Extended Family
Chapter 132 – On the Hunt
Takes place after chapter 104.
Happy laughter rang out over Grimmauld. At least once every other week, if not once a week, people would arrive for a meal and some time visiting and relaxing with one another. The Potters, the Bells, the Tonkses, and the Grangers were there with the Blacks and Iris was being passed from grandmother to grandmother while Dahlia was enjoying equal amounts of attention.
"You look a little less exhausted," Harry smiled as Amelia sat beside him.
She grinned. "Been putting in more exercise time at the gym. Being Director and Head means less field work. While I didn't put on a lot of weight, my stamina suffered. I actually started doing more training exercises with trainees from the Academy and team exercises with the Corps. Been good to stay sharp and prove that I can still kick the arses off of any Auror in the department."
Amelia raised her legs when Dahlia went running past, squealing brightly, chased by Remus and Sirius. "But your daughter has insane energy. More than Tonks and that's saying something."
"They can exhaust each other, it's really funny," Harry laughed. "I can't tell you how many times I see them conked out beside each other."
"Adorable," Amelia smiled. "Say, question for you. Are you hosting another Thanksgiving Potterluck this year?"
"Sure. I mean I was thinking about it and wanted to see who is coming but yeah, probably something of the sort."
"Have you gotten your centerpiece yet?"
"Not yet. I actually should reach out to Linette and do that soon." He blinked at Amelia's smile. "Wait. Why are you smiling like that?"
"I actually have some good news, sort of," Amelia said, smile still there. "Did Tonks tell you about that smuggling case we were dealing with?"
"Sort of. The one where people were using the UK as a middle ground for moving material about?"
"Yeah that. So the good news is that we managed to bust it. The whole Corps hit the group in the moors. Arrested a ton of people and managed to get a lot of stolen things returned and illegal things disposed of."
"Congrats!"
"Thanks! And as it turns out, more than some of the things being smuggled about were live animals."
"Don't tell me, one was a turkey gigante?" Harry asked, feeling a sense of dread.
"More than one we think. They escaped the fight and got into the highlands."
"Huh, I bet that'll have an interesting impact on the local wildlife and environment."
"That's what the Department of Magical Creatures thinks. They want to observe them but in a preserve for closer observations. Some of the ones we did capture they've taken to one but they also don't want to let the other one or ones run wild."
Amelia sipped her drink. "Due to my aforementioned lack of field work, I volunteered to go after them and capture them or dispose of them with a team."
The sense of dread rose. "Let me guess…Alastor is on the team?"
"Hey good assumption," Amelia smiled.
"And who else?" Harry asked warily.
"Well, since you are one of the few people who has dealt with a gigante before-"
"One that was already dead and butchered!" Harry exclaimed.
"-which still counts," Amelia continued, "I figured you might want to tag along and help us as field medic and butcher/consultant."
"This is a hunting trip, isn't it," Harry asked flatly.
"It can be more than one thing," Amelia demurred. "And not only will you be getting a fresh gigante, you won't be paying for it. In fact, you'll be paid to get it. It's profiting hand over fist if you think about it." She smiled winningly. "Please Harry? You know you want to."
"I know I don't," Harry sighed. "But you two will go off without me, won't you?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement."
"What have you told Sirius?"
"That'd it be a turkey shoot," Amelia said, looking away and drinking deeply of her cup. "Which I'm not wrong about."
"The Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement obfuscating?!" Harry gasped.
"What are you, a solicitor?" Amelia sniffed.
"No but I'm really good friends with two of them," Harry replied.
"Yeah and they're good too," Amelia laughed. "Come on Harry, it'll be fun!"
"I haven't forgotten about the dragonfish."
"Neither have I. I want to go back soon."
Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Fine. I'm bringing back-up then."
"Anyone you'd like!" Amelia clapped her hands and hugged him. "This is going to be great!"
-0-
"I guess I should have asked who you were bringing as back-up," Amelia sighed.
