Characters, settings, and story relating to the Harry Potter series of novels are copyright J. K. Rowling, along with Bloomsbury Publishing, et al. "Spirit of Fear" is not an officially published work, nor is it in any cooperation with J. K. Rowling or Bloomsbury Publishing. "Spirit of Fear" is entirely (with the exclusion of the aforementioned characters, settings, and story) a work by Thomas Holman.

Chapter Eleven

Dramatics

It was a few days after Chey received his OWL results, and Chey woke up to a newspaper in his face.

"He's escaped, Chey!" he heard someone shout in his hear.

"Chuck," he said, "either give me a minute to make the transition from sleep to wake or tell me what I'm supposed to be looking at."

"Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban!"

"He made it?"

"What?"

"He finally made it? It's about time!" Chey was fully awake now. "What took him so long?"

"What are you talking about, Chey?"

"Oh, I forgot. You're British."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, no self respecting American ever thought Black was guilty."

"WHAT?!"

"Innocent until proven guilty. Black never had a trial."

"He what?" Chuck asked, far calmer than before.

"Black never got a trial. Crotchety Crouch was so anxious to throw people in jail he just started handing out guilty verdicts without the hassle of formalities."

"But he was at the crime scene!"

"And we'll never hear his side of the story now, will we?"

"You make a good point, Chey, but you can't deny he had motive."

"That he allegedly worked for the enemy? Again, we'll never hear him explain it."

The two of them never could come to terms, so they left it at that. Chey thought it wise not to mention Black's possible escape strategies, in case Chuck leaked them to British Ministry officials.

The end of August had come once again, as did the reminders of the upcoming school year from Beauxbatons. Chey brushed up on his French, meaning he cast an elaborate translating spell of his own invention, and packed the necessary things. He knew one thing: he would never be content with the periwinkle-blue uniform. He almost missed the Durmstrang furs. Even the Hogwarts plain, boring black robes seemed enticing. He had to admit the material was very nice. It was a fine silk, and Chey determined that Beauxbatons was definitely attended by an upper class sort of student body, and when he saw the admission fee there was no question.

"Maybe they'll let me make some color changes?" he said before leaving. "What do you think, Chuck?"

"I think you're crazy for wearing that," he replied. "How are you getting there?"

"They never say anything about pre-made travel arrangements. All they said was the location, so I guess it's a sort of 'get there yourself' affair."

"So what are you going to do?"

"You know what? Since they seem obsessed with style, I'm gonna show off."

"I'm afraid to ask what you mean-"

"Can I borrow an Opaleye?"

And so Chey did indeed arrive at Beauxbatons riding on the back of an Antipodean Opaleye. Needless to say he did cause quite a scare when people saw a dragon silhouetted against the horizon, and the panic continued, albeit subdued, even when they realized the dragon made no aggressive advances.

It was quite a sight that reminded Chey of day one at an American college university, where the entire family comes to bid farewell to their student. Everywhere he looked as he saw students in the uniform hugging family members and waving their goodbyes as they entered the tall oak double doors. The castle seemed considerably more well-maintained than Durmstrang's castle. That could have been due to two factors. First, the setting sun hit the front of the castle full on, and second was the outer walls were a bright white, which was accentuated by the setting sun.

It looked as though it had been renovated in the last hundred years or so, as it had a slightly Victorian appearance. The roof had a hue very similar to the color of the uniforms, and Chey figured a student could hide very effectively by simply sitting up there.

Chey was right about one thing: the girls in France were something to look at. If Chey could do nothing else, it was make a correct assumption.

As he unloaded his things from the dragon's back, he looked around for a faculty member who may be able to assist him in his introduction to the school, but everyone seemed too distracted by the dragon to notice him or they were busy helping first year students. He thought it best to seek out Madame Maxime. He had heard from one of his coworkers who had attended Beauxbatons that she was a rather large woman, and Chey thought he had understood. However, upon seeing her, her description made perfect sense.

She towered over everyone else, and was slightly over-proportionally wide. Her hair was pulled back tightly into a single knob at the base of her neck, while it's color matched perfectly with her black dress. Apparently she hoped that black clothes would look slimming, but the color sure had a fight on it's hands, as her size was more than a match. Chey was reminded of the inebriated caroler he saw at Hogwarts last Christmas, and suspected that the two of them may be half-giant. Stranger things had happened before, so this possibility was not so far fetched.

He was about to attract her attention, when he heard a small voice beside him.

"Are you, sir, Monsieur McGonnagal, sir?"

He looked in the direction of the voice, but saw nothing. He then looked three-hundred and sixty degrees around himself, looking for the source of those words, then looked near his feet. What he saw was something he had not seen since leaving the United States: a house elf.

"Are you, sir, Monsieur McGonnagal, sir?" the little creature repeated. She wore nothing but a sash with the Beauxbatons coat of arms, and her large ears drooped as she looked up at him.

"Yes, I am," he answered the elf. She made a slight squeal of delight, and began picking up his belongings. "What are you doing?" he asked, a perfectly legitimate question to ask when someone begins taking one's things.

"I is been tasked with assisting you, sir."

"First, I do speak fluent French, so there is no need to continue in English."

"Yes, sir," the elf said, and the conversation carried on in French.

"Second, if you want to assist me, tell me where I can leave Mayla, here."

"Who, sir?"

"Mayla," he said, patting the Opaleye on the back.

"The..the dragon, sir?"

