Chapter Eight- Lunar Adventures


Since Wednesday the school saw rumors flying around about Umbridge now, especially as she had started to interrupt Black while he was teaching his classes. So far, Black was handling it nicely, keeping his usually volatile temper in check. As for Edward, Shyamal believed Lily Potter had talked with him as he was keeping a lid on his mouth even though he would flush a deep red every time Umbridge would take a hit on him, something that had surprised Shyamal. The boys' dorms at night reigned silent when Edward appeared, any conversation dying quickly or continuing on awkwardly. Shyamal continued to talk with Ron, talking with the other boys now and then, even though trying to keep Neville talking was proving to be hard.

During the four days, Shyamal could only think of one thing.

Saturday night was a full moon.

The full moons at the Blood Elf Kingdom held a lot less restrictions on them, no threat of discovery looming of them. Since a number of the Blood Elves were shapeshifters, the Suha siblings were not alone when they went for runs in the surrounding forests. It was a sight to see a mass of various animals playing together. The only thought they had to keep in their minds was to make sure they didn't infect any Blood Elf that wasn't in their animal form.

Shyamal had stayed behind after his Transfigurations class had ended, making sure to confirm that his brothers would be escorted out tomorrow in the evening under the pretence that they were keeping track of a rare but possibly fatal disease. Since they were identical twins, the idea wasn't farfetched but Shyamal thought they could have come up with a better idea. Cosmas and Damian would head to the infirmary and once there, Madam Pomfrey would give them two Invisibility Cloaks. She would lead them to the secret passage that would lead them to the Shrieking Shack where she would then make sure they were comfortable before locking them in.

Since it was their first full moon at Hogwarts, Shyamal didn't want to leave his brothers in the Shack for twelve hours. He already had a plan to follow Madam Pomfrey. As long as they were careful, they would having fun with Cosmas and Damian for the night, as much as two Shape-shifters and two werewolves can without supervision.

He couldn't wait.


Cosmas stealthily made his way up the boys' dormitory, keeping an eye out for any seventh year that hadn't gone to the final career advice from their professors. Damian followed behind, pushing him forward as they came up on the final landing.

Damian pointed his wand, whispering "Homenum Revelio." The jet of clear light flowed around them, passing all of the closed doors. "All's clear. Fred and George are in Dorm Two."

"Are you sure they went to the career advice? Didn't they say they weren't going as it was a waste of time for both of them?" Cosmas asked as they made they walked to the dorm to their left.

"I heard that Angelina Johnson forced them to go anyway as she said that the Ministry might be interested in them. Plus, I'm sure they are going to take advantage of the fact it's too good of an opportunity to pass up."

Damian opened the door, the heavy oak swinging open silently. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the layout of the room was the same as theirs, something they had been hoping on. "You have the powders?" Damian began searching the trunks for Fred and George's trunks at the base of the beds.

"Yup, what colors do you want to use?" Cosmas opened the satchel, pulling out the bags that contained the color powders. "I have red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, gold, silver, and grey. Do you want to color them in various patterns using the Slytherin colors?"

With a flick of his wand, Damian levitated all of the bed covers off the two beds. "Nah, that's over rated but we could keep the theme of snake colors though. How about we have a pattern like the coral snake in North America: red, yellow, black, yellow?"

"Hmm, black face or red face?" Cosmas placed the other colors back in the satchel.

"It should be a black face definitely, with a yellow band between the eyes and the mouth." The two swiftly went to the work, laying down the four-color repeating pattern across the bed. Once they were done, they took the bottom sheet and carefully covered the powdered mattress. Damian tapped the sheet, weaving a charm into it. The top sheet and the comforter quickly followed, each charmed by Damian. Cosmas then added a compulsion charm and timed heating charm to the bed itself, to ensure their prank would go off at the right time.

"George's bed is next." Damian shuffled through the satchel. "We have orange, green, blue, purple, black, the metallics, and grey left."

"How about green, blue, purple, and grey?" Cosmas lifted the bags.

"Sure." Within fifteen minutes, the final bed was done.

"Come on, we should head down to our dorms. The meeting will end soon." Cosmas threw the bags into the satchel as Damian searched around them for anything that was misplaced.

