A/N: Someone else mentioned that they couldn't keep track of the time in the story... In all honesty, I lost track of the time as well. But that's ok! Cause it's fanfic and the time frames in fanfic never make sense. On the plus side, this chapter gives a definite frame of reference for time, just in case someone did want to keep track...
Harry and Ron paced back and forth in the Room of Requirement, often crossing paths and, in one moment that left Ginny in giggles for ten minutes, they had collided. All of the half-breed students were present, including a disgruntled seeming Draco Malfoy. The twins had sneaked down to the dungeon and abducted him half an hour ago, blindfolding him and bringing him to the secret room. The situation was something that, even though they didn't really like Draco, their current truce required that he be allowed in on the proceedings.
"I still can't believe it. That stupid toad of a woman. What right did she have to do that to you?" That was Hermione, furious after hearing Harry and Ron's report.
According to Ron and Harry, about the time she had been swimming out of the lake the previous night, they had gone for a snack in the kitchens but had run into Umbridge instead. The foul woman had said that they didn't have any rights to exist, let alone be allowed to walk freely among the normal students and she would see about having them properly disposed of. Umbridge had left then, heading down the halls and, uneducated as she was, muttering to herself. She hadn't realized it at the time, but Harry and Ron had been able to perfectly hear her muttering and she was talking about having Dumbledore removed and herself placed as Headmistress.
"We need to do something. Too bad the Polyjuice potion was ruined." That was George, once more as normal as a tiger hybrid could be, sitting next to and staring at his twin sister Fred.
He wasn't the only one, Draco was staring as well and even Harry and Ron took the occasional glance while pacing. Hermione's charm hadn't yet worn off, though she assured Fred that it should wear off soon. Fred hadn't seemed too upset about it, though he might have been a bit uncomfortable with the staring. Like a real trooper, Fred had even modified his clothes to be more effeminate that morning. According to George, Fred had closed himself in his bed last night with a privacy charm, no doubt to get in touch with his feminine side. Fred had declined to comment on the accusation.
Interrupting whatever Ginny had been about to say to George, Draco said what was on Harry's mind. "Too bad so many Weasley's are born male. They make much prettier females."
Four of the room's occupants turned a bright red as the room stilled, Fred and Ginny blushing the brightest. Though still the seven feet height he had been given with his tiger body, Fred wasn't as muscular as George. His female body was softer and had a large bust, at least that's how it looked without a bra and straining against the material of the men's shirt he was wearing. That was probably why the males in the room seemed incapable of looking away for long.
Fred flicked his long tail uncomfortably and crossed his arms over his chest. "Stop staring at my tits..."
Ginny and Hermione burst into laughter at the comment. It probably wouldn't have been as funny if the charm hadn't worn off between the words 'staring' and 'at.' The soft, effeminate curves and features melded back into the more rugged tiger that almost matched the one at his side and he grumped when the others joined in the laughter.
"Ha ha... Very amusing. Let's get back to planning this." Fred looked mad and his idea only added to the impression. "I say we make a new batch of what we were hit with and force it into the toad's mouth. She'll turn right into a real half-breed toad and show everyone what we already know."
"That's awful! No one should be forced into this situation. Not to mention that she'd be cured at the same time we would be." Hermione obviously didn't agree with the idea.
Draco, however, seemed to like it. "It's not a bad idea. The Polyjuice potion was still in the beginning stages, right?" He looked over as Ron and Harry nodded in agreement, taking seats on the comfy couches the room provided. "Though she's probably more of a slug than a toad."
"If we had a complete Polyjuice potion we could force a change on her. Turn her into whatever we want. We know she'd have to spend weeks in the hospital wing if she didn't want anyone to see." Ron glanced slyly at Hermione as he recalled the cat incident from second year.
"We'd have to wait a month for that, though. The best time to strike would be in three days, at Halloween. Dumbledore's letting us have a costume party after the feast this year. We could create a distraction there." George stood and was pacing now as he thought. "Maybe one of us could sneak off floo from Hogsmeade to Knockturn Alley and buy some Polyjuice from the apothecary there on Halloween morning..."
"No, that won't work. As much as it pains me, you could get expelled if you were caught doing that. My stupid pack instincts won't let me lose my pack-mates." They turned surprised expressions to Draco. "I can easily sneak into Professor Snape's private lab. He has some of just about every potion there. I'm sure he'll have Polyjuice."
Ginny squealed and gave Draco a big hug, much to his displeasure. "That'd be awesome!"
George nodded appreciatively, his mind working now. "Ok, we'd need a big distraction. Something that would get the toad up into a frenzy and make her rant and rave for people to be expelled." His golden eyes scanned the other hybrids. An evil grin formed on his face, made even more wicked by the elongated feline fangs in his smile. "Fred, Hermione and I will be one half of the distracting force. Ginny and Harry will be the second half. Ron and Draco will be the ones to set up the potion to make certain she's dosed."
