Chapter 46
The Death Eaters Attack
Harry, along with Madam Hooch's and Hermione's help, organized a training regimen for the Animagus. And, with that set, training was the just about only thing Harry and his friends did---aside from eating and sleeping---the next week. The sessions were broken down into those whose forms that could fly, and those that could not.
So it was that Harry found himself sparing with both Neville, a Siberian tiger who was much larger , and Hermione, a black panther who was a bit smaller than himself. A fourth member of the big cats was added when Tonks introduced one of her friends, a cute dark-haired young woman named Belinda, who could transform into a jaguar.
"Nice to meet you all," Belinda had remarked, smiling, upon meeting them. She was nearly as 'strange' as Tonks, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Shall we get down to brass tacks, then eh?" she then commented, blurring into the shape of a strong, sinewy jaguar, whose tawny coat and spots were most distinctive. Harry was at first surprised that he could read her body language as a jaguar when he was in his lion form. All their attacks---as was agreed upon---were done with sheathed claws and nips instead of biting.
Ron found himself facing off against McGonnagal often---seeing how they were much the same size---and he was constantly amazed at just how lightning-fast she was in her tabby cat form. He was pleased on more than one occasion by her praise at his cunning attacks and brisk defenses. "I do believe that form suits you quite well, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonnagal once commented, and Ron certainly believed it himself.
Each day, the gathered Animagus grew stronger and more disciplined as they practiced and practiced. Harry surprised himself one day by pining Neville's tiger form down, his teeth on his neck until Neville yielded. Harry himself, a bit later on, had to eat a bit of humble pie as Hermione, with some neat trick, performed a similar pin on him as well.
"Nice one, Hermione," Harry complimented her, which fairly made Hermione glow with a feeling of accomplishment. Harry rubbed the back of his neck, grinning.
"You too, Harry," Neville added as they walked back wearily to the castle. "Think you could show me what you did...you know, when you pinned me ears to the ground back there?"
"Sure, Neville," Harry replied. "See, it's like this really..." Neville and Hermione listened avidly as Harry explained.
The morning of June 15th then arrrived, and in a private breakfast that morning, Professor Dumbeldore finally told everyone involved about the impending attack of Voldemort's forces against Hogwarts Castle. He also gave strongly-worded orders to the school's resident ghosts, as well as each house's prefects, indicating that no students were to stray from their locked common rooms on penalty of expulsion. That news, as it spread, set the halls of Hogwarts aflame with gossip and nervous conversations...
When the sun had finally began to set that evening, the Animagi Council members headed out to assume their positions to defend their beloved Hogwarts.
"Er, Professor," Harry proposed once he was in position. "How exactly are we to talk to one another? I mean, how do we coordinate ourselves to fight off the enemy?"
"Leave that to me, Harry," Hermione said briskly, slipping her wand free from her robes. "I found a lovely charm last night that will work out rather nicely, I think..."
Hermione walked down the line of defenders, casting the same charm over and over for each. The spell allowed each defender---in their Animagi form only---to hear one another's thoughts when they were directed to them. So, should Harry wish to think "Hello" to every other Animagi present, they would hear him within their minds as if he were standing right beside them.
Harry wondered---but only to himself---if Hermione's spell was really a good thing. He kept receiving everyone's nervous thoughts in his head, whether he wanted them or not. Finally, he gently reproached those mentally transmitting to keep their thoughts to themselves.
"Sorry, mate," came Ron's thought.
"Yeah, sorry, Harry," came Neville's contrite apology.
"Hsst! Everyone! Listen!" Hermione's thought thundered within their heads. It was then that everyone began to hear it as well. There were the beginnings of sounds. Rather funny sounds; sounds out of place about Hogwarts. Harry could hear the unmistakable hiss and slither of snakes of various types and sizes. Ron's keen fox ears picked up the sound of numerous rats chittering to one another. Hermione's panther nose recoiled from the smell of reptiles, anathema to those of feline kind, and she growled deep in her sable-coated chest.
"Stand ready, all! They are coming on the attack," Dumbeldore commanded.
Harry, and all the other earth-bound Animagi crouched down to wait. Harry looked over and spotted Hermione, nearly invisible in the twilight, her tail's snowy tip twitching with nervous energy.
