Thank you to teamedward240 and Angel no Yami for beta-ing this chapter.

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Weapon (Possession Chapter XCV)
Chapter XLIV - Wings on a Basilisk

Harry stood at the edge of the quidditch pitch, his bare feet sunk a little into the surrounding sands. He wriggled his toes, feeling the small grains scour the skin between each one before he brought his attention back to the present. He felt...

He felt good. He always felt good when in his animagus form for the simple fact that the transformation had an unexpected benefit. Fawkes couldn't track him. The phoenix tattoo of the Order was still there slightly but the conflicting energy that was his animagus form meant that the phoenix couldn't contact him and couldn't monitor him. In this form he was free! It was a freedom though he was careful not to enjoy too much of, lest someone became suspicious. And it was only because he transformed into what he did that the phoenix was not already suspicious.

Harry remembered the moment Fawkes had realized he was 'out of touch'. He'd been in Dumbledore's office, going over a few things when the fire bird had asked him to transform, which he had dutifully done. That had then lead to a few very sharp looks from the bird before he'd ruffled his feathers in annoyance and settled back on his perch indicating that Harry should transform back.

:I can't talk to you in that form,: the phoenix had said when he'd resumed his human form.

"What?"

:I can't talk to you in that form,: Fawkes had repeated. :There is too much interference from the energies. I think in time I will be able to but not at the moment which is a shame.:

Harry had been very careful to keep the surge of elation from his hidden self suppressed and had done his best to simulate gentle confusion. "A shame?" he'd eventually asked to cover the growing silence between them. Deep inside though he could feel his true self celebrating and making plans to be in animagus form as much as was practicable.

:I was going to teach you how to fly,: the fire bird replied. :Now you will have to learn it the hard way... And without a tail, it really is going to be the hard way!: Fawkes seemed to laugh a little at the last and Harry received a mental impression that had something to do with flying and the role that a birds tail played in keeping them stable.

A moment later his mind produced a very unsubtle image of himself, face planted firmly into the ground with his wings spread around him. Oh yes, flying might not be quite as easy as it seemed.

So that's why he was here, at the edge of the quidditch pitch in his animagus form, preparing to give himself his first flying lesson. He wore only a woolen knitted form fitting suit that let him move freely but left his now clawed hands and feet bare and had space down the back for his wings to sprout through. He'd taken to wearing it, or having it at least partially formed from the shadows since the day he'd recovered from this transformation. For some reason, it had felt right and while it should be stifling hot in the middle of summer, really didn't feel that bad.

He looked around, looking up at the deserted stands. Fawkes had done his best to describe what he thought would be necessary to make the adjustments to flying without a tail, but the fire bird's explanations, were to a human... vague. He spoke of air currents and eddies and of changing the angles of his primary feathers to compensate. Most of it had gone over Harry's head though he had concentrated and tried to understand. In the end, though Fawkes had once again ruffled his own feathers and shook his head, sending a few sparks down on to the stone floor of Dumbledore's office before he'd given the best bit of advice Harry had heard so far. :For you to learn to fly, it will require practice... and lots of it so I suggest you get to it.:

And with that as the final word on advice on how to fly, the phoenix had made the arrangements so that Harry wouldn't be required for most of today and had seen to it that the quidditch pitch would be deserted as well, and the fire bird had then sent him off to practice. There had been at least enough sympathy there for Harry to realise that his first few attempts were not going to be pretty. The image of himself, flat on his face was unlikely to be fantasy.

He sighed, looking up at the goal rings. That should be his first goal. Flying up to one of them. But exactly how did he co-ordinate everything to get up there?

If he transformed fully into his animagus form then there would be no worries. That particular form, a fully magical being didn't fly, it just willed itself where it wanted to go. He'd learnt that very quickly in the few times he'd managed to steal enough time and privacy to manifest his full form. He'd only done that once he'd been cleared to practice in private and only when Fawkes had been at ease. The Order only knew about his corporal transformation, they didn't know he could go all the way and he wanted to keep it that way. It was bad enough that he had an animagus form that... well transcended every wizard and witch in existence. He really didn't want to think what the Order might try if they knew he could go further, could outstrip them all even with their combined power. There hadn't been much backlash to his abilities but he'd been surrounded by those who were accepting of power. The rest of the wizarding community would not be nearly as understanding.

