Chapter 18
Shanks, Crook (Marco)
My name is Marco.
Today was Monday. Harry had given us the schedules of our houses, for we were to begin taking magic classes. I had totally refused at first, but Cassie had persuaded me to join in.
Turns out Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had Defense Against the Dark Arts Class first thing.
At least it sounded interesting…
I strode into the classroom with Jake, Tobias, and Ax at my side. We made sure to get as close to Harry as possible, but Hermione and a red-headed kid I assumed was Ron were sitting beside him on both sides. I sat behind him, but for the minutes before class started I was too preoccupied staring at a pair of twins with gorgeous, long brown hair to talk with him. Their names, I found out from eavesdropping on them, were Parvati and Padma.
What lovely names!
"Why, hello," I said smoothly, running a hand through my hair. It was really too bad I wasn't my usual cute self.
They both stared at me. "Who are you?" asked Parvati.
"Oh, I'm Peter. I've transferred here from Beauxbatons," I replied, repeating the identity Harry had made up for us.
"Oh!" gasped Padma excitedly, "That's so interesting! I knew a really cute boy from your school. He danced with me almost the whole time, because Ron," she glared at the red-headed boy, "didn't want anything to do with me!"
"Same with Harry. He kept staring off at some Ravenclaw girl," Parvati said sulkily.
I gasped exaggeratedly, eyes growing wide. "Who would ever not want to do with as beautiful creatures as yourselves?"
They both giggled and blushed. They glanced at each other, which only made their conditions worse. I grinned and leaned closer to them, when the ugliest person I have ever seen in my life entered the room. She looked like a toad wearing pink lace. I guessed that this was the infamous Professor Umbridge.
Parvati and Padma immediately sobered. Disappointed, I sat back.
"Wands away," she said cheerfully, in a voice like a little girl's. This made my disappointment worse, but nonetheless I slipped my wand back into the bag Harry had supplied for me.
"Now, you will be reading Chapter Two of Defensive Magical Theory."
Hermione raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"I've already read it," Hermione said.
"Then read Chapter Three."
"I've read the whole book."
I stared. What a workaholic this girl was!
This stared a whole conversation about jinxes and counterjinxes. Professor Umbridge ended up taking five points from Gryffindor for starting a debate! I couldn't believe this woman!
That's when Harry started up.
"What for?" he demanded.
"Harry—!" Hermione began.
"She disrupted my class with a pointless discussion topic," Umbridge said coolly. She started talking about their previous teachers. It seems though go through one per year. "Only Professor Quirrell was a suitable teacher if you asked me! He would have at least passed a Ministry inspection—"
"Yeah," Harry interjected loudly. Umbridge fell silent, staring. "Quirrell was great. Well, except that he had Lord Voldemort" —everyone flinched— "on the back of his head and attempted to kill me at the end of the school year."
No one spoke for a long while. Jake, Tobias, and I gaped openly. Ax was able to retain a barely-controlled calm expression.
"Haven't I told you not to tell lies, Mr. Potter? That will be another week's detention." Umbridge said tartly.
Fuming, Harry sank back in his seat. He rubbed the back of his right hand. I caught a glimpse of something that looked uncannily like "I must not tell lies" engraved in the back of his hand.
I needed no more to guess that this Dolores Umbridge was out of her mind.
~*~
"So, how was your first day?" asked Harry with fake cheer.
"I thought it was interesting," Cassie said brightly. She had over enjoyed the whole Hogwarts experience. Of course, she hadn't witnessed Harry in Dark Arts class.
She had, however, been in Professor McGonagall's class, where Umbridge had met her downfall.
Man, had that been sweet.
"Interesting…" Jake said, looking thoughtful.
"Well, I'm off," Harry said, getting to his feet with a grunt. "I'm due at Umbridge's office for my detention." He unconsciously rubbed the back of his hand.
"See you," I said.
"'Bye," he said gloomily, trudging off.
Once he was out of earshot, Jake said, "Someone's going to go watch him in detention."
We all nodded in agreement. "Who?" I asked.
One by one, all heads turned to look at me.
"Nooo," I said, backing away. "I've had enough of today. Why me?"
"Because you are good at getting in and out of things without trouble," Jake said casually.
"Are you calling me sneaky?" I demanded.
"Yeah," Rachel said with a grin.
"I wasn't asking you, my lovely Xena."
