MwaM; Ch 18: The Wolves that Were

Author's Note: Hello there, this is chapter 18 of Merc with a Mouth. I really hope you will like it.

Important Disclaimer: All the characters in the story have been aged up, and therefore every character is an adult. This is an alternate universe story, which means none of the characters are minors or underaged.

Also, congratulations to our Guildmasters: Camo, I am Lord Dems, StormFox, RyanMK666, PenguGoesVroom, Hydrus Black and Darth Josh! 😇🥰

Now, without any further ado....Let's begin!

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Merc with a Mouth

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~Chapter 18: The Wolves that Were~

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The bloodthirsty howl rolled across the grounds, long and savage, a sound that seemed to tear through the serenity of the night and punch unadulterated fear inside their hearts.

It wasn’t alone.

A second one, far more savage, rose to meet it, then a third, and so on until the chorus of bloodcurdling howls rushed through the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

The girls screamed in fear. The older one tightened her grip around the younger girl, who was trembling like a leaf. Even Hagrid's boarhound, Fang, was beside himself, ignoring his master’s commands as he barked with a terror Harry had never heard from the cowardly dog before.

The merc’s green eyes stayed trained on the Willow. He knew that sound and knew it quite well. Not wolves. Not ordinary ones, at least. No mere wolf pack in Britain could raise such a voice—half-beast, half-man, and all hunger.

Werewolves…..at Hogwarts.

His Thestral stamped her hooves again, shrieking in agitation, as her wings rustled like leather sails. She pressed her face harder into Harry’s palm as if begging him to understand…..to act!

The message was clear enough: Danger was approaching them, and they’d all be dead within the next few minutes if he didn’t do anything.

The instant the thought struck, the mage moved—taking charge before anyone else could.

“Susan, Katie, take the Thestral and fly towards the castle. Now!” He barked in a tone more pressing than ever. “Send a professor or do whatever you want; just don’t come back.”

“Harry, I won’t—”

“Katie, love, shut up and move.” He pushed the two towards the Thestral. “These aren’t just wolves; they’re worse. Fly straight into Hogwarts and call for any professor that you can. Hagrid and I’ll handle it here.”

"I won’ be lettin’ yeh fight ’em either, Harry!" Hagrid thundered, his great voice shaking the walls. "Yer a Hogwarts student, yeh are—an’ under me protection! An’ as such—”

“Out of all of us here, I’ve fought and killed them the most.” Harry ignored the big man’s shocked face as well as the gasps from the girls. “Now, do me a favour and put these two on the Thestral.” He turned towards Katie, who was about to say something. “No more questions. Leave!”

"She’s a wee one, Harry—barely whelped a few months back," Hagrid rumbled, cutting him off. "Ain’ no way she can fly on her own yet, let alone be carryin ‘nother."

“What about running?” He looked back towards the Thestral, who had calmed down once she noticed him commanding the group. “You can run, right, girl? And fast, yeah?” The thestral gave a small chirp, but he still understood her. “Don’t think too much about it. You can run faster than them, and escaping is way more important than anything right now.”

“But they are in between us…” Susan mumbled, looking fearfully towards the willow tree where the howls originated from. “I don’t think they can—”

Another long and guttural growl rippled from the darkness of the willow that raised their shackles. Fang whimpered once more, tail tucked between his hind legs as he tried to hide behind his owner.

And then they saw it.

Under the silent branches of the Whomping Willow, framed in silver moonlight, the hulking silhouette of a hairy creature rose against the night sky. Its huge head tilted back, snout pointed towards the dark heavens as it let loose a long, blood-chilling howl that rattled every single one of their bones.

A few more howls followed the long one, but the large wolf had already made up its mind. The head was lowered, and an abnormally large pair of slitted golden eyes locked on the group outside Hagrid’s hut as it bared its fangs once more.

It had seen them.

“NOW!” Harry barked, pushing Katie towards the Thestral as Hagrid lifted Susan and dropped her behind Katie. “RUN! DON’T LOOK BACK. ALRIGHT?!” He asked his new pet, who nudged his palm before sprinting towards the castles with the two girls on her back.

“Stay behin’ me, ‘Arry,” Hagrid rumbled, planting his feet firmly into the dirt as the massive werewolf came tearing towards them. “Yeh won’t be hurt while I’m ‘ere, yeh got that?” He said, yanking a flaming log from the fire that he had been tending to a few minutes ago.

