The Adventures of Padfoot

A Stranger in a Strange Land With Strange Creatures

I finally got the chance to update this book again! I hope y'all enjoy the chapter!
Song is In The End by Tommee Profitt.
Sirius' POV
I slowly came to in a daze. Where am I? I muttered to myself, only for it to come out as a growl. I quickly realized that I was in my animagus form. I slowly got up and looked around. It was dark and still, and I was surrounded by trees. I couldn't even hear any birds or crickets. This made me wary, and I growled softly, baring my teeth. The first thing I did was turn back to my human form. Except I found that I could not. Alarm seized me as I tried again and again. After about an hour, I gave up and flopped onto the forest floor, panting. Although I did not mind my animagus form, I could do no magic in it, and that made me uneasy. I felt a tickling in my brain that I was forgetting something important, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what. Speaking of life...wasn't I supposed to be dead? Was this the afterlife? Was I in some sort of in-between land? Was this Hell? Hopefully, I could at least find someone who could turn me back to my human form tomorrow. I decided to sleep for the rest of the night, as I was strangely tired. Do dead people even get tired? However, dead or not, I clearly was still bound by weariness, and decided to lay down. I fell into a restless sleep, and rose at the crack of dawn. Even when it was day, however, there was little light to be found. I sniffed around, and found the smell of water, so I followed it to a small river. However, something seemed wrong. I could sense a dark magic of the likes I had never sensed before. Curious, I sniffed it, being careful not to touch it. I decided to hide, and see what became of any animals that drank it. I waited for about two hours, when my patience was rewarded. A small rabbit crept towards the river. Normally, I would see the rabbit as my next meal, but I needed it to drink the water first. Within moments of the rabbit beginning to drink, it suddenly fell, sinking into the water. I waited for about five more minutes, but the rabbit never resurfaced. I could then assume the worst. The water appeared to be poisonous, and not fit for me to drink, and I didn't feel good about swimming it either. I ended up simply following the river, until I came upon a chilling sight. It was a fortress that was oozing dark magic. There appeared to be no one there, but I knew better than to take that at face value. A place warded with so many concealment enchantments- someone had to be close by. Once again, I noticed that this dark magic felt different than the dark magic that Voldemort and his Death Eaters projected. Not only did it feel different, but also older, almost, and far more powerful. I let a small growl escape me again. This place felt wrong, and I wanted desperately to either leave or get rid of whoever was conjuring this magic. Unfortunately, I had been so focused on the fortress, that I failed to notice the movement behind me until the last second. At the sound of a twig snapping, I whipped around and barely avoided getting my head chopped off. Without pausing to think, I leapt up and sank my teeth in his neck. He dropped like a rock. After spitting out the disgusting blood, I got a better look at my opponent. It was the strangest creature I had ever seen. The creature's skin was grey, scarred, and altogether wrong. I had been sensing a good deal of that wrongness feeling lately, and wondered what the issue was. Now more alert than ever, I crept closer to the fortress. It was a stupid move, especially when I could no longer access my magic, but I had to try and do something. I felt drawn towards the fortress, and I had no idea as to why. I felt that tingling feeling that I was forgetting something important again, but I ignored it. As I got closer, I got the intense feeling that I was being watched. I sniffed quietly, and I could smell multiple scents this time. I acted like I didn't notice them, and allowed them to creep just close enough that I could leap around and pick them off. Soon enough, they grew close enough for me to do so, and I whipped around, jumping for the nearest creature. His shriek as I tore through him was deafening, but I ignored it as I jumped from one creature to the next, aiming for the throat and other vital parts of the body. Hellish creatures or not, I didn't want them to go out bleeding out. That was too cruel for most creatures. I had no clue if these creatures were normally like this, but I figured that if they "shoot first and ask questions later if at all" then they were probably cruel creatures, especially if they were related to that evil magic that I felt. I felt traces of that same magic on them, and inwardly hoped that there weren't too many of them. Unfortunately, they were able to overpower me, and I was dragged away. I continued to struggle, until one of them punched me on the head, and I knew no more.
