Ron was overjoyed to have both Hermione and Scabbers back, but embarrassed that his stubborn feud with her had turned out to be baseless. This made him eager to praise her for the way she'd handled Malfoy, which he proceeded to do, despite the frantic motions to stop she and Harry were giving him.

Hagrid frowned at Hermione. "It's one thing ter stand up fer friends yer own age, but grown folks can sort out their own troubles. All three o' yeh could stand ter learn tha' lesson, now we're on the subject."

"Yes, sir," the students mumbled, Harry and Hermione shooting annoyed looks at Ron.

Hagrid's face was incapable of holding a scowl for long though, and after he'd taken care of Hermione's hand, he set about making tea, while telling them how much happier Buckbeak seemed. He was certain the Hippogriff knew he'd been spared, as he assured them magical creatures were smarter than most folks realized.

The three friends were so happy to have their division mended, they soon lost all track of time as they chatted with Hagrid over cups of tea.

When Hagrid noticed how dark it had grown, he told them it was long past time for them to be heading back to the castle, but there was no way they were going by themselves.

The three students stepped out on the porch, where they waited for Hagrid to join them.

Ron looked up at the sky. "Full moon," he noted with unease.

The words had just left his mouth when they heard Ginny shouting Harry's name. Turning towards the sound, they saw her emerge from the darkness, tearing down the hill towards them with a werewolf in close pursuit, about to overtake her.

As they drew their wands, Harry cried, "Hermione! What spell can stop a werewolf?"

"I don't know! Not without hurting him. That's still Lupin."

"It's Ginny! Hurt him!"

"Do it!" Ron agreed.

The blood drained from her face, but she steadied her wand and took careful aim to make sure she didn't miss and hit Ginny with a curse she would never, ever be able to take back.

"Wait!" Ginny called out, waving her arms above her head as she skidded to a stop.

To their astonishment, rather than taking the chance to pounce, the werewolf scrambled to come to a halt, to avoid crashing into her.

"Wolfsbane!" Ginny gasped, as she tried to catch her breath. "Watched him drink… Needed back-up… Black is in the castle!"

They lowered their wands and Ginny hurried the rest of the way down the hill to join them. Lupin followed at a slower pace, trying to appear as non-threatening as he could while looming in the darkness.

Hagrid came out, took in the scene, and jumped to place himself between the students and Lupin. He relaxed somewhat when the others relayed what the still breathless Ginny had told them, but he continued to regard Lupin warily.

Hagrid ordered Harry and his friends to go inside, but told Lupin, "I reckon you an' I oughta stay out here ter keep an eye out fer Black."

Lupin bobbed his head in agreement.

Once inside Hagrid's hut, Ginny managed to catch her breath enough to give details. "I happened to be watching the Map, looking for Black. When I spotted his name, I decided to try things Hermione's way, and go to a teacher. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us. Literally."

They heard snarling coming from outside.

Harry said, "We have to help. We have wands." He was through the door and back outside before his friends could stop him.

The other three ran out after him, but found he hadn't gone far. He stood frozen and staring at Hagrid and Lupin standing side by side, facing off against a massive black dog.

"The Grim!" Ron cried.

The huge black dog looked down the hill at them, snarled, and started to advance.

Hagrid yelled over his shoulder for them to get back inside.

The dog began to change form, and soon in its place stood a thoroughly unkempt wizard with dark, shaggy hair. They all recognized him as Sirius Black.

"Oh, come on," Ginny complained. "Why the fuck did no one tell us he could do that?"

"Exactly! Thank you!" Harry said.

Even Hermione was too annoyed by this revelation to complain about Ginny's language.

"Hello, Moony, Hagrid," Black said, nodding to each of them. "We don't have to fight each other. I'm here to kill just one person, and if you understood, you wouldn't stand in my way. You'd be eager to help."

Ron yelled, "If you want to kill my brother you'll have to kill me first!"

Black gave him a baffled look. "Your brother?" Then he noticed the way Ron had stepped forward to stand in front of Harry, and his eyes went distant. "Oh. Right. I had a brother once. Two, in fact. One by blood, the other the way you mean–by everything that actually matters in this godforsaken world."

Ron and Ginny exchanged a puzzled glance. Riddle's trusted lieutenant, dismissing the importance of blood? Something didn't add up.

