Disclaimer – I solemnly swear that JKR owns everything Harry Potter. Whether or not I am up to no good with her characters is for you to decide.

-oOoOo-

Castle Voldemort

Chapter 4

A soft wuff signalled the group that the coast was clear. But even with that, it still took a couple of minutes for each of the menagerie to perform their own checks before, one by one, they merged from one form to another.

The straps of the backpack that the largest of them wore magically resized themselves so that the smaller form now wearing the pack was comfortable doing so. The pack itself never changed, maintaining its size and position on its wearer's back; indeed, it was charmed so that it couldn't change size, after all, doing so would damage the precious cargo it held.

A small hand gesture, barely seen in the deep gloom of the shadows of the castle walls indicated that the others were to follow the oldest of them all. Unerringly, she led them the ten or so metres to the corner, along the wall of the courtyard, before slipping behind one particular statue.

A sharp rap of her wand on one particular stone caused the very stones of the castle to melt into their counterparts leaving a hole in the castle wall just wide enough for a single person to walk through. One by one, the group slipped inside until the last, the one with the pack and coincidentally the member of the group who had used the passage the most, closed the hidden door behind himself.

They'd each studied the map carefully, so all knew exactly where this particular passage would come out – right near the Hufflepuff common room. Thankfully, though, it was just far enough away from and around a bend in the corridor from where they knew that the Death Eater guards would be stationed.

At the end of the passageway, they paused, looking carefully through the wall that wasn't, safe in the knowledge that none could see them even if they were staring right at the wall that they hid behind.

Objective one was completed: they'd infiltrated the castle without being detected.

-oOoOo-

Three days previously …

Cyrus Greengrass frowned through the one-way mirror looking into the Receiving Room of Diricawl Academy. That room was the only point where the wards would allow travel either to or from the island. Currently, though, those very same wards had just activated, sealing off the inhabitants from the outside world, the inhabitants and the group of what looked to be Ministry aurors who'd just arrived unannounced.

This, of course, was a major problem for Cyrus. Not only was it a case that, once again, the island was under at least some form of attack, but also that Cyrus was stuck where he was for the foreseeable future. And he desperately needed off the island.

The plan to rescue the staff and students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was well underway. But a major component of that plan was what to do with all of those extra mouths and bodies once they'd been brought to the island (Cyrus simply would not allow even the thought of failure to enter his mind). And the answer to that problem was his to solve; at least, he'd promised to solve it. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so from the island – he needed off to meet his contacts face to face to set events in motion. And the longer he was trapped here, the less likely it'd be that he'd have everything ready and in place for when the kids started arriving.

"We know that you can hear us!" one of the eight wizards in deep crimson robes yelled at a seemingly indiscriminate part of the wall. "We are Ministry of Magic aurors. We demand that you allow us entrance and surrender yourselves to Ministry justice."

A contemptuous snort from beside Cyrus told him Chert's opinion of that statement, a belief that Cyrus himself wholeheartedly agreed with.

Thankfully, neither of the two had to decide how to deal with the Ministry contingent. No, that honour went to the woman who came striding into the Security Office, followed by a contingent of witches and wizards wearing identical robes to the ones who'd just portkeyed onto the island.

Madam Amelia Bones, the (former) Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, merely nodded to both Cyrus and Chert before coming to stand in front of the window. Her legs were wide, as though to brace herself against a storm, even as her arms were severely crossed across her body. Her expression was as hard as granite and the way that her she was frowning caused the edge of her monocle to nearly disappear into the skin around her eye socket.

"Dawlish," she growled. "Should have known that he'd thrown in with those flobberworm-eating scum; he always was a bigger idiot than most."

Cyrus glanced at the ex-aurors flanking their boss. Every one of them shared the same sort of look at their ex-colleagues – one of contemptuousness.

Without bothering to consult anyone, Amelia tapped the crystal beside the mirror, opening up communications with the other room.

"What do you want, Dawlish?" she snapped.

"Bones," the auror snarled as he turned towards the wall containing the mirror. "Knew you were here with these traitors."

"And you're a disgrace to your badge," Amelia retorted. "I repeat, what do you want?"

"As the new Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, acting on orders issued by the Minister of Magic on behalf of Lord Voldemort," Dawlish recited officiously, "you and everyone on this island are ordered to surrender. This school is disbanded and the land upon which it stood has been confiscated by the Ministry. Every witch, wizard and … other being … here will be tried and punished accordingly."

Cyrus took careful note that Amelia's facial expression, nor her body posture, didn't change even the smallest amount to this pronouncement.

"Is that all?" she asked.

"That will do for a start," Dawlish replied pompously.

It was only then that Amelia moved, giving a single nod before stepping forward and picking up one of the lengths of rope from the bin that held them, ready to be turned into portkeys for those wishing to leave the island. A single tap of her wand to the rope was given before she moved across to the draw that could be used to transfer items from one room to the other without having the door opened or exposing the island's security staff to undue hazard.

"In order for you to leave the room that you are in, you'll all need to be holding the rope," Amelia stated.

