Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series.

The Boggart in the Wardrobe

The school year finally seemed to be clicking into a manageable pattern for Ella and even her fifth year friends. Quidditch would be starting soon and Ella knew the Gryffindor Captain, Oliver Wood, was in his seventh year, which meant he'd want the Quidditch Cup more than ever before. There would be more practices, pep-talks, and over all Quidditch madness from the over-zealous Keeper in the months to come. Katie and Ella for the time being had agreed to help their friends study and keep up on their mountains of homework. Ella was trying to mentally prepare herself for when Katie would have to take up Quidditch and she'd be forced to help them all with completing their assignments on time.

On top of all the homework, Ella had to worry about her dreams and Sirius Black. Only a few days before, Ella heard that Sirius had been spotted extremely close to Hogwarts. She pretended that the news was absolutely frightening, but in reality she was ecstatic to hear that Sirius was close to the grounds. It meant he had made it safely through his journey. As for her dreams, Ella assumed that the dementor's effect on her was finally beginning to wear off, at least a bit. Her dreams were dying down slightly, but she still woke up in cold sweats every night and once or twice had scared her dorm-mates awake with a scream. She was beginning to feel immensely guilty about sharing a room with Katie and her other roommates. They had enough to worry about without her nightmares.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape snarled for the third time that lesson. Katie had misread the complex potion ingredients in her book and accidently sent off a plume of foul smelling orange smoke. Ella noticed that it didn't matter how badly the Slytherins messed up, only Gryffindors lost House Points for accidently making minor mistakes. Though, even Ella had to admit as she coughed and hacked that the cloud Katie had just made wasn't a minor mistake. She glanced in her own cauldron and frowned at the grainy red glob that sat in there. It was supposed to be a smooth blue, but Ella knew better than to ask for help.

"How am I supposed to get rid of this smoke?" Katie hissed at her.

"Conjure a fan? I don't know!" Ella said while trying to fix her own screwed up potion. Honestly, blue and red were basically opposites, how did she manage to make that big of a mistake? Snape smirked between the rows of struggling Gryffindors while giving helpful tips to the Slytherins under his breath.

Katie huffed, "Way to show favoritism, help them out and leave us to fail!" Ella nodded and figured her potion was virtually a lost cause. The class ended and the dispirited Gryffindors packed up to leave the room.

"You go, it's going to take me a while to get everything put together," Ella told Katie who nodded sadly before leaving. Ella gathered all of her things into her bag then stood in front of Snape's desk.

"What are you waiting for? Get moving," Snape grunted.

Ella stood her ground, "I don't understand why you are so rude to Gryffindors. None of the other teachers are like this. I can understand having House pride, but we're sitting over here failing while you're only helping out the Slytherins."

"Don't make me give you a detention Miss. Worthington," the professor drawled.

She sighed, "She wouldn't have liked you acting like this. I'm sure of it." Before he could respond, Ella made her way towards the door. She was walking fast and didn't realize someone was out there until they smacked heads.

"Ow!" Ella cried out massaging her aching head. "McLaggen? What are you doing out here?"

Cormac rubbed his own head as he stammered, "Well…I-I was…um…"

Realization dawned on her, "You were eavesdropping on me! Why would you do that? –No I don't care what your excuse is… I can't believe you!" She stormed out of the dungeons leaving a stuttering Cormac in her wake.

"Nice going, McLaggen," he said to himself before swinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving the dungeons as well.

Ella was sitting at her table for lunch and watched out of the corner of her eye as McLaggen appeared. For a moment, it looked like he was going to make his way over to her, but then decided to go sit elsewhere when he realized she was surrounded by all of her friends.

George looked at her worriedly, "Ella, what's on your forehead?"

Fred's eyes wandered to where his brother's was, "It looks like you've got a bruise coming in there."

"I'm fine, I just ran into someone leaving my last class –actually ran into them not figuratively," she explained moodily.

"Ah, you see that makes more sense, I was assuming you ran into something," Fred teased. "You know, you could've hit a wall or something, tripped over your own feet…the list goes on and on."

