Disclaimer:
I don't own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride...
Though I'm getting one of my close friends to finally start reading the Harry Potter books. Yay!
Note:
Don't shoot me for saying this... But sometimes I have to wonder if my story isn't a drug and a bunch of you aren't just crazy addicted to it... *CoughBlissful-X-OptimismCough*
:)
I stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, leaning against one of the walls. My eyes were shut, and I was running the events of last weeks events through my head. I was waiting for Iggy, Fang, Nudge, Luna, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I had been dreading this day for almost a week now. It was the day we promised to reveal the secret to three strangers. I opened my eyes as I heard footsteps stop next to me. Iggy and Luna stood there. Iggy didn't look very happy, in fact, he looked downright frustrated. I closed my eyes, and waited for my scolding to come.
"I can't believe it Max, you're revealing our secret to three strangers!" Iggy hissed. I frowned, was he trying to blame me for this? I reopened my eyes, and starred at him.
"Look, Angel said that we would need their help, if that's true, then we need to know that we can trust them fully. And you know, that Angel is never wrong," I sighed, trying to face facts. "I don't want to do it either-"
''Then don't! Angel isn't our leader Max, you are," Iggy pointed out. I blinked, he seemed a little harsh with his words. I sighed, trying to keep calm. I knew that he didn't like this, he wanted to keep the secret and continue being normal. As much as a blind magic kid can at least.
"You two shouldn't fight... attracts the nargles," Luna said, in a hushed tone. Iggy nodded, and he seemed to calm down from that. I shook my head, wondering if Luna just hadn't given Iggy a love potion. How could he believe things like this? Nargles?
Fang walked over to the crowd, bringing with him Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I nodded bluntly to Harry, he did the same to me. Ron was going gaga over just looking at me again. I groaned, but before I could say anything, Fang started talking. "Where's Nudge?" he asked, looking around.
"Probably with the Beauxbatons, she probably isn't even coming," Iggy sighed. We all went a little silent after that, my eyes blazed with pain. I couldn't believe that my number one supporter, might be leaving us. I hated to think like that, but it was the truth. What if I lost Nudge? What if the rest of the Flock decided to go to other magic schools as well? I shook my head, trying to put those thoughts out of my mind.
"Alright then, we might as well start," I groaned, and we started walking out.
"Can't we eat first?" Ron groaned. "I'm starving."
"Honestly Ronald, they're about to reveal some secret that they've kept from everyone else this year, and all you can think about is your stomach?" Hermione sighed. There was a thump from behind us, I knew that she had slapped him pretty hard. I chuckled. We continued down to the little cottage by the lakeside. I knocked on the door.
Angel, it's us," I called into the door. "Gazzy!"
There was a loud moan as the door opened, and there stood the Gasman. "Hey Max," he smiled, flashing his teeth. He looked to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, his smile quickly disappeared. "That's today?"
"Yeah," I nodded, rolling my eyes. "Where's Angel?"
"Coming!" Angel cried, and ran out. I smiled, and looked to her.
"Alright, let's get to the dark forest," I sighed.
"But students aren't allowed!" Hermione said. The flock turned to look at her, exchanging a glance. I starred at her, wondering if we were going to have to go through with this. "Besides, there are all sorts of dangerous things in there."
"Trust me, we're probably more danger to you, than anything out there that you will see. Just standing this close to us puts you in the line of fire," I explained, hoping to scare them off. It didn't. We started walking. I looked around, making sure that nobody was spying on us. Quickly, we hustled into the grove of trees, to thick for anybody to see through without coming close. I looked at them, Harry looked darkly at me, Hermione looked intrigued, Ron had his face hidden. He was looking around, he seemed really jumpy.
"As long as we don't run into any of Aragog's descendants," he muttered under his breath.
"What's an Aragog?" Iggy asked. Ron jumped, I don't think he expected anybody to hear.
"A giant spider," Ron explained slowly. "I hate spiders, ever since Fred-"
"We don't need to hear your life story," I snapped. I did one more quick look, and nodded to the flock. "Luna, go stand by those three, will you? We don't want you getting hit when they come out." She nodded, her misty eyes glowing in the morning mist. "Ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Harry said. I nodded.
I was the first to put out my wings. Fang and Gazzy were next, then Angel, and finally Iggy. "We were created in a lab in California, called the School. We were made with ninety-eight percent human DNA, two percent avian. As you can see, that two-percent has had a big impact on our lives. Four years ago, a scientist, Jeb, broke us out of there, freeing us from them. But only for four years. Jeb went missing two years after our escape, and we all thought that he was dead. One day Erasers, the other successful cross projects, found us and came after us. They are the same as us, only with two-percent canine DNA. They're all dead now, including my younger half-brother Ari. You remember that day? The day I had the nightmare that woke everyone up?"
"Of course," Hermione nodded, she didn't seemed fazed by the idea of us with wings, even if she was starring right at it. "I was so tired that day. You started yelling in your sleep and nobody could wake you up."
