AN: And we're back! Sorry again for the long delay. Returning readers, thank you for patient. New readers, welcome, I hope you enjoy. I hope I can make this story live up to Megamorphs.
Disclaimer: Not sure why I ever put one up because the fact that it's fanfiction and here proves it already, but I don't own Harry Potter or Animorphs.
Chapter 1
Anthony
My name is Anthony Goldstein. And I was technically the last free Animorph within the walls of Hogwarts.
Sorry, that's not very specific and if you know what an Animorph is then you're probably jumping to very bad conclusions. No one's infested with a Yeerk. Well, people are, otherwise there'd be no need for Animorphs...well, you know what I mean, all the Animorphs are...I'm just going around in circles aren't I?
How about I go back a little. It's been four days since the battle at Azkaban and while our involvement is still unknown, Neville and the others are still serving out their punishment for breaking curfew locked in the dungeons. They were left alone for long periods of time though and took full advantage of the rats scuttling in and out to leave frequently, but that was a risky move, with a variety of time limits, and only one would leave at a time. And none could be seen by anyone but me in their true forms. Which left me with another problem.
They could spy on the Yeerks and Death Eaters alike and tell me every word they heard, but I was where that ended. That meant that for the first time ever, Dumbledore's Army had been left almost leaderless. And let me tell you, in the middle of a hate filled oppression where even the most innocent could be tortured for sneezing the wrong way, rebels without leaders to keep them grounded go absolutely wild. Even Hannah and Padma had lost their grip on the situation.
"Guys, this is gives us no benefit." I said through clenched teeth, trying to hold back my panic. "Come on, this will only make things worse."
"Would you shut up and help break stuff!" Romilda Vane snapped, blasting a desk to pieces while Fay Dunbar burned everything made of paper, be it photos, newspaper clippings or lesson plans and Michael Corner played target practice with every item, all of them definitely dark artefacts, held up in a display case. The only reason that the idiots hadn't been caught yet was because I'd had the common sense to follow when I caught them up to no good and set up more silencing charms around the area than I ever cast in my entire life.
"They screw us, we'll screw them Tony. That's all there is to it." My roommate stated, giving me his famous 'my mind is made up and you can deal with it' tone he oh so loved while debating. "They deserve it."
"They'll just take this out on all of us." I responded. However this time it came out much too softly for them to hear. Heck, I barely heard it. Completely dejected, I just stared at the ground and exited the office and down to the end of the hallway, defeated.
Who am I kidding? Thinking they'll ever listen to me. I thought sadly, leaning against the wall, my finger absentmindedly tracing the rune I'd drawn on it when Romilda blew Miss Professor Carrow's door down. Nothing special or in any way complex, it would just buy the group of morons a few more seconds to escape when the inevitable happened. Assuming that I was right in guessing which way the witch from hell would come. Anything greater would make it too obvious why it was placed there and who could have set it up. As it was, it could just be seen as a childish prank and no way of determining who did it. Not that a great deal of people knew how to use rune magic, especially below the fifth year, but there was still no way that they'd ever figure out I did it.
Especially since I wrote it in such lousy ink. When the magic went through it and did its job, the ink would run and fade.
"Hey...hey DA...boy!" Startled, I let my self-pity slip away for now as an old man in the portrait next to me pushed its true owner out of his way as he spluttered and puffed up to the side of the frame closest to me. It truly was amazing just how alive these portraits are, to look act and react just like anyone in the living world. I really wanted to sit down and study just what about the spells... "Boy! This is not time for daydreaming!" The gentleman whisper shouted heavily, having yet to catch his breath. "That hideous hag of a woman is coming this way! Go warn your idiots."
"Thank you sir." I muttered, kicking myself. This was no time to get distracted by painter magic. Placing my palm flat on the rune, I closed my eyes for just a few seconds and concentrated. Letting my magic dance around my hand, I focused it to the centre of my palm and out into the rune, the ink glowing gold. I didn't have the time to charge it as much as it should be for its full effect, but it wasn't really big enough for it with a human sized target anyway, so after about three seconds of fuelling it as much as possible, I abruptly ended the connection and ran straight to the room just as Fay placed a sticky charm on the floor. "Carrow's coming, time to get out of here."
"We're about done anyway." Michael shrugged, grinning smugly with his arms crossed as he backed safely out of the room, the girls chuckling and smirking as they followed. The room was absolutely destroyed. Not one item was spared and every wall was covered in quotes like 'Death to Death Eaters'.
