Lockwood Part 4

It had been months, I was sure of it, the woman I’d saved had tried to fix my bruised ribs, but had soon disappeared through a very narrow tunnel, presumably leading to some form of settlement and I couldn’t fit through the gap to go after her. I was still too weak to change back into my human form and now my animagus was weakening as well.

I’d never felt so alone, the brother couldn’t seem to talk to me in this form and I hadn’t been able to send any letters to Remus. I missed him so much, I missed his voice more than anything, I just wanted to listen to him tell me that everything would be okay again, all I had to do was get home.

I knew I was being hunted more viciously than before, since destroying the nest of Yetis, something much bigger was coming for me and the further down the mountain I went, the closer it got. It was so easy to get lost in the mountain, paths and tunnels that seemingly led nowhere. I couldn’t believe I thought my sight was becoming clearer, couldn’t believe that somehow I was finding a way home in my animagus form. All it was, was the wolf in me searching for food and I barely found enough to survive on. I was no wolf, I was hardly a survivor.

After another few days of clearing my path of the occasional roaming Yeti, I finally saw what I had been looking for all this time. A path towards the settlement at the bottom of the mountain. I was finally going to be free of the cold and snow that covered Mount Mansalu. I was finally going home.

I tried hard to pick up the pace, but my legs could only go so fast and something looked off about the village. Smoke was coming out of the houses, but I couldn’t see any people, the sun was just coming up so it wasn’t such a shock, but surely there would be a few people here and there.

There was a low grumble that came from somewhere in the village and I feared the worst. Something caught my eye from the side of the village, two people on brooms leaving at some pace, they must have been heading towards another village, or a town… or something with people that could help me. I stepped closer to where the smoke was coming from, it was the same sound I’d been hearing for the last couple of months, the thing that had been hunting me had found its way to the village and looked to have decimated the people there.

I felt my stomach twist in guilt, if I hadn’t caused such a disruption on the mountain, this might not have happened. I was far too weak to go up against anything bigger than the Yetis that I had been fighting, but I was at least strong enough to follow the two people on brooms towards wherever they were going.

I did well to keep up, the only thing keeping my aching joints going was the fact that I may have found a way back to Remus. I needed him so badly.

Darren looked worriedly at his father, he could see his grey hair becoming thicker over the last few months. Everything had gone downhill since Angie disappeared, Darren was having more and more blackouts and his father had been prone to fits of rage, something that not even his mother could stop.

Darren knew how dangerous his father could be when it came to his children and nothing would have stopped him coming to Tibet to find her. No one had heard anything for eight months, people were giving up hope, Remus was a mess, losing weight and barely holding himself together. He wasn’t exactly convinced she was still alive and Darren was on a similar line of thinking, he hadn’t received a patronus in eight months, no one had heard anything, there were no sightings, no whispers, nothing that indicated she was still alive. Darren’s sister was gone and his father was driving himself mad searching for someone who no longer existed.

‘The Yetis have torn up most of the village,’ George said to the local Auror. ‘There may be a few survivors, but we can’t get to them.’ He was looking more and more tattered as the days went on, he hadn’t shaved in weeks and like Remus was losing weight.

The old Tibetan Auror nodded. ‘We knew the Yetis were getting braver,’ he said, looking out of the office building towards the smoke rising from the village. ‘Something happened a year and a half ago, something big enough to scare off Yetis.’ Darren felt a twinge of guilt, Angie arrived in this place around the time the Yetis began moving, what if she had done something? ‘Eighteen months later a man arrives, desperate and keen to help, though his intentions were never what they seemed.’ The Auror squared up to George who would not take kindly to the accusation. ‘Who are you looking for? And why should I help you? It seems you know something about this that you have not yet made known.’

Darren saw the flash in his father’s eye and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop him if he attacked the Auror. Luckily, he didn’t have to. It was a painful and vicious howling that came from much closer than anyone would have liked. George and Darren were the first out the door, grabbing their brooms, Darren being the better flyer, stood up on his broom and risked going faster towards the sound.

An epic scream erupted and it only had George catching up to his son. Suddenly the Lockwoods came to a halt, both frozen to the spot, unable to comprehend what it was they were seeing. A wolf, bigger than any they had ever seen before, much bigger than Angie’s animagus was fighting with a grey Yeti that stood over fifteen feet tall, it was only just bigger than the wolf, who was doing well considering its slim figure.

‘Dad, look!’ Darren suddenly yelled and pointed to the hind leg of the wolf, there was a scar in the shape of a bite, specifically a lionfish bite. ‘Angie.’

The sound was distraction enough that the wolf turned, giving the Yeti a split second window to bring a clubbing fist down onto the already wounded, fragile and fractured torso of the wolf. The wail was unbearable. George whipped his wand out and began firing spells at the Yeti, giving the wolf every chance to get up and continue to fight.

Another sound caught Darren’s attention, that of a very scared young woman, holding a child no older than a year. He flew straight over to them, seeing a small area away from the fighting where he could make sure they were safe.

