Chapter 4:
Grounded?
Their trip to Deep Water Bay took two and a half hours on foot.
When Penelope broached the topic of designing an exercise routine for Harry with 'Big D' swimming came as a rather obvious conclusion.
"It's the middle of July, it's hot as a sauna outside and we are within walking distance of the ocean in every direction. Have the kids take him to the beach!"
Norberta tried to convince him to go to Waterfall Bay Park. She even went so far as to show him pictures of it on a thin device which looked like a flattened, if somewhat fancy, disposable camera. Most of the children had one and somebody had tricked them into believing they were phones. He wasn't impressed with the park and, despite the waterfall being closer, decided on deep water bay.
They started walking just after sunrise while it was still cool out and that made it much more bearable to be outside, but by the time they reached the soft sandy beach Harry's knees and ankles felt ready to shatter.
He spent the first few hours spread out, stretching on the soft sand and trying to restore his tan. Fifteen years locked away had made him rather pale, paler than he'd ever been since starting on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He'd never had to avail himself of so much sunscreen and skin protection charms, but Hermione was rather insistent.
He kept himself entertained by watching Monika and Norberta play with Penelope's daughter, Fabiana. The three-year-old, on the other hand, kept herself entertained by chasing the receding water and subsequently fleeing when it came back. She screamed with laughter all the while she stomped around on her stubby little legs.
She was incredibly cute. So was the bikini clad Norberta, but in a much different way.
He kept catching himself staring at the fourteen year old redhead. At first he was enthralled by how damn cool the scars along her body were, and to be fair the entire gang had been eyeing his impressive collection for most of the walk, but later he was drawn in by how appealing her general outline was. He stopped when he remembered he had aged while effectively comatose.
An eighteen year old man eyeing a fourteen year old probably didn't look all too respectable. And he doubted that a defense of "But I still FEEL fourteen on the inside!" would hold up in court.
Penelope had assured him that he wasn't, in fact, mentally fourteen anymore. Something to do with brain chemistry and physiology. He had been rather distracted by the brain scan images she was trying to help him decipher at the time.
Cedric and Scorpius were supposed to be keeping an eye on him, which made him feel even more self-conscious about eyeing Charlie's daughter, but both seemed to be off in their own little world. Scorpius would no doubt prefer to be working on his car, but by condition of being grounded they all had to escort him to the beach.
Oh the humanity. Who could conceive of such a terrible punishment? Somebody really ought to call child protective services.
Dudley Junior lay beside him snoring loudly in the sun.
Whom, exactly, was babysitting whom?
"Hey Little D. I'm gonna go swimming." He told his first cousin once removed.
All he got was a snore in response.
"Good talk."
Dog-paddling out to sea did wonders for his pain.
The dark water was cooler than he expected, but still felt like a Jacuzzi compared to the black lake it so resembled. It also lacked the myriad of dangerous critters, thanks in part to the floating yellow and orange barrier further out and the net he supposed stretched beneath it to the ocean floor.
He swam all the way to it and confirmed exactly that before he took to resting against the floating plastic. The water became more shallow and clear just beyond the designated swimming area leading up to a small, rocky islet.
He flirted with the idea of jumping the barrier and swimming to it. His assigned guard certainly wouldn't notice, but he didn't want to risk being bitten by something like that venomous snail he saw on the animal channel once. Or were those in Australia?
Regardless, the ground over there looked to be made of pointy rocks, not the kind of place to walk barefoot. He much preferred to lean against the barrier and relax, occasionally kicking his feet out to churn the water.
It was as he did this that he noticed something. At first he thought it was the sun being reflect off the water's surface but he realized it was coming from deep below the surface. It was still in the designated swimming area, though.
Was somebody snorkeling with a headlamp? Actually that sounded really fun.
He withdrew his wand from the strap on his shin. He made sure to ask before leaving if he was allowed to use magic without fear of the trace, only to be informed that with no statute of secrecy there was no longer any restriction on underage magic anywhere in the world. And he was of age to boot.
