Kaya, Holly and I were frozen in shock.

I looked up and saw Crookshanks prowling towards the three Gryffindors. Ron was going on about Scabbers.

Finally, I heard a loud squeak and Pettigrew the rat ran past us. Crookshanks ran after him. Ron yelled out and came out from under the Cloak. He raced straight towards the rat and cat.

And that was when hell really broke loose.

Sirius’s dog form – Padfoot – ran out of the passageway. Kaya made to stand up and I grabbed her arm. “What’re you doing?”

“We’ve got to either help or get out of here. We shouldn’t be here anyway.”

I exchanged a glance with Holly, whose eyes were wide. “No, Kaya, we can’t! If we’re seen, we’ll get into huge trouble!” I told her.

She sighed, nodded and sank back to the ground. Absentmindedly, I looked up at the sky.

It was a full moon, I noted. Well, I just had to hope that Professor Lupin didn’t turn up anywhere near here.

Holly winced. “We came here to investigate that tree, and what happens? A cat, dog and rat get involved in some kind of chase.”

“It’s because of me,” I observed gloomily.

She looked sharply at me. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you know? I always end up wherever trouble is,” I explained. “In our first year, I was there with Quirrell, Voldemort and Harry. I our second, I was in the Chamber of Secrets before even Harry was.”

Kaya rolled her eyes. “Heroes. Honestly.”

We turned our attention back to the scene in front of us. Padfoot was dragging Ron into a passageway –

“There’s a tunnel?!” Holly exclaimed. I put a finger to my lips and nodded.

Then Crookshanks stepped forward and pressed the knot and the tree froze.

Harry and Hermione went into the tunnel.

Immediately, I pulled off the Cloak.

Kaya and Holly stared at me. “What are you doing?” Kaya asked in confusion.

I made a decision quickly. “Right. I am going to explain something to you. You know that dog?” They both nodded. “That dog…” I took a deep breath. “That dog is Sirius Black.”

“What?” Kaya looked at me as if I had gone mad. “He’s going to murder those three!”

“How…how do you know that’s Black?” Holly demanded.

“After the Slytherin–Gryffindor match, I followed the dog and Crookshanks. They went through that passageway. I followed them. Crookshanks revealed me. Then Sirius explained that he never killed anyone. He supposedly blew up one of his friends, a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew, but it was actually Pettigrew who blew up that street. He’s innocent. And Sirius has been teaching me how to become an Animagus ever since.”

The two girls gaped at me.

Holly was the first to regain her voice. “Pettigrew’s alive?”

I nodded. “Yeah. He’s an Animagus. A rat. Ron’s rat.”

Kaya frowned. “That’s who Black was attacking?”

“Yup.”

The girls seemed more inclined to believe me than I had been to believe Sirius Black.

I supposed that it helped that they were being told by a friend, while I had been told by a man I thought to be a murderer.

Holly appeared to be muttering something under her breath. I asked her what she was saying.

“Jade…are you really an Animagus?”

Grinning, I nodded. Holly hesitated. “Can you – can you show us?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. But I’m not amazing at it. Just a warning.”

I closed my eyes and focused on the image of the Barn Owl I always transformed into.

When I opened my eyes again, Kaya and Holly were gaping at me. I was a Barn Owl.

I looked like any normal owl, except instead of having the usual amber eyes, mine were practically black – my actual eye colour.

Quickly, I turned back into a human. Holly grinned. “That was amazing.”

I smiled. “Thanks. So, Holly. You said that you wanted to go investigate the tree. Now would be a great time.”

Kaya shook her head stubbornly. “It’s dangerous! We could get found out! We’re already breaking the rules, I don’t want to get expelled!”

“If we get discovered here, we’ll probably get expelled anyway,” Holly pointed out. “Besides, we did come here to get a closer look at the Whomping Willow, you know.”

Kaya scowled, but sighed. “Okay…”

“Right. You two take the Invisibility Cloak. I’ll fly in – Sirius will recognise me. The passage goes to the Shrieking Shack.Umm…you can see what’s happening from outside. I can open the door. Otherwise, you can just explore the rest of the tunnel,” I ordered.

Kaya threw the Cloak over herself and Holly.

I transformed. “Follow me closely,” I whispered, before transforming into an owl.

The two invisible Ravenclaw girls followed me.

I hopped into the tunnel.

I didn’t like this. Barn Owls weren’t meant to be underground.

I flew into the tunnel, then heard the girls’ faint footsteps behind me.

Suddenly, from outside, I heard more footsteps. Someone else was coming into the tunnel.

It was Professor Lupin.

I would have gasped, or shouted, or yelled out, but I was an owl, so all I did was hoot.

He gave me an odd look, but then went straight past me.

