Chapter 11: Shrieking Shack, Answers and Dementors
"Oh man, how the hell are we gonna get past the tree?" Mia asked as she, Hermione and Harry stood a safe distance away, thinking about how they were going to get past it. The tree's branches were already swinging, trying to stretch out and hit someone or something in its frustration.
"Think like practice," Harry told them. "Duck and Roll. Jump and bounce."
"And I thought we were suppose to use those tactics against spells, not branches," Hermione informed him.
"Same thing," Harry shot back. "On three. One, Two, Three!" they all ran forward, jumping out the way as a branch swiped at them. They managed to duck and roll whenever a branch swung into their area until finally Mia reached the hole and slid down.
Harry jumped as a branch tried to swipe his feet from underneath him only to be flung sideways as another branch hit him in the middle of his jump. Hermione jumped up and grabbed onto a branch.
The tree wasn't happy and decided to make that fact known to the girl that had dared to cling onto it. The branch swung wildly in a futile attempt to dislodge its unwanted passenger. Then the tree apparently decided to try another tactic and tried to bash the girl against other branches.
Harry was watching Hermione and trying to find someway to save her. He stood up to try and grab her, but Hermione grabbed his shirt instead and yanked him along with her. She correctly timed the next swing and let Harry go, throwing him down the hole.
Harry landed on his back with a large thud and a groan. He was sitting up when another body collided with his, knocking him back onto the ground.
"Sorry," Hermione apologised as she got up on her arms. Harry nodded.
"Could you please get off me?" Harry asked softly as he tried to ignore his body's reaction. He couldn't believe his body sometimes - they were in the middle of a rescues mission and it was trying to show Hermione just how attracted to her he was.
Hermione climbed off him before helping him up and they both saw Mia standing there.
"Boy, you two sure take your time, don't you?" she asked, trying to imply that their delay was caused by something other than difficulty with the tree. But of course Harry and Hermione didn't get it as they led the way down the passage.
"Where do you think this leads?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know - the map shows that it leads down into Hogsmeade but it never showed when it stopped," Harry explained.
They hurried through the passage as fast as they could. Finally they reached some stairs that they started to climb before Harry felt his head hit something hard. "Damnit!" he rubbed the top of his head before he pushed the wooden trapdoor out of the way. He looked over the edge to see that he had arrived in some sort of house.
He climbed through the trapdoor before helping Hermione and then helping Mia through.
Mia brushed her hands on her robes, brushing away the dirt on her hands.
"Where the hells are we?" Mia asked as she looked around. The building had definitely seen better times. The floor was dusty and the walls were creaking in the wind.
"I have a feeling about where we are," Harry told them. "But I hope I'm wrong." With that, he took Hermione's hand and led her up the stairs with Mia taking up the rear.
They came to a stop at a door at the top of the stairs. Harry slowly pushed it open. When they peeked into the room they saw Ron, much to their relief.
"Ron!" Harry exclaimed as he and Hermione hurried over to him. He was sitting on an old mouldy mattress and his leg was slightly bandaged. "Where's the dog?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head.
"It wasn't a dog!" Ron exclaimed before he pointed to behind Mia. "It was him!" The door behind Mia creaked, causing all three of them to spin around only to let out a sigh of relief when a familiar face came into view.
"Dad!" Mia exclaimed as she ran over to him and hugged him tight before pulling away and hitting him on the shoulder. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" she demanded.
"Getting what I want," Sirius told them as he moved over to Ron. "Where's the rat?"
"What is going on?" Hermione demanded only to get no answer. "Why do you want Ron's pet?"
"Because he…" Sirius started but was cut off when the door opened, revealing Remus Lupin standing in the doorway. He stared at Sirius with a look akin to shock, yet it was underpinned with a faint look of hope as well.
"Remus?" Sirius asked, refusing to believe that his old friend was standing in front of him.
"Sirius," Remus greeted before they embraced each other in a hug.
"Great, now that we're all acquainted, does someone want to tell me why you want my rat?" Ron exclaimed.
"Because it's not a rat," Sirius informed the red haired teenager, causing him to look at Sirius like he had lost his mind.
"Dad, just how long have you been like this?" Mia asked, worried about her father. Sirius chuckled.
"Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind," Sirius promised her. "That rat is not what you think it is."