"What! I refuse to work with the Winged Weasel!"
"No way am I working with that Ferret!"
Ron and Draco glared daggers at each other.
Fred caught on to George's idea with just the distraction pairings. "It's perfect that way, though. No one would ever suspect you two to team up for anything. You're the only two that can pull it off. Anyone else will be suspect. All you two have to do is start arguing and anyone would believe that you'd been doing nothing but that for hours." He rubbed his hands together gleefully and the planning really started.
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The next day...
"It's not very comfortable, but I can see how that would cause the other students to react... Can we modify it a bit though? Just for comfort..."
"Of course we can, Harry. And everyone will love it, trust me."
"This is going to be awkward with my tail. Can we try it again?"
Panting. "I've got the potion. We need the bits to add to it now."
"Great! We were just going to rehearse Harry and Ginny's parts again."
"You know, they seemed to have agreed to their part a bit too easily..."
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The day before Halloween...
"Are you out of your mind! There's no way I'm wearing that!"
"You have to wear it, Hermione! It's the best way, trust me."
"Not if I can help it. Why do I have to be saddled with you two again?"
Whispering.
"Oh... Oh my. Umm... Yes, I can see how that would stir up trouble..."
"So you'll wear it then."
"No way!"
Whining. "But, Hermione! It'll only work this way... Please?"
"Well..."
"Hey you two! I've got some toad and slug bits from the lake today! We can add them both and really mess her up."
"Wonderful, Ginny!" Pause. "Fine, give me that."
"That's what you have to wear!"
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Halloween Night
"Now that we have finished our wondrous feast, let us take an hour or so to refresh ourselves. Once everyone has put on their costumes, please return here for the party. First through third years may remain at the party until nine-thirty and fourth years and over have until midnight. Hurry along now.."
In an empty classroom conveniently located near the dungeons, the group of seven met... Well, at least that's where they would meet once the girls finished their primping and bothered to arrive.
"Maybe you should have remembered to take into account the fact that we weren't planning on making an entrance until the lower years had gone to bed." Hermione commented as she and Ginny arrived. Both were covered in hooded cloaks.
Ginny placed Ron's chess set on a desk while Hermione dropped a deck of Exploding Snap cards down nearby and seated herself, immediately burying her nose in a book for her own amusement.
"Hey, it's often said that true geniuses forget the little details of life." George was seated comfortably in his costume, snubbing the resident Hogwarts Genius for her comment.
Fred, in a costume identical to George's, was showing the Marauder's Map to Ron and Draco while outlining a plan. Draco had been sworn to secrecy on the Map in a magically binding oath. The eagle and wolf would wait at a concealed spot behind a statue until given a signal. The signal would be an exploding Filibusters. When the firework exploded, they would transform and race as fast as possible to Umbridge's quarters.
Fred and George had spent the last couple nights with Harry's Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map to gather the information needed to gain entrance to those quarters and do a bit of spying. Once inside, they were to head into the toad's bedroom, yes it was an awful job, and in her nightstand drawer was a silver flask. They were to empty the flask and replace the contents with the Polyjuice.
Once things were back into place, Ron and Draco needed to exit a different way and that would be out the window. Draco would have to entrust himself to Ron and fly down where he would come in the Entrance Hall. Ron would fly up to Gryffindor Tower and come down to the Great Hall from there.
"If all goes according to plan, she'll drink from the flask before bed like she has every time we've spied upon her and then by morning she'll be out of our hair." Fred seemed pleased, even though he wouldn't be doing the dirty work. Or perhaps it was because he wouldn't be doing the dirty work. "If our distraction is good enough, no one will even notice that you two hadn't arrived yet and you should be able to slip into the Great Hall while we've still got them distracted."
Harry leaned toward Hermione. "It really is a good plan. Maybe we should have included them in more of the things we've done since first year."
Just then, the clock chimed nine-thirty alerting those in the Great Hall that it was time for the lower years to call it a night while those in the dungeon classroom rose from their places, cleaning up.
"Time for last minute preparations..."
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The Party...
It was quarter to ten and the older students were allowing themselves to loosen up now that the younger students had been sent away. With the assortment of costumes, most of which were glamor charms or transfiguration work, no one could really tell who had arrived and who hadn't. It wasn't until a savage roar and the crack of a whip rang across the Hall that they realized not everyone was in attendance yet...
Somehow managing to ignore the whistles, wolf howls and catcalls, Hermione Granger slunk into the Hall. She was dressed in a skimpy leather outfit that consisted of a sports bra, loincloth, shin guards and gauntlets. The leather was blood red and had bits of golden mock armor and an elaborate golden mask accented the wild curls of her hair. In her right hand was her wand, an electric gold whip of magic streaming from the tip and in the other hand were the ends of two sturdy chains. The chains were about ten feet long and on the end of each was a massive tiger. Hermione cracked her whip, drawing attention so that no one noticed the tigers closing the doors.
