Revelation II-Lycantor

REVELATION II-LYCANTOR

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN-ANNABELLE'S ARRIVAL

Harry, Ginny and I sat down at our table and watched the other students' reactions.

"What happened? Where are they?" Harry mused.

"I don't know," I said wide-eyed.

I glanced up at the head table. The teachers were all leaning close whispering to one another.

"This is definitely odd," I said. "How do 20 students not show up at breakfast?"

Ginny shivered. "Ooh, I'm getting an awful feeling," she said.

"So am I," I admitted.

"Me too," Harry said. "But we can't jump to conclusions."

The other half of the Ravenclaws were just as mystified as to where the rest of their house was.

Professor Dumbledore arose from his seat.

"Does anyone know what happened to the rest of the Ravenclaw house?" he asked slowly.

A girl from Ravenclaw stood up.

"No sir," she said her voice shaky. "We were all accounted for when we went to bed. I don't know what happened."

"They can't be far," Professor Dumbledore said. "We will search for them. In the mean time go about your classes. Professor Annabelle will be arriving soon."

I also knew why he called her 'Professor Annabelle'. Her last name would spark some suspicion amongst the students after last semester.

Harry, Ginny and I slowly ate our breakfast and then Ginny headed to Potions while Harry and I headed to Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid was standing in front of a paddock.

"I wonder what we're learning about today," I mused as we approached the paddock.

"Blast Ended Skrewts," Harry suggested jokingly.

"Don't tease," I said shivering. "I still have nightmares about those things."

Harry chuckled.

We reached the paddock and looked in. They were the Mekols.

"Today we're learnin' 'bout the Mekols," Hagrid said proudly. "They're friendly an' all. Just don' scare them or they'll insult you."

I peered over the paddocks top railing. The Mekols were black in color with four white paws, white above each eye and white rings on the tails. They had ice blue eyes that were haunting.

"Hello," the nearest Mekol said to me.

"Hi," I said.

It was a little weird talking to an animal like this. The other students eagerly began talking to the Mekols.

The Mekol reared up on his hind legs and put his front paws over the top railing. He panted.

"I sense you're troubled," he replied not even blinking.

I sighed and reached over to scratch an ear.

The Mekols eyes closed blissfully as I scratched.

"Yes. We have a bit of a serious problem here," I said. "Two students were killed."

"Hmm...by a Meizule I presume?" the Mekol asked.

"Yeah...how'd you know?" Harry asked appearing at my side.

"We were brought in a few days ago," the Mekol began. "We saw someone sneak back into the school. The person was about the height of that girl over there. Plus, I can sense it here."

We followed his ice blue eyes. He was looking over at Lavender.

"I sensed it was a female but I couldn't tell you what she looked like," the Mekol said looking guilty.

"Don't worry about that. We have something to go by now...I think," I said scratching the ear even harder.

"That's not all," the Mekol continued. "I saw a bunch of students leaving the school and heading into the Forbidden Forest last night."

That snapped me to attention.

"How many?" I asked looking at Harry with surprise.

"About 20 I would say,"

"The missing Ravenclaws!" I gushed to Harry.

"But why on earth would they go into the Forbidden Forest?" Harry mused.

This was just getting even more confusing.

I thanked the Mekol for his help as class ended and we began walking back to the castle.

We met up with Ginny and told her what the Mekol had said.

"I don't believe it! What are they doing in the forest?" Ginny asked after told her everything.

"I don't know, but something is definitely going on...something important," I mused.

"How do you know?" Harry asked tilting his head.

"I just have this feeling," I said frowning. "I can't get rid of it."

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks.

Shortly after that, Annabelle arrived. She would be teaching class starting the next day. She spied us sitting at Gryffindor table and headed right over.

"Hey! How are you guys doing?" she asked brightly but yet there was pure concern in her eyes.

"As good as we can," I replied. "Do you know that Ginny is a soldier now?"

Annabelle's eyes widened with shock.

Wait a minute...is that glee in her eyes? Am I seeing this right? I thought. And I swear that's a look of knowing on her face as if she knew already.

Annabelle cleared her throat.

"Oh my God! How'd that happen?" she asked.

"When I was lying in front of Ginny in wolf form, one of my canines dug into her hand," I replied still eyeing Annabelle warily, but those expressions seemed to have vanished from her face.

Could I have been imagining it? I thought to myself. It was possible but they looked real to me.

"The Medroxy Lupus Arimus potion should be able to help you," Annabelle said.

"Unfortunately, there is only enough for one person. The person that is the Meizule will not be able to be saved," Harry said gravely.

Annabelle's expression changed. She seemed upset.

"I can't believe it!" she cried.

"I know," I said sadly.

Annabelle ran a hand through her hair trying to calm down.

"Okay...we've got a lot work to do. We've got to find out who this Meizule is," she said in a calmer voice.

We nodded.

"Do you have any ideas as to what or who it might be?" Annabelle asked.

We shook our heads.

"We haven't a clue," I said. "The people we thought might fit the description turned out to be not true...and they were the ones killed."

"Oh...Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Goyle," Annabelle said in a quiet voice.

We didn't respond.

"Right now I think the best thing to do would be to go to class and keep our eyes peeled that way. Anything unusual okay?" Annabelle continued.

We nodded again.

We headed off to class.

We kept a close eye out for anyone that was odd or had strange behavior. Colin Creevy eagerly bounced over to Harry and asked him how he was doing.

"I'm fine," Harry replied trying not to show he was irritated. "I'm kind of busy right now though."

