Disclaimer: All places and characters belong to JK Rowling and WB and various publishers. No money is being made off of this piece of fiction.

Chapter 7: The Chimaeram

They had brokered a deal. A union of the Order and MoM to stand against the Dark.

The Ministry was bringing their weapons to Hogwarts, where the final stand of the Light was to take place, which meant they were bringing the "source" too. What the Order had not anticipated was that the source was proclaimed by the MoM to participate in the fighting.

Draco could not imagine the emaciated body fighting Daemons. It seemed surreal and unjust. There had been no signs of magic from the thing itself. It remained unclear how the weapons were "charged".

Witches and Wizards associated with the Order had gathered. They awaited the arrival of the Ministry and what remained of its depleted armies. A mix of young Aurors (there were no old Aurors left) and conscripted creatures (slaves really).

The identity of the creature Draco had witnessed being harvested remained unclear, although there were those in the Order that insisted it was Potter. Weasley of course, and oddly enough Albus and Severus. Albus seemed to have accepted the creature as Potter immediately.

'Power the Dark Lord knows not.' He obviously believed that somehow this was the prophesied power that could defeat the Dark Lord.

Draco was not completely convinced. Maybe part of him just wanted it to be wrong.

The bigger question was, did the Dark Lord know?

Draco was assigned to oversee the re-location and set up of the Ministry "troops" and weapons, along with Lupin and Granger.

There had been some strange requests from the Ministry. Everything had been arranged for the battle to fall close to the full moon. It spoke to the number of Werewolves the Ministry would be bringing.

With the positioning of the castle on a cliff face on the South and the lake on the West, the attack was predicted to come from the North-West, through the forbidden forest.

Military grade tents had been set up across the back lawns, close to the lake. Drills were run on the grounds before the forest. Training circles for hand-to-hand and weapons combat were set up, the clang of metal rang through the air as Aurors practised use of the new Ministry Stòr weapons. The strange smell of burning associated with the Stòr filled the area as green light flashed.

'They're minimising the use of the Stòr.' Granger noted as they passed, 'Conserving it.'

'Yes, and it seems only our esteemed Auror corp will be armed.' Lupin noted with an edge to his voice as they made their way to the grounds warded off for the Ministries Creature platoon.

Grunts and dull thuds of flesh hitting flesh could be heard as Werewolves fought within an area roped off by thin silver wires floating in the air.

The men and women werewolves inside wore simple clothes and lacked any of the protective gear or weapons of the Aurors.

'This is un-fucking believable.' Granger mumbled.

'Careful Granger.' Draco said lightly.

She turned her brown eyes on him, 'Don't tell me that doesn't upset you.' She jerked her head sharply to the right.

Head of the Werewolf platoon, a Wizard, was strolling along the outside of the silver-wired enclosure and giving instructions to assistants hovering around him. His left arm was draped possessively around the waist of an unnaturally beautiful woman with silver hair. She walked with a grace and poise afforded to most Veela, but her eyes seemed unfocused and vacant. The silver collar around her neck glowed faintly. An empathy collar undoubtedly linked to a mate or other close family member held captive somewhere.

While Veela generally weren't great fighters, they were deemed useful in other areas of the Ministry. If mated, well, they became very good fighters, very quickly. The empathy collars linking mates and family, while not needed in more fully fledged Veela, made partial Veela succumb to manipulation. It made the Ministry controlled Veela a formidable force in the early parts of the war. However, the Ministry were forced to all but abandon this route once the mass suicides began. Mates, being held captive and enduring echoes of what was happening to their Veela mates, began killing themselves to free their Veela half from the atrocities on the battlefields and in the high-ranking officials' bedrooms. Pressure from international Veela counsels and the public forced the Ministries hand and most mated Veela were released, a few kept on voluntarily.

It was a shame the public didn't care nearly as much for Werewolves.

'Drop it, we have to find the source.' Lupin was tense, the closeness of the silver and pheromones of other wolves close to the moon likely making him agitated. It was a miracle Lupin had escaped the fate of his kin on the other side of the silver barrier. A fate that was undoubtedly due to Dumbledore's influence. Seveus, Lupin, and Draco himself now owed Dumbledore an unexplainable debt.

