ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ᴡᴀʟʟ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀꜱ ᴇʀᴀ

iii. the shrieking shack

Callie tightly clutched the blanket covering her and James. They glided through the long corridors of the Hogwarts castle, being as silent as they possibly could. The hallways were empty; the classes were starting but the four Gryffindors weren't in them.

Careful not to bump into anything, Callie kept herself close to James as they strode in perfect unison.

Outside the blanket, no one could see them. No one would suspect that there was a stranger who got into Hogwarts. No one would suspect that the stranger alongside a Marauder was going outside the castle. All thanks to James’ Invisibility Cloak.

Their destination was the Shrieking Shack. They believed it was the safest place to discuss the plan Callie had been talking about. It would also keep them from being caught. If Remus’ fury problem was never discovered, how could she?

They couldn't afford to answer tons of questions with the likes of who was Callie, how did she get there, what was her business, et cetera. They had to keep her existence a secret, at least for now. And the Shrieking Shack was the perfect place to hide.

Bringing down Voldemort seemed to be a near impossibility; the boys saw it like that at first. But Callie had this determined look that even if they had doubts, they agreed with her. It wouldn’t hurt to try right? Right?

The plan was to bring all of them inside the shack through the Whomping Willow. They would use James' invisibility cloak to not be spotted. James and Peter would go back and forth to take the three with them. 

Peter and James went first so Peter could paralyse the tree. Then James went back inside to retrieve Sirius. Then it was Peter’s turn to pick up Remus. And lastly, it was James' turn to take Callie. 

As they got closer to the tree, they could see Sirius' head poking in the entrance. Quickly, James kicked his foot to the ground so Sirius would know that they were near. The Whomping Willow was still paralyzed allowing the two to slip down inside after Sirius moved out of the way. 

Callie yelped as she slid down as if she was riding a roller coaster. A loud thump echoed when her behind hit the hard ground. The speed and impact caused her to bounce a few times before finally landing on the dirt-filled ground.

"You alright there?" Sirius mockingly asked with a playful smirk, offering his hand. In a way, making fun of her was one of his petty revenge for the chaos she ensued inside. 

He knew she didn’t mean those awful events to happen to them, but still. She brought the news. His anger was displaced on her despite her innocence. But after talking to Remus, he calmed down and realised she wasn’t who he should pour his anger out on. 

"Thanks for the concern," Callie replied sarcastically, grabbing Sirius' hand and standing up with a loud groan. She dusted off her robes and palms which were unfortunate enough to be in contact with the dirt on the ground.

"All clear, Prongs!" 

Soon after, a sliding noise was heard followed by a louder thud. Unlike Callie, James landed on his feet perfectly as if he was used to the practice. He was. After all, he had been sliding in the willow for years now.

Callie looked around. It was just rocks at first just like in a cave. But there was a stone stair leading upstairs just like what she saw in the movies. She immediately knew where it would lead.

"Ladies first," said Sirius, acting like a gentleman. The playful smirk was still dancing on his face as he motioned his hand to the stairs. 

Callie, with a smile, shook her head and headed upstairs. The two boys followed her behind. Her head still craned around, eyes wandering throughout the place as if the dull rocks were the most fascinating sight she had ever laid eyes on.