𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟓

"Neville!"  Hermione yelled as she hurried to my side to untie Neville. I took a few steps back and rounded to Pettigrew. 

"YOU EVIL-" I said, "FILTHY RAT!" I pointed my wand directly to him. 

"Don't Selene!" Lupin said, grabbing my shoulder. 

"He took Neville!" I shouted. 

"He can never be worth it!" Fred said loudly. 

"Thank you," gasped a new voice. 

I turned to see Neville standing upright. 

"Hi Neville," I said gingerly. 

"What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice, looking down at Snape's pronefigure. 

 "There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Lupin, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best ifwe don't revive him until we're safety back in the castle. We can take him like this..." He muttered, "Mobilicorpus." 

As though invisible strings were tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket. 

 "And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure." 

"I'll do it," said Lupin. 

 "And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward. Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leapt lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high. 

 Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin,Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Fred and George next, followed by me and Neville, discussing what had happened to him. Harry and Hermione brought up the rear. 

Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Harry could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling.

Crookshanks darted up first as we all headed out; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, andRon clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches. Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Harry and Hermione to pass. At last,all of them were out. The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle.Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering.

"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest. Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his chin bumping on his chest. And then -

 A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight. Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stop. Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.

"Oh, my —" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!" 

 "Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now." 

 Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back. 

 "Leave it to me — RUN!" 

 There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away — As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other. Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted him — Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light — and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang —Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.  

"Come on!" Fred yelled as he grabbed Ron's hand. 

"NEVILLE!" I shouted as Neville darted forward. 

"Wand!" Neville shouted. "It's my dad's wand!" 

I grabbed Neville's hand.  "Accio Neville's Wand!" I shouted as we all stepped back. 

 "Expelliarmus!"  Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward. Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass. There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Harry turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest —

"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled. 

Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words hescrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded awayacross the grounds.

"NO SIRIUS, YOU'RE WOUNDED!" I hollered, "OH COME ON, WHY DOES NO ONE LISTEN TO ME?!" 

Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron. 

 "What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. 

Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouthhung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem torecognize them. 

 "I don't know..." 

 Harry looked desperately around. 

Black and Lupin both gone... they had no one but Snape forcompany, still hanging, unconscious, in midair. 

 "We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of hiseyes, trying to think straight. "Come —"  

I put my arm right in front of Harry. 

"Selene, this is not  the time!" Harry yelped. 

"We'll go," I said, ignoring him. 

"Fantastic," said Harry, calming down. "Take Ron, and Snape and leave. Now!" 

Neville stared at us. "What- who - who was the rat?" he asked. 

"No time for questions," I snapped as Fred and George grabbed an arm of Ron and hauled him onto their backs.