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Here's the next chapter. Harry becomes a Demiguise again and performs a daring rescue.

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Chapter 10

Harry headed downstairs with Daphne and Astoria following behind him. When he asked his grandparents if he could go to the Delacour family's house, they agreed, as long as he called to ask the Delacours parent's permission first. He used the hallway phone to call them. It sure beats using an owl, even if the property was only next door.

"Résidence Delacour. C'est Apolline qui parle," a woman answered.

"Ah, I don't speak French."

"Sorry. This is Apolline speaking," the woman replied, switching to English with a notable accent.

"Hi, this is Harry Potter. Can I come over to see Gabrielle? I have a couple of friends over and who would like to meet her."

"Hello, Harry. You are welcome to visit. Are these friends of yours, boys?"

That was probably a real concern for their mother, and he couldn't blame her. "No, they are girls."

"That is fine," Apolline said, her voice relaxing. "Just cross over the boundary between our two properties as it is much faster than using the road. I will have Gabrielle meet you."

"Thank you," Harry said, hanging up. He turned to the girls. "Let's go."

They followed him outside and walked towards the western border of the property. There was no fence dividing the two properties, but a line of trees ensured some degree of privacy.

"Is she that worried about males coming over to their house?" Astoria asked curiously.

"Gabrielle and her sister are Half-Veela," Harry answered. "Of course, their mother would be concerned about any unfamiliar males visiting their house because she doesn't know how they would react to their daughters. Not to mention, she is a full-blooded Veela herself."

"Some girls can still feel the effects," Daphne noted. "Although to a much lesser extent. What about you? Isn't she worried about you having an adverse reaction?"

"I have already met Gabrielle and her sister several times," Harry replied. "Their allure affected me when we first met, but I managed to shake it off. It only got easier from there."

"That's really impressive," Daphne glanced at him. "It takes a strong mind to resist a Veela allure. Do you practice Occlumency?"

"What's Occlumency? I recall one of the girls mentioning it."

"It's a mental discipline that protects the mind from external penetrations," Daphne answered. "It works against passive influences like the allure as well. Although it would take an expert to shake the effects completely. However, they are small in number as there are not many that learn the discipline."

They stepped through the trees and onto the Delacour property. On the eastern side of the property, there was an extensive vineyard that covered hundreds of acres of land. They stepped into a row of grapevines and headed west to the Delacour Chateau.

"That sounds useful," Harry said. Considering the manipulations he suffered due to the necklace's magic, it was a discipline he was interested in. "I should ask my grandparents to teach me."

"Our father is teaching us," Daphne informed him. "It is practised a lot more among the influential families as they are scared of family secrets being stolen from their minds. Although most don't get very far before giving up. Father said that many of them are very lazy and ill-disciplined."

"Daphne is better than me," Astoris confessed. "This is why she often looks like a dead fish most of the time. If you are using it actively, it is likely to quell your emotions and, as a result, your facial expressions may appear stiff."

"You're the dead fish," Daphne retorted, shoving her sister lightly.

"Obviously, it doesn't work against bratty little sisters," Harry laughed.

"Tell me about it," Daphne rolled her eyes and Astoria poked her tongue out at them.

They were halfway through the vineyard when they heard someone calling them, and Harry recognised Gabrielle's voice. He spotted her walking towards them through a row of trees, and she ran forward to meet them.

"Hello, Harry," Gabrielle lunged forward and hugged him, kissing each cheek, causing his face to turn red. Astoria giggled at his reaction, although Daphne didn't look amused. Gabrielle let him go and stepped back, looking at the two girls beside him.

"Gabrielle, this is Daphne and Astoria Greengrass" Harry introduced them. "Their family is visiting our house today. This is Gabrielle Delacour, a neighbour and friend of mine."

"Hello," Gabrielle reached out and shook their hands. "It's nice to meet Harry's friends. Let's go up to the house to get some refreshments."

They continued to walk through the vineyards, as Astoria and Gabrielle handled the majority of the conservation. It appeared as if they were getting along like a house on fire.