"I can't believe you're dragging him onto a dangerous creature hunt!" Tonks shouted, hair bright red and eyes brilliantly blue. "I expect this stupidity from Mad-Brain but you?!"
"You should expect it from her," Moody snorted. "She's a hunting enthusiast, more so than me. I do it 'cause it's fun and for the challenge. She actually likes hunting things."
Amelia and Moody had shown up to the predetermined camp point first, early in the morning. Both were eager for a good hunt, and a new one, and were checking their gear and things. When the second portkey came in, Moody had snorted and Amelia had groaned when an irate Tonks appeared with Harry and a third person.
"Morning, lad," Moody greeted Harry.
"Morning Alastor," Harry smiled. "Coffee?"
"Thank you." Moody took the metal cup from Harry and sipped the piping hot coffee. "Mmm, good stuff." He looked at the person beside Harry, also drinking a cup of coffee. "Lovegood, right?"
"That's me," Luna said cheerily.
"Never took you for a hunter though I know Xeno likes to globetrot," Moody said.
"I like seeing magical creatures and things," Luna said brightly.
"You don't mind us hunting them?" Moody asked.
"Not really. I know you are doing it for food and to remove something that shouldn't be in the environment and you won't be cruel about it," Luna said prosaically. "I also eat meat and things so if I protested, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite."
"She got mad when we didn't bring her to the dragonfish fishing trip last time," Harry said.
"Which means we will have to go again," Luna said primly.
"You won't hear me complaining about that," Moody chuckled. "Tracy didn't want to come?"
"Daphne wouldn't let her," Harry snickered. "Something about the 'results' of the fishing trip." He and Luna and Moody watched Tonks and Amelia argue some more before he waded in with coffee and wrapped breakfast sandwiches for them to chew over instead. "Right then, what's the plan?"
Amelia chewed appreciatively on the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. "Well the initial site where we brought the ring down is a few miles that way. The Department of Magical Creatures followed the tracks this way and they keep going deeper into the highlands. They think there's only two that got away."
"They also think they're very big ones," Tonks said, munching on her sandwich. "Like much much bigger ones."
"Why were they smuggling gigantes anyways?" Harry asked.
"Some buyer in the Middle East wanted them but didn't want to pay the normal costs to have them sent over normally and legally," Tonks snorted. "Something about a fight between their pet dragon and a gigante."
"You know, more money than sense," Moody chuckled.
"Memory Charmers have been trying to pay attention to the area in case any Muggles have seen them," Tonks continued. "But no reports. So either the gigantes drowned in a bog somewhere, or they're good at hiding in the hills."
"Couldn't find a couple of handlers or experts from the States to come over?" Harry asked.
"Apparently one offered but someone said 'we can handle it, thank you very much'," Tonks growled and Amelia flushed lightly.
"Look, we have Moody, one of the most dangerous and accomplished Aurors in the history of the Corps," Amelia started.
"Blowing wind up my arse won't do you any good," Moody snorted.
"We got you, one of the youngest Senior Aurors with a decorated history at a tender young age," Amelia continued.
"I don't know how to feel right now," Tonks muttered, looking pleased and confused and irritated.
"I am a very good Auror and Director and Head who also is an accomplished Hunter, like aforementioned most dangerous Auror," Amelia said, referring to herself. "And last but not least, we have a very talented field medic and an individual that's well-traveled and knowledgeable about magical flora and fauna."
"Harry's the medic," Luna said serenely. "I'm the other one. Harry's also one of the best Quidditch players ever."
"Yes, yes he is," Amelia agreed.
"How does that help us with this situation?" Harry asked, bemused.
"You're used to dodging angry looking things," Luna said prosaically. "And I thought we were describing accolades and thought you shouldn't miss that one."
"Well in that case, you're one of the best artists that's internationally renowned," Harry said. He smiled when Luna blushed and hugged him hard about the middle.
Tonks sighed and shook her head. "Alright. Let's get this turkey hunt over with then. Mum threatened to have my hide if I let anything happen to you." She glared at Amelia. "And then she'll come after you."
