I do not own the Harry Potter series or Pokémon.
Some scenes and dialogue are derived from Prisoner of Azkaban.
Chapter Thirty One: Friends and Enemies
"Who's that?"
Harry's voice broke her out of her stupor.
"Dawn Berlitz, current champion of the Sinnoh League," Moon said slowly. "She's the one who has been working on building a portal from my world to this one. Rotom said she was planning on being here and getting me."
"You're going home tonight?" Harry asked.
"Doubt it. By the looks of it, Dawn's busy talking with Hagrid," she said, watching the map closely. "Probably about pokémon, I'm sure he'd be interested in getting one."
Dawn stayed in place, even though the dot labelled as Fang trotted around her.
"Can't believe she's here already," Moon muttered. "If curfew wasn't soon, I'd go out there and tell her off for keeping me waiting."
"We could go," Harry said, his hands moving towards the Invisibility Cloak.
"Harry, it's almost time for dinner," Hermione said. "If you get caught, you'll be in so much trouble. They could expel you!"
"I won't get caught, then," Harry replied, "and I wouldn't get expelled, Hermione."
"With Sirius Black—"
"Black won't find us if we stay under the cloak," he said, standing up from the couch.
"It's not that big of a deal, really," Moon said, confused by Harry's sudden decision to sneak out.
"She's your friend, right? She should have contacted you to let you know she was here."
"Owl post is slow, and Rotom's been in my room all day," she said, although she got the feeling that there was no way Dawn would immediately come to Hogwarts after arriving in a new dimension. She would have been there for a day at least, giving her plenty of time to contact Moon.
"Do you want to see her?" he asked plainly, the Invisibility Cloak in one hand and the Marauder's Map in the other.
"Well, yeah, but—"
"Then we're going," he said, "right now."
"You're skipping dinner?" Ron said.
"I'm not that hungry," Harry replied, moving the cloak to his shoulder and offering Moon a hand. He pulled her off the couch and brought her closer to the entrance. "Besides, she might not be here after dinner. As long as we're back before sunset, we'll be fine."
Moon wondered if this sudden desire to sneak out of the school had less to do with Harry helping her out and more to do with a case of cabin fever. He was the most watched student in the entire school, due to both his fame and the dangerous criminal after him, and it was obvious that he didn't enjoy the attention no matter where it stemmed from. Having the teachers keeping an eye on him during every waking moment had to have been suffocating.
She didn't object when the cloak was thrown over her head. It was large enough to cover both of them from head to toe, but it was still restrictive. They wouldn't be able to move very fast.
"Harry—!"
"Hermione," Harry said flatly, eyes glued to the map, his fingers gripping the edge strangely so they didn't obscure Hagrid's hut.
"Let them be, 'Mione," Ron said. "If they're back before sunset, they'll be fine."
Moon heard Hermione huff as Harry opened the portrait hole. The two of them manoeuvered through the gap and let it slide shut behind them.
"Who's there?" the Fat Lady asked warily. "I'm warning you, those trolls aren't for show!"
They headed down the staircases towards the main door. They froze whenever a student wandered too close. Draco Malfoy nearly walked straight into them, and would have if Moon hadn't stopped Harry in time. They slipped outside when a group of students passed through and the door remained partially open. The sun was still in the sky as they wandered through the grounds. The cloak kept the June weather from becoming unbearable.
"You do realize I was being figurative earlier," she said, trying to keep her voice down. "I'm not actually going to tell her off."
"I've been meaning to go see Hagrid anyway," he said.
"Were you planning on going undercover then?"
"No, but I wasn't expecting to get the map and the cloak back so soon."
"I said I'd get them back days ago."
"We had exams, and the only person more focused on them than you was Hermione," he said. "I was actually thinking of getting the cloak back myself."
"Don't have that much faith in me, huh?" she laughed. Even with the cloak casting shadows on them, she could see the back of his neck turn red.
"You were busy, and I thought…"
"That I'd forgotten or something?"
"I didn't want to remind you," he said. "You were intent on getting good grades, even though you're leaving."
"I wanted to end with a bang," she said with a smirk.
Dawn hadn't moved much by the time they reached the hut. They crept carefully through the garden, trying not to disturb the plants Hagrid had been working on all year.