"I was reliving Ari's death, in a strange way. We hadn't even known that we were related, until Jeb told me he was my father right before he died. Jeb was actually alive, just so you know. You see we are all built with expiration dates, we know when they're getting close because the date will appear on the back of our necks. Ari's just happened to be during a battle... and he died in my arms. Now, we've been traveling the world a little. Sometimes stopping to visit my mom and half-sister Ella. Enjoying chocolate chip cookies. But, people are still trying to kill us. We have no idea how we ever got into this mess of magic, so, if you want to know how we have magical abilities, don't ask us."
Hermione blinked, and nodded, getting the basic picture. Harry looked smug, he'd proven that he was right. Ron looked as though he may faint.
"Can you... fly?" Ron asked.
I looked to the flock. "How about we show you?" I asked, looking up. I tapped the back of Iggy's hand, signaling our direction. He nodded. We started flapping our wings, we rose a little, and then dove back down, picking up the four as we swooped back up. Angel and Gazzy held Hermione by her arms. Iggy was holding Luna. Fang had Ron. I had Harry. We took off, heading higher and higher. We broke through some branches, and came up above the tree tops. We quickly started flying. Ron was shouting in amazement, I noticed the grimace of displeasure on Fang's face. Harry was whooping loudly, and Hermione was screaming.
"Look! Maybe you should let me down, I don't really like flying," she begged. We laughed.
"Come on, let's show them my special ability," I laughed. "Hold on Harry." My extreme speed kicked in, Harry screamed. The wind was pulled the hair out of my face, and before we knew it, we were about two hundred yards away. I pulled up, flying higher and higher. The flock followed. When we were high enough, we all nodded to each other. We snapped our wings back in, and dive-bombed the dark forest. The four screamed, but before we hit the tree tops, we snapped them out again, and moved up. The four panted their sighs, obviously pleased that we didn't just fall into the dark forest. Quickly we started back to the little grove. We placed them down gently, before finally stopping ourselves, and putting our wings back in.
"I haven't flown in forever, that felt great," I sighed, rolling my shoulders.
"I know," Fang nodded.
"And what do you nine think you are doing in here!"
We jumped, and turned to look. Professor McGonagall stood there. "Students are banned from ever entering the Forbidden Forest!"
"We have Professor Dumbledore's permission," I replied sharply. There was no way she was going to stop us from flying.
"But not those four," McGonagall replied. I frowned.
"They're with us," I explained. "As long as they are with us, they're safe. No flyboys or anything those crazy scientists cook up are going to get us."
"I'm sorry Miss Ride, but there are more dangers in this forest than you could even think. I'll let you off with a warning, just this once. You are no longer allowed in the Forbidden Forest, starting now."
"But where are we supposed to fly now?" I asked. "That's why the Headmaster lets us in here. So we can fly." My hand turned into a fist, I almost punched her, but Fang grabbed my arm, holding me back.
McGonagall looked to all of us, she seemed rather irritated. "Angel, mind lending one of your powers?" I said, looking to the little girl. She nodded eagerly, and looked to McGonagall with big eyes.
McGonagall seemed to go rigid for a moment, before speaking. "Never-mind, of course you can fly in here. If you have the headmaster's permission, then you have my permission." She started to walk away. We watched as she went back to the castle, I looked to Angel.
"Thanks Angel," I smiled.
"How did you do that!?" Ron blurted out.
"Uh... We all have certain... powers," I said slowly. "I can fly at extreme speeds, and breath underwater. Fang, if he stands still long enough, can disappear into the surroundings, like a chameleon. Iggy can identify colors, identify others by their fingerprints, even better hearing than us, and he can see things when the background is entirely white. Nudge can attract metal at will, and communicate with computers, or something like that. She's our computer hacker, does that work? Anyways, Gazzy here can-"
"-mimic anyone, anytime, anywhere."
I looked to Gazzy, he was smirking. "Yes, he can mimic anyone, along with throwing his voice. And then there's the whole 'mushroom' cloud that he can whip up... Anyways, then there's Angel. And well, she's just filled with it. Mind reading, mind influencing, - as you saw with McGonagall - she can breathe underwater, talk to fish, did you discover anything else?"
"I can change my appearance," she smiled. Suddenly, her beautiful blonde hair turned black, just to return to the original blonde a few seconds later.
"As you can see, she's a very special six year-old," I sighed.
"That's insane," Ron managed to choke out.
"And now that you know, you're all in danger," I said. "Because whenever we make friends, they can end up in the line of fire. Like my mom and half-sister Ella. You four are in danger now, so, just keep low. And if we don't talk to you very-"
"Hey, if they know, then we should be allowed to talk to them. I mean, I talk to Luna all the time! She's never been hurt," Iggy pointed out.
"But you're blind and need her," I argued.
"No, it's because he's my friend, and I want to help him," Luna said, her voice airy and calm.
"Alright," I sighed. I looked to the castle. "Come on, we might as well go and eat before breakfast is over."
"Finally!" Ron groaned. "I'm starving!"
