I do not own Harry Potter nor World of Darkness
Clock Tower Courtyard, Hogwarts, 6th June 1994 (Thursday)
"Professor Trelawney made a prophecy!" almost shouted Sally as she dashed towards her friends.
"What the hell are you talking about!?" asked Hermione, barely keeping herself from rolling her eyes at her friend's declaration as she stopped petting her cat.
"She had a prophecy during my Divination exam! She said that Sirius Black will rejoin the Dark Lord and resurrect him!"
Daphne and Theo paled.
"Are you sure that's what she said?" asked Harry, clearly skeptical. The only thing that came even remotely close to a resurrection spell was the Embrace, and he was pretty sure that whatever the professor saw in her prophecy wasn't that.
"I was there! 'His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master'" she quoted.
Harry took a second to consider it, then smirked.
"That's not Sirius Black. He broke from Azkaban months ago."
Sally was taken aback by it and went pale.
"Do you mean… someone else will break out of Azkaban today?" she muttered in a whisper.
Theo swore under his breath. "We have to tell someone."
"We have to tell Headmaster Dumbledore!" declared Ron.
"Do you even know where to find Headmaster Dumbledore?" asked Hermione.
"No but…we can ask a teacher! We just need to find one… which office is the closest?" asked Daphne, looking around.
"How about Care for Magical Creatures?" replied Theo, pointing at the very recognizable shape of Hagrid.
With a swift pace, the group approached the half giant.
"G'day. Sorry ta tell ya but I havn't got ta results of yer exams yet. Gotta tally 'em numbers, ya know?"
"That can wait! - almost shouted Sally. - Professor Trelawney made a Prophecy! She said someone's gonna break out of Azkaban before midnight! We have to tell Dumbledore!"
Hagrid's eyes bulged in shock.
"C'mon! Gotta warn Dumbledore! Gotta warn 'em minister!" he shouted, running back towards his hut.
The group followed the man inside, as Hagrid frantically tossed things around in a frantic search for some parchment.
"Ya! - he almost shouted while handing Sally the crumbled up parchment. - Ya heard ta prophecy, right? Write it down. I'll get me an owl."
With a few muttered swear words, Hagrid got out of the hut, almost tripping on the way out.
The students started to shuffle things around to find a quill and some ink and, by the time Hagrid had returned with a group of five owls, Sally had written down Trelawney's prophecy in three copies: one for Headmaster Dumbledore, one for the Ministry and one for Azkaban prison. They handed the letters to the owls and promptly sent them on their way to deliver the message.
Once that was done, the group finally calmed down enough to take a breather. Hagrid grabbed one of his pots and set it on the fire. Hermione took Crookshanks back on her lap.
"Well, dat's done. Don't ya worry, Dumbledore will fix it. Ya want some tea?"
"Thank you, Hagrid. - commented Ron, sitting down on the cramped sofa. - hey… You're a professor, right?"
The group looked at him like he had grown a second head, while the redhead quickly explained.
"No… I mean… As a professor you know the results of the exams, right?"
Hagrid stroke his beard.
"S'pose so. Haven't given ya a mark fer Care fer Magical Creatures, ya know? Gotta tally yer numbers for ta year, ya know?"
"Yes, but… what about other subjects? Do you share the results with the other teachers?"
"Of course we do. Helps plan ta classes for next year."
"Well… Do you have the results for Ancient Runes?"
Hagrid started patting himself, pulling out a few sheets of parchment.
"Tat's Biology… That's Potions… oh, sorry 'bout it 'Arry."
"I failed Potions?!" almost shouted Harry. He knew he botched the final exam, but he should have gotten enough points from the year to get a passing grade!
"Ya got a fifty-seven. Ya need more tan sixty for an A. Sorry 'bout it."
Harry frowned, Theo and Ron patting him on the shoulder for consolation. Three points. Three goddamn points. Maybe he could convince Professor Snape to give him a small boost by doing some remedial work during the summer? He really didn't want to have a failed exam on his school transcript.
"You'll have to talk with Professor Snape about it. You're only three points away, I'm sure you can do some extra work and get the points you need." suggested Daphne.
"Lemme see… Ah, there's it! Ancient Runes!"
Hagrid scanned the page, looking at the names.
