Harry Potter 03 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

she led me towards the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be – er – amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he’d be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it – if he’d got as far as this house, he’d have met a fully grown werewolf – but your father, who’d heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life … Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden to tell anybody by Dumbledore, but from that time on he knew what I was …’
    ‘So that’s why Snape doesn’t like you,’ said Harry slowly, ‘because he thought you were in on the joke?’
    ‘That’s right,’ sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.
    Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin.

 
     
– CHAPTER NINETEEN –
     
The Servant of Lord Voldemort
    Hermione screamed. Black leapt to his feet. Harry jumped as though he’d received a huge electric shock.
    ‘I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow,’ said Snape, throwing the Cloak aside, careful to keep his wand pointing directly at Lupin’s chest. ‘Very useful, Potter, I thank you …’
    Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. ‘You’re wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?’ he said, his eyes glittering. ‘I’ve just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your Potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did … lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight.’
    ‘Severus –’ Lupin began, but Snape overrode him.
    ‘I’ve told the Headmaster again and again that you’ve been helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here’s the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout –’
    ‘Severus, you’re making a mistake,’ said Lupin urgently. ‘You haven’t heard everything – I can explain – Sirius is not here to kill Harry –’
    ‘Two more for Azkaban tonight,’ said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. ‘I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this … he was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin … a tame werewolf …’
    ‘You fool,’ said Lupin softly. ‘Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?’
    BANG! Thin, snake-like cords burst from the end of Snape’s wand and twisted themselves around Lupin’s mouth, wrists and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, Black started towards Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black’s eyes.
    ‘Give me a reason,’ he whispered. ‘Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will.’
    Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.
    Harry stood there, paralysed, not knowing what to do or who to believe. He glanced around at Ron and Hermione. Ron looked just as confused as he did, still fighting to keep hold of the struggling Scabbers. Hermione, however, took an uncertain step towards Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, ‘Professor Snape – it – it wouldn’t hurt to hear what they’ve got to say, w-would it?’
    ‘Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school,’ Snape spat. ‘You, Potter and Weasley are out of bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue .’
    ‘But if – if there was a mistake –’
    ‘KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!’ Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. ‘DON’T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!’ A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointing at Black’s face. Hermione fell silent.
    ‘Vengeance is very sweet,’ Snape breathed at Black. ‘How I hoped I would be the one to catch you …’
    ‘The joke’s on you again, Severus,’ snarled Black. ‘As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle –’ he jerked his head at Ron, ‘– I’ll come quietly …’
    ‘Up to the castle?’ said Snape silkily. ‘I don’t think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They’ll be very pleased to see you, Black … pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay