Percy Jackson and the Hound of Hogwarts [Book 3]

58) Werewolf

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked timidly, staring at Snape's limp form.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," Lupin bent over him, checking his pulse. "You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this...."

"Mobilicorpus," he muttered. Snape moved to a standing position, looking like a puppet on strings. It made me immensely uncomfortable.

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

"I'll do it," Lupin said.

"And me," Ron said fiercely, limping forward. Black conjured heavy manacles. Pettigrew was soon upright, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm chained to Ron's left. Ron seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leapt off of the bed, leading us out of the room.

***

Getting into the tunnel was difficult. Pettigrew, Lupin, and Ron had to turn sideways do it. I could see them shambling awkwardly ahead of me.

"You know what this means?" Sirius abruptly said to Harry as we moved forward. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," Harry said simply.

"Yes..." Sirius said. "But I'm also -- I don't know if anyone ever told you -- I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that."

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," Sirius said stiffly. "If anything happened to them... I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle. But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..."

"What -- live with you?" Harry hit his head on the tunnel ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," Sirius said hurriedly. "I understand, I just thought I'd --"

"Are you insane?" Harry's voice was croaky. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

"You want to?" Sirius turned to look at Harry. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!"

Sirius's face broke into a bright smile.

No one spoke again until we had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks had darted up first, and pressed his paws against the knot in the trunk. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron awkwardly clambered out.  Snape was floated through the hole, then Sirius stopped, letting us pass through first. He climbed out after us.

The grounds were dark. The only light came from the distant Hogwarts windows. We set off towards the castle without a word. All we heard was Pettigrew's continuous wheezing and the occasional whimper.

A cloud shifted overhead. We were bathed in moonlight.

Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had stopped suddenly. Snape floated into Lupin's back, and Sirius flung out an arm, forcing us to stop.

Lupin had gone rigid. Then he began to shake.

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

"Run," Sirius whispered. "Run. Now."

I couldn't leave. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. Harry apparently had the same thought. We both ran forward, but Sirius caught us, throwing us back.

"Leave it to me -- RUN!"

Snarling rang throughout the night. His head was lengthening. His body was growing. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws.

As the werewolf reared, Sirius transformed. A moment later, the dog and the werewolf were locked jaw to jaw.

Pettigrew dove towards Lupin's dropped wand, and I dove towards him. Ron stumbled and fell. Pettigrew pointed the wand at me, and suddenly five glowing arrows shot out. I dodged two of them, but one caught me in the shoulder and another in the leg. The other one embedded itself deep into my stomach. They vaporized a moment later, but the wounds were still there.

I fell, and heard Hermione scream. My vision swam, but I could just make out her leaning over me.

"Sirius, he's gone! Pettigrew transformed!" Harry shouted, and I blinked the blurriness away. I sat up, and pain exploded throughout my system. I pushed it away once I saw Ron lying on the ground. His eyes were half-closed, and his mouth hung open. He was very much alive, but didn't seem to recognize any of us.

"What did he do to him?" I groaned, holding my hand over my bloody stomach.

"I don't know...." Harry murmured, staring down at his best friend.

"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," Harry looked around, glancing at Snape and Ron. "Come --"

From the darkness came yelping and whining; the sounds of a dog in pain.

Harry and Hermione ran, and I found myself sitting beside Ron, feeling sicker and worse as the seconds passed. I listened to the yelping of the dog, of Sirius Black, and I cringed when it stopped suddenly.

I didn't have much strength to sit left. I laid down, the pain fading from my stomach as I instead began to feel light-headed. Blood loss.

I closed my eyes for what felt like a second, and when I next opened them, Snape was kneeling over me, a hand on my stomach.

"Stay awake, Jackson," he said. "Stay awake."

Everything faded to black.

Half of the chapter got deleted, apparently. I had to restore it all, but I didn't really know what was going on. I figured it out eventually, but some stuff might not make sense. Sorry. Also, I guess I am now writing a story with some other people. More on that when the first chapter is posted. Um. We had to take family pictures the other day, and it sucks when your sister doesn't show up. Big suck. Also, have you guys seen Little Hope? I watched a playthrough and let me just say, that ending? Hella sexy. I did not expect it. A whole turn of events. Like ahh, I knew something was up when Andrew didn't get a whole murder scene, but woahhhh. Then Man of Medan was really good too. I don't want to spoil it, in case you guys want to see it, but those game makers are really good at making twists lemme tell you. The next game, House of Ashes I think it's called, is coming out next year. I'm super excited. Like they are all just sexy games. So sexy. Twelve outta ten would watch again.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I hope you've had one funky and superb Sunday, and I'll see you on Tuesday. Oh, and uh, this might come as a surprise, but the last chapter and the epilogue are all that's left. Which basically means Tuesday is the last day imma post for the book. By now, you guys should know the drill. I post the last part, wait a week, then post the intro and the first five chapters for the next book. Six chapters, I think I said because I missed a post. But yeah. Tuesday is the last day. Anyway, love ya!