DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

When Hunting Monsters

Chapter 2: Flight of Humanity

Saturday night found Harry sitting impatiently in his rickety chair at his battered desk. He had the guide and the rune book laid out before him, making sure his preparations were perfect. He had spent the whole day organizing his room for the event, flipping his bed on its side and pushed it against the wall. All the junk on the floor had been shoved in his small cupboard or placed in his trunks until there was a large circular clear space in the middle of the room. The guide had told him to draw a circle of interlocking runes on the floor using a stick of what looked like grayish chalk. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was made of.

He had also, again, had to shave the stubble of hair that had grown all over his body, making sure to leave enough to mix the potion later, and had redrawn the runes. The marauders had suggested this since regular ink had no magic and wouldn't affect the ritual, but it would make it infinitely easier to carve the runes. He was still waiting on Dudley though to do the ones for his back.

At five after nine, Harry heard a car pull up outside Number Four Privet Drive. He jumped out of his chair and raced towards his window, careful not to step on the chalked symbols. Harry pulled the curtain back and ascertained that it was indeed Dudley being dropped off by Mrs. Piers. He saw Dudley walk up to the front door, his bag slung over his shoulder. A few moments later, he heard Dudley's footsteps pounding up the stairs. Harry stepped out of his room to greet him.

"Dudley, you're finally back! How'd you do?" Harry asked as Dudley reached the top of the stairs. Dudley seemed slightly surprised at seeing Harry waiting for him, but the grin he was wearing got bigger.

"I did great! Didn't lose any matches and got a trophy to show for it!" He exclaimed, proudly hefting a large golden trophy for Harry's inspection. It was topped with a golden boxing glove and at its base bore the words 'London Champion Youth Heavyweight Division 1996'.

Harry whistled. "Wow, good job Dudley! I knew you'd do well with how much you've put in to all the training. Looks like it really paid off." If anything, Dudley's grin got bigger.

"So what do you say we go ahead and get this thing done? I've been thinking about it since I left." Dudley asked, surprising Harry with his eagerness.

"Um, alright, let's go put your stuff in your room first. Actually, hold on, I should probably put my things in your room too, in case my animal form decides to wreak havoc." Dudley looked nervous at this possibility. Harry walked back in his room and grabbed both his trunks, which he had packed his things in to provide some space.

Harry returned to his room and saw Dudley sitting at his desk, the dagger in his hand and a thoughtful expression on his face. He looked up as Harry entered.

"You must really hate this Voldemort guy to willingly go through all this huh?" Dudley asked, gesturing to the knife now in his lap, and the sheets of runes they'd soon be carving.

"He killed my parents Dudley," said Harry, walking into the middle of the circle and turning around to face his cousin. "He's also responsible for my godfather's death, and has made it his mission in life to make mine miserable since I was eleven. However much this is going to hurt, I'm confident that the pleasure I'll get if it helps me kill him will be tenfold greater." Harry said vehemently, a dark look on his face.

"I suppose I'd feel the same way," said Dudley. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Well first, I'm going to have you draw the runes on my back," Harry said pulling off shirt. "Then I'm going to carve the ones I can reach. You're going to take over for the ones I can't, and the ones on my face." Dudley picked up the biro and the sheets of runes.

"These ones right?"

"Ya, those ones. Let's get started." Harry said, done disposing of his clothes.

Dudley felt kind of sick at seeing his cousin naked. The boy obviously didn't eat enough. Shaved of hair, he looked very much like a skeleton with pale skin stretched tight against very apparent bones. Dudley could count eighteen of his ribs.

How in the ruddy hell did he keep up with the training? Dudley asked himself. And why is he starving himself like that? Is he that bent over his godfather? That must be it.

Dudley stepped into the circle, pushing his thoughts aside, and got to work.

The biro against Harry's skin felt very different then when he drew on himself. He closed his eyes, attempting to mentally preparing himself for the pain that would be coming.

It took about an hour for Dudley to finish the runes, but they did want them perfect as he'd be using them for a guideline later.

"Alright, all done." He said, putting the biro and the sheets back on Harry's desk.

"Sweet, let's get to the fun part," Harry joked. Dudley frowned and handed him the dagger. For the first time, Harry noticed the runes swirling around it and how incredibly sharp the blade was.

He winced as he slid the dagger through the skin on his chest. He twitched and fought the automatic reaction to jerk the knife away. Blood welled up in the cut and dribbled down his stomach before spattering onto the floor. He continued cutting for a long while, taking frequent pauses to collect himself, as the small puddle of blood on the floor grew. The pain was unbearable, and Harry started feeling thankful that he had experienced the torture curse before. If he hadn't he probably wouldn't be able to push himself through this now.

When he got to his legs he was starting to feel quite dizzy and lightheaded.

"Dudley, could you hand me one of those red vials on the desk?" His cousin had been watching the spectacle in horror, unable to look away.

"En... ya sure," Dudley said, handing the vial to Harry. He flinched as some of Harry's blood dripped down the boys arm and onto his hand.

Harry's legs took some time and another blood replenishing potion to complete.

"Your turn now, Dudders!" He gave Dudley a false grin and handed him the dagger.

"Uh, hold on. Maybe we should tie you to the chair or something. I'm not gonna be able to keep the knife steady if you keep twitching like that." Dudley said, picking up the chair and placing it in the middle of the circle, careful not to step in the puddle of his cousin's blood.

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea. You mind grabbing a few of my old shirts from the cupboard? I don't trust myself to walk around right now, but you can use those to tie me." Dudley did as instructed and tore the shirts into long strips.

