A/N: Well, I have never done so much research as I've done for this fic. I went by what Wikipedia and various other websites said, stir a bit of my insanity in and you have this. I'm sorry if I got anything wrong, the internet isn't always reliable.

This is rated M, not just for lemons, but because it refers to rape. A warning.

This fic is dedicated to my friend, Batmarcus, in its entirety.

I don't own anything you recognise. Except Mpho, Rosina and Lerato.

Another note: This fic is being revamped, I am also making it better than the previous one was; this is one of my favourite stories and because of this I am redoing it.

Chapter 1: A Strange Case

Harry frowned at the file he was holding. He'd been studying it for two weeks now, and his desk was littered with written notes and pictures.

Something didn't add up. Odd events had been occurring in the British Wizarding world, more importantly, in his city, London. It only touched two families, but he didn't wish for it to spread any further.

This case had, quite literally, jumped at him with the arrival of a woman, and the case scared him, because of its bizarre nature, and it took a lot to scare the Head of the Aurory.

He'd never expected something like this to happen, something so odd, so disturbing... and he had seen quite a bit of strange things in his life.

The first time anything happened, the department dealing with the first case dismissed it as a poltergeist and advised the family to move. Rude words had appeared against the walls in crayon or mud, odd noises could be heard, like yelps or things falling off their places, and only the couple's toddler could see something. Being four, the little boy described the creature as "small and hairy and ugly". The Jones' family feared for their son's well-being and mental state.

Harry thought the child was perfectly fine. He himself had been ignored as a child whenever he saw strange things, like tiny creatures running around his uncle and aunt's garden, but he didn't dare mention them after the first time.

Peeves had been more ghost than human, and he bothered almost everyone, not to mention everyone could see him, not just smaller children. Not that Hogwarts ever played host to toddlers, that is.

The small family of three had moved, hoping to be rid of the problem. It went all right for two nights, before the odd noises and pranks started again. It was always directed at the adults, never at the child.

Harry was relieved that the boy wasn't harmed by the creature, or at least that was what the files said. According to the parents, it had made friends with the boy, and the child refused to tell them when he was nearby. The child was protecting this… whatever it was? It wasn't something Harry was familiar with, and he had done quite a lot of studying up on magical and mythical creatures.

The next conclusion, after poltergeist, that the specialists made was that it was a brownie, who would continue his 'work' until they gifted him with clothing. Harry scoffed at this – it was a brownie, not a bloody house elf or a hobgoblin!

A brownie was a type of creature that resembled a goblin, only a cuter version, and later Harry would find out that the brownie and these specific creatures were, in fact, cousins. Brownies weren't normally the type of creature to go rogue unless you start calling their 'gifts' 'payments' or if the house owners misused them. They were peaceful.

Harry strongly doubted that someone would abuse a brownie, seeing as it would result in the loss of a servant. Brownies also never scared the people they lived with, brownies were helpful creatures, much like house elves were, only they wanted things to eat, like porridge and honey; they liked helping people.

Thus this conclusion made Harry wonder if he would need to speak to the Head of the magical creatures department about getting their subordinates into tip-top shape for dealing with said magical creatures.

Maybe he would have to ask Hagrid to join the Auror ranks, even just to help with these types of cases, but he didn't think Hagrid would leave Hogwarts.

The Jones' had put clothes out, making sure they were in sight. Harry already guesses that this didn't work. Someone in the magical creatures department really needed to educate themselves. Imagine that, confusing a brownie with a house elf?

Another week later, and the clothes were still there. Not that this surprised Harry in the least. The trouble hadn't stopped at all, it had simply gotten worse. The creature was obviously mischievous, exactly like a poltergeist was, but it was yet to be seen if it was evil.

Then bad came to worse, and Mr Jones fell ill.

It was awful, he had a high fever, boils had broken out over his entire body, he was differing between being cold and complaining it was too hot, his hands burned – as if it had some sort of fungus-infection, his feet were swollen – it just kept coming. No matter what they did, it just kept getting worse and no wizarding healer nor could a muggle doctor find the problem. They first thought it was a simple fever, but then the other symptoms arrived.

Next? It spread to another family, the Rodnicks. This family had a little girl, age three, who also showed signs of seeing something. In the same way, the little girl wasn't harmed, but the mother fell ill. In this case, the father had lost his job. So, Harry thought, the creature didn't harm children (something he was explicitly thankful for), it brought awful luck to the adults of the families.

Harry dove into his work, doing as much research as he could, because there was no way he would be trusting someone in the department of magical beings anytime soon, not until they figured out who was an incompetent idiot and needed to go back to Hogwarts. He could've asked Hermione, but she was away on some conference that was promoting the rights of house elves.

He thought it might be a Kobalos, a creature from Greek mythology that liked to trick humanoid beings, whether muggle or wizard, but that also didn't make sense. Kobaloi preyed on small children, not on adults. So he quickly dismissed that idea as equally unbelievable. Why would something notorious for preying on children suddenly prey on adults and, in a way, befriend the children?

He even considered a Cornish pixie, but they didn't match the description of small and fat and hairy, as the little boy said.

A hobgoblin seemed like another likely idea, but they were like brownies, doing deeds in the house when the families were happily dreaming of (hopefully) sweet things. Giving them clothes would work, that Harry knew, because it was a very serious insult for a hobgoblin.

These creatures, however, did fit into the description that the little boy gave, because hobgoblins were small, white and hairy. These tiny creatures were also the more likely culprit than a brownie was of these crimes, seeing as the hobgoblins had a taste for practical jokes that even rivalled Fred and George's, while brownies were peaceful (another reason someone in the magical creatures department should be yelled at – this was getting ridiculous).

Harry's money was on a hobgoblin for the time being. Yet, he couldn't understand why the creature left the child alone.

It was when Mrs Jones, two weeks after Harry first received their file, came to the Aurory, her clothes torn, her hair a mad mess and her eyes murky with continuous tears, that things spiralled out of control.

. . .

A/N: Please review!