Sup! Chapter 21 in the HizHouse! Lol, no, I''m just a tad loopy with these here ace pain meds! Whoo!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer in Chapter 1. Will change as needed.
A whole month passed after the end of Christmas break and Dumbledore still hadn't called Harriet to his office for tea. It was making the twins suspicious and jumpy, they refused to allow Harri to eat without them both discretely checking her plate first. Harri let them do what they felt they needed to and didn't say anything about it unless they began to draw attention. The Marauders agreed with their caution and got way too into it when the twins lectured them on being better 'guard snakes'.
In the meantime, the twins had been working diligently on their occlumency. Salazar had proclaimed them naturals and had said that they should be experts by the middle of the next year. Instead of being happy with that time frame the twins had proclaimed they would be ready by Harriet's birthday, she had just smiled and told them she looked forward to it.
Now, they were outside enjoying the first warmer day of the year with Lee, just strolling along the lake shore. The twins were currently trying to get Harriet to use the spell George had created for her on the teachers.
"Why don't you just do it?" Lee asked George.
"I created it for Harriet. It's her prank to pull the first time." George whined, he looked back to Harriet with big eyes, "Please?"
"I never said no." Harri laughed, "I'm just trying to wait for the best moment. If I cast it in class, it will be easier to identify who did it and a good prankster never gets caught. I would do it during dinner but with everyone eating it won't have the full effect, same with doing it in private. The only one I could possibly use it on right at this moment with no big plan is Dumbledore at one of his little impromptu after dinner speeches."
"That could be fun!" Lee said, "I bet he's a swan. What parts would he get though? The wings? The beak?"
"With the spell and that animal, most likely both." George said.
"I don't think Dumbledore's inner animal is a swan." Fred said, "I bet that meddling old man is a goat."
Harri giggled, "Can you picture him with horns?"
Lee frowned at Fred, "What's your issue with Dumbledore?"
The twins looked to Harri who smiled at them, "He's your best friend; if you can teach him, you can tell him."
"Tell him what?" Lee asked suspiciously.
"We'll tell you later Lee." Fred said with a grin.
"But…"
George threw an arm over Lee's shoulder, "What would your inner animal be Lee? Should we have Harri find out?"
Lee looked torn between this conversation and the last but finally sighed, "I'm not sure but it would be interesting to find out. Our inner animal is the first animagus we can become right?"
"Yep." Harri said with a grin, "If I managed to get McGonagall she'd run around with her cat ears and tail."
Lee laughed, "That would be awesome. Can you imagine her glaring like that? I wouldn't be able to take it seriously."
George grinned, "Me either." He arched an eyebrow, "Now come on, what would you be Lee?"
"Um, I'm not sure." Lee said, "A feline of some kind maybe?"
"Nah, I bet you're a canine." Fred laughed, "Your way too happy-go-lucky to be a feline."
"He's a Labrador." Harri said, nonchalantly.
"A lab?" Lee frowned, "How did you get that?"
Harri smirked and tapped her nose, "Just a hunch." She said innocently.
"I think it fits." George said stepping away from Lee, "Harriet? You want to do the honors?"
"Wait!" Lee called, but Harri already had her wand out and was casting the spell on him. Silky ears popped from the top of Lee's head and a thick chocolate fur covered tail wagged into existence behind him.
"Aw." Harri cooed, "You're a chocolate lab." She came over to him and reached up to scratch an ear, Lee's tail started wagging with pleasure and Harri giggled. The twins collapsed on the ground laughing at their friend's reaction to getting his ears scratched.
"Oh bugger off!" Lee shouted in embarrassment, his puppy ears drooping.
Harri tugged his ear gently, "Labs are smart, energetic, loyal companions. An instinctive response like that is nothing to get embarrassed by." Harriet dropped her hand from his ears and smiled, "At least you won't go crazy at the scent of catnip."
Instantly the twins were quiet and staring at Harri, "Dear Harriet…"
"Do you know…"
"Your inner animal already?"
Harri laughed, "I told you at the beginning of the year that I wasn't some lost puppy remember?" their eyes lit up and Lee looked at her curiously. Harri spread her arms out in invitation, "Go on." She said to George, he cast the spell on her and she felt Godiva's ears and tail come forward in human proportions. Harri swished her tail and wiggled her ears experimentally before nodding and grinning at the three boys.
"What kind of cat are you?" Lee asked, eyeing her rounded ears as the twins circled behind her to look at her tail that was currently slicking from side to side.
"She's got spots." Fred observed.
"A leopard then?" George asked.
Harri laughed, "No, I'm an ocelot. Which is known as a dwarf leopard, so you were close."
Lee grinned at Harri, "Harriet I think it's the twins turn? Any more frighteningly accurate guesses for them?"
The twins looked at her curiously and Harri's eyes glinted mischievously, "What are your guesses?"
"Mockingbirds?" Lee snickered.
"Lynx!" Fred guessed excitedly.
"Lemurs!" George threw out.
"Hyenas!" Lee guessed again.
"Gobi Jerobas!" George laughed.
"Fossas!" Fred added in.
"I Know!" Lee exclaimed, "They're totally aye-ayes aren't they?"
"Wow, um, no, no, no, no, no, no, and what the hell?" Harri frowned at Lee, "Have you seen aye-ayes? Those things are creepy."
"Exactly! Imagine the pranks they could pull!" Lee laughed.
"That's less pranks and more jump scares." Harri huffed, "They're foxes."
"Really?" the twins asked while Lee studied them, ears forward.
"I can see it." Lee said a few seconds later, "Foxes are often depicted as tricksters and as being very clever."
Harri nodded, "They're also able to be subtle when they need to and are adaptable to any situation. They are excitable and love to play."
