Liam ran alongside his friends down the dense mountains of Transylvania. It was unplottable to muggles, but the foursome easily navigated through it like their was a visible path on the hard ground.
To Liam's right was a boy around sixteen, the same age as him, and to his left was a boy that seemed two years older than the other two. All three were obviously brothers, sharing similar gray eyes and light brown hair. The boy at the edge of the right was the youngest, almost eleven years old. He had long black hair tied back with a piece of crude leather and emerald eyes. Despite his age, he ran just as fast as the other boys and with the same air as confidence. All four boys wore tattered brown pants, made from the hide of animals similar to buffalo, wore moccasins, and were shirtless with bows and arrows strapped to their backs with a harness made from material similar to their pants.
Liam and Luke, the other sixteen year old reached the edge of the mountain first and were met with a dense forest. The oldest and youngest boys were there a split second later.
"Darius, Harry. What took you so long."
Darius, the oldest, rolled his eyes before bringing his bow out, the other boys following suite. The boys had been running to the forest for their daily hunt. It was only 1 in the morning but they all seemed alert. They always were awoken at strange times in the night by Darius who claimed it was the best time to catch dark creatures.
"You know what to do," Darius stated. "We'll separate and meet back at the village no later than dawn. If your not there or you send up a flaming arrow we'll try to find each other. Harry, you get the eastern part of the forest so that you can feed without us mistaking you for something else. We'll stick to the other parts."
After his speech Harry immediately ran into the forest not having to able to feed the last two nights because of archery, astronomy,and High elf magic training with the elders. Darius and Luke ran in soon after leaving Liam by himself. Liam took a long breath, tucked his long hair behind his pointed ears, and ran in heading toward the northern part of the forest.
There was a low fog covering the mossy floor and it was strangely quiet. Even though the moon was out the trees blocked most of its light. Liam had the urge to start yelling just to make sure he wasn't deaf.
"That's stupid," he thought to himself. "I've lived near here my entire life. It'd just to early in them morning. Creatures have to sleep. I just wish Darius understood that."
However, even as he thought it to himself he knew something was wrong. Darius was always right, even if he hated to admit it. There were always creatures in the forest prowling about, calling to each other and fighting no matter what time it was. What was happening that made them stop? What could scare the animals like that?
He realized with a start that he had been wonder around aimlessly and shook his head to clear them of the thoughts. He needed to focus more. An animal could have walked right up to him and mauled him and he wouldn't have been able to do a thing. He let his frustration at himself out by notching a arrow in his bow and letting it fly into a nearby tree. He walked over and gave it a tug, satisfied when he realized that half of it was buried in the trunk.
Suddenly he heard a branch snap up the hill to the side of him and he slowly started to climb up. It took most of his will power not to make a whoop of joy that there was some sign of life in the forest other than himself.
He was three quarters of the way up when he realized that he was hearing a slurping sound.
"Did I wander all the way into the east side?"He thought to himself as he stopped, figuring it was Harry feeding. It would explain why it was quiet where he was if Harry was roaming around in his mutated nundu animangus form. It was only one of Harry's form but as far as his elven tribe knew it was the most intimidating he had. Harry had told him it was a mix of his twin cousins animangus forms.
One, named Electra, had a standard nundu animangus. A nundu was a large leopard like animal who would terrorize villages, spreading death and disease with his breath. It generally took at least 100 normal wizards to subdue one and although he was sure it wouldn't take as many elves he was sure that he would run away crying if he ever met one. He hadn't even known that the animal was a acquirable form.
The other girl was named Nicole. She had a medium sized panther form. Strangely, the panther was snow white with blue eyes and had silver nails. Although it wasn't as dangerous as a nundu it was still extremely dangerous. Harry also told him it hurt like hell to be tackled by it if you made her mad. He tried to ask what he could have possibly done to make a girl turn into a panther and chase him down , but Harry just mumbled something about her setting off a trap meant for her sister that included honey, feathers, shaving cream and a camera. Liam didn't see he logic behind trying to set a prank off on someone with a nundu animangus form anymore than someone with a panther, but he didn't bother to ask.
Harry's form had the traits of a nundu but the body of a black panther with green eyes and silver nails. Thankfully, he had the option to stop his breath from spreading disease. He also could sprout large silver wings from his back, which was a trait he said he got from his aunt's large raven form. Yep, Harry had a freaking scary animangus form. It was certainly enough to scare most things quiet.
Satisfied that the strange surroundings were just because of him being in Harry's hunting grounds, Liam reached down to grab a root with his left hand to steady himself as he started to climb down the steep hill. He grimaced when he felt blood cover his hands from Harry's prey that was flowing down hill. He grabbed another root with his right hand and reached up with his left, preparing to wipe it off on the bark of the tree next to him, when his hand passed through a sliver off moonlight. He gasped when he saw the blood was actually silvery blue, unicorn blood.
"Ahhh!" Liam let out a small scream knowing the figure above him wasn't Harry.
