ROTRUFIN

CHAPTER 23-HUNTED

We quickly ate our dinner and once the Hall started clearing out, we hurried over to the Head Table.

"Professor Dumbledore," Remus said breathlessly. "We saw the wolf."

Dumbledore's blue eyes widened behind his half moon spectacles.

"Are you sure?" he asked slowly and quietly.

"Positive," I said nodding. "We saw it come alive. It's definitely real."

"I was afraid of this," Dumbledore said biting his bottom lip. "The Rotrufin Medallion must've gotten into the wrong hands."

"But how could the medallion be found?" James asked confused. "It was supposed to be buried in one of the pyramids of Egypt no?"

"Yes you're right," Dumbledore said. "Buried in the Nezfornotim pyramid guarded. It is supposed to be sealed in a tight box."

"So how could anyone get a hold of this?" Lily asked curiously.

"Someone that would have to have powers and knowledge," Dumbledore said earnestly. "A witch or wizard could easily gain access."

We all looked at each other.

"For now, I want you lot to stay here in the castle…no more venturing outside Hogwarts' grounds," Dumbledore continued.

"That's for sure," Lily muttered. "Knowing that 'thing' is alive and possibly around, I doubt I'll ever go out until I know it's back where it belongs…dead."

"I agree," Sirius said shivering.

Dumbledore nodded and continued on his way.

We headed to Charms class.

Professor Dawes began teaching us the Jynol Charm, which is supposed to shield any unwanted charms or spells.

Remus and Lily were paired up. Sirius and I were together and James and another 6th year named Alice Carter were behind us.

"It was really horrible," I was explaining to Sirius. "It looked like some kind of skin began forming first which was the muscles and everything. I ended up vomiting."

"No doubt," Sirius said sympathetically. "I get that feeling every time I see James nude."

James reached forward and smacked Sirius up the back of the head.

"How do you think I feel? Seeing you isn't exactly a can of peaches," James said rolling his eyes.

"And your body is just lovely," Sirius retorted. "You're so precious!"

Remus and Lily burst out laughing in front of us. I laughed too.

"My precious poopsie," James snickered. "I could just eat you up!"

We laughed again but that only resulted in getting a glare from Professor Dawes.

Quieting down, we continued our work. Occasionally, Lily let out snorts.

Once that class was over, we headed to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was teaching us how to transfigure a cat into a small Shetland pony.

James cat ended up having a mane; Lily, Remus and I's turned out fine and Sirius' cat had hooves instead of paws.

Professor McGonagall took 5 points from Gryffindor for that.

"Aw man," Sirius moaned as we left the classroom. "Didn't she see the Slytherins? Their pony's still had a cats head! Did she take five points from them? Nooo."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"That was a bit unfair," Remus admitted.

"A bit?" James scoffed. "That was totally unfair."

"Maybe we could talk to her?" Lily offered shifting the weight of her backpack onto her other shoulder.

"Maybe," I said uncertainly.

"I say it's worth a try," James said.

So Sirius and James headed back into the classroom to talk to the teacher.

Remus, Lily and I stayed outside and waited.

When James and Sirius came back out, they were furious.

"She says we should've practiced more instead of taking little field trips to London," Sirius fumed.

Lily and I looked at each other.

"But we didn't know what the charm was going to be until we went to class," Remus said slowly raising an eyebrow. "Very interesting."

"What? Are you thinking something?" Lily asked turning to Remus.

"I'm not sure," Remus admitted. "But how could we practice something we don't even know until a few moments ago?"

We all looked at each other. Now, Professor McGonagall wasn't the kind of teacher to be unfair…we all knew that. So something was definitely weird in my book.

We continued to Herbology with Professor Andrews. We learned about the Waikiu Plant which was used in many potions as a soothing agent…much like the Muggle plant Aloe Vera.

Only the potion that it was used in was applied to the skin for burns, scratches etc.

That night, we all sat in the common room wondering.

"Do you think that Agranis wolf is out there right now?" Lily whispered shivering.

