Werewolf Hunting

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Chapter Thirty Two: Return at Hogwarts

Boewyn and Moody charged up to the castle and across the grounds. They finally reached the large double door entrance and stopped. Well Moody stopped and then grabbed Boewyn before he ran head first into the doors without thinking.

"Thank you" Boewyn said once he had caught his breath back from choking on the collar of his shirt.

"Don't mention it" Moody replied and then entered the castle, more calm and collected then he had been a minute ago, although he was gasping for breath.

After walking through endless corridors which Boewyn swore had changed from the last time he had been there (which, Boewyn realised as an afterthought, they probably had) they reached the stone gargoyle.

"I hope he hasn't changed the password" Moody muttered, more to himself than to his companion.

"Black Jelly Beans" He ordered.

The gargoyle jumped aside and the two men mounted the staircase and rode it upwards.

"Wheee!" Boewyn cried cheerfully, to which Moody rolled his eyes again. When they reached the top Boewyn looked back down the staircase.

"I wanna do that again"

"Oh no you don't!" Moody barked. He grabbed Boewyn by the back of the shirt and knocked on the door.

"Enter" called a voice and Moody walking in, dragging Boewyn behind him.

"Alastor!" Dumbledore looked only slightly surprised.

"We've got news Albus" Moody sighed. Dumbledore gestured to two chairs which had suddenly appeared before his desk. Moody moved over and sat down with a sigh. He noticed a luck of person in the seat next to him and focused on Boewyn who was looking at the array of instruments on the shelves in the room.

"Ooh, shiny" Boewyn muttered. Moody groaned.

"Maybe I should have let you play on the stairs..." he sighed.

"Hey!" Boewyn glared at Moody, "I resent that! Stair riding isn't a game!" Beowyn drew himself up. "It's an art-form" Boewyn then turned to Dumbledore.

"Old Man" he greeted him, causing Moody to choke several time.

"Boewyn" Dumbledore acknowledged, his eyes twinkling. "Now, Alastor, you said you have news."
"We know Voldemort has Lupin" Moody started.

"I had assumed as much" Dumbledore sighed. "What else?"

"We traced them to a mansion a fair distance from here, however when we raided the place we found them gone."

Dumbledore sighed and opened his mouth to say something, but was suddenly interrupted.
"For a moment there, I thought we had the wrong address." Boewyn announced cheerfully. "Either that, or it was a surprise party." Boewyn suddenly looked thoughtful. "I'd hate to see Lord Creepo's idea of a surprise though..." He brightned. "But I guess there nothing more surprising then suddenly being dead. I know I'd be surprised, if I suddenly died."

"Better be prepared to be surprised then." Moody muttered darkly.

Dumbledore chuckled. Boewyn grinned blankly.

"What other news?" Dumbledore prompted softly, being serious once again.

"We..." he was interrupted by Boewyn coming to the realisation that Moody had just once again threatened him.

"Hey... that wasn't nice..."

Moody glared at him, "we searched the mansion to find that there had been in fact people there and they had left by portkey." He tried to ignore Boewyn who was glaring at him.

"Headmaster, make Al stop picking on me!" Boewyn demanded bitterly, he was ignored.

"I see" Dumbledore sighed. "So you have no idea where they went"

"No. But we do know that Lupin was still alive when they moved him, we found traces of fresh werewolf blood in a basement."

"We? Hello! Me!" Boewyn pointed out.

"I'm not going to argue with you."

"Like you don't want to argue with me"

"Stop being a child."

"It's the school, it's bringing out my inner child." Boewyn tried to defend himself.

"You're inner child, if your outer self." Moody retorted.

"Enough" Dumbledore ordered. To Moody's surprise Boewyn shut up without argument or question.

"So we are back where we started then" Dumbledore sighed soberly.

"Not quite"

Dumbledore looked at Moody.

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah" Boewyn agreed. He leaned towards Dumbledore and said in a loud, harsh whisper. "He hasn't told me this part yet."

"I'll admit it, Boewyn actually came up with this" Moody admitted grudgingly.

Boewyn looked surprised.

"I did?"

"Yes"

"Cool" Boewyn grinned distantly.

"How many until full moon, Albus?" Moody asked

Dumbledore checked his watch, "Four and a half days or so"

"Right." Moody took a breath, "I think that Voldemort may want to use Lupin to try to injure and/or kill you"

Dumbledore focused on Moody, looking thoughtful

"It seems to fit that way at least" Moody continued, "Boewyn made me realise the fact that Voldemort wants power, and that YOU are stopping him from getting that power."

"I see" Dumbledore replied, still looking thoughtful.

"Told you the mind-setting was the right way to think" Boewyn said smugly.

"Anything else?" Dumbledore asked.

