Chapter Nine: The Night of Death
October 1, 1993
"So, when were you going to tell us you had become Animagi?" Ron asked.
It had taken until late in the afternoon for Ron to confront the cousins on their ability to change into animals, as Fridays had a nearly-full schedule. The first opening he could find was during the last period of classes, as only Hermione was taking Arithmancy. Ron thankfully had the foresight to confront them in an empty classroom, so their conversation would not be overheard.
Harry and Danny had the decency to look like deer caught in a car's headlights at Ron's knowledge.
"Well," Danny began, a hand on the back of his neck, "We were waiting for the right moment. I mean, it's not exactly something you drop in casual conversation."
"Like, 'oh, and just so you know, we both mastered a skill that only nine other people currently living can do,'" said Harry.
"Okay, I can see that." said Ron with the slightest degree of annoyance at his best friend's sarcasm. "But how? Professor McGonagall said it's really hard to become an Animagus."
Danny stage-whispered, "It is, if you go by the Ministry-approved method, which is both time-consuming and dependent on a great deal of luck. Remember the discussion we had at the beginning of the year about the ways to become an Animagus?"
"Right," Ron nodded. "So, you used one of those other rituals to do it?"
"Actually, we came up with a brand new ritual, since we couldn't get all the ingredients for the easier rituals," answered Harry.
"So, can you teach me?" Ron asked, a spark in his eyes.
Harry and Danny turned to each other, and held a silent conversation. After a couple minutes, they turned back to Ron.
"Are you sure about this? There are several spells you'll have to learn, one of which is at least NEWT-Level, and once you've started, there's no going back." Harry warned.
Ron thought for a moment. Learning advanced spells in exchange for becoming an Animagus? In the end, it came down to Ron's own self-worth as the sixth of seven children, and his feelings of being overshadowed by all his siblings. Bill was one of Gringotts' finest Curse-Breakers, Charlie took care of Dragons for a living, Percy was one of the smartest and most ambitious wizards of his year, the Twins were famed pranksters, and Ginny had demonstrated exceptional skill despite her age. The answer was obvious.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Ron finally answered. "So, when do we start?"
October 15, 1993
The month of October had been much the same as September, although for Ron, Hermione, and Neville - the latter two having been brought in on the secret and agreed to learning - they had additional work as they started the first steps to becoming Animagi. The ability to organize the mind via Occlumency was critical to mastering the transformation. Hermione, ever the logical one, took to the mental discipline with ease. Ron, on the other hand, had a great deal more trouble keeping focused, but his sheer determination in mastering the difficult skill was a pleasant surprise to all who knew.
In addition to their grueling extra-curricular work, the quintet had their normal classwork to contend with.
Defense Against the Dark Arts had become widely beloved by the students, as Professor Lupin had shown himself to be the first competent teacher seen by any but the oldest students. After Boggarts, they had tackled the bloodthirsty goblinoid creatures known as Red Caps, which lurked in areas of bloodshed, particularly deserted battlefields and the darkest of dungeons, where they bludgeoned unwary wanderers to death. Thankfully, they were easily repelled by basic jinxes, Beauty Potions, or a firm kick to the chest. After Red Caps, they had covered Kappas, Japanese water-dwelling demons that looked like scaly monkeys, and were prone to strangling those who intruded in their ponds, but could be appeased with cucumber, or defeated if tricked into bowing.
In Potions, Harry flourished under Slughorn's instruction. The walrus-mustached Professor often spent entire class periods going over the properties of Potions ingredients and how they interacted.
Not once had Neville melted a cauldron under Slughorn's tutelage.
Divination, on the other hand, was less than enjoyable. Deciphering the lopsided shapes and symbols made from tea dredges in a room of stifling perfume clouds was not many people's idea of 'fun', and Professor Trelawney kept averting her enormous eyes whenever the cousins met them, as though looking at the sun. Hermione could care less about the class, much to the shock of her friends, who were long since used to her throwing herself entirely into her work. The bushy-haired girl's roommates, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, on the other hand, treated her predictions as gospel, and had taken to haunting the Divination Professor's tower classroom and office at lunchtimes, every time returning with looks of superiority, as though they knew things others didn't. It was particularly grating for Hermione, who did not like the gossipy girls very much.
