Baba Yaga and the Devil's Research

Chapter One: Wolf House

Hey howdy fam! If you're new, this is the second book in a series, so please check out the first book, Behold: the Baba Yaga Guild. The series was inspired by Araceil's fic "Fairy Tail". Constructive criticisms welcomed, trolls can let themselves back out the door thank you :)

SUMMARY:

In 2009, eight children (7 HP characters and one OC) and one cat learnt Fairy Tail magicks by reading the manga, watching the anime and working together. Two children (Harry Potter – Hado magic; Wisteria "Terry" Petrovya – OC, Sky Dragon Slayer magic) and a cat (Temnaya Polnoch' – Telepathy magic) created the Guild Baba Yaga together, and did odd jobs around Little Whinging to earn money. They were later joined by two more Muggle-raised children (Hermione Granger – Archive magic; Dean Thomas – Picto magic), and then four Pureblood children (Daphne Greengrass – Figure Eyes and Seith magic; Astoria Greengrass – Requip; Hestia Carrow – Beast Soul; Flora Carrow – Shadow magic).

Terry and Harry are joint Guild Masters, and whenever possible the guild has sleepovers amongst the Muggle-raised members that double up as Guild Meetings. Terry's S quib cousin Nadja is used as the messenger between the Muggle-raised and Magical-raised children, as a Pureblood herself, sneaking the Greengrass and Carrow sisters out to meet with the rest of the Guild as often as she could.

Nadja is involved in what has come to be known as the Waterloo Bites – a werewolf somehow went on a rampage during New Years celebrations and bit twenty-two party-goers, most of whom were Muggles, including Nadja's best friend, Hillary "Hilly" Yao. Nadja now owns a house in Islington that's been treated with expansion charms to help house the Muggle 'wolves, and produces the Wolfsbane potion for them each month. Sixteen 'wolves live in Nadja's house, two of the Bites deceased due to their wounds, and the remaining four 'wolves live separate from Nadja but "drop in for tea" before and after full moons to receive the Wolfsbane Potion.

After learning of the Dursley's abuse and neglect, Dean's mother Martha, a social worker, threatened legal action against the Dursley's if they didn't release custody of Harry to Terry's father, Dr. Kazimir Petrovy, also a Squib, and a childhood friend of James Potter. Before Martha's interventions, almost no paperwork for Harry Potter existed in the Muggle world. Worried for what this might mean, Martha and Kazimir have spent all of 2010 and parts of 2011 organising the legal paperwork necessary to protect Harry and keep him away from the Dursley's, with Kazimir adopting Harry in the Muggle sense.

Five of the Babas are about to start their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How big of a challenge will it be for them to restrict themselves to wand magic only, and to no longer be able to freely use their Fairy Tail magic?

29th May 2011

(Sunday)

"… so thank you very much for attending MCM London, and we look forward to seeing you again in October for Expo 20!"

The crowd cheered, and slowly started to dissipate.

"Hey, hey Fairy Tail! Kids, you all look awesome, can we grab a shot with you please?"

"Tato, is it ok?" Harry asked, looking up at Kazimir. Like the other Baba Yaga Guildmages, Harry was cosplaying the magician who's magic he was teaching himself: Yuka Suzuki. He'd stitched his costume with help from Arabella and Little Whinging's sewing circle, spraypainted his hair blue and spiked it straight up in the air with copious amounts of gel and hairspray, and painted thick eyebrow on with facepaint. The booth selling contact lenses yesterday had had green contacts in a strong enough prescription he could use, so Kazimir had very tentatively allowed Harry to trial using them for Sunday's half-day con.

"This'll be the last one, Papa, promise!" Terry added, flicking her long blue wig back over her shoulder. Her sundress she'd made almost entirely by herself, painting the once-white calico and cotton blue-and-yellow to match Wendy Marvel's first costume. Arabella had helped with the arm- and ankle-bands. Despite Terry's begging to be allowed to purchase brown contacts at yesterday's stall, Kazimir had been firm that the children should be at least ten before trying contacts (Terry had then argued that it was only a week till her birthday. It was a long argument).

"Sure, sure – Dean, Hermione, do you want to too?" Both were dressed as Hibiki Lates and Reedus Jonah in black slacks and their polished school shoes, Dean in a plain white tee and a witches hat he'd bought last Halloween and a light brunet wig he'd painstakingly curled, and Hermione in a blue long-sleeved shirt and a black waistcoat that she and her mother had embroidered together, her blond wig slightly crooked after the long day of trying to contain her hair.

"Please, Uncle!"