The figure rose above Liam with unnatural speed. Startled, Liam let go off the root and flipped backwards down the hill, gasping when he heard two sickening crunches coming from his arm and leg. As he landed on the ground his breath visibly quickened from pain and seeing the creature at the top of the hill. Liam closed his eyes preparing to die before he heard a low growl coming from behind him.
"Great, I'm gonna get killed on my back by some freak that drinks pure blood and then I'm gonna get mauled and/or eaten by a panther," Liam thought bitterly as he felt both creatures presence near him. "Wait. There aren't any panthers here except for-."
The elf's eyes snapped open in time to see a arrow quickly pass over him and bury itself into the creatures eye. The creature let out an unnatural scream before another arrow followed its brother and landed in its chest followed by another straight between the monsters eyes. Liam watched in horrid fascination as the body slowly fell and what seemed like a spirit rose out of it and shot up, disappearing in the sky.
"You alright Liam?"
Liam saw Harry approach out of the corner of his eye, his bow still out with an arrow set in it in case the monster was still alive for some reason. "Just peachy Leo," he answered in a strained voice. Harry neared him and looked at his arm and leg before sighing and heading up the hill to the dead body. Harry easily climbed the hill and looked at the body for a second before roughly kicking it over to get a look at its face.
"I've seen this guy before."
"It's a human! How did you meet him?"
"I said I've seen him, not met him. Nicole took a picture of all her teachers at Hogwarts. This guy taught Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Well thats ironic."
Harry nodded before moving to the dead unicorn. It was young and its blood covered the forest floor.
"Is it dead?"
"Yeah."
"Can you bring it back?"
Harry shook his head as he slowly walked back. If they had gotten here much earlier he might have been able to, but doing it now was impossible for someone with mediocre Necromancer skills. It would kill him if he tried.
"You know I'm kinda in pain right now."
"Have you killed anything yet today?" Harry ignored his friend statement as he moved back to the dead body and moved its sleeve up, revealing the dark mark.
"Are you serious? No! That bloody thing scared everything off!"
Harry's eyes didn't move from the mark as he slowly reached out to touch it. His finger barely touched the edge of the skull before he pulled his hand back getting the sensation of being burned. He then smoothly slid down the hill not noticing the edge of the skull vanish where he touched it on the man's arm.
He'd owl Nicole when he got back to the village and she could send someone to pick up the body. They often kept death eaters for questioning and observations. He knew they were tracking some too, like Lucius Malfoy and his family, and sometimes applied pressure to them to keep them from doing anything. Though a dead body wouldn't tell them much, they would know what to do with it.
"So I guess you can't walk?"
"You think!"
Harry took off his harness and put all his stuff on the ground before walking up to Liam.
"This will probably hurt."
"Thanks Leo. That's really reassuring."
"Just warning you."
Harry leaned down facing away from his friend and put his unbroken arm around his neck. Liam grunted at the idea of being dragged around like a backpack until he realized that Harry's shoulders were getting wider and his body longer as fur began to grow on him. A moment later he found himself on the back of a semi-nundu with wings folded up so he wouldn't fall of the side. Harry walked forward grabbed his stuff in his mouth and took off towards the village going faster than Liam would have liked but slow enough for him not to fall off.
17
(a few months later)(September first)
VISITING THE MYTH
Harry Potter: tragic hero or Dark Lords ploy?
It's been ten years since the boy-who-lived has disappeared from the wizarding world and today is the day the legendary hero would have gone to start his magical education. We would like to take a moment in remembrance of the tragic hero who banished the Dark Lord only to be killed by abusive relatives shortly after.
There have been rumors that the story of Harry Potter is not what it seems however, since it was first know to the public. It seemed unlikely to some that a baby could defeat You-Know-Who only to be killed by muggles shortly after.
Some have proposed that the baby did indeed die that night and the Dark Lord later got injured and made his servants come up with the story to give the world a false sense of security as he healed. This rumor has lead the Ministry to keep tabs on accused death eaters regardless of status.
Another is that Albus Dumbledore has put the boy into separate hiding, though the Headmaster of Hogwarts has denied all claims.
The most ludicrous idea is that the boy-who-lived got kidnapped early on from his home. The Minister has refused all ideas of this claim stating that the boy was carefully being watched and indeed died inside his home from malnutrition. This statement can be countered however by the fact that if they were watching as carefully as they should have they would have seen the abuse and put a stop to it.
It seems some people won't accept the death of the young hero and will always believe their knight in shining armor will save them when the time comes. Although it's a naïve way to live some say it's better to have hope in a world where anything is possible.
In memory of our young hero we want to wish all students a good year. Live out your life the way Harry Potter wanted us to.
Jasmine Roline
Daily Prophet
Nicole giggled a bit as she set the paper down. Her and her sister were on the train to Hogwarts for school for the last time in their life. It was a bittersweet moment. In two months both girls would turn eighteen and in just a few more they'd graduate. "We're growing up so fast," she mumbled with a exaggerated sniffle. Electra jumped from the sudden noise across from her a sent a questioning look at her sister. Nicole only smiled sweetly back as if she didn't know why her sister was staring at her.