"Great, now let's go!" I cried, not succeeding to keep my panic out of my voice as I pushed him as fast as I could down the hall. We had to get away now dammit!
The idiots actually had the audacity to resist and go slow, marvelling over the work that would have us all marked with lacerations. It wasn't until my rune went off with a buzz and a scream quickly followed that what little common sense they had finally returned to them and they took to running, their hoods flying up over their heads. I couldn't have been more relieved that dinner was over and the students were being hoarded to their Houses. Judging from how quickly the infuriated scream bombarded three floors and grew louder by the second, we never would have managed to get away if not for the mass of black robed classmates to blend in with.
"WHO DID IT! WHO DESTROYED MY OFFICE? I WANT AN ASNWER RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Almost everyone in the corridor came to an instant halt as Professor Carrow stomped her way right to the stairway, caught between shaking in fear of painful curses and laughing at her apparel. My rune was the kind to unleash a small, electrical charge and stun whoever crossed its path. It wasn't strong enough to stun her, but it was more than enough leave her twitchy with her hair sticking up wildly all around her head.
Normally I'd join in chuckling softly at the back, keeping my head down so as not to be noticed while everyone else gave in and laughed uproariously. This time however, I just couldn't find the will and simply headed up the stairs. We got away and the comical look our horrid teacher was now sporting was my doing, but I didn't feel victorious. In fact, I felt like a failure.
...
The halls were unusually dark and quiet that night. Curfew was close and even the DA members looking for trouble had the good sense not to stick around. The only reason I was was my Prefect duties. Every Prefect was expected to patrol every night before curfew, though only the Slytherins did it for Snape's reasons. The rest of us, as few of us as there were with no fifth year Prefects outside Slytherin at all and five others having fled for their lives, used it as an excuse to prevent students from being punished, stopping every ill-thought out stunt we could, helping to hide anything they had that had them sneaking around and ushering the kids back to their Common Rooms. It was sad really, more than one kid had been horribly punished simply because she lost track of time in the library and was out a mere five minute past curfew. We couldn't save her before she'd already suffered a lot and after that, we were keen to make sure it didn't happen again.
I couldn't help but think of it as strange, but this was the first night that I'd had yet to find someone in any of my territory. Usually a Gryffindor was setting up some prank or a Slytherin would strut up and cause me grief, but tonight, nothing. Even the portraits hadn't noticed a single person in over an hour. That was good though. Like I said, we were close to curfew and those who'd missed it in the past few days found out that it was hell. The only problem I had with that was that it left me plenty of time to wallow away in my head.
I often wondered my Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick chose me for Prefect. Before fifth year, I rarely talked to anyone that wasn't Terry, Padma or Kevin. I was shy, soft spoken when I did speak and few bothered to pay attention to me. I mean, yeah, my housemates in my year always listened and respected my input, but few others did. Most didn't even notice that I was there most of the time outside of class and when they did, I was labelled as the teacher's pet or nerd. I had no air of authority and little confidence with people, how did anyone expect me to be a leader?
Yes, joining the DA in fifth year helped me in more ways than I could have ever realised while Terry was forever re-convincing me to join and stay. I finally gained some confidence and I made some new friends. But at the same time, my confidence depended on a number of DA members backing me up within the group and outside the group, while I talked more, I still didn't have it in me to take charge. People would brush me off while they'd stand at attention when Ernie or Hermione ordered them to stop rule breaking.
And now I wasn't just failing as a Prefect. I was failing the DA. Neville and the others were out of the picture right now and the group was a chicken with its head cut off. For two days now members went off on their own and lashed out like rebels without a cause and every time they did, if they got caught, they came out of it with new scars and a broken finger. If they weren't, well the known DA members were treated quite horribly, which they responded to by lashing out again and making even worse for the rest of us.
The Gryffindors in particular had been going wild ever since Neville and the others were locked up. It makes sense really, they're brash, impulsive and lost everyone in their House associated with the words leader and cautious. They were the ones encouraging others to go crazy too and had unfortunately succeeded with our newer Hufflepuff members. Hannah was still trying to settle them again and Bones was being realistic, but Hopkins, Malone, Rivers and a couple of sixth years I don't know the names of were pulling risky stunts. Though they were never pointless like this latest stunt. They usually just caused chaos, not much destruction or offense, covering student trying to hide and sneak around. Michael and the Gryffindors on the other hand, were only pulling stunt after stunt that gave us nothing and only promised more horrid consequences for us all. At Least the few Ravenclaws in the DA had enough sense only to get involved when it saved a younger student and to only do the bare minimum. Besides Michael that is.