Black shook off whatever memories he'd gotten lost in. "Remus understands, even if he no longer believes. We were all brothers once, until one of us sowed doubts. But tonight, he'll pay for that too. I'm not here to hurt Harry, and I never would. I'm here for the cowardly traitor Peter Pettigrew!"

Ron gave a cry of pain, as Scabbers–who'd been struggling to get free since Black appeared–bit down hard on Ron's finger and jumped away when he let go out of reflex.

"Moony, the rat!" Black said, pointing. "It's Wormtail. He's alive, and he was the traitor!"

The werewolf sniffed at the air, then turned and went bounding after the fleeing rat. Black shifted into his Animagus form and followed. Hagrid tried to grab the huge black dog, but for all his size and strength, he had never been quick, and the Grim evaded him with no trouble.

Scabbers had nearly reached the edge of the woods, when Crookshanks burst from the undergrowth and pounced on him.

"Hey!" Ron cried. "Hermione, I know I was wrong before, but so help me–"

"Ron," she interrupted, "I don't think your rat's actually a rat. I think it's another Animagus!"

Harry stared at her for a second, then went running after Lupin and Black.

"Why is he always running towards danger?" complained Hermione, as she, Ron and Ginny ran after him.

Hagrid tried to head off the students, but was again too slow, and had to settle for joining the chase.

Meanwhile, Lupin had shifted his focus to Black and taken him to the ground, rather than allow him to reach the rat. Despite this, neither fought as ferociously as their canine forms appeared capable of. Both kept most of their attention on the rat, which Crookshanks held wriggling in his mouth.

Harry, having a slight head start on his friends, arrived first. He looked between the Grim, the rat, and the werewolf, but couldn't decide which one to point his wand at.

"Okay," he said, "someone better tell me what's going on, and who everyone is actually here to kill."

Lupin shook his head at Harry. It seemed Wolfsbane Potion allowed a werewolf to retain their human mind through the transformation, but not the power of human speech.

Black made use of Lupin's distraction to break free, just in time for Hagrid to arrive and grab him by the nape of the neck with one hand and lift him off the ground.

"Gotcha!" the groundskeeper declared in a rough tone unlike any the students had ever heard from him before. "I've bin waitin' years fer another chance ter get a hold o' yer hide, Black."

Black shifted into human form, which left Hagrid holding him by the back of his coat. He struggled in Hagrid's grip, reaching a hand towards the rat. "No! I'm so close!"

"Hagrid, wait!" Harry pleaded. "Please, I need to hear the whole story."

Black said, "Harry. Yes. You deserve that much. I don't suppose you know the charm to force an Animagus back into human form?"

"No, but…" He turned to Hermione, who had caught up to them.

"I don't know it either," she admitted, "but I know someone who almost certainly does, if he could speak to us. Professor Lupin, I understand the Homorphus Charm requires the caster to press her wand tip to the subject's throat–with your permission, sir?"

Lupin knelt in front of her, and tilted his head back to expose his throat. Hermione started to reach her wand towards him, but he held up his paw for her to wait. He turned his whole body so his profile was to them, then motioned for her to proceed.

Hermione pressed the tip of her wand to his throat, and cast the spell–at which point, it became clear why he had turned to face away from them. Hermione blushed and looked away, as Ron pressed his hand over his sister's eyes.

"Ron, don't block my vision!" Ginny squawked, pushing at his arm. "We're still in the middle of a situation here!"

Meanwhile, Hagrid dropped Black–none too gently–long enough to take off his enormous coat and drape it over Lupin. He picked Black up again before he had a chance to scramble away.

"Thank you, Hagrid," Lupin said, closing the coat and rising to his feet. "And thank you, Hermione, for your excellent spellwork. That should make this conversation much easier. To that end, if I might borrow your wand? It's safe to look now, by the way. I do apologize for being inappropriately attired on school grounds, however briefly."

"Here now, Hermione," Hagrid said. "Maybe we should wait fer Dumbledore an' the Aurors ter sort this out."

"No!" Harry said. "This might be my one chance to find out what really happened to my parents. The Ministry thinks it already knows, so the Aurors will just throw Black back into Azkaban, or give him to the Dementors. Before that happens, I want to hear him tell me to my face why he did it. Why he betrayed them."

Hermione looked up at Black where Hagrid still held him, then back at Lupin. "Er, no offense, Professor, but I do have concerns about the exact nature of your relationship with the escaped mass murderer."

