A frantic chittering surrounded the beast from every direction as spiders of various sizes swarmed it. Some as small as a tarantula, others as large as a small car.
Despite their numbers, the beast did not falter as it slaughtered them in droves with its fangs and claws.
One spider leapt at it from a nearby tree, and the beast simply stabbed it with its claws before ripping out its heart. Another latched onto its legs with its massive mandibles, pumping its venom into the beast until it brought another claw down onto it like a hammer.
Over and over and over again, the seemingly endless stream of spiders swarmed the beast as they tried to bring it down, only for it to slaughter them all without end while feasting upon their hearts as it killed them.
Every time the beast ate one of their hearts, it would regain some of its stamina while also healing some of the damage done to it at a faster rate. And while one or two hearts didn't mean much for either of those things, the beast was feasting upon dozens of them as they fought.
Soon fear began to creep into the hearts of the remaining spiders. Not from watching their brothers and sisters being killed and their hearts eaten, but from the fact that they were quickly realizing that they were nothing more than PREY to the beast. It was a feeling that they did not like.
Soon the sliders stopped approaching the beast as the fear in their hearts grew, giving it more and more room to breathe as it slaughtered the final few that surrounded it.
After killing the final spider attacking it, the beast looked around for more, only to see them huddling a short ways away beyond the reach of its claws and fangs.
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The beast threw its head back and Howled, sending a fresh wave of fear through the forest that sent the rest of the spiders scuttling away as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving the beast alone for the first time in hours.
Seeing and sensing no other living beings in its immediate surroundings, the beast let out a long breath that it had seemingly been holding for a while.
Fur began to recede on its body, claws turned back into nails, fangs into teeth, and its piercing yellow eyes shifted to a brilliant green.
Within seconds Harry was standing there, completely naked in the middle of the Forbidden Forest while surrounded by the corpses of at least a hundred spiders.
"I see what Aela was talking about now. That was...intense." Harry breathed out as he collected himself from the effect of the transformation.
Harry had been lucid the entire time, but he had also been subject to powerful instincts and urges that were difficult to refuse. So, within the seclusion of the Forbidden Forest, Harry simply gave in and followed those urges as he tore his way through the army of spiders.
Now that he had a moment to breathe, Harry made the change back into human as he collected himself.
"I can also see why Aela and Skjor were unwilling to give this power up. It feels intoxicating..." Harry muttered as he examined his own hands, like they were completely foreign to him.
But, even as he experienced the intoxicating strength of the werewolf, Harry was still very well aware of how dangerous that power was.
There was no shortage of werewolves in Skyrim who lost themselves in their wolf blood, either being too weak-willed to maintain control, or reveling too much in it to make the change back. It was because of these werewolves that ALL of them received a bad name, resulting in groups like the Vigilant of Stendarr and the Silver Hand hunting down any who were even suspect of being werewolves.
Thinking of those poor creatures, Harry resolved himself to master this power so that he never beheld the same fate as them. After doing so, he turned his attention towards more pressing matters for the moment. Reclaiming his bag and clothes.
Instead of traveling by foot through the Forbidden Forest completely nude, Harry decided to expedite things as he summoned a certain someone.
"Neeeeeeigh!"
A ghostly wail echoed through the forest as the creature Harry summoned materialized, taking shape to form a skeletal horse with a mane and tail of eerie purple flames, it's eyes burning white as they took in the surroundings.
"Arvak, my old friend." Harry said as he approached the demonic horse, who whinnied affectionately while approaching his master. Even if Harry looked different, and was in a different world, Arvak would still recognize him.
"Let's go." He said while pulling himself up onto Arvak's back, taking care of his jewels as he did so since he had no 'padding' right now, and clicking his tongue so that Arvak would go.
The forest blurred around them as the skeletal horse moved with supernatural speed, never tiring as they followed the trail of trees that Harry marked in his wolf form during the night.
