The Lost School
After only a few minutes of stumbling through the Forbidden Forest, James already had several cuts on his face from running into tree branches and crashing through spiky ferns. Remus was not faring any better, and he panted alongside Fang as they continued through the darkness, only illuminated by the soft gleaming from the two boys' wands. Gradually slowing as the over-sized footprints and other signs of Hagrid's struggle grew harder and harder to discern, James glanced every which way into the trees, listening for the sound of distant cries or thrashing.
"Let's stop here," Remus finally heaved, leaning down and holding his knees while James clutched his hair with one hand. "We can't go on like this. We're lost."
"We can't be!" James exclaimed, turning to gain some sort of sense of direction. Staring at the identical tree trunks, he even wished to know the way back to Hagrid's cabin, but every part of the forest looked the same.
"It's hopeless," Remus said, shaking his head, and Fang nosed his hand with a whimper.
"There's got to be a way!" James objected, but the sudden thundering of hooves from his left cut off his protest. Neither he nor Remus spoke, instead dashing to the nearest tree and pressing their backs against its tremendous trunk while Fang trotted behind.
They all listened silently while the pounding came to a stop only a few meters away. Hardly daring to breathe, James and Remus listened to the swishing of a long tail followed by an impatient stomp of a hoof. Gulping, James thought that he heard the stretching of a bow's string; judging by the sound of heavy breathing, several centaurs stood just beyond sight, and he did not fancy revealing their presence after their last, less-than-friendly meeting.
After a few tense moments, he heard a voice that he recognized as belonging to Magorian speak. "This way!" Immediately, the herd leapt into motion, and James relaxed as their hoof-steps thudded farther and farther away. Finally, he stepped out from behind the tree and looked at Remus.
"I suppose that we could have asked them if they saw Hagrid," Remus noted, although had also let out a long sigh after the centaurs had left.
"Do you think that we should follow them?" James asked, glancing deeper into the forest.
"I'm not sure they're on the same trail as we are," Remus answered. "It sounded like they were hunting something."
"I don't know," James replied. "They might have seen the werewolves dragging Hagrid awa—"
Seeing Remus' sharp glare, he quickly closed his mouth. "For the last time, those weren't werewolves!" Remus exclaimed. "I don't know what you saw that night in the Forbidden Forest, but it wasn't what you think it was!"
"I know what I saw!" James defended, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not mental!"
"It wasn't even the full moon!" Remus added, casting a dark look at the ground. "I think that you would have noticed if it was."
"I'm not saying that it was!" James responded, crossing his arms. "I'm just asking you to believe me!"
"It's completely illogical to suggest that you met a werewolf in the forest and lived!" Remus retorted, glaring at James. "I can't control myself when I transform—a werewolf would have ripped you without hesitation and taken on the rest of us afterwards, not run away!"
"You weren't there: you didn't see it!" James snapped.
"I already told you," Remus argued, "you wouldn't be standing here right now if—"
Suddenly, Remus froze with his mouth half-open, staring at something behind James. Turning around as slowly as his anticipation could bear, James soon spotted the object of Remus' attention—or rather, objects. Several pairs of glowing yellow eyes were peering out of the darkness, flickering in the glow of the boys' lit wands, and James felt his hair prickle as the intruders moved closer. The biggest of the creatures stopped only a few paces away from James, its lean, muscular body covered in thick, gray fur. At once, James recognized it as the animal that had cornered him in the Forbidden Forest, and he took a step back only to stop as a chorus of growls rippled through the trees. He had no doubt that this same pack of wolves had carried Hagrid away just a few minutes before, but the Gamekeeper was nowhere in sight.
Huddling against Remus, James felt his heart stop as the lead wolf slowly stepped forward, eyeing the two of them with an intensity almost intelligent. As it approached, Fang lowered his ears and bared his teeth, growling softly. Turning its head at the noise, the wolf stared him down, and James began to sweat as Fang whimpered and rolled over onto his back. Now the rest of the wolves crawled out of the blackness as their leader paced towards the two boys, disregarding the docile boarhound at his feet.
Clutching his wand, James held his breath and prepared to fight, but the dozens of gleaming teeth discouraged any defensive measures. Feeling the warm breath of the wolf ruffling his robes, he had to suppress to urge to close his eyes as he waited for the animal's sharp claws to dig into his skin. Halting again, the wolf blinked once at James before turning to look at Remus. It stepped forward, and James readied his wand, but something seemed to change in the air; both Remus and the wolf had locked eyes, and the forest grew unnaturally still as neither of them moved. Finally, the wolf slowly leaned forward and pushed its wet nose against Remus' hand. Still not breathing, Remus tried to pull away, but the wolf moved faster than James could blink and caught his wrist in his teeth. Crying out, Remus dropped his wand and tried to jerk away, but the wolf held on firmly.
