Harry Potter and the Supreme Animagus

Part 17

Combat Preparatives of the British Changeling

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).

Hogwarts
Library

Hermione and Harry were busy doing their homework when she noticed movement close by. Discreetly, she kicked Harry's foot and tilted her head. Harry nodded slowly.

Hermione waved at the visitor, and beckoned him to seat with them.

"Ah, Gut afternuun." He said, awkwardly. "I've heard you vere lookink for me, ja?"

"Right, Viktor. There's some suspicions we want to share with you, we already spoke with Diggory and Delacoeur, but the guy at the ship didn't let me in or call you. I didn't want the message to be lost or changed."

Viktor rolled his eyes, "Tall guy, vilt like gorilla, dark hair cropped close, big ears, watery eyes?"

Harry nodded, "That's the guy."

"That's no frend ov mine. Name is Hugo. Rival seeker." Krum made a dismissive movement with his hand.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't leave the message, then. To the point, we think the First Task will involve dragons."

Krum leaned backwards on the chair, an incredulous look in his eyes, "Dragons? Really? Vhy do you think dat?"

Hermione explained their reasoning. Victor leaned forward again as she spoke.

"Ja, I see yur point. I hav some difficulty beleevink yur Ministry would do dat."

Harry snorted, "That's because you don't know them."

Krum smirked, "Ah. Politiks… same ev'ryvere…"

"We are trying to get confirmation, even indirect. We will tell the other champions what we find out."

"Appreciated." The Durmstrang Champion tapped his chest two times. "I dun't think Headmaster Karkarov vill beleeve yur acting in gut faith. I do. I von't tell. I vill focus on battle spells insted." He stood up, looking at Harry. "I suggest yu do same." Harry grinned.

"I am not sure I can match a dragon on power. I'll have to be tricky."

"Alvays an option." Krum agreed.

After he left, Hermione and Harry relaxed a bit. "Let's finish our homework." She said. "I've been thinking on a runic matrix to help you control a Batarang, and I need to do a lot of calculations. A smoke curtain would serve as a distraction if you need to flee."

Harry pulled a box from his book bag. Checking that Madam Pince was not around, he opened the box and took out a carved wood Batarang. "I transfigured a block of wood. I thought it would be better to have a real one to work with."

"Well thought. Now put it back in the bag and hurry up with the homework."

Later

"I think we can get it controlled in two ways, if we adjust the runic matrix with a branching point and a conditional divergence." Hermione said, pointing at her calculations.

"Meaning?"

"Either you control it directly, or you program a route. Or both. We need to test it."

"How complex?" Harry rubbed his chin, thinking hard.

"At my current level? Of understanding, I mean…" her tongue poked out at the left side of her mouth as she wrote her calculations, a cute sight Harry loved seeing. "No more than nine changes of direction, two changes of speed, and three changes in elevation. You can set it to repeat the route for about… half an hour if you charge it fully before releasing it."

She traced a line on a sheet of paper to demonstrate. "Initial impulse… one change…" she drew a second line at a right angle, "two changes, three, four…" she had drawn a square, "five," the line changed direction again, away from the square, "six, seven, eight…" now she had two squares together, sharing a side, forming an angular eight figure. "And now, you can set it to repeat the route. Of course, you don't need to use all the changes, or form a closed figure, or even use only straight angles." She leaned back, satisfied.

Harry examined the paper. "I could use it to send a message, or deliver something really small."

"Sure. Or if you throw it real fast, you could hit somebody hard enough to knock them out. Or to make them drop whatever they had in their hands. Like the original Batarang."

A slow grin spread on Harry's lips. He exchanged a look with Hermione and both said, "Like wands."

The pair cackled softly, to avoid calling the wrath of Madam Pince on them.

"We need to make a prototype and test it." Harry kept smiling like a maniac.

"Several prototypes. I wonder if you can manage more than one."

Hogwarts
Potions Storeroom

Severus Snape's eyebrows threatened to crush the bridge of his hooked nose. On his left hand, he held a clipboard, which in turn, held a parchment sheet with the full list of potion ingredients at the storeroom. On his right hand, the stained fingers held a black quill.