"I'm not sure if a pokémon like Gible would thrive in this environment," a crisp female voice said from within the hut. "They prefer heat. Now, something like an Axew would be much better suited for the cold. That is, if you don't mind a few trees being destroyed."
"Tha' won't be a problem," Hagrid assured. "Shame, though, that the other lil' ones can't live 'ere."
"There are plenty of dragon types that would adapt well to the climate. However, I don't believe you're searching for a Swablu or a Trapinch. The lake you have is well-suited for Dratini, but they're more like small snakes than dragons at that stage."
They halted near the hut's wall, just where the window was. Harry deactivated the map and slid it into the sleeve of his robe. Moon peered through the dusty glass, recognizing the small woman standing next to Hagrid instantly.
Dawn Berlitz was known for looking flawless, and everything about her—from the elegant bun on her head to the trench coat style dress to the knee high boots on her feet—was entirely out of place inside the old cabin. Even so, the woman wasn't uncomfortable with her surroundings. Despite not reaching five feet in height, her presence in the room was as strong as the giant's. Moon didn't know if it was years of experience as a champion, or if Dawn was naturally inclined to having every eye on her due to her status as a noblewoman, but the blue-haired beauty was impossible to ignore.
Dawn was standing near the window, with Fang sitting near her feet. One of her manicured hands scratched the dog behind his ears, causing Fang's tail to sweep up a cloud of dust as it swung across the floor, while the other was firmly pressed against the opening of one of her dress' pockets, the contents of which appeared to be…
Squirming?
Moon moved forward to get a better look. Her toe hit the wall with a small thud, quiet enough to go unnoticed by Fang and Hagrid, but not by Dawn. The woman turned her head towards the window, and neither of the students dared to breathe as midnight blue eyes seemingly pierced through the Invisibility Cloak.
"Would you have visitors at this hour, Professor Hagrid?" Dawn queried, not removing her eyes from the window.
"Eh?" he muttered, checking the window and not seeing anything suspicious. "No' really, the students are on their way ter dinner by now."
"Apologies for keeping you for so long. I didn't realize it had gotten so late," she said, turning her attention back to Hagrid.
"No worries, I wasn' planning on having dinner wit' everyone tonigh'. Hippogriffs have been gettin rowdy, and the Thestrals haven' been much better. Need ter do some rounds ter make sure they ain' ripping up anything important. You should head ter the Great Hall, though. Ron will be glad ter see his rat's still in one piece."
Moon sucked in a breath; she knew that there had been something off about Scabbers' disappearance!
"I think I'll wander around the grounds for a little while yet. Disturbing the students during mealtime is not the best approach to returning a pet."
"Suit yerself," the giant said. He pushed open the front door, Fang following him diligently, and set out towards the Hippogriff enclosure. Dawn stepped out the door and moved three paces away before looking at the spot where Harry and Moon were standing.
"I am well aware that you're still standing near the window," she drawled. "Seeing as you did not bothering entering, you did not come all this way to see Hagrid, correct?"
Moon met Harry's eye, silently communicating that there was no way to escape their situation.
"You are being extraordinarily quiet, although I suppose that fits with your disguise. Is this a spell of some sort?"
"It's a cloak," Harry said lowly. Confusion flittered across Dawn's face.
"An Invisibility Cloak," Moon elaborated.
A small smile graced Dawn, and she tilted her head back as though she had found the solution to a puzzle. "It's been a while since we've spoken, Moon."
"It would've been a lot sooner if you'd come here straight away," she grumbled.
"Nonsense, you would have missed your exams," Dawn teased. "Besides, the others gave me orders to wander around and collect information. Calem was begging me to get him any article related to wizard fashion trends; he's wanting to see if he could incorporate some themes into his next formalwear line."
Moon huffed in exasperation. The Kalos Champion was the biggest drama queen she'd ever met. She could only imagine what Dawn was leaving out of the conversation.
"Who's with you?" Dawn asked, her eyes wandering over the area where the students were standing. "I don't recall hearing your voice before."
"I'm Harry."
"Harry? As in, Harry Potter?"
"Yeah, that's me," he said, resignation creeping into his tone. Moon gave him a sympathetic smile.
"What are you here for?" Dawn pried.
"To see you, mostly, but also to get some fresh air," Moon answered. Dawn opened her mouth to speak again, but the contents of her pocket squirmed violently. She clamped both hands against the top and held tightly until it stopped moving.