Fred and George shared a raised eyebrows look before they nodded, "Alright Harriet,"
"Hit us." They said. Harri cast the spell on each of them in turn and sure enough fox ears broken from their heads and luscious fox tails swished into being behind them; Fred's ears and tail were tipped with jet black fur and George's ears and tail where tipped with snow white fur.
*So their animagus forms were foxes?* Sirius asked curiously from where the snakes were watching in her bag.
*Yep.*
*Names?* James asked.
*George is Mischief and Fred is Mayhem.* Harriet chuckled, *Loki named them.*
*Nice.* Sirius commented.
*Named by Loki. I'm actually a bit jealous.* James whined.
George and Fred were in the process of examining each other's new features when Harri smirked at Lee, "Watch this." She reached over to George and stroked on one of his ears gently along the edges to the tip before starting again. His eyes went closed and he leaned into the touch while an odd high whine like mew came from his throat, as soon as the sound came George's eyes flew open and he blushed.
"Ha! Payback!" Lee crowed, his tail wagging enthusiastically. Fred was chuckling at his twin's reaction while George's ears flicked back in embarrassment.
Harri rolled her eyes at Fred and reached over to his to scratch one nail on the back of his ear, instantly an odd cross between a purr and a whine erupted from his throat and his tail waved behind him happily. Fred stepped away from Harri with a mock betrayed looked, she giggled, "Fairs fair Fred." At that the three males turned to Harriet with wicked grins, she tensed and backed up with her tail lashing in warning, "Uh-oh." she muttered.
"Fairs fair Harriet!" all three chorused, Harri spun to try and run but a pair of arms captured her before she could go too far. Two other hands took to stroking her ears gently, Harriet couldn't hold in her purr at the attention, her tail curling a little at the tip in pleasure.
"Aw." Cooed George's voice from behind her, "She's purring." Harriet reached back and tweaked his tail, making him yelp.
Lee chuckled, "Don't be mean Harri. You are quite adorable purring like this."
"Look, her tail is so soft." Fred said from where he had captured her tail and was carefully playing with the moving tip. Harri almost melted into her full ocelot form right then and there, she was purring like a motor.
Suddenly barking interrupted them; they all looked toward the sound, animal ears perked up alertly, and saw Hagrid and Fang coming toward them the dog barking in greeting. Harriet quickly spoke the reversal and George released her easily and flanked her with Fred, eyeing the approaching half giant warily. Everyone knew that Hagrid was the most pro Dumbledore person at the school so the twins were tense with anticipation.
"Harriet!" Hagrid called jovially.
"Hello Hagrid." Harri responded sweetly, "What brings you to us today."
Hagrid came to a stop and shuffled his feet, "Um, someone told me that you said snake speakers could talk to other serpents and I be needin' a spot of help."
Harri frowned, Norbert wasn't due for another three months or so. "Sure Hagrid. What's the problem?"
Hagrid looked around the group carefully, "Not here. Do you have time to come with me to my hut?"
"I do." Harri said.
"We'll come with." The twins inserted immediately.
Lee shrugged, "Could be fun."
Hagrid looked around to the other three before nodding, "Alright then, but best not spread this around."
They nodded and followed him as he trooped toward his hut with his dog right at his side. *This the dragon thing we were expecting?* James asked.
*It shouldn't be, but I'm not sure why else he would need my speaking ability.* Harri said, *There aren't any magical snakes in the forest that I know of and Samarra would never be caught by him. Plus while it's true, I never other serpents, I said dragons.*
*What if it's a dragon you can't talk to?* Remus worried.
*A parselmouth talking to dragons is just a matter of hearing that certain dragon's dialect long enough to pick up the familiar points. Besides, this should be a baby, in which case it will more than likely pick up our dialect rather than the other way around.* Harri responded.
*If you say so cub.*
When they made it to the hut Hagrid turned to them, "You all best listen closely. We don't need you gettin' hurt or nothin'." They all nodded and followed him inside, looking around the cluttered hut cautiously. Hagrid pulled a cauldron with a lid on it into the middle of the room, "I found an egg in the forest the other day and managed to hatch it. Always wanted a dragon ya see." The three boys tensed and Harri leaned forward curiously, "But I'm not sure what to feed it or how to calm the poor guy. So I need you, Harriet, to see if the little guy can tell you anything."
Harriet nodded and slid her bag off, passing it over to George so the snakes would be safe, "Alright Hagrid. Let's see this dragon." She quickly cast a flame proof spell on her clothes, knowing Glacia would keep the rest of her cool.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Fred asked uncertainly.
Harri moved away from them and shook her head, "Nope!" she said cheerfully, "Open 'er up Hagrid!"
Hagrid took the lid off the cauldron and almost immediately a sleek head popped up from the cauldron with a curious squeak. It had pupil-less eyes that were a rainbow swirl of color and white shimmering scales that looked like polished opals. The baby dragon's forked pink tongue flickered out, scenting air before it tumbled from the cauldron in a tangle of slim limbs and oversized wings. Harriet went to her knees and offered her arm to the little dragon, *Hello there sweet baby.* she cooed.
The dragon immediately zeroed in on the hissing, toddling over to her to spell her offered hand, *Mama?* came a sweet high pitched distinctively female voice.
*I'm not your mama sweetheart.* Harri said as the little girl dragon crawled into her lap clumsily so she could investigate Harri further, *But you'll be safe with me.*
"I named him Dale!" Hagrid said proudly.
Harri rolled her eyes internally, What is it with Hagrid incorrectly sexing dragons? Harriet cradled the dragon in her arms and stood, "That's a wonderful name Hagrid. But this sweet thing here is actually a girl."
