"Imagine what it must be like to still be in Care of Magical Creatures," Ron yawned, trying but not really trying to turn the pieces of rubbish into tissue boxes.
"Yeah, I know," Harry muttered, wishing he was better at Transfiguration. "Feeding Flobberworms through the wrong end, befriending hippogriffs and Blast-Ended Skrewts...what do you think, Hermione?"
Hermione bit her lip, trying to concentrate. "I don't know, Harry, I'm very busy studying for NEWTs already and I don't have time to argue about the existence of chupacabras."
"Ah," Harry nodded. Just then, the door behind them opened with a bang and Draco, muttering curses and excuses, walked over to where Crabbe and Goyle were pushing their tissue boxes across the table to each other.
"Mr. Malfoy!" McGonagall exclaimed, and began to lecture him. Draco simply made a sour face and ignored him, crossing his arms and pretending not to notice his box of tissues. "Where is your Transfiguration book?" Draco rolled his eyes. "Mr. Malfoy, please go fetch a used copy from the back of the room." Sulking, Draco stood up and sauntered over to the closet at the very far back and grumpily extracted a dusty-looking book then proceeded to slam it onto the table loudly.
"You honestly think that guy is a Death Eater?" Ron hissed to Harry. Harry turned to look at Hermione, who made a show of ignoring him.
"Absolutely positive," Harry replied. "I don't think he would have paralyzed me then stomped onto my face if he was just telling tall tales to his little cronies."
Hermione looked up at him, alarmed. "Was that why you came in later than everyone else?"
Harry looked down. "Yeah."
"Have you heard the rumors that Draco's also involved in other sneaky activities?" Ron hissed.
"Huh?"
"Just today I heard one of the Slytherins say they think he's trying to become an Animagus."
"An Animagus?" Harry frowned. "Why would he ever want to be a ferret again?"
"I dunno, just a thought," Ron replied, turning red. "Well, I also heard Pansy telling Millicent Bulstrode that he-"
"Spare us, please," Harry and Hermione muttered.
"What? What's wrong?" Ron stared.
"Ron, us Muggleborns have a certain saying. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," Hermione grunted, trying to make her tissues unscented.
"If she secretly suspects Malfoy of being a unicorn, then she probably doesn't know the difference between a horned horse and a horned bull," Harry added, deciding that the world needed a tissue box fort.
"Okay..." Ron muttered. "I was just going to say, Pansy was telling Millicent that Draco's pet died."
"Oh," Hermione muttered, softening.
"What was it," Harry muttered, "a Hungarian Horntail?" Hermione glared at him in response.
"I do wonder if he ever gets tired of her holding onto him," Hermione remarked, carrying a leather-bound book with golden lettering about the size of a breakfast tray. They had just passed Pansy and Draco, who were standing in the middle of the hallway arguing about something. Harry began to open his mouth then decided he was a better man and shut it. He wondered if they would be able to walk past the pair without being noticed.
"Hey Granger, is that for reading or weight-lifting?" Pansy called out, nodding at the enormous book in Hermione's arms.
"Pressing flowers! Maybe you should try it sometime?" Hermione replied brightly. Pansy turned towards Draco, mildly confused. He rolled his eyes and escorted her away.
"So, that's the face of a newly initiated Death Eater?" Hermione hissed under her breath to Harry as they rounded a corner.
"I'm pretty sure he's involved in some sort of shady business," Harry muttered back. "I saw him walking towards the Forbidden Forest yesterday, maybe he's planning on killing a unicorn or something. You know, it's been done before."
"How very abominable indeed, but I doubt Pansy would let him. How do you know about that, though?"
"I was thinking of visiting Hagrid," Harry lied, "and I saw him along the way."
"I see," Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well, thank you for escorting me to the library. If you don't mind, I'd like to remain here for a while."
"That's fine," Harry replied, thinking of his scheduled meeting with Dumbledore and wondering how to casually introduce the topic of Draco's evil initiation. "Say, what is that book for?"
"Oh, I got a little bored so I thought I'd try looking in the encyclopedia section," Hermione yawned. "Big mistake."
"Too boring?"