"How'd you find Scabbers?" Harry asked.
"The same way I found the two of you," Dawn said, her hands relaxing but still preventing the rat from escaping, "I heard something and didn't forget about it. He was in an empty milk jug. Professor Hagrid told me that Scabbers belonged to a student and went missing."
"Ron thought Hermione's cat ate him," Harry said.
"Well, thankfully that's not the case—though he certainly acts as if I'm going to swallow him whole," she said with a grimace. Scabbers, trapped in her pocket, writhed and jumped.
"Ron will be happy, but Hermione will talk his ear off for an apology," Moon remarked. "Think we can convince her not to be too harsh?" she asked Harry.
"Doubt it," he replied, a knowing grin spreading before he nodded towards the castle. "She's going to hold this over him for months."
"Unless you wish to be caught for sneaking out onto the school grounds, I suggest we go to the castle," Dawn interjected. Moon raised an eyebrow, then realized the woman wouldn't see the reaction.
"We're allowed to be outside until dinner starts."
"So you chose to hide under an Invisibility Cloak, eavesdrop on my conversation, and continue to refuse to show yourselves even though you're allowed on school grounds right now?"
Both students flushed a deep scarlet.
"I suppose if there's a mass murderer on the loose, showing precaution is necessary when going anywhere," the older champion mused. Her hand drifted towards her bag, a fashionable black leather purse that must have been worth at least twenty of the old one Moon carried with her, and she gently laid her fingers over the outer pocket designed for pokéballs. "Still. It would be best if you two aren't handed detentions, mostly because Moon wouldn't be able to attend them."
"We're leaving then?" the younger champion said.
"Not tonight. There are still some things that need to be sorted out before we return home. We will head to the Ministry within the next day or so when everything is in place."
"What things need to be sorted out?" Moon grumbled. Dawn turned her back on them, then motioned for them to follow her. The two students nearly stumbled over the cloak as they tried to keep pace with her.
"The first and least odd thing that needs to be addressed is a new course being added to the Hogwarts curriculum," Dawn said. "Many Ministry workers have shown interest in obtaining pokémon of their own, but they would have no idea how to properly care for them. I offered the concept of having a course that teaches the basics of handling pokémon, and it was recently approved. It will take around a year to implement."
"The second, stranger matter is what the Ministry wants to label us as," Dawn continued, notes of disdain peeking through her calm façade.
"What?" Moon said, bemused.
"At first they were certain that we were simply Muggles—excluding you, of course—and that we had managed to create magic-compliant technology. They were excited enough about that, but then they began discussing how it would be possible to do such a thing, and how we did it when we were surrounded by magical creatures like pokémon, and how exactly training a pokémon affected the trainer, and so on."
Dawn glanced over her shoulder, seeing the empty space but hearing the footsteps following her own. "I didn't tell them about things such as Z-Moves, in case you're worried. I don't know much about it. May or Calem might have mentioned something about Mega Evolution and how it can strengthen the trainer, but that's not why the Ministry is having such a hard time classifying us."
"What do you mean, classify?" Moon said slowly.
"They're not certain if they can call us Wizards, Squibs, or Muggles anymore. They wouldn't have been in such a state if it were not for a… slip on Rosa's part."
"What did she do?" Moon asked, tired of how Dawn was dancing around the main point.
"Rosa is something called a Parselmouth."
This time, the two students did stumble and crash to the ground in an invisible heap, the cloak pinned tightly underneath their feet as the other side fluttered in the breeze while still concealing them.
"She can talk to snakes?" Harry asked hurriedly, although his teeth were clenched from the pain of the fall. Moon had heard rumours of him being a Parselmouth from some of the other students, but she never confirmed it. Judging from the look of hesitance and wonder that had overtaken him, he could talk to snakes yet loathed having the skill for its reputation alone. Knowing that there were others like him that weren't evil must have been reassuring.
"Any serpentine creature, really," Dawn said, not the least bit perturbed that the two had fallen over. "It caused a stir when we discovered that she has a supposedly magical ability. It's not just her, either. Lucy from the Hoenn Battle Frontier is also a Parselmouth. When I arrived, the first thing we checked was if I had any magical abilities… and I do, to an extent. I am able to brew potions and fly on a broomstick, but I am not able to use a wand. Presumably, most of the population of our world has similar skills. That would place us in a category somewhere between Squibs and Wizards regarding magical talent."
