Chapter 14
• Romp •
"You are Harry Potter?" the old man who had captured Gwyl asked once they'd dragged him through a castle of dirty humans, made a statue move, climbed a moving stairwell and deposited him in the corner of a room. The walls which held him were also changed, keeping him secure but allowing him to move about a little more.
He shook his head repeatedly. He was Gwyl now; Harry Potter didn't exist anymore.
"How is it that you came so close to us, and we never knew?" the old human asked himself as he sat down in the chair. Gwyl could smell something odd about him, but it wasn't pack, it was ... something else, something he didn't know, but it was there.
There was a woman there also, who Gwyl recognized as being something else, the same way that the brown haired werewolf-man he'd met earlier was a wolf she was not only human. She had been with them since they'd come out of the forest but she was only now really looking at him. Before she'd been sending off the younger humans and telling them something about points.
Now her face was turning almost as red as blood and she turned to the old man after she'd looked Gwyl over for a long time. "Really Albus," she said still flushed. "Why don't we find him some sort of clothing. We can't let him run around wearing nothing."
The old man, Albus, smiled and Gwyl growled at the thought of making him wear clothing. He wasn't human, it wasn't cold either, there was no reason for him to wear anything and he planned to fight them if they did try. "Oh Minerva," he said with a slight chuckle, "I really would like to see you try and dress him. Besides, he isn't wearing nothing. He has managed to find an excellent belt."
The mood of the old man made Gwyl angry, but it made the woman have mixed feelings. She didn't ask again though, nor did she approach him at all which he was glad for. "So this is the wolf-demon?" she finally asked, trying not to look in his direction. He wasn't sure exactly why, but something was making her not like him. Maybe she didn't like him because he was dominant and she was afraid of him.
Albus sighed and looked to two of the other men who had also met them at the edge of the forest. They both nodded and disappeared out the door along with almost half of the room. The only humans left where the ones that had captured him, minus the huge man named Hagrid, the woman called Minerva was there along with a man Gwyl knew. His name was Will, and he and the red-haired boy named Charlie were the only humans he knew who hadn't come back.
"This so called Wolf-Demon is nothing more than a child, a human child," he paused as Gwyl growled at being called human, he wasn't a child either, even the wolves accepted him as an adult. "Impossible, is it may seem it is true. In truth, it is likely that all of us know exactly who the child is."
"It isn't really Harry, is it?" The Will man asked.
Albus blinked and stared at Will for a minute. "Would you care to enlighten me as to how you came to that conclusion?" he asked quietly, but his voice was very to the point. So much so that even Gwyl felt the dominance in it.
Looking around, Will seemed not to know what to say next. He even stared at Gwyl for a minute before he looked away, thoroughly frightened at the piercing stare. He couldn't accept that this demon and the Harry Potter were truly one and the same. This thing wasn't human.
"Well, you see I was out with Hagrid and I heard Bill and Charlie Weasley discussing it when they were talking about the demon. She seemed to think that the Wolf-Demon was Harry Potter and he was her friend. They'd been talking about it right before she disappeared into the forest. He didn't believe any of it, he was just retelling everything to Charlie while they tried to figure out why she would have taken off."
Will finally turned to look at Gwyl and Albus waved his wand-stick around as he did. The dirt and grime that had so thoroughly covered Gwyl disappeared in an instant leaving him completely naked except for a belt he was wearing. The weapons hadn't been taken away as no one dared get close enough to get them. Because of the wall it didn't matter though so things were left alone.
"As you can see the fabled Wolf-Demon is a boy in disguise." Albus said as Gwyl howled at the loss. He knew that he was dirty, but it was almost a part of him and he was angry that this man had taken it away so easily. He retreated into the shadows of the corner and tucked himself into a ball, snarling at anyone that even glanced at him.
No one spoke at all to him, they ignored him for a while, discussing things, trying to figure out how he'd ended up in the forest, and about Stray's disappearance. He wasn't going to tell them anything about either, and they weren't even close to right in both cases anyway. He refused to speak to them at all. They were dirty humans and they'd stolen him from his home, he hated them.
The man named Will eventually got the courage to come close to the invisible barrier and look at Gwyl. "Where you there?" he asked, looking slightly distraught. "Did you take Astraea?"
Gwyl snarled and stayed in the shadows, but also shook his head. He hadn't taken her, she'd come with him and her name wasn't Astraea it was Stray now. He wouldn't tell them that either though, he wasn't going to tell them she was still alive and well, they'd come and take her too. Hopefully if they tried the pack would stop them though, he'd told Ink to take care of her before he left.
Some of the humans left, and Gwyl whimpered quietly as he pressed against the stone. He didn't feel the same there, there were no trees to speak to him and no wind to sing.
A few minutes later the door snapped open and a tall sallow man marched through looking angry. Gwyl bristled at his obvious show, he was trying to show his dominance and Gwyl wasn't about to accept it. "What is it Headmaster?" the man snapped without even looking around. "The potion I was working on is extremely unstable and it'll be ruined if I don't get back."
"Severus," Albus said and the man calmed a little. Gwyl still growled a soft challenge, he wanted to show this man exactly who was dominant to who.
The man, Severus, turned to see him, looking extremely startled. He turned back to Albus, all of the anger gone. "Albus, you are aware you have a naked boy in the corner of this room, correct?" he asked, his voice completely lacking in any emotion whatsoever it was as if his dominant will had just disappeared.
