The Past Meets the Future at Hogwarts: Part 3

Chapter 30: Leo

I'd be lying if I said that Buckbeak's death hadn't bothered me. That bird, horse thing had definitely been innocent, but it showed how corrupt the wizarding world could be. It marked that there were definitely some wizards out there who would do anything to have wealth and power on their sides.

Our journey back to the castle took way too long. Way too long. Jason, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I barely all fit underneath the cloak making it nearly impossible to walk. On top of that, Ron's rat kept trying to escape.

"Scabbers -- NO!" Ron yelled as the rat jumped out of his arms. Ron went running after his rat, and Crookshanks appeared out of no where to follow him. Harry and Hermione threw off the invisibility cloak and went running after Ron.

Jason and I exchanged looks before sprinting off too. We were followed by Zagan who was now in human form and the entire Jackson/Chase family.

The chase ended when Ron jumped on top of his rat and stopped dead in his tracks. "Ron -- come on back under the cloak --" Hermione panted. "Dumbledore the Minister -- they'll be coming back out in a minute --"

That didn't happen. Instead a large black dog bounded in out of no where and jumped on Harry. Victoria shouted and tried to push the dog away, but the dog was no longer aiming for Harry.

It grabbed Ron's arm and started tugging him away. I tried to chase after him, but it was no use. Something slapped across my stomach, and I looked around wildly to see what other animal had appeared.

The others all lit the tips of their wands. I would have, but I didn't remember the charm. School was not my forte and the fact that I was passing was a miracle. "It's the Whomping Willow," Jason called out to me.

"Really. Can't the thing forgive us for last year already," I grumbled, trying to lighten the situation.

"We have to get to it's trunk," Annabeth called. "Ron's in trouble. He probably can't walk after his leg snapped like that."

That sent me into serious mode. Or as serious as I got. Luckily, the cat seemed to know how to get into the tree. It set a paw on the trunk, and the tree stilled. We all moved quickly to slip down the hatch. I was right behind Jason who was behind Harry and Hermione. Everyone else was behind us.

The walk took forever. What if we were too late? That dog didn't seem like it felt bad for eating humans. It definitely wasn't house trained or anything.

The path sloped upwards, and Crookshanks disappeared. We all appeared in a large room with boarded up windows. The entire place looked like a tornado had blown through it. "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione said quietly.

There was a shifting sound from upstairs, and we all shared a few glances before heading up the stairs.

The upstairs area had a large four poster bed that Ron was leaned against. Crookshanks was lying on the bed above him. "Ron -- are you okay?" Hermoine asked

"Where's the dog?" Harry asked.

"Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. I frowned at that. I didn't like the sound of not a dog. "Harry, it's a trap --"

"What --"

"He's the dog... he's an Animagus."

Ron pointed to the door that swung shut. Standing behind it was the most frail man I had ever seen. He had sunken eyes and greasy black hair. I gulped and glanced back at Harry. This was definitely the big challenge of the year. After all, what could be worse than Sirius Black standing behind a door with a wand.