A/N: I got to see Goblet of Fire on Monday night! Yay! I don't know when I'll be able to get a copy of the book though I'm hoping as soon as possible! If I hadn't already been lusting after James and Oliver Phelps before seeing that movie, I would be now!
Kd7sov: Thank you for the review and the note on the Auror training. I've actually been using tidbits from the hp-lexicon all through my HP Fanfic career... Admittedly not long, but I read through it before I started writing in that catagory. I honestly never checked up on the Auror training length. I've gone back and edited that to read three years and some months later. Though why I didn't remember it from my minor research on Tonks, I have no idea. Thanks again for catching that for me! As for the "We'll be able to retire." comment, I consider Fawkes as Albus' personal familiar and as such, will leave Hogwarts when Albus leaves. Crookshanks is still Hermione's familiar at the present time in my fic.
Lady-Frisselle and fenderbender505: She's not married to them yet, still engaged at this point. The wedding will be during this fic at some point... -:zips her lip:-
Each giving Albus a quick hug, the two parts of the Golden Trio shared a nod, stepped through the portal and into...
The exact same corridor they had left?
The only real difference between this corridor and the one they had just exited was the absence of Albus Dumbledore. Hermione gazed around. "Should we wait, or head toward his office and see what happened?"
Harry looked around as well, "I say we head to his office. And don't forget, nicknames only here."
"What makes you think that I would be the one to forget that, Bolt?" Hermione raised a brow at her companion as they walked the length of the corridor, dragging their trunks behind them.
"That's easy, Wildcat... Everyone knows that as soon as you get excited or angry you forget everything..." Harry gave Hermione a cheeky grin and ducked the swat she aimed his way.
"Just for that, I should..." But Harry never found out just what Hermione should do as their banter was interrupted by a voice at the end of the corridor.
"Ahh, I was wondering when you two would be along." Albus Dumbledore stood at the door from the corridor into his office. He looked much the same as always, though with a few less stress lines around his eyes. "I knew you would be here this year, but not exactly when. You would think that I would be a bit more specific when sending myself messages. Well, come along and I will show you two to your rooms."
Stunned into silence by the sheer speed with which Albus had issued his greeting, Harry and Hermione followed along mutely.
"Another thing I seem to have failed to mention to myself is that you two were not entirely human... I do hope that normal human accomodations will be suitable Miss... Er... Well, it seems I forgot yet another detail." Albus looked expectantly at the two.
"Wildcat... I'm Wildcat and he's Bolt." Hermione blinked, her tail flicking nervously. "And human accomodations will be more than fine." She attempted a reassuring smile.
"Wonderful! Such clever names, I can certainly see where you came across them. Now, here are your rooms. I hope you don't mind, it's one of the spare Head Common Rooms we have about the castle... Dinner will be in two hours, that should give you time to freshen up a bit. I'm sure you will want to go over your debriefing folder... Interesting word, that is: debriefing."
Still muttering to himself about various things, Albus finally stopped before a portrait of an explorer riding a magic carpet. "Here we are... The password is Puppy Dog's Tail. Just come through the staff entrance at dinner, you will be sitting at the head table." Leaving Harry and Hermione standing at the portrait, Albus continued on his way, still rambling to himself.
Once he had turned a corner, Hermione turned to look at Harry. "Has he always been as chatty as Lavender?"
Harry snickered. "Some days..." He gave a helpless shrug before turning and giving the password to the portrait. Heading inside, Harry frowned slightly. "It's just like when you were head back in 7th."
And sure enough, the decor of the common room matched the way it had been when Hermione was Head Girl. Though she knew it was all the way on the other side of the castle from where her old head common room was located. The floor was covered with a cream colored carpet that felt nice under Hermione's paws as she walked in to examine the decor.
Like the floor, the walls were a soft cream shade with metallic golden designs offering decoration. Doors were made of a light oak with golden words written in ancient runes offering the informatoin for what was on the other side. One door had a gold cougar and the other a gold pegasus. Both animal shapes were drawn sleeping, so they figured that was their bedrooms. There was a door between these two that held the image of a waterfall. Two other doors were marked only with runes and Hermione easily translated what all the doors said in order: Library, Wildcat, Bathroom, Bolt, Kitchen.