"That, Severus, is not just any naked boy. You are looking at the Wolf-Demon Gwyl in his original form, if you'll look carefully you'll notice a scar just above his right eye in a very recognizable shape..."
Gwyl dropped his head a little, making sure the hair was covering the scar, growling again as he did. Severus seemed to take it as an insult and raised his wand-stick in the air while Gwyl growled louder.
"I wouldn't do that Severus," Albus warned but the man Severus would have nothing of it. He stepped forward, too far forward and Gwyl realized that the barrier around him had dropped. He moved so swiftly that he was behind Severus before the man had even time to move his wand-stick. The door was his first xxxx, but it seemed to have a barrier around it so Gwyl leapt away from it dodging a purple light that was headed towards him. He xxxx the a book shelf and then ran across the top of it, continuing across the cabinets until he jumped from them, grabbing a torch and using it to swing himself around the corner and onto the stairs that led up.
In the next room he scaled another bookcase and waited for his captors to enter so he could steal their wand-sticks. He could hear them talking in very quiet voices in the room below, but neither of them entered. The game they were playing was waiting, but Gwyl had played the game a lot in the hunts and so he stretched a little and curled up as best he could it was best to get some rest while he waited. Green eyes stared continuously at the entrance to the room even when the breathe became short and quick.
There was a slight shuffling sound that awoke Gwyl hours later but he saw nothing so he remained calm and alert. The sound came again, closer, he could hear breathing and his eyes scanned the ground but he saw nothing. He knew somehow that something was wrong and wished the room didn't stink so strongly of humans. Still his mind told him there was something there and he growled at the disturbance, wondering what had come to get him he moved quickly, trying to get into an offensive position but he never made it, he was jerked from the top of the bookshelf and held in mid air, growling and barking, even hissing as he'd sent he leopards do.
A laugh spread through the air and the old man Albus just appeared in thin air. "Quiet a problem you'll cause if you're left alone in the castle," he said with a smile.
Gwyl growled and tried to jerk himself out of the trap but found that once again he could do nothing. He hated being helpless.
When Albus returned Gwyl to the corner of his room where he'd been previously trapped Gwyl once again found the shadows and curled up, waiting for the right time. The brown haired man, whom Gwyl still had no name for, was asleep in an opposite corner on a odd looking seat. Gwyl growled at him just to show his dominance, he didn't like the man much, though he liked most of the humans far less.
The human named Severus appeared hours later. This time he approached with an evil smile. "So Potter," he said, his voice seething with hate. Gwyl snarled and jumped at him only to be held back by the invisible wall. He did seem to startle Severus though.
Severus didn't say anymore directly to Gwyl, who knew he'd won the dominance game with this man. Instead the man turned to the older man, whom Gwyl knew was dominant even though he didn't act it, "He's an animal Albus, not much better than his father or their... friend. There's nothing more to be done about it. I suggest we turn him over to the ministry authorities so they can properly dispose of him. He has after all been killing people in the forest."
There was a scuffle in the corner and Gwyl suddenly found the brown-haired man standing, anger dripping off of him. Gwyl could smell the tension that the man was creating and he growled again, feeling the call of the pack that the man was putting off. He was glad the man was finally showing some dominant streak, he still had some potential.
"Harry's not going to be going anywhere," the brown-haired werewolf said. "He's been living in that forest for a long time now and he's gone a little wild. He just needs to be taught how to be human again, there's nothing wrong with him ate all."
"Like teaching a werewolf to dance," Severus said offhand, not even questioning the werewolves dominance.
Even though some of it had been correct, and the man was showing more and more possibility, Gwyl wasn't about to let someone turn him human. He growled in a response to both of the men, daring them to play dominant with him. It seemed that they'd gotten used to his dominance and they didn't say anything at all, they just ignored him which suited Gwyl just fine at the moment. He smirked and moved back into the corner of the room.
"As you know Severus," Albus said with a soft smile, the sort that Gwyl disproved of, "the ministry has classified him as a Demon and therefore, as a Demon he has rights. Until ministry personal has come in contact with him and at least tried and speak with him he is well within the right to protect the land he is claiming as his. There are also several stipulations in relation to the forest, all of which are in his favor. It has long been known that the forest is a preserve and that people enter at their own risk. The only reason that the ministry is even taking a stand is because of the missing girl. However at this time they have called off the search, believing her to be dead."
"So Potter knows where the girl is?" Severus asked, only chancing a quick glance towards Gwyl.
The old man sighed, adjusting the glasses on his face. Gwyl remembered he used to have to wear things like that sometimes, but he hadn't since before, and he didn't like them. He snarled softly, looking away so he didn't remember things from before.
"I do not know if Harry knows where the girl is, he seems to take the stand that she's not in the forest anymore. He has claimed that there are no humans running around in the forest that he knows of and he denies that he stole the girl away."
"Well I think there's an easier way to find out the truth," Severus said and Gwyl noticed that the werewolf was uncomfortable with what was being discussed, which caused Gwyl dislike it.
The old man glanced at Gwyl for and sighed. "I am aware of that," he said calmly as his eyes met Gwyl's. "It is probably the best thing to do now to insure that the girl is not still in the forest."
