I own nothing of the marketing empire birthed from J.K.Rowling's fevered genius, and get nothing from this save the brief satisfaction of favourable reviews…
Harry Potter and the Forgotten Shards
Chapter 5
Harry didn't know how she had done it. It was supposed to be random. Somehow, Hermione had arranged for him to go last. It was painful watching each of his friends go through the pain of the transformation.
It was taking so long, he was thinking it might have been a good idea to install a toilet down here.
Dobby had very kindly ferried them, in turn, up to the Prefects bathroom late on the first day.
He was walking back towards the rest of the group when something caught his eye…
Salazar Slytherin was now wearing a huge pair of glasses and had a bloody great lightning-bolt carved into his forehead…Harry wondered when that had been done, he knew it would not have been hard to convince Dobby to do it.
He chuckled to himself as he closed the distance to the rest of the group.
Earlier.
Dumbledore woke up in a panic. Direct from sound sleep to blind panic. Nothing in between.
THE WARDS ARE DOWN!
Hogwarts was defenceless!
He leapt out of bed. The floor was cold. He grabbed an overrobe and rushed into his office. Snatching his wand up he started a fire, tossed in some floo powder, and called. "Kingsley Shacklebolt."
"Albus? What's the matter? It's five in the morning." A sleepy voice replied.
"Hogwarts is defenceless, the wards are gone," Only a hundred and fifty years of iron self control allowed Dumbledore to sound like he was in control, "I need everyone you've got."
A choking sound followed by a loud thump and a crash were Albus' only response for a few moments.
"Kingsley?" Dumbledore sounded worried, "Are you alright?"
Kingsley suddenly popped up in front of the fire. "Please tell me you're kidding. A joke. Right?"
"Not a joke, and you're taking too long…it could be an attack…"
"We'll be right there."
The Ministry was stripped to a skeleton crew. All the on duty Aurors, Hit Wizards, hell…just about anyone able to hold their wand straight…up to and including the Minister himself. Most of the town of Hogsmead had also joined what had been expected to be the desperate defence of the school and its students.
All were now standing around on the lawn at Hogwarts, enjoying a surprisingly peaceful breakfast.
None of their fears had proven out. No invasion, no dementors, no Voldemort.
The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was at this very moment speaking very harshly to one Rita Skeeter, on the subject of the Headmaster and his incompetence. When the wards surrounding Hogwarts reasserted themselves.
The tension in the air immediately disappeared, the volume of voices raising as people relaxed.
The Headmaster stood on the steps so he could be seen by the gathered force. "Thank you my friends, it would appear the crisis is over, enjoy the breakfast. We will be looking into the cause of this to prevent a recurrance. Thank you again." He turned away to speak quietly to his brother who had arrived only a half hour before.
Both Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore had faced horrors in their long lives. Both had solved enigmas and conundrums the likes of which twist the minds of lesser men. Neither feared anything much in this world or the next one.
Neither had clue one when moments later the wards collapsed for the second time that morning.
Midday Sunday.
A team of the most skilled Warding specialists Gringotts had to offer, a pair of Unspeakables, three of the five greatest Charms Masters (of which Filius Flitwick was one) in the world, and the brothers Dumbledore were once again erecting temporary wards around Hogwarts while they considered the enigma that was the collapsing magical field that surrounded the school.
It had been quickly determined that it was not just the wards that were falling, but every magick tied directly to Hogwarts was being totally drained of magic. The portraits hadn't moved since the day before. The stairways were stationary. ALL the doors were visible and unlocked. Even the enchanted ceiling on the great hall was rendered ordinary stone. Fortunately independent magic worked just fine. Else it would have been impossible to travel around, for the torches had also been snuffed out and darkness reigned within the castle.
No, even the greatest minds gathered together couldn't figure where the magic was going, nor what purpose could possibly be drawing that much power.
Albus rubbed his eyes, it had been a long two days.
Earlier that morning, they had redirected a sizable flow of magic down a ley line towards Hogwarts. It had been spectacularly successful. The entire castle had lit up, the wards, doors, portraits, even the enchanted ceiling.
Minutes later it was gone again. That was seven hours ago.
The worrying thing was that it had only taken this long to recover once before, that had been yesterday afternoon. Talk was currently revolving around whether or not to try siphoning magic from elsewhere again. Thankfully the Minister had freaked out that first time he had been present during the crash. He had told his people to do what they needed to, and fled back to the safety of his office in the ministry.
The house elves were serving lunch out on the lawn again. Most of the student body were out here as well, gathered where the wards were strongest. It was turning into something of a picnic day.
Albus shook his head.
Minerva MacGonnegal had been circulating through the crowd for hours now, and had yet to see any of her golden trio. For that matter, the distinctive red of Weasley hair was most conspicuous by it's complete absence. Nor was Longbottom anywhere to be seen.
She wanted to tell the headmaster about it, but with him working on the wards, he had more important things to occupy his time.
Stepping out of the forest was a figure she recognised, Remus Lupin. Perfect. She waved for him to come over.
"Good morning Professor, lovely day for the entire school to be outside and unprotected." He smiled engagingly.
"Remus, quiet. Most of the children don't know, and we'd like to keep it that way," she made 'shushing' gestures to him. "That's not the worst of it, this is the sixth time in the last two days it's happened. It just recovers, and down it goes again."
The shock on the werewolves face was almost comical.
"And if that wasn't bad enough, Harry and his friends are missing," She was almost whispering this part as they walked away from anyones hearing.
"WHAT?" Remus bellowed, attracting the attention of much of the student body and quite a few others.
"Quiet," hissed MacGonnegal. "No, I don't know where they are." She said, as they stepped into the castle entrance.
"Where who is, Professor?" Came a cheeky, self-confident voice from the shadowy interior of the castle.
"MISTER POTTER!" Shrieked the suddenly relieved and furious professor. "Where have you been?" In a quieter voice, "I've been so worried."
Remus recovering from the panic of moments before, rushed forward and hugged his cub. Noticing as he let go, the change in Harry's demeanor. Confidence. It hadn't been there before.
Looking beyond Harry, he saw the rest of his friends…and his instincts were screaming at him. Predators. Very dangerous predators. The wolf was twisting within him, it was only a few more days until the next full moon, so it was close to the surface already. He had seen these kids only a few weeks before, and nothing like this had happened…what had changed?
He stood with Harry while the rest of his friends walked past, out into the sunlight. That's when he saw it…they were walking differently. Moving differently...so was Harry.
And suddenly he knew. They were Animagi. This had happened to Sirius and James. One day the entire way they moved had just changed, the way they held themselves.
But what creature could possibly scare a werewolf?