Harry stood up and helped Hermione to her feet. They both pulled out their wands and muttered "Lumos". The light erupting from the tips of their wands illuminated the dark tunnel enough that they could see that they were standing in a narrow passage without an end in sight and no sign of Ron or the black dog. They set off down the passage and had been walking for what seemed to be 20 minutes before the passage began to slope upwards. The darkness seemed to be thinning out the higher the passage climbed. Finally they came to a wooden barrier at the end of the tunnel that appeared to be a door. They slowly pushed the door open and stepped into a dimly lit room.
"I think I know where we are. I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione whispered. They crossed the room as quietly as possible and came to an old wooden staircase. As they creeped up the stairs they could hear voices from the second floor. It sounded like Ron! With their wands drawn they pushed open the door and stepped into the room. Ron was lying on a bed with a terrified look on his face. His leg had been broken. Crookshanks laid next to him purring.
"Harry! Run!" Ron shouted. "He's the dog! He's an animagus!"
Ron was pointing toward the shadows behind the door. A man with shaggy hair, an unkempt beard, ragged clothes, and a crazed look on his face stepped into the light. It was Sirius Black. Harry and Hermione wheeled around to face Black but he quickly disarmed them both.
"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!" Ron shouted at him.
Harry charged at Black and tackled him to the floor. He wrapped his hands around Black's throat and tried to choke him. Hermione started to kick Black in the side and he dropped their wands. Harry released Black's throat and grabbed their wands pointing his right at Black's chest.
"Are you going to kill me, Harry?" Black asked him with a chuckle. "Why don't you at least allow me the chance to tell you the full story?" Harry considered his request for a moment. There were footsteps on the floor below them. Hermione called for help and Professor Lupin burst into the room with his wand drawn. He began speaking directly to Black but he wasn't making any sense.
Lupin asked Sirius where "he" is. Harry wasn't sure who they were talking about, but Sirius pointed directly at Ron. Lupin pulled Sirius to his feet and hugged him. Hermione went ballistic and started screaming at Lupin. "I trusted you! And all this time you've been his friend and have been covering for him?!" Lupin tried to calm Hermione down.
"He's a werewolf!" She shouted to Harry and Ron. "That's why he's been missing classes!"
"Very good, Miss Granger. How long have you known?" Lupin asked calmly.
"Since Professor Snape assigned us that essay," she responded.
Harry and Ron joined Hermione in yelling at Lupin and Sirius who begged them to allow them a moment to explain.
I only learned the truth when I saw somebody on the Marauder's Map whom until recently I believed to be dead" Lupin said to Harry.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius cut in. "And he's here. In this very room right now!" Sirius pointed again at Ron.
"Me?" Ron said.
"Not you! Your rat!"
Scabbers was shaking violently in Ron's hands.
"You're both crazy," Harry said to them.
"Oh, come on Remus. Let's just get on with it!" Black shouted.
"Wait," Lupin responded. Harry deserves to know the truth.
"Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for," Black screamed.
"Here is the truth," Lupin said to Harry.
"After I was bitten by a werewolf, this shack was built to keep me away from civilization during my transformation and the Whomping Willow was planted over the entrance to the passage to keep anyone from accidentally happening upon me. This shack is said to be haunted because of the shrieks and screams that were regularly heard here during the full moon while I was transformed. James, Sirius, Peter, and I were all best friends at Hogwarts. When they learned the truth about what I was they all became unregistered animagi in order to keep me company while I was transformed. Peter became a rat, Sirius became a black dog, and your father became a stag. We all wandered around in our animal forms and started recording everything we had discovered and compiled it into the Marauder's Map. I debated all year about telling Dumbledore that Black was an animagus. Snape was right not to trust me."
Sirius perked up at the mention of Snape's name and Lupin explained that Sirius did not like Snape. "Sirius played a prank on Snape when we were at school. He lured Snape to the Shrieking Shack while I was transformed. Your dad actually pulled Snape back at the last minute and saved him from me. Dumbledore then forbade Snape from telling anyone that I was a werewolf."
