Chapter 12: Herd and Heard

Lady had learned something new about herself.

Contrary to what Dante might say, she was not "angry by default". In fact, she was calm by default. So long as someone didn't actively push her buttons (like certain smug half-demons with white hair), Lady could be quite pleasant to others. Where Dante poked and prodded in conversations, she at least started by listening and only snapped when it became clear that she was not being listened to or respected. But of course she already knew all of that. That was old news. Still, it provided background for what she had just learned.

Lady hated centaurs. She wasn't annoyed by them, or disgusted with them, or simply disliked them. She hated them.

She'd never say it to his face, but for all his faults, she appreciated that Dante would always hear her out in the end. Even if he didn't agree with her, or act like he was listening, or decide to bother doing anything she asked if it didn't interest him, he would at least give her the simple courtesy of listening when she spoke. Basic respect was all she asked for, and he gave it.

But these centaurs did not.

Lady rubbed her temples, doing her level best to keep her cool. "Ignoring Venus for the moment-"

"When its colour is so unusual and its radiance more defined?" the crimson-haired centaur asked, frowning. "Clearly this aspect should not be ignored."

She tried again. "I was wondering if you'd noticed anything unusual in the forest."

"I am speaking with an unfamiliar human. Is that not unusual?"

She knew damn well he was cleverer than he was letting on, and he probably had a good idea what exactly she was asking. But she was running out of patience. "So apart from me you haven't discovered anything else? Anything that might be a danger to the students at this school?"

"Many things in this forest are a danger to the students, should they wander into it."

She let out a long, steadying sigh. "…Okay, then. Thanks for talking with me, Elatus." He merely nodded at her, and then returned to looking up into the sky. She trudged back in the direction of Hagrid's hut, glowering. Well, if I'm the strangest thing he's come across, then we're probably okay on the demon front for now. She trekked for several minutes before stopping suddenly. Abruptly she leapt upwards to grab a tree branch; she swung back and forth a few times to build up momentum before flipping herself upwards to grab another branch. She repeated the process twice more, and then landed on a large, somewhat flat branch. Balancing carefully on it, she walked to the massive tree trunk; though it appeared to be an otherwise unremarkable tree, she passed straight through the bark into a large hollow lit by three small lanterns and containing a small bedroll, a rucksack, several notes, and scattered weapon parts. Lady removed Kalina Ann from her back. "Damn centaurs; if Dante ever meets them, the inevitable argument's gonna last weeks." She set the launcher onto the mount that had been staked to the inside of the tree, and then dropped onto the bedroll in frustration. She shook her head, sighing, before looking around her shelter. Have to admit that these witches and wizards sure know their stuff. Hope that Minerva will take payback in the form of a few drinks on me. Shrugging, she picked up some of the scattered parts, pulling them closer before grabbing a half-carved block of wood and drawing a knife from its holster. Speaking of drinks, I'd better talk Dante into a bet with me this week; he's got something that might help with this.


"-and that is why you never, ever, trust anyone who promises free pizza." Dante nodded seriously at all the horrified-looking second years. The bell rang. "Homework for next time; I want you to come up with at least three ways to find out if what you see and hear is actually true. And I'll make you redo it if you say 'hit it until it stops moving'!" he warned as they filed out. He shook his head. You gotta admire the Creevey kid's spirit, but he needs a little sense along with it… His expression brightened as Hermione walked into the room. "Hey there! I'd say good morning, but it doesn't feel like it with all the cloud cover. Don't you guys ever have sun?"

"Hello, Professor." She seemed to be ignoring the comment about the weather. "I had a few questions about…well, about demons."

"Well, you've come to the right guy. I've got a while before my next class, but won't you be late for yours?"

"I have a few minutes." She looked at him weirdly; if he didn't know any better he would have said she was split between curiosity and suspicion. "Where exactly do demons come from?"

"Hell." He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Is that really what you were confused about?"

"I meant do they reproduce?"

"Some do, some don't. It differs between the types."

She frowned. "Well, what exactly is Hell?"

"Different every time I go there; it varies depending on where you end up."

Her eyebrows rose. "You've been there?"

"You bet. They ought to start giving me frequent flyer miles at this point. But if you're askin' for a map, you're going to be disappointed; the Demon World doesn't play by the same rules as this one."

Despite her suspicion and obvious growing doubt, she responded immediately. "For example?"