Ron had to suppress the urge to whine in his anticipation. He found himself drooling slightly, eager to feel rat necks snap in his powerful jaws.
Hermione's golden eyes were narrowed, and her ears were flat to her skull. She found she felt a sort of all-consuming rage. A rage that geared her up to fight for her life, and those of her friends.
All this was still going on when the front lines of Lord Voldemort's forces impacted Hogwarts' defense lines...
The first attackers proved to be a wave of spiders...spiders the size of cocker spaniels, however. Harry roared, and swept his powerful paws--- claws extended---back and forth, tumbling the spiders aside like a child's jacks. Those that escaped his paws were dealt with with savage clamps of his jaws. Harry was revolted by the taste of the spiders in his mouth.
Ron shivered, but acted bravely, darting in to tear legs, savage thoraxes, and crush heads with nips of his lightning-quick jaws. He dashed about, dancing between attacks nimbly.
Hermione missed out on the spiders, but received an on-rush of pig-sized lizards instead. Instinctively, she flattened herself out on the ground, and awaited the nearest lizard's approach. When it was close enough that she could no longer stand it, she filled her lungs and screamed angrily, darting in to slam her large paw against the lizard's head to tumble it over, and then---much to her human mind's disgust---finished it off by tearing out it's soft throat with her jaws and teeth. She screamed again in her triumph, and sought further prey...
Harry was licking his paws clean of spider ichor when his sensitive ears picked up a new threat. There came the scaly sound of slithering, and then a snake, far larger than any other snake he had ever seen---bigger even than the Burmese python he'd once set free from the London Zoo. This snake moved forward tentatively, yard-stick long tongue flickering, it red eyes filled with un-reptile-like anger and hate. Its smooth scaled hide was a venomous green, with darker markings on its back. Harry knew in an instant that he was seeing the newest form of his arch-nemesis, Lord Voldemort.
Fighting the urge to dash out and attack his foe, Harry instead focused his thoughts on Hermione. "Hermione!" he thought, trying to communicate with her, as he silently watched the serpent move hesitantly forward.
Hermione screamed loudly again, her teeth flashing as she dispatched yet another lizard with a torn-out throat. Four more warily circled her, their forked tongues flickering, their beady black eyes filled with malevolence. Then, she heard Harry's voice in the back of her mind. "Dash it all, Harry! I'm busy! Leave me be!" she thought back, full of her panther ferocity. But, then she disciplined herself, and added quickly, "Yes? What is it, Harry?"
Harry shivered at the mental impression he first received from Hermione. He could relate only to well to that feeling of excited savagery. He shook himself mentally, then responded. "Tell Dumbledore that I can see Voldemort. He's here," Harry replied mentally.
"Voldemort? He's here? Dear Lord!" Hermione's thoughts raced back to him, and Harry sympathize with her, understanding her fierce snarl as her fear of what was happening.
"I heard you, Harry," came Dumbledore's calm, soothing voice to both Hermione and himself. "Now, Harry...this is important. Where is he? And what form has he taken?" Dumbledore asked.
"He's not much more than two dozen paces away from me," Harry replied, roaring loudly to allow the teachers to locate him. "And, he's a snake. A giant snake, Professor."
Voldemort heard the thunderous roar, and turned towards Harry. The snake opened its white-lined mouth to hiss menacingly. The snake's tongue flicked out again faster now, the red baleful eyes catching sight of the tell-tale scar on this lion's forehead.
"Greetingssss, Potter," hissed Voldemort's oily, repellant voice in Harry's head. Harry sneezed, the feline part of him indignant with the intrusion of his enemy's thoughts.
"You'll not win, Tom Riddle," Harry sent back, gritting his teeth mentally. The snake's violent hissing betrayed Voldemort's anger at being addressed with that hated name.
Before Harry and the Dark Lord could come to blows, the professors and adult Animagi arrived to shift the balance. Dumbledore in his eagle form, dove down to slash with his knife-like talons and axe-like beak, while Professors Snape and Bat latched on to the snake's hide, and plied their sharp teeth to find tender flesh beneath the scales.
Professor McGonnagal, the tabby cat version, yowled and hissed, biting fiercely and slashing with her claws, then dashing away again. Moments later, a incensed rumbling roaring announced Professor Moody's bear-form arriving to add his attacks to the fray.
