Chapter 156
Chapter 156
Hermione left without receiving either approval or refusal from Suer.
She had, however, abandoned the idea of going to Professor McGonagall.
“Wait and see. Harry and Ron aren’t foolish enough to deliver themselves as dinner. Hagrid may have left a clue for them there. If they haven’t returned by midnight, it won’t be too late to find a professor.”
After Hermione departed, Suer retrieved a small bundle hidden in a corner of the room. He secured his wand close to his body and hung the most important item, a phoenix tail feather, around his neck. Once everything was ready, he left the Room of Requirement.
It was time for revenge…
Earlier, on the day Dumbledore gave Harry his hint in Hagrid’s hut:
That evening, Suer returned to the Room of Requirement bearing exhaustion of both body and mind. Fawkes sat upon his temporary bed, preening his feathers, and raised his brilliant eyes.
Not far away, Dumbledore sat in a chair, leafing with interest through a coverless book.
“P-professor?” Suer stared blankly around him, confirming that he truly was inside the Room of Requirement.
How had Dumbledore and Fawkes entered? Was the room not supposed to be inaccessible without the spoken request?
Was this place not supposed to be absolutely secret?
Suer suspected that he was hallucinating.
“I shall be leaving for a while,” Dumbledore said quietly. “Before I go, there is something I would like you to do for me, Bones.”
“W-what?” Suer had not yet recovered. He nodded blankly. “Tell me what you need.”
…
Consequently, after receiving Hermione’s first-hand information, Suer used his sharp claws to climb a tree near Hagrid’s hut and waited for Harry and Ron.
He dared follow them into a nest of spiders because he possessed protection of his own. Fawkes’s feather served as both a Portkey and a life-saving charm.
Using it was simple. He merely had to prod it with his magic.
Unfortunately, it could be used only once.
While waiting, Suer casually plucked a fruit from a nearby branch and put it into his mouth.
“Blegh!”
At that moment, Suer faintly heard Fang making excited noises inside Hagrid’s hut.
Oh! They had finally arrived!
Before long, Fang bounded outside, followed by Ron and Harry holding his lead. As the great dog passed beneath Suer’s tree, he abruptly stopped, twitched his nose and lifted his head to investigate.
Then Fang seemed to recognise something. His short tail whirled madly, and he leapt excitedly beneath the tree, scratching at its trunk.
“Whine… rrrr…” Strangely, something appeared to have sealed Fang’s teeth together. He could produce only muffled noises deep within his throat.
Harry and Ron did not understand canine speech and naturally had no idea why Fang had become so excited. They looked up at the tree in confusion but saw nothing unusual.
“We need to hurry, Harry. The spiders are almost out of sight,” Ron urged in a whisper.
Hidden beneath the leaves, Suer watched Harry glance towards the Forbidden Forest before dragging away Fang, who continued clawing desperately at the trunk.
The two boys and the dog soon disappeared along a narrow path into the dark forest.
Suer waited a while before dropping lightly from the tree. Harry and Ron had not understood Fang’s behaviour, but Suer knew exactly what it meant.
Fang had undoubtedly caught his scent.
“I’d forgotten that Fang is actually a decent hunting dog.”
Suer stood in place, shook his head with an amused smile and reared onto his hind legs. His nose twitched. He had discovered this new ability only recently: by concentrating, he could easily distinguish the scents lingering in the air and clearly “see” each fine strand of their trails.
Animagus magic was plainly not so simple. Becoming an animal also greatly strengthened the animal’s natural characteristics.
Badgers already possessed excellent noses. Suer did not know whether ordinary badgers experienced anything as extraordinary as his new perception, but that did not prevent him from using it for basic tracking.
“Hmm… grass, rotting tree roots, and an unfamiliar human scent… That’s Harry and Ron.”
“And this…? Fang’s urine? Dog mess?” Suer’s face turned green. He stopped tracking, rubbed his nose with one paw and sneezed.
Following the scent trails he could “see”, the black-and-white figure flashed through the gloom of the Forbidden Forest. Rustling leaves in the wind perfectly concealed his passage.
Before long, Suer found Harry moving forwards with his faintly glowing wand lowered as he searched, while Ron followed and glanced from side to side.
They were already deep within the Forbidden Forest.
Suer lay silently to one side and followed them through gaps in the undergrowth. The darkness that suffocated Harry looked as bright as day to Suer.
Dumbledore had instructed him to protect Harry and Ron as far as possible and offer guidance if necessary.
The old bumblebee appeared to have forgotten that Suer was only a second-year student.
At most, he had been fortunate enough to master a few spells that some elderly wizards never learnt.
At most, he was merely a tiny bit more accomplished than others his age.
Dumbledore nevertheless seemed certain that Harry and Ron would obtain their clue without meeting disaster. Suer wondered what contingency the old bumblebee had left behind.
Suer had lain still for ages. Harry and Ron’s progress was terrifyingly slow; several minutes carried them only a short distance.
Fang suddenly barked furiously towards one direction. The loud sound echoed without end through the forest. Harry and Ron leapt where they stood, and the abrupt barking drove away Suer’s drowsiness.
His round ears twitched. Suer turned towards the sound. Something large appeared to be forcing a path through the trees.
The low rumble of an engine reached him clearly.
Suer had nearly forgotten that Harry and Ron had arrived that year in Mr Weasley’s car. After running over the crown of the Whomping Willow, the strange, almost living vehicle had charged directly into the Forbidden Forest.
Oh! The car was not the only thing approaching. Suer’s enemies were coming too, and there was more than one.
Beneath the engine’s rumble, he heard extremely faint clicking, identical to the sounds made by the creatures that had nearly killed him on the night of his transformation.
Excellent. Suer touched the small pouch strapped across his back.
Inside lay the secret weapon he had stolen from Snape: half a bottle of powdered scrapings from fireleaf, the plant Professor Sprout had used in their first Herbology lesson. It was an excellent accelerant. Suer did not know why Snape had collected it, but it belonged to him now.
Those damned Acromantula were about to learn a lesson.