He gave a grim smile. "Gravity is more like a suggestion than a solid rule. Time fluctuates, and what might take a minute to travel to the first time you try might take a day the second time. And don't expect anything to stay the same for very long; you might be strolling across a lake of blood at one moment, then walking on the ceiling of a room full of impossible stairways, then running across a bottomless sky where a path forms under your feet. And even with all that, it's packed with as many demons as you have people in this world. Maybe more." Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. "Yeah, there's definitely fish. Devilfish, but that's not surprising. And the worst part is, it's the demons' home, so they're at their most powerful there. Even the weakest one in the Human World would be a tough fight in the Demon World, and that's not even getting into the kind of whoop-ass you'd need to take down a Greater Demon in its home."

"A…'Greater' Demon?"

He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "How do I put this…okay, think of it this way. You know how younger dragons are dangerous, but still not at full strength?" She nodded, and the look on her face suggested she knew all too well how difficult a young dragon was to handle. Wasn't that illegal? Maybe he was remembering it wrong. "Well, some demons get stronger with age, just like dragons. I think. It's tough to remember all the different things you do and don't have." Dante shook his head. "Anyway, a Greater Demon is usually a lot older, sometimes a lot smarter, and definitely a lot more powerful than your Lesser Demon."

From the look on her face, she wanted to believe that what he'd said was wrong. And yet her curiosity meant that she couldn't help herself. "How old can a demon get?"

"Really old."

"How old is 'really old'?" asked Hermione, a touch of impatience entering her voice.

"A good thousand years plus. And they don't have an upper limit, so some of them just keep getting older and older." He chuckled at the look of shock on her face. "You'd think that wizards would know this kind of stuff, if they've been around for as long as people have."

A glint of determination entered her eye. "…You would, wouldn't you?"

He nodded. "And usually when people discover something new, dangerous, or both, they tell other people about it."

"They do, yes."

"And if it's something really bad…like, say, monsters that don't play by the rules of nature or physics…you'd figure that someone somewhere might have wanted to commit that to writing, so they could be prepared for when it showed up again."

She'd almost started walking to the door before he'd even finished speaking. He called to her before she left. "Turn it in a month from now and I'll give you extra credit!" The door closed rapidly, and he chuckled. "That was almost too easy. Maybe we'll finally get some answers about what's going on here."


Harry wandered across the grounds Saturday morning, lost in thought. Several things had happened in the past week that he was still trying to sort through; the solution of a Mystery, his training (which would have its third session that evening), finally having overcome some of his homework and resigning himself to the fact that more was on the way. There were personal things; Seamus still thought he was mad, Dumbledore was still disappointingly distant, he hadn't had much of a chance to talk with Cho at all, and Hedwig had yet to come back with a response from Sirius, which was making him slightly nervous.

But more than all the rest, he was thinking over the conversation of Wednesday night, when he'd returned to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I'm talking about you, Harry."

"…What?"

The idea had seemed so ridiculous. How could Hermione suggest that Harry of all people should be the one to teach a replacement class for Defence Against the Dark Arts? He had posed this question that night, as well.

"Well, for starters, you've gone up against You-Know-Who…what is it, three times now?" Ron asked, grinning slightly.

Harry felt a slight queasiness as the hint of the memory of the graveyard flitted through his mind. "Twice; Riddle's diary wasn't actually him."

"Still two more than us."

"And I wouldn't have even been able to stop him the first time if it wasn't for you two!" Harry said fiercely.

"You've…well…" Hermione seemed to flush slightly. "You've gotten better marks in the Defence Against the Dark Arts tests than I have."

Ron smirked. "Except second year. Tell us again, Hermione, what was the favourite colour of Gilderoy Lock-"

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped, her face turning even more pink. "The point is that Harry knows the subject!"

"Only because I had lessons with Professor Lupin-" Harry began to protest, but Hermione cut him off.

"That was only for the Patronus Charm, and it never came up in our exams. But it might in the O.W.L.s, so we could really do with learning how to cast them properly."

"And there was the Triwizard Tournament," Ron added.

"Which I only did well in because you two were coaching me!" Harry insisted.

"We weren't there when you were down in the lake," he pointed out. "We weren't with you against the dragon. We weren't at that graveyard-"

"Don't you talk to me about that place," Harry growled warningly.

"But don't you see, Harry?" asked Hermione worriedly, a pleading look on her face. "Now that he's back…we're all in danger. We all need to be ready, or…" She gulped. "Well…it won't just be Cedric who..."