“See, I’d appreciate this macho-giant thingy—I really would.” Harry nodded as he flicked his wand out, fingers tightening around its hilt. “But there are at least four werewolves, and you’re Hagrid, not Hulk or The Thing.”

Hagrid shook his head, still half in disbelief. “I can take on more’n—”

Another howl ripped through the night, closer now—too close. The sound was wild and hungry and wrong, like something that had tasted the delights of human blood and wanted more.

The whistling winds carried the stench of the forest—wet leaves, twilight marigolds, starpetal roses and pumpkins—but beneath it was something fouler, something sharp, deadly and coppery. More shadows darted behind the alpha, shapes that moved with a hunger that would wrought them all into a mess made of blood, bones and muscles.

“Ruddy fucking brilliant!” Harry muttered before adding, “Big man—take down as many as you can!”

He bolted before Hagrid could shout back, sprinting toward the oncoming shapes. Noting that two from the Willow had split off toward the girls. “HEY!” Harry roared, flicking an organ expeller towards the incoming beast, which barely grazed its flank. “Oi, Discount Wolverine! Try catching me first!”

The battlefield formed itself by instinct—a rough triangle. Skeletina the thestral darted toward the castle gates with the girls on her tail; Hagrid and Fang braced by the hut; and Harry stood alone, six wolves between him and everything worth saving.

“Get ready, Fang!” Hagrid shouted, hefting his burning log like a war club as the pack descended. The alpha lunged first, a flash of midnight fur, claws and bloody fang—Hagrid’s roar met it midair as the burning log smashed into the werewolf’s chest, sending it tumbling back with a howl of pain.

Unfortunately, Hagrid didn’t get a break, as almost immediately the second wolf slammed into him, claws raking through his cheek as blood sprouted from him. Fang lunged at the wolf, clamping his maw onto the creature’s leg to save his master, who howled in agony.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Harry hissed, snapping his wand up. “Bombarda Maxima—Confringo!”

The ground in front of the third one exploded in a spray of dirt before the blasting hex sent him flying, colliding with a tree as he fell down groaning in pain.

The last one turned its glowing amber eyes on him and snarled with fury. 

“Finally! I was starting to feel neglected, y’know.” Harry grinned, rolling his shoulders as he threw conjured metallic bolas at the wolves with a twist of his wand. “Come to Daddy, you fucking slut.”

Adrenaline surged through him, the kind that burnt hot and electric through his veins—like back during The Dragon’s final test, when he’d been ordered to clean out a vampire coven on his own. 

Harry Carter had ended up going on a massacre so bad that the government had started to suspect that there was someone else involved in the vampire-werewolf feud and that they were the reason for the declining population of Chinese bloodsuckers.

He saw Hagrid and Fang fending off two wolves in his side vision. The half-giant slammed them with the burning log or used his legs to kick them away while the boarhound kept on biting them and quickly hiding behind his master as fast as he could. 

His Thestral, Skeletina, was still running towards the castle, jumping over the uphill slopes as fast as she could, with the two girls helping her by continuously firing at the two werewolves that were trying to catch up to them. 

‘I need to leave this area fast or else I—’ 

Another loud growl cut his thoughts, and the mage looked towards the one he had blasted away joining the one who was running towards him. 

“SUCK MY DICK, YOU FURRY WHOREMONGERS!!” Harry screamed at them and pulled a thick black runic rope from one of his pockets alongside a pair of red glasses that could easily see through the werewolf’s weak points. “Time to get these fleabags done.”

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On the other side of the impromptu battlefield, the girls were continuously flinging Confringos, Diffindos and Bombardas at the two werewolves that had been attempting to pursue them. Each curse tore through the night, forcing the two pursuing werewolves to swerve and snarl. The two beasts had tried to intercept their group even before they had crossed half of their uphill slopes and hadn’t stopped chasing since.

“Ignis Flagellum!” Katie cried, her wand snapping forward as a whip of fire cracked across the lead wolf’s snout, leaving a sizzling burn and making him howl. 

“Bombarda!” Susan joined, panic edging her voice. Unfortunately, her aim faltered, and the blast veered wide—striking a nearby boulder instead. The stone exploded in a spray of jagged shrapnel, forcing both girls to duck as flaming debris rained around them.

“Sorry!!” The redhead squeaked.

“It's alright! Just don’t hit stones, me, trees, or the ground, and did I mention me?” Katie tried to smile at the younger girl, but it came out as a small grimace. She patted the Thestral, watching as they approached the castle’s gates. “Run faster, girl. Just a few more metres! Faster!!” 