"Nothing bad will happen!" Amelia said loudly. "But just in case, here."
Harry took the spear from her, shaking his head. "Really?"
"Better safe than sorry." She flourished another one, spinning the impressive weapon like a baton and snapped it into her hand. "Let's go!"
-0-
"Well, safe to say it went this way," Harry remarked.
They had followed the scuffed ground and clawed tracks to a large open flat area that was normally full of lush long grass and heather. However, long gouges could be seen where the plants had been cropped and slashed, showing the bare earth beneath. The entire area looked torn up and disrupted by long talons.
"Oooh, pretty." Luna picked up a very large feather of mottled brown and grey that measured several feet long. "Surprisingly light," she said, hefting it with both hands. "Very sturdy though."
"That would be a fun quill," Tonks said, looking at it.
Moody stalked the border of the clearing, poking at the ground with his staff. "Hmm, bit of a tussle here. Not just against each other I don't think."
"Fresher tracks over here," Amelia called. She and the others followed scrapes in the ground. "Whoop, hold on." Amelia held her arm out, stopping the others. The ground abruptly fell away, turning the hillside into a decline that led into marshland. The ground around the marsh was also disturbed, the land looking like it was violently torn and the grasses wrecked.
"I wouldn't go any closer," Luna said when Amelia and Moody were about to do that. She pointed at some tracks in the mud and at long flowing sea-grasses. "That's a kelpie loch."
"Good eye," Moody grunted. His own magical eye spun and looked about. "Yeah, see some in the water, that way. They look especially angry and one or two have some scratches and slashes."
"One of the gigantes came to water and the kelpies probably drove it off," Amelia murmured. She looked around at the ground. "Look, the tracks lead away." They followed them for some time around the loch before they climbed back up onto the moorland. After some more following, the tracks lightened somewhat and got lost in the scree and rock.
They sat to take a break. Harry passed out jerky and nuts and dried fruit and they ate and drank from canteens as Amelia looked about. "This is kinda fun," Harry said. "Wandering about somewhere wild and all that."
"Don't say that," Tonks chided. "Don't encourage Boss lady."
Moody chuckled. "I have to introduce you to Vogel and some of my other friends. They'd love to have you along."
"Found the trail!" Amelia waved her spear. "Over here!" They followed her down the moors and towards a more rocky part of the highlands. Hills traveled higher, making solid cliff faces and the ground became harder and slightly rougher.
"I hear rocks falling, or at least something heavy falling," Harry said, tilting his head.
"That way," Moody murmured, pointing. "I see something." He and Amelia and Tonks fanned out, staying low with their wands and spears at the ready. Harry followed behind, holding his wand firmly and Luna walked beside him completely calmly. "Yup, that's one of them. And it's dead."
They walked up to the dead gigante. It was immense, an exaggerated caricature of a turkey but enlarged many many times. Despite having seen a butchered version of it before, Harry was struck by how big it was, how mean and menacing it looked even in death. "That is a very big bird," Harry said, awed.
"Looks like it got into a fight," Tonks said, poking it. Feathers had been pulled and ruined, flesh torn. The head of the gigante sat at a very odd angle, the neck bent in a direction it should not have been.
"The other gigante? We know they fight each other," Amelia said.
Moody shook his head. "Look at this. This bite mark. Something with a lot of teeth and a longer narrow muzzle."
"Do gigantes fly?" Luna asked all of a sudden, looking up.
"I don't think so, not according to what the reports say," Amelia said, looking at the dead gigante with clear and obvious disappointment.
"Why do you ask?" Harry said, looking at Luna.
Luna continued to look up and pointed. "If they don't fly, then that one is falling."
Harry looked up and gasped. He flicked his wand and Amelia and Tonks and Moody shouted, pulled by his Summoning Charms. He dragged his wand tip over their heads and incanted rapidly, a large stone archway came into existence, made of thick heavy grey stone. When the arch's supporting pillars touched the ground, he stabbed the ground with his wand and the pillars grew taller and thicker, reinforcing themselves and the arch. Finally, he flicked his wand at the arch. "Protego Maxima!"
