Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 19: Strange Visits
The day after the attack on Alicia, the Gryffindors were still at a loss as to what really happened the night before. Rumours were going around the school, about the night before. They ranged mostly from Alicia being dead to dark creatures inside the school wanting to feed on students. The Slytherins weren't helping the Gryffindor situation either, as they had the nerve to taunt them about it causing several fights to break out at breakfast between the two houses. As a result, both houses lost at least 100 points, putting the Slytherins in 3rd and the Gryffindors in 4th place for the house cup.
Since no one had heard any word about Alicia; Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let them anywhere near the Hospital Wing unless it was a life or death situation, the Gryffindors could only guess how she was doing. Fred and George were still feeling guilty about having played the prank on her the night before, saying that if they didn't put the ageing potion in her drink, she would be sitting with them laughing at their jokes.
"We can't take this anymore," Fred and George sulked at the table during lunch. "We shouldn't have played such a prank on her."
"Oh lighten up you two," Katie Bell said, trying to cheer them up a bit. "It's not your fault. You only were trying to have a bit of fun and lift everyone's spirits."
"Well, that fun may have just cost us our Quidditch Captain," they snapped before returning to brooding over their loss.
Hermione, who was sitting a bit farther down the table with Harry and Ron, was quietly listening to their conversation. She was fuming in anger at the fact that she could have done something to save Alicia.
*If only Walter hadn't plunged that knife into her neck, she would still be alive, * Hermione thought to herself. *I HATE HIM! I'll never forgive him for killing her. *
"Hermione?" said a voice next to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked next to her and saw that it was Harry trying to get her attention.
"WHAT?" she snapped, without thinking before she realised who it was.
"Calm down. I was only trying to ask you if you're alright," Harry said. He had a worried look on his face and he was clearly concerned about his best friend. "You looked deep in thought, so I was wondering if anything was wrong."
"Sorry," she replied apologetically. "I'm just still in a fuss over last night. I'm still enraged about Walter. Why did he have to go and kill Alicia when we could have saved her? I should have been more careful around him, then he wouldn't have gotten at my dagger."
"Come now, we don't even know if Alicia is alive. For all we know, she could be in the Hospital Wing alive and well," Harry pointed out, making her sudden outburst seem very illogical. "I don't know why Walter did what he did, but I'm sure he's got a good reason to do that."
"Stabbing a student with a dagger?" she said hotly. "You have got to be insane to want to do that when she's bleeding all over the floor."
"Perhaps, but Walter has helped us throughout the time we've been here. He's even made sure that the house elves got their vacation for you," Harry argued. "I doubt that he'd do anything without a reason. - Though I wish I could say the same about Sepet."
"Yes, Sepet has been acting rather strangely," Hermione agreed, starting to calm down a bit. "I wonder if he had anything to do with those dead Death Eaters in the tower. - Say Ron, do you remember anything about what you saw in the tower?"
"Huh?" Ron said, giving Hermione a quizzical look. He had been watching Fred and George sitting further down the table, thinking of a way to help cheer up his two brothers.
"I said, do you remember anything you saw in the tower when those Death Eaters were killed?" Hermione repeated.
"Oh, let's see. I remember that the hooded guy was very careful not to show his face. The people chained against the wall, I don't know if they were Death Eaters or not, but the sword had a silver blade."
"Ron," Hermione said, sounding unimpressed, "all the blades are silver, that doesn't help us."
"Sorry," said Ron, giving her a sheepish look. "I noticed that he was carrying it with one hand but I didn't notice anything else."
"Anyone can carry a sword with one hand," Harry said. "Even me, and that leave us at another dead end."
"UGH, I have a feeling Sepet is behind this, but we have no proof," Hermione said, irritably. "And Walter is probably helping him."
"Well, we'll just have to keep an eye on both of them," Harry said. "You could be right about Walter, though I still don't think that he would have stabbed Alicia in the neck without good reason, especially in front of Dumbledore."
"Harry's right Hermione. I don't think Walter would have done so without a good reason. I mean he's pretty nice even though he can be scary at times," Ron chimed in, though he was somewhat distracted by Fred and George feeling sorry for themselves. " - Hey, why don't we all go and see if she's alright. The entire Gryffindor team can come. Maybe it'll cheer Fred and George up."
"That has got to be the smartest thing you've said all year Ron," Hermione said sarcastically.
Ron gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Nevermind Ron. Let's go to see if Alicia's alright," Harry said, getting up. "- HEY FRED AND GEORGE."
"WHAT?" they yelled in unison causing quite a few students to look at them.
"Gather the team up, we're going to pay our captain a visit," Harry explained. "Ron, Hermione, and I will meet you at the Hospital Wing."
The Weasley twins jumped up at this suggestion. "Sure thing Harry."
The twins then went around the table with Katie and started to gather the team up, including Ginny, who was sitting with Seamus and Dean while Harry, Ron and Hermione headed out of the Great Hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the trio arrived at the Hospital Wing, they saw that Madam Pomfrey was just coming out of her office. She spotted them and quickly made their way towards them.
"What do you want?" she questioned, eyeing them suspiciously.
"We were just wondering if Alicia is here," Harry explained, "and if she's doing alright."
"Oh, she's lost a lot of blood but she's doing just fine," Madam Pomfrey said. "She had a nasty bite to her neck it seems. Poisoned her. Professor Laikov brought her in here after she was bitten. It appeared that he had stabbed her in the neck with some sharp object."
"My dagger," Hermione whispered, her hand absentmindedly going to the empty sheath at her waist.
"Really? Why would you be carrying a dagger around?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"It's for our duelling class. Professor Sepet gave them to us," Hermione replied.
"Well, you really shouldn't be carrying such weapons around," Madam Pomfrey scolded, however her face expression softened a little afterwards. "But if it weren't for that, I don't think that poor girl would be alive. We had to replace most of her blood since the poison had spread throughout her body. The knife wound that Professor Laikov inflicted on her had actually slowed the progress. If anyone had dressed the wound, the poison would have stayed in her body and killed her."
Hermione looked surprised at Madam Pomfrey's explanation and realised that Walter had told her the truth the night before. "And all this time, I thought Walter had killed her."
"Can we see her?" Harry asked. "I believe the rest of the Quidditch team will be here soon."
As if on cue, Fred, George, Ginny and Katie came in with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Katie was the first to say something.
"Hi Harry, is she alive?" Katie Bell asked worriedly.
"Yes, she's doing fine," Harry replied, giving her a small smile.
Madam Pomfrey, seeing the entire team present for their injured captain, was touched by their loyalty. "Alright, you can go see her, but don't disturb the poor dear. She's still resting from the operation this morning."
*So that's why no one was let near here. * Harry thought to himself, but walked over to Alicia's bed nevertheless with the rest of the Gryffindor team.
Alicia's neck was bandaged heavily and if it weren't for the fact that her chest was moving up and down with her breathing, Harry might have thought that she was dead.
Fred and George were the first ones to go up to Alicia's bed. George took her hand in his and quietly spoke.
"We're sorry Alicia," George said softly. "We won't ever play a joke on you again. It was our fault that you were attacked and we should have been there to - "
"Protect you," Fred finished. "We'll never play another joke again and we'll give up our idea of the joke shop because our fun has almost cost us one of our friends and we don't want to think of what would happen if we did lose you."
Alicia let out a small cough when the twins had finished speaking and the rest of the team looked at her expectantly. Her eyes opened slowly and she looked around, however, she wasn't able to turn her head since her neck was so heavily wrapped in bandages.
