The Traveler's Secret

CHAPTER 18 A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE

The warm summer night air lazily drifted in between the neat rows of houses, which straddled a long and windy cobblestone street. Crisp stars sparkled in the pitch colored sky, and luminescent yellow lights spilled out of the quaint cottage windows as the people of Hogsmeade began to settle in for the night . The last of the sounds of a busy day had left, leaving only the quiet and peace found in the stillness of the night.

As the night wore on, Hogsmeade's residential district began to grow dark as the lights from candles and fires were put out, and people fell into deep slumbers. Around midnight, almost all of the residents had gone to sleep, all except one.

Lilah had been told by her parents to go to sleep hours ago, but the dream world seemed to be eluding her for the moment. Sitting in her room on the top floor, little Lilah looked out on the sleeping town. Her house sat near the top of the hill where the majority of the people of Hogsmeade resided. Her window had a clear view of the road that snaked down into the commercial district.

Of course Lilah knew none of these big fancy terms. All she knew was that her street meandered down into the freedom of the shop district, and the wonderful candy shops she had always dreamed of visiting. She had stared down that road so many times, wishing she could go down it; one day her mother and father were going to take her to the shops; one day she was going to smear her face in Honeydukes' chocolates, or visit Zonko's joke shop. Lilah sighed. She wished that day would come soon, but until then, Lilah stared out her window, wondering what it was like in the center of town.

And that was when she saw them. They came out of the darkness of the night. At first she thought them to be shadows. It had frightened her so much that she ducked down, lying flat on her bed, which sat under her window. She clutched her blanket in her tiny hands fiercely, and slung it over her face. Under her blanket she stayed until the suffocating heat and her curiosity became too much for her to bear.

Minutes passed, and no sound could be heard. Lilah began to berate herself for her silly notions; it had only been shadows she had seen, and nothing more. Lilah's head slowly peaked out from under her blanket, and inched up to the window's ledge. She looked out on the street once more. Nothing could be seen on the road, but she watched out her window none the less, not fully convinced that nothing was out there. The shadows had been moving; she knew they had. Lilah scanned the dark places near the houses, places not even the moonlight could illuminate.

And that was when she saw the creature. It was large and it slunk amongst the shadows of Mr. McDougall's house only three houses down and across from her. It stopped, and a pair of iridescent eyes looked up at her. Lilah froze, her heart pattering wildly in her chest. The creature didn't blink or move, and neither did Lilah. They stared at each other for a long time, until Lilah didn't think she could stand it anymore.

Moonlight drifted closer to the creature, and finally one beam fell over the beast. It was a wolf, but Lilah knew it wasn't an ordinary wolf because it walked upright. She was looking at a werewolf. Lilah rubbed her eyes. She had been told that werewolves existed, but never came to Hogsmeade; her parents had promised her that. Now she was looking at one, no TWO! Another pair of iridescent eyes popped up next to the first one. Lilah nearly screamed as now two werewolves looked up at her, but managed to stifle that impulse.

But the werewolves were not alone. Lilah watched in horror as all kinds of nightmarish creatures slithered and loped out of the shadows, and onto the main street. She saw goblins and hags. Along the rooftops, vampires were perched, their burgundy eyes and pale faces piecing the black night.

Lilah leapt up from her bed, and sped over to her door. She jerked it open, and ran to her parents' room, which was just one door down from hers. Pounding frantically on their door, Lilah couldn't understand what was taking her parents so long in getting up. The young girl constantly looked over her shoulder, cold spasms of fear jolting down her spine, as she expected a werewolf to jump out of the shadows of her own home.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Lilah's father opened the bedroom door. His tired, grizzled face looked out on his panic stricken daughter. At first, he was puzzled, but soon he was alarmed. Lilah had never looked so scared before. Her father bent down to his daughter.

"Lilah, darling, what's the matter?"

"There are werewolves and vampires outside!" Lilah stammered.

Her father relaxed a bit. Clearly she had had a nightmare. He patted her on the shoulder.

"There hasn't been a werewolf or a vampire in these parts for a long time. Hogsmeade is protected by spells that keep those types out. Now go back to bed," he stated.

Lilah couldn't believe she was hearing this. She wanted to shake her father, get him to see reason. She knew what she saw, knew what waited just outside the door.

"No, I saw them standing in the street next to Mr. McDougall's house. And I think they saw me. In fact, I'm sure they saw me! Daddy please, you have to believe me!"

Her father stood up, his irritation for being woken at such a late hour for so silly a thing beginning to show.

"Lilah, it was just a nightmare. Now go back to bed," he stated.

Lilah didn't, and had no intention on moving. She was going to make her father see reason before it was too late. Her father reached down, and tried to nudge Lilah to her room. He was becoming more and more irritated by the minute, but that was when he heard it. The " it" in question was a long, drawn out, hungry howl.

Lilah's father froze, as did his daughter. Lilah's mother came stumbling out of the door of the bedroom, coming to see what was going on, and hearing the howl as well.

"Peter, what was that?" Lilah's mother said, her words soaked in fear.

"It's just a wolf, nothing more!" her father stated, trying to sound brave, when he really didn't feel it.