Harry was about to join in, when he heard an exasperated snarl, as well as a plaintive message from Hermione. "Oh, Harry! Oh, please, help! There are just too many of them!"
Harry wasted no time, and loped off toward Hermione. In a moment, he spotted her panther form leaping about, swatting a veritable army of rats that now beseiged her. Harry filled his lungs and then gave an ear- splitting roar, one that froze the rats in place for a second or two. Then he dashed in, teeth and claws beared, and dealt death to the small furry bodies that were arrayed against them. Hermione joined in, sweeping and slashing with her bloodied claws, snapping rats up in her jaws to hurl them away as rag-like bundles a moment later. Harry was surprised by Hermione's speed of attack, as well as her heretofore unknown savagery. Rats literally were flying from her paws and jaws.
Harry spotted another rat, swept back a paw, but then hesitated. Nah! Couldn't be, he told himself. But there was no denying that familiar rat face, so instead of dealing the rodent a deathblow, he simply pinned its tail to the ground, firmly beneath one of his enormous paws. Hermione dealt with the remainder of the rats in good order, and then sinuously padded over to where Harry sat upon his haunches.
"Thanks, Harry," Hermione told him mentally, then rubbed her proud head against Harry's chest in thanks.
"You'll never guess who I've run into, Hermione. I do think we have found our old friend, Wormtail. Right here under my paw," Harry thought to her. Hermione looked on, much to Wormtail's terror, the rat-like Animagi squealing and chittering in fear of the big panther. Ron then appeared, coming towards them both, his muzzle bloodied. "Who'd of figured, eh Harry?" Ron said with a yip, but clearly in Harry's mind.
"Excuse me a minute, Harry. But I simply have to do something I can't do as a panther," Hermione announced, then turned back into herself. She slipped her wand free, while her two friends guarded her. She thought a moment, then transfigured a nearby stone into a stout metal cage.
"One last thing, I think," Hermione then said, thinking the same. She pointed her wand directly at Wormtail and jinxed him so that he would remain in his Animagus form until she revoked her jinx. "There!" She then changed back into her panther form again.
"Harry? Could you be a dear, and..." she thought to him, indicating the cage. Harry grinned mentally, and leaned over to gently pick up the unconscious rat---he'd passed out when he saw Harry open his tooth-filled mouth---and tossed him bodily inside the cage, which magically sealed itself when closed. Hermione then summoned up Tonks, who responded and flew down to meet them all. "Look who we have here, eh? Remember Wormtail, Tonks?" Hermione asked.
"You betcha I do, love. Being a rat suits him to a tee, it does," Tonks responded mentally, glaring at Wormtail.
"Could you take this cage up to Dumbledore's office for us?" Hermione asked sweetly, mentally.
"Sure thing, sport," Tonks replied, jumping up to snatch the bars of the cage in her claws, she then beat her big wings and heaed off to drop off her charge before returning to the fray herself.
Ron and Hermione rubbed noses briefly before turning back to Harry. Harry nodded, and they returned back to the battle once more. The three friends proved to be the well-named Trouble Trio...especially to those that now opposed them. Ron, the quickest of them, kept their backs free, while Hermione and Harry dealt with the foes before them. After fifteen minutes, both Harry and Hermione were battered and weary, but the ground before them was littered with the enemy dead, their torn and slashed carcasses heaped one upon the other.
Between waves, Harry spotted something odd, and nudged Hermione to see if he was simply seeing things. But, he was not.
A pure white ferret ran about the field, sneaking about and attacking Death Eaters when the opportunity presented itself. It can't be, Harry thought to himself and his friends. "What's the matter, Harry?" Hermione asked mentally. Harry turned his head toward her.
"I think that's Malfoy out there, and well, he's attacking Death Eaters," Harry confessed.
And sure enough, it was Draco Malfoy in his ferret form, who had started attacking Death Eaters, and with astounding speed for a ferret of his size.
But soon they all had other, more important, things to worry about beside Malfoy. "Heads up! Here they come!" Harry warned, before they were swarmed over yet again.
Harry, already weary, did his best to fend off his attackers, and work with Hermione as well. But, it wasn't too long and both big cats were swarmed over...literally! Spiders crawled all over him, seeking to bite him, while heavier lizards leapt on him, trying to force him down. Harry bit and slashed, even bringing his lethal rear legs up, claws flashing to rake his foes.