Quickly casting the bubble head charm Harry kicked off of the barrier and dove towards the light.
It kept dimming and going out, giving credence to the idea that it was some snorkeler or scuba diver examining the bay floor, turning his head every which way. He was nearly upon it when the light vanished entirely.
When it reappeared the sight that greeted him stole his breath away. He'd be in serious trouble if it weren't for the bubble head charm.
At first he thought some spurned bride had tossed her wedding gown into the sea. A very beautiful, silk wedding gown with meters upon meters of billowing white ribbons framed with fiber optic lights. Every curl and string of translucent material glistened with a slight pinkish purple, mother of pearl he recalled, as did the halos around the points of light stuffing every inch of it likes stars.
It was a jellyfish, he realized with a shock. It must have been at least 20 feet long.
Regaining his senses Harry figured it didn't belong inside of the barrier. He knew better than to touch wild animals, magical or mundane, and yet even he felt an unbearable urge to run his hand along its length.
He tried to think of a spell that would harmlessly send it back to the other side of the berrier, but the best he could come up with was banishing it out of the water and over it, which he was almost certain would at least damage the stunning creature.
That's when he spotted another wild animal that took his breath away, though this one wasn't very pretty.
His scream echoed painfully inside of the bubble charm as he tried to swim away from the rows upon rows of shark teeth. He nearly turned the shark into ingredients for Hermione's seafood decorated dinners. He stopped himself when he noticed that it was wearing an orange life jacket that form fitted around its back fin and a large first aid kit around its stomach.
The great white made a very human head motion to indicate Harry should follow him. With understanding, and a huge sense of deja vu, slowly dawning on him Harry followed the lifeguard shark to shore, canceling the bubble head charm as he did so.
He waited for Vicktor to finish transforming back into the form of man before grabbing him with hands behind the knees and taking him to the ground. The Bulgarian champion half-yelled and half-laughed at the unexpected assault and returned it in kind.
Harry found himself in quite the pickle when Krum put him in a choke hold, but being skinny had it's advantages. With a little twisting of his body he managed to wrap both knees around the other man's neck and pry them apart.
Viktor humored him and tapped out on his thigh.
"You play too rough, Harry." He chastised as he rubbed his neck jokingly.
The man was such a good sport. The world really didn't deserve him.
"Well you earned it for scaring the crap out of me like that." Harry said, offering his former competitor a hand and lifting him up.
The two men embraced as soon as the were at eye level.
"Vere have you been, man!" He eventually asked. "Last I remember you vere handing my ass to me in the maze."
"Well that's hardly fair. You were under the imperius when it happened."
Krum sighed in exasperation, but his smirk gave his humor away.
"Still incapable of taking credit I see." He shook his head. "Harry you prevented me from torturing a fellow champion to madness, and then stopped him from killing me. I owe you much."
Harry tried not to let the gratitude go to his head, but it was definitely going to his head. He wanted to come up with a change of topic but Krum beat him to it.
"You vemember Gabby, yes?"
Gabby? Gabby. Gabby does not compute. Harry didn't know any Gabby. Who the heck is Gabby?
Gabby turned out to be the pearlesce jellyfish, who like Krum was also a person, but who unlike Krum was a petite woman.
Petite wasn't quite the word for the silver-haired waif who was still mid transformation. She made Draco, who Harry thought was unhealthily thin already, see like a body-builder. The orange one-piece she wore looked like a leotard. But that was more due to her resemblance to a teen gymnast or ballet dancer. Thinking back to when he met her mother, the older woman did give off a tiger mom vibe and he supposed the woman before him may very have been both of those things. He wondered how many instruments she knew?
"Gabrielle?" Harry asked more in disbelief of how the tiny Veela had grown into a marginally taller Veela, but grown all the same.
Said woman took to tying her ankle-length hair around itself into a knot when Harry called her name. She looked up from her war with the cascade of silver and squinted between Harry and Viktor. Recognition slowly dawned on her.
