章節 145: The Grim?
Oleandra glided above the treetops, scanning the area around the Whomping Willow. As far as she could see (and that wasn't very far, it was beginning to grow dark), the only living thing in the vicinity was a bright orange cat. Its head turned, and Oleandra ducked under the foliage. Had it seen her?
Suddenly, Ron appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and pounced on the cat.
"Get away from him— get away— Scabbers, come here—" cried Ron, "gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat—"
'Right,' Oleandra thought to herself. 'Harry's got an Invisibility Cloak. Don't worry, it's got nothing on you, Cloaky.'
Moments later, Harry and Hermione also revealed themselves, shedding the Invisibility Cloak and leaving it on the ground. They ran after their friend; nearly tripping over him when Ron suddenly stooped down to collect his pet rat.
Oleandra's eyes widened as she saw an enormous black dog shoot out from a hole underneath the Whomping Willow while Hermione was pleading with Ron to return under the safety of the cloak. Oleandra nearly cried out for them to watch out, when the dog leapt onto Harry, pinning him to the ground. Fortunately, she remembered that Harry's future self had been just fine.
Moments later, Harry lit the tip of his wand, casting some light on the situation: Ron was currently being dragged into the hole the dog had crawled out of. Harry and Hermione attempted to follow him, but they were immediately thwarted by the angry Whomping Willow, which was slashing about madly with its branches. They could only watch in dismay as the dog broke Ron's leg as easily as if it had been a twig, before carrying him off God knows where.
It was a shame that Oleandra didn't have nearly enough Wood Nymph blood to attempt to communicate with the Whomping Willow, unlike her sister. But just as she thought Harry and Hermione would be cut to ribbons by the mad tree, the orange cat dashed over and pressed its paws on a knot on the tree's trunk.
The Whomping Willow immediately froze; Harry and Hermione also briefly paused, unsure of what to do next. They quickly made their decision and ran to the hole underneath the trunk, but right before they entered, the orange cat dived in first.
Oleandra's eyes wandered over to the Invisibility Cloak. It was such a shame, leaving such a precious item there on the ground, wasn't it? After counting a few instants after the Gryffindor pair had entered the hole, Oleandra swooped down and collected the Invisibility Cloak, and then stored it in her pouch.
Meanwhile, the tree was beginning to twitch; apparently, pressing the knot on the trunk only worked for a limited time. Oleandra hurriedly flew into the hole before she was whacked by a branch; that was certainly not an experience she was in a hurry to relive.
The Lethifold was very good at gliding, which meant that Oleandra didn't need to waste any time getting dirty from crawling in the tight hole that hopefully led somewhere. And as such, she very quickly flew into Hermione's behind.
"Eek!" came Hermione screeching voice. "Something touched my butt!"
"Hello," said Oleandra nonchalantly. "Fancy meeting you here. We've really got to stop meeting like this."
"Is that who I think it is?" came Harry's muffled voice from further up ahead. "What's she doing here?"
"I saw you two crawling into a hole," Oleandra explained. "Since everyone was doing it, I didn't want to get left out."
"Where were you?" Hermione asked accusingly. "You weren't in the North Hall. You were supposed to save Buckbeak…"
Towards the end of her sentence, Hermione voice began wavering, as she remembered how she had seen the executioner's axe fall.
"I'm sorry," said Oleandra quietly. "Filch found me and nearly chased me back to my common room. It was all I could do to leave the castle without getting noticed."
Harry remembered how he had seen Filch watching over the door at the North Hall, as he, Ron and Hermione had sneaked past him under the Invisibility Cloak. No wonder…
"It's fine," said Harry bitterly. "But we could use your help right about now. A huge dog took Ron into this tunnel, we've got to rescue him."
"Any idea where it leads?" Oleandra probed.
"Harry said he saw the tunnel on the, er…" Hermione paused for a moment. "Well, he thinks it might lead to Hogsmeade."
They spent the rest of the journey in complete silence, save for the gasps of exertion as Harry and Hermione crawled as fast as they could, their thoughts of saving Ron keeping them from stopping. As for Oleandra, she could easily have glided to Ron's rescue thanks to her Lethifold cloak, but unfortunately, the two in front of her were blocking her way.
Eventually, the tunnel started curving upwards; a sign, perhaps, that they'd be emerging from the underground at last. And finally, the three found themselves in what looked like a wooden shack that had been abandoned for a hundred years.
"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione whispered, as she pulled herself out of the hole.
Oleandra simply floated herself gently out of the hole, before setting foot on the ground. She let out a cough; it was awfully dusty in here. Upon closer examination, it seemed as if the Shack had been more than abandoned; it had been ravaged: claw marks, bite marks, broken furniture. Perhaps a wild beast had eaten the Shack's inhabitants? It would certainly explain the ghosts that used to howl here at night, according to the rumours.
Creak.
"Someone's upstairs," whispered Harry.
Oleandra nodded; she'd heard it as well. That was the creak of floorboards being stepped on overhead.
"Nox," Harry and Hermione whispered together, undoing the Wand-Lighting Charm. With wands at the ready, all three moved up a staircase that had clearly seen better days. Upon hearing noises coming from behind one of the doors on this floor, all three exchanged a look, before nodding.
Harry kicked in the door in question, and all three of them charged into the room. On the floor lay Ron, moaning and clutching his leg. Harry and Hermione rushed over to him, while Oleandra stayed behind to keep a lookout for the vicious black dog.
"Ron!" Hermione cried out. "Are you okay?
"Where's the dog?" said Harry urgently.
"Not a dog," moaned Ron through gritted teeth. "It's a trap!"
"What —" Harry blurted out.
"Not a dog," repeated Ron in anguish. "Black's an Animagus!"
"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!"
創作者的想法 
Azure_Abyss
Azure_Abyss IT'S A TRAP!
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