Chapter 11: Ernie
My name is Ernie.
I wasn't sure just what I felt more as Seamus and Anthony recounted their adventure to us last night, irritation, disbelief or horror. Irritation because everyone else had obviously already heard most of the story, disbelief because it was nothing short of unprecedented and horror, well, I highly doubt anyone needs that explained.
"So we're talking about an alliance between giant centipedes that constantly eat every substance in existence, bladed, reptilian creatures and slugs that enter a wizard's head and control them?" I asked, trying to take it all in. If it wasn't for the fact that I trusted Seamus with my life AND seen one of the centipedes for myself, I'd never believe it. It sounded ridiculous.
"Actually, I think the slugs are controlling everything else the same way their controlling Slughorn." Anthony muttered, biting his lip nervously. "I caught a glimpse of one bladed creature trapped in a cell and it was clear that Slughorn, or more specifically the slug in his head, was in charge of all of them. Whatever these slugs are, they're the masters."
"Perhaps they are mutated Wrackspurts." Luna suggested airily. "They float around your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. These slugs may be a crossbred version of them."
"Maybe Luna, but somehow I doubt it." Ginny smiled softly. She was much more tolerant of Luna's nature than I was, something I both marvelled and admired. I usually had hold my tongue so as not to snapped unfairly at Luna. She was a nice person and didn't deserve it, but her nonsense always managed to get on my nerves. I could never tell when she was being serious or not and it drove me crazy.
"Either way, we have to figure out how to deal with them and their...associates." Neville continued. "Which means reviewing all the facts. We know that they are inside the heads of Slughorn and at least ten students."
"There will be more than that." Ginny piped up. "I eavesdropped on Slughorn's conversation with Baddock. There are more Slytherins infested and while it sounds like most of them are snakes, there are a few more in the other houses. They're completing another passageway down to the Chamber from the Slytherin common room to better protect the bulk of their forces. I guess the fact that the centaurs are attacking them constantly make their forest entrance a bit too dangerous."
"Especially for continued use." Luna nodded, surprising me as her voice turned serious. "Anthony has informed me that they must return to the Yeerk Pool every three days to feed or they die. Using an entrance that deep in the forest that constantly would draw too much attention to it."
"I didn't know that." Seamus commented, raising a curious eyebrow at the blonde boy nervously biting his lip.
"I heard Slughorn say it when he was comforting a student." Anthony muttered, dropping his head shamefully. "Sorry, I should have told you."
"Nah, it's fine. We've all found out now anyway." Seamus shrugged, leaning back casually.
"What else do we know about them?" I asked, wanting to bring the conversation back on topic. After all, I was behind with no information whatsoever five minutes ago. I wanted to know what I was dealing with.
"Anthony theories that they have access to their host's memories." Luna continued, earning a shy nod from Anthony.
"That would explain the perfect facades." I nodded, making sure that Anthony saw the impressed look on my face. Maybe then he could start telling us his theories himself instead of relying on Luna. There was no need for him to be shy or nervous, he was doing fine. "You got any other thoughts on this Anthony?"
"Just that...they chose the Chamber because it's hidden from everyone and because technology works there." He replied. He was still unnecessarily nervous, but he was keeping his head up and looking each of us in the eye. It was something and more importantly, it was something I could work with. "It's the only place in the school where Muggle technology could work. There's too little magic down there to disrupt it."
"They're using Muggle technology?" I cried, the information finally sinking in. "That implies that they're not magical at all. They're non-magical creatures and yet they can still take over our bodies? How's that possible?"
"No idea, but you're it would make sense." Ginny frowned thoughtfully. "Slughorn's in charge here, but he has a boss too. According to Slughorn, they're planning on taking over the Ministry and Hogwarts simultaneously while the real leader is focusing on the Muggles. Apparently, between the war and the various different unpredictable eyes, taking the wizards is going far too slowly for the leader's liking. The Muggle takeover must be progressing faster."
"Most likely. They're not overflowing with ghosts, living portraits and who knows how many sentient creatures." Seamus stated. "It's a much easier target for the inconspicuous." He added, getting a nod of agreement from Anthony. They were probably right.
