Holding a folded sheet of paper in his hand, Grid regarded the enormous tree before him with mild interest.
I find myself genuinely curious what these children had in mind.
The note had "accidentally" appeared on his desk — delivered by rat post, to be precise — while he had been "engrossed" in a book in the library. The message, remarkable as it was, purported to be from Lily, asking him to come to the great tree on the school grounds that evening, slip through the gap between the roots, make his way to a certain small house, and wait for her there, as she wished to have a very serious conversation.
Grid might have believed the letter was from Lily — were it not for two details. First: the "messenger" in the form of a rat carrying the faint magical signature of one of Potter's inner circle, Peter Pettigrew — the same unremarkable young man who had fetched the Head of Gryffindor to the lavatory. Second: the handwriting, which only vaguely resembled Lily's.
Pocketing the letter, the mage looked back up at the enormous tree.
The Whomping Willow… a rather rare specimen of the Weeping Willow subspecies. — He walked up close and pressed his palm to the thick trunk, a smile crossing his face. Exactly what I need. I didn't think I'd find such good material for my little projects so quickly. — Drawing his wand from his sleeve, Snape aimed it at the thick bark and made a circular motion. In the same instant a beam shot from the tip, forming an oval shape that sank smoothly several centimetres into the wood before contracting back to a single point. If I use telekinesis, I'll tire myself out quickly — I'll have to use a local spell. — Aiming the wand at the tree again, he smiled faintly as a two-metre section of bark began to shift away from the trunk. Wingardium Leviosa… a clever design. This formula keeps the magical cost remarkably low. This world never ceases to surprise me.
Seconds later, a rounded piece of wood roughly ten centimetres thick hovered before him.
"Not bad. That should be enough for practice and a first batch." — the wizard nodded, set it down on the ground, and looked up at the sky. In that instant his face was bathed in a grey light. A full moon… The Whomping Willow… the werewolf boy… Now it makes sense what they were planning. That's evidently why they disabled the tree's protective mechanism — so I could pass through the gap beneath it without difficulty and reach whatever it was guarding. What surprises me more, honestly, is how the Headmaster and the teachers permit a werewolf to study alongside ordinary wizards. — But then he recalled the Basilisk residing beneath the castle, and all his bewilderment simply evaporated. If I ever have children of my own, I am most certainly not sending them to this particular establishment.
After examining the tree for a few more minutes, the mage walked calmly to the hidden passage and went inside.
A few minutes after Grid's departure, three figures in Hogwarts student robes emerged from behind a small ridge.
"I told you that fool would take the bait! I can't believe he turned out to be such an idiot," — Potter said with a gloating smirk.
"James, are you sure about this?" — his dark-haired friend interrupted, his handsome face — the kind that wouldn't have looked out of place among Slytherin's aristocrats — furrowed in a frown. "Lupin might actually bite him. Then it won't just be Snape in trouble — it'll be us too."
"Relax, Padfoot. I spoke to him beforehand — he'll try to hold himself back. And even if that damn Snivellus does get hurt, that's on him — he walked straight into the wolf's mouth of his own accord. Besides, don't you want payback?" — Potter looked at them with a challenging grin. "Thanks to him we've been suspended for three months. And that's the least of it — imagine what's going to happen tomorrow when our parents show up. Especially your grandmother," — at the mention of his grandmother, the dark-haired boy's face creased in displeasure.
"You're right. But we should still follow him — we can't let him die. If something goes wrong, Moony will be finished."
"Of course. That's exactly what I was about to suggest."
"You were just stalling."
James said nothing in reply, but the smile fading from his face told Sirius he had hit the mark. And though Sirius knew they had gone too far, he could not bring himself to rein his friend in — nor did he truly want to.
"Wormtail, stay here. If you see anyone coming, activate the tree — you know where the knot is."
"Got it." — Pettigrew nodded and transformed before their eyes into a rather large rat, scurrying up onto the tree.
