Hogwarts: Legacy of the Necromancer

The massive axe came crashing down, crows shrieked and scattered—the scene was bloody and violent.

"No!"

Seeing Buckbeak being executed broke Hermione emotionally. Regulus Black had promised to help, yet this innocent creature had still been killed. She felt deceived and needed answers.

She turned and ran off, leaving the two boys clinging to each other for comfort.

The awkward movie scene where Hermione clings to Ron and Harry hugs her never occurred here.

Suddenly, Scabbers bit Ron's hand.

"Ah! Scabbers, why are you biting me? Don't run! Come back!"

The rat darted off like lightning, with Ron chasing after it. On the other side, Hermione had also run off, leaving Harry unsure of whom to follow. After a brief hesitation, considering the tension between Ron and Hermione, Harry decided it was better to help Ron retrieve Scabbers first.

That split-second decision left Harry several seconds behind Ron.

"Got you at last! Why did you bite me, Scabbers? Why are you running?"

Ron held Scabbers tightly this time, not letting him escape again.

"Oh no!"

Harry stared at the willow tree behind Ron—the very same Whomping Willow they had crashed into at the beginning of the school year. Whether or not it bore grudges, it clearly didn't welcome anything entering its range, as its branches had already started thrashing.

"Ron, run! Behind you—it's the Whomping Willow!"

"Harry, run! There's a Grim behind you!"

Even as Harry yelled, Ron was looking fearfully behind Harry, clutching the squirming rat with one hand and pointing with a trembling finger.

A large, pitch-black dog—muscular and menacing, though now resembling a stray—was growling at them.

Harry froze. He remembered seeing a dog's head in the clouds during the Quidditch match right before the Dementors attacked. And now, seeing the black dog in full—he feared what might come next.

The dog charged, leapt over Harry in a flash, and landed beside Ron, clamping its jaws onto the boy's leg and dragging him toward the Whomping Willow.

"Ahhhhhhh! Harry!"

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!"

Ron screamed from the pain, Scabbers squealed from being crushed—both their cries disappeared into the hole beneath the Whomping Willow.

"What do I do?"Harry tried his best but couldn't stop Ron. He stood at the cave entrance, blaming himself. It was clear—he had made the wrong choice and was in the wrong place.

Wham!A thick tree branch whipped across, and Harry was sent flying.

"Regulus Black! You said you'd help. Why didn't you keep your word?!"

Hermione, still on her way back to Hogwarts, encountered exactly the person she had hoped to find.

"Hey! Has my little Gryffindor lost faith in me already?"

Regulus Black pulled Hermione into a hug. After all, everything lately had been orchestrated by him, sending Hermione on missions just like in the original story. When the trio was together, Hermione's emotions could easily sway—from the calm intellect of Ravenclaw to the impulsive bravery of Gryffindor.

But Hermione didn't want to be hugged right now. She wriggled and hit him, but couldn't break free.

"Buckbeak is dead! I saw the executioner strike."

Tears welled in her eyes as she cried against Regulus Black's chest.

"You're a Hippogriff, remember? Brave like a lion, and smart like an eagle."

Regulus let go and gently wiped her tears with a handkerchief.

"Are you sure you actually saw Buckbeak executed?"

Hermione calmed down, returning to Ravenclaw mode.

Right—she had seen the executioner swing the axe and assumed Buckbeak had been killed.

But… she hadn't seen the head fall. Not the human head—right!—the bird head!

And as Regulus's hand brushed her chest—no, the Time-Turner on her chest—Hermione suddenly understood what he meant. She pressed his hand in place and blushed, finally stopping her tears.

"We're going to save Buckbeak right now!"

"No rush. A lot will happen today. We'll handle everything after. Remember: stay calm and analyze the situation."

Regulus pointed into the distance, where the Whomping Willow was wildly thrashing.

"There's an entrance beneath the Whomping Willow. It leads to the Shrieking Shack. I think with your skills, bringing one more person won't be a problem."

Hermione smiled confidently. Regulus's hint was all she needed.

"Wait for me. When I return, we'll relive this day together."

She threw herself into his arms and kissed him deeply.

By the time Hermione reached the Whomping Willow, Harry was already being thrashed. His glasses were knocked off, and he had taken who knows how many blows. If not for his blurry vision helping him instinctively dodge some of the strikes, he might've died.

"My glasses! My glasses!"

Between attacks, Harry scrambled to find his glasses. Without them, he could only see blurs.

"Protego Totalum!"

Hermione cast a timely spell, summoning full-body knight's armor onto Harry. It helped him block a major blow from the willow's trunk, but he still felt like he'd been hit by a car.

"Avis!"

With a wave of her wand, Hermione summoned a flock of magical birds that began attacking the Whomping Willow, momentarily distracting it.

"Harry! Where's Ron?"

Hermione helped him up after he found his glasses. Her face was flushed—maybe from the running, or maybe something else.

"Ron was dragged into the hole by the dog."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! The birds won't last long!"

They looked up—the summoned birds were nearly all gone.

Hermione gave Harry a swift kick into the hole, then dove in herself before the tree could strike her.

Fortunately, the bottom of the entrance was cushioned with a pile of leaves. Harry thought it felt much better than getting hit by branches—until Hermione landed right on top of him.

Okay—he took it back.

"Ah! Sorry, Harry."

Hermione didn't like too much physical contact with boys. She quickly rolled off him.

"It's fine! I'm okay. At least I survived the Whomping Willow's wrath. That's something."

Harry stood up, still in pain.

"Let me handle it. Tergeo! Reparo! Episkey!"

Hermione cleaned them up with a wave of her wand, fixed Harry's glasses, and healed some of his wounds.

But magical healing was temporary—once the spell wore off, the injuries would resurface. He'd still need proper care afterward.

After traversing a long underground tunnel, they finally reached a decrepit house. The walls creaked ominously, as if ready to fall apart at any moment, swaying with the wind.

"I think we've reached the Shrieking Shack. No one in Hogsmeade can enter it—but it turns out the real entrance is right beneath the Whomping Willow at Hogwarts."

Hermione had regained her Ravenclaw intellect, piecing together the Shack's secret.

The place had been abandoned for so long that dust blanketed the floor like snow.

A clear trail showed that something had been dragged upstairs by a four-legged creature.

"That must've been Ron. He was dragged in by the black dog."

Harry figured it out at once and led Hermione upstairs, following the trail.

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