"Here's my next question. How do we know we're not infiltrated?" I asked, staring hard around me, especially at Neville, Luna and Ginny. "I mean the entire DA and those of us at this table. Seamus and Anthony are clear, they wouldn't have told us anything if they were infested, but what about the rest of us? How do we know we're all slug free?"
"The slugs don't want to infest anyone who's expected to get involved in the war. or at least not many of us." Ginny replied, though she definitely looked troubled. "Slughorn wants to take all the tougher Slytherins, but for some reason his boss, who usually never cares about the lives of his minions from what I overheard, wants them free to do their job without risking their forces' numbers. They only want enough slugs in the war to manipulate it to suit their needs. He hasn't gotten any of the DA yet, but Slughorn did say that he was going to infest a few of us to manipulate our group soon. I think they're just waiting until they deal with the never ending passage situation."
"So we're free for now?" I asked sceptically, shaking my head. "Not for long I'm sure. You guys do realise that if they decide to infest DA members then Neville, Luna, Ginny and I are the most likely candidates? We're the best people to infest if you want to manipulate the DA."
"You're also the most likely to get killed, either by joining the coming battle or for being expected to." Seamus shook his head. "No, I'm betting it'll be someone close to you guys. People who can convince you guys to make certain changes in their direction, but still slip into the background."
"By that logic, Seamus is the most likely target. Or Hannah." Ginny mused. "Seamus is definitely the closest person to me and Neville and Hannah could influence Ernie if she felt the need. Anthony will be another likely target once they get someone in the DA and discover just how involved he is."
"We'll just have to see what happens on that front." Neville sighed, rubbing his temples. "Every other seventh year in the DA is almost as likely. Ernie, Ginny and I trust all of them from Gryffindor or Hufflepuff completely and the Ravenclaws are highly intelligent, the source of a great deal of our knowledge. Any of them could be used. So how about we focus on how we are going to stop this instead?"
"We could just make the bloody Death Eaters aware of them." Seamus shrugged. "They won't want mind controlling slugs in their heads any more than we do."
"And let them cripple each other." I grinned, liking the idea. It was sly, manipulative and everything a decent Hufflepuff usually tries to avoid, but in this case it could be the answer to a lot of our problems. However, my grinned disappeared when I figured out just what that would mean. "But the Death Eaters would end the problem simply by killing every infested person they find. Hell, they'd kill people simply for the slight possibility of them being infested." They killed enough people as it was and would never bother trying to free them. I couldn't let that happen. What kind of person would I be if I allowed them an excuse to horribly murder even more innocent people, especially children? No, I'd hold the Death Eaters back with my bare hands if I had to.
The others quickly agreed with me as what I said hit home. Seamus even looked like he was kicking himself for suggesting it. It was clear that to save as many lives as we could, this had to be dealt with by our side.
/You are wise to withdraw that plan. It would likely end much worse than you are aware of./
"AAHH!" Ginny and Anthony screamed as they jumped to their feet, Neville, Seamus and myself following right behind them. That voice had appeared from nowhere. In fact, it hadn't even come from the room. I hadn't heard a peep with my ears until the scream.
"What was that?" I cried, looking from one of my friends' faces to the next. Each and every one of them had definitely heard it. If the screaming and jumping wasn't proof enough, the mixture of scared, wary and confused faces looking around the room more than covered it.
"Anyone else notice that your ears didn't pick up a thing?" Luna asked calmly from her seat, completely unphased. Serious, what does manage to unnerve her? "I believe it may be the cat. Or perhaps she has friends."
"A cat? A normal one or is it another Animagus like the wolf?" Seamus asked, only confusing me. clearly something had been left out of the retelling tonight.
"The wolf didn't talk, nothing spoke in our heads." Anthony muttered, whipping his head from one side to the other. He was definitely the most worried of us. Hoping to calm him, I moved a little closer to him, shielding him. it seemed to help, at least his breathing pattern relaxed a little, especially when the Gryffindors each pulled out their wands and searched the place.
/I am not an Animagus. However, I am a shapeshifter. Do not be afraid, I shall not hurt you./ The 'voice' spoke again, making everyone, bar Luna, tense again. The only shapeshifters that weren't Animagus' that I knew off the top of my head were Kelpies and they were not to be trusted. However, they never travelled that far from water and none had ever reported them to have mental abilities like this, so I doubted we were dealing with water demons. /I have come to aid you./
"Then prove it. Show yourself." Neville commanded, his aggression almost completely hiding his nervousness.