The door crashed open. As if he was called, Snape burst into the room with his wand directed at Sirius. The two of them began hurling insults at one another. Snape had a mad glint in his eye. Harry shouted at Snape and told him to get over his old grudge. Snape momentarily shifted his gaze to Harry and insulted his father. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all raised their wands in unison and disarmed Snape. The force of their three spells sent Snape flying into the wall and he crumpled to the floor unconscious.
"Go on," harry said to Lupin. Sirius interrupted and continued the story from there. "I saw a picture in the Daily Prophet this summer of the Weasley family in Egypt. Right there on the front cover was your rat, Ron. I noticed that he was missing a toe."
"So?" said Ron.
"Didn't you ever hear, Ron? The only they could find of Pettigrew was his finger. It was Peter Pettigrew that was James and Lilly Potter's Secret keeper, not me. It was Peter Pettigrew that sold out the Potter's to Voldemort, and it was Peter Pettigrew that faked his death when I chased him down. Of course, I feel terrible Harry. I convinced your parents to switch their secret keeper to Peter. I figured that no one would ever suspect Peter. It was a mistake that I regret every day of my life."
"Show me." Harry muttered.
Sirius crossed the room and took Scabbers from Ron. He and Lupin cast a spell and Scabbers transformed into a short, balding man with rat like features. They all turned their wands on Peter Pettigrew and he proceeded to stutter and mumble out several lame and unbelievable excuses.
Hermione still wasn't completely sold so she asked Sirius how he had managed to escape from Azkaban. Sirius explained that his desire for revenge on Peter gave him the motivation he needed to escape. He managed to squeeze through the bars of his cell in his dog form and swam to shore away from Azkaban.
Pettigrew began pleading with everyone to spare his life. He broke down and admitted everything to them. He claimed that he was so terrified of Voldemort that he wasn't sure what else to do.
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" Sirius barked at him.
Sirius and Remus raised their wands higher and were getting ready to avenge James' death. "Stop!" Harry called. "My dad wouldn't want his friends to become murders."
Peter broke down and started sobbing as he ran forward to hug Harry. "Instead," Harry said as he pushed Pettigrew away. "We'll give him to the dementors. I'm sure that they will love to have him." Sirius and Remus tied Pettigrew up and levitated Snape's limp body. Harry and Hermione helped Ron up and they all made their way down the stairs to the underground passageway.
The trip back through the passage was extremely difficult with Ron's broken leg, a tied up Peter Pettigrew, and an unconscious Snape floating along behind them. They finally reached the end of the passage and Lupin tapped a certain knot on a tree root and the Whomping Willow stood motionless. They all emerged from under the tree and out onto the dark grounds. Harry and Sirius pulled Ron out of the tunnel and sat him in the grass nearby.
Sirius asked Harry to walk with him for a moment and they walked away from the rest of the crowd. Sirius stopped at a clearing in the trees and gazed up at the lighted castle against the dark sky for a minute before he spoke again. "I don't know if anyone ever told you, Harry, but before Lilly and James died they made me your Godfather."
"I know," Harry replied.
"And I'm not sure if you would have any interest in this and I would understand if you didn't, but when I'm cleared, I was wondering if you would like to come live with me."
"Are you insane? Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?" Harry responded.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted from behind them. "Come quick!"
Hermione and Lupin were standing around a cloaked figure lying in the grass that they hadn't noticed earlier. It was Ginny. She had gone looking for them and had been knocked unconscious by the Whomping Willow.
Sister Midnight (Ginny Weasley), a normal Hogwarts Student, was knocked out on night 6.
It is now day 7. With 5 players alive it takes 3 to lynch or 2 at deadline.
Vote Count
D34THBR1NG3R (0):
iSocialism (0):
King Hitler (0):
Rhizoctonia (0):
Wolfpacks (0):
No Lynch (0):
Not Voting: D34THBR1NG3R, iSocialism, King Hitler, Rhizoctonia, Wolfpacks
With 5 players alive it takes 3 to lynch or 2 at deadline.
Deadline is 12:00pm CST on Friday, December 2nd.
Sign In
Create Account
This topic is locked
Back to top
