I know that you were all anxious to find out what happens, so this chapter is early. To all the people who claimed that I was Evil, she is my best friend. Her name on ff.net is Minna, so go read her stuff! Also read my sister's stuff, she's Obake. To all the people who were claiming that I was driving them insane that is my job. I'm Insanity. To all people claiming to be Insanity or to be completely insane – sorry, but you can't be. Only I can be. *nods* I know a lot of you aren't going to be exactly happy with his animagus form, but I've had it planned from the very beginning and that's what it will be. *nods* Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I included a description…if I didn't, it'll be in the next one. *nods* I think the most imaginative suggestions I got was a dinosaur and a black phoenix.
This chapter is for Becka, Tarusoul (or Von), and phobiac, who was my one thousandth reviewer. *grins*
Chapter Twenty-Eight
For a moment Harry didn't feel anything, and it occurred to him that perhaps he'd mixed the potion incorrectly and Snape hadn't done anything out of spite. Then he felt a kind of shift within himself, and the next thing he knew his line of sight had lowered to just above the benches. The way he was seeing had also appeared to have changed somewhat. Colours and objects were sharper and he could see every tiny movement everything in the room was making, no matter how small. One of the first things he noticed – after the bug crawling along the back wall, the small piece of wood falling from the roof and the hyperventilating of Neville – was the way everyone's mouths were hanging open.
'Just what am I?' He wondered. An image and name did the equivalent of an actor wandering onto a stage at the wrong time, gave a sheepish little wave to the stunned audience, and crept off again.
'Well, I guess that would explain some things," he thought to himself, before wandering over to his seat and lying down beside it. Professor McGonagall was saying something, and he knew better than to draw the attention away from her.
Professor McGonagall wasn't quite sure what she had thought Harry would be, but it certainly was not the creature Harry had turned into, reason being that it was extinct and usually a person would have to have seen the creature to become it. The rest of the class was gaping at it and trying to place what creature he had become.
"Well, this is most unexpected," McGonagall said, turning to face the class. "It looks like we have another special case on our hands."
A hand shot up. "Yes, Miss Granger?" the Professor asked, not even bothering to take her eyes off Harry.
"What kind of creature is it?"
"It's a Tribeast, Hermione. Not a very original name, I know, but I doubt you have ever heard of it. It became extinct thousands of years ago. A dark wizard from Atlantis took three creatures – a stalker for the head and body, also extinct, a phoenix of the old type to enable to creature to fly, and an unnamed creature with six snake heads and one dragon for the tail - and used them to create one being. The tribeast was able to survive the long centuries, despite the fact that there were no others created after the first, and soon there was a rather large population living in the country. There's not much known about them except that they were solitary creatures and never attacked without cause."
"Then how did they become extinct?" Hermione pressed.
"They had come to rely on Atlantis for their survival, and when the Atlanteans made the decision to sink their city to save it the tribeasts had to move to another location. It turns out that they could not survive without their home, and they gradually died out. That is all we know."
Harry, who had transformed back into his usual self was sitting at his desk, avoiding the stares of others and generally trying to act as if nothing unusual had happened.
"What? It wasn't that big a deal when Lavender became a pixie, so why is it any different with me?"
"Because your creature is extinct, was created by a wizard and has the parts of three creatures," Seamus pointed out, voice deadpan.
Harry pouted. "So I have a split personality…"
"Alright, that's quite enough. You can argue about this later but right now we have a class to finish. Miss Granger, if you could step forward," Professor McGonagall said, withdrawing Hermione's potion from the cupboard it had been stored in. Hermione nodded and moved to the front, swallowing the potion in one go. It turned out that her form was a raven, a surprise for most people, but not for Harry. He had done a project on ravens once while he was still at a muggle school, and knew that they were one of the smartest birds there are. Hermione turned back into her normal form, and the time trudged onwards, pulling the students after it and forcing them to sit through half a lesson of more 'swish and flicks'. Professor McGonagall motioned for Harry to come and speak to her as the lesson finished and the rest of the students moved on to their next ones.
"Do you remember when Professor Moody asked you if you wanted to take some special classes to learn to control your abilities?"
Harry nodded. "Of course I do. I've been wondering when they would be starting, actually."
McGonagall's lip twitched. "We've finally convinced the Ministry of Magic that they are necessary for you, and they have approved it. The lessons will be held for every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night, for two hours. You will meet the other Professors and myself here tonight at seven o'clock. This Thursday night and every second Thursday afterwards will be when the next Order of the Phoenix meetings is held. That is all. You had better hurry, or you'll miss your next class. Don't forget, now!"
