Chapter 7: Pets and Punches
Hogwarts - Friday, 4th of October, 1995
Hermione:
I sighed, relieved, when I finally found the book that I had been looking for. It was the updated version of a book, called 'The collectors guide for magical beings', which was one of the only books covering Hybrids as a species.
I had asked McGonagall for a permission slip for the forbidden section today after our transfiguration lesson. I had explained to her that she had gotten me curious with her story about a hybrid and that I wanted to learn more about different magical creatures, so that I would be able to defend myself against them, if it was ever necessary. After I had said that, she was strangely silent at first and looked at me with a sad expression, then finally she had relented. 'I guess it really would be best if you knew how to fight off monsters', and, just like that, she had signed the permission slip and I went to spend my free period in the library.
From the outside, the book didn't look like it belonged in the forbidden section. It was very new and had a bright blue cover. I opened it and realized that it listed all creatures in alphabetical order.
Let's see... Grindelow... Hellhound... Hippogriff... House elf! I stopped for a moment and looked at the pages to see what opinion the author had. Disgusted, I stared at the picture of a house elf punishing himself and quickly turned the page. Hybrid. There it was.
Xxx
Hybrid (werewolf + vampire)
The most commonly known use of the term Hybrid, describes a combination of werewolf and vampire. For other Hybrids, look at Hybrid (wizard + werewolf) or Hybrid (Centaur + Hippogriff).
Classification:
Because of their highly violent nature, Hybrids are – like Sphinx and Acromantula - classified by the ministry of magic in the category of Beasts, not as Beings. They are, therefore, not placed with vampires and werewolves - in human form - which were both granted the 'Being' status.
On the hazard scale, they were given XXXXX (known wizard killers, and impossible to train or domesticate), which is the highest possible score. So we advise not to keep them as pets without long experience dealing with dangerous beasts.
Appearance and lifestyle:
Most of the time, Hybrids look like humans, but they can complete a half-change into werewolf, which turns their eyes yellow and their teeth into fangs, or they can become a full wolf whenever they like. This is especially a treat for your children who always wanted a dog to cuddle with. But do NOT leave them unattended!
They can reproduce with werewolves, but it is unknown what such a cub would be like, because no wizard has ever managed to successfully breed Hybrids and the only one born in the wild died shortly afterwards.
Natural habitat:
Hybrids are most commonly found in the USA, particularly in Virginia and Louisiana. Theoretically, they would also be able to live anywhere else, but there have never been sightings in Europe. Because of their classification as XXXXX, according to law, sightings have to be reported to the ministry of magic at once.
If you want to catch one for your collection, however, we suggest not reporting them, because the legal requirements for keeping a Hybrid are impossible to meet.
Population:
Hybrids are a very rare species. There was only one known Hybrid, until the late 70s, when their population went up to nearly 30. Due to infighting, most of them died and now Hybrids are nearly extinct. So due to wildlife protection, they now might only be killed out of self-defense.
Creation:
Only werewolves can be turned into Hybrids, by drinking a Hybrids blood and then dying, but the exact process still remains unknown.
The last Hybrid was created in the 70s, so it is suspected that a key ingredient, which would be necessary, is missing now.
This makes it impossible to create more of them, which raised their market price considerably.
History:
When the first vampires were created a thousand years ago, one of them had werewolf genes in his blood and turned into a hybrid, but a curse was put on him to suppress his werewolf side.
Hybrids were involved in the supernatural fighting in the USA in recent years and are responsible for many deaths of humans and creatures alike.
During this, one of the Hybrids took over a pack of werewolves, which enabled the werewolves to control their changes, just like the Hybrids. Before you try and catch a Hybrid, it might be a good idea to add a werewolf to your collection (look at page 398 for information on werewolves).
Abilities:
A hybrid is very physically strong and might even be able to beat a giant or dragon in a fight.
They can walk in the sun and control their changes into wolves.
This makes them very useful as guard dogs to protect the weaker beasts in your collection, but it may also be possible that your Hybrid takes that as an insult and kills the other creatures.
Weaknesses:
A Hybrid can only be killed by extracting the heart or decapitation.