Hagrid seemed to deflate, "Oh." He watched as the dragon crawled onto Harri's shoulders and sniffed at her hair, she pulled back when she smelt Harri's shampoo and gave a delicate sneeze that sent scarlet flames through the air in a small burst. "Aw. That's 'er first flame." Hagrid sniffed, "Maybe we can call 'er Daisy." Harri smiled softly and nodded.
"Hey Fred didn't Charlie talk about a dragon like that?" George asked.
"Yeah, it was Opal something." Fred responded, still tense watching Harriet being crawled on by a dragon.
"Antipodean Opaleye if I remember correctly." Harri said, stroking the wing of the little dragon who had dropped herself over Harri's head. *Little one do you know how your egg got so far away from your nest?*
*Momma left for food. Sticky magic picked my egg up. Hatched with beard.* Daisy said disjointedly.
Harri frowned, *Alright, are you hungry little one?*
*Food?* Daisy squeaked excitedly.
*Yes, what would you like?* Harri asked.
*Shiny wigglies!*
Harriet stifled her giggles and snapped her fingers, a Hogwarts elf popped into existence in front of her, "Hello, can you please get me a large bowl of sardines."
"Yes Young Miss." The elf squeaked with a bow, he popped out quickly and returned moments later with a large bowl filled with the small silver fish. He bowed again and left.
*Here you go darling Daisy.* Harri said, she set the bowl down and set Daisy in front of it so she could eat.
"She is rather adorable." Lee said, crouching down to watch the baby dragon stuff herself with sardines.
"Yes and she'll grow into a real beauty…." George said.
"But where are you going to keep her when she gets to full size?" Fred asked.
"And what are you going to do when Harriet can't come translate for you?" George added.
Hagrid huffed and tugged at his beard, "I was hopin' to have her trained and keep her in the forest."
"In the forest? Hagrid the scarlet flames of the Antipodean Opaleye could crystalize the entire forest!" Harri said, crossing her arms over her chest, "That could destroy the habitats of hundreds of creatures and I highly doubt the centaurs will take her presence well."
"Well I can't jus' abandon her!" Hagrid exclaimed, starting to look upset.
"I'm not suggesting that." Harri said, "But you need to think this through Hagrid. You aren't equipped to handle a fully grown dragon." Hagrid drooped.
"We could try…"
"Calling Charlie." The twins suggested.
Lee looked up from Daisy and nodded thoughtfully, "He could take her to the reserve and make sure she's properly cared for."
Hagrid bent down and picked up Daisy mid-fish, "But she needs me. I hatched her. I'm her mummy." Hagrid struggled to hold Daisy as she tried to free herself to get back the bowl of sardines.
Harri laid a hand on Hagrid's arm, "Hagrid, I know that's how you see it and I can understand not wanting to let her go but going to a dragon reserve would be the best for her. Especially since she knows was stolen from her real mother." She pulled Daisy from his arms and put her back down carefully so the dragon wouldn't injure herself trying to get back to the food, "You have to think what's best for her."
"Besides, we're sure…."
"Charlie will let you visit her." The twins threw in.
Hagrid looked at the little dragon who had now actually climbed in the bowl to finish off the fish and lick it clean, "Fine." He gruffed, he picked Daisy up again smiling at her as she chewed on his coat, "But it will take a couple days to contact Charlie so I can still care for her until then." Daisy pulled away from Hagrid's coat and sniffed once before letting out a sneeze, scarlet flames flew from her nose and hit one of Hagrid's chairs.
Harri sighed and put the fire out before the special flames could fully crystalize the chair, "Hagrid, in the interest of your hut, I'm going to get Charlie now rather than later." Hagrid looked forlorn but nodded and turned away to focus on Daisy.
Lee and the twins stepped closer to Harri, "Go get him? How are you going to do that? He's in Romania!" Lee exclaimed.
Harri grinned, "A magician never reveals her secrets!" she slid out of the hut with the twins following close behind.
"Harriet, how do you know Charlie?" Fred asked, Harri could see a bit of jealously creeping on his face.
"And how are you going to get him?" George asked, his expression more curious.
Harri smiled sadly at them, "Occlumency." She said softly.
They both sighed, "When we master it we need to have a long talk." They muttered together.
Harri took their hands and squeezed gently, "I know it's frustrating. I would much rather explain than go through this but it's for my safety and yours. I promise." They nodded dejectedly. Harri softened at their expressions, "Hey, Salazar has been teaching you to make certain memories seem like dreams or like they were tampered with right?" Fred and George nodded at her, confusion on their faces. Harriet grinned, "I'm going to walk over there to the edge of the forest and then disappear to go get your brother. Later I'll see if you can make this seem like a dream, okay?"
"You're going to apparate?" George asked.
"Not quite." Harri laughed, she drew her hands away from them and took a couple steps back, "Watch closely!" she turned fully and sprinted to the edge of the forest, once there she closed her eyes and focused on Charlie, once she had pinpointed a strong enough memory of him she let her blue flames engulf her and take her to him.
Standing next to Hagrid's hut the twins gaped at the spot their friend had just disappeared from in a wave of flames. "Wicked." They said in unison, the snakes gave hissy snickers from Harriet's bag.
Dragons were enormous fire breathing lizards, so it stood to reason that Charles Weasley, a dragon handler, dealt with a lot of flames. However, he had never, ever seen blue flames appear out of nowhere right in the middle of a Horntail enclosure and deposit a small girl in their place as they disappeared. In fact, this was so surprising that he just stood staring like an idiot as the little girl drew the attention of enormous beast in the enclosure.