"Harry… got eighty-two, Hermione got… ninety-eight, Theo got… Sixty-seven, Daphne got… ninety-nine! Well done!" Hermione looked at Daphne with a hint a jealousy, while the Slytherin smirked at her.
"Ron… Ron, where are ya? Don't see yer name under W."
"I joined late." said Ron, his nervousness palpable.
"Ah, yeah. Forgot 'bout that. Lemme see… Ya got a sixty-two."
"Yes!" shouted Ron, jumping on his feet in celebration.
Before anyone could react, he pulled Daphne and Hermione up and almost tackled them with a bear hug, causing Crookshanks to hiss as he slipped from his owner's lap onto the floor. It took the two girls a few seconds to overcome the surprise, with Hermione hugging Ron back while Daphne excused herself from the group hug and patted the Weasley on the shoulder.
"Das' great Ron! Get yerself a bit o' cake ta celebrate." said Hagrid, reaching for one of his cupboards. As he opened it, something scurried over, dashing across the floor in a mad dash towards the door.
"Scabbers!" shouted Ron, recognizing his rat.
He was thinner than ever, large tufts of hair had fallen out leaving wide bald patches, but the identity of the creature was undeniable.
Before they could do anything, Scabbers was running at full speed, in a panic dash to avoid a chasing Crookshanks hot on his tail, while Ron and Hermione were chasing after their pets, in a desperate attempt to grab them before Crookshanks caught up to the rat.
"Get away from him! Get away! Scabbers, come here!"
There was a loud thud as Ron threw himself on the ground, catching Scabbers in his fingers while he pushed Crookshanks away with his elbows.
"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat!"
Before the rest of the group could catch up to them Ron had already stuffed Scabbers into his pockets and was ready to get back on his feet when they heard a low growling sound.
An enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog lept from the edge of the forest, sprinting towards Ron with a snarl, its jaws digging in deep in Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward, his hand dashing towards his wand as the creature was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll.
"Don't! You'll hit Ron!" Shouted Theo, raising Harry's wand arm towards the air.
Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face he was knocked off his feet. He heard Theo shriek with pain and fall, with Daphne and Sally's screams echoing shortly after. Harry groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his eyes
"Lumos!"
The wandlight showed him the trunk of a thick tree: they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backward and forward to stop them going nearer. And there, at the base of the trunk, was the dog, dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots.
"Ron!" Hermion shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped through the air and she was forced back.
All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground, but the horrible crack of bones breaking cut the air like a gunshot and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.
"We've got to ask for help!"
"No! That thing's big enough to eat him, we haven't got time!"
"We're never going to get through without help!"
Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles.
"If that dog can get in, we can too!"
Harry darted to the side, barely avoiding the branches , one step forward, one to the side and two backwards, trying to find a way through the vicious swishing branches.
Theo was knocked backwards into Hermione and both teens fell to the ground. Daphne looked at her boyfriend sailing through the air, a single moment of distraction that caused the tree to hit her over the head, slamming her face against the mud. She lifted her bloodied face from the ground and rolled to the side, barely dodging a much larger branch leaving a small crater where her chest used to be.
Sally cried in pain as one of the thinner branches swung around by a whip, slamming into her back and tearing off pieces of fabric. Harry dodged under a sweep aimed at his face, only for a second branch to hit him square in the jaw, sending him ragdolling across the field.
As he looked up from his position, he saw Crookshanks darting forward, effortlessly dodging between the battering branches and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione shouted, rushing over to hug her cat. Harry got to his feet and looked at his friends, beaten up by that stupid tree.
"How did he know…?" asked Sally, stumbling on her feet.
"No time for that!" shouted Theo, his wand out aimed at Daphne's busted nose.
"Episkey!"
With a loud crack and a grunt of pain from the blonde, her nose snapped back to its normal position.
"Come on… and keep your wand out…" said Harry, leading the group toward the gap in the roots. Before he could take a step, Crookshanks slid into it with a flick of his bottlebrush tail. Harry crawled forward and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Crookshanks was a little way along, his eyes flashing in the light from Harry's wand.
"Where does this tunnel come out?" Sally asked breathlessly from behind him.
"I don't know... I didn't even know there was a tunnel here…"
"It looks like it's heading for Hogsmeade..." whispered Theo.
