Supreme Animagus, Part 16

British Changeling Adaptation Behaviour in Diverse Habitats

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).

This chapter includes several Original Characters that will fulfill minor parts in the narrative.

Hogwarts
Chamber of Secrets
(Next Day, Before Breakfast)

"This is a Merlin-damn-it big ruddy snake, Potter." Moody exclaimed. "It's worth a fortune in potion ingredients alone."

"Really?" Harry answered.

"Really. Good thing this thing won't rot. I can harvest enough skin to get you several suits of armor. Damned thing is too magic resistant for resizing charms, so you'd need to trade on when you outgrow the suit. In any direction."

"That would be my cousin, Moody. I've always thought he actually wants to be wider than taller. Just look at his clothes! I could very well wear the clothes he discarded four years ago and they would fit me. But the Dursleys always burn the previous years clothes."

Moody glared at Harry with his natural eye. The magical one spun slowly around. "And they call you a freak." The former Auror grumbled.

Meanwhile, Hermione took abundant notes. She wondered if Harry could copy the beast, though she couldn't suppress a shiver as she thought of her friend fighting this monster, and almost dying in the process. "I got a length of 58 feet, 7 inches, from nose to tail, and a width of five feet, three inches in the base of the head. It could have swallowed you whole, Harry."

"Could have swallowed me too, lass. Largest basilisk known, that's for sure. If old Salazar Slytherin raised it, the damned thing should have been close to a full millennium old. And these beasties don't grow old, they just grow." Moody nodded to himself. He conjured a seat for himself. "Now, should you face a similar beastie now, I hope you'll have a better plan than stick your arm into its mouth and stab the brain through the roof of the mouth."

"Not going to do that again. I was desperate at the moment." Harry admitted. "And if we're right, it will be dragons."

"My contacts were unusually tight-lipped. Neither deny nor confirm. Though it was clear some big beasties were imported, no one is actually talking."

Hermione worried her lower lip. "If the British preserves don't have any suitable dragons, where would the Ministry get four dragons?"

"Most probably the Romanian preserve." Moody began to pace around the dead monster. "But they must be sworn to secrecy too."

Harry snapped his fingers, "Hey, Ron's brother! Charlie Weasley. He works there! We got him to take Norbert to Romania! I bet he knows. We can write him a letter."

"If he knows," Moody shook his head, "he will be sworn too."

"How long would the Ministry need to bring the dragons here? I mean, to Britain, and to Hogwarts."

Moody thought a bit before answering. "They would need to have the dragons at Hogwarts about a week before the First Task. To let them acclimate, dragons get sluggish with low temperatures. They need a while to get used to a different place, to be at their fighting best; as those idiots would want them to. Plus the travel time itself. They couldn't bring them by Portkey, or Apparition, they are too big; Floo is obviously not going to work. Add another couple of weeks of travel time."

"So, they would be in transit right now, correct?" Harry grinned. All we have to do is send a couple of letters, and we will know for sure."

"Explain, lad. The dragon handlers won't tell you if they are bringing dragons for the Tournament." Moody stamped the end of his staff on the stone floor of the chamber.

"It doesn't matter if they tell us or not. All we need to do is send Hedwig with a letter to to the Dragon Preserve and another for Charlie Weasley. Different days."

Hermione looked at her friend, gears turning in her head. Slowly, she smiled, as she followed his reasoning.

Moody grumbled. "Why two trips?"

"Because the Preserve is at a fixed place." Harry smiled contentedly.

Moody worked the implications for a bit. "Hrumph. You want to know if Weasley is moving."

"Yeah. We note how long does it take Hedwig to return from delivering the letter at the preserve, and how long it takes for her to return from delivering Charlie's letter. If she needs less time to come back from wherever Charlie is, then we can conclude he is getting closer to Britain."

"Accompanying the dragons." Moody's mouth twisted in a parody of a smile. "Well thought, but it depends on Weasley actually coming here."

"He will come. He wouldn't miss the chance to visit."

"Very well, you do that. I'll need you to open the chamber later, so I can harvest enough skin for a suit. If you're gonna fight a dragon, you better be dressed for the occasion."

"I'll be checking the library, there must be a book showing a dragon's weak spots."

Moody growled again. "Ask the expert." He put a finger over his lips. Harry and Hermione got his meaning. He couldn't tell them directly. Both students nodded.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Moody grumbled, "Let's go and get breakfast, I'll see you here after classes."

Once the trio was back in the Girls' Lavatory, Harry hissed closed the entry.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom
6th Year Slytherin Class

"30 points from Slytherin for falling unconscious in class, Mr. Warrington." Moody growled at the fallen body on the floor, keeping his wand pointing down at no particular point, but making very clear that such a state of things could change very rapidly should its owner decide so. "And 5 more each, Mr. Pucey and Miss Hightower for not catching him before his head went clonk on the floor of my classroom." The fake eye spun wildly in the socket for a moment, finally settling on Pucey, while the real one nailed the Hightower girl.

