'Sounds'

"Speaking"

"Thinking"

Harry Potter Point of View

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger boarded the Hogwarts Express and leaned out the window, waving good bye to Ron's parents.

"C'mon, you two. Let's go find a compartment." Hermione said as they pulled out of the station.

"I need to talk to you in private." Harry muttered to his friends. They set off down the corridor in search of an empty compartment. They were all full except for one at the very end, in which a man was fast asleep at the window. The man was wearing tattered robes, and was using a ragged, patched coat as a blanket.

"Who's that?" questioned Ron, eyeing the stranger warily.

"Professor R. J. Lupin." Hermione answered him quietly.

"How'd you know that?" Ron squeaked, his eyes bugging out of his head in wonder at his friend.

"It's on his suitcase, Ronald." Hermione sighed, indicating the baggage in the carrier above the man's head.

"Oh. Well, what did you want to tell us, Harry?"

Harry glanced at the professor, and then slid the door shut. He told his best friends everything that Mr. Weasley had told him. About how Serious Black had escaped from Azkaban to kill Harry, and Mr. Weasley's request for Harry to not go looking for trouble. When he'd finished Ron and Hermione just stared at him, their mouths hanging open. They seemed unable to get anything intelligent to form, stating only the obvious. They were taking the news worse than he had expected. Both Ron and Hermione seemed to be much more scared of Black than Harry.

Rain began outside, growing steadily stronger as the train drew closer to Hogwarts. All of a sudden, the lights flickered out and the train came to a sudden, screeching halt, almost throwing its passengers to the ground.

"What's going on?" Screeched Ron, looking nervously out the window as it began to frost over. Everything outside was dark.

"I dunno. Maybe…something's wrong with the engine." Harry answered him. It sounded more like a question though.

The temperature was slowly dropping and the Golden Trio watched as their own breaths became visible in the frigid air. Harry felt something like despair rising inside of him, and from Hermione's lap Crookshanks hissed in fear and loathing. The coldness increased as well as the feeling of dread as a figure appeared outside the door. In the dimness, Harry saw the figure he identified as Professor Lupin rise and face the door. He took a step towards it, but before he could reach it the door slid slowly opened.

Harry's breath caught in his throat when he saw the thing that lurked outside the door. It was huge, seeming to float in midair. Its whole body was covered by a cloak, and its face was hidden in the shadows of its hood. Harry's eyes traveled downwards and what he saw made him feel sick to his stomach. The creature had a single hand sticking out from under the cloak, and it was a shriveled, dead looking thing. It was grey and covered in scabs, glistening wetly in the dim light. As soon as the thing felt Harry's eyes, it retracted its hand back to the confines of its dark cloak. And then it drew a long, slow, rattling breath.

An intense cold swept over them all. It chilled Harry to the very bone, and even past that, to the marrow, to the inside of his heart; his soul. Professor Lupin's face went pale, visible through the dark. Harry heard Hermione utter a little cry and Ron's whimpers. His eyes rolled up to the back of his head. He felt like he was drowning in the freezing cold. Somewhere far away he heard the terrified, pleading screams of a woman. Then the darkness consumed him and he knew no more.

Darren Shan Point of View

When I woke up it was dark. Of course that raised the question of whether it was the same night or a different one.

"How long was I out?" I wondered around the headache that was rearing its ugly head right behind my eyes. From the slight hunger pains, I'd have guessed a few days; maybe a week! But my bloodlust wasn't strong enough for me having gone that length of time without sating it.

I pushed myself up so that I was resting on my elbow. I looked around, and found myself in some sort of a clearing. The ground was grassy and slightly damp, like a regular meadow, but surrounding it was some sort of metal tent. For a second, I wondered if I was somehow back at the Cirque.

"Mr. Crepsley!" I called out. My voice echoed back to me, and I winced at how young I sounded. Then I remembered that there were no tents like this at the Cirque. I was on my feet, quicker than the human eye could track. I examined the cage-as I now realized it was- carefully looking for an escape.

There were bars that went all the way around the cage from around my waist height and stretched all the way up to the slanted ceiling. The door was made completely of bars. I grinned grimly; with my new strength I could easily escape by simply snapping or bending the metal bars. I walked forward and wrapped my hands around the cool metal. Instantly I drew back, hissing. I looked down at my now-burnt hands, and felt a strange feeling of fear; I couldn't escape. I looked through the bars as I gently licked my wounds to heal them, and froze when I saw what lay outside my cage.

The place was enormous. There were rolling hills on one side and a dark forest on the other. There was also an enormous, glassy lake. Those weren't the most impressive things though. What caught my eyes and probably made me gasp out loud was the castle. It was huge, and unlike anything I'd ever seen before. There were enormous towers and stained glass windows. It reflected on the lake and had a feel of power and magic about it. I knew immediately that the stones had known and seen more than even Mr. Crepsley had. I was so awe struck at first that I didn't notice the banner that was in front of the door. It seemed to be translucent because the writing was backwards from my point of view. I read it slowly, to make sure I had it right.

Vampire- Subspecies type 1. Caution: Very dangerous!

I wasn't sure what subspecies type 1 meant, but it was obvious they knew what I was. Well, half of it anyways. I grinned slightly. If they really thought I was the kind of vampire they had seen in the old movies, they were dead wrong. Of course, I had too, until Crepsley had corrected me. It would be fun, though, to pretend to be one. If they wanted to believe that, then I would let them.

Giving up on the bars (for now), I retreated towards the middle and as far away from the vampire-burning bars as I could get. Not too far away, I heard the sound of a train whistle. Soon after I could smell and hear a bunch of warm, full-of-blood humans. I shuddered at my thoughts, and felt the tears prickling in my eyes as I realized why my blood lust wasn't really bothering me. I felt bile rising in my throat, so I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest. I knew and understood that all I could do at this point was sit and wait, and try to come up with an escape plan. After a few fruitless moments, I heaved a sigh and instead went to staring out the bars of the cage. I wondered vaguely whether I would be rescued. If Crepsley would save me. I wasn't so sure; he had said many times before that I was so easy to replace, and that I really meant nothing to him. I was, after all, just a half-vampire assistant.

I realized that I was getting all depressed and moody, so I tried my best to quickly snap out of it. I focused on the noises that were now coming from the castle. There was a lot of chattering. So much in fact, that it made my head start to hurt. Then a sudden silence put an abrupt stop to the pointless buzzing of humans.

"What's going on?" I wondered, straining my ears to hear any small noises that might be made. Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded. It startled me so much that I jumped. The voice was deafening compared to the previous and absolute quiet. What was worse though was that whoever had broken the silence had begun to sing.

I couldn't quite make out the words, but as it came to an end I felt a shudder go up my spine and a feeling of power permeated the very air. The only word that came to mind was 'magic'. I shook my head quickly to dispel the thought, and then focused again on the sounds from inside. A stern voice spoke, but I couldn't make out what was being said. The voice seemed strangely familiar… I almost had it, but lost it when the singing voice from before yelled out "Slytherine!"

I was confused. 'Slither in'? Was that some sort of a greeting or invitation? A loud commotion of cheering and clapping interrupted my thoughts, but soon quieted down. The next thing that was yelled had me even more confused. "Hufflepuff!" I groaned.

"What the heck is a Huffle?" I wondered aloud. "And why does it need a puff?"

It went on like that for quite a while. The other two seemingly-random things called out were 'raven claw', and then something about a griffin's door. Overall, I figured that these people-whoever they were- must be entirely insane. It would explain why I was currently residing in a cage by a giant castle.