I do not own the Harry Potter series or Pokémon

Chapter Eight: Beast Boost

Moon hadn't seen much of Hogsmeade when she had accidently stumbled into it, but that might have been a good thing. The cheerful and quaint village was still filled with wizards and witches wandering around the streets in robes, and the children—

BANG!

Were still setting off fireworks.

Moon smiled. She had been free to wander around the town without supervision, as Dumbledore had promised. Aside from a lengthy conversation with Professor Flitwick on the Summoning and Banishing charms, and a few short words with Professor Snape (who had definitely gotten more irritable since the announcement of the new DADA professor, whoever they may be) about Grindylows, she had been left alone. Moon had caught some of the professors glancing at her occasionally on the journey to the village, and she figured that the 'no interference' rule wasn't well received by all of the staff.

She knew Dumbledore was more interested in seeing how she would handle being left on her own than he was concerned for her safety. She didn't mind at all, seeing as she had travelled to far more dangerous places than Hogsmeade. She could handle going into a candy store.

Nearly an hour later, Moon discovered that she could not, in fact, handle going into a candy store. A magical candy store, to be more precise. Moon did not have a sweet tooth by any means, but she found herself purchasing several heavy bars of chocolate and a package of Fizzing Whizbees. She had spent several minutes being entranced by the effects of Pepper Imps before one of the workers had tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was okay. She had insisted that she was fine, and had purchased a load of chocolate that would take her a month to eat. The cashier gave her a sympathetic smile when she brought over her purchase, and Moon decided to let the woman believe whatever she wanted rather than explain that she had never tried any of the sweets before.

Moon tucked the bag of candy inside her messenger bag not long after she had left the shop. She passed by the Three Broomsticks and, after seeing the professors gathered around the tables inside, decided to head over to the Shrieking Shack. She had heard stories about the haunted cabin, and thought it would be an interesting detour to take.

When she arrived at the Shrieking Shack, she was greatly disappointed. Not by the lack of ghosts flying out of it, but rather by the lack of any path inside the building. Moon wedged her fingers in between the boards sealing up the window and tried to pry one off. The board stuck tightly, and Moon figured that some sort of spell kept it in place. She pressed her forehead against the wooden barrier and peered through the small crack.

The shack was dark and filled with dust. The few pieces of furniture that Moon could see were shredded, and appeared to have been that way for a very long time. Something had gotten in there at one point, but it couldn't have been a ghost. A poltergeist like Peeves, perhaps, but that wasn't anything to be afraid of. And what sort of poltergeist would randomly destroy furniture in an abandoned cabin?

"The people here say the Shrieking Shack is haunted."

Moon pulled away from the building and whirled around in surprise. A man—a very strange-looking man—was standing a few meters away from her. His eyes were focused on her, and he smiled at her shock. His teeth were unnaturally sharp, but they matched the overgrown fingernails and vicious, sneering face he was sporting.

"It's all lies, of course," the man rumbled. "Rumours stirred up to conceal the truth. There's no ghost here."

"I figured," Moon remarked, forcing her expression into the flat stare she had gotten used to. The man was not deterred.

"You must have seen the inside of the place. No ghost could do that. Only a truly powerful creature could cause such chaos. Some creature more primal… more rage-filled… more lethal…"

The sneer on the man's face was pulled even wider with delight. "That old joke of a wizard, Dumbledore, thought it'd be a good idea to let one of my prizes into his precious school. Thought that showing kindness and compassion would change the boy's life."

He chuckled hoarsely. "Lotta good that did him. That Lupin kid practically ran himself into the ground after his friends left him. Should've stayed far away from wizards, like I did. The camps aren't as frilly as Hogwarts, but we don't turn on each other there."

With a jolt, Moon realized who this man was, and what the Shrieking Shack once contained.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Romania?" she asked conversationally. The man's sneer lessened, but he seemed almost pleased.

"I thought it would be nice to visit my old home before the weather grew… unbearable."

Moon hummed. "Any reason you decided to come out here, specifically?"