"All clear." The two looked down the staircase and seeing no sign of a seventh year, made their way down to the fourth year dorms.


Saturday morning broke clear and sunny, the weather just perfect for some recreational flying.

"You know, it's not that cold today. We could go swimming in Black Lake for a bit. That is, if you don't mind the cold water."

"We could use some heating charms." Shyamal took off his pyjama shirt, draping it over the bed. "Is there anything we would have to watch out for, like Grindylows or something?"

"Nah. They tend to keep to the kelp forests on the farthest side of the lake and in the deep waters. As long as we stay clear, we should be fine." Ron slid into a black Cannon shirt with the two intertwining C's over his heart. "Do you guys want to come?"

Dean nodded. "There might some ladies we could impress." He traded grins with Seamus who answered in the affirmative as well.

"I can't. I'm planning to meet up with Professor Sprout to look over the latest plants she has procured from the Amazon forest in Brazil. She got some new specimens that might help me in gaining Mastery in the subject."

"Just make sure you take a shower before going to bed tonight. Don't want the dorms to smell like dragon dung." Shyamal gave the smaller boy a smile. "Maybe I'll join you later to check out the plants."

"We'll be in Greenhouse Seven as all new shipments are stored there until they're sorted into the other houses," Neville advised him. "I wouldn't want you heading to Greenhouse Four. That's where Filch is overseeing some detentions with a few students who came late to Snape's class on the first day."

Shyamal nodded, quickly dressing into some casual blue jeans, a dark grey long-sleeve polo shirt, and a light grey sports jacket with black sleeves. He was tying on his black trainers when screaming started to echo down the staircase through the open dorms.

"What in Merlin's name?" Ron said, jumping to his feet and heading up the stairs with Shyamal right behind him, the rest of the fifth year boys right on their heels. Coming out on the landing for the Seventh Years, Shyamal saw the seventh year boys crowding around the door to the bathroom. "Oy, coming through; prefect here," Ron muttered as he forced his way through.

Shyamal broke free from the crowd. He had to take deep breaths to keep himself from laughing.

Standing in the middle of the seventh year bathrooms, the Weasley twins stood, bared to the growing audience from the waist up. It wasn't the fact that they were half-naked that caught Shyamal's eye but rather, it was the glaring bright bands of color staining the boys' skin. One twin was done in a repeating pattern of red, yellow, black, and yellow. Shyamal grinned as he stared at the thick yellow band that stretched from just below the eyes to the end of his nose, giving him a demented Indian image. The other twin, on the other hand, was definitely less threatening. He was done in a pattern of blue, grey, green, and purple, the edges down in a weaving pattern like seen on an Easter egg.

Standing before them was the seventh year prefect, arms crossed over his chest. "How do I know you didn't do this to yourselves?"

"Come on, Kenneth, do you really think we would waste a perfectly good idea on ourselves when we could do it on some unsuspecting student from another House?" The demonic Weasley twin said.

"You do have a point, but then again, you two were always the ones with coming up with something different. You must agree that this is different from your usual tactics."

"Maybe it's just some payback after seven years of running around pranking other people!" someone shouted from across the room. There was a general murmur of agreement.

"It had to be a Gryffindor," Lee Jordan surmised. "I mean, someone has to know the password to enter the tower so that gets rid of most of the school."

"There are only 250 students living in Gryffindor Tower," a Sixth year student said. "Remember that the girls have access to the boys and not vice versa."

"Either way, it is a good prank."

"Not if they can take it off," Lee pointed out, smirking at his best friends' whose faces were turning to horror at the realization. The two of them sped back into the rooms, searching for their wands. After a few minutes of wand casting and muttered spells, there still was no sign of the colors disappearing.

"How long is this going to last?" George asked Fred, jerking his wand at his left hand. The brilliant colors refused to budge. Kenneth stepped into the seventh year dorms, pulling out his wand.

"Since I'm sure you didn't go to bed in that condition, it must have popped up over night." He muttered a few words, flicking his wand at George's bed. The next second, the bed coverings folded themselves over until the powdered mattress was revealed. "There's a reason why you didn't notice your skin changing colors. A compulsion charm was activated that made you want to go to bed early as well as to stay asleep and not move a move a muscle as the heating charm kicked in to make you sweat. Your skin basically was dyed as the sweat turned the powder into paste. There are some other spells that made sure the paste was applied everywhere."