"Petrificus Totalus!" James cried, aiming his own wand for the animal's head, but two other wolves leapt forward from behind him and jerked him backwards by his robes. His spell shot into the air and blasted a tree branch, and James felt his wand slip out of his hand as a strong jaw wrested it free. Kicking, he struggled to break away, but another wolf pounced onto his leg as the one on his right jerked his arm behind his back with an almost conscious effort. In front of him, the large wolf still had Remus by the wrist, and it bit down harder to stop him from grabbing his fallen wand and defending James.
Almost as one mind, the pack started moving through the woods, the leader jolting Remus forward when he stumbled from the unexpected movement. Although he tried to kick out, James had to give up and move forward at an awkward jog as his captors quickly lugged him along the forest floor. Behind them, Fang slunk forward with his head down, surrounded by a dozen or so of the other animals, none of which paid him any attention.
As the group marched along, James lost all of what little direction sense that remained, moving through the almost completely blackened forest. Without a wand light to guide him, he had to rely on the wolves on either side to safely pull him through the foliage towards their unknown destination. The pack seemed to know exactly where they were going despite the gloom, and James assumed that they had traveled this part of the forest countless times before. Once, a dangling tree branch came out of the darkness just in front of James' nose, but his captors jerked him down before he could react, pulling him out of harm's way as they continued at an uncomfortable speed.
Having expected a long journey, James was surprised when the pack stopped abruptly after only a few short minutes. Breathing heavily, he stiffened as he watched for any sign of aggression, but the wolves merely sniffed the air and looked at their leader. Releasing Remus, the large wolf stepped away and growled softly; immediately, James felt his captors release their holds on him. Backing away, James rubbed his arms and tensed for a fight, but the leader gave a short bark, causing one of the others to step forward and deposit a couple of thin sticks on the ground. Eyes widening, James recognized his and Remus' wands, and he considered lunging for them while he had a chance. Growling again, the leader interrupted his train of thought, and James met its eyes before the creature turned his head and looked pointedly over his shoulder. Then, just as quickly as they had appeared, the wolves sprang forward and sprinted into the forest, leaving the boys in the dark.
Sniffing sheepishly, Fang nosed James as he stooped and collected his wand. "Lumos," he whispered. At once, the surrounding trees shone in the white glow, and Remus quickly picked up his wand and did the same. Sharing a glance with him, James realized that none of them could explain what had just happened. Finally, Remus spoke, glancing upwards.
"Where are we?"
Looking around, James held his wand high and examined their surroundings; they appeared to have been deposited on the edge of some sort of abandoned city. Underneath the sparse trees, several stone walls rose out of the ground, eaten away by time and covered in moss. As James walked forward to get a better look, a section of the nearest wall crumbled away and fell to the ground with a thud.
"I've never heard of a place like this in the Forbidden Forest," James answered, realizing a moment later that he had been whispering. Clearing his throat, he was about to speak again when he heard a voice coming from inside of his robes.
"James! James!"
Starting, James fumbled for his pockets and pulled out his two-way mirror, seeing Sirius' face reflected against the dark sky on the other end. "I'm here!" James told him while Remus watched over his shoulder.
"We're at the edge of the Forbidden Forest," Sirius narrated, looking up from the mirror at the scenery beyond. "I got the Heads of Houses to follow us down here."
"Hi, James!" a voice called out, and Sirius jostled as Peter bumped aside his shoulder and waved into the mirror. Waiting for the view to steady, James heard a sharp voice in the background.
"Is that Potter?" McGonagall asked, and James spotted a flash of her pointed hat in the corner of the mirror. "Is Mr. Lupin there as well?"
"I'm here," Remus answered none too eagerly.
"Do you realize how dangerous it is to wander into the forest by yourselves?" Professor Flitwick's high-pitched voice squeaked. "You could have been killed!"
"Should we call for the others?" a muffled voice asked in the background, and James guessed that it belonged to Professor Sprout. "We might need more assistance."
"I'd be more than happy to go find them!" the booming voice of Professor Slughorn volunteered, and James briefly spotted a flash of his golden mustache behind Sirius.
Turning around with a grimace, Sirius accused, "Are you trying to get out of entering the Forbidden Forest yourself?"
Gulping, Slughorn twiddled his thumbs. "I believe that my services are best offered . . . elsewhere."
