Invisible (III)

SEVENTEEN

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
chapter seventeen

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S P L I N T

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"Lily, you're wrong."

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Lily's mind has gone blank with shock. The four of them stand transfixed with horror under the Invisibility Cloak. The very last rays of the setting sun are casting a bloody light over the long-shadowed grounds. Then, behind them, they hear a wild howling.

"It can't be," Lily mutters.

Without thinking about what she's doing, she makes to turn back, but Harry seizes her arms.

"We can't," he says, paper-white.

"He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him..."

"B-But I'm never wrong..." Lily stutters, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"I'm never wrong!"

"It's all right, Lily. Come on."

After a bit of more struggling, Lily gives up and her knees almost give out, but Harry's still holding her. She needs to see Buckbeak. He can't be dead if she saw him go into the Forest! Maybe Hagrid was wailing in relief? But then what did Macnair slash with his axe?

They set off back towards the castle, walking slowly to keep themselves hidden under the Cloak. Light is fading fast now. By the time they reach open ground, darkness is settling like a spell around them.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hisses, clamping his hand over his chest.

The rat is wriggling madly. Ron comes to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket.

"What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still - ouch! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispers urgently.

"Fudge'll be out here in a minute!"

"He won't - stay - put!"

Scabbers is plainly terrified. He is writhing with all his might, trying to break free of Ron's grip.

"What's the matter with him?"

But Lily has just seen - slinking towards them, his body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting eerily in the darkness - Crookshanks. Whether he can see them or is following the sound of Scabbers' squeaks, Lily can't tell.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione hisses.

"No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"

But the cat is getting nearer.

"Scabbers - no!"

Too late - the rat has slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks springs after him, and before Harry or Hermione can stop him, Ron has thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness.