Revelation II-Lycantor

REVELATION II-LYCANTOR

CHAPTER NINETEEN-SURROUNDED!

We stood, unable to move or speak. It was Lavender all along.

"Why did you do this?" I asked in a small voice.

"She was going to rat me out to the headmaster. I think she had an idea of who I was though," Lavender smiled. "I couldn't let that happen."

"So you killed her!" Harry growled.

Lavender smiled.

"Not only that, I framed Annabelle,"

We looked at each other confused.

"What do you mean 'you framed Annabelle'?" I asked slowly.

"That letter you got? It wasn't from Annabelle. It was from me. Didn't you realize the owl came from inside the school? It was the same owl that was in the Owlery," Lavender smirked.

"So it was you who sent it," Annabelle said slowly. "You were trying to get them to turn and be suspicious of me."

"Bingo!" Lavender smiled.

"We never suspected you, Annabelle," I said softly. "We were a little off about the letter because you said you were coming here to Hogwarts but we never suspected you for a minute."

Annabelle smiled.

"Thanks. But right now we have to figure out how to stop this one,"

"You can't stop me," Lavender smirked. "I'm the Meizule remember?"

Suddenly she began changing.

She dropped to her hands and knees and stared at the floor. Her back lengthened and narrowed. Her ears grew and tapered off into points. Her nose and jaws slid forward into a snout; white canines and incisors slid down under purple lips. Shiny, black fur grew all over her body. Her chest expanded straining the material of her robe and uniform.

The halves fell off in torn halves. Her eyes changed into the jaundice color. Lavender was gone. All that remained was the wolf.

The wolf stood up on its hind legs. It was about 12 feet tall. It snarled and laid its ears flat out sideways.

"I think we should run," Annabelle said as she began easily inching toward the doorway.

"Absolutely. I'm in need of a new pair of underwear," Harry replied not taking his eyes off the wolf.

We slowly began inching our way toward the door. The wolf's eyes followed us the entire way. We managed to reach the doorway when the wolf turned and jumped out the window.

We jumped from being surprised. Bits of glass showered the floor.

"This is on the third floor!" Annabelle gasped.

We looked at each other and rushed to the window. We looked down. The wolf galloped off into the Forbidden Forest.

We quickly ran out of the hospital wing. We ended up bumping into Professor Snape.

"Shouldn't you be in your classes now?" he asked gruffly as he narrowed his eyes.

"We know who the Meizule is!" Annabelle gasped trying to catch her breath.

Professor Snape's eyes widened for a moment.

"We went to check on Madam Pomfrey because last night Lavender Brown went and got me the Dreamless sleep potion but then we realized that no one was supposed to be out after the curfew time. When we arrived at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was dead! Lavender is the Meizule!" I said.

Professor Snape's eyes moved onto me.

"Why did you need the potion?"

Harry quickly explained to him about me having nightmares and what Lavender said about Madam Pomfrey.

"What exactly happened now?" Professor Snape asked now fully alert.

"She changed! She's over 12 feet tall! She jumped out the window of the hospital wing," Annabelle replied.

"Let's go see the Headmaster," Professor Snape said seriously.

He led us to Professor Dumbledore's office. Professor Dumbledore looked up and smiled at us.

"What can I do for you three today?" he asked gently.

"We know who the Meizule is!" Harry blurted out.

At that, Professor Dumbledore's expression sharpened and he became more alert. Harry, Annabelle and I looked at each other. I really didn't feel well and up to talking about it. It made me sick. So Annabelle decided to tell the whole story.

When she was done, Professor Dumbledore sighed.

"I too had my suspicions," he said. "I had Miss Patil keep a close eye on Miss Brown. Miss Patil said that nights Miss Brown would sneak out of the dorm room and vanish until early or late the next morning. She always told her that she had to meet someone with important information regarding the wolves. But it was all a lie."

"What do we do now?" Annabelle asked terrified.

"Right now, I've got to issue a lock-down," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "Professor Snape? Would you please kindly send a letter to the parents explaining the situation and that the castle is in a lock-down?"