"Missing a flask." He growled. "It better be in the wrong cabinet, or heads will roll."

He turned up the list, revealing a clean sheet, and set down a note. He continued for a long time.

Hogwarts
Great Hall
Next day

The morning mail delivery began right on schedule. Harry and Hermione expected a letter from Romania, and caught Moody glancing at them for a moment. The scarred man didn't do anything to acknowledge them.

Before long, a non descript barn low dropped the latest issue of The Prophet. Just like in the previous days, a good chunk of the pages were centered on the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the champions.

Reading the articles, Harry felt very happy to have avoided a private interview with Skeeter. Apparently, she had managed to corner Delacoeur the day before, and to say the resulting drivel was not complementary towards the French Champion would be an unparalleled feat of diplomacy. Next to Hermione, Neville paled considerably and gasped. "Oh, my goodness… look at Delacoeur!" He whispered.

Harry looked up, to see Fleur positively fuming as one of the Hogwarts students showed her the paper.

The French champion looked ready to rip the paper in two. Harry could have sworn feathers were about to sprout from her forearms. One of her companions hissed something and grabbed at Fleur's arm. She made a visible effort to calm herself. Harry noted that Madame Maxime had stood up from the table, visibly alarmed, but seated down again as Fleur calmed down.

A curious smell arrived to Harry's nose a few moments later. It was vaguely familiar, like Fleur's perfume, mixed with some kind of bird, plus a hint of… fire? He thought it could be her alternate form emerging, but his knowledge about Veela was too limited to be sure.

The reason for Fleur's anger was obvious. Skeeter's article about her painted the foreign student as nothing but a seductress out of control, stringing along students and staff equally. The anonymous quotes from other Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and even Beauxbatons students didn't help.

Hermione fumed in empathetic outrage. "This could cause an international incident, Harry!"

"I don't know if that could be bad or good…"

"It really aggravates me that I can't disagree on that." Neville shook his head, just as the platters full of food appeared.

To their surprise, five minutes later or so, Fleur approached the Gryffindor table, "May I seet 'ere?" She asked.

The three Gryffindor pariahs exchanged a Quick Look, and Neville stood up to let Fleur sit down before doing the same. "Zank you." She said, gracefully. Neville blushed and adjusted his collar as he sat down again.

Harry whispered at her. "We don't believe a word of that trash, Fleur."

She nodded rigidly, clearly trying to contain her tears, "I 'oped you wouldn't. Zat's why I came 'ere."

Hermione patted Fleur's arm, "You're welcome with us anytime you need."

"Zank you. I weel." She shook her head, and managed a sad smile. "Let's eet." But she barely managed a few bites of food.

Neville looked really worried. "You need to eat a bit more."

"I'm not 'ungry." She mumbled.

"Don't let Skeeter get to you. She's trying to play with your emotions, make you sloppy. She practically lives to get a rise from whomever gets on her sights." Hermione noted.

Harry pushed a plate towards her. "Don't let her win." He growled. "Wanna be angry? Do it properly. Gather your strength and fight when you need to. Skeeter is nothing but a muckraker. I've been the target of that rag more than once." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I'm still here. And I'll someday get my revenge. But not now. Not when I'm at a disadvantage, and not in a way they can understand. Fighting them on their terms is useless, they are more experienced and can, and will, rig the game."

Sirius, Moody and even Dan Granger had hammered into him the value of patience. Anyway, the Plan to bring Voldemort down had taken The Prophet's brand of pseudo-journalism into account. He needed a thick skin, period.

Fleur nodded slowly, surprised at the vitriol in his words. "You speek like my fazzer." She noted, visibly calmer. A tentative smile appeared on her lips. "He would help you for zure."

"That's a talk for the future." Harry smiled back. "For now, breakfast is getting cold."

During breakfast, Fleur told them about Madam Maxime's reaction to their warning. "She does not beleeve you. She thinks it weel be somezing like a duel. Zat your warning is jus' a deestraction."

Harry shrugged. "What about you? What do you think?"

