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Chapter Ten

Hermione, Malfoy and I went upstairs. Malfoy intended to return to the library to help Crabbe and Goyle study some more, while Hermione and I wanted to go to Gryffindor tower and let Neville know what we had discovered.

I couldn't wait to finally tell Ron everything. No more lies, no more secrets. The first new addition to the team, hopefully the first of many. We could do this. We could watch people for three days, tell them about the invasion, and make them one of us. Soon we'd have an army powerful enough to defeat the Yeerks. We'd avenge Elfangor, and we'd save the Earth. I was sure of it.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sight of Neville running down the corridor ahead, huffing and puffing. He spotted us and ran our way.

"What's going on, Neville?" I asked.

He braced his hands against his thighs as he gasped for breath. "I'm so sorry!—I lost—I lost Ron, and I—looking for him everywhere, but I can't—"

I stared at him in stunned shock for a few seconds. "You lost him?"

We relocated to the spiral staircase hidden behind the tapestry.

"I'm really sorry!" Neville panted. "He was in the library with Seamus and Dean one second, then the next time I looked up, they were all gone! It's been about twenty minutes, I think."

Threading my fingers through my hair, I fought back a scream of frustration. "Neville! Why can't you do anything right?"

Neville looked stricken. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

I turned to the others. Hermione's expression was disappointed, Malfoy's cold and serious. "Look, it's almost been three days anyway," I insisted. "We've been watching him all this time—Malfoy, you even told me that you don't really think he's a Controller."

"I know, but… Potter," Malfoy said with a sigh. "Twenty minutes is more than enough time for him to have gone to the Yeerk Pool if that's where he went."

"But we were down there!" I shouted. "We would have seen him!"

"Twenty minutes ago, we were still in the paved courtyard," Malfoy said. "He might have even been inside the Yeerk Pool when we found it. We didn't go any further than the entrance— for all we know, he was there."

"Ron isn't a Controller!" I shouted.

"Harry…" Hermione put her hand on my arm. "I know it's hard. He's my friend, too. But it's not just our lives at stake. It's the whole world. We're the only ones who can fight. If the Yeerks find out about us, about who we are, then… it'll be over. We can't afford to take any more risks than we have to."

I glared down at the stair beneath my feet.

"There's another week until the end of term," Hermione said. "There's plenty of time to find out for sure. Okay?"

"Fine, I won't tell him anything," I grumbled. "Well, if it's going to be another three days until we can tell Ron, then there's no use waiting to investigate the Yeerk Pool. I say we go back to the caves, use our Billywig morphs, and see what exactly is in there."

"Agreed," Malfoy said. Hermione nodded.

"Neville, you might as well come along," I said, "since you can't be trusted to keep an eye on Ron anyway."

Neville winced.

"That's enough, Harry," Hermione said sternly. "Leave him alone."

"I—fine, whatever, I'm sorry," I said quickly. "Come on. We'll go to the fifth floor and use the staircase shortcut you pointed out earlier, Malfoy."

With everything decided, we emerged through the tapestry and headed for the main stairwell.

"Don't mind him, Potter's just being a big baby," I heard Malfoy tell Neville behind me. "Crabbe and Goyle aren't on the team but you don't see me whining about it. Besides, it's not your fault you're utterly incompetent."

"He is not incompetent!" Hermione said. "He's good at… um… Herbology! That's an important skill to have, you know."

Malfoy let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, I see! If we ever need to send the Yeerks a bouquet of honking daffodils, we know just the man to call."

Once we reached the large spiral staircase, we checked around to make sure the area was clear.

"From up here, we'll be able to see anyone coming from a ways off," Malfoy said, peering over the railing. Hermione stood at the entrance to the stairwell to keep an eye out for anyone coming down the corridor.

"I'll morph first," I said.

"No one's coming," Hermione said. "Go ahead."