It is not known if this also applies for Klaus, the first ever Hybrid, who is said to be immortal.
They can only enter a house after being invited in, are vulnerable to wolfsbane and vervain and are attracted by blood.
Catching your own Hybrid:
The best way to get a Hybrid for yourself is to lead one of them in a trap and weaken it with wolfsbane, and/or vervain, and then bind it with magic.
(It should be noted here, that no wizard ever managed to catch a Hybrid and survive.)
Care:
If you finally managed to catch your own Hybrid, caring for them tends to be quite expensive.
A Hybrid feels most comfortable if it is kept in a big house instead of a cage, so we suggest putting boundary spells on the house and a protection spell on yourself and any visitors.
You regularly have to get them muggles to feed from, but they also need strong alcohol to function properly and might enjoy sweets.
Training:
The successful training of a Hybrid is probably very hard, maybe even impossible and also depends a lot on the specific specimen. Some might be easier to control than other, so you just have to try it out.
Xxx
Well, I think I just found the book Hagrid got his strange ideas from, like that it was okay to keep dragons or an Acromantula as a pet... Who in their right mind would try to catch a Hybrid to keep as a pet? They didn't sound very friendly! This book didn't help me much with my research about Klaus. It even only said he was immortal. But Elijah and McGonagall had once found a way, didn't they? If the order had known that Voldemort was trying to recruit Klaus, maybe that was the reason they asked Elijah to come to England. He could protect Hogwarts, help the order beat Klaus and Voldemort and maybe even teach us how to defend ourselves against Klaus. Now if we would only learn spells, so we could defend against deatheaters and Voldemort too...
I looked down at the book again. Under the text there was a disturbing moving picture, apparently taken while the photographer had hid behind some trees. It showed a boy around 16 shooting a crossbow on a Hybrid, standing in front of a girl, on the porch of a big house, then the boy ran into the house, returned with an axe and chopped off the head of the motionless Hybrid.
I shuddered and closed the book disgusted. At that moment the bells rang and I quickly put the book back into the shelf and went to the dungeons. I guess I just had to ask Elijah or McGonagall for more information.
Xxx
"When does Snape expects us to do all this homework? Tomorrow there's a Hogsmead weekend and we have Quidditch training on Sunday!" Ron complained loudly, as we walked into the DADA classroom with the other Gryffindors. Elijah was already leaning against a wall, waiting for the whole class to arrive. He smiled at us when we entered and I sat down on a mat with Harry and Ron.
"Yeah, the bat was absolutely horrible today. How many points did he take off Gryffindor? At least 40 and now we're at the last place in the run for the house cup!" Dean agreed with him, glancing worriedly to Elijah, as he noticed him standing there, but Elijah didn't seem to mind him calling Snape a bat.
"Sometimes I wonder if the rumors about him are true, you know. The one that he is a vampire." Lavender enlightened us with her insight. "He's always down in the dungeons and he's so pale and the way he walks, he really seems like an overgrown bat." She whispered and suddenly we heard someone chuckling. We turned and saw Elijah who stared at us with a look of total disbelief on his face and trying to control his smirk.
"Living in dungeons, being pale and walking like an overgrown bat are the features by which you identify a vampire? Did you never cover them in this class?" He asked us, amused, and I answered truthfully.
"Well…we did. But our first and second year teachers weren't exactly competent. In our first year Prof. Quirrel just told us to always carry around garlic as protection against them and the next year Prof. Lockhart acted out the story from one of his books. It was about a vampire that he fought and ended with the vampire only eating lettuce afterwards. And with Prof. Lupin we only touched the subject shortly at the end of our third year, but he told us learning about vampires was not as important, as there are nearly no vampires living here in Britain, so he concentrated more on the creatures we would be more likely to face."
