I could see through my feet.

It took me a moment to realize that it wasn't actually sight; instead I was sensing the vibrations in the earth beneath my feet, and my brain was somehow translating that into something I could understand.

There were twenty five earthworms digging through the soil beneath my feet. I could hear the sounds of their digging through the vibrations transmitted through my legs. It sounded strange, but I knew what they were.

I'd known that the insects I'd controlled had senses that I just didn't have, but those senses had always been filtered through my human brain. I simply hadn't had the frame of reference to understand what my bugs were sensing in anything more than a general sense.

I'd done fine with sight and hearing, but my power had filtered the senses that I lacked or that I had to a very limited degree into something that I could understand.

In the darkness, the next thing I noticed was an unbelievable richness of smell. An entire universe of odors was suddenly open to me, and part of me wondered how I'd never noticed it before.

Even odors that would have once disgusted me now smelled enticing.

I could smell the aftershave that Sirius wore. Before, it had been a barely noticeable afterthought. Now, it was overwhelming, even though Sirius had to be at least twenty feet away.

Beneath that, I could smell the soap he used; not just the soap itself but at least twelve elements that made up that soap.

Every flower, every plant, every body not just in the Weasley home or yard, but well outside that suddenly each had their own unique and overwhelming smell. Even without my powers, I could tell how many insects were around.

I was in the darkness, presumably because I'd changed without my clothes and I was trapped inside them.

I could hear the panicked heartbeats of at least two of my companions. I could hear the sounds of shouting; apparently something had gone wrong with at least one of the others.

Their voices sounded distorted; incredibly deep and slow. It was almost as though every panicked word was drawn out, taking five times as long as it should.

That should have bothered me; I somehow couldn't remember why. All of them were Other; somehow not related to me or my hive.

This wasn't like when I'd offloaded my emotions into my bugs. Then I'd at least understood what emotions were, and I'd had a memory of what they'd been like.

Now the world seemed crystal clear to me. I could remember what emotions were supposed to be, but I couldn't remember what they'd felt like, other than anger.

Anger I understood, and I suspected that I could still experience it.

I moved remorselessly toward the light. I could see bits and pieces of light through the cloth, usually when there were flashes of lightning.

I reached out with my power; it was still there, and if anything, it was stronger than I'd experienced in a long time. It was as though this form had a natural affinity for control.

My mind worked faster in this form, which meant that I could take better advantage of the faster reaction times of the insects under my control.

A moment later, I was free.

I felt the wind on my wings, and I began to flap them experimentally.

The Others were all huddled around someone else and no one was looking at me.

They were monstrously huge. At the moment, even the smallest of them looked nine hundred feet tall. Either they'd all grown enormously, or I'd become very small.

It didn't matter; I had wings.

If they attempted to take my territory, I'm make them pay. I had my sting, but even better, I had my swarm, and even in this mindset, I knew how to use it.

I watched them for a moment; it didn't look as though any of them had designs on my former skin coverings.

Still, better safe than sorry. I began to move my wings, tentatively at first, but soon I was lifting away from the earth.

It took a moment, but I suddenly realized that I was capable of another feeling; joy.

Lifting into the wind, I found myself hovering over the ground. I'd always wanted to fly; Atlas and my jetpack had been imperfect substitutes, but this was what I was meant to be. This was a form that was meant to fly.

I wanted to shout with glee, but I could not speak.

I rose into the air, staring down at the figures below. One of the humans was struggling, I could see it was growing fur, but there was something wrong about its movements.

I could smell its distress, hear the sound of it's beating heart. It was a sound that changed in pitch and tempo, almost moment by moment as the heart itself changed shape.

They were panicked, but that was no concern of mine. The breeze had ten thousand intriguing scents, some of which I was anxious to investigate. The problems of the Others were no concern of someone like me.

A familiar scent came with an updraft; I'd smelled it at school when looking for a post. Then, the only reason I'd been able to smell it was because dozens of creatures were cramped in a small area along with their own filth.

This smell was much more detailed and much more alarming. Something within me screamed danger, and I instinctively rose higher into the air.

One of the Others was completing her change; I could see a baleful yellow eye staring up at me from a face that morphed around it.

Feathers and a beak exploded in my direction; I barely managed to bank to the right in time to avoid being snapped down a gullet.

With my enhanced speed it should have seemed slow, but it did not. Her flying speed was almost twice mine, and my only advantage was that she was marginally less maneuverable due to her weight.