That wasn't the question now though. Harry shook his head bemused as he stepped out on to the grass, idly fanning his wings. Even with the little bit of movement he could feel the resistance of the air, feel his wings pulling against it and the magic working to make the muscles of his back and chest far stronger than they could ever be. He knew that flying was more than just flapping his wings. One of the times he'd transformed he had actually wanted to see what they could do and had flapped as hard as he could. It had been an effective way of moving himself and furniture but had not granted him flight. And he'd spent a good part of the next hour moving everything back to where it should be - after he'd picked himself out of the wall he'd driven himself into. Oh yes, flying was far more than just flapping his wings which was why he had listened to Fawkes even though nothing had been really clear.

:Would you like some help, Master?:

The voice came from inside him and Harry recognized it as Xaos'. He welcomed the new presence with a burst of love that was returned as a little illusion of a serpent appeared wrapped around one of his forearms. He felt the basilisk tattoo tickle over his chest too as the serpent rose out of the depths of his mind where he had been hiding since his confrontation with Fawkes. No one was going to disturb him for at least a few hours when he expected at least that one of the house elves would bring him some lunch - and not so incidentally check that he hadn't accidentally knocked himself out in his attempts to fly, so it was safe enough for his internal protector to manifest himself.

"I'm glad to see you, Xaos," Harry said aloud, raising his arm to look into the eyes of the illusionary basilisk on his arm, "and I am especially glad to see that there has been no damage from Fawkes, but you're a serpent, how can you help me to fly?"

The little basilisk brushed up against his cheek in a fond movement, his tongue flickering all the time. :I know how to fly,: the serpent said.

"But you're a snake!" Harry objected.

:But I still know how to fly,: Xaos said firmly.

Harry frowned. "I will grant that a basilisk is created through hatching a chicken's egg under a toad and that as such a basilisk may retain the instinct of a chicken and therefore the knowledge of how to fly, but Xaos, you are a pure basilisk, born of basilisks. Your relation to something that may know how to fly goes back a long way and many generations."

:That is true, Master, my body is pure serpent but my soul remembers how to fly,: Xaos said with quiet dignity that was accompanied by a flash of memory of soaring through the sky on silent wings.

Harry blinked, feeling the wind pressed against his wings in the memory and the surety as he made tiny adjustments to each feather unconsciously or rather as Xaos made tiny adjustments to each feather, but more importantly Harry couldn't miss who he was flying towards in the memory. He was flying towards himself!

He let out a long sigh, "How?"

His question was answered with another flash of memory, and this time he was flying over the lake but there was not even a whisper of wind and the lake surface was flat, reflecting the sky and the surrounding mountains like a mirror, reflecting the almost glowing form of a snowy owl back into his eyes.

"Hedwig..."

:Yes, Master?:

Harry wished that Xaos had decided to physically manifest himself but the little basilisk had decided to be discrete, something he was thankful for but regretted now as he could not hug the serpent in sheer relief but after a moment his joy faded and he remembered the fear and the uncertainty he'd felt at his induction into the Order. He'd risked Hedwig in such a manner?

:No, you did not Master. You risked me, Xaos, in such a manner because there was no other choice but there was also no risk Master. I told you that then, I will tell you again, so long as you back me against the phoenix, even privately, then he cannot dislodge me. There are only three powers that could now even attempt to dislodge me.:

"What are they?" Harry demanded as the words soothed his guilt. They couldn't remove it entirely, because no matter what he just wouldn't accept that but he would try to move onwards.

:The Serpent Lord could try to call to me but since I want to stay, and so long as you wanted me, I would remain. He is the King but you are my host. Your servants are another power that could attempt to dislodge me. I enjoy speaking with them and while they down play their part in hiding me against Fawkes, I know that took much power and I would be naive not to speculate that they could possibly have enough power to remove me. And the third power that could remove me Master, is you. If you truly do not wish my presence then we would separate and that would be that.:

"I'm not going to want you gone," Harry said confidently.

:I know,: Xaos replied chuckling. :Now, about flying,: the little serpent said quite eagerly. : Firstly, I will need a good look at your wings,: he added sliding back down Harry's arm and over his shoulder, quite deliberately growing slightly so as to hook his illusionary tail over one wing so that the little serpent could look carefully at the leading edges of each wing. :Master, please stretch your wings out.:

Harry did as requested, stretching each wing out to its full extent, suppressing a giggle as the serpent illusion moved over them, ruffling not so much as a single feather barb in his examination. : Well your wings are narrower and more pointed than my wings were but that's not too bad, it should allow you more maneuverability and you can probably use some magic to enhance that,: Xaos gave the commentary on his examination. : And you've got some very strong leading feathers, which should mean that an adjustment to any of them will make a small adjustment in flight but that's something you can learn later, how each feather can be used to make things easier. What I really don't understand Master, is why Fawkes insisted you don't have steering feathers,:

"I don't have a tail," Harry said.