As they approached the Whomping Willow, the two boys looked with mild surprise at the chunk of wood lying on the ground near the passage.
"What did he want that for?"
"Who knows what's going on in that dullard's head."
At that same moment, Grid finally emerged from the tunnel. Looking around, he spotted the village of Hogsmeade not far off, and Hogwarts itself a couple of kilometres away.
"There's the little house," — he turned his gaze with a smile toward a dilapidated shack, from which came the sounds of growling and whimpering. "So my thinking was correct. These children planned to sic a werewolf on me — and they couldn't even be bothered to cast a silencing charm on the building. Hopeless amateurs."
In the next instant the door of the shack flew open with a crash, and out stepped a creature in vaguely humanoid form — resembling a wolf that had been forced upright. Its body was covered in thick fur, its head and limbs barely distinguishable from a wolf's, and the razor-sharp fangs in its snapping maw and the feral eyes stirred nothing in Grid but pity. Not fear. Not awe. Pity.
A wretched sight. In all my life I have never seen anything so pitiful. — Instead of the enormous musculature the mage had expected, there were only bones wrapped in skin. And this is a werewolf… shameful.
RAAAAR! — The creature snarled at the wizard and lunged straight for Snape, who merely gave a contemptuous sniff.
"A disgrace to werewolves everywhere." — Raising his palm, he conjured a transparent barrier in front of himself without much effort, against which the creature's claws scraped with an unpleasant screech. "You can't even break through a barrier this weak." — He drew his wand from his sleeve and aimed it directly at the werewolf's forehead. "Should I just kill you?" — but Grid shook his head and dismissed the idea. Too much trouble. — And in that moment the claws finally managed to breach the barrier — but Snape himself used wind magic to fly a good ten metres backward, then aimed his wand at the werewolf again. A glowing rope shot from the tip and bound the creature's arms without difficulty, then its legs, and it fell to the ground with a dull thud, still snarling at the wizard. "Quiet down, boy — or I'll castrate you right now and you'll be a very well-behaved little pet indeed." — He bared his teeth in a sinister grin and directed his wand toward Lupin's lower half.
As if understanding what Snape had said — and clearly registering where the wand was pointed — the creature immediately began to whimper, though it continued to growl intermittently, making plain that the moment the mage tried it, it would tear him to pieces.
"Oh? Threatening me?" — Grid smirked and stepped right up to the werewolf. "Freeze." — The tip of his wand flashed blue, and the creature went rigid, eyes bulging and jaws hanging half-open. "Be grateful I don't need the trouble. But if you keep looking at me like that, I'll knock out every last one of your teeth." — He tapped his wand against the fangs and settled himself on top of the immobilised werewolf with the air of someone claiming a chair, then turned his gaze toward the tunnel from which he had emerged. "You know, I've been waiting for you." — the mage smiled at James and Sirius, who stood gaping at him in disbelief. "Don't just stand there — come on out."
Instead of answering, they immediately raised their wands at Grid.
"Step away from Lupin!"
"Or what? You'll go to the Headmaster? The Head of House?"
"Snape! I said: step away from him!"
"No, I don't feel like it. And who decided you were the ones setting terms? Don't you see my wand is closer to this werewolf's throat than yours is to anything? One wrong move and I might accidentally cast your favourite Bombarda and blow your friend's head clean off — and nothing would happen to me. I'd say he attacked me and I was defending myself."
"What do you want?" — Sirius asked, fixing a grim stare on Snape, his eyes never leaving the wand pressed against their friend's neck.
"Glad at least one of you can think. As it happens, I want very little — just the artefact you used to find me in the lavatory that day." — After all, these were children, and Grid had no difficulty reading the surprise beneath their confusion, which confirmed what he had suspected: the Marauders possessed exactly such an artefact.
"What are you talking about, we don't have any—"
"If you keep playing dumb, I'll start by taking his ear." — The wand, its tip glowing blue, shifted from the throat to the werewolf's ear. "And don't bother telling me you followed me on foot or that your friend is an unregistered Animagus. I'm giving you three seconds. One—" — the light at the wand tip grew brighter.