The Severus man smiled almost wickedly and Gwyl growled in response, not sure what was happening, but not liking it. Severus approached, wand-stick held high. "Well little Wolf-Demon let us see what's trapped in that tiny little mind, shall we?"
Gwyl just growled in response. The man raised his wand, whispered a word that Gwyl didn't know and the whole room went dark. It was dark, ever so dark, and Gwyl moved in the cave he was trapped in without sound. The scene flashed before his eyes and he remembered seeing Firenze at the doorway. It changed again, this time Will and Charlie were being told to stay out of the forest. And again it changed. Stray tackling Gwyl when she found him after hours of searching... Dia and he knives... Silver carrying him home from the zoo.
Inside Gwyl's mind something snapped, and everything became dark again.
Slowly he emerged from a cave, a pack cave, but not one he recognized. When he stepped out he found himself on a rock, face to face with Severus who was staring back, with a startled expression. Everything was odd, as if he were looking through different eyes. He moved easier than usual, his hands and feet striking the ground with ease, there was something completely different about his body. When he smelled the fear exuding from Severus he stopped, slightly surprised, the man hadn't been that submissive at all, he was really afraid of something. Gwyl growled, and realized what it was, somehow he'd taken the form of a wolf in this dream, he could feel it in his gut. He raised his tail and crouched, then leapt forward at the retreating human. Severus screamed and then everything went black again.
They were back in the castle, in the room with the old man and the werewolf too. Severus looked pale, even paler than usual, and he stumbled backwards until he fell into a seat. Albus looked concerned at Severus. He coughed, and then glanced back to Gwyl. "Severus?" he asked in a quiet voice.
Coughing, Severus finally looked around the room. "What is he?" he demanded harshly and Gwyl growled, causing Severus to back away again. Gwyl could smell the fear rolling off of him and it got him riled up, feeling the need to truly show this man why fear was needed.
"Where did you get that... thing?" Severus spat, putting his hand against the far wall.
"Deep in the Forbidden Forest. It took a great deal of planning," the old man said and Gwyl turned his eyes to him, interested in what exactly it took. "First we brought in Remus as he has much more experience in the field. After a great deal of preparation, some of it the potions I you provided just three days ago, we went into the forest looking for the so called Wolf-Demon. He was more difficult than we had imagined tracking down, in fact it took us the better part of a day just to narrow the search down to an area even with magic. I do understand part of it now, when he was a boy I placed several charms on him to keep him from being tracked by the wizarding world. It was because of this that I had difficulty in the search for Harry the first time."
"He eluded capture until late last night when Remus finally caught his scent. We used your potions, effectively making us disappear from every sense that he would use to find us, and then Remus tracked him. In the end we still were unable to narrow it down far enough, but that didn't matter because he came to us. Hagrid, Filius, Hadma, and I were waiting just beyond when he appeared. It was luck that he did not see us as the invisibility potion had worn off by then, though none of the others had."
"He spoke with Remus for a few minutes, which gave us time to prepare. Actually I believe the only reason we caught him was because he was reluctant to strike Remus. It seems that he was more interested in werewolves than in hurting Remus. When he decided to leave Remus caught him in a Carcer box which he somehow managed to break out of. The other two animals with him, a large wolf and a black leopard were trapped as well. I was able to use a spell to temporarily make us invisible again just as he broke out of the box. Because he could not sense us he ran right into us, bringing two more black leopards with him. Hadma and Filius were able to restrain the leopards while I took care of the demon with a specialized Carcer box that shrunk the more you fought. I wasn't even sure of he would be able to get loose again so we left the other animals and Filius backed me up while we brought him here."
"Tell me, exactly what did you see Severus?"
"It's... he's... not human..." Severus whispered staring at Harry. "The way he reacted to my Legilimens was animalistic. He almost bit my head off in the exchange."
"Was there anything else you saw?" Albus asked.
"Yes. There is another one of him. It looks very much the same except it seems to be wearing a bit more clothing, not much mind you, just an old cloak. There was a centaur female as well, a very young one. It seems that the centaurs have been lying to us Albus."
"There was another?" The werewolf whom Gwyl believed to be Remus asked, surprised. He t hen turned to look at Gwyl. "Who is out there with you?"
Gwyl only growled in response, there was no way that he'd tell them about Stray. If the Severus man tried to go inside his head again he could drive him out, he remembered how to. "Should we go and look for it?" Remus asked Albus.
Albus shook his head. "At the moment this one is the one we need to be worried about. We will not be telling anyone there is a second one, it may truly be a demon as most demons do have the ability to mimic an animal, it may have chose Harry as that animal. Once we've got Harry straightened out we can go looking for the other one." He said, ignoring Gwyl's growl.
"Are you sure that this one is Harry?" Severus asked, getting some of the scorn back into his voice.
"Yes," the werewolf said. "He reacts to his own name as if he hates it."
"It seems he has some dignity left in him even if he is an animal."
The comment was not as snide as he'd been before, but Gwyl could feel the tension raise in the room. The werewolf didn't like the comment apparently and it was making him bristle up silently. Gwyl growled too, he couldn't help but feel for the wolf, after all, he was pack. But he sort of liked the Severus man too because the Severus man was the only one that saw him as an animal.