"Oh really? Doing what?" Colin asked eagerly.

"Just busy," I replied stepping in. "With classes and stuff."

"Oh. Okay. See you later!" Colin cried happily as he bounced away down the corridor.

"Ugh. Someone needs to take the batteries out of him," Harry muttered.

I snorted. "I know. God help us if he ever drinks coffee. He'd be literally bouncing off the walls,"

We headed into Charms class where we learned the Hervin Charm. This charm was used to detect if someone was lying. The person's facial expression would go slack and the eyes would have a faint tint of red to them. It was harmless though but useful.

So far, everyone we've seen has been acting normally and not unusual.

After Charms we headed to Potions. Snape was his usual grumpy self and deducted five points from Harry's potion because it was a slightly darker color than what it was supposed to be.

After Potions, Harry and I headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Annabelle pulled us aside when we entered the classroom.

"Anything?" she asked.

"Nothing. Everyone seems to be okay and acting the right way," I said.

Annabelle sighed.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," she said quietly.

"We're just going to have to keep trying," I said hoping that nothing else happened to anymore students, or anything or anyone missing unexpectedly.

After classes, we headed back to the common room before dinner.

Harry flopped down on the couch and I sat next to him.

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"I hope we can catch this thing before anything else happens," I said sighing.

"We will," Harry said firmly. "Or else we will fight trying."

"I just don't understand how the Meizule could be so elusive," I continued. "Wouldn't we have seen some sort of sign?"

"Maybe not. If you were something so evil and huge, would you gladly show yourself or show you existed?" Harry asked reasonably.

"No. Guess you're right," I said smiling.

He gave me a kiss before turning his attention to the fire, which crackled softly.

About half an hour before dinner, we noticed that Ginny hadn't come back yet.

"Where's Ginny now?" I asked feeling a bit worried.

"I don't know. We saw her in the corridor before," Harry said tilting his head.

Just then, the portrait hole entrance opened and Annabelle stepped through.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to speak to you, Harry and Ginny," she said.

"Ginny's not here," I replied. "We don't know where she is."

"She might be in the library," Annabelle suggested. "Let's go and find her."

The three of us headed out of the common room and began searching the corridors and classrooms...no Ginny.

She wasn't even in the library.

Feeling nervous, we headed to Professor Dumbledore's office.

He looked up at us and smiled. His blue eyes twinkled behind his half moon spectacles.

He looked from me to Harry and then back to me.

"Where's Miss Weasley?" he asked.

"We don't know sir," I replied. "She didn't come back to the common room after her classes."

Professor Dumbledore sighed.

"We have 20 missing Ravenclaws and now a Gryffindor,"

"Erm, actually sir," Harry began shifting his weight onto the other foot. "A Mekol told us that he saw several students leaving the castle and heading into the Forbidden Forest."

At that, Professor Dumbledore became alert.

"Are you sure?"

We nodded.

"How many is 'several' exactly?"

"20 sir," I replied.

"Why on earth would they head for the Forbidden Forest?" Professor Dumbledore mused as he scratched his chin.

Then realization formed on his face.

"We must head to the Forest now," he said suddenly.

"Why? What's going on?" Annabelle asked alarmed.

"Think about it...why would twenty students head to the most darkest and isolated spots on the grounds?" Professor Dumbledore asked slowly.

Harry, Annabelle and I looked at each other.

Then I began to catch on.

"They are grouping," I said slowly as fear gripped my chest.

"Grouping?" Harry asked looking at me curiously.

"Because they are gathering strength," I continued. "They are planning."

"Planning? On what?" Annabelle asked.

I raised my eyes to hers.

"War,"

"War? Are you sure?" Harry asked.

I nodded. "Remember what I told you. The Lycantor's are soldiers. The Meizule is the head of the entire organization if you will,"

Harry looked terrified but then it vanished. "There are only twenty wolves. There are just as many teachers here in Hogwarts. I'm sure they can take them easily,"

Annabelle turned to him. "Don't be so sure. Lycantor's should not be underestimated. They pack a powerful punch,"

"What are we going to do?" I asked turning to Professor Dumbledore.

"First we must find Miss Weasley. The reason I have called you here was to tell Miss Weasley that I'll be putting her in the shrieking shack to play safe as those handcuffs may not be reliable. But she disappeared," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Secondly, I will alert every teacher here that they are to keep an eye out for those missing students in the Forbidden Forest. If any sign of 'dogs' come around the castle, they are to alert me right away. Third, the curfew will be enforced now. No one leaves the castle or the common room after eight PM."

Harry, Annabelle and I nodded.

"Unfortunately, Annabelle, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and myself will go looking around the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I want you two to stay in the common room," Professor Dumbledore continued.

Harry and I nodded and left the office.

ANNABELLE.

With Hermione and Harry gone, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape led me out of the castle and onto the grounds.

There was a full moon that hung in a midnight blue sky. Stars twinkled merrily in the sky. The moon cast a silver/white glow over the grounds. Hagrid's hut was silent except a huff of smoke coming from the chimney.

The Mekols were all huddled in the corner of the paddock. Their eyes glowed a sapphire color in the moonlight. I heard them whispering something but I caught one thing they said:

"She's leading them into a trap!"

I looked over at them.

"Stand still," Professor Dumbledore replied as he suddenly stopped walking.

"What is it headmaster?" Professor Snape asked.

Professor Dumbledore pointed to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. About twenty or so pairs of jaundice eyes glowed in the moonlight.