"I thought I heard Fred and George," Alicia wheezed.
"You did," Harry replied before anyone else could. "They were just talking before you woke up."
"Hi Harry, Fred and George," she said looking up at the ceiling. "Where is everyone and what happened?"
"The entire team is here along with Hermione," Harry said calmly. "As for what happened, we're still trying to figure that out. We were the first to get to you."
"I'm glad you guys decided to see me," Alicia said and they could see that she was smiling, despite her weakened state. "But I need to get out of here. Quidditch practices need to continue and we must win the Quidditch Cup this year since it'll be the last year that the majority of the original team will be playing, minus Oliver and Angelina of course."
"We will continue the Quidditch practices, but in your state, I doubt you'll be able to do much," Harry pointed out.
"Alright, then I elect you as the replacement captain," Alicia decided. "Continue the Quidditch practices in my absence and when I'm well enough I'll join you, we must beat those Slytherins again."
Harry was taken by surprise by her statement, but when he looked around, the entire team was looking at him with approval. "If no one objects, then alright, I'll accept the position. I don't know if I can pull this off the way you would though."
"Harry, don't do the job the way I do it. Do the job the way you think it should be done," Alicia countered. "I'm sure that you'll make a great captain next year."
"So you already had me in mind for the captain next year?" Harry asked.
"Yes we did," Fred and George replied with a grin and Alicia nodded faintly from her bed. "We thought you were the best candidate for captain next year, so you might as well start now."
"We should go before Madam Pomfrey comes back," Hermione finally said. "We don't need to be kicked out of here."
"Always the same Hermione telling everyone what to do," Alicia said smiling weakly.
Everyone turned to leave, but as Fred and George made to leave, Alicia called them back.
"One more thing Fred and George," she said with a mischievous grin on her face. "- if you ever give up on that idea of that joke shop on your just because I almost got killed, I'll be sure to hex you both so that you'll end up in here for months after we've graduated. As much as I didn't like that joke you played on me, I do appreciate the fact that you bother to play jokes at all. It makes for a not so dull life."
"Thanks Alicia," Fred and George replied in unison. "We're glad that you forgave us for what we did and we're sorry for that."
"You should be," she teased. "I still owe you the beating though."
Harry laughed to himself at this before he left the hospital wing with the Gryffindor team.
"Congratulations Harry," Seamus called as he went off towards the Gryffindor tower with Dean and Ginny while the rest of the team dispersed in different directions.
Harry waved a thank you at them before Ron decided to congratulate him as well.
"Congratulations mate," Ron said, patting him on the back. "I'm sure you'll be a great captain and we can give those Slytherins the beating they deserve."
"Ron's right Harry," Hermione agreed, smiling warmly at him. "You'll make a great captain next year."
Harry smiled back at her. It was times like this that he was glad that she was his friend, however, the fact that Ron liked her as well posed a dilemma for him.
"Thanks you two," Harry said. " - Now what would you like to do?"
"I want to go down to the dungeons to visit Walter," Hermione suggested nervously.
"Why would you want to visit him?" Ron asked giving her a quizzical look.
"I want to apologize for what I said to him yesterday," Hermione said, sounding a bit embarrassed. "I didn't allow him to explain why he had used my dagger on her, but now that I know that Alicia is doing alright because of that, my outburst sounds so stupid now."
"I don't think it was stupid," Harry said reassuringly. "I mean if I wasn't so shocked, I'm pretty sure I'd have attacked him for doing such a thing."
"Thanks for cheering me up Harry," Hermione said smiling warmly at him again and the trio made their way down to Walter's office once again, but as they turned the corner to get to the stairs, they ran into none other than Malfoy and his two goons, only this time he also had Pansy Parkinson clinging to him.
"Watch where you're going," Malfoy snarled as they all fell to the ground.
"Why don't you watch where you're going Malfoy," Ron returned angrily, getting up.
"Well, well, if it isn't Potter, Weasel and his mudblood girlfriend," Malfoy sneered while Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him.
"Get lost Malfoy," Harry threatened, making ready to draw his wand as he got off the floor.
"Make us," Pansy replied for Malfoy. "We're not going anywhere, right Draco dear?"
"That's right," Malfoy agreed. "You ran into us, you apologize first, and then we'll leave."
"Apologize to you? NEVER!" Ron said hotly and was going to attack Malfoy with his fists, but Harry and Hermione held him back.
"That's great Weasel," Malfoy said, sounding condescending. "You know, I hear that your great captain was badly hurt last night. I told you before and I'll tell you again Mudblood lovers and mud - BAA."
Ron was surprised at what Malfoy had just said but when he looked to Harry and Hermione, he saw that they both had their wands drawn and pointed at Malfoy and Pansy. When he looked back to where Malfoy was, he saw two sheep standing where Malfoy and Pansy were previously while Crabbe and Goyle looked too scared to do anything.
Ron, looking at the two sheep baaing and a nervous Crabbe and Goyle standing next to them, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Harry and Hermione looked at Ron with confused looks but they burst out laughing as well soon enough, however they made sure to keep their wands pointed at Crabbe and Goyle.
"BLOODY BRILLIANT!" Ron exclaimed while falling to the floor in laughter. "Where did you two learn to do that? I must say that Malfoy looks great as a sheep."
"We learned it from a book we found in the library," Hermione lied hoping that it would cover the fact that they were using elemental magic.
"You've got to show me that one sometime," Ron said, now calming down since he was hurting from laughing too much.
"Maybe if you would start reading more books," Hermione said as Harry helped her up, "you'd know some of these curses."
"I agree with Miss Granger, you really should start reading more books Mr. Weasley," said a voice from behind them causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to jump in surprise. They turned around to see that it was Walter, wearing his plate armour again, coming towards them with a large grin on his face and his hands behind his back.
"That was very entertaining you two," Walter said, laughing a bit. "Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson do look good as sheep, don't you think?"
Harry grinned and quickly put away his wand. "Yes, they do. Mad-Eye Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret last year and bounced him up and down."
Hermione followed suit, but she looked more nervous around Walter than Ron or Harry. Crabbe and Goyle, seeing that the trio was distracted by Walter, they quickly picked up the two sheep and ran away as fast as their fat legs could carry them, much to everyone's amusement.
"Ah yes, I heard about that one from Professor McGonagall. Most entertaining indeed," said Walter with a smile before looking at Hermione. " - Miss Granger, is something wrong? You look a bit nervous."
"Uh," Hermione began. "I just wanted to apologize to you for my outburst last night. We just went by the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey told us that Alicia was poisoned and that you had plunged my dagger into her neck so that the poison would get out of her system."
"No apology is necessary Miss Granger. If anyone must apologize it should be me for having tricked you to get at your weapon," Walter said, bowing slightly in apology. "I don't blame you for your actions and it is perfectly understandable that you would be concerned for your classmate's wellbeing."
"So you weren't lying last night," Ron spoke up in amazement. "I thought you had killed her as well."
"No, I didn't kill her. She wasn't close to death so there was no need to, but a few more minutes, and I probably wouldn't have had much of a choice," Walter explained. " - I did come to return Miss Granger's dagger however."
Walter quickly brought out his right hand with Hermione's dagger, hilt facing towards her, and offered it to her. Hermione could see that it was cleaned completely of all the blood and she reached out to take the dagger and put it back in her empty sheath.
"Thank you Walter," Hermione said gratefully.
"You're welcome," he replied. "I also wanted to inform you and Mr. Potter that your presence will be required in the headmaster's office this evening after dinner. I believe he wanted to discuss something with you both about your classes."
