Harry Potter 03 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

about his father, and about his three oldest friends … Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs … Had all four of them been out in the grounds tonight? Wormtail had reappeared this evening when everyone had thought he was dead – was it so impossible his father had done the same? Had he been seeing things across the lake? The figure had been too far away to see distinctly … yet he had felt sure, for a moment, before he’d lost consciousness …
    The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned towards the Willow, waiting.
    And then, at last, after over an hour …
    ‘Here we come!’ Hermione whispered.
    She and Harry got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots, followed by the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upwards. Next came Harry, Hermione and Black. They all began to walk towards the castle.
    Harry’s heart was starting to beat very fast. He glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon …
    ‘Harry,’ Hermione muttered, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, ‘we’ve got to stay put. We mustn’t be seen. There’s nothing we can do …’
    ‘So we’re just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again …’ said Harry quietly.
    ‘How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?’ snapped Hermione. ‘There’s nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius. We’re not supposed to be doing anything else!’
    ‘All right!’
    The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement –
    ‘There goes Lupin,’ Hermione whispered. ‘He’s transforming –’
    ‘Hermione!’ said Harry suddenly. ‘We’ve got to move!’
    ‘We mustn’t, I keep telling you –’
    ‘Not to interfere! But Lupin’s going to run into the Forest, right at us!’
    Hermione gasped.
    ‘Quick!’ she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. ‘Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The Dementors will be coming any moment –’
    ‘Back to Hagrid’s!’ Harry said. ‘It’s empty now – come on!’
    They ran, fast as they could, Buckbeak cantering along behind them. They could hear the werewolf howling behind them …
    The cabin was in sight. Harry skidded to the door, wrenched it open and Hermione and Buckbeak flashed past him; Harry threw himself in after them and bolted the door. Fang the boarhound barked loudly.
    ‘Shh, Fang, it’s us!’ said Hermione, hurrying over and scratching his ears to quieten him. ‘That was really close!’ she said to Harry.
    ‘Yeah …’
    Harry was looking out of the window. It was much harder to see what was going on from here. Buckbeak seemed very happy to find himself back inside Hagrid’s house. He lay down in front of the fire, folded his wings contentedly and seemed ready for a good nap.
    ‘I think I’d better go outside again, you know,’ said Harry slowly. ‘I can’t see what’s going on – we won’t know when it’s time –’
    Hermione looked up. Her expression was suspicious.
    ‘I’m not going to try and interfere,’ said Harry quickly. ‘But if we don’t see what’s going on, how’re we going to know when it’s time to rescue Sirius?’
    ‘Well … OK, then … I’ll wait here with Buckbeak … but Harry, be careful – there’s a werewolf out there – and the Dementors –’
    Harry stepped outside again and edged around the cabin. He could hear yelping in the distance. That meant the Dementors were closing in on Sirius … he and Hermione would be running to him any moment …
    Harry stared out towards the lake, his heart doing a kind of drum-roll in his chest. Whoever had sent that Patronus would be appearing at any moment.
    For a fraction of a second he stood, irresolute, in front of Hagrid’s door. You must not be seen. But he didn’t want to be seen. He wanted to do the seeing … he had to know …
    And there were the Dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake … they were moving away from where Harry stood, to the opposite bank … he wouldn’t have to get near them …
    Harry began to run. He had no thought in his head except his father … If it was him … if it really was him … he had to know, had to find out …
    The lake was coming nearer and