Chapter 3
A bright green beam shot out at me, and I knew this was the end. I took one last step behind me, and by some miracle, tripped over something large. I flew backwards and landed on the object, missing the light by inches. The wind instantly knocked out of me, so I laid there as people around me shot magic beams of light from their wands. Harry was still dueling with Malfoy both looking worse than when they began, Lupin was defending himself against another masked fighter, and the red heads were all standing next to each other, holding up bubbles that were repelling any light shot at them.
The sirens began to wail outside again. A robotic voice spoke out, "code red. Aurors approaching." Everyone stopped fighting and I got the chance to turn over and see what I had fallen over. Brushing a strand of hair from my eyes, I twisted onto my stomach. Underneath me was an unconscious masked fighter. I recoiled and hastily rose up onto my feet. Around me, the supposed enemies all disappeared with loud 'bangs'.
Seconds later, a large assembly of uniformed people burst into the hallway. They all had wands raised, and pointed at all of us. More of them began to check all of the compartments. A few people were raised onto stretchers that appeared from nowhere, others were helped down the stairs. I glanced around. No one seemed in immediate danger, though many were worse for wear. A round-faced boy with large teeth and an innocent face was clutching his right arm, where a burn hole went through his shirt. Harry was sporting a line of blood on his forehead, but it was just a scratch, I deduced. The red heads and the brown-haired girl had taken down their bubble-things and were talking to Harry rapidly. Harry's protectors were conversing and the man with the chiseled face and wild eye was glaring at anything that had two legs. I saw his eye turn on me, and he muttered something to Lupin. Lupin nodded and glanced at me. Malfoy and his gang were back in their compartment, and being questioned by two 'aurors'. I was a little uplifted to see that Malfoy sported a black eye.
Then the whole event came crashing down on me. There were magic people here, with magic kids, and being attacked by masked people. I was on a train, illegally, after following a group through a wall, was lifted into the air, and a man with an eye that always moved was staring at me. I took one more look at the group of strange people surrounding me. It became too much to bear, and then everything went black.
I was faintly aware of voices around me. "Don't know who she is. No one does." "We should get her to Dumbledore." "What's wrong with her?" "Dunno. Maybe she was poisoned or something." "Really Ron! Use your brain! She fainted." I flinched at the onslaught of voices. Where were my parents? Did they leave the TV on? Did I fall asleep on the couch? Slowly, with much effort, I raised my eyelids a fraction. "Shhh! She's waking!" Blurry figures were standing by my bed. Wait, my bed? This is not my bed! I sat up quickly, blinking rapidly to clear my vision. This wasn't a bed at all. I was lying on a long seat in one of the train compartments. Everything came back to me from earlier. Six people were crammed on all sides of me. Harry and his two friends were sitting on the bench in front of me. Lupin, Snape, and the woman with pink-colored hair stood near the door. I felt very small with them towering over me.
I carefully avoided any eye contact with Snape. From the corner of my eye, I could see that the train was moving, and rain was pouring down on the large window. Lupin's voice kindly spoke up. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Uh oh! I began to panic on the inside but I had put up a mask of indifference on the outside.
"I thought I already told you this. I'm a sixth year." My feeble voice betrayed my emotions. The three teens looked back to the adults. Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously.
He stepped forward a bit. "I don't believe you. She could be a spy from the Dark Lord," he said. Boy, the ground was looking very nice today. I didn't answer him. I do not even know who the Dark Lord is! He pulled something from the inside of his robes. From my peripheral vision, it appeared to be a small bottle with a liquid inside. He then turned to the other two adults.
"Shall we use veritaserum?" Lupin shook his head.
"No. We will wait for Dumbledore. We are almost there." I could have sighed with relief but remained silent. I glanced around and realized that my backpack was still in Malfoy's compartment. There was no use of trying to get it now. I would have to wait until the train stopped.
We waited in silence for about ten minutes before the train slowed to a stop. The sounds of doors opening filled our ears. Our door opened as well, and we stepped out into the hall. I spoke up, "my bag is still in Malfoy's compartment." Snape silently left and moments later returned with the said bag. I reached for it but he did not hand it to me. He instead gave it to the woman. Sighing, I followed them out and down the steps. It was still raining like mad and we got drenched immediately. The sight that welcomed me was magnificent. A gigantic castle stood before us. Turrets shot up into the clouds. The grounds around it were very spacious, with rolling hills and trees. A good-sized lake was on one side of the castle. I am sure it would have been lovely to go swimming in it on a pleasant summer day.
