Saturday dawned bright and clear, a Harvest Summer in the midst of Avalon's wet, cold autumn, and there was no need to convince Harry to join her in enjoying the weather.
With their horde, the pair went to one of the smaller, uninhabited islands for some well-deserved bonding time, bathing supplies in tow.
Carefully rinsing the suds from Ariel's slick hide, Nasrin carefully set the Brionne in a shallow inflatable pool to sunbathe as Harry finished towel-drying a cooing Eevee's fur.
Ludwig watched from a safe distance, an umbrella held over his flame to protect from any possible sprays, and Snow rolled her eyes when it got too close, blowing away the conflagration before her friend could panic.
Dobby helpfully Teleported to the Hogwarts Trainer Shop to purchase a little umbrella hat for the embarrassed Litwick, and Nasrin lifted a grumbling Pongo into her little bathtub of lukewarm water.
Floating overhead, Togetic tried to goad Hedwig into a game of tag, and Hedwig pointedly ignored her as Meeko ran after Melody in circles, cackling when they almost knocked Rapunzel off her feet.
"It's not going to work." Harry advised, making sure Eevee was completely dry even as Nasrin rinsed Pongo off and let him shake the water off to his satisfaction.
Togetic glowered, floating over to sit grumpily on Zygarde's head and earn a huff from Lion, who found the little Fairy's flaunting of her type advantages extremely amusing.
"One of these days, he's going to stop putting up with that, and then you'll be sorry." Nasrin warned, catching Meeko for his own bath as Dobby scooped up Melody to join Mulan in lounging on his shoulders safely.
Zygarde nodded in agreement, settling when Rapunzel hopped up to pat his scales empathetically, and Robin swooped down from a nearby tree to join Hedwig in waiting for a bath while Meeko pouted at being pulled away from his fun.
"Alright, buddy, you're all set." Harry decided, tying a Lucky Scarf back around Eevee's neck.
To help others remember who owned which Pokemon, he had purchased the striped scarves for his team to wear, ignoring the seller's claims that said items would allow Pokemon to get off stronger hits.
Even though the Great Harry Potter has seen much mumbo of the jumbo? Dobby projected, fingers snapping to summon dry soap for Ludwig.
"Speaking is different than magic, Dobby." He replied, rubbing the dry powder onto waxy skin as Meeko was swiftly dried and Melody took his place, arms flailing happily as water was gently poured over soft pink fur.
Perhaps, Great Harry Potter sir, but Dobby think peoples once thought sames about Speaking!
"You're spending way too much time around Remus." Harry retorted, wiping the batter-like soap from his hands.
Zygarde snorted, and Lion snickered at the glare he received.
"And you stay out of this!"
Nasrin laughed, handing Melody over to Dobby wrapped in a fluffy towel while accepting Mulan in return.
"They've got a point."
"Not you, too!"
Ariel barely glanced over to them, utterly relaxed, as Hedwig swooped down onto Harry's outstretched arm for preening.
Togetic grumbled about that a bit until Meeko tackled her in a hug, distracting her as Harry pulled out a special grooming brush Remus had gotten them to correctly clean feathers.
"I can't believe how fast you do it."
Nasrin glanced up from where she was drying Mulan, bopping noses with the Riolu before handing her back to Dobby so Rapunzel could have her turn.
"Practice. Pearl would freak out if I didn't give them all baths every day."
Remembering how Pearl had freaked out that time Togetic and Meeko had rolled through a patch of wildflowers, and the intensity of Nasrin's training schedule, Harry had no doubt at the amount of practice she had gotten.
Humming as fingers curled into fluffy white fur, Rapunzel barely slit an eye open as Hedwig's feathers were preened and Togetic was called over, happy to float with Nasrin's hand at her back as the soap was rinsed away.
Grumpy as she was at having to wait, Togetic swooped down eagerly to be pampered, earning a snicker from Robin as Hedwig stayed close to remind them of the pecking order.
Great Harry Potter, Kind Nasrin Universe, Dobby projected as his gaze flickered. Peoples is coming.
Are we in danger? Harry sent out as Lion stood, forehead glowing.
This was a signal, and suddenly Ariel was upright, water trembling around her while Eevee, Pongo, Ludwig and Snow surrounded the younger Pokemon and Eggs in a protective wall, Hedwig and Robin taking to the air for a better view.
Dobby no sense them be bad for you, Great Harry Potter, Kind Nasrin Universe, but that no means they good.
So, powerful and dangerous, but giving off no psychic readings that they want to do harm, Nasrin surmised, already reaching out-
In a flash of pink light, Harin stood with Togetic cradled in one arm.