I cast the spell over my clothes and began focusing on my Billywig morph. The changes were sudden. First, I shrank. The floor zoomed up at me as if I had just stumbled or tripped. Then two new appendages shot out of my ribcage. Something started to grow from the top of my head—the Billywig's helicopter-like wings. I thought I must have been an amusing sight, less than a foot tall and shrinking with four arms and wings growing out of my head.

My skin started to turn blue and hard. My arms and legs shrank until they were little more than stubby black pegs. I lost my balance and fell forward onto my six new Billywig legs. My head and chest sort of fused together into a single piece, making it impossible to turn my head. As for my backside… well, the less said about what was happening to my backside, the better.

"I told you he'd still haave hiis stiiingeer wheeen heee mooorpheeeed," Hermione said. Her voice and movements got slower and slower—or more accurately, my perception had become much faster.

Malfoy's eyes rolled in slow motion. "Weeeell, dooooon't yooouuu aaaalllwaaaayssss haaaaaaave toooo beeeeee Liiiittllllllle Miiiiisssssss Knooooooow-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit-aaaaaaaaaaaaall."

[I think I'm done morphing,] I said.

Hermione, Malfoy and Neville all slowly looked at me in confusion.

"Diiiiiiiiiiiiiid yoooooooouuuu saaaaaaaaaaay sooooooooomethiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, Haaaaaaaaarrrrrrry?" Neville asked.

They couldn't understand me because I was too fast, I realized. Trying to elongate my words by lingering over them in my thoughts, I said, [Yoooooooooouuu threeeeeee mooooooooorrrrrrph nooooooooowwwwww.]

As they morphed one by one, I decided to try flying. My wings spun, slowly at first, then so fast that they were a blur even to my perception. Using the Billywig's instincts, I was able to take off.

My body was spinning so fast that I had expected flying as a Billywig would be incredibly dizzying. But to my surprise, my vision was steady and only faced one direction. I realized that my eyes were only taking a still image once every rotation of my body, and I was spinning so fast that it was able to form a steady moving image, like a film reel or a flip-book. The direction I was looking in could be changed through tiny increases or decreases to the speed of my rotation.

The stinger at the end of my body was connected to a few muscles, which I could move different ways to change direction in flight, much like the rudder of a boat. Speed, of course, could be controlled by how fast I spun my wings.

After I had made several loops around the top of the staircase chamber, I was finally joined by another Billywig, then another, then another.

[Now this is more like flying on a broomstick,] Malfoy said. [Maneuverability, excitement, death-defying speed—I like it!]

[Speak for yourself,] Hermione moaned. [I think I'll get motion-sickness after too much of this.]

[It's all in your head, Hermione,] I told her. [Billywigs don't get motion-sickness.]

We flew out to the center of the room and quickly swerved down, diving down, down, down, the staircase swirling around us. The windows vanished, marble turned to stone, and we swerved again, heading through the arch into the caves. The fire blooming up from the torches moved in slow-motion.

[What is this place?] Neville asked.

Malfoy and Hermione took the time to tell him as we made our way through the tunnel, winding serpentine beneath the school. Within a few minutes, we had passed through the illusion hiding the Yeerk Pool entrance.

At the end of the metal walkway Hermione and Malfoy had been standing on just a few minutes ago, another tunnel continued into the rock before sloping down and to the left. We followed the tunnel, flying by a small torch, until the tunnel straightened out. Ahead of us, the path went down at a much steeper angle—large steps had even been carved into the floor to ease the climb.

As we continued down, the light from the torch faded behind us, only to be replaced by a stark white light that definitely didn't come from a flame. The stairway doubled back, heading down farther still. At the end of the second set of stairs was an electric light sticking out of a metal wall. We flew closer to inspect it.

[That's impossible,] Hermione said. [Electrical objects don't work at Hogwarts.]

[We must be a few hundred feet beneath the school, now,] Malfoy said. [Maybe the wards don't extend this far underground.]

[Come on, let's keep going,] I said. The tunnel leveled out and turned to the right, forming an obviously man-made corridor lined with steel on all sides, lit up with more electric lights. At the end there appeared to be a large cavern.

