Harry sat on the ground, next to the grave, looking into space. He had sat there for a long time, not saying a word. They killed Remus. I hate them! But they are just people, who were afraid of Greyback, and did it under his orders… Perhaps I can convince them to fight for us? Yeah, I’ll try that… He got up and looked over the group of people that had gathered in front of him. He cleared his throat;

“Who did it? Who of you here were the ones that kidnapped Remus? Show yourselves!” Harry said it with a deadly calm voice. The people were frightened, and the group broke up, only to reveal a few people standing in the empty space. All were young, at least under thirty. They were obviously afraid, but despite that fact, they stood firm when Harry drew near. Lycantrophes. Harry stared long and hard into the eyes of the one closest to him, and gradually, the wolfman bowed his head in defeat. Hah! My first stare-down, and I won!

“Relax. I won’t kill you. That’s not what Lupin would want. Now, why did you do it? Do not lie, because I will know if you do.” The three recounted the tale of Lupin’s kidnapping, and why they did what they did. Harry asked them to tell him what kind of treatment they had been under when Greyback had been their leader. Harry was utterly sickened when they were done, and all anger was swept away by pity and the extreme need to help them. They were truly sorry for doing what they did, Harry was able to see that much.

“All right. I need to know this. Who amongst you are not happy with the downfall of Fenrir Greyback?” Not a one!

“Now, after listening to you, I want to help you.” That remark was met with excitement by many, while others were more earthbound by it. He was a wizard after all, and look what wizards had gotten them into!

“You all know who I am. My name is Harry Potter. We are at war, and I know you think of wizards as your enemy, at least no as an ally, and rest assured, that we feel the same way. Well, most do at that, but not me. I know most of you are good people, who are in a tight spot, here. What I can not see is why Greyback would ally himself, and you with Volemort.” Many shuddered at the mention of that name.

“It is common knowledge that Voldemort hates halfbreeds with a passion, even though he is one himself!” Almost every person there gasped loudly at those news.

“Yes, I know, quite the hypocrite, isn’t he? Now you are presented with three choices. One; become Voldemort’s allies, and he will use you ‘till the end of the war, and then kill you. Two; become our allies, and you will not be hunted by officials, and there is strength in numbers, that cannot be denied. Number three; be neutral, and rest assured that you will be hunted by both sides. It’s up to you to choose what road shall be taken. But if you ally yourselves with us, I will do as much as I possibly can to help you get what you deserve at the hands of wizards. It sickens me to think of the way we have treated you, but I am, at least I will have very strong influence within the wizard community after this war, and if I am still alive when this is all over, I will speak on your behalf. Now choose.” Harry moved again to the grave and sat down. It rests in their hands now… After a while they broke the huddle in which they had been talking and approached Harry.

“We accept what you have said,” a man named James said gravely. Harry got up again, uncertain what to make of that reply.

“We will not ally with wizards.” Harry’s hopes where killed instantly. So I got my hopes up… Sue me. James did not seem to be done talking, though.

“But we are ready to accept you as our leader. You are young, but it seems to me that you are a good man, and you will do us justice.” No,no,no… This can’t be happening, aah damn it! Harry was taken back by the thought, but he recovered quickly though.

“I’m honoured that you deem me worthy, but I must tell you that I cannot be your leader, I have no intention of being your leader. I do not know you at all, I know little of the ways of wolves, and like you said; I am young. I also have no time to be a leader, for I have to get going soon, to continue on my quest. Don’t ask me what I am doing, because that is for me to know, and no one else. But I do believe I can help a few people tonight. I think I can break the curse the Loup-garous have had to endure through out the centuries. Those of you, who want to be free of the curse, please step forward now.”

The book spoke of Werewolves, Lycantrophes, Loup-garous, and Hexenwulfen. “Loup-garou’s are people of an ancient Irish family, cursed by a holy man, saying that the men in that family would turn into wolves once a month, during the full moon. They would remain so, until someone strong enaugh with the right power would be willing to break the curse. Many have tried, but the strain was to much, and they all died. We, the writers of this book have not tried, for we know our limits. We estimate that the one to break this mightiest of curses must least have twice the strength of Lord Gryffindor, and he is undoubtfully the magically powerful of us here. When Loup-Garous are in their wolf form, they lose all sense of reality. They do not know their loved ones, and kill everything in their path. They are also the strongest of the werewolf family. Next in line are the Hexenwulfen. Nothing can kill a Loup-Garou except if it is made of silver. They closer it hits to the heart, the more effective the attack. Unless you have silver on you, and the wolf finds your scent, we advise you to run…
Lycantrophes however are a different matter altogether. They are people, muggles, and wizards alike that can change into a wolf whenever they want to. They, unfortunately have met serious prejudice due to the fact that they are not an animagus, they are born the way they are, and so some think they are unnatural. When the people are in their wolf form, they keep their state of mind. In short, they are the same person, just in a different form. So if a Lycantrophe goes on a killing spree, it is because they want to, or they are not well…

Ginny was going nuts. She had been thinking about that stinking dream all week, and yet she felt as if she wasn’t getting any closer to guessing who the unknown person was. She had this feeling in the pit of her belly that would not go away, but what it was, she could not discern. And that among other things was eating her up inside. Ron and Hermione were getting further and further away from her. They still kept close to her, but she felt a bit left out. Or was it she that was distancing herself from them? She did not know, this was all getting so confusing…