"Scabbers been in my family for twelve years, don't you think we would know if he wasn't a rat?" Ron asked, curious about Sirius' accusations.
"Twelve years? An awfully long time for a common rat, isn't it?" Sirius asked and Lupin rolled his eyes.
"Get to the point Sirius," Lupin informed him.
"Fine, that rat is actually Peter," Sirius told them. Lupin looked at the rat with a curious look but Mia threw up her hands in confusion.
"Whoa, wait a minute, if the rat is Peter, then why would he stay a rat all this time? I mean, he spent almost three years in the same room as Harry - and as we know that he betrayed Harry's parents. So why wouldn't he try and kill Harry?" Mia asked.
"Because he may be weak but he's not that stupid. Harry is too powerful for Peter to take him on. Besides, he wouldn't do anything unless there's something in it for himself," Sirius explained to his daughter.
"Great, that's just great," Mia muttered under her breath when the doors slammed open once more, startling everyone. They turned to see Snape standing in the doorway. "Can my day get any worse?" Mia asked rhetorically.
Snape moved into the room, pointing his wand at Sirius, who was backing slowly away.
"I had hoped I'd be the one to catch you, Black," Snape informed him. Sirius just glared at Snape.
"What is your problem with Uncle Sirius?" Harry shouted as Hermione grabbed his hand to hold him back from attacking anyone.
"It's because I played a trick on him," Sirius told Harry out the side of his mouth while watching Snape warily. "He noticed that Remus was sneaking out of the castle once a month and got suspicious. I told him that if he was to press the knot at the base of the Whomping Willow tree and follow the path that he would find out what was going on." Hermione covered her mouth.
"And he almost met a full grown werewolf," Hermione gasped out and Mia closed her eyes.
"We were young at the time. Snape kept following us about, trying to get us expelled, and we thought it would get the greasy git to back off from us. But he just tried even harder to stick his nose into our lives!" Sirius explained.
"What does that have to do with my father?" Harry asked, curious.
"Your dad heard what Sirius had done and headed him off," Lupin explained. "Your dad risked his life to save Snape's."
"Very touching moment," Snape sneered. "But I'm afraid our tender moment is over. The Dementors are waiting for you, Black. Time to get what you deserve!"
"No! You're not taking him anywhere based on a stupid grudge!" Mia snapped.
"Hold your tongue Miss Black! For once you're not in trouble, so you'd think you would keep that mouth of yours shut!" Snape shouted, as he was about to wave his wand. Three people got theirs off first.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry, Hermione and Mia cried out together and all three spells hit Snape in the chest simultaneously, sending him flying backward.
"You just blasted Snape!" Ron uttered out in shock. "Oh man, we're gonna be in so much trouble when he wakes up."
"Okay, back to the original conversation," Harry ordered them. "How can you prove that the rat is Peter?"
"There's a spell, and it won't harm normal animals," Sirius told him. Ron thrust the rat into Lupin's hands and Lupin moved over next to Sirius.
They both pulled out their wands and muttered something under their breath. A bright blue light shot out of each wand and hit the rat, who slowly began to grow until it revealed a ragged looking man. His hair was balding in some patches and his front teeth were quite large. He tended to wiggle his nose every now and then; apparently no one was supposed to be in their animagus form for such a long period of time.
"Peter," Sirius and Lupin greeted coldly together as they stared down at the man who used to be one of their best friends.
"Sirius, Remus," Peter gasped out. "My oldest and dearest friends." He was about to scoot past them when Sirius' wand got in his way.
"Not leaving so fast are you?" Sirius asked. Ron just stared at Peter the whole time with a slack jaw.
"Wait, are you saying I had an animagus in my bed the whole time?" Ron demanded incredulously and Sirius nodded.
"I noticed the rat in the paper that told us that your family won the money and went on holiday. When I saw that Scabbers had a part missing from his paw in your family's picture, it hit me," Sirius explained. Understanding dawned on Hermione.
"The biggest part they ever found of Peter was his finger - the one he cut off," Hermione exclaimed.
"Why did you kill Lily and James?" Sirius hissed to the short man.
"I didn't want to!" Peter moaned. "The Dark Lord - he has powers - strong and dark powers, and he controlled me! What would you have done?"
"I would have DIED!" Sirius snarled. "Died rather than give up my friends to an egotistical bastard!"
