Chapter Twelve: Hagrid's Secret

A heavy silence hung over the class. Professor Kettleburn stood there - open mouthed and blinking (and rather looking like he was trying not to cry). No one knew quite what to do or say and then: 'It was Black who put them away,' Ellis Stebbins' voice cut through the cold air.

All eyes were pulled away from the hutch and the dead knarls, and turned to look at Sirius, who felt himself flame bright red. The same molten wave of panic he had felt at Halloween crashed over him. 'They - they were fine. Professor Kettleburn, they were fine when I left them, I swear!'

'Well he would say that, wouldn't he? He's a dangerous nutter.'

'That's enough, Stebbins,' the professor snapped. He rubbed his forehead wearily. 'Black - you seem to be the last person who saw them before … this . What happened? Did you lock the cage properly? Did you see anyone hanging around?'

'Yes… No… I mean… I put them away, I tucked them in, I locked up and went back to school. I didn't see anybody. But they were alive when I left them.' The last part came out over-loud and defiant. He was aware of mutterings and murmuring among the other students, and knew most of them didn't believe him. He flushed again.

'Dumbledore will have to be told. This is…' Professor Kettleburn took a deep, shaky breath. 'This is most distressing… disturbing. Alright,' he rubbed his brow again. 'Class dismissed. Go back to your common rooms. Except you, Black - you had better come with me to Dumbledore.'

'But I didn't do anything!' He felt everyone's eyes on him.

'You're the closest thing we have to a witness. Dumbledore will wish to speak with you. Go - everyone else, off you go.'

Throwing a commiserating glance over his shoulder, James began to head up to the castle with Pete and the rest of the class. Meanwhile, Professor Kettleburn shut up and locked the cage, gave a sniff, wiped his eyes and then said, 'come on then, Black - let's see the headmaster.'

He walked away, and Sirius stumped behind him. His legs felt like lead and his stomach felt little better. He thought he might be sick. They went up to the first floor, where Dumbledore was teaching Defence, and knocked on the door. He was teaching a second year class, which included Regulus, who glanced very quickly at Sirius, when he entered, and then looked away again immediately and pretended to be engrossed in his essay on augureys.

'Professor Dumbledore, may we speak with you outside?' Professor Kettleburn said and, though the Headmaster looked surprised at this request, he followed them out of the classroom. Professor Kettleburn told him what had happened.

'And you're sure you saw no one around?' Dumbledore asked Sirius, when he heard the tale, 'no one at all?'

'No - well, I bumped into Snivellus …I mean Snape, but that was at the castle door. No where near the hutches.'

'Silvanus, are you sure an animal could not have done this?'

'Not unless it's the sort of animal that can open a magical lock and lock it back up again. No, Dumbledore, this is the work of a wizard - I am sure of it.'

Dumbledore looked very grave. 'This is the second such event, this year - the attacking of the innocent, the defenceless. I wonder … I fear what may be behind it. With Mrs. Norris - I believed that was aimed at Mr. Filch. But why your knarls, Silvanus?'

'I - I am muggleborn, Headmaster.'

'Hmmm - and then you, Mr. Black - you have been present, involved, even stood accused both times.'

'Well I didn't do it - either of them.'

Dumbledore actually smiled at that. 'I was not suggesting you had, Mr. Black. But there is something going on here, something dark - and dangerous - and more than meets the eye. But I will get to the bottom of it.'

…

Remus was surprised when he got to Transfiguration and found that Sirius was not there. 'Where is he?' he asked James and Peter, sliding into the seat next to them.

'If you're looking for Black, he's probably been kicked out,' Stebbins said, from the row in front.

'What?'

'Stebbins, turn around,' Big Macca barked from the front.

'I was just telling Lupin about how Black has probably been kicked out, after his latest stunt.'

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. 'I have no idea as to what you are referring, Stebbins, but the happy power to expel Gryffindors lies with me. And I assure you - no one has come to me to ask if Black should be removed from the school. Now - everyone, get out your textbooks. We are looking at turning one living creature into another - it's mice into moles today.'

