THE YANKEE WIZARD OF APPALACHIA

Written by Stephen R. Sobotka Jr.

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DISCLAIMER : This story is an original prose based on situations and themes from the "Harry Potter" books, written by J. K. Rowling. All characters that appear -- with the exception of the original ones I created for this story -- are the property of said licenses, and are used here without knowledge or permission of same.

This story is the rightful property of the author; all original characters and the plot depicted within are protected by copyright law. This story was produced to entertain fans of the original books, and is in no way, shape or form intended to be published for monetary gain. Please do not sue.

AUTHOR'S NOTE : As some of you may well guess, some of the revisions herein are due to the recent release of the 7th book in the Harry Potter series. While I do like the way Mrs. Rowling ended things -- for the most part -- I can say that I am very disappointed in the way my favorite character was treated in the end. Therefor, I decided to go back and do a one-time edit to not only satisfy my own fan-slant on things, but to also make a fitting tribute to that character I like and love.

Mrs. Rowling, if you read this, please don't misunderstand the intent behind this story; I think you are a wonderful writer, and I am glad to see the Harry Potter books have come to a good close... but, speaking for myself and possibly every other fan of a certain Animagus, she so deserved a better treatment than an off-page 'death' during the final chapters of Book 7.

For you, the reader... enjoy the story: ) -- SRS.
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ooooOOOOoooo

Somewhere in the American Appalachian Mountains,
Six Months after the end of 'The Deathly Hallows'...

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"Well, Arabella!? What have you got?"

Kneeling in the moonlight next to the two younger witches, the older, dun-haired woman in black and purple robes, ran her her glittering eyes along the ground before her. "The little scut came this way," Arabella Weatherwick murmured. "Not more than an hour past!" Lifting her pointed chin, Arabella squinted at the wide expanse of forested land before them, before she pursed her lips and nodded.

"She's alone, and headed towards . . . that valley ahead," she said, pointing towards a gap in the spreading Appalachian mountains in the distance before she dusted off her hands and placed them on her raised knee. Looking at each of the younger, robed women in turn, she asked, "Since we've got time to prepare a trap for her . . . what say you two, hm?"

Sally Thistlethorn grinned savagely, her dark eyes gleaming from inside the depths of her dark-brown hood. "We could lose her if she gets much further in. Let's just get after her on our brooms and blast her from the air!"

"Gah, that's talking off the cuff, you neophyte!" Karina Croake scowled at their eager companion. "We may be in the Americas, but there's still enough wizarding types around to know if there's an unscheduled flight about!"

"I supposed you'd have us slogging through the bracken after her then!?" Sally sneered peevishly.

"Still worried about fouling your skirts, dearie?" the older of the younger witches chuckled darkly, giving the ash-blond woman a hard stare. "This wasn't supposed to be a pleasure trip-!"

"It also isn't for someone of our station to go crawling through the muck after some half-blood slip!" Sally turned to the older witch in charge. "C'mon, Arabella! We've been on foot over this bloody terrain for nearly two days now!"

Karina snarled. "We'd have gotten a better start, if you'd-!"

"Silence!" Arabella snapped, glaring at them both. "We're not some old hags, loitering over a cauldron like fishwives, so quit dithering or I'll hang you both by your garters!" Her eyes glittered in the moonlight. "Just see if I won't, hear!?"

Cringing, the younger Sally reached up to tug her hood down, staring imploringly at the older woman. "But, we'd have surprise by broom!"

Arabella shot back, saying, "That's no wet-nose prat, fresh out of Hogwart's we're after, girl!"

"I know that . . . all I am saying, is that we can't let this drag on and on, or else we will have the locals poking their noses into the middle of our mission," Sally said, cringing at the dour look on the elder witches' faces.

"Sally may have a point, but it's your call, Arabella," Karina said simply. "What do we do?"

Arabella sighed, rubbing the tip of one finger along her nose as she thought for a bit. "Yes, we need to do this quick . . . but all the same, we have to be cautious." She reached into her robes, finding the handle of her wand which was tucked in the sash of her long skirts. "So, we go by ground, ladies!" She shot a look at Sally, who looked like she would protest again, but the younger witch wisely held her peace. "You take the right. Karina, on the left side and I'll go up the middle. We'll sweep her in and pin her betwixt the three of us, but don't either of you underestimate her skills, understand!?"

Both younger witches nodded. "Right!"

"Then, let's go." Arabella hitched up her skirts and rose. "That mud-blood girl is one stain on our mistress's family tree and -- though she's no longer with us -- Bellatrix Lestrange wanted this one rubbed out, so we'll do just that! Rub her out, permanently!"
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oooOOOooo

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"Meteora!"