There was a large, squishy couch in the main room that seemed standard for any place in Hogwarts where a Gryffindor took up residence. The couch was beige with soft golden throw pillows and situated in front of the fireplace. Two pale oak desks with matching swivel chairs were on either side of the room. The desks held such things as parchment, ink and wax. Each desk was beneath a large window overlooking the castle grounds.
The door marked Library, when curiously opened by Hermione, revealed that it was merely a secret passage directly into the Restricted Section of the main library. The Kitchen door similarly led into the Hogwarts kitchen and Harry was nearly bombarded by House Elves when he checked. Next they inspected their own rooms. The bathroom was decorated in similar colors to the common room and held anything a visiting guest might need. Once these inspections were done, they checked out their individual rooms.
Harry's room was, at first glance, a stereotypical Gryffindor room on a grander scale. The carpet was a pale yellow that matched the walls ceiling. The four-poster bed had deep crimson sheets and pillows over which a golden quilt rested. But instead of the Gryffindor lion decorating the quilt, a large silver pegasus reared with wings spread. Heavy crimson drapes hung open around the bed. A pale oak wardrobe stood empty on one side of the room across from yet another desk. The desk was next to heavy crimson curtains that also held the silver pegasus image. When Harry opened the curtains, he found a large glass door that led out to a balcony.
The sunlight that entered when he opened the curtains sparkled on the wall opposite his bed and Harry turned to find a faint silver image on the wall of a pegasus lying down. It wasn't until the image pegasus moved to peer beneath it's wing at a small sleeping otter the movement revealed that Harry realized it was enchanted. With this knowledge, he grinned and skipped over to see Hermione's room. When he arrived, he found Hermione had already unpacked and was freshening up in the bathroom.
Hermione's room was done in silver, purple and blue. The carpet was a mixture of blues that seemed to resemble the gentle rippling surface of a large body of water. The walls and ceiling were a pale sky blue. Her wardrobe and desk were made of polished mahogany. The drapes on her four-poster bed were dark blue and, as they were open, Harry could see that Hermione's bed had dark purple sheets and pillows and a blue quilt. The quilt had a silver cougar that seemed to be attempting to leap off of the bed. Spying the closed curtains on the wall, Harry opened them to find a balcony that matched his own. Turning, he found a sight that brought forth a snicker.
The silver design on the wall opposite Hermione's bed was enchanted as well. Centered in the image, a cougar sat with a rather disgruntled expression on it's face as two tigers groomed it! One tiger was licking, and messing up, the fur atop the silver cougar's head while the other was licking the cougar's face as if cleaning off a bit of frosting. After a few minutes, the tigers seemed to grow bored with grooming. Less than two minutes later, Hermione came into the room wearing a bathrobe.
"Oh there you are, Harry." She walked over to her wardrobe. "I think we should have been a bit worried when Albus told us he had packed our trunks... I'm really curious as to what we're here for if he expects us to wear things like... This!" Hermione turned to face Harry holding up a leather outfit that rather resembled something she had worn to the Halloween Costume Party back in fifth year.
Harry nearly choked when he saw the outfit. "Are you serious? He expects you to wear -that- on the mission?"
Hermione nodded. "The only normal clothes he packed for me were two pairs of shorts, two tank tops and the rest is this!" It seemed Hermione couldn't tell if she was amused or infuriated. "Anyway, why don't you go get cleaned up while I get dressed and start reading our mission folder."
"All right..." It wasn't until Harry was safely locked away in the bathroom that he allowed himself to indulge in laughter... Right up until he saw that the trunk Albus had packed for him was missing all forms of shirts and only had various pairs of mostly leather shorts for him to wear!
"Good grief..."