Dawn turned to them again and smirked. "A fair number of people are insisting on calling you a pure-blood witch, since you only have relatives with magical abilities. Care to explain that?"
"Later," Moon muttered, standing up slowly along with Harry, careful to keep the cloak from slipping. She checked her arms and legs for any sign of injury. Thankfully there were no scrapes she could see. Dawn chuckled, taking a step forward only to stop before her foot hit the ground.
"I know there must be more than one cat at this school, but is this the one you were referring to?" Dawn questioned. The two students looked around her to a familiar orange feline.
"What's Crookshanks doing here?" Moon wondered.
"Hermione lets him wander around the grounds," Harry explained. "She thinks he won't go after other people's pets if he hunts outside."
Crookshanks sat there, studying Dawn, as though he was waiting for something. Scabbers squeaked from within the champion's dress pocket.
"He knows the cat is here," Dawn said, "he must be—"
She didn't get to finish her sentence, as Scabbers finally managed to climb his way to freedom. He dropped onto the grass and scurried away from the humans, squealing when Crookshanks lunged for him. The rat dodged a blow from the cat's paws, darting underneath Crookshanks and running for any form of safety. Crookshanks hissed and gave chase, his claws a hair width away from the rat's tail.
"No—hold on!" Dawn snapped, running after the two animals.
"Dawn!" Moon yelled, making the move to follow her. The cloak tugged at her shoulders, reminding her that she couldn't run while under it. Harry ripped the cloak off the both of them, drawing a sharp glare from his companion.
"Everyone's inside, and Hagrid's busy," he remarked before breaking into a sprint. Moon ran after him, lagging behind a considerable amount even with his head start.
'For such a small kid, he's really fast,' she thought.
Dawn reached the pets before Crookshanks caught Scabbers. She swiped Scabbers off the ground, holding the squirming rodent with one hand as she unzipped her purse with the other. She lowered the rat into her bag and shut it before he could escape a second time. Crookshanks mewled loudly, staring up at the purse with intense yellow eyes.
"He's not your next meal," Dawn chastised, lifting her purse out of the cat's reach. Crookshanks meowed louder. Harry slowed down from his sprint, giving Moon enough time to catch up and come to a standstill next to him, although she was far more winded than he was.
'Need to get some more exercise in when I get home,' she decided, 'I've fallen way behind.'
"Will he be alright in there?" Harry asked, staring at the small purse hanging from Dawn's shoulder.
"There's enough space and air for him to be comfortable," she replied. It was how the bags were supposed to work, after all; they would expand to accommodate whatever was place in them along with an extra inch of space. They couldn't be used as living spaces, but some trainers used them as temporary shelters from storms.
Dawn brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "We should head back to the castle… perhaps you should put the cloak on again until we arrive…"
A low, threatening growl caught their attention. They had been so focused on keeping Scabbers away from Crookshanks that they hadn't noticed the new animal in their midst. An enormous dog, covered in jet-black fur, was moving towards them. Moon gripped Harry's arm, ready to drag him back in case the dog attacked them. Dawn carefully took a step back, not taking her eyes off of the stray dog.
The dog dashed towards Dawn, lunging at her with both paws outstretched. Dawn shouted, aiming a defensive blow at the dog's chest. It snapped its jaws at her shoulder, falling when she moved back to dodge the bite.
"Stop—stop that!" Dawn yelled, narrowly avoiding another blow from the dog's front legs. "Sit down, don't jump—you naughty dog!"
Harry dropped the cloak and grabbed his wand, but the brutish dog snapped at his hand the second it was raised. It jumped at him, throwing the Gryffindor off his feet as its paws collided with his collarbone. Moon had her own wand out, aiming for the dog's head.
"Stupefy!" she yelled. The spell would have hit if the dog hadn't underestimated its tackle. The red light flew away as both the dog and Harry fell to the ground, the dog rolling off in an awkward somersault. Moon raised her wand again, another spell on her lips when claws sank into her calf. She gasped, looking down to see Crookshanks pawing at her.
"Crookshanks, get off!" she hissed, grabbing the cat's paws and pushing him away with one hand. The dog had gotten on its feet again, lunging at Dawn's shoulder. She fell, her arm bracing her head from impact. The dog's teeth clamped around Dawn's ankle, and it started dragging her away like a sack of flour.