:True,: the serpent agreed, :but your scapulars and secondary feathers close to your body are very long and appear to be doubled and reinforced.:

Harry felt the little basilisk give a few of them a phantom tug and he realized that those feathers were almost double the length of any other feather and almost touched the grass.

:Given that there appears to be some extra musculature around them at their base,: Xaos continued as Harry belatedly remembered to pay attention, :I believe those feathers will form you a tail and will be used for steering. But that doesn't disprove what I said earlier. A bit of magic would also probably help but isn't strictly necessary though if you can, when you make your transformation, try to focus on making those feathers fuller as that will help.:

Harry nodded but the little basilisk appeared satisfied and came back around to face him. :Okay, first things first. To get off the ground, master, you will have to concentrate on flapping your wings DOWN, which will require you to either tilt slightly or to make your wings parallel to the ground, though remember the angle will dictate the rate of climb. Fully parallel will make for an almost vertical rise while perpendicular will do little more than buffet you and whatever is in the vicinity. At the same time though Master, you must remember those tail feathers. They will be used like a rudder to give you direction and should be facing straight down when you are attempting to gain altitude. Once you reach the height you want, then your wing beats will depend on what you wish to do. For direct forward flight then it would be best to attempt to level out your body horizontally and just flap your wings towards the ground with a slight tilt forward and then to use your tail as steering. For very quick turns, it's easiest if you fold in one wing slightly so that it's not working as hard. The differential will make you turn much sharper, and this is especially true when you use your wing tips, which are much more pointed than my owl wings. This will allow you much more subtle control over turns. They will also help when swooping to guide you. The points will be extended back past your body and will be catching the air as you swoop and an adjustment to any feather will give you steering control here.:

Harry blinked as he took in Xaos' explanations. The basilisk really did know how to fly and wasn't concerned about trying to explain air currents and eddies. He made it seem much simpler than Fawkes had.

:Next master is reading the air.:

The black hair boy choked back a laugh. He'd thought too soon apparently.

:So long as you remain close to the ground here, there will not be much wind to distract you and your first few flights should be relatively simple. But as you rise higher, or in other areas there are many things that can disturb your flight. The wind, for example. Where possible try to fly with it. Flying into the teeth of a howling gale requires quite a bit of energy and control to maintain your course. I know you can see the swirls of magic in the world when you try master, the air is rather similar. There are swirls and patterns there that if you try to fight against, they can be painful. Once you get into the air you will sense them, I think, and you will be able to work with them. They should be taken as a guide though, and not as an absolute. Sometimes, you just have to fly into the teeth of the howling gale.:

"Okay," Harry agreed. "Is there anything else?"

The black serpent shook its head. :Just remember that everything works together, master. You are a good flyer on a broom I know and that should help you sense the air a bit, but the mechanics of flight are different under your own power. So now we begin.:

"Now we begin," Harry echoed briefly closing his eyes.

Elliot looked over at his companion. He'd been more than a little surprised when his usual Auror contact had asked to meet him again. After the fiasco with the werewolf he'd assumed that they were no longer talking to him but they'd sent him a message to meet in the usual place. So here he was, nursing a pot of muggle beer as the Auror in front of him did the same.

"So..?" Elliot began.

"Indeed," the Auror Baross said. "This is off the record," he added forcefully and Elliot just nodded. While there probably was something important, sometimes the Auror just needed to vent and while he could be said to be a risky proposition, he'd given his word that if asked not to publish he would not. Which is the only reason the Auror Captain trusted him. Of course, what was not published was often of use to the Order.

"So, what's up?" Elliot asked.

"That werewolf," Baross ground out.

"The Death Eater?"

"Yes... the one who practically waltzed out of custody... And if that comes out before we are ready, you'll be in the deepest pit in Azkaban before you can blink."

Elliot merely nodded. At least that explained why there had been no news about the werewolf in the past few days. Escaped... it hardly seemed possible. "How did it happen?" he asked quietly. "Or rather, who was it?"

Baross reached into his Muggle coat and brought out a picture. "You probably recognize him," he said with heavy irony.

Elliot looked at the picture and he did recognise it. "That's the guy from the Atrium," he said handing it back. The picture was nothing special but showed clearly the masked man, walking confidently down the corridors of the Auror Headquarters with the young werewolf following in his wake. It seemed incongruous that the man should be so open in what was obvious hostile territory, but he didn't seem concerned and moved with great confidence and poise. The werewolf looked more worried.