"Do you know who did it?" Fred asked.

"No, we can get Professor McGonagall –" Kenneth started to suggest.

"NO!" the Weasley twins said, causing the prefect to jump.

"To do such a thing would be against the etiquette of a professional prankster. No, we will not do that." George eyed the bed. "But what we will do is –"

"Challenge them to a prank war," Fred finished. He looked over the large crowd. "The rules for the war will be as follows: 1) no pranking during Quidditch as it may be fatal if not taken seriously, 2) anything else is up for grabs."

"This is crazy," Kenneth told himself.

The assembled Gryffindor boys looked up as a ball of fire roared into existence. They watched with rapt fascination as the tongues of flames moved gracefully across the air, writing out a phrase in flames.

The twins grinned at the end as the ball swiped across the bottom.

WE ACCEPT
The Suha Twins

Shyamal shook his head, knowing that Cosmas and Damian would face an uphill battle in taking the crown of pranksters from the Weasley twins. As the audience broke under the orders of the prefects, he headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast with the rest of the chattering group.

By lunch, news of the new prank war had spread to the rest of the school.

It was also the time when Fred and George realized the second stage of the prank. The Great Hall watched in amusement as the Weasley twins tried to keep themselves from scratching at the colored bands that had yet to dull under the Weasleys' attempts to remove them.

Shyamal wondered how long the colors would actually last.


The full silvery face of the moon shone brightly in the dark vault of the sky, the silvery fingers grooming the vast landscape of the Hogwarts grounds below. Ghostly howls echoed through the once silent air, a chilling symphony of the wilderness that only lived in nature, untamed and untouched by human hands. A shadow glided through the undergrowth, the jet black body moving stealthily, black feline paws barely disturbing the leaf fall. Green eyes glowed in the shadows, eyes picking any slight movement, rounded ears not missing a sound.

Behind the black jaguar, a young tiger cub followed, its shorter legs pumping to keep up. The bright orange of her coat and the brilliant white of her underbelly clashed with the darker surroundings, Shyamal marking her easily against the foliage. The reason for her short stature was the fact that she was young in regards to age. Shyamal suspected as she neared seventeen, her Animagus form would start to mature into that of a fully formed tigress.

Flanking on either side of the tiger cub were the two werewolves, a light brown and easily loping in long gaits. Out of the four of them, Cosmas and Damian fitted in most easily with the Forest as wolves were quite common around these parts. The only differences were the markings of the werewolves and rather large stature. Shyamal was lucky his jaguar form was even bigger than theirs.

The small pack threaded their way deeper into the forest, free from the dark gloomy cloud settling over the aged castle. Centaurs watched from various knolls, bows armed and ready for the slightest hint or threat of bodily harm. Like transparent ghosts, unicorns fled, their heads bobbing nervously of the new wanderers of the Forbidden forest.

It had been twenty years since the last pack. Then, it had been one werewolf, a stag, a great Newfoundland, and a small rat. Unlike the werewolf before, however, these two werewolves were more in control, thanks to the treatment and research of the East.

Severus Snape's Wolfsbane potion had been a medical breakthrough. With the appropriate treatment coupled with meditation techniques, an infected individual could learn to control the mind of the werewolf and in time, learn to control the transformation to the point they could shift at any time they want, including the nights of the full moons. But due to the treatment being recent, many Healers considered it an unproven theory that still needed more research and study.

Damian and Cosmas had taken a chance and had asked the Blood Elves to help them through the steps. In only the past two years, they had been able to exert any control over their werewolf sides and in the past year alone, had been able to control their transformations and in the few months had lessened the amount of times they would accidentally do a partial transformation.

While Cosmas and Damian were learning how to control their werewolf sides, Hala and Shyamal had gone with another Elven master to find their animal spirits. Wizards discovered their Animagus form through the taking of the Animagus potion that revealed their form, however, when they tried to transform into it, success was very rare. In fact, in the past one hundred years, only seven had successfully completed it. The process overall was extremely painful during the first transformation, bordering on torturous. The Elven way was much more spiritual and more successful as the student took the time to connect with himself but it took longer. The first time Shyamal had connected with his magical core was five months after they had started. It had taken another seven months to even call upon his fur. By the end of the second year, he was able to shift into his jaguar form. Hala had finished her tigress form by the third year.

