'I heard it too,' Cameron said. 'It came from over by that alley.'
'Come on,' Rose said firmly, pulling the bigger boys by the sleeves. 'You're spooking me out, and I was spooked enough already. Let's go!'
A few minutes later, the side street turned a sharp corner in the wrong direction. James peeked between the cramped cottages, looking for some sign of the castle.
'There's a little footpath,' he said. 'It winds back through some trees.'
'Is it the path to the school?' Ralph asked.
'I don't know. But it's going in the right direction. Let's give it a go.'
James led the troop between the cottages, past a tiny fenced garden, and into the darkness of a stand of trees. The trail wound between bushes and tall grass.
'Boy, this is just getting worse and worse,' Ralph said quietly. 'I thought the whole point was for us to never be alone?'
'We're not alone,' James said as he plodded further along the path. 'We have Cameron with us.'
'And whatever was following us back there,' Cameron added cheerfully.
'Cameron!' Rose said warningly.
James was growing increasingly worried. The path was winding deeper into a stretch of forest that separated Hogsmeade from the grounds of Hogwarts. The trees blocked the light of the dusky sky, reducing the path to a dim patchwork of shadows. Occasionally, James thought he heard the sound of footsteps along the path behind them or further ahead of them, but he determined not to call attention to them. He pulled out his wand and illuminated it, holding it up as high as he could. The wandlight starkly lit the nearby trees but only made the deeper depths seem all the darker by comparison. No one spoke for several minutes as they walked. Finally, thankfully, the path turned toward a thinner patch of trees. Through them, James could see the indigo of the evening sky and the pale yellow face of the full moon.
'Look,' Rose said, pointing, 'just beyond the edge of the trees, I think that's the main gate! I can see the silhouette of the two boars!'
James squinted. He didn't have his glasses with him, so he couldn't quite make out the distant shapes in the darkness.
'Yeah,' Ralph said, 'I see it. Wow, that's a sight. Come on!'
As the four students trotted forward, the trees parted overhead, revealing the night sky and a scattering of stars. The moon shone its pale yellow light all round. Sure enough, the ancient wall and the open gates stood nearby; the two famous stone boars arched their backs at the sky, baring their tusks. James breathed a great sigh of relief. In a few moments, they would be safely within the grounds of Hogwarts again.
'Heh,' Cameron laughed nervously. 'See? I told you there would be a great adventure! Wait until my dad hears about—'
Cameron's voice cut off as a noise of running feet approached swiftly. The boy turned to look back, his face curious. Something large and dark loomed out of the darkness, flying low over the ground.
Rose screamed, lunging backwards and reaching for her wand. Ralph and James ducked as the figure hurtled over them. It landed on the path between James and the gate, skidding on the dirt and turning back to face them. A low, ferocious growl came from it and it began to advance.
'Stupefy!' Rose called, pointing her wand, but it was too dark to aim properly. The red bolt struck the ground in front of the creature, lighting it for an instant. James saw teeth bared along a narrow snout and bright, terrible eyes.
'It's a wolf!' he called, scrambling backwards. The wolf responded to his voice with a loud snarl. It lowered, coiling close to the ground, and then pounced. James covered his face, shielding himself from the teeth and claws, but instead of being mauled by the beast, he was knocked roughly aside by it. Then, directly behind him, there came the noise of a violent struggle and a scream of pain. It was Ralph. James scrambled to his feet, reaching for his wand. With a gasp, he realized he'd dropped it when the beast had attacked.
'Stun it, Rose!' James called.
'I can't!' Rose cried, pointing her wand wildly. 'I can't tell them apart! If I Stun Ralph, it'll kill him!'
The wolf rolled with Ralph as he wrestled it. It seemed to have his wrist locked in its jaws. It shook its head violently, tearing at Ralph's arm. Ralph screamed again, trying to kick the enormous beast off of him.
Without thinking, James lunged at the creature. He threw his arms around the matted fur of its neck, pulling as hard as he could. Suddenly, intensely, James' phantom scar burned. He squinted against it, willing himself not to let go of the wolf's neck. The beast scrambled and thrashed, still not releasing its grip on Ralph's arm. James could feel the muscles pulsing beneath the wolf's fur, could smell the dank smell of its pelt. Suddenly, it got a paw on James' chest. It dug in its claws and swiped, tearing ragged strips in James' sweatshirt. He felt something hot and sticky immediately soak into his shirt, but there was no pain. Instead, the pain in his forehead throbbed and pulsed, distracting him. The wolf thrashed again, knocking James loose. He scrambled after it, but it was too fast. The paw swiped, barely missing James' face.
Suddenly, there was another voice calling out. 'No, Ted! Stop! This isn't the way! Let him go!'
James rolled and got to his knees. He looked around wildly, squinting past the throb in his forehead, and saw a tall figure lunging onto the wolf. James was too stunned to immediately recognize who it was. The newcomer pulled at the wolf's ears, forcing it to release its grip on Ralph. The beast flailed its head back and forth, snapping.
'Stop this, Ted!' the newcomer cried, and James finally recognized it was Petra. 'You don't know what you're doing! This isn't the way to fix things! Not here, not now!'
The wolf lunged mightily, hurling Petra off, but it didn't renew its attack on Ralph. The beast snarled at him, and then leapt away, snapping and slavering its bloody jaws. It seemed confused, almost as if it were at war with itself. Finally, it threw back its head and howled, long and loud. It chilled James' blood because he could sense the humanity in that howl, almost as if Ted's voice was buried under it, crying out in anguish and despair.
Petra climbed to her feet and slowly approached the great wolf. Remarkably, she knelt next to it and stroked its fur. She spoke to it quietly, soothingly.
'Ralph!' Rose rasped, dropping next to the big boy. 'Are you all right? How badly are you hurt?'
Ralph moaned and rolled over, struggling to his knees. James scrambled over to him.
'I think my arm's broken,' Ralph said with remarkable blandness. 'It feels all loose and hot.'
James could see the mangled mess of Ralph's wrist. Blood soaked through his shredded sleeve. 'Ralph,' James exclaimed, 'you look awful!'
'You look pretty horrible, too,' Ralph said. 'Are all your guts still inside?'
'I think so, er, I hope,' James replied, looking down at his bloody chest.
'Let me look at your wrist, Ralph,' Petra suddenly said, kneeling next to him. Ralph held it up. Petra gingerly peeled back the torn fabric of Ralph's sleeve, revealing his forearm.
'Artemisae,' she said, touching her wand to the cuts and punctures. 'That'll stop the bleeding until we can get you to Madam Curio.'
'What are you doing here, Petra?' James asked as she turned to examine his chest.
'I was walking back by myself,' she answered. 'I was just coming up the path when I saw what was happening.'
Rose was trembling visibly. 'But… how did you know that the wolf was… was…'
'It's a full moon, Rose. And Ted and I… we talked a lot. He told me about his… condition.'
