CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Christmas, Part One

The next few weeks went by pleasantly, for the most part. McGonagall agreed to the concert prior to the Christmas feast, and Ellie and the twins spent most of their free time practicing and putting together a playlist, which they in turn sent to Ginny for practicing. Molly and Arthur were surprisingly supportive of the plan, even agreeing to travel up to Hogwarts with Ginny via Arthur's flying car, with the permission of Dumbledore. Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to be keeping Ellie at arm's length, but she understood; she had told Harry that she refused to betray the twins' trust, and if that came at the cost of knowing all of his secrets, then so be it.

The only real nuisance as Christmas approached was Snape. He seemed even colder to her than usual, and, as usual, she had no idea why.

"Just ignore him," Dean told her easily as he and Seamus walked her from Potions back to the common room. "He's miserable and you're not, so he's trying to bring you down to his level."

"Yeah," agreed Seamus as they gave the Fat Lady the password and climbed through the portrait hole. "Bet he heard about your concert and resented the fact that McGonagall and Dumbledore said yes, is all. I'm so bummed I'll be missing it, by the way. Promise to have another one soon?"

"Can't make any promises," said Fred from his spot in the corner where their instruments were set up. "But assuming everyone's ears don't bleed, there's a chance."

Ellie waved goodbye to Dean and Seamus before reaching for her guitar and joining the twins.

"I was thinking," George told her as she started to strum. "Have you changed into a dog recently? Would make a killer closing act, don't you think?"

She laughed. She'd been so wrapped up in Quidditch and classwork, she hadn't actually spared much thought for her strange shapeshifting ability. "Well, I seem to only be able to do it when Snape's chasing after me. So, unless you want to arrange that…"

"Better not," said Fred, laughing. "Best keep it a secret, anyway, I reckon. That ability of yours is sure to come in handy when the right troublemaking opportunity presents itself."


"I'm sorry to be missing your concert," Hermione told Ellie a few weeks later as the Hogwarts students that were staying saw off the ones that were leaving. "It just feels like so long since I've seen my parents, and I have so much to tell them."

Ellie smiled and hugged her friend, assuring her it was no problem, but Hermione's words only got her thinking about her own mother, who she still hadn't heard back from after sending that letter on her birthday. It had now been six months since they'd spoken. How could her mother be so heartless as to not even send a letter?

Seeming to sense what Ellie was thinking, Fred put a gentle hand on her shoulder. The small act of kindness filled her with a warmth she hadn't quite expected.

"Anyway," said Hermione, glancing at Harry and Ron, "like I said before—if you really want to find out more about the Philosopher's Stone, you ought to check out the restricted section."

Harry and Ron glanced uncomfortably at Ellie and the twins. They all knew, of course; after dropping the name of the Philosopher's Stone to Hermione, Ellie had told the twins, and Hermione had undoubtedly told Harry and Ron. Still, Ellie could tell Harry and Ron didn't love the openness of the secret.

"Thanks, Hermione," said Harry carefully. "We'll try and work our brains around how to do that."

Fred clucked his tongue as Hermione and the bulk of the other Hogwarts students loaded up onto the carriages to cross the lake. "Shame you don't ask for help more often, Boy Who Lived," he told Harry. "I know a girl who's got a knack for getting into places others can't."

Harry glanced curiously at Ellie at that, but Ellie, not quite ready to reveal her Animagus ability to anyone except Fred and George, just gestured for the twins to follow her back toward the courtyard.

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" Fred asked her when they were out of earshot of the others. "Shapeshifting again."

She nodded. How did he do that, anyway—always know what she was thinking? "Yeah. But I really don't know how. It's always been my fear of Snape that's done it."

"I doubt it's specifically connected to Snape," pointed out George. "More likely, it's tied to a desire to escape. You know—primal instinct. Fear."

"So we just need to come up with something else that scares you," said Fred. "Any suggestions?"

Ellie considered that question as they reached the courtyard. She wasn't particularly fond of spiders or clowns, but neither constituted a flat-out phobia. There was only one thing besides Snape that really scared her, and she'd never actually even met one.