The younger witch risked a glance over her shoulder—just in time to see the largest of the wolves crash into Hagrid, driving the half-giant into the earth with a bone-shaking thud. 

Beyond him, her eyes found her newest friend hauling a snarling werewolf toward himself with a rope of thick, glowing cord before stabbing his wand into its howling maw and…..Susan shrieked loudly, clutching the elder witch as images of the wolf’s head blasting into a million pieces assaulted her mind. 

Her friend…the simple and sarcastic boy in the long black trenchcoat and weird quoted T-shirt, who had been joking and flirting with her moments ago, had just killed a werewolf. A fucking werewolf….and he killed it singlehandedly, no less!! 

What in Merlin’s name was going on?!!!

“DEPULSO MAXIMA!!!” Katie shrieked at the wolf who had jumped on them from the front, pushing him away with her magic, only for the second one to finally slam himself into the Thestral, causing her to shriek and the two girls to fly off her back into the air before falling on the grassy ground.

“SUSAN!” The Gryffindor witch screamed, “Are you—”

“I-I’m fine! Fine!” The redhead shouted back. “You?” 

But Katie’s eyes were no longer focused on Susan but on the two wolves and the fallen Thestral, who was crying in pain as her leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Slowly she got up and looked back toward Susan. “Run, Susan. You’re closest to the gates; run and tell them!” 

“I won’t till you’re with me.” The Hufflepuff replied, showing the loyalty that her house was famous for. “We will face them—”

“We can’t!” I’ll distract them, and you get help! FAST!” Katie replied, running towards the helpless winged creature. “GO!! YOU’RE OUR LAST CHANCE!”

Susan wanted to say no. She also wanted to jump into action, flinging her wand at the feral beasts to protect her friends, but she knew that no matter how good she was with a wand in a practice duel, she was pretty useless here. The only way she could actually help was by running as much and as fast as she could to get help; still, her Hufflepuff side didn’t want her to leave her friends in danger.

Ultimately, her logical side won over, and Susan dashed towards the gates that were just a few metres from her; she looked back at the elder witch who was protecting a midnight-black horse-like creature as the two wolves circled her. 

“DIFFINDO!” The redhead cried, shooting at one of the werewolves. She knew it wouldn’t do anything, but it was enough to get the beast’s attention. “I’M HERE!!” She screamed at the wolf before rushing towards the doors. 

‘This should give you some time, Katie.’ Susan thought, ignoring the girl’s barrage of spell fire that she rained down on the wolves. ‘Sorry, Harry, Katie, Hagrid, Skeletina….Sorry everyone for leaving you like this. I promise this won’t happen again. I’ll be braver next time so that I can fight alongside you guys…’

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Down near the Groundskeeper’s hut, Harry looked up in alarm when he heard the pained cry of his Thestral. He knew that this meant the werewolves had finally managed to catch up to them, which was a FUBAR moment.

Unfortunately, before he could do anything, a loud guttural scream came from beside him, and his eyes widened in absolute horror when he noticed that the alpha wolf had not only tackled the half-giant into the ground but was also biting him. He searched for Fang only to notice that the boarhound and the second werewolf were lying dead near the bonfire. 

“Fuck!” He growled as anger coursed through him. He glanced back at his own werewolf—the bloodied monster was dwindling on its last legs as several poisoned daggers had been pushed into his torso. Making a momentous decision, Harry pointed his wand towards the bonfire, “Kòngzhì Huõshì.”

“OI! GROWLY!” Harry called to the Alpha wolf, who left Hagrid and snarled at him. “CATCH!” And with that, he shoved the levitating flames from the bonfire straight into the creature’s mouth. “And that’s how you roast a furry, kids. Until we meet again.” He left the alpha wolf to its fate and sprinted towards his own one. 

The wolf snarled at Harry, knowing full well that the leader of the pack was dying because of the human. It rushed towards the incoming merc, fully intending on biting his head off, only for the boy to slam his knee in its neck before it felt the cold blade of a dagger push through his skull and snout. 

Harry didn’t even bother to look down at the two wolves he had just killed. He knew they were dead, and therefore, instead of checking anymore, he rushed towards the castle gates so that he could protect the girls.

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Katie, on the other hand, was on her last breath. The two wolves had tired her out, and even though she was in her final year, it was clear that she wasn’t made to fight two werewolves at once. 

“Confringo! Bombarda!” She fired at the two, cursing her misfortune as the creatures easily dodged them. “Incendio! DEPULSO! DIFFINDO!!!” 