Flinging herself aside, Arabella felt the intense heat of the fireball passing over her shoulder; nearly making her curly hair begin to singe. "Croake! Hit her now, before she can-!"

"I'll get her! Debilito!"

A crackle of neon-red light arced towards the center of the clearing beneath the hill Arabella stood on. At the last moment, the target -- a body clothed in dark clothing and boots, beneath a hooded cloak -- leaped up towards a large rock and vaulted clear of the hex as it impacted against the base of the stone.

Snorting, Arabella slipped over the crest of the hill, her own feet skidding on grass and leaves as she tried to aim her wand at the fleeing figure. "Thornpricks! If she makes those trees, we'll lose her!"

From the bushes to the right, Sally burst into view just yards from the rock. "Formica effervo!" she shouted, just as a ball of whitish webbing appeared in front of her. With a swing of her wand, she smacked the ball and it sailed through the air and burst against the base of the stone in a flurry of angry, winged ants!

"Augh!" Swinging this way and that, the target shrieked, leaping away from the stone with wide sweeps of their long cloak. swatting against the cloud of stinging insects.

Arabella slid to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Squaring herself, she aimed the tip of her wand squarely at her target. "Locomotor mortis!"

The woman cried out as both of their legs snapped together, locked straight at the knees and ankles, falling away to land with a pain-laced grunt near the bass of a tree. Rolling wildly, she smacked into the roots of the tall oak and lay still, unable to move further.

"That got her!" Arabella said. "Good work, you two."

Karina emerged from the tree line, sweeping her skirts and cloak aside, while Sally beamed at the elder witch. Together, the trio approached their fallen quarry; both Sally and Arbella watching them wearily, while Karina snarled, swatting at the side of her face where a long welt of red and purple blotches had appeared.

"Little scut! Look what she did-!"

"Aw, did she ruin your pretty face with that last jinx, dearie?" Sally snickered.

"Oh, sod off you-!"

"Enough, ladies!" Arabella said tersely. Making a wide, sweep with her wand she sent the swarm of ants dissipating into nothingness. "Now's not the time to argue!" Striding towards the prone figure, the older witch sneered as their captive struggled to rise. "Stay fast, girl," she ordered. "Have some decency to know when you're beaten and stay down!"

The figure looked up, panting with the effort to lift her upper body from the leafy ground as the trio of witches bracketed her. Shaking their head violently, the folds of their hood fell away to reveal their purple-tinted hair and young, feminine face; twisted up with pain and anger. "You . . . have a strange . . . sense of what's decent! Attacking an Auror . . . without provoaction-!"

"You are hardly in any position to protest now, are you, Tonks?" Karina sneered.

Nymphadora Tonks said archly, "I'd protest no matter what my position was, especially if I had a face like yours!"

With a gasp of outrage, Sally stabbed her wand at the young girl, "Can I kill her now? It's what Lady Lestrange wanted!"

The girl's eyes widened in horror. "Strike me pink! You're working for Auntie!"

"You have some nerve, to even bring up any relationship to our departed mistress, Tonks!"

Tonks smirked, just before her face transmogrified into the face of Bellatrix -- save that her hair remained a bright shade of purple. "As if I'd hold any relations sacred with my dearly departed Auntie!?" Twisting Bellatrix's face into a caricatured grin, she added, "Not after how she treated me and Uncle Sirus . . . ruddy old cow!"

Outraged, Sally started to lunge forward, only to be restrained by a wave of Arabella's hand. "I wouldn't acerbate things, if I were you, girl. You've led us on quite a chase . . . but now we can deal with you as our Mistress commanded."

"So, what's the order of the day then? Torture? Throw me in with some ravenous beast, just to get back at those who did your mistress in?" Tonks snorted.

Arabella said coolly, "Our lady has decreed a much more satisfying fate for you, Tonks. You won't live one more day to savor the fruit of your victory!" With a smirk, she added, "And it won't just be you alone that dies . . . considering the child you left behind in England."

At that, Tonk's face reverted to her own, turning pale then filling with a flush of red as she stared back at Arabella. "You . . . you!" With a snarl, Tonks curled her fingers around the handle of her wand -- hidden beneath her body -- and whipped it out towards the elder witch, making her and Sally jerk back in surprise. "Amburo-!"

"Declino!" Karina snapped; her spell smashing against the sudden gout of flame spewing from the tip of Tonk's wand to send it crashing back towards the incapacitated witch.