Behind the cover of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Three, Remus tore off a scrap of parchment and scribbled:

What Happened?

He pushed the note across to James, who tore off his own bit of parchment and began to write back about everything that had transpired.

…

The day after the knarls were found, it began to rain. Great, glistening drops began to shoot down from the sky, in a continual silver ribbon - and, while the cloud cover meant that it was now slightly warmer, the rainstorm meant they were all trapped inside all the time, and the castle felt very damp and very close. And, once again, Sirius found himself under suspicion, the subject of many rumours and on the receiving end of many dirty looks.

Whispers followed him down corridors ("That's him - the tall one, next to the shrimpy one with glasses", "Look at the glower on his face - looks like he'd murder his best friend in cold blood", "Look at his cold, dead eyes - makes you shiver") and all over the castle people were recalling and sharing his greatest hits ("Remember when he turned Filch's feet into leeks?", "Didn't he go skinny dipping with the giant squid? He's a pathological attention seeker, that's what it is", "Morgana Murrows, the chaser - he pushed a suit of armour right on top of her so his mate could play instead - half killed her and was totally unrepentant, he's a proper psycho").

And - inevitably - whenever someone mentioned the knarls, they always brought up Mrs Norris and the incident at Halloween as well. ("Well it must be him - he has a history of dark magic and hurting animals. I wouldn't want to cross him.")

In order to avoid the stares, glares and accusations, the four boys spent as much time as possible hiding up in their dormitory. But they could not hide all day every day, and venturing into the Great Hall, and attending classes, became something of an ordeal for poor Sirius.

'Come on - I know what'll cheer you up,' James said on Tuesday evening, as the rain poured constantly outside their window, and Sirius sat rather glumly watching the raindrops trickle down the panes.

'If the next word is "Quidditch", I'll hex you.'

'Nah - you're a nutter…' (Sirius flinched at the word) '... I mean…well I mean, you don't care about Quidditch. I've had an idea about something you do care about…' and he leaned over the edge of his bed, tapped the lock of his trunk with his wand and began to scrabble around inside. The other three watched him expectantly. Eventually, he emerged, grinning like a lunatic and clutching a pile of crumpled parchment in his hand. 'Our notes… let's look into "the art of becoming animagi!" '

And, despite his towering temper and general sullenness, Sirius began to grin. Remus and Peter exchanged an uneasy glance but, to keep Sirius happy, they said nothing and moved onto James' bed and started to help sift through the papers to try and make head or tails of their meaning.

'Well we've got the moth chrysalises,' James said.

Remus frowned. 'You have? When?'

'Christmas - I gave them as gifts to Sirius and Pete.'

'We were very grateful,' Peter said. '... Ow.' (He had just been hit around the back of the head by Sirius and James at the same time.)

'You got me hex deflector gloves.'

'Well - yeah - you don't need a chrysalis.'

'And in no way would I have been happier with hex deflector gloves…Ow…' (Pete rubbed the back of his head and glowered at the other two).

'And mandrake leaves will be easy enough to get hold of,' James continued as if there had been no interruptions. 'There are plenty in greenhouse three. Pete better get them for us, though - he's the best at skulking and scuttling.'

'What about crystal phials that receive the pure rays of the moon?' Sirius asked. 'We need them to put the mandrake leaves in.'

But James only shrugged. 'Nick 'em from Potions and bung 'em on the windowsill. The moon shines in here often enough.'

Remus shuddered. James was not wrong, and sometimes the thick velvet curtains of his four poster were not enough to shut out its loathsome rays.

'All this stuff is quite easy,' James said, his brow was furrowed as he perused the list. 'It's this bit I'm worried about.' He held out the parchment to show the others and pointed to step three:

Add a silver teaspoon of dew from a place that neither sunlight nor human feet have touched.

'Well, I can pick up a silver teaspoon next time I'm at home,' Sirius said, shrugging. 'All our cutlery and plates and stuff are pure silver… and have our family crest embossed on them…poncy gits.'