The dragon approached the girl, who looked only mildly surprised to see it, slowly and sniffed her warily. The usually territorial female Horntail just hissed softly at the girl who, again to his surprise, hissed back. Then the Horntail looked over to him, the girl spun and looked at him where he was standing at the edge of the enclosure. She grinned and headed over to him, the Horntail following behind her docilely.
When she reached the magically enhanced short fence the girl jumped up on it and sat there with her hand extended, "Hello there, you must be Charlie Weasley. Nice to meet you." dazed Charlie took her hand to shake, "I'm Harriet Potter, a friend of your twin brothers."
"Um, hi." Charlie said stupidly before he exploded, "How did you show up in a Horntail enclosure?!" he yelled, causing said Horntail to jolt and make a surprised sound in it throat, "How did you get here?! Why is the Horntail so calm around you?! And did you just say Harriet Potter?"
Harriet stared at him in amusement, "Yes, I'm Harriet Potter, Girl-Who-Lived, Savior of the Wizarding World, Current Gryffindor Seeker, Treacle Tart Connoisseur, etcetera, etcetera. How I showed up is perfectly obvious, magic. I also happen to be a parseltongue which is how I can talk to Gladius here."
Charlie blinked several times before focusing on the completely wrong thing, "The dragon's name is Gladius?"
Harriet grinned, "Yes, it is. You are missing the most obvious question though."
Charlie blinked again, "Um, why are you here?"
"Correct!" Harri exclaimed, she pulled her wand and shot confetti out of the tip at him. He spluttered and tried to brush it off of him in vain, "I did come here for a very important reason though." Harri said, becoming serious.
"And that would be?" Charlie prompted.
"Hagrid found a hatchling in the forest. It arrived there after being stolen from its nest, the little one remembers. A certain person is using the hatchling for some scheme I have yet to see." Harri said, straight faced. "I came to take you to retrieve her after seeing if the reserve had space for her."
Charlie studied Harri carefully, "What kind of dragon is this hatchling?"
"She is an Antipodean Opaleye." Harri said.
Charlie's eyes went wide with surprise, "An Opaleye? When did she hatch?" he asked urgently.
Harri raised an eyebrow, "I'm not sure, Hagrid didn't say. Sometime recently though, she's still small enough for me to hold. Why?"
"One of our nesting Opaleyes went crazy a week ago, we found out one of her eggs were taken while she was feeding. She's been despondent." Charlie said, he tilted his head, "You said you held the hatchling?" Harri nodded, "Can you come with me? If you can talk to her then she can smell you and see if it's her hatchling, if not I'm sure you can still make a case for the baby."
Harri nodded and jumped from the fence, she patted Gladius on the nose before conjuring a deep cloak around her, "Lead on!" she said to Charlie cheerfully.
"What's with the cloak?" he asked as he lead her from the Horntail enclosure he had been doing his daily checks at.
"Can't have everyone knowing who I am can I?" she laughed.
"And why do I get to know?" Charlie enquired.
"You're Fred and George's brother." Harri said simply, "Besides, who would really believe you if you told them Harriet Potter appeared in a burst of flames?"
Charlie chuckled, "Got me there." They began passing other tamers who eyed the cloaked figure curiously, "So you're close to my brothers?"
"Very." Harri said with a smile.
"Am I detecting blackmail material?" Charlie teased.
"I give nothing freely." Harriet laughed, "You'll have to earn juicy details."
"Ah, so there's juicy details to be had?" he shot back. Harriet settled into the familiar banter with Charlie, he hadn't been super close with them before especially after the move to America but he did join them after they returned to England. He and Harriet had been friends but she hadn't had enough time to really consider him family despite her being mated to his brothers. Harriet would gladly consider him family if he stuck with them though.
When they finally stopped at another enclosure Harriet released they had gain a rather large group following them. "Weasley!" a gruff voice called from ahead of them, Harri looked to see a small willowy, scarred dragon tamer standing at the enclosure in question. He had thick brown hair that stuck up wildly and looked to be scorched in places and he wore tight worn leathers over his entire form with a red dragon outline on his shoulder pad. "What is this stranger doing here?"
"Tamer Haddock this stranger came to me about a found Antipodean Opaleye hatchling." Charlie replied, "She is also a parselmouth so I was bringing her to converse with the mother to determine if the hatchling they found is the one missing."
The tamer looked over to Harriet with a critical eye, frowning when he couldn't see anything other than her mouth and hands beyond the cloak. "Even as a parselmouth how do you expect to get close enough to the grieving mother to converse."
"I have my ways." Harri responded with a smile, "I'll be quite safe."
Haddock narrowed his eyes at her, "Handler Weasley, do you know the whereabouts of the hatchling in case this stranger gets crystalized?"
"Yes."
Haddock raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Harriet, "Then by all means." He said mockingly, waving a hand toward the enclosure.
Charlie laid a hand on her shoulder and muttered, "You better come back. I don't want to tell the twins their friend was crystalized by a dragon."
Harri laughed, "You won't have to Charlie." She went over to the enclosure and hopped the fence with no trouble. She walked forward and only stopped when larger version of Daisy's head rose from a large ring of rocks and locked on her. This full grown Opaleye had elegant horns that curved up from the sides of its head and the colors in it eyes were of a more pastel palette.
Almost the entirety of the Romanian Reserves personal watched wide eyed as the tiny cloaked figure was stared down by the full grown nesting Antipodean Opaleye. The dragon drew back its head and shot a long stream of scarlet flames at her making the group beyond the fence gasp; the figure didn't react, it just let the flames engulf it. When the dragon stopped and the scarlet flames dissipated the group gasped again, the figure was encased in blue flames looking perfectly at ease. Suddenly the figure extinguished its blue flames and began to hiss at the dragon who, upon noticing her flames had not effect, was watching the figure curiously. The dragon began to hiss back and the group watch in fascination as the hissing slowly began to change pitch from each of the females.