I followed him to the Shrieking Shack, dreading what was going to happen.

He was okay as long as the clouds were covering the moon, but as soon as the clouds moved aside…

Well, I didn’t want to think about it.

Lupin opened the door in front of me and I flew in quickly. I heard a noise as Kaya and Holly positioned themselves beside the door.

Sirius looked up at me as I flew through the doorway. “Good evening, Jade.”

I hooted in response.

Sirius shouldn’t have called me Jade.

I looked around the room. Hermione was mouthing ‘Jade’ to herself.

She gazed straight into my black eyes and jumped when she recognised them.

That was when I knew that Hermione knew exactly who I was.

I shook it off and turned back to the action.

Essentially, the trio was panicking while Sirius and Lupin attempted to explain what was going on.

***

Being a Barn Owl, I had brilliant hearing. I could hear someone coming along the passageway. I flew out the door again.

Sirius gave me an odd look but then just shrugged.

I perched on a ledge in the tunnel. The person was clearly wearing an Invisibility Cloak, as I couldn’t see them.

But being an owl had its advantages. I could squint and faintly see an outline of the person. They were clearly tall. I thought it looked like a man.

So who would be here? If it was a man, he would be a teacher – there was no-one else I could think of. And, being tall, there weren’t many options.

Either Professor Dumbledore…or Father.

I was willing to bet that it was Father.

But I didn’t have time for speculation. Holly and Kaya didn’t have any idea he was there. I hooted loudly and moved off down the corridor, praying that they would follow me.

They did. I heard a shuffling sound as they came out of the tunnel.

A moment later, two girls were standing there. Kaya was holding the Cloak. Only a few seconds later, they were joined by a redhead girl – me.

Holly pushed her blond hair out of her eyes and turned to me, frowning. “What happened?”

“Well, I heard someone coming along the passageway,” I explained tonelessly. “I think it was my father.”

Kaya narrowed her eyes. “What would Professor Snape be doing here?”

I shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I haven’t got a clue.”

Kaya sighed. “So that’s it, then? We just go back to the castle and pretend nothing happened?”

Holly looked at her like she was mad. “Of course not!”

“Well, they’re going to come out here sometime, aren’t they? And Pettigrew should be with them, whether in human or rat form. Unless they kill him first, of course,” I added as an afterthought.

Holly raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, I s’pose, so?”

“If we catch him and take him back to the castle, we can explain what really happened! Sirius will get off! The Dementors will leave!” I was getting very excited. “Pettigrew can go to Azkaban, like he deserves…it’s a win-win situation. Well, except for Pettigrew. He loses. So, really, it’s a…a win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win-lose situation,” I reflected seriously, counting on my fingers.

Holly and Kaya stared at me for a few moments, then burst out laughing. “That’s a good plan,” Kaya agreed.

Holly sighed. “So we have to just sit here and wait?”

I nodded. “We should go into the shelter of the Forest, though, because otherwise we’ll get seen. And that’s, well –”

“Not good,” Kaya finished.

“Yeah. Someone will notice us if we wear the Cloak and just stand around outside the tunnel,” I explained. “If we wait a short distance from Hagrid’s hut, we can see and hear what’s happening without getting too close.”

The others agreed, so we went into the forest, not long from Hagrid’s hut. I thought I heard Hermione’s voice, but I knew I must have been imagining things. Hermione was in the Shrieking Shack.

Absentmindedly, I touched my Time-Turner.

I was definitely dropping Care of Magical Creatures next year. That would, at least, lower my workload. I would still have to use the Time-Turner, though.

Holly looked as if she was falling asleep.

“Holly, wake up!” I exclaimed.

She jumped. “What?”

I rolled my eyes. “You were falling asleep.”

She grabbed my wrist and twisted it to look at my watch – ignoring my gasp of pain.“What d’you expect? I’m bored and it’s 9:00 pm!”

I grinned. “Here’s something for you to do…Kaya, you too!”

She glanced over. “Hmm?”

I took my wand from my pocket. “You’ll need your wands. This is called the Patronus Charm. It repels Dementors.So, you have to think of a happy memory – a really happy memory. Then say the incantation Expecto Patronum,” I instructed.

It didn’t take long for Holly to come up with a happy memory.

I wasn’t surprised in the least. She was probably remembering pranking her brother or parents.

“Expecto Patronum!” she recited, waving her wand, and a silvery form appeared.

Kaya seemed to be ready. “Expecto Patronum!” The same silvery shape that Holly had produced floated out of the end of her wand. As we watched, it became more solid until it looked like an eagle, but Kaya was so shocked that it disappeared straightaway.

“Wow…” she commented.

We spent the rest of our time attempting to cast Patronuses.

No-one got anywhere near falling asleep again that night.