"So, are you Harry's girlfriend?" Astoria asked bluntly.

"Astoria," Harry wanted to strangle the girl. "Don't be ridiculous. We have only known each other for a few days."

'No," Gabrielle giggled, shooting him a look he couldn't interpret. "It is too early for that. But I do like having a male friend who isn't staring at me with drool running down his chin."

"That is good," Astoria leaned over and whispered exaggeratedly. "You have a lot of competition with my sister. Although, I am sure she will be willing to share him with you. He looks like the kind of man who would enjoy having a harem."

"Astoria," Daphne screeched, reaching out to grab the girl, who ran forward to avoid her sister's grasp.

Daphne chased the girl, who laughed uncontrollably. Harry and Gabrielle ran after them until they reached the edge of the vineyard. Both girls were clutching their sides, and Astoria's hair was messed up, obviously a victim of her sister's ministrations.

Harry was about to say something when he stiffened, looking towards the chateau a few hundred yards away. He got an uneasy feeling that something bad was happening or was about to happen. It felt similar to the premonition he had when he was in the junk shop, except there was no vision this time. Could the Demiguises' abilities be bleeding over into his human form? Or was he just imagining it?

"What's the matter, Harry?" Gabrielle asked, seeing his alert expression. Astoria and Daphne straightened, looking at Harry with concern.

"Something is wrong," Harry said. "Gabrielle, who is home at the moment?"

"Just my mother and sister," Gabrielle replied with a confused look. "My father is at the Ministry as he is working today. Why, what is wrong?"

"Listen," Harry said urgently. "I sometimes get these feelings that something is about to happen. I don't have time to explain it properly, but I think your mother and sister are in danger."

Gabrielle looked sceptical for a moment, but the chance her family could be in danger galvanised her and she turned to run towards the mansion. Harry grabbed her arm, preventing her from moving.

"Let me go," Gabrielle screeched.

"I will go and investigate the situation," Harry said determinedly. "The three of you should run back to my house and tell my grandparents what's going on."

"Harry, what can you do?" Daphne stepped in front of him. "You have known about the magical world for only a short period of time and don't know many spells. You will only get hurt if there is really something bad going on."

"Yeah," Astoria said with fervour. "You need to return with us and get your grandparents. Our parents can help as well."

Harry took a breath. There was no choice but to show his Animagus form. Over the past few days, he had a few lessons with his grandmother, and he almost perfected the transformation. The only thing he needed to practice was the speed of transformation, but it wasn't the most crucial part. Knowing how to turn invisible was the key point since he was going to sneak into the Delacour's house and scope out the situation.

"I have a method to get inside," Harry said. "Gabrielle, do I have to worry about wards stopping me from entering the chateau?"

"What?" Gabrielle looked confused for a second. "No. They are only triggered when hostile intent is detected. We have Muggle employees who work in the vineyard, so we cannot have a normal ward arrangement."

Harry nodded before shifting into his Animagus form in front of the girls, who exclaimed in surprise. It took him ten seconds to shift, but it was necessary to take his time at his current skill level to avoid mistakes. He didn't want to get stuck somewhere in between the two forms.

"Harry, you're an Animagus?" Daphne asked, shocked. "A Demiguise?

"Why are you asking him? It's not like he can answer you in that form," Astori said, stating the obvious.

"A Demiguise is a magical creature that is known to make predictions," Gabrielle cried out in realisation. "He must get some of his ability from his Animagus form. That means my family is really in danger."

Harry pointed at the girls with his small hands, then behind him, towards his property. When they didn't move, he became more insistent. Finally, Daphne broke out of her stupor and grabbed Astoria and Gabrielle's arms and began dragging them back into the vineyard, with Gabrielle protesting vehemently.

He waited a moment to ensure they wouldn't turn around before he focused on turning invisible. He had a hard time doing it consciously at first, as he had to activate every single strand of hair on his body, or else it wouldn't be true invisibility. He found it easier to imagine wrapping himself in a cloak, just like he was putting on his grandparent's Invisibility Cloak. The realisation that the visual aid may be effective because the cloak was made from Demiguise's hair was something he didn't want to examine too closely.