But then when I looked at the walls surrounding the castle, I noticed tiny floating black things. At a closer look, they appeared to be like the grim reaper, with hooded cloaks. Harry muttered, "Dementors, again. To protect us."
A voice was calling, "Firs' years! O'er here!" I glanced at the man calling, then did a double take. He was huge! He must have been ten feet tall, with a long meshed-up beard and small beady eyes. All of the small first years were gathering around him. Boats were on the shore of the lake. Carriages were waiting for us, and tethered to the carriages, were the most bizarre creatures I had ever seen. They were black with horse like features, but they certainly were not horses. I turned to a sound. Harry was staring at the creatures.
He stopped walking. "I thought the thestrals were taken away by the ministry," he said in confusion, mopping water off his face. His friends stopped to look.
The girl spoke up, "Harry, I don't see anything." The boy nodded in agreement. The adults stopped as well.
"No, there are thestrals tied up to the carriages!" Harry yelled pointing directly at one. "It's right there! Remus, didn't the ministry decided that thestrals were too dangerous to have at the school?" Lupin approached Harry through the mud.
"I believe that Dumbledore and Hagrid convinced them that they are tame. I can't see them but I'm sure that at least one other person can in this area." Snape frowned at Lupin's remark, and he appeared to want to be anywhere but there. Remus? So that was Lupin's first name. I didn't say anything about me being able to see them. Probably would have made things worse. Lupin leaned in towards Harry and murmered, "I believe that Sirius is coming immediately after hearing about the attack at the train station. He will be here soon." Harry brightened at this. They pulled their trolleys onto a nearby carriage and hopped on. The woman with wild hair stood behind me, so I had no choice but to board. It was just large enough for all seven of us to squeeze in. I sat squished between Snape and Lupin. Harry's snow owl hooted quietly in front of me. The other boy's owl, however, was flitting wildly about its cage. The girl had a carrier, inside was a large orange cat with a mashed face. It was watching the tiny bird with fascination.
The carriages rolled to a stop a few minutes later in the front of the castle and we hopped off about forty feet from the castle. Everyone clamored around, heaving the suitcases out of the The woman, with brightly colored hair, mentioned something about having to talk to someone and disappeared into the crowds, walking towards the left side of the castle. Wait, I remembered. She still had my backpack. Checking to see that the group was distracted by the luggage, I went after her. Rain continued to pour down in buckets, but I could still see a bright pink head in the crowds. Behind me, I could hear the red headed boy yelling, "where did that girl go?!" Thirty feet away, I turned to glance back. All five of them were searching the crowds for my face. Then Snape's eyes locked onto mine. I was immediately frozen in place. He pointed at me and Lupin instructed the three teens to get inside the castle. Then Lupin and Snape began to move towards me, wands out.
I could do nothing but stand there and wait for Snape to lose eye contact, but he did no such thing. They were fifteen feet away now. I needed to find my backpack. It had my running clothes, money, my drawing book, and camcorder. It also had a ring with a ruby diamond in the center. It was given to me by my great-grandmother at her deathbed. She whispered in my ear that it was in our family for generations and would protect me. I always have it with me and was told to never let anyone take it. I could not just break my promise. They were ten feet away now. Then a boy ran headfirst into me. I fell over into the mud. "Where did she go?" Lupin called. I was free from the stupor that held me and I didn't waste any time sitting around. I jumped up immediately and began to run towards the place that I last saw the woman.
When I got there, she was not in sight. I searched around quickly and saw muddy footprints leading around the castle and up into one of the towers. I had a bad feeling about this. Gathering my courage, I slipped up the stairs. There were hundreds of steps. After minutes, I could see the top. Two voices reached my ears, a woman's and a man's. I edged a little closer. They seemed to be arguing.
I peeked around the curved wall to look. Two figures were standing on the left side of the tower. One was leaning on the wall; the other, shorter, one was standing up. Lightning lit up the sky, and I got a glimpse of their faces. The woman was not the person I followed, but was tall with dark brown, shoulder-length hair and cold brown eyes. Her stance was sly, if it could be so, her eyes burned with rage at the man talking to her. He was very short with graying hair and watery blue eyes. One of his hands was metal. I saw my bag at the edge of the wall, a mere foot away from where I crouched. I could reach it. From my viewpoint, neither of them had a clear view of the bag. Taking a risk, I crept forward, grasped the handle, and yanked hard. It came easily into my arms, so I moved back out of view. Staring at my backpack, I do not know why, but I truly wanted to wear the ruby ring. Hiding in the shadows, I unzipped the top flap carefully and rummaged around for a moment, before retrieving it. It felt comforting, in my hand, as if none of this would be as bad as I thought it was. It even seemed to shine brighter as I slipped it on my ring finger.