"No—you—don't!" Harry yelled, grabbing Dawn by the wrist. The dog tugged, snarling, its teeth digging even deeper into her ankle.
A branch collided with Harry, sending him tumbling to the ground. The dog dragged Dawn farther and farther away, approaching the thing that had attacked the Gryffindor. They had gotten right underneath the Whomping Willow when they had been chasing Scabbers.
Dawn was kicking and clawing at the ground, but she was quickly disappearing through a gap near the base of the tree as the dog pulled her in. Her hands clamped against the tree trunk, and for a second, it looked as though she was pulling herself free. Her blue eyes widened as she gave a pained cry, just before her head slipped underneath the tree.
She was gone.
Moon pulled Harry to his feet, and he pulled her down as another branch swing inches from her head.
"We have to follow them," he said, breathing hard. "That dog's large and mean enough to eat her."
"Not like we have time to run for help," Moon groaned. "But we can't just waltz over there and jump down. How do we get past the tree?"
The Whomping Willow was brandishing its branches. If they moved any closer, they'd be a red smear on the grass as the tree obliterated them.
"The dog got past the tree," Harry stated.
"The dog was lower to the ground than we are—do we need to army crawl our way there?" Moon asked, not expecting an answer. She focused on the spot where Dawn disappeared, noticing the orange cat wandering around the base of the tree. "Crookshanks?"
Crookshanks placed a paw on a knot on the tree, and every branch and twig froze in place. The leaves were stiff as boards, even with the gentle breeze. The cat waited at the trunk, his eyes never moving from the two teenagers
"Do you think he wants us to follow them?"
"He's friends with the dog, I've seen them together before," Harry muttered, walking towards the gap under the tree. "We still need to find your friend before she's seriously hurt."
The two of them dropped through the opening underneath the Whomping Willow. Crookshanks went in after them, shuffling around their feet to take the lead as they adjusted to the sudden darkness. A long, low tunnel stretched out in front of them.
"Any idea where this leads?" Moon asked.
"No idea," Harry replied. "It's marked on the map, but it goes off the school grounds. I think it might go to Hogsmeade, but Fred and George never found out where this passage went for obvious reasons."
They headed down the dark tunnel as fast as they could, Crookshanks trotting ahead of them with his tail raised proudly. Both students had to crouch because of how low the ceiling of the tunnel was. Moon tried to stay focused on the path ahead, but her eyes kept catching where clumps of earth had been torn from the wall or where streaks of blood peppered the ground. They were not old marks.
Light was ahead, and the tunnel took an upward turn. The tunnel spiralled as they reached the end, and Crookshanks darted out of Moon's sight. She raised her wand to use as a light source. Harry pulled out his, using the charm to light the end of the wand.
They had ended up in a razed mockery of a house, a room that had been patched and repaired countless times in vain. Dust floated through the air, settling on every available surface. There was a spotless streak on the floor, where something had recently swept the dirt away. The windows had been boarded up, allowing only the thinnest beams of light to pass through the cracks.
"Harry," Moon whispered, "I think this is the Shrieking Shack."
He nodded wordlessly, his eyes wide as he saw the destruction that had befallen the place.
"Ghosts didn't do that," he said quietly, looking at a chair that had chunks ripped out from it.
"I don't think ghosts were ever here," she whispered back. The house creaked, and both students looked upwards.
"Think she's in there?" Moon said. Harry nodded in reply.
They crept through the house, careful not to make any noise as they climbed the old staircase. The landing was dark and gloomy. The sound of something moving, and then purring, came from behind a rickety wooden door. Moon glanced at Harry, and both nodded before extinguishing their wands. With a powerful kick, Harry kicked the door open.
The first thing they saw was Crookshanks, sitting on an ornate bed. Dawn, more disheveled than Moon believed to be possible, was propped up against the side of the four-poster, her face pale and tight. Her blue eyes widened as the two teenagers rushed in with their wands raised.
"Where's the dog?" Harry questioned. Dawn shook her head, her breathing laboured from the pain.
"He's not a dog," Dawn said through gritted teeth. The door swung shut. Moon spun to see what had caused that, and her breath caught in her throat. A man, with waxy skin and matted hair, more akin to a corpse than a living human, was standing there. The blood drained from her face as she realized she had seen him before, in every wanted poster that showed up in the Daily Prophet.
Sirius Black.