CHAPTER 11: THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS (PART 3)
EXT. HOGSMEADE STATION – EARLY EVENING (SEPT. 1ST, 2018)
Upon stepping off the Hogsmeade Express and out onto the old wooden platform at Hogsmeade Station, Albus and those accompanying him beheld the sight of thousands of shinning candle lit lanterns, which floated about and hovered in mid-air above the crowds of students and other wizard folk that were jostling and moving about on the long, narrow platform. The lanterns seemed to be providing the only true source of light in and around the station apart from the loose scattering of candle lit lamp posts which flanked the platform, but despite this, the station appeared brighter and more active then it normally was.
Along the edges of the platform on both ends, small vendors had been set up for those visiting the station, showing off a wide variety of wizard goods, foods and drinks, meant to tempt the students and others alike to buy and delight in the ever growing bounty that surrounded them. Situated near the Black Lake, Hogsmeade Station was actually quite some distance away, about three miles away, from Hogsmeade itself, as well as being on the opposite side of the Hogwarts school grounds. The Hogwarts Express would always stop here after traveling from King's Cross Station as well as stop off at the train stations in the English towns of Manchester, Topplemoor, The Shambles and Nine Mile, among other train stations along the long route between Hogsmeade, Scotland and London, England. However, the Hogsmeade Express rarely ever stopped at Cokeworth unless it was an emergency.
Hogsmeade Sation itself was a small group of rustic looking, weather worn and gray stone buildings which flanked the platform, the largest of these building being a resting place for the conductor of the train. Located not far down from these buildings were the entrance gates to the Hogwarts school grounds, which were located in a clearing within the Dark Forest, where a long dirt path led up to Hogwarts and to the school grounds beyond it. Also at the end of the platform and not too far from the station, there was a small boat dock, where boats would be waiting to carry students across the Black Lake to Hogwarts. Before this time, students could only be transported in a certain way, depending on what year in school they were in.
First-years were often carried in the boats across the Black Lake to Hogwarts, while two-year students or above would be transported to Hogwarts by other means, either by horse-drawn carriage, enchanted carriages (which were pulled by invisible Thestrals) or by walking to Hogwarts under protective escort from the station, since the dirt path skirted the edge of the Black Lake, which was quite large and forbidding. But now students were allowed to come to Hogswarts in any which way they pleased, even on the backs of creatures that were normally not allowed on school grounds, such as domesticated dragons and griffins. But no matter how and in what way, those that were with Albus were excited to be coming back to Hogwarts once again. Though at the moment, Albus was too preoccupied with thinking about the dream he had to fully appreciate and delight in all the sights, smells and sounds that were coming to him from all directions, unlike his siblings James and Lily and his cousins Rose and Hugo. Then Albus heard a familiar voice resonate across the platform, "Alrighty then all you first-yearers, best be comein' this way now."
Albus looked over and saw that it was Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Hagrid was a tall and well-rounded half-giant, with fair skin, long, straggly brown hair and a long, shaggy brown beard. He was also a legend among the Hogwarts faculty and students, being one of only two remaining members of the original school faculty that had taught when Albus's father Harry was at Hogwarts. But unlike during the time when Harry was coming to Hogwarts, Hagrid now had streaks of white running through his hair and beard. Hagrid was now 89 or 90 years old, but even though Hagrid may have been older, Hagrid remained ever pleasant in his ways and was still just as friendly and helpful as he was when Harry was a student at Hogwarts, as well as being widely respected and revered by faculty and students alike.
Hagrid lived in a small hut on school grounds, which Albus would often visit along with friends and family that were also coming to Hogwarts for their first year last year. All throughout Albus's first year, Albus would go to Hagrid for advice as well as some polite company between classes. And as was always the case when students and other wizards and witches came to visit him, Hagrid would offer them tea and crumpets, which Hagrid would make by hand. Overall, Hagrid held a special place in Albus's life that very few could ever truly fill.
"Hello, Hagrid." said Albus happily, walking and looking up at Hagrid.
"Why hello there, young Albus Potter," said Hagrid, looking down at Albus and holding a small lantern in his right hand. "Ready for your second year at Hogwarts? I heard there bein' some new classes for young Albus to be learnin'."
"I know, Hagrid, one of them is Magical Archery and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I can get along with the teacher."
"Now how would you be knowin' that, young Albus? No one but the other teachers is supposed to be knowin' who the Magical Archery teacher is until after the Sortin' of the new students."
"I know who the Magical Archery teacher is, Hagrid. I met her on the train...sort of."