"Make sure to alert Albus as well," Flitwick added to Slughorn, clearly not wanting to waste time arguing. "If Hagrid has indeed been captured, I hate to think what we might be facing in the forest. There's hardly a creature alive that he can't handle."
"What about the students?" Slughorn inquired in what he must have thought was a subtle manner. "Who's going to stay and watch over them? Surely someone needs to stay behind!"
"Then tell Argus to put the castle on lockdown!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "If you must, stay behind with him to make sure that the students stay put, just in case the creatures return."
"Will do, Minerva!" Slughorn agreed, breaking into a grin. "I'll have Dumbledore here in a jiffy!" Turning, his cloaked form bustled back towards the castle.
"Have you found Hagrid?" Sirius asked James and Remus, turning back to the mirror.
"No," James replied, unsure of how much he should tell. "I think that we're close, though."
"Where are you?" Peter inquired.
"It looks like we're near some old castle ruins," Remus told him. "There's a bunch of stone walls and broken doorways."
"Ruins?" Professor McGonagall asked, addressing someone on the other end. "Do you suppose that he means the west end of the forest?"
"I don't know of any other place he could be describing," Professor Sprout answered.
"Have you been here before?" James questioned, tilting his head.
"I've never been there myself," Sprout replied, "but I've heard Hagrid mention it a few times."
"I know the way," McGonagall spoke, and James saw both Sirius and Peter start.
"You do?" Sirius gasped.
"I know more than a few secrets these grounds hold, young man," she told him sternly before addressing the rest of the party. "We'll wait for the others and enter the forest as soon as we can. As for you two," she said, appearing in the mirror's surface to glare at James and Remus, "do not, I repeat, do not leave the ruins. Try to find Hagrid if you can, but I don't want you getting lost." Nodding, James and Remus watched as she pointed at Sirius and Peter. "Come with me, both of you."
"We'll see you soon, mate," Sirius told James before removing his face from the mirror's surface. When all James could see was the black interior of Sirius' pocket, he put away his own mirror and turned to Remus.
"Let's look for Hagrid," he said, turning towards the ruins.
"All right, but let's not go too far," Remus requested, following him underneath a worn archway into the thick of the maze.
For the next few minutes, they wound through the complicated path of stone walls with Fang guarding the rear, sniffing the air for his master. Impressed by the intricacy of the old site, James wondered if the original architecture had consisted of several structures or just one large building. Ducking under abandoned doorway after abandoned doorway, he first passed one stone pillar and then another, sometimes finding dozens of them in a row as if they had once supported a vast entryway. Eyeing the handiwork, he brushed his hand against a faded carving in a nearby wall, the long indentation resembling something like a winding snake.
"What do you think this place was used for?" James whispered, leaning towards Remus. "It almost looks like a miniature Hogwarts."
Frowning, Remus glanced up at the dark treetops and watched a spider crawl into a dark corner where a ceiling used to be. "Whatever this place used it be, I don't think it was anything good."
"Oh, stop being so paranoid," James joked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"I don't like the look of this place," Remus commented, stopping. "I think that we should go back and wait for the others."
"Don't be like that," James insisted. "Hagrid might need our help! He's close, I can feel it!"
Although clearly unwilling to go on, Remus allowed himself to be led further into the labyrinth, glancing over his shoulder whenever the wind whistled through the rocks. As they went on, James noticed that the walls grew more consolidated and better kept, and he suspected that they were reaching the center of the ruins. Holding his wand light low, he tiptoed over a couple of displaced boulders and held his hand out for Remus as he climbed over as well. Observing the mold in between the moist cracks on a nearby wall, James did not watch his footing as his toe hit a stray stone and caused it to roll down a sloping slab of rock, its loud plunking echoing across the ruins. Despite his projected confidence, James felt his heart pounding as the noise died down and quiet once again returned. However, when the echoes subsided, he heard a new sound coming from just behind the thick stone wall next to them. Freezing, he and Remus listened to the shuffling of feet and the thick swish of robes.
"Wilkes, is that you?" a deep voice called out of the darkness. Looking at each other, James and Remus did not make a sound. After a pause, the hidden speaker took another few steps forward.
"Nox!" James and Remus whispered in unison, dousing the light from their wands.
"Is someone there?" the voice called again, louder this time. Backing away, the two boys tried to keep as much distance between them and the speaker as possible as he began walking their way again. Around the corner of the wall, James spotted a bobbing light begin to break away the darkness, and he and Remus turned and sprinted away just as a figure came into view.
"Hey!" the man called again, holding up his lantern and chasing after them. "Stop where you are!"
Not daring to look back, James narrowly avoided tripping over Fang as a spell crashed into a stone slab in front of him. From behind, their pursuer tripped over something and let out a curse.
