The night of the full moon was approaching, which meant it was time to prepare Wolfsbane Potion for Remus again. Pomona had originally entrusted Neville with delivering the herbs, but he had been assigned a new mission, so she had no choice but to make the trip herself.
As she walked down the path beside Stonehenge, she spotted Flitwick, holding up his wand as he altered the runes on the stone monument.
This was not her specialty. Though she had taken Ancient Runes in school and earned an O, recognizing the words on a manuscript did not necessarily mean understanding it.
"Nox!" Pomona heard a whispering voice.
She looked around in confusion, but there was no one near her.
"Look down," the whisper said.
Pomona lowered her head and saw a butterfly resting at her feet.
But when she looked closely, she realized it was not a real butterfly, but one made of paper.
"Pick it up."
She looked around again and still saw no one, but she picked up the butterfly anyway.
The instant her fingers touched it, the butterfly swiftly changed shape, unfolding into a sheet of paper before bursting into flames.
The burning marks formed a line of words: Meet by the stream.
In less than ten seconds, the paper had turned to ash.
She looked back at the nearby castle, then toward distant Hogsmeade. She could deliver the herbs to the Potions classroom first, so Snape would not suspect where she had gone.
But she could not be sure whether Sirius would be spotted by the stream. The longer he remained exposed outside, the more danger he faced.
"Damn it," she muttered, deciding to go to Hogsmeade first and find out what urgent matter Sirius had.
She set down the herbs and hurried through the path