With a cry of rage, Tonks fell back with her left arm enrobed in flames; half rolling onto her limb in an attempt to smother them.

Relaxing from defensive stance, Arabella let go a deep sigh, before she looked at the blonde witch. "Well done, Karina . . . the little snot is full of surprises, isn't she?"

With a look of smug satisfaction, Karina nodded and flicked her wand to extinguish the lingering sparks. "Figured she might try something like that. She owes me for my face!"

Sally snorted. "So, now can we kill her?" she asked, looking down with scorn at Tonks, who was writhing weakly on the ground.

"Take her wand first," Arabella ordered, nodding to Karina.

The young witch slipped forwards, kneeling briefly to recover the fallen, scorched wand at the Auror's side. Scooping it up, she stepped back while Tonks didn't do much more than moan and roll over against the base of the tree in pain. With a nod, Sally turned and handed it to Arabella, who deftly tucked it into a pocket in her robe.

"Very well . . . let's get on with this." Arabella nodded to the other two, who took up positions beside her. All three leveled their wands at Tonks, the tips beginning to glow with an eldrich light-.

TONG!

All three witches turned, heads craning this way and that, surprised by the sudden, omnious sound. "What was that?" Karina asked.

"It sounded . . . like a bell?" Arabella said, peering querryingly around at the woods.

"Where did it come from?" Sally glanced at the others. "There's no town near here!"

TONG!

Arabella cocked her head, scanning the darkened sky overhead. "That's no town bell. It doesn't sound metallic and-?" She turned in place slowly. "It's . . . moving."

"Moving? To where?" Sally asked.

TONG!

Karina muttered, "Towards us, it seems!"

Just then, Sally reached out to take hold of the sleeve of Arabella's robe. "There's something strange here, Look!" She pointed her wand at the ground. Looking down, all three witches spied a low mist -- something like ground fog, but with a greenish tint to it -- rolling along towards them from the trees.

"Bloody-!" Karina turned this way and that. "It's coming from everywhere!"

"What is it!?" Sally's voice rose to a squeak, her eyes wide as she inadvertently backed up against the other two, nearly stumbling over their cloaks.

TONG!

"Steady yourselves," Arabella said sharply. "Defensive ring, now!" Facing outwards, their backs towards each other, they held out their wands towards the encroaching fog.

For a span of heartbeats, nothing else moved in the clearing -- not even Tonks, now forgotten against the tree -- save for the shifting, ebbing surface of the fog as it surrounded the trio.

TONG!

"Wh-what's going on, Arabella?" the youngest witch asked. "Is it an A-Auror trick?"

Squinting, Arabella watched the fog and, with some trepidation she shook her head. "I'm not sure. Step lively, ladies . . . there's something tricksy going on here." With that said, she took a cautious step towards the mist; her foot sinking through the thick fog until she felt the earth beneath it.

Seeing nothing happen to their leader, both Sally and Karina stepped outwards in opposite directions. Glancing at each other briefly, they both looked to Arabella for further direction, but she was concentrating on the patch of fog in front of her.

Just then, Karina tilted her head. "The bell . . . it's stopped."

"Mice . . . this is too creepy!" Sally mumbled.

Shooting Sally a sour look, Karine turned back around . . . just as a large shape landed in front of her with a THUD! Frozen, the witch could only watch as the shape unfolded; a massive, troll-like form of thick bones and half-rotten organs, rising over her. Peering down with a long-toothed skull with glowing-green eyes, the creature bellowed -- sounding like an enraged ape roar mixed with scream of a great cat!

Sucking in a breath, Karina drew up her wand and shouted, "Avadra Cadavra!!!" The Third Unforgivable Curse burst out from her wand as a blob of deep-green light; rocketing towards the creature to crash against it with a flash of light.

But, the creature remained; unhurt and unaffected!

"Bloody HELL!"

The creature raised its arms, presenting Karina with a pair of large bony hands, complete with wicked-looking, claw-tipped fingers. With another eerie scream, it lunged towards the terror-stricken witch.

Arabella felt her own insides go cold from fear, having just witness the useless attack of her fellow. "Karina, get back!" Arabella raised her wand to fire off a spell of her own-.

"Arabella! H-HELP!" Sally screamed like she was the one that had been struck down.

Snapping her eyes over to the side, she watched as something wide and flat -- like an animated blanket! -- rose up to wrap itself around the younger witch.

Another cry of terror from Karina rolled through the air, and she sprinted past Arabella's view; running from the creature that was chasing after her with arms reaching and teeth gnashing. Both crashed through the underbrush and vanished into the tree line.