Cyrus could only gape at her before his senses returned. One didn't need to hold a rope to leave the room; obviously Amelia was up to something. Cyrus watched as one of the aurors retrieved said rope and brought it to the cluster of his teammates.

"We have placed our wands on the ground." Amelia stated, a fact that was completely untrue. "All you need to do is make sure that everyone is holding the rope and say 'enter' to lower the protections around the room."

Obviously, Chert caught on to her plan, for he instantly stepped forward and held his hand over the great crystal that controlled the wards, his hand and long fingers glowing with power as he channelled some goblin magic into the crystal.

"Enter!" Dawlish said around the menacing smile that he was sporting.

Instantly, the group of eight Ministry aurors disappeared in a flash of light, portkeyed straight off of the island.

"Idiots," Amelia stated with a resigned shake of her head.

"Where'd you send them?" Cyrus couldn't help but ask.

"Azkaban," Ameilia stated ferally.

Cyrus couldn't help but laugh. While the island prison still hadn't been rebuilt after the Dark Lord had torn it down, its wards had been replaced – after all, no one wanted the muggles to accidentally stumble across it. And with those wards in place, it'd take the group quite a while to return to the Ministry to report their failure.

"In that case, I'm going to take my own portkey," Cyrus stated. "There are people that I need to see if I want to get everything ready for when the Hogwarts students arrive."

"Be safe, Cyrus, your name is high on the list of those that Voldemort and his Ministry are after," Amelia warned.

"Don't worry," Cyrus replied as he enchanted his own portkey. "I won't be going anywhere near anyone magical."

-oOoOo-

"I must say, it's one thing to know that magical folk have the ability to change into animals, and I know that I've seen Harry and Sirius do it, but it's a completely different thing to watch your own daughter do it," Dan muttered as he shook his head.

The process was slow, but still very remarkable. First Hermione's hair changed from its chestnut curls to a deep red before shortening and spreading over her entire body. Her face was the next to change, her nose lengthening and elongating into a snout. It was only then, as her hands and feet began to change into paws, that she began to shrink. By the time that fox-Hermione had shrunk to the correct size, did she drop onto her four paws. The very last change, accompanied by an all-over body shake, was the emergence of a long, bushy tail.

"I'm just glad that she's wearing a leotard," Emma commented, eyeing the pile of clothes that hadn't transformed with her daughter. "At least her magic can accommodate some sort of clothing."

"Indeed," Dan agreed solemnly, his eyes straying to his daughter's boyfriend standing off to one side with a happy grin on his face.

"The fact that not just Hermione but all of them, can already transform with some clothing is extremely encouraging and somewhat astounding," Minerva commented from beside them. "I've never seen progress with the animagus transformation like this before."

"It's what comes with some extra motivation," Sirius said. "I know that when James and I were learning this back when we were their age, we pushed ourselves pretty hard to get our animagus forms down as quickly as we could so that we could go out and help Moony with his furry little problem. Mind you, we didn't advance as quickly these four, but then again, we weren't working on it nearly every waking moment of the day, either."

And that was what it came down to – the fact that Hermione, Neville, Daphne and Luna were all determined to be able to transform into and out of their animagus forms as quickly as possible so that they could go on the mission to help rescue their friends trapped in Hogwarts Castle. Whether or not they'd be allowed to go was a completely different story, one that was supposed to be answered by the gathered group of parents.

Before they'd even entered the room, there had been some quiet conversations between the Grangers, Penelope Greengrass, Augusta Longbottom and Xenophilius Lovegood. All were vehemently opposed to sending their children into the enemy's territory, even if it was in a good cause. The fact that the only way the children would be able to go was if they could complete their animagus transformations and do so in a timely manner was considered a bonus; after all, none expected that the four would have made as much progress as they had in such a short amount of time.

As the fox that was Hermione finished transforming, she opened her eyes and looked up at the gathered adults. The pleased 'I told you so' look in her expressive brown eyes was clear for all to see. Dan and Emma weren't the only ones to sigh seeing that expression.

The process of reversing the transformation back into a teen girl seemed to go a touch quicker and in less than two minutes, Hermione was bending to pick up her shirt and jeans and to put them on over her leotard.

"As you can see," she said as she moved to join her fellow teen animagi, "we can all transform at will."

"While true, Miss Granger," Minerva replied, "none of your transformations, with the exception of Mister Potter's, of course, are anywhere near fast enough to be useful in a tense situation."

"We've all improved immensely even in just this past week," Daphne stated, waving off the criticism. "A week ago, it was taking us nearly ten minutes to make the transformation; now we can all do it in under two. By the time that we leave for Hogwarts, we'll be ready."

And there was the challenge, thrown down like a gauntlet.

Indeed, the entire room was set in a manner that invited confrontation. The four teens – Hermione, Daphne, Neville and Luna – stood on one side of the room with their parents (minus Daphne's father, Cyrus), arranged on the other. Minerva currently stood with the adults, while Sirius had taken a neutral stance, his position more akin to the point of a third side than anything else. As for Harry, while he could be seen to be trying to be remaining out of the argument, the fact that he stood closer to his friends than anything else showed where his loyalties truly lay.

