My name is Harry Potter.
And I am empty.
Only yesterday have I lost my magic, but it feels like centuries. Hermione won't come near me. Ron is always watching with wide, sympathetic eyes. They're totally different people. Only Tobias and Ginny sat near me. Ax had gone off to graze.
I stared into the fading sunlight. Hermione had started a fire for us. It crackled merrily, so unlike the mood that surrounded it. Again, I could feel Ron's eyes on me.
My scar prickled, perhaps the only magic I had left in me. I rubbed it for the twenty-third time that night.
"Stop doing that!" Hermione exploded.
I jerked and looked up at her, as if slapped. "Stop doing what?"
"Rubbing your scar! It's bothersome!"
I flared my
nostrils. "It's a habit."
"I don't care!"
I let my eyes fall back down the fire. A frown twitched at my lips when I remembered the seventh obstacle for the Sorcerer's Stone. Back then Hermione had said that I was the better wizard, that I was brave and a friend no matter what.
"Leave him alone," Ginny snapped. "He's just been through a lot!"
"He hasn't! That's just what he wants you to think!"
"Please stop fighting," begged Ron quietly.
All of you stop it, Tobias said irritably. You're not yourselves. I think the silence was better.
Hermione continued to bicker. I drew into myself, reliving the Quidditch World Cup from fourth year. I ran over the plays in my head, gnawing on my lower lip. Now what plays could the Gryffindor team next year…?
"Harry?"
"Hawkshead Formation!" I yelled in reply.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny stifled a giggle with her hand. A smile twitched at Ron's lips.
"What in the world is a Hawks-whatchyamacallit?" demanded Marco, strolling over to the campfire. Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Ax were with him.
I blinked. "Oh. Sorry. I was thinking of what plays the Gryffindor Quidditch Team can use next year. If there is one for me."
"You could never play Quidditch anyway," Hermione retorted snippily.
I winced.
Marco sat down next to me and slung a brotherly arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, mate," he said in exaggerated British accent that made me grimace, "We all have girl trouble once in a while."
"Marco," Jake warned, giving him a look.
"Shutting up."
Jake cleared his throat. "Harry, we've thinking. You don't have magic anymore, right? But you still have the ability to morph. If you want to, we can take you to the Gardens tonight to acquire some battle morphs tonight. Rachel will take you to the mall to buy a morphing outfit."
He paused. I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off with, "But you don't have to if you don't want to."
I couldn't suppress the smile that twitched at the corners at my mouth. "If I can't use my magic, morphing is always my second choice."
He visibly relaxed and grinned. "All right, then," he said, rubbing his hands briskly together, "To the Gardens, then. I've got a couple Chee filling in for us at home."
"Chee?" I asked.
"Poochi!" Marco said, laughing outright.
Rachel glared. "No one thinks that's funny, nimrod. Erek and the Chee have helped us out with a lot of things you can't handle. Which is too many times to name."
"So what's a Chee?" asked Ron. He leaned forward in his wheelchair and settled for looking politely puzzled.
Jake ran a hand through his hair and gave a sideways glance to the woods on his right. The air there shimmered. Ginny cried out in surprise and fell off the log we had dragged to the fire. I jumped in surprise and stared at what appeared.
For a moment, I thought it was what Marco had said: a Poochi. It certainly looked like one. It was about five feet tall and had the look of a dog. Peering at it, I could tell that this was no living being but a robot—an android, probably. Dudley had watched enough sci-fi movies for me to know. It had, most likely, been hiding itself with a hologram.
"I am a Chee," it said in a boy's voice. The air around it shimmered again and the robot was gone, replaced with a boy about our age. He grinned, eyes doing the familiar flick to my forehead. "I have heard a lot about you, Harry Potter."
I blinked, amazed by what I had seen, and finally uttered, "Who hasn't?"
Hermione glared daggers at me, but the android laughed. "Quite right!" he said in a flawless British accent. His visage flickered again, now transforming into a face I vaguely recognized as seeing in the Leaky Cauldron two years ago. "I've been called a lot of things over the years, but right now my name's Erek." He flicked back to being the boy again. "It's nice to meet you."
He held out his hand. Warily, I took it and shook his hand. I felt a grasp equal to mine squeeze my hand, but I didn't feel the metallic paw I had seen beforehand. I was careful not to let the shock show on my face.
"So, what are you? Exactly?" I asked when I had taken my hand back.
Remorse crossed Erek's face for a moment. "I am an android, called the Chee. We Chee were created by a race called the Pemalites, to be their friends. The Pemalites were incredibly intelligent, but they were peaceful and programmed us against violence.
"An alien race called the Howlers came to our planet once, eons ago, and destroyed the species. The Chee were helpless against them. We took the last Pemalites to the only refuge we could find, which was here. They were doomed to die, however, so we Chee melded them together with wolves to form what you would call a dog."
He paused here. A spasm of sorrow wracked me for a moment when I the word dog triggered a memory of Sirius. I fought it back and choked down the lump in my throat.
Erek "took a deep breath" and continued, "We have lived here since. Only now, however, have we learned of the existence of wizards. Your kind has hidden itself well. From what I have heard of wizards, though, you are one of the best."
He nodded at the Jake, who's face colored instantly—or else it might have been a trick of the firelight. "Jake tells me that you are the most courageous wizard of them all and that you can be trusted by all means. I hope this is true, for no one—not even the Yeerks—know all of our past."
I nodded slowly, a smile stretching across my face. "Keeping secrets is something I happen to be particularly good at. You don't have to worry about me telling anything."
Erek, who had looked uptight, relaxed. "I'm glad to hear it."
I turned back to Jake. "Now how about we go get some morphs?" I asked.
And, seconds later, I was riding Jake's thestral back to the Gardens.