"Now," he growled, "lift him up. Put him back on his desk." Moody brought a small flask from a hidden pocket and uncorked it.

"Pucey! Hold up his head. Don't let it fall down or you'll be cleaning the floor with a muggle toothbrush." Pucey obeyed the gruff order.

Moody moved the flask side to side under Warrington's nose. It was a matter of seconds before the student sprung to his feet, running to the window. He barely managed to open it before the content of his stomach was violently ejected from his belly. He heaved several times, under the cold gaze of their teacher.

Once Warrington sat again on his chair, breathing heavily, little Miss Euphemia Silverworth raised a timid hand. "What was in the flask, Professor Moody? I've heard muggles use something called… demonia salts? To force somebody to wake up. Was that what you used?"

"No." Moody sealed the bottle again and put it back in its place. "This is extract of moonskunk musk, distilled and fermented for a fortnight under the Sun in a bed of burning cinders. There's a modified bubblehead charm to prevent the… fragrance… to spread beyond six inches around. More than enough protection against accidental sniffing. Very useful in traps against thieves. They might get away with the merchandise, but will be reconsidering their life choices for a long time.

The whole class went green faced. "Pity Mr. Warrington will have that smell living rent-free inside his nose for a while. The smell lingers."

Warrington shook his head, "Was that really necessary, Professor Moody?"

"It was. There's no more efficient way to wake up somebody. And we have already wasted enough time."

Unused classroom
(After Classes)

"I'll have nightmares about that monster, I'm sure." Hermione shuddered. "Did you study it enough?"

"Enough to copy its shape? Yes, but I don't want to test it anywhere near you. And I noticed something else." Harry shook his head, "I get more tired if I change into magical creatures than with regular creatures. Going basilisk would be really tiresome. Changing into a flobberworm is easy, they are small, and have little magic. The Niffler was like changing into a… big bear. I Can hold the shape for a long time. I think I could hold the shape of a basilisk or a dragon for a few minutes, tops."

"A Nundu would be out, then."

"Yeah, too big. And spreading disease is not in my list of possible ways to deal with Death Eaters." He paused, "That would be contaminating some place for Morgana knows how long."

"Back to more immediate problems, I'm not sure if Logan would be useful for dealing with a dragon."

"Me neither, I'd rather keep that in reserve. Turning into a dragon in public would blow any chances to surprise Tom and the others."

"Then, I think we should focus on ways to…" Hermione's eyes unfocused for a moment. "Hey, remember Fluffy?"

"How could I forget three sets of clamping jaws trying to eat us?" Harry shuddered in remembrance.

"No! Not that! Remember how we got past him!"

"Well, yes. We just got there and found a magic…" Harry interrupted himself. "Riddle/Quirrel put a magic harp to play close to him, and the music put him to sleep."

"Maybe there's a way to put a dragon to sleep. A potion or something if music doesn't work. You wouldn't have to kill it, I hope; just defeat it. Putting it to sleep would count. I hope."

"Let me go and ask Hagrid. He should know. But if you ask him, he would risk the Goblet's contract.

"Okay.

Hagrid's Hut

"Ah shoulda not said that!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"Well…" Hermione said calmly, "I'm not going hunting dragons. I'm just curious, Hagrid."

"It was almost a bust, Harry. Hagrid clamped up when I asked. I couldn't get anything from him, apart that only the Chinese Fireball and the Common Welsh Green are likely to fall asleep with music, especially the Fireball; but it must be a magical song, and from a female; like a siren." (1)

"Or a Veela." Harry tapped his chin, thinking, "Delacoeur might have some advantage there if she is lucky enough to face one of those."

"Could you copy her?"

"Nope. I can't copy females, only male animals, or the ones with neutral gender or both."

"Hermaphrodites." She nodded to herself.

"Yep. Kinda inconvenient with some animals. In many cases, the females are bigger, stronger and more dangerous than males (2). I found out when I changed into a bee the night 'Logan' rescued Moody. I turned into a drone. Not that Moody was in any shape to notice." He shrugged.

"Anyway, I think I better find the other Champions. Tell them about the dragons."

"Did you send the first letter?" She asked as they gathered their stuff.

"Yeah. Hedwig has not returned yet. I sent her to the preserve. That way we have the base time. And it gives time to the caravan to get closer to Britain."

Harry checked the Marauder's Map to locate the other Champions. "Diggory is closer. Delacoeur and Krum are with their respective schools."

"Will they heed your warning?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, "But I have to try."

"I'll go to the Beauxbatons Carriage if you don't mind. I speak basic French, and would like to practice."

Stairs to the Second Floor

"Diggory?" Harry waved at the Hufflepuff student. "A moment of your time?"

The hangers on sneered at Harry, but we're surprised when the Hogwarts Champion nodded. "Sure." He turned to the flock following him. "Go on, I'll catch you later." He shooed them.

