It all happened suddenly, in an instant.
Snape received Voldemort's summons, delivered through Lucius Malfoy, so Jon had planned to first check on the situation around the school. But he ran into Harry halfway there.
They were heading to the Shrieking Shack.
So Jon decided to go to the Shrieking Shack as well.
The way there was troublesome, but still within the students' ability to handle. He ran desperately, almost feeling as though he could leave death behind. He ignored the streaks of light shooting through the darkness around him, ignored the sound of lake water crashing in waves like the sea, ignored the creaking noises coming from the Forbidden Forest—though there was no wind that night. They raced across the grounds, which seemed to be rising up in resistance as well. Harry had never run so fast in his life. Then he was the first to spot the great tree, the Whomping Willow, its whip-like branches lashing about as it guarded the secret beneath its roots.
Harry slowed, panting for breath, dodging the Whomping Willow's whipping branches as he peered closely through the darkness at its thick trunk, searching for the knot in the old bark that would calm the tree. Ron and Hermione caught up as well, Hermione so out of breath that she could not speak.
"How—how do we get in?" Ron panted. "I can—I can see the place—if we'd—brought Crookshanks—"
"Crookshanks?" Hermione said breathlessly, bending over and clutching her chest. "Are you even a wizard?"
"Oh—right—of course—"
Ron looked around, then pointed his wand at a branch on the ground. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The branch flew up at once, spinning through the air as if blown by the wind. Then it shot through the Whomping Willow's dangerous branches and straight at the trunk. It prodded a spot