I should be able to stop them, rein them in. I should be able to make them see sense, realise just how much their actions are hurting us. As one of the medics patching the wounds as best I can and without the Carrows noticing, I could tell that at this rate, we weren't going to last. Two days and it was already near disastrous! Cruciatus damage could be found in a quarter of the DA, people's muscles and nerves causing painful jittering and jerking. Two Gryffindor sixth years, new recruits, had so many cuts on their faces that you couldn't even tell them apart anymore and they looked nothing alike last week. Nigel, one of the only two fourth years in the DA, heck, one of the only two members below sixth year, was currently using crutches to get around and three Hufflepuffs had their wand arms in slings. At the rate we were going, we wouldn't have the manpower to perform acts that were big three approved. But no matter what I say, they never listen. They just give me this defiant glare and tell me to back off, among other things, before going off and doing it all over again, injured allies be damned. At least Hannah and Padma manage to get a decent argument in first.
I should have just let myself get caught with the others. I decided miserably as I started back up to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Prefect or not, if I was still out after curfew, I was as screwed as anyone else. Spending my days in the dungeons and snooping on Yeerks with fur or feathers sounds so much more appealing than deal with all this.
"Hey Goldstein, my good man." A voice called just as I made it to the staircase leading to Ravenclaw Tower. Letting my eyes leave the stone floor, I tilted my head to find a portrait of man and woman riding a Pegasus running back and forth around his grass field, both of them waving me over.
"Hello Sir Galahad, madam." I greeted, bowing my head respectably. "I thought you would have retired by now."
"We were asleep young squire." Galahad admitted, his wife nodding moodily beside him. "However, a...furry young man woke us up and requested that we tell you to meet him in the old classroom three doors behind you to your left."
"I see." I muttered, struggling not to raise an eyebrow as Sir Galahad frowned and his wife blushed at the furry part, both of them looking very discomforted. One of the guys must have been in the process of demorphing when they left the message. "In that case, I apologise for anything disconcerting that you saw and thank you for delivering the message."
"You are most welcome my kind friend. But...please inform the...gentlemen that his shapeshifting needs work."
"And that it is customary to wear pants." Galahad's wife added, only blushing harder.
"Of course." I nodded, smiling apologetically before bidding them a good night and heading quickly to the room. I didn't have much time left, but if one of the others had left a message for me like that, then this was important enough to take the risk.
Reaching the door, I was given just enough time to notice that it was open a crack before it was flung open and a hand whipped out, grabbing me by the shirt and hauling me in before shutting and locking it behind me.
"You know, I was about to step in myself." I grumbled moodily, fixing my tie without looking at it. With him right in front of me, that would make me feel a bit uncomfortable.
"So you did get my message." Seamus grinned, taking a seat on the desk. "Sorry, I wasn't sure that you'd get it and I only have so much time. The portrait people could have just gone to sleep and I got a little excited. Guess I worried for nothing."
"Of course they're still awake. You creeped them out." I retorted with a shake of my head. "Demorphing in front of them. I also got told to tell you to wear pants."
"Ok, just as soon as we figure out that part." Seamus grinned amusedly. See, none of us had figured out how to morph clothing yet, not that we had any hope of it right now. The original Animorphs made it clear that not only does it take practice to learn how, you need skin tight clothes to do it and none of us had any clothes like that. Wizards aren't into skin tight stuff, the average witch or wizard tends to prefer loose, breathable robes. Muggle styles have been coming in to the non-pureblood enthusiast circles, but none of it is spandex. And of course, Seamus has no modesty whatsoever when it comes to his body so he was quite happy to bear all down the hall. The others all probably would have waited to get in here and grab the sheet lying on a broken chair to cover themselves before even considering contact with anyone. As awkward as I found this situation, I had to admit that I was a little envious. I wish I had that kind of self-confidence. "Is something wrong?" Startled again, and kicking myself for letting myself drift off far too often tonight, I focused back on him to find him watching me with concern. "You look pretty down. Did something happen?"
"Well...yeah." I sighed closing my eyes and dropping my head in shame. I really didn't want to admit to this, but I didn't have a choice. They'd find out sooner or later anyway, there was no hiding it. "I told Neville that the DA was under control. That wasn't exactly the truth and it's gotten a lot worse."
