Chapter 7
Holding a sheet of paper folded twice in his hand, Severus gazed with mild interest at the enormous tree before him.
"I wonder what those kids have planned."
The note had accidentally appeared on his desk, rat-delivered mail, while he was deeply engrossed in a book in the library.
According to the message, it was from Lily, asking him to come that evening to the huge tree on the school grounds. He was supposed to slip through a gap between the roots and reach a certain shack where she would be waiting for a very serious conversation.
Severus might have believed it was from Lily if not for two things.
First, the messenger was a rat, reeking of magic, belonging to one of Potter's lackeys, Peter Pettigrew, the same ungainly boy who had fetched the Gryffindor dean to the toilet.
Second, the handwriting only vaguely resembled Lily's.
Tucking the letter away, Severus lifted his eyes to the tree again.
"The Whomping Willow, a rather rare specimen of the Whipping Willow subspecies."
He walked up to it, placed his palm against the thick trunk, and smiled.
"Exactly what I need. I did not think I would find such good material for my toys."
Drawing his wand from his sleeve, Severus pointed it at the rough bark and made a circular motion.
A beam shot from the tip, forming an oval that sank several centimeters into the wood, then collapsed back into a single point.
"If I use telekinesis, it will exhaust me too quickly. So I will use a local spell."
He pointed the wand at the tree again. With a faint smile, a two-meter section of bark shifted away from the trunk.
"Wingardium Leviosa. Interesting concept. With this formula, the magical cost is minimal. I never stop being amazed by this world."
A few seconds later, a perfectly round piece of wood, ten centimeters thick, hovered before him.
"Not bad. That should be enough for practice and a first batch."
Severus nodded and lowered it to the ground.
He glanced up at the sky, his face washed in gray light.
"Full moon. Whomping Willow. a werewolf boy. Now I understand what they are doing. That is why they disabled the tree's defense mechanism, so I could slip through the tunnel beneath it and reach whatever it guards."
What surprised him more was that the headmaster and teachers allowed a werewolf to study alongside ordinary wizards.
But remembering the basilisk hidden beneath the castle, his bewilderment vanished.
"If I ever have children, I am definitely not sending them to this cozy place."
After examining the tree a little longer, Severus calmly walked to the hidden passage and went in.
A few minutes after he left, three figures in Hogwarts uniforms emerged from behind a small slope.
"I told you that idiot would fall for our letter. I cannot believe he turned out to be such a fool," Potter grinned maliciously.
"James, are you sure?" His laughter was cut off by a frowning dark-haired boy with handsome, almost aristocratic features typical of average Slytherins. "Lupin might actually tear him apart. Then we will all be in trouble."
"Relax, Padfoot. I talked to him beforehand. He will try to control himself. And even if that damn Snivellus gets hurt, it will be his own fault. He walked straight into the wolf's jaws. Do not you want revenge too?" Potter shot them a challenging smile. "Because of him, we are suspended for three months. And imagine what will happen tomorrow when our parents show up, especially your grandmother." At the mention of grandmother, the dark-haired boy's face twisted.
"You are right. But we should still follow him. We cannot let him die. That would be the end for Moony."
"Of course. That is exactly what I was about to suggest."
"You were just stalling."
James said nothing, but the fading grin told Sirius he had hit the mark. Black understood they had gone too far, but he could no longer, and did not want to, stop his friend.
"Wormtail, stay here. If you see anyone, activate the tree. You know where the knot is."
"Got it." Pettigrew nodded, transformed right before their eyes into a rather large rat, and scurried up the tree.
Approaching the Willow, the boys looked with mild surprise at the chunk of wood lying near the passage.
"What did he need that for?"
"Who the hell knows what is in that moron's head."
Meanwhile, Severus finally emerged from the tunnel. Looking around, he saw the village of Hogsmeade nearby and Hogwarts itself a couple of kilometers away.
"There is the little house." Smiling, he shifted his gaze to the dilapidated shack from which growls and whimpers seeped. "So my suspicions were correct. Those kids decided to sic a werewolf on me. They did not even bother with silencing charms on the building. Bloody amateurs."
The next moment, the shack door burst open with a crash. Out stepped a creature that looked like a humanoid wolf.
Its body was covered in thick fur. Its head and limbs barely differed from a wolf's. Its mouth, full of razor-sharp fangs, and its bestial eyes stirred only pity in Severus, not fear.
"What a wretched sight. I have never seen such a pathetic creature in my life."
Instead of the massive muscles he had expected, there were only bones wrapped in skin.
"And this is a werewolf. A disgrace."
~ RRRAAAAR!
Roaring, the monster charged straight at Severus, and he only snorted contemptuously.
"Disgrace to all werewolves."
He raised his palm and effortlessly formed a transparent barrier. The creature's claws scraped across it with an awful screech.
"You cannot even break such a weak shield."
Drawing his wand, Severus pointed it straight at the beast's forehead.
"Should I kill you?"
But he shook his head and abandoned the idea.
"It would bring me too many problems."
At that moment, the claws finally pierced the barrier. Using wind magic, Severus shot backward a good ten meters. He raised his wand again.