A thin smile unwillingly made its way to her lips, "I'm not that clumsy. If anything you're talking about yourself."

He feigned a wounded expression, "Excuse me? I believe I am gloriously god-like in my ability to not run into people or inanimate objects! You remember, what happen when we did that prank with the exploding chocolates and Filch almost caught us. You completely –"

"Let's not talk about that…" Ella said quickly. Fred and George dissolved in laughter as Ella's face reddened. She hadn't seen the suit of armor –it had practically jumped out in front of her. Besides, she still managed to not get caught by Filch, so it wasn't like the collision was bad enough to hinder her. "And watch it! If you keep praising yourself like that, you'll become the next Percy!" Everyone laughed as Fred huffed dramatically then the twins began puffing out their chests to mock Percy. Ella was in a considerably good mood for the rest of lunch until she realized it was time for Divinations.

Ella arrived in the classroom nearly ten minutes before class started and sat down in her usual spot. Cho arrived not long after then and to Ella's dismay, McLaggen appeared with a minute to spare. The beginning of class was tense to say the least. Cho noticed almost immediately that something had happened between the other two and kept quiet in an attempt to stay out of it. McLaggen tried to break the tension with small talk but Ella refused to acknowledge he was speaking.

"C'mon Ella, don't be like this," McLaggen said when Trelawney had them working on their star charts once more.

She glared daggers at him, "Don't be like what? Upset that you decided to eavesdrop on a conversation I stayed behind to have? Don't you dare tell me not to be upset!" In the back of her head, Ella knew she was overreacting, but she wasn't supposed to let people in on the future unless they were already aware of it. Ella had dreamt about Snape and Harry's mum's friendship ages ago, but no one knew about it obviously. She might not have named names, but she hated being overheard nonetheless.

He sighed, "Look, this sort of thing isn't easy for me to do. I heard you tell Katie to go on and I thought it was odd so I stayed behind to listen to what you were going to say. I thought it was going to end up being something like what you did with Lockhart last year. I wasn't expecting you to question him and bring up something you'd seen that you didn't want someone else to know about. I still don't know what it was, but it's obvious you're angry and that's not what I wanted to do. So, I'm –well, I'm sorry."

Ella turned to look at him in surprise. She didn't think she'd ever hear the pompous McLaggen apologize to anyone much less herself. He just completely swallowed his pride to admit that he was in the wrong. Ella wasn't sure how to even react to that kind of development from him.

"Well, apology accepted, I suppose," she responded. Cormac smiled slightly at being forgiven and Cho let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Finally, I thought I was going to have to go sit with Marietta again. I can't even imagine going back to classes with her," she grumbled. "You have to take this seriously, Cho. It's the future, Cho! You shouldn't laugh at Trelawney, she'd absolutely brilliant. You're just jealous you don't have her kind of talent! As if." Ella and Cormac sniggered at Cho's impersonation of Marietta Edgecombe.

"If she's so annoying, why is she your friend?" Ella asked her curiously.

Cho rolled her eyes, "Well, she's only a pain in this class. Everywhere else she's the best friend a girl could ask for. Besides, she was the first friend I made. How could I turn my back on her after so long?" Ella nodded thoughtfully knowing she'd do the same for her friends. The three worked relatively easily for the next fifteen minutes until their class ended.

The fourth year Gryffindors ended up having a free period before dinner that evening in which both Ella and Katie quickly worked to finish their own homework knowing they'd be helping the rest of their friends after dinner. Ella had just finished her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay when classes ended. The group of friends ate dinner together then began the slow work of completing the homework.

"You know, I think I know what would help with these essays about transfiguring," Ella told Angelina and Alicia while pouring over one of their textbooks.

Alicia looked at her curiously, "What would that be?"

"Actually being in your year," Ella deadpanned in frustration. She might pick up on things pertaining to magic easily, but their work was still an entire year ahead of her classes.