Forced to decide to leave Karina to her fate, Arabella swept towards Sally, bringing her wand about in a savage motion. "Discedo!" There was a crack, like a stone splitting, then whatever it had been vanished from view, leaving Sally standing there, unharmed.

"Huh? Wh-Wha-?" the young witch asked, lowering her arms as she looked for whatever had been wrapped around her.

Arabella reached her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Get hold of yourself, girl! We have to help Karina!"

The blond-haired witch stared up at Arabella, fear draped like a mask on her face. "B-but . . . by was that . . . th-thing that attacked us-!"

"I don't know, but we're not-!"

"Arabella, behind you!" Sally pointed, her eyes going wider than dinner plates.

Looking over her shoulder, Arabella could see the top of the hill they'd come over . . . and she caught sight of a tall, shadowy form against the backdrop of a eldrich light; a lean, figure under a wide-brimmed hat that wore a long greatcoat and held a long, squared-off length at his side. A pair of eyes, glittering with that same, rotten green as the fog, glared down at the two witches.

"LEAVE MY MOUNTAIN!"

Arabella felt her insides go soft as water. The voice was as dark and eerie as any she'd ever heard, and it filled her with an unreasonable fear. Clutching Sally's arm, she turned and dragged the younger witch towards the trees.

"Move, girl!"

Sally gasped. "Wh-what about Tonks!?"

Turning back from where they'd both nearly stumbled over root and rock, Arabella watched as the tall shape of the unknown creature loomed over the fallen figure of Tonks. Dipping down, the creature reached out and scooped up the unconscious girl with one arm, then it rose, holding her limp body close to its side. It then turned . . . those sickening-green eyes boring into Arabella's soul.

"GO! DO NOT RETURN!"

Without a word slipping through her pale lips, Arabella Weatherwicks whipped around and shoved Sally ahead of her; driving them deeper and further into the forest. Bellatrix will come back to haunt us and have our guts for garter straps, for not finishing off Tonks! she thought, wincing as branches slapped against her cheeks. Still, there's a dark magic here in the Americas . . . and I'd gladly face our departed mistress's wrath before I'll face it again!
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oooOOOooo

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When Tonks felt herself return to the waking world, she half expected to find that she'd become a ghost . . . or worse.

Instead, she was laying on a simple cot, tucked into the corner of a small room, lined with cut-log walls and lit softly from the ceiling by a simple oil lamp. The scent of pinewood, as well as smells that seemed familiar -- spell components and other magical ingredients -- drifted on the air, along with the smells of a well-lived home.

I'm not dead? she asked herself. Cripes! What's happened to me then? Lifting her head from the plump pillow, Tonks groaned as her body protested against her moving too quickly. Reaching up for her shoulder, she flinched when her fingertips came into contact with a patch of sensitive skin... and a bandage!

Blinking, she looked down at herself, seeing the white strips wrapped around her upper shoulder and down along her arm. "Wh-what-?" Lifting her body slowly, she let the bedclothes fall from her torso to reveal another swath of wrapping down towards her belly. Fortunately, as she kicked the bedclothes aside, she could see no more wrapped along ther rest of her body.

"Okay, this is twonked... I should be dead!" she muttered. She felt her body shiver, as the last few moments of memory flashed through her brain; the appearance of her Aunt Bellatrix's cronies, the running chase through the woods... pain, the fall and then... nothing more! So, what happened to Auntie's hags? Tonks asked herself. For that matter, who the devil helped me-?

Her question was cut short, as the sound of boot steps made her look towards the tiny room's only door. The heavy tread came closer, slowing to a halt for a second... just before the brass handle of the door twisted downwards.

Tonks barely had time to drag the bed covers back over herself as the door swung inwards . . . allowing a tall, blond-haired man to step inside the room. With a soft squeak, she backed herself against the nearby wall as the stranger swung around to face her -- one hand holding a platter with bowls, a kettle, a pitcher and cups on it, and the other holding a lit candle in a holder.

The stranger paused, his eyes widening as he spied her sitting there, now wide-awake. Tonks, for her part, stared back with equal parts fear and curiously. Dressed in a tan, button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up, dark green pants and brown calf-length boots, the man stood there sweeping his eyes up and down from her face to her feet, before he reached back with one leg and gently kicked the door closed. With a grunt, he ducked under the hanging oil lamp and stepped closer, leaning down to place the candle and the platter on the low table next to her.

"Hungry?" he asked simply.
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To Be Continued...