Just like his transformation, it was a slow process, but after thirty seconds, he managed it. He inspected himself until he was satisfied that he was really working. It wasn't perfect because if he felt strong emotions, such as fear or anger, he might not be able to maintain it. However, it would have to do.

Harry ran on all fours across the yard towards the chateau. This building looked centuries old with its weathered stone cladding, tall arched windows, and steeped terracotta roof. There were three distinct portions to the chateau, the central structure with two smaller structures attached, the west and east wings.

His instincts told him not to enter from the front entrance, so he raced around the back side of the chateau and almost ran into a fence. He hadn't noticed it from afar, but there was a large enclosed area, and a strange creature lying on the grass, motionless. It resembled a cow, except that it was leaner, packed with muscles, and covered with an inky-black hide. It had two large horns that must have been almost half a metre in length. Harry didn't know what kind of magical creature it was, but he was sure it belonged to Gabrielle. She loved her creatures.

It looked so still. Did someone do something to it? Harry noticed a broken section of the fence, so he assumed the creature had tried to escape the fence. Was it related to whatever was going on inside the chateau?

Harry spotted the back entrance and saw a man dressed in robes guarding it. He held a wand, so he was obviously a wizard, but he wasn't that alert. Harry passed him without issue and moved around to the other side of the house, where the west wing was located.

As soon as he looked up he spotted his chance to enter the chateau. There was a balcony on the top floor with a glass door that was open, leading to a bedroom. The climb appeared doable, considering his agility. Harry looked down at his claws. While it looked like they were plenty sharp enough to find purchase on the side of the building, it was still a scary prospect. He gathered his courage, before leaping a remarkable seven feet onto the wall, and digging his claws into the stone cladding to secure himself. Once he was assured of his grip, he scrambled the rest of the way up to the third-floor balcony and over the railing.

Harry crept into the room, his ears straining to hear anything, but all he could hear was his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to come here alone, but he wasn't about to back down now. Now that he was in his Animagus form, the sense of crisis only grew. He knew that there wasn't much time before something bad happened to the Delacours.

Harry moved across the room towards the door. The walls of Gabrielle's room were painted a soft cream colour, and the rest of the room was painted in a variety of soft pastel colours, including blue, pink, and yellow. She had a queen-size bed decorated with several pillows and soft toys. It looked like a typical girl's room with plenty of feminine touches.

He put his ear to the door, but couldn't hear anyone in the hallway. Jumping up, he grabbed the door handle, which fortunately was a lever, so he allowed his weight to drop down, doing the work for him. The door swung open, and he slipped into the hallway.

Harry looked in both directions. He was in the middle of the hallway, with a number of closed doors on either side. Further down, there was a curved staircase leading down to the lower floors. Where was he supposed to go? He moved towards the staircase, and he suddenly heard a scream coming from somewhere downstairs.

He descended the stairs to the west wing's ground floor in a rush. A long hallway led to a set of double doors, which he presumed connected to the main building. Running up to the door, he opened it and slipped through to the entrance hall, where the front door was located, along with another curved staircase. There were two entrances on either side of the staircase, which opened into two hallways leading further inside the building.

Judging from the sound of the scream, he knew it came somewhere around here, but couldn't place the exact location. After listening intently for a moment, he heard a small sound of distress coming from the right hallway. He raced down it, trying to be quiet as possible on the hard wooden floors. He paused when he spotted a body lying halfway out of an open doorway. Initially, he feared it was one of the Delcaour females. However, he quickly realised that it was a man, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was a wizard, judging by the robes he wore and a wand that lay on the floor a few feet away. Harry cautiously approached the man and saw he was unconscious or dead. Assuming he was an intruder, he didn't bother checking if he was okay. He grabbed the wand with his claws and snapped it in half, dropping the pieces to the floor.

Another scream sounded close by, startling Harry. It was followed by a male voice shouting in French. It sounded like it was coming from a room a few doors down, where the door was wide open. He approached it and peered inside cautiously, paranoid that he would be spotted even though he was invisible.