After almost twenty tense minutes of changing hisses the two matched up and the female dragon came half out of her nest to sniff at the figure curiously. It drew back and let out a mournful roar to the sky, filling all watching with a sense of heartbreak. The figure drew closer and stroke the dragon's snout when it came back down from its cry, it gave several crooning hisses and the dragon flopped the rest of the way out of her nest with an undignified whine. The speaker and the dragon conversed for several more minutes before the figure nodded and retreated back to the fence.
Harriet looked out over the sea of stunned and awed faces as she sat on the fence again, she fought to keep the smirk off her face. "The dragon, her name is Barbara apparently, says that the scent on me is from her stolen egg. I will take Charlie with me and bring the hatchling back."
"What?!" Haddock exclaimed, "You'll need more than him to bring back a hatchling."
Harriet ignored him and skipped over to Charlie, "Be back in ten!" she announced happily as she grabbed the redhead by the arm and flamed them back to Hogwarts.
Charlie stumbled away from her as the flames dissipated, brushing off his arms frantically to get rid of the flames that were clearly not affecting him, "What was that?" he demanded.
"Magic." Harri said flatly.
"We are wizards!" Charlie exclaimed, "You can't just say that and have me accept it!"
Harri smirked as she drew back her hood, "I'm a witch." Charlie made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and Harri giggled. She led him over to Hagrid's hut and frowned when she heard crashing and shouting from within, "That doesn't sound good." She opened the door to utter chaos.
Hagrid was sprawled over his chair with several half crystalized patches on his coat, George was perched on top of his chair trying to protect the three snakes from the disaster area, Lee had somehow managed to get stuck in the cauldron that Hagrid had been keeping Daisy in, and Fred was chasing after the hyperactive dragon currently running toward the fireplace. Charlie and Harri started laughing, drawing attention to the door. "Charlie! Harriet!" George, Lee, and Hagrid exclaimed.
"Stop laughing and help me catch her!" Fred cried as he dove for Daisy again and she slipped from his arms, making Fred crash into the wall. Charlie laughed harder at that but Harri calmed down enough to call Daisy to her.
The baby dragon slammed into her with a happy squeak before crawling all over her torso, smelling her mother on Harriet. "What happened?" Harriet asked.
"We played with her for a while but she started to get restless." Lee said, "We fed her some more to try and get her to take a nap but it didn't work."
Charlie calmed down with a softer chuckle and leaned over to scratch the hatchling under her jaw, "Babies have a lot of energy. Antipodean Opaleye hatchlings in general don't calm down until their mothers sing."
"So will the Reserve be able to take her?" George asked, climbing down from his safe spot.
"Turns out that's where she was taken from." Harri said, "Her mom is distraught." She looked down at Daisy and hissed softly, the baby hissed back excitedly.
Hagrid sniffed, "If 'er real momma is still there I can't keep 'er in good conscious." He picked up something from a half destroyed table and handed it to Harri, "Here it's the first thing she crystalized." He said sadly, he patted Daisy who purred under the attention, "I'll miss you little Daisy." He turned away to try hiding his big blubbering sobs.
Lee patted Hagrid on the shoulder and tilted his head toward the door with a pointed look at the others. The twins mouthed thank yous and ushered Charlie and Harriet quickly out of the hut. The twins pulled their brother toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Harri following behind at a slower pace, humming gently to calm down Daisy who was rapidly falling asleep on her shoulder. She glanced down at the piece of crystal in her hand and frowned when she just made out a headline in the rock, 'Break in a Gringotts!' it read, through the crystallization process Harri could see little swirls of color that she identified as spells. With the title she assumed they were compulsions and spells to make her take notice of the paper in Hagrid's hut.
*Damn Dumbledore.* she hissed viciously, Daisy jolted at her aggressive noise and she quickly started humming again to calm the baby. The twins and Charlie were looking at her curiously and Harri huffed, "Later." The twins nodded solemnly and turned back to their brother who was looking confused.
"Charlie, did mom, dad, and Ginny…."
"really visit you over Christmas?" the twins asked.
Charlie frowned, "They came over a couple days before but civilians aren't allowed to stay on the Reserve for long periods of time. It's too dangerous. They had to leave the same day."
The twins exchanged a look, "Charlie we need to tell you something,"
"But you have to promise to hear us out before you say anything,"
"And you have to swear not to tell anyone." The twins said seriously.
Charlie looked between his brothers, "I can't promise that. You're my brothers, if you're in danger I need to tell someone."
"It's not a danger to us." Fred said, eyes hard.
"It's a danger to Harriet." George continued.
"We have to keep her safe." They said sternly.
Charlie looked over to Harriet, the girl he had recently seen stand up to a dragon, then back to his brothers, "Alright, I'll listen."
"Swear on your magic not to tell anyone unless we say you can." Fred prodded.
Charlie's jaw clenched, "I can't. If Harriet needs to help I will have to do something. I will feel terrible for not doing as you asked but I will do so if it becomes necessary, I won't risk my magic for that."
Harriet intervened when she saw the conflicting emotions crossing her mates faces, hurt showing the most. "Charlie, I understand why you wouldn't want to make a swear on your magic. I won't force you, however for my safety and your brothers you have to understand that we won't be able to tell you anything without it. You could always swear to Magic rather than on your own so that Magic can decide your punishment if you break trust for whatever reason but if you can't do that right now I'm afraid I will have to oblivate you and try another time."