This time, Greyback really did smile. "I can't walk into town anymore. Especially not with the Ministry being so twitchy about Black and having Dementors stationed at every street corner. No… places like this are better. I can just admire the view, have a few drinks… maybe find myself a nice meal…"

Moon barely blinked, but she pulled her bag in front of her defensively.

"You think a purse is going to protect you, sweetheart?" Greyback snorted. Moon ran her hand through the contents of the bag, looking for her pokémon, or her wand, or something to defend herself with. Her fingers brushed one of the marble-sized balls, and she pulled it out and pressed the button. Except she hadn't pulled out a pokéball.

Greyback was startled at the beast ball expanding to fit her palm. Moon considered putting it back and finding something less volatile, but the man tensed. He growled and took a step toward her.

Moon threw the beast ball.

Greyback took a step back at the sight of Nihilego. The Ultra Beast wasn't intimidating in a physical sense, but the creature was so otherworldly that anyone would retreat. He managed to shake off his surprise, and glared at Moon.

"You think your squid is going to stop me?" he scoffed.

"Yes."

Greyback tensed, and then lunged at Nihilego with his claws and bared teeth. Moon ordered the first thing she thought of.

"Use Poison Jab!"

Nihilego's tentacle, soaked in venom, collided with Greyback's neck. He shouted and was knocked to the side. The man stumbled, attempting to attack again, but another blow threw him to the ground. The poison seeped through his skin, leaving behind charcoal-grey splotches. He did not get back up.

Moon stared for a moment. Greyback twitched and sputtered. The girl let out a relieved sigh, worried for a moment that she had accidently killed the man.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Moon froze as McGonagall ran towards her. The Transfiguration professor was leading a small group containing the four Heads of House and Dumbledore. The five professors halted when they caught sight of Nihilego.

"What… what is…?" Flitwick stammered. Snape's eyes shifted to the man on the ground, and his expression shifted from shock, to recognition, to revulsion.

"Greyback," he spat. The other professors looked away from Nihilego and gasped when they saw the collapsed man. Only Dumbledore did not seem shocked.

"I believe it is in our best interest to call the Aurors," he said. "He seems to need a trip to St Mungo's before he receives any sort of interrogation."

His blue eyes locked with Moon's, and a sense of dread crept over her.

Suddenly, being stuck at Hogwarts was highly appealing.

"Were you aware of Greyback's lycanthropy?"

"Yes."

"Did you go to the Shrieking Shack to meet Greyback?"

"No."

"Are you afflicted with lycanthropy?"

"No," Moon snapped. The Auror across from her raised a bushy eyebrow. "I'm not a werewolf."

The Auror scribbled something in the file in front of him before slamming it shut. "You're free to go, Miss Blakesley. Thank you for your cooperation."

Moon made sure to shut the door a little harder than necessary on her way out. She was prepared to storm down the hallway when she saw Dumbledore looking at her gravely. Shame washed over her as she realized she had let her emotions get out of hand.

"I have to confess," the old wizard said, "that when I let you wander through the village on your own, I thought you would be safe. Had I known that Fenrir was in the area…"

"You wouldn't have let me wander off without a guide," she finished. Dumbledore nodded, and the two started walking down the hallway.

When the Aurors had arrived, everything seemed to fall into chaos. There were people who insisted that Moon should go to St Mungo's for a check-up, there were others that insisted she needed to be placed in a cell, and there was one person who claimed she deserved a medal for knocking down Greyback. In the end, she was taken to the Ministry for questioning. The process took hours, as a Healer prodded her with a wand while she had to explain everything—her arrival in England, her encounter with Greyback, and her pokémon—while several different Aurors took notes. She was forced to bring her pokémon out of their pokéballs to demonstrate that she had a reasonable amount of control over their actions, and she had managed to convince the Aurors that she could keep her pokémon in line.

She conveniently forgot to mention that the Ultra Beasts weren't pokémon.

"I am surprised, though," Dumbledore continued, "that when you are threatened, your first instinct is to summon a creature, rather than use your wand."

"Old habit," she explained.