"Sor'of? What do you mean by sor'of? If there are any teachers bein' with you on the train, you would be meetin' them like you would be meetin' anyone. Never sor'of."
"It's actually hard to explain, Hagrid, and I don't think that you would really believe me."
"Well, I might you know, you musn't be underestimatin' my ability to be believin' you now. Who bein' this teacher you sor'of met on the train?"
"I would tell you, Hagird, but I'm really not sure that I should at the moment...What is that sound coming from your coat, Hagrid?" said Albus, noticing a soft chirping sound coming from one of Hagrid's pockets inside his long, dusty brown coat.
Hagrid glanced around for a moment then spoke, "Sound? What sound you be hearin', young Albus?"
"Hagrid!" said Albus, noticing that Hagrid was acting as though he was hiding something rather special and forbidden in one of his inside coat pockets. Hagrid sat his lantern down and then began reaching deep into his right pocket. Hagrid soon pulled out a hand full of small black worms that made soft high pitched squeaky sounds as they wiggled about in Hagrid's hand. This caused Albus to make a face of disgust upon seeing them, "Ewe, Hagrid, what are those?"
"They're Burroworms, young Albus. Nasty littl' buggers to. They used to be usin' them as a method of wizard torture a long time ago. Not anymore though, now they just feed little Grisalon here."
"Grisalon?" said Albus as Hagrid picked one of the larger burroworms in his hand and then placed the rest of them back in his pocket. He then opened up the right side of his coat, revealing a little blue dragon chick, chirping and looking out at Hagrid. Hagrid then gave the burroworm to the dragon chick, which gobbled it up quickly.
"Is that...a dragon?" said Albus, looking at the dragon chick hiding in Hagrid's coat.
"Now don't you be yellin' that out aloud now," said Hagrid, looking around him and then back at Albus, "And he's not just bein' any dragon, young Albus. He's a Norwegian Ice Dragon, he is. They're known to bein' rather short tempered if you be makin'um angry and their icy blasts are deadly if you be getin' in their way. Grisalon came into my possession rather suddenly of course, found him while I was walkin' to Hogsmeade this mornin'. The littl' tike's got a broken wing so I'm takin' care of him and keepin' him at the hut...you won't be tellin' anyone now would yeah?" - Hagrid closed up his coat, hiding the little dragon chick once more.
"Of course not, Hagrid, I wouldn't do such a thing," said Albus, smirking as though he was not surprised that Hagrid was once again smuggling creatures that were normally forbidden on school grounds. But even Albus knew that it wouldn't be long before someone at school would notice Hagrid's new pet. "But Hagrid, he's a dragon! It wouldn't be long before someone would notice him. And how do you except to keep him when he gets older and has to stay outside? They'll end up taking him away from you and then you would get into trouble with Professor Titch. I wouldn't want that to happen to you, Hagrid."
But Hagrid wouldn't say any more about it as the whistle on the Hogwarts Express sounded, causing Hagrid to pull out his pocket watch and look at it, "Cor blimey, is that the time? Best be headin' off to lead the first-yearers to the castle, Albus. If you're lookin' for the group that's leadin' the second-yearers, best be gettin' behind the train station and waitin' near the back garden. Morphos Moody will be comin' soon to lead you to the castle."
And with that, Hagrid picked up his lantern and began walking towards the group of first-year students who were waiting for Hagrid at the end of the platform, including Albus's sister Lily and Albus's cousin Hugo. Albus quickly gave his farewells to Hagrid and scurried off towards the back of the train station. Hugo was born in 2008, but since he was due to turn 11 in November, he was allowed to come to Hogwarts in 2018. Albus's older brother James and older sister Rose had gone off to join the group of third-year students for the journey to Hogwarts, thus Albus was taking the journey to Hogwarts with students he did not know very well, apart from a fellow schoolmate and friend of Albus's, named Amelia, who was a small but attractive young girl with long brown hair, hazel-green eyes and fair skin.
EXT. HOGSMEADE STATION TO HOGWARTS SCHOOL GROUNDS - EARLY EVENING (SEPT. 1ST, 2018)
Behind the train station, there was a thick fog hanging in the air, partially hiding a long wicker fence covered in dead vines, which surrounded a small back garden behind the largest building of the train station. Walking past the back garden, Albus found his way to a small clearing along the edge of the Dark Forest, where the group of second-year students was waiting for Morphos Moody to show up and lead them to Hogwarts. Within the center of the small clearing, there was a large dead tree with gnarly bare branches, spotted with glowing moss and lichen. By this time, the moon was high in the sky, shining through the heavy fog which blanketed the back garden and through the twisted limbs of the tree. Some of the lanterns that had been hovering above the platform moments before began to slowly float behind the train station and down closer to the ground, flying over the back garden and towards the tree beyond it.
