"We have good news. We have an important visitor we believe can help you. He speaks English very well and he is a man of great influence. Even if he cannot help you change back he will be able to send you home."
Those were the excited words uttered by the Potions teacher before leaving. He returned minutes later, accompanied by her young friends, Kwame and someone new.
They entered the room one at a time, their bearing formal and expressions more solemn than she was used to seeing on them. Akiki and Kwame fussed about as they welcomed the stranger who was the last to enter.
"My friend," started Akiki, "it is my honour to introduce you to the honourable Babjide Akingbade, the Supreme—"
—Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, supplied her human self, recognising the name of the stranger. However, the she-wolf did not need a fancy title to inform her of the man's superiority, not when she could sense the power of his magic. This man was not like anyone she had met here so far. Despite the friendly smile, his eyes warned of a cunning intellect.
Akiki addressed the man in his native tongue with Kwame joining in. Although the stranger nodded along, even responding now and then, his keen gaze remained focused on her. At first, she thought he was studying her but soon her head began to ache from the tremendous force attempting to break through her natural mental barriers. If she were really an animagus, her secrets would no longer have been her own.
Rude.
"Forgive my rudeness," said the wizard, "but you know what they say about old habits."
He did not strike her as even the least bit apologetic, and the timing of his statement made her wonder if he had finally succeeded in reading her thoughts. Fortunately for the wizard, the children were present. They may be smiling at her now, but they would be horrified if she were to rip out the impertinent man's insides right before their eyes. She forced herself to calm down and tolerate his presence.
"Mr. Zuluka informs me that you are from Britain. I know things are different there now, but some things remain unchanged. For instance, animagi have been required to register themselves and the form of their animal for as long as I've lived. If you were registered I am certain we would've long ago heard about the existence of an animagus with such an unusual animal."
The man paused, his eyes continuing to appraise her. If he was waiting for a reaction from her, she was going to disappoint him.
"The logical conclusion would be that you are an unregistered animagus, yet I cannot shake off the feeling that isn't quite it either."
The man drew closer while he spoke but, engrossed in trying to figure out his suspicions, she paid no attention to his movement. Despite his apparent power and shrewdness, the she-wolf did not feel threatened by the Supreme Mugwump even when he stood beside her, so confident was she in her own superiority. Therefore, he caught her off-guard when he unexpectedly laid his hand on her and shouted, "Homorphus!"
To her shock and the amazement of everyone else, including her own human, her body transformed into her human self. She barely had time to register her nakedness before Kwame had transfigured his cap into a smock, similar to the one he wore, and threw it over her.
Babjide looked a little stunned when he spoke. "I didn't actually expect that to work—"
She stared daggers at the man who had forced her to change into her weak human body.
"—When the Headmaster informed me that the reversal spell and potion had yielded no result I began to grow suspicious that you may not be an animagus after all. It was inconceivable that the highly capable staff of Uagadou, with all their expertise on the subject, would fail at helping an animagus return to form. No one considered the possibility of you being a werewolf, definitely not me. How could we? A werewolf who could stay in their wolf form for days sounded more like something out of human myths and legends than reality. But I saw you and thought, a dire wolf's also not a part of our reality."
She closely watched the wizard in silence, doing her best not to giveaway the growing anxiety her human felt the longer she remained in her human form. She was certain of her strength and ferocity even in this form, but despite her attempts to reassure, her human remained unconvinced. Her human pointed out that without her claws and fangs she was weak and vulnerable. They could hurt her. They had hurt her by keeping her trapped in this place on the pretext of trying to help her, and this particular wizard had gone so far as to put his hand on her.
I am not weak!
Never that, she insisted. In her human form, she still had her magic. She rubbed her fingers together, relishing the feel of the sparks jumping across them. Yes, she had her magic.
The she-wolf observed the ebony trio standing behind the adults, who had most likely forgotten about them. With wide eyes and wider grins, the children took in her new form. Silently and wandlessly, she directed her magic towards Kalisha's hair, levitating one of her pigtails. The children's response was to cover their mouths and giggle. Hermione let the pigtail drop back into place just before their teachers turned around to check on them.
With an imperceptible shake of her head, she tried to convey that they not speak about what they had just witnessed. Their eyes glowed with mischief each time they snuck a glance at her while responding to their teachers' probing questions with silence and a shake of their little heads. Their actions made her feel just a little more connected with them.
Her display did not fully inspire confidence in her magical ability, but it made her human less anxious, which in turn made her feel more composed. She returned her attention to Babjide, who was speaking to her again.