Shyamal chuckled in his mind at how cute she had looked when she finished her transformation. The round cheeks and innocent look in her feline eyes. The picture Akane's brother had taken without her knowledge was safely tucked away in Shyamal's trunk.

The group came to a stop at a small river, a herd of unicorns frolicking on the other bank. Cosmas and Damien started a wrestling match, playfully snapping and nipping at each others' hind legs and shoulders. Shyamal padded up to Hala, making sure to keep an eye on the twins. With his great tongue, Shyamal started licking Hala's face. She gave a growl of annoyance, gently batting him in the leg with her small paw. He huffed.

Shyamal yelped in pain as Cosmas bit down on his tail. With a deep growl, he swiped at his brother's head, the younger werewolf rolling onto his back in a sign of submission, tail thumping on the floor. He growled softly, raking Cosmas' playfully with his large paw. Hala jumped on his back, her teeth nibbling along his spine. Shaking himself he turned to her as Cosmas got up.

They continued to play, wrestling each other and running around in circles.

Until Shyamal heard the unmistakable crack of a twig.

Freezing, Shyamal's ears flicked forward, his sensitive hearing picking up the crackling of branches and dried forest leaves. He growled in warning at the others, Damian immediately leading his brother and sister into a densely leaved brush, the three disappearing in the darkness. Shyamal stood in the middle of the clearing, trying to pick up on the approaching intruder.

The bush right in front of him rustled, an extremely large Newfoundland stepping out into the clearing.

Growling and snarling, Shyamal took a defensive stance, green eyes fixed on the black dog. The dog took a step toward him. Shyamal lowered his head, increasing his snarling, muscles coiling in preparation. Another step closer and Shyamal attacked.

The dog yelped, dodging away in the direction where his siblings had gone. Shyamal bounded after it. As soon as he could, he bit down on the tail, jerking the dog roughly to a stop. The dog turned around, yelping in pain and shock. Shyamal took the chance to leap on the canine's back. The dog retaliated by biting him in the hind leg, teeth digging in painfully as the dog shook its large head.

The two animals continued to fight, snarling and biting, snapping at anything they could reach. Shyamal had the advantage as his paws had claws whereas the dogs were shorter and blunter.

Finally, Shyamal tipped the dog on its back, paw crushing the dog's throat.

It was then, the dog shifted into Sirius Black whose hand whipped out his wand from his pocket.

Shocked, Shyamal removed his paw as if burned, shifting into his human form. "Professor Black?" His eyes roamed over Black's face, worrying slightly over the various cuts on his skin. A trickle of blood ran down his jaw, onto his neck, and past his collar.

The man coughed, hand going to his bruised throat. "Dumbledore never told me you were an Animagus. I was out here to check on your brothers. I was shocked to see the Shrieking Shack empty and the scent of two animals following them into the forest. Poppy had told me she had made sure the doors were locked as she left."

"I'm sorry for attacking you. I thought you were a Death Eater or something." Shyamal helped Black to his feet. "I tend to keep our Animagus abilities a secret. Perhaps we should have told Professor Dum-" Any further talk was interrupted by the loud howl of a large animal. "That's Cosmas!"

Shyamal shifted, his body changing into the graceful feline form of his jaguar. The large paws of Black thudded behind him as they two ran toward the spot where the howls and roars were coming from. As they got closer, they could hear the snarling and whistling of another beast over the painful yelps of one of his brothers.

Bursting through the last grove of trees, the two Animagus came out on a frightening scene. A large Acromantula had found his siblings while he had been fighting Black. Damian was held in the tight grip of the giant spider, covered in what looked like fine spider silk. Cosmas was trying to desperately to injure the underside of the spider while Hala distracted it. She screeched again, her small form striking here and there before the giant spider's head. Cosmas darted in, paws scratching against the underbelly, a thick dark blood oozing out. Shyamal didn't even think; he shifted back to his human form as he ran, withdrawing his wand from its holster. A blaze of fire came roaring out as he yelled "Incendio!". The Acromantula dropped Damian who tried to scramble to safety but couldn't because of his injured leg while the spider clicked its pincers in distress as the fire continued to burn away at its body. A hairy leg flew out, catching Shyamal in the chest, hurtling the teen against a tree.