The falling gigante slammed into the arch and bounced off of it, the arch creaked and cracked but did not break. It landed heavily on its legs, talons digging into the ground with little effort. The gigante was even bigger than the fallen one and it gobbled angrily, the noise immense and full of violence and threat. It mantled its wings and roared, its beak opening into a large and cavernous maw filled with jagged teeth.
Tonks shouted and a slick stream of oil shot from her wand, coating the ground in between them and the angry giant bird. When the gigante started to charge, it squawked when it slipped on the sheet of oil, beating the air with giant wings to try and stay upright. Moody blasted it with a Wind Blast Charm and it fell, tail over beak, and it rolled away screeching angrily and indignantly. Amelia drew a complicated pattern with her wand and with a shout of "Fulgur!", a bolt of lightning flew at the gigante, hitting it solidly.
"Okay, slightly magic resistant," Amelia said when the gigante clambered onto its feet looking slightly ruffled but unperturbed by the lightning. "Good!" She hefted her spear and took off at an angle to gain elevation.
"Oleum ad metallum!" Harry gestured at the oil and it became shiny metal. Another gesture made spikes out of the sheet and Tonks flicked her wand multiple times, sending the missiles at the gigante. A few struck home before the gigante slapped the rest aside with its wing, screeching loudly. Ropes conjured by Moody shot over it and it struggled, snapping them with mighty wing sweeps and bites with its beak.
Amelia launched her spear, propelled by her magic and the spear stabbed deep, causing the animal to stumble. It rose and charged incredibly swiftly and while Amelia managed to dodge out of the way, a wing slap sent her flying.
Moody hit the ground with his staff and the ground quaked, sending the bird falling over. It slewed its head around however and bit deep into Moody's prosthetic leg. It screeched when Moody stabbed it in the neck with his own spear before he went flying with a yelp, flung by the gigante.
Luna reached into her bag and pulled out a jar. Twirling her wand, she formed a ball from the jar's contents and sighting carefully, flicked her wand. The ball of paint struck the gigante in the eyes and it reared back, blinded. It went wild, stomping and flapping and Harry grabbed Luna around the middle and hauled while jumping back, avoiding the wings and talons and beak.
Dora rolled beneath the flapping wings and crouched on one knee and swept her wand across. "DIFFINDO!" A gash opened on the gigante's neck and it reared back, choking. Amelia came rushing in and aimed. "Terebrare!" A large hole appeared as the Piercing Curse bit deep into the gigante's chest, making it fall back. She caught the spear that Harry threw to her and with a yell, drove it deep into the gigante's chest.
The gigante shuddered and spasmed for a moment before falling still, its lifeblood spilling out of the wounds, its heart pierced.
"Well! That was exciting!" Luna beamed, smiling broadly and looking at the panting witches and wizard.
"Why do you like this?!" Tonks berated. "Why do you find this fun?!"
"Because it is fun!" Amelia retorted.
"I better go get Alastor," Harry said, rushing off. He found the older man hobbling towards them. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," Moody chuckled warmly. "Broke my fake leg but that's no big deal. Bruise here or there but nothing else broken. Ah, thanks lad." He stomped the ground with the prosthetic after Harry fixed it. "Nice work. We get it?"
"We got it, and Amelia's getting it from Tonks," Harry sighed. He helped Moody over to where Amelia and Tonks were still arguing and Luna was sketching the gigante.
"You know, that was one of the better hunts I've been on," Moody said. "We worked well together. I still think you would be a decent Auror, Harry."
"No!" Tonks and Luna said sharply, glaring at Moody.
"I'd agree," Harry grinned. "I wonder what happened to the first one and why this one fell."
"Probably the dragon," Luna said, looking up.