Charlie studied Harriet's hard face, her eyes unblinking and her willingness to oblivate him to keep them safe clear on her face. Finally, he nodded, "Very well. I, Charlie Weasley, swear to Magic not to repeat what has been told to me by Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Harriet Potter without their express permission. So mote it be." Harri nodded as a glow settled around them and stepped back so the twins could take over.
"It's mom, Ginny, and Ron." Fred said bluntly, "They've gone off the rails."
Charlie frowned and George picked up where Fred left off, "They've been trying to dose Harriet. Mum wove compulsions into a sweater for her for Christmas and added some potions to her fudge."
"They're trying to get Harriet to marry Ron so they can get to Harri's money." Fred continued, "And they're already getting paid from her accounts because Dumbledore managed to set himself up as her Magical Guardian Illegally and have a goblin get things from her accounts."
"And apparently Ginny is studying Harri so she can become her best friend and keep her away from topics Dumbledore doesn't want her to look into." George added.
Charlie looked bewildered by this onslaught of information, he looked to Harriet to see if she had anything to add but she was just humming and rocking Daisy gently, letting the twins have this one. "Do you guys have proof?"
"We heard them talking about it!" the twins exclaimed.
"You can't have been mistaken?" Charlie tried weakly.
"I'm afraid they aren't." Harri said, "I have physical proof at Gringotts, anything beyond that is not something I can tell you about without the proper mental training."
Charlie grimaced, "I'm not the best at Occlumency."
Harriet nodded, "It's a tricky art. If you would like to see the physical proof, I can tell Griphook to extend an invitation to you to come and talk with us after the school year is complete."
Charlie looked uncertain, still a little off balance from the twin's revelations. "I'm not sure I should show up for a private meeting."
Harri smiled, "Bill will be there, you won't be alone with us." The twins raised eyebrows at Harriet.
"Are you the reason he got moved back here for four years?" Charlie asked.
"Yes." Harri said bluntly, "I worked out a deal with Gringotts and he's employed directly under my account manager for that time after which he can renew or go back to Egypt if he'd rather."
Charlie chuckled, "He said he was bored out of him mind. Apparently the goblin has him inventorying vaults full of books."
Harri winced, "Yeah, not my idea. He'll be very busy after I get out of school this year but I will see if Griphook can move him to a more exciting vault in the meantime."
Charlie sighed, "You seem like you've got this in hand so far so I'll keep my vow. I do want to see proof of all of this but I will be careful around mom, Ginny, and Ron until I get that." He walked over to the twins and pulled them both in a hug, "I'm proud of you little brothers, standing by your friend even in the face of your own families wrongs. Very Gryffindor." He felt his little brothers sag into him and knew they had been afraid of him siding with their mum, "If it's true, I don't agree with it. I will back you two and your girlfriend."
The twins pulled back and spluttered, "She's not…. We're not…. We mean." They babbled over each other, their faces turning bright red.
Charlie laughed and walked jauntily back over to Harriet, "Can you give me a ride? I don't fancy trying to apparate the hatchling all the way over to Romania."
"Sure." Harri said with an amused look at the twins as she slid her hood back in place, "I'll be right back." Their blushes grew even deeper and they looked away. Charlie chuckled and Harriet rolled her eyes as she flamed them back to the Reserve.
They were greeted by the shouts of the other handlers and tamers immediately, Harri ignored them as she walked over to the enclosure and climbed in. Daisy pulled from her grasp and tumbled over to Barbara the second she saw her, the mother dragon cooed happily when her baby returned to her. Harriet accepted the dragons thanks with a slight bow of her head, cockily saluted the handlers and tamers, and went back to her mates.
"Alright, all done." Harri said with a smile, she took her bag back from George and lead them back toward Hagrid's hut so they could save Lee from being cried on too much longer.
"We didn't know you'd,"
"Met Bill." The twins said.
Harri stopped and turned to them, "Technically I haven't." she sighed at their faces, "I promise it will all make sense once I can tell you."
"That talk is getting longer and longer." Fred huffed.
Harri smiled, "I said I'd tell you everything, its already super long." She walked over to them and pulled them into a hug, they only hesitated a second before wrapping their arms around her tightly, "I'm sorry I can't just say it, but Dumbledore could really cause problems if he finds out about some of this stuff. I won't risk you guys getting hurt if that that happens."
"We know."
"and we understand."
"but it's frustrating." They muttered in her hair.
"I know." Harri said, she pulled back and gave them a lopsided smile, "You said you would be experts by my birthday. We will set it up that you can come over then and I will tell you everything. Okay?" they nodded and returned her smile, "Now let's go save Lee from Hagrid." The twins laughed and followed close after her.
Two days after that Harriet finally got the summons she was expecting. At dinner, Hermione delivered a small note from the Headmaster that was spelled with compulsions. Harri fought them even as she read over the summons and nodded to Hermione in understanding. The twins, noticing her sudden stiff demeanor after Hermione's interaction, pulled her from the room shortly afterward making a big deal about needing to send a letter to Oliver and Lee.
"Harriet are you alright?" George asked worriedly as soon as they were concealed behind the door that led down to Salazar's study.
"Dumbledore finally summoned me." She said, waving the small bit of parchment, "It's got compulsions on it that I'm currently fighting." She gave a small shudder, "Since I'm going to go see him soon I can't just counter them, he'll notice." She focused on breathing deep, "I hate having to pretend."
"We know." Fred said softly, "Once we're involved we'll take him out as fast as possible."
Harri gave him a half smile, "We do have to be a bit careful with that so we don't become criminals."
"Nah, we'll go on the run. It'll be fun." George said, Harri snorted.