None worked. 

The werewolves had superhuman agility; hence, they easily dodged the spells as they approached the physically, mentally and magically tired girl. Katie tried to back away but ended up stumbling due to exhaustion and fell on the ground. 

The malicious glint in the wolf’s slitted golden eyes was far scarier than anything she had ever seen in her life, and at that moment, she tried her best to summon all of her Gryffindor courage as she pointed her wand towards the incoming beast. 

The canine creatures had sensed that their enemy was down, and therefore, instead of trotting, they decided to sprint towards the fallen girl, who was watching them with fearful brown eyes. 

Katie’s eyes widened in horror when the first wolf jumped at her, its eyes glinting with malicious terror, large maw wide open, flexing rows of pointed teeth that would pierce her flesh at any moment now. 

Fear gripped her soul and terror raged through her body as her entire life flashed before her eyes. She tried to crawl away, to summon her magic or just look anywhere else. Unfortunately, none worked as her wand fell from her trembling fingers. 

The girl screamed loudly in horror as the beast’s open maw came just a few centimetres from her face, its saliva dripping down on her torn and dirtied skin. Just as the beast was about to tear her head off, the girl saw a black-and-white blur slam into the wolf, sending it flying away from her. 

Immediately, the girl looked towards her saviour only to be surprised as she noticed who it was. 

“Za-ZACH?!” She screamed at the piebald Border Collie who had caught the werewolf’s snout in its own mouth before ripping it off in a bloody mess that caused immense pain to the feral beast.

“Wingardium Leviosa-Incarcerous-Mutare Mortus-Stupefy Maxima!” McGonagall’s voice came from behind, and Katie had never been so glad to see the stern face of the head of her house. 

“Pro-Professor….Pro–fessor McGonagall!!” She cried, tears streaming down her eyes as she tried to get up from the ground.

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By the time Harry reached them, he was surprised to see Susan hugging Katie while McGonagall was finishing up with the two werewolves as they were levitated with their limbs tied down by barbed ropes that had pierced their skin. 

His eyes fell on the injured form of his Thestral, and without bothering to even say anything anymore, he went straight to the levitating werewolves.

“HARRY!!” The girls chorused together, only to stop midway as he ignored them completely.

“CARTER, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!” The transfiguration mistress shrieked in horror when she saw his face that had been soaked in blood with pieces of muscles and bones dangling from his pockets.

“None of mine, I assure you.” His eyes fell on the deputy headmistress. “Thanks for saving them, professor.” He gave a small nod before he pulled out two more daggers from his trenchcoat and pointed the first one at the head of the wolf with a torn and bloody snout. 

“Carter, what are you doin—HARRY”

Without another glance, Harry smashed the dagger straight through the wolf’s head, instantly killing the beast and shocking everyone who saw it. He turned towards the other one, who had already started to whimper in fear. 

“I don’t know what you're doing or what’s GOTTEN INTO—!”

“You enjoyed causing chaos, right, little wolf?” Harry asked the second one, “You enjoyed hurting my friends, didn’t you?” 

“Harry, what are you talking abo—”

Another dagger. Another skull. Another werewolf dead.

Katie hugged Susan tightly, and they ignored McGonagall’s rant as she tried to lecture Harry. All of them just watched the two beasts fall to death. 

She wouldn’t lie and say that she hadn’t wanted to do that herself. She had almost died tonight, and she knew that the wolves would have happily devoured her alive if not for Harry’s dog, but to watch the boy kill them with a single thrust of his hand was…..scary? Was that even the right word? 

It was at that moment when Katie suddenly remembered what had happened in the Thestral Paddock a few days ago. The beasts who had never been afraid of anyone or anything in existence hadn’t even dared to approach their dinner till Harry Carter had left them. 

It was exactly at that moment when she realised the reason why they had been so afraid of the young boy who had been laughing with them and flirting with her. 

And….it was in that moment that Katie came to an understanding. Neither the Thestrals with their scary appearance nor the werewolves with their bloodlust and hunger were the true monsters that dominated the jungle.

No. 

The actual monster was the one who lived among them, breathed their air and ate their food. He knew their language and entertained them exactly like they wanted to be entertained by him….but they must never forget that he wasn’t a human like them. He wasn’t weak, and he wasn’t afraid of anyone in the wild because the wild itself was afraid of one single man: Harry Carter—The true Monster.  