/As you wish./ The clopping of hooves meeting stone joined the soundless sentence as a flicker of blue appeared from behind a large shelf. Turning simultaneously to the creature, we stopped still in shock. This beast had to be a shapeshifter, it was the only way it could have possibly gotten into the room unnoticed.
It reminded me greatly of a centaur, but while it was smaller, it looked far more dangerous. Instead of a horse's lower body, it better resembled a deer. It's human hands bore one too many fingers each and its face had no mouth. Instead, it had a pair of stalks on the top of its head baring extra eyes that moved around constantly. It was almost covered entirely with blue fur, but what really caught your attention was the tail. Where the rest of its body looked almost frail, the tail was powerfully built and on the end was a tail blade worthy of a manticore.
/Greetings human wizards. My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. You may call me Ax if you wish./
"He's ahhh...um, he's...I don't know what he is." Seamus stuttered, blinking rapidly. He looked as dumbstruck as I felt. Neville and Ginny didn't look any better. All three of us could only nod in agreement with him.
Fortunately, our Ravenclaw members were able to maintain their famous wits about them. Luna finally rose from her chair, her dreamy smile growing much warmer as she approached the creature, offering it her hand.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Your friend the cat has been quite wonderful company." I don't know startled me more; that Luna was so calm about approaching a creature that could behead her in an instant or what she'd said to it. She knew this guy was here? And it had a friend? Why the hell wouldn't she mention it?
A total nut job for sure. Was the only thing I could possibly think of to answer that.
/The pleasure is all mine Luna Lovegood, unusual witch of the Ravenclaw./ This...Ax replied, throwing me off a little as he clasped her hand and shook. Though the eyes on his stalks continued to focus on the rest of us, his main eyes appeared...to be smiling?
"You know our names and houses?" Neville asked, his wand arm twitching slightly. His shock was receding now and it appeared that he'd registered as much as I had. my own wand arm grew firmer too, aimed right for Ax' chest. "How do you know who we are?"
/As Luna Lovegood has mentioned, I have a friend in the form of a cat who has been within the castle since Seamus Finnegan of the Gryffindor and Anthony Goldstein of the Ravenclaw returned from their adventure in the forest last night. However, she was one of two./ He explained calmly, not even twitching at the sight of our wands. He was either confident that we wouldn't use them or simply didn't see them as a threat to him. personally, I really hoped for the latter. /The cat was sent to watch Anthony Goldstein while the other would perform the same task with Seamus Finnegan. They moved on to Ginny Weasley of the Gryffindor and Luna Lovegood of the Ravenclaw throughout today after becoming confident that their original assignments and Neville Longbottom of the Gryffindor were acceptable. We have come to this meeting tonight to finalize our findings and ensure that the last leader of this team, Ernie Macmillan of the Hufflepuff, was also safe to approach./
"Wait, you've been spying on our meeting too?" Ginny asked. I couldn't help but grow a little amused as her voice met my ears. She'd gone from cautious and worried to outraged. There wasn't the slightest bit of fear left in her tone. She truly was a very impressive young woman and no doubt the truest Gryffindor left in the school.
This Ax seemed to notice too, for all of his eyes focused on her, if only for a moment. /I do apologise if this offends you Ginny Weasley. I assure you, we mean you no harm, nor do we wish to intrude on you. We merely needed to know that you were safe to approach. For reasons you already understand. It is for the same reason that you have not told your allies about the new enemy. Or rather, your new enemy. My team's enemy has become yours./
"The slugs are your enemy?" Anthony asked curiously. He was the only one of us besides Luna that wasn't still wary. Though it was still quite a shock to me that shy Goldstein of all of us would move right beside Luna, well within Ax' striking range, without the slightest sight of fear or discomfort. In fact, he looked a little excited. "So the wolf that saved us last night. That was you? Or one of your friends?"
/Yes. Cassie would never let a Taxxon eat the living. She is very grateful that you two were unharmed./ Ax nodded.
"Cassie? That's a rather normal name." Anthony commented, tilting his head curiously. "I was expecting all your friends to have names that were a little more unique, like yours."