Harry began to wonder if this was it, when all of the sudden came a deep menacing roar that vibrated in Harry's chest. That roar belonged to Neville, and the big, nearly thousand pound Siberian tiger was heaving two hundred pound lizards off Harry and Hermione like they weighed almost nothing at all. Where clawed tiger paw met lizard head, death resulted. Spiders fled with an amazing alacrity as the tiger dancee aboutk, attacking in a frenzy of paws and teeth. Soon the only things moving were the three cats.
"Thanks, Neville," Harry said, sending his thoughts.
"No problem, mate," Neville replied, allowing Harry and Hermione to regain their feet, and reset their defenses. Needless to say, Neville helped Harry and Hermione with the remainder of the Death Eaters confronting them.
"Yes, thanks for your help, Neville," Hermione added, while licking blood from between her toes on her paw. "I thought we'd had it then."
"Bloody hell," Neville then swore, getting back on all fours again. "Here they come again!"
The next wave broke over them, and they were hard pressed to drive the mass of them off.
"Damn! These Death Eaters are strong," Neville said. "And, there's so many of them!" Neville roared again, and nearly decapitated a lizard with a swipe of his mighty paw.
Hermione screamed and bit down savagely on the neck of a big python-like snake, neatly severing its spine. The snake shuddered then went slack.
Harry batted a seeming ocean of big rats about like popcorn, but they just kept on coming. He snarled and roared, smashing them again and again. He was so caught up in his own battle, he almost didn't notice the appearance of a new combatant on the field, a menacing black shadowy form that approached from behind and to his right. The Death Eaters confronting this figure quailed, turned, and began to scurry away in consternation. Harry looked up after dispatching his last rat, and when he did, he nearly roared in surprise. For, right before him stood a big, black, bear-like dog with steely eyes.
"B-B-But...this can´t be! Y-Y-You died!" Harry thought, anguish in his voice...yet some hope too.
"Yes. Yes, I did, Harry. But...well, as you can see...now I'm back," the most unmistakable voice replied inside his head. For because, right before his very, most surprised eyes, now stood his godfather, none other than Sirius Black himself, in the flesh...or perhaps that should be fur...
The Death Eaters Attack
Harry, along with Madam Hooch's and Hermione's help, organized a training regimen for the Animagus. And, with that set, training was the just about only thing Harry and his friends did---aside from eating and sleeping---the next week. The sessions were broken down into those whose forms that could fly, and those that could not.
So it was that Harry found himself sparing with both Neville, a Siberian tiger who was much larger , and Hermione, a black panther who was a bit smaller than himself. A fourth member of the big cats was added when Tonks introduced one of her friends, a cute dark-haired young woman named Belinda, who could transform into a jaguar.
"Nice to meet you all," Belinda had remarked, smiling, upon meeting them. She was nearly as 'strange' as Tonks, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Shall we get down to brass tacks, then eh?" she then commented, blurring into the shape of a strong, sinewy jaguar, whose tawny coat and spots were most distinctive. Harry was at first surprised that he could read her body language as a jaguar when he was in his lion form. All their attacks---as was agreed upon---were done with sheathed claws and nips instead of biting.
Ron found himself facing off against McGonnagal often---seeing how they were much the same size---and he was constantly amazed at just how lightning-fast she was in her tabby cat form. He was pleased on more than one occasion by her praise at his cunning attacks and brisk defenses. "I do believe that form suits you quite well, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonnagal once commented, and Ron certainly believed it himself.
Each day, the gathered Animagus grew stronger and more disciplined as they practiced and practiced. Harry surprised himself one day by pining Neville's tiger form down, his teeth on his neck until Neville yielded. Harry himself, a bit later on, had to eat a bit of humble pie as Hermione, with some neat trick, performed a similar pin on him as well.
"Nice one, Hermione," Harry complimented her, which fairly made Hermione glow with a feeling of accomplishment. Harry rubbed the back of his neck, grinning.
"You too, Harry," Neville added as they walked back wearily to the castle. "Think you could show me what you did...you know, when you pinned me ears to the ground back there?"
"Sure, Neville," Harry replied. "See, it's like this really..." Neville and Hermione listened avidly as Harry explained.