We flew out into the cavern—and what we saw made us all pause. The cavern opened up below us into a round chamber about one-hundred feet in diameter. A set of stairs curled down from the corridor to the floor of the chamber. In the very center there was a pool on a raised dais, about fifty feet in diameter, filled with a churning, toxic-looking sludge: The Yeerk Pool. There were several cages around the edge of the chamber. Most of them were empty.

A few were not.

[Oh my God…] Malfoy gasped.

It was one thing to know that the Yeerks were enslaving people. It was quite another to see it in action. A handful of students were in the cages, people whose faces I knew but whose names I didn't. Some cried. Some were screaming for help, others shouting threats at the Hork-Bajir Controllers who were patrolling the Yeerk Pool chamber.

Worst of all were the ones who did nothing, resigned to their fates.

[Malfoy, do you know who they are?] I asked.

[I… yes, some of them,] Malfoy said, regaining his calm. [Terrance Higgs, seventh-year Slytherin, Blaine Stebbins, fourth-year Hufflepuff; Sophia Fawcett, third-year Ravenclaw; Kenneth Towler and Patricia Stimpson, third-year Gryffindors… God, they're all Controllers.]

[Let's look around,] I said, hoping to distract us from the deeply unsettled feeling that had settled over us at the sight of the imprisoned hosts. Branching off from the main chamber were several smaller caves that housed (among other things) machinery, what looked like a communications bank with glowing semi-transparent screens, an armory full of futuristic looking weapons, and, to our disgust, a group of Taxxons eating flesh from some large creature that was no longer identifiable.

We found a security area, which looked similar to the communications bank we'd seen earlier, except the screens showed various points in the Yeerk Pool instead of the insides of what looked like space-ships. Taking a moment, we made a mental note of which places were being monitored and where there were blind-spots.

In yet another cave, I was surprised to find a large fireplace with a cube-shaped bin full of soot built into it. Two adult wizards wearing uniforms stood guard beside it.

[What is that?] I asked.

[I believe it's called a fireplace,] Malfoy said dryly.

[Thanks, Malfoy,] I grumbled.

[It must be for Floo travel,] Neville said.

[Flew travel?]

[F-L-O-O,] said Malfoy.

I sighed. [Thank you again, Malfoy.]

[We, magic people I mean, can magically travel from fireplace to fireplace,] Neville explained. [You throw some of that powder into the flames, say where you want to go, and then you're there.]

[So wizard Controllers from around the country can use Floo to instantly travel to the Yeerk Pool?] I asked.

[Potter, if they have the Pool connected to the Floo Network, the Yeerks must have someone in the Department of Magical Transportation,] Malfoy said gravely. [If they've got Controllers in that department, I wouldn't be surprised if there are others in the rest of the Ministry.]

[The Ministry? You mean the Ministry of Magic?] I asked. [I thought they were just supposed to keep the magical world hidden from Muggles.]

[That's the Ministry's ultimate purpose, but it also governs the British wizarding community,] Malfoy said. [Controllers in the Ministry… This is much bigger than I thought.]

[I think we've seen everything we need to see,] I said. [Let's get out of here.]

We re-entered the main chamber and my attention went back to the students huddled in the cages.

[Isn't… isn't there anything we can do for them?] Neville asked.

[Like what, if I might ask?] Malfoy said skeptically. [Do you think a Billywig can take on one of those blade-covered monsters?]

[We could sting the Hork-Bajir…] Neville suggested lamely.

[Then we wouldn't be able to fly away,] Hermione said. [We'd be seen when we tried to de-morph. And that's assuming that Billywig stings even work on Hork-Bajir.]

[It just doesn't feel right, leaving them there,] Neville said.

[It's not like we have any other options,] Malfoy said.

Though I was still annoyed with him, I couldn't help but sympathize with Neville a bit. I was feeling much the same way, looking down at the students' frightened faces. I led the way out of the Yeerk Pool, back up the tunnel and through the hidden entrance, through the caves and corridors, until we were in a remote part of the dungeons. Malfoy assured us that even the Slytherins had little reason to go to there, so we would be safe from any prying eyes.