"What about me?" Ron asked jealously. "How come they've been going to see Dumbledore so often?"
"Mr. Weasley, they and six other students are taking a duelling class with Professor Sepet on their own. The headmaster just wishes to ensure that everything runs smoothly in class, considering that there are weapons other than wands involved," Walter explained.
"Oh, so that's why the meetings take so long?"
"Yes Mr. Weasley, everyone must be allowed to voice their concerns," Walter said. " - Well, I must be going now. I have some business to take care of before the meeting tonight and I won't take any points off from Gryffindor for playing that very entertaining joke on Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson. - Good day Miss Granger - Mr. Potter - Mr. Weasley."
"Bye Walter and thank you," Harry and Hermione called as Walter made his way towards the dungeons.
"What does he mean by having some business to take care of?" Ron asked with a quizzical look.
"I don't know," Hermione replied. "Let's go back to the tower; I want to get some of my homework done before tonight."
"Oh come now Hermione," Ron whined. "The weekend has only started."
"Exactly why I need to get my work done," Hermione stated.
Ron rolled his eyes, but he nevertheless went on with Harry and Hermione as they headed to the tower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that evening after dinner, Harry and Hermione said good bye to Ron and made their way over to Dumbledore's office. When they arrived, were surprised to find Sirius waiting outside, in his human form.
"Sirius," Harry said through clenched teeth, "What are you doing? You can't be seen remember?"
"Oh relax, everyone's heading back to their dorms, no one's going to be passing through here. Dumbledore made sure of it," Sirius assured him.
"Alright, let's just get up there," Harry said. "What's the password?"
"Treacle Tart," Sirius said and the stone gargoyle hopped aside so that they could enter.
As they made their way up, Sirius questioned them how everything was going.
"Everything is alright, though Professor Sepet has been acting strange and one of the students was attacked yesterday," Hermione explained.
"Any idea who did it?" Sirius inquired.
"Well, I suppose Professor Sepet could have done it since he was the first professor to leave at the Halloween feast," said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Hey Sirius, when are you going to teach Hermione how to become an animagus like both of us?" Harry interrupted.
Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "I've been having to keep Remus company in the shrieking shack since the full moon was up. Though did you fix it up since the last time we've been there? The place looks almost brand new."
Harry gave Sirius a small smile. "Yes I fixed it up with Hermione's help. We wanted to make sure that you liked it the next time you came there. I mean the place was a mess so we thought we'd surprise you."
"Thanks you two," Sirius said beaming at them. " - How about I teach Hermione how to be an animagus after this meeting? We can sneak into the Shrieking Shack or use an old classroom. You can come too Harry since I want to see how much progress you've made."
Hermione let out a small squeal of delight. "Thank you Sirius. Finally I can find out what animagus form I can become."
They entered Dumbledore's office and saw that almost everyone was there, except for Malfoy and Sepet. Sirius took his seat next to Remus while Hermione and Harry sat in their usual seats by the fireplace. Soon Malfoy entered, apparently back to normal. He glared at Harry and Hermione, who smirked at him, and took a seat.
Dumbledore then stood up to speak. "Due to the incidents last night, we will have to take further precautions to ensure that the students are no longer attacked. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we should go about this?"
Sirius was the first to speak. "Remus and I could patrol the halls at night. No students should be around, but I will still be in the form of a dog, just in case."
"And I can provide some of my undead soldiers to patrol the halls at all times. They do not require any sleep and can patrol anywhere within this castle," Walter added.
"Very well Sirius and Professor Laikov," Dumbledore said. "That should take care of most things. Alastor, Miss Figg and Mundungus Fletcher, would you three also be willing to assist them in keeping our halls safe at night?"
The three of them nodded affirmatively and Professor Sepet entered the room, followed by two men. The first, Harry and Hermione recognised as Professor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Drurstang, but they were even more surprised to see who the second person was; Viktor Krum. Krum, seeing Hermione in the room, smiled at her, much to Harry's chagrin, but he was pleased when Hermione smiled back rather weakly.
"Good Evening Headmaster," the Count said, unenthusiastically. "I found the two people you asked me to look for earlier last month. They've been staying here for several days now, but no one is aware that they are staying here. I also believe that Mr. Karkaroff would like to have a few words with everyone."
The Count took his seat next to Walter and Dumbledore stood up to acknowledge Karkaroff's presence. "Welcome Professor Karkaroff - Mr. Krum. I believe you've been to Hogwarts before. What can we do for you?"
"Please dispense with the pleasantries Albus. My student and I would like to request asylum and your assurance that no harm will come to us. He- Who- Must-Not-Be-Named has send Death Eaters after us," Karkaroff said rather quickly that it was clear that he was in a state of panic.
"Calm down Professor," Dumbledore said, conjuring two seats in the middle of the room. "Please have a seat and tell us all about it."
Karkaroff and Krum looked tense since their seats were in the middle of the room, but they sat down nevertheless.
"Professor Dumbledore, if you please," Krum began. "My headmaster, as you know, vos a former Death Eater and servant of You-Know-Who. Since he wants him dead, I believe it is my responsibility to see that no harm comes to him."
"Are they after you too Mr. Krum?" someone questioned and when they looked to see who it was, they saw it was Walter. "Forgive me for being paranoid, but it is my duty to question all new visitors."
"You'll have to forgive my student, he is just overprotective of me Professor - I don't believe I caught your name," Karkaroff answered.
"Laikov, Walter Laikov - Mr. Karkaroff," Walter said unemotionally. "You still haven't answered my question, Mr. Krum," said Walter, giving Krum a thoughtful look.
As Walter kept pressing the question, Harry could see why Walter was indeed excellent at interrogations.
"No, they are not, but it is entire possible that they vill come after me as well," Krum finally broke under the intense stare he was receiving from Walter.
After observing the exchange between Walter and Krum, the Count finally decided to speak. He had an evil glint in his eye that looked like he was expecting something. "Since we haven't heard a good reason to grant you asylum Professor Karkaroff, I don't think that we should give you our protection. We are already short-handed and you will understand if we are unable to protect you and Mr. Krum."
"I assure you headmaster," Karkaroff pleaded to Dumbledore after the Count's statement. "I have information that could be useful to you."
Dumbledore considered the statement a while before nodding. "Very well, then let us hear what you have for us."
"I heard that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is planning on freeing his followers from Azkaban," Karkaroff said shakily.
"Old news Karkaroff," Snape said dryly. "I don't suppose you know when he'd actually try that, would you?"
"Unfortunately no," Karkaroff said disappointedly. "I don't know when he plans to do that."
"I didn't think so," said Snape with a triumphant sneer on his face. "Because you let it be known that you had no intention of coming back to him, naturally he wants you dead. - According to my sources, he wishes to free them two weeks from today."
"If ve offered our services to your order, Professor, vould that suffice?" Krum asked.
Dumbledore smiled at the offer. "Yes it would Mr. Krum. In fact, that will be the next order of business."
"Since Fudge insists on the Dementors guarding Azkaban, when Voldemort (everyone flinches but Walter, Sepet and Harry) comes and frees them, we can expect the Dementors to join them. Therefore it will be safe to assume that they will turn against us once his Death Eaters arrive," Dumbledore continued. "Therefore, if we are to do anything, we will need everyone to participate in this defence."
"I will be sure to assist in their training against them," the Count added.
"Thank you both. - I believe that is all for tonight. You are all dismissed. Professor Laikov will show you to your rooms, Mr. Karkaroff and Mr. Krum," Dumbledore said.