'Your plates at home are silver?' Remus asked incredulously (his mum's old set was a rather chipped porcelain with a flowery pattern on them).

'Yep.'

'How can anybody be so rich that they waste their money on pure silver plates with their family crest embossed?'

'I dunno - I guess they stole and swindled a load of gold from everyone else centuries ago. Traded in sugarcane and house elves, that sort of thing. But the point is - I can get us a silver teaspoon easy enough.'

'I'm not worried about the teaspoon!' James snapped, impatiently. Everyone stared at him. 'I'm worried about the dew,' he said, rather more calmly. 'Where on earth are we going to find a place that sunlight never touches and no person has ever stepped on? How will we know? If we get that bit wrong… then we're into "stuck with the head of a naked mole rat for all eternity" territory.'

'Maybe we should just abandon the whole idea altogether?'

'Don't be soft, Pete. We just need to think.'

'Well - it would have to be dark wouldn't it?' Peter said. 'Like inside a cave, somewhere, or under a thick canopy of trees…'

'The forest.' At Peter's words, Remus scrambled off the bed and went to stare out of the window. The Forbidden Forest was just visible through the gloom and the rain, a lurking thicket of leaves. He turned back to look at his friends. 'You know what it's like in there - it's like night time even in the middle of the day. I bet if we went deep enough, there would be a place where the sun never broke through the branches… and no human would ever go because they'd get eaten, or shot by centaurs, before they reached there.'

'The centaurs!' Sirius fell off the bed in excitement. 'Big Macca! Don't you remember, that night we had detention getting the salamanders, last year? She came to get us - and that centaur knobber said she'd been in the forest before. He said she'd been where no humans had gone before, and where the sun didn't reach. We didn't know she was trying to become an animagus at the time - but she must have gone there for the dew! '

The boys all stared at each other excitedly (though Pete looked a little queasy). 'So it's in the forest,' James said, grinning. 'For definite.'

'For definite,' Sirius agreed.

'How - how do we find the right place?' Peter asked. He sounded as reluctant as he looked.

'The centaurs - we ask them.'

'Hang on a sec -' Remus shook his head. 'You can't just go up to a centaur and ask them the way through the forest. They'll fire an arrow straight through your head for trespassing.'

'You're right. We can't.' James' grin became even broader. 'But you can!'

Remus groaned.

…

But it was decided. The next weekend, if it had stopped raining, they would head on into the forest - using Remus's werewolf status as their talisman for safe passage - and speak with the centaurs in order to find a spot deep and dark enough that it would match what they needed. And, as it happened (and much to Remus's chagrin) the rain finally slowed to a drizzle on Thursday before petering out completely on Friday.

Saturday dawned, cold but clear. 'Excellent,' James said at breakfast, eyeing up the enchanted ceiling and noting the blue skies, pale sun and wispy white clouds. 'Just what we needed.'

They loaded up on kippers, toast and porridge (a hearty breakfast would be needed if they were going to wrangle with the centaurs) and then, wrapped in scarves and mittens, headed on out.

As it happened, they left the Hall just as a crowd of Ravenclaws got up from their own table and headed for the doors, talking and laughing among themselves. They paid them no mind until, suddenly, Sirius went very stiff and looked over his shoulder. The other three went quiet and turned to see what had got his attention.

Ellis Stebbins was in the middle of the group of Ravenclaws - and was saying something that was leaving them in a state of high hilarity. 'It's all the inbreeding - it's addled his mind… I heard he has seven toes on each foot. And his mum and dad are cousins…No wonder he's a knarl savaging nutter! Totally touched in the…'

BAM

He stopped talking and keeled over, as Sirius's fist made contact with his nose. He thumped down hard, landing squarely on his bottom and blinked in surprise at the tip of Sirius's wand now pointing directly in his face.

'Do not talk about me like that.'

'Get out of it - see what I mean? He's a total nutter.'