One by one, we de-morphed until all four of us were standing together. Now that I had seen the Yeerk Pool, had seen the victims of the invasion with my own eyes…

I looked resolutely at the others. "We've seen the Yeerk Pool. Now we can plan our attack. We're going to save those students, and everyone else the Yeerks have taken."

"How?" Hermione asked. "Even if we free them now, the Yeerks would just find them later and take them over again."

"We're going to destroy the Yeerk Pool," I said with grim determination. "The Yeerks will die, and then those kids and everyone else they've taken will be free."

The others nodded their agreement, even Neville through his tears.

For the rest of the evening, we relocated to an old unused potions classroom to discuss possible attack plans. But despite the fact that there were a lot of ideas thrown around, there was always some fault in the plan that Hermione or Malfoy would point out, effectively shooting it down.

Even knowing that we were ending the day with much discovered and discussed, it still felt like we had accomplished very little. We parted ways and returned to our respective houses' dormitories.

"Hey, Harry!" It was Ron, jogging over from the other side of the common room. For a second, all of the frustration I had been experiencing over the last week boiled up on me, threatening to explode. Ron's eyes widened slightly. "Harry, are you alright?"

I rubbed my eyes and pushed away my anger. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Exam stress getting to you, eh?" Ron said with a smile. "Well, there's only one day left, and then we won't have any more work until the end of the year!"

I smiled back. "I'll be glad when it's over. I've been having all sorts of trouble during mine. Hermione and I spent all afternoon studying."

"Really? Where were you?" Ron asked. "Seamus, Dean and I were in the library earlier. We didn't see you there."

"Well, she wanted to send a letter to her parents first, then—we went for a walk around the school," I lied. "To get some more fresh air before coming back inside, you know?"

"I guess we just missed each other," Ron said. "We met up with some other first-years for a game of Quidditch."

I supposed that Malfoy would tell me that Ron's story was a lie. Suddenly I just felt so tired of it all.

"I think I'm going to go to bed," I told Ron.

"What?" Ron asked. "Come on, it's not even seven. I was hoping we could play some chess—I hardly got to talk to you outside of meals today."

My gut twisted with guilt, so I gave in and played a couple of games. Even if Ron hadn't been better than me, he probably would have won anyway because I had so much on my mind, distracting me from the games.

Eventually we decided to go to the dorms, where we joked around with Seamus and Dean for a few hours before turning in.

For yet another night, I lay awake listening to my dorm-mates fall asleep one by one.

It wasn't fair. We watched Ron for days without any sign he was a Controller. Even when he was away from us, we had been in the Yeerk Pool. Perhaps he could have gone to the Pool and left before we arrived, as Malfoy and Hermione had argued, but I strongly doubted it.

I'd had enough. I was going to tell him.

I sat up in bed and opened my curtains, facing Ron's bed. But I found myself hesitant to break the silence. The words were hard to form. What could I say? Wake up, Ron, I just wanted to tell you something: Why have I been acting so strange lately, you ask? Oh, I met an alien six days ago and he told me about an invasion of space slugs—also, he gave me the ability to turn into any animal I touch. No, that wouldn't sound crazy at all, would it?

A sudden tapping at one of the windows pulled me out of my thoughts. It was an owl.

An eagle owl.

I opened the window. "Malfoy," I hissed. "What are you doing here?"

[Preventing you from blowing our cover, apparently,] Malfoy said. [You were about to tell him, weren't you?]

"I wasn't, actually," I said. Technically, it wasn't a lie.

Malfoy flew inside and landed on my bed.

"Get out of here!" I whispered urgently.

[Can I see the Ashwinder eggs?] Malfoy asked.

"What? No! They're no different from the eggs you harvested anyhow," I said. "Go back to the Slytherin dormitories."

[You saw what happened in the paved courtyard,] Malfoy said. [I thought it would be best if I didn't stay in the dormitories tonight, if you understand my meaning.]

"Because of what you did to Pike?" I asked.