Peter inched his way over towards the door only to flinch when he saw that Mia was now blocking the only exit.
"Don't even think about it," Mia hissed out, her blue eyes flaring and Peter felt a chill go down his back.
"So much like your mother you are," Peter told her and she gave a cold smile.
"Not that I will ever know, considering that you took her away from me before I could get to know her," Mia informed him.
Peter walked backwards. He was scared of Mia and she knew it. Callie was dangerous when she wanted to be and it seemed that she had passed that trait on to her daughter. "It's thank to you that we have had to live our lives without our parents," Mia told him, motioning towards Harry.
"I didn't mean to!" Peter wailed as he slumped down next to Ron and started pawing at his robes. "I was a good rat, wasn't I?" Peter pleaded. "You took care of me."
"Get away from me!" Ron exclaimed, shivering with disgust that he had let this man sleep in his bed.
Peter desperately turned to another person in the room and his eyes landed on Hermione. He crawled over to her, tugging at the bottom of her robes.
"Sweet girl, you wouldn't let them harm me, would you?" Peter pleaded. Hermione tugged at her robes, wanting to get away from the man as far as she could.
"Stay away from her!" Harry shouted as he grabbed the back of Peter and flung him across the room and away from Hermione before he stood in front of her. "You are not to go anywhere near her!"
Hermione gripped the back of Harry's jumper as she stood on tiptoes to look over his shoulder at what was happening.
"You look like you father, just like James…" Peter told him.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Sirius roared, causing everyone to jump. "How dare you look at Harry and remind him he looks like James when you caused their deaths!"
"That wasn't my fault!" Peter squeaked out.
"You handed them over to Voldemort; you gave them the key to their lives and destroyed it!" Sirius shot back.
"No," Peter moaned. "I was weak and he was strong."
"You should have died Peter! You should have known that we would kill you if we ever caught up with you," Lupin told him as he and Sirius lifted their wands, preparing themselves to kill Peter, who cowered on his knees in front of his oldest friends.
"No!" Harry jumped in front of Peter, placing himself in the way of the wands. Hermione covered her mouth when she saw this.
"Harry?" Sirius asked confused to what his nephew was doing.
"If you kill him, then you are just adding more charges to your list. We have to take him back up to the school and prove to them that he's alive and that you're innocent," Harry told him. "Uncle Sirius, you could be free tomorrow."
Sirius took a step back as realization dawned on him. He had his freedom right here, in the palm of his hand. All he had to do is what Harry told him and he would be free to walk in the sunlight among Diagon Alley without a bounty on his head.
"He's right," Remus agreed. "It would be nice to be with my best friend again." Sirius looked at Remus and he smiled before he looked at Harry.
"Okay, we'll do it your way," Sirius told him and Harry shot him a relived smile.
"Oh, thank you, thank you," Peter sobbed as he clutched the back of Harry's robes, only for Harry to yank it out of his hands.
"I'm not doing this for you. My parents and Aunt Callie deserve justice for what you have done to them and I'm making sure they get it," Harry shot at him.
"Thank you, it's more than I deserve," Peter told him and Harry snorted.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Harry told him before he looked at the others. "Lets get him out of here and up to the castle so we can finally bring this nightmare to an end." Everyone nodded in agreement.
Ron started to stand up in preparation to leave but his face turned paler as he did so, causing Mia to rush over him. She untied the bandage before she grabbed two sticks that were lying on the floor.
Mia placed the sticks on either side of Ron's leg and re-tied the bandage around him, tightening it as she went.
"Sorry," she told him when she saw the pain flitter across his face. "This is the one way to keep your leg stabilised till we get up to Madam Pomfrey. Otherwise you'll lose too much blood."
"It's alright, just get me out of here," Ron pleaded and Mia nodded as she stood up and moved round to Ron's side to help him up.
Harry moved toward Hermione, who was still staring at him in shock before she let loose.
"What is it with you?" Hermione demanded, startling Harry. "Why is it that you need to place yourself in danger year after year?"
"Hermione…" Harry started.
"Don't you ever do that to me again," Hermione exclaimed as she punched Harry's chest before burying her face there and holding onto him.
"Don't worry, she's just a little freaked out that Harry placed himself in front of your wands rather than shouting to get your attention," Mia explained from where she was helping Ron up. She had seen the confused look on the two men when they saw Hermione lose her temper with Harry and wondered what had brought that on.