"Yes, we know that much. And that's the problem. He apparated into the Headquarters, knocked out the guards and then walked calmly through the corridors, that were on high alert, avoiding every guard before he released the werewolf and then strolled through the corridors to the command offices and floo'd out to one of our few Muggle locations and apparated. And believe me we looked for traces of magic, which severely interrupted quite a bit of the Muggle government. The Minister had to talk to the Prime Minister and the Queen especially and we found absolutely nothing."

"That... that is impressive," Elliot said.

"Impressive it might be, however that level of training isn't easy to come by. Whoever it is had to have Auror training and that level of power... The list of wizards with that level of power is very short and given how quickly he went through the wards, he has to have had insider help. And to top it off, the werewolves brother has disappeared."

"So what do you do now?"

"Now?" Baross sighed, rolling his eyes. "Now we launch on a fruitless search for a few weeks until things calm down and then I'll let you know when it can be published and we can get back to fighting this war."

"Oh ta," Elliot said. "So now I'm only good for publishing those stories you don't care about?"

Baross snorted. "My contact with you has always been for my benefit and sometimes to yours. We've both known that."

"I know, and I accepted that because you are a ranking Auror and as a contact you are second to none, but why give me the throwaway stories?"

Something in Baross seemed to snap and he glared at Elliot. "You want to know why we didn't tell you about the werewolf we captured?" the Auror captain snarled. "It's simple, Elliot, because you think too much!"

"I what!" The reporter objected.

"You. Think. Too. Much." The answer was repeated. "You would have been all, 'Oh oh oh, what if the werewolves side with the Dark Lord? What if they do this? What if they do that?' Well, here's a tip for you Elliot, so what!"

Elliot ground his teeth again as he looked over at his long time Auror contact. "If they join the Dark Lord it would make this war so much harder."

"No," came the denial. "It makes it easier. It would be a chance to exterminate them once and for all. So what if they join the Dark Lord, it doesn't matter, most of them already serve him, just they are too weak to declare it officially and the Ministry is still dithering, thanks to your buddies in the Order, on declaring Werewolves anathema and killable on sight."

Elliot fell back, dazed. When he'd predicted that the response to Wilbur's article would be bad, he'd never envisaged this bad. And when his long term Auror contact was advocating the wholesale extermination of those who should be their allies, then things were very much out of balance.

"Yeah, your response now just confirms it. That's why we didn't tell you. This war is going to be bloody, we don't need factions. Either people are going to be with the Ministry or with the Dark Lord. The sooner we get that settled, the better and the easier it will be to fight."

It was Elliot's turn to glare. "Do not ever think that I am disloyal just because I do not want to kill anything that may disagree with the Ministry. It is not a sin to think for yourself, especially with some of the foolery that the Ministry is invoking at present.

"Everyone will fight in this war, but I think you will agree that ridding the world of the Dark Lord is more important that pursuing the human-centric view that the Ministry is pushing. That's a view more suited to the Dark Lord and you know it.

"Besides, while this is blackmail... you don't really think the Order is going to let Harry fight just for you and for the ideals of the Ministry?" Elliot chuckled. "Apart from the fact that Dumbledore won't let that happen, I can't see Sirius Black allowing it either and while Harry is of age magically, he does listen to his Godfather and to the best Defense against the Dark Art's teacher he had - a werewolf by the name of Remus Lupin. You want to declare war against the werewolves and you will probably be losing the only one who can really fight the Dark Lord."

"Yet it was the Order who have pursued a treaty with the Vampires and you need the Ministry to make that into a reality. Same for those negotiations I know you are holding with the Goblins."

"No, we don't," Elliot said brutally. "If it gets out that the Ministry stood in the way of a treaty that would help fight You-Know-Who, how long do you think the Minister will remain in office? Personally I'd give it about three to four days which would be three to four too long, which is why the Order was so frustrated with your handling of the Death Eater Werewolf. You are right; I would have and did say everything you thought I would because it is my belief that you have now practically guaranteed the werewolves' loyalty to the Dark Lord.

"He may not attack on a full moon, in fact he probably won't, but you know as well as I do that a werewolf's senses are better than a humans at any time, especially if they were made a werewolf at a young age. I swear Remus can hear a flobberworm sliding at the far end of the castle when he wants and it is that power and those abilities that you and the Ministry have just thrown away without a thought because it suits your world view.

"We need allies, not gifts to give to the Dark Lord, gifts he doesn't need." Elliot sat back with a poof and took a long drink of the bitter Muggle beer, watching the Auror over the lip of the mug.

Baross had a thoughtful expression on his face, but after a moment he shook himself, and Elliot sighed internally. It would take something more than just his explanation for some to accept. They would understand in time...

He hoped.

Things to do now:

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