"I don't know. On one 'and, you are not a weeling champion. On the other, you are steel a champion. Madam zinks you could be zrying to led me astray. Personally, I zhink you are telling ze zruth." Harry smiled.

"I think we…" he interrupted himself, as Hedwig arrived, a letter tied to her leg. "Give me a minute. I was expecting this." Quickly, he conjured a stand for his owl.

Hedwig, clearly tired, landed on the stand and extended her leg, offering the letter. "Excelent job, Hedwig." Harry said, passing a couple pieces of choice bacon to the bird.

"Potter!" The unwelcome voice of Professor Snape cut through the chatter in the hall.

But before the greasy potion master could continue, Moody spoke. "Five points from Gryffindor, for not dismissing your owl. Detention with me." The former Auror glanced at Snape, with a gesture that could have been approximately a cordial smile on any other face. "Discipline must be maintained." He said. "Those training mannequins won't clean themselves."

Snape threw down his fork, and with a swirling robe, left the hall in a huff.

"Good thing we don't have potions today…" Neville sighed dramatically. "Snape is gonna be insufferable."

Hogwarts
Black Lake
Lunchtime

Instead of staying at the Great Hall to eat, the three Gryffindor Pariahs decided on making a short picnic close to the Black Lake, along with the Three Champions.

"We…" Harry interrupted himself and breathed deeply. His eyes darted around. "We are very happy to have you guys here at Hogwarts." He said, his voice a bit forced. He gestured discreetly at Hermione. A gesture that meant it was not safe to talk.

"Uh?" Victor said, surprised. "I thot ve…"

Hermione shot him a smile. "We will play chess later, the day is too bright to not take advantage of it, don't you think, Fleur?" She tapped at her ear as she looked at the French student. Who caught her meaning immediately.

"Zertanly, good food, Sun, warm breez. Les not talk about boring subjets! Diggory? Tell moi about Quidditch!"

Naively, Cedric lamented the lack of a Quidditch pitch for the year. "I would really like to play against you two guys. Potter here is quite the prodigy, and Krum is a pro!"

"Vuld be nice, ja. Maybe ve can, say, do somethink small, but ve vould need more players."

They discussed Quidditch strategy and stats until lunch time ended.

A very frustrated beetle few away from the Black Lake. Still, the day would not go to waste. A veritable scandal! The four Champions fraternizing! The Ministry would not be happy about it, and neither would the reading sheep!

Hogwarts
Ground Floor Halls
Later.

Once alone, back in Hogwarts, Harry looked around, sniffing the air, before guiding Hermione to an abandoned classroom. They put up some privacy charms, Moody approved, to Harry's satisfaction. Only then he relaxed a bit.

"What happened, Harry? I though we were to discuss the dragons."

"Skeeter. She was around. I recognized a small whiff of her perfume. But I couldn't see her."

"Maybe she was invisible."

"Maybe, I don't think so. I didn't heard any noises close by, except for our own and the animals around."

"Could she be another Animagus?" She ventured.

"Yeah, I think so. It would explain how she gets her scoops."

"What kind of animal?"

"I don't know. There were a lot of possible animals. Squirrels, moles, hedgehogs, lots of insects, birds… even frogs and fishes at the Lake. Too many to identify easily. Not as a human."

"Would Logan be able to identify her animal shape?"

"Perhaps as a dog. But by now, the smell will have dissipated." He shook his head. "Anyway, we can't discuss important matters as easily. She's on the warpath."

"She's always on the warpath." Hermione noted. "Her Animagus form must be very small. Or her victims would notice."

Harry tapped his chin, thinking. "Outside she can hide among the usual animals. I don't think I can locate her easily. But inside Hogwarts…"

"There are few animals, apart from pets and familiars!" She nodded emphatically.

"And I would recognize her smell." Harry transformed into a green spider with a bloated abdomen. His voice still audible, despite his small size. "She might fall into my web, if she doesn't watch her steps."

"Harry!"

"Didn't mean it literally." The spider climbed up a wall. "Maybe we can use her to our advantage."