"I think we might want to make sure to strengthen the wards around the school Albus in case the other demon comes for Potter. Not that it would matter that much, it would probably be better for him, he seems to enjoy the forest life, it seems as though it runs in the family. His father was caught more times sneaking into the Forbidden Forest than any other student that has ever come to this school."
"I am aware of James Potter's record," Albus said. "But if anything is revealed about Harry he'll once again be the subject of the news. Do you want to deal with reporters trying to sneak in? You remember what it was like while they were hounding us last year after one of the students tried to poison the lake and Hogsmeade's water supply? Do you want to be under that sort of scrutiny once again?"
Reporters. It sounded interesting, Gwyl wanted them to sneak in, maybe they'd help him out of this place. He wasn't counting on it though, they sounded terribly human, sneaking around where they shouldn't belong.
The dark haired Severus turned again to Gwyl. "Perhaps we should just let you go Harry Potter."
For the first time since he'd entered the room Gwyl didn't growl. In fact, he agreed with the man completely except for the name part. He nodded. "Not Harry," he said, speaking for the first time since he'd been brought to this place. "Have new name. Gwyl the Wolf-Demon. Gwyl want to leave too, want to go back to forest, to home."
"It can talk," Severus said snidely, not even trying to hide his disdain. "Well, there you are, it wants to go back too. Why don't we just let him go and show him the way out. I certainly won't think twice about it."
The Werewolf growled under his breath, barely loud enough for Gwyl to hear. Gwyl glanced to him, but his eyes were only on Severus. The old human Albus was the one who spoke though. "That will not be necessary Severus," he said quietly "What I would like to do is have you brew the Revendum Potion. I understand that it may take a few days and you may have to go get some of the ingredients, I will take care of whatever you require."
Severus's eyes grew large and Gwyl could hear his heart beating faster. "But Albus, that's..."
The old man Albus just held up his hands, and Severus was quiet. Gwyl watched all of it intrigued, the old man was definitely dominate even though he didn't look it. "I want to take him back to before he was put through the trials he's been put through. It is possible that he'll forget everything that's happened in the past 2 years, and we can work on him from there. I do wish I could use a memory charm on him, but I'm afraid if something triggers those memory's he'll lapse back to the state he was in, and we'll have even more difficulty."
The man Albus stood and no one said anything more. "Now Severus I believe you have a potion to get brewing," he said quietly.
Severus turned and left the room rather rushed. Gwyl barked after him right before the door shut behind him and Remus laughed. Gwyl turned to stare at him, even if he was pack he wasn't in Gwyl's best standings at the moment.
Gwyl had finally regained his balance and he scooted back to the corner again, not sure what to make of the earlier vision. It had felt so splendid for just a second when he was a wolf, like everything he cared or needed to do was gone and he just was.
The old man Albus walked around the desk and looked down to the werewolf Remus. "You'll watch him for a little while then?" he asked, "without getting him emotional?"
Remus nodded and then Albus also disappeared through the door.
Gwyl pulled back into the dark corner, not really feeling like trying to talk to the werewolf. Right now he needed to get some sleep still, the short nap in the library wasn't enough and he needed to get his strength back.
"I knew your parents you know," the werewolf said. Gwyl ignored him, he wasn't going to talk, he wasn't going to do anything. Maybe they would decide to let him go if he didn't do anything. He didn't understand why the humans wanted to interfere anyway, he liked life just fine in the woods.
"Alright, what about being a werewolf, do you want to know about it?"
The only response Remus got was a snarl and a death stare from Gwyl. Nothing else was said as Gwyl curled himself up into a ball and fell asleep.
–:–
Almost two days later, Gwyl awoke to Remus and Albus talking. He'd gotten used to their presence, and could sleep with them around, though as soon as they approached something would go off inside and he'd be wide awake, ready to attack. The Severus man hadn't appeared again, he didn't seem to like Gwyl, very much which suited Gwyl just fine. Though, he would have liked to have another chance of making the magic go away, he knew the only way out was the doorway he'd come in through.
"We have to put him back in his aunt and uncles care…"
Gwyl's attention was suddenly fully on Albus, who was currently speaking. "I've sent a note explaining what has happened and asking if they would be willing to take him back once we've got him straightened out."
"But he was abused there Albus. That's why he ran away in the first place." Remus said, as Gwyl stared. He was getting angry and afraid, very afraid. He knew they were talking about him.
Albus shook his head. "What happened to him before was merely a series of misunderstandings and some accidental magic. Harry didn't run away from what I've put together. It seems he apparated into, or relatively close to, the forbidden forest. There was some more magic that happened before then which is what caused his uncle to get so angry."
Unconsciously Gwyl relieved the moments before he had gone to the forest and his whole body started to tremble. He wouldn't go back, ever!
"But Albus…"
Something inside Gwyl snapped and the whole room seemed to explode around him as he screamed a terrified refusal. Time slowed and Gwyl looked around as both of the men turned ever so slowly towards him. He could see that Albus was going for his wand, but Gwyl moved, throwing himself towards the desk and the two men to stop them from making him go back. He couldn't go back, he wouldn't go back.
Time clicked back to normal, but the damage was already done. The wand that had been sitting on Albus's desk when skittering across the floor and both men were knocked to their feet. Gwyl wasn't sure what was happening, but he wasn't about to let them cage him again so that he could go back to the family he'd been in.