"Hey, it's not our fault you were born a year behind us," George stated from his spot. He was trying to decipher some Potions homework, but struggling almost as much as Ella. Being a mature young woman, Ella stuck her tongue out at George who repeated the action towards her. Their study group worked for a long while to attempt to finish as many projects as they could. Finally, a mutual decision to go to bed rippled through the group prompting everyone to split off into their separate dormitories.

"Where am I?" Ella thought as she glanced around the area. She felt oddly weightless, and the area around her was murky, like the bottom of a lake. Something flashed past her leaving a swarm of bubbles in its wake. Ella's eyes widened at the strange sight. She moved her arms around the area and realized with a start that she was in a lake. Her hands moved to her throat, but she could still breathe just as easily. This was a dream, so she was perfectly dry and able to get oxygen without a mouthful of water. But why was she here?

The best way Ella saw to figure out what brought her to the eerie depths was to follow the creature she'd seen moments before. It took a while, but Ella made her way to a little clearing that looked like an underwater village. She looked around and saw a group of the most oddly terrifying creatures. Their skin was gray and they had long dark green hair that swirled around them as they swam about. None of them paid Ella any mind; they were looking at something else, or rather something. Her vision wandered to see four human figures tied down in the water. Ella's eyes widened in shock and she tried moving towards them only to discover she couldn't get near them.

As she fought the current, the water began to fill her lungs. Ella felt like she was drowning within her dream. Darkness was rising and she couldn't get a deep breath…

"Enough!" Ella finally managed to bellow and it would appear that the dream complied.

Everything around her rippled and suddenly Ella found herself back in the school and on land. She was in the middle of a room, but no matter how hard she tried, Ella couldn't make the details of where she was come into focus. There was fuzz draped over the entire area blotting out colors and defining qualities.

A sharp pain spiked in Ella's left hand. She let out a hiss and glanced down at it noticing the back had begun to redden. The burning pain began to grow, but Ella didn't know what was happening. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the feeling.

"Tell me!" A shrill voice echoed in the room.

There was a stuttering, "N-no, I don't know!"

"Crucio!"

Ella forced herself to wake up before the dream could go any further. She'd heard the effects of the Cruciatus Curse enough for a lifetime. She made her way out of the dormitory as quietly as she could. Her own skin felt uncomfortable and she wished she could just leave it.

Then it hit her.

She could leave it. Ella moved towards the hallway outside of the dormitory and glanced around to make sure no one was lurking around the corner. A familiar sensation of shrinking came to her as she began to transform. In less than a second, Ella went from being a blue eyed girl to an amber eyed fox cub. Her heightened senses alerted her to every creak and groan the castle made, but she knew it was still late at night.

Normally, people would go back to sleep after waking up and realizing that it was still night, but Ella couldn't do that. She was wide awake now and unwilling to reenter the world of her dreams. She'd had enough of the future for that night.

The little paws carried her down the stairs that were much bigger than she remembered them being. She finally popped out in the Common room and walked around wondering how to spend these next few hours. There were a few minutes where she just got the hang of four legs instead of two by running around the room freely –she'd never be able to do that as a human. Ella looked up and stood near the window to try and peer out into the starry night. She pressed her wet nose against the glass and looked over the grounds only to notice the massive black dog –Sirius had arrived.

She was about to rush through the portrait hole when she realized she wasn't human. If she left that way, it'd be really suspicious. Her nose twitched as something entered the room. Ella turned around and looked at Crookshanks as he strolled out of the girl's dormitory where she'd been before. The two looked at each other briefly as though regarding whether the other was trustworthy.

"How are you a fox?" Crookshanks mewed at her.

"Magic, how else?" Ella responded as quietly as she was able. A cat noise was something the students wouldn't question, but a fox's bark would be a little more than a dead giveaway that something unusual was happening.

Crookshanks looked her over once more, "You seem a lot more trustworthy than that rat the red haired boy has. He's protective of that thing though."

"I'm a friend of Hermione's –the girl that bought you from the pet store and took you're here. We talk periodically."

Realization dawned on the whiskered face, "You're the girl that hangs out with those identical ginger haired boys that are always making messes!"