She hit me. Hard.
"All right! All right! I'll go. Jeesh…" I whined, rubbing my arm. "What morph will I be using, Jake, old pal?"
He shrugged. "I don't know… definitely not fly. The school is way too big."
I nodded in agreement. "How about a dog?"
"Have you seen a dog walking around the school, Marco?"
"Uh… no."
"There's your answer."
We sat in silence for a long while.
"How about a mouse?" Cassie suggested.
"Are you insane? I mean, didn't you see all the owls and cats? I'll be road kill!"
"Do you have any other ideas?" Jake demanded.
I stuttered, "Uuuh… no."
Jake said nothing, but gave me a scathing look I sighed. "Fine," I said dejectedly.
"Be careful," he said firmly.
"Yes, Dad," I retorted. I focused on the mouse DNA inside me. This morph made me grin, because I had used it to wreck some girl's pool party because she hadn't invited me to it.
POP! POP! POPPOPPOP! Fur sprouted all over my body.
SPROOT! My face elongated, as if someone had taken my nose and just pulled.
My ears crawled up the side of my head and stopped on top, my flesh stretching thin and flexible. That was when I started to shrink. It felt like I had just jumped off the Empire State building! The ground rushed up at me, until it was centimeters away from my face.
CRRRACK! My backbone shifted, forcing me down to all fours. It stretched, forming a pink hairless tail. My fingers and toes extended too, making them thin and long. My two front teeth slid down past my chin. Whiskers popped out of the side of my nose.
My sense of smell increased by a tenfold. My eyesight dimmed, but it wasn't as bad as insect-o-vision.
Then, the instincts hit.
Run, run, RUN! My mind hollered. I squeaked in fear and darted to the left. A giant foot came down in front of me, blocking my path!
Trapped!
"Marco!" bellowed an impossibly loud voice from above, "Get hold of yourself!"
I froze. Human memories flooded the mouse's instincts. I was Marco, the cute boy from America. I was Marco the Animorph.
I shook my head roughly. Sorry, guys, I said, nose twitching, I kinda lost myself there.
Jake picked me up and brought me to the Chamber entrance. "Good luck," he said, and turned me loose.
I quickly zoomed out of the bathroom and down the hall. I stopped when I came to the staircase. The walls and their pictures were dim. This is when I realized I didn't know where I was. I could see, but my eyesight wasn't great.
Oh, great, I moaned.
I scuttled up the stairs and down various corridors. After an hour or so, I ran into my first cat.
Seriously, I nearly had a heart attack. Believe me, when you're a mouse and you run into a huge ginger cat, you do not take this lightly.
I was too scared to move as its huge yellow eyes watched me. It gave me a look that said, quite plainly, You're not a mouse.
Erm… nice kitty, I said in private thought-speak, slowly backing away.
The cat made a weird noise that could have been a sneeze or a laugh. There is no need to worry, little one, if you tell me what you are.
That's when, I realized with a start, it was talking to me.
Uh—uh—I'm human.
The cat laughed again. Its eyes flashed in the moonlight. I noticed that.
My name is Marco. I managed.
And I am called Crookshanks, the cat replied, closing its eyes and flaring its nostrils. The things humans come up with.
At least your name isn't Pussy-Doodles or something. I pointed out.
Crookshanks opened his eyes and stared at me. Do not irritate me, human, for at the moment I am larger than you.
I realized, I squeaked.
What is it that you are doing here? He asked.
Um… looking for Harry. My friends and I have noticed that he's getting hurt in detention. I'm trying to see what that idiot Umbridge is doing to him.
Aaah, yes. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She's a piece of work, now, isn't she? She is quite the imbecile. He stretched and yawned, revealing teeth the size of my arms. I shuddered involuntarily.
You are lost, are you not? He asked suddenly.
Yeah, I said before I could think.
He smoothly got to his feet. Follow me.
I didn't argue. He led me in the total opposite direction I had been going in, which made me feel like an idiot. After about fifteen minutes, I spotted an apparently empty classroom.
Hold on, I said, I have to become human again, or I'll get stuck.
Interesting, Crookshanks said plaintively.
I demorphed and remorphed under the watchful eye of the ugly ginger cat. Once I was a mouse again, he said, That was a strange way of transforming. When I watch Minerva become feline, it is much quicker and smoother.