Gwyl headed for the door, but turned away again when he saw the werewolf had already gotten to his feet. In the distance Gwyl could hear someone approaching and he looked around, trying to think of how to gain the moments he needed to escape. The only way he'd be able to make it out was if the door was already open. The second he would spend opening it would be too much, the werewolf was too quick.
So instead of going for the door Gwyl once more darted for the staircase where he'd hidden before. Remus switched directions and headed towards the stairwell as well. However Gwyl used the desk to stop himself and once more fling his little body towards the door as it began to creak open.
The ploy worked. The person, who he knew was a small human, possibly the Filius person that was only as tall as himself, opened the door at the right moment and never had the chance to do anything. Gwyl threw them out of the way and scampered down the stairs.
Behind him he could hear the commotion and the werewolf moving after him. The statue that had let them in moved aside and Gwyl rushed out the door, startling a bunch of students who were walking by. Two of their wand-sticks were in his hand before any of them had moved at all and he bowled over the rest of the students leaving them crying on the ground. They were still children, and innocent to some degree, he didn't want to hurt them unless they forced him to.
He looked both directions, and his eyes widened, they looked different from when he'd been brought in. He decided to head right and darted down the hall. There were more children in the halls as he rounded the first corner and he snarled loudly. They parted, scared to death of him, and he continued past them.
"I say," someone said in an empty hallway and Gwyl spun around. He hadn't sensed anyone at all and couldn't understand how someone could have been there without him having at least heard them. He was even moving too fast to be completely silent. His knife was in his right hand, and it glinted the sunlight that shown through an upper window. No one was there and Gwyl spun again, looking to the window. He wanted to escape this place.
One of the portraits was staring directly at him, as if it were alive. Gwyl shivered and then jerked his knife upward as he jumped, cleaving the portrait in half. Someone screamed and the portrait moved. As the pieces of it fell to the ground he saw nothing but an empty landscape, the man who'd occupied it was missing completely. Gwyl's eyes traveled to the upper end of the hall where a group of people were coming around the corner. He looked around and his eyes only found the window above. With great difficulty Gwyl grabbed the wall and climbed, using the knife occasionally to open cracks further. It took a minute but he soon found himself sitting on the windowsill looking out down on a courtyard of the castle. He was far too high to jump and so he turned back to the inside of the castle. The hallways was tall, but he'd jumped from higher and so he lept to the ground, landing with a crunch, but not hurting himself.
Someone gasped and he looked up at a girl who was bright red. Several of her friends were cowering behind her, but she was the one that was looking directly at him. "You're... naked," she said hesitantly. Gwyl, thinking she'd try and clothe him snarled and then jumped to the side, dashing down the hallway that they'd come from. He was getting confused at all the hallways. A stairwell was in front of him and he started down it, only to find that it jerked, moving away from the destination he'd originally started for. At the top of the stairs he could hear people and Remus the werewolf rounded the corner. "Gwyl!" he shouted angrily. "Stop now!" he commanded as several of the girls from the hallways came in behind him.
Had it been in the forest Gwyl would have stopped to show his dominance now that the man was finally making the gestures of fighting, but he wasn't in the forest and he felt trapped here. The man may be part wolf, but he was part human as well, and humans didn't know what dominance meant as far as he'd seen. Even if he won the man wouldn't help him get loose.
Below him there was another stairwell moving and Gwyl decided it was best to get away as fast as possible. He backed away towards the side of the stairs, then with a quick step mounted the banister and lept out into the open area of stairs. He could hear screams above him, but he ignored them and was able to grab the banister on the stairs he'd been aiming for. He easily pulled himself over and onto those stairs, which he ran down and disappeared through another door.
Two large metal shells that looked vaguely like humans were standing on either side of the doorway as he entered the hallway. Gwyl couldn't sense any life in them and so he started down the hall, intent on finding another way down, there were no more stairs below him that he could have lept to so there had to be another way to get to the ground, maybe more stairs somewhere else.
"Students there is an young boy on the loose in the hallways who believes himself to be an animal, please remain calm and stay out of its way should you see it. I would also like all students except prefects to go to their next classroom immediately and close the door, await your professor until this crisis is done with. Prefects please begin checking the hallways. Do not harm the boy, a simple stunning spell should work. Be careful he is very quick and quite smart." The castle echoed and Gwyl spun around again, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Seeing no one he sheathed his knife and scampered down the hallway.
A man, or something like a man appeared at the end of the hall floating towards Gwyl slowly. It looked as if he had something in his hands and as Gwyl approached he slowed, wary of the thing. "Well hello!" the wide mouthed man said, looking quite content. "Causing trouble are we?"
Gwyl pulled his knife out in a smooth motion and charged towards the man only to find himself running right through him. The man cackled wildly. "Kill me? That's certainly something new. Such fun, such hate, oh what shall I do?" he paused and his eyes lit up as if he'd just seen something great – like Stray's had when Gwyl had given her the whip.
"So what are we up to today my ickle animal friend? Shall we trash the halls and torture the students? Or is it food we seek? Shall we give the young students a sight to behold? A stark naked little beast?" he bowed slightly. "What is your name oh naked one?" he said with a laugh.
"Gwyl," Gwyl snarled. "I am Gwyl the Wolf-Demon." He continued, not sure exactly if he liked the little man.
"A demon? A Gwyl! The school shall be ill. Shall we go and fulfill whatever duty you might will?"