The morning of June 15th then arrrived, and in a private breakfast that morning, Professor Dumbeldore finally told everyone involved about the impending attack of Voldemort's forces against Hogwarts Castle. He also gave strongly-worded orders to the school's resident ghosts, as well as each house's prefects, indicating that no students were to stray from their locked common rooms on penalty of expulsion. That news, as it spread, set the halls of Hogwarts aflame with gossip and nervous conversations...
When the sun had finally began to set that evening, the Animagi Council members headed out to assume their positions to defend their beloved Hogwarts.
"Er, Professor," Harry proposed once he was in position. "How exactly are we to talk to one another? I mean, how do we coordinate ourselves to fight off the enemy?"
"Leave that to me, Harry," Hermione said briskly, slipping her wand free from her robes. "I found a lovely charm last night that will work out rather nicely, I think..."
Hermione walked down the line of defenders, casting the same charm over and over for each. The spell allowed each defender---in their Animagi form only---to hear one another's thoughts when they were directed to them. So, should Harry wish to think "Hello" to every other Animagi present, they would hear him within their minds as if he were standing right beside them.
Harry wondered---but only to himself---if Hermione's spell was really a good thing. He kept receiving everyone's nervous thoughts in his head, whether he wanted them or not. Finally, he gently reproached those mentally transmitting to keep their thoughts to themselves.
"Sorry, mate," came Ron's thought.
"Yeah, sorry, Harry," came Neville's contrite apology.
"Hsst! Everyone! Listen!" Hermione's thought thundered within their heads. It was then that everyone began to hear it as well. There were the beginnings of sounds. Rather funny sounds; sounds out of place about Hogwarts. Harry could hear the unmistakable hiss and slither of snakes of various types and sizes. Ron's keen fox ears picked up the sound of numerous rats chittering to one another. Hermione's panther nose recoiled from the smell of reptiles, anathema to those of feline kind, and she growled deep in her sable-coated chest.
"Stand ready, all! They are coming on the attack," Dumbeldore commanded.
Harry, and all the other earth-bound Animagi crouched down to wait. Harry looked over and spotted Hermione, nearly invisible in the twilight, her tail's snowy tip twitching with nervous energy.
Ron had to suppress the urge to whine in his anticipation. He found himself drooling slightly, eager to feel rat necks snap in his powerful jaws.
Hermione's golden eyes were narrowed, and her ears were flat to her skull. She found she felt a sort of all-consuming rage. A rage that geared her up to fight for her life, and those of her friends.
All this was still going on when the front lines of Lord Voldemort's forces impacted Hogwarts' defense lines...
The first attackers proved to be a wave of spiders...spiders the size of cocker spaniels, however. Harry roared, and swept his powerful paws--- claws extended---back and forth, tumbling the spiders aside like a child's jacks. Those that escaped his paws were dealt with with savage clamps of his jaws. Harry was revolted by the taste of the spiders in his mouth.
Ron shivered, but acted bravely, darting in to tear legs, savage thoraxes, and crush heads with nips of his lightning-quick jaws. He dashed about, dancing between attacks nimbly.
Hermione missed out on the spiders, but received an on-rush of pig-sized lizards instead. Instinctively, she flattened herself out on the ground, and awaited the nearest lizard's approach. When it was close enough that she could no longer stand it, she filled her lungs and screamed angrily, darting in to slam her large paw against the lizard's head to tumble it over, and then---much to her human mind's disgust---finished it off by tearing out it's soft throat with her jaws and teeth. She screamed again in her triumph, and sought further prey...
Harry was licking his paws clean of spider ichor when his sensitive ears picked up a new threat. There came the scaly sound of slithering, and then a snake, far larger than any other snake he had ever seen---bigger even than the Burmese python he'd once set free from the London Zoo. This snake moved forward tentatively, yard-stick long tongue flickering, it red eyes filled with un-reptile-like anger and hate. Its smooth scaled hide was a venomous green, with darker markings on its back. Harry knew in an instant that he was seeing the newest form of his arch-nemesis, Lord Voldemort.
Fighting the urge to dash out and attack his foe, Harry instead focused his thoughts on Hermione. "Hermione!" he thought, trying to communicate with her, as he silently watched the serpent move hesitantly forward.