She was seventy times my size, with a wingspan that was twice that. She was a monster.

Yellowish eyes stared at me balefully as she banked around again. Her night vision was excellent, but her senses weren't as good as mine.

I began to gather my forces even as she dove for me again. Night insects threw themselves in her path, and she snapped at them, gobbling them up as quickly as she could.

Her eyes were on me, though.

I dove; the Others were supposedly my allies, and if I could get inside one of their false coverings, the enemy would be forced to withdraw.

She was gaining on me; her size and speed made her fast compared to me.

Bugs began to swarm her, even as I dove toward the smallest of the humans still standing.

He shrieked and began flailing his hands around. This made me want to sting, but I did not. Instead I dove into the neck of his robe.

I felt the impact as the bird struck him. If she'd struck where I was, I'd have been crushed. As it was, I'd already crawled around beneath his limbs, headed for his back.

I could feel his organs through my feet as they vibrated and gurgled, lungs filling with wind and bellowing in an incredibly deep way.

A moment later, the predator's smell was gone, replaced by the stench of a human and everything that came with that. The bird was gone, replaced by a girl.

The Other I was using as a shield slapped at himself, although his movements seemed incredibly slow and clumsy.

Allies should not attack allies. As a matter of principal I stung him, once, twice, then three times. As he bellowed and jumped around, I slipped down to the bottom of his coverings, and then I was in the air again.

I approached my own former coverings, and I dove inside, comforted by my own former scent.

A moment later the world contorted itself; it became smaller somehow. I suddenly felt as though I'd gone blind, and not because of the fact that I was wrapped in dark robes.

I was human again, and somehow, it felt as though I was less.

Was it like this for all animagi? If it was, why didn't they simply run off into the forest and live life in the moment?

I struggled to find the holes for the neck and the arms, and it took me several moments. I felt slow and clumsy, as though I was moving through molasses. The sweet clarity I had felt as whatever I was was gone, replaced by human concerns.

By the time I was able to see again, Hermione had run inside the house. I could hear her trying to get dressed inside through my bugs. Sirius was no longer wearing robes; apparently he'd thrown his over her before she'd run inside.

Neville had apparently turned into a small rodent; it took me a moment to realize what it was. He'd become a hedgehog.

That was a disappointment, even if it seemed somehow appropriate. Hedgehogs were resistant to snake venom, and they tended to be shy and nervous.

I'd have to get a closer look at Hermione's owl. If she could pass as a post-owl, that opened up some possibilities, assuming that she could get over her instinct to eat me.

The others were still huddled over Harry, who I couldn't see.

I could hear Sirius murmuring in a low voice as I stood up, awkwardly trying to slip into the clothes under my robes.

As I approached, I could see golden fur and a tuft of a tail. Whatever Harry had turned into was big; really big.

I could hear the sound of heavy breathing as I approached. The creature that had once been Harry was already staggering to his feet.

His mane was magnificent.

He stared at me for a moment, and I carefully let my wand slip into my hand. As a full grown African lion, if he lost control to his animal instincts the way Hermione and I had, we'd all be in big trouble.

Instead, despite the trouble he'd had in transforming, Harry seemed to have better control over his mental state. He stared at us, then lazily opened his mouth showing a vast number of sharp, white teeth.

"I thought you usually transformed into an animal native to the place you live," I said.

"Usually," Sirius said. He looked up at me. "That's why I said four of you were too many to teach at once. It was irresponsible of me."

I nodded soberly. The thought that we might actually eat each other hadn't even occurred to me.

Harry's form was the least useful of any of ours, even if it was the most impressive. Being larger than human, he just made a bigger target. His best bet was going to be to transform from close range, before his target had a chance to react.

My form was good for stealth; Hermione's was common enough in the Wizarding world that she could likely slip into any owlery and then into wherever she wanted.

A hedgehog could slip into any English garden and it would likely be ignored by everyone except the house elves. A lion, however would be incredibly obvious to everyone.

Maybe if I could put armor on him. That would likely deflect the killing curse. Armor with shield spells attached might be helpful. I could literally turn him into a tank.

"He's a Gryffindor all right," George said. He actually sounded proud.

I'd never taken the Houses too seriously, and I suspected that the people who followed me didn't take them as seriously as previous years.

The twins had been raised in that system, though.

"Surprised you didn't turn into a snake," Fred said to me. "Given that you are the Slytherin-est Slytherin who ever slithered in."