Minerva? I asked.
You probably know her as "Professor McGonagall". Crookshanks said.
Ooooh, I said knowingly.
He stopped before a closed door. A ray of candlelight filtered out of the crack beneath the door. I must leave you here, Crookshanks said. Norris does not like it when I talk to mice. She finds them below us. I actually find them quite knowledgeable, and enjoy talking with them before I dine.
I jumped back from him and he laughed. I do not eat transformed humans, so you need not worry. You are, after all, constructive. My owner, Hermione, feeds me regularly. Though you cannot speak unless in a transformed state, you have your uses.
I'll remember that, I said weakly. He swished his tail back and forth for a moment, watching me, but then turned and left.
I squeezed through the crack between the floor and door. I was able to hear the scratch of a quill and the occasional rustle of robes. The stench of sweat and blood filled my nostrils.
I scrambled up the leg of a desk. There, I had a great view of Harry. He held a sharp, black quill in his hand. I glanced around the desk for an inkbottle and found none. He was sweating visibly. Blood ran down his wrist and soaked the cuff of his robes. I stared in horror.
With effort, he scrawled, "I must not tell lies."
The words cut deep into the back of his hand as he wrote, causing blood to flow more freely. They healed over, but not very well.
This continued for the next hour, according to Harry's watch. That's when she noticed me.
"Mouse!" she shrieked in her girly, high-pitched voice.
Harry gave a start, blinked, and looked around. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, smearing blood. He scowled and wiped it off with his other, blood-free sleeve.
"Mouse!" Umbridge screeched again. She took out her wand and aimed it…
Straight at me!
I dodged not a second too soon. The desk I had been on blew apart. Harry ducked the flying debris, covering his head with his arm.
Yikes! I said.
Harry realized I was an Animorph as soon as the thought left my mind. He pulled out his wand, pointed it at me, and hissed through his teeth, "Make it look convincing!" He yelled some made-up word. Sparks flew out of the wand and grazed my fur. I immediately keeled over and held my breath.
"Get rid of it!" Umbridge shrilled hysterically.
Harry scooped me up in his hand, getting blood all over my fur, and dumped me outside. "You'd better run for it," he whispered, "Mrs. Norris or Crookshanks could be roaming the school. Tell Jake that I don't appreciate being spied on."
He turned on heel and went back to his detention. Oops, I said.
Crookshanks padded down the hall, and said, amused, She caught you.
Ha, ha, ha, I said dryly, Thank you, Einstein.
He extended his claws, making them longer and more menacing. Remember, human…
All right, all right, I mumbled. Could you take me back to Moaning Myrtle's?
It would be my pleasure, he said.
We walked in silence for a bit, in which time I went over my life and what I was doing at the moment. I was walking down the halls of a wizarding school as a mouse with a talking cat. Jeez, just when you think life has reached maximum weirdness…
Did she injure you? Crookshanks asked unconcernedly.
No, I said, shaking myself to free myself of blood. It didn't work, for it had dried to my fur.
Then tell me what happened, he said, sounded exasperated.
Oh! Oh, right. She saw me and screamed. She tried to blow me up, but I jumped off the desk. Harry pretended to kill me and picked me up with his bloody hand. That's where the blood came from.
Humans, Crookshanks said with a snort, They love their precious knowledge and don't bother to put it to use.
I rolled my beady eyes. By then, we had reached the bathroom. I scuttled inside and started to demorph. I clutched the floor in melting finger/claws. When I was human enough to speak, I said through shifting teeth and tongue, "Shanks, Crook—!"
I was cut off abruptly as I lost the claws that held me up. I slid down the pipe and hurried to tell Jake all that I had seen.
And I had the eerie feeling I had seen too much.
A/N: Muahahaha! I didn't take a month and a half this time! Anywho, I hoped you liked it. I actually loved this chapter, especially its title. ^_^ I love the chapter title! ::coughs:: I also hoped you liked the excerpt from my original story too. This is a pretty long chapter, all considering…
To answer a question asked (sorry, I've forgotten your name and can't find it at the moment), Harry wouldn't use the Imperious Curse on Ron's Yeerk. Why, you ask? Because you have to mean an Unforgivable Curse when you say it (see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for more). If Harry couldn't use one on the person-who-dies's murderer, I'm pretty sure he couldn't do it on his best friend.
If anyone else has any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!