Harry and Hermione got up and made to leave, but when they got to the door, they allowed everyone else to pass so they could wait for Sirius.
"Good Night Harry," Cho said as she passed him.
"Night Cho," Harry returned while Hermione scowled, but Harry didn't notice since the room was too dark.
Krum also passed them a few moments later and he said 'good night' to Hermione and Harry inwardly cringed, but he didn't show any emotion at Krum's attempt to flirt with Hermione. However Sirius eventually got to them and no one bothered the two anymore.
"Ready to go you two?" Sirius asked, coming up to them with Remus.
"Yup," they replied and enthusiastically followed him out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sirius and Remus led Harry and Hermione down corridors and up stairways until they came to a wooden door.
"Here we are," Sirius announced and he said a password (Padfoot), which unlocked the door, and Sirius opened the door so that they could enter.
They found that the room had green rugs on the floor and was furnished a lot like the Gryffindor common room, though there were many scarlet and gold tapestries hanging from the walls. Two armchairs were placed by the fireplace and two doors off to the left probably led to their rooms.
Remus sat in one of the chairs while Sirius, Harry and Hermione stood in the middle of the room.
"Alright, first let's start with Hermione since she's been wanting to learn what her form is," Sirius said, walking in front of her. "First take out your wand and hold it in front of you, then say 'Fateor formalis.' That will reveal what your animagus form will be."
Hermione then took out her wand and followed exactly as Sirius instructed and soon enough, mist shot out of her wand before forming a small bird that looked like a dove.
"Hmm, interesting," Sirius commented. "A dove. I haven't seen one of those before, though I suppose everyone is unique in their own way."
Hermione smiled happily that she was capable of becoming an animagus. "So how do I transform?"
"Well, as I've told Harry, for the first couple times, you'll need your wand but once you get used to it you should be able to transform just by thinking of your form," Sirius answered, "just concentrate on your form and say 'mutatio dove' to transform."
Hermione did as she was told and she could feel her hands changing into feathers, but other than that, she still felt the same.
"How did I do?" she asked expectantly.
"Not bad for the first time. Better than me the first time I tried it," Sirius beamed.
Hermione was pleased with herself but she was quite curious as to what Harry could do. "What about Harry? I want to see him transform."
"You up for it Harry?" Sirius asked.
Harry nodded and concentrated on his phoenix form. He felt his skin change into feathers and his mouth change into a beak. His hair changed to red feathers and lengthened so that the feathers fell to the bottom of his fairly long neck. Hermione watched in awe and delight as she saw him change, but didn't say anything as soon enough, she was staring not at Harry, but an average sized phoenix.
"Amazing Harry," she finally said. "I didn't think you would actually pull this off."
"I agree, well done Harry," Remus added in amusement while Sirius was just standing there with his mouth hanging open.
The phoenix then changed back and Harry said a cheerful 'Thank you' to Hermione and Remus.
"You can close your mouth now Sirius," Remus said, laughing at the state Sirius was in. "You don't need to drool all over the place when you're human. Unless of course you've been a dog for too long that you can't help it."
That comment snapped Sirius out of his dumbfounded look and he took out his wand to try to hex Remus, but he was faster and was already out of the chair by the time the spell reached the place where he was previously. The chair was turned into a poodle, which began to run around the room. Remus by then had his wand out and fired something at Sirius, but since Sirius wasn't fast enough, the spell hit him and his hair turned orange and he was wearing a pink dress.
Harry and Hermione laughed at the ridiculousness of Sirius' appearance and Sirius dropped his wand to get his hands around Remus, but he tripped on the hem of his dress and fell flat on his face.
Everyone burst out laughing again and Remus went over to Sirius and changed his clothes back to normal before helping him up off the floor. Sirius then picked up his wand and quickly turned around to fire another hex at Remus. This time Remus wasn't prepared and he found his shoes changed into a pair of high heels, which made him lose his balance and fall over sideways.
Harry and Hermione were rolling on the floor with laughter by then at the sight of the two men fighting each other.
"Good - One - Sirius," Harry said in between laughs.
"No hard feelings Remus?" Sirius asked, offering his hand to help Remus up after transfiguring his shoes back to normal.
"None Sirius," Remus said with a mischievous grin and got up off the floor.
"Well, I think we've had enough fun for tonight," Hermione interrupted before anything else could happen. "I'm off to bed."
"Alright Hermione, I'll come with you in a moment. I just want to say good bye to Sirius and Professor Lupin."
Hermione and Harry went over to give Sirius and Remus a hug before saying good night, which they happily returned before the two walked out the door back to the Gryffindor tower.
"That was fun, don't you think Hermione?" Harry said, smiling to himself.
"Yes it was," Hermione agreed. "But really, we're up past our bedtime again."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Still can't stand to break the rules and have a little fun now and then?"
"I'm a prefect, I have to uphold the school rules, but you're right; breaking the rules every now and then is fun," she said smiling at him.
"You're actually agreeing with me over breaking the school rules?" Harry asked mockingly, which was returned by a playful punch to his arm from Hermione. "Though I did notice that you're getting better with the elemental magic - Level 4 right?"
"Yes, I can do level 4 spells now," Hermione stated.
"I must say, Malfoy and Pansy look very good as sheep," Harry commented with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Hermione laughed at this and they continued happily onward to the tower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eventually they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was asleep. They woke her up and she made a fuss over why they were out so late. Not wanting to bother to explain themselves, they said the password (Cockatrice) impatiently and the portrait swung side.
They entered a completely empty common room and Harry made his way towards the boys' dormitories.
"Good night Hermione," Harry waved as he started walking up the stairs.
Hermione smiled warmly at him and ran over to give him a quick hug before going up to her room. Harry could feel his cheeks turn red and he was glad that she was gone since he was afraid that she would notice.
*She's made my life worth living, * Harry thought happily to himself as he continued his way up to his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: This one took a bit longer than usual to post, but I was trying to figure out how to incorporate everyone's suggestions into this chapter. I don't know if you're satisfied w/ Hermione's animagus form, but I decided on that one after someone mentioned a unicorn, which is white and another mentioned a hawk which is a bird, so I was thinking white bird. Then I happened to be watching some movie clips from Final Fantasy 8. The main female character, Rinoa can change into an angel so the closest thing I could think of was a dove. There are also other reasons why I chose that, but you'll have to keep reading to find out. Finally, I don't know what to do w/ Krum, so I'll leave it up to you guys. I can either kill him, get rid of him, or keep him, which would you prefer? Plz tell me.
Jarvey: Congratulations, I was wondering when someone would get it. Yes, Sepet's name inverted is Tepes so that makes him Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler (Tepes means Impaler if I'm not mistaken), or better known as Count Dracula. His castle, Bran castle in chapter 6, is also the name of Vald Tepes' castle in Romania, though the layout of the castle is different. The main entrance is actually a stairway, not a long bridge.
BloodRedSword: I didn't forget the elemental magic, just that there wasn't any relevant place to put it in those chapters. I used the polymorph spell on Draco though. Don't worry, there will be more elemental magic coming.
The Game: I know you were trying to be witty, my previous message wasn't intended to sound as if I was snapping at you.
GazzadaSpazza: True, I did fail to keep you guys guessing on that, but it was necessary for the story. You'll see later so please continue reading.
Mikala: Don't worry, H/Hr will get together eventually, though the question about Cho, I'm not really sure I understand what you mean by what's up with her.
