Harry was chasing Sirius around the track on the afternoon of the Quidditch World Cup. Sirius had considered getting tickets and surprising Harry with them, but flying with Harry was more fun than spectating so Sirius abandoned that plan. Sirius liked Quidditch, but he didn't like it that much.

The clouds were just starting to turn pink and orange as Sirius brought his broom down. In just nine more days, Harry would be heading back to Hogwarts to start his fourth year. The Summer had been utterly brilliant. The animagus training had gone better than Sirius could've hoped. Harry even convinced Moony to do it, which made the full moon the previous night the easiest one they'd ever seen.

The transformation wasn't a screaming torture session for Moony. He just smoothly shifted and a few minutes later the wolf took over. They hadn't been able to find a reliable source of Wolfsbane potion all Summer and so were back to what they did in the old days. But in the morning, instead of Moony passing out and/or being in serious pain, Moony just stopped, shifted back to human, and walked back to where they had stashed a robe.

Harry even joined in for a while, which would have been terrifying for someone to watch. The dragon flying over them under the moonlight was beautiful and really helped pen Moony in to the forest. But Harry had to call it quits just after midnight because he was too tired to continue.

Moony decided that since it was likely the last broom race of the Summer, he'd watch Harry and Sirius perform feats of aerial daring that would've killed Lily with fear. Of course, the track had the Wizarding Wireless playing coverage of the Quidditch World Cup, so Remus could take a break from seeing the two scream through the course.

Aside from the hoops and posts and colored lights of the course, the place had stadium lights so that it could remain open into the night. The owner said they were originally so that they could remain open after dark in the winter, but night flying had become popular enough and they had some groups of perhaps questionable natures who booked the course overnight.

The wireless broke the coverage of the game.

"We interrupt this broadcast of the 1994 Quidditch World Cup to bring you this important news: earlier tonight, an attack was reported to occur on Azkaban Prison. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has not yet released the casualties, but Saint Mungos has received emergency portkeys. Missing from their cells were Bellatrix Lestrange, Rudolphus Lestrange, and Rabastan Lestrange. The only comment from the Aurors has been: 'we must assume these convicted criminals have escaped until we can confirm their deaths.'"

"Sirius! Harry! Come down here! Quickly!"

Harry and Sirius abandoned the course and flew straight to Remus in the stands.

"These fugitives are a danger to everyone. Do not attempt to apprehend them. Contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately."

"What's happened?"

"Someone raided Azkaban."

"Who?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't know. They didn't say. The Lestranges were missing. The DMLE put out a warning for them."

Sirius sat on his broom, stunned for a moment before he found his wits. "Is that all? No manhunt? No Dementors?"

Remus shrugged. "Seems they learned their lesson from your debacle."

"But I was innocent!"

Remus smirked. "You escaped on your own. Granted, they completely fucked up your trial or they would've known you were an animagus. But still: bit of a difference."

Sirius and Harry dismounted their brooms and sat in the bleachers silently.

Sirius frowned. "Has the Cup been in Britain since they were locked up?"

Remus tried to remember, but couldn't. "I don't think so, but I'm not sure."

Sirius grunted. "Amelia at the very least had better have made the connection between the Cup and the breakout."

"Are you thinking of going in to help?"

Sirius shrugged. "Moody's replacement is supposed to evaluate me on the first. I'm not officially back to work until I've been cleared."

"What happened to Moody?"

"He retired. Shocking, right? I guess he finished up his last batch of trainees and called it quits. Something about being sick of not being allowed in the field. I'd put money on him trying to hunt down as many Dark Lords as he can. He's the type that wants to go out with his boots on and he's not getting any younger."

"I'll take your word for it."

Harry looked at the adults and said, "I think I'd like to go home now. I'm not really in the mood to keep racing."

000

The first of September came quickly and Aunt Petunia dropped Harry at the Hogwarts Express. The breakout from Azkaban had been on the muggle as well as the wizarding new, although the muggle news didn't have quite the same details.

Harry quickly brought his trunk into the compartment he and Hermione traditionally took. Neville Longbottom sometimes joined them, but mostly it was Ravenclaws who took up seats with them. This year, a blonde girl wearing a bottlecap necklace rushed in and shut the door behind her.

