CHAPTER EIGHT: Quaffles and Shapeshifters

"Cute dog," Ellie heard someone say as he knelt to pet her. "Whose is it?"

"Probably a stray," said the girl next to him. "Hogwarts is so lenient about strays—half the owls in the Owlery are probably runaways."

They seemed to grow bored of her at that, and they rose to leave.

"Wait!" she tried to shout. But it came out as a bark.

She was starting to panic.

Not knowing what else to do, she ran—rather, galloped—to the Gryffindor dorms. When she reached the Fat Lady's portrait, she sat and waited for a student to approach.

How could this be? She only knew of one witch or wizard who could turn into an animal—McGonagall—and she doubted the professor had just been born that way. Had someone cursed Ellie—played a prank on her? The twins liked pranks, but this seemed to be taking it a bit far, even for them.

Lavender and Parvati showed up at that point, forcing Ellie back to reality to focus on following them inside. They were too engrossed in their conversation about boys to notice her, so she was able to slip inside behind them while the portrait was open.

To her immense relief, she spotted Fred and George at one of the couches inside. She sprinted straight to them, stood on her hind legs, and put her front paws on Fred's lap.

"Weird," said George from next to him. "How'd a dog get in here?"

Fred peered thoughtfully into Ellie's eyes, looking equally confused. "Her eyes almost look like…" But he trailed off, seeming to write the thought off as silly.

Ellie barked eagerly, removing her paws from Fred's legs to stand on her hind legs again and this time spin in a circle. It wasn't exactly easy while learning how to balance as a dog, but it seemed to do the trick of convincing them she wasn't just any stray dog. She took a few steps toward the door and did her best to cock her head in its direction.

"Er," said Fred, glancing at George. "I think she wants us to follow her."

George looked doubtful, but shrugged. "As far as excuses go, 'magical dog needed our help' isn't the worst we've used to get out of Sprout's class."

And with that, the twins followed her back out of the dormitory.

She led them out of the castle entirely, knowing that the one way she could communicate with them would be scribbling letters into the sand by the lake. As soon as they reached ground that was soft enough for indentations, she grabbed a stray stick by her mouth and spelled out E-L-L-I-E in the sand.

"Bloody hell," breathed Fred when she was finished. He gaped at her. "El?"

She nodded eagerly.

"I don't understand," said George. "El can't be an Animagus. That's some of the most advanced magic out there. I don't even know any besides—"

"—McGonagall," Fred finished for him. He glanced down at Ellie. "Is that where you want us to take you? To McGonagall?"

She nodded eagerly, officially loving Fred for being on the same wavelength as her.

"She's in class right now," said George. "Your class, I think," he added pointedly to Ellie. "But I agree it's our best bet." And he led them back toward the castle.

"Could her parents have done it to her?" asked Fred as they walked. "As, I don't know—protection?"

"Her mum doesn't even practice magic, does she?" asked George. "And for her dad to have done it before Azkaban, she would've been just a baby."

"Well, what else could it be?"

The twins continued spit balling ideas all the way to McGonagall's class, which, as George had mentioned, was her own. Her classmates stared at them in confusion as Fred told McGonagall, "Before you give us the usual we're-utter-disappointments-and-should-do-better speech, Professor, can I just say that this is really important?"

McGonagall scowled at him, then glanced down at Ellie and frowned. "Please tell me that dog isn't a student."

Ellie glanced urgently up at the twins. She didn't want her classmates knowing about this; she'd had quite enough of being a freak back home.

"Could we possibly do this outside?" Fred asked McGonagall, seemingly catching on.

McGonagall didn't look pleased by the ask, but gave a reluctant nod and stepped into the hall with them.

"Professor," George said quietly as soon as the door was closed behind them, "the dog is Ellie."

McGonagall rubbed her temples at that, suddenly looking about ten years older. "Out with it, then. What potion did you give her, and where did you get it?"

"It's nothing like that!" George said quickly. "We have no idea how it happened. We just found her like this."

McGonagall lowered her hand at that, looking genuinely shocked. She glanced down at Ellie, pointed her wand at her, and said, "Clemencia."

Ellie gasped with relief as she felt her body rising to its normal height. Her hands flew to her privates instinctively, but she was relieved to find that she was wearing the same clothes she'd had on in the dungeons.

"Thank you, Professor," she said eagerly once she had deduced that she was properly human again.

McGonagall glared at her. "I would like an explanation immediately, Miss Bretherworth. And so help me God, if you correct me on your name—"

"I don't have an explanation!" Ellie said quickly. "I was in the dungeons with Professor Snape, talking about how I was a total screw-up, and then I ran out, and while I was running, I just… changed!"

McGonagall stared at her in silence for several seconds as if debating whether or not to believe her.

"No offense to El, Professor," said George, "but she's not exactly capable of that kind of magic yet."

McGonagall sighed. "I have a class to deal with, and frankly, I don't know where to start with this. Albus is away on Ministry business at the moment; he will be back on Sunday. I'll have him send a summons to you that evening."


"You've gotta be an Animagus," Fred said the next day as they made their way to the Quidditch pitch for tryouts. "It's the only explanation that makes any sense."

"It's a bit surprising that you took the form of a dog," added George.

"Really? Why?" asked Ellie, who barely knew what an Animagus even was.