"And what makes you think that you'll be joining the others in the attempt to infiltrate Hogwarts?" Penelope asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daphne gave her mother a nonplussed look.

"Simple logic," she replied. "Only animagi can get through the wards surrounding the castle. Yes, I do concede that there may be other ways, but this way is known and is the one that will be acted upon if we want to have any chance of rescuing our friends before the Dark Lord can do anything too harmful to them. Three animagi is not enough; we need to go too. We're the only ones who can."

"Harry is going, and he is younger than most of us, so age is not a factor," Luna stated.

"The only reason Harry has been included without argument is because he can speak parseltongue and that'll be needed to get into the tunnels where we can't be followed. At least, not easily," Sirius interjected.

"Harry is older than you, Poppet," Xenophilius pointed out.

"I know, Daddy," Luna said.

Her bright, blue eyes met the matching ones of her father's and the two seemed to have a silent conversation before Luna visibly wilted.

"I understand, Daddy," Luna sighed. "That doesn't mean that I like it, though."

"Thank you, Petal; you have taken a weight from my mind," Xenophilius smiled slightly.

Before any of the other parents could put their foot down and forbid their children from going, Neville stepped forward slightly, his eyes on his grandmother and his chin raised defiantly.

"I'm going, Gran," he stated emphatically. "I'm just over a year away from my majority and becoming the Longbottom of Longbottoms. I've already taken my OWLs and, while I may still have things to learn, I'm ready to take my place in the world. This is the right thing to do; I need to do it. I will be doing it."

His mouth opened and closed a few times as though he was determining what else to say, but in the end, he simply ended with a small nod before staring down his grandmother.

Augusta Longbottom, the Dowager Longbottom, stared incredulously at her grandson for over a minute before returning his nod with one of her own.

"Your father would be proud," she said, "you're becoming the man both he and I always envisioned that you would be. And when has a Potter ever gone into battle without a Longbottom at his side? Or a Longbottom without a Potter by his side? It is as it should be, the old alliance is being honoured."

"I'd be honoured to have Neville by my side," Harry said as he strode across to stand beside his mate, his hand resting on Neville's shoulder. "And to be honest, it wouldn't feel right to go without him, without all of them, in fact."

"I'm going, too, Mum, Dad," Hermione stated.

It was easy to see that Hermione'd decided to plant her feet into the decision through the defiant expression on her face and her crossed arms. An identical expression formed on Emma's face and Dan's face started to darken as the three Grangers stared across the room from each other, each trying to make the other submit through the staring contest.

"It is important that I join the group," Daphne said to her mother. "If we want to have any chance of convincing the Slytherins that we mean them no harm and that there is another way other than joining the Dark Lord, then there needs to be a Slytherin making the offer. And while I haven't been at the school for a year, I was still in Slytherin House for four years, that will carry weight."

"Your Father expected that your animagus skill would be less than it is," Penelope stated. "That was the only reason that he left when he did instead of being here to make this decision."

"Father is preparing for the influx of students and teachers that he expects will be rescued from the castle," Daphne replied. "I can do no less than my part to ensure that those same students and teachers will be here to receive his help."

Dan, seeing Penelope wavering, knew how this meeting was going to end: with his daughter riding off into danger, into the heart of the enemy stronghold, with or without his permission. And there was simply nothing that he could do about it, short of tying her down and he suspected that she'd just magic herself free, go do it anyway and then not talk to him for some untold number of years.

His eyes switched across to the dark haired boy that he'd come to see as a surrogate part of the family.

"You'll keep her safe?" he asked.

Before Harry could reply, Hermione nearly growled a response.

"We'll keep each other safe! We'll all be watching each other's backs."

In the end, all Dan could do was sigh and place a (hopefully) calming hand on Emma's shoulder. It was better to let her go now and pray she came back than to hold on too tight and to lose her forever in the process. After looking up into his face, Emma, too, gave a resigned sigh, one that was echoed by Penelope standing beside her.

Seeing the tacit permission for what it was, the two girls flew across the room to hug their mothers. Neville, too, embraced his grandmother, quietly assuring her that he'd be careful. Only Luna looked sad, having conceded to her father's wishes to stay behind.

"I hate to be a wet blanket," Minerva said, catching all of their attentions, "but even with the progress you've made, you're still not ready. In the heat of the moment, being able to transform nearly instantaneously could save your lives."

"How fast?" Neville asked. "How fast do we have to be?"

Minerva shared a look with Sirius before answering.

"Less than thirty seconds," she replied. "Anything longer than that and it simply won't be safe enough to have you go with us."

"Come on, guys, you've got work to do," Harry said,

As Hermione, Daphne, and Neville moved back across the room, Harry eyed the youngest of them all.

"You, too, Luna. You're already faster than they are; give them a challenge and get there before they do," Harry said.

With a smile, Luna skipped across the room, her features already beginning to blur as she did so.