As they arrive on the platform, it doesn't take long for a crowd to form, made up of a combination of Gawkers, Wizards holding their arms behind their backs, Witches cheering, and students trying to get through the crush, as Arry gets mobbed from a respectful distance by well-wishers. A robust woman, with a monocle, forces her way through the crowd followed by a young girl with, vibrant red hair, and pulling a trunk.
"Headmistress, Miss Potter."
Minerva bristles, "Head Master please, that's two words, not the useless twaddle that other schools have. It's a point of pride that the head of Hogwarts is a Master of their art, and is thus the Head Master amongst the other Masters of their art that teach the various subjects."
"Head Master then, my apologies. I wasn't aware there was a distinction."
"That's all right, the two words were generally combined a few hundred years ago, it's only Hogwarts that continued its usage. May I introduce Miss Hermione Granger, Miss Ne'stbei, and Miss Ce'jaun. Of course you already know the Lady Arry Potter."
The woman raises an eyebrow, "Lady Potter? Where are my manners, I am of course Regent Bones, and this is my niece Heir Susan Bones."
Susan rolls her eyes as Arry and the three girls all look confused.
"Yes. She beat 5 goblin warriors in the Arena with no weapons or wand. They gave her the head of house ring immediately afterwards."
"I see, which also brings me onto the subject I hoped to broach. As no wands were used during the events on Diagon Alley, what you did to Mr Pines, and Lord McNair was technically reasonable self defence. I would appreciate it if you would try to keep the casualties and maiming to a minimum in the future. Miss Ne'stbei and Miss Ce'jaun, if you weren't in risk of your very lives I would currently be forced to arrest you. However, you had just been illegally declared dangerous creatures to be put down, so you are in the clear. In the future, please refrain from using weapons, and either use your wands or your hands to disable your assailants."
Susan doubletakes at her aunts words before looking at the 4 girls more appreciatively. As her aunt turns back to Minerva, and the conversation turns to adult things, Hermione holds out a hand and looks pointedly at the train. Glancing at the crowd, and the increasingly incomprehensible discussion taking place, she makes the decision to take the girls hand. A pop and a brief sensation of spinning later, and they're standing at the far end of the platform, there's another 3 pops and Arry, Ne'stbei, and Ce'jaun appear.
Ne'stbei looks at the young human in amusement as she's looking back down the platform and then back to Hermione confused. Picking up the girls box awkwardly, as no matter how light it is, it's sill half as long as she is tall, she says, "We have never used a conveyance like this. Would you be able to guide us to the place we're supposed to be?"
Susan looks at her, "You have a strange way of speaking. What country do you come from?"
"This would be easier sitting down."
"Oh, right, up these steps and Aunty told me that there's narrow corridors in here so be warned. Would you mind if my friend sits with us? She hadn't got through the crowd when my aunt pushed through."
"Seats would be good Qu…Arry needs to sleep for a few hours. Your friend is welcome."
It doesn't take them long to find an empty compartment that isn't right next to the stairs. This far down the train, most of the compartments seem to be empty. Almost as soon as Arry has arranged her tail comfortably on the seat, she's asleep. With a sigh Hermione puts the picnic basket of food on the overhead rack before taking a seat next to her. "Hi, I'm Hermione, in non-magical culture it is considered normal to introduce yourself by your given name. Our surnames only tend to be used in more formal occasions, or where there could be confusion."
Taking a seat, Ne'stbei says, "I am called Ne'stbei of hive Potter, in Yautja culture there is only the one name. I was formerly off Dark Blade clan, formerly of Dachande's Clan."
Taking a seat on the opposite bench, Ce'jaun smiles, causing Susan to flinch, "Finally, I am Ce'jaun of hive Potter, formerly of Dark Blade clan, formerly of Tartarus clan."
Swallowing slightly, Susan takes a seat next to Ce'jaun, "Well then I am heir Susan Bones. In magical culture it is considered rude to refer to someone using their personal name unless given leave. You