"Well, Animagus forms are usually the same as Patronuses," explained Fred. "Which is sort of a representation of our inner selves—you know, sort of like spirit animals."

"And you don't really give off 'dog' vibes," explained George. "Meant as a compliment, for the record."

Ellie, who had always liked dogs, wasn't sure she agreed. "Well, maybe my mum's Patronus is a dog? Or my dad's? Is it ever passed down like that?"

The twins exchanged a look at that, but she didn't get the chance to ask them what the look meant before they reached Oliver Wood and she suddenly forgot every thought that had previously existed in her brain.

"Glad you're here," he told them. "Ellie, go on and grab a broom from the pile over there. Fred, George—obviously you don't have to try out, but we'll put you in there to help facilitate the game."

Fred and George nodded easily as they readied their brooms. Ellie picked out the best Shooting Star she could find, then returned to the pitch.

"I've heard about you," said a pretty, athletic, black female who looked a few years older than Ellie. Ellie vaguely recognized her from some of her meals with the twins. "Fred and George say you're very good. I'm Angelina."

"Ellie," Ellie replied, shaking her hand eagerly. "And thanks. I think."

"Katie Bell," greeted the girl to Angelina's right, sticking out her hand, too. She looked closer to Ellie's age. "Ange and I are your only real competition."

"Hey!" whined a girl from behind them. She seemed to be openly glaring at Ellie. "I was on the reserve team last year, and I have no intention of staying there this year. You'd better watch your back."

"That's quite enough, Alicia," said Oliver after wrapping up his previous conversation with a group of prospective Seekers. "Listen up, gang—we'll go at tryouts as if it's a real game. Seekers—there'll be four Snitches, so no excuses. Ellie, Katie, Alicia, you're shooting at the east goal. Rudy, Clive, Daniel, the west. George, you'll be keeping the west goal. Ange, east."

"You've having me play Keeper?" Angelina asked him, sounding surprised.

"You and the twins don't have to try out," he explained. "And I'd rather watch without having to focus on playing."

"So I'm the only one Beating?" asked Fred, frowning.

"We'll only throw in one Bludger. Do your best to protect both sides." He grinned slightly and added, "Or your worst."

Ellie grimaced at that notion as everyone mounted their brooms.

"Just remember," Katie said softly to Ellie as they kicked off. "It's all about teamwork."

Ellie followed Katie's advice to the letter as the tryouts went underway. She made a dive for the Quaffle, but Katie was faster. As soon as Katie grabbed it, she zoomed off to the left toward their goal, spacing herself out of the way of the opposing Chasers. Katie glanced at both Ellie and Alicia, but Alicia was trapped behind a Chaser, so Katie chose Ellie. Just as Ellie had practiced back at the Burrow, she zoomed so fast and hard at the left goal, Angelina didn't have time to block it, and she scored.

"Nice one!" Katie shouted to her as they reset for another throw-in. Alicia scowled at her.

Ellie caught the next Quaffle herself, zoomed out of reach of her opponents, and tossed it to an open Alicia right away. But Alicia didn't catch it.

"Shoddy throw!" she shouted to Ellie as Daniel zoomed down to catch the ball.

Ellie did her best not to glare at Alicia as she soared toward the other end of the pitch. She braced herself next to Clive to block him, but Katie snaked the Quaffle from the third Chaser's grasp, instead. Katie tossed the Quaffle to an open Alicia, who made a play for the goal but was blocked by Angelina.

Ellie tried to conceal her smirk.

Alicia caught the ball on the third toss, and Ellie made herself readily available, even going so far as to shout, "I'm open!" But Alicia hogged the ball and made another attempt at scoring, which was also thwarted by Angelina.

"Spinnet!" Oliver shouted from the sidelines. "Teamwork!"

"Thought I could make it!" she shouted back. Ellie rolled her eyes.

The opposing team caught the ball on the fourth toss. Ellie started to zoom right, but Fred, who zoomed over to save her from a Bludger, said quietly to her, "That git Clive will pull an Alicia. Go long." She took his advice, zooming all the way toward the goal, which, sure enough, Clive was going for. She positioned herself in the line of his toss and intercepted the ball before it ever even made it to George.

"Thanks," she said with a grin to Fred as she zoomed halfway back toward her goal and tossed the ball to Katie.

The tryouts lasted another twenty minutes or so before it became evident that the opposing team would never score a goal. Alicia got no better at teamwork, and Ellie and Katie continued to score on Angelina, whose strength did not seem to be Keeping. Meanwhile, not one of the Seekers caught a single Snitch. Fred kept the Bludgers away from all of them except, at one point, Clive, who only got moderately banged up from it.

Finally, Oliver blew his whistle and gestured for them all to fall in.

"Ellie, Alicia, Katie—nice work," he said. "But Alicia, you hogged when you should have passed. Ellie and Katie, you're on the team. Alicia, reserves. Everyone else, better luck next year."

Clive, Rudy, Daniel, and Alicia skulked away as Katie and Ellie high-fived.

"What about Seekers?" asked Angelina.

Oliver eyed the prospective Seekers with a scowl. "We'll just have to keep looking."


Lots of action this chapter! Ellie made the team fair and square, but hopefully Alicia won't hold it against her too much... And how exactly did Ellie become an Animagus, anyway? We'll learn more about her past in the next chapter, so make sure you don't miss it. And please remember to review if you're enjoying the story!