"Well, yes, I suppose I am, but there's more to me than that. We're very similar in one regard, I don't trust the rat either and I know someone else who doesn't as well…"

The cat's eyes flashed a bit, "Whoever doesn't like that Scabbers thing, is a friend of mine. Who are they a classmate of yours?"

"No, he's down on the grounds, I don't know how to get you down there though without going through the portrait hole," Ella wondered if her frustration could be heard in her foxy tone.

"Follow me," Crookshanks moved over towards a corner of the room and behind a chair. Ella watched as he pawed at a few stones that magically gave way to a passageway which was only big enough for something the size of Crookshanks. Ella was glad that she was quite a bit smaller than the ginger cat as she followed him down a path way.

It took a while, but the two finally came out of their pathway and Ella was astounded to see they were actually on the grounds below the castle. Her paws felt at home in the dewy grass, but she didn't allow herself time to get accustomed to the outdoors as an animal. Her eyes scanned through the darkness to try and find Sirius.

Ella looked at her companion, "How did you know about that passage way? I don't think a single other person has found it."

Crookshanks, acting a little haughty, informed her, "Well, I could smell that it was there and I certainly can't remain stuffed in that area for all my days. Of course, no other person has found it, it's nearly too small for myself. A person couldn't fit there."

She sneezed as the cat's tail flicked against her face. Shooting him an annoyed look, Ella began to lead the two in the direction she'd seen Sirius go. It took a few minutes, but the pair caught up to the giant dog. He turned and looked at the odd pair with mingled curiosity and apprehension.

"What do you think you two are doing here?" The dog barked at them. His hair rose and he glared between the two.

Staying strong, Ella told him, "We're here to help you, or I am right now, at least. I can't speak for him at all. But I think he'll want to join in." The dog looked over the two other creatures not knowing what to make of this development.

Crookshanks sniffed towards Sirius, "Another one like you and the rat? This is getting to be too much for me."

"The rat? Are you talking about Pettigrew?" Sirius asked Crookshanks with surprise.

"I don't know names; I'm a cat, but I'm sure that we're talking about the same thing. You smell more trustworthy than that rat as well. Is this who you wanted me to meet?"

"Yes, he wants the rat dead just like you've been trying to do since you saw him," Ella started. "The two of you could work together to get the rat. Two is better than one and he won't be easy to get rid of."

He looked at her stiffly, "I work alone, thank you. I've gotten rid of plenty of rats this one shouldn't be any different."

Ella looked at the cat in disbelief, "Of course it's different! That rat isn't an actual rat. It's a human pretending to be one meaning it's slightly more intelligent than the average house pet."

"Either way, I'm not taking any help; I merely wanted to meet a kindred spirit. Now, the sun will be rising soon, I suggest we return to the school," Crookshanks began making his way in the direction of the castle, but Ella merely turned to Sirius.

"He'll come around, I'm sure of it, but he's right. We do need to get back to the castle. The day's about to begin," Ella explained.

Sirius looked at her curiously, "Are you a student there?"

She backed away slightly, "I'm not really going to say, I can't say. You don't need to know that because to you I'm just a normal fox."

"A normal fox wouldn't know about me, and certainly wouldn't care enough to try to help me take that rat," Sirius countered.

Ella was glad she was a fox because she was positive that foxes couldn't pale when under pressure, "I'm not saying anything more. Just try not to stay within the grounds too often, it's dangerous."

Darting away, Ella caught up to Crookshanks and the two headed back to the dormitory. Ella didn't know why she wouldn't say it was her. It would be perfectly reasonable to let it out, but Ella worried about the fact she was an illegal Animagus. She didn't want to get in trouble with the law in any way much less something like that. She transformed in the hallway outside of her dormitory. As quietly as she could, Ella moved back into the room and decided to lie in the bed until her fellow fourth years had woken up. She allowed herself to smile a bit. The effects of her dream had long since worn off and Ella imagined that this would be the first night of many as a fox.

A/N: How was that? Was McLaggen a little too OOC? Thanks for reading! Please review! :)