"Cray! Letterman! Someone's over here!" the man yelled as the boys continued to run.
Crashing blindly through the ruins as sounds of more pounding feet reached their ears, James and Remus did not look back as several more yells echoed around the stone walls. On they ran, gasping for air as they ignored their burning legs, making no attempt to keep quiet. Each time a spell shot after them, James simply ducked and prayed that their surroundings would protect them from getting hit, a plan that proved at least momentarily successful. Reaching a pillar that had fallen onto its side, he vaulted over the top while Remus slid underneath, both of them dashing out at the other end. Slowing down for a moment, James turned back towards Fang, who had stopped and was trying to climb over the slippery surface of the column.
"Fang, come on!" James yelled, and the boarhound took another leap and clawed at the pillar. Feeling his heart skip a beat, James watched as three running figures rounded the distant corner, the swinging lantern throwing their shadows violently against the scattered walls.
"Stupefy!" one of the runners shouted, and a jet of red light blasted Fang into the air, slamming his head against the pillar.
"No!" James exclaimed as Fang fell limply to the ground. Both he and Remus pulled out their wands and faced their pursuers.
"Expelliarmus!" they shouted, and two of the men dove to the side as the spells approached. The other wizard, however, kept charging forward and simply flicked his wand as the jets of light neared him, blocking them with a Shield Charm. Backing away, the two boys turned to run again, but two thin tendrils suddenly wrapped around James' feet and hands, causing him to fall forward and release his wand. He tried to call out to Remus, but a rope forced its way in between his teeth and cut off his cry.
"Incarcerous!" the wizard who had bound him yelled, and Remus, now several meters away, also fell over as several ropes twisted around his body and tightened. Again, the man flicked his wand, and Remus flew towards his waiting grip while his companions caught up.
"What are you brats doing around here?" the man holding Remus asked, eyeing him in the light of the lantern and wresting away his wand, which Remus had miraculously managed to hold onto. "I've never seen you around here before!"
"They're not two of the students?" one of the others asked, a squat man with a large belly. He panted slightly and brushed himself off as he approached, bending quickly to scoop up James' abandoned wand.
"Oh, they're students, all right, Letterman!" the first wizard answered. "Leastways, they're both from Hogwarts. But one would question why they were running away, now wouldn't he?" he growled, lifting Remus up to his face accusingly.
"Maybe they're new," Letterman stated simply, shrugging.
"We haven't had any new ones for months," the wizard holding the lantern said, giving him a sideways glance
"I don't trust the looks of them," the one holding Remus spat, giving him a shake by the collar of his robes.
"All I'm saying, Cray, is that we should bring them back to the meeting house," Letterman explained, raising his hands. "We can ask the others if they know them."
"You've always been too cautious," Cray scoffed, but he lifted Remus over his shoulder and tossed his captive's wand at Letterman, who caught it. "Come on, Whorst."
"Mobilicorpus!" Whorst said, pointing his wand at James; lifting into the air head-first, James hovered a short distance from the ground, his legs hanging limply underneath him. Knowing that it would be useless to struggle without his wand, James allowed himself to be transported back in the direction they had come from. As he floated over the fallen pillar, he glanced briefly down at Fang's motionless body, trying not to imagine the worst.
Leading the way through the ruins, Cray lit his wand to add to the glow of Whorst's lantern. Striding strongly, he stood at least two heads above the puffing form of Letterman, and he toted Remus as easily as if he was carrying a sack of Snargaluff pods. Taking a sharp turn into a rotted doorway, Cray kept walking until a circle of dim lights began to shimmer in the distance, marking the presence of a few scattered torches around a central campfire. Feeling a bead of sweat creep down his hairline, James took in the dozens of faces flickering in the firelight around the clearing, and he spotted several more wizards and witches stationed at odd intervals around a large body of seated spectators. Realizing that escape was nearing impossibility with every passing moment, James felt his stomach drop at the same instant that Whorst released his spell and sent him crashing to the ground.
"What's the problem?" a tweedy witch with bushy, close-set eyebrows asked as Cray deposited Remus on the ground with a thud.
"These two were caught sneaking around the school," Cray answered. "We wanted to know if you recognize them."
Stepping over the two captives, the dark-featured witch looked them over as they struggled to sitting positions. "Can't say I do," she replied, but she turned to the seated group and raised her arms. "Students? Did any of you invite them?"
James felt the weight of every pair of eyes in the clearing turn to him, and he stared back at the glowing eyes in turn. In the wavering light, he could not make out the individual faces, but someone seemed to recognize him as a hand raised out of the crowd.