Passing the Werewolf enclosure, they came upon the Scorpians. A species of humanoid creatures from central Australia. How the Ministry acquired such an asset no one knew, and Draco tried not to think too deeply on it. They were formidable in battle. Strong, fast, and aggressive. Both male and female were heavily muscled and had deadly tail-like appendages, two claw-like pincer tails in the females and on the males, a thick tail topped with stinger loaded with a venom so toxic a single strike could kill a troll.

The venom had been milked from the males and used in some earlier MoM weapons. It could slow the Daemons down and in high enough doses kill them outright, but it was messy and often left both parties maimed.

The Scorpian enclosure was much more structured than the Werewolves, males tethered by their ankles to large posts, spaced in a manner that the males could not reach each other. Females organised themselves around their respective male in menacing circles.

'They're not supposed to be caged together.' Granger hissed.

The aggression of male Scorpians to other males was legendary, in their homeland they lived in harems and well-defined territories. Males rarely had contact except when contesting mates or territory. Fights would often end in death or disembowelment.

Every male in the enclosure was tensed, tail upright in a clear indication of warning, facing one another and pacing the length their tethers would allow. Low hissing sounds could be heard from the various females.

'They're an intelligent, proud species reduced to these inhumane conditions.' Granger shook with her righteous rage.

They wore little to no clothes, a remnant of their culture and the bright, sunny, warm climate they came from. They looked washed out standing around in the dull, gloom of a Scottish November.

The male closest to them turned sharply and bared its teeth, full black eyes boring into Lupin. He could sense the dominant beast in Lupin no doubt. The Scorpian's fathomless black eyes were unnerving, and likely contributed to the widely misled public opinion that the Scorpians were true beasts that had no soul.

In truth the Scorpian's eyes were only fully black when they felt threatened or afraid, which Draco was sure constituted the entirety of their captivity.

Lupin inclined his head to the agitated Scorpian, 'Come on.'

They rounded the old greenhouses and made their way toward a thickly guarded section of the grounds. The weapon stores were here, as were the mysterious "charging" devices.

A large cage, built out of the same material as the Stòr weapons, was placed in the centre of the weapons tech tents. Inside the cage, curled up on the dirt was the creature. It was in the same pose they had all seen in Draco's memory. Limbs curled in protective around itself, tails hidden underneath and hair covering its face.

Granger visibly steeled herself, looked away, and walked confidently up to what appeared to be the main weapons tech tent. Standing across the cage from Draco and Lupin was the short Unspeakable who had helped Draco in the Ministry tunnels. They made eye contact for a moment before she deliberately turned and walked behind the far tent.

'I'll see you inside.' Draco said to Lupin and tried to inconspicuously make his way around the cage. It was obvious everyone was avoiding getting too near. Which was strange as the creature didn't even look alive. Unlike the other enclosures, this one was enclosed on the top as well. But as far as Draco could tell, and from the detailed reports from Severus and Granger, the thing didn't have wings. Massive scarring on its back, likely from the harvestings, but no sign of wings. So why cage it in from above?

Rounding the side of the tent Draco was shocked to see the Unspeakable smoking. He'd never admit to engaging in the guilty muggle pleasure outside of his apartment.

He stepped closer to her and felt the tingle of a silencing and privacy spell. MoM workers nearby paid them no attention.

'So much cloak and dagger… Should I feel special?' He taunted the witch, maybe if he got a rise she'd crack a little.

'You and your posse should be more subtle.' She took a long drag of her cigarette. Draco watched enviously.

'What's wrong with it exactly?' He had meant to ask what it was exactly, or better yet who.

'Drugged. Heavily sedated most of the time.'

'With what?', Severus, Albus, and Granger had some leads on the drugs used by the Ministry to sedate the creature, but nothing concrete.

She eyed him shrewdly, 'Hasn't your resident Vampire figured it out?' Draco kept his features schooled. 'Or the brilliant Miss Granger?' The woman smirked, 'Well Mrs. Weasley I guess I should say?'

Draco was undeterred, 'How did they do it?'

'Ah a better question.' She smiled without humour, 'Ever heard of a Chimaeram?'

