Werewolf

Chapter One

Harriet's Point of View

When I arrived in the building with my parents, who spoke to the woman at the desk, two large men grabbed me and pushed me roughly into a cage. We protested against it loudly, but they wouldn't listen. It wouldn't be the full moon for another two days yet, but of course they didn't see it like that.

The cage was on wheels, and it wobbled as it was rolled into the courtroom. I don't think I had ever really been aware of just how bad the prejudice against werewolves was until that day. During my so-called 'trial', I wasn't even permitted to speak. My parents did their best to defend me, but were, of course, very emotional, and not professional like the others. I don't suppose it had occurred to them either, just how terrible it would be. My dad was really confused, I could tell. Being married to a witch, he had got used to magic, and the magical world, but couldn't understand what the big deal was about lycanthropy was. Wizarding kids are warned about werewolves all their lives - I suppose you have to grow up with that feeling to understand it.

I was so angry at being referred to as 'it' or 'the werewolf' but there was nothing I could do. By the end of it, I was half crying, and the other half furious. It wasn't my fault! I had never wanted to be a werewolf, and I had never wanted to kill. The wolf was responsible for that.

My parents were in tears throughout most of the trial, which could only get worse when the verdict was announced.

"It is the decision of the Committee for the the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, that the werewolf known as Harriet Rivers, hereafter called the Condemned, shall be executed on the 30^th of August, two weeks from now. The Condemned is sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair. In the meantime, the beast should be kept tethered and isolated."

No. I didn't believe it. It didn't happen these days, it couldn't. They didn't have capital punishment in England nowadays, not in civilised countries.... But soon I had to accept that it was true. To them I wasn't human. No, I didn't have even the dignity of being a murderer. At least a murderer is creditted with feelings of guilt and regret. No, to them I was a monster, I had no feelings.

On the way out, I couldn't talk to my parents. I felt that I was different to them. They couldn't understand what I was thinking. They had never had all the bones in their body broken, and twisted into a different form, and they had never killed. And in a couple of weeks time, they wouldn't be the ones who were about to die. I walked in silence once I was released from the cage, and a conversation caught my attention. The receptionist was sitting on her desk, chatting to one of the Committee members from my trial.

"It's horrible isn't it..." she said. "I don't know how Macnair can do it. I mean, they're practically human, and this one's only a young girl."

"I know, it put's me off too sometimes." Said the old man. "But I have to remember to do my job properly. I mean, you'd still have to put down a rabid dog, even if it was a puppy, wouldn't you?" He shrugged. Heartless bastard. How could he say things like that without batting an eyelid? "It doesn't happen very often anyway - there are more adult werewolves, and mostly they don't get caught. The last case like this must have been about twenty-five years ago, and the wolf got off."

"Oh yes... I vaguely remember it..." replied the woman. "A very quiet boy wasn't it... wasn't his name Lupin or something like that?"

"That's the one! Remus Lupin. Dumbledore promised that he'd be responsible for him, and let him go to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had a lot of weight at the Ministry in those days. I've heard he's absolutely insane now though. I always thought he was a bit strange, but from what I've read in the papers, it sounds like he's completely lost his marbles."

Remus Lupin... I thought. I was sure that I knew the name, from school or somewhere. I couldn't think who he was though, or how I'd know of him. But maybe he'd be able to help me. Leaning on the filing cabinet, half sobbing, half faking it, I managed to carefully extract this Lupin's files from the drawer labelled 'Werewolves: A to N'

After a long, and almost silent car journey home, I locked myself in my bedroom, where I stuffed a map of Derbsyhire (which I had torn from my parents' road map in the car), and the key to the garden shed, in my pocket. I was prepared to escape that night.

My mum knocked on the door, so I got up and unlocked it. I lay face down on my bed, and muttered "Come in."

"This just arrived." She told me awkwardly, holding out an unfolded piece of parchment. "They know that you're in the house, not 'tethered and isolated'. They say you have to be tied up outside." I stood up slowly. I think I was still in shock. Why else would I act so calmly? I headed towards the stairs.

