Chapter 12:

The Iron Beast Part 2


Harry took point in following Firenze through the rough terrain of the forbidden forest.

One could say following Firenze and Mosag, but the latter was somewhere in the trees above them and, despite her enormous size, was impossible to tell apart from the pine branches and needles. Every breeze, every creaking limb of the tree suddenly resembles the hairy legs of tarantulas in the dim moonlight. One didn't have to be an arachnophobe to be just a teensy bit nervous, which is why he didn't complain when Fleur latched onto him and remained so for the majority of their journey.

It turned out to be a long journey indeed as the moon was high in the sky by the time they curved around a sheer cliffside to a section of the forest that, for all appearances, seemed to have been the site of a monster truck rally. A really AWESOME monster truck rally. One that must have involved bowman, spearman and a whole lot of acromantula. All of whom were present.

"I never would have thought we still had wild tribes of goblins here in Scottland." Cedric observed.

"Nor such a large tribe of acromantula. Is there a story behind this?" Viktor asked.

Harry kept his mouth shut on that one. He'd tell them about that misadventure later.

"Friend of Hagger." A meek, chittery voice greeted Harry from a bush as he walked past it.

Naturally they all jumped at the talking bush with eight reflecting eyes, despite knowing it was obviously a small(ish) acromantula. Indeed one of Mosag's daughters creeped out with what passed for a bow before continuing.

"I am Erica. I remember when you and your fiery friend came to our colony moons ago." Erica told him.

Viktor, Cedric and Fleur gave him a look. He made a "later" motioned and egged Erica to continue.

"I fled for my own safety after losing half of my limbs to seek shelter with my mother, as did several of my siblings that were harmed that night. We are a separate colony now." Erica explained.

Harry eyed Erica's limbs and noted there were exactly right, as there should be.

"Arachnids, like most insects, regenerate limbs upon molting, friend of Hagrid." Erica answered his unasked question.

With the number of books on animals he had read in recent days he ought to have known that. Actually, he did know that, just slipped his mind in the moment.

"We have good relations." Ronin explained. "And so, when the same for that had caused her those injuries became a threat to the entirety of the preserve they opted to fight beside us."

Wait, what? He and Ron hadn't come back for a round two with the spiders, let alone the nearly naked goblins and trolls nor fully naked centaurs. Oh hey, there were trolls way over there. Mighty nice of them to keep those guys downwind and far away to make their human guests comfortable.

"What foe is this?" Cedric asked, eyeing Harry even more wearily.

Ronin motioned for them to follow, and they obliged. They hiked down a deer trail made into a dirt road by tire tracks and the many hoofprints and footprints of Goblins, Trolls and centaurs alike. Down and down they went until they were near a stream where they could properly examine tire tracks unobstructed by whatever stamped followed the vehicle in question.

What was particularly strange was the state of the stones and trees near the tracks. Both were embedded and fused to one another as if they were temporarily converted to clay and smashed together. It looked like really poorly cast switching charms had been cast upon everything on either side of the tracks.

"The iron beast you flew to these grounds two and a half years ago." Erica the Acromantula explained. "It has returned recently, with the power to change space around it. And we need your help to stop it, for we strongly suspect YOU were the ones to breathe life back into it and bequeathed it these new powers. We just do not know how."

Harry would have been offended by the accusation, but he knew it to be true. He also knew this was less of a request than it was a demand. Well shit.


"Well now we know where the missing Knight Bus engine went." Harry concluded at their early morning physical therapy session the next morning.

They were practicing changing one limb at a time without assistance from Remus or Sirius manually transfiguring them. It was slow and painful, but they were making fast progress. Harry enjoyed the fact that Viktor was having the lost difficulty with it, having to change both legs into a tailfin was much harder than turning one leg into a bird claw or webbed foot. Harry and Fleur, on the other hand, took great joy in transforming into the birdlike forms in unison.

"Okay, I'm a bit out if the loop on why there's a feral, magically sentient Ford Anglia roaming the grounds." Remus said. "Go ahead and explain that to us."

Harry shrugged.

"Crazy house elf tried to keep me from coming back to Hogwarts. Sealed the entrance to the Hogwarts express so Ron and I stole his dad's enchanted car. Flew it all the way to Hogwarts, crashed it into the whomping willow." Harry explained quickly. "Didn't appreciate us totaling it, so it kicked us out and fled into the forest. Few months later we wandered into the Acromantula nest, and it saved our lives, before telling us to go fly a kite and retreating back into the forest. Haven't seen it since."

Boy people sure did love to stare at him like he was nuts - or a liar - whenever he told them the truth didn't they?

"I shouldn't believe you, but I do." Sirius said, breaking the silence.

