Remus emerged from the castle with Madam Pomfrey at his side. Together they approached the Whomping Willow – the enormous tree that stood in the grounds and whose flailing branches lashed out at anything that came within reach.
"Will you be okay from here, Remus?" asked Madam Pomfrey, anxiously.
"Yes, thank you very much," replied Remus.
As the branches of the Whomping Willow sensed his presence, Remus twirled his wand and pointed it at a long stick on the ground.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The stick rose off the ground, ducked and dived between the tree's branches and struck a knot of wood on the trunk. The tree instantly relaxed and the branches settled. Remus took a deep breath and stepped forward. At the base of the tree was a small aperture into which he clambered and disappeared into the darkness. Unknowingly, as he was climbing into the gap, a hook nosed, greasy haired student had exited the castle and caught sight of Remus disappearing into the Willow. As Madam Pomfrey returned to the castle, Snape slid behind a bush and then crept over to the Willow. But as he approached, the branches awoke again and were ready for the next people who came. Snape scowled and slipped away into the trees.
--
"Right, everyone ready?" asked James, extracting the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk.
"I was born ready!" Peter squeaked, doing a pirouette in mid-air and landing with a flourish of his hand. Sirius and James looked at him, eyebrows raised. Peter bowed his head.
"You still haven't told us what you're planning to do to Snape tonight, Padfoot," said James. "You've been quite secretive."
"Please forgive me, Prongs," said Sirius. "I was just planning it, but now I know how we're going to scare the wits out of old oil-nose and teach him a lesson!"
The three Marauders put their heads together and Sirius told them the plan.
--
Snape crouched behind the trees that bordered the Forbidden Forest, watching the Whomping Willow with unblinking eyes. When it looked as though the tree was not going to relax any more, he got up and slowly crept towards the tree. He was desperate to find out what Remus was up to and hopefully get the four of them expelled for good. He, Severus Snape, would no longer be humiliated in public – he could have the girl of his dreams all to himself…
He waited, listening intently. All of a sudden, a howl broke the silence – it was coming from the aperture at the base of the Whomping Willow – something was down there…was it Remus? But before he could come to that decision, he heard a scuffling noise right behind him and the shuffling of tiny paws on the wet grass. He froze – his hand reached automatically for his wand. Fumbling slightly in the darkness, he whispered,
"Lumos."
His wand tip glowed and expanded into a spherical light on the wand beam. He scanned the grass for any signs of life…
Then the scuffling noise started again, right behind him – he spun around…
But there was nothing there
Breathing heavily, he murmured,
"Incendio."
The light vanished, to be replaced by a ball of crackling flames on the end of his wand, ready to launch at anything that attacked. The scuffling reached his ears again – he looked down…
With a shriek, he leapt backwards – the beady black eyes of a rat stared at him from the ground – Snape hated rats. He retreated, whimpering as the tiny creature scuttled towards him. He didn't even have the courage to release the ball of fire that still glowed on the end of his wand. Peter Pettigrew's tail whipped the air and all of a sudden he leapt off the grass, aiming for Snape's face. Snape yelled, dodged the rat and ran back towards the castle…but he found that area of the grounds inhabited by something else…
An enormous, shaggy black dog glared at him with eyes that glowed white in the shadow of the flames on Snape's wand. Without warning it bounded at him – Snape yelled with fear, but then remembered his wand… He launched the flames at the dog, but the beast dodged them and with a whip of its tail, created a gust of air that blew the flames back at Snape…
"Aguamenti!" Snape cried and a jet of water doused the flames.
Sirius Black circled him, growling. Snape was transfixed by fear, not even noticing the tiny furred creature that was climbing up the back of his robes…
Only when he felt weight on his shoulder did Snape turn his head – only to see the rat's beady eyes staring at him, barely two inches away.
Snape screamed, louder than he had ever done before, hoping that the castle hadn't heard. The rat opened its mouth, showing long front teeth, but the way it was open seemed as though the rat was grinning maliciously at him. Snape ran round in circles yelling, trying to beat the rat off his shoulder, but it wouldn't budge. He kept running, but then realised he wasn't going anywhere – something had trapped his chest so that his body was incapable of moving forwards. He soon saw what it was. Before him stood an enormous stag with proud antlers, one of which had Snape's torso in a tight grip. A spasm of fear rippled through Snape's body when the stag – which Snape had always thought of as an inexpressive animal, gave an evil grin exactly like the rat had and then reared, stabbing its antlers at the sky. Snape, still trapped in one of them was lifted too – the stag swung its head around and released Snape – he flew through the air and landed with a thump on the ground. James Potter reared again proudly and then galloped over to the black dog. Together, they advanced, menacingly. Snape's eyes darted downwards and saw the rat on his chest, looking right at him. With a yell, Snape threw the rat off, turned tail and fled towards the school. When he was out of earshot, the three animals reverted back to human form and roared with laughter.
--
Snape approached the castle, terrified by what had just happened. He didn't want to tell anyone, for fear of being called a coward, but he also wasn't sure he wanted to keep it a secret. He was just about to climb the steps into the castle when he heard a noise from behind him. Praying that the animals were not back, he turned and held out his wand. He stood there for a moment or two, then deciding he had imagined it, turned round and began to climb the stairs. However, there was someone already on them.
"What's up, Snivellus?" Sirius asked, his wand clasped tightly in his right hand…