"But, Cedric!" One girl pouted. "Potter is a cheater!"

Diggory's face hardened. "I doubt that. Now go."

"Dragons? Really?" Diggory said, shaking his head ruefully.

"We don't know it for sure. Yet. I wouldn't put it beyond the Ministry to bring the biggest, baddest and worst tempered dragons. For show."

"I agree. But as you say, it's just a suspicion. We won't know for sure until the Day of the First Task."

"All I ask is for you to take it into account."

"I will, but, why even warn me? If you're right, you'd have a big advantage over your competitors."

Harry shrugged, "I just don't want anybody to die in the name of a Tournament I didn't even wanted to enter. Also, you are one of the few students who has even considered the idea I don't want to compete."

"Sorry I haven't done enough to convince the rest of my House of your innocence."

"You try. Just that is enough for me."

They shook hands and they went their separate routes.

Beauxbatons Carriage

"(Good afternoon, my name is Hermione Granger. May I speak to Miss Fleur Delacoeur, please?)" Hermione said respectfully to the students coming out the magical Carriage. The student raised an eyebrow at Hermione's accent.

"(I'll ask if she's available. Please wait here." She answered primly.

Hermione looked closely at the magical transport, wondering just how many expansion charms it had. She was in the middle of her calculations when the door opened again. "Miss Granger?" Fleur Delacoeur asked, in her heavily accented English, "I wazz enformed you azked for moi." She beckoned Hermione to follow her to a table set some distance from the Carriage.

"I did. As you know, I'm Harry Potter's friend." They sat down, "And we need to give you a heads up about the First Task."

"But, why?" Fleur asked incredulously, "Don't you zink it coold be zouth it's a trap?"

"Do you believe he cheated to enter the Tournament?"

"Oh, no. I belieev 'im. But why zacrifize an advantash?"

"This Tournament is deadly enough. Anyway, all we have now is a logical suspicion. Harry is warning the other Champions as we speak."

"I zee. I mus' admit I'm curiuz."

Hermione told the French girl about their suspicion. She paled even more. "Sacre bleu…" She whispered, "I mus' speek to Madame Maxime." She stood up, and pulled her skirt up a bit, preparing herself to run. "Zhank you, 'Ermione." She ran back to the carriage, and disappeared inside it.

Black Lake
Drumstrang Ship

"Could you at least tell him I need to speak with him? It's very important."

"I culd tell him, ja?" The burly student leaned ton one of the posts securing the rope bridge to land. It was clear to Harry the guy would not do such thing. "Yu tell me, I tell him. Easy."

"Sorry, no. It's personal. I'll come back later."

The student shrugged with disdain.

Knockturn Alley
Gideon Ironsmith's Armory and Weaponry
(Early Evening)

"Sure, I can do it. Just send me the measures." The twisted man grumbled into the Floo. "I'll put a couple of orders on the waiting list, sure, but this is worth two marks, not one."

"I want a fast job, Gideon, not a rush one. The owner will need to get used to the suit."

"You have not told me who is the guy."

"And I won't. But you'll know before the year ends. And you have a guarantee for more work if the owner is satisfied. He wants discretion on top of quality."

"Oh, you can bet I'll be silent about it. But it will cost you."

"I'll send you enough skin to keep you busy and quiet. You can keep the extra or sell it later, we won't care."

"On top of my usual fee?" The man asked greedily.

"Yes. The owner will be very generous. Quality work and discretion are very valued."

"Of course, of course." Ironsmith rubbed his earlobe thoughtfully. "Say, do you have a… channel to sell the rest of the basilisks?"

"I presume you have somebody in mind." Moody 'smiled', he had expected such a proposal.

"Of course. My cousin Melusine. Potionist and apothecary. If you ever need a little known potion… analyzed… she can do it. I'm sure she will give you a very good price for ingredients, and her discretion is guaranteed."

"And you can be the inbetweeneer for a modest fee."

Ironsmith smiled crookedly, showing a couple of gaps in his jaw. "You know me. Yes. Fifteen percent of the final price."

"Three." Moody growled. "I don't know her."

"Twelve, I vouch for her."

"Five. You are a crooked crook."

Gideon laughed heartily, "Oh, good one! I'll steal it. Ten. I can ensure you get your money quickly."

"Seven."

"Let's not argue for no reason. Seven it is."

"Agreed. I'll get you the skin tomorrow morning. And a list of the other ingredients I have available."

"Pleasure to deal with you, Moody. See you tomorrow."

The former Auror grunted goodbye and cut the Floo connection.

Author Notes

(1) I thought different dragons would be affected differently. Canonically, the Welsh Green was affected by Fleur's singing.

(2) indeed, in many species, the male and the female go their separate ways after mating, leaving the job of raising the young completely to the female. So, to protect the brood, the females are bigger and meaner than the males. In some extreme cases, like certain spider species, the male is so small it's easy to believe it has just come out of the egg!