He took the situation with a glance. The room was an office of some kind, with a huge solid desk at the back of the room, next to a window overlooking the backyard. There was a sofa and a chaise lounge on either side of the room, and two women sat on the sofa, facing and looking at the man who held them captive.

The man looked average, with no notable features, and was dressed in black robes. He stood with his wand raised against the woman. One of them was Fleur, and the other was a woman that looked similar to her, but a bit older. He assumed that this was her mother, Apolline.

She appeared distressed and was shaking in pain. Her features were altered, looking bird-like, with a sharp beak and dark beady eyes. Her arms were covered with a fine covering of feathers, and her hands were shaped into talons. This must be the Veela transformation they went through when they were seriously angry or fearful. Gabrielle had never mentioned it, but he had researched the Veela race in the library after getting curious about her. He assumed she was ashamed of the transformation, which was ridiculous. It's not like he cared about that sort of thing.

Fleur's dress was torn down the front, showing off her black bra, and she had her arms crossed to hide her chest from the man. Harry frowned in disgust, assuming the man had torn her dress. He needed to be taken down before he tried anything else.

The man waved his wand at the woman threateningly, speaking in French. Judging from the man's expression, he was losing patience and Harry was afraid the man would hurt the woman or worse. He slowly crept into the room, moving behind the chaise lounge, and behind the man's back. It was unclear what he would do next. He couldn't transform back into a human since he was sure he would make some noise that would alert the man.

As he tried to think of a plan, he froze as a vision appeared in his mind. He witnessed the immediate future and watched as Fleur died trying to protect her mother. As soon as the vision faded, he no longer hesitated and leapt onto the man's back, just as he raised his wand. Harry reached around and poked the man's eyes as hard as he could, causing the man to scream and drop his wand. He reached out to Harry, trying to grab him.

Harry leapt off his back, turning visible as he did so, and landed nimbly on his feet. The man reached down blindly to grab the wand he dropped, but Harry raced forward and picked it up before he could. He scrambled backwards as a huge fireball impacted the man, setting him alight.

Harry looked on in horror as the man fell to the floor, writhing as flames spread over his body. They seemed alive, as they quickly climbed up his chest and targeted his face with prejudice. No longer able to look at the man, he glanced up and saw that Fleur had partially transformed, with her hand held out in front of her. She looked to be out of her mind, staring down at the man with a shell-shocked expression.

Harry transformed back into a human and rose to his feet. That broke Fleur out of her trance, and she looked at him with fear. He raised his hands in the air.

"It's okay, Fleur," Harry said. "It's me, Harry, your neighbour. The man can't hurt you anymore."

The man was already consumed by the fire, but it wasn't spreading to the carpet. He didn't know what kind of fire it was, but it wasn't ordinary. Maybe it was specific to Veela.

Appoline groaned as she began to shift back to normal, which triggered Fleur to change as well. She blinked rapidly, before looking down at her mother who looked in pain, her entire body spasming occasionally.

"Maman," Fleur grabbed her desperately and lay her down on the couch, ignoring her own state of undress. "She was hit with the Cruciatus Curse. She needs medical attention."

Harry didn't know what that was, but it sounded bad, judging by Apolline's pained expression. Harry took off his sweater and draped it over Fleur's upper body. "Were there any other intruders besides the two men? I know there is a wizard guarding the back entrance, so there must be at least one at the front as well."

"Will they have been alerted by the screams?" Fleur asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Harry said. He raced towards the door and closed it. Using his wand, he floated over the heavy desk in front of the door, struggling with the weight. "You need to contact the French Aurors first and get some help here."

"Non," Fleur shook her head, refusing to let go of her mother.

"I cannot speak French. It has to be you. My grandparents should be here soon, as I sent Gabrielle to alert them. But I don't know if they will be here in time."

"Gabrielle is okay?" Fleur looked up with relief before something occurred to her for the first time. "How did you get here? Did you really change into a Demiguise?"

"I'm an Animagus," Harry said. "I will explain later. Now get moving."