"Alright, would you like me to take the picture for you? … Ok, everyone smile! There we go. And who are we today, miss?"

"I'm the Tenth Doctor, and my friend is Akatsuki Deadpool! Thank you, see you next time kids!"

"Bye!" Yuka Suzuki, Wendy Marvel, Hibiki Lates and Reedus Jonah all waved a cheerful goodbye to the other cosplayer, and leaned up against Kazimir, who had forgone cosplay this time around.

"Could we get hot chocolates before we go home, please Uncle?" Dean asked. "We've got enough left over from our savings, right, Masters?"

The children chorus their pleases, and Kazimir smiles down at them all. "Alright then. Are you sure you all have everything you wanted?"

"We got everything we really wanted yesterday with Mum and Nadja," Hermione said promptly. "Oh, it was so good that the others could join us! I wish we could do more together."

"Bickslow's joining us at Hogwarts," Harry jumped in, smiling brightly as they walked to a café the next block over. "Then Kageyama and Elfman will join with Wendy the following year, and then Erza the next."

"At least we were able to have a Guild Meeting before Nadja had to take them back," Dean said. "And it was great to see how far their magicks have come!"

"Erza was so happy with the weapons store," Terry cackled.

"I would pity her parents," Kazimir says wryly, "if I had not met them. Here – how many hot chocolates?"

Four hot chocolates and a cappuccino later and they're all catching the tube back to King's Cross. Nadja's place is only a few blocks down, and Kazimir and the Guild Masters were staying with her for the week of the Easter holidays. When they arrive, Hilly is reading a book in the front garden with Temnaya on her shoulder.

"Hello, little Wizards!" She called and then laughed – she had had the same response for the Babas since she had learnt about the magical world after the Waterloo Bites, and had yet to stop finding it funny – while Kazimir and the children called their helloes back as they made their way up the front path. Temnaya jumped from Hilly and raced up to Terry, leaping atop of Terry's shoulders and draping herself like a furry scarf over Terry's neck. She spat a mouthful of blue wig out of her mouth with a sneeze, and the children laughed at her.

"Hey, Temnaya! It was so cool – Hilly, look! Weren't the cosplayers great?!" Terry exclaimed, bouncing over with her father's phone to showcase all of the people they had taken photos of or with that day. Hilly made appropriately impressed noises, querying the cosplays that she didn't know, and then declared that the Babas were the best cosplays out of the lot.

The children cheered and thanked her, and then were chivvied by Kazimir to go inside and take the cosplays off. At the dismayed shouts, he reminded the children they had all worn their cosplays three days in a row, and firmly sent them upstairs.

"They really worn those clothes –?" Hilly began.

"Yes, despite the best efforts of the ladies and myself. Is Nadja here, please?

"Nah, she had to do something at the Wizengamot again. That pink bitch is trying to bring in heavier legislation and restrictions against lycanthropes – as if there isn't already enough! – so Nadja went to try and argue our case. She was meeting up with a wizard-werewolf, I think, to get more sway on the matter."

"Did she take anyone from here with her?"

"I offered to go, and so did Katie and Ayaz, but I think she was just going to be arguing all day, so she turned us all down."

Kazimir clicked his tongue. "Whatever possessed that fool to bite so many Muggles in such a public setting, I'll never know. Anyway, we're meant to be visiting my parents tomorrow and they have insisted that Nadja make an appearance – if you see her before I do, can you remind her, please?"

"Sure thing, Doc. Oh, uh, don't worry too much about dinner, Beth's put like five stews on for all of the kids – I think Nadja's bringing company home with her too?"

The children shrieked from inside the house, Leo's voice rung out angrily, and there were thundering footsteps as the children raced back down the stairs again. "Oh? Did she say she would?" Kazimir asked.

Hilly laughed, then gestured over his shoulder. "Nah, Doc, she's up the other end of the block, look."

Kazimir could spot his niece easily enough now that Hilly had pointed her out. Dressed in a dark-blue pantsuit Kazimir knew made her eyes pop with a bag slung over her shoulder – no doubt hiding the robes she would have been wearing for the Wizengamot – and even from this distance Kazimir could see the rage in the tight set of her shoulders . There was a man beside her in a shabby suit, but Kazimir paid him no mind as they watched the pair make their way up the garden path.

"Dyadya, allo," Nadja called sourly, slowly tugging her curls out of their professional bun. "Hilly, please tell me you picked up something good for me."

Hilly pulled a bottle of red wine out from under her chair. "Sorry, Jar Jar, this was it. Who's your friend?"

