Johnny had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks and Quorra led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius and Evelyn. Johnny, Jakob, Harry and Hermione brought up the rear.

Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Johnny could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks and Quorra were still in the lead. Johnny went right after Sirius, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Johnny had the impression Sirius was making no effort to prevent this.

"You know what this means?" Jakob said abruptly to Johnny and Harry as they made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," said Johnny and Harry in unison.

"Yes..." said Jakob. "But I'm also -- I don't know if anyone ever told you -- I'm your godfather, Harry."

"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry.

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Jakob stiffly. "If anything happened to them..."

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Jakob. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home... you could come with your aunt and I, and Johnny of course, we can be a family."

"What -- live with you?" Harry said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Jakob quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd --"

"Are you insane?" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Jakob's. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! When can I move in?"

Jakob and Evelyn turned right around to look at him.

"You want to?" Evelyn said excitedly. "You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry.

Jakob's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Johnny had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognisable.

"And of course, Hermione," Jakob called to Hermione. "You're welcome to come around whenever you want!

"Thank you, Mr. Grindelwald!" Hermione called back, a wide smile on her face.

"Jakob, dear!" Jakob said, grinning teasingly at Johnny. "You're my son's girlfriend after all!"

They didn't speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks and Quorra darted up first; evidently pressing his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.

Sirius and Evelyn saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Jakob, Johnny, Harry and Hermione to pass. At last, all of them were out.

The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Johnny's mind was buzzing. He had nearly all his family. Harry was coming to live with them. He felt dazed...

"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.

Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Sirius, his chin bumping on his chest. And then -

A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.

Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Sirius, Evelyn and Jakob froze. Jakob flung out one arm to make Johnny, Harry and Hermione stop.

Johnny could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.

"Oh, my --" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

"Run," Jakob whispered. "Run. Now."

But they couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. Harry leapt forward but Jakob caught him around the chest and threw him back.

"Leave it to me -- RUN!"

There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's and Quorra's hair was on end again; they were backing away --

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, the adults disappeared. They had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. Two rather large ravens flew towards him, squawking. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.

That was until Lupin/Mooney threw Sirius down a hill and whacking Evelyn and Jakob out of the air.

"Run!" Johnny said to Hermione, Harry and Ron as the werewolf approached them. Johnny pushed them away when they wouldn't move and he felt the werewolf's jaw clamp down in his neck.

"Bastard!" Johnny yelled, whacking the werewolf on the snout. It was to late though. Johnny knew he was now a lycanthrope, and that the whack he just gave the werewolf made it angrier. The werewolf went to bite Johnny again but a loud howl got its attention, and it ran off into the forest.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Johnny muttered as Hermione ran towards him. Johnny was holding his neck, his own blood slipping through his fingers.

Johnny woke up a while later in the Hospital Wing, the bite on his neck scarred over. His head was resting on Hermione's chest. Hermione however, like most people in the hospital wing, was asleep. His mother, Sirius and Harry were at the foot of his bed, Ron was in the bed opposite, his leg heavily bandaged. Remus was the only one awake, silently crying to himself.

"W-where's my Dad?" Johnny muttered. All his senses seemed heightened. He could smell the mixture of potions, he could hear the bustle of students awakening and moving about, his vision was so clear.

"He's on the run," Remus said wiping his eyes. "The Dementors originally got him, but Hermione and Harry used the Time-Turner to save him and the Hippogriff."

Johnny sighed in relief, cuddling himself deeper into Hermione.

"I like my steaks on the raw side now," Johnny joked, causing Remus to smile weakly.

"I'm sorry," Remus said after a moment of silence.

"I-it's okay," Johnny said. "I just want you to explain everything about being a werewolf."

"A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope, is a human being who, upon the complete rising of the full moon, becomes an uncontrollable, fearsome and deadly wolf. This condition is caused by infection with lycanthropy, also known as werewolfry. Werewolves appear in the form of a wolf but, there are distinctions between them and regular wolves," Remus started explaining, watching as Harry, Sirius, Evelyn and Hermione woke up, listening intently.

"A mixture of powdered silver and dittany applied to a fresh bite will seal the wound and allow the victim to live on as a werewolf, although tragic tales are told of knowing victims begging for death rather than becoming werewolves. The Wolfsbane Potion, invented by Damocles Belby, allows the werewolf to keep their human mind during transformation, which is a lot better."

"A werewolf cannot choose whether or not to transform but I saw a different case with you," Remus said taking a breath.

"What do you mean?"

"What he means," Evelyn said, taking over from Lupin. "You transformed at will three times when you was asleep."

"You didn't turn into a full wolf," Sirius said. "You just grew more hair, grew fangs and sharp claws, and you had these really cool red eyes."

"Which means," Lupin said, a grim smile on his face. "You're the Alpha of Alphas, the King of all things Supernatural."