Harry nodded, more to stop her from finishing her sentence than anything else. "I understand what you're getting at. I just…it's all so sudden. I need some time to think about it, okay?"

And so he had thought about it. The only problem was that his view of the idea seemed to change whenever he thought about it. Sometimes it seemed just as absurd as when Hermione had first suggested he be the one to teach it. Sometimes it seemed to be no bother, as if it were merely another after-school group; no different from Quidditch. And once or twice, without meaning to, he found himself halfway through a lesson plan on something he'd experienced or noticed during his training with Dante.

He sighed. The whole thing was just too ridiculous, honestly. Even if a part of him found the idea of teaching his favourite subject exciting, he was just too young. He wasn't anything like Lupin or McGonagall; how could he guide others when half the people in the castle thought he was a deranged attention-seeker? No, he'd just have to tell Hermione that he couldn't do it.

He blinked, suddenly aware of where he was. He'd walked right past Hagrid's hut and into the outer edge of the Forbidden Forest. He was on the path, thankfully, so all he had to do was turn back. It would be safer that way. But then he saw a flash of something some distance away. It had almost looked like a person. He fixed his gaze on where he'd seen the image. To his surprise, though he didn't see a person through the trees, he saw one of the strange winged horses that had been pulling the carriages.

Harry hesitated. He wanted to find out what was happening, and if the person might be in danger from those horse things, but it would require leaving the safety of the path. He shook his head, and deliberately walked off it, headed towards the strange winged horse.

He had been correct; there was a person that he'd seen, surrounded by several of the black horses. From the back he could see dirty-blonde hair and…no shoes? He got closer. "Excuse me?"

The person turned around. It was Luna Lovegood, holding her schoolbag. "Hello, Harry Potter. What brings you out here?"

"You can call me Harry," he said, looking curiously at her. "And I just needed some time to think. I could probably ask the same about you."

She smiled. "I suppose I like time to think as well." She began fumbling for something in her bag. "But if you're asking about what I'm doing here," she said before Harry could respond, "I wanted to visit them."

"'Them'?"

She had found whatever it was, withdrawing a crumpled package from the bag. "The thestrals, of course." She unfolded the package; it contained several strips of raw steak. She tossed one to one of the strange horses, and it began to eat as a few more peered curiously around the trees, seeming to catch the scent of the meat.

"Thestrals? Is that what they're called?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. "Fascinating, aren't they? They're quite clever and loyal, but people fear them."

"Because they're different." He hadn't meant to say anything, and yet, the words felt right.

She nodded, smiling at him. "A shame, really. Perhaps if people were more open-minded, they might see them for what they really are."

"And that is?" Some part of him couldn't help but notice her silvery eyes were looking directly into his.

"Really lovely in their own unique way."

He sighed. "I don't know if many people will ever see them like that. They're too afraid to get close."

"Sad, isn't it?" She turned back to a different one of the horses, tossing it a few more of the scraps of meat before turning back to Harry. "But I think they're beautiful. What do you think?"

He looked over the thestrals. It was difficult to see them as anything but creepy at first, especially when they were eating the meat so eagerly. Their near-skeletal appearance and their bat-like wings certainly didn't make them reassuring. But he waited a few moments, watching them. And then he saw it; a smaller thestral, trotting next to its mother, had stumbled slightly. The mother bent its long neck, placing its head under its child to prop them up until it could regain its footing. Once it had, the mother nuzzled the child slightly, and the two of them continued walking towards the smell of the meat.

"Yeah. I think so too." She beamed at him. "Maybe they're all right, these thestrals."

"Them too," she said quietly, almost to herself.

"Hmm?"

"Do you know much about thestrals?" she asked. He wasn't sure if she'd heard him.

"No, we haven't had them in Care of Magical Creatures yet."

She nodded. "They're very social creatures. They travel in herds; even though they can defend themselves, they're stronger as a group than they are separately."

"Stronger as a group…" Harry muttered to himself.

"Oh, yes. They're usually led by a strong herd member who watches over them and keeps them safe. And if the herd is big enough and strong enough, they'd probably be able to be protected from anything." Luna smiled at him. "Anyway, what was it you were thinking about earlier?"