"Arry!" She cried out and, abandoning her earlier efforts, jogged up to him.
She planted a kiss on his cheek as the last of the glistening gelatinous ribbons retreated back into her body. Harry missed them. The mix of her animal and human forms made her look all the more ethereal.
"Why did no one tell me you 'ave returned?" She demanded as Harry rubbed his burning cheek.
He was still tongue-tied at how tiny she still was. She barely made it up to his chest.
"That is a good question. I 'vould like to know that as vell." Viktor pressed.
"Well I just got back and the Malfoys have been taking care of me." He explained, still rubbing his increasingly warm cheek. That kiss really did a number on him. "I figured they'd tell everybody who needed to know until they were ready for the big reveal."
"Well you would think zat zey could at least tell ze ozzer Marauders in ze city." Gabrielle huffed, folding her arms and frowning. Nice to know she shared her sister's tendency to grow heavier in accent when upset.
Harry couldn't argue with that, but that didn't stop him from trying.
"Maybe they were waiting for my birthday to surprise me? Or they wanted to slowly introduce me to everyone." He tried to excuse his friend's behavior.
His speech was starting to slur and he felt himself beginning to sweat. Hong Kong weather sure was erratic. It was getting really hot, really fast.
"Oh it eez your birthday? When?"
"It's um..." Harry tried to say, but the burning on his cheek where Gabby kissed him was growing painful.
He slowly collapsed to the ground, barely catching himself with both hands. His two companions had very different reactions.
"Oh my goodness 'Arry! I am so sorry!" Gabrielle pleaded as she kneeled next to him and cradled his head.
He could get used to this.
Viktor on the other hand stood there laughing.
"Ve have ourselves another sting victim! How many is that Gabby? Three this month?" He teased the girl with the surprisingly soft lap.
It took him a moment to register what he said.
"St - sting?" He stuttered out.
"Mine." Gabrielle answered, stroking his hair and wiping his forehead. "I was still part jellyfish when I kissed you."
"Oh. Brilliant." He mumbled. "Am I going to - going to die?"
It sure felt like it.
"No. It just hurts like hell. It vill pass in thirty minutes or so." Krum consoled him. "Unless you are allergic."
By now Harry's breathing was coming out in high-pitched gasps and he could feel his chest getting tighter. Was his tongue always so big?
"And ov course you are allergic." Krum concluded.
Harry was fine twenty minutes later thanks to Krum administering an epipen, which he carried by the dozen in his first aid pouch, while Gabrielle wiped his cheek with what smelled like vinegar. It helped with the burning sensation.
By now Norberta, Scorpius, Cedric, Little D and Monika had come over to join them. Their fussing, as with most fussing, turned out to be a bigger problem than the problem itself.
"So um. Gabrielle." Harry said when they finally calmed down and he could sit up on his own. "You're an animagus?"
"Oui. I would be a very poor Marauder were I not." She said matter-of-factly.
There was that word again.
"Hey everyone keeps mentioning it, but what do you all mean by Marauder?" He asked. "Assuming you're allowed to tell me. It's just the word holds special meaning to me."
They waved away his concern about secrecy and Viktor took up an explanation.
"Ve are a kind of private vizarding militia. A rival to and offshoot of the Order of the Phoenix." He explained. Now if only he'd tell Harry what this Phoenix Order was. "Most free governments recognise us and allow us to operate vithin their territory, or even employ us."
Harry nodded as he thought of the best questions to ask.
"And what exactly do you guys do? Aside from life guard duty I mean."
Viktor laughed off the deprecating joke and went on.
"Ve are not lifeguards. Vell, ve are lifeguards but ve are lifeguards second. Us aquatic animagi function more like..." He paused as if trying to remember the English word for it.
"Ze coast guard?" Gabriele suggested helpfully.
"Yes! Exactly." Viktor affirmed by snapping his fingers. "Ve protect the border of free nations by putting up, checking on and repairing vards. Performing reconnaissance. Identifying Death Eaters or their threats and eliminate or contain magical beasts who run amok. And plenty of other things ve usually get paid for. Vith that money ve fund our own unofficial operations."