[No—or at least, not mostly. Pike might try to get back at me for that, I suppose,] Malfoy said. [Where do you keep the eggs?]

I sighed. "If I show you the eggs, will you leave?"

[Alright, alright,] Malfoy said. He de-morphed and sat down eagerly on my bed as I pulled the dragon-hide bag of eggs out of my wardrobe. I gave the bundle to Malfoy. He removed the top glove and peered inside. "Ooh—I can't even look very long, they put off so much heat. Like putting your face right next to a fire."

I looked around anxiously at the curtains of my dorm-mates four-posters, hoping desperately that they wouldn't wake up.

"Can I have one?" Malfoy asked.

"What?" I asked. "No! I'm not even supposed to have them. I'm going to find someplace to let them go, that's all."

"My birthday's coming up," Malfoy said.

"No."

"We could sneak one into our History of Magic exam tomorrow. Professor Binns probably wouldn't even notice his desk catch on fire."

"No."

"Fine," Malfoy said. "You still owe me a dragon, though."

"How on earth do you figure that?"

"I never got to see the dragon you and Granger snuck out of the school," Malfoy said. "Ergo, you owe me a dragon."

"You're barking," I said. "You do realize dragons can't be kept as pets?"

"I don't think that's true. The Gringott's goblins keep dragons to guard our money, after all. I think someone could keep a dragon as a pet, if they knew how to do it properly and had the space and money—which I do," Malfoy said. "I'm going to have a pet dragon someday."

I rolled my eyes. "Good luck, then. If I ever have my hands on a dragon again, I'll be sure to send it your way."

"So, why did you take the eggs, anyway?" Malfoy asked. "It's kind of pointless if you're not using them to commit arson of some kind. What are you going to do with them?"

I flopped back onto my bed, letting out a sigh. "I don't know. I did it on an impulse, I didn't think—"

"That's new," Malfoy said.

"Very funny, Malfoy," I said. I shut my eyes. "I don't know what to do with them. I don't know what to do with anything."

Silence. I felt more and more uncomfortable as I wondered why I had said that to Draco Malfoy of all people.

"Well…" Malfoy began slowly. "I imagine that's how all leaders feel. The good ones just act like they know what they're doing until they can think of something."

I opened my eyes. Malfoy was pointedly not looking at me, staring at the Ashwinder eggs in his hand.

"So," I said, turning my gaze to the ceiling, "since I told you I don't know what I'm doing… by your logic, does that make me a bad leader?"

"Oh, no," Malfoy said with a smirk. "See, great leaders always have some cunning, handsome advisor behind the scenes they can share their problems with, who gives them all their best ideas."

I snorted. "If you don't say so yourself."

"It's just a suggestion," Malfoy said. "My family has a long history of being the power behind the throne. You couldn't ask for an advisor with better breeding."

"Really. Well, if literally everybody else on the planet dies, I'll consider you for the job."

"Settling for 'bad leader' after all, are you?" Malfoy asked mildly. "How sad."

I rolled my eyes. "You've seen the eggs, now will you leave? I'd like to get some sleep tonight."

"Fine, fine," Malfoy said. He set the eggs on my nightstand and cast the spell on his robes. I looked away as he morphed, watching the other beds for any sign of movement. When Malfoy was completely owl-shaped again, he perched on the window and turned his head back to look at me. [I can't believe I have to tell you this again, but don't say anything to Weasley.]

I threw my pillow at him. Malfoy shrieked and darted out the window.

Once Malfoy was gone, I checked on the Ashwinder eggs. There was no difference from the last time I'd seen them.

"What am I going to do with you?" I said with a sigh.

After putting the bundle back inside my wardrobe, I lay down in bed. I pulled the covers over my head, as if they would offer any kind of shield from my busy mind. What on Earth was I thinking when I took those eggs?

"Good for nothing but starting fires and making baby Ashwinders," I muttered to myself. Several seconds passed as I tried to sleep.

My eyes snapped open and I shot straight up out of bed.

I knew what to do.