Old Blood at Hogwarts

Aaron, Harry, Hermione and Ron walked on the sloping lawn towards the castle.Now the sun is sinking quickly, the sky is clear, gray with purple, but there is still a hint of red in the west.

Suddenly, Aaron felt Harry, Hermione and Ron under the cloaks stop walking, so he asked, "Why don't you leave?"

"It's Scabbers...it won't...stay still." Ron bent down, trying hard to keep Scabbers in his pocket.

But the rat went berserk, screaming, twisting and kicking like crazy, trying to bite Ron's hand.

"Scabbers, it's me, you fool, I'm Ron." Ron whispered.

Behind them they heard the door to Hagrid's hut open and the sound of someone speaking.

"Oh, Ron, please let us go, they are going to attack!" Hermione said.

"Okay... Banban, stay still."

They moved forward again, but Ron quickly stopped again: "I can't catch it - Scabbers, shut up, they're going to hear us."

The rat screamed wildly, but it was even louder from Hagrid's garden, where a din of voices came.Then, there was silence.Then, without warning, there was the dull sound of an ax swinging.

Hermione shook on the spot and said in a daze: "They have already started! I don't... don't believe... they have already started..."

At this time, a wild wailing came from behind them.

"Hagrid," Harry muttered, turning to go back, but Aaron, Ron and Hermione all held on to his arms to prevent him from going.

"We can't go there." Ron's face was as white as paper. "If they know that we have visited him, he will be in even greater trouble..."

Hermione's breathing was rapid and ragged.She choked and said: "How... could they... how could they...?"

"Okay, it's over. There's no point in saying anything." Aaron was the calmest of the four. He had anticipated this outcome when he learned that the appeal had failed. "Let's go."

They turned back and walked towards the castle.By the time they reached the open field, darkness had fallen around them like a spell.

"Scabbers, don't move." Ron whispered, putting his hand on his chest.

The rat was still struggling wildly.Ron stopped again, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket.

"You stupid mouse, what's wrong with you? Don't move... Ouch! It bites me!"

"Ron, be silent!" Hermione whispered hastily, "Fudge will be here soon."

"Scabbers can't just stay still...don't move." Ron wanted to calm down Scabbers.

But Scabbers looked frightened and struggled with all his strength, trying to break free from Ron's hand.

Aaron was outside the invisibility cloak and could not see what was going on inside the cloak. He could only tell what happened from the voices of the three Harrys.

Aaron was unable to provide any help to Ron. He could only wait for Ron to deal with Scabbers while paying attention to the surrounding situation in case someone suddenly came over and discovered traces of himself and others.

Suddenly, Aaron noticed something moving in the grass not far away.

It's Crookshanks!

It was lying low on the ground and sneaking towards them.Its yellow eyes glowed eerily in the dark, as if it could see them.But this is impossible, it should have heard Banban's scream coming.

"Look there." Aaron alerted Harry, Hermione, and Ron to Crookshanks' arrival.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione lamented, "Don't come here, go away. Crookshanks! Go away!"

But the cat came closer.

"Banban...don't!"

The mouse slipped out from Ron's fingers, fell to the ground and escaped.Crookshanks jumped after him, and before Aaron, Harry and Hermione could stop him, Ron had already thrown aside his invisibility cloak and ran into the darkness.

"Ron!"

Aaron, Harry, and Hermione also shouted quickly and started running after them.

Harry and Hermione couldn't run fast with their invisibility cloaks on, so they took off their invisibility cloaks.The cloak fluttered behind them like a flag.

Because the Disillusionment Curse does not affect running, Aaron did not remove the magic from his body.Now only Aaron remains invisible.

The three of them chased Ron, and they could hear his heavy footsteps running forward, and they could hear him yelling at Crookshanks.

"Let it go... let it go... Banban, come here." There was a dull sound, "I caught you! Let go, you stinky cat!"

Aaron, Harry and Hermione stumbled up to Ron.Ron fell on his back and Scabbers was back in his pocket, clutching the trembling mass in his hands.

"Ron, come on, get under the invisibility cloak." Hermione gasped, "Dumbledore... and the Minister of Magic... they will be out soon."

But before they could hide themselves, or even take a breath, they heard the sound of huge paws stepping lightly on the ground, and something was coming towards them from the darkness.It was a large dog with light-colored eyes and black fur.