"You stung me!" Ron shouted. He was scratching at his back.

"You tried to hit me," I said calmly. "I was being nice by not stinging you in the eyeball. I was tempted."

"I've never seen a wasp like that," Sirius said. "Whatever it is, it isn't native to here."

"What did it look like?" I asked.

"Black abdomen and head," Sirius said. "The rest was mostly red. It was kind of hard to see in the dark."

"I read about a wasp like that," I said. "It's from Asia. I don't think they've named it yet."

I frowned.

Most animagi took the form of an animal they were familiar with. Why did I have an affinity for this one?

"It's got a kind of venom that affects other insects. It stops their ability to control their own body. I think I could just lead

a bug wherever I wanted with it, so I could eat it somewhere else."

It was a useless ability for someone with my power, of course, but it was impressive for a tiny insect that was less than half an inch long.

"You mean you basically Kiss the bugs?" Ron asked. He was still glaring at me.

"I'd have said turn them into zombies," I said, but he ignored me.

"That's how people that have been Kissed end up. You can lead them anywhere you want."

"I guess we could call it a Dementor Wasp," I said, joking. "At least until the muggles finally get around to naming it."

Ron looked suddenly panicked. "I'm not going to get paralyzed, am I?"

"Yeah," George said. "It just takes longer for the poison to take effect since you're so much bigger. Taylor here is going to make a snack out of your brain in a little while, and then she's going to still be hungry."

Sirius smiled briefly, then said, "At her size, I doubt she'll be dangerous to you. We should probably use some of the treatments in the house just to be sure; I'd hate for you to have an allergic reaction."

"I think your head is starting to swell, little brother," Fred said.

George had pulled his wand out; Ron wasn't facing him. Had Ron's childhood always been like this?

"I'll go in first," I said. "Make sure Hermione is decent."

I still didn't have most of my underclothes on; I grabbed for what was left on the ground, including my shoes, and I made my way across the lawn.

My bug senses enabled me to pick a path across the lawn free of any twigs or stones that might hurt my feet.

Hermione had finished dressing.

She was sitting on the couch, staring at her hands. When she looked up at me, there was a little bit of fear in her eyes.

Ah.

She'd tried to kill me, and I usually took exception to that. Best to reassure her that everything was normal.

"Good, you're dressed," I said. "They'll be looking for a medical kit for Ron. I might have stung him a few times. Mind of a wasp, you know how it is."

What did a Wizarding medical kit even look like? It probably had a bezoar and maybe some potions. Did they even bother with bandages?

"I'm sorry I almost ate you," Hermione said. She looked away from me, and her face was still flushed, probably because she'd been naked in front of the boys.

Ron had probably looked too. I immediately felt a little less bad about stinging him.

"We'll have to work on those instincts," I said. "Can't be eating each other. The rest of us would barely be an appetizer for Harry."

She giggled a little at that.

"I'm going to get you a little message carrier for your leg," I said. I wondered if she would be willing to wear a little mail carrier hat as an owl. She probably wouldn't, because the others didn't wear them, but it would look cute.

"I'm not going to deliver the mail," she said, looking up at me.

"Might be the easiest way to get into some places where they stay on the lookout for anything else," I said. "I could ride in your feathers as long as you don't try to eat me."

She was silent for a moment.

"I can't believe that I ate bugs," she said. "And it didn't bother me."

I shrugged.

"When you're using a different brain, there are bound to be some personality changes," I said. "Even if it were still a human brain, there's all sorts of genetic personality traits that would be different that would change you. In an animal brain? It's amazing that we can think at all."

"It's strange," she said. "When I was coming after you, it was almost like bugs were throwing themselves in my mouth, trying to distract me."

I froze.

"That is weird," I said carefully. "Maybe you just flew through a swarm and it seemed like that?"

She shook her head.

"They were moving like they had a purpose," she said. "Almost like they were protecting you."

"Maybe it was accidental magic," I said. "Even at our age that kind of thing still happens."

She was staring at me, as though she was trying to see if I was lying. Ironically, I technically wasn't.

Before I could say anything else, the door opened, and Ron staggered inside. His head was swollen to twice the size it had been before and he was yelling at his brothers, who were laughing at him.

Through the chaos that followed in trying to find the medical kit, I felt Hermione's eyes on me, watching me assessingly.

This is the Dementor Wasp, discovered in 2007 and named in 2014. For obvious reasons, they'd likely have ended up with another name in Taylor and Harry's respective worlds.

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