He smiled to himself. "Actually, Hermione, Ron and I were talking about starting a study group…"


Hermione had been pleased when Harry told her that he agreed with the idea of practicing defensive spells, and even more so when he allowed for the idea of more people joining beyond just the three of them and Luna. She had been slightly less enthusiastic to hear that he'd invited Luna, but shrugged it off and said that they would plan on meeting during the next Hogsmeade visit.

Quidditch practice went better than usual (Ron missed less saves than the previous time), and Harry felt a sense of eager curiosity when the time had come to train with Dante. While it was true that he'd felt somewhat worn out after Quidditch, the activity somehow made him feel more energetic.

He seriously considered asking for Dante's advice about the Defence Against the Dark Arts group, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it. On the one hand, the man was probably well-practiced in defying authority, and might know a few tips that could help. On the other, however, he was still a professor, and Harry couldn't help but feel that, despite Hermione's reassurances that it wasn't against any school rules, their little side project would do better to remain known only by the participants. For now, at least.

"Well, here we are again. Last time we were working on bringing your speed and reactions up, and you did pretty good on that. But while we were training, your balance was a little shaky; that last hit almost knocked you to the ground. So that's where our main focus is going to be today. Balance."

"Am I still going to be doing stretches?" Harry was really hoping that hadn't come off as moaning about doing extra work.

"Yep. Unless I drop another pop quiz on you, from now on assume you'll have to do all the stretches at the start of training."

"…Even the lunges?" That one had come off as moaning. Not that he'd made much effort to avoid it.

Dante grinned. "Yeah, even those. They're a pain, I know, but you know what they say about bitter medicine." He shrugged, and Harry made to put his wand away. "No, actually, keep that ready," he said, stopping the Gryffindor. "You weren't the only one that did their homework between last time and now. I finally figured out what the cleaning spell is."

Harry frowned. "They never taught you that one in school?"

"Home-schooled, remember? Anyway, it's called 'Scourgify', apparently. Clean off the space you're gonna be stretching in first, and then we can get going."

Harry did as instructed; it took him a couple of times to clean off an area that would be large enough, but eventually he had a decent-sized rectangular space of clean stone that he could stretch in. As he did, he found it much more comfortable without the dampness and staleness around him.

Still very chilly, however.

After he and Dante finished their stretches, the professor motioned to him. "Okay; for this part, you'll need your wand again. Actually, unless I say anything specific, it's probably a good idea to have it ready unless you're stretching."

Harry had no problem with that; even with the basilisk long dead, it felt wrong to be unarmed in this place. He drew his wand, waiting.

"Good. So, you remember that cleaning spell from before?" Harry nodded. "That's the spell you're gonna be using this time. We're doing some spring cleaning today."

"It's fall."

"Better late than never!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I take it that's not all there is to the exercise. Last time I was playing tag and running sprints both at once."

"And you'd be right. Since this exercise is about balance, I'm gonna make an obstacle course for you to navigate. Give me a second here…" He pulled the Devil Arm Cerberus from the folds of his coat, looking around the corridor. "Hmm…not much space here. Eh, I'll improvise." He knelt down, resting the ends of the three blue rods on the floor.

There was a feeling almost like a cold breeze without direction, and then an odd ice formation rose from the floor until it was about three feet from the ground. It almost seemed like a small maze made of solid ice; Harry found himself equal parts confused and curious. Those only grew as he tucked the blue rods away, only to pull out the nine-tailed whip. He stood up slowly, bringing the whip up in a manner that looked like it was lifting something; as he did, water seemed to rise right out of the stone itself, churning around and within the ice maze.

"Relax," said Dante as Harry made to back up. "This isn't normal water; it'll behave."

To Harry's amazement, it was as if the water outside of the maze was contained within invisible glass; it rose up higher and higher until it was level with the top of the ice, and though it rippled and sloshed, not a drop fell outside whatever invisible line had marked its border. He reached out to touch the side of the water; nothing stopped his fingertips, and the cold water made him withdraw his hand immediately, but the water itself did not move apart from the ripples that extended from where he'd touched. He stared at the drops of water on his fingers curiously; they seemed no different than any other type of water.

"So, if you look at the path I've made, there should be a place you can step up onto it." Harry turned his gaze from his hand to the structure; sure enough, there was a single step set into the ice. "You'll be walking across the top of the ice as part of today's training. I'll make sure you don't have to worry about breaking your neck or anything, but this'll still be a little dangerous."

"No kidding." Balancing on stone would have been difficult enough, but ice? How was he supposed to do this?