Aaron reached for his wand, but before he could pull it out, the dog jumped up and landed with its front paws on Harry's chest.Harry quickly rolled back, and the dog's attack was too strong and rolled over him.

Then the dog turned and lunged at Harry again.Ron pushed Harry aside and the dog bit Ron's outstretched arm.Aaron had already taken out his wand and pointed at the dog and was about to cast magic, but the dog had dragged Ron into the darkness effortlessly, as if Ron was a rag doll.

"Flashing fluorescent light!" Aaron shouted hurriedly.

The light from the wand allowed him to see a thick tree trunk, and they were now in the shadow of a big tree.The branches of the tree were swaying, as if in a strong wind, and the branches were swaying back and forth, preventing them from going any further.This is a whomping willow.

There, right next to the roots of the tree, was the dog.It was dragging Ron backwards into a large hole at the base of the tree.Ron struggled furiously, but his head and torso were gone...

"Ron!" Harry shouted, trying to follow.

But a branch as thick as a python came down hard, and Harry was forced to retreat.

All they could see now was Ron's legs, which were holding on to a tree root, trying to stop the dog from dragging him further into the ground.However, there was a sudden terrible loud noise, like a gun being fired, and Ron's leg was broken.In the blink of an eye, his feet were gone.

"Harry...Aaron...we have to find someone to help..." Hermione cried.

"No! That thing is big enough to eat him, we don't have time!" Harry gasped.

"But there is no one to help. We can't deal with this whomping willow anyway!" Hermione said while avoiding a branch that was coming towards them.

"If that dog can get in, then so can we." Aaron lifted the Disillusionment Curse on his body and came to Harry and Hermione.

He looked at the maliciously waving branches, trying to find a way through.But it was impossible to get close to the roots of the Whomping Willow without being severely beaten.

Harry rushed in twice, but was beaten back twice.

Just when the three were helpless, Crookshanks suddenly rushed forward.It nimbly dodged and passed between the branches, and then it rested its front paws on a knot in the trunk.

Suddenly, the tree seemed to turn into stone, and all the branches and leaves became motionless.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered.

"How does it know...?" The expression on Aaron's face was very confused.

"He and the dog are friends," Harry said gloomily. "I've seen them together. Come on, hold your wand still."

Within seconds they were at the trunk of the tree.But before they reached the cave entrance, Crookshanks flicked his bottle-brush-like tail and slipped in first.Harry followed inside.Aaron followed.He rushed forward and climbed in, sliding down a slope until he reached a very short tunnel at the end.Harry was rising from the ground beside him, Crookshanks not far ahead, his eyes twinkling in the light of his wand.A few seconds later, Hermione waddled up next to Aaron.

"Where is Ron?" Hermione asked fearfully.

"Maybe it can lead us to Ron." Aaron said, looking at Crookshanks, "if it really is friends with that dog."

"Let's go here." Harry said simply, hunched his back and followed Crookshanks forward.

"Where is the exit of this tunnel?" Hermione asked breathlessly behind Harry.

"I don't know... the passage is marked on the Marauder's Map, but Fred and George say no one has ever walked it. The road disappears at the edge of the map, but it looks like it ends at Hog Maud Village..." Harry replied.

They moved forward as quickly as possible, because the tunnel was very narrow, so Aaron had to lower his head and bend forward to run forward.He was bent almost as far as he could, and Crookshanks was in front of them, his tail bouncing up and down, disappearing and appearing.This passage was endless and felt at least as long as the one to Honeydukes.Then the tunnel began to rise, and some way further it became winding and Crookshanks disappeared.But through a small opening, Aaron could see a blur of light.

After running such a long way, Aaron couldn't help but feel shortness of breath and pain in his chest.He glanced at Harry and Hermione and saw that they also looked exhausted.The three people stopped, took a breath, and moved forward from the side.All three raised their wands to shine on the road to see what was ahead.

It was a house, a messy, dusty house.The wallpaper had fallen off the walls, there were stains all over the floor, every piece of furniture was broken, as if it had been vandalized, and the windows were all boarded up.

The three of them got out of the cave and looked around.There was no one in the room, but a door on the right was open, leading to a dark passage.