As Albus walked into the clearing, an elaborate blue pattern began to appear and form on the trunk and branches of the dead tree, crawling up the trunk from the ground and up onto the branches until it completely covered it. Even though the tree was dead, an ancient, unknown magic still lived within it, preventing it from ever being destroyed or cut down. Albus walked up to the group and stood next to Amelia as the tree began to glow an even brighter blue hue, though the light was only as bright as the floating lanterns that hovered above it.
"Isn't it beautiful, Albus?" said Amelia, noticing Albus next to her, "It's the Tree of Ancient Memory, the Tree of Auradinthia. It is said to contain the soul of Auradinthia, the first Auror that ever existed. The clearing and the tree showed up rather suddenly sometime during the Summer while we were gone. No one knows where it came from or why it's here. All we do know is that it is a special tree that should be treasured and admired."
"I've heard about this tree from the ancient Hogwarts legends," said Albus, looking up at the tree with curious and gleaming eyes, "But shouldn't it be in the afterlife? Or in an enchanted portrait somewhere?"
"That's what some of the other students said, but it came out of nowhere as if it had been transported from some unseen realm and was placed here. There must be a reason for why it is here, Albus, we just don't know why yet." said Amelia, watching Albus walk up to the tree while the other students in the group kept a safe distance away from it as though mildly frightened by it.
Albus spoke with a smile as he placed his hand on the trunk and touched it, acting as though he wasn't scared at all to, "It feels warm as though it were alive. But I can't be though can it? It looks like it has been dead for centuries." - For a brief moment, Albus noticed what looked like a strange form of writing embedded within the glowing pattern on the tree, running his fingers over it as he continued, "I mean, this tree doesn't actually look alive physically, though it seems like it belongs here somehow...as if it was here for centuries."
"That's because it does belong here and for more reasons that you fail to realize." said a soft, cold voice coming from behind the tree. Albus leaped back from the tree, startled. Suddenly from out of the shadows behind the tree, a glowing lantern held out on the end of a long pole appeared, followed by the young person that held it. It was Cyrus Snape, a person who Albus recognized almost instantly. Cyrus was followed out by his two siblings, Darius and Evangeline, who Albus also recognized. Like Cyrus, they too were also holding lanterns on the end of long poles and were moving them about as if keeping watch for something.
"Forgive us for our sudden and shall I say surprising entrance, but we are here to escort you all to the castle." said Cyrus, looking towards Albus as he spoke.
"What? You three? But you don't look any older then we are. Where's Professor Moody?" said Amelia as Albus kept his eyes fixed on Cyrus and those standing behind Cyrus.
"Do not underestimate our ability to protect you as we escort you to the castle. We are perfectly capable of defending you and everyone in the group from any unseen creatures that might wish to do us harm...and I'm afraid Professor Moody has been detained for the moment, doing a little job for Professor Titch. So we came along to escort you all down the path to the castle." said Cyrus as he pointed his pole in the direction of the castle. "This way, please..."
"But shouldn't we wait for another teacher to come and escort us or something?" said another student in the group.
"I'm afraid that no other teachers are coming to escort you at this time. Come along now...this way or we'll be late." said Evangeline coolly. And with that, Evangline took the lead and started her way towards the entrance gates to the Hogwarts school grounds, though the group was hesitant to follow three strange children around, Albus, who was overly curious, didn't seem too keen in staying with the group and courageously walked forward, following the three children into the Dark Forest. Seeing that Albus had placed his trust and confidence in the three strange children, Amelia soon followed, then the rest of the group soon after.
A few minutes later, Albus, Amelia and the rest of the group found themselves at the entrance gates to the Hogwarts school grounds, guided by Cyrus and his siblings walking up in front of them. Excited, overly curious and wanting to talk to Cyrus and his two siblings, Albus ran up alongside the trio and spoke, "It's you three, Cyrus, Evangline and Darius. I can't believe you three are actually here. Can you tell me what's going on?"
Evangeline, who was walking side by side with Cyrus and Darius, looked around Cyrus at Albus as she continued to hold her lantern out in front with the others, speaking coolly towards Albus, "And how do you know our names? We didn't tell you who we were back there." - Evangeline looked forward again.