"How?"

"I don't know." The spider spun a short length of web, and began to make it spin in short circles. Hermione had never seen such a behaviour on a spider.

"You like it?" Harry laughed, "I saw this guy in a documentary, the bolas spider (1). They use the web as a kind of a lasso. It has a drop of glue at the end, and can throw it a short distance, Whatever they hit, gets stuck to the line."

Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom
Three Days Later (after classes)

Moody stomped his way across the chamber. "Practically confirmed then."

"Yep." Harry shook his head. "Hedwig came back in half the time. The team transporting the Dragons is at half the distance between the Romanian preserve and Hogwarts. Charlie Weasley is with them. His answers are kinda evasive."

Moody growled as he reread the letter once again. "He's trying to imply he's transporting dragons. He's skirting dangerously close to breaking a secrecy oath, I think. Brave boy." He struck the parchment with a backhanded slap, making it snap in his fingers.

Hermione and Harry nodded simultaneously. She spoke their thoughts, "Has to be, to work closely with dragons."

Moody snorted, "If you make a wrong move with dragons, you don't have long to regret it. Losing your magic, on the other hand… depending on the wizard or witch, and the oath itself, they could lose their magic and die, or lose their magic and live as a squib. Rare is the Magical willing to risk such a fate." He shuddered, and shook his head in dread. "Have you informed the others?"

"Not yet. We thought it would be better to tell you first."

"Do so at the first chance you have." He pulled the mirror from a box. "Sirius Black!" He said.

A moment later, Sirius' face appeared. "Here! You got something?"

"The kids have circunstancial confirmation, Black. Merlin-damned dragons."

"What kind of madmen are in the Ministry?"

"You know it as well as I do."

Harry cleared his throat. "Ah, Moody? Could we speak to Sirius for a minute? We need to ask something and it could be a risk for your magic."

The scatter Auror nodded a growling agreement. "I'll check on our guest in the meanwhile."

Once they were alone with the mirror, Hermione pulled a notebook from her book bag. "We have an idea for a magical Batarang, but we need somebody to check the Arythmancy for us."

A maniacal grin appeared on Sirius' face. "I want one!"

"Take it easy, Sirius." Harry admonished.

"For testing!" Sirius said with an obvious lack of sincerity. "Ok, for pranks. But also for testing!" He rubbed his hands together. "What do you got?"

"A tentative Runic Matrix to engrave on the Batarang. I have my notes here."

"That's a lot of paper…" Sirius noted. "Won't you need it for your own prototype?"

"It's a copy. We can send it with Hedwig later today."

"Yes, please. Dan left me a bunch of comic books and I'm getting antsy, I'm about to finish the lot and need something to occupy my mind."

"Count on it."

"Can you send me Dobby to buy some stuff? I don't have any raw materials to work with."

"I'll ask him."

"You could send him with the notes…" Hermione suggested.

"There's not much point, it's getting late and Hedwig needs the work." Harry turned back to the mirror. "I'll prepare a note for Dobby to make withdrawals from Gringotts."

Author Notes

(1) A minor, but interesting aspect of the Changeling power is the scale. Occasionally, Garfield Logan has taken the shape of an animal, but at the wrong size! In The New Teen Titans issue 17 (Mar, 1982), Logan assumes the form of a giant dinosaur (probably an Allosaurus), but at a size many times larger than the real animal (he looks about the same height as the Titans Tower!). He comments that maintaining that size is very painful and tiring (the quotes are "It's killing me… trying to keep this massive bulk together…" and "…won't be able to shape change again for days…"). The Bolas Spider is quite small, especially the males. Harry watched fragments of a documentary, and not knowing the size of the creature, he took the shape, but at a larger size. Had he known the true size, he would have changed to the correct measures; instead, his spider is the size of a common garden spider variety. Hermione doesn't have the reference, that's why she doesn't correct Harry. David Attenborough's documentary series Life in the Undergrowth, has a short segment about the Bolas Spider, though it is from 2005, so Harry couldn't have seen it. You can see the fragment in You Tube as "The Bolas Spider".