"Nothing, we have no idea where they went or even if that is what Voldemort is planning, it just fits."

Dumbledore put his elbows on his desk and then folded together his long fingers, resting his chin on the backs of them. He stared into the distance for some time, obviously thinking.

"I feel that you may be right, Alastor." Dumbledore finally spoke after several minutes of silence.

"I knew you were gonna say that." Moody grumbled, "I wish for once I was wrong"

"You've been wrong a lot on this journey, Al. So don't feel bad" Boewyn said sympathetically, patting Moody on the shoulder. Moody glared venomously at him. Boewyn grinned.

"It seems there is nothing we can do but wait and see if your assumption is correct. We know too little to do anything more." Dumbledore sighed. "I only wish it had not come to this."

"Don't we all" Moody sighed. Boewyn wriggled slightly in his chair, keeping his mouth shut; although it was obvious he wanted something.

"What do you want?"

"If you're gonna wait for the kid to show up, that means you don't need me anymore right? So... As much as I hate to interrupt this sad, melancholy thing you two have going on, I'll ask for my pay and leave." Boewyn replied flatly.

"Our deal was I would pay you only after we found him, since we haven't found him, you're gonna stick around until we do" Moody said bluntly.

"But..."

"We might still need you, Boewyn" Dumbledore added softly.

"But..."

"No buts"

Boewyn folded his arms across his chest and muttered darkly under his breath, cursing violently.

"Bitch all you want, you're not getting paid until this is over" Moody informed him.

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter" Dumbledore called, and Moody and the headmaster watched as James, Sirius and Peter entered, looking at Moody and Boewyn.

"I'm sorry, Sir." James muttered, "We can come back later"

"No boys, stay." Dumbledore said kindly, "we have news"

The three boys heads snapped up, hope etched in their faces.

"News, Sir?" Sirius asked.

"As far as we can tell Mister Lupin is alive." Dumbledore informed them softly. To which the three boys each replied with soft 'yes!'

"However the state he is in we know not, nor where he is"

"But he's alive."

"He seemed to be yesterday"

"You saw him?" Peter asked excitedly

"Not really, more we saw... well..." Moody really didn't want to say 'his blood'

"We saw traces of him" Boewyn interjected.

"So he's ok?" Peter prompted

"I wouldn't go as far as to say 'OK' but he's not dead. So... yeah... not-dead is a lot better than is-dead"

"That's enough, Boewyn" Moody growled

"I'm being honest here! Give me some leeway!" Boewyn protested.

"It's ok, Sir. We're happy knowing he's alive" James said.

"I'm sure you boys need to get down to dinner" Dumbledore suggested lightly, the three knew a dismissal when they heard it and left. After a moment Sirius poked his head around the door.

"Thanks"

"Don't mention it, kiddo" Boewyn said, with a slight salute.

Sirius grinned and saluted back.

"So..." Boewyn was back to his cheerful self again. "What do we do now?"

"Now we wait" Came the reply from Dumbledore.

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Boewyn and Moody had been staying in The Three Broomsticks for the days coming up to the full moon at Dumbledore's request. As such it was nice to finally get some rest and not have to worry about gallivanting around the countryside. Still they weren't totally at ease. Moody found himself desperately hoping that he was wrong about Voldemort using Lupin to get Dumbledore and yet at the same time, he hoped he was right. If he wasn't right, who knew what the Dark Lord wanted the young werewolf for?

An hour before sunset the Auror and the Hunter made their way up to the castle, preparing themselves for the worst. They met Dumbledore in his office, under the pretence of meeting for dinner, all three of them on the alert.

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Remus shivered, he could feel the moon's pull on his already, though it wasn't yet dark. The Death Eaters had grabbed him not long ago and then portkeyed him into the middle of a clearing surrounded by dark trees. His senses, heightened by the closeness of the moon, drew in a scent familiar to the wolf not so deep inside Remus.

The Forbidden Forest.

Which meant that he was close to the school.

Remus shuddered fear taking over his body, making the wolf angry. The Death Eaters moved forwards, grinning widely. There were three of them each of them robed and masked as always. They each waved their wands, saying an unknown incantation and Remus suddenly found heavy, thick chains around his chest and neck.

He gasped as the cold metal contrasted with his bare skin. They had stripped what remained of his clothes when they had appeared in the clearing. The weight off the chains dragged Remus to the ground where he lay gasping.

"Are you sure these'll hold him?" One of the Death Eaters questioned nervously. The werewolf could smell his fear, his scent thick with it.

"The Dark Lord said they'll hold him, so they'll hold him" Snapped one of the remaining two. Despite his irritated tone, there werewolf could smell that he was afraid too. All three of them reeked with it, filling the air with the stench.