Slinking with feline grace, the amazon costumed Hermione had the eyes of nearly every male in the room on her as she cracked her whip again, leading the tigers out onto the dance floor. Once there, the twins shifted back into their hybrid forms and more than one female in attendance gasped at the sight. They were dressed as slaves! Chains now wrapped around their waists and attached to their collars, the buff and scantily clad twins started to dance with their amazon mistress in a way that caused more than a few blushes. With the swaying tails and barely covered bodies, no one noticed as a few items fell before they moved their dance away from the center of the floor.
Professor McGonagall seemed to be sputtering with outrage while next to her Professor Snape had turned an unhealthy combination of red and green... That was when a loud, angry neigh from outside the doors drew everyone's attention to the fact that Harry Potter had yet to arrive.
Rearing up and smashing his front hooves into the door of the Great Hall, causing them to slam open, Harry Potter made a rather dangerous entrance. His pegasus form was all shadow and smoke as he reared almost threateningly in his pose. Flaming wings were spread wide, smoke rising from his hooves at his heated entrance. Emerald orbs literally glowed with power that made some of the students shudder. Dropping to all fours, it wasn't until he started to charge into the room and scatter students left and right that anyone even noticed Ginny.
Mounted on Harry's back; Ginny's left hand was holding onto reins of fire attached to a bit held securely in Harry's mouth. Her hybrid form had been charmed into demonic exaggeration, long claws and fangs, even bone wings growing from her back. Her red hair was literally flaming and a wicked black sword was held in her free hand. She wore outlandish armor that accentuated her figure while making her seem deadly with the spikes that seemed to be dripping blood. There even seemed to be a metal spike on her tail.
As Harry reached the center of the dance floor, he beat his flaming wings, rising into the air for a moment before smashing his magically heated and smoking hooves to the floor. As he hit the ground, an explosion occurred and flaming fireworks went off in all directions causing the students to scatter even further.
"Miss Weasley! Mr Potter! What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall seemed enraged. "You could have trampled someone with that kind of entrance!" While she was admittedly impressed, Minerva couldn't show it with their reckless and dangerous entrance. Someone had to keep order...
Across the room, Professor Flitwick was fluttering near Professor Dumbledore. "Thirty points to Gryffindor for excellent use of charms." The cornish pixie professor squeaked softly, causing the Willy Wonka Dumbledore to grin. They had been giving out house points for such things the entire evening...
Oh yeah, someone definitely had to keep order.
And apparently Professor McGonagall wasn't doing a good enough job of keeping her Gryffindors in line as Dolores Umbridge decided to waddle her way into the situation. She was hideously attired in a costume that they assumed was supposed to make her look queenly, but 'Queen' Umbridge looked like a pauper compared to McGonagall's piratess costume. The demon horse that was Harry cringed slightly at the sight of her and Ginny tried not to gag.
"Well, I should have known... Totally incompetent way of disciplining students here, Minnie." George later swore that he thought McGonagall was going to use her pirate pistol on Umbridge when the toad called her that. "I think that for such reckless endangerment of the other students there should be at least a week's worth of detentions."
Hermione only just snagged Fred and George's chains before they could attack the Toad Queen. She pulled them further into the crowd of students and out of sight. "Don't." She hissed at them. "You know that if the plan works they won't be in detention."
"And you had better be glad that those friends of your's had waited so long to arrive or I'd have them in detention for their scandalous display." Umbridge scanned the crowd but didn't see Hermione or the twins.
Harry was about to say something when a flicker of gold near the door caught his eye. A quick glance and he saw a Cupid Ron making his way to the snack table. Hanging his head as though properly chastised, Harry spotted a shimmer of silver on the other side of the Great Hall. The dashing form of a Prince Wolf gave a vague sort of nod before joking with some nearby Slytherins about the attention seeking Gryffindors. Suddenly, Harry didn't mind the threat of Detentions.
Once the Professors had wandered away, McGonagall looking as if she were about to spit nails at Umbridge, Harry felt Ginny slide off his back. He shifted into his hybrid form and stretched out his flaming wings as he bowed to the bone winged demon otter.
"May I have this dance, milady?"
"I'd be delighted, kind sir!"
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The next day...
"You see Remus, something dreadfully urgent must have come up. Poor Dolores took off in a frightful hurry. She didn't even have the courtesy to take off her hood while telling me that she had to leave. I'm sure you understand the bit of a pickle I'm in..." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling at an insane rate.
"Of course, Albus. I'd be delighted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor again..."
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I must say I had fun with it. Hint for the next chapter: The Full Moon! (Does anyone else get a strange mental image of the Marauders dancing out 'The Full Monty' when thinking of things like that? ... Just checking.)