their heads as Sara passed.
"My people are living in this forest for the time being, and the other week, I was informed that Bane had killed my friend Mari's baby. I was rather upset when I heard, so last night I had a conversation with Bane, and I told him that if he harmed another one of my friends, I'd kill him. He apologized, and I forgave him." Sara replied as if it were no great feat, just an everyday task.
"How come your friends are staying in the forest?" Hermione asked.
"They used to live in the Black Forest, all the way in Germany, but they decided to come here, to where their ancestors lived. Our people are hunters, and, with the exception of a few of us, who have fathers who were not part of the clan, have as little outside connection as possible. You see, because of our gifts, people tend to be afraid of us, and see us as threats. Please though, do not tell anyone that I am off their blood, you see when I was found orphaned fifteen years ago, the Ministry did not know who my parents were, and they still do not know. I am not quite sure how they would take it knowing that I am one of 'them'." Sara answered.
"If they didn't know who you were, how do you?" Ron asked.
Sara laughed slightly, "I found out when I was four. I had lived at an orphanage for children who had lost their parents during the terror of Voldemort, and one day, the lady who took care of us took us on a field trip to the zoo. As we walked around, I wound up getting myself lost. I had always loved wolves, so I decided to use the time I had away from my boring group to go look at them. When I arrived at the wolf cages, I saw something that made me extremely sad. Inside one of the cages were two men. They were sitting on a log, dressed in rather tattered shreds.
"I ran up to the cage and asked them, 'Why are in there? Where are the wolves?' The men looked at me for a second, but someone placed their hand on my shoulder and said 'They won't talk to us, they are werewolves. They allow themselves to be viewed like this to make money. This is the only suitable job for their kind.' I looked up at the speaker, and asked him, 'But aren't they still humans? It's not like they chose to be werewolves. Besides, I like them, they seem nice.' The man laughed, 'They are wild beast that will kill you. You shouldn't like them.'"
Sara laughed loudly, "Oh I remember what I did next, it was so funny, I stepped on the man's foot and shouted, 'I don't like you. You aren't human if you go telling others not to like someone because they are different.' The man muttered 'Stupid kid,' and hobbled off. I watched the man leave, then I turned back to the men, 'No matter what people say, I like you. You look human enough to me.' I smiled brightly at the men, and then started to walk off when one said quietly to me, 'Thank you.'
"It was a nice feeling to have them say something to me. As I passed a man looking at the men, I heard someone say 'Hmm, those werewolves actually talked to that little girl?' I looked around for the speaker, but found no one, so I decided to ask the man if he'd said that, when I did, he looked at me with wild eyes, 'What did you say? No I didn't say anything, I thought something. Could it be you read my thoughts?' Then he knelt beside me, and placed his hand on my cheek, titling my head up. For some reason I wasn't afraid of him, his touch was warm and he silently said to me, 'Rae Twilight, can it really be you?' I replied, 'No sir, my name is Sara.'
"But he shook his head, 'No you are Rae Twilight, please come with me, I must take you to a friend of mine.' I wasn't scared or anything, so I decided to leave with the man. He took me to a man, who recognized me at once as Rae Twilight. He then explained to me everything, and somehow, he restored my memories from my only year with my mother. It was strange to know you were different from everyone else, and I wanted to brag, but he told me not to tell anyone, and I promised I wouldn't.
"He did, though, offer to take me in, and train me, but he said it would have to be a secret, and that no one else could know, I agreed, and he took me to the Black Forest, and began to train me in our magic, the magic you've seen me perform. I trained for five years, but I decided I didn't want to live in the forest, and neither did the man I was with. So we both left the forest, and came back to England. He told me while we where in London, I would be unable to live with him, so I found my way back to the orphanage that I had lived at before I knew who I really was. When the lady who ran the home realized that I was the same girl from five years ago, she gladly took me in, weeping that she was so thankful I had not been kidnapped.
"I laughed, and told her, I had gone to live with a muggle, but she was scared of me because I was different. The lady asked what did I do to make me so different, and I said, 'this' I lifted my hands and rearranged the furniture in the den. The lady was so frightened of my strength, she called the Ministry, and informed them that I was a child prodigy, and she asked if I could be enrolled at once into the Ministry Military School. After several rather difficult assessment tests, I was accepted, and began to train, just like you all are doing now. The only difference is that I was a few years younger when I started."
Sara sighed, "So there you have it that is my secret past."
"Blimy, that was a very interesting story," Ron said, "But why are you telling us this? I thought you weren't supposed to tell anyone."
"Well, you three already knew half of the picture, so I thought that you three could handle the truth. I trust you will keep it a secret." Sara said, as they reached the base of a large willow that stood on the edge of a small pond. "We're here." Sara announced to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"I had no idea this was in the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts, a History doesn't say anything about a pond in the middle of it, even though three whole chapters are dedicated to the Forbidden Forest." Hermione said astounded.