When I woke up, I still had no idea where I was. I looked around and saw that there was a huge creature in front of me. He was tall and pale, but a different pale than what Voldemort was. He was talking to some other creatures, many of which I recognized to have captured me. I also noticed that the language they used was rather dark, and I didn't recognize it. I tried to move, only to realize that I was completely chained up. I thought about trying to return to my human form again, but I did not know if that power was a common thing here, and so made the decision not to. I figured that I would not be able to easily escape, so I would bide my time. I sensed that the dark feeling was much closer this time, and I realized that I was indeed in the very fortress that I had seen earlier. I wondered if this pale creature was responsible for this magic, but I did not sense it from him, although he bore more traces of it than the rest. I figured I would immediate know if I was faced with whoever had done this. I would have to figure out how to defeat him in the meantime. The creatures continued to speak in their strange language, before they turned to me with evil grins. They kept me chained, but disconnected the chains from the stone walls. They started to drag me away again, and this time I was unable to resist. They chained me up in front of another cage. From what I overheard, it appeared that I needed to guard whoever was prisoner in there. I peeked inside, and I was shocked. There was an enormous bear in there, larger than I had ever seen before. He roared and struggled against iron bonds that were too small for him at the sight of us. The strange creatures chained me up, and then opened the cell. They proceeded to beat the creature, and then one of them appeared to force something down the bear's throat. To my shock and horror, the bear began to change into a very angry man. And yet, the creature looked more like half man and half bear. They toyed with him in cruel ways, and I could do nothing to stop it. I wondered if he, like me, was an animagus. When they finally left, cackling to themselves, the creature appeared to be fully man. When he saw me, he sniffed hard and then growled.
"I smell that you are more human than dog! Do you think that you can trick me into telling you where the rest of my people are?!?" he roared at me. I was surprised at his diagnosis, and was quick to shake my head.
"Show me your real face, servant of Sauron, else I should think you a coward!" he growled. I decided that I would, once again, try to turn into a human. This creature may, after all, be able to answer my questions. After about ten minutes of struggle, I flopped exhaustedly onto the hard ground. I was weary and hungry, as I had not eaten since I came here.
"This is the worst damm afterlife I could have imagined," I growled to myself, not realizing that the bear-man could both hear and understand me.
"Afterlife?" I heard a confused growl. My head shot up. He could understand me? I thought. I considered that this was probably the result of his bear-like nature, and decided to try my luck.
"You can understand me?" I asked him, still surprised. He nodded briefly. I sighed in relief.
"I have some questions," I tentatively inquired, "and was wondering if you could provide the answers. I would ask you this in my human form, but I am, for reasons unknown to me, unable to access it."
The bear-man considered me for a moment, before he carefully nodded.
"I will answer your questions, if you will answer mine," he compromised. I mentally sighed in relief, nodded my agreement, then began my questioning.
"First of all, where are we, and who are you?" I asked him. He grunted in slight surprise. "I thought you would know where we are. But, nevertheless, I will tell you that we are in Dol Goldur, otherwise known as the Hill of Sorcery. The spirit of the Dark Lord Sauron dwells here, and it is he who keeps this place enchanted so that none can escape. As for me, I am Beorn, a skin-changer. Now, who are you, what are you, and why have you come anywhere near here?"
I took a moment to process the information he gave me. I ended up learning more then I thought I would, but I had never heard of Dol Goldur, or Sauron. Where was I? I took a moment to consider my answer to Beorn's questions.
"My name is Sirius Black. I am a wizard who is also an animagus, which means I can turn into an animal, a dog in my case. Unfortunately, it seems that since I came here I am unable to access my human form. Before I came here, I was defending my beloved godson from other evil wizards. Unfortunately, I was struck with the Killing Curse. There was a veil called the Veil of Death behind me, and I fell backwards through it. I ended up in this form about a day's walk from here. I was examining this place from a distance, when I was captured by these strange creatures, the like of which I have never seen before. And this magic that I sense, it is different than any magic I have felt before, evil or otherwise. Now, may I ask, what are these creatures that keep us here, and who is this Dark Lord that you speak of?"