"There are a host of questions the school staff would like you to answer—and I have a few of my own—but, perhaps we could start with the simplest one. Who are you?"
Did she want to tell this man the truth? As far as she knew, he was neutral, not allied to any of her enemies, yet she was not inclined to satisfy the curiosities of these strange men. However, the Supreme Mugwump did possess the ability to send her home...
Instead of answering Babjide, she walked around him, moving closer to the children so they surrounded her. Mpho transformed into a bird and perched on her shoulder—of the three, he seemed more attuned to her needs. Comforted by the company of her little saviours, she was able to make up her mind.
When she finally spoke, her voice was faint, her human vocal chords strained from disuse. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"We have to tell Draco about this," said Gunnolf insistently, staring at the fifteen-inch long elder wand in Theo's hands. "I can smell Hermione on that wand. That's definitely hers. She—"
"I don't mean to question your abilities—you're probably quite good with scent tracking, normally, but you are mistaken this time. I have seen this wand enough times during my school years to recognise it as Headmaster Dumbledore's wand. As I recall, Draco took to using it after his own was destroyed."
"If it was Draco's, he may have given it to Hermione before she escaped. We can confirm this by asking Draco."
Theo shook his head, adamant himself. "No, we cannot do that. Don't you get it? What do you think will happen if it turns out that Draco did really give Granger this wand?"
Gunnolf stared blankly.
"I probably don't understand the whole mate business when it comes to werewolves," said Theo, "but from what I've heard and seen of Draco's behaviour so far, he's extremely protective of Granger. If Granger was in possession of this wand when she left, then it would not be a stretch of the imagination to assume that at some point she crossed paths with some Death Eater for this wand to end up here."
"Yes! That is exactly why we need to tell Dra—"
"Can you try to think through on what would happen if Draco discovers that some Death Eater may have ended up in possession of Granger's wand... or have you suffered one too many blows to the head so now all you're good as is eye candy?"
"Instead of insulting me you could simply explain your—Wait. What do you mean eye candy?"
Gunnolf did not know what to make of the temperamental Death Eater. Since leaving the Ministry, he was suffering from whiplash, courtesy of Theo's mood swings. Every couple of hours, without warning or provocation, the wizard would go from carefree and chatty to quiet and gloomy, only to have his mood automatically perk up moments later. However, once they discovered the wand lying abandoned on the floor of one of the many rooms of the building that served as the Death Eaters' base in Uganda the mood swings were replaced by a more acerbic-tongued and contemplative wizard. Gunnolf instinctively sensed that this by far was the most real version of Theo he was seeing.
Theo tilted his head back and let out a sigh. "Look," he said at long last, "you may not be privy to all the details, but I'm aware that Draco has shared enough so you know what we're trying to do. Currently, Draco is one of the key players on the chessboard. I can't have him abandoning our plans to chase after Granger instead."
Gunnolf was resolute. Theo may fail to grasp the significance of a true mate, but he did not.
"If this is really Hermione's wand, then we need to find out what happened to her. She could be hurt, captured, or Luna knows what else! She is most likely in need of our help."
"I take no issue with investigating this matter further. I'd just prefer to leave Draco out of it till we know for sure that Granger isn't back safe with the Order. To me, it seems more likely that she lost the wand at some point as I doubt she was able to command the great Albus Dumbledore's wand... Let's take a look at the last few spells cast to get an idea of what this wand's been up to."
...
The two men stared at the results of the Priori Incantato.
"No spells to suggest the caster was under attack or even engaged in some kind of duel," declared Theo. Gunnolf stared a little longer and then nodded. Sensing that he was finally getting through to the werewolf, Theo pressed on. "If she was captured or hurt by any Death Eater or Black Cloak I would've heard about it by now. Granger isn't just any Order member. She's one of the Golden Trio. People would boast about her capture."
"We came here following the alpha. It is possible that this is Fenrir's doing and has nothing to do with the Death Eaters."
Theo rubbed at his temples. The sexy werewolf was quickly wearing away at his nerves with his insistence that they share his wild theories with Draco just because he caught a whiff of Granger's scent on the wand.
"Or it's just a coincidence? After all, we did find the wand at a Death Eater base, not at Wolf Castle."
"He brought the twins here. We know that for sure since we found some of their things in one of the rooms. Isn't it possible he also brought Hermione here?"
"Are you suggesting Greyback arranged some kind of reunion for Granger and her tykes?" asked Theo, scoffing at the idea.
"It may sound ridiculous when you put it like that, still doesn't change the fact that he brought the pups here and we found Hermione's wand here as well."