'I said don't talk about me like that - or I'll make you truly sorry.' His voice was shaking. Remus and James shot an alarmed glance at each other and stepped forward, hoping to get him out of there before any teachers saw and caused more trouble for him. The doors to the Great Hall pushed open and more students poured out and came to a stop. There was quite an audience now, watching the scene - Stebbins defenceless on the floor, Sirius brandishing a wand in his face.

'What are you going to do? Push a suit of armour on top of me?'

Sirius gave a roar of rage, and swung his foot at Stebbins' already swollen nose. Remus and James reached forward and hauled him back, while Peter wrung his hands and moaned. A gang of Slytherins, including Snivellus, Regulus and all their awful friends began to snigger at the sight of Sirius battling his friends.

'Gerroff, lemme at him, lemme at him.'

'Come on, calm down - it's not worth it…'

'You should restrain him,' Stebbins spat, still down on the floor. 'He's proper mental - shouldn't be allowed out in public without a keeper. The madness of the Blacks…'

Sirius launched at him again, but James and Remus kept a tight grip.

'I'm not like them,' Sirius kept on struggling. 'I'm not like my family… ask anyone…they hate me and I hate them. I'm nothing to do with them.'

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Regulus stop sniggering and walk away. Sadly, he was the only person leaving - the crowd around them was getting larger, and half the school was now agog, as Sirius tried to beat Stebbins to a bloody pulp (and only failed due to his friends' firm hold) and Stebbins sat on the ground and yelled up at him about what a dangerous nutter he was.

The door to the Hall suddenly slammed. 'Stop it,' Lily hissed - and her voice cut through the clamour. Everyone went quiet. 'Professor McGonagall is headed this way - she'll be at the door in three, two…'

The crowd dispersed, melted away as if it had never been there.

'One.'

The door opened. Professor McGonagall stepped out. She looked around, finding only Lily and her friends, the boys (Remus and James still clutching tight hold of Sirius) Stebbins down on the floor and Octavian Ogden trying to help him to his feet.

'What is going on?' She asked.

Everyone shook their heads and didn't answer.

'Well, something must have happened. You - Stebbins - why are you on the floor?'

'I - I fell over.'

Her nostrils flared. 'Right, well - shoo, the lot of you. Let's not be lollygagging around here all day.' And she swept away up the marble staircase, towards her office. The girls followed her up, presumably headed back to the tower. The Ravenclaws, still looking a bit mutinous, wandered away - and that left the four boys alone by the front doors.

'Come on, Sirius,' James said - once they were completely alone. 'Forget about that idiot. We've got dew to find.'

…

They were a rather glum party, as they passed the edges of the forest and started making their way down the overgrown paths. Stebbins words were still eating away at Sirius, and that cast a gloomy pall over the rest of them. And though James tried to crack jokes, and Peter tried to laugh along, there was simply no getting past the fact that the altercation by the doors meant that this was no longer the high spirited adventure they had planned it to be.

They plodded their way down the paths, keeping a wary eye (and ear) out for the sound of hoofbeats until -

'Shh - did you hear that?' Peter reached out and grabbed James and Remus forcing them to a stop. They all stood still and listened. There was a distant clip clopping sound coming from beyond the trees, and it was coming their way. 'Do you think it's a centaur?'

'Could be.' James shuffled Remus to the front of the group. 'Are you ready, Moony?'

'No - have I told you that my boggarts sometimes turn into centaurs?'

'They do? Oh - well - now's as good a time as any to face your fear… just remember - you have a right to be here.'

'Sometimes I wish I had different friends.' He stood there, blinking in the sunlight and trying not to tremble, feeling his friends crowding close behind him, and waited for the unseen creature to break through the undergrowth.

'It's nearly here,' Peter squeaked … 'ready…'

The branches of the trees were pushed apart, the hoofs became deafening, the ground beneath them shook, they smelled the scent of horse on the air… but the path remained empty. And after a few moments, the trees on the other side rustled and the footfalls began to fade.