"Possibly," James said. "But I'm still stumped as how it came to life without that Rotrufin medallion."

"I agree," Remus said nodding. "But I also think we should just do what Dumbledore tells us and keep our eyes peeled."

"I agree," I said nodding.

Lily, James and Sirius headed off to bed. Remus and I were alone in the common room.

"I never want to see something like that again," I said hugging myself.

"I agree," Remus said. "Neither do I."

There was silence.

"I'm heading to bed," I said yawning. "See you in the morning."

I got up and headed to the girls' dorm.

The next morning, we noticed a group of first years huddling together at the end of the table. They were eyeing the entrance way to the Great Hall.

Remus nudged Sirius. We followed Sirius' gaze.

"What's wrong?" Remus whispered to the nearest first year.

"There's something watching us in the forest," she replied shaking.

"Like what? Did you see it?" Lily asked leaning close.

"It had gold eyes," the girl continued. "We're afraid to go outside."

"Then you shouldn't have to," Remus said firmly.

After breakfast, Professor McGonagall came over to us and ushered the first years toward the entranceway out.

"We need to stay in and study!" the girl cried looking absolutely terrified.

Remus hurried over. We jogged over behind him.

"Professor? We're going to the library with them. They asked us for help on the Sumarit Potion," James said quickly.

"You can work on it later," Professor McGonagall said still ushering the first years toward the door. "It's such a lovely day out."

The girl was throwing pleading looks at us.

I felt awful.

After much protesting, the first years were pushed out the door. Professor McGonagall continued on her way.

We hurried over to the window and looked out. Oddly, none of the other students were outside. The four first years stayed huddled together like deer in a pen.

We watched in horror as something huge and horribly familiar bounded out of the forest and charged toward the first years.

They began screaming and running toward the double doors.

James and Sirius rushed over to the doors and pulled.

"They won't open!" Sirius cried as he and James struggled to open them.

"Get them open!" I screamed as Remus, Lily and I stayed next to the window and watched in horror as the Agranis wolf took down one of the first years. A bit of blood sprayed onto the glass. Then, the wolf took down the next two. The girl was the only one that managed to make it to the doors.

The window was smeared with blood.

"It's open but only a bit! Enough for her to squeeze through!" James yelled.

Lily stayed by the window as Remus and I flew over to where James and Sirius were.

The door was opened but enough for the girl to squeeze through.

"Come on!" I urged holding out my hand.

The girl wedged her body half way through the opening when suddenly, her body was lifted half way up the doorframe off her feet.

Her hands closed around mine. Remus got behind me and we began pulling at her.

We could hear the wolf snarls through the doors.

"HELP ME!" the girl screamed.

We kept pulling.

Finally, we managed to pull the girl through the door.

Sirius bent over and vomited.

James turned his head away.

My breathing sped up as a scream built up in my throat. We pulled only the top half of her body…the lower part had been eaten.

I released the lifeless arms and then I finally found my voice. I screamed bloodcurdlingly.

A pool of blood pooled around where her hips would be. I kept screaming.

I heard the thundering of footsteps in a run.

"What on earth…?" Professor Dawes said in pure horror.

It was Professor Dumbledore, Professor Anicks and Professor Andrews.

I was absolutely hysterical.

Remus helped me to my feet. Lily rushed over to James and pressed her face into his chest.

Sirius was still bent over, retching.

"What happened?" Professor Dumbledore demanded.

Remus began explaining to him in a shaky voice what started it and what had happened.

I was shaking violently.

Remus gently turned me around to face him, but I shook off his arms and turned and began walking away.

"Gillian!" Remus cried.

"Let her go," Uncle Albus said gently. "She needs to deal with this in her own way."

REMUS.

I watched Gillian leave the entrance hall and she headed upstairs.

"Now you said Professor McGonagall was 'forcing' them outside?" Dumbledore said snapping me back to attention.

"That's what it seemed like sir," James swallowed. "We told her that they were going to be studying with us…but she was like 'Do it later'."

