Escape
Several sets of footsteps could be heard rushing toward the door at full speed, while Remus gripped his wand seriously, ready, just like the animals around him.
The noise outside the door suddenly stopped right in front of it, making it obvious the people outside were preparing to come in.
Boom!
Suddenly, the door exploded as pieces of wood and metal flew in every direction. The blast made even the walls shake, and for an instant, the entire place was covered in dust and smoke.
For one brief second, Grover couldn't even tell what was smoke and what was magic.
Then, several spells shot inside.
Remus instantly stepped in front of Grover and, with complete control, flicked his wrist, effortlessly deflecting every spell that came at them.
"Groooow!"
The hellhound bolted forward at once and attacked the first wizard who came through.
But immediately, another man appeared behind him and threw an object onto the ground, which exploded and released ropes that wrapped around the dog and trapped him instantly, leaving him pinned to the floor.
But right behind the hellhound, the centaur appeared and spun at once before kicking the man who had thrown the trap, sending him flying into a stack of wooden crates.
"Expelliarmus," Remus said as he pointed his wand at the wizard inside, hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying backward.
Meanwhile, more Poachers rushed in and began throwing traps at them.
The moment the small dragon saw those objects flying toward them, he seemed to panic. For one awful second, pure fear flashed in his eyes.
Then, instantly, he opened his mouth and released a burst of fire, trying to burn those things.
But the flames spiraled out of control and began scorching everything around him like a wild flamethrower, causing all the animals to scatter in every direction while Remus and Grover ducked and moved.
At the same time, the Poachers quickly scrambled for cover.
But thanks to that fire, the traps were burned away.
The problem was that the dragon kept breathing fire in panic, as if he still couldn't fully control his own flames.
With his mouth angled downward, fire kept pouring out with every breath, and it started burning everything around him.
Grover saw this while hiding behind a crate, but the moment he peeked out, a spell came flying straight at him.
Before it could hit him, Remus, who was nearby, flicked his wand and lifted an object from the floor, using it to intercept the spell.
Before the two of them could duck back down from the flames—
"Remus, cover me. I need to calm him down," Grover said, looking at Remus seriously.
If this kept going, not only were they all going to burn alive.
The little dragon was going to end up destroying himself too.
Grover tightened his grip for a moment. Then he moved.
Remus looked at him and nodded instantly.
He immediately rose from cover and began unleashing a rapid stream of spells while also deflecting the ones coming at him from different directions.
Even against several enemies at once, Lupin showed exactly why he was such an excellent wizard.
Every movement he made was clean, fast, and precise.
As if even trapped and weakened, he was still far more dangerous than any of them.
Grover managed to catch a glimpse of him for a moment, impressed by how easy Remus made all of this look, but quickly shook his head, knowing this wasn't the time, and ran toward the dragon while ducking low, avoiding spells flying everywhere, as well as the traps being thrown from all sides.
Grover ran and threw himself to the side when he spotted a strange object right in front of him, just as it exploded and formed a cage almost instantly.
For a second, his chest tightened painfully.
But he didn't stop.
At that exact moment, a rope shot out and wrapped around Grover's leg, stopping him from moving any farther. His whole body jolted hard from the sudden pull as one of the Poachers yanked the rope tight.
But the centaur, running through the flames, leaped over them and came crashing down on top of the man, freeing Grover.
So Grover quickly pushed forward toward the dragon.
"You need to calm down," Grover said to the little one, who looked terrified, clearly traumatized by the Poachers and their traps.
The more terrified he became, the more fire kept spilling out of him.
Grover was nearly hit by them, but he quickly ran up to the dragon and wrapped his arms around his neck.
"Easy, buddy, easy," Grover said as he gently stroked his scales.
The dragon, who had been breathing like he was hyperventilating fire, seemed to calm down slightly because of Grover.
The flames in his mouth quickly began to die down, until only a bit of smoke came out with each breath.
For one small second, the room almost felt quiet again.
Suddenly, one of the Poachers, his clothes burned and smoking, appeared right behind them with a furious look on his face.
"Tsk. To hell with all of you," he shouted. "Avada—"
Before he could finish the spell, something suddenly slammed straight into his chest, sending him flying into the ceiling, smashing his head against it before he crashed back down.
"Well… looks like that was the last of them," Remus said as he stood not too far away, looking around.