They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double; ahead of them, Crookshanks's tail bobbed in and out of view.
All Harry could think of was Ron and what the enormous dog might be doing to him… He was drawing breath in sharp, painful gasps, running at a crouch… And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, and Crookshanks was gone. Instead, Harry could see a patch of dim light through a small opening. He and Hermione paused, edging forward with their wandlights while the rest were only a few steps behind them.
It was a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls and there were stains all over the floor. Every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it and the windows were all boarded up. Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked very frightened but nodded. Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around.
The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway. Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm, her wide eyes traveling around the boarded windows.
"Harry. - she whispered. - I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."
Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair near them. Large chunks had been torn out of it; one of the legs had been ripped off entirely.
"Ghosts didn't do that." Theo said slowly.
At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase, looking around the room while trying to follow Harry's hand signs and gestures. Harry took a deep breath.
"Just like the paintball matches." he whispered to himself. It wasn't the same, but the many paintball matches he played in Park Royal had a somewhat similar premise. Sure, he now had a wand instead of a gun and there was a large, probably rabid dog instead of another team of kids, but it couldn't be too different from those matches, right? That was close enough, right? Sure, his friends were total newbies, but they knew what the hand signs meant right? Oh god, they didn't know any of the hand signs… And they didn't know the standard clear house doctrine or any of the other raiding techniques Edwin drilled into him when they began playing paintball… How was he supposed to warn them that he was about to use the Verdimillious spell as a flashbang? Would they even know what a flashbang was? Shit…
With his heart pounding in his chest, he peaked around the corner, wand leveled and ready to cast.
Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made by something being dragged upstairs. They reached the dark landing and saw streaks of red lights filter through the barred windows and half-demolished walls.
"Nox!" they whispered together, and the lights at the end of their wands went out.
Only one door was open, but Harry gestured at Theo and Daphne to keep an eye out for the two closed ones on their left. Daring to look back, he was relieved to see how the two understood his signs. As they crept toward it, they heard a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open and closed his eyes.
"Verdimillious!" he shouted, and green light exploded from his wand.
Harry opened his eyes, seeing Crookshanks screaming on a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings, trying to cover her eyes. On the floor beside him, clutching his leg and shielding his eyes, was Ron. Harry stepped into the room, waving his wand around, looking for the dog.
But there was no dog. There was a man.
A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in hatred as one of his arms was shielding his eyes from the spell.
It was Sirius Black.
The moment of shock costed Harry his advantage. Too stunned to react in time, Sirius's eyes focused on him.
"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at him, while he slammed the door against Hermione, locking her in the room with him and Harry.
Harry's wands shot out of his hands, high in the air, Black caught it, pointing at a now disarmed Harry while he shot a spell towards Hermione.
"Stupefy!"
As Hermione slumped on the ground, he took a step closer, his eyes fixed on Harry.
"I thought you'd come and help your friend - he said hoarsely. - Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful... it will make everything much easier..."
"Depulso!"
With a bang, the door flew off its hinges, forcing Harry and Sirius to duck.
The man glared at the Slytherin trio, pointing both wands towards them.
"Langlock!"
"Limbus Nebula!"
The trio of students fell silent, their spells cut off mid-casting, as a golden mist enveloped them and slammed their bodies against the ceiling as gravity itself shifted upside down.
Harry lunged at the man, tackling him to the ground in a desperate attempt to grab one of the wands, only for Sirius's form to shift into that of the black dog that carried Ron to the shack, the beast's fangs snapping far too close to Harry's face. Stepping backwards, Harry got on his feet, but Black was faster, a wand already pointed at his neck before he even got to his feet. Harry sidestepped the wand, fist clenched as his knuckles collided with the side of Black's head, only to find the man's second wand pressed against his chest.
"Depulso!"
Harry flew backwards, crashing against the wall in an impact that stole his breath and forced him on his knees.
"Trying to kill me, Harry?" Sirius whispered.
"You killed my parents." said Harry, his voice shaking.
Black stared up at him out of those sunken eyes.
"I don't deny it. - he said very quietly. - But if you knew the whole story…"
"The whole story? - Harry repeated, a furious pounding in his ears. - You sold them out! That's all I need to know!"