Angelis: I'm glad you like the long chapters and I couldn't kill Alicia off cuz it wouldn't seem right at this time. Plus it'll help Hermione and I was thinking of pairing her up w/ Fred or George later.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 19: Strange Visits
The day after the attack on Alicia, the Gryffindors were still at a loss as to what really happened the night before. Rumours were going around the school, about the night before. They ranged mostly from Alicia being dead to dark creatures inside the school wanting to feed on students. The Slytherins weren't helping the Gryffindor situation either, as they had the nerve to taunt them about it causing several fights to break out at breakfast between the two houses. As a result, both houses lost at least 100 points, putting the Slytherins in 3rd and the Gryffindors in 4th place for the house cup.
Since no one had heard any word about Alicia; Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let them anywhere near the Hospital Wing unless it was a life or death situation, the Gryffindors could only guess how she was doing. Fred and George were still feeling guilty about having played the prank on her the night before, saying that if they didn't put the ageing potion in her drink, she would be sitting with them laughing at their jokes.
"We can't take this anymore," Fred and George sulked at the table during lunch. "We shouldn't have played such a prank on her."
"Oh lighten up you two," Katie Bell said, trying to cheer them up a bit. "It's not your fault. You only were trying to have a bit of fun and lift everyone's spirits."
"Well, that fun may have just cost us our Quidditch Captain," they snapped before returning to brooding over their loss.
Hermione, who was sitting a bit farther down the table with Harry and Ron, was quietly listening to their conversation. She was fuming in anger at the fact that she could have done something to save Alicia.
*If only Walter hadn't plunged that knife into her neck, she would still be alive, * Hermione thought to herself. *I HATE HIM! I'll never forgive him for killing her. *
"Hermione?" said a voice next to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked next to her and saw that it was Harry trying to get her attention.
"WHAT?" she snapped, without thinking before she realised who it was.
"Calm down. I was only trying to ask you if you're alright," Harry said. He had a worried look on his face and he was clearly concerned about his best friend. "You looked deep in thought, so I was wondering if anything was wrong."
"Sorry," she replied apologetically. "I'm just still in a fuss over last night. I'm still enraged about Walter. Why did he have to go and kill Alicia when we could have saved her? I should have been more careful around him, then he wouldn't have gotten at my dagger."
"Come now, we don't even know if Alicia is alive. For all we know, she could be in the Hospital Wing alive and well," Harry pointed out, making her sudden outburst seem very illogical. "I don't know why Walter did what he did, but I'm sure he's got a good reason to do that."
"Stabbing a student with a dagger?" she said hotly. "You have got to be insane to want to do that when she's bleeding all over the floor."
"Perhaps, but Walter has helped us throughout the time we've been here. He's even made sure that the house elves got their vacation for you," Harry argued. "I doubt that he'd do anything without a reason. - Though I wish I could say the same about Sepet."
"Yes, Sepet has been acting rather strangely," Hermione agreed, starting to calm down a bit. "I wonder if he had anything to do with those dead Death Eaters in the tower. - Say Ron, do you remember anything about what you saw in the tower?"
"Huh?" Ron said, giving Hermione a quizzical look. He had been watching Fred and George sitting further down the table, thinking of a way to help cheer up his two brothers.
"I said, do you remember anything you saw in the tower when those Death Eaters were killed?" Hermione repeated.
"Oh, let's see. I remember that the hooded guy was very careful not to show his face. The people chained against the wall, I don't know if they were Death Eaters or not, but the sword had a silver blade."
"Ron," Hermione said, sounding unimpressed, "all the blades are silver, that doesn't help us."
"Sorry," said Ron, giving her a sheepish look. "I noticed that he was carrying it with one hand but I didn't notice anything else."
"Anyone can carry a sword with one hand," Harry said. "Even me, and that leave us at another dead end."
"UGH, I have a feeling Sepet is behind this, but we have no proof," Hermione said, irritably. "And Walter is probably helping him."
"Well, we'll just have to keep an eye on both of them," Harry said. "You could be right about Walter, though I still don't think that he would have stabbed Alicia in the neck without good reason, especially in front of Dumbledore."
"Harry's right Hermione. I don't think Walter would have done so without a good reason. I mean he's pretty nice even though he can be scary at times," Ron chimed in, though he was somewhat distracted by Fred and George feeling sorry for themselves. " - Hey, why don't we all go and see if she's alright. The entire Gryffindor team can come. Maybe it'll cheer Fred and George up."
"That has got to be the smartest thing you've said all year Ron," Hermione said sarcastically.
Ron gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Nevermind Ron. Let's go to see if Alicia's alright," Harry said, getting up. "- HEY FRED AND GEORGE."
"WHAT?" they yelled in unison causing quite a few students to look at them.
"Gather the team up, we're going to pay our captain a visit," Harry explained. "Ron, Hermione, and I will meet you at the Hospital Wing."
The Weasley twins jumped up at this suggestion. "Sure thing Harry."
The twins then went around the table with Katie and started to gather the team up, including Ginny, who was sitting with Seamus and Dean while Harry, Ron and Hermione headed out of the Great Hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the trio arrived at the Hospital Wing, they saw that Madam Pomfrey was just coming out of her office. She spotted them and quickly made their way towards them.
"What do you want?" she questioned, eyeing them suspiciously.
"We were just wondering if Alicia is here," Harry explained, "and if she's doing alright."
"Oh, she's lost a lot of blood but she's doing just fine," Madam Pomfrey said. "She had a nasty bite to her neck it seems. Poisoned her. Professor Laikov brought her in here after she was bitten. It appeared that he had stabbed her in the neck with some sharp object."
"My dagger," Hermione whispered, her hand absentmindedly going to the empty sheath at her waist.
"Really? Why would you be carrying a dagger around?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"It's for our duelling class. Professor Sepet gave them to us," Hermione replied.
"Well, you really shouldn't be carrying such weapons around," Madam Pomfrey scolded, however her face expression softened a little afterwards. "But if it weren't for that, I don't think that poor girl would be alive. We had to replace most of her blood since the poison had spread throughout her body. The knife wound that Professor Laikov inflicted on her had actually slowed the progress. If anyone had dressed the wound, the poison would have stayed in her body and killed her."
Hermione looked surprised at Madam Pomfrey's explanation and realised that Walter had told her the truth the night before. "And all this time, I thought Walter had killed her."
"Can we see her?" Harry asked. "I believe the rest of the Quidditch team will be here soon."
As if on cue, Fred, George, Ginny and Katie came in with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Katie was the first to say something.
"Hi Harry, is she alive?" Katie Bell asked worriedly.
"Yes, she's doing fine," Harry replied, giving her a small smile.
Madam Pomfrey, seeing the entire team present for their injured captain, was touched by their loyalty. "Alright, you can go see her, but don't disturb the poor dear. She's still resting from the operation this morning."
*So that's why no one was let near here. * Harry thought to himself, but walked over to Alicia's bed nevertheless with the rest of the Gryffindor team.
Alicia's neck was bandaged heavily and if it weren't for the fact that her chest was moving up and down with her breathing, Harry might have thought that she was dead.
Fred and George were the first ones to go up to Alicia's bed. George took her hand in his and quietly spoke.
"We're sorry Alicia," George said softly. "We won't ever play a joke on you again. It was our fault that you were attacked and we should have been there to - "
"Protect you," Fred finished. "We'll never play another joke again and we'll give up our idea of the joke shop because our fun has almost cost us one of our friends and we don't want to think of what would happen if we did lose you."
Alicia let out a small cough when the twins had finished speaking and the rest of the team looked at her expectantly. Her eyes opened slowly and she looked around, however, she wasn't able to turn her head since her neck was so heavily wrapped in bandages.