'What - what just happened?' Remus asked faintly.

'False alarm - must've been a thestral,' Sirius told him, taking hold of his elbow and starting to tow him along the path again. 'Come on.'

Remus rubbed his chest. His heart was hammering a mile a minute. 'I don't think I can take any more false alarms.'

But a few minutes later, he would have happily faced a whole cavalry charge of thestrals - when the trees parted once more and he was all of a sudden faced with eight feet of centaur rearing up and pointing a bow and arrow in his face.

He screamed and flung his arms over his head for protection.

'Little wolf.'

He lowered his arms. It was the wild looking centaur called Bane - the one he always seemed to bump into, and the one that never seemed very pleased to see any of them.

'Bane … sir…' he nodded a nervous hello.

'Little wolf, you have brought your boy friends into the forest again.'

(Behind him, he heard James start to choke and splutter.)

'No - no - they're just … friends who are boys. I'm sorry you caught us…' Sirius gave him a nudge in the back. 'I mean - we didn't want to be any trouble but … well … er … you see, we're on a bit of a fact finding mission. We wouldn't have disturbed you otherwise.'

'There are many truths hidden in the forest,' Bane said to him (rather inscrutably, it had to be said).

'Yes - well - er… we just want to find what we're looking for and then we'll be out of your hair … mane … We'll be gone, I mean. We were - were looking for a distant part of the forest, where there's no sun, and where no one ever goes. We - er - we think our teacher went there last year.'

'There are many parts of the forest where a human would be foolish to walk.'

'Yes but are there any bits Big Macca walked to?' Sirius asked impatiently. It was Remus's turn to nudge him.

Bane turned to stare at Sirius, blank and haughty. Sirius looked just as haughty back in return. 'I remember the witch came here,' he said at last, when Sirius refused to look away or blink. 'She travelled to a place about a mile distant from here, I do not know what she wished to achieve.'

'A mile from here?' Remus asked, trying to stop his voice from shaking. 'If we just - just follow this path for a mile, it should take us to where she went?'

Bane inclined his head. 'But be careful, little wolf, the forest is ever changing - what is safe one season may not be so the next. Tread warily, lest you find more than you set out to seek.' And with that he whinnied and galloped away.

'Still a proper berk,' Sirius muttered.

'At least he didn't actually fire an arrow at our heads this time.'

'Yeah, well - that's the magic of you - isn't it, little wolf?'

Remus blushed. 'Well - we should just - you know - keep walking for about a mile and see where Big Macca ended up.' They started to walk again, looking down at where they were going, trying not to trip up over roots and tufts of grass.

'You did well, you know, Remus -' James said, after a while. 'If he frightens you - you did a good job of not showing it.'

'Thanks. I wasn't sure my knees weren't going to collapse half way through.'

'Nah - we'd have propped you up - he would never have noticed.'

'What do you think he meant?' Peter asked, his voice was small. 'When he said to be careful - in case we found more than we were looking for? What was he talking about?'

But Sirius only snorted and waved a dismissive hand. 'Centaurs are always talking in bloody riddles. It meant nothing.'

'Maybe there's something dangerous there. The forest is teeming with dangerous creatures.'

'You know - I've been thinking about that,' James said, thoughtfully. 'We get told that a lot but - is it?'

'Is it what?' They all chorused.

'Teeming with dangerous creatures? I mean … think about it, there's the centaurs…'

'Who are mental.'

'But reasonable. Then there's the thestrals- you can't even see them, but they're harmless enough. Unicorns … honestly, I think this forest is just teeming with different types of horse. Don't you think it's a bit weird - that we're not allowed to go in here, you can get a detention for being in here, but then they go ahead and send us in here for detentions all the time anyway?'

Remus opened his mouth to explain why that was, and then realised he didn't know, and understood even less, and so closed it again.

James, however, had a theory. 'Think about it. This place is massive, right?'

'Right.'

'So if students wandered off, they'd get lost all the time - right? And would take forever to find? Maybe they'd never be found.'