Black shifted, casting the same spell on the spider Shyamal had used but with more control. The spider gave another screech of pain before retreating, smoke rising from where the fires had burned.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked, heading toward Shyamal who was gingerly getting to his feet. The two werewolves nodded, the older twin trying to remove the spider silk while the other licked Hala comfortingly. "Perhaps we should head back to the Shack. You guys have had enough excitement for tonight. Not that Professor Dumbledore needs to know about your little escapades."

The journey back to the Shrieking Shack was less eventful than before thanks to Black's knowledge of what the forest hid in its dark shadows and brushes. Shyamal was worried about Damian's injured leg but his brother now seemed to be able to use it lightly as they trotted back to the safety of the hideout. Making sure his siblings were resting comfortably inside the destroyed living room, he followed the canine form of his professor to another room.

Shyamal crossed his arms over his chest as Black closed the door. "How come you never told Dumbledore you were an Animagus along with your sister? Didn't you think it was prudent that he know in case one of the students ever caught sight of you?"

"As I told you before, we tend to keep that fact a secret as it may come in handy later on. You are an Auror. You know the dangers that have come about with the possible return of Lord Voldemort."

"Possible return?" Black studied him, his grey eyes running up and down Shyamal. "Dumbledore told me you believed that Voldemort has returned."

"I have some doubts but I would rather worry over nothing than have my siblings die one day because I didn't take the necessary precautions. Everyone knows that Hogwarts has the best wards out of the three schools." Shyamal opened his arms. "If you think it's prudent for me to tell Professor Dumbledore, then I will."

Black reached up, raking his hair. He was silent for a few moments. "I won't force you to tell Dumbledore as I can see what you mean. He didn't even know I was an Animagus until later on after I left school." He caught sight of Shyamal's curious gaze. "I may tell you one time but not now. I'll keep watch on you though. Just don't come close to the school but don't stray too far into the forest, especially in the northwest and east as those are more dangerous than the rest of the forest. They harvest the centaur herds and the Acromantula nest respectively."

Shyamal nodded. "So you won't be telling anyone?"

"No." Black gave him a grin. "After all, I help anyone who takes on after my heart. I did do the same thing as you. Come on, let's help your brother take off the web otherwise he'll transform into the sticky mess when the sun rises."


Monday evening saw the Quidditch pitch almost the full house of Gryffindor waiting in the stands for the team try outs. Edward Potter was standing near the sidelines, Nimbus 2000 in hand. Angelina Johnson, George and Fred Weasley, who were still wearing their stripped costumes, were standing there with Katie Bell talking quietly about who was probably going to give a good show. With a nod, Angelina broke free from the group and turned to look at the hopefuls.

"Oy, listen up! This year, we'll be holding open tryouts for all positions. Just because you made the team last year does not guarantee you a spot this year. You will have to earn it back." At this point, a few Gryffindors were sending glances toward Edward Potter who ignored them and continued to focus on Johnson. "We will also be having a reserve team unlike last year so in case anything happens; a replacement will be on hand. Is that clear?" She received nods. "Good, The first up will be the Beaters. Pick a partner and grab yourself a bat."

The practice continued, the Beaters giving everything they had in slamming the Bludgers home. Seeing the Weasley twins play, Shyamal had to agree that the five years of experience of playing on the Gryffindor team had them easily dominating over every pair and giving them an edge of Cosmas and Damian.

The Keepers were up next. Shyamal cheered as Ron successfully blocked all of his shots, doing an amazing feat of doing a barrel roll to block the last one.

At the blast of the whistle, the Chasers went into the sky. Though he had only talked to her on a friendly person basis, Shyamal was captivated by Ginny Weasley. She streaked through the air, her red hair flying behind her as she raced toward the hoops, face contorted in fierce determination.

"Oh, Shyamal's got his eye on Ron's younger sister." Cosmas nudged Damian chuckling at the look Shyamal threw him.