The eastern horizon began to glow when they finally arrived at the same clearing Harry first transformed in, and he dismounted the steed to go and check the hollow where he stashed his bag. Thankfully, it was still there.
A few minutes later, and Harry was freshly dressed after he used a water pouch in the bag to wash off the spider guts that were still plastered on his body. He was still going to clean up after getting back to the castle, but at least he wouldn't be walking around while covered in gore.
With that done, Harry remounted Arvak and directed him towards the castle as the sun began to peek over the mountains.
It was fully up by the time that Harry and Arvak exited the forest, and the skeletal horse simply plowed through the snow as if it were not there as they raced across the fields between the castle and the forest. It was only right in front of the gates that Harry dismounted Arvak, and began to pat the horse on the neck.
"Thank you, old friend."
"Neigh!"
Arvak nuzzled Harry with his skeletal head, before turning around and walking away while vanishing into thin air as he returned to the Soul Cairn.
Harry slipped through the halls of the castle with practiced ease, avoiding Filch, Peeves, and other students who had risen early as they prepared to return home for the break. He then gave the Fat Lady the password, pig snout, and slipped into the Gryffindor common room to find a certain someone curled up on one of the comfy chairs in front of the fire.
"Haaa..." Harry sighed when he saw Hermione, before quietly pulling a cloak out of his bag and gently laying it over her like a blanket. He then went up to the dorms, where the other four boys were still slumbering while Harry slipped into his trunk to shower and clean up properly.
Roughly an hour later Harry emerged from his trunk, feeling fresh and clean in his school robes as he started grabbing any of the few items he had laying around to pack them while the boys began to stir around him.
"Harry? When'd you get in?" Ron mumbled as he looked at Harry with sleepy eyes.
"After you all went to bed." Harry replied vaguely, technically not lying as he finished packing.
"Get up Ron, it's time for breakfast."
"!!!"
At the mention of food the red head shot up and began to quickly dress, while the other three slowly got up as well.
They all then went down to breakfast together, with Harry noticing that the chair Hermione had been sleeping in was now taken by someone else, meaning she must've gotten up herself.
Despite all of the spider hearts he ate the night before, Harry felt as if he were starving as he piled even more food than usual onto his plate, making even Ron appear modest in comparison.
"Blimey Harry! You hungry or something?" Seamus asked with a smirk.
"Something like that." Harry answered between bites as he 'wolfed' everything down.
They then began talking about the different plans they all had for the break, with Ron's family apparently going to Romania to visit one of his brothers. Seamus and Dean both had relatively tame holiday plans in comparison, but Neville seemed a little cagey when asked what he planned to do.
"Harry!"
Harry looked up when he heard his name, seeing Hermione quickly approaching him while Dean quickly made room on his right for her to sit down.
"I waited, but you never came back to the common room last night." Hermione stated as she took her seat.
"I was busy. Sorry if you stayed up waiting for me." Harry replied, to which Hermione just looked away without saying anything.
The group continued to talk even after they finished eating their breakfast, as all of them were packed and they wouldn't need to grab their trunks themselves to take them to the train. Which would depart at eleven like when they first left Kings Cross.
At ten they all gathered in front of the castle, reporting themselves to Minerva as she went over all of the Gryffindors who were leaving for the break. She also warned the first years in particular that they were going to be subjected to a thing called the Trace, which would automatically alert the Ministry if any of them used magic while away from Hogwarts.
A short carriage ride later, and they were on the train as they sped back towards London.
"I'm gonna get some shut eye. Do any of you mind?" Harry asked those he was sharing the compartment with, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus.
None of them did, which allowed Harry to lean against the window and close his eyes as he quickly descended into the realm of dreams.
...
"Been a while since I've seen this..." Harry muttered to himself as he found himself surrounded by stars and constellations, a familiar sight that Harry hadn't seen in over a decade.