There was a bubble of frustration, wanting to Speak and knowing the situation did not yet warrant it, and a returning wave of reassurance, confident in their abilities without.
Dark Queen of Evil and High King of Thunder says Great Harin is 'wussy', Dobby informed them, and both met the resulting glare with a 'prove us wrong' look. Dobby tell them Great Harin not wussy.
Thanks, Dobby.
Pokemon ready and shield in hand, Harin waited to face the newcomers head-on.
"Wotcher! I told you we should have warned them before we stomped up! Has their whole bloody army out to meet and greet!"
"Tonks." The Fusion realized, shoulders easing even as they split.
"Look at you all noble and proud, ready to take on the big bad intruders!" The Auror, her hair a bright yellow today, gushed as she pinched their cheeks. "It's just too cute!"
"Barely a Third Year and already getting felt up by older women." Sirius teased, Padfoot and his Duskull, Bones, following. "Knew you took after me, Pronglet!"
"I don't know about that, Sirius." Nasrin drawled.
"Unless you want to tell us more about the older cousins you were attracting."
Tonks audibly gagged, almost turning green.
"Merlin, don't! That's my mum, Aunt Narcissa and Aunt Bellatrix! I don't want to picture you with any of them."
Nodding, Sirius shuddered.
"No offense to your mum, as she's a classy lady, but her sisters…Yeah, that was a joke that went too far."
"It's okay." Nasrin assured, scooping up her Eggs as Ariel eyed the pair warily.
"They're friends."
"By Merlin's hairy nipples, an actual Zygarde!" Sirius shouted, gaze flickering down to Lion a moment later. "And a Solgaleo!"
The Lord of Sevii took a step forward before pausing, glancing to the Third Years for permission.
"Don't look at us." Harry said with a shrug.
"They're our friends and partners, not slaves."
"If you want to pet Zygarde or Lion, you need to ask them yourself."
As excited as a kitten, Lion bounded over and nearly knocked Sirius over, hooking a paw around his back to properly nuzzle as Zygarde slithered up with an exasperatedly fond hiss.
Unable to help a laugh, Nasrin reached out to scratch behind the Sunne Pokemon's ear and ease him off so Sirius could rest a hand on Zygarde's snout.
"They like you."
"You're trembling!" Tonks teased from where she had crouched to shake hands with a serious Mulan.
"Damn right I am! A whole island of Dusknoir is nothing compared to touching an actual Legendary!"
"Try fighting one, rights kids?" The Auror replied, nudging Harry with her elbow.
"Not something I'd wish on anyone."
"What are you two doing here?"
"We were in the area and decided to update you on the search." Sirius answered, giving Zygarde one last pat as the surrounding Pokemon calmed.
"And by 'in the area', he means we traveled half of Avalon just to get here."
"Close enough."
The four humans sat, and Snow trotted up with Ludwig in tow, the Litwick making sure Sirius meant no harm to their trainers, as a wonder filled the man's eyes.
"A Litwick…I haven't seen one of these in ages. How did you get one?"
"He was a Winter Solstice gift." Harry answered with a shrug.
"We're pretty sure Lily's Chandelure was his mother."
The Lord of Sevii scowled.
"Putting pressure on me to come up with something amazing, aren't you?"
"I remember learning all about Lily Potter's Pokemon. Her Chandelure was her go-to Pokemon after her Blaziken."
Tonks whistled, thoughtful.
"The Beast of Slytherin, an albino Hoothoot like Morgan Le Fay's, Lucius Malfoy's Alakazam, and the child of one of Lily Potter's Pokemon? Wotcher, next you'll be telling us that Togetic belonged to Voldemort."
"Eevee, actually."
"And only the Egg."
"Though Togetic was definitely a victim of Voldemort."
Sirius and Tonks stared blankly at the students.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing…" The man replied, clearly fighting back laughter. "Just wishing James were here to see you pranking all of Avalon, Harry."
Sensing the boy's confusion, Nasrin helpfully directed the conversation back on track.
"So, update on the search for the traitor?"
"Oh, right! Rotom!"
Said Ghost flew over and transformed into a laptop, a blue energy bolt shooting out to Tonks' wrist-mounted Pokedex so a PING escaped.
"Clever girl, Nymphie." Sirius stage-whispered as Hedwig and Robin settled on Harry's shoulders. "Dexes can be hacked or stolen, but digitally send the information to a Ghost Pokemon that can transform into an electronic device? You couldn't encrypt better security than that!"