"Hello," she said as her face went from the scrunch of concentration to a bright smile.

"Hello."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Harry shook his head. "Feel free."

"Thanks. The blubbering humdingers are really acting up this year."

Harry nodded, pretending he knew what that meant. "I'm sorry: I'm afraid I don't know your name. I'm Harry, by the way."

"Luna. Nice to meet you Harry-by-the-way."

Harry chuckled. Luna pushed the goggles she wore on her head over her eyes. "Oh, wow. Your aura is really dense."

The door slid open and Luna spun to see Hermione in the doorway. "Hello."

"Hello."

"Luna, this is Hermione. Hermione, Luna."

"Hi, Luna. Would you mind…?"

Luna moved out of the doorway and took a seat on the bench opposite Harry. Hermione pulled her wand out and levitated it into the luggage rack.

"Harry, do the thing."

"I'm not doing the thing."

"What thing?"

"She's curious. Come on. Do it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine. I am the Dragon." The room rumbled and Luna and Hermione felt the rumble through their bodies.

"Oh my."

"Right?"

Hermione and Luna began chatting and giggling quietly enough that Harry couldn't hear.

The Express began chugging along down the tracks. Hermione and Luna giggling and Harry practicing occlumency exercises. He wanted to reconstruct the bits of memory he had of a certain book on wand lore. He'd gotten some of it, but not enough to put together what kind of wand he really should have instead of his holly wand. Not that he didn't love the holly wand, but he was certain now that he could have one that was even more in tune with him and his magic.

The door opened. Ron Weasley took one look and moved on. Fred and George Weasley, on the other hand, grabbed the door and took a seat on the bench next to Harry.

"Mister Potter…"

"…we have a proposition…"

"…and it's taken all Summer for us…"

"…to discover just who we were dealing with."

Harry looked at the twins. He'd always liked them, but hadn't really interacted much with them. They were older and always in trouble over some prank or another.

"Proposition?"

"Yes. You see…"

"…we usually play some harmless pranks…"

"…on the teachers…"

"…in order to foster morale…"

"…and togetherness. However…"

"…we could never get one over on Professor Lupin."

"We tried all year…"

"…and toward the end…"

"…he found us and confiscated something."

Harry tried to raise one eyebrow, gave it up as bad job and just huffed. "I don't see how this is my problem."

"Oh, but it isn't."

"Ooookay."

"You see, the item he confiscated…"

"…is a map of Hogwarts…"

"…that he helped create…"

"…along with Messrs Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail."

Harry looked at Hermione, who took out her wand and began casting. "Mister Durak and Miss Baast-"

"I hate that name," Hermine muttered as she finished casting the privacy charms.

"-wish to inform you that you'll have to pass a test if you wish the item returned."

The twins blinked. "You're shitting us," they said in stereo.

"Language!" Hermione replied.

"The Marauders were not just about pranks," Harry said.

"They were also brilliant wizards, in their own right," Hermione continued.

"Are they…?"

"I think they are, o' brother mine."

"You're holding the map hostage…"

"…against our grades?"

Harry and Hermione both smiled. "In part," Harry answered.

The twins frowned. The one on the left responded, "What are your terms, Mister Durak?"

Harry shrugged. "Are you unregistered animagi?" The twins narrowed their eyes at Harry. Harry lifted his hands and said, "Messrs Padfoot and Moony set the terms. Prongs is dead and Wormtail in Azkaban. Mister Durak agreed upon his induction. Miss Baast abstained."

The twins looked at each other and seemed to have some sort of psychic silent conversation. The one on the right turned to Harry and said, "Very well, Mister Durak. Challenge: accepted."

The twins left the compartment and Luna turned to Harry. "You're all named after creatures from folklore. Sort of."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Harry was jealous of the eyebrow raise.

"It's just… a bit on the nose, don't you think?"

Harry chuckled and Hermione blushed. "And childish, I think. But if you grow up too much, you'll take everything too seriously."

Luna looked out the window for a minute before asking, "But why Dew-rahk instead of Drak? Drak actually means dragon, doesn't it?"

Harry turned away and mumbled, "I can't pronounce it when I transform."

"What was that?"

"He couldn't say it properly when he transformed."

Luna giggled. "Oh, I'm looking forward to learning about the animagus transformation this year."