Tonight, it was only Jake, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, and me. Tobias and Ax had stayed behind with Hermione and Ron to make sure they did nothing to hurt our cover. Ginny stayed because she was too inexperienced in the matter. Besides, she had offered to help keep the four others in line.
We landed, unnoticed by the guards. After all, how many people see someone die in their lifetime? Which, of course, brought my thoughts back to the painful memory of Sirius. I felt my eyes prickling and, annoyed at myself, held the tears back.
I slid off Jake as he demorphed. "So, what battle morph have you been thinking of?" he asked when he had lost the horse face.
I hadn't had to think about it. The moment Jake had said "battle morph," I was all ready envisioning the Gryffindor Lion with all its noble grace. "Lion," I said immediately.
Marco looked extremely uncomfortable then. He glanced at Jake, who looked back with a stern look. I couldn't read his mind like I could read Voldemort's mood, but I could tell his thoughts went something like: "Don't give me that look, he's our friend."
"This way," Cassie whispered, jerking her head at a door that led to a corridor behind the animal cages. She led us down a maze of halls. Finally, she froze in front of a door that was labeled "713". I stared at it.
"In here," she said. "There's a lion and two lionesses. Lions are nocturnal, so they'll be fairly awake now. Be extremely careful and try not to be afraid. That'll key them onto thinking you're prey. If he so much as starts to get on his feet, get out of there. Not even his handlers can get within five feet of him without him attacking them." She chewed on her lower lip. "Be careful, all right?"
I offered her a smile. "Aren't I always careful?"
Dead silence.
"Okay, never mind."
She swung the door open. Moonlight streamed into the corridor. It wasn't a full moon, much to Ax's relief. There would be no werewolf transformations for him tonight.
When I stepped over the threshold, I stepped into a completely different world. Grass covered the extent of the cage, coming up to my waist. Scarce trees scattered the grass. Ahead, I saw a clearing and a small pond with a tree that had low branches. And, upon the branches, were draped two lionesses. Cassie shut the door behind me.
I waded through the sea of grass to the clearing. Once I was within three feet of the clearing, I saw the mighty lion himself. He sat by the pond, tail pounding on the dirt every few seconds. He moved his head. The moonlight made his eyes glint demonic green in the dark.
A gentle breeze rippled through the cage. It wafted my scent over to the lion. His nostrils widened as he sniffed and turned his head to me. His eyes dilated and fixed on me.
Was I afraid?
No.
I had faced far worse things than a lion. I had faced death and war and creatures more violent than this giant house-cat. I mean, he looked almost like Crookshanks. And by no means was I afraid of Crookshanks, even a giant one.
I cleared the grass and stood there for a moment. The lion measured me up. He was no more afraid of me than I was of him. He caught my eyes. I held them.
Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. He padded lightly over to me. Once he was about two feet away, he stopped and looked up at me. His tail twitched back and forth.
I took a step toward him. He held his ground and continued to stare intensely into my eyes. Carefully, I closed the gap between us.
"May I?" I asked softly, extending my hand toward him.
The lion bowed his head.
My hand came down on his mane, into the think hair that felt rough and weathered. A sound reverberated through the lion, who pushed playfully against my hand. It took me a moment to realize that he was… purring.
I couldn't stop the infectious smile that took control of my face. It turns out he was only a giant cat! I laughed softly when he pushed forcefully against my legs. I put my hand under his chin and concentrated, absorbing his DNA.
The lion swayed for a moment as the acquiring trans settled on him. His eyes slid out of focus. They snapped back into focus again, so fast it startled me.
I ran a hand down his back and murmured, "Thank you."
The lion purred loudly.
I turned and jogged lightly back to the door. He watched me go, eyes shining eerily in the moonlight.
I rapped on the door so that Cassie would let me out. The door swung open immediately. She looked thoroughly relieved when I stepped back into the musty, damp corridor.
"I didn't know lions purred," I said, rubbing lion fur off my hands onto my sweater.
Cassie stared. "He purred?"
I nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't at all violent. It was as if he were just a big kitten!"
"He's never like that," she replied, mystified, "Are you sure you don't have any magic left?"
"Quite," I said, drawing my lips into a tight line.
She shook her head. "C'mon," she said, "There are few other morphs you need. A power morph, like an elephant or a rhino, and a flying morph…"
I tuned her out after that, thinking back on the lion. That lion had been supposedly violent, but it had been the picture of tame when I went to acquire it.
Maybe I hadn't lost all my magic after all.
A/N: Ta daaa! That was actually quick! Wah hoo! Well, anyway, I hoped you like that 'un. I couldn't wait to type this chapter! Squee! Lions are official coolness.
And a quick note to Baranth: THIS story takes place in the U.S., where the Animorphs are (which state will remain nameless). And I all ready have Aniwizard Adventures 3 planned. It's going to take place in England back at Hogwarts. It'll be called "Time Warp". I'll leave you to ponder the meaning of this. If you can't guess, I won't tell you. I have the plot lined up, though. I also have Aniwizard Adventures 4 thought up, but I won't tell you the title. It'll give the semi-existent plot away.
Thanks to all my reviewers! And, the reason I might not update for a little while is that I'm working on an original fiction story that I hope to get published by the end of summer vacation (and that's being extremely optimistic). It's all ready 69 pages long (be proud of me people!) and I want to finish it. If you think you like my fan fictions, then you'll love my original one (which is not posted on FictionPress.net). If you ever get bored, read one of my other stories (preferably "HARD TO GET". It's hysterically funny!). PLEASE READ "HARD TO GET" FOR ME!!!!!!!
Stay tuned for "Chapter 9: Mall Crawl (Marco)"!! Mall funness, straight ahead!
Hasta la vista,
Padfoot