"I want to leave," Gwyl said, trying to keep calm. The floating man didn't seem to care that he was suppose to be locked up.
"Then come, we shall go, we'll rile the school up and give them a show!" the man said, swirling in mid air and floating down the hall cackling a strange tune.
"A man or a beast? A demon released!"
The wolf inside Gwyl got angry, but ignored the words, "faster," he growled and the chubby little man sped up, beginning to drop the things he had in his hands.
"Follow you the may, but shan't come this way!" Gwyl's keen senses picked up a nasty smell coming from behind him and he glanced back to see the hallway completely enclosed in some sort of thick cloud.
The found the stairs and the man floated down, then moved to the door, but Gwyl got onto the railing and looked down on the staircases below. There were dozens of them, all moving back and forth. Gwyl scanned, waited and then jumped through the air, grabbing onto banister and pulling himself over. He got up onto it again and was about ready to jump when the little man floated past on his back. "Don't think that's the way. Teachers waiting down there today!"
Gwyl growled again, but stopped, deciding it might be best to avoid teachers, they were the ones that would be after him. He pushed through the door and began running down the hallways. Another metal person was standing not far in front of him and Gwyl ignored it until it moved into the middle of the corridor, holding up an axe.
A memory flooded through Gwyl's mind of the last time he'd seen an axe and he drew his knife as he ran, charging the metal man. It didn't have a chance, it swung the axe down and buried it into the ground while Gwyl slid past it, slicing it several times. When he finally stood back the man was in several pieces and Gwyl could see that he was plainly empty. He couldn't figure out exactly how the man had moved if there was nothing inside, but he it wasn't the oddest thing he'd seen so far.
Something moved up the hall and Gwyl swore he heard something whisper to him. He looked up to see a man he knew, frozen in his spot. Gwyl growled at Will and darted forward. He knew the man Will and knew he could handle that particular human. Will didn't seem to respond as normal though and his wand-stick was raised in the air quickly. Magic sprouted from it, sliding through the air at Gwyl who easily dodged, but had to change the attack because of it.
Before another light bloomed from the wand-stick Gwyl attacked with rage, going for the mans legs first to get him on the ground. The professor was completely unprepared and found himself airborne for a moment before his head slammed into the stone floor.
"Don't" Will gasped, but Gwyl was already on top of him, knife imbedded in the man's body. He didn't strike anywhere to mortally wound the man, but it would slow him and he didn't this man running after him. The man had obeyed him and stayed away from the forest, and he wasn't a part of the humans that had captured him, so Gwyl didn't resent him at all, which meant he didn't feel the need to kill him.
After cutting the teachers legs in several spots Gwyl lifted him easily, tossing him through the door he'd original appeared from. Gwyl followed him to make sure the man was incapacitated and found himself in a room full of humans that were not much older than him. One of them started to say something but Gwyl growled, brandishing his knife and the human silenced.
Something else caught his eye, jars with little blue men. Angry that the humans had caged other creatures Gwyl bound forward, spending a moment to remove the tops of the jars. Another of the children started to say something but Gwyl flung the jar at the human, hitting him in the head and making him collapse.
None of the other children even met his eye after that, they all looked down at the ground, huddled in the corner of the room while little blue people flittered around the room, breaking things. When one of them got close to Gwyl he growled at it simply because even though he'd let it free he didn't like it, it was only enough for it to stand off for a second. When it headed towards him again Gwyl snatched it out of the air by its wings and then, holding it in its hand took a good look at it. He wondered if it were edible, but decided against trying one. He flung it against a nearby wall and it went limp. The other blue men flew together, forming a wall of sorts and started moving towards Gwyl, but he knew they were attacking and though he could defeat them he didn't want to spend the time to do it so he scampered out the door he'd come in as the corned children watched, frightened.
The blue men gave chase but they began to loose their focus and after a while most of them had disappeared down a side hallway. The little floating man was nowhere to be seen, but occasionally heard an off-tune song floating along the halls. He was sure the man was somewhere not too far away, but he didn't really care.
There was a large set of double doors that he ran across and he paused, staring at them. They weren't as big as the doors he'd come in through, but maybe the doors changed sizes, everything else in the castle changed. He twisted one of the knobs and stepped through, only to get pushed by one of the blue-men.
There was a startled cry as the door slammed shut behind him and Gwyl growled out loud. There were four of the little blue men, one was playing with the doorknobs, and when it moved away they looked as if they'd been melted together. Two of them had wand-sticks and were a good deal above Gwyl's reach. They waved the wand and Gwyl scampered off, trying to find a place to battle them from. He really didn't want to have to, but they were forcing him.
Someone yelled and Gwyl and he turned to see another human, and that instead of being outside he was in a room filled with books. There were tall walls that were filled with books and had places to crawl on almost like a ladder and so Gwyl dashed towards them to find a higher position. Something exploded behind him, but he continued to run, grabbing one of the lower steps on the wall and propelled himself up until he was sitting on top of the wall, ready to face the little blue men.
One of them was already flying directly at him, one had disappeared, and there were two more of them that looked as if they were talking together. Gwyl didn't hear anything though, and he was more focused on the little beast in front of him. The thing giggled in a weird voice and darted forward, his little wings beating madly.
