The hunt continues...
Remus walked through empty countryside under a leaden sky trying to stretch the kinks out of his right leg as he moved. It was a bit stiff and sore, though since it was still attached and working properly, he wasn’t about to complain. Poppy had done her usual excellent job patching up his injuries, with a modicum of fussing and muttering, of course. One couldn’t expect anything else. At least she hadn’t joked about the wolf biting off more than it could chew; though he had a feeling the thought crossed her mind once or twice
The moonstone in his hand pushed straight ahead, though with far less urgency than previously. Hopefully that meant he was only tracking one wolf, possibly two, though all the signs he’d seen so far pointed to a loan marauder this time. He paused and studied the landscape before him. He was approaching a thick copse consisting of a bed of dense undergrowth beneath a thicket of bare branches etched sharply against the darkening sky. The faint path he’d been following across the meadow headed straight for a dark, narrow opening between the trees.
Sliding the stone into his pocket, he gripped his wand a bit tighter and moved silently into the woods. Once inside the outermost ring of trees, the path opened up somewhat and the trees themselves seemed to spread out, though the undergrowth remained thick enough to give his quarry plenty of places to hide.
Slowly he moved deeper into the dim wood. Nothing stirred. No breeze lifted a single leaf and no animal rustled through the dense covering on the forest floor. Everything was utterly silent, as if nature was holding her breath waiting for the confrontation she knew was about to happen.
Remus moved further and further into the woods, straining with all his senses to locate the wolf he instinctively knew was lying in wait, biding its time for just the right moment to strike. The faintest of rustlings straight ahead betrayed the creature’s position moments before it bounded out of the undergrowth heading straight for him.
As he raised his wand to fire, he felt something zip past his ear and hit the wolf, mid-chest, with a solid thunk. The creature immediately transformed, tearing himself apart as if hit by Remus’s spell. In the silence that followed the wolf’s last howl, a voice exclaimed loudly, “Merlin’s bones! Why the hell did it do that?”
Remus whirled around and looked up. Hovering several feet above the forest floor was a young woman perched on the stirrups of a racing broom, holding a crossbow tightly in her hands; she had a look of astonishment on her face.
Remus turned around again and began to examine the remains of the werewolf. Finding an arrow amidst the carnage, he picked it up by the fletched end and wiped its point clean of gore on a nearby bush. The tip gleamed bright silver in the light as he held it up. “Lucky shot,” he stated mildly. “You managed to hit the only spot on that wolf where you could have possibly killed it with this thing.”
The woman brought her broom to the ground and dismounted. Then she walked over to join Remus and looked down at the bloody mess on the ground. “I don’t understand. It wasn’t an explosive arrow. Why did the wolf come apart like this? Silver doesn’t have that sort of effect on werewolves.”
“No, it doesn’t.” He handed her back her arrow. “I’m curious, why use an arrow at all, why not simply use your wand?”
The woman shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what sort of spell would stop it. I’m a shopkeeper, not a warrior. Archery is a hobby. I figured that if I kept out of reach and shot it full of enough silver maybe it would die on its own.”
Remus nodded. Sometimes he forgot how different his life experience has been from more ordinary witches and wizards. He was trained to fight, had spent most of his life doing little else, in fact. He knew many spells, hexes and fighting techniques that the average person wouldn’t have a clue about. That gave him a different perspective on violent confrontations than most people. To him they were almost…normal. It also made him far more suited to the task of hunting werewolves than this woman appeared to be.
Probably she was in it for the money. It was a wonder that the Ministry’s bounty hadn’t led even more clueless people into danger while they tried to make some quick money doing something more hazardous than they could possibly imagine.
“If you shot him full of arrows, all you’d have done was made the wolf more determined to get hold of you. Silver is actually quite a slow poison to werewolves,” he said matter of factly. Then he added, “If you were looking for a pelt to turn in for the bounty, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”
Brows lowered over dark eyes and the woman glared angrily at Remus. “I’m not a bounty hunter,” she spat.
Surprised at her vehemence, Remus asked, “Then why were you stalking the werewolf? You’ve already said this isn’t the sort of thing you’re used to doing.”
“It’s personal and none of your business,” she snapped. “I could ask you the same thing. You weren’t just strolling through these woods for the exercise, were you?”
“No,” he answered calmly, more intrigued than ever. “I was hunting the wolf. I’ve taken on the task of eliminating Voldemort’s werewolves; unlike you, I’ve been fighting dark forces for a long, long time.”
“Do you work for the Ministry?” She eyed him skeptically.
Remus shook his head. “No, I work for Albus Dumbledore. My name is Remus Lupin.”
The hostility faded from the woman’s face. “Lupin… I’ve heard of you. You’re a werewolf yourself, aren’t you? You used to teach at Hogwarts.”
“I still do teach at Hogwarts. During Voldemort’s reign of terror the school was forced underground, but we never stopped teaching students.”
The woman nodded and held out her hand. “I’m Audra Cole. My mother used to get Wolfsbane potion from Anna Burgess until she was killed recently for the money she could bring to some bounty hunters who were too cowardly to go out and hunt the really dangerous werewolves.”