Professor Snape nodded and headed out of the office. More than likely to the Owlery.

"What is a lock-down?" Annabelle asked.

"It means that no one leaves or enters the castle. We will probably be put into one area. Right Professor?" I asked.

Professor Dumbledore nodded. "I want each house in the Great Hall. I will conjure up sleeping bags. You can mingle with the other houses if you feel safe. But no one is to leave this castle or enter it,"

We nodded.

"What about classes?" Harry asked.

"For now, classes will be suspended. Now that the soldiers have their leader it will only be a matter of time before the war begins," Professor Dumbledore replied grimly.

"Can we fight them?" I asked swallowing.

"If there are more than fifty soldiers now and the Meizule is leading them, I'm afraid we are slightly out numbered,"

"What about the Order? Can't they come and help?" Harry demanded.

"Not with the lock-down issued," Professor Dumbledore replied. "I have no choice."

"Then you're going to let fifty wolves slaughter students without a fight?" Harry demanded his emerald green eyes flashing.

"We will try and fight," Professor Dumbledore replied. "But I'm afraid this is a losing battle that can't be won. They are too powerful."

"Isn't titanium their weakness?" I asked as fear crept into my voice.

"Yes. But where do you get enough titanium to kill fifty wolves?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

He was right. It was hopeless. But Harry however, seemed to have a different point of view.

"Annabelle...do you know where we might be able to get enough titanium?" Harry asked turning to her.

She looked surprised for the moment.

"N-no, I don't," she stammered. "And if we did find enough, what would we do with it? Make it into titanium bullets? There are no guns here!"

I started to sway on my feet from the fear. I dropped to my knees.

"Miss Granger...are you alright?" Professor Dumbledore asked jumping up from behind his desk and he crouched down in front of me. Harry and Annabelle did also.

"I just can't believe this is it," I said quietly as tears formed.

"I know...but we have to fight. We can't let those wolves win," Annabelle said gently.

I sighed and got to my feet.

A renewed energy ran through me. Annabelle was absolutely right. We had to stand and fight. We couldn't let those wolves win.

"You're right," I said firmly.

"The thing is we really don't know what they're up to now and that's really unnerving," Professor Dumbledore said. "They could easily sneak up on us and we wouldn't know. I want you to tell all the Gryffindors to meet in the Great Hall. I will do the same to the other houses."

After that, we left the office. We began walking back to the common room.

"I'm really scared. This is really creepy not knowing what they're doing outside," Annabelle said shivering.

"I know...we have no control over it. I think that's what's even creepier," I replied nodding.

We reached the common room. Most of the Gryffindors were sitting and talking amongst themselves. They looked up when we entered.

"Any luck finding Lavender?" Parvati asked.

Again, we looked at each other.

How were we going to explain to them that Lavender was an inhuman creature that is leading the pack of wolves to attack us and start a war against us?

I sighed.

"Actually, we have some bad news," I began slowly.

Every Gryffindors face drained of all color.

"Lavender is not exactly here," I continued. "She's in the Forbidden Forest with the soldier werewolves."

"We have to help her!" a third year named Sam Walters cried.

"She's..." I began then looked to Annabelle or Harry for help.

"She the leader of the werewolves. She's called the Meizule. She's bigger, eviler and more powerful than the Lycantors," Annabelle finished bluntly.

Everyone was shocked. None of them could believe what we were saying.

"A-Are you telling us the truth?" a first year named Jessie Anderson stammered looking like she'd get sick any moment.

We nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes," Harry said gravely. "Right now they are gathering in the Forbidden Forest. They are planning a war against us humans."

You could literally feel the fear in the common room at that point.

"Professor Dumbledore wants everyone in the Great Hall. The other houses will be there. He has issued a lock-down," Annabelle said.

Everyone nodded and quietly followed us out of the common room. I think they were more in shock over the fact that Lavender was something evil and was leading evil.