Fleur stood up and walked towards the fireplace. "Is the other man dead?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like he will get up anytime soon. I snapped his wand anyway."

"Good."

"Summon the authorities. Tell them there are still at least two wizards outside."

"Okay," Fleur took some floo powder and threw it into the flames.

Harry sat on the couch with Apolline, with his wand raised to the door. He didn't know what he would do if one of the intruders blasted through the door, as his spell repertoire was severely limited. Fleur poked her head into the fire and communicated with someone before retreating from the fireplace. Soon after, a man emerged from the fire, with his wand raised in preparation for a fight. His eyes immediately locked on to Harry and he looked ready to curse him.

"Papa, stop," Fleur shouted. "This is Harry Potter. He saved us from the wizard who held us captive."

The man nodded, lowering his wand and walking towards the sofa. Fleur's father appeared to be every bit the aristocrat, impeccably dressed and with a remarkable bearing. He was tall, about six feet three, and had short dark hair and a small goatee and moustache.

The man looked at his wife twitching on the sofa with an anguished expression. "Fleur, contact Collete at the Hospital but don't let her through until I say it's safe. I will go and look for the intruders who remain."

"Wait, why didn't you contact the Aurors?" Harry asked in confusion. "Isn't that their job?"

"I can't trust them," Fleur's father said simply. "My name is Pierre. Thank you for helping my family. Is Gabrielle safe?"

"I sent her over to my place to get my grandparents," Harry said. "They should be here soon."

Pierre sighed in relief. "Stay here while I search for the intruders."

He sent the desk across the floor with a flick of his wand and opened the door. He poked his head out before leaving the room. A few minutes later, Harry heard shouts from the entrance hall and stood up, summoning his wand from his holster. He motioned for Fleur to hide before approaching the doorway and peering down the hallway. He sighed in relief when he spotted Pierre with his grandparents and the Greengrass adults heading down the hall.

"Harry, are you okay?" Charlus grabbed him urgently, inspecting him carefully.

"I'm fine," Harry shrugged. "I wasn't in any real danger."

"We will discuss this later," Charlus said sternly.

His grandmother reached out and hugged him tightly, making him protest against the abuse. She ignored him, holding onto him for a minute before letting him go. Harry tried to escape into the room, knowing that he would get a harsh reprimand once his grandmother's relief disappeared.

"We will talk about this later," Minerva repeated her husband's threat, and Harry gulped.

"Did you find the other intruders outside?" Harry asked, hoping to change the subject.

Pierre shook his head. "It looked like they had no loyalty. They must have fled when they heard the man's screams."

Since they were told to watch the entrances, they probably were only lowly henchmen anyway. Harry followed the adults into the room, glad the ordeal was over.

Harry sat in Delcaour's living room with Daphne and Astoria beside him. He had just finished being questioned by the French Aurors. They seemed to find ten different ways of asking the same question, which made the entire process take way longer than necessary. Pierre only summoned the Aurors after the adults had searched the entire chateau from top to bottom. Furthermore, they took the man from the hallway and interrogated him. Apparently, the man had been stunned by Apolline before she was incapacitated by the other man.

Grandfather had left before the Aurors came because he didn't want anyone else to know he was still alive. Although Pierre didn't trust the Aurors for whatever reason, he still had to report the crime, especially as he was a senior Ministry member. The healer took Apolline and Fleur to the hospital, with Gabrielle joining them. Now that things had settled down, they were waiting for the adults, who were still discussing the day's events.

"Well, this was an exciting day," Astoria said. "Do you think I will get a reward for my part in the rescue?"

"You're part?" Daphne asked sceptically.

"What? Wasn't it my idea to visit Gabrielle? Would Harry have had the premonition if we weren't on the Delacour property at the time?" Astoria asked smugly.

"Well, she's not wrong," Harry said.

"Right," Astoria nodded excitedly. "It's like I had a premonition of my own."

"Now you're taking it too far," Harry laughed.

Gabrielle entered the room and plopped down next to Harry, pushing a protesting Astoria out of the way. She grabbed his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

"How's your mother?" Harry asked.