A glowing rope burst from the tip, binding the monster's arms and then its legs. It hit the ground with a thud, still growling.
"Quiet down, puppy. Or I will castrate you and turn you into a good little boy."
Grinning wickedly, he aimed the wand at Lupin's groin.
As if understanding exactly what that meant and seeing where the wand was aimed, the monster immediately began to whimper. It still growled now and then, as if warning that the moment Severus tried it, it would tear him apart.
"Oho. threatening me?"
Smirking, Severus walked right up to the werewolf.
"Freeze."
The wand tip flashed blue. The monster locked up, eyes bulging, mouth hanging open.
"Be glad I do not want trouble. But if you keep looking at me like that, I will knock out all your teeth."
He tapped the fangs with his wand, then sat on the beast as if it were a chair and turned his gaze toward the tunnel he had just left.
"You know, I have been waiting for you."
Severus smiled at James and Sirius, who stared at him in shock, unable to believe what they were seeing.
"Why are you just standing there? Come on out."
Instead of answering, they pointed their wands at him at once.
"Get away from Lupin!"
"Or what? You will tell the headmaster? Or your dean?"
"Severus, I said get away from him!"
"Too lazy. And why do you think you are the ones setting conditions? Do not you see my wand is closer to this werewolf's throat? One wrong move, and I might accidentally use your favorite spell, Bombarda, and blow your friend's head to hell. Nothing will happen to me. I will just say he attacked me and I was defending myself."
"What do you want?" Sirius asked grimly, never taking his eyes off the wand pressed to their friend's neck.
"At least one of you can think. I do not want much. I want the artifact you used to find me in the toilet that day."
They were just children, after all. Severus saw the surprise under their confusion, confirming his suspicion that the Marauders had such an artifact.
"What are you talking about? We do not have any."
"If you keep playing dumb, I will start by ripping off his ear."
The wand, glowing bright blue at the tip, slid from the neck to the werewolf's ear.
"And do not tell me you followed me, or that your friend is an unregistered Animagus. I am giving you three seconds. One." The light grew brighter.
"We do not."
"Two."
"Let us just."
"Three. Sec."
"FINE!" James growled through clenched teeth. He pulled a piece of parchment, like a little booklet, from his sleeve and threw it toward Severus. At the same time, the two friends exchanged glances and nodded.
"Hm?"
Severus raised his palm and caught it with a smile.
"And how do I open it? What is the password?"
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" Potter spat.
"And to close it again?"
"Mischief managed!"
"Got it. Very clever."
Severus tucked it into his sleeve, smiling at the disappointed faces of the two boys.
"You thought I would try to open it right now? What if it is a trap?"
James only snorted and slowly lowered his wand.
"Now let him go."
"Of course. Everyone step back. Obliviate!"
Severus thrust his palm toward them and spoke sharply. They did not even have time to react. The spell hit them almost instantly, and they froze, staring blankly ahead.
"Did you really think I would just let you go?"
He stood up from the werewolf, snorted, and walked toward them.
"You saw far too much today. So I will clean up your memories a little. A couple of hours should be enough."
Standing before the two frozen wizards, Severus pointed his wand at Sirius's forehead and whispered again, "Obliviate."
"Once I am done with these two, I must not forget about that rat."
After finishing with the first and erasing the last seven hours, he moved to the second.
"Hm. letting them off this easily still feels too simple."
For a moment, Severus's gaze fell on the prone werewolf. A devilish plan formed in his mind, a way to punish them.
"No point in having studied dream magic, especially the nightmare branch."
In James Potter's dream.
Wandering through thick gray fog, James had no idea where he was.
"What is this place? Is anyone here?!"
Only silence answered, and that silence frightened him.
"J-James."
Hearing a weak voice, he brightened. He immediately recognized it.
"Lupin, where are you?!"
"H-here. ~cough! ~cough!"
A few minutes later, he emerged from the fog onto a wide clearing.
Near a huge tree sat his werewolf friend, still coughing. His face was completely white.
"Moony, what is wrong with you?!" Potter asked anxiously, running to him.
No matter what an asshole he was, he truly valued his friends. Perhaps that was the only quality Severus respected in him.
"H-help."
"How?!"
"I. Argh! Get away! I cannot control myself!"
He shoved James away and transformed into a werewolf.
"Lupin, calm down. I am your friend."
Smiling, Severus's voice seemed to speak through the dream, but when James lowered his gaze, he swallowed hard.
Between the creature's legs, standing at attention, was a soldier over thirty centimeters long.
"L-Lupin. easy."
Potter reached into his sleeve for his wand, found nothing, and turned deathly pale. At that moment, his friend started toward him.
"H-help. I am h-hot."
"Stay where you are! Do not come closer!"
James spun and ran at breakneck speed into the fog without looking back.
But how could anyone outrun a werewolf? The creature closed the distance quickly, and James's face twisted in horror.
In one moment, he accidentally tripped and fell. He did not even manage to get up before he felt a heavy blow to his back.
He refused to give up. Getting on all fours, he tried to crawl away, but his legs would not obey.
A second later, Potter felt coolness at his rear and heavy breathing on the back of his neck.
Then, pain.
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