Harry sighed. He wished Neville would get there so the giggling would die down a bit.

000

Harry wasn't paying attention as Headmaster Dumbledore announced that the Forbidden Forest was, shockingly, still forbidden. He was thinking about his schedule for the year, Hermione in her underthings, how to contact Mister Ollivander without Dumbledore knowing, how to get a replacement wand surreptitiously, kissing Hermione, getting a potions tutor after Hogwarts, taking A levels after Hogwarts, groping Hermione, whether he should try to go to muggle university, and whether he should register his animagus form.

"…Quidditch will be canceled this year. Instead, we will be hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament!"

The hall fell silent. Harry was ambivalent toward Quidditch. On the one hand, flying. On the other, convoluted rules and one position making all the rest largely irrelevant.

The doors to the Great Hall swung open with a surprising bang. A man with a wooden leg clomped in. One of his eyes was a strange eye-patch that kept spinning every which way.

"And please welcome our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Moody!"

Professor Moody continued his clomp up to the staff table and took a seat next to Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Prefects, please escort the first years to their new homes. Everyone else, be sure to be back to your common rooms by curfew."

The Headmaster took his seat and began sipping from a tea cup while chatting to Professor Moody.

Luna walked up next to Harry and Hermione.

"Hi, Luna."

"Hello Harry and Hermione."

She stood there until Harry felt awkward enough to ask, "What's up?"

"I would like to discuss some things with you two privately."

Harry and Hermione stood up and left the Great Hall for an empty classroom. They closed the door and cast as many privacy charms as they could, which was 17 between them.

"I want to be an illegal animagus too."

Harry shrugged. "Sure. I've no problem with it."

"I'm registering my animagus form as soon as I'm old enough to go to the ministry. I was actually thinking of talking to Professor MacGonagall."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a stupid rule. It's mostly to keep people from becoming animagi for some anachronistic reason that probably doesn't even matter anymore."

"I'm not going to break the rules just because it suits me!"

"If Sirius hadn't broken the rules, he'd still be rotting in Azkaban!"

"If they'd all followed the rules, Peter Pettigrew would've been in Azkaban!"

"You don't know that for certain."

"Certain enough! I'm not getting locked up for failing to register."

Harry waved his hand. "It's only a crime if you get caught using it to do something else illegal. If you just get caught running around, it's barely a fine."

"That's fine for you! You've got a vault full of gold and Sirius'll bail you out anyway. I'm not that lucky."

"If you think I'd let you go to Azkaban for something silly like not registering your animagus form, you've lost it. And Sirius would bail you out in a heartbeat."

"You say that now, but how do I know?"

Harry looked hurt. "I'd do anything for you."

"Really? Or do you just enjoy the snogging?"

"How can I prove it? Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Come with me to talk to Professor MacGonagall about registering our animagus forms."

Luna cocked her head and said, "That's silly."

Harry looked at Hermione, while Hermione turned to glare at Luna.

"It is! That's not a way for him to prove his love for you. He should have to fly naked around the castle streaming a banner or something embarrassing like that. Following rules isn't difficult. I mean, there are rules against stealing things that you both follow all the time."

Hermione ground out, "Yes, but I'm trying to get Harry to register so he won't get in trouble."

"But you want to register and you're not going to register unless he does."

Hermione froze. Harry turned to look at Luna. "What?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? She's not going to register without you. I don't know why she's starting a fight to get you to do it. If she just explained that, you'd do it for her." Luna cocked her head to the side as she finished.

"Is that true?"

"Well I'm not going to register and leave you hanging out to dry, am I?"

"It's been killing you not to register hasn't it?"

Hermione gave a single nod. Harry wrapped her in a hug. "All right. I'm sorry. We'll talk to MacGonagall."

Hermione sniffled. "Professor MacGonagall."

Harry chuckled. "Professor MacGonagall."

Luna raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Could you wait until I become one? I'm sure Fred and George would appreciate you waiting for them as well."

Hermione looked torn.

Harry said, "How about this: we tell Professor MacGonagall that we're working on it. That way, if something happens we'll be covered."

Hermione squeezed Harry. "Alright. We'll do that. But if they don't figure it out by the end of the year, we'll register then."