'Half lion, half snake?' Draco said derisively. The woman only smiled more grimly, 'Well no, not quite.'

Draco clenched his jaw in frustration. How could she be so forthcoming in the Ministry tunnel that night and so ambiguous here?

'Tell me Mr. Malfoy, have you ever witnessed a Fae ceremonial cleansing?'

What the fuck?

'No, I can't say I've had the pleasure.'

'Well then, you and your friends should come by tonight for the show, around midnight, high moon.' She flicked her butt onto the ground. 'Make sure to disillusion yourselves.'

High moon. Why did that phrase sound familiar?

She stepped out of the circle, the silencing and privacy spells broke. 'He'll be waking up soon.'

PAGE BREAK

'A Fae ceremonial cleansing?!' Granger was flipping through dusty tomb after tomb. 'Why on earth would they be performing a cleansing ritual?' She shook her head, frizzy hair flying loose from her bun.

'It must be linked to the charging of the Stòr.' Lupin lowered a book depicting intricate warding circles, 'I just don't see how they've gotten any Fae magic involved.'

'I don't see how this would relate to Har-ugh the source.' She pinched the bridge on her nose. 'Nothing about the creature looked remotely Fae-like. More Scorpian than anything.'

'Chimaeram,' Draco lowered Magical Blood: Purity, Mixing, and Dilution, and read off the page '…an organism composed of more than two magical cores, often competing in nature.' He frowned, continuing, 'There's a lot of depictions of rather graphic and unsuccessful attempts at mating various creatures.'

'I just don't see how they could induce magical mixing in a wizard with a stable magical core.' Lupin insisted. 'That is assuming this source-creature was originally a wizard…'

He placed his palm gently on Granger's arm, 'Which we don't know for sure.'

'It's possible this creature is of Scorpian descent. A hybrid or variant.' Draco added.

'Ughh,' Granger dropped her forehead onto the table, 'But then what's with the Fae cleansing ceremony?! Part Scorpian, part Fae?!' She asked disparagingly.

'Well, they would be "competing in nature".' Draco said dryly.

'Mixing such opposing magics would or should be disastrous, unstable at best.' Lupin tiredly stood up and reached into a cabinet. 'There's a reason why hybrids of certain species are not possible.' He returned, placing a bottle on the table along with 3 glasses.

Granger lifted her head and reached for another book, 'They must be channelling the wild magic somehow…it must be unrelated to the source.'

'I can't see how a non-Fae being could do that.' Draco accepted the steaming cup from Lupin, 'Thank you.'

'Slaint!' Lupin cheers and downed the PepperUp Potion. Draco followed, relishing the sudden rush of energy and pep as the steam poured out of his ears.

'I'll see you two later, it's getting late.' Lupin nodded, standing up to make his leave. Right, Werewolf, full moon. Granger was back to poring over texts. She looked exhausted.

'Come on Granger,' He nudged the third waiting glass towards her, 'Look alive.'

Granger looked up, 'Thank you, Draco. For all your help, I know this can't be easy for you either.' She downed the glass and made a face as the steam rushed out of her ears, frizzing her hair further. 'Ugh. I've never liked that feeling.'

He pulled another text towards himself and sighed, 'How about we break, catch some rest before midnight?'

Granger closed her eyes.

'I don't think we're going to get anywhere else with this,' He indicated the piles of books and scrolls. 'We need more information.' He shook his head. 'We don't really know what we're dealing with.'

Granger was staring off, her fingers tapping restlessly on the table.

'We need confirmation it's Potter.'' Her fingers stopped and she stared at him.

'Do you think it's him?' Her voice was fragile, so fragile.

'I don't see how it could be.' He said softly.

There was a long pause before she sighed, 'You're right!' she said loudly, suddently. 'A break. We have...' a quick tempus spell, '6 and a half hours until midnight.' She rose from her chair, 'I'm going to rest for a bit. Meet back in 2 hours?' She placed a hand on Draco's shoulder as she passed him, 'You should rest too.'

Sitting alone, he pulled the text from earlier towards him, the page depicted a werewolf-vampire hybrid ripping itself in two, its face contorted and wild.

He could feel the PepperUp already wearing off.

END CHAPTER