It all came off like a well-rehearsed speech. It probably was, except for that last part which the members would be ill-advised to share with non members.
"And you're all animagi?" Harry clarified.
"Oui! Or have ze ability to transform in general." Gabrielle confirmed. "I was let in for being a Veela and later also an animal. Most werewolves and Veela are with us."
Harry turned to the Marauder youth
"And are you all animagi too?"
"Yup!" Norberta chirped. "I'm a red panda."
"Thorny devil." Scorpius added.
"Badger." Cedric said without a hint of irony.
"Platypus." Monika explained. "Sadly females don't have stingers."
Fascinating.
"Sea lion." Dudley Junior finished.
Harry stared at him with his best questioning gaze.
"You're a wizard, Dud?"
Now it was his turn to give Harry that same look.
"Noooo?" He hesitantly answered.
"Then how can you be an animagus?"
Monika cut it.
"Muggles can be animagi too, Sir." She explained. Again with the sir. "They just lack the ability to reach their natural form by their own power. But with enchanted apparel they can transform back and forth safely and efficiently. Most of us wizards use them too until we learn to do it on our own."
As if to prove her point she held up a bracelet that looked a lot like the metal links of a steel watch on her left wrist. Dudley Junior had one too.
"It's a Marauder trade secret though." Said Little D.
"That's pretty wicked!" Harry had to confess.
He turned on Gabrielle.
"And I already learned the hard way what you are. You kill many people by frenching them, Frenchie?"
How does she manage to show all of her teeth at once when she smiles like that?
"Oui. I am..." She paused to perform a perfect superman pose, knuckles on her hips and feet spread apart. "Ze poison!"
Harry got the impression she was trying to make a play on the phrase "You're the bomb" and he supposed it worked well enough.
"Jellyfish are venomous not poisonous." Monika pointed out.
Gabrielle fixed the small blonde with her most scathing glare. It wasn't intimidating in the slightest.
"No! I am poison!" She all but hissed.
Viktor treated the entire group to an ice cream parlor a little while after that. The unlikely duo's patrol had just ended and they had the rest of the day free. They decided to spend it with Harry's entourage just as soon as they showered and changed.
Harry was a little disappointed to see Gabrielle wore the same airy white dress and sandals that most of the women of Hong Kong wore. She still looked amazing, but he somehow expected the French witch to have more interesting fashion than whatever was trending. Since when did he start caring about such things? Maybe when her older sister set such a high precedent?
He should probably stop comparing the two in his head.
The group passed the day talking. Just talking.
They avoided discussing any possibly painful topics after he explained his extended nap and the effects its had on him, minus the super-soldier treatments. They stuck to Quidditch and sports for the most part.
Viktor no longer played. Partly because he was past his prime as a thirty-four year-old, but mostly because it just got so much more competitive since Muggle athletes entered the sport. Wizards on brooms played against and beside Muggles astride hover boards, bikes or boots.
His aged friend even showed him a picture of some of these devices on his "phone" and Harry couldn't wait to try and play a game with them as opposed to a broom.
What was more interesting was how the rules of Quidditch had changed.
Most of these changes amount to better safety practices, and actually most changes to magical practices in general amounted to better safety practices. As far as Quidditch was concerned the game was now usually played over bodies of water, brooms and other flying equipment required straps like those on surf-boards and bludgeor here were, sadly, slightly less deadly. These and body armour requirements all made complete sense, the changes to the rules was far interesting.
For one the number of players almost doubled. Each team now had six chasers and four beaters, but still only one keeper and seeker. The number of balls too had doubled. Though there was still only one quaffle, there were now four bludgeors and three snitches. Two silver, one gold. Silver ones are worth fifty each, gold is worth seventy-five. The game ends when all three snitches are caught.
Harry liked these changes. It gave him more to do in a game. Of course it might be better to wait until he's played a game with these new rules before making a judgement on the matter.