"Harriet!" she said urgently, as I lef the room. "I'm sorry... I just don't know what we can do. It seems as if they're watching us. They'd find us wherever we went, I'm certain. And with the full moon the day after tomorrow, we have to stay here where it's safe. I'm really sorry... I can't think of anything.

I trudged down the stairs at a snail's pace, then out of the back door, into the small garden. I sat with my back against the high garden wall, and tied the frayed rope around my neck. It was only seven o'clock or thereabouts, but there was no reason to stay up. I wanted to sleep. But that was impossible - I couldn't sleep with that noose around my neck.

Five hours later I was flying. I had taken my broom out of the shed in the garden, and taken off. At times, I even managed to forget why I was flying so far, alone in the middle of the night. I felt free for the first time in almost a month, with the cold air blowing past me, and the stars and waxing moon clearly visible in the night sky. It was only when I properly noticed that moon that my sense of freedom left me. Unless there was some amazing discovery soon, I knew I would spend my whole life enslaved by it.

So I remembered that I was flying for a reason, and I pulled the crumpled page out of my pocket. I scanned the map, looking out for where Remus Lupin lived. Derby... Ashbourne, Bakewell, Glossop... Ah! I squinted, as I spotted a small village, which was where I knew I was heading. It took me a while to reach the village, and then about half an hour to find Lupin's house. It was barely in the village at all, about half a mile down the road on the way out. At almost four in the morning, I finally braced myself, and knocked loudly on the front door. There was no answer. I knocked again, even louder than before, and in response, heard a thudding noise, like someone falling out of bed. Within a few seconds, the door was opened by a man in his late thirties, wearing a pair of faded pyjamas.

"Yes?" he said sleepily. I wasn't sure exactly what I should say.

"Uh... erm... Are you Remus Lupin?" I asked. He nodded, obviously confused at having a twelve year-old girl who knew his name, arriving on his doorstep so early in the morning. "Sorry, I, um... heard someone mention you at the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, and I thought you might be able to help me."

"You'd better come in and explain." He said, looking concerned. "What were you doing at that place? Do your parents know you're here? And how did you get my address?"

"I took your address from a filing cabinet at the Committee. My parents don't know I'm here, because I ran away. I ran away because of the trial today. I had to... I mean, I don't... I can't... I..." I started to cry.

"You're a werewolf then?" asked Lupin calmly. I gave the tiniest nod ever, and flushed bright red. "You don't have to be ashamed of it." He continued. "It's not your fault."

I knew that it wasn't my fault, but that didn't make me feel any better about it. I hadn't chosen to be a monster, because that is what I felt I was at the full moon, but there was no-one else I could blame. I used to blame the wolf who had bitten me, for not taking enough care that they were locked up at the full moon, but now I knew I was no better. I had killed, afterall. Now I only wondered what had happened to my alpha. Had he or she been caught, and killed?

"So when did you...?" He left the sentence hanging, not wanting to say it. But I knew what he meant without the rest. I realised that he was the one person who might actually understand me. Once I had attacked someone, the few people who might have felt some sympathy towards me would have changed their minds. But Remus was a werewolf like me, and he had killed once too. He would surely understand.

"Only last full moon" I said quietly. "I was tied up, but something must have-"

"Yes, I know." He reached out as if to put his arm around me, then seemed to change his mind, and put his hand on the shoulder nearest to him. "And the person you attacked; are they dead, or cursed?"

"Dead." I whispered so softly, I could barely hear it. I was still crying, but more calmly now. I was sure that had I created another werewolf, I would have still been screaming.

"So how did your trial go?" Remus asked, as calmly as possible, though I could hear the fear and concern in his voice.

"It... it was horrible!" My voice squeaked a little as I tried to prevent myself from sobbing.

"So, the verdict...?" Once again, he didn't need to ask any more. I understood perfectly. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. Starting to sob, I slowly drew one finger across my neck.

Remus sat patiently, eyes half closed, and waited for me to calm down a little.