"I don't know." Nasrin mused, petting Mulan's ears as the Riolu and Rapunzel curled around her Eggs. "Peridot's Porygon is pretty amazing."
"So, we obviously have some leads." Tonks cut in. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have let Sirius drag me away from work to come and visit you. No offense, little cousin."
"None taken."
"I'm guessing that however big these leads are, they aren't big enough to pinpoint a suspect yet."
"Got it in one." The Auror congratulated with a wink. "This is going to take time and effort, so it's important you two have more patience than Lord Skull-Face over here."
"Hey! That mask is cool!" Sirius defended, leaning in to whisper playfully. "Helped me bag Trainer Monthly's August centerfold. Should have seen what she was hiding under that jacket, Harry. Don't worry, I took plenty of pictures."
"Still only thirteen."
"And in a relationship."
"Where I'm very happy."
"As should be expected."
Sirius deflated, almost pouting.
"I so can't wait for this to be over so I can talk to Remus. At least he's old enough for me to share dirty pictures with."
"Could we?" Tonks prompted.
"By all means, colorful hair before beauty."
"Okay, so the problem with this investigation is that the Aurors at the time were looking in all the wrong places. They thought Peter Pettigrew was the guilty party and that Sirius was dead, so they focused all their attention on how Peter got onto Little Surrey. The boat Sirius and him used, what his actions were the day before your parents' murder, his finances, the whole works. Really good detective work, save for the fact that it's all focused on a victim. Now, this is good news and bad news. The good news is that since we know Peter is innocent, we have plenty of things to look over that the Aurors never did. If he was the guilty party and had faked his death or something-"
"Which is stupid and cliched." Sirius grunted, Ariel bobbing her head in agreement. "Seriously, faking your own death is so hackneyed."
"-Then we'd be chasing the same leads the Aurors were and would be in for a real mess."
"Okay." The Third Years echoed. "What's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that the good news would be wonderful…If this were 1981."
"Basically, we're dealing with evidence that should have been collected a decade ago." Sirius explained with a sigh. "Eyewitnesses who are either dead or haven't thought about that night in years, evidence that has been lost by the Aurors or to the ravages of time…"
"So, we're bloody well screwed?" Harry summarized.
"Now, we didn't say that."
Tonks nodded.
"There's one major piece of information that's really helping us out. Our Nocturne grunt is a Pokemagnus."
"But he wouldn't be on the official registry, would he?" Nasrin noted, remembering that the government required anyone who fully mastered the Lost Art to put themselves on a list.
"Hell, I'm not even registered." Sirius replied, shrugging. "Your dad and Remus and Peter weren't either. Remus might be now, considering he's all legit and stuff, but the rest of us never bothered. Was a fun secret between the four of us. And once Remus gets you two trained, you're to put off registering until this is settled. I'll talk him out of making you a decent and law-abiding citizen. My sacred duty as your revolutionist godfather."
"But lucky for us, we can use that to our advantage." Tonks cut in.
"What do you mean?" The Third Years wondered.
"None of us were registered." Sirius reiterated. "No one knew about me and Padfoot, or James and Prongs, or Remus and Mooney…"
"So how did the grunt know that Peter was a Raticate Pokemagnus?" Harry realized.
"Exactly!" Tonks cheered. "That narrows down the field considerably."
"And we have a way to narrow it down even more."
"How?" Nasrin wondered, Mulan's ear-sensors vibrating.
"Minnie-Professor McGonagall-For her Fifth Years, she performs a test to determine if they have the potential to become Pokemagnuses. She keeps the results a secret, and only lets each person know their own results. That's what inspired us Marauders to actually try and become Pokemagnus."
"Professor McGonagall doesn't throw anything away." Tonks revealed. "I once got detention with her, and she had me help her file away paperwork for students that had graduated back in 1983! She keeps every scrap and every test."
"Including the Pokemagnus results." Sirius finished. "We get those, and we can begin crossing off a ton of suspects' names from our list!"
"How are we going to get them?" Harry asked, almost bouncing in place and nearly unseating their owls.
"Are you going to get a warrant or something?"
"Sorry, but no. Again, we can't risk letting anyone know about this, even Professor McGonagall."
"You're right." The Third Years agreed, Melody starting to fuss. "So how do we get to the files, then?"
Sirius grinned so wide, it would not have surprised anyone if his cheeks split.
"Pronglet, Nugget, I'm the King of Pranks, and I'm thinking of one that's going to have the entire school talking…And give you plenty of time to do the deed."
The Lord of Sevii wrapped an arm around the teenagers.
"So, what do you say? Wanna help us rob Hogwarts?"