"Did he, really? Well, he is mostly right, as the wizard community is very strong here, vampires living here either have to be very secretive, or follow the rules of the ministry, which, by the way, is very prejudiced against them. The witches in America or Eastern Europe, for example, are much less powerful, which is why the majority of vampires chose to live there. But I imagine that Voldemort will try to recruit them again for the upcoming war, promising them more rights in the new society he wants to create. If I remember correctly that was what he did the last time. If you take into consideration, it might be important for you to defend yourself against one. I suppose I could teach you how to fight them in one of the coming lessons, maybe even invite one, if you would like to meet a real, non-lettuce eating vampire?" He asked us, smirking, but also looking thoughtful, as if he was already planning the lesson.
"A real vampire? Are you serious? Isn't that much too dangerous?" Lavender looked at him, clearly horrified. Elijah smirked, still amused.
"Oh I can assure you, you would not be in any danger. And, if he agrees, you may even have the opportunity to try and fight him."
"That sounds awesome!" Seamus exclaimed and apparently most of the Gryffindors agreed with him as they all looked really excited. It really was a great idea, especially if vampires and this Klaus started working with Voldemort, Klaus was half vampire too, wasn't he?
"It's settled then. I will contact one of my acquaintances and see when he can come." I was really looking forward to that lesson! Meeting a real vampire sounded very interesting. The things I could ask him!
We waited a few more minutes until all the Slytherins had arrived too and then Elijah started the lesson.
"Today, we will do a little experiment so that you have the opportunity to test your skills with your other classmates, as well as practice fighting with a partner. Please pair up and then each pair takes four of these ribbons. You will then fight against the other pairs and the winner gets one of the ribbons from the other team. Try to win as many ribbons as you can. And only fight members of your own house for now. I don't want for anyone to end up in the hospital wing." He explained todays exercise.
xxx
"Ouch! Neville! Can't you pay attention for once?", I cried out, when he stepped on my hand, trying to get out of Ron's headlock while I was holding Harry to the ground.
The last three fights had went surprisingly well, considering I was once again in a team with Neville. We had only lost the fight against Dean and Seamus.
"Oh, sorry, Hermione! I didn't see you there." Neville quickly apologized as I rubbed my hand, which was hurting pretty bad, and stood up. Elijah had just left the classroom to fetch some more healing potions from the hospital wing, so I had to wait until he got back if I wanted to take one. Ron let Neville go instantly and Harry sat up as soon as I had let go of him. All three boys looked at me concerned and suddenly I felt myself getting angry.
"Well it's not as if it's a big surprise! You nearly always manage to accidently hurt me or anyone else you're teaming with!" I hissed at Neville, intending to hurt him with my words. I knew it was mean, but I couldn't stop myself.
"Why do I always have to be in a team with this idiot anyway?" I turned my anger against Harry and Ron now. "You never think about me! Why doesn't one of you pair up with Neville every once in a while? Why does it always have to be me?" I shouted at them angrily. Ron just looked at me sheepishly, while Harry at least had the decency to look apologetic. He slowly stood up and held up his hands, trying to calm me down.
"Hermione, we're sorry, we didn't realize you minded-" I interrupted him, my anger only growing with every second.
"Oh of course you didn't! Why would you ever even think about my feelings? That I might feel left out when you and Ron always work together! You two are supposed to be my friends! But the only time you ever seem to care about it is when you need something from me! Just like everyone else!" I screamed and shoved Harry back angrily. He stumbled but didn't manage to catch himself and landed on the floor again, looking up at me with wide and worried eyes. The whole class was watching us now. I realized I was being irrational and unfair, but I didn't care. I had completely lost it and felt absolutely murderous. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but Ron choose this exact moment to interrupt me.
"Oh, come on, aren't you exaggerating a bit? I told you, you're working too hard. School isn't everything. You have to relax once in a while." And finally I just snapped. The burning anger overwhelmed me and I only wanted to hurt Ron.
I turned towards him and punched him, before he had a chance to react. He staggered backwards and I quickly grabbed his throat and pushed him against the nearest wall. Ron stared at me frightened and tried to get out of my grip, but I didn't let him go.
