The escape begins
"Okay. I'll throw you the wand. Please, catch it as best as you can; I'm not good at throwing," Grover said, standing as far as the chain around his feet would allow, pressing up against the bars of his cell next to Remus. Remus gave a serious nod, stretching his body as much as he could as well. Even then, with his arms, torso, and legs chained to the wall, he could barely move; even less than Grover.
Grover let out a slow breath to steady himself. If he messed up the throw and the wand didn't reach Remus, everything would be over.
He took position, eyes locked on Remus. Remus stared right back at him, giving him a small smile, trying to steady his nerves.
Grover pulled his arm back to throw.
And just as he was about to release it… a growl startled him.
It came from the small dragon, who seemed to suddenly remember it was very, very angry. At the worst possible moment.
Grover felt the wand slip from his hand.
It flew forward, hitting one of the bars before spinning in the air.
Both of them widened their eyes.
It still managed to pass into the other cell, but it no longer had the same strength behind it.
Remus saw it coming and moved his chained hand, stretching his fingers as far as they would go to catch it, while Grover squinted in panic.
Until the very tip of the wand landed between Remus's fingers, barely.
The wizard forced his fingers closed with everything he had, holding on by a thread, before pulling his hand back just as it began to slip again, letting it fall right at his feet.
Remus let out a sharp breath when the wand landed within reach.
"Well done," Remus said, color returning to his face; that had almost gone terribly wrong.
Grover, seeing that, threw his arms up, about to shout, but quickly covered his mouth just in case he drew attention.
Remus used his foot to drag the wand closer, sitting down as he did. Then he grabbed it, and without wasting a second, pointed it at his hands.
"Alohomora."
The chains snapped open instantly. A couple more casts later, and he was completely free.
He rolled his wrists slightly, the marks of the shackles still visible, a faint smile forming on his lips, before a spell flew cleanly toward Grover's feet, freeing him as well.
Grover blinked in surprise. Remus had barely moved his wrist, and still hit his shackles perfectly without even looking.
"That was pretty cool," Grover said, watching as Remus stepped toward the bars, his expression turning serious again.
"Revelio," Remus murmured.
After casting the spell, his gaze swept across the entire place, from one corner to the other. The bars were enchanted with electricity, but something had to be powering them.
To Remus's eyes, several things glowed faintly, traces of different kinds of magic. But he needed the one fully connected to the bars.
"There it is," he said with a small smile, spotting a glow of the same color as the bars coming from behind a nearby crate.
"Bombarda."
The explosive spell shot straight toward where he had been looking.
A blast echoed through the cells, making several creatures flinch for a moment. Even Grover.
Remus, after casting, stepped closer to his cell and lightly touched the bars to test them. When no shock came, he immediately slipped his hand through and opened the door without any trouble.
And without hesitating, he walked to Grover's cell and opened that one too.
"Alright, kid. Time to go. Stay behind me. That spell definitely drew attention. I doubt they left this place completely unguarded," Remus said as he quickly moved through the room, seeming to search for anything that might be useful for their escape.
He had already spotted them with Revelio.
Grover followed closely as Remus led him to a stack of crates filled with all kinds of confiscated items.
Among them was Remus's wand.
Remus handed Grover's wand back to him without much thought. Even if Grover wasn't great with magic, Remus still preferred his own wand.
"My reed pipes!" Grover said happily when he spotted them among the pile, grabbing them right away, relieved they hadn't been lost.
But then he frowned slightly.
"But… how?" he muttered, glancing toward the place where he usually kept his wand, which was the exact same place he kept his pipes.
"Come on," Remus said, urging him forward. They needed to get out as fast as possible.
"Wait," Grover said, turning for a moment as he looked at all the creatures still trapped there.
Now they all seemed to be staring at him from inside their cells.
The harpy's eyes were watery.
The centaur was straining against his body, trying to reach the bars and open the door, but the chains around his legs kept him from getting there.
Even the dragon, which had looked genuinely furious about being caged before, was now watching him with those multicolored eyes.
"We can't leave them," Grover said, looking at Remus.
"What?" Remus said, glancing toward the monsters. "You… are you sure? I don't think they're actually harmless," he added.
"It's okay. They know this is their only chance. They won't attack us. I can feel it," Grover said, looking at Remus seriously.
Remus stared at him for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"I really hope this doesn't end horribly…" Remus muttered, though he was already raising his wand anyway.
Then he started moving from cell to cell, undoing the chains on each of the monsters, while Grover hurried after him to open the doors.
To say he wasn't nervous… would've been a lie.
Especially when the hellhound stepped out and immediately sniffed him, making Grover let out a startled bleat.
But after sniffing him for a few seconds, the hound simply sat there, alert and waiting, staring toward the exit of the place.
"You have my gratitude," the centaur said, lowering his head slightly before stepping out of the cell.
Then they freed the harpy and the magical animals in the remaining cages.
Finally, Grover approached the cell where the small dragon was being kept.
The little creature watched him closely, tense and guarded, as if it might lunge at him at any second.
"Hey, easy. We're not going to hurt you. We're getting out of here, and we're taking you with us," Grover said softly.
The problem was, the little dragon was probably too young to understand any of that.
Even so, Grover unlatched the cell door and opened it slightly, never taking his eyes off the little creature as he slowly raised both hands in a peaceful gesture.
The dragon shifted slightly, then began walking toward him, still staring.
Then, suddenly, it bolted straight at Grover at full speed, only to stop right in front of his face.
Remus immediately raised his wand a little.
But Grover held up a hand to stop him.
The little dragon stood in front of Grover, who was slightly crouched down, then let out a snort into his face, a bit of smoke mixed in with it, while Grover didn't move at all.
And then, without warning, a tongue dragged across his face before the little dragon tackled him to the floor and started licking him all over, covering him in saliva.
"Wait! Hahaha. This isn't the time," Grover said while the little dragon kept licking his face, clearly thrilled, proving that it really was pretty friendly.
It had just been scared.
Remus let out a quiet breath at the sight, watching Grover and the strange, easy connection he had with animals.
For just a second, it reminded him of someone.
But almost immediately, his eyes snapped toward the entrance.
Now there were footsteps.
With how long they had taken… this wasn't just a possibility anymore.
They were already coming for them.