Lupin replied, "I'm starting to have questions on that subject myself. I believe the answers we seek are dangling at the moment from your cat's mouth. In my wolf form, I recognized the smell of that rat–the smell of someone supposed to be long dead."

"Do you have any evidence?" Hermione asked, then added, "Evidence that doesn't require us to give you a wand?"

"Nothing I can think of."

"This is getting us nowhere," Harry said. "I think we just have to trust him. If he wanted to attack me, he's had plenty of chances this year."

"Wait," Ginny said. "I can settle this."

She pulled out a piece of parchment and tapped it with her wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Black and Lupin stared at the parchment, while the rat gave a squeak.

"It's true," Ginny announced. "The Map shows the name Peter Pettigrew."

"Okay," Hermione told her friends, "Here's how we can do it. I'll hold my wand and aim it, and let Professor Lupin take the handle. The three of you know the Body-Bind Curse. If he tries to turn it to point at anything or anyone other than the rat, bind him."

She told Hagrid, "If Black starts to change form or otherwise tries to get free… I don't know, hit him on the head. Just hard enough to knock him out."

She addressed Black. "As you may remember from your time here, Hagrid is a kind man, but doesn't always know his own strength. You shouldn't push your luck."

Black grinned at her. "I think Lily would approve of Harry's friends, Remus."

Hagrid gave Black a rough shake. "You keep the names o' Lily and James Potter outta yer mouth 'til we decide what's what with the lot o' yeh."

Hermione positioned herself so her friends had a clear line-of-sight at Lupin, then held out her wand with its handle towards him, with its tip aimed at the rat. She paused as she noted another consequence of pointing her wand in that direction.

"And Ginny," she said, "if he acts like he's going to hurt Crookie, please set him on fire."

"Got it."

Black chuckled at the exchange.

"Don't take it personally," Ron told Lupin. "Hermione has this thing about setting teachers on fire."

"I find the terms acceptable," Lupin said mildly.

Hermione ignored all this and nodded to her wand. "Go ahead, Moony."

Lupin's eyes widened a bit.

She said, "I find it worthwhile to pay close attention, since nobody ever wants to give us a straight answer about anything."

Lupin lightly took hold of the wand while Hermione maintained her own grip. He cast a spell which caused a bright blue flash, and Hermione snatched her wand back.

The rat started to grow and change form, so Crookshanks dropped it and backed away. It sprouted a human head and limbs, while its torso expanded and contorted. At last, a man who still had much of the rodent in his manner stood hunched over and cowering before them.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Ron said.

"Dying as a man is too good for you, Wormtail," Black snarled.

"Moony," the newly-revealed man simpered. "It's so good to see you after all these years. You can't imagine what it's been like, living in constant fear of the crazed murderer, Sirius Black. But you can end his spree of terror once and for all. You can free me from him, and avenge those he's killed!"

Lupin replied, "I want to be sure I have this straight, Peter. You spent a dozen years as a rat, hiding from a wizard who was locked in Azkaban the whole time. You were never the bravest soul, but that strikes me as extreme, even for you."

"You heard what he wants to do to me. He's a maniac and a killer, and it was only a matter of time until he escaped!"

"From the prison no one has ever escaped from before?"

"But he did escape! He's not a normal man. Look at him. How could he be lucid after so much time in there? The same Dark Arts that let him escape!"

Black said, "When I was a dog, the Dementors didn't affect me as much. And I had one thought I could hold onto, as it wasn't a happy one–the thought of my innocence. Changing into a dog is how I escaped too, no Dark Arts required."

"He confessed when they captured him," Pettigrew insisted. "Don't fall for his lies. Harry, your parents' killer is right there. Strike him down before he escapes! Lay their spirits to rest!"

"I didn't kill them," Black said, "but I was responsible. I came up with a plan meant to protect them, but it got them killed. That's what I was babbling about when they found me."

"What was this plan?" Lupin asked.

"I was the obvious choice for their Fidelius Secret-Keeper, so I decided the obvious thing to do was switch. It sounds absurd now, but you know how we thought back then. There always had to be a twist. We always thought we were one step ahead, one move more clever. Not that time. I gave the job of protecting them to Peter, and he gave them to Voldemort."

"Lies!" Pettigrew said. "Everyone knows he was the traitor!"