Care of Magical Creatures had been a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it was hard to top riding a Hippogriff. On the other, Neville had proven allergic to Murtlap bites, and was dismayed to have the seat of his robes catch fire. Thankfully, Danny had managed to put it out with a burst of frost. The pug-faced Slytherin Pansy Parkinson had turned out to be similarly allergic, and had been bitten while laughing at Neville, which was treated with a bit less sympathy, and Danny may have gone a bit overboard with the frost for that incident.
"Sorry 'bout that!" Danny had called out sarcastically as Neville and Pansy were taken up to the Hospital Wing for the antidote, and in Pansy's case a warm seat. Hermione had to repress a snicker at that.
As October had progressed, Harry was drawn away from the quintet's work, as Quidditch season began, and Oliver Wood, the four time Gryffindor Team Quidditch Captain, was more determined than ever to win the Quidditch House Cup for Gryffindor once more before he left Hogwarts. It was more than mere rumor that he was looking to join Puddlemere United, one of the most popular teams in the national league.
Despite Harry spending most of his evenings at Quidditch Practice, Danny was able to pick up the slack with the group's study of Occlumency. Hermione had quickly mastered the art, and Neville was actually more skilled at organizing his thoughts than his memory would have suggested.
"Must be all the lists you've memorized for Herbology," Danny theorized one night.
"What do you mean?" Neville had asked.
"I mean, out of all of us, you're the best at Herbology, and you can identify plants with only one look. Even Hermione has to check a book for most of them, but you just know." Neville's face had lit up at the compliment, and he easily picked up the pace with his Occlumency training.
On the Ides of October, the quintet were at breakfast when the mail arrived, and Lavender received a letter that had her burst into tears almost immediately.
"What's the matter, Lavender?" Hermione asked anxiously. Despite her disdain for her roommate, she still worried for her well-being. The answer came from Parvati, who had just finished skimming the letter herself.
"It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lavender." Hermione consoled.
"I should have known!" Lavender cried. "You know what day it is?"
"Er -"
"The fifteenth of October! 'That thing you are dreading - it will happen on Friday the fifthteenth of October!' Remember? She was right, she was right!"
All of the third year Gryffindors gathered around Lavender. Seamus shook his head seriously. Hermione hesitated; then she asked her own questions.
"You - you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?"
"Well, not necessarily by a fox," Lavender looked up at Hermione with streaming eyes, "But I was obviously dreading him dying wasn't I?"
"Oh," said Hermione. Before she could ask her next question, Harry interjected.
"Are you sure it was Binky you were worried about?"
Several pairs of eyes looked at him incredulously.
"Well what else would she be dreading?" Parvati asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harry's response was to shift his features to that of a girl and point down before shifting back.
It took a couple seconds for the message to sink in, but when it did, there were two reactions.
Hermione and Parvati winced in realization, and Lavender's eyes widened, while all the boys in the crowd carefully stepped back.
As the Gryffindors - sans Lavender, who had gone to the Hospital Wing- made their way to Potions, Hermione questioned Harry.
"How did you know?"
Harry tapped his nose. "Trocar's not the only one with a superhuman sense of smell."
"O-kay," was all Hermione had to say.
October 30, 1993
Hogsmeade Weekends started on the last weekend of October for Third Years, and were scheduled for every second and fourth weekend of each month afterwards. NEWT Level students had their start on the second weekend of October. For four days a month, students were allowed to leave the castle grounds for the nearby village of Hogsmeade, which was in many respects similar to muggle college towns, with many shops set up primarily for the patronage of Hogwarts students.
As the quintet made their way down the cobblestone path leading to the village, Harry divided up a couple dozen galleons he had gotten from his Gringotts vault via Hedwig. The scottish weather had started its descent into winter, with the first hints of snow drifting from the clouds. As such, the quintet were clad in their winter cloaks, hats, scarves, and woolen gloves, except for Danny, who only wore the cloak and scarf. The soon-to-be-fourteen-year-old had a resistance to the cold that was considered uncanny by the average person, save perhaps some Norwegians.