Albus opened his mouth, but closed it again as Cyrus spoke coolly towards Evangeline, "I don't know how this student knows of us, Evangeline. Unless Darius told him who we were."
"Hey, I said nothing." said Darius, protesting calmly.
"But I know who your parents are!" said Albus excitedly as he continued to flank the trio, flanking them from the left side of Cyrus, "I had a dream about them and you three were in it. I told my brother James about the dream, but he doesn't seem to want to believe me. He thinks I've gone mental."
"Listen, whoever you are, I don't know how you know our names, but I can assure you that we've never seen or heard the likes of you before." hissed Cyrus as he continued to walk forward with his lantern in front of him. "And whatever this dream is you speak of, we had nothing to do with it. So if you don't mind, we'd like you to get behind us and stay with the rest of the group...thank you."
With his eyes gleaming with both curiosity and puzzlement, Albus stepped back behind the trio and stood closer to Amelia. It was obvious to Albus that these three children were the same three children that he saw in his dream earlier, but were clearly denying any involvement in the matter. After walking through the first entrance gate, the trio began to slow there pace, keeping closer to the group following behind them. The first few minutes were generally uneventful for the group and their appointed escorts, than a distant and lengthy howl was heard some distance behind the group, causing the group to stop and listen. Some of the group turned around to look, soon realizing that a heavy fog was covering over the path they had just walked over. It was certainly starting to feel and sound ominous in that place as the trio swung there lanterns around.
Cyrus soon spoke, "Keep moving, all of you. Not unless you want to be eaten by werewolves or some other foul creature of the night."
"What is that, Cyrus? That doesn't sound like any wolf I've ever heard." said Albus suddenly, alarmed by what he was hearing.
"You do not want to know nor do you want to see it...Keep calm and look sharp. Now move along now, all of you." said Cyrus nonchalantly as he turned back around with his siblings and with their lanterns. Amelia quickly came up next to Albus and grabbed on his arm, holding him close to her as she looked around nervously. The group started to huddle close to one another, trying to keep calm as they walked on down the dirt path to Hogwarts. They soon realized that the howl was following them, not to closely but also not too far away. A subtle look of fear and anxiety was starting to form on the faces of Cyrus, Evangeline and Darius as they continued to look forward.
Darius soon whispered, mildly concerned, "Where's Mum and Dad? There's supposed to be flanking us along the edge of the tree line. Do they not know that something is following us?"
"I think Mum and Dad already know what's following us," whispered Cyrus in return. "But Mum and Dad will protect us if anything happens to us. But even still, we're more than capable of protecting ourselves and those with us, even if Mum and Dad weren't here. Otherwise Mum and Dad wouldn't have told us to kidnap the entire group of second-year students and escort them to Hogwarts."
"But the group doesn't know that they've been kidnapped, Cyrus," whispered Darius, who was starting to feel secretly uneasy and alarmed. "We only kidnapped them so that we could get Albus away from them when we got up to the castle and all because we couldn't kidnap just Albus as it might rouse some suspicions."
"Enough out of you, Darius!" said Evangeline in a mildly agitated whisper, "And besides, it's obvious that something is following us and means to do us harm. Mum and Dad should have followed us behind the group. For all we know, the group might be in terrible danger."
"I wish Mum and Dad were here right now." whispered Darius.
"They're nearby, Darius. Come along." whispered Cyrus.
After walking over a long bridge to the other side of the Black Lake, the group of second-year students soon found themselves within the shadows of Hogwarts Castle. They could see the last entrance gate out in front of them before reaching the main entrance to Hogwarts. Then, as they approached the last entrance gate, a long howl was heard once more, followed by a distant rumbling, which began to grow louder and louder as it got closer and closer to the group. Cyrus and his siblings suddenly turned around, realizing that what was running towards the group was set on causing trouble for them and the group itself.
Darius then spoke when a loud roar suddenly resonated through the air, "No, that can't be who I think it is, Cyrus."
"Oh no, Cyrus. We thought that he was dead! Don't tell me that we just lured him here, did we?" said Evangeline, grabbing onto Cyrus's arm and tugging on it.
"And here we were thinking that he was dead...RUN!" cried Cyrus towards o the group.
Cyrus didn't have to say it twice. The group of students, which was already tensed and frightened, quickly turned and began to run away as fast as they could, panicking and screaming in terror as they ran. Cyrus and his siblings quickly ran towards the direction of the rumbling and roaring, their wands drawn and ready to strike down what was barreling towards them and the group. It only took moments when a figure broke through the veil of thick fog and skidded to a stop in front of Cyrus and his siblings and roared, gaping its mouth.