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
An hour later found Hermione and Harry sitting in their common room and going over the file. Hermione was wearing a dark blue tank top and black jean shorts while Harry was wearing a pair of green jean shorts that matched his eyes. Hermione was sprawled out on her stomach on the couch facing Harry as he sat backwards in one of the swivel chairs.
"So let me get this straight... We are here to teach a special class about tolerance, patience and understanding?" Harry raised a skeptical brow.
"According to the file." Hermione unsheathed a claw and poked at the page. "That's why we have such outrageous clothing. We're supposed to embrace our differences and be open with who we are at all times. Apparently it's also for... 'Drool Factor.'"
Harry, about to go off on some rant or another, stopped. "What?"
Snorting, Hermione plucked that particular page from the file and handed it to the pegasus hybrid.
"Fully aware that forms give much better physiques... Use to advantage... The drool factor will prompt students to pay attention... Allow you to drill things into their heads while their minds can't function properly to reject the information!" Harry couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry. "Fred, George, Draco and Ron would have loved this assignment. I wonder why he sent me along instead..."
"I think it's because this assignment is also a gift." Hermione had actually read just what the gift was while Harry was still in the bathroom, but she was keeping it as a surprise. "So should we get all dolled up for our introduction?"
Harry gave Hermione a suspicious look. "What do you mean dolled up?"
"Oh, you know... Albus packed accessories for us." She grinned. "I think he's been watching television programs like Xena and Hercules though, too much leather, metal and feathers..."
Covering his face with his hands, Harry groaned. "And we have to act like this is normal for us?"
"So it would seem... But on the plus side, we have hooded cloaks that we're supposed to wear on the walk from our rooms down to the Great Hall."
"That's good."
"But..."
"I knew there'd be a but!"
"We're supposed to take them off just before Albus introduces us to the entire school."
"Kill me now!"
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
"This seems rather mild for him, you know..."
"What do you mean?"
Harry and Hermione had gotten ready, fixing themselves up to look like some freakish tribal half-breed clan or something and were currently walking side by side through the halls. They passed by a few students en route and felt unnerved by the curious stares and whispers they were receiving. Both wore the large cloaks that had been provided. Harry's cloak made him resemble a tall hunchback and that seemed to be drawing most of the attention.
What the students didn't realize was that the two they were whispering about could hear them perfectly. Thankfully for Harry and Hermione, this same fact allowed them to carry out a quietly whispered conversation without anyone the wiser.
"I mean that back home Albus would have encouraged us to have a repeat of the Halloween entrance."
Hermione tittered. "That does sound more like Albus. Maybe he's not as certain about the students reactions? I mean, back home we had been like this nearly about a week or so before the Halloween incident. They didn't just have it sprung on them out of the blue..."
"True..." Harry paused slightly, causing Hermione to pause as well. He seemed to stare in one direction for some time. "I smell something... Familiar."
Taking a sniff, Hermione nodded. "Can't quite place it though. Probably just one of the professors."
"You're probably right." Harry continued to stare from beneath the shadows created by his hood and then continued toward the Great Hall. "Where's the staff entrance?"
"This way." Hermione pointed. "At least we're past the students now. Their whispers were getting rather annoying."
Merely nodding, Harry came up short when they reached a door... Well, when they reached Albus Dumbledore where he stood in front of a door.
Albus smiled brightly. "So glad you found your way. Now, I was thinking... The students have gotten a bit too settled into the routine of things here, so what I am giving you two permission to do is rile things up. They'll never suspect it. Wait about ten or twenty minutes and then make your grand entrance." With those words, Albus turned and entered the Great Hall.
Pushing their hoods back, Harry and Hermione shared a grin. "Of course it won't be the same without the rest of the group... But what do you say we..."
And the duo quickly drew up a plan.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
"Now before we begin dinner, I have an announcement to make... All years will have a special mandatory class for the next month or two. New schedules will be issued during breakfast tomorrow. Please treat the new instructors with respect, as I am sure you will find it a rather foolish idea to get on their bad sides. Now, tuck in!" Albus seated himself, ignoring the questions from the staff as to why they hadn't been informed of this sooner.