"I guess… Dementors," she finally admitted.

"Dementors?" repeated George. "Like… those things that guard Azkaban?"

She nodded. "Mum never told me much about them, but she did have a few old books in the house from her days of being a witch. One of them described what they are—the way they suck the happiness from people, and even their souls, with the Kiss…" She shuddered, not quite able to continue.

"That's quite a reasonable fear," said Fred, whose warm, brown eyes clouded over with sympathy. "Perhaps you could think about them, then? Just long enough to try and change?"

Ellie didn't much like the idea of thinking about Dementors, but she had a feeling they were right about what caused her to change, so she nodded gravely, closed her eyes, and focused her attention on picturing the creatures she'd never actually seen before as they stood poised around her father, day and night, sucking every inch of his spirit away from him.

It worked. Within a few seconds, she was a dog.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed George, kneeling to pet her. He didn't have to kneel too low; she was rather large for a dog, easily the size of a German Shepherd and closer to that of a Great Dane.

"You're rather scraggly, you know," Fred said with a bit of a grin as he eyed her dog form. "Wiry-haired and a bit mangy. If I didn't know you, I'd probably avoid you in case of, you know… rabies."

She growled at that, causing both twins to laugh, then closed her eyes, focused her energy back toward safety and comfort, and changed back into herself.

The twins were eyeing her with utter fascination. She tried not to smirk too obviously. Instead, she said, "Come on, then. Let's get to practicing."


Harry approached her a few days into winter break while she was lounging in the common room, reading the book Oliver had gotten her for her birthday. (He was there for the Christmas holiday, too, and seemed quite pleased that she was reading it.)

"Hey," Harry greeted carefully, sounding a bit guarded. "How's it going?"

She nodded easily. "Good. You?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Decent. Certainly haven't come up with any brilliant ways to get into the restricted section, though."

She eyed him thoughtfully, considering whether to tell him the truth about her shapeshifting. Would it help him find the answers he sought? Sure, she stood a decent chance of sneaking into the restricted section as a dog, but she'd have to shift back into her human form to actually look through the books. Didn't that present its own risks?

"Look," she said, heaving a sigh. "I don't like keeping secrets, Harry. I like you—I like Ron and Hermione, too. And I trust that you'd have my back if I asked. Right?"

He blinked, looking a little taken aback by her blatancy. "Well… yeah. Of course. But what secrets are you referring to?"

She glanced behind him, ensuring that the common room was empty of other ears. The twins probably wouldn't love that they were no longer the only ones who knew her secret, but they'd get over it. "I'm kind of… an Animagus. Like McGonagall."

He stared back at her, looking dumbfounded. Finally, he laughed. "No, you're not. You can't be."

She waited patiently for him to digest the bombshell.

"But…" He shook his head. "McGonagall said there have only been, like, eight registered Animagi in the past century. It's highly advanced magic that can go terribly wrong. How could you even…"

"Eight registered Animagi," she repeated pointedly. "I'd guess there are loads more who never told the Ministry what they'd done. And anyway, I didn't do anything. It seems my dad did it to me before he got locked up, as a means of protection."

He looked no less baffled than he had before. "How long have you known?"

"Not long. I transformed for the first time a few months ago, and have only done it twice since. I'm not exactly a master at it yet, but I'm getting there."

"And you're telling me this… why? Because you reckon you can help with the Philosopher's Stone?"

"I told you—I don't like secrets. And, yeah… maybe. If you think it's your best bet of finding out what you need to know."

Harry rand a hand through his messy hair, looking pained. "I don't know, Ellie. I mean, thank you for telling me, and for offering, but that would still put you at quite a bit of risk. Let me sleep on it 'til after Christmas—see if there's another way."

She nodded. "Sounds good."

He stared at her for several more seconds, a look of utter wonderment in his eyes. "An Animagus," he breathed. "Wicked."


Now Harry knows one of the big truths about Ellie... but there are still a few more that even she doesn't know yet! Please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, and see you soon for Part Two!