Theo sighed, again. He did not have the energy to keep at this argument, not with his Elixir of Euphoria almost all gone. He should've packed a larger quantity, or better yet he shouldn't have taken as many generous swigs of the potion as he had that day, except he had been enjoying Mr. Beefcake's company and did not want to put him off with his usually dour mood.
"Before rushing back to Bleidd to raise the alarm, how about we first complete the task we came here for? Let's finish exploring this place for any clues for why Greyback would've wanted to bring Draco's sprogs here, then talk to some of the locals and find out what he's been up to. At the same time we can search for clues on what may have happened with Granger."
Hours later, both men were not sure what to make of the things they had found at the base.
"I don't have to be a Potions Master to know that's Fero," said Gunnolf of the vials of clear liquid in his hand.
"Do you know how common this stuff is nowadays? It's the Dark Lord's favourite currency for bribing wizards and creatures alike," said Theo.
"Sure, but this particular version has only been given to us werewolves... and Hermione."
"So? Greyback was probably planning to bring the pack here. I received reports that the locals were rather receptive towards him. He may have been planning to carry out some breeding experiments of his own right here. He may have even gotten started on it already—Weren't you saying you smelled the strong scent of sex in the cellar?"
Gunnolf nodded. There was a long pause before he spoke. "Don't you think it's time we addressed the elephant in the room?" he asked the wizard.
Theo swore and cursed under his breath.
There was a damning certainty in Gunnolf's tone when he spoke. "That was her blood I smelled outside along with the alpha's"—His voice lowered to a whisper even though there wasn't a creature around to overhear them—"There was something different about it, but it was hers. She lost a lot of blood, far too much."
Theo cursed louder this time.
"That yard has so much blood on it, the mud has actually taken on the colour of the blood it soaked up," said Gunnolf, jerking him thumb towards the ground just outside the main gate of the fort like structure. "I think—I think this is where Fenrir got hurt. The tracks aren't clear enough to read but some kind of fight must have taken place. When he returned, we could smell Hermione on him. It made no sense to us at the time, but looking at that... We need to tell—"
Theo shook his head. "We can't tell him. We just can't. He'll lose all motivation. This, this will destroy all of us."
Theo did not care that his voice had taken on a pleading tone. Too much was riding on Draco and he did not believe his friend would still care to fight the Dark Lord if he had reason to think his Mudblood was dead.
"Draco needs to know. He's expecting to be reunited with his mate because he believes she's still alive. But this explains why he hasn't been able to sense her—"
"Just shut up and listen to me, you muscled oaf. Without Granger in the picture, Draco will have no reason to fight the Death Eaters or contact the Order, which means you continue to be stuck with Greyback as your leader while the rest of us suffer under the Dark Lord. There is more at stake here than some dead mate, don't you see that?"
Watching Gunnolf's face crumple, Theo knew he had taken the wrong approach. He changed tactics.
"Greyback made it back alive. Isn't it possible Granger did as well?" Even he did not consider this a real possibility.
"Fenrir is a werewolf, moreover he's an alpha. I don't see someone as frail as Hermione recovering from that sort of blood loss." His tone suddenly changed. "Not unless..."
"Unless what?" asked Theo, curious to know what thought had just occurred to Gunnolf.
"...unless the alpha turned her. She may have been turned... She could be hiding somewhere, recovering from her injuries, and struggling to cope with the trauma of being a new wolf—a lone one at that."
"You think Granger may be alive?" It was Theo's turn to be surprised by the abrupt alteration in the other man's mood.
"There is a possibility. It would explain why Draco is so certain about her being alive. Hermione getting away alive also explains why the alpha's been in a sulk ever since he returned. He's never wasted an opportunity to torment Draco. If Hermione was dead he would've gleefully gloated about it."
"I doubt Granger has a portkey to leave this country. If she is alive, and hurt, she couldn't have gone too far... Instead of aggravating me by once again insisting that we have to go tell Draco, how about we form a little hunting party? I would really prefer returning with Granger at my side, or at least confirmation that she isn't in Uganda, instead of going to Draco with what little we know right now."
For once that day Gunnolf was quick to agree with him.
AN: At the start of the chapter, Babjide is unable to perform legilimens on the she-wolf because werewolves have natural blocking abilities (not because Hermione is some kind of natural occlumens).
According to the bit of info I found about Uagadou (Wag-a-doo), some of the students (as young as 14) were able to change into elephants and cheetahs. I imagine their classroom layout would've differed greatly from the ones at Hogwarts.