Hermione screamed loudly again, her teeth flashing as she dispatched yet another lizard with a torn-out throat. Four more warily circled her, their forked tongues flickering, their beady black eyes filled with malevolence. Then, she heard Harry's voice in the back of her mind. "Dash it all, Harry! I'm busy! Leave me be!" she thought back, full of her panther ferocity. But, then she disciplined herself, and added quickly, "Yes? What is it, Harry?"
Harry shivered at the mental impression he first received from Hermione. He could relate only to well to that feeling of excited savagery. He shook himself mentally, then responded. "Tell Dumbledore that I can see Voldemort. He's here," Harry replied mentally.
"Voldemort? He's here? Dear Lord!" Hermione's thoughts raced back to him, and Harry sympathize with her, understanding her fierce snarl as her fear of what was happening.
"I heard you, Harry," came Dumbledore's calm, soothing voice to both Hermione and himself. "Now, Harry...this is important. Where is he? And what form has he taken?" Dumbledore asked.
"He's not much more than two dozen paces away from me," Harry replied, roaring loudly to allow the teachers to locate him. "And, he's a snake. A giant snake, Professor."
Voldemort heard the thunderous roar, and turned towards Harry. The snake opened its white-lined mouth to hiss menacingly. The snake's tongue flicked out again faster now, the red baleful eyes catching sight of the tell-tale scar on this lion's forehead.
"Greetingssss, Potter," hissed Voldemort's oily, repellant voice in Harry's head. Harry sneezed, the feline part of him indignant with the intrusion of his enemy's thoughts.
"You'll not win, Tom Riddle," Harry sent back, gritting his teeth mentally. The snake's violent hissing betrayed Voldemort's anger at being addressed with that hated name.
Before Harry and the Dark Lord could come to blows, the professors and adult Animagi arrived to shift the balance. Dumbledore in his eagle form, dove down to slash with his knife-like talons and axe-like beak, while Professors Snape and Bat latched on to the snake's hide, and plied their sharp teeth to find tender flesh beneath the scales.
Professor McGonnagal, the tabby cat version, yowled and hissed, biting fiercely and slashing with her claws, then dashing away again. Moments later, a incensed rumbling roaring announced Professor Moody's bear-form arriving to add his attacks to the fray.
Harry was about to join in, when he heard an exasperated snarl, as well as a plaintive message from Hermione. "Oh, Harry! Oh, please, help! There are just too many of them!"
Harry wasted no time, and loped off toward Hermione. In a moment, he spotted her panther form leaping about, swatting a veritable army of rats that now beseiged her. Harry filled his lungs and then gave an ear- splitting roar, one that froze the rats in place for a second or two. Then he dashed in, teeth and claws beared, and dealt death to the small furry bodies that were arrayed against them. Hermione joined in, sweeping and slashing with her bloodied claws, snapping rats up in her jaws to hurl them away as rag-like bundles a moment later. Harry was surprised by Hermione's speed of attack, as well as her heretofore unknown savagery. Rats literally were flying from her paws and jaws.
Harry spotted another rat, swept back a paw, but then hesitated. Nah! Couldn't be, he told himself. But there was no denying that familiar rat face, so instead of dealing the rodent a deathblow, he simply pinned its tail to the ground, firmly beneath one of his enormous paws. Hermione dealt with the remainder of the rats in good order, and then sinuously padded over to where Harry sat upon his haunches.
"Thanks, Harry," Hermione told him mentally, then rubbed her proud head against Harry's chest in thanks.
"You'll never guess who I've run into, Hermione. I do think we have found our old friend, Wormtail. Right here under my paw," Harry thought to her. Hermione looked on, much to Wormtail's terror, the rat-like Animagi squealing and chittering in fear of the big panther. Ron then appeared, coming towards them both, his muzzle bloodied. "Who'd of figured, eh Harry?" Ron said with a yip, but clearly in Harry's mind.
"Excuse me a minute, Harry. But I simply have to do something I can't do as a panther," Hermione announced, then turned back into herself. She slipped her wand free, while her two friends guarded her. She thought a moment, then transfigured a nearby stone into a stout metal cage.
"One last thing, I think," Hermione then said, thinking the same. She pointed her wand directly at Wormtail and jinxed him so that he would remain in his Animagus form until she revoked her jinx. "There!" She then changed back into her panther form again.