Below the head table, the whispering was somewhat marred as people began filling their plates. Once the first edges of hunger had been taken off, the curious whispers started. Some students were lucky enough to have seen the two cloaked figures walking through the halls earlier and it seemed that they were now the stars of the gossip circuit.
It wasn't until most of the students had finished eating and the whispers started to rise in volume as the curiosity of youth took over that it happened...
BANG!
Though getting him to admit it would be difficult, Harry James Potter loved being able to slam open the doors of the Great Hall before charging in and causing a panic. And that's exactly what he did.
Free of the cloak and hybrid form of earlier, the large pegasus known as Bolt slammed open the doors with a shrill neigh. The students barely had time to register his presence with startled cries before he galloped into their midst. Large silver wings, the feathers tipped with black, spread as he leapt over two of the house tables, diverting what would have been a straight charge.
That wasn't all though, no sooner had the pegasus entered than true screams came from those nearest the door, drowning out the roar of the large cougar that followed close at the hooves of the pegasus. The cougar leaped gracefully onto one house table, over the heads of the students between before bouncing off the next table as it pursued the pegasus. At a glance, it seemed as if the predator had managed to injure the pegasus enough to prevent full flight and was now intent upon taking down it's prey.
The staff were on their feet in an instant, wands whipping out as the animals created chaos in the Hall. Despite the actions, no spells were fired off as the animals remained among the students, causing a distinct lack of a clear shot. Through all this, no one seemed to notice that Albus Dumbledore remained seated at the head table, taking bites from a slice of strawberry cheesecake as he watched the antics with an amused twinkle in his eyes.
As the pegasus galloped down the length of the Slytherin table, scattering food all over the students that hadn't backed as far out of the way as possible, the cougar seemed to have met a few braver souls over at the Gryffindor table. At the moment the large cat was surrounded by wand wielding Gryffindors and managing to dodge the spells that were being cast by the students. In fact, the cougar was doing such a good job at avoiding the spells that a few of the smarter students were starting to get a bit worried.
Not to be outdone by their hated rivals, a few of the more daring Slytherins had begun attempting to round up the pegasus. Though not as agile as the smaller cat, the pegasus seemed to do a rather good job of avoiding the hexes sent by the green and silver clad students. Rearing, the pegasus stallion flapped his shiny silver wings, catching the attention of the cougar in a preplanned signal...
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
As the piercing dual screech rang through not the ears, but the brains of the students, the animals acted. Powerful leaps were given, the cougar and pegasus both clearing the students surrounding their locations. It helped that the students and staff were doubled over in pain from the mental voices. The telepathic screeches cut off and everyone in the room turned to find not a pegasus and a cougar, but some kind of freaky comic-book character mixed breeds standing in the center of the Hall.
The female, very obviously female, cougar wore what appeared to be a leather bra and a loincloth. She had metal arm bands, bracelets and anklets with leather strips dangling at strategic points. Her wild mane fell to her waist in an impossible tangle of curls that had been decorated with leather, beads and feathers. The male wore a pair of tight leather shorts that ended just above the knees and a pair of leather bands strapped around his upper arms. He was pale, his dark hair tipped with silver and his wings now black with silver edges on the feathers. Like the female he had feathers and beads in his shoulder length, straight hair.
What startled the students the most was the fact that both wore smirks and had wands held in a deceptively casual manner, as if daring the spells to start flying around again.
It wasn't until Albus Dumbledore finally rose from his seat that the standoff was called to a halt. Clearing his throat, Albus addressed the students and staff.
"Everyone... Please welcome your special class instructors, Miss Wildcat..." Here Hermione twirled her wand, slipping it back into it's holster before taking a bow. "And Mr Bolt." Harry fanned his wings out, lowering into a graceful bow.
As he rose from his bow, Harry's eyes locked with a pair of hauntingly familiar emerald eyes in a pale, lightly freckled face framed with deep red hair. Now I know what Albus meant when he said this trip was a gift... He thought as he smiled at the slightly younger girl that could only be his mother.
A/N: Happy Thanksgiving everyone!