"I thought I heard Fred and George," Alicia wheezed.
"You did," Harry replied before anyone else could. "They were just talking before you woke up."
"Hi Harry, Fred and George," she said looking up at the ceiling. "Where is everyone and what happened?"
"The entire team is here along with Hermione," Harry said calmly. "As for what happened, we're still trying to figure that out. We were the first to get to you."
"I'm glad you guys decided to see me," Alicia said and they could see that she was smiling, despite her weakened state. "But I need to get out of here. Quidditch practices need to continue and we must win the Quidditch Cup this year since it'll be the last year that the majority of the original team will be playing, minus Oliver and Angelina of course."
"We will continue the Quidditch practices, but in your state, I doubt you'll be able to do much," Harry pointed out.
"Alright, then I elect you as the replacement captain," Alicia decided. "Continue the Quidditch practices in my absence and when I'm well enough I'll join you, we must beat those Slytherins again."
Harry was taken by surprise by her statement, but when he looked around, the entire team was looking at him with approval. "If no one objects, then alright, I'll accept the position. I don't know if I can pull this off the way you would though."
"Harry, don't do the job the way I do it. Do the job the way you think it should be done," Alicia countered. "I'm sure that you'll make a great captain next year."
"So you already had me in mind for the captain next year?" Harry asked.
"Yes we did," Fred and George replied with a grin and Alicia nodded faintly from her bed. "We thought you were the best candidate for captain next year, so you might as well start now."
"We should go before Madam Pomfrey comes back," Hermione finally said. "We don't need to be kicked out of here."
"Always the same Hermione telling everyone what to do," Alicia said smiling weakly.
Everyone turned to leave, but as Fred and George made to leave, Alicia called them back.
"One more thing Fred and George," she said with a mischievous grin on her face. "- if you ever give up on that idea of that joke shop on your just because I almost got killed, I'll be sure to hex you both so that you'll end up in here for months after we've graduated. As much as I didn't like that joke you played on me, I do appreciate the fact that you bother to play jokes at all. It makes for a not so dull life."
"Thanks Alicia," Fred and George replied in unison. "We're glad that you forgave us for what we did and we're sorry for that."
"You should be," she teased. "I still owe you the beating though."
Harry laughed to himself at this before he left the hospital wing with the Gryffindor team.
"Congratulations Harry," Seamus called as he went off towards the Gryffindor tower with Dean and Ginny while the rest of the team dispersed in different directions.
Harry waved a thank you at them before Ron decided to congratulate him as well.
"Congratulations mate," Ron said, patting him on the back. "I'm sure you'll be a great captain and we can give those Slytherins the beating they deserve."
"Ron's right Harry," Hermione agreed, smiling warmly at him. "You'll make a great captain next year."
Harry smiled back at her. It was times like this that he was glad that she was his friend, however, the fact that Ron liked her as well posed a dilemma for him.
"Thanks you two," Harry said. " - Now what would you like to do?"
"I want to go down to the dungeons to visit Walter," Hermione suggested nervously.
"Why would you want to visit him?" Ron asked giving her a quizzical look.
"I want to apologize for what I said to him yesterday," Hermione said, sounding a bit embarrassed. "I didn't allow him to explain why he had used my dagger on her, but now that I know that Alicia is doing alright because of that, my outburst sounds so stupid now."
"I don't think it was stupid," Harry said reassuringly. "I mean if I wasn't so shocked, I'm pretty sure I'd have attacked him for doing such a thing."
"Thanks for cheering me up Harry," Hermione said smiling warmly at him again and the trio made their way down to Walter's office once again, but as they turned the corner to get to the stairs, they ran into none other than Malfoy and his two goons, only this time he also had Pansy Parkinson clinging to him.
"Watch where you're going," Malfoy snarled as they all fell to the ground.
"Why don't you watch where you're going Malfoy," Ron returned angrily, getting up.
"Well, well, if it isn't Potter, Weasel and his mudblood girlfriend," Malfoy sneered while Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him.
"Get lost Malfoy," Harry threatened, making ready to draw his wand as he got off the floor.
"Make us," Pansy replied for Malfoy. "We're not going anywhere, right Draco dear?"
"That's right," Malfoy agreed. "You ran into us, you apologize first, and then we'll leave."
"Apologize to you? NEVER!" Ron said hotly and was going to attack Malfoy with his fists, but Harry and Hermione held him back.
"That's great Weasel," Malfoy said, sounding condescending. "You know, I hear that your great captain was badly hurt last night. I told you before and I'll tell you again Mudblood lovers and mud - BAA."
Ron was surprised at what Malfoy had just said but when he looked to Harry and Hermione, he saw that they both had their wands drawn and pointed at Malfoy and Pansy. When he looked back to where Malfoy was, he saw two sheep standing where Malfoy and Pansy were previously while Crabbe and Goyle looked too scared to do anything.
Ron, looking at the two sheep baaing and a nervous Crabbe and Goyle standing next to them, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Harry and Hermione looked at Ron with confused looks but they burst out laughing as well soon enough, however they made sure to keep their wands pointed at Crabbe and Goyle.
"BLOODY BRILLIANT!" Ron exclaimed while falling to the floor in laughter. "Where did you two learn to do that? I must say that Malfoy looks great as a sheep."
"We learned it from a book we found in the library," Hermione lied hoping that it would cover the fact that they were using elemental magic.
"You've got to show me that one sometime," Ron said, now calming down since he was hurting from laughing too much.
"Maybe if you would start reading more books," Hermione said as Harry helped her up, "you'd know some of these curses."
"I agree with Miss Granger, you really should start reading more books Mr. Weasley," said a voice from behind them causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to jump in surprise. They turned around to see that it was Walter, wearing his plate armour again, coming towards them with a large grin on his face and his hands behind his back.
"That was very entertaining you two," Walter said, laughing a bit. "Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson do look good as sheep, don't you think?"
Harry grinned and quickly put away his wand. "Yes, they do. Mad-Eye Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret last year and bounced him up and down."
Hermione followed suit, but she looked more nervous around Walter than Ron or Harry. Crabbe and Goyle, seeing that the trio was distracted by Walter, they quickly picked up the two sheep and ran away as fast as their fat legs could carry them, much to everyone's amusement.
"Ah yes, I heard about that one from Professor McGonagall. Most entertaining indeed," said Walter with a smile before looking at Hermione. " - Miss Granger, is something wrong? You look a bit nervous."
"Uh," Hermione began. "I just wanted to apologize to you for my outburst last night. We just went by the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey told us that Alicia was poisoned and that you had plunged my dagger into her neck so that the poison would get out of her system."
"No apology is necessary Miss Granger. If anyone must apologize it should be me for having tricked you to get at your weapon," Walter said, bowing slightly in apology. "I don't blame you for your actions and it is perfectly understandable that you would be concerned for your classmate's wellbeing."
"So you weren't lying last night," Ron spoke up in amazement. "I thought you had killed her as well."
"No, I didn't kill her. She wasn't close to death so there was no need to, but a few more minutes, and I probably wouldn't have had much of a choice," Walter explained. " - I did come to return Miss Granger's dagger however."
Walter quickly brought out his right hand with Hermione's dagger, hilt facing towards her, and offered it to her. Hermione could see that it was cleaned completely of all the blood and she reached out to take the dagger and put it back in her empty sheath.
"Thank you Walter," Hermione said gratefully.
"You're welcome," he replied. "I also wanted to inform you and Mr. Potter that your presence will be required in the headmaster's office this evening after dinner. I believe he wanted to discuss something with you both about your classes."