"A habit that has led to a flurry of paperwork and one man being hospitalized."

Moon frowned. "Greyback was wanted on multiple charges for murder and 'deliberate infection' of the magical community, as well as his work with Voldemort. The poison in his bloodstream should be flushed out within a few days. If you're expecting me to feel guilty about this, then you're out of luck."

Dumbledore nodded, but his face was grim. Moon sighed heavily.

"I suppose this means my trial was a failure."

"Although you did handle the situation with more grace than I could ever expect from anyone, I can't condone your methods."

It wasn't a direct answer, but the message was clear.

"I'm terribly sorry, Miss Blakesley," Dumbledore said sincerely, although there was a spark of hopefulness in his eyes.

"It's alright, I suppose," she lied. She wouldn't want to walk around the village on her own, but the idea of being stranded in the castle while everyone else roamed around wasn't pleasant.

They arrived back at Hogwarts in time for dinner. None of the professors brought up the subject of Hogsmeade, apart from Snape muttering a 'good riddance' that only Moon heard, and she got the impression that they had been told not to talk about it.

Moon turned to Dumbledore, who was sitting on her left. "Sir, when the term starts, where do you expect me to sit during mealtimes?"

He seemed somewhat surprised that that was her first question that evening. "With the other students, or in your room if you feel uncomfortable with the atmosphere."

"If I were to sit in the Great Hall, would I have to sit with one house each time, or could I switch?"

"Since you have no affiliations with any of the houses, you're free to sit with whatever house you wish."

Moon bit her lip. The amount of leeway she was being given was getting to be unnerving. She was starting to wonder if Dumbledore was doing this out of the goodness of his heart, or if he was gauging her reactions the entire time. She ate dinner as quickly as she could before heading back to her room and shutting herself in. Rather than attempting another study session, she changed into her pyjamas and sat on the bed.

She didn't want to be confined to a strict schedule, or be funneled into a group based on her traits, or be forced to associate with other children, but she didn't see why she didn't have to do any of those things. There was no way that so many exceptions could be made on a whim. Dumbledore had to have a reason for being so lenient with the rules in her case.

At least you won't have any attachment to the place when you can go home.

The thought was unbidden, as though it had just been dropped into her mind by another person. Moon laughed sharply as the meaning behind the old headmaster's actions became clear.

He thinks he's being kind.

In a way, he was. Keeping her away from the traditional, inclusive Hogwarts experience would make leaving the place far simpler than if she had been sorted and invited into the fold. She might have gotten attached to the place and wanted to stay behind, and leaving would cause her as much stress as her arrival had. Or at least, Dumbledore thought that might be the case.

Moon had power in Alola. She had friends. She had far more freedom than she did at the school. There were people back home that would be worried about her, people that would search for her relentlessly. There would be an empty chair sitting high on a mountain, waiting for her to return. There would be battles for her to win. There would be a plethora of thing for her to do. There was a world which she knew everything about, and if Dumbledore thought she would give all of it up to attend school, he needed to get his head checked.

The title of this chapter is the ability of the Ultra Beasts.

I'd say this chapter marks the end of the 'fun vacation' Moon's had so far at Hogwarts. She's been able to relax so far, without many responsibilities.

That ends here.

As of writing this note, I've finished all of my finals, and I've managed to complete another chapter in the story. And I feel like I should give you guys a fair (spoiler free) warning as to how this story will go:

This story will essentially be a series of subplots and minute initial changes that result in much bigger changes. Whether this results in a beneficial change in the long run or not… that is subjective.

Next week, of course, is where we get to meet some more familiar faces. And Moon has a minor freak-out.

On another note: how many of you would like to see a romantic subplot involving Moon in The Forgone Trial or in any future stories related to it? It's early in the story, I know, but I feel like it would be better to see how you guys feel about the idea before deciding. I'll be setting up a poll regarding this. I already have some ideas about romances between other characters, and I've considered a few possibilities as to who Moon could end up dating, but I want to know what you guys think before I actually write any relationship into the story.

Review?