Lupin turned to Hagrid, "I don't know. The way he describes it… That was how we saw ourselves back then. All these years, I've been so sure I knew what happened, but now… I just don't know."

Hagrid shook his head, also at a loss.

Ginny stepped forward and raised her wand. "Pettigrew."

He turned to her, meeting her eyes.

"Think of your Master," she said. "Legilimens."

The two stood frozen for several seconds, then Ginny lowered her wand. "It's true. He thinks of Voldemort as his Master."

Pettigrew fell to his knees, weeping. "I had no choice. You don't know what he's like. The power he wields…"

"Oh, Sirius," Lupin said, his voice choking. "All this time. All these years… Hagrid, let him go. He deserves to finish this. They both deserve it. This is how it should have ended back in '81."

"No, please!" Pettigrew wailed. "Hagrid, you can't let the children see such a horrible sight!"

Hagrid still looked angry, but no longer sure what to do about it.

Ginny kept her wand pointed at Pettigrew, but turned her head just far enough so she could keep him in her peripheral vision, but also see Harry. Speaking with deliberation, she said, "Harry… By every fire that burns, I swear to take your enemies as my enemies, and to fight by your side until the day no enemy remains to stand against you."

She turned back to Pettigrew. "And to seal the vow, we might as well start with him. Incend-"

"No!" Hermione cried, pushing Ginny's wand down.

"Damn it, Hermione! We know the truth now. He deserves to burn for everything he's done."

"We know the truth, but the rest of the world doesn't. He has to testify. It's the only way to clear Black."

"Yes!" Pettigrew insisted. "Listen to the kind, clever girl. She always tries to protect the less fortunate from those who threaten them. You can trust her. Follow what she says."

"No," Black said. "The Ministry will never give me a fair trial. They never did the first time. Give me a wand and let me do it, or let me watch her do it. Somebody do it before he gets away again!"

Harry said, "I don't think my dad would want his friends to commit murder for his sake. And I know I don't want anyone to do it for mine."

Ginny shivered and looked up at the sky. "We have bigger problems. I feel cold. Who can cast a full Patronus? Just Lupin?"

No one answered, as a swarm of Dementors emerged from the sky and woods, surrounding them.

Hermione quickly handed Lupin her wand. On this occasion, he cast a full corporeal Patronus, which took the form of a wolf. He sent it at the Dementors, but it soon became clear he was struggling to handle them all.

"There's too many," he said. "I can hold them off, but I can't focus on each one long enough to drive them away."

Hagrid set Black on his feet and pushed the students together into a tight group. He looked pale and terrified, but began to shuffle back and forth, trying to stay between them and any Dementors that threatened to slip past Lupin.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ginny cast, binding Pettigrew.

"Ginny, he'll be helpless!" Hermione objected.

"That's the idea. We already know he's willing to take advantage of chaos to save his own skin."

"The Dementors could give him the Kiss. He can't testify if his soul gets eaten."

"He won't testify if he escapes. I'm showing restraint by not burning his limbs off to keep him from scampering away. Besides, Lupin can hold the Dementors off until someone in the castle notices and comes to help."

"I'm not sure that's–" Lupin began, but then gave a grunt of pain, wrapped his arms around himself, and sank to his knees. He dropped Hermione's wand, and his Patronus vanished.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Dementors bring out darkness… Werewolf curse is Dark," Lupin answered, struggling to speak. "You have to cast Patronus. You can do it. Remember everything I taught you."

Lupin's eyes fell on Ginny, and he gasped out, "Forget most of what I taught you."

"What?" she demanded. "Which parts?"

"Emotions…"

"What about them? I can't cast my first Patronus in the middle of all this."

He shook his head. "Not Patronus." He tried to say more, but could produce nothing but rough growls.

Hermione stepped forward to pick up her wand, and pressed it to his throat. "Homorphus!"

He gave her a resigned look, then convulsed as the transformation continued to take him. He began to let out awful shrieks, each one sounding less human and more bestial than the last.

Hermione called to Black, raising her voice over Lupin's cries of agony. "You should shift too! They'll affect you less!"

"No! They're here for me! Getting them to focus on me is the least I can do for the rest of you!"

Black stepped close to Harry, so he wouldn't have to shout over the terrible sounds Lupin was making. "I'm sorry, Harry. Not just for getting you into this. For all the years I should have been there for you, but wasn't."