I told him everything. Every stunt the others had pulled, every spell I'd had to cast to protect them from their own idiocy, every medical condition my skills weren't capable of fixing.
"I'm not a leader Seamus." I exclaimed, biting my lip as I looked back up at him. "It doesn't matter that they know I'm 'in the leaders' circle', I just don't have that air of command and control about me. I'm the goody-goody, a doormat, not a bad ass rebel. I'm not you or Ernie or Neville. I'm not like Hannah and Padma either and even they aren't faring well."
"Bull." Seamus stated, causing me to jump in surprise as he stood up and moved right in front of my face, making me lock eyes. "You do have what it takes to be bad ass Anthony. We saw it at Azkaban. You were absolutely amazing. You were vicious in battle and you can't say that jumping onto the rock creature wasn't daring. You have all the guts you need to do it."
"But that wasn't me. That was the wolverine." I argued, trying to turn my head away. However, Seamus grabbed my chin and locked in place, forcing me to look at him. "It came and went with the morph." I added feebly, shifting my eyes to the side.
"And yet I'm practically demanding that you look at me and you're stubbornly fighting it." Seamus replied, a confident grin growing on his face. "Anthony, the wolverine is a part of you now. You've felt its ferocity, you can feel it again and you can learn to use it in human form too. Just have some faith in yourself."
"How are you so sure?" I asked in disbelief, finally looking at him willingly. How could he have so much faith in me? What was it that he could see that I couldn't, what made him believe in me?
"Because before we even knew the morphing power existed, you gathered up the courage to walk in on a supposedly private meeting amongst the most intimidating members of the DA, willingly followed me into the forest at night, kept your head despite everything we saw in the Yeerk Pool, where you practically gave me orders by the way, jumped into a habitat holding twelve painted wolves alone, demanding that we stay out of it, and you were able to take control of the wolverine's instincts. Your will had to be stronger than the wolverine's for that and those things are overwhelmingly aggressive. You have it in you Anthony. You just have to let yourself see it. Your doubt of yourself is the only thing holding you back, trust me."
Well...that was a surprisingly good argument. I had done all that, hadn't I? Though, to be fair, throughout most of it, the adrenaline was pumping and there was not time to think and the wolf habitat thing had branded with a giant stupid stamp all over it. Still, I guess...it all had to come from somewhere. I couldn't even hide behind the wolverine excuse, pretty much all of it predated the first and only time I'd morphed. So it really was in me?
I'd have to figure that out later. That would take a fair bit of self-reflection and I simply didn't have time for that right now. Right now, we were both on the clock and mine was about to run out. It was time to get down to business.
"The Death Eaters have responded pretty badly to the Azkaban and wild DA members." I informed him as he let me go, his face turning grim. "More Dementors are surrounding Hogwarts now and according to the Prophet, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are overflowing with them while others are roaming the country looking for escaped prisoners. The Quibbler released this morning stated that twenty seven Muggles have already been found to have fallen victim to their kiss. More Death Eaters have been stationed in Hogsmeade and come by frequently. And to top it off, breaking curfew has become a lot more dangerous."
"What do you mean?" Seamus frowned worriedly, his eyes subconsciously looking around for a clock before landing on my watch.
"Don't worry, I still have about...ten minutes." I assured him, checking the time myself. "Come sundown, the exits to Hogwarts are closed and sealed with spells I don't recognise. Not even the teachers can get in or out without assistance from Snape or the Carrows. Similar spells have been placed on the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw House entrances too. Curfew for everyone in those three Houses has become eight o'clock, at which time the spells kick in, sealing the entrance and giving anyone who tries to enter after a very painful surprise while simultaneously alerting the Carrows. Again, only the Carrows and Snape can open the entrances during lockdown and if you're caught out after curfew, you're target practice in four torture spell classes."
"Oh Merlin!" Seamus cried, bringing his hands to his face. "That will make our little rebellion attempts a hell of a lot more difficult. And that's not even starting to take the Yeerks into consideration! And now is so not a good time to have lockdown issues."