"We cqn go to Dumbledore first thing tomorrow. He'll be able to help you, I promise. I think he'd risk anything to save one of his pupils' lives. What's your name?" I told him, and then he began to scribble a quick note:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I need to speak to you urgently about one of your pupils - Harriet Rivers. We'll come to Hogwarts in the morning. It's 4a.m. now, and she hasn't slept at all, so maybe it won't be until the afternoon.

Remus Lupin

He tied the letter to his owl, and it flew out of the window. I fell asleep on the sofa almost straight away. Just before eleven o'clock, I was woken by the smell of bacon, and a clattering of plates, coming from the kitchen. Remus was making breakfast.

After eating breakfast as quickly as possible, we set off to Hogwarts. We couldn't get directly into Hogwarts by Floo powder, so we used it to travel to Hogsmeade, and then walked across the grounds to the school.

When we reached the main entrance to the castle, Dumbledore was waiting for us. We followed him through the corridors and stairways, until we reached a stone griffin, which stepped aside to let us into the Headmaster's office. I had only been in there once before, on my second day at Hogwarts, and I was fascinated by all the magical objects. But I had no time to stop and look at them.

"What's all this about?" Dumbledore asked, glancing from me to Remus. Remus nodded at me, and so I spoke first.

"You know how I'm a... a werewolf, Professor? Well, I..." I looked down at my feet. "I killed someone last month. I was tied up in the garden at home, but I smelled someone near by, and I escaped, and -" Dumbledore gestured for me to stop.

"I know you weren't to blame." He said gently. "But were you caught?"

"Yes. I -"

"And the Ministry never contacted me about it! One of my pupils! Carry on, Harriet:"

"It was my trial yesterday at the Committee." I turned away from him and Remus. "Execution at the end of the month. That's why I ran away, Professor, I'm scared."

"Execution!" he exclaimed. "You?! Stay here; I shall have to go to London immediately. I had forgotten how cruel and barbaric they still were these days. Really! This is the last thing I need!"

"Goodbye..." He added, as he walked out of the room. Lupin and I sat in tense silence, until his return. He was only gone for 45 minutes, but I didn't know whether that was a good sign, or bad.

He opened the door. I sat forwards on my chair, staring at him impatiantly, waiting for him to tell me I was free now. Why didn't he say anything?

"Well?" I demanded. "What did they say?" He finally looked up.

"I'm sorry Harriet." He mumbled. "There was nothing I could do. The Minister of Magic is completely on their side. The Minister denies that Voldemort is back, and so disagrees with me about everything - even this. He wasn't too pleased a couple of years ago when I employed Remus, either. I have been ordered to hand you over to the Committee."

"And, are you going to?" I asked, what was happening failing to sink in. "What will happen if you don't?"

"Of course I won't!" He said, astounded that I could even suggest such a thing. "But if we stay here, we're bound to get caught. In which case I could be arrested, and you'd be.... Anyway, we've got to go and hide somewhere for the time being. Now where did I leave that invisibility cloak?" At this point somebody started banging on the door, and shouting

"Open up! This is the Ministry of Magic." Then Cornelius Fudge's voice began to mutter.

"Cockroach Cluster. Oh... it must have been changed. Er... Chocolate Frog, Fizzing Whizzbee, Sugar Quill... Yes!" he exclaimed as the door swung open. The Minister of Magic walked in, flanked by two dementors, and followed by the two men with the cage from my trial. They pushed me into the cage again, and waited as Fudge and the dementors dragged Dumbledore out of the room. Remus was left standing alone in the corner of the room, horrified. As the dementors passed me, I heard the judge's voice echoing in my head again.

Sentenced to execution by beheading... execution by beheading... beheading... beheading... beheading...

I must have fainted, because the next thing I knew, I was still in the cage, but the cage was in a completely different place - at the back of a courtroom. As I stood up, the people standing around me moved away, looking frightened. In the centre of the room was Dumbledore, with his arms chained to the arms of his chair. The trial had obviously already started, as a short and unpleasant looking woman was speaking.

"You have also failed to comply with the Ministry of Magic's demand that you hand over the werewolf, in an attempt to prevent the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures from carrying out the sentence passed on the 16^th of this month. How do you plead to these charges?"