Harry stared at him, having no idea how to respond. As the Dementors drifted closer, he raised his wand and called out, "Expecto Patronum!"

His friends watched with desperate hope, but as with his past attempts, all he managed was a glowing mist. It kept the Dementors back for the moment, but failed to drive them away.

"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed. She moved closer to Hermione. "This must be it, the reason Dumbledore wanted you to have the Time-Turner. Turn us all back an hour or two."

Hermione shook her head. "It won't work. Too many observers."

"What? Why would anyone add a stupid limitation like that?"

"It's just how time magic works. The more observers there are, and the more attention they're paying, the more it limits the possibilities for self-consistent timelines."

"What if we all close our eyes?"

"Observation is more than just vision. Anyway, Dementors count as observers."

"That thing really isn't the secret weapon I was hoping for."

"I'm sorry. I tried to explain. I tried to tell you they don't work like that."

"But it's just unlikely, right? Not impossible? At least give it a try."

Hermione shot a furtive glance at the others out of habit, though keeping the secret was hardly the top priority right then. Everyone else had their attention on the Dementors, so she pulled her Time-Turner out of her robes. She spun the suspended hourglass, glanced around to see if anything had changed, then shook her head and put the magical device away.

She brought up her wand and resumed work on trying to master the Patronus Charm, as the Dementors continued to tighten their circle.

Harry noticed what she was attempting, and couldn't help but give a faint, hopeless smile at the sight of his friend still trying to learn something new to save them, right up to the end. The next wave of cold despair from the Dementors wiped the smile away.

Hermione was performing the wand motions flawlessly, enunciating the spell with clarity and precision, but was unable to produce even a mist as she attempted the Charm again and again.

Harry knew from experience how hard summoning the right emotional state was, even in far less desperate circumstances.

He caught Ginny's eye for a long moment, wondering what he should say to her in case this really was the end. He couldn't find the words. Saying nothing, he returned his full attention to holding off the Dementors as well as he could with his Patronus mist, while trying to ignore the sound of his mother screaming.

Lupin's transformation had finished. He and Black joined Hagrid in trying to keep themselves between the students and any Dementors that got past Harry. Black was having a hard time staying on his feet, as the Dementors directed most of their psychic attacks at him. He leaned heavily on Lupin, but Lupin could bear the weight easily in his werewolf form.

Black told Lupin that if he had to die, at least it wouldn't be with Lupin and Harry still thinking he had betrayed his friends.

Ginny could hear Tom Riddle laughing at her, as she'd heard him on the train, and so many times before. Recognizing this as one more illusion, she pushed it aside.

She ached to throw fire at the Dementors, but remembered Lupin's warnings. She could choose one and drive it back, but the rest would descend upon them in an instant. In fact, she didn't understand why the creatures hadn't overrun them using sheer force of numbers already. Maybe they were savoring the moment. Dark creatures did enjoy their little games, the same as Dark wizards.

She looked at her brother and her closest friends, then at the adults who had chosen to take their stand and hold their own souls up as sacrificial shields, for whatever temporary shelter it might give the students.

Ginny couldn't manage any heartfelt last words or fond final glances for any of them. She thought about what was going to happen, good people about to die over lies and deception and betrayal–Harry's glowing mist already starting to dim as he sank to his knees, despite Ron's desperate efforts to hold him up–and everything went red.

Memories drifted through the crimson haze filling her mind… Talking to Lupin about using other emotions to drive away Dementors… The shield spell she'd copied from his book, but had never succeeded at casting, because she'd never understood the note about the proper mental state for powerful fire magic.

She understood it now.

After sweeping her gaze around to see how large she needed to make the shield, she pointed her wand straight up at the night sky, and lost herself in an inferno of absolute, all-consuming rage.

"Protego Diabolica!" she shrieked. A torrent of dark blue fire erupted from her wand. It shot up into the sky, then came flowing down like a fountain to form a dome of roaring flames around them, separating her group from the Dementors. The cold and despair from the Dementors cut off in an instant.

Even with the cold things blocked out, her swirling emotions made it hard to form thoughts into words. Words were such lying things anyway. Words were what Riddle had used to control and corrupt and betray her. Words were all he was, that aspect of him in the diary. She was better off without them.

Her feelings told her everything she needed to know–who her people were, who belonged inside her circle, and who or what belonged outside, like the cold things.