"No, I had to carry this darn thing to my room and back, but I've already read this in the library near my parents' house," Hermione replied. "Stupid me. I should have been able to remember what volume I was on."
"What will you read next?"
"I think I'll re-read my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Hermione replied. "It'll probably be useful to know how to deal with magical creatures and at least I don't scribble all over my books," she sent him a pointed look.
Deciding to leave her to her own devices, Harry left the library and found himself moving towards Hagrid's cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid appeared to be out and about, and there was a crate in a corner from which Harry could hear strange noises that he decided for the good of the world should never be opened. Wandering past the pumpkin patch and sighting a few thestrals, he wondered what he should do next. He decided to take a walk and return for dinner. Much later, once the sun began to set, he decided to turn around, having ventured far enough for one day.
A bush shook. Harry blunked and began to approach it. Before he could step any closer, however, an animal crawled out and turned its head side to side. When it saw Harry, however, it froze in its tracks, staring at him. Several minutes passed. The animal stepped back, alarmed. It stopped once more.
Harry, too, froze and couldn't help but stare back. "No way," he muttered. "Are you-?"
Shut up, the animal glared at him. Shut your damn mouth or I'll bite you to death.
"Easy, easy," Harry knelt down, blinking and wiping off his glasses. "Now, whatever happened to you, you poor creature?"
I don't know, the ferret seemed to say as it glared back at him. But once I find whoever made it happen, he's dead meat and I don't care how many Avada Kedavras he's survived.
"Whatever are we going to do for you?" Harry looked around. Nobody appeared to be there. "Maybe I can hide you in Hagrid's cabin, or among the animals that the first years are taking care of."
No fucking way, the ferret glared.
"Come on, Draco," Harry smirked. "I need your help to help you, after all. Don't tell me you want to be left here so the centaurs and Death Eaters can come find you?"
The ferret was absolutely furious, but it silently agreed with Harry. It wanted out of the Forest now.
"I don't think you can just trot alongside me. You seem like you've been running around for a while," Harry remarked. "If you want, I can carry you." The fur at the back of the ferret's neck stood up and it bit him, causing him to let go of it. "Hey! Ow!" Wasting no time, the animal quickly jumped away from him and onto the ground.
"Just joking!" Harry called out. "Sorry to offend you." It hissed at him and ran straight off. "Hey, wait, come back!" Harry began to chase after it. "Stop, seriously! It's dangerous over there-you have to come back now!" The ferret showed no sign of stopping. It galloped faster and faster and it was getting harder to catch up to, until it banished out of sight. "Hey, if you go there, you'll run into...oh, Merlin," Harry swore, pulling out his wand. "This is not good."
Groaning, he raced through the trees, wincing as he ran over sticks and bumped into branches that scratched his body or blocked him from running in a straight line. Soon it would be dark and that would not be good. Running into the heart of the forest, Harry hissed "Lumos!" and hoped for a miracle.
Please let him not run into them. Please let him just stop and stay in one place so I can find him. Please, let him not be...
There! He could see them, now. Dark, ominous shapes, all gathered and congregating.
Oh no, Harry felt his stomach drop. "I'm too late."
The Acromantulas had gotten to him first.
Harry sank to the ground behind a tree. "Poor Draco," he muttered, watching the enormous arachnids wave their spindly limbs and weave a web around something. Wait. Harry blinked, edging closer. "That should do it," Aragog's voice grunted.
Another Acromantula snapped its pincers, sounding faintly hungry.
"No, he can't get away," Aragog replied, snarling. "We'll just have to figure how to split it."
They've got him! They're really planning on eating him! Harry needed to get closer. Wishing he had his Invisibility Cloak, he ran to a nearer tree and tried to peer over the Acromantulas. It would be so much better if he could just see from above their heads. Sudenly, an idea occurred to him.
Maybe...
Harry turned back and bolted away.
The little ferret, caught up in the Acromantulas' thick web, squirmed and shivered. It was absolutely terrified and had no idea what do as the ginormous spiders inched closer, leering hungrily and making strange clacking sounds that made its body shake.
Just then, a loud voice yelled "ACCIO BROOM! ACCIO BROOM! COME ON, WE'VE DONE THIS BEFORE, HURRY UP!"
