Brilliance is Corruptable

Chapter Five

Briar spent the entire month well- following, abusing the secret passages, writing notes- but all with little results.

To put it bluntly, Professor Lupin was boring. It seemed all he did was teach, grade papers, eat and sleep. He barely even left the castle- only once did he head to Hogsmeade for extra supplies. Although, Briar was certain that Lupin was beginning to become suspicious. One evening, after curfew, when Lupin was taking a stroll through the hallways- her following behind stealthily- he had shot constant looks over his shoulder, and even peeked behind a statuette of a Gargoyle.

But all he did on that nightly stroll was head to the library to sort through a selection of books- only to come back with nothing, and head right back to his office.

However, on the last day of keeping possession of the map, with Briar cozied up in her bed, and sleepily watching Lupin stride through the hallways, did she find that he had left the castle.

She sat upright, wide-awake. She flung her sheets off and struggled into a set of jeans and her jumper. - Earning only mild grumbles from her roommates.

Briar made it quickly out of the castle following the same path that Lupin had taken. With a quick look at the map, panic seized her as she saw Lupin was no longer there!

He must be out of the grounds.

Her anxiety grew, as she realised she couldn’t leave the grounds due to the Dementors. She hissed crossly, glowering down at the map- a passageway!

It was the Whomping Willow, she had seen a tiny route once that had led out of the map. She mulled over the idea, her feet moving on their own accord, sprinting across the grounds- stealth forgotten.

It was only a short sprint to the Whomping Willow; the second she neared it, a branch swung out at her- clipping her sharply in the shoulder.

”Impedimenta!” she flicked her wand. The Whomping Willow had been frozen in place, where not a branch quivered or a leaf fluttered.

Spotting the tiny passage way, located at the base of its trunk, Briar dove into the hollowed out base.

There was little crawl room, she was thankful she wore an older pair of jeans, for there was no washing out the stains of… whatever was down there.

Peeking once more at her map- squinting due to lack of light- she found herself no longer in the grounds of Hogwarts.

The passage way grew shorter and shorter, ending with a tiny ladder upwards. Climbing the ladder, and pushing up the plank of wood covering the exit; Briar was met with a shabby little room, where everything was broken, and only a collapsing set of stairs remained.

Briar followed the stairs slowly, flinching at every creak and squeal the wooden stairs made.

The upstairs consisted of only one room- every bit of furniture was in pieces- the door to the room itself had deep scratch marks, as though an animal had been trying to escape the room.

In a corner of the room, curled up on the floor was a large brown… thing. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was- or even if it was still alive. Warily, she approached the thing, the closer she got she was sure it was breathing.

A slow whine emitted from it, she froze, backing up at step.

It couldn’t be a dog, it was WAY too big to be a dog.

She took a tentative step forwards, drawing out her wand as a precaution. As she was only a foot away, the beast reared its head at her. A gasp left her lips as it bared its teeth warningly, a low rumbling spilling from its throat- its brown eyes, bulbous and fierce-looking, showed an almost tame look. The beast itself was a muddle of contradiction, gentle, but frightening eyes, a large body but retracted and curled up in a submissive way…

“Pro-Professor Lupin?” she tried, stuttering slightly. It’s large, pointed ears twitched mildly, and it’s growling deepened. She stepped back further, shooting a firm look at the werewolf. “Professor Lupin,” she repeated, almost ensuring herself.

Its ears dropped, his muzzle falling back down onto his mighty leg. His growling stopped as well; a small sense of victory- admittedly with a dose of fear- rose in her chest. She grinned, settling herself on the opposite end of the room, wand still firm in her grip.

“I don’t know if you can understand me- seeing as I’m not sure how potent Snape’s Wolfsbane Potion is- but I’ll try just in case,” she took a deep breath, “I-I’m going to stay with you here.-“

Lupin snarled at her, it was obvious he did not like that notion whatsoever. Briar shot her Professor and look, “If anything you owe me an explanation, Professor. And besides-“her normally sharp, electric blue eyes soften, “-it’s rather lonely spending the night like this all by yourself, isn’t it?”

_______________________________________________

I do not own Harry Potter/characters/etc.

-AL