The first place they visited was Dervish and Banges, an equipment shop that sold all manner of magical instruments, including a rather impressive line of Sneakoscopes. The shop also catered to students looking to get into enchanting, with a large selection of items designed to be enchanted. On a whim, Danny picked up a few empty lockets.
Zonko's Joke Shop boasted a vast collection of prank devices, and Harry managed to fall victim to a nose-biting teacup, which they unfortunately had to pay for after Ron smashed it to bits. They also met Fred and George in the Joke Shop, where the twins and Marauder fans were restocking their supply of fireworks, which had been depleted before the school year had even started thanks to a broken latch on Fred's trunk.
At about noon, the quintet had lunch at the Three Broomsticks. The Three Broomsticks Inn was warm, smoky, and bit crowded, but far cleaner and more welcoming than the Leaky Cauldron. The wall behind the bar was decorated with a large mirror that reflected the cosy atmosphere and kept the room brighter than the lanterns would otherwise. The quintet talked over foaming mugs of warm butterbeer and plates of Cornish pasties, the former of which tasted like liquid butterscotch and countered the cold winds outside. While there, the quintet also engaged in a bit of what Danny called "people watching", getting a look at the variety of people who frequented the establishment. Along with the colorfully dressed witches and wizards, there were more than a few purely magical beings. At one table, a malignity of goblins was playing some sort of dice game while chugging from tankards of something that gave off red steam. At another, an ogre with stony-green skin and a noticeable underbite was sitting with an orange-furred catfolk and a Brayer*. At yet another table was a band of skeletons, the leader of which identifiable from his glass eye.
"Where do those skeletons even come from?" Ron asked. Hermione, like always, had an answer.
"A wizard was trying to create an Inferius without using dark magic, but only managed to animate the bones, which gained a personality of their own.
Neville chipped in his own two Knuts, "Dumbledore hired them to perform last Halloween. He must have done the same this year."
"Why are they here though? I mean, can even drink?"
"Apparently, they drink milk." Harry observed.
Hermione then pointed out a face that familiar to her and not the others.
"That's Professor Mivra, she's the Music Professor."
"She's a Drow." Ron noted with a sense of wonder and trepidation. Drow were normally found further up north, and had a reputation as dark creatures, often kidnapping musicians who trespassed in their forests. It was more common than one would think, given the propensity for Nordic Metal bands to do photo shoots and music videos in them.
The Music Professor stood just under five feet tall, with dark bluish-grey skin, long, pointed ears that swept back against her silvery white hair, and golden yellow eyes that held a glow to them, highlighting her elven features. She was currently talking to another Drow, this one with glowing purple eyes visible under the thick hood they were wearing. The two were conversing in what could only be assumed to be their native language, but the words 'Hogwarts', and 'Dumbledore' were understandable.
When the mugs of butterbeer were empty, the quintet made their way out of the inn, and continued their exploration of the village.
Harry practically dragged Neville to Ollivanders. In the Metamorphmagus' mind, it was long since time for Neville to get a wand of his own.
"An ash and Unicorn hair heirloom wand, an oxymoron if I've ever seen one," the wandkeeper said, a round-faced wizard in a quilted purple robe. It took nearly half an hour, but Neville did eventually find a match in a thirteen inch larch and Unicorn hair wand**. The second his hand wrapped around the wand, a look of confidence appeared on the boy's face, and a fountain of red and gold sparks trailed from the wand as he waved it.
With their slight detour done, the two of them rejoined the rest of the group at Honeydukes, where Ron was looking rapturous at the assortment of sweets. Floor-to-ceiling shelves were stocked entire with the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat packaged by the pound, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different varieties of chocolate arranged in neat rows. There was a massive barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, with empty boxes waiting to be filled stacked next to it. Fizzing Whizzbees were similarly presented. Along another wall was an elaborate display of 'Special Effects' sweets, which were what happened when magic met confectionary, and made Danny wonder if Willy Wonka was a wizard. There were the levitating balls of sherbet that Ron had mentioned on the train; Drooble's Best Blow Blowing Gum, which produced bluebell-coloured bubbled that filled a room and refused to pop for days; Toothflossing Stringmints and Tooth-Splintering Strongmints; tiny black Pepper Imps, which gave a person dragon's breath, and their polar opposite Ice Mice, which made a person's teeth chatter and squeak like a mouse; Exploding Bonbons, which blew up when not eaten whole; Toad-shaped peppermint creams that hopped in the stomach; delicately spun Sugar Quills in a wide variety of colours; there were even Sherbet Lemons. Dumbledore's fondness for the non-magic sweet was well known, and evidently Honeydukes had sought to capitalize on it.