"Of course, you can always walk away." Harry turned to stare at the man. "It's fine. Go ahead. It's not any different from real life; running's always an option. You gonna leave?" Harry turned away from him, making a point of stepping up onto the ice with deliberation. His balance wobbled a bit as he got to the top, but he righted himself after taking a moment to concentrate. Dante smiled proudly. "Didn't think so. So, here's how it's gonna work. You walk around the little ice path and do everything you can to keep your balance. At the same time, you're gonna use your wand to clean this place; if you can see something and it's not spotless, clean it."

Aside from the balancing act he was maintaining, Harry was having difficulty seeing how this exercise was dangerous; all he had to do was go slowly. "And what will you be doing?"

The man grinned. "I'm gonna be throwing snowballs at you. They'll be soft, but if you get hit, you'll fall right into the water. You won't get injured, but it's gonna be cold; cold enough that you don't want to get knocked off at all. While I'm doing that, you use your wand to do that deflecting-thing to block them."

"Using Shield Charms?" Harry supplied.

"Yeah, those. And I don't want you just parking yourself in one place and keeping a shield up constantly; keep moving and keep cleaning, and only put up a shield when an attack is coming. You had some pretty good reaction times when we last trained; let's see if you can keep it up." He sat down cross-legged, setting the whip down beside him and pulling the three chained rods out once more. "Aaaaaand…start!"

Harry blinked, and looked at his instructor briefly. The man was not paying attention to him, however; he had somehow used the icy Devil Arm to form a pile of snow in front of him, and was very casually scooping a small amount of it into his hands. Harry turned his gaze back to the area in front of him. With no direction as to how he should start, he decided it would be easiest to start with the area closest to him and then work his way forward. "Scourgify!" he said, pointing his wand at the section of floor just outside the pool surrounding the maze. A large spot of moss and dirt vanished, leaving the stone beneath much cleaner.

There was a soft crunching sound behind him. He turned to his left and ducked; a snowball whizzed right over him, where his head had just been moments before. The sudden movement caused his feet to slip slightly, and he only just caught his balance in the nick of time, holding his arms outward in a desperate attempt to keep from falling.

"Not too bad. But that's just the first of many; you'd better recover quicker if you don't want to be off-balance for the next one. And I wanna see you block these; we'll work on dodging another time."

Harry frowned, slowly straightening himself up again. Shield Charms…remember your Shield Charms, he told himself. He turned back to the task at hand, Scouring a section of stone adjacent to the previously cleaned one. He waited for a second snowball, but he waited five seconds and nothing had happened.

"We're not playing gargoyles," called Dante in a singsong voice. "If you've got time to stand, you've got time to move. So get it in gear and keep moving!"

Harry gritted his teeth, and Scoured another patch near the first. As instructed, he walked forward slowly, trying his best not to slip on the ice. He had Scoured four more spots before another snowball came at him; this one caught him off guard, and he felt himself go careening to the right, landing in the water with a loud splash. He clutched his wand tightly and tried desperately to stay afloat. Then he felt something flow up from underneath him, and he found himself being carried back onto the icy walkway by a wave of water that set him gently back on the path. His brief feeling of awe was quickly replaced by the needling cold of the water, and as the wave flowed off of him and back into its previous space, a massive shiver ran through him. Cold!

Dante shrugged, then stood up, picking up both Devil Arms. "Your balance was okay, but you need to pay more attention. Remember rule one."

"Be aw-w-ware of everything," stated Harry, his teeth chattering slightly.

"Exactly. I'll be moving around the area now, so start expecting an attack from any side. And I mean any side; even above or below. I'll give you a sec to dry off, and then we'll get back to work."

Harry dried himself off quickly with his wand, one final shudder running through him before the freezing water was finally off him. He took a deep breath, set his shoulders, and then continued his slow progress forward, cleaning various spots as he went. This time, he was in the middle of opening his mouth to say the incantation for the Scouring Charm when he heard the soft crunch of snow. He whipped around, yelling "Protego!" The shield sprang up in front of him, the snowball striking the other side and splattering apart into powder. However, the speed of his turn caused his momentum to continue, and as he kept spinning, he lost his footing and began to fall face-first towards the ice platform.

He'd only fallen partway before he felt his movement cushioned by something fluid and very cold; the sudden stop made his glasses slide to the end of his nose. Another wave of water had caught him, pushing him back onto his feet. He pushed his glasses back up into their proper position and began to dry himself off again.