Grover looked around as well. Everything was half-burned, with flames still flickering in a few spots. The five or six Poachers who had broken in were now sprawled all over the place, surrounded by triggered traps that had been shattered to pieces.
"We should get out of here," Remus said at once, giving Grover a small nod for his work.
Grover nodded back and quickly moved to free the animals that had been caught by the traps again. One by one, they regrouped and headed for the destroyed doorway, the flames burning behind them.
The moment they stepped through, they found something even worse than the cells.
What looked like surgical tools were scattered everywhere, and a large stone table stood in the middle, stained with blood.
Chains hung from the ceiling, still marked, while jars and containers filled with strange liquids rested on warped tables, twisted by heat and humidity.
The entire place smelled of iron, rotten magic, and death.
The smell hit the animals first, then Grover, who quickly covered his mouth to keep from throwing up.
His stomach turned so hard it almost dropped him to his knees.
Remus frowned as well. He had been trapped there for so long, but he had never truly known what this place was.
Now it looked like some kind of dark laboratory. Something sick. Something monstrous.
"What is this place…?" Grover asked, trying not to look toward one corner of the room, where a dark hole seemed to breathe out a smell he didn't even want to recognize.
"No idea. But we shouldn't stop," Remus said, glancing around for a moment, noticing what looked like jars filled with parts of magical creatures.
Without wasting another second, the strange group, a mix of creatures that shouldn't have been together, moved quickly through the lab toward the exit.
Remus stepped out first, wand raised.
But there were no more guards waiting for them.
Maybe the rest had gone out hunting.
"Move. Carefully," Remus said as they advanced in silence, fully alert.
The small dragon stayed close to Grover, and the rest of the creatures followed as if they were trained, something that looked completely surreal, especially to Remus.
Still, he kept moving, leading what was probably the strangest group he would ever escape with in his life.
…
After leaving the lab, they climbed a staircase and realized they were inside some kind of old mansion, nearly falling apart from how ruined it was.
"Right… when I came out of the fireplace, it was here," Grover said, realizing he had walked straight into a criminal hideout.
Just incredibly bad luck.
Remus didn't say much. He only gave a small smile as they moved through the crumbling mansion.
And then he saw it.
The main entrance.
Two massive doors that could very well be their freedom.
"We're… out," Grover said, a tired but genuine smile on his face, while the animals behind him seemed to understand the same thing.
All they had to do was walk through that door.
Even the small dragon let out a softer sound, nudging Grover's leg with its head, urging him forward.
Grover gave the little one a small smile and stepped toward the exit.
But before he could even take another step—
they froze.
A wild tension ran through every creature at once, as if their bodies reacted before their minds could even understand why.
One by one, low growls began to rise, filled with fear… and hatred.
Grover and Remus didn't understand—
until they heard it.
Howls.
Hundreds of howls, slowly getting closer.
Every creature in the room reacted before Grover did.
The door creaked open on its own, letting sunlight pour in from outside… along with the figure calmly walking toward them.
For a moment, he seemed to pause, looking at all the creatures…
then at Grover and Remus.
"Well… Remus, I thought we were friends," the hooded man said as he saw them trying to escape, while smoke slowly began to fill the place.
Remus tightened his grip on his wand slightly, staring at his captor with a frown.
"Sorry. The only friend I had left got out of prison… and I wasn't there because of you," Remus said, his gaze steady.
"That's a shame… I was planning to use his parts in case the ones I already have got damaged," the man said, sounding disappointed.
"Parts?" Grover said, staring at him.
The howls coming from the man's chest were growing louder, louder, until they were almost unbearable.
"To become the perfect hunter… you need perfect parts," the man said.
"Silence!" he suddenly shouted.
But the howls didn't stop.
They grew even louder.
Grover frowned for a moment, the sound overwhelming him, forcing him to cover his ears.
Then suddenly—
he realized something.
Slowly, he lowered his hands.
He listened.
And his expression changed completely.
Because those weren't just howls.
They sounded like pleas.
Like something inside him was begging to be let out.
His eyes widened in shock… as tears began to fall down his face.
"What… did you do…?" Grover said, unable to stop the tears.
"I became… something that will never be hunted again," the man said as he brought his hands to his robe.
Grover and Remus, seeing what he was about to reveal—
their eyes widened.
Because what they were about to see…
was something completely insane.