"Guilty." Dumbledore replied. "I did indeed try to save an innocent girl from execution. I fear that I may have failed her." He looked directly at me with his piercing eyes. "I'm sorry Harriet. Just don't give up yet." While he was talking, the toad-like interrogator had been growing redder and redder, until finally she yelled

"Innocent girl?! Harriet Rivers is a werewolf! A filthy monstrous half-breed, and a murderer!"

"NO!" I screamed. "I am not a murderer! I couldn't help it. It was not my fault! You can't understand - you aren't a werewolf."

The woman looked startled, as if she hadn't thought I had the ability to speak, but then she gave an irritating little cough, and continued. "Could someone please keep that animal under control back there?"

I finally, completely lost my temper. "I AM NOT A FUCKING ANIMAL!" I screamed. Dumbledore tried to get out of his chair, but the chains tightened, and so he failed dismally.

"Don't make it any worse for yourself, Harriet." He advised.

"It can't bloody well get any worse." I snapped back. They were going to kill me anyway, so I might as well stick up for myself. I was ready to shout back, and knew I could keep it up for a while, but the woman who I later found out was Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, pointed her wand at me, and shouted

"Silencio!" and unable to protest further, I was dragged out. I was taken to the Committee again, where the Chairman had a rather nastly smile on his face.

"It has been decided to - " he began, before he was suddenly interrupted.

"You can't to this!" shouted Remus Lupin.

"I think I can." Said the head of the Committee, calmly. "In fact, it would be breaking the law to let it go. Have him thrown out."

My last lifeline gone.

"In consideration of recent events, it has been decided to move forwards the execution of the werewolf, Harriet Rivers, to 9 pm tonight, the 18^th of August."

No! How was I going to plan my escape, and carry it out in only four hours? It was probably impossible anyway. Before then I had been determined to escape, demanding some kind of a miracle, but now I despaired. I screamed and sobbed until my throat was so dry and sore that I could barely make a sound. I just wanted to curl up and die on the floor of the cage. Why prolong life by four miserable hours?

Those few hours felt like a lifetime. I didn't want nine o'clock to come, but I couldn't stand waiting like this. I found my eyes drawn to the clock on the wall, watching my last hours, minutes and seconds ticking away.

At ten to nine I began to hyperventilate, tears drenching the neck of my already damp t-shirt. Surely they would be coming for me soon.

It was virtually nine o'clock when they took me, still in the cage, into a room I hadn't seen before. There were a few rows of wooden benches, upon which members of the Committee were seated, all facing a low platform at the front. On the platform stood a tall man, with a thick black moustache, running his finger along the blade of an axe. So this was it.

"Oh shit." I mutterred. "Shit, shit, shit!" I was getting closer. The executioner was only a couple of metres away, and the axe. It was definitely silver, and by the looks of it, not that sharp either. Ouch! It was the pain that I was most afraid of. Of course I didn't want to die, but the truth of it is, that I knew I wouldn't give a damn about that once I was dead, because I wouldn't be around to care about it. But a blunt silver axe was the most awful thing I could imagine.

The cage door was opened, and I was lead up the two steps onto the platform, and over to the centre of it. There was a bloodstained wooded block down on the floor near Macnair's feet. I struggled, trying to get away, though I had no idea how I'd get out of the building, if they did loosen their grip for a second. I pulled backwards, but was pushed forwards, onto my knees. I was held down, enormous pressure on my shoulders, and I couldn't get up. My long hair fell forwards, making a black curtain in front of my eyes. I screwed up my eyes, pressed my fingers into the planks of the floor, and clenched my teeth, bracing myself. I knew it must be coming soon.

I was trembling anyway, when a familiar shaking came over me. I could hardly believe that I had forgotten. I felt a prickling all over my body, as thick hair grew. I jerked up from the floor, growling, now much stronger than before.

I was free.

I wanted to kill. I had tasted blood last month, and now the wolf wanted more.

No. I didn't want to do that, I was free.

Kill

Free

Yes. Free to kill.

That night, for the first time in my life, I was actually glad of what I was - a werewolf.