"Yes. She's staying here while I attend," he said, as though people did this everyday. He enjoyed using this tone when speaking to people about such unusual practices.

The elf stuttered, then finally said "I is not who to ask, sir."

"Then would you be so kind to introduce me to the one to ask?"

"Right away sir!" and the elf scampered off, in search of the appropriate person.

Chey continued removing his things from Mayla's back and unhitching the harness he had specially made for her. It wasn't long before he was approached by another student.

"A very dramatic entrance," she said. Chey turned and saw a rather stunning young woman. Her sheet of silver hair fell to her waist, and her deep blue eyes were fixated on the dragon. "How did you ever manage it?"

"It helps that Mayla here was raised in captivity." She seemed surprised by his casualness, and Chey immediately knew why. There was not a doubt in his mind that she was the child of a veela. Not directly, but perhaps grandchild of a veela, like his mother was. "You wouldn't happen to know where she could stay all year, would you?" he asked.

"No, but they may let you keep it-"

"Her," he corrected the girl.

"...her," she continued, "with the horses."

"You keep horses here?"

"Winged horses, yes."

"The larger white breed?"

"Of course."

"Sounds viable, but I think I'll wait for approval from your groundskeeper."

It was at that moment that the woman Chey determined was Madame Maxime had approached, followed by the house elf from earlier at her heels.

"Chiffon tells me your dragon requires a place to stay," she said. Chey could only assume Chiffon was the house elf.

"Chiffon would be correct," he answered. "Mayla here will be staying all year."

"I'm not sure it is a wise decision."

"If you are worried about the danger," Chey started to explain, "then your concerns are misplaced. Mayla here is tame as any creature you will ever come across, and should anyone incite her, I can calm her down in two seconds. All I ask is that student access to her be limited."

Seemingly convinced, Maxime allowed it, saying, "Chiffon, show Monsieur McGonnagal to the stables and help him prepare a place for his, er, pet."

"This way, please, sir," said the little creature, as she led him in the direction of what Chey supposed was where they kept the horses, and Mayla followed him obediently. She was a relatively old dragon, and with that age came a command of respect from other creatures. Chey chose Mayla for that reason. A younger dragon would have felt the need to fight for respect, and they couldn't have that near a school. And even if that younger dragon was a calm one, other creatures would still want to fight for superiority. None of these things would happen with an older dragon.

The veela girl wasn't kidding. The horses they kept could very well have supported Madame Maxime, they were so large.

Fortunately Mayla did not react too strongly towards the horses, and the horses allowed her in. There was an empty stall towards the back, and they led her into it.

"What do you feed them?" he asked the elf.

"Single-malt whiskey," came a reply, though not from the house elf. It came from the same girl he spoke to earlier. She had apparently followed them out of curiosity. Chey immediately noticed a smugness in her.

"Who knew," he replied.

"What do you feed your's?"

"Sheep, usually." She seemed stunned.

"Live sheep?" she said quitely.

"Only on special occasions. Though they will eat deer, cattle, just about anything that size. However, Mayla, here, hasn't had the energy for a real chase lately."

"Will your dragon require anything else, sir?" said Chiffon once Mayla was settled.

"There will be a shipment of raw meats arriving every two days. Split them up evenly into six meals and give her three of them per day, morning, noon and evening."

"How is it to be prepared?" inquired the elf.

"There will be no need," Chey answered. "Raw will be fine."

"Very good, sir. Is I to take your things, now?"

"Yes, thank you. Can you manage them all?"

"I is having no difficulty, sir," Chiffon said as she heaved his belongings effortlessly onto her back and scampered off towards the castle as though she were carrying nothing at all.

"Raw meat?" the girl, who was still there, had said in a somewhat frightened tone once the elf had left.

"She prefers the taste of raw steak to that of cooked. She can't have the thrill of the chase so she might as well have the fresh taste of the reward."

"And you're certain there will be no conflicts?"

"Mayla has always been calm. Never really got into any fights at all. We could always count on her to break them up, though." He seemed to have her attention, so he figured now was as good a time as any to ask "Do you know where I can get a map of the castle?"

She seemed startled. He supposed no one had ever asked that before. "Um, you may want to ask Madame Maxime."

Author's note.

All are free to speculate who this girl is and how she and Chey will interact in the coming chapters.

I appreciate the praise you have all given me thus far, but if I'm doing something wrong, let me know as well. Bear in mind, however, that if your suggestion involves changing the story, I'll probably disregard it entirely. This has taken two years to formulate in my head, and I'm not about to disregard it on a whim.

I've paused from writing for a moment (working on Chapter Eighteen) to read the seventh book and figure Chey's role in it. I had to stop because events in the books as early as the third could have an impact on what I want Chey to do. I should have something solid brewing in my skull sometime in the next two weeks. In the interest of allowing everyone a spoiler-free reading of the book themselves, please don't blurt out suggestions for the seventh book's timeline in the review section. Send me a private message instead. Although, again, the possibility of my using them is slim, as I'm not looking for suggestions.

Someday soon, I hope to have chapter art to show, just as soon as Lunan gets to it. Lunan has a tendency to procrastinate, who is now entertaining ideas of making a chibi Chey doll. As a result, while Lunan is shopping for materials to make one, I'm still waiting on that chapter art. The chapter art, once finished, will be posted on my website in the Spirit of Fear section.

Speaking of Spirit of Fear, anyone have an idea why I chose the title? It was for a deliberate reason, and I wonder what you guys are thinking. Just so you know, I'll neither affirm, nor deny any predictions.