The duo's voices brought me back to reality. The woman was shrieking. "Peter Pettigrew! You give me that potion now! They will be noticing my absence any moment now."
The man, Peter, shook his head warily. "Too risky. We cannot poison Potter; he is to be left to the Dark Lord. Dumbledore is too smart to let anyone get near him. Moreover, the old man is not going to be poisoned by a mere changeling, not when he can withstand Him. He wants you to return into hiding and wait for His orders." He gave a shudder of fright.
She stood up straighter; an idea seemed to come to her. "Forget the potion. The Dark Lord does not know of the relative," she hissed. "I have seen her. A normal girl she is, nothing special at all. One would even think she is a muggle." She emitted a high-pitched laugh. "But the boy is foolish, and he would play the hero, leading himself into a trap. We would be rewarded greatly."
I began to descend the winding stairs, and was almost twenty steps down when my wet sneaker squeaked obnoxiously against the cold stone steps. I winced and glanced around hurriedly. "What was that?" called Pettigrew. There were sounds of movement.
"Check it out," growled the woman. Shuffling sounds ensued. I stumbled towards the exit, about one hundred stairs below. Something brushed against my leg; I stopped, and inhaled sharply. A rat was on the step my right foot was on currently. I stood in horror as the rat rapidly began to grow and morph into the man, Peter Pettigrew.
He stared at me suspiciously. "Who are you?" he questioned, gnashing his teeth together in a rodent-like manner. My voice caught in my throat, I could not call for help!
A voice behind me screeched, "It's her! The relative!"
Pettigrew's eyes widened and he lunged out at me. I found my voice and cried out as loud as I could, "help!" Then something extraordinary occurred. A glowing ruby light suddenly illuminated the stairway. It was the ring on my finger. The light suddenly surrounded me, and only me, like a bubble. Pettigrew could not stop in time and ran straight into it. He was thrown across the wide stairs and hit the stone wall, landing unconscious in a heap. I stared at him in shock, and then turned to see that the woman was doing the same.
She immediately yelled, "Incarcerous!" The spell was deflected on my 'shield'. She glared at me before the tall woman fled up the stairs. After a moment of shock, I got a grip on myself and sprinted down the long flight of steps.
When I reached the entrance, I leaned against the wall and gasped for air. A nasty stitch was cutting into my side. That was the freakiest thing that had ever happened to me. My ring was still glowing, but the shield around me was gone. I examined the grounds carefully. The rain was continuing to pour from the clouds overhead at a worrisome rate. Trees were scattered around. My first thought was to run under a tall thick tree and stay out of the rain, as well as hide from the two people upstairs trying to capture me. Then I remembered the lightning that accompanied the rather large storm. It would be foolish to jump in a tall tree.
Clambers from upstairs, alerted me of someone coming, running down rather. I needed somewhere to hide! I scanned the grounds for anything that could hide me, but there was nothing! The castle loomed over me. It could be the only place to go. I made up my mind, just as the footsteps were getting closer. I hoisted my bag up, pulled any stray hairs out of my face, and began to run. Puddles large as ponds became acquainted to my feet very quickly. Large pellets of water soared down on me. Any dryness I had went as soon as it came. I was near the huge double-doors now. All of the carriages were gone. No one was outside, I could not blame them, the weather was horrible. It must be dinnertime already.
I climbed up the stairs, stopped in front of the doors, and waited. A moment of indecision was facing me. Before I could push open the right door, though, someone tackled me to the ground. I whipped my head around. It was Pettigrew. He was standing over me, and held a wand in front of my eyes. "So you think you can attack me?" Pettigrew waved the wand. "I don't think so." He opened his awful mouth. I flinched, prepared for the spell that would come. However, a howling reached my ears. It sounded like a ferocious dog, not just the wind. Pettigrew's watery eyes widened. He jerked as a huge black dog came bounding into view and leaped onto the man, throwing him several feet. I jumped up, half-grateful for the dog saved me, half-scared because the dog appeared very unfriendly.