Ginny Weasley was not the only one who had not gotten over Harry’s absence. Aside from the trio most of the students in the school were getting afraid. Almost every one would snatch a copy of the Daily Prophet, just in case if there was any news of Harry. Some would even go and ask Ron, Hermione or Ginny if they knew where Harry was. The teachers had noticed that the classes where Harry had been in were now pretty dull. True some classes, like that of History of magic were always boring, but few days ago, professor Binns had called for Harry to read some text from the book, but when Harry did not start reading, the ancient ghost looked up for the first time since the start of term, and noticed Harry missing. He gave Harry a detention, an act that made most of the students present chuckle, in spite of themselves. Harry wasn’t even there, but he was still a certain source of laughs. Hagrid was rarely seen outside his hut, besides teaching. One could understand. He had lost two of the most important people in his life in really short time. The trio would go and visit him, under special surveillance by Aurors, that were constantly stationed at every exit nowadays. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would usually go out sadder than they were when they arrived. But most shocking was the fact that many Slytherins seemed really saddened by Harry’s absence. They would leave the Griffyndor’s alone, and some even were starting to become friends. This was the state in which the moral was brewing in Hogwarts.

Harry was exhausted, he felt as if he would pass out at any second. He sat down and rested against the trunk of a tree. He was extremely satisfied, though, for he had managed to break the curse set upon the Loup-Garou’s. They were grateful, and wanted nothing more than serve Harry in the war to show their gratitude. Harry sent the muggles home, but asked the wizards to stay behind, he needed to talk to them. Harry dozed off for a moment, but felt someone gently shake his shoulder to wake him up. Harry opened his eyes, and met Jame’s eyes. The elderly man grasped Harry’s hand and pulled him up on his feet. Confused, Harry looked at James with questions in his eyes.

“The Lycantrophes want to be cured as well…” Harry looked at him in incredulously. Does the man actually expect me to do that after… he looked at the stars. …After only four hours of sleep. What is the thinking? He stretched, and walked around for a while thinking. Why does he want me to cure the Lycans? They do not suffer from a curse. They have gift, that could be used for the good of many. Okay, that’s what I’ll tell them…

“Well?” James asked impatiently. Harry gave him a look, and turned towards the Lycans.

“Why do you want me to cure you? You do not suffer from any illness, or curse.”

“Let us be the judges of that!” Someone shouted, and his remark was followed by many cheers.

“Well, of course you are to judge that yourselves, but let me make my arguments. I do not intend to show any discrimination, but the way I see it, you have been gifted with an amazing quality. I know that you have been met with much prejudice, but I intend to correct all that when we win this war. If I am still alive, that is. You are Lycans, and many people believe that you are werewolves, but that is not true. I know that you are still the same person, just in a different body. This has been written in many books, but people do not believe it. Why? Because they have not experienced it first hand. I did just last night, in my battle with Greyback. I turned into something, I’m not quite sure what. I must confess though, that I am not a natural. I drank some potion I had brewed. All I am asking is that you trust me. I will not command you to to fight in this war, but if you are willing, then great. It is up to you completely.”

“We are ready to fight on your side, but if you betray us when this is all over, then we will, so help us god, we will hunt you down and kill you!”

“Fair enough, James. But I am a man of my word, and I will help you.”

“But there is the matter of the Werewolves of the group. You know we have not control of our actions during the full moon, we need help with that,” James said. Harry said nothing for a while, but said finally;

“You know no one that can brew the Wolfsbane potion? The one that makes you harmless during the full moon?” James sadly shook his head at this question, and replied dully:
“Greyback killed him when we joined You-know-who…” Harry looked at him puzzled.

“That’s a bit odd, don’t you think? I mean, you could have gone on a rampage, or something, killed, or something, and it might not have fitted his schedule… Some thing's off about that. Perhaps Greyback was trying to work against Voldemort? What do you think, James?” The older man shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

“Quite the dilemma, we’re in now, aren’t we, Potter? Unless of course you know some one who brews the potion?” Harry’s shoulders slumped visibly. He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up. (A habit he seemed to have adopted from his father).

“I know one’s name, but of his whereabouts I know nothing.” And suddenly, Harry’s eyes glassed over with tears, and he let himself fall down on the log again. James approached, lay a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

“What troubles you so, Harry Potter?” Harry looked up and blinked the tears away. Way to go, Harry. Cry now in front of bunch of people!

“The man I know to being able to brew the potion is the man who killed Albus Dumbledore. His name is Severus Snape…” The group let out a loud gasp of horror, and some even spat on the ground in anger. James backed away from Harry in repulsion.

“What!” He demanded

“Yeah It sucks, I know. Not a pleasant thought, but it’s the best one I have, and I might have a way of finding him too. I shall go now, and see if I can persuade him to help us. I shall bring him to the lands surrounding Hogwarts castle. I ask you now to move there, but stay hidden. I recommend the caves above the village of Hogsmeade. You can, if you want contact a man known as Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new head of Hogwarts. I know the man, and he’s open minded about most things. He was a close friend of Lupin’s. James, maybe you could talk to him, and bring him the news of Greyback’s news. Do tell him that you will fight with wizards, but under your own command, that you will come to him if he wants to talk, and above all; if I can get Snape to come with me, keep him out of sight, or he will be taken. Go an talk with the Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest and tell them that it was The chosen one who sent you. That way they will know you speak the truth. And please do not mention it to any one that I was with you.” The wolves nodded their heads, and Harry shooked hands with James;
“Until next time, James. Good luck.” And he was off into the night…

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