"I don't think so." She took another deep breath and nodded, "I'm going to go." She looked at the twins with a very serious face. "I need you guys to go to Snape and get a cleanser potion, he should have one ready. I am not going to try and avoid the potions because if I do Dumbledore will be suspicious and try to push them on me stronger. Once I come back I need you to make sure I take it, I do have a certain resistance to them but the cleanser will make sure it's completely out. Merlin only knows what that old man will have me take."
"Got it." The twins said, "Get a cleanser from Snape."
"Make sure you take it when you get back."
Harri nodded, "Snape already knows but he can't say much, he's under oath, okay?" they nodded shortly, "Alright, I'm going then." They gave her a salute and she rolled her eyes at them fondly. She left them and trooped up through the castle until she had reached the Headmaster's office, "Butterfinger." She told the Gargoyle, it jumped aside and she went up the steps easily.
"Come in." rang out before Harriet even had a chance to knock. She made sure her Occlumency shields where tight and opened the door, "Ah, Harriet!" Dumbledore called happily, "How nice to see you my dear. Have a seat, please." Harri sat in front of his desk, her eyes wondering the office with faux fascination, though her eyes did linger on Fawkes who, by the looks of him, was close to his burning day. Finally, her eyes went back to the Headmaster, "I called you up here for a little after dinner tea and a chat to see how your settling in."
"Of course Headmaster, thank you." She said politely.
Dumbledore snapped his fingers and a tray of tea appeared between them, "Cream my dear? Sugar?"
"A dash of cream and two lumps if you please." Harri said with a smile. The Headmaster's eyes twinkled and he poured the tea, once Harriet had hers he watched carefully until shook took her first sip and sighed, "Wonderful tea Headmaster."
He sat back with a triumphant look in his eyes and smiled, "Thank you Harriet, it's my favorite. Now, how have you been doing here?"
"Excellent Headmaster, it's been amazing coming here and learning magic." Harri said brightly, "And I've made such wonderful friends."
"Ah yes, I've seen you hanging out with your teammates all the time." Dumbledore said with a grandfatherly smile, "So you get along with them then?"
"Yes, they're great friends. They're so nice to me and I love playing Quidditch." Harriet enthused, she cackled mentally even as she widened her eyes and stared trustingly at the Headmaster.
"I see, I've also seen you with Ron and Hermione. Are they some of your friends too?" Dumbledore said, not too subtly.
Harri wrinkled her nose delicately, "No Headmaster, I don't think I could be friends with Ron and Hermione."
"Why ever not dear girl?" he asked in a grandfatherly tone.
"They're always so rude to everyone." Harri said truthfully, "Hermione is always lecturing people, talking to them like they're stupid which is very off putting and Ron has no sense of personal hygiene or a filter between his brain and his mouth." She listed, May as well get something out of this stupid meeting, she thought even as she felt the potions start to take effect.
"Surely your exaggerating Harriet, children can be a little loose with their ways of speaking after all." Dumbledore said gently.
Harri frowned and shook her head, "That I could understand maybe, but they are downright rude to everyone. The first day they even yelled at me just because I bumped into them getting out of the boats." She looked sadly at her tea, "I didn't mean to, I just lost my balance a bit."
Dumbledore gave her an understanding look and nodded, "I see, well I'm sure they'll grow up eventually Harriet. Let's move on to more pleasant things. What are you interested in dear girl?" he pulled some small pastries from behind the tea pot, "Oh and help yourself my dear." Internally Harriet growled but outwardly she just smiled and took one of the pastries.
Fred and George quickly tracked down Snape in his office, they knocked insistently on the door until it swung open and Snape glared out at them, "What is Salazar's name are you making so much noise for?!" he sneered.
The twins pushed their way into his office and turned to him as he closed the door, "We need a cleanser potion." They said in unison.
"Why?" Snape frowned, looking down his nose at them.
"Harriet is having tea with the Headmaster." Fred said urgently.
"She said she wasn't going to try and avoid the potions so he wouldn't be suspicious." George finished.
Snape let out a deep sigh and went to his personal potion stores, grumbling about Potters with a death wish all the way. When he returned with a medium vial he studied them carefully before holding it out to them, "I am not sure what all the Headmaster is giving her tonight, if he gives her what I think he is going to she will need you to take her to a private space while the cleanser works understand?" they nodded, "Don't leave her. She'll need human contact." He laid the vial in George's hand.
Fred narrowed his eyes, "I don't know of any potion that would need that when being flushed out of a system." He blinked, "You know about how we're bonded to Harriet don't you."
Snape raised a surprised eyebrow, "I wasn't sure you were aware."
"We're only half aware, that's the problem." George stressed, "She only told us it was a bond. She said we wouldn't believe her so she is having us find out exactly which bond it is by ourselves."
"Do you know how many kinds of bond there are?" Fred continued, "Too many. We thought it would be easy."
Severus let out a chuckle which surprised the twins, "You are making this too hard. I can't tell you much because of the oath but it's very rare and contact from you two will help her through the cleanse faster."
The twins brightened, "Thanks Professor!" they chorused.
Snape rolled his eyes, "Go get her before she does something else stupid." They nodded and left quickly to race back up to the dorm and wait for Harriet's return.
When Harriet finally stumbled into the common room an hour and a half later they were on the edges of their seats. She looked awful, her eyes seemed dull, and her magic was doing weird flares every so often. Immediately, the twins picked her up by the arms and secreted her away to the top of the tower where there was an abandon space between the top floor of rooms and the roof.
"Harriet are you okay?" George asked, the snakes were hissing frantically in her bag where Fred had moved it.
"Stupid old man." She slurred, "Used the suppressor. Fighting it…." She shuddered and went silent.