"Working too hard? Part of that is due to the fact that I always have to help you two lazy idiots too! Maybe I should just stop caring, huh, RON!" I squeezed tighter and drew my wand, pointing it
at his face, trying to think of the most painful spell I knew. Suddenly I heard a voice close behind me. "Hermi-"
They were trying to stop me! I couldn't let them! I wanted to hurt Ron and I would get rid of anyone trying to get in the way! Without thinking I turned around fast and punched whoever was standing behind me in the face. Horrified I watched as Elijah turned his face back in my direction and looked at me with a strange expression. It looked like he couldn't decide if he should comfort or kill me. That snapped me back into reality as my anger was overthrown by blind panic. What had I done! I had just hit a teacher! They were going to expel me for that! What was I going to do with my life? I couldn't leave school! Especially now! The ZAGs were at the end of the year and without them I didn't have anything! And Voldemort was back! Harry needed my help, fighting him. He and Ron would be absolutely helpless without me. They would never get their ZAGs! Oh my god, Ron!
I turned around to look at Ron. When I saw him I felt a gigantic wave of guilt hit me, nearly crushing me beneath it. He looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, rubbing his throat with the one hand and holding his bleeding nose with the other. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take all the accusing eyes around me, all the people staring at me, the guilt from having hit Ron and Elijah and the panic about being expelled. And underneath all that, the horrible anger was still bubbling. It all suddenly became too much and without a second thought I fled the classroom as fast as I could with my vision blurred by the tears gathering in my eyes.
I haven't had a destination in mind, but when I stopped running, I noticed that my feet had carried me right to the prefect's bathroom.
xxx
"Hermione? Are you in there?" I heard Harry ask quietly from the door.
"Go away, Harry!" I sniffed. I still couldn't stop my tears, even though nearly all the bubbles were gone already.
"Come on, Hermione, we've searched the whole castle for you! You've been in there for hours! And we brought you some sandwiches, you must be starving!" In truth I wasn't the least bit hungry. Only boys could think about eating in a situation like this! But Harry had said 'we' and maybe that meant Ron was with him?
"Okay, just give me a minute." I told him shakily and quickly got out of the bath and dressed.
When I stepped out of the room, I saw Harry and Ron standing in front of the door, both looking at me concerned. I instantly wrapped my arms around Ron, hugging him tightly.
"Oh, Ron, I'm so, so very sorry! I don't know what got into me! I didn't mean all those things I said." I told him honestly, trying to keep my tears away, as I felt him hug me back.
"It's alright, Hermione, like I said, you probably worked too hard. And we were acting like idiots lately. But you were downright scary! Are you sure you are okay?" He asked me worriedly, but Harry interrupted us.
"Hey guys, dinner will be finished soon and then a lot of people are going to pass here. Let's go somewhere more private. How about Myrtle's bathroom?" He suggested and I quickly let go of Ron. Harry was right and I didn't fancy seeing anyone else right now. The whole school probably already knew what had happened in DADA and I wanted to spend a bit more time with my friends before McGonagall found me to tell me I was expelled.
Quickly, we snuck down to the second floor, being careful not to be seen. We sat down on the stairs to the sinks and Harry offered me a sandwich. I hesitantly looked at it.
"I guess this is going to be my last meal in Hogwarts. Strange. I was always so sure that if I was ever going to be expelled, it would be because of one of your stunts that you dragged me into." I told them, my voice barely a whisper, as new tears started to gather in my eyes.
Harry quickly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tried to calm me down.
"Hey, Hermione, it's not that bad. I'm sure you're not going to be expelled."
"Not expelled? Harry, I hit a teacher! When he stopped me from hurting, Ron! Prof. Mikaelson must have been furious!"
"Actually, he wasn't. He didn't even seem angry. He was more worried. After you ran out of the classroom, he gave me a handkerchief; took 50 points of Gryffindor for all the fighting; told us to let you cool down first before we went looking for you and then just continued with the lesson. And Fred and George overheard him talking to McGonagall, convincing her that it was only an accident and not to expel you." Ron explained to me and grabbed one of the sandwiches. I felt like a heavy weight was just lifted from my chest and started grinning.
"Are you sure? I'm not going to be expelled?" I was so happy that I hugged them both as strong as I could and then took a big bite from my own sandwich. I had never tasted something more delicious!