"Avery?" the witch standing over him asked, and James felt his heart skip a beat. Whipping his head back towards the sitting throng, James picked out the pointed face of Conway Avery, a Slytherin student in his same year. Gasping around the thick rope between his teeth, he recognized the two people on either side of him as Nigel Mulciber and Severus Snape. Although Snape offered no sign of recognition, James could feel the waves of hatred from his gaze heating his skin almost as hotly as the nearby fire.
"They're in my year, Professor Flint," Avery told the bushy-browed witch, turning a sickly smile towards James and Remus. "They're not with us."
"Are you certain?" Flint asked, her dubious voice almost reminiscent of McGonagall's. To the left, another person stepped out of the shadows, and James inhaled sharply as he recognized the long, blonde hair and slit-like eyes of Lucius Malfoy.
"I can testify to what he says," he drawled, throwing a short glance at James and Remus. "I've had . . . dealings with them in the past."
"I told you that we should have dealt with them as soon as they were caught!" Cray reprimanded Letterman while a murmur arose from the spectators. Now that James' eyes had adjusted to the light, he saw with surprise that most of the people in the clearing were no more than a few years older than he was, many of them with Hogwarts robes protecting them from the chilly night air. Most of the students were Slytherins, but he recognized a few odd Ravenclaws scattered throughout the crowd.
"Were they with anyone else?" Flint asked Cray, Whorst, and Letterman, speaking above the growing hubbub.
"Just a dog, miss," Whorst answered as the whispers hushed. "We didn't see anyone else."
"Must have been the Gamekeeper's mongrel pet," Malfoy guessed, arms crossed.
"The Gamekeeper? Is he here?" Flint demanded. When Cray and Whorst only shared a glance, Flint drew her wand and pointed it at James and Remus. "Evanesco!" For the first time in a quarter of an hour, James was able to lick his parched lips as the rope between his teeth disappeared. Still aiming her wand at him, Flint demanded, "Did you bring anyone else with you?"
"No!" James replied a little too quickly. Narrowing her eyes, Flint scowled at him as he insisted, "We came alone!"
"How did you find us?" Flint interrogated.
"We followed some students on their way here," James told her, nodding at the listening spectators. "We knew that you were meeting here, and—"
"Who told you about the school?" Flint interrupted harshly.
Sweating profusely now, James quickly conjured a story. "We heard rumors in Hogwarts about the meetings, and we wanted to join you! Right, Remus?" he added, nudging his friend.
"Er, right!" Remus added, looking just as surprised as the others in the clearing did. "We've heard a lot about this place, and we wanted to see it for ourselves!"
"We've been trying to find it for months," James continued, "but we never made it this far into the Forbidden Forest with no one to show us the way. We couldn't talk about it in Hogwarts, because we were frightened that the wrong person would overhear. It was only tonight when we finally followed a couple of students on their way in." Nodding at Snape and Mulciber, he tried to wave his hand, but his bonds restricted him. "See? They're right over there!"
Starting, the two Slytherins shared a glance. Raising an eyebrow, Malfoy curled his lip at James and Remus while Cray and Whorst eyed them from behind. A slight shuffling of movement sounded from the crowd of sitting students, and Snape looked as if he was about to stand up and object.
"It took us hours to get here!" James went on loudly, trying his best to sound sincere. "We fell behind and got lost, and we started to think that we'd never make it."
After several seconds of agonizing silence, James watched as Flint spread out her hands, a small smirk twisting her mouth. "Well, welcome to Hydrax Academy of Advanced Arts!"
Several of the students snickered as James and Remus looked at one another, still unable to stand up due to the ropes tied around their wrists and ankles. "That's what this place is called?" James asked.
"Didn't you say that you knew about the school?" Flint asked dryly, folding her arms.
"We never heard the name," James replied quickly, glancing around the clearing at the bracketed torches and other embellishments. "So, you've been meeting for months now, is that correct?"
"The entirety of the school year, actually," Flint answered.
"You've been meeting since September?" Remus asked, his mouth falling open.
"Indeed, but Hydrax began long before you and I were born," Flint told him, beginning to pace around the two prisoners. "Slytherin's great founder himself had the vision to recreate a new school where his former compatriots failed so miserably. Hydrax was meant to be the better version of Hogwarts, untainted by impure blood."
"Do you mean Salazar Slytherin?" James clarified. "Then he really did start another school when he left Hogwarts?"
"Not exactly," Flint replied. "You see, his work for a new educational system died with him years ago. His dream, however, was passed on to his descendants, and we were finally able to make his goal a reality in the very site that he chose for Hydrax." She motioned to the crumbling walls. "As you can see, the centuries have not been kind to the school, but that has not stopped us from educating our youth, so unfairly deprived of sophisticated learning."