That explained a lot, thought Remus as he shook Audra’s hand. “I’m sorry about your mother. Dolph told me what happened. That was one of the reasons I decided I couldn’t leave this task to the Ministry any longer.”
“The Ministry!” Audra scoffed. “They’re useless. They don’t seem to really care much about catching these creatures. They show up late at the scene of every attack and devote more time to being sure that the Muggles who’re involved don’t remember anything than they do to trying to capture or destroy the werewolves. In all this time, they’ve only managed to kill one of them as far as I know. It can’t go on!”
“It won’t. I don’t think more than a dozen wolves escaped the battle at Hogwarts. With the one the Ministry killed, the four I’ve all ready destroyed and this one, that only leaves six more to find.”
“Really? That’s better than I feared.” She looked down at the remains of the wolf. “You seem to know quite a bit about them. Why did this one explode like that?”
“The werewolves are being held in wolf form by a dark ritual centered on a moonstone that’s lodged in the middle of its chest. If the moonstone is shattered or removed, they become human again. The violence of the transformation depends on how long the moonstone has kept them from resuming human form. The longer they’ve been wolves, the more violent the transformation. There’s only so much a human body can take. I think all these werewolves have been wolves for too long to survive a reversion to humanity.” He nodded at the arrow she still held in her hand. “Your arrow hit the stone and broke it. A very lucky shot.”
“How have you been destroying them?”
“I worked out a spell to shatter the stone from a distance. I’ve been using that on them as I find them.”
“Could you teach the spell to me?”
Remus shook his head. “You should go home and leave this task to me. You admit this isn’t something you’re suited for. I am. Let me take care of it.”
“These things and their reign of terror are the reason my mother is dead. I have as much right as you do to hunt them down,” Audra exclaimed.
“This isn’t a contest! If you keep confronting these wolves, you’re going to be hurt.”
“Not if I know the proper spell to get rid of them.”
Remus crossed his arms and frowned. “It’s not that simple. The target area is very small and casting the spell takes practice. You know your mother wouldn’t want you to be hurt because of her. Go home, Audra.”
“So you won’t teach me the spell?”
“No.”
She nodded determinedly, jammed her arrow back into her quiver, and turned back toward her broom. “Okay. I don’t need your spell anyway. An arrow worked fine this time, it will again, now that I know where to aim.”
“Audra, don’t be foolish…” exclaimed Remus in exasperation. Didn’t the woman have any sense?
Grabbing her broom, Audra mounted and took off, circling once for a final word. “Nice to meet you, Remus Lupin. If you keep hunting werewolves, I imagine we’ll meet again because I don’t intend to give up just because you think I should. Happy hunting.”
As Remus watched in annoyance, Audra flew off through the trees and vanished from sight.
The moonstone in his hand pushed straight ahead, though with far less urgency than previously. Hopefully that meant he was only tracking one wolf, possibly two, though all the signs he’d seen so far pointed to a loan marauder this time. He paused and studied the landscape before him. He was approaching a thick copse consisting of a bed of dense undergrowth beneath a thicket of bare branches etched sharply against the darkening sky. The faint path he’d been following across the meadow headed straight for a dark, narrow opening between the trees.
Sliding the stone into his pocket, he gripped his wand a bit tighter and moved silently into the woods. Once inside the outermost ring of trees, the path opened up somewhat and the trees themselves seemed to spread out, though the undergrowth remained thick enough to give his quarry plenty of places to hide.
Slowly he moved deeper into the dim wood. Nothing stirred. No breeze lifted a single leaf and no animal rustled through the dense covering on the forest floor. Everything was utterly silent, as if nature was holding her breath waiting for the confrontation she knew was about to happen.
Remus moved further and further into the woods, straining with all his senses to locate the wolf he instinctively knew was lying in wait, biding its time for just the right moment to strike. The faintest of rustlings straight ahead betrayed the creature’s position moments before it bounded out of the undergrowth heading straight for him.
As he raised his wand to fire, he felt something zip past his ear and hit the wolf, mid-chest, with a solid thunk. The creature immediately transformed, tearing himself apart as if hit by Remus’s spell. In the silence that followed the wolf’s last howl, a voice exclaimed loudly, “Merlin’s bones! Why the hell did it do that?”
Remus whirled around and looked up. Hovering several feet above the forest floor was a young woman perched on the stirrups of a racing broom, holding a crossbow tightly in her hands; she had a look of astonishment on her face.
Remus turned around again and began to examine the remains of the werewolf. Finding an arrow amidst the carnage, he picked it up by the fletched end and wiped its point clean of gore on a nearby bush. The tip gleamed bright silver in the light as he held it up. “Lucky shot,” he stated mildly. “You managed to hit the only spot on that wolf where you could have possibly killed it with this thing.”
The woman brought her broom to the ground and dismounted. Then she walked over to join Remus and looked down at the bloody mess on the ground. “I don’t understand. It wasn’t an explosive arrow. Why did the wolf come apart like this? Silver doesn’t have that sort of effect on werewolves.”