‘Go! Run!’ Darren yelled and the woman began limping some of the way back towards the town where the Aurors were. He turned back to see the wolf and his father fighting with the Yeti, they had managed to knock it down, enough for the wolf to clamp down on its shoulder and shake its head so violently, Darren heard the snapping of the Yeti’s neck.

The wolf let go and panted, falling a little with exhaustion. Suddenly her ears pricked up and turned to look past Darren. She growled and stood up, suddenly sprinting past where Darren was watching the fighting.

‘Darren!’ His father yelled and began chasing Angie who was chasing a small pack of Yetis who were going after the woman Darren had told to run. ‘We have to help her, she isn’t herself and she won’t stop until that woman is safe!’

Darren didn’t have time to question his father, he swung his leg over his broomstick and sped after Angie. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, his sister in her much larger animagus form, chasing Yetis without a second thought, catching them and killing them before they hurt anyone.

George managed to separate one of the three Yetis and began fighting it, keeping his distance as much as he could. Darren tried to do the same with the other Yeti while Angie sprinted harder than ever towards the one closing in on the woman.

Darren didn’t see what happened with Angie, in fact he didn’t see much of anything, he blacked out and when he woke it was to find Angie leaping over him and taking out the Yeti he was trying to fight off. Her fur was covered in blood, where is used to be pure white, it was now red and sticky, she was panting hard and allowed her body collapse in front of him, she was so exhausted.

George was comforting the woman and her baby in amongst the dead beasts surrounding them. The smell was making Darren feel sick.

‘Darren, get Angie to change back,’ he panted, trying to get the woman to get onto his broom. ‘You’ll have to carry her back to the office and we can treat her there.’

Darren tried to do as he was asked, but Angie was making things difficult, she wasn’t exactly unconscious, but she was entirely out of it. Her head was searching around for something, something just out of sight.

‘Angie, Angie, it’s me, it’s Darren,’ he said, attempting to get her attention. ‘Angie, you have to change back so we can go home.’

She completely ignored him and limped over to where the woman was arguing in some language with his father. She nearly knocked both of them over, lowering her body next to the woman who hesitated, still in tears, but eventually climbed onto Angie’s back. Angie seemed to take a moment to gather her surroundings, before it was apparent she was waiting for Darren and his father to lead the way back to the town.

It was a strange situation Darren found himself in, flying beside a giant wolf, guiding her back to safety with a woman trying to comfort her child. Darren couldn’t imagine his sister to be any other person, to give herself, her whole body and mind in order to save a single life and then to give whatever she had left to make sure they returned to safety. He loved her like no one else and no one would ever make him feel any different.

They were barely a mile out went finally Angie couldn’t go any further, she stopped, her legs could no longer hold the weight of her light body and slowly she fell to the floor, depleted.

George hopped off his broom and knelt beside her, carefully running his hand over the clotted fur around her head, she was out cold. Darren tried to be as kind as possible to the woman, who was understandably scared for her child’s life. She smelled strangely of Jasmine.

The Aurors were coming in full force to where the Lockwoods were and Darren suddenly feared for his sister’s life more than ever.

‘Dad.’ He got his father’s attention, who stood up, ready to take on the entire ministry if that was what he had to do.

‘Darren, stay with Angie.’ George’s voice was low and full of warning. Darren did as he was told and tried to get Angie to wake up and change back.

‘Lockwood,’ the old Tibetan Auror jumped off his broom, he was surprisingly spritely for someone of his age and reminded Darren a lot of Dumbledore. ‘What’s going on?’

‘This is my daughter.’

Darren’s head snapped up, what was he thinking? He had no way to prove it if the Aurors asked him to prove it.

‘She is sick and is unable to change back currently, I ask that you allow me time to assess why that is?’ George was being incredibly diplomatic, calm under pressure in a way Darren was unaware his father could be.

‘You want to revive a dead wolf?’

‘She is an animagus,’ there was the venom. ‘She is sick. I would have thought you’d be more grateful considering she saved one of your people, potentially at the cost of her own life if you do not allow me to help her.’

The Auror took a moment to think about what he had been told and turned to the young woman, who was still crying, holding her wailing child. Darren listened to their conversation and could only conclude that she was retelling some epic tale.

‘She says this wolf came to her in the middle of a nest,’ the Auror retold and everyone frowned. ‘That she prayed for someone to save her and her baby and the gods sent her a wolf to protect her. Tell me, how could a person walk into a nest of Yetis and not only walk out alive, but also walk away seemingly unscathed?’

‘Angie is exceptionally powerful,’ George said and Darren noticed at that very second, Angie’s crystal blue eyes snapped open. ‘She is more than capable of holding her own and has the intelligence enough to-

‘Dad.’ Darren interrupted, Angie had begun to get up, groggy and confused. Every Auror pulled their wands out and George stepped in before anyone could do anything about it.