By the time they left, Ron had at least three bags and all his pockets filled, and even Hermione, whose parents were dentists, had not been able to resist making a purchase, in her case a pack of splintery Toothflossing Stringmints.
As the afternoon went on, they visited most of the shops in Hogsmeade, before making their way back to the castle as afternoon turned to evening, chatting all the while.
As the sun was setting, Danny and Harry slipped out of the castle and made their way to the Shrieking Shack by way of the secret passage. A surreptitiously thrown feather froze the Whomping Willow, allowing them to slip into the passage with ease. When they reached the shack, the cousins found Sirius and Remus already present. As the first hints of moonlight seeped through the window, the two teens and the less-than-mature adult shifted into their Animagus forms, while the more mature of the Marauders painfully fell to all fours as the change took over him. Within minutes, the Professor had been replaced by a werewolf with a brown-grey coat. Pale green eyes blinked over the shortened snout, a sign of the Wolfsbane Potion having worked.
Danny opened the door, as he was the only one with appendages capable of turning a doorknob, and the quartet of animals bounded into the Forbidden Forest.
Much like the previous full moon, the Wolves of the forest interrupted their game of wrestling, and it became a true hunt through the forest.
In his third year, Hagrid was accused of raising "werewolf cubs" by Tom Riddle. Riddle, who saw Hagrid as a potential threat to his power, did everything in his considerable power to slander the half-giant. However, while Hagrid was not involved, Hogwarts did play host to a pack born from two transformed werewolves. These Wolves were allowed to roam in the Forbidden Forest by Dumbledore, leading to the widespread rumors - particularly among Slytherins - that the forest was inhabited by werewolves. The Wolves of the Forest human levels of intelligence, and some could even perform rudimentary magic. They were also far more majestic than any normal wolf. In the cousins' first year at Hogwarts, the Wolves carried them to safety from their battle with the possessed Professor Quirrell, and now they accompanied them on their full moon runs.
Danny, in his form of a Nevermore, was performing a complex aerial maneuver when a prickly black arrow shot past his head. Danny cried out in shock and indignity, and turned his head to the source.
Perched in one of the trees was a figure that was simultaneously thin and bulky, with a spindly humanoid torso joined to arachnids body. In its upper arms was a wicked-looked bow covered in spikes. The creature was readying another arrow.
With a caw of rage, Danny lashed out with his wings as he grew to the size of a man, razor sharp feathers flying from them to strike the beast. One feather sheared through the bowstring, while others pierced the creature's carapace. The death blow came from a feather piercing the creature's eye, leaving it to topple from the tree to the unforgiving ground below.
It landed with a sickening crunch as the exoskeleton crumbled and the creature lay still.
Danny gave the closest approximation of a harrumph he could in his avian form, before winging back to the pack of canines, reducing his size back to normal.
October 31, 1993
As the day after the full moon was Sunday, the two teenage Animagi decided to take the chance to sleep in. As such, by the time they had finally risen, most of the students had already left for Hogsmeade. As it was Halloween, they decided they would stay at the castle for the day, rather than try to catch up with their friends. Heading down to the kitchens, they got breakfast, before trying to figure out what to do with the day.
The first thing they ended up doing was celebrating Danny's fourteenth birthday, as they were abruptly reminded by the stack of presents on his bed when they returned to Gryffindor Tower. Along with a tin of fresh-baked biscuits, a pair of hand-knit socks, and a 'Poltergeist Tracker', was a thick, leather-bound tome. Stencilled into the black leather was the title in acidic green, under which was a faded silver crest.
Fenton Family Grimoire
Grimoires were common in the wizarding world, particularly among pureblood families, but could occasionally be found elsewhere, as family lines died or 'squibbed out', with non-magic descendents finding them in attics and often times selling them as antiques. Several Grimoires were known to be in Muggle museums, where no attempt was made to retrieve them save for making sure the more dangerous knowledge stayed out of the hands of potential dark wizards.
