Chloe Cullen 3 - A Harry Potter and Twilight Crossover

Chapter 15: Shock

We stand there, silent. Not moving. Behind us we hear howling. Harry goes to turn back, but we grab his arms. "We can't! He'll be in worse trouble if they figure out we've been there," I hiss at him. "How - could - they?" Hermione chokes. "How could they?" "Come on," says Ron, whose teeth are chattering. We walk slowly back to the castle. "Scabbers, keep still," Ron hisses. Scabbers still wriggles madly. Ron stops suddenly. "What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still - OUCH! He bit me!" "Ron, be quiet! Fudge'll be out here in a minute -" I hiss. "He won't - stay - put -" "What's his problem?" I hiss as I look at our surroundings, watching for Fudge. Walking towards us, his body low, is Crookshanks. "Crookshanks! Now, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!" The cat gets nearer. "Scabbers - NO!" The rat slips between his fingers and gets away. Ron immediately throws the invisibility cloak off him and runs after the rat. I grown and follow. I have a much better chance of catching the rat. I have better eyesight and I'm faster and stronger.

In the grass, I can see little tufts of grass moving. I push Ron out of my way, and at the perfect angle, I leap and manage to grasp both Scabbers and Crookshanks. "Get off, Crookshanks," I growl at the cat. I feel Harry, Ron, and Hermione trip over me. "Get under the cloak!" Hermione pants. Before we can, though, we hear pounding of gigantic paws. I look up and I see an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog. The dog makes a big leap and hits Harry in the chest, making him keel over backwards. I think the dog is going to go for Harry, so I stand up with Scabbers firmly in my hand, still struggling (but not successfully). I start to go for my wand when I feel sharp teeth in my hand and before I know it, I'm being thrown on the ground. "Don't just stand there, do something!" I shout at the other three, but it's too late. I try to fight the dog, but with Scabbers in one hand and the other bleeding at an alarming rate, there's not much I can do with my hands, and I can't reach his head with my feet.

We seem to be going toward a tree I instantly recognize as the Whomping willow. No, we're going under it. As I'm bending backward to try and kick the dog on the face, I can feel a sharp thud on my lower back, making me scream out. The tree flings me further into the tunnel, but the dog doesn't seem to care. I'm dragged further and further into the tunnel. I fight, scream, but nothing works. "OH MY GOD, WOULD YOU STOP! YOU'RE RUINING MY HAIR!" I scream. Nothing. The further and further we go, the harder and harder it gets to fight. My back is killing me. It probably has welts on it now, and the intense dragging doesn't help. It seems to go on forever. I try and wriggle my arm from the dog's mouth, but he only grabs it tighter.

Just as I think this tunnel has no end, I hit something I wasn't expecting. We hit a room. I don't have time to look around as I'm being dragged upstairs. Finally the dog lets go. I lay there for a second, gasping in pain. My back is killing me and my wrist is bleeding. I look at it, and it's not healing. Why? Then my eyes get wide. I heal normally only when something magical hurts me. This dog must be magic of some kind! I painfully scramble up and look around. This has to be the shrieking shack. Where else could it be? The boarded up walls, broken furniture. Out of nowhere, I hear a voice.

"This can be easy, or this can be difficult," I hear a man say. I snap my head in the direction of the voice and when I see who it is, I briefly forget about my pain. In front of me is a man who, at first glance, looks like a skeleton. He has filthy, matted black hair that hangs to his elbows. His eyes are in deep dark sockets and his waxy skin is stretched as tight as it can go over his face. Sirius Black. And he's pointing my wand at me. Hid yellow teeth are bared in a grin. Before he can get a chance to say anything more, I speak. "I'm not afraid of you." He looks at me, observing. I look quickly around the room. Where to run, where to run. I measure the distance between me and him, and then me and the door. Before I even act upon my plan, I suddenly feel rope being wrapped tightly around me, making me scream. The rope is rubbing against the welt on my back and it doesn't feel nice.