Kess had left shortly after Mrs. Norris and Wormtail, and flown off back to the Chamber of Secrets, to check on her subjects, and make sure there hadn’t been a revolt in her absence (if you really want to know, there hadn’t). Pig had wanted to go with her, but Kess had ordered him to stay with the others. Fang, not surprisingly, was still asleep on the floor. Crookshanks was still sitting on the table, but Trevor had joined him. The three birds had come down from the rafters, and were now perched on the backs of the chairs.
The five of them just sat there, talking about things that animals talk about when they feel like talking about things, while outside, it grew lighter and lighter. At dawn, Fang finally woke up, stretched his legs and yawned. He looked around at the others and frowned.
“Who are you lot?” he asked.
“Very good friends of yours,” Hedwig asked, without looking at him.
“Well, that’s a relief. I was worried for a moment there. So, is there anything I can do for you, friends?” he asked, walking over to the table.
Fawkes the phoenix turned to Fang and nodded slowly. “Actually there is. I wanted to ask you something, Fang.”
“Really? Fire away then...erm...Thingy.” Fang said, sitting down and staring at the strange-looking bird perched on his chair.
“The name’s Fawkes,” said Fawkes. “And I was wondering, did you see your human when he left?”
“As a matter of fact I did. He said to me, he said, ‘Bye, Fang!’ while I watched him walk off towards the Forbidden Forest.” The others stared at him, with shocked expressions on their faces. “What?” Fang asked. “What’s so bad about going in there? I’ve been into that forest hundreds of times.”
Crookshanks answered. “When you were fast asleep, we were talking, and we decided that, since we don’t have anything else to do, we should try to find out where Hagrid and Dumbledore went.” He looked over at Fawkes, and then continued, “Fawkes thought that we should try and find out which direction Hagrid went when he left, and then try to follow him, but...well, we’d hoped that he hadn’t gone in there. It’s supposed to be terrifying in there.”
Fang grinned. “And I expect that you want me to go with you all, eh?”
Crookshanks looked a little nervous. “We haven’t totally decided that we’re going...in there yet.”
“I’m going,” Pig squeaked.
“Me too,” Trevor croaked.
Fang looked back at Crookshanks, and his grin got bigger. “What about you, cat? Are you coming? There’s no need to be scared “ it’s daytime now. It’ll be lighter.”
“Yeah, go on, Crookshanks!” Hedwig said.
“Are you two going?” Crookshanks asked Fawkes and Hedwig, who were both perched on the backs of their chairs and looking smug.
“Of course we are. There’s no need for us to be scared like you are, though. If we sense danger, then us birds can fly away!” cried Hedwig. “But we’re not cowards, so don’t you dare say we are,” she added, pointing a warning talon at Crookshanks.
Fang got up and walked over to the door, which was still ajar. Trevor and Pig followed him. “This is your last chance. If you three don’t come with us, it’ll just be us three wandering off into the forest.”
Crookshanks sighed, and padded after Fang. “Fine. But could you carry me?”
Fang stared at him with a bemused expression. “No. Why would I do that? You’ve got legs “ use them,” he said, before heading off towards the forest again, followed by Trevor, who was hopping along, and the three birds, who were flapping after him.
The group made their way towards the forest, and stopped just at the edge, with the trees towering above them like towering trees. “Are you ready?” Fang asked, grinning and showing the fangs for which he had been named.
“No,” Crookshanks replied, “but let’s go in quickly, before I change my mind and run off back towards the castle.”
And they set off again. As soon as they went into the forest, it went dark, and the wind howled between the branches high above them. Far away, a wolf howled, a lion roared, and a duck quacked. “See?” Crookshanks cried when he heard the duck’s quack. “I told you this place was scary!”
Fang ignored him, and put his nose to the ground before he carried on walking into the depths of the forest. Crookshanks sighed, looked around him. In the shadows surrounding him, he thought he saw glowing eyes, and glistening fangs. He gulped, and moved closer to Fang, so close that he was almost underneath the dog’s legs.
“Do you mind?” Fang asked, after he almost tripped over Crookshanks.
“No, not really. But thank you for asking,” Crookshanks replied.
They continued in silence once more. Pig, who was uncomfortable with long silences, suddenly spoke. “What are we actually looking for?” he asked.
“Either Hagrid or Dumbledore,” Fawkes answered. “But it would be nice to find both of them together. Alive,” he added.
“Do we know if they went this way?” Pig asked.
“Well, I know for sure that Hagrid went this way,” Fang replied smugly. “I have a superb sense of smell. Did you think we were wandering round this forest, hoping to bump into them?”
Pig had actually thought that, but decided not to tell Fang that. “No,” he said. “Of course not!”
“Good,” Fang said, and put his nose back to the ground.
“Do you get giant cobwebs all over the forest?” Trevor asked suddenly.
“Why do you ask?” Fang said; his furry face creased into a puzzled frown.
“Because they’re all around us,” said Trevor. “Although I haven’t seen any giant spiders to go with…Ah. There’s one over there, watching us.”
Fang lifted his head up from the ground once more, and gulped. “It’s at times like these when you wish you had a Hagrid with you,” he said.
“Why?” Hedwig asked.
“All these spiders are Hagrid’s friends. If we had him with us, they wouldn’t eat us. As you all know, we don’t have him with us, so…”
“They’re going to eat us?” Crookshanks cried. Before he had been scared. Now, however, he was absolutely terrified.
“Spot on,” Fang replied.
“You know what?” Fawkes said. “I think we should split up, so we have a chance of living longer. And I propose that me, Hedwig, and Pig should fly off.”
“Hedwig, Pig, and me,” said Trevor.
“Pardon?”
“I was correcting you. But there’s no need to worry. It’s quite a common grammatical error,” Trevor replied, smiling.
“Erm…okay…” Fawkes said, a little confused. “Anyway, goodbye!” he said, flying up into the sky, high above the spiders.
Pig winked at Trevor, and flew after the phoenix. Hedwig seemed as if she was going to follow them, but stopped. “Try and live,” she said. “If you get eaten, I’ll never talk to you again.” And with that, she flew off.
“Cowards,” Crookshanks said, scowling after them.
“I know,” Trevor replied. “They could have at least carried me.”
“Oh well,” Fang said, sighing. “You know what they say.”
“What?” Trevor and Crookshanks both asked.
“That’s life. We’re all going to die anyway, aren’t we?” he sat down and calmly waited to be eaten.
“Coward,” Crookshanks said, scowling at him.
“I know,” Trevor replied. “They could have at least carried me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Crookshanks asked, taking a break from his scowling and staring at Trevor instead.
“I don’t know. But I just had an awful feeling of déja vu.”
“Yes, well, we’ve got to get out of here,” said Crookshanks. “Any ideas?”
“What about going back the way we came?” Trevor suggested.
Crookshank spun round, to find several spiders leering menacingly at him, and waving several of their legs. He spun back round. “No,” he said to Trevor. “They’re behind us as well.”
Trevor sat down next to Fang, and smiled grimly.“I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be in a cliff-hanger,” he said.