The Fenton Grimoire contained much of the information compiled over the centuries by the Fenton family, added in a haphazard manner, with several generations treating it like a diary of sorts. Many families had a specialty that they passed on to their descendants; in the Fenton's case, it was anything to do with spirits. One page was dominated entirely with a complex magical seal designed to prevent a Poltergeist from entering the room on which the seal was placed, which had potential. There were also potions, spells, enchantments, and diagrams of plants and animals that, at least to Danny's knowledge, were outside the Hogwarts curriculum, like the Blood Blossom, a rose-like plant with dark violet stems that gave off a vapour when picked that neutralized magic and could induce pain in non-corporeal spirits. It was an insidious flower that thankfully could only be found in the darkest forests of Eastern Europe, and had been wiped out in the Americas.
Danny read through the grimoire until lunchtime, at which point he left the dorm to find his cousin, who had left once he had gotten engrossed in the text.
He eventually found the green-eyed Metamorphmagus talking with Professor Lupin and Sirius in the former's office, where the latter was regaling tales of he Marauders' exploits during their time at Hogwarts as students.
"- And James said: 'But Professor, we are still technically in bed'" Sirius chuckled, and Harry nearly did a spit-take with his tea.
"And he got away with it?" Harry asked, after gulping down his drink.
"Not entirely. McGonagall docked points for being outside of Gryffindor tower after curfew, and then had it written down on the house rules list on the notice-board for good measure." Remus answered. "To be honest, I think we got a dozen new rules added to the board… a year."
"Why McGonagall made Moony a Prefect, I'll never know." Sirius asked, semi-rhetorically.
"I believe it was because there were only four boys in our year, and Minerva thought I could keep you in line." Remus replied. "I am ashamed to say that she was proven wrong, and we only got into more trouble once you, James, and… Peter became Animagi."
"You have to admit, that was a tough year all around, though," retorted Padfoot, "I'm pretty sure James would have done more than humiliate Ol' Snivillous if it weren't for him putting so much effort into becoming an Animagus."
It was at that moment Harry noticed his cousin standing in the doorway. The two Marauders quickly took notice as well.
"Oh, Danny, we were just telling Harry some of the things we remembered about James." said Professor Lupin.
"I gathered."
"So, finally got your nose out of that book?" Harry asked.
"You try putting down a grimoire once you've opened it." Danny shot back playfully.
Remus conjured up another chair, and summoned another teacup, silently offering a place for the teen.
As he sat down, Danny noticed a tank of water in the corner of the room.
"What is that?" he asked, gesturing to it.
"Ah," Remus replied. "That is the subject of our next class, a Grindylow. Hagrid was kind enough to wrangle one from the Black Lake for me."
Inside the tank was a sickly green creature, made up mostly of squirming tentacles and sharp horns. It had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces that showed off rows of sharp, tiny teeth, while flexing spindly fingers on the end of equally spindly arms.
"Water demons, not unlike Kappa, only purely aquatic, unable to breath above water." Remus entered his 'lecture mode', which was more formal than his normal speech, and less formal than other teachers' lectures. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with them. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers?" The cousins (and humorously, Sirius) nodded. "Strong, but very brittle."
The Grindylow apparently heard them, as it bared its teeth menacingly before diving to bury itself in one of the tangles of weeds that dotted the bottom of the tank.
With the Grindylow hiding, the four turned back to their conversation. Sirius began his next story, his memory jogged by the Grindylow.
"Did I ever tell you about the time James and I poured a can of surströmming over Moony's head?"
Ron ,Hermione, and Neville returned in the evening, bringing with them several pounds of Honeydukes sweets, as well as their own birthday presents for Danny. From Ron, a box of Every-Flavor Beans, while Hermione had gotten him a set of particularly fine rune etching tools, which were charmed for steadiness. Neville got him a Morpheus Flower***, having witnessed his friend's nightmare-induced insomnia. After thanking them for their gifts, the quintet made their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast.
The Great Hall was as decorated as it had been the previous years, with hundreds upon hundreds of Jack-O-Lanterns floating in the air, clouds of fluttering bats that weaved in and out of sight, and flaming orange streamers swimming lazily across the stormy enchanted ceiling like brilliant serpents of fire.