"What about me?" Ron asked jealously. "How come they've been going to see Dumbledore so often?"
"Mr. Weasley, they and six other students are taking a duelling class with Professor Sepet on their own. The headmaster just wishes to ensure that everything runs smoothly in class, considering that there are weapons other than wands involved," Walter explained.
"Oh, so that's why the meetings take so long?"
"Yes Mr. Weasley, everyone must be allowed to voice their concerns," Walter said. " - Well, I must be going now. I have some business to take care of before the meeting tonight and I won't take any points off from Gryffindor for playing that very entertaining joke on Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson. - Good day Miss Granger - Mr. Potter - Mr. Weasley."
"Bye Walter and thank you," Harry and Hermione called as Walter made his way towards the dungeons.
"What does he mean by having some business to take care of?" Ron asked with a quizzical look.
"I don't know," Hermione replied. "Let's go back to the tower; I want to get some of my homework done before tonight."
"Oh come now Hermione," Ron whined. "The weekend has only started."
"Exactly why I need to get my work done," Hermione stated.
Ron rolled his eyes, but he nevertheless went on with Harry and Hermione as they headed to the tower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that evening after dinner, Harry and Hermione said good bye to Ron and made their way over to Dumbledore's office. When they arrived, were surprised to find Sirius waiting outside, in his human form.
"Sirius," Harry said through clenched teeth, "What are you doing? You can't be seen remember?"
"Oh relax, everyone's heading back to their dorms, no one's going to be passing through here. Dumbledore made sure of it," Sirius assured him.
"Alright, let's just get up there," Harry said. "What's the password?"
"Treacle Tart," Sirius said and the stone gargoyle hopped aside so that they could enter.
As they made their way up, Sirius questioned them how everything was going.
"Everything is alright, though Professor Sepet has been acting strange and one of the students was attacked yesterday," Hermione explained.
"Any idea who did it?" Sirius inquired.
"Well, I suppose Professor Sepet could have done it since he was the first professor to leave at the Halloween feast," said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Hey Sirius, when are you going to teach Hermione how to become an animagus like both of us?" Harry interrupted.
Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "I've been having to keep Remus company in the shrieking shack since the full moon was up. Though did you fix it up since the last time we've been there? The place looks almost brand new."
Harry gave Sirius a small smile. "Yes I fixed it up with Hermione's help. We wanted to make sure that you liked it the next time you came there. I mean the place was a mess so we thought we'd surprise you."
"Thanks you two," Sirius said beaming at them. " - How about I teach Hermione how to be an animagus after this meeting? We can sneak into the Shrieking Shack or use an old classroom. You can come too Harry since I want to see how much progress you've made."
Hermione let out a small squeal of delight. "Thank you Sirius. Finally I can find out what animagus form I can become."
They entered Dumbledore's office and saw that almost everyone was there, except for Malfoy and Sepet. Sirius took his seat next to Remus while Hermione and Harry sat in their usual seats by the fireplace. Soon Malfoy entered, apparently back to normal. He glared at Harry and Hermione, who smirked at him, and took a seat.
Dumbledore then stood up to speak. "Due to the incidents last night, we will have to take further precautions to ensure that the students are no longer attacked. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we should go about this?"
Sirius was the first to speak. "Remus and I could patrol the halls at night. No students should be around, but I will still be in the form of a dog, just in case."
"And I can provide some of my undead soldiers to patrol the halls at all times. They do not require any sleep and can patrol anywhere within this castle," Walter added.
"Very well Sirius and Professor Laikov," Dumbledore said. "That should take care of most things. Alastor, Miss Figg and Mundungus Fletcher, would you three also be willing to assist them in keeping our halls safe at night?"
The three of them nodded affirmatively and Professor Sepet entered the room, followed by two men. The first, Harry and Hermione recognised as Professor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Drurstang, but they were even more surprised to see who the second person was; Viktor Krum. Krum, seeing Hermione in the room, smiled at her, much to Harry's chagrin, but he was pleased when Hermione smiled back rather weakly.
"Good Evening Headmaster," the Count said, unenthusiastically. "I found the two people you asked me to look for earlier last month. They've been staying here for several days now, but no one is aware that they are staying here. I also believe that Mr. Karkaroff would like to have a few words with everyone."
The Count took his seat next to Walter and Dumbledore stood up to acknowledge Karkaroff's presence. "Welcome Professor Karkaroff - Mr. Krum. I believe you've been to Hogwarts before. What can we do for you?"
"Please dispense with the pleasantries Albus. My student and I would like to request asylum and your assurance that no harm will come to us. He- Who- Must-Not-Be-Named has send Death Eaters after us," Karkaroff said rather quickly that it was clear that he was in a state of panic.
"Calm down Professor," Dumbledore said, conjuring two seats in the middle of the room. "Please have a seat and tell us all about it."
Karkaroff and Krum looked tense since their seats were in the middle of the room, but they sat down nevertheless.
"Professor Dumbledore, if you please," Krum began. "My headmaster, as you know, vos a former Death Eater and servant of You-Know-Who. Since he wants him dead, I believe it is my responsibility to see that no harm comes to him."
"Are they after you too Mr. Krum?" someone questioned and when they looked to see who it was, they saw it was Walter. "Forgive me for being paranoid, but it is my duty to question all new visitors."
"You'll have to forgive my student, he is just overprotective of me Professor - I don't believe I caught your name," Karkaroff answered.
"Laikov, Walter Laikov - Mr. Karkaroff," Walter said unemotionally. "You still haven't answered my question, Mr. Krum," said Walter, giving Krum a thoughtful look.
As Walter kept pressing the question, Harry could see why Walter was indeed excellent at interrogations.
"No, they are not, but it is entire possible that they vill come after me as well," Krum finally broke under the intense stare he was receiving from Walter.
After observing the exchange between Walter and Krum, the Count finally decided to speak. He had an evil glint in his eye that looked like he was expecting something. "Since we haven't heard a good reason to grant you asylum Professor Karkaroff, I don't think that we should give you our protection. We are already short-handed and you will understand if we are unable to protect you and Mr. Krum."
"I assure you headmaster," Karkaroff pleaded to Dumbledore after the Count's statement. "I have information that could be useful to you."
Dumbledore considered the statement a while before nodding. "Very well, then let us hear what you have for us."
"I heard that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is planning on freeing his followers from Azkaban," Karkaroff said shakily.
"Old news Karkaroff," Snape said dryly. "I don't suppose you know when he'd actually try that, would you?"
"Unfortunately no," Karkaroff said disappointedly. "I don't know when he plans to do that."
"I didn't think so," said Snape with a triumphant sneer on his face. "Because you let it be known that you had no intention of coming back to him, naturally he wants you dead. - According to my sources, he wishes to free them two weeks from today."
"If ve offered our services to your order, Professor, vould that suffice?" Krum asked.
Dumbledore smiled at the offer. "Yes it would Mr. Krum. In fact, that will be the next order of business."
"Since Fudge insists on the Dementors guarding Azkaban, when Voldemort (everyone flinches but Walter, Sepet and Harry) comes and frees them, we can expect the Dementors to join them. Therefore it will be safe to assume that they will turn against us once his Death Eaters arrive," Dumbledore continued. "Therefore, if we are to do anything, we will need everyone to participate in this defence."
"I will be sure to assist in their training against them," the Count added.
"Thank you both. - I believe that is all for tonight. You are all dismissed. Professor Laikov will show you to your rooms, Mr. Karkaroff and Mr. Krum," Dumbledore said.