"Why, have the Yeerks decided on a move?" I asked, my breath hitching at the thought. The others had had little to report really since they started their surveillance. Mostly they followed around the few Controllers we had identified, especially Slughorn, and took what they could, but they were mostly just getting frustrated about the lack of safe and useable locations for Yeerk Pool entrances. They discovered the identities of a few more Controllers, including some Ravenclaw girls in my year, Mandy Brocklehurst and Morag MacDougal, but nothing about any new action was picked up. It seemed that the Yeerks had hit a wall and couldn't do anything else until they tore it down, a feat that was proving exceedingly difficult. Taking large numbers of students out to the Forbidden Forest just to get to the Yeerk Pool and now during the day on top of that? Good luck.
"They're about to." Seamus nodded darkly, lowering his hands and crossing his arms. "They've gotten too irritated by the portraits. They cover all the walls and notice everything going on, making it impossible to do anything without drawing suspicion, as you already know. So, they're setting up a plan to get rid of them."
I could only stare at him in horror. That was bad. We were relying heavily on the portraits, both as the DA and as the Animorphs. Having all those 'living' people watching every hallway gave us a wonderful network. They weren't happy with the Death Eaters being in the castle any more than we were and were quite happy both to play lookout for us and eavesdrop on their conversations. Then with the Yeerks, well they almost kept them at a complete standstill. They were everywhere and would notice if new passageways were being made. They also ensure that the Controllers couldn't just go and snag someone for infestation. Any attack on a student like that and they'd sound the alarm. After repeated incidents, the Yeerks' cover would be blown.
"What are they planning to do?"
"Dunno, we haven't heard any details." Seamus sighed with a shake of his head. "We only know that their plan involves 'manipulating those pathetic Death Eater nimrods into our way of thinking'." He stated dramatically, complete with Controller Slughorn's scowl. "We'll tell you what we find, but you'll need to keep a lookout too."
"Another thing to add to my seemingly infinite list." I sighed, but nodded anyway. I put myself in this position so I couldn't really complain. It still sucked that I was having to deal with it all on my own though. If only I had just one fellow Animorph at my side.
And of course, Seamus chose that moment to seemingly read my mind and ask the one other thing that would fill me with that wonderfully horrid feeling of shame and failure. "So, how are things going on the Zabini front? Have you managed to give him the heads up yet?"
I didn't want to answer. Subconsciously, I looked around the room in hopes of finding a way to change the subject and avoid his eyes, but I knew it was a pointless venture. Keeping my head down, and carefully away from the direction of his body, I took a deep breath and confessed.
"No. I haven't had a chance to talk to him alone yet. There's always two or three Slytherins hanging around him, like Parkinson. And even if I did, how could I convince him everything I said was true? Find a Yeerk and shove it in his head? Experiencing is the only way he'd believe a word of it and that would be counterproductive."
"Then make him experience the power that no wizard has." Seamus answered as if it was the most obvious solution in the world. "Convince him of what he's been given and hope that that is enough to make him believe you about the Yeerks. You're resourceful, you'll figure out a way to convince him. But you have to do it very fast. Seventh years outside the Death Eater wannabes and the DA are very tempting targets, if he's upfront with everyone else about his neutrality like he was with us, then he is in real danger. Besides, it would be really useful to us if you could convince him to help. Slytherins aren't affected by the new curfew rules, right?"
"Very true." I nodded, looking up doubtfully. "But don't hold your breath on him fighting for us."
"I know, I'll settle for him fighting for his own freedom and keeping our secret." Seamus responded firmly. "He'll do that much at least. But first he needs to know that he needs to do it and you're the only one of us that he's keen to listen to."
"You're right, I know." I muttered shamefully. I felt like I let them all down, Blaise included. I hated that feeling. I should have done something by now, but the other Slytherins still intimidated me individually and they were always in a group. I hated how much of a coward I could be, I had to buck up.
"I'll find a way to talk to him tomorrow." I stated, steeling my resolve. I had to, for all our sakes. Yeerk armies infesting us were far worse than Death Eater wannabes that I could probably out-duel anyway if I was forced to. If I'd broke my nervous streak before and went off all the way into the heart of Azkaban, then I could do this. "I promise."
"I'll hold you to it." Seamus grinned before grimacing as he looked down at my watch again. "But it's time to part ways. You need to get back up those stairs now."
"And you have four other people to update." I nodded, already moving towards the door. Opening it, I poked my head and wand out, lighting it up as the candles had all gone out. Uh-oh, I was later than I thought. I really hoped that the knocker's riddle wouldn't be too difficult, I had maybe four minutes to get up there and solve it. "All clear." I informed him, turning back with a wave goodbye that he smiled to before dashing off, leaving the door just open enough for a cat or fox to slink through.