They blanched when they saw a dragon peering down at them from the clifftop. It was colored in patchy green and grey, staring at them with slightly brown eyes and it growled at them.
"They must have climbed up there and picked a fight with it," Tonks said, gulping. "It killed the one and kicked it off and the second must have fallen off mid-fight."
"That's a Scottish Moorclaw," Luna said helpfully. "They're known for being fairly intelligent and more than fairly ill-tempered."
Harry licked his lips and held his hands up when the dragon looked at him. "We'll only take this one," Harry said slowly, pointing at the gigante they slew together. "You keep the one you got." He pointed at the first one. "No problems."
The dragon glowered at them.
"I'm going to gut and clean this one here," Harry said. "We'll give you the innards and all. Is that okay?"
After a moment the dragon nodded, and it slunk away from the clifftop, making everyone sigh with relief.
"When did you become a dragon tamer?" Moody asked admiringly.
Harry coughed, Tonks had hugged him tightly. "Just picked it up from Hagrid and Charlie. Talking slow and acknowledging them and all that, showing respect."
"See, good thing you were here," Amelia said. She glared back at Tonks.
Harry chuckled. "Let's clean it and get going before the Moorclaw decides to change its mind."
-0-
"Sounds like quite the trip," Katie said, shaking her head. She came out to greet the hunters when they returned to the village, goggling at the very large gigante carcass. Harry told her what happened as he transfigured a very large smoker and put a large part of the gigante within.
"It sure was something alright," Harry sighed.
"Well good thing you were there," Katie praised, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "And you already cocked the turkey."
He sighed again as she giggled herself to bits, smiling and poking her. "Yes. We cleaned it out there because I didn't want all the blood and offal all over the Village and scaring the children. I'm going to smoke this quarter and then break down the others and let them dry cure a little before we start cooking day after tomorrow."
They laughed as they watched Tonks chasing the bunnies about, the little girls shrieking with glee and feigned fear. Tonks had stuck several of the feathers to herself and gobbled threateningly as she chased after them, flapping her arms. "Now that's funny," Harry smiled.
"That's pretty funny too," Katie said. "Your new quill is a bit big."
Luna smiled as she wrote with a very large gigante quill. "Just a bit but it writes very smoothly," she said. "I'm compensating for something, surely."
"That makes me question that one Healer at St Mungo's now," Katie laughed. "I've heard of compensating with brooms and staves and staffs, but quills? That's even funnier somehow."
"I do have a very big paint brush," Luna said. "It's not terribly useful for painting but it is fun to have and wave about and use for other things."
They laughed even harder when Hailey flung herself down, curling into a ball and Tonks skidded to a stop, stumbling and losing balance. Hadley pushed her from behind, knocking Tonks over with a whoop. Dahlia jumped on Tonks as she flailed and Hailey and Hadley jumped on too, pinning Tonks down and crying victory.
"And another gigante was hunted successfully," Harry grinned.
-0-0-0-
odonnellzoo99 - I was really happy with the opening too. It set the scene well and Shelia is a lot of fun. I knew I had to make the stunts even more over the top to offend Hedwig's sensibilities. Even she can hit a point of disapproval for Harry's antics. They might give a Snowbolt a chilly reception but I'm sure they will warm up to it.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Have to make it somewhat more official with the contest and then helping make a new broom. I thought people, and you, would like the free fly. I put a lot of thought into it. I wanted a modicrom of plausibility while still fitting Harry's talent.
Arnie1701 - I am nothing but predictable.
alix33 - Hedwig doing everything amuses me very much. She's the best.
poka - I wanted a purely fun flying chapter and challenge myself a little by trying not to make it Quidditch based, at least solely Quidditch based. You can say the chapter took it in hand and flew away with it amirite? That's his other super power, explaining his shenanigans somehow.
Ghostwriter - He's good at that.
scpotter - It is a lot of fun to explore his life throughout his adult years like this.
WhatHaveIDiscovered - Thank you so much. I was really happy with how the free fly came out. I wanted it to be fun and thrilling.