“We’ll talk about this later, professor.” Harry told her before pointing towards the groundskeeper’s hut. “For now, Hagrid needs your attention more than some dead wolves. He fought off two of them but got a bit injured.”

McGonagall pursed her lips in anger. “We’ll surely talk about this later.” She narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything else. “Where’s he?” 

“Down there.”

McGonagall nodded before she turned to Susan. “Take Carter and Katie both to the Hospital wing.” She raised her hand before he could have protested. “Let her take a look first, Carter. Also, tell Poppy that a thestral needs her help too. I’ll return in a few minutes.” 

The trio nodded, watching the deputy headmistress rush off towards the groundskeeper’s hut.

Harry glanced at Katie and Susan. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He gave a tired sigh. “These mutts had dared to hurt my friends, and no one gets away after doing that. I’ll understand if you two decide to stay away—” 

He was stopped from saying anything else as both the girls slammed into his chest, holding him tightly as Susan cried her eyes out while Katie smiled at him.

“I think there's no bigger fool than us if we alienated the one guy who killed fucking werewolves to keep us safe.” The girl smiled at him. “In fact, if not for Zach, I’m damn sure you two would be weeping around my dead body by now.”

“Zach?” He frowned. “My dog? He was here?”

“Yeah. He was just here…..” She looked around the ground. “I don’t know where he went….Susan?”

The auburn-haired girl shook her head in denial. “He was already running towards the door by the time I went to get Professor McGonagall.” She looked at Harry. “I think he already knew that you were in some trouble.”

“But where is—” It was at that moment when his Thestral gave a small chirp and pointed towards the willow tree. Harry squinted in the direction and finally spotted something moving between the roots of the Whomping Willow.

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Dirt crunched beneath his dragon leather shoes as he tore through the tunnel that connected the Shrieking Shack and the Whomping Willow. His breath came in ragged gasps as his elegant cloak of pure white was dragged through filth. 

The plan had been perfect….foolproof, and they had taken six of the best werewolves to turn Susan Bones into a leverage, Harry Carter into a corpse. Six when the job could’ve been done with just two.

Unfortunately, their tides had turned the moment Carter killed the first one. Still, he had hoped that the Greyback and his pack would have been able to kill that half-breed and Carter, only to be shocked when the boy burned Greyback—literally, by pushing flames through his mouth and turning his internal organs to a crisp.

Lucius cursed under his breath.

They were supposed to threaten Susan Bones—and by extension—Amelia as well into staying away from the post of the Minister for Magic. Then he had to make sure that Pius Thicknesse became the minister, and that would’ve put the entirety of the ministry under their control.

Not to mention, Carter had to die tonight.

Instead, the boy had gone ahead and killed both Greyback and his second-in-command on his own before proceeding to butcher through Greyback’s ranks like a hot knife through butter. 

Tonight, they had lost five of the best werewolves, as well as their leader. The attack had failed, and there was nothing he could do anymore. He would have to retreat for now and then make another plan with Severus to successfully kill the boy.

“Is someone here, buddy?” 

Lucius’ eyes widened in horror when he heard the voice of the monster that was known as Harry Carter. He glanced behind him and noticed a small beacon of pure white light that was coming his way. 

Carter and his dog were coming. CARTER AND HIS DOG WERE BEHIND HIM!!!!!

Lucius abandoned everything and dashed towards the ward lines of Hogwarts. He knew that in just a few hundred metres, he would be able to cross them, and after that, he’d apparate away to the security of Malfoy Manor. 

‘Yes….just a few metres…’ He thought, running as fast as he could from the demon that was approaching him. ‘Just a few metres and I would—’ 

His eyes widened in surprise when, instead of pure white, the walls of the tunnel were lit up in bright red colour. He tried to pull his wand out of his cane and cast a shield charm. 

Unfortunately, the moment he turned, he was hit by the stunner squarely in his chest, and within the next moment his body went completely stiff before falling like a sack of rotten potatoes on the dirty floor of the tunnel.

“Oh, wow….so you’re behind all this, huh?” Harry knelt down near the senior Malfoy’s body before grabbing the man by the scruff. “You and me, Pussy Lucy, we’re going to have a nice long chat.” 

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Ending Note: There we go! Liked it? Loved it? Needs some changes? Please, do tell.

I am waiting for all your comments. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Once more! Important Disclaimer: All the characters in the story have been aged up, and therefore every character is an adult. This is an alternate universe story, which means none of the characters are minors or underaged.

Thank you for reading and your comments,

With regards,
Dev Black