She considered the rat-man. He wasn't one of her people. He didn't belong inside her circle. He was intruding–like he'd been doing for years. Intruding on home and family. He would serve better as fuel for the flames. It wouldn't take much, just the thinnest tendril of her dark fire flicking across him…

Harry looked up to see Ginny standing over him, protecting him and the others. Watching her throw her fire and fury and magic out into the night, he felt something unlock in his chest.

He didn't know if the feeling opening inside him was love, as he had little experience of any form of that. But she had given him something else, something he needed more than love right then.

She had given him hope.

Harry struggled to his feet with Ron's help and stood in front of her.

Grinding out the words with effort, Ginny said, "Harry. Don't touch… Have to… stay mad."

"It's okay. You can let it go."

"No. Someone… see fire. Help."

"You can't keep this up, but it's alright. I'm ready now. I can feel it. Trust me."

She looked into his eyes for a long moment, then released her spell and lowered her wand as he raised his and cast, like altered reflections of each other in some magic mirror.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A brilliant silver stag leaped from his wand and went charging around just outside the dark ring Ginny's fire had burned into the ground, knocking Dementors away into the night as it ran. At times, it bounded into the air to reach the foul creatures, appearing to fly as much as run.

Harry's Patronus blazed far brighter than Lupin had managed with his, and when the stag banished the Dementors with its shining horns, the Dark wraiths fled and did not return.

After the stag had driven them all away, it continued to run, celebrating the pure joy of effortless motion. As it swept past Black and Lupin, they reached towards it–one with a hand, the other with a wolf's paw.

Harry brought the luminous stag to a stop facing the two of them. He willed it to tip its antlers in a brief salute, then allowed it to fade away. He wasn't sure what the stag meant to them, but the gesture felt right.

Everyone stared at him and Ginny, stunned by the magic they had unleashed.

Ginny seemed dazed from the power she'd called upon, but Harry said, "So… I guess we should get inside. I think I could cast that again if I had to, but I'd rather not take chances. Um, thanks for the lessons, Professor Lupin."

He didn't think it sounded as heroic or whatever as everyone might have been expecting, but no one seemed too disappointed.

"Harry's right," Hermione said. "We also need to get Pettigrew to the proper authorities."

"Let's not be too hasty," Black said. "We could make it look like the Dementors got him."

"No," Harry insisted. "Like I said, I don't believe my parents would have wanted that. I don't want that."

Black sighed. "Alright. They were my friends, but they were your parents. You've lost more because of this traitor than anyone. If this is what you want, we'll try it your way."

"It's what I want."

Hermione said, "Good. Now that we've settled that, there are still some practical difficulties. Mr Black might create a bit of a stir walking through the castle. Professor Lupin too, in his current form. I could cast another Homorphus, but it might not last."

"It's okay," Black told her. "Moony and I know a place we can hide out, from the old days. Harry, we'll talk soon. I mean, if you want? You wouldn't remember this, but you and I got on great when you were a baby. Your parents wanted me to look out for you, and I've failed miserably so far, but–I hope you at least liked the Firebolt?"

"I knew it!" Hermione exclaimed.

"You sent it?" Harry asked. "It's perfect. Thank you, Mr Black. I've been putting it to good use on the Quidditch team."

"I know you have. I sneaked in to watch you play. Seeing that really took me back. And call me Sirius."

"Okay. Sirius. Maybe I could come visit you this summer? If it's not too much trouble? Whatever time works for you. To be honest, I'd be happy for any chance to get away from the people I stay with when they make us leave Hogwarts over the summer. But I wouldn't hang around any longer than you wanted me to."

Black gave him a solemn look. "Harry, as soon as I have a safe place to stay, you're welcome all summer, every summer. And every other school holiday. Until then, we can keep in touch through Remus."

Black turned to Lupin. "Last one to the Whomping Willow is a slimy Slytherin!"

With that, he shifted into dog form, and took off running across the lawn.

Even with wolven features, Lupin managed to convey an apologetic look to the rest of them. Then he took off as well, in pursuit of Black.

Hagrid stared after them until they were out of sight, then shook his head and lifted the immobilized Pettigrew from the ground to sling over his shoulder. He began shepherding the students back towards the castle.

The group stayed close together as they hurried along–looking around warily, tensing at every stray gust of cool night air–but the Dementors didn't return, and they reached the safety of the castle without any further attacks.