"It's not a wolf! It's a werewolf. I saw it, them actually, in the street. I swear I did!" Lilah sputtered. Tears threatened to fall from her frightened eyes. They were wasting time arguing when they should be hiding.

Suddenly, a second howl split open the silence, and was soon followed by a cavalcade of howls and screeches answering it. Now, not only were the werewolves responding, but so were the other creatures.

"Peter, just check outside the window!" Lilah's mother said. "Lilah, darling, come to momma!"

Lilah heeded her mother, and went to her as she watched her father quickly move down the stairs, and walk over to the window next to the door. What Peter saw nearly stopped his heart. His daughter was wrong. There weren't two werewolves, but four, and a handful of vampires as well. Peter had been stunned to see the iridescent eyes staring back at him, but his blood ran cold at the fact that these creatures weren't near the McDougall house anymore. They were right outside their door.

Peter backed away from the window, and ran up the stairs to his wife and daughter.

"Marla, take Lilah to the attic! Lilah, stay in the attic until we come to get you!"

Peter ran to his and his wife's bedroom, and soon returned with two wands in hand.

Marla, Lilah's mother, rushed her daughter to the closet at the end of the hall that led to the stairs, which led to the attic. Lilah was pushed into the closet by her mother, who then shut and locked the door. Lilah, too terrified to move, sat near the door, her tears flowing freely down her face. She huddled on the last step closest to the door, her knobby knees tucked up close to her tiny chest. She closed her eyes, and tried to cover her ears.

A loud bang resounded throughout the house, as something broke through the front door, and furious howls tore through the air. The sounds of glass shattering and furniture being smashed boomed throughout the house. Lilah could hear her parents screaming out spells, terror edging their voices .

As Lilah listened, she heard her neighbor's door being broken down as well. And that was when the screaming began as the once quiet night turned chaotic.

Johnny Wolfbane knees nearly buckled from under him. He staggered, and would have fallen if Sergei Krum and Jean Fulver had not caught him. Krum and Fulver were caught off guard by Wolfbane's scream of terror and buckling knees, trying their best to hold up the much larger man. Wolfbane clenched the sides of his head, his mind seeming to want to burst out of it. He could still feel Lilah's terror, could still hear her parents as they screamed in horror. Wolfbane's stomach clenched and he tumbled to the ground, as waves of nausea rolled over him.

He hadn't had a vision in so long that it was disorientating, but this one had been a strong one. Usually the harder the visions hit Wolfbane, the closer the event he saw was to happening. Wolfbane had never been hit so hard by a vision that it made him sick. His mind raced and panic engulfed him. Mixed signals ricocheted all throughout his body. He would have transformed if his body hadn't been as disorientated as his mind had been.

Jean Fulver and Sergei Krum stood uneasily at Wolfbane's side, not sure how to help, not really sure what had happened. Fulver noticed Wolfbane's skin changing colors, and knew it would be better if they didn't interfere. The American was not in control at the moment, and would more than likely ripped their faces off.

Sergei Krum kneaded his hands, as worry shrouded his eyes. He wanted to go over and help Wolfbane, but decided against it when he saw that Fulver didn't. The Muggle wasn't afraid of anything, so if Fulver was being cautious, then it probably would be better to follow his example.

"Are you alright, Wolfbane?" Fulver finally asked.

"Dumbledore...Hogsmeade. I need to see Dumbledore!" Wolfbane sputtered. His huge body shuddered, and his face clouded over in panic. This unnerved Fulver to no end. Never had Wolfbane been this agitated before.

"Well, we were on our way to the Great Hall for dinner. Perhaps you will see him then," Sergei responded. By this time, Johnny had shakily gotten to his feet.

"No, I need to see him now!" Johnny said as he flung his words out at Krum like knives. Krum took a step back, his terror of Wolfbane returning. Fulver was equally made uneasy by Johnny's reaction, but he remained where he was.

Wolfbane, on the other hand, was not paying any attention to Sergei or Fulver; he was swiveling his head around as if he expected to see Dumbledore at any moment. Without another word, Wolfbane bounded away from Krum and Fulver, scattering the remaining students who got in his way. Jean Fulver and Sergei Krum watched him go with trepidation.

Wolfbane sped through the castle, his eyes, ears and nose keenly searching the halls for Dumbledore. He ran past Borden as the caretaker stumped out of his office. Wolfbane skidded to halt.

"Do you know where Dumbledore is?!" Wolfbane snapped.

Borden clicked his tongue in irritation. He glared at Johnny.

"I have had enough of people demanding things from me for one day. I won't take it anymore. Do I know where Dumbledore is? Of course. He told me where he was going after Mr. Krum left his office in case someone needed him. Maybe I should go and see him for myself for all the rude encounters I have--"

"Just tell me where he IS!" Wolfbane roared. His eyes flickered yellow, and his words rebounded off the walls.

Nearby students stopped dead in their tracks; one girl dropped her toad, and nearly cried. Borden was terrified, his knees knocking together.

"He's on top of the astronomy tower," Borden whispered.

Wolfbane bounded away from Borden, and was soon out of sight of the caretaker.