"So, what sort of things do you teach here?" James inquired.
"Curses far more complicated than you could imagine at your level," Flint told him. "Of course, we also offer whatever theories and history that Hogwarts may have brushed over, according to the orders of the Dark Lord. The teaching of our pureblood legacy has certainly deteriorated during the past few years."
"Wait, you're working for Lord Volde—" Breaking off, James corrected himself as he heard the collective gasp around the clearing. "I mean, the Dark Lord—he's the one who restored Hydrax Academy? You're all Death Eaters?"
Narrowing her eyes, Flint stared at him as the students began to murmur. "Such brazenness . . . You did come to learn the Dark Arts, didn't you?"
"Yes!" James and Remus answered in unison, nodding fervently. "Of course!"
"Professor Flint, if I may," Malfoy interjected, stepping forward, "I suggest that we do a search to make sure that they're telling the truth."
"I agree," Flint said, crossing her arms as she glared at James and Remus. "Let's provide a demonstration of our abilities for the new recruits, shall we?" Turning to the students gathered around the fire, she raised her wand high. "As you all know, our great founder Salazar Slytherin was an accomplished Legilimens, a trait that he passed on to many of his descendants. For you newer students, this will be your first glimpse of how a true master can delve into the mind of another."
"Wait, do you mean mind-reading?" James exclaimed as the crowd began to buzz, several of the students laughing as he and Remus began to struggle.
"I wouldn't describe it so crudely, you simple-minded fool," Malfoy spat in their direction. "It's a far more complex art than that. The mind is an intricate web of patterns and ideas, hardly something to be read like a book."
His eyes locked on Flint, Remus fought his bonds and yelped, "Is this even legal?"
"I'll start with this one," Flint announced, and James barely had time to react as she turned and lowered her wand directly at his forehead. "Legilimens!"
Immediately, the scene in front of James disappeared, replaced with an image of Hagrid waving beside his hut. Time seemed to speed forward, and the sky darkened as the pack of wolves descended upon Hagrid, dragging him into the forest . . . James saw Sirius reflected in the surface of his mirror . . . He was sneaking through the ruins behind Remus . . . He felt fear when Whorst rounded the corner and sadness when he saw Fang lying lifelessly on the ground . . .
Head snapping upright, James gasped for breath as Flint came back into view, her rigid form focusing through his glasses. Slowly, she lowered her pointed wand.
"Lies," she hissed softly, and the clearing burst into uproar. Several of the watching students bolted to their feet, Snape, Avery, and Mulciber included.
"Throw them out!" Mulciber shouted, and countless other voices yelled their approval.
"Don't let them leave!" another Slytherin protested, and everyone dissolved into heated argument.
"SILENCE, ALL OF YOU!" Flint finally yelled, and she shot an invisible spell over the students, which seemed to forcibly quiet them. "You know the rules: they cannot leave once they've found us! If they will not comply, we'll make them forget they ever saw this place!"
A muffled cheer rose up from the crowd, somewhat suppressed by the lingering effects of the spell. Turning to James and Remus with a rabid glare, Flint beckoned at someone standing to the side.
"Alamanzar, come here!"
Revolving their heads, James and Remus turned towards the familiar squat form of their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as he walked into the light of the fire, lowering his head as they stared open-mouthed. Approaching Flint, he did not meet his students' eyes as he bowed. "Yes?"
"You're the most skilled in practical charms and spells," she told him. "I want you to take them into the forest and cast a Memory Charm on them. Make them forget that they ever found this place, as well as any information that they may have learned about Hydrax. Cray will go with you."
Nodding with his head down, Professor Alamanzar waited while Cray vanished the ropes binding James' and Remus' feet and yanked them upright. While the students yelled various obscenities and taunts at the two Gryffindors, Cray gave them a forceful shove and sent them stumbling towards the edge of the clearing, where Alamanzar stood waiting. At the sight of the professor's drawn wand, James suddenly reached a decision and planted his feet into the grass; unprepared for his resistance, Cray bumped into him from behind as Professor Alamanzar finally looked up and met his eyes.
"But—but why?" James stammered, staring up at him. "They're Death Eaters! They want to rule over the Muggles, and they'll stomp over anyone who disagrees with them!"