/Understandable. However, unlike me, they are much closer to you as a species. Their natural forms are human and as such they have human names. This is why I have been chosen to reveal myself first instead of my...leader./
"Humans? So they are Animagus'?" Anthony frowned confusedly. "Are they unregistered then? I mean, there's only seven known Animagus in the entire country and none worldwide that turn into a wolf."
/No Anthony Goldstein. They are not what you call Animagus. Our power is far more...beneficial than your difficult and dangerous magical art. Nor is it magical at all./
"You actually expect us to believe that?" I cried aggressively. Did this guy take me for a fool? There was no way to shapeshift without magic. It was impossible. "There is nothing that could replicate the magic needed for the alteration of the body's biological makeup on that level. It's not possible. Tell us the truth!"
/I understand why you are sceptical Ernie Macmillan. Not four days ago, I held that same feeling for the existence of magic. And in a way, you are partially correct. Nothing naturally exists with such power outside of magic and this is especially true about the primitive nature of this planet. However, this power is the result of the technology of my home world./
"Home world?" I asked, frowning harder. This was sounding more and more ridiculous to me. "You're trying to tell us you're an alien?"
/Yes. I am an Andalite. I am alien to this planet./ He nodded calmly. However, the cold rage that filled his 'voice' as he spoke next sent shivers down my spine. /And so are the Yeerks, the slugs that have enslaved the minds of countless races and reduced dozens of planets to near-lifeless, polluted wastelands in less than one of your centuries. And this is exactly what they will do to Earth if they are not stopped./
I don't know what it was. Maybe the raw hatred for the creatures we were facing. Maybe the sadness that flickered in and out of his voice when he talked, or the look in his eyes, reflecting hate, sadness and loss. I don't know what it was, but suddenly I believed him. It all still sounded completely nuts to me, but something in me was demanding that it had to be true. That I could trust this...Andalite, that he only wished to save us.
And if a creature of science as he claims to be can make the leap to believe in magic, I should at least try to perform the reverse act myself. I decided as I turned to the others.
Neville seemed to be thinking the same way I was. His wand had already been lowered and a look of pure horror was covering his features. I could see why. It was written all over his face that he was envisioning everything Ax had said. Anthony, though looking paler and more terrified than any of us, had his eyes darting back and forth. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he connected dots between what we'd known and what we'd heard. Ginny and Seamus had both lowered their wands too, Seamus' dropping to the ground and Ginny's finding the table as the redhead moved a hand to her mouth. She looked like she was going to throw up. Even Luna had lost her airiness, though the look of fear seemed much weaker on her face. Maybe I wasn't getting the whole picture because she was naturally very pale, but I think I did. Especially if the flash of determination crossing her face wasn't just in my imagination. We didn't have to say a thing. Suddenly, we all believed him.
Neville must have been as confident in that statement as I was, for he didn't even look at a single one of us as he stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, he stood up as straight as he could and tightened his expression into the most serious look I'd ever seen on his face.
"Thank you for warning us Ax. If it is ok now, I'd like to speak to your leader. Where is he?"
/I'm right here./ I jumped once again as a voice entered my mind. however, this one wasn't the Andalite's. This voice, while still male, was much less formal and had a much stronger American accent.
"Who was..."Ginny started, looking wildly around again. she was probably expecting someone else to crawl out of a cupboard.
/My name is Jake. I am the dragonfly on the floor. Give us a couple of minutes and we will talk face to face./
"AAHHH!" Both Ginny and Anthony screamed as we looked down. There, at Ax' hooves, were a hawk, a dragonfly and a cockroach and all. Or at least, that's what they were. I watched with a rapidly growing green tint to my face as I saw the first difference between and Animagus and this new shapeshifting trick. This one was a lot slower and far more disgusting.
I think I'm gonna be sick. I thought, grabbing my stomach and flopping back down into my seat. Despite how gross and nightmare inducing it was to watch blond and brown hair growing on an extremely vaguely humanoid form covered in an exoskeleton, mandibles and oversized insect legs being sucked into their chests with a gut wrenching slurping sound, I couldn't force myself to look away.
That is until a gurgled cry met my ears and drew my attention just in time to see Seamus conjure up a bucket two second before puking. Yeah, this night is going to scar me for the rest of my life.
/We probably should have mentioned that you should probably look away./ At least this Jake had the decency to be sheepish.