𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 | 𝐟. 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

{ 43 }

── ⲇ ──

The four stood transfixed, the horror and shock was displayed upon their faces. They heard a wild howling noise.

"Hagrid..." Harry said and was about to turn back but Ron, Hermione, and Y/n held him back. "We can't..." Y/n told him. "We... we have to go or we'll get in trouble."

Hermione's breathing became shallow and uneven. "How could they..." she muttered, choking on her own words.

The four continued to head back to the castle. Ron stopped once again, Scabbers wouldn't stay still. "Scabbers, stay still!" Ron hissed. "Ow! He bit me."

"Ron, stay quiet." Hermione said urgently. "Fudge will be out any minute." Y/n told them.

Hermione's cat; Crookshanks soon appeared. They couldn't tell for sure if Crookshanks could see them or was just following the sounds Scabbers squeaking. Hermione pleaded Crookshanks to go away but the cat only treaded forward.

Scabbers managed to get out of Ron's grip and he scampered away, Crookshanks followed after him. Ron went after them.

"Son of a bitch." Y/n muttered and ran after Ron, Hermione and Harry followed as well.

"Get away from him, get away." They could hear Ron telling Crookshanks. There was a loud thump. "Gotcha!"

Y/n slid to him and helped him up. "Shove that rat in your pocket and let's go before Dumbledore and the minister sees us." She said, holding his arm.

Before the four could cover themselves, they heard the soft pounding of paws. It was an enormous, pale eyed, jet black dog that was bounding towards them.

The dog leapt and pounced over to them, jumping onto Harry. It soon got off of Harry and leapt towards Ron.

It dragged him away.

Before Y/n could do anything, she felt something hit her right across the face and she fell to the floor. She heard Hermione shriek then heard her fall as well. So did Harry.

Y/n groaned and grunted as she reached for her wand. She could taste metal and knew she was bleeding from her mouth. Blood trickled down her chin as well from her forehead and she felt a sting on her shoulder. She scraped it.

"Lumos." She said in a harsh whisper, hissing in pain. The wand lit up and she could see Ron being dragged away to the shadow of the Whomping Willow.

The tree's branches were creaking and moving wildly. At the base of the trunk was Ron being dragged backwards by the dog into a gap under the roots.

"Ron!" Harry shouted. Ron's leg could still be seen but then a loud crack let them know that his leg had been broken.

"We've got to go for help." Hermione cried. She was bleeding as well. "No! The thing's big enough to eat him, we haven't got time!" Harry said. "We're never going to get through without help!" She argued.

"If that dog could get in, so could we." Harry told them. "Help, help!" Hermione yelled frantically.

Crookshanks darted forward, avoiding the branches and placed its front paws on the tree. The tree stopped.

"Crookshanks? How did he know?" She said. Y/n stood up, walking over to Harry and Hermione, helping them up. "He's friends with that dog, I've seen them together." Harry told them.

"Let's just get Ron back." Y/n huffed, wiping the blood on her sleeve. They walked to the gap. Harry went down first, then Hermione and with one look back soon did Y/n.

"I really hope I'm wrong about where this leads to..." Y/n sighed.

The three of them set off, following after Crookshanks. The tunnel was long, almost as long as the one to Honeydukes. The path then twisted and they could see a patch of dim light.