Lowering his head, Alamanzar lifted his hands and addressed him in his soft-spoken voice. "When I came into your country, I learned about the Dark Lord for the first time. I read how your Minister complained against his supporters, but their protests never seemed to do any harm. So I grew indifferent to their activity." Shaking his head, he corrected, "Well, not quite indifferent. I began to grow curious, but I did not know how to express my thoughts until young Lucius came to speak with me about Hydrax. After his visit, I realized that the Dark Lord was right after all." Gesturing, Alamanzar slowly drew himself up as he broke into a smile. "We are the ones granted with magic; it is for the best if we rule over the Muggles! Do you not hear of the barbaric things that they do to each other during times of war? We can stop all of that! Isn't that what you want?"
Open-mouthed, James just shook his head. "The Death Eaters don't care who they hurt to get their way! Wars are only going to get worse if wizards start lording over Muggles in the name of peace! If Voldemort had his way, he—"
"WE DO NOT USE THE DARK LORD'S NAME, INSOLENT BOY!" Cray shouted, clouting James on the ear as the others in the clearing yelled.
"DO IT NOW!" Flint screamed at Alamanzar, who once again averted his eyes from James and Remus.
"I am truly sorry," he told them above the din, raising his wand. "Please understand: it is for your own good."
Just as Alamanzar opened his mouth to recite the incantation, a disturbance erupted from behind the heads of the standing students, and several yells burst from the back of the crowd. Looking to the side, Alamanzar let his wand drop as Dumbledore burst into the clearing, backed closely by McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and several other members of the Hogwarts staff. Just behind Dumbledore stood Sirius and Peter, wands out as they scanned their surroundings. The Headmaster's beard had flown out of place from his sudden entrance, but he exuded an impressive amount of calm for having just found a dozen or more assorted Death Eaters in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.
"That will be quite enough," Dumbledore announced to Flint shortly, and he sent a jet of purple light shooting out of his wand.
Hit squarely in the chest, Flint slammed against the wall behind her and slumped to the ground, much like Fang had half an hour before. Immediately, the clearing burst into disorder as Death Eaters and students alike began running to and fro; most of them scrambled towards the woods, but a few of the Death Eaters started shooting curses back at Dumbledore and the other professors.
Ducking under a ricocheting hex, James ran toward Flint's still body and pried her wand out of her grasp. Turning to Remus, he aimed for the ropes tied around his wrists. "Diffindo!" The ropes fell away, and Remus quickly took the wand and performed the Severing Charm on James' bindings.
"Our wands!" James said, but Remus was already pointing Flint's wand at Letterman. The portly wizard was busy trying to push aside a fourth-year, and he did not see the danger behind him.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Freezing mid-shove, Letterman fell forward onto the grass and did not move while James and Remus retrieved their wands from his robes' pocket. Jumping up, James glanced around the chaotic clearing, searching for a chance to join in the action. A little to the left, Dumbledore and McGonagall were shooting spells with their backs against each other, each seeming to read the other's thoughts as they took down Death Eater after Death Eater. Professor Sprout seemed more concerned with stopping the fleeing students than fighting the Death Eaters, and Flitwick barely had to duck as Sprout froze several of the students with just one flick of her wand. Jumping over a fallen wizard, Sirius sent two Stunning Spells at Snape and Mulciber, who rocketed forward with the force of the blasts.
"Quick! To the Portkeys!" Cray shouted over the commotion. All around, the scattered Death Eaters began sprinting towards the trees, and James spotted Malfoy grab Professor Alamanzar's arm and run off to safety after sending one last spell into the fray.
"Quick! Professor Alamanzar!" James told Remus, and they both dashed after him through the ruins.
Leaping after the retreating Death Eaters, they kept their eyes on their quarry through the ruins ahead. A collision with another student nearly made James fall onto his side, but he managed to keep running towards Alamanzar and Malfoy as they neared the line of trees. Gaining speed, he did not have time to react as two Death Eaters suddenly jumped out from behind a massive slab of stone, pointing their wands at him and Remus.
"AUGGHH!" A mighty roar sounded from behind a nearby wall, and Hagrid's hulking form came into view as he toppled an avalanche of stones on top of the Death Eaters.
"Thanks!" James shouted as he and Remus rushed by.
"Take care, will yeh?" Hagrid called back, and he waved before turning around to pick up a fleeing Slytherin by the neck of his robes.
Feet thudding, James panted for breath as he broke into the forest behind Alamanzar and Malfoy, who both stopped near the base of a large tree. Turning, Alamanzar locked eyes with James as Malfoy brushed away a patch of ferns from a brass watch and chain.
"Now!" Malfoy shouted to draw Alamanzar's attention, and they both reached down and grabbed the watch.
"No!" James shouted, but the two had already vanished along with the Portkey. Slowing to a halt, James stared at the empty forest floor while dozens of other Death Eaters grabbed nearby objects and disappeared into thin air, abandoning the students running haphazardly about.