Taking the stairs two at a time, almost falling face first more than once, I almost laughed for joy as I reached the top and knocked t be rewarded with what was mostly likely the easiest riddle I'd ever heard. Giving the eagle head my answer, I practically leaped through the door a mere second before it snapped shut and flickered with a red glow that singed the back of my robes.
Groaning in both relief and exhaustion, I dragged myself over the closest couch and flopped down on it, not even caring that my chest was laying on Terry's lap as I aimed my head for the soft armrest.
"That was a close shave." Terry commented, snickering as I groaned like Michael in the morning. "That many kids loitering? Are they setting up childish pranks by the Headmaster's gargoyle again?"
"No, I just got distracted." I admitted as my lungs finally stopped complaining about the run. Merlin, I needed to get in shape. Though that fact quickly slipped from my mind as my best friend gave me a wide eyed stare that basically screamed 'explain please'. I had to think quick for that one, I couldn't tell anyone about my meetings with the Animorphs, not even Terry. There was no guarantee that there wasn't a Yeerk in his head, despite how sure I was. I couldn't risk him questioning how they were doing it, much less why they were only talking to me. "Professor Slughorn was acting randomly and said something about obnoxious portraits. Either he's lost it or..."
"He's one of the Imperioused spies the Death Eaters are using." Terry finished for me with a sigh. "It's to be expected I guess. The rumours claim that the Dark Lord always wanted Slughorn on his side."
"He may be a coward, but he is very talented in his fields." I agreed, sitting up as we fell into silence. I really hated lying to Terry. It really made me feel absolutely horrible. He trusted me absolutely and before the Yeerk possibility, I did the same. There wasn't a single secret I'd kept from him before. Besides, I not good at lying. If I had to lie to keep the truth from him, he was going to catch me very quickly.
"So..." Terry started, looking at me with calculating eyes as he thought over how to start, making me tense a little. That meant that whatever it was was possibly delicate or he was expecting a half truth. What was I going to have to cover now? "Michael's been bragging about that stunt with miss bitch's office. He said that you were involved. Offhandedly." He added, watching closely for any reaction. He got one alright. Groaning again, I sank miserably into the cushions, my whole body sagging.
"I couldn't stop them." I actually scowled that time. I had to admit to this failure again! Seriously, how long was this going to hang over my head? And why was it that I'd had to admit it to the two of the few people who's opinions of me mattered most? "I had to put up silencing charms and a shock rune to make sure that they weren't caught."
"So the mess the hag was in was your doing." Terry shook his head amusedly. "That's not going to have consequences tomorrow." He added lightly, but sarcastically, immediately getting me going defensive.
"What else could I do? The idiots stopped to admire their work as it was. Even after they were warned Carrow was close!" I cried exasperatedly, immediately getting an 'I surrender' gesture from Terry.
"Chill, I get it. Besides, after the damage Michael and friends have done, I doubt the existence of your little spark will cause any difference."
I still scowled at him for a few more seconds, but I quickly let it go and caved in on myself sadly. He was right after all. Tomorrow would see a number of people hurt more than usual and would start another stupid revenge scheme that only causes us more pain. It was a never ending cycle lately, one that I just couldn't stop no matter what I said.
"What are we going to do Terry?" I asked, desperate for an answer. Terry always had an answer when I didn't. I really hoped that this time was no different. "If the DA doesn't get itself back into thinking straight, then we're all going to end up in a torture room, along with anyone who's shown any of us even the slightest bit of help or association. Why can't they see that?"
"They're angry, all they can see is their desire to get even and cause hell." Terry answered, suddenly sounding just as annoyed as I was. "Still, you're absolutely right. Tell you what, we'll talk to Hannah and Padma tomorrow. Setting a meeting for tomorrow night shouldn't be a problem, the four of us will work together to knock some sense into the others again. While Neville and the others are imprisoned, you Prefects do hold superiority and I'm sure most of the original members of the DA will back you, as long as you're unified. It's a lot harder to be defiant with your own allies if they're arguing together, you have more sway with all three of you present and those you convince first will help convince the others. We'll bash the logic into everyone else's heads if we have to. It just means you'll need to stand as firm as the girls do."