The Acromantulas, momentarily distracted, stared at each other with stunned expressions as a skinny teenage boy flew into their midst and landed directly on the web holding their prisoner. "Hold on, Draco, wait a moment!" He yelled.
"Get him!" Aragog commanded. "He has the prey!"
"Ugh, why is this so damn thick?" Harry cursed, trying to use a Severing Charm on the thick threads that were more like woven ropes holding the ferret down. "Evanesco! Dammit, Sectumsempra!" That, apparently, was enough. The angry Acromantulas lurched forward, grabbing at him with their pincers and making awful growling sounds, but Harry quickly scooped up the ferret in his arms and took off like a streak of lightning. Deftly, he flew them through the trees and occasionally fired curses at the Acromantulas until they stopped giving chase and retreated.
"You alright?" Harry asked the ferret, holding it in one arm and using his other to guide the broom. If it was really Draco, he was far too traumatized and tired to respond. "It'll be over soon, I'm sure. Once we figure out how to fix you up." He was approaching the Gryffindor boys' dormitory window and quickly cast Alohomora. Apparently, this was not enough, and Harry was fairly sure all the windows were made to be unbreakable. Groaning, he considered his options. He circled around the castle, searching for an open window and ducking when McGonagall happened to look out of hers, but concluded that they all had been closed as it was now dinner time. He wondered if whoever had closed the Gryffindor dorm window had noticed his broom shooting out towards the Forbidden Forest.
"I'll try sneaking you into the Room of Requirement, I suppose," Harry mumbled to the exhausted ferret. "Then I'll get some dinner for us from the Great Hall." Just then he remembered he had left his Invisibility Cloak in the boys' dorm. "Oh, right." He also had no idea how to perform a Disillusionment Charm. "Shit."
The ferret stared at him wearily.
Harry fumbled around in his book bag, trying to take stuff out and make enough space for the ferret-which was still a fairly large animal. "Gah!" He dropped an entire inkwell, spilling it inside. "Damn!" The ferret sent him another tired look. "Look, sorry, Hedwig is my only pet and she can take care of herself...hey, can I try hiding you with the owls or something?" The ferret glared at him. "Fine, fine, I guess she would probably take you for a rare delicacy and peck you to death. Erm, let's see..." Harry looked up and down and realized he really didn't have anything to hide Draco with, not even his wand. "Um...maybe you can...hide...in here?" He pulled at his robes.
The ferret sent him a look that let him know it was not impressed.
"Look, I'm sorry. This is seriously all I've got, okay? Just...trust me, I'll get you there safe and sound."
Reluctantly, the tortured animal crawled up and onto his shoulder, then down under his collar. It poked its head out from near his chest and narrowed its eyes at him. It was definitely odd and awkward but Harry really didn't want to comment on his own stupid idea and feel even more stupid. "You comfy in there?" Harry asked, expecting to be bitten. If ferrets could really roll their eyes, he could have sworn that this one had just done so.
"Harry! Where have you been?" Ron blinked, staring at him.
"Oh, just taking a walk. Where's Hermione?"
"She's in the Room of Requirement, doing something which she says requires absolute privacy and threatens to skin whoever bothers her."
Great timing, Harry thought to himself grumpily, feeling something bite him. "Ow."
"If you ask me, I'm about a hundred percent sure that she just wants to read something completely bonkers. Come, let's grab some food," Ron turned around and strode towards the Great Hall.
Harry looked down as the ferret peaked out of his collar. "Shall we?" He blinked. The ferret looked back at him. "Alright, I guess we will then. Please don't bite me again."
"Potter!" A voice shrieked and something yanked the back of his collar so hard that it nearly strangled him. Harry swiveled around, suddenly face to face with Pansy. "Have you seen Draco?"
"No, why?" Harry asked, struggling to loosen her grip on his robes and not choke.
"I've been looking for him everywhere, and I can't find him! We were going to visit the Magical Menagerie and buy him a new unicorn!" Pansy whined.
"Oh, if you're looking into something larger, why not a Crumple-Horned-"
"Shut it, Lovegood," Pansy glared at Luna, who was wearing a puffy white dress that made her look like a cloud and glass bubble jewelry.