A series of shrugs and nods followed his proclamation, and Viktor took the opportunity to move the conversation along.

"But vhy vould ve steal the knight bus engine? And vhy vhould ve then put it into this feral vehicle?" He asked.

"Don't blame mua! I was high!" Fleur said with a cute commiserating gesture to another round of laughter.

God, what they wouldn't give to remember what happened that night.


Hermione and Poliakoff kept their distance but observed their foes closely.

The four of them were in the library, researching and discussing everything to do with spatial alteration magic and the history of the Knight Bus. Their table was groaning under the weight of the newspapers and legal documents related to the Knightly Transportation Company.

"They know something." Poliakiff whispered.

Hermione nodded.

"Or at least have a hunch, and either want to get the reward for finding leads on the possible whereabouts of the Knight Engine..." She trailed off, not believing it herself considering the collective financial fortune the four of them encompassed.

"Or they vant to find it for some of their own mischief." Poliakoff finished her whispered sentence.

"What are we whispering about?" Another voice whispered from just behind them.

They both jumped away to discover madam Pince hovering over them like a vulture. She seemingly ignored them as she leaned down to examine the shelf they were peeking past to spy on the Marauders.

"I do hope a book you were looking for hasn't gone missing?" Pince Said stoically as she looked up at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head quickly.

"No ma'am. Just... window shopping." She lied.

Poliakoff made a "lame" gesture from behind Pince's shoulder, and it took a great deal of willpower not to flip him off.

"Window shopping?" Pince asked with a raised eyebrow, before turning her head back to the bookcase and looking through it. "And what an interesting view this window provides."

All of this conversation went by in a whisper, so their cover hadn't been blown. She could still hear Harry and Viktor's whispered argument on the other side.

"Ve vill just be... going then." Poliakoff interjected.

Pince nodded stiffly.

"Happy hunting." She said by way of farewell. "It is high time those who watch the watchers showed up. Those four are escalating too hard too fast. As if they were trying to make up for the last two decades of peace."

Hermione's horror at the implied revelation in her words must have shown on her face. Hell, she felt her eyes bug out. She could see Poliakoff's doing so.

They fled as quickly and quietly as they could manage. Out of the library, up the grand staircase and to the seventh floor. They sprinted the entire way until thy reached the room of requirement.

Norris was there.

"Trouble?" The cat asked.

They caught their breath before answering.

"Do all the faculty know about the Marauders and their rivals?"

"Of course!" Norris answered with a harumph. "Every generation has one cursed to one day be a teacher at this fine establishment and suffer the curse from the other end."

How many layers did this true curse have? The more layers tacked on the more powerful its benefits and drawbacks. What kind of monstrously brilliant people were the founders that they could make one this advanced that doesn't outright kill everybody it applies to?!

"Vell Ve already knew the curse was anchored to the castle, now we know at least one vector of how it does so." Poliakoff monologued. "Question, is there ever a moment where at least one former or current Marauder or Rival is not physically present on the school grounds?"

Norris grinned, actually grinned, and she wondered internally if that little-girl chaser from Cheshire has ever attended Hogwarts. If he had he would have done so alongside Dumbledore.

"Good catch, the answer is no. There is meant always at least one present at all times. Abd that is one of the anchors previous generations have discovered and attempted to unhinge." Norris explained.

Hermione and Poliakoff stared at her as they waited for her explanation to continue.

"And?!" They egged her on in unison.

"And they succeeded in temporarily undoing that anchor by ensuring none were on the grounds, but it was not sufficient to break the curse." Norris concluded.

Damn. The search for a means of breaking the curse must continue another day then. But at least they knew a part of the puzzle. One they would have to share with the Marauders someday... But war must come before peace, and they had been derelict in their duties to keep the quartet from causing too much trouble.

"Room! Would you be so kind as to present for us any and all material related to the Knight Bus and its engine? Especially any not available in the library." Hermione requested.

The room obliged.

The mountains of junk dissipated like multicolored smoke and reassembled into bookshelves, chairs and a study table. As this went on the room itself contracted, growing smaller as the walls closed in and morphed into a cozy study. It added icing to the cake by creating a crackling fireplace and enormous bay window overlooking the lake.

"As alvays, Room, you impress me." Poliakoff complimented.

As if in answer the fire in the hearth flickered and made an obnoxious "puff" of smoke.

The duo rolled up their sleeves and advanced on the table, where a myriad of clippings and books sat waiting for them with writing implements beside.

"I have patrols to do and you two seem to have things well in hand." Norris said wryly. "I will leave you to it."

And with that she popped away, as if appirating.

Hermione decided not to question how she did that, as she was surely so intertwined with the magic of the castle that surely no ward within could impede her movement.

Another potential anchor to the curse, perhaps?


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