Thank you Terry! See what I mean? Hannah was well respected in the DA, both by her own rite and as the go to girl employed by Neville, Ernie and Seamus for difficult situations. If anyone could get the Gryffindors to see reason, it was Padma, even if it was partly due to her sister and few people didn't flinch if they drew out either Patil's attitude. And of course, Terry was well respected for his talent with a wand and planning. People listened when they talked. Add whatever I could dig up of what Seamus saw in me and this could work. At the very least, the new Hufflepuff members would hold back more. And it was true. When the Golden Trio was in agreement, you listened. When Neville, Ginny and Luna were together and serious, you listened. When Ernie and Seamus are both scowling at you, you shut up and look down in shame. There was no reason Hannah, Padma and I couldn't do it to right? At the very least, Hannah and Padma already had the right air of authority for it whenever they needed to.
"That's the best idea I've heard all week." I muttered appreciatively, getting a smile in return before standing up. "Well, I'm tired. I think I'm going to head up early tonight."
"All your work's up to date?" Terry asked, though it was only on reflex. With neither of us really caring to put any effort into the Carrows' many assignments, I even got my extracurricular class', Ancient Magic, tasks completed with a full week to spare. It didn't hurt that the other teachers were lowering their set workloads to compensate for the number of Dark Arts and Muggle slandering papers we were expected to right either.
"Of course. See you in the morning." I grinned tiredly before heading off, waving a goodnight to Padma and Lisa before heading up to the seventh year boys' dorm. Brushing my teeth and changing into sleep attire, I jumped into my wonderfully soft bed and pulled the curtains shut. Though I didn't get to sleep right away. Not a chance.
It would really be good if we could ditch the grief on the DA front. We should have gathered the Prefects from the beginning, I should have set up an emergency meeting myself. So long as the Gryffindors shut up long enough to listen, we should be able to make enough members to see sense. I doubted they all would, but if only one or two people kept going then we'd be far less likely to have countless, innocent students suffering group punishments. Then in a few days, Neville and the others would be back and we could get back on schedule.
However, that only dealt with one old problem. The other two Seamus had brought up were another story. I couldn't do anything about the Yeerks at the moment. I'd have to find out what their plan was first and I couldn't do that from Ravenclaw Tower, even if there were Controllers within. So I focused on the other standing issue. Blaise.
I was honest before. Evidence was going to be a huge problem when I talked to him. He wasn't a psychopath by a long shot, but he did still hold wizards and witches superiorly over Muggles and wouldn't believe that the Muggles had shapeshifting powers of their own easily. The Yeerks only made the story sound more ridiculous. Then there was talking to him alone to begin with. He didn't seem to care about too many of them, but the Slytherin seventh years were always close by. I'd never get close without drawing their attention and risking their suspicion.
I need a way to get a message to Blaise without anyone ever knowing. I thought, frowning hard at the troubling task. How could I do it? I was sure that if I sent Blaise a letter asking him to meet me that he would, but it would be intercepted by the Death Eaters and possibly read over Blaise's shoulder, tipping off far too many of the wrong people. Walking up to him was obviously a no go, two Slytherin girls were always too close by in Ancient Runes and Arithimancy and usually listening in when Blaise talked to me and I didn't know how to use mental magic... "That's it!" I cried, startling myself as it slipped through my mouth. Still, I didn't care if anyone heard that, I was too busy both mentally cheering and kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. Seamus mention using the morphing power as my proof when talking to Blaise and now that I thought about it, it could also be my way of getting a confidential message to Blaise. Thought speak! Only Blaise would hear it and if I was quick and careful in what I said, I could stop him from alerting anyone of the conversation, a benefit of how little he talks to begin with.
I'll need a new morph though. A painted wolf would really cause suspicion and the wolverine was associated with the Azkaban breakout. Neither were even native animals and chances are that I'd have to enter the castle. I'd have to find something in the area that could hide and not draw a crowd if I was spotted. Still, that was fine, Terry did used to take Care of Magical Creatures, so if I had any problems touching one he could help. And a magical morph would be a lot more convincing when I talked to Blaise.
I had to be thankful for the gift of friends. Trying alone, I'd completely failed everything, but within half an hour, two conversations had given me all the answers I needed. With the promise of those nagging problems being resolved, I let myself doze off, sleeping better than I had in weeks. Yeah, I still had a lot of burdens on my shoulders, but I wasn't holding half the weight on my shoulders that had been there this morning. Even when there are still problems to deal with, it's so much less foreboding when you actually have backup and a plan.