On every side of him were eighteen constellations that depicted a certain skill, Destruction, Alteration, Restoration, Illusion, Conjuration, Enchanting, Smithing, Heavy Armor, Blocking, Two Handed weapons, One Handed weapons, Archery, Light Armor, Sneak, Lock Picking, Pickpocketing, Speech, and Alchemy.
The first time Harry had seen this place was shortly after he arrived on Nirn, when almost every star that made up the constellations was dim. After realizing what each constellation meant though, and that each star would light up when he got better at them, Harry started working towards lighting up every single star he could.
Now all of them were shining brightly around him, a visual representation of all the hard work he put towards his various crafts and skills. But there were three new constellations that Harry had never seen before.
One was in the shape of a castle, reminding Harry somewhat of Hogwarts. None of the stars on that one were shining brightly yet.
To the left of the castle was a constellation that was dimmer than all the others, while Harry also couldn't make out what it was supposed to be. Maybe it was something he would unlock with time.
The final one, to the right of the castle, was in the shape of a wolf's head, and two of the stars were already shining brightly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that particular constellation represented his new werewolf abilities.
Seeing it excited Harry slightly, as it meant that he could grow stronger as a werewolf as he used it.
He didn't know what the two stars that were lit up meant, or the others for that matter. But knowing that the others made him better in the past made Harry excited to see how powerful he could become as a werewolf.
Then, as always, a few short moments after he came too in this strange place, Harry's vision began to darken until he lost consciousness once again.
...
"Come on man, just wake him up."
"No way. The last time I tried, he put a knife to my neck!"
"How about YOU do it?"
"Bloody hell! The last time I saw someone try to wake him, he put a knife to their neck!"
"Honestly! I'll wake him up."
"No need." Harry said, making Hermione jump right as she was about to try and prod him awake.
"What did I miss?" Harry asked while looking around as he sat up, noticing that it was already dark and the forests that surrounded Hogwarts were now buildings and streets.
"We're about to arrive, and this came for you!" Hermione squeaked while handing him an envelope.
Harry tore it open to see Sirius's untidy scrawl inside.
~~~
Hey pup.
I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to pick you up from the station because things got a little hectic here last night with Moony. So I asked someone if she would be willing to do so while she was picking up her niece and bring you back here.
I know, I know, you're an adult inside and don't need to be escorted like a kid. But we still have to play our roles. Plus she was going to come over later anyways, so we're basically killing two birds with one stone.
See you soon,
Sirius.
~~~
Harry shook his head as he finished reading the letter, even as a smile tugged at his lips while he stashed it in his pocket.
"What did it say?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Eh, Sirius won't be able to pick me up, so he's having someone else do it. Though he didn't say who now that I think about it." Harry replied absentmindedly, even as the train pulled into Kings Cross.
"Isn't that kinda irrisponsible of him? Especially as your guardian?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Not really. He knows I'm not helpless without him, and worst case senario I can just take the Knight Bus." Harry replied, not mentioning that the reason Sirius was flaking was because of Remus. His lycanthropy wasn't Harry's secret to tell after all, and it was obvious that he was touchy about it.
"If you say so..." Hermione replied, not sounding convinced, but knowing better than to argue with Harry.
The group collected their trunks as they prepared to depart the train, with Harry grabbing Hedwig's cage as well as the train came to a complete stop.
"I hope everyone enjoys their break!" Hermione said as she took off to join an inconspicuous couple, who Harry suspected were her parents.
Leaving aside the question of how exactly the two muggles managed to get onto the platform, Harry looked around as students reunited with their parents and family for the first time in months, wondering who it was that he was supposed to be looking for. Then, he saw a certain woman that he recognized approaching him along with one of the girls in his year at her side.
"Harry Potter? It is an honor to meet you." The mature woman said as she extended her hand towards him.
"Likewise madam Bones. I assume you were the one Sirius mentioned in his letter?" Harry asked, while also wondering just WHY Sirius had the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement picking him up.
"Indeed, I am. I can explain on the way." She stated, leading the way from the platform as Harry and Susan Bones fell in line behind her.