"Hmm," Dumbledore mused. "I'll have a chat with her and find out what's going on. It's definitely odd behavior for her."

Sirius managed to stop vomiting and stood up, wiping the corner of his mouth with the sleeve of his robe.

"I'll go check on Gillian," he offered.

He was as pale as a ghost as he hurried up the stairs after her.

"I'll get Madam Elkin to come and take care of her," Dumbledore said quietly gesturing to the poor first year. "And that curfew now extends to the daytime. No one is to leave this castle without proper supervision. It seems as though they were hunted…the Agranis wolf is now on Hogwarts grounds and knows where there's 'food'."

Nodding, we slowly trudged up the stairs after Sirius.

We found Gillian crying hysterically into Sirius' chest.

Sirius looked up. He was just as pale and looked terrible too.

"We tried to help her," Lily said putting a hand on Gillian's back.

"It doesn't matter! Why were they forced outside?" Gillian cried turning away from Sirius with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"We don't know, but Dumbledore is going to talk to McGonagall," James said slowly.

Gillian wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

I sat down beside her on the couch.

"Don't worry," I said reassuringly. "Dumbledore will get to the bottom of this whole thing and put a stop to it."

GILLIAN.

Just then, the portrait entrance opened and Professor Dumbledore appeared with a girl two years older than us. She was dressed in a red plaid skirt, a white poplin shirt and black Mary Jane shoes. She had curly light auburn hair that was in spiral curls and green eyes. She was carrying a crossbow and a quiver with arrows on her back that strapped to her body. The strap came around under her armpits and ran diagonally.

"This is Megan O'Malley," Dumbledore explained. "She just Apparated here. She's from the Ministry Of Magic's Law Enforcement. She's here because of the Agranis."

"Cool," Sirius said. "Are you like some bounty hunter or something?"

"I'm a Hunter period," Megan replied briskly. "I hunt Dangerous Mythical Creatures."

James' eyes widened.

"Hot," I heard James whisper.

Apparently so did Lily because she elbowed him right in the ribs.

Remus and I exchanged looks of curiosity.

"She will be staying with us for a week," Dumbledore continued. "She's the proper supervision I was telling you about."

His blue eyes twinkled merrily behind his half moon spectacles briefly.

"I've not yet spoken to Minerva, but I promise you I will have an answer shortly and I will relay it to you. Please, Megan, make yourself at home,"

He turned and left the common room.

MEGAN O'MALLEY.

I lowered the crossbow and rested it against the wall. I pulled off the quiver and dropped it onto the floor.

"So," a boy said slowly with short, dark brown hair and blue eyes said slowly. "You hunt dangerous Mythical creatures?"

I nodded.

"That's right," I said. "I've hunted Wompstats, Tracolun's, and Syvendex's."

"Wow," the boy continued. "Those are as dangerous as they come."

"How'd you know about the Agranis?" a girl with red hair demanded suspiciously.

"We've been tracking it since it escaped the museum," I said softly taking a seat on the couch. "Sort of like the Muggle Lo-Jack."

"What we don't understand is how it came alive in the first place," a boy with un-tidy black hair and hazel eyes said. "Only the Rotrufin medallion is supposed to bring it back right?"

"That's the theory, but there's one other thing," I said.

They all sat down eagerly.

"Before we get started, I think you should know our names," the girl said. "I'm Lily, this is James, Gillian and Remus."

She pointed to the boy with the untidy black hair, a girl with blond hair and blue eyes and the boy with dark brown hair.

"Right," I said nodding. "The second thing that could bring back a Mythical creature is what's known as the Maprovin Virus."

"Maprovin Virus?" Remus asked tilting his head.

"Yeah," I said. "It can bring back any skeleton of any living creature…it sort of goes backwards if you will. Instead of the creature decaying like we all know, the flesh, muscles and blood form forward."

"But this was in a museum! How could that virus get near the Agranis skeleton?" James asked.

"That I'm not sure of…but there's two possibilities we have to look at," I said lovingly patting the crossbow. "And put an end to its reign."