We reached the Great Hall. The rest of the houses were already there.

The Slytherins to our surprise were staying close to the Hufflepuffs. We stood next to the Hufflepuffs. Oddly, the other houses were staring at the remaining Ravenclaws with animosity and anger.

"Stay away from us! You'll make us turn over to the werewolves!" a Slytherin boy snarled at the Ravenclaws.

"EVIL HOUSE!" a Hufflepuff girl shrieked.

"I SAY WE GIVE THE REST OF THEM TO THE WEREWOLVES!" another Slytherin girl yelled.

I sensed mutiny on our hands.

"HEY! Wait a minute!" I shouted.

Every eye was on me.

"It's not their fault! They had no control over it! If you must know one of our house members is actually leading the werewolves. It's no body's fault! It just happened. Right now I think we should worry about protecting each other from them!"

There was silence then:

"THEY'RE EVIL TOO!"

I sighed. It was no use. Hysteria had set in because no one really knew the truth. It was about time someone told them to somewhat calm them down.

"ENOUGH!" Harry bellowed.

Everyone jumped from being startled. The silence settled in again.

"No house is evil! The fifty missing Ravenclaws are outside in the Forbidden Forest with their leader planning a war against us humans! That's why we're in lock-down now. No one is to leave or enter the castle. Turning against each other isn't the answer! What we need to do is exactly what Hermione said. We need to stick together to protect one another. Fighting and blaming one another will only cause the wolves to gain more power," Harry shouted.

That got everyone to calm down and stop accusing. Apologies went around quietly.

"Thanks," I said to Harry.

"No problem," he said winking.

Professor Dumbledore arrived shortly. Behind him were Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Sinistra, Professor Binns, and Firenze who taught Divination.

Firenze's hooves clopped on the floor. I started to feel a bit better knowing that all the teachers were there and ready to fight if necessary.

Professor Dumbledore waved his hand and the tables vanished, stacking against one another against the wall. Then, with another wave of his wand, sleeping bags appeared.

"I want everyone to lay here quiet. We will be walking the castle making sure there is no way to gain access into the castle," Professor Dumbledore replied.

Silently, everyone crept into the sleeping bags. Annabelle, Harry and I dragged three into the corner and then slid in lying on our stomachs. I crossed my arms and rested my chin on my arm.

"It's too quiet out there," I said straining my ears to hear any sort of howl or movement.

"I know...it's really terrifying," Annabelle agreed.

Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall stayed behind to keep an eye on us while the other teachers searched the castle and made sure nothing could get in.

There was the feeling of absolute fear in the air now. You could almost feel it.

A question was bugging me. I turned to Annabelle.

"When Professor Dumbledore said that there would be only enough to help one person with the Medroxy Lupus Arimus potion, you went pale...how come?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" Annabelle asked. "I felt awful for the person who was the Meizule...Or now Lavender."

I nodded. That was kind of a dumb question.

Once again, we fell silent. I looked up at the enchanted ceiling. The sky matched the one outside. Midnight blue with a scattering of twinkling stars. That's when we all heard it.

The howling.

I froze and my eyes widened with terror. Everyone in the Great Hall was frozen with fear. They were not moving.

Then, another howl rose up. It was louder, higher and more evil. Everyone clamped their hands over their ears.

"Go get the Headmaster!" Professor Snape yelled to McGonagall. She took off running.

Then about fifty howls rose up in unison. We still had our hands clamped over our ears.

After the howling, it was complete silence again. We shakily lowered our hands from our ears and looking around the semi dark Great Hall. I could see fear on every single person's face.

It was almost as if Lord Voldemort was standing in the middle of the room himself.

Suddenly, something jumped onto one of the window ledges breaking the glass. Glass showered Dean and a first year who were lying under that window. It was one of the wolves. Another wolf appeared on another window...then another...and another until every window had a wolf on it.

"They're surrounding us!" I gasped raising a hand to my mouth.

About twenty wolves were perched on all fours on the window sills. Their jaundice colored eyes were locked on us.