‘Angie,’ he whispered, placing his hand against her face. Her ocean blue eyes met his and it only took a moment for her to recognise her father. ‘We’ll get you home, back to Remus, don’t you worry.’ Darren suddenly noticed that she was crying, a few tears had already escaped and were running down her face, but the mention of Remus was what had the giant wolf collapsing into her father, who was struggling against her. ‘We’ll get you home, safe and sound, you just need to change back. I know it’s hard and I know you feel like you can’t, but I will not let you die without seeing Remus. Remember your promise Angie. Remember your courage.’ It took her another few moments, but eventually Angie morphed back into her human form, collapsing into her father’s arms.

She was so thin, her cheeks gaunt and every bone looked like it was sticking out uncomfortably, barely keeping her muscles together, the paper thin skin stretching over each joint, it looked like it could tear any second. Finally the Aurors believed them and quickly sent for a stretcher to Angie back. Darren took her rucksack and broom and wondered why she didn’t just use her broom to get home. Why did she have to change into her wolf form?

It was a few days before there was any real sign of Angie waking up, George had done everything he could, with the help of the local Healers, but they were beginning to suspect that Angie was different. As soon as she was strong enough to travel, he was taking her to Hogwarts, Darren didn’t know and George wouldn’t tell him to avoid the risk of anyone over hearing him.

George didn’t have the perspective just yet to appreciate the fact that his daughter was alive, he was more concerned with the fact that she had somehow managed to slaughter an entire nest of Yetis and had the strength enough to save the young mother and her child, both of whom were now safely in a neighbouring village.

The pack of Yetis that had invaded the village at the base of the mountain had retreated back into the mountain, since the alpha had been killed by Angie, they had no real reason to stay.

George had warned Darren about sending letters to anyone concerning Angie, he would send one to Adrianna and let her know they were returning home in the coming days.

‘Mum would want to know that Angie is alive,’ Darren argued with his now clean shaved father, both of them keeping their voices low in the Tibetan hospital. ‘We can’t keep a secret like this from her, or Remus for that matter.’

‘Darren,’ George put his hand up, stopping his son from speaking anymore. ‘For the last eight months we have searched for Angie and now out of the blue we are going home. What conclusion do you think your mother is going to draw?’

Darren thought about it for a moment. ‘That we found something.’

George nodded slowly. ‘Your mother knows fine well that I would never give up the search for either of my children, regardless of the chances of survival; I didn’t tell her why we were coming home, the only conclusion she could reach is that we found Angie, but the news will not be made public just yet.’

‘And mum will know that?’

It was the first smile in a long time from any of the Lockwoods. George pulled his son into his chest and held him tight. ‘Your mother and I have a very clear understanding of each other, she will know exactly what is happening.’

George felt Darren return the embrace and for a moment they just held each other. Family was everything and George prayed his son understood exactly what that meant.

Angie was making progress, her strength was returning, she was in a state of unrest, not quite asleep, but definitely not able to wake up properly just yet. There was something different about her, not just her physical state, but something else. George could feel something radiating from her, a new type of power, something that was just waiting to burst out.

He was getting anxious about the Healers asking questions, ones he couldn’t provide answers for, he needed to get his family out of Tibet. He needed to get his daughter home.

Her physical form was actually more muscular than she had ever been, Angie had always been fit the same as Darren, but now she seemed to be made from muscle and not much else. She had been starving on the mountain, that much was clear, so how had she managed to survive so long in the state she was in? George did everything in his power to restore enough of her strength to get her back home.

He couldn’t risk it any longer, after two more days of keeping her body warm and strong by magical means, they needed to wake her up and leave. The Aurors weren’t happy, but had no authority to stop them once George pulled his Healer card.

They were going home, Angie was only just conscious and Darren insisted on carrying her to the Portkey so that she didn’t have to use any energy she didn’t have. It would be night when they got to the castle, no one would be around and as Dumbledore had arranged, they could safely get Angie into a bed to rest for the remainder of the night.

George felt a twinge of guilt in not telling Remus just yet, but he was at the Potter’s that night, not returning until the morning, there was nothing to be done without causing panic. Angie was safe, she was returning to full strength quicker than she had ever done and Adrianna was on her way to the castle.

‘Angie,’ she breathed, arriving at the door of the hospital wing in the early hours of the morning. ‘Oh my baby girl!’ Adrianna cried hot tears that dropped onto her daughter’s face. She held her fragile body and stroked through her soft hair, making Angie stir a little. ‘She’s awake?’

‘Not quite.’ George was exhausted as he approached the bed. ‘But she is healing at an extraordinary rate.’ He gave Adrianna a moment or two to be with her daughter before updating her on what he had done over the last eight months. He held her as she cried and helped her into another bed to rest when she fell asleep, it was only then that George really took in his surroundings.

Almost every bed in the hospital wing was empty except for one, a dark haired boy who was fast asleep near Poppy’s office. George moved a little to see it was Nathan, the intern who had been working part time at St Mungo’s, he was a good student and had a lot of potential to become one of the very best Healers, one day even taking Jack Rathborne’s place as a specialist in Lycanthropy.

George was far from okay, but his daughter was back safe and sound and for now, that was enough.