'Yes.'

'Sooo… you tell them they can't go in the forest because there are things in there that will eat them, and that keeps them out.'

'Apart from us,' Sirius said.

'Apart from us - but we're legendary. No one goes in - no one gets lost. But they can send us in for detentions and lessons and stuff because then a teacher knows where we are, and if we go missing they'll realise right away and know roughly where to look…I'm telling you, the whole "Forbidden" thing is a big con.'

'You mean…' Peter's shoulders seemed to unhunch and he peered around, 'we're actually safe in here?'

'Swear to it. Just as long as we don't get lost. Speaking of… Lumos!' He lit up his wand tip and used the light to peer deeper into the gloom. 'What do you say, men? Nearly there? It's pitch black, though it's the middle of the day. I think we can safely say we're getting to where the sun don't shine.'

'That's one way of putting it.'

'The arse end of the forest is another way of putting it, Moony.'

'Thank you.'

They had all lit their wand tips by now and held them aloft, so that the rays shone further down the path. There was a rocky gorge to the left of them, with steep sides and loose pebbles. It led to a dark cave made from the gnarled roots of two massive oak trees which had grown twisted together. The path towards it was perilous, roots and tufts and gnarly boughs blocking the way, as well as the slippery scree under foot. But the trees grew so dense overhead that the sunlight did not penetrate.

'I bet dew forms in that root cave,' Sirius said.

'And you'd break your neck trying to get to it - I bet no one but Big Macca's been there,' James agreed.

'Come on,' and before the others could stop him, Sirius had put his wand between his teeth and started to clamber down the side of the gorge. James followed, scrambling down after him so fast his arms and legs were a blur and then, with a sigh, Remus climbed his way down after the pair of them. Peter came last of all, squeaking with fear every time the pebbles rolled away from beneath his feet.

They reached the bottom of the gorge (not without some dicey moments) and, wands lit up again, began to stumble their way towards the cave, picking their way over the boulders and boughs which blocked their path.

'It's like midnight down here - this is definitely the place,' Sirius said.

'Do we go into the cave - see if there's dew?' Peter asked.

But Sirius snorted and smacked him around the back of the head. 'Unlikely at this time of day! Anyway - we can't go in the cave can we - not until we're ready?'

'Why not?'

' "From a place where neither sunlight nor human feet have touched" , you pillock. We can't walk in there.'

'So what do we do - crawl?'

But Remus frowned and shook his head. 'I suspect that's cheating. I suspect that's "getting stuck with the head of a naked mole rat" territory.'

'Then how…?'

' Brooms ,' James interrupted, and his face was glowing in the wandlight as he said it. 'I'll fly in and get the dew.'

'I'm rubbish on a broomstick.'

'I know you are, mate - but it's teamwork - you bring the silver teaspoon, I'll get you your dew. It's all about playing to our strengths. And yours is being a poncy, pureblood prince.'

Sirius gave a bark of laughter, 'Sod off,' and he shoved James, who shoved him back and then shoved Pete into Remus for good measure. And laughing and pushing and shoving they stumbled their way down to the end of the gorge… until once again Peter went still and shushed them. 'Do you hear that?'

They went quiet and strained to listen - and then - just the briefest whisper on the wind, they heard a soft voice crooning:

Come on closer little boys

Cast aside your worldly joys

Come on closer to my lair

Find death and darkness waiting there.

'Is that …? Is there someone else down here? A person?' Remus asked.

'A man,' Peter said, 'it's a man's voice.'

'A creepy man,' Sirius looked uneasily over his shoulder. 'Maybe we should - er - you know …go?'

'It's coming from the cave,' James said and - instead of backing away, took another few steps forward. The voice began to sing again.

I'll crunch your bones, I'll drink your blood

I'll gobble you up, quick and good

It will be too late to cry for mummy

From eternity inside my tummy

' James, ' Sirius hissed, reaching out to haul him back, 'James, let's -'

But then the singing stopped, and was replaced with the sound of something massive moving inside the cave, the swish of a tail and the sickening clicking sound of many pincered feet on the rocky ground.