Peter was frozen in shock. The dog, growling, took Peter's leg into its mouth and began to drag him over to me. He stopped just a foot away from me. I did not know what he wanted, until I noticed that one of his paws was pointing at the door handle. I was stunned, but I leaned all my weight on the door and pushed. The door slid open with a groan. I stepped inside and held it open for the dog. It padded in, letting Pettigrew's head bang against the ground roughly. Pettigrew had found his voice and resorted to screaming in agony, though whether it was from pain or fright, I couldn't be sure. We were in a huge entrance hall. Many trolleys and suitcases were piled by the staircase. A large flight of stairs was straight ahead, there was a closed door on my left and larger, open, double-doors on my right. Noises of many people were coming from the right one. I felt something nudge my leg. The dog was standing next to me; he began to tread towards the open doors, Pettigrew's leg still firmly in his mouth. I went with them.
We entered another enormous room, bigger than the first. Four long tables were set up. Another table was up front, where, I assumed, must be the staff. An old man with a long grey beard was standing at the middle of the table; on his right was Lupin, followed by a short little man, and a woman with hair in a tight bun, reading glasses bridged on the edge her nose. On his left were Snape, a woman with huge glasses and frizzy hair, and a few more teachers. The older man was in the middle of a speech. "…the threat of Vol-" he cut off. He stared at the three of us, but he hid his surprise quickly.
Every single person in the gigantic room turned to watch us. I suddenly felt very small. I was drenched head to toe; puddles of water were forming at my feet. The dog next to me was shook all the liquid from him, spraying water at anything nearby. Pettigrew did not try to escape. He just lay on the ground, shaking in fright and anger.
A voice cried, "Sirius!" Harry Potter jumped from his seat at the first table to our left and raced over. The dog, Sirius, wagged his tail and gave a muffled bark. The older man was also approaching as well, followed closely by Snape, Lupin, and the woman with reading glasses. I was nervous; they must know that I do not belong here. But the adults did not seem to notice me. All had drawn their wands and were pointing them at the small, evil man on the ground. Sirius let go of Pettigrew's leg and trotted back to where Harry was standing, herding the teen back. The large dog then turned and barked at me.
"Dumbledore," murmured the woman, "do you know who this young lady is?" The man, presumably Dumbledore, gazed at me with searching eyes.
He finally spoke. "What is your name?" All of the adults were watching me now, save Lupin who was tying up Pettigrew with rope from his wand.
Should I lie to him, and say Olivia Potter? Or should I tell them my real name. I decided on the latter. "Olivia Camelle." He nodded almost unnoticeably. It seemed as if he knew who I was.
"Very well Ms. Camelle. I will now ask you to follow Professor Snape up to my office. I will be up there shortly. Mr. Potter, you go too." Harry looked up, surprised. Dumbledore glanced at the large black dog. "Sirius," he addressed the dog, "it might be wise for you to accompany them." Sirius barked.
Snape was looking very sullen. He appeared that he would rather quit his job right then and there and join a circus, than be helping random students to offices. He drawled, "Come on Potter, and bring that mutt of yours." Sirius at hearing this growled aggressively and bared his fangs at the professor. The latter merely rolled his eyes and lead the way out of the dining hall. Harry and the dog followed him. I hurried forward and into the entrance area, glimpsing Remus dragging Pettigrew out of the room. I could not dwell on this however, as we roamed up the stairs and into an empty corridor.
We walked on and soon were in a larger hall. Snape stopped in front of a stone gargoyle. "Bertie Botts." To my amazement, the gargoyle leaped to life and moved aside, revealing a doorway. I turned to Harry, he wasn't fazed a bit. Sirius raced up the stairs inside the entrance. Harry went was well, followed by me, Snape taking up the end. Once we were all on, the staircase spiraled upwards. As suddenly as it started, it stopped at a door. Snape moved past us and opened it, marched in. Sirius dashed in as well. Harry approached the door but stopped and looked at me.
"Do you know what this is about?" His vivid green eyes searched mine, as if looking for the answer in their very depths.
I shook my head. "No, not a bit." It was not a lie, yet it was not completely truthful. I was probably found out about my sneaking onto the magical train and would be dealt with. What if they wiped my memory? Wait a minute. Then why was Harry here?
Harry seemed to accept this answer and entered the well-lit room. I took a deep breath and stepped inside.