"Remus Lupin," the man said, inclining his head politely.

Kazimir stiffened slightly. "We've met, I think."

Remus cocked his head briefly, then nodded. "James and Lily's wedding – Kazimir, wasn't it?"

"Petrovy, yes. You were in their year at Hogwarts, weren't you?"

Hilly murmured something in Cantonese, and Nadja hissed something back at her. From within the house came more screaming – more rage from Leo, and excited terror from the Babas.

"They were my best friends, yes," Lupin agreed, casting a half-glance at the women.

"I don't know how well you knew what happened, after," Kazimir murmured, "with Harry, but –"

"Is he alright?" Lupin demanded immediately, worry obvious.

The children shrieked their most shrilly yet, and then the front door banged open and the Babas flung themselves outside, careening into adults and ducking behind them while Leo, the youngest of the 'wolves at almost-twenty, raged at the door.

"Give it back, you brats!" They snarled. "I have a test to study for!"

"It's a rock," Terry teased, tucked behind a now long-suffering Kazimir; Dean was behind a cackling Hilly, Hermione was behind a scowling Nadja, and Harry was tentatively behind Lupin, though he wasn't clinging or even touching him, as the other children were.

"It's for my report, and it's full of fossils! Kazimir, control your brats!"

"Leo, we even got you something at the con!" Harry called cheerfully. "We'll trade you!"

"…Harry?" Lupin asked, voice very soft. When the boy looked up at him, Lupin crouched down so they were on the same level. Immediately Temnaya and the children left their respective adults to crowd behind their other Guild Master. Leo stalked to Hilly's side and glowered, but didn't say anything.

"Did –," Harry began, but after a moment's thought he asked, "How did you know I was me?" His hair was still spray-painted blue and tufted up with copious amounts of hair gel. The other three children, at least, had taken off their wigs.

Lupin gave a very melancholic smile. "I first met your parents when we were a little older than you are now. You have your mother's eyes, and her laugh. The rest of you is all James, of course."

Harry swallowed thickly, and whispered, "That's what Ta – Dr. Petrovy says. You knew them really well?"

"James was one of my best friends in school."

"Hogwarts," Harry said, staring. "You're the wizard Nadja was with in court today?"

"Were you bitten after school?" Hermione asked, eyes alight. Dean nudged her sharply, and after an oops, sorry Harry! the other children were quiet again.

"I… You," Lupin stuttered.

Nadja spoke then. "Look at where we are, Lupin. The kids are over here more often than not on school holidays, there's usually over a dozen 'wolves here at a time, unless they're working."

"The brats have their own rooms inside," Leo grumbled, leaning against Hilly now that it looked like there wasn't likely to be drama.

After a deep breath, Lupin said, "I was bitten as a child, and allowed to attend Hogwarts in secret." Terry made a noise in the back of her throat; Dean elbowed her. "James and two others found out about my, uh, furry little problem quite early, and were very accepting. They were my first friends."

"They were your siblings," Harry said immediately, looking at Terry and then the other Babas. "Sorry, should I be calling you uncle? Are you staying for dinner? Can I… can I ask more questions about my parents?"

Lupin look thunderstruck. "I – I,"

Nadja sighed and stepped up, ruffling the children's hair. "How about you kids go make up with Leo, and then go and get out of your cosplays like Dyadya asked you to? Harry, don't forget to take the tape off before the makeup today, please, and get an adult to help you take the contacts out."

The other children nyoomed for the house, tugging Harry along behind them. Leo left last, watching Lupin closely with eyes that were more amber than hazel. "You hurt them kids, I'll kill you," they said plainly, eyes hard.

"Thank you," Lupin nodded back, palefaced.

"Do you need a moment?" Nadja asked Lupin softly. "Sorry, I didn't realise you knew the Potters, else I'd have said something."

"It's – it's fine, Nadja, thank you."

"Come inside, Lupin," Kazimir offered softly. "Have dinner with us, and tell us a bit more about yourself. Welcome to Volk House."

Volk – Wolf, in Russian. Yes, I'm unoriginal.

Lupin wasn't supposed to make an appearance until Book Three 😭. BUT! Here we are, Book Two! Please let me know what you think, reviews are life. If you have any questions or queries regarding what my update times are, the short answer is sporadically, and the long answer is drop me a message on tumblr ( fairyofthefriz) or tiktok ( faelefriz). I do thirsty Thursdays on my tumblr – if you have any questions about my stories, would like to see a short snippet from upcoming stories, or find out the backstory or inspiration for a fic, drop me a line!