'What is that?'

'Pete, I think that is the sound of my theory about the safety of the forest crumbling around our ears. Run. RUN!' And James turned and shoved his friends in front of him, bundling them back along the gorge, just as a hideous human face, but with long, quivering antenna, reared out of the gloom of the cave mouth… followed by the body of a giant, red scorpion the size of a small horse.

The boys screamed and fled back down the gorge, tripping up over tufts of grass and boulders and fallen boughs, tumbling to the ground and scrambling back up again - paying no mind to scraped knees and grazed palms as they ran away in blind panic. They could hear the scuttling feet and clicking pincers of the scorpion-man behind them, making short work of the obstacles in its path, running up and down the sides of the gully - finding easy purchase on the slippy surface with its many feet.

Peter tumbled over, James hoiked him back up his collar and they kept running. The monster was gaining on them - still singing as it chased them. Peter was actually crying in terror - but he wasn't letting his sobs slow him down.

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw the creature suddenly leap from the side of the canyon - as if to pounce on Sirius. He gripped his wand and (with more hope than aim) yelled 'Dirumpo! '. Purple sparks flew from his wand and hit the trunk of an old oak tree, which fell to the ground, with a great groaning sound - missing the boys by inches and trapping the scorpion-man on the other side.

It would not hold the creature for long, indeed they could hear it - snapping viciously and fighting the branches just behind them - but it gave them a moment to increase their lead and - with legs pounding on the earth and hearts ready to explode - they made it to the end of the gorge and began to scrabble their way upwards.

But it was harder to climb up than down, the pebbles kept giving way beneath their feet and they could not find handholds to haul themselves upward. James gave Peter a leg up.

'Quick,' Sirius was panting so hard he could barely get his words out. 'Remus - climb on my shoulders go!'

'What about you?'

'You saved me already - it's my turn - just go!'

Behind them, the creature had battered the tree out of the way with its monstrous tail, smashed it to kindling in short order, and was now skittering full pelt towards them along the ravine floor.

'GO!'

Sirius crouched down, Remus climbed onto him and then grabbed hold of a tree root and then another, trying to haul his way to freedom. Peter was nearing the top, still sobbing. James and Sirius were still on the ground, now arguing about which of them should save the other.

'I'm older and blgger - I save you.'

'But I'm the leader!'

'Since when? - Just get out of here, you speccy git!'

The scorpion thundered towards them, and reared up - snapping its pincers and lashing its tail. They abandoned their arguing to clutch hold of each other and scream … and then, high above their heads, a giant shadow loomed across the gorge.

'PINCHY!' A deep voice yelled. 'Bad Pinchy! What d' yer think yer doin'?' Stop that!'

A haunch of meat was thrown down, and the scorpion-man backed away from the boys, still clicking its pincers, and began to devour that instead.

'Good lad, Pinchy - what did I tell yer about killin' the students?'

Still clutching tight hold of each other, Sirius and James blinked in surprise.

'Come on up now - all four of yer …. Don't know what yer think yer doin'...'

Remus looked up from his position, dangling off the gorge face by a tree root. Hagrid was standing above them - looking even more massive than usual from this angle. He had a crossbow over his shoulder and a pink umbrella in his left hand. 'Come on, lad,' he was saying to Peter, 'yer can make it.'

When all four of them had scrambled to safety, leaving the scorpion-man feasting on the joint of meat below, he helped them to their feet and walked them out of the forest.

…

He took them to his hut and made them all a cup of tea. They sat there in shocked silence (Pete's jaw was hanging open, his eyes were popping and it seemed unlikely he would ever speak again).

'I - er - I'd appreciate it, if yer didn't mention to anyone up at the castle what you saw,' Hagrid said to them, putting a plate of buns down on the table and taking a seat. ''M not really supposed t' have one, see? Nobody knows he's there…'

'Hagrid, what - what was that?' Remus stuttered.