"A suppressor?" Fred muttered darkly, "After Snape's big push for us to stay with her do you think…"
"It's suppressing whatever our bond is?" George finished, anger creeping into his tone. "Yeah." He pulled the vial from his pocket and uncorked it, "Support her neck and tilt her head back." Fred slid his hand under her neck carefully and tilted her head back while George forced her jaw open, he poured the vial in her mouth then stroked her throat gently to help her swallow.
Harriet began to shudder and shake, sweat pouring from her form. "Fucking Dumbledore." Fred snarled.
George jolted, it wasn't often that his brother used real swear words as opposed to silly ones but this time he agreed, "Fucking Dumbledore." He returned, taking Harriet's hand for both his comfort and hers.
After a few minutes Harriet's magic rose in the room and with it came two other magical signatures that felt extremely familiar to the twins yet strangely different. They looked around trying to pinpoint it and stopped when they saw two foxes appear next to Harriet's bag. The foxes had ginger fur running all over them expect on their bellies and chest where their fur was a steel gray; on their paws, ear tips, and tail tips was the only places the foxes differed, one had snow white fur and the other had jet black fur in those areas.
"Woah." The twins said, staring into the familiar eyes of the foxes.
"Coincidence?" Fred asked.
"Not likely." George responded.
The foxes huffed and darted forward as one and climbed on Harriet, they rubbed their muzzles on either side of her neck and made soft churring noises. Harri didn't respond beyond a sigh and her magic settling down again which made the foxes disappear with a pop. "How is she going to explain that one?" Fred wondered aloud.
"Explain what one?" Harriet muttered blearily, alerting the twins that she had regain awareness.
"Are you alright?' George questioned worriedly, brushing her hair from her face.
"Sore." She rasped, "My magic hurts." She groaned.
"Fighting off the potions apparently." Fred commented.
Harri rubbed at her chest with the hand that George wasn't currently holding, "Feels like it." She opened her eyes and looked up at them, "Thank you for helping me."
"Of course." They chorused.
"Now, explain what one?" Harri asked again.
"Your magic rose at the end there." Fred said, "Then two foxes appeared,"
"two foxes with familiar eyes, ears, and tails." George continued, he grinned at Harri, "Do you know these foxes?"
Harri smirked, "Yes, yes, I do. They happen to be twins foxes. Adorable really." The twins looked away with light blushes. Harriet's smirk became a frown, "As for how they got here, I'm not sure. I will have to ask." The twins looked back to her with raised eyebrows, she just ignored them and tried to sit up only to groan, "Damn that smarts." She huffed, the twins chuckled and she whined, "I can't wait until summer vacation."
Guard Snakes! Imagine the Marauders patrolling the edges of her bed in their snakes forms. Lol
I think that a lab fits Lee, watching him announce quidditch games and going off on little tangents about his favorite players and who he thinks is cheating, getting scolded by McGonagall, and the doing it again not five minutes later. Canine. Then he's just so happy and energetic, obviously loyal to the twins, and pretty smart to be able to at least attempt keeping up with the twins without too much trouble. So, Lab.
The guesses for the twins: Mockingbird(just because of the name), lynx(love those little critters and their tufted ears), lemurs(cause the twins are monkeys, lol), Hyenas(the laughing dogs), Gobi Jerobas(these funny little hoping mice critters), Fossas(the ones from Madagascar, you know "Foosa hungry, foosa eat!"), and aye-ayes(fugly little bastards with the werid fingers, jump scare indeed).
Having the twins be foxes are a little played out(as much as them having the same animagus at least), but I do think the associated personality type fits the twins so we'll stick with that. If you have a problem with this, I'm sure I'll hear about and ignore it!
In the previous timeline Loki named the twins Mischief and Mayhem on a trip to Asgard where they pranked the Allfather. Here in reality land, my sister and I were going through nicknames that went together and those are the ones we kept coming back to.
So, hey, I don't own a pet fox and the stupid song isn't exactly helpful. I watched some Youtube videos from some people who own foxes and tried to describe their noises so they may not be completely accurate. Either way its an easy idea, they're being cute.
Hagrid's speech is not consistent, I'm sorry. I kept hearing his gruff accent in my head while writing and tried to mimic it but it only came out well sometimes. Apologies.
I found the Antipodean Opaleye on Pottermore! Its a VERY short description but just think of a white opal and that's what the scales look like. IDK, Daisy was just a plot devise for Harri and the twins to get to talk to Charlie and for Dumbledore to try and get Harri interested in the stone since she never went there with Hagrid.
Fuck yeah! Who else wants some shiny wigglies?
Like I said, the Antipodean Opaleye doesn't have much of a description. However, it did specify that the flame was scarlet. In a land of magic, with such a pretty dragon, I went ahead and took the liberty to assign that flame a special property in this story. Scarlet flame can crystallize items. Bam.
How much you wanna bet Harri and the twins pulled that 'a magician never reveals their secrets' crap on the Avengers. lol
Harri didn't have to spend time learning the Horntail dialect because she's already spoken to one in the previous timeline.
So...How many know Dragon Tamer Haddock's first name? lol, I couldn't resist.
To clear up Dumbledore's plot. He stole Daisy from her mother for Hagrid to find, so he could get Hagrid to seek out Harri for translation, so Harri would see the paper. Convoluted but he's Dumbledore so...
Charlie will get a better explanation later. Harri is just letting the twins do the talking where their brother is concerned.
The poor twins, they want to know now and to them its seeming like Harri doesn't trust them. They will get the full story on her birthday as promised.
Right, so Harriet isn't sure why Mischief and Mayham showed up so she will be doing some research. Since she's going to be finding out, you will find out with her! How many can guess ahead of time?
School year ends next chapter!
See you next time!