The wand-stick in his hand shot out a red light and Gwyl jumped from one of the walls to another, and then another. There was a scream, but Gwyl ignored it, believing it to be the bird-like woman who was at the desk in the center of the room. She'd cried out again and something heavy moved behind Gwyl, he could hear the scratching. Still, he didn't look back until he'd jumped several walls and felt he had a better stand against the blue men and more importantly the wand-stick.
When he finally did turn around it was just in time. The wall's he'd come bounding from were tipping over behind him and the one he'd just jumped from was falling towards the one he was on. Three more bounds and Gwyl was at the edge of the room. He dropped from his position and crouched as the wall came tumbling down above him. It stopped partway, but books rained down upon him, burying him beneath a several inches paper. Something cackled wildly behind him and the paper that was covering him started to heat up. Gwyl thrashed again, pushing himself away from the area, and dragging the bookcase with him. It didn't move well, but it was pushing up against him with the books, and it was the only way to move.
Something lightened the load and Gwyl turned to see the bookcase was lifted clean into the air. He didn't see anyone behind him, but that didn't matter. Once the bookshelf was up he just pushed through the pile of books and started running, slipping on the books that littered the floor. He crawled up onto the far wall, and looked around. Only one of the little blue men where even in site, and it looked as if it had been struck by one of the falling walls. It was dizzy and sort of bobbing in mid air.
There was something more dangerous, the old bird-like woman was standing near the middle of the room, her wand raised and a look of absolute rage on her face. She immediately focused on Gwyl and he growled at her, dodging that colored light that flew his direction.
He scampered along the outside ring of walls, jumping to some of them on the opposite side of the room where they hadn't fallen yet, and then heading for the door. It burst open as he ran at it and he continued down the hallways where he'd been headed in the first place. There was someone behind him that was yelling, he ignored them of course and continued down the hall, moving as quick as possible. The hall opened up into a stairwell and Gwyl simply lept across the platform, moving straight instead of going down. They would think he'd gone down and therefore go that way, it would be easier if they weren't directly behind him.
The open area between platforms wasn't the big, and he easily made it, throwing up a cloud of dust when he did. It didn't seem that humans came this way often, but Gwyl didn't care if they came this way often, he cared if they followed now. Once he'd run for another few minutes and he thought he was alone he looked around. The hallway was completely deserted and the human smell was extremely vague. Gwyl guessed humans hadn't been there in quite a long time. There were other smells, some he recognized, some he didn't.
Looking up, Gwyl spotted a colored window. The wall was smooth, but there were rafters above and further down he was able to scale a pillar. After swinging across he got his foot on the window ledge and tried to look out the window. There was a problem though, the window was hard to see through.
Gwyl growled and slammed into the window, nothing happened, so he did it again.
After several unsuccessful tries he stepped back as far as he could and looked at the window. He knew it must be magical, because he'd seen windows broken before and they really weren't that hard to break. So, taking one of the wand-sticks from his belt he prodded it, trying to use it as a tool to hack away at the window and still nothing happened. He remembered that the wand-sticks needed words to work and he tried to remember one of them that had heard before. He needed something violent, and his mind locked onto a word he remembered from the first time he'd seen magic. If it could hurt a charging troll surely it could break a window.
"Constrictum!" he yelled just as he'd heard it said.
A light flashed from the end of his wand and the window cracked like a web. For a few seconds nothing happened, but finally the window burst, but instead of the glass shattering into the opening beyond it explode inward, covering Gwyl in shards of glass. The glass was extremely painful, and he started to bleed all over, but he did little more than flinch.
After taking a moment to center himself he looked back out the window, blood dripping from the wounds in his body. The ground below was closer, but not close enough to jump to. He growled and then leaned further out, trying to see if he could just scale the wall. It was too smooth though, there were small abrasions and some wearing over time, but none of it was enough for Gwyl to climb down with.
Finally, angry, Gwyl turned back to the hall, jumping down to the floor. He landed badly because of his injuries, but was more surprised to find that there was a creature next to him. He jumped back as soon as he'd regained his balance, drawing his knife as he did. The thing, whatever it was, was most definitely not human. It did have arms and legs, and eyes, nose and a mouth, but it just wasn't shaped right. It didn't smell right either.
"Sir," the little beast squeaked, looking extremely frightened. "Anny is here to clean up the mess. There is no need to be angry with her," the creature said and Gwyl to a step back, but sheathed the knife. He could tell that the little creature was scared of it, and it didn't seem to be anything that Gwyl needed to be offensive with.
Once the knife had disappeared the creature sighed. "Master!" she said promptly, "Let Anny cleanup the glass from you!"
Gwyl shot her a look as she snapped her fingers. The glass that had imbedded itself in his body was gone and Gwyl growled loudly. He didn't like magic, especially when it was used on him. Anny trembled but didn't run off, she just continued staring at Gwyl why she was sweeping the glass into a pile magically.
"Is Anny able to help master more?" she asked, trying not to reach out for him. The blood was still trailing down his body, most of it had dried, but the elf couldn't help but want to help him. Gwyl growled again and Anny snapped back in fear.
"Need to leave castle," Gwyl instructed and the little elf nodded quickly.