"Oh, here, I'll help you," Remus told them as he moved over to the other side of Ron and helped him up. "Really Sirius, did you have to maul his leg?" Remus asked, aghast.
"Where would you have me bite him? His torso?" Sirius shot back as he bounded Snape and Peter up.
Harry and Mia rolled their eyes together before Harry turned to them.
"Come on, Hermione and I will lead the way. I have a feeling that if I don't get her out of here, she'll kick my ass," Harry told them as he led Hermione down the stairs. Ron was sandwiched between Lupin and Mia, who helped him down the stairs, while Sirius took up the rear, levitating a tied up Peter and an unconscious Snape behind them.
They finally made their way out of the hole under the Whomping Willow. Harry placed Hermione down on to the ground next to the lake before kneeling down in front of her and brushed away a strand of her hair.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking into her brown eyes. Hermione nodded.
"Yeah, just too many bombshells on top of each other. Plus my year hasn't made it any easier," she explained. Harry smiled.
"Yeah, I bet it hasn't," Harry teased, getting a smile out of Hermione as Mia and Lupin sat Ron down next to her. Harry turned to him. "You alright, mate?" Harry asked and Ron nodded as he gave Harry thumbs up.
"Never better," Ron groaned out, giving him a weak smile. Harry couldn't help but smile at Ron's brave attempt. Snape was set down next to Ron while Lupin looked him over.
"He's alive, but he will have a huge headache when he wakes up," Lupin told them and they nodded. Harry looked off to the side and saw that Sirius was standing a few feet away from them, looking towards Hogwarts.
"Stay here... I'll be right back," Harry told them before he moved over to Sirius.
"Don't you try anything Peter," Mia warned the balding man, who just shivered and kept his eyes focused down at the dirt in front of him.
"Uncle Sirius?" Harry asked as he moved closer to Sirius. Sirius looked to his side and smiled down at his nephew.
"Sorry for scaring you this year," Sirius apologised but Harry waved it away.
"It's Mia you should be saying sorry to. She has been a nightmare this year!" Harry exclaimed and Sirius chuckled. "No, I'm not kidding - she went to court." Sirius looked at him, shocked.
"What?" Sirius exclaimed and Harry grinned.
"Oh yea, you see, Hagrid got these hippogriffs, right, and Pansy went ahead and insulted one of them," Sirius winced and Harry nodded. "Yeah, so she went crying to her daddy and her daddy went to Malfoy. It ended up in a legal battle - Mia took on the role of defence. And man, was she scary or what? She chewed out the Ministry and Lucius all in the one go."
Sirius looked at his daughter, who was tending to Hermione while scolding Ron at the same time for something he had said and shook his head.
"Her mother was always a good fighter. But Mia - she's so dedicated when it comes to legal things like that - she'll make it big time in the muggle or the wizarding world," Sirius told Harry.
"Not to mention the time she chewed out Snape in class," Harry told him before moving over to his friends, leaving Sirius staring after Harry with a shocked look on his face before he followed Harry.
"How do you plan to do all this?" Lupin asked.
"Well, first we'll drag Peter into the castle. You will have to come with us and we'll tell Dumbledore everything. Uncle Sirius will have to stay hidden for the time being until the Ministry officially pardons him," Harry told them and Lupin nodded.
"Good plan," he told Harry before moving off a little way when a female voice caught everyone's attention.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted and everyone looked at her. "It's a full moon!" Startled, everyone spun around and saw the full moon coming out from behind the clouds. Lupin started to whine from the back of his throat as Sirius rushed over to Lupin and gripped his shoulders.
"Remus, old friend, did you take your potion?" Sirius demanded.
Mia looked over to where Peter was beginning to sneak away before she grabbed a rock and threw it hard at the back of Peter's head, causing him to let out a small shriek before he fell to the ground. She quickly went over and bound his hands and ankles so he wouldn't get loose again.
Lupin's head was flung back as his clothes started ripping from the pressure of Lupin's changing body. His hands went to his head and his skin started peeling away, revealing grey hair underneath. His nose got longer and formed a snout, while his hands moved down over his body, ripping away the rest of his clothing and skin. A grey werewolf now stood in place of Remus Lupin.
