Little Riddle | James Potter

• fifty two

She has been feeling it for a while now—that sense of awakening. There is a gentle rage simmering inside her, and it is getting stronger by the day. She will hold it close to her—she will nurture it and let it grow. She won't let anyone take it away from her. It is her rocket fuel and finally, she's going places. She can feel it down to her very core—this is her time. She will not only climb mountains—she will move them too.
-LANG LEAV

Saskia was a smart animal, possibly an outstanding one of her kind, so when her owner disappeared in the darkness of the night in the company of a frightening man she did not waste any time hesitating and reacted immediately, demonstrating her intelligence by frantically flying inside Remus' room, purposely knocking many objects over with the intention of creating as much disruption and noise as possible. Her plan succeeded, causing all four boys to groggily sit up, rubbing their tired eyes to adjust to the darkness.

The Marauders were a smart bunch, far smarter than people gave them credit for, so all it took was a couple of seconds for realization to dawn on them. Saskia was alerting them of something, and given Alexis' absence in the room they had a solid idea on what it was. Sheer fear initially overwhelmed them, but Saskia urged them to collect their thoughts and pull themselves together, wildly spreading her wings and flying out of the room with the intention of having them follow her. The boys hurriedly put their pants and shoes on while simultaneously reaching for their wands and running after the owl, creating so much havoc Lyall Lupin stormed out of his bedroom with his wand in hand. Upon seeing the boys rushing after the snowy owl he too ran outside, immediately getting an idea of what had happened.

Saskia flew higher once there was no roof restricting her, heading in a certain direction before taking a U-turn and returning back to them. "She wants us to follow her," a disheveled and panicked-stricken Remus whispered loudly before running off to the side of the house, where he used his wand to hurriedly open the storage room's door from which he pulled out a broom that he placed in James' hands. "There's only one. You go on, take Sirius with you."

The two boys were already settled, not hesitating about it even for a second, when Lyall stopped them from taking off causing an angry Saskia to screech loudly. "Send us a patronus as soon as you get there telling us exactly where you are. And boys, do not step in, wait until the aurors get there, you heard me?!"

The two boys nodded although completely disregarding his last command, knowing this wasn't a situation where they could simply 'stand down'. Once on air, Saskia eagerly led the way, her knowledge and abilities letting her know exactly where to find Nicholas Grindelwald and subsequently, Alexis.

The cold spring breeze was not a welcoming sensation against the boys' skin, but the weather was the least of their concerns as James strategically maneuvered his way on the sky to fly alongside Saskia. He surely hoped there were no muggles looking up at the sky at such late hours of the night because at the moment he couldn't care less about the Statute of Secrecy, or the consequences that would come along with it. The shock of the situation was helping him keeps his emotions at bay, but there was no denying the feeling of incessant dread pressing down on his chest. Every second felt eternal and the distance everlasting, but once Saskia began to descend and a shabby, abandoned looking house in the middle of the woods came into view there was an agonizing terror overtaking his senses. And by the way Sirius was gripping on to him, he knew the lad was far from serene as well. They were greeted with complete silence and faint darkness, the moonlight helping them distinguish the shadows surrounding them. Saskia circled above them, careful not to make a sound, before taking off again and flying off in a different direction, leaving them on their own. "Well, there was not much she could do to help us," Sirius reasoned.