'Well, it was a manticore, o'course! Special breed too. Most manticores have the bodies of lions and only the tails of scorpions, see? But some clever chappie went ahead and bred 'em to be all scorpion. Pinchy doesn't mean any harm - he's just a baby…'

('Sweet Merlin,' James muttered.)

'When he's fully grown he'll have these scarlet quills, and three stingers -an' the middle one will shoot fire …And he can grow to be the size o' a dragon.'

(Hagrid sounded delighted by the fact. 'Good … God ,' Sirius murmured.)

'I have to feed him four times a day for now - you're lucky it was his afternoon feedin' time, otherwise I wouldn'a been back 'tiI half pas' six. He'll need more feeds as he gets bigger. It's taken me decades to get hold o' one - and if Dumbledore knew I had it, well, he and I don't always see eye to eye on interestin' creatures. Great man, Dumbledore, great man …but he pays too much mind to the Ministry classifications of beasts, thinks them that are 5X shouldn't be in a school… well, we all have our blind spots, I suppose.'

'Hagrid, that - that thing could have eaten us!'

'Well - that's why you're not supposed to go in the forest, isn't it? If you hadn't been there, Pinchy wouldn't have tried to eat yer, he doesn't know any better. Look, you don't tell people about Pinchy, and I won't tell Professor McGonagall I found you in the forest, deal?'

The boys all looked at each other. 'But someone could die , Hagrid,' Remus said.

'Not if they don't go in the forest! And I'll get him trained, he'll be as good as gold - you'll see.'

'I'd really rather not see "Pinchy" ever again. Hagrid, why do you want him?'

'Why wouldn't I want him? He's beau'iful!'

The boys all glanced at each other again.

'And I got this idea - alrigh'? What if I crossbred him with some fire crabs? What d' yer think would happen?'

'I'm reasonably sure I don't ever want to find out,' Sirius said.

But Hagrid was beaming, his eyes had a far off twinkle to them and he was clearly beyond listening to reason. 'That's proper magizoologist stuff, that is, Can't wait to see what I discover…'

…

Having agreed to keep Hagrid's secret, the boys made their way back up to the school (their pockets weighed down with buns they had been too polite to refuse, but which had been too rock hard to bite into).

'You know what I've realised,' Sirius said, gloomily. 'That berk, Bane, knew Pinchy was there - and he let us go ahead and get eaten anyway. Bell end.'

'But on the bright side, Dumbledore doesn't know about Pinchy - and so my theory about the forest being out of bounds because it's big and not because it's dangerous still holds.'

'But the forest is dangerous - it has a ruddy, great manticore in it,' Peter pointed out.

' Baby manticore,' James corrected. 'And if Dumbledore doesn't know he's there, then he's not the reason we're not allowed in. Dumbledore doesn't know Hagrid is using the forest as his own, private, monster stashing sanctuary - as far as he's concerned, it is safe in there. I'm right. I know I am.'

'Doesn't matter, anyway,' Remus said, as they reached the doors and pushed them open. 'Unless we can find a way to fight a manticore, we're going to need to find somewhere else to get our dew.'

They came to a stop. Far from deserted, as they had expected, at this hour, the entrance hall was packed with students standing in a great circle.

Frowning at each other, the boys crept forward and elbowed their way through the crowd until they were at the front, and could get a good look at what everyone was staring at.

When he saw, Sirius felt the now familiar wave of molten panic crash right over him.

A suit of armour had been pushed over, had landed heavily on the ground and - just visible beneath it - a pair of legs was poking out. Someone was crushed underneath. The crowd were whispering, and Sirius knew only too well what they would be whispering about.

Big Macca and Flitwick were working to lift the suit of armour up - and inch by inch, the squashed student became visible.

Sirius closed his eyes "please don't let it be - please don't let it be …" he thought desperately to himself. He opened his eyes, and gave a loud groan...

Ellis Stebbins was lying crumpled and unconscious beneath the fallen armour.