"Hello, Mortisursal. Find any Once-Deads to chase and torment lately?" said Cyrus mischievously, looking up at the creature before him. Standing before Cyrus and his siblings was a massive beast named Mortisursal, about the size of an elephant, covered in thick white fur and looking like something crossed between a polar bear and a wolf. It had large paws and long sharp claws, as well as a large, drooling, gaping maw of sharp, serrated teeth.
It was then that a great battle between the trio and Mortisursal soon commenced as Cyrus and his siblings began to use their wands, sending spell after spell towards Mortisursal in order to try and slow or stop his relentless pursuit of the fleeing group of students. But Mortisursal was persistent, keeping close pace with the fleeing group as the trio followed close behind him through apparating and disapparating over and over again, attacking him with every defensive spell they could muster.
At one point, Cyrus used the Iactum Rivus Aqua spell to create a massive stream of water from the nearby river and cast it towards Mortisursal, knocking him over hard. Mortisursal soon stood up again and roared at Cyrus disagreeably, facing Cyrus and batting at him with his paws. Darius then used the Lumos Deflectio spell on the beast to knock Mortisursal back, but with only minor effect. Albus then stopped and stood, watching as this went on for at least two minutes, until a pair of large black wolves appeared, running side by side onto the scene from out of the heavy fog.
These wolves soon jumped onto Mortisursal, growling, snarling, snapping, biting and clawing at him furiously. For a moment, Albus looked away to see where his friend Amelia had gone to. He then looked back, only to see that Cyrus and his siblings had vanished. Seconds later, three smaller black wolves appeared out of nowhere and leaped onto Mortisursal, snapping, biting and clawing. After a few moments of this, Mortisursal pulled off one of the smaller black wolves and threw them to the ground.
The fallen black wolf whimpered and struggled back onto its feet as Mortisursal loomed over the top of it, about to place his jaws down upon it. The fallen black wolf then transformed before Albus's eyes, suddenly revealing Darius, who quickly pulled out a wand, aimed it towards the tree line and cried, "Munio Arboris!"
Suddenly, a large tree branch slammed down on Mortisursal from above, almost hitting the two larger black wolves as they jumped off Mortisursal's back. One of the larger trees nearby had come alive and was now beating Mortisursal down to the ground, with Mortisursal roaring and hissing disagreeably. Darius quickly transformed once more, becoming a smaller black wolf again. It was at this moment that Albus realized that Cyrus and his siblings were in fact Animagus, a rare and difficult magical ability which allows wizards and witches to change into different creatures at will. Though Albus was surprised by the sight of this, he was too busy thinking about the massive creature, namely Mortisursal, that was trying hard to get to the group of students.
Unable to stand and watch any longer, Albus cried out to the students behind him and said, "What's the matter with all of you? Help them!"
And with that, Albus drew out his wand and ran back towards the battle. Having been warned by some fleeing students as to what was happening outside on the school grounds, it didn't take long for some of the Hogwarts teachers to come out and join in on the fight, followed by some willing and brave students, sending spell after spell towards Mortisursal. Noticing that the students and teachers had everything under control, the two larger black wolves vanished into the underbrush along with the three smaller black wolves, hiding out on the forest edge and watching until everything had settled down.
With lots of students and teachers involved in the fight and casting spells at him, along with the tree bashing him around, Mortisursal soon realized that he had had enough and quickly found his escape, turning and running in the opposite direction down the path, hissing and roaring as he left.
Once Mortisursal had vanished back into the fog, the tree that had been beating him around quickly went back to its original state, while the students and the teachers with them began to cheer in celebration, surrounding Albus and chanting his name. Albus was getting praises for defeating Mortisursal, though Albus knew that the real heroes of the fight were Cyrus and his siblings. As students and a teacher patted Albus on the back and praised him, Albus began looking around for Cyrus and his siblings, unaware that they had already left the scene and were now waiting for him inside the school.
Suddenly, an angered Professor Gregus Groset, the head of Slytherin House, broke through the group of students ad teachers and demanded to know why the students were there without Morphos Moody. Albus tried to explain to Professor Groset as to how and why they were there, but instead of listening to Albus, Professor Groset pointed to the door to Hogwarts and ordered Albus to go to the Headmaster's Office and explain it to Professor Titch. Doing as he was told, Albus quickly found his way into the school and went down the corridor towards Professor Titch's office.
CONTINUED…CHAPTER 12…