Beorn was silent for a moment, and I sensed that he was intrigued by my answer. I could sense that he have many misgivings about me, but nonetheless he answered my inquiries.
"If you have indeed come from a distant land, then you would not know this. The Dark Lord nearly took over Middle-Earth. It was believed that he was defeated several thousand years ago. The reason why I believe he has returned now is because his Ring of power was not destroyed, as it should have been. I do not know where this Ring is, but it is very powerful and very dangerous. The creatures which captured us are called Orcs. Goblins are also here, but they are busy below." Beorn was silent after this, as I myself was. He seemed to consider what he wanted to ask me very carefully. Then he added, "Although I will freely admit that I have never heard such a case as yours, you have not as of yet given me a reason to trust you. At the moment I have only told you what anyone else who lives here would know. So, I will ask you this. Prove to me that you are indeed not of this world. This may also explain why you claim to be a wizard, when there are only five in existence, and you do not smell like one."
I was silent for a different reason this time. What could I possibly answer? What could I tell him that would prove that I had not just made it all up? That's when it hit me. I would tell him about Hogwarts.
"Where I come from," I began, "there are thousands of witches and wizards. Some wizards come from wizarding families, and others, we call them muggle-borns, come from non-magical families. There are several schools that teach these witches and wizards how to control and learn their magic. One of these schools is called Hogwarts. You begin when you are eleven years old, and graduate when you are seventeen, after which you search for a job. There are four Houses in Hogwarts, and I was in Gryffindor, the house of the braves..." I continued to tell him about my time there. I also told him about how we were betrayed by Peter Petigrew, and how I was imprisoned for his crimes. I told him about my escape, and how I lived in hiding in my parent's house until the Voldemort returned. I briefly spoke of the Order of the Phoenix, which I was apart of. I finished with a more detailed description of my death. I told of how Snape had contacted my house, making sure I was there, as my godson believed that I had been captured. When Harry vanished, we figured that he would have tried to find me. We finally found him and several of his friends in trouble, and we fought the evil wizards off, until I was killed, and then ended up not far from here. I did not know the end result of the battle. Beorn considered all that I told him very carefully. Finally, he gave a thoughtful nod.
"I do not see how you could have simply come up with that story either on the spot or in a hundred years. It is much too detailed. The idea of dying and coming back to life is too crazy for someone to make up for you to simply be trying to get me to believe lies. Therefore I believe you." he said to me.
I nodded to him gratefully.
"Now, how do we get out of here?" I asked him. He shook his head gloomily.
"I have tried several times to get out of here, but that is impossible."
This time, I grinned. "This time you have me! I am usually a master of getting out of sticky situations!"
Beorn gave me a look, but didn't respond. I thought of a plan we could do. "I could try to escape the next time they drag me away, and then come back and free you?" I suggested. Beorn immediately shook his head. "Too much could go wrong with that."
I continued to think for what seemed like hours, when the perfect plan popped in my head. "What about this," I gave an mischievous grin, "what if we pretended to hate each other and started fighting so much that they have to unchain us to get us apart, and then we take them all out when they least expect it?" This plan seemed to get Beorn's attention, and he nodded. I wondered why he hadn't been speaking as much, when I realized that someone could be watching or listening. This Sauron dude probably had eyes and ears everywhere here, especially when prisoners were concerned. We decided to wait until the time was right, and so I lay near his cell, which I realized was little more than a cramped cage. Time to get as much rest as possible before the plan was set in motion. Beorn said that they feed the prisoners here once a day, and that he had recently been fed before I came, so I would have to wait until the morning to eat. I eventually drifted into a restless sleep, wondering what the following day would bring.
Yay, I finally finished another chapter! I hope y'all enjoy it!        
❤️Soundwave's Wife❤️