Halloween week was disappointingly dull this year. Most of the usual tricksters came to realize the dangers of disrupting order with an Inquisitor around, even for fun ( or more likely, especially for fun ). Eric, however, didn't really have pulling pranks on other students in mind. This Halloween was going to be special.
He had spent months researching what had happened to him during the summer. There were two possible conditions that would have caused his transformation. The first was that he had somehow become an animagus, with the beast being an odd definition of what he thought he needed. The second was that the Romul bloodline was awoken in him, and the beast was a distorted werewolf.
There was one sure way to find out. Waiting until full darkness, he made his way secretly to Hagrid's abandoned hut. After propping up a mirror and making sure that no one was watching, he concentrated on how it felt to change. For a few seconds, it seemed like nothing was happening, then suddenly he found himself tangled in his clothes. After tearing his way out he looked to the mirror, relieved at what he found. The wolf was a dark grey and evenly formed – fine and muscular. He was rather disappointed that his clothes didn't shift with him, but he learned what he needed. He was a blood werewolf, and he seemed to have control over himself.
A rustling sound warned him that someone was coming. Looking about the house, he saw Dolores Umbridge heading for the hut. Eric scrambled to push his belongings into a bush, but thankfully she didn't come about the hut. Rather, she began to sneak her way towards the front door. "Alohomora." The door's lock dutifully gave way, and in she crept.
Eric couldn't believe that this breach of privacy was abiding by any rules – not at this late hour, anyway. This left him with some entertaining options. Turning back to the mirror, he focused his thoughts on Dolores, and how much he wanted to just make her miserable. His insight was rewarded as his nose shortened to a pug snout and his forepaws developed daggers for claws. The beast was back, and it was time to play.
His first move was to sneak up to the door. He didn't want to alert her unnecessarily. Creeping in, he found her rummaging through Hagrid's makeshift desk, cursing the clutter with a constant mutter. "There must be something here, something!" With both her hands in the desk, it meant her wand was clear.
Eric started with a low growl, building up to a snarling hiss. Dolores turned about slowly, her eyes suddenly growing to the size of saucers when she spotted him. He decided to keep going, snapping and snarling at her. He narrowly avoided actually biting her as she tried to move to get her wand, getting a mouthful of pink cardigan instead. Eric decided to make the best of it, tearing off the pink fluff and ripping it to shreds while she made a terrified exit. In the process he found her wand, but decided that breaking it would seem too deliberate. Leaving behind tattered pink shreds, he went back behind the hut.
Transforming back to a human was easier than Eric had expected. It seemed that being rather satisfied with the evening's doings gave him enough peace to settle himself. After a minute he was done hastily dressing himself to return to the Ravenclaw dormitories. The only pause in his movements was to avoid Professor Umbridge as she led a gathering of instructors back to Hagrid's hut. "You'll see. That giant halfwit has been breeding lupine monsters – expressly forbidden by the Ministry!"
However, the only thing that came of it was an announcement at breakfast the next morning. It seemed that the werewolves of the Dark Forest were becoming bolder recently, and students were strongly advised to remain indoors after dark. There was, of course, no change in the Dark Arts Defense class despite this event. Even the pink cardigan remained constant, though Eric doubted that his efforts would have mattered. He pictured the Mighty and Dreaded High Inquisitor having a dozen fluffy pink cardigans all stuffed in a padded and doilied trunk somewhere.