"Harry? Could you be a dear, and..." she thought to him, indicating the cage. Harry grinned mentally, and leaned over to gently pick up the unconscious rat---he'd passed out when he saw Harry open his tooth-filled mouth---and tossed him bodily inside the cage, which magically sealed itself when closed. Hermione then summoned up Tonks, who responded and flew down to meet them all. "Look who we have here, eh? Remember Wormtail, Tonks?" Hermione asked.
"You betcha I do, love. Being a rat suits him to a tee, it does," Tonks responded mentally, glaring at Wormtail.
"Could you take this cage up to Dumbledore's office for us?" Hermione asked sweetly, mentally.
"Sure thing, sport," Tonks replied, jumping up to snatch the bars of the cage in her claws, she then beat her big wings and heaed off to drop off her charge before returning to the fray herself.
Ron and Hermione rubbed noses briefly before turning back to Harry. Harry nodded, and they returned back to the battle once more. The three friends proved to be the well-named Trouble Trio...especially to those that now opposed them. Ron, the quickest of them, kept their backs free, while Hermione and Harry dealt with the foes before them. After fifteen minutes, both Harry and Hermione were battered and weary, but the ground before them was littered with the enemy dead, their torn and slashed carcasses heaped one upon the other.
Between waves, Harry spotted something odd, and nudged Hermione to see if he was simply seeing things. But, he was not.
A pure white ferret ran about the field, sneaking about and attacking Death Eaters when the opportunity presented itself. It can't be, Harry thought to himself and his friends. "What's the matter, Harry?" Hermione asked mentally. Harry turned his head toward her.
"I think that's Malfoy out there, and well, he's attacking Death Eaters," Harry confessed.
And sure enough, it was Draco Malfoy in his ferret form, who had started attacking Death Eaters, and with astounding speed for a ferret of his size.
But soon they all had other, more important, things to worry about beside Malfoy. "Heads up! Here they come!" Harry warned, before they were swarmed over yet again.
Harry, already weary, did his best to fend off his attackers, and work with Hermione as well. But, it wasn't too long and both big cats were swarmed over...literally! Spiders crawled all over him, seeking to bite him, while heavier lizards leapt on him, trying to force him down. Harry bit and slashed, even bringing his lethal rear legs up, claws flashing to rake his foes.
Harry began to wonder if this was it, when all of the sudden came a deep menacing roar that vibrated in Harry's chest. That roar belonged to Neville, and the big, nearly thousand pound Siberian tiger was heaving two hundred pound lizards off Harry and Hermione like they weighed almost nothing at all. Where clawed tiger paw met lizard head, death resulted. Spiders fled with an amazing alacrity as the tiger dancee aboutk, attacking in a frenzy of paws and teeth. Soon the only things moving were the three cats.
"Thanks, Neville," Harry said, sending his thoughts.
"No problem, mate," Neville replied, allowing Harry and Hermione to regain their feet, and reset their defenses. Needless to say, Neville helped Harry and Hermione with the remainder of the Death Eaters confronting them.
"Yes, thanks for your help, Neville," Hermione added, while licking blood from between her toes on her paw. "I thought we'd had it then."
"Bloody hell," Neville then swore, getting back on all fours again. "Here they come again!"
The next wave broke over them, and they were hard pressed to drive the mass of them off.
"Damn! These Death Eaters are strong," Neville said. "And, there's so many of them!" Neville roared again, and nearly decapitated a lizard with a swipe of his mighty paw.
Hermione screamed and bit down savagely on the neck of a big python-like snake, neatly severing its spine. The snake shuddered then went slack.
Harry batted a seeming ocean of big rats about like popcorn, but they just kept on coming. He snarled and roared, smashing them again and again. He was so caught up in his own battle, he almost didn't notice the appearance of a new combatant on the field, a menacing black shadowy form that approached from behind and to his right. The Death Eaters confronting this figure quailed, turned, and began to scurry away in consternation. Harry looked up after dispatching his last rat, and when he did, he nearly roared in surprise. For, right before him stood a big, black, bear-like dog with steely eyes.
"B-B-But...this can´t be! Y-Y-You died!" Harry thought, anguish in his voice...yet some hope too.
"Yes. Yes, I did, Harry. But...well, as you can see...now I'm back," the most unmistakable voice replied inside his head. For because, right before his very, most surprised eyes, now stood his godfather, none other than Sirius Black himself, in the flesh...or perhaps that should be fur...