The feast was, as always, delicious. Four of the quintet had missed out on the feast the previous year due to Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party, an event none were about to remember, for the sake of their appetites. This year, they made up for it with second helping of everything. At the Staff Table, the two Marauders were talking animatedly with Professor Flitwick, while Snape and Slughorn looked particularly dour for some reason. Snape was understandable, thought Harry - the greasy-haired Potions Master's rivalry with the Marauders had been explained in detail to him by the Marauders - but Slughorn's attitude was remarkably out of place among the cheer.
Then he remembered a throw-away comment the Potions Professor had made after judging one of his potions.
'She was quite brilliant, your mother. One of my favorite students, in fact!'
Harry made an imperceptible nod as the information clicked into place. Slughorn was dour because one of his favorite students had died twelve years ago that night.
For all the cheer of Voldemort's downfall, very few understood how Harry felt about it. His parents had been torn from him, an event he could only remember in some of his nightmares, which consisted only of a high scream and a flash of green. All of his knowledge of his parents had been second-hand, and there were times when he wondered if they would have been proud of them.
There were also the conflicted feelings that came from living with the Fentons.
Sometimes, they forgot that they only had one son.
For Harry Potter, Halloween was a night of conflict.
At ten minutes to midnight, Danny snapped awake. He rose from his bed with something calling to him in the back of his head, a song. A song of ethereal voices and eldritch tones, an undertone of serpentine hissing completing the melody.
With all the silence and stealth of a ghost, Danny slipped out of Gryffindor tower and into the moonlit corridor. The song in his head reached a high note, and a stab of pain struck him in the gut, forcing him to lean on the wall before he could move on, the song guiding him down flights of stairs and long, winding corridors. With every step, the song grew louder, until it drowned out even the sound of his own labored breath as he arrived at his destination.
Entering the haunted bathroom on the first floor, Danny staggered to the sink that hid the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and grasped the sides of the false sink like a lifeline.
Myrtle, taking notice of the intruder, took one look at him before diving into her toilet with a splash, a look of sheer terror on her transparent face.
Bent over the sink, Danny's breath came out in clouds of mist as the temperature in the room plummeted, even while he himself felt like he was on fire.
At the stroke of midnight, many things happened at once.
In the office of the Headmaster, the sole human occupant woke with a start as a wave of power swept through him and Fawkes the Phoenix started trilling, while three other teachers awoke to the same, one of them looking at the glowing glyph hidden by his sleeve.
To the south, a pair of cobalt eyes looked up, and a cruel smile crossed their owner's face, much to the unease of his two companions, a rat-faced man and a blonde with the look of an aristocrat during the French Revolution.
To the far west, two teens were roused from their studies, one of them clutching at a necklace belonging to her grandmother, while the other felt the song thrum in his bones, and had to hold himself back from howling in response.
Directly below Danny, a great serpent raised her head, as though looking through the many tons of earth that separated her from her protected, hissing in displeasure at not being able to anything about their suffering except pray.
For Danny, the moment stretched on for an eternity. Every nerve in his body lit up as though set on fire, while burning ice shot through his veins. His heart hammered in chest while at the same time feeling as though a hand was trying to crush it. As the song in his head reached a crescendo, two words hissed, drowning out all other sound.
{Rise, Phantom}
For one instant, everything snapped into place and froze as if time itself had stopped cold.
When that instant was over, the pain came rushing back and Danny threw his head back with a haunting scream, back arched as emerald lightning crackled across his body before coalescing into a glowing white ring around his midsection. A wave burst from the ring in all directions, before splitting in two. The bands of light swept over his form, subtly altering him as they passed. When the rings passed his head and feet, they dissipated into motes of light, and Danny toppled to the floor with a groan.
Back in the Gryffindor Third Year Boy's Dormitories, Harry Potter's sleep turned restless as his consciousness shifted.
He found himself on a vast plain, surrounded on all sides by tall grass that easily reached his shoulders. The grass was a shimmering golden green, while the sky above was a hazy purple with pitch black clouds.
"Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone there?"