"Right" the first muttered, and they went silent.

Remus closed his eyes, it wouldn't be long now before his curse took hold once more.

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James, Sirius and Peter looked mournfully out the window. The moon was just beginning to rise, casting an eerie light over the school grounds.

James sighed and looked down at the Marauders Map. Most of the students he could see were in their house common rooms or dormitories, some were in detentions and others were... well... doing something they should be... The teachers were either in their offices or patrolling the corridors. James' eyes flickered over to a dot labelled 'Albus Dumbledore' walking along one corridor near the entrance hall accompanied by 'Alastor Moody' and 'Boewyn Bennet'. That was odd, what were they doing here...

He pushed it from his mind it was really none of his business, or was it?

"Hey guys?" he whispered.

"Yeah?" Sirius and Peter both replied.

"Come check this out" Both Peter and Sirius bent over the map.

"I thought they were supposed to be looking for Remus?" Peter questioned.

"Want to go see what we can find out?" James whispered mischievously.

"Hell yeah" Sirius whispered back. Maybe they could find out more about Remus.

The three huddled under James' invisibility cloak and slowly carefully made their downstairs, out the common room (thanks to the help of an unsuspecting fourth year) and down to the entrance hall where Dumbledore, Moody and Boewyn had ended up by the time the three boys had caught up. It was here they had stopped. The three boys huddled behind a statue of a bear, peering between it's legs to watch the three men.

"Think we might be wrong?" Moody asked Dumbledore gruffly.

Dumbledore sighed, "It is still early, Alastor"

Moody sighed and nodded, both him and Dumbledore watching the main doors closely. They could see Moody had his wand held tightly in his wand. Boewyn on the other hand appeared to be dancing on the spot, while singing softly to himself.

"Boewyn if you do not stop, I shall chain you up outside and leave you there." Moody threatened.

Boewyn gave a deep sigh.

"I'm bored"

"I don't care"

"Fine" Boewyn reluctantly grumbled and focused on the doors as well.

Peter suddenly nudged James with a frightened squeak.

"What?" He hissed.

Peter wordlessly pointed at the map. Both James and Sirius looked, and froze, suddenly terrified.

Four dots were making their way slowly across the grounds , heading towards the main doors. Three of them the boys didn't recongnise, but one they certainly did.

Remus Lupin.

The dot labelled Remus was moving erratically, as though he was struggling or fighting against something. The four were getting closer and closer to the doors.

The three boys looked up at the three men in the hall. They had obviously been discussing something and had come to a decision. They were now making their way towards the main steps opposite the doors.

"We have to do something!" Peter whispered desperately, his voice a higher pitch than usual in fear.

James nodded in agreement, but as he struggled to come up with a plan, he realsised he couldn't think properly. He found himself looking to Sirius who looked just as dumbstruck as James was.

Peter gave another squeak, they looked down at the map again. The three dots and Remus had reached the doors. Their eyes snapped up to the men, who were halfway up the stairs. They watched Boewyn stop and turn around, looking around the entrance hall.

"I think..." he started, causing Moody and Dumbledore to turn to face him. Moody looking exasperated.

The door opened with a bang, and a chained werewolf reared, howling and foaming at the mouth. The three men holding him were not to be seen, but the chains that held the wolf were reaching out and seemingly floating taunt in mid air.

The werewolf focussed on the men on the stairs and charged forwards, the chains snapping free of what held them. Moody and Dumbledore raised their wands, spells flying towards the galloping beast to no avail. The three men suddenly appeared in sight. Their laughter ringing in the boys' ears. They watched there werewolf head towards their headmaster and his companions, the great beast wasn't moving as fast as it could, it appeared to be weak and limping slightly, that however didn't stop it. More spells were shot at Remus as he charged, hunger deep in his golden eyes.

"A present form the Dark Lord, Dumbledore!" One of the cloaked figures called.

The werewolf was only meters away from the men, only two of whom were fighting. Boewyn had taken several steps back so he was behind Dumbeldore and Moody, but as the boys watched, Boewyn began to move, he reached a hand into the cloak he was wearing and drew a gun from inside. He slipped something small and silver which caught the light in an ugly way inside and raised it.

"He's gonna kill him!" Peter squeaked.

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Boewyn had watched Dumbledore and Moody fire spells at the werewolf and knew that it would do nothing. Werewolves were highly spell immune, and this one was on the verge of rabid, which meant spells would do even less. Just piss it off even more.

Boewyn drew his gun and loaded it with a silver bullet, his mind working on auto pilot. He raised the weapon and took aim, his finger wrapping around the trigger.

Boewyn fired.

Authors Note: And now you all hate me! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

One more to go chapter I think...

smirk