"Okay."

"You two are quite cute."

"Thank you, Luna."

"So how do I begin?"

000

Rubeus Hagrid was getting his hut cleaned up.

"T'morrow," he hummed, "I'll be meetin' a bunch o' new stud'nts 'n teachers.

His dog, Fang, was whining by the door. Hagrid closed the box he'd been sorting his things into and opened the door for his great dane. Or maybe if it was a little bit of a magical breed, who was going to tell?

He looked out into the edge of the forest and saw a very rare brown hare sitting in the grass. As Fang bounded toward it, it just sat there. Hagrid knew that Fang was just playing, but the hare surely didn't. And if Fang actually caught the Hare, it might accidentally kill the poor creature.

At the very last moment, the hare sprang upright into Fang's face. The hare spun in mid-air and planted its feet on Fang's head before bounding off into the forest.

Right into the path of a lion, for no other cat could be that large. Or, perhaps, Hagrid thought, it might be a lioness, for lions had manes and this beautiful creature did not.

Instead of pouncing on the hare the lioness stopped and stooped while the hare ran right up onto the lioness' back. The lioness roared and then Hagrid heard something he'd been waiting years to hear.

A dragon roared from the forest, loud, clear, and reverberating everywhere. And he knew that it was a dragon for no other creature could imitate a dragon so well to feel it in the guts, the bones.

Hagrid froze for a longer than he'd later admit before turning into his hut and grabbing his lantern and Fang's leash. He got ready and started swiftly into the forest to find the dragon.

A tiny, blonde student appeared in his path so suddenly that he nearly had a heart attack.

"Hullo, Professor Hagrid," the girl said.

And then, before he could respond, another girl walked out. Harry's friend with bushy, brown hair. "Hello, Professor Hagrid. It's a lovely evening for a walk, don't you think?"

Hagrid stared dumbfounded at the giggling girls just as Harry Potter himself crashed through the bushes. "Oh! Hello, Professor Hagrid," the boy said with a smile as he caught his balance. "I was wondering if you'd heard anything odd tonight?"

The girls began giggling.

"Stud'nts shouldn't ought be out 'ere this time o' night. Past curfew, it is. What are you lot doin' out 'ere?"

Hermione Granger answered, giggling restrained for the time being, "Just taking a look around. It really is a beautiful night."

"Right. Best you lot get back to th' castle though. 'urry up, fore I start givin' detentions or takin' points."

Hagrid watched the three students make their way back to the castle before searching the forest once more. The dragons weren't supposed to arrive for a few weeks yet.

000

Fred and George watched Harry, Luna, and Hermione walking back up toward the castle. The twins had hidden up a nearby tree when the dragon roared.

"I think we've been had, Fred."

"I'm George."

"I wasn't talking to you, but now that you mention it… I think we've been had, George."

George quirked a brow at his brother.

"Mister Durak is a fucking dragon."

"I've put that together myself, thank you."

Fred shook his head. "You're not understanding. He's a dragon."

"Yes, Fred. Saying it harder isn't going to make it suddenly mean something else. I'd put that together already."

Fred began cursing.

"What's wrong?"

"The animagus transformation can't turn a witch or a wizard into a magical creature."

"For once, I'm not following."

"Harry is a dragon whose animagus form is a human."

"And?"

"We're never topping that prank, George. Not ever."

"Oh." George pulled his robe on. "Bollocks."

"What now?"

"We go tell Mister Durak that we've finished the assignment and get the map back."

They silently made their way back to the castle.

As they reached the secret entrance they preferred, "Fred?"

As they walked in, "Yeah?"

"Do you suppose Harry's always been a dragon?"

"No idea."

"Oh."

Fred stopped after closing the door behind them. "Do you suppose we'll get to choose our own Marauder names?"

George shrugged. "Dunno. Let's get to the common room, eh? We'll find out together."

They both smiled and trudged back through castle under the faint moonlight that filtered in through the windows.

A/N: I found the last parts of this chapter too funny to skip over, so the story isn't moving as quickly as it could. But Harry, Luna, and Hermione play a prank! Isn't that wonderful? Too bad they didn't include Neville though. And Fred is obviously mistaken, but I won't tell if you don't ;-)

Hope you enjoyed this shorter chapter.