There were still leagues who played by the classic rules, but they weren't as popular with spectators. As such, they didn't make as much money through televised events. It was sad, but understandable.
They ate a quick lunch Hermione packed for them - tuna sandwiches with diced onions, bell pepper and cilantro - before beginning the long trip back to the Dragon Lodge. It was made all the longer thanks to Harry's need to take constant rest breaks.
Despite every precaution, Harry was sunburned all the way down to his ankles and everything hurt, and the hurt wasn't only skin deep. It had been a wonderful day and it was well worth being unable to walk at all for several days.
It was night by the time they passed the Peak Lookout - a small restaurant with a lovely outside area that was currently filled to the brim - and onto Harlech Rd.
"So Gabrielle?" Harry asked during one trip between benches as their younger companions walked further ahead.
"Hm?" She chirped.
"Last time I saw you, you were eight right?"
"Oui."
"That just blows my mind." He confessed. "You don't look anywhere close to twenty-three."
That smile. Just... Wow.
"Oui. I zink we 'ave both aged razzer gracefully, 'ave we not?"
That was a terrible joke. So why was he laughing? Oh right. Veela charm.
"Are you the only person I knew who isn't married with kids?" He asked both her and their silent guardian.
"Zere are plenty of fish in the sea, but it eez hard to find one when your bruzzer is a shark." Gabrielle said cryptically. "E scares zem all away."
Harry glanced to Krum.
"Brother?"
"I married Fleur Delacour." He said. "Ve have been unable to conceive."
On the list of unexpected couples that ranked pretty high. But he'd seen a stranger one already
"How'd that happen?"
"Guilt."
Gabrielle tsk'd at his horrible answer and rewarded him with a punch to the arm.
"I felt terrible after the tournament and helped her back to health." He explained grudgingly. "It took a few veeks, but she recovered from the effect of my cruciatus. She did not forgive me for years. It took many battles fighting together."
This was a much heavier story than Hermione's. He was starting to feel sorry for asking. It sounded more painful than romantic.
"She vas magnificent in battle. I eventually recognized her as..." What he recognized her as would remain a mystery as Dudley saw fit to interrupt.
"ZERO!"
Viktor and Gabrielle both dropped into a crouch. Noticing that everyone else was too, he mirrored the action. Dudley was at the head of the group and motioned for them to hide in the brush. From his hiding place moments later he heard the reason for the alarm before he saw it.
It was a loud, rapid sniffing sound. A very familiar one. He looked to Gabrielle and silently mouthed his question.
"Niffler?"
She made a 'Eh. Kind of" Hand motion before making a shushing movement.
What stepped onto the road wasn't remotely like a Niffler. It looked more like a bear. A bear with an entire warehouse worth of electronics jutting from its back. From it's neck down to the base of its spine were all manner of televisions, speakers, power lines, transformers, generators and many more things that a wizard of 1995 transported to the year 20010 wouldn't recognize.
It certainly sounded like a Niffler, or what he imagined a giant Niffler would sound like. And closer inspection of its mouth - when the flickering light of the sputtering electronics on its body allowed him to get a good look at it - showed that while its lower jaw was the canine lined mechanism of death he expected, the top was the same thin duck-like beak he recognized as belonging to the magical thieving species.
They remained completely still and silent as they allowed it to trot past, waving its head from side to side as it searched for precious metals.
When it passed and they could not longer hear it they finished their journey to the Dragon Lodge in silence, save for Dudley who made a quick phone call. When Hagrid's voice came over the line Harry became a believer.
Reviews:
RebeccaRoy - wrote
Wow, now this is cool, and it looks like magic ended up being used in all the right ways. Harry has a bit of catching up to do but knowing him, he will.
Response:
Oh it's been used in the wrong way plenty. They just weren't going to introduce him to the new world with tales of magic based superweapons, genetically modified beasts and the like.
And yes he does. And of course he will.
Thanks for the review. I hope you stick around