"Maman is doing better," Gabrielle said softly. "She was hit with the Cruciatus Curse twice, but thankfully she wasn't held under the curse for too long either time. It will take some time for her to recover, though."

"Did your dad say anything about who was responsible?" Harry imagined that he had not taken it easy on the man he interrogated. He probably already had a good idea of who was responsible for the attack.

"He is not saying anything," Gabrielle wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Maybe a political opponent," Daphne suggested. "I overheard my mother talking about your father running for Minister of Magic next year."

"Really?" Harry looked at Gabrielle in surprise, who nodded her head, confirming Daphne's account. "You think they were trying to intimidate your father into withdrawing from running for Minister?"

"Politics can be ruthless," Daphne said when Gabrielle simply shrugged.

"I don't think that's the case," Harry said. "I could feel that the wizard who tortured Gabrielle's mother wanted to kill her. That's why I acted so quickly."

"Did you see a vision of my Maman dying?" Gabrielle asked fearfully.

Harry didn't answer, and she seemed to discern the truth from his expression.

"Fleur?" Gabrielle gasped.

"It doesn't matter," Astoria said firmly. "Harry prevented it from happening, so there is no point worrying about something that did not happen in the end."

Harry, Gabrielle and Daphne looked at Astoria in surprise. Since when did the mischievous girl become the voice of reason?

"What? I can be serious when I need to be," Astoria said childishly.

The three of them erupted into laughter, finding the statement and her delivery hilarious.

13th August

"Stupid grandparents," Harry scowled.

Harry was ensconced in his room, having been grounded for a week. He wasn't allowed to leave the house, so he couldn't see his friends or work on his workshop. Whilst they had been proud of his actions in saving Fleur and Apolline, they still felt he was reckless and had put his life in danger. In their opinion, he should have returned to the house and told them what was happening. They didn't buy his explanation of there not being enough time, which he felt was totally unfair.

It was lucky that he halted work on the workshop while he concentrated on runes. Thankfully, without any other distractions, he could work on completing the latest task.

He chose the Basic Reinforcement Rune Array as the first one he was going to inscribe on parchment since he would use it on the wood planks to strengthen the workshop. He would also use the Incombustible Rune Array, which would make the workshop completely resistant to most fires.

The Reinforcement Array was pretty complex for such a simple task, which made him dread inscribing the rune arrays on every single wood plank. There were six Rune Sequences needed to make the array viable. The Strengthening Charm, Power Limiter, Trigger, Conduit, Magic Storage and Magic Assimilation Sequences.

Harry finished inscribing the Basic Reinforcement Rune Array for the first time and compared it to the image in the book. He could spot the inconsistencies right away. The biggest culprit was the Conduit Sequences. They looked like a chain that connected all the other sequences together, except the chain was built out of runes. Specifically, Rune Expressions that signified the forming of connections and transferrence. It was the most complex part of the array, and it would take some time to get right.

Harry continued to work on it for the remainder of the day, only going down to have lunch and dinner. It wasn't until late evening that he finished his first complete Basic Reinforcement Array, and he received confirmation a moment later.

The host has inscribed his first Rune Array!

Basic Reinforcement Rune Array

General Exp: + 50

Skill Exp: [Calligraphy 3, Dexterity 1, Elder Futhark 1] + 25

The host has completed a task!

Task #6 - Create a basic Rune Array.

Reward: 750 general experience; 5 Shop Points.

Progress to level 7: 1964/4800

The host has received a new task.

Task #7 - Appraisal Scroll schematic.

Objective: Inscribe ten different Rune Arrays.

Reward: 2000 general experience; Appraisal Scroll Rune Array schematic.

Harry looked at the new task with surprise. He never imagined that he could replicate the Appraisal Scroll, as it assumed it was exclusive to the Source. If he could create it, it would be his first major project that could gain some recognition. There wasn't anything else like it, surely?

So what do you think? Next chapter, Dumbledore reveals some of his plans and Sirius is not actually in Azkaban.

Thanks for reading.