Harry nodded and ran out of the classroom, fumbling around in his bag for his timetable. He found it and pulled it out, read what the next lesson was, and ran out of Hogwarts towards Hagrid's hut.
'Alrigh' then, settle down," Hagrid was telling the students as Harry came charging up. They ignored him, and Harry saw a small glint form in his eye.
"SHUT YER MOUTHS, YOU 'ORRIBLE LITTLE PEOPLE!" He bellowed. The class fell silent, staring at Hagrid with more than a little bit of surprise and fear. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged.
"Been takin' some lessons from Professor Snape, I have," He explained. Harry arched an eyebrow, wondering what could have convinced Hagrid to ask Snape for help and what had made him agree. Echolalia, who had taken to staying in Harry's room near the fire and complaining about the cold fluttered down to join Harry, burying herself in his coat and shivering.
"Now, I know a lot of you are all goin' to be a little disappointed, but the day has come when the faeries have to leave. They fly down to Australia in the Winter, and they'll need to leave soon or they won't be able to join the rest of their group."
Harry stared at Hagrid for a moment, feeling as if the bottom of his world had fallen out from beneath him. He pulled Echolalia out from beneath the cloak for a moment, staring at her numbly. She looked back at him, eyes depressed and faintly angry.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He murmured, touching her cheek lightly with the tip of his index finger. She shrugged and curled up into a little ball. After a moment he placed her back under the collar of his cloak.
"You'd all better say your goodbyes to them…I know that it's hard, bu' it has to happen."
Echolalia crept out from under the collar and moved to stand on Harry's shoulder. He felt her hand brush by his ear and heard her whisper an apology for the bite. Then she fluttered up and touched his nose gently.
"Miss you," She murmured, before flying up to join the growing group of faeries in the air. Harry nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Miss you too," He choked out. He sat down on the grass and pulled his knees up under his chin, watching the group grow. Finally they began to fly away, moving across the grounds with great speed.
"There they go, then," Hagrid said quietly. A single tear crept down Harry's cheek and fell onto his arm.
"We'll be learnin' about quadliwinkles next lesson, so remember to bring somethin' shiny to class" Hagrid dismissed them. A hand appeared in Harry's line of vision, and he looked up to find Neville smiling sadly at him. Harry grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, brushing off his clothes. Dean and Seamus joined them, patting Harry's shoulder.
"We know you'll miss her, Harry. We all will," Neville offered quietly, and Harry forced a weak smile.
Dean clapped his hands together. "I've got a great idea!" He yelled, before pulling Harry back up towards the castle. The rest of the group followed, listening to Dean's chatter as they crossed the ground. Just as they reached the great doors of Hogwarts, a few snowflakes began to fall.
* * *
"Here it is! I was going to use it, but the hole in my ear closed up and I'm not game enough to get it pierced again," Dean said triumphantly, having pulled out the majority of his trunk. In his hand was an earring. It was a fang of some sort, with a gorgeous film of dark blue over it. Dean slipped it through the hole Echolalia had made in Harry's ear, and stood back.
"There. All the girls will be chasing you, now," He said, looking at Harry proudly.
"Like they aren't already," Neville joked.
"What's it made of?" Harry questioned, moving to look at it in a mirror. Now that he looked closely at it he could see swirling patterns of dark blue in the film covering the fang.
"The fang of an adder," Dean said. "The colouring on it was made by taking a faerie's wing and wrapping it around the fang, then heating it so that it melted onto the fang."
"How did they get the faerie wing?" Harry asked.
"Don't worry, it's just like with the fairies, only it takes them longer to shed them. I think the faeries only shed their wings once every five years, or something like that. The magic in it will make the fang hum when someone's about to try to hurt you or put you in danger or if there is someone around that you shouldn't trust. It also helps with sleep," Seamus jumped in, grinning and winking broadly.
"This way you'll always be able to remember Echolalia," Neville said, smiling. Harry smiled back.
Thanks a lot, Dean," He said, reaching up to touch the earring again.
"No problem at all," Dean assured him, before glancing at the clock.
"Oh no! We'd better hurry, or we're going to be late to class!" He yelled, thundering down the stairs that lead to the Common Room and sprinting out, the three other boys hot on his heels.