Harry and Hermione got up and made to leave, but when they got to the door, they allowed everyone else to pass so they could wait for Sirius.
"Good Night Harry," Cho said as she passed him.
"Night Cho," Harry returned while Hermione scowled, but Harry didn't notice since the room was too dark.
Krum also passed them a few moments later and he said 'good night' to Hermione and Harry inwardly cringed, but he didn't show any emotion at Krum's attempt to flirt with Hermione. However Sirius eventually got to them and no one bothered the two anymore.
"Ready to go you two?" Sirius asked, coming up to them with Remus.
"Yup," they replied and enthusiastically followed him out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sirius and Remus led Harry and Hermione down corridors and up stairways until they came to a wooden door.
"Here we are," Sirius announced and he said a password (Padfoot), which unlocked the door, and Sirius opened the door so that they could enter.
They found that the room had green rugs on the floor and was furnished a lot like the Gryffindor common room, though there were many scarlet and gold tapestries hanging from the walls. Two armchairs were placed by the fireplace and two doors off to the left probably led to their rooms.
Remus sat in one of the chairs while Sirius, Harry and Hermione stood in the middle of the room.
"Alright, first let's start with Hermione since she's been wanting to learn what her form is," Sirius said, walking in front of her. "First take out your wand and hold it in front of you, then say 'Fateor formalis.' That will reveal what your animagus form will be."
Hermione then took out her wand and followed exactly as Sirius instructed and soon enough, mist shot out of her wand before forming a small bird that looked like a dove.
"Hmm, interesting," Sirius commented. "A dove. I haven't seen one of those before, though I suppose everyone is unique in their own way."
Hermione smiled happily that she was capable of becoming an animagus. "So how do I transform?"
"Well, as I've told Harry, for the first couple times, you'll need your wand but once you get used to it you should be able to transform just by thinking of your form," Sirius answered, "just concentrate on your form and say 'mutatio dove' to transform."
Hermione did as she was told and she could feel her hands changing into feathers, but other than that, she still felt the same.
"How did I do?" she asked expectantly.
"Not bad for the first time. Better than me the first time I tried it," Sirius beamed.
Hermione was pleased with herself but she was quite curious as to what Harry could do. "What about Harry? I want to see him transform."
"You up for it Harry?" Sirius asked.
Harry nodded and concentrated on his phoenix form. He felt his skin change into feathers and his mouth change into a beak. His hair changed to red feathers and lengthened so that the feathers fell to the bottom of his fairly long neck. Hermione watched in awe and delight as she saw him change, but didn't say anything as soon enough, she was staring not at Harry, but an average sized phoenix.
"Amazing Harry," she finally said. "I didn't think you would actually pull this off."
"I agree, well done Harry," Remus added in amusement while Sirius was just standing there with his mouth hanging open.
The phoenix then changed back and Harry said a cheerful 'Thank you' to Hermione and Remus.
"You can close your mouth now Sirius," Remus said, laughing at the state Sirius was in. "You don't need to drool all over the place when you're human. Unless of course you've been a dog for too long that you can't help it."
That comment snapped Sirius out of his dumbfounded look and he took out his wand to try to hex Remus, but he was faster and was already out of the chair by the time the spell reached the place where he was previously. The chair was turned into a poodle, which began to run around the room. Remus by then had his wand out and fired something at Sirius, but since Sirius wasn't fast enough, the spell hit him and his hair turned orange and he was wearing a pink dress.
Harry and Hermione laughed at the ridiculousness of Sirius' appearance and Sirius dropped his wand to get his hands around Remus, but he tripped on the hem of his dress and fell flat on his face.
Everyone burst out laughing again and Remus went over to Sirius and changed his clothes back to normal before helping him up off the floor. Sirius then picked up his wand and quickly turned around to fire another hex at Remus. This time Remus wasn't prepared and he found his shoes changed into a pair of high heels, which made him lose his balance and fall over sideways.
Harry and Hermione were rolling on the floor with laughter by then at the sight of the two men fighting each other.
"Good - One - Sirius," Harry said in between laughs.
"No hard feelings Remus?" Sirius asked, offering his hand to help Remus up after transfiguring his shoes back to normal.
"None Sirius," Remus said with a mischievous grin and got up off the floor.
"Well, I think we've had enough fun for tonight," Hermione interrupted before anything else could happen. "I'm off to bed."
"Alright Hermione, I'll come with you in a moment. I just want to say good bye to Sirius and Professor Lupin."
Hermione and Harry went over to give Sirius and Remus a hug before saying good night, which they happily returned before the two walked out the door back to the Gryffindor tower.
"That was fun, don't you think Hermione?" Harry said, smiling to himself.
"Yes it was," Hermione agreed. "But really, we're up past our bedtime again."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Still can't stand to break the rules and have a little fun now and then?"
"I'm a prefect, I have to uphold the school rules, but you're right; breaking the rules every now and then is fun," she said smiling at him.
"You're actually agreeing with me over breaking the school rules?" Harry asked mockingly, which was returned by a playful punch to his arm from Hermione. "Though I did notice that you're getting better with the elemental magic - Level 4 right?"
"Yes, I can do level 4 spells now," Hermione stated.
"I must say, Malfoy and Pansy look very good as sheep," Harry commented with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Hermione laughed at this and they continued happily onward to the tower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eventually they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was asleep. They woke her up and she made a fuss over why they were out so late. Not wanting to bother to explain themselves, they said the password (Cockatrice) impatiently and the portrait swung side.
They entered a completely empty common room and Harry made his way towards the boys' dormitories.
"Good night Hermione," Harry waved as he started walking up the stairs.
Hermione smiled warmly at him and ran over to give him a quick hug before going up to her room. Harry could feel his cheeks turn red and he was glad that she was gone since he was afraid that she would notice.
*She's made my life worth living, * Harry thought happily to himself as he continued his way up to his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: This one took a bit longer than usual to post, but I was trying to figure out how to incorporate everyone's suggestions into this chapter. I don't know if you're satisfied w/ Hermione's animagus form, but I decided on that one after someone mentioned a unicorn, which is white and another mentioned a hawk which is a bird, so I was thinking white bird. Then I happened to be watching some movie clips from Final Fantasy 8. The main female character, Rinoa can change into an angel so the closest thing I could think of was a dove. There are also other reasons why I chose that, but you'll have to keep reading to find out. Finally, I don't know what to do w/ Krum, so I'll leave it up to you guys. I can either kill him, get rid of him, or keep him, which would you prefer? Plz tell me.
Jarvey: Congratulations, I was wondering when someone would get it. Yes, Sepet's name inverted is Tepes so that makes him Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler (Tepes means Impaler if I'm not mistaken), or better known as Count Dracula. His castle, Bran castle in chapter 6, is also the name of Vald Tepes' castle in Romania, though the layout of the castle is different. The main entrance is actually a stairway, not a long bridge.
BloodRedSword: I didn't forget the elemental magic, just that there wasn't any relevant place to put it in those chapters. I used the polymorph spell on Draco though. Don't worry, there will be more elemental magic coming.
The Game: I know you were trying to be witty, my previous message wasn't intended to sound as if I was snapping at you.
GazzadaSpazza: True, I did fail to keep you guys guessing on that, but it was necessary for the story. You'll see later so please continue reading.
Mikala: Don't worry, H/Hr will get together eventually, though the question about Cho, I'm not really sure I understand what you mean by what's up with her.
Angelis: I'm glad you like the long chapters and I couldn't kill Alicia off cuz it wouldn't seem right at this time. Plus it'll help Hermione and I was thinking of pairing her up w/ Fred or George later.