"James!" Remus called, shaking giving his friend a shake. "James, they're gone! Wake up!" Blinking, James took a step back as Sirius and Peter came running out of the ruins.
"James! Remus!" Sirius called, skidding to a halt beside them and grinning. "Did you see that? I knocked out that skinny one with the lantern back there with a Stunning Spell! Flitwick and Sprout are gathering up the Slytherins now."
"I helped, too!" Peter interjected. "I . . . well, I mean . . ."
"He mostly just avoided spells and cheered us on," Sirius finished for him.
Turning towards them, James asked, "Did you catch everything that the Death Eaters said?"
"Every word!" Sirius answered, holding up his mirror and winking.
"Then you know about Professor Alamanzar?" James mumbled, kicking at the grass..
"Yeah," Sirius replied, his smile quickly dimming as he stared at the ground. "Did he get to one of the Portkeys?"
Nodding, James heard the stomping of two massive feet, and he turned to welcome the approach of Hagrid from behind. "Are yeh all right?" Hagrid asked the four roommates, and they nodded as the giant man wiped his forehead. "How did yeh find your way here?"
"We should be asking the same of you!" Sirius replied. "The last time we saw you, you were being dragged away by a pack of wild animals!"
Starting, Hagrid gasped, "How did yeh know about the wolves?"
"The wolves?" Peter squeaked, and James threw Remus a wry smile before addressing Hagrid.
"We saw them taking you into the forest," he explained. "Remus and I followed you, and they brought us to the ruins."
"None too gently, either," Remus added with a huff, rubbing his arm where the wolf had grabbed him.
Beaming, Hagrid exclaimed, "Ah, so they were lookin' out fer yeh, then! They wanted ter make sure tha' yeh didn't get lost!" When James and Remus just stared at him, he flushed. "They're gentle creatures at 'eart, really: they wouldn't hurt anyone if they didn't deserve it."
"But they're werewolves, aren't they?" Peter asked, disregarding Remus' glower as he stared up at Hagrid.
Scratching the back of his neck, Hagrid glanced around and lowered his voice. "No, they aren't werewolves. The truth be told, there aren't any werewolves in the forest at all. We jus' like ter keep the students guessin' so tha' they don't end up wanderin' off the grounds. The animals tha' you saw were actually the cubs of two werewolves that mated durin' the full moon. It's a rare coincidence fer two werewolves ter be in the same place when they transform, as yeh might imagine. Headmaster Dumbledore decided ter let the pups live in peace here, where they could be themselves without anyone killin' them off."
"And it never crossed your mind that the pups might still have the violent tendencies of their parents?" Remus scoffed, shaking his head.
"Well, they might 'ave a liberal view of rough play," Hagrid admitted, but he quickly recovered. "They're wise creatures, actually. All they were tryin' ter do was show yeh where the Death Eaters were meetin', like they did fer me. I managed ter avoid capture until the professors came and tore up the place. Poor Fang, though; he mus' be worried sick, the big coward."
Sharing a glance with Remus, James spoke, "Oh . . . actually, he came with us."
"'E did?" Hagrid asked, brightening. "There's a good boy! I always knew tha' he had it in 'im! Where is 'e?"
"He got hit with a Stunning Spell," James answered, and Hagrid's grin instantly dropped. "He wasn't moving when we left him."
"Not Fang!" Hagrid gasped. "Where is 'e? Can yeh take me ter him?"
"Follow me!" James agreed, and he turned and ran back through the ruins, passing Professor Sprout as she gathered the apprehended students into a queue. After a minute or so, James spotted the fallen column where they had left Fang and pointed it out to Hagrid, who let out a cry and fell at his dog's side.
"No, Fang, get up!" Hagrid wept, shaking the boarhound. Fang, normally an intimidating dog, looked thin and frail next to his master, and James stood by silently by with his roommates as Hagrid bent down to listen for a heartbeat. After a few seconds, the Gamekeeper lifted his head.
"He's alive!" he announced, and James felt a wave a relief wash over him. Scooping Fang into his arms, Hagrid pushed off of the ground and stood at his full height. "Move out of the way!" he commanded, brushing past Sirius and Peter. "He needs ter see Madam Pomfrey!"
Pulling back, the others allowed Hagrid to rush into the center of the fire-lit clearing, where he interrupted Professor Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey from their examination of the fallen Death Eaters. Finally, Peter spoke.
"Shouldn't we help?" he asked, motioning towards Professor McGonagall where she was directing the scowling Avery into the growing queue of students. Nodding, James and the others walked back towards the clearing, hoping to return some sense of order back into the night.