Lupin swung his arm, sending Sirius flying to the side before he looked around and saw the teenagers standing there. His yellow eyes narrowed in anticipation.
"Oh, not good," Ron moaned as Lupin made his way over to them.
Snape woke up with a blinding headache and saw Potter standing next to him. Fuelled on by a sudden rage, he stood up and made his way over the remaining distance towards Harry.
"Think you'll get away with striking me, Potter?" Snape demanded as he grabbed Harry's robes only to see that Harry wasn't looking at him, he was looking over Snape's shoulder.
Puzzled, Snape turned around only to pale even further when he saw a werewolf watching them closely. He spread his arms out in front the kids in an instinctive effort to protect them.
"Professor Lupin?" Hermione called out but Snape shook his head.
"He needs to take his potion before he can even recognise you, and he forgot to take it tonight," Snape explained.
"Oh my god!" Mia whispered as Snape shielded them from the werewolf. Lupin was about to strike at Snape when he was knocked sideways by a large black blur.
Everyone turned to see a black dog fighting with the werewolf and it dawned on them. Sirius had changed to his other form to protect them. Sirius hadn't changed into his animagus form very often at home for his own protection; if the neighbours saw Sirius as a dog running around the house it would have created a level of questioning that none of them were ready to deal with.
They watched as Sirius pulled Lupin down to the ground before Lupin bucked him back off, throwing him clear before chasing after him.
"Uncle Sirius!" Harry shouted as he slipped under Snape's arms and ran after them.
"Potter!" Snape shouted while Hermione screamed his name as she futilely fought Snape's grip. Harry only had one thing on his mind - get to Sirius before he lost him again.
"Dad!" Mia screamed as she chased after them both hot on Harry's heels. "Keep an eye on Peter, hit him again if he wakes up!" she shouted over her shoulder.
Harry came to a sudden stop when he saw the werewolf and the black dog fighting with each other again before the werewolf scored a hit with an arm, sending the dog flying over the hill.
"Uncle Sirius!" Harry shouted in fear only for the werewolf to spin around and lock his yellow eyes on Harry. Mia managed to slip past unnoticed as she hurried after her father while Harry distracted the werewolf from going after her. The werewolf let out a small growl as Harry kept backing away slowly. Just as the werewolf lifted his paw to strike a howling noise in the woods distracted him.
The werewolf stopped a few inches short of Harry and looked towards the woods with a puzzled moan before he turned back to Harry and bared his teeth. Another howl came from the woods and he bolted off in that direction, leaving Harry alone and unscathed before Harry frowned in puzzlement.
"I don't remember there being another werewolf in the forest," he muttered to himself before he hurried over to where Sirius had been flung over.
He found Sirius lying next to the shallow lake. Mia was shaking her dad, trying to get him to wake up but it wasn't working. She turned when she heard a noise and saw Harry behind her.
"Harry, the Dementors are coming! Dad won't wake up!" Mia explained as she pointed to the water. He saw it was beginning to ice over and Harry felt fear grip his heart as he hurried over to Mia, knelt down beside her and helped her try to rouse her dad. Sirius was unresponsive other than some soft mumbling. The Dementors' hold was taking over.
Mia's head snapped up and she gasped when she saw Dementors surrounding them. She grabbed Harry's robe sleeves, causing Harry to look at her before he looked up and paled too.
A single Dementor moved closer to Sirius and was about to bend down. Harry and Mia could see a small blue ball slipping out of Sirius' mouth and it hit them what it was. Sirius' soul.
"NO!" Mia screamed as Harry pulled out his wand.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted and a silvery mist shot out of his wand. Mia however had felt herself weakening and her eyes rolled up in the back of her head before she slumped down onto the ground next to her father.
Harry was reinforcing his good thoughts - Sirius being free, being together with Hermione, when all of a sudden a bright light shot out from over close to the woods.
Harry watched as a large silver stag almost systematically make its way across the icy lake, hitting each Dementor with its antlers and causing them to shriek in fear and agony. As each one was hit more and more of them flew away, unable to deal with the pure happiness that was attacking them.
Harry fell to his knees as he watched as the stag walk back over towards a familiar-looking male standing where the stag made its way over before darkness started to claim him.
"Dad?" he whispered before he fell backward as darkness claimed him.
TBC