The Man Beneath the Hood
Grover woke up suddenly with a jolt, quickly patting his entire body to check if any part of him had been eaten by a monster, letting out goat-like bleats without even realizing it.
But right away, he noticed he was at least still whole. Though almost instantly, he realized his goat legs were bound by thick, rusted shackles, stained with what looked like dried blood.
"What…? What is this?" he said, pulling hard at the shackles, trying to break free. But, obviously, that would be impossible without a key.
"Groooww…"
A sudden growl startled him again, making him finally look around and realize he was inside what seemed to be a cell. Made of iron, just as rusted. But not only that; there were multiple cells lined up next to each other, all occupied.
Grover's eyes widened more and more as he saw what was inside those cells. A hellhound, a griffin, a pegasus, even a centaur, sitting with a pale, sorrowful expression, all four legs chained. Nearby, there was a harpy, but her feathers had been torn out. And what looked like a Laestrygonian, though it wasn't moving at all, which made Grover swallow nervously. But that wasn't all; he could also see a unicorn, fairies, a giant spider… and one of those creatures he had seen at Hogwarts in Care of Magical Creatures: a niffler. Each one in different cages or cells around the place.
It was as if magical creatures and mythological monsters had all been captured and thrown into the same prison.
And that meant that he, as a satyr, was one of them… especially seeing that they all wore the same shackles.
"Where am I? What is this place?" Grover shouted, trying to get someone's attention, only causing the creatures around him to stir slightly.
"Easy, boy," a voice suddenly said from a nearby cell.
Grover instantly turned around. The moment he heard that voice, his animal instincts spiked, as if a great wolf were about to tear him apart.
But when he turned, it wasn't a wolf.
It was a man, sitting in the corner, pale, barely seeming to have the strength to even speak. Starved. Exhausted.
"It's better if you don't draw their attention. They're not very friendly," the man said, looking at Grover with a soft expression, almost as if he pitied the young satyr for ending up there, just like him… and the others.
Grover could still feel that danger coming from him, so he couldn't form any words, instinctively afraid.
Meanwhile, the man lowered his gaze slightly, looking at Grover's legs for a moment.
"A satyr, right? First time I've seen one. Of course, I've read plenty of stories… but I never thought they were real. Though at this point, doubting that would be ridiculous," the man said, glancing toward the cages filled with mythological creatures.
Seeing the terror on Grover's face, the man let out a faint, sad sigh.
"Don't worry. It's just the remnants of last night's full moon. I won't hurt you… or rather, I can't even if I wanted to," he said, finally raising his hands to show the chains. Not just on his legs like the others, but also on his wrists and waist, completely restraining him. They were fixed to the wall behind him, leaving him just enough space to sit on the cold ground, unable to move much inside his cell.
"Where are we?" Grover asked.
"I'd like to know that too," the man replied with a faint, forced smile.
But suddenly, the sound of a heavy metal gate opening drew everyone's attention. The creatures immediately recoiled, stepping back from the bars. The harpy and the centaur covered their faces with their hands and bare wings, curling into themselves.
The chained man spoke quickly to Grover in a low voice:
"Get away from the bars, now!"
Grover hesitated for a second, confused, but quickly crawled back anyway. Then suddenly, the rusted bars, which had seemed ordinary, began to spark with electricity. The sound of the current buzzing filled the air, overwhelming everyone inside.
They grabbed their ears, while a shadow approached with calm, steady steps. Growls… howls… the sounds of beasts seemed to echo louder and louder as it got closer.
Grover, covering his ears and squinting against the flashing light of the electrified bars, managed to make out what it was.
A person.
And the sound… it was coming from inside him, as if hundreds of beasts were trapped within a single human body.
A figure cloaked in dark wizard robes, head covered by a hood, barely revealing the faint glow of red eyes, which, for a brief moment, focused on him with interest.
That alone filled Grover with fear.
But what terrified him the most…
was the smell coming from that man.
And in that instant, he understood.
It wasn't fear of being hurt…
it was the certainty that if that man touched him, there would be nothing left of him.
A strange mix of monster and animal scents… combined with the stench of pure corruption, so overwhelming it made his stomach churn, like he was about to vomit at any second. As if he were standing in front of rot itself made flesh.
The man lightly tapped his chest a few times, and the howling sounds began to fade, slowly.
That allowed Grover to lower his hands from his ears, just like the other creatures around him… including the man in the nearby cell.
"So… this is the new member of our family, hm?" the man said. Strangely, his voice sounded soft… even friendly. Young. "A satyr… I've never seen one before. What about you, Remus?" he added, turning his gaze toward the chained man as if they were old acquaintances.
Remus let out a quiet sigh at the question, as if he were already used to that overly familiar way of speaking.
"No," he said simply, knowing that not answering would only make things worse.
"But he's not a hunter… he's prey. I'm not sure how useful he'll be," the robed man continued thoughtfully, bringing a hand to his chin, even though his face remained completely hidden.
"What do you think, Remus?" he asked again.
"Let him go," Remus said almost immediately, even though he already knew the answer.
The man's laughter burst through the room, wild and unrestrained. He even held his stomach as he laughed, while the howls of the beasts inside him seemed to rise with it, as if they were laughing along with him.
"A good joke, Remus… as always. But… when have you ever seen a hunter let its prey go?" he said, his gaze falling back on Grover, who felt a deep, suffocating fear for a moment.
"For now, I'll think carefully about how to use you, little satyr. I don't think any part of you is perfect for me… but a hunter never wastes prey once it has it," the man said, sounding almost obsessed with that idea. "After all… the most interesting part of prey isn't hunting it… it's deciding which part to keep. Though, Remus… if your beast form could be controlled, you'd be far more useful. Your arms, perhaps… or those sharp teeth. What a shame."
Then he simply turned around and walked away, leaving just as calmly as he had entered.
Remus, upon hearing those words, went pale… even more than before. He let out a quiet breath, then glanced at Grover for a moment, sadness flickering in his eyes at the thought that he had ended up in the same place.
"W-who is he?" Grover asked, since it was the first time he had ever encountered someone like that.
"I wish I knew," Remus said quietly.
"…but whatever he is… that thing isn't human anymore."