12. Destruction
The two jumped on Harry, and Daphne flung herself into the fray, punching and kicking wildly. "Get off! Leave him alone!"
"Ooof…ow! Stop that!"
Daphne scrambled to her feet. In the dim light of Susan's Lumos, she found herself staring into the faces of the Weasley twins.
"Sorry," she managed sheepishly.
"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded.
"We might ask the same," countered Fred.
"But we can guess," put in George. "Werewolf hunting?"
"Someone has to," Hannah snarked.
Fred nodded. "Right! Ginny's our little sister; someone is going to pay for attacking her!"
Just then they heard a sound that curdled their blood: the frenzied howl of a maddened werewolf.
"Down by the Hogs Head Tavern," shouted George, breaking into a run. Fred was quick to follow, but Harry paused. "Wait."
"What is it?" Neville panted.
Harry turned slowly in a circle. "It's …there!"
A hulking figure stood between them and the castle.
Before anyone could draw a breath it sprang at them.
Harry's eyes widened in horror. It was almost upon Daphne, too close for him to use the Ritual of Destruction without harming the girl.
Automatically he invoked the Ritual of Displacement: Daphne was picked up and flung behind a wooden barrier, leaving Harry to face the maddened beast.
Then he heard it: a rush from behind.
There were two werewolves!
There were seconds left; Harry immediately transformed into his falcon animagus, whirling away as the werewolves nearly collided.
Hagrid, running from the Hog's Head, fired his crossbow; the silver-tipped bolt caught the nearest werewolf in the throat and it fell lifeless.
The other whirled to encounter stunners from Neville, Hannah, Susan, Padma, and the Weasley twins. Their combined force proved too much even for the added strength of a dark creature.
Harry heard shouts as aurors poured into the streets of Hogsmeade.
Too little too late, he growled. Instead of shifting back he flew over to Daphne, who was trying to sit up.
"Harry!" She cried when she saw him. "Are you hurt? Did that…thing get you?"
"I'm fine," he assured her, as he transformed to help her up. They headed back out, only to see a crowd gathered around the bodies of the werewolves.
"I knew it was Tonks!" Harry scowled at the fallen teacher.
"But, who is…" Daphne's voice trailed off as she stared at the other body.
It was Cedric Diggory.
"We'll have detention forever," moaned Hannah.
"Maybe not. We might just be expelled." Susan offered.
Hannah did not seem comforted.
Harry was equally glum. "We didn't even save Lupin. The aurors think he turned Tonks in the first place, and then Diggory! At least, that's what she is telling them. Amos Diggory is screaming for Remus' blood."
'At least this won't affect the House of Black." Neville was searching for a silver lining. "Sirius never did reinstate the Tonks family, did he?"
"Not yet. But he's going to try to save Lupin somehow, and I wanted to help."
"I'm not sure what more I can do," Sirius said sadly. "I did get to see Moony. The problem is that he did turn Tonks; she begged him to, so that they could be true partners. Moony didn't realize she was turning others."
"Wonder if she turned anyone else besides Cedric?" Harry considered.
His friends all stared at him.
"What?"
"She might have targeted you, Harry." Neville's voice was choked. "She knew you hated her."
Daphne shivered and inched closer to Harry.
Susan Bones was bereft. "Not Cedric," she said mournfully. "He didn't deserve that!"
"And Ginny Weasley did?" snapped Padma.
"Please stop!" Hannah begged. "We'll soon know; the entire student body is to gather in the Great Hall on the next full moon, and the aurors will see who is revealed."
Daphne edged her sleeping bag as close as she could get to Harry, with Padma on her other side. Neville was on Harry's other side, then Hannah and Susan.
Aurors patrolled the castle in pairs, but Harry was too tense to sleep.
"Keep your wand in your hand," he warned his friends.
"It's not like they can get through the wards," Susan scoffed.
"They might already be inside," cautioned Padma.
"Don't forget about the secret passages," reminded Daphne. "Maybe there are some the Marauders never found."
"Not likely!" Hannah giggled.
Harry felt a chill sweep over his body. He was remembering that Pettigrew had been a Marauder too.
As if to make a mockery of Hannah's words, the doors to the Great Hall crashed open.
Fenrir Greyback, surrounded by four members of his pack, stood in the entrance.
Hestia Jones, one of the aurors on guard duty, raised her wand. But before she could cast, she was cursed in the back by a sixth-year Ravenclaw who was already transforming.
Hestia's partner, John Dawlish, whirled to confront the culprit, but it was too late…the Ravenclaw was on him, ripping out his throat.
The other werewolves howled, and bounded forward.
Greyback seized Hannah, laughing maniacally.
Hannah screamed as Neville tried to reach them, but another werewolf stepped between them.
Harry could see matters were desperate.
He took a deep breath, and for the first time ever, used the Ritual of Destruction.
He sensed it sweeping out with the force of a gale wind, and then…
Then the werewolves were gone.
There was no blood, no bodies…one moment Greyback and his pack had been there, the next they had simply disappeared.
"What happened?" Padma stared. "Where did they go?"
"They couldn't have just left." Susan was trying to comfort a sobbing Hannah, whose face was scored by one long clawmark.
"Maybe they had some sort of portkey?" faltered Padma.
Madam Pomfrey hurried over and persuaded Hannah to accompany her to the small chamber behind the Great Hall.
Neville turned his bewildered eyes on Harry. "What is going on?"
But Harry could not answer him.
Daphne snuggled closer to Harry, finally managing some sleep.
Harry was less fortunate.
Hour after hour he stared up at the enchanted ceiling, trying to come to terms with what had happened.
Had the werewolves merely been banished elsewhere? Had they been sent to a different dimension?
Or…had they simply winked out of existence?
Harry didn't know.