"I do not."

"Right, you're just checking out her form up in the air," Cosmas suggestively said.

"It doesn't matter. I heard she's going out with someone," Damian distractedly replied, eyes still on the moving Chasers.

For some odd reason, hearing that, Shyamal's good mood decidedly plummeted.

Finally the Chasers were called back to the stands after Angelina took her shot. The three Seeker hopeful went out onto the field; Shyamal, Edward and some third year that Shyamal hadn't been introduced to.

Hearing Angelina blow her whistle, Shyamal mounted the school broom, kicking off into the air to the catcalls of his siblings and friends. Almost immediately a long forgotten feeling came over him, his low mood lifting. It had been so long, five years wroth, that he had indulged himself in this.

He rolled over instinctively, the sky spinning around until he was facing the green earth and colored stands of the Quidditch pitch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Edward steering his broom back around for another flyby. So he was willing to fight for his position and play dirty too if need be. Shyamal grinned. It wasn't going to be a slaughter then.

"I'm releasing the Snitches now!" boomed Angelina's voice but Shyamal didn't hear her. The ten Snitches zoomed from the case she had opened. Despite being upside down, Shyamal pointed the broom down shooting toward the cluster of three flying close to the ground, heading to the far-side of the pitch. As he neared the ground, he rolled back on top, completing the barrel roll and flattening himself against the handle to pick up even more speed. The cluster came into range. Shyamal reached out to grab the last fluttering ball of the group. It turned silver immediately and with a loud pop that was lost in the whistling of the wind, the captured Snitch disappeared. His attention turned back to the other two Snitches. They were spiraling up around the middle post, little arcs of golden light.

Rocketing up, Shyamal missed slamming into the wall, arcing into the first circle of the Snitches as they shot past. He grabbed both as they flew straight into his outstretched and open hand, their small sizes fitting easily between his fingers. They turned silver and disappeared.

Shyamal spun around to the middle of the pitch, just in time to see Edward catch a fourth Snitch hovering near the stands. It flashed red and disappeared. A glimpse of black had him turning to catch the third year student.

The boy was tailing him, hoping to swoop in to catch a Snitch before Shyamal did.

Lazy little bugger. Shyamal thought. Only one thing to do then if he wants to play 'Follow the Leader'.

Angling the broom toward the center, Shyamal acted like he had seen another Snitch. The boy followed, moving in closer behind Shyamal. Just as they evened out with the Staff Seating, Shyamal dived, gaining speed, hair whipping around his face. At the last second, Shyamal pulled up, evening out so his toes grazed the dirt. The boy was not as lucky as Shyamal heard a hard thump and the oohing of the crowds. He didn't turn behind him as he had caught sight of a fifth Snitch. It flew toward the stands, dodging left and right as it sped over the shocked heads of the Gryffindors.

Shyamal sped after it, trying to close the distance but as the golden ball swooped up following a viewing tower, Edward dropped down from the top and caught the Snitch as it sped right by him. Edward sent him a smirk, opening his hand to taunt Shyamal with the fifth disappearing Snitch.

Hmm, so he's a competent Seeker. Shyamal didn't brood on the lost Snitch. Instead, he sped off to where he had seen a sixth Snitch. This one didn't move, turning silver as his fingers closed around it and disappearing. Edward's smirk disappeared as well.

So far, Edward had two that Shyamal knew and he had four. He needed two to clench his spot. Shyamal flew up over the pitch, eyes scanning the pitch and stands for any sign of the golden balls. There should be at the most four more in play if the third student hadn't caught any.

Shyamal spotted one and quickly went after it, the seventh Snitch disappearing. Suddenly the broom under him bucked, Shyamal grabbing the handle with both hands, legs tightening.

Someone was jinxing the broom.

Edward wouldn't be that selfish to jinx his broom right in front of the Gryffindor House.

The broom gave a harder buck, almost unseating Shyamal who couldn't reach his wand without fear of being bucked off. A golden fluttering ball zoomed past him, hovering below him. Shyamal focused on it.

Am I really that crazy?

He was only thirty feet in the air, the stands below him underneath the Snitch. He looked back down, the Golden Snitch tauntingly lazing around the air beneath him. Was he really that reckless?