"We don't have any—!"
"Two."
"Just give it all to him—"
"Three. Secto—"
"FINE!" — James snarled through clenched teeth, unable to hold out any longer. He pulled a piece of parchment resembling a small booklet from his sleeve and threw it toward Snape. In the same instant the two friends exchanged a glance and gave a brief nod.
"Hm?" — Grid raised his palm and caught it with a smile. "And how does one open it? What's the password?"
"'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!'" — Potter spat, to which Grid simply nodded.
"And to close it?"
"'Mischief managed!'"
"Understood. Not bad at all." — The mage slipped it into his sleeve, smiling as he watched the mildly crestfallen expressions on the two wizards' faces. "Did you think I was going to open it right this moment? What if it's a trap?"
James merely snorted in response, slowly lowering his wand.
"Now let him go."
"Of course. Everyone step back— Obliviate!" — Turning his palm toward them and snapping the word sharply, Snape caught both wizards completely off-guard. The spell struck almost instantaneously, and both froze in place, staring blankly ahead. "Did you think I was going to let you go just like that?" — Grid climbed off the werewolf with a sniff, walking toward them at a measured pace. You saw far too much today — I'll have to clean up your memories a little. A couple of hours should suffice. — Standing before the two frozen wizards, he pressed his wand to Sirius's forehead and whispered again: "Obliviate." — Once I'm done with these two, I mustn't forget about the rat. — Having finished with the first and erased the past seven hours, he moved to the second. Hm… though honestly, this feels like getting off rather lightly. — His gaze drifted for a moment to the werewolf lying on the ground, and a diabolical plan took shape in his mind for a far more fitting punishment. Good thing I studied dream magic — the nightmare branch in particular.
In James Potter's dream.
Drifting through a thick grey fog, the young man had no idea where he was.
"What is this place? Is anyone there?!"
Only silence answered him — a silence that was beginning to unsettle the wizard.
"J-James…"
Hearing a faint voice, the young wizard felt a surge of relief — he recognised it immediately.
"Lupin, where are you?!"
"O-over here… cough! cough!"
A few minutes later he finally broke through the fog and stepped out onto a wide clearing. His werewolf friend sat slumped against an enormous tree, still coughing, his face a ghastly white.
"Moony, what's wrong?!" — Potter ran up to him in alarm. Whatever his faults — and they were many — he genuinely cared for his friends. That, Grid had to admit, might have been the only quality about him worthy of any respect.
"H-help me…"
"With what?!"
"I— Argh! Get back — I can't control myself!" — He shoved James away violently and transformed with terrifying speed into a werewolf.
"Lupin, calm down — I'm your friend…" — the wizard said with a smile as he got to his feet — but the moment he looked down, he swallowed hard. Between the creature's legs, standing to full attention, was a presence measuring rather more than thirty centimetres. "L-Lupin… easy now…" — Potter thrust his hand into his sleeve but found no wand, and at that precise moment his friend began moving toward him.
"H-help… I'm so w-warm…"
"Stay right there! Don't come any closer!"
James turned and ran for the fog at full speed without looking back — but how does one outrun a werewolf? The creature closed the distance rapidly, and the expression on the wizard's face contorted with pure terror. Then, at one terrible moment, he "accidentally" stumbled and crashed to the ground. He hadn't even managed to get up when he felt a crushing weight descend on his back. He refused to surrender and scrambled onto all fours, ready to run again — but his legs would not obey, and a moment later Potter felt a chill at his rear and hot breath on the back of his neck, and then — PAIN.
The Animagus Registry is a registration service of the Ministry of Magic, administered by the Improper Use of Magic Office within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. All Animagi are required to register without exception. Failure to do so is punishable by a sentence in Azkaban. These measures exist to prevent Animagi from using their abilities for surveillance and espionage.
Azkaban is the prison for wizards who have violated the laws of the magical world, guarded by Dementors.