"Oh, I've heard that Snorkacks are particularly populous during this time of the year," Harry nodded, grateful to Luna for the momentary distraction as Pansy had let go of his collar. "Excuse me, um, I have some...homework I have to do." Grabbing some food, Harry quickly backed away and started to walk off.
"Oh, Harry," Luna walked up to him, "if you're working on that complicated essay on Jarveys, I can help."
"Thank you, Luna, but I-"
"I insist," Luna replied, grandly grabbing onto his arm. "See you later," she nodded serenely at Ron and Pansy.
"Could you please put this back on my bed for me?" Harry whispered, handing a confused Ron his broom.
Once they were out of eyeshot, Harry turned towards her and spoke. "Look, Luna, I'm very thankful to you for helping me out back there, but there's something I really-"
"Jarvey," Luna replied coolly.
"...Huh?"
"Jarvey," she pointed at his chest. Harry blinked. "I can see him with my Spectrespects," she replied. Harry felt his face turn warm. "Just kidding," she cocked her head slightly, "I saw him peeking out of your collar earlier. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Oh...you mean, my um...companion?" Harry asked as the ferret stuck its head out, annoyed. Luna smiled and patted it gently on the hood, further irritating it. "He's, uh...I call him...Bitey." God, I'll probably name my son something stupid like "Joe Wizard."
"He's got a weird look in his eyes," Luna remarked. Harry stared at the ferret. "Did you put him under a Silencing Charm or is he just mute?"
"Oh, uh...he...he's not a very talkative chap," Harry replied.
"Well, let me know if he ever speaks up."
"I will," Harry replied, already feeling something sharp vengefully digging into the back of his neck. "See you, Luna." She waved back at him and started moving and twirling away, not even stopping when she reached a staircase. Fascinated, Harry watched her continue to descend it, secretly wondering how she kept her balance. "Well, glad we took care of that. I guess we can go see Hermione now..."
The ferret swiped at his glasses and Harry grimaced. "Why not? You know she's the smartest person here, besides a teacher, and she's just as trustworthy. I don't suppose you want Snape to see you like this?" The ferret paused. That was true.
Not that you're trying to impress him and move up Death Eater ranks, of course...
"McGonagall, then?" The ferret hunched its back, hissing like Crookshanks. "Dumbledore? You know he can fix you, no problem. Okay, um, Flitwick? Madam Pomfrey? Come on, give me a choice here, all I got left are Professor Sprout and...ow! Okay, who do you want me to take you to, or are you just going to sit there and claw at me?" Harry asked crossly. "Nobody? Fine, okay, we're taking you to Hermione."
The ferret suddenly made a sound that resembled chuckling and wrapped itself around his neck. "What are you-augh!" Harry lost his balance and fell over, losing his glasses. The ferret hopped around excitedly, trying to figure something out. "It's too bad you're not a real Jarvey, otherwise you'd be able to talk," Harry muttered. "Okay, we can just turn you back later. How about we eat first?"
Sudenly interested, the ferret stopped chittering and turned towards him, staring hungrily. Concentrating hard, Harry tried to make the food he had Vanished earlier reappear.
"Let's see...uh, I saved some shepherd's pie, a roasted chicken leg, and for dessert some treacle tart. How about it?"
The ferret, suddenly disappointed, came near the plate and sniffed it tentatively. Unsatisfied, it turned around and started to walk away.
"Oh, come off it," Harry crossed his arms, "what are you, vegan?"
The carnivorous animal glared at him as if he had just offended its entire existence and genealogy.
"Well, if you want I could get you a dead rat from Hedwig's barn..."
Draco Malfoy doesn't eat gristly chicken legs or dead rats, the ferret seemed to be hissing at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you wanted foie gras and caviar then?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
Damn straight!
Harry rolled his eyes, wondering what he would do with himself if it turned out the ferret was just another ordinary animal.
Review if...um...you would like me to check out your fanfics and leave a review/PM. Or if you want Tom Felton to release the spiky hair Polaroids that Daniel Radcliffe was teasing him about.
-Raven