Turning Anny pointed down the hallway and started moving forward. Gwyl followed cautiously but quickly. "Anny is knowing the quickest way out sir, it is a small passage though, can master go this way?" she asked, and she moved aside to show a small hole that had suddenly appeared in the wall. Gwyl nodded and ducked into it, feeling much safer knowing that the other humans couldn't follow – they were far too big. He didn't trust Anny much though, even though she wasn't human she had used magic, and without a wand-stick, he would have to find out about that later on.
The passage wasn't really small, but Gwyl had to crouch slightly to move around in it. He didn't mind, and Anny seemed to move as fast as Gwyl could keep up. They continued for several minutes until they came to another hallway. "Is on more passage Master," Anny said happily. Gwyl just nodded, but stopped suddenly as he picked up a vaguely familiar scent.
Looking around Gwyl rose and sniffed the air again, then dropped to the floor, sniffing. To his mind it was almost impossible, but he was smelling, feeling something familiar. He could taste Stray on the air, as if she'd been there moments before. It wasn't exactly her scent, but it was at the same time. It was more like her scent before she had come to the forest.
Whirling Gwyl bound down the empty hallway as fast as he could move. The hall turned into a staircase, and then as Gwyl reached the bottom in only two leaps, split into two separate passages. It took no time to decide which he would go down and as he bound down the darkened passage he would slow every few moments to scent the air. Finally he came to a door where the scent stopped. Growling, he crashed through and heard a horrible heaving sound, as if Stray had been injured. His rage overflowed as he saw a human, several years older than himself, on top of a girl with black hair. He couldn't make out the girls features but it didn't matter he was sure who it was. With a howl he launched himself forward only to slam into a mirrored wall so hard that he was thrown back several feet. The mirror shattered and Gwyl spun around, unsure what had happened.
The two people were not far from the doorway he'd entered through and he howled again, shaking the pain away and launching himself forward. The girl who smelled like stray gasped and came into full view and Gwyl stopped mid stride, sliding most of the way across the room into the two humans.
"You're…" the girl gasped, reaching out for Gwyl, who was far too quick and moved out of her reach instantly. The boy who had suddenly regained his composure moved for his pocket and Gwyl guessed what was in it. So instead of letting the human get his wand-stick Gwyl attacked, bowling the boy over and knocking him unconscious.
"…Harry." The girl finally finished with a gasp, pulling her unbuttoned cloak more tightly around herself. "Astraea's friend. You're naked and bloody."
Gwyl growled and backed away as the girl tried to stand. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. Stray's sister was here, and she was going to know, she was going to know Stray was alive. He whipped around the room again, looking for another exit, but the only one was the door and Stray's sister, Tonks, was between him and the door.
"Did you take her?" the girl asked inquiringly, stepping forward. Gwyl moved back, afraid to attack and not wanting to be crowded.
It occurred to Gwyl that he could just attack her and end it, but he couldn't do that. She was Stray's sister, and even though humans didn't put much into family Gwyl sensed that Stray might be angry or sad about it if she ever find out. He'd already done too much to make it worse and he wouldn't do anymore.
Raising the wand he'd stolen from the now unconscious boy, Gwyl growled. Tonks didn't seem to like the wand and transferred her attention to it instead of Gwyl. Using this as a chance to move Gwyl flicked the wand forward and at the same time, himself. He surprised Tonks completely, knocking her to the side and dashing back out the door.
The surprise of meeting Tonks had thrown Gwyl off and he went the wrong way and by the time he realized it Tonks was hot on his trail. Not wanting to deal with the girl he just continued forward at a full sprint. There were no windows that he could see anywhere and none of the doors seemed to be open. When he finally saw one cracked he dashed for it against his better judgment, he could smell humans behind it, but he needed to find a way out and thought that the door might lead away.
When he burst through the classroom door there were people there, sitting at desks, with strange looking bowls and fire all around. There was a nasty smell that permeated the room, but across from it Gwyl spotted a small window and he continued forward without hesitation, over desks, knocking over the strange bowls and the fires. Bits of the liquids they were making kept spilling all over and people were screaming. Gwyl ignored them all though, only thinking about the window.
It was only glass, when Gwyl shattered it with his knife he found rocks behind it, as if it had been covered up. He dropped from the window in disgust, still holding his knife. Some of the students who had come to their senses raised their wand-sticks, while others stared, mouths agape. Gwyl dodged the magic as best he could, but ended up on the floor twice with bright blue liquid coating his body. The girl Tonks was not far beyond the door so Gwyl, ignoring the pain, went for the door in the front of the classroom hoping it lead somewhere else away from the students and their magic. He could overpower several of them, but between Tonks and the sheer number he knew he would not win unless he just started killing them.
The doorway did lead somewhere else, but it was a short room and Gwyl was moving too fast to stop himself as he slid through the doorway and into the shelves on the opposite side. The last thing that went through Gwyl's mind was that the floor seemed to be as slick as the ice in the winter.
–:–
"…Dragon's blood and a Donner's Draught," a voice snarled in the background. "I spent three months trying to successfully brew that potion and now this little animal has gone and ruined all that work. He even spilled Newt's tale into the Revendum Potion I was brewing, I'll have to start it over again as well."
"Quiet," another voice snapped.
"I am sorry."
"Look at him…"
"Bloody…"
"Vicious,"
"…enjoyed the fall."
"…cut up Mrs. Selene's portrait on the fourth floor."
"Everyone will recover… no harm… out of anger…"
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