"Good reactions, but you overcommitted. It's okay to be aware of your surroundings without looking at all of it at once; if you're fighting more than one enemy, you probably won't have the luxury of seeing them all at the same time."

Harry gave a sharp exhale of irritation, but nodded with determination. All right; let's see what you say about my next one. He went back to his cleaning; nearly half a minute later, when there was a soft crunch from behind him and to his right, he didn't bother turning, yelling "Protego!" and pointing his wand in the direction of the noise. There was a tiny splat that told him the projectile had been stopped.

"Now that's more like it! Knew you could do it." He didn't look in Dante's direction, but he was sure the man was smiling. He allowed himself a small grin of his own, but continued without pause; trust Dante to pelt him with more snowballs while in the middle of congratulating him. His instinct was rewarded when another snowy bullet came at him from the left; as before, he cast his Shield Charm without looking, continuing his steady walk forward.

Dante was as good as his word; the soft, tiny missiles did indeed fly at him from all angles. He only forgot to cast without looking twice more, but it was an easy lesson to learn when confronted with the icy water. Several times he pointed his wand over his shoulder to deflect the snowballs, and once or twice he even pointed it straight up to cast his Shield Charm into the air. He was usually able to react in time, but on several occasions he was caught by surprise and ended up falling into the icy water. Only right at the end did an attack come from below Harry, seemingly from the water itself; he was still trying to figure out how that one had happened, and it had knocked him right into the water with no chance to react.

This time the wave carried him not back onto the ice, but outside the maze completely, setting him onto the now clean stone; once it had, he saw his instructor putting the weapons away in the pockets of his coat. The water flowed away from him and seemed to evaporate altogether, while the ice shattered into miniscule pieces and vanished. He was shivering violently now, and his teeth were chattering so badly that he didn't know if he could properly dry himself off with his wand. Even so, he could at least appreciate his handiwork; only a few spots had not yet been cleaned, and most of them were quite a distance away from where his exercise had been taking place.

"Here." He felt a large coat being placed around him; he only needed to glimpse its red colour to realize that it was Dante's own. It didn't completely remove the biting cold, but it helped enough that he could at least speak the incantation to dry his robes off without stammering. It didn't feel half bad to wear, either. "It's not much, but it should help."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"You picked that one up pretty quick," Dante said as Harry finished drying off his robes. "It didn't take you five minutes, and you could defend yourself in stride. I'll have to make that one tougher the next time you do it."

"Next time?"

"Oh yeah. We're starting off slow so you can get an idea of what to work on, and then we amp up how it's done. Next time we're doing sparring again, so don't pull anything in practice. And you might wanna work out a bit before then, or you'll tire yourself out just as quick as last time." He frowned a bit before continuing. "Also, I noticed that you kept saying the name of the spell you're using. I do that sometimes, too, but is there any way you could skip it?"

Harry blinked. "Well…I could try to learn, but…it's supposed to be really difficult."

"Okay, good, then start studying that." He seemed not to have heard anything after the first bit of Harry's response. "You'll trim off a good second or two from your reaction, and every second counts when it's life or death; I'm sure I don't need to tell you that one."

Harry nodded, and made to head toward the exit, but froze as the professor cleared his throat behind him. "Yes?"

"…I'll need that back."

"Oh. Er, right." He took the coat off from his shoulders, and handed it back to the man, though with some reluctance. Something about wearing a long coat felt…comforting. "I can see why you like this thing."

The man chuckled. "Well, when you get outta school, maybe we'll hit up a tailor and get one in your size. Just make sure you don't get a red one; I've cornered the market when it comes to that color." He whirled the coat around, and suddenly he was once more wearing it.

Harry laughed as well, and they left the corridor, returning up the passageway to the bathroom above.

After they left, far below, a creature stirred slightly in its sleep. Its nose sniffed the air, wrinkling in disgust. The creature turned itself over to orient its face nearer to the brackish water flowing past it, and its narrow face relaxed. Better… it thought as it dreamed of feasts and slaughter. Much better.


CHAPTER END

With August comes the end of summer for the year; hope you've all had a good one! I wanted to get as much important stuff in this chapter as I could because it sets up so much of the later plot, but I just didn't seem to have enough for a while, so it took a little longer. Still don't feel like I've included everything, but...*shrug*

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think, and see you next time!