“No, it doesn’t.” He handed her back her arrow. “I’m curious, why use an arrow at all, why not simply use your wand?”
The woman shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what sort of spell would stop it. I’m a shopkeeper, not a warrior. Archery is a hobby. I figured that if I kept out of reach and shot it full of enough silver maybe it would die on its own.”
Remus nodded. Sometimes he forgot how different his life experience has been from more ordinary witches and wizards. He was trained to fight, had spent most of his life doing little else, in fact. He knew many spells, hexes and fighting techniques that the average person wouldn’t have a clue about. That gave him a different perspective on violent confrontations than most people. To him they were almost…normal. It also made him far more suited to the task of hunting werewolves than this woman appeared to be.
Probably she was in it for the money. It was a wonder that the Ministry’s bounty hadn’t led even more clueless people into danger while they tried to make some quick money doing something more hazardous than they could possibly imagine.
“If you shot him full of arrows, all you’d have done was made the wolf more determined to get hold of you. Silver is actually quite a slow poison to werewolves,” he said matter of factly. Then he added, “If you were looking for a pelt to turn in for the bounty, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”
Brows lowered over dark eyes and the woman glared angrily at Remus. “I’m not a bounty hunter,” she spat.
Surprised at her vehemence, Remus asked, “Then why were you stalking the werewolf? You’ve already said this isn’t the sort of thing you’re used to doing.”
“It’s personal and none of your business,” she snapped. “I could ask you the same thing. You weren’t just strolling through these woods for the exercise, were you?”
“No,” he answered calmly, more intrigued than ever. “I was hunting the wolf. I’ve taken on the task of eliminating Voldemort’s werewolves; unlike you, I’ve been fighting dark forces for a long, long time.”
“Do you work for the Ministry?” She eyed him skeptically.
Remus shook his head. “No, I work for Albus Dumbledore. My name is Remus Lupin.”
The hostility faded from the woman’s face. “Lupin… I’ve heard of you. You’re a werewolf yourself, aren’t you? You used to teach at Hogwarts.”
“I still do teach at Hogwarts. During Voldemort’s reign of terror the school was forced underground, but we never stopped teaching students.”
The woman nodded and held out her hand. “I’m Audra Cole. My mother used to get Wolfsbane potion from Anna Burgess until she was killed recently for the money she could bring to some bounty hunters who were too cowardly to go out and hunt the really dangerous werewolves.”
That explained a lot, thought Remus as he shook Audra’s hand. “I’m sorry about your mother. Dolph told me what happened. That was one of the reasons I decided I couldn’t leave this task to the Ministry any longer.”
“The Ministry!” Audra scoffed. “They’re useless. They don’t seem to really care much about catching these creatures. They show up late at the scene of every attack and devote more time to being sure that the Muggles who’re involved don’t remember anything than they do to trying to capture or destroy the werewolves. In all this time, they’ve only managed to kill one of them as far as I know. It can’t go on!”
“It won’t. I don’t think more than a dozen wolves escaped the battle at Hogwarts. With the one the Ministry killed, the four I’ve all ready destroyed and this one, that only leaves six more to find.”
“Really? That’s better than I feared.” She looked down at the remains of the wolf. “You seem to know quite a bit about them. Why did this one explode like that?”
“The werewolves are being held in wolf form by a dark ritual centered on a moonstone that’s lodged in the middle of its chest. If the moonstone is shattered or removed, they become human again. The violence of the transformation depends on how long the moonstone has kept them from resuming human form. The longer they’ve been wolves, the more violent the transformation. There’s only so much a human body can take. I think all these werewolves have been wolves for too long to survive a reversion to humanity.” He nodded at the arrow she still held in her hand. “Your arrow hit the stone and broke it. A very lucky shot.”
“How have you been destroying them?”
“I worked out a spell to shatter the stone from a distance. I’ve been using that on them as I find them.”
“Could you teach the spell to me?”
Remus shook his head. “You should go home and leave this task to me. You admit this isn’t something you’re suited for. I am. Let me take care of it.”
“These things and their reign of terror are the reason my mother is dead. I have as much right as you do to hunt them down,” Audra exclaimed.
“This isn’t a contest! If you keep confronting these wolves, you’re going to be hurt.”
“Not if I know the proper spell to get rid of them.”
Remus crossed his arms and frowned. “It’s not that simple. The target area is very small and casting the spell takes practice. You know your mother wouldn’t want you to be hurt because of her. Go home, Audra.”
“So you won’t teach me the spell?”
“No.”
She nodded determinedly, jammed her arrow back into her quiver, and turned back toward her broom. “Okay. I don’t need your spell anyway. An arrow worked fine this time, it will again, now that I know where to aim.”
“Audra, don’t be foolish…” exclaimed Remus in exasperation. Didn’t the woman have any sense?
Grabbing her broom, Audra mounted and took off, circling once for a final word. “Nice to meet you, Remus Lupin. If you keep hunting werewolves, I imagine we’ll meet again because I don’t intend to give up just because you think I should. Happy hunting.”
As Remus watched in annoyance, Audra flew off through the trees and vanished from sight.