"Yeah, well, I guess it's not a very well known place." Sara replied as she sat down at the base of the tree, "You can talk now Harry." Sara laughed, "You're very silent tonight."
"I've just been thinking that's all." Harry said, "But now that we are out here, I might as well tell Ron and Hermione." Sara nodded in agreement.
"Tell us already!" Ron said impatiently.
"Okay, on the train ride here Sara told me her father was friends with mine when they went to school here. I don't know why it's so important that she brought us all the way out here though." Harry said.
"You really don't understand do you Harry?" said Sara sharply, " It's because if one of those Death Eater's sons found out about my father knowing yours they just might tell their fathers, and that could bring a lot of trouble down on our heads. Do you understand me know? You can't just go making this out to be no big deal, I'm not even sure if Dumbledore knows the whole truth about me. You see, it's something I inherited from my father I guess, the ability to hide things well."
"What, you mean Dumbledore doesn't even know that you are one of 'them'?" asked Hermione.
"No, no, I am not saying that. All of the teachers know about that, but what I am saying is, I don't think Dumbledore knows that my father is-"Sara cut off in mid-sentence, "Oh, never mind, that's not important."
"Hang on," Harry looked at Sara, "who is your father?"
"Don't tell us he was a Death Eater!" Ron blurted out.
"No, my father despised all Death Eaters, that's why he's missing." Sara stopped and sighed heavily, "Yes, that's the truth; my father is not dead, at least not for certain. When my mother was killed…" Sara stopped, there was a low growl echoing around them. Sara's eyes darted up between the thick trees, and over the pond.
"No, it can't be. How could I have been so stupid?" Sara's eyes were full of terror.
"What's wrong Professor?" Hermione asked, but she didn't need a response, her eyes followed Sara's gaze, and she saw why Sara was worried. A full moon loomed over the lake, its white glow reflecting of the glassy surface of the pond.
"Hermione?" Ron said, "What's going…"
"Run!" shouted Harry, "We've got to get out of here, it's the night of the full moon, and there are werewolves that live this deep in the forest."
"He's right; we've got to get out of here." Sara said silently, but it was too late, a large werewolf stepped into view; its razor sharp teeth glistening in the moon light, "It's too late, hurry, you three; we've got to make a run for it."
"But can we out run a werewolf?" Hermione asked.
Sara pushed her sharply, "No questions, just run!" Sara, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to run quickly towards the direction in which they had just come.
But, as fast as they ran, they couldn't out run the werewolf. Hermione screamed as it leapt over their heads, blocking their only exit.
Sara dashed in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione and pulled out her wand, "Esario Cantractium!" A bright blue light shot from the tip of her wand and hit the werewolf square in the chest. It let out a yelp, and then sprang at Sara, but a large black wolf jumped at the werewolf, and pinned it to the ground. The werewolf struggled, but it couldn't break free. The black wolf turned its head towards Sara, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Harry noticed its bright gray-blue eyes, shinning against the black fur.
"Come on, we've got to go." Sara said, pushing Harry, Ron, and Hermione past the wolves. Soon they were out of the Forbidden Forest, all four breathing quite heavily.
"What was all that about?" Ron asked, "And what the bloody hell do you think you were doing leading us out there on the night of a full moon?"
"Ron, shut up, she's just entrusted us with her secret. It's not her fault that it was a full moon." Hermione snapped, "I'm sorry professor, please forgive him."
"Sure, it's my fault though; I should have never put your lives in danger like that just so I could talk to you privately," said Sara.
"Er, Professor, thank you." Harry said quietly.
"No, thank you three, it feels rather nice to tell someone about my past, plus, I actually get to talk to people my age. I've never really had anyone to talk to." Sara laughed a little, "You know, this year is going to be rather, er, difficult for me."
"Why is that Professor?" Harry asked.
"Well, because, even though I am a fully qualified witch, I still am a sixteen year old girl. I guess I still like to cause mischief." Sara laughed, "I guess I'd better get you up to your dorms, no more adventures tonight."
Sara led the group up to the Gryffindor dorms, and bid them good night.
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione settled down in the common room, Harry began to laugh, "That was kind of fun don't you two agree."
"Yeah, it was," said Ron cheerfully.
"Actually, it was." Hermione agreed, "I would have never guessed that Sara would be so interesting."
"Does this change your mind about her?" Ron asked Hermione.
"It does, you know, I think she wants friends." Hermione added.
"True, it's kind of hard not to forget that she is a professor." Harry said, "I might be taking a wild guess, but I think this is going to be a fun year."
They all made their ways up to their dorms, and fell quickly asleep.
To be continued. . .
So Sara has some sort of secret past, and she's entrusted Harry, Ron and Hermione with it. . . Sound a little suspicious? Keep reading to find out what happens next! And as always, leave comments!