"You've got to listen to me. - Black said, with a note of urgency in his voice now. - You'll regret it if you don't… You don't understand..."
Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor.
"WE'RE UP HERE!" screamed Harry. "SECOND FLOOR! SIRIUS BLACK!"
A familiar face popped up from the staircase, wand pointed at Sirius
"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted.
Ron's wand flew out of Sirius's hand, towards Lupin only to get caught into the golden mist and fall towards the ceiling.
His second wand still pointed towards Harry, Black and Lupin stared at each other, daring the other to make the first move.
Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice.
"Where is he, Sirius?"
Black's face was quite expressionless. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked bewildered.
"But then… - Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind. -... why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless…"
Lupin's eyes suddenly widened.
"...Unless he was the one... unless you switched... without telling me?"
Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded.
"Professor. - Harry interrupted loudly - what's going on…?"
But he never finished the question, his voice dying in his throat. Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, expertly dodging the golden mist, and embraced Black like a brother.
Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. Lupin had betrayed him too. With a howl of rage, he dashed forward, his eyes crimson as Vitae pumped into his muscles. The two men barely had the time to separate before Harry was upon them, fist cocked back in a powerful punch that hit Lupin right in the face, cracking his nose in a spray of blood.
"Depulso!" shouted Black, sending Harry smashing once more against the creaking wall.
"Immobilus!" shouted Lupin, wand aimed at Harry while his other hand was trying to soothe the pain of his broken nose.
"You… you… you and him! - shouted Ron, pointing at the two men. - You've been helping
Black get into the castle! You want Harry dead too!"
There was a ringing silence, only interrupted by Lupin painfully snapping his nose back into position.
"I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead."
Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped. "Get away from me!"
"YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THIS TIME!"
Shouted Harry, unable to do anything more than shouting.
"I have not been helping Sirius. - said Lupin. - If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look…"
Sirius tossed Harry's wand toward him and Harry caught it by reflex. The move was so unexpected that it gave him pause. Was this some kind of trick? Was Lupin that confident in his disarming spell that he saw Harry as not a threat?
"There. - said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his belt. - You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"
Harry felt the magic holding him weakened. Was it a trick? But what was it meant to accomplish? It made no sense!
"If you haven't been helping him." he said, with a furious glance at Black
"How did you know he was here?"
"The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it…"
"The what?"
"It's a map we made back at school. It shows the location of everyone within Hogwarts." explained Sirius.
"The important thing is - continued Lupin, talking over Black's explanation - I was watching it this evening, when I noticed your group leaving the castle. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."
"What? - said Harry. - No, we weren't!"
"I couldn't believe my eyes. - said Lupin pacing and ignoring Harry's interruption. - I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"
"No one was with us!" said Ron.
"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black… I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow…"
"He dragged me here!" Ron said angrily.
"No, Ron. - said Lupin. - There were two people."
He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron.
"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said in a cold, demanding tone.
"What? What's Scabbers got to do with it?"
"Everything. Could I see him, please?"
Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Black's shoulder and made a soft hissing noise. Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.
"What? - Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. - What's my rat got to do with anything?"
"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.
"What d'you mean? Of course he's a rat…"
"No, he's not. He's a wizard. An Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew." declared Lupin with a solemn tone.
Notes
I found a couple free hours at the airport and figured I could treat you with a surprise chapter before the holiday hiatus.
Prophecy panic! Considering how important they are in canon, I was miffed when Trelawney's prophecy is just... disregarded. So, I made a slight adjustment that make it so that the prophecy in question is taken much more seriously. Ultimately it won't really affect the progress of the main plot, but I think those little details go a long way to make the world much more consistent.
School's results are out! Super interesting stuff, I know... but it does help establish everyone's capabilities, so it's gotta stay.
The Whomping Willow packs a punch now! Broken noses gallore (not realy, just Daphne's, but still...)
Sirius is a much better fighter, handling a group of 5 (arguably 6 depending wether you count Ron) wizards with ease. The only one to pose a threat was Harry due to some degree of martial training. Not enough to win, but enough to land a decent hit.
And... CLIFFHANGER! Kinda? You know what's coming, but I hope you're going to like the changes (for now pretty minor) that I implemented. See you all in January and nce again... happy holiday