Harry straddled the chair so his back was accessible and let out a groan of pain as the strip Dudley was binding him with dug into the cuts on his left wrist.

"Fuck! Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to tie it that tight," Dudley panicked.

"It's alright. It's gotta be tight anyway to keep me from moving." Harry said through clenched teeth.

Dudley looked doubtful but finished securing him. He brought the dagger to the back of his cousin's neck and made the first incision, feeling revulsion as the blade moved through his skin like it was butter, and blood started dripping down his back.

Two hours later, Dudley had finally finished his job. He had taken frequent pauses, as, if he went too long, Harry would start to jerk underneath the dagger. He had moved on to Harry's bald skull and his face after that, removing Harry's glasses. His face was definitely the hardest part. It had proved a challenging feat to keep Harry's head still. He had done his best to ignore his cousin's groans and cries of pain, but by the time Dudley was done, his hands were shaking, and he had tears in his eyes.

He quickly untied Harry and helped him to his feet. The boy's whole body now was completely covered in blood and strange symbols, even his fingertips and toes. Dudley handed Harry another red vial and Harry gulped it down greedily.

"You look a right mess Dudders," Harry quipped in a hoarse voice, pointing out Dudley's blood stained shirt. He was attempting to keep some semblance of humor. It helped a little with the pain.

Dudley raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Are you ready for the next part or do you need a break?" He asked.

"Well there's something we have to do first. The potion vials for the ink are on the desk, but they need to be mixed with my blood and hair in that ritual bowl." Harry gestured to the large bowl with strange carvings that he had found in the trunk. "I would've done it before hand, but the guide said it needs to be fresh. You can just stir it with my wand to mix it together."

"Alright.... I guess I can do that." Dudley grabbed a strip of the cloth he had used to tie Harry, and mopped up some of the copius amount of blood on the floor. Then he wrung the blood soaked cloth into the bowl, poured the vials of potion, and picked up Harry's wand, sticking it in the bowl and stirring until the liquid swirled into a glowing blackish green mixture.

"Does that look good?" Dudley asked, tilting the bowl so Harry could see the contents.

"Ya that looks fine."

"Do you need more time? You look pretty exhausted."

"No, no. Let's get this bloody ordeal over with, I need a fuckin' shower. Besides, this part should be relatively easy."

Dudley laughed and picked up the bowl containing the blackish green potion. He brought it up over Harry's head and poured.

"Arghhh Fuckkkk!!!" Harry screamed as the potion made contact with his cuts. He was obviously wrong in his assumption that this part of the procedure would be painless. It hurt worse than anything he had ever experienced, including the Cruciatus curse. Dudley stopped pouring.

"No don't stop, get it over with!" Harry shouted at him, screwing his eyes shut at the pain. It felt like it was boring through his mind and body, and into his soul, tearing it to pieces.

Dudley reluctantly complied, even when Harry had fallen onto the ground. He didn't let him curl up into the fetal position. He had to make sure all the cuts were covered. Harry was screaming the whole time. Every time Dudley would hesitate, Harry would yell at him to keep going. He had to stop sometimes though, to reach out and grab another vial.

Despite his revulsion, Dudley was amazed at how, as soon the potion made contact with a rune, it would automatically fill it in. The rune would then begin to sizzle and smoke, the skin bubbling before it magically seemed to heal, the cuts taking on the appearance of what looked merely like strange tattoos.

Dudley was finally done, and Harry lay on his back, tracks of tears streamed down his face from when they had poured out in great measure during the inking process.

"Fuck that hurt!" Harry exclaimed, propping himself up on an elbow.

Dudley chuckled, "I don't think hurt describes what it looked like you were going through." His hands were still shaking, and he was still in shock over Harry's writhing in agony on the blood covered, wood floor.

"At least it's over with. Now the only part that's left is completing the ritual with the chant." Harry said tiredly.

"Do you need any help with that?"

"Nah. I mean, you can stay and watch if you want. Just stay out of the circle and make sure that you get out of the room when I change. It wouldn't be good if whatever animal I turn into attacks you. Oh ya, you should probably lock the door too, with all the locks, just in case."

If Harry's form was a big animal that should keep it in. He wasn't sure if he'd stay aware during the change or not. The Marauder's said they didn't, and that Sirius had tried to attack Peter the first time he had transformed.

Harry gingerly got to his knees, staying in a kneeling position. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stand if he tried. He started the chant slow and quiet but got louder and faster with every syllable that fell gracefully from his tongue. He could feel the magic in the runes resonate and build with the chant, urging him on to an ever increasing tension.

Dudley watched, feeling the magic permeating the room, as Harry continued the long chant. Suddenly, the runes all over his body began to glow; enveloping him in a swirling cocoon blue light and Harry's voice seemed filled with pain and desperation as he fell to his side. That's when everything went to hell.

Dudley backed up as his cousin started thrashing. There were loud cracks as Harry's bone snapped, and his face began to crunch and then elongate into a snout, as thick black fur began sprouting all over his body. The chant turned from almost melodious song to guttural primal growls, roars, and whines.

Harry's vision started to turn black. He couldn't take the pain anymore. The chant was almost over, and as it finished he embraced the abyss that called to him, waiting with open arms to consume him whole.

A dark monstrous creature began to get to its feet, scratching the wood floor as it scrambled to find footing and Dudley backed out of the room, stumbling in his terror. He slammed the door shut and fumbled with the locks, making sure every single one was latched. He hastily made his way to the safety of his own room before he could witness huge claws tearing through wood, and Harry's door being ripped off its hinges.

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AN:

Thanks to RuneNeko for beta reading this.

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