Fenrir Greyback was not happy.
The only reason he joined Voldemort was because of his promise that he would easily get his favorite "snacks," expanding the werewolf population even further.
One day, he would make everyone one of them; he was sure of it!
In his opinion, the best time was to infect them as children and then raise them far from their parents—if any survived at all. Those didn't just turn into real werewolves but also developed a healthy and proper hatred towards regular wizards.
Now that he had returned to Hogwarts, he was forced to guard the runic door like a dog under his lord's orders, while just a few steps away, he could start biting to his heart's content at a buffet.
And that damn smell of dragon dung!
There are hundreds of doors in the castle, HUNDREDS, but the cowardly son of Lucius had to pick THIS one of all places...
If it weren't for Narcissa and Lucius' protection, Greyback would have loved to give the young heir of House Malfoy a couple of bites. Maybe he'd even survive it and all; he'd never managed to turn a pureblood before, as he didn't want to provoke that hornet's nest.
"Still, this thing isn't very reliable," Greyback growled as he turned to take a look at the door's runes.
Of the eighty who managed to sneak into Hogwarts, only around forty made it through successfully, while the rest disappeared or arrived missing limbs, as if they'd Splinched themselves while Apparating.
At least he had something to chew on while waiting…
"Mmm?" Greyback heard footsteps approaching—three pairs of legs by the sound of it. "Finally, some entertainment. Adult flesh isn't as tender," he said, tossing the arm of one of his "fallen colleagues" that he had been holding behind a hedge as he sneaked into a corner, intending to scare and savor the fear of the unsuspecting students who thought hiding here was a good idea.
And in fact, it was. The Death Eaters wouldn't go to a place like this, but they had the misfortune of running into him.
Then he'd get to his favorite part: biting.
Due to the persistent stinging smell in the air, he couldn't tell what year the students were in or their gender, but it didn't matter. The surprise would only season the fear and the flesh!
"This isn't what I expected," Greyback thought upon seeing a red-haired man appear, accompanied by… what was that thing?
An unknown type of female centaur?
No, it had too many animal parts, and with the blood splattered on her claws and body, it looked like she was enjoying a hunt!
How envious! And he had to stay here or risk displeasing his lord if anything happened to the runic door...
Greyback looked more closely.
She seemed like a creature resulting from a dark ritual, combining all kinds of animal traits into a woman—a beautiful one at that. But Greyback was sure this dark wizard wasn't among those who arrived.
She wasn't one of theirs.
So it was okay if he bit her, right?
They were the ones who came here, to his limited "hunting ground."
He hadn't moved from his post as ordered; he was merely fulfilling his duty to guard the door. Yes, that's it.
Greyback's teeth itched, but years of experience had taught him how to savor the wait in a hunt.
The look of awe and panic in the children's eyes… hehe.
"Huh?" He snapped out of his daydream as he noticed the redhead looking at the door as if he knew exactly what to look for.
Could he know the Death Eaters entered through here? Strange.
All the more reason to act—soon, the second wave of Death Eaters would arrive to help control the castle. That the runic door needed a cooldown period between uses was just another inconvenience on the list, no wonder it fell into obscurity once the Floo Network appeared.
He watched as the redhead tapped both himself and the dark female creature with the red staff with glowing eyes; a light enveloped them for a moment before disappearing.
Did the spell fail?
This was the moment he'd been waiting for!
Greyback leaped out of his hiding spot and ran straight toward the redhead, who should turn around any second and show a look of fear on his face.
But what Greyback saw next wasn't the familiar expression that only excited him more. Instead, it was a scaled tail whipping towards his face. He then heard a crack like a whip slicing the air, followed by a crunch. His cheek stung, and it took him a moment to process what had happened, feeling the anger rise to his head.
That bastard had sent his dark creation to fight him!
Greyback switched his target to take down the attractive female creature, exchanging blows and scratches, but he soon realized a sort of thin, dense film of water seemed to be isolating his attacks.
He was taking damage in a one-sided beating—a humiliating thrashing.
He didn't panic; it wasn't the first time he'd faced a defense against his scratches. Years ago, he'd taken measures against these defenses. His teeth had runes carved for this very purpose.
Let her get cocky, let her lower her guard until it was too late, and then…
He only needed to get a good, hard bite!
Greyback lunged at the female creature's forearm, and when he felt the protection touch his teeth, he knew he'd succeeded. He bit down with enough force to break a bone, and…
Nothing happened.
Greyback tried again, but the bite never landed.
Confused, he caught a glimpse of a piece of flesh out of the corner of his eye and blinked, even more bewildered.
Why did it look so much like his lower jaw?
As this question drifted idly through his mind, the scaly tail came back into his vision, and a strong blow spun his view 180 degrees.
Greyback didn't understand; why was everything going dark around him?
He wanted to turn and shout at them to ask what they'd done, but his body wouldn't respond, and his last sight was the night sky's stars as his lord's Dark Mark rose over the Astronomy Tower.