His answer came in the form of a cry in the distance. Harry bolted in that direction, the grass parting before him like the Red Sea, until he came upon an unusual scene. A large patch of grass had been cleared, the few stalks still standing looking burnt and withered, as did the grass at the edge of the clearing. In the center of the clearing, two figures clashed. The larger of the two was a gargantuan snake, clad in black scales that appeared to be rotting in some places. Thick black tendrils tethered the beast to the ground, twelve in all, wisps of smoke wafting from the anchors, as though they were being burned. The abomination of a serpent had its burning red gaze locked on the second figure, who was flitting around it and trying to cut through the tendrils with a sword of glittering silver. The figure lept out the way of a strike from the monsters tail, and landing right in front of Harry. What he saw made him gasp.
Hair like molten copper cascaded to her waist, and she had a rather athletic build, like an olympic gymnast. She was clad in a combination of armor and a dress, flowing silk with strategically placed shining plate.
But what had made him gasp was her face.
A pair of golden, slitted eyes gazed from a pale face, her skin possessing a noticeably scaly texture. High cheekbones clashed with a flat nose, with slits for nostrils.
She was smiling, revealing a set of rather sharp, snake-like fangs.
"Glad you could make it, Harry. D'ya mind helping me with tall, dark, and gruesome over there?"
Harry nodded absently. Despite her appearance, something told him that he she could be trusted, a warm, almost familial feeling. He looked at the massive serpent, and his gut twisted into disgust and rage that may not have entirely been his own. He looked down, and noticed that he didn't have his wand on him.
No matter, he thought, a quick hiss of Parseltongue left him holding Slytherin's sword, and he charged the great beast with a roaring battle cry.
"Hey scaly!" he shouted. The serpent turned it's head to Harry, just in time for his first strike to land. A handful of scales were ripped off by the blow, shattering into nothingness once they had left their wearer. The snake gave a cry of rage, just as the girl sheared through a pair of tendrils, causing it to recoil as though burned. Harry quickly made it regret shifting its attention, slashing through its eye, putting out the hateful red embers. The snake-like girl cleaved through another three of the beasts tethers. The serpent shrieked, and Danny stabbed it through the roof of its mouth. The serpent swung its head into the air in an attempt to get away, allowing the girl to make short work of the rest of the tendrils, until only one remained. The serpent slammed into the ground, and batted the girl away with its tail. Harry saw and opening, and dove under the beast's tail. A lightning-fast strike of his sword, and the last of the anchoring tendrils was severed. The beast rolled away from him, writhing in pain as its scales flew off. Thick black smoke welled from the skin below accompanied by a sizzling sound, and the beast shrank until it was no larger than a garden snake.
The creature gave one last piteous moan, and expired, falling apart like ash on the wind.
Harry turned to his ally, who had gotten up and retrieved her sword.
"Who are you? What are you? And what was that thing?"
The girl had a smirk on her face.
"In reverse order, that beast we just slayed was nasty piece of abominable magic left by the bastard who gave you that scar on your head. I'm your friendly neighborhood half-naga, and my name is Ayla Slytherin. As for how I got here, that's a long story, and you'd best talk to Aisling."
"Aisling? As in Aisling Peverell? But she's dead."
He smirk gained a certain warmth to it as she answered.
"As of tonight, not so much."
To Be Continued...
*A Brayer is a breed of magical equine, specifically a donkey or mule capable of speaking human languages. Their name comes from the sound a non-magical donkey makes, and most documented examples demonstrate a chronic inability to not speak. An animal-noise jinx is often used by wizards who dein to keep Brayers, in accordance with Clause 73 of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
**According to Pottermore: Strong, durable and warm in colour, larch has long been valued as an attractive and powerful wand wood. Its reputation for instilling courage and confidence in the user has ensured that demand has always outstripped supply. This much sought-after wand is, however, hard to please in the matter of ideal owners, and trickier to handle than many imagine. I find that it always creates wands of hidden talents and unexpected effects, which likewise describes the master who deserves it. It is often the case that the witch or wizard who belongs to the larch wand may never realise the full extent of their considerable talents until paired with it, but that they will then make an exceptional match.
***The Morpheus Flower is a magical plant that induces pleasant dreams in those who sleep near it.
