Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 78

With a nervous sigh, Jenna got up from her seat and left the field, transforming back to Crookshanks when she was sure to be out of sight. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear, though the moon was already out.

      Jenna soon made her way down to Hagrid's hut in her cat form, where she sighted a large black dog from afar, laying down beside the pumpkin patch.

     "What happened?" Padfoot's head snapped up when he saw the ginger cat making her way over him.

     "The task started just a few minutes ago. I waited until all of them had entered the maze," Crookshanks replied, laying down beside him. "Now we'll just have to wait for Dumbledore to send someone for us whenever the tournament is over and Harry's back."

      Padfoot and Crookshanks waited beneath the starry sky, laying beside the pumpkin patch as they waited for Dumbledore to come and inform them of the match's results. But it seemed to be taking longer than they had expected.

     Although their heads snapped up when from afar, they saw someone approaching them. It was Professor McGonagall. The cat and the dog got up to their paws, watching her walk down the path and toward them.

     Jenna doubted if McGonagall knew who they were, because the Professor seemed highly confused to be there, though she looked extremely dazed for some reason.

     It was only when Professor McGonagall had reached them that Jenna realized how pale she was. And it was at that moment when they both knew something had to be wrong.

With that, Professor McGonagall turned to glance down at the dog, still looking confused. "Er... Professor Dumbledore asked me to accompany you to his office."

Jenna knew something wasn't right, and the pallid and horrified expression on McGonagall's face said it all. So in a bilnk of an eye, Jenna transformed back to her human form.

"Oh, Merlin —" McGonagall gasped in shock, putting a hand over her fast bearing heart as she stared at Jenna. "You startled me, Potter! I didn't realize you were the cat!"

"What's the matter, Professor?" Jenna questioned urgently, ignoring her last remark.

Professor McGonagall looked back at her for a second longer, her eyes filled with worry and her lips slightly shaking.

"Cedric Digorry... he... he's dead," Professor McGonagall whispered. Jenna felt her heart sink painfully in her chest. But she hadn't even said the worst yet. "The Cup was a Portkey. Harry and Cedric took it at the same time, and it — it took them away to a graveyard — where You-Know-Who awaited them."

"What!?" It was Sirius who had exclaimed this time, abruptly transforming back to human at those words.

"Oh, good Lord!" Professor McGonagall yelped this time at his sight and briskly took a step back in horror.

With a shaky hand and wide eyes, she drew out her wand and pointed it at Sirius, but Jenna was quick to jump in front of him protectively.

"Sirius is innocent, Professor! Believe me!" Jenna said as she breathed heavily, not having the time and nerve for explanation. "Dumbledore believes this too. So if you trust him, you must trust Sirius, too."

With her round eyes still fixed on Sirius, Professor McGonagall finally lowered her shaky arm hesitantly, though kept holding on to her wand.

"What happened to Harry!?" Sirius asked in a rush. "Where is he!? Is he safe!?"

"He's safe. For now. Harry returned and he's with Professor Dumbledore right now," McGonagall muttered weakly. "But I'm not sure if any of us will be safe anymore from this day on... You-Know-Who is back."

Jenna felt her whole body freeze on the spot. It was as if no air was left for her to breathe. In a blink of an eye, her life flashed before her eyes. Voldemort was back. Just like the last time. She remembered the war. The fear. The terror. The feeling of loss and the fear of losing even more.

"How — how..." Jenna tried to say, but she just couldn't get the words out. It was as if she had forgotten how to speak.

"Barty Crouch Jr... he had kept the real Alastor captive throughout the year, making Polyjuice potion and going under cover as him..." McGonagall explained. She looked more scared and shocked than Jenna had ever seen her since the day she knew the woman. "He was the one responsible for sending Harry away to the graveyard."

"But how is Voldemort back!?" Sirius was almost yelling, losing control of his nerves.

McGonagall nearly winced at the mention of the name, but she held herself back. "I'm not sure. I don't know the whole story. But Professor Dumbledore wants you in his office, Mr. Black. I'm sure he has an explanation for all of this."

McGonagall still wasn't used to the fact that the supposed murderer was standing before her, but if Sirius was here under Dumbledore's orders, then she had to trust him as well.

By that, Sirius nodded weakly, at loss for words. But when he turned to face Jenna, he found her eyes red with tears, as she was staring down at her feet without blinking.

He knew that she was scared. He was too, even though neither of them were going to admit it, because none of them knew what the future held.

So in silence, he went forward and brought her into a long hug, tightening his embrace around her comfortingly, holding her close to his chest.

"I know..." he whispered in her ear. "We'll — we'll find a way through this. We'll... protect him."

"This is not how it was supposed to be," Jenna whispered, pulling away slightly to look up into his grey eyes, which were filled with worry just like hers.

"I know, Jenny. I know..." he said softly, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before pulling back.

      Sirius then tried to bring a small smile to his face as he placed a strand of her brown hair behind her ear the way he always did.

      "I love you," he said in a soft whisper before finally turning away from her.

Jenna watched as Sirius left with Professor McGonagall by his side, making their way back toward the castle after he had transformed into a dog.

She stood transfixed on the spot, her heart throbbing and her lips trembling as she thought back on what McGonagall had told them.

Voldemort was back, meaning that another war was raging on. And this time, Jenna didn't know if they were going to survive it or not.