Nicole sighed and shifted her position so her head was leaning on the window and her legs were sprawled across the empty seat. Of all the days today was the day her sister decided to shut her mouth. Not any of the days Nicole had to physically threaten her or the days she felt like her ears were going to bleed. Nope, she choses the one day Nicole accidentally picked up one of the new servants suit case instead of her own, so therefor she was cut off from all the pranks and sweets she had developed over the summer until tomorrow when Ana mailed it to her.
Silence.
"You suck Electra."
Electra's eyes widened before she realized where her sister's bitterness was coming from and she smirked. She knew her sister liked it when she talked. It kept her sane.
"Suck up."
Nicole frowned before realizing what her sister was playing at and smiled before countering, "Tramp."
"Jerk. Ugly. Idiot."
"Punk. Slut. Um..."
Electra smiled in victory before replying, "Biyatch."
Nicole groaned at losing before slouching down more so she was laying down. To some it may have seemed that they were mischievous, intimidating twin girls. And those people would be pretty much right. That wasn't the reason for the game though. Both girls knew practice made perfect so why not practice fighting verbally? And it was easier playing with someone who knew that you would never hurt them.
Both girls jumped when the compartment door slid open. They always got to have a compartment on the train to themselves when they chose to. Only the dim-witted and young didn't know you should never mess with the 'Twin Eagles'. Anyone who pissed off the two attractive, blond twins were heading to a day fill with large bat ears, dull fangs so long they appeared to be tusks, multi-colored feathers growing out their skin, two eagle wings sprouting from their back, a high pitched squawking voice and a spontaneous need to bust out into showtoons through the day. The eagle wings bluntly pointed out the culprits to everyone, but without solid proof they almost always got away with it.
Nicole sprang up wondering who in their right mind was coming into their compartment when she noticed it was the Weasley twins. One of the boys eyes widened and he grabbed his brother preparing to run off, but they were quickly pulled inside by Electra who sat the boys down and locked the door.
"We're sorry. We were just looking for a place to hide. We didn't mean to disturb you," the one on the left stuttered, his eyes mixed with a feeling of awe, respect and a tiny bit of fear.
Nicole was about to ask from what when the Slytherin quidditch team, with the exception of Electra, by the door. From the split second she saw them, she could tell they all had red hair, yellow eyes, whiskers and she was sure the keeper was sporting a lion's tail. She then turned to her sister and was surprised that instead of anger at the disrespect for her team she found a thoughtful expression.
Electra pulled her sister and whispered in her ear. Nicole eyes started to show understanding and she smiled as she turned to the two boys.
"Which is Fred and which is George?"
The boys smiled as she said their names. They had idolized them since they came to Hogwarts and first witnessed their classic revenge prank that was actually set on Professor Snape. Any one with that much skill in charms and guts to prank the slimy git and in Electra's case, your head of house, demanded respect from all pranksters, large and small.
After the left was identified as Fred and the right George the girls reached into Electra's bag and brought out a old piece of parchment.
"Before we tell you anything you have to promise that you'll pass everything, material or information, onto our cousin when he gets to Hogwarts. He'll be wearing the Eagle family ring and his name is Harry or Leo." After this both girls flashed their family ring, Electra's on a silver chain around her neck and Nicole's on her finger. The rings were identical with platinum band, a large emerald stone set in the middle and smaller diamonds on each side of it. In the middle of the emerald a cursive S was somehow pressed into it then fill with liquid gold. The rings radiated magic and were one of a kind.
Both boys swore on their magic that they would hastily before the girls sat across from them.
"We'll be leaving this year and we've been worried about the state of the school after we leave," Nicole started.
"Without pranks this school might turn proper and regular."
"And we don't want this school to become like that. How boring would it be if a single dinner goes on without incident? We've been doing all we could to help this school, but without us who knows what could happen?"
"Without our little Harry here to carry out legacy for a while we'll need to find someone to do this until he finally comes. Can you be these two people?"
Both boys nodded, assuming that Harry was still a young child and not realizing that he should have been starting school that year.
Nicole smiled before bringing forward the tattered piece of parchment and holding it out in the middle of the group.
Both girls spoke together as they looked into the curious boys' brown eyes, "May we introduce, the Marauder's Map...
Authors notes:
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and helped out. I'm still thinking about the tasks so you can keep voting, but I'm pretty sure I want to keep the second task or at least one with the lake involved.
To people who are wondering about Ron and Hermione, they probably won't be friends, maybe aquatinces, but not best friends. To those who are dissapointed, I'm sorry, but I wanted to build a different friendship with different people for a more unique story. To those who are cussing me out in thier minds and planning devious flames in thier head, chill the heck out. Don't like it, don't read it. No one's holding a gun to your head forcing you to.
Fred and George aren't gonna be a big part of the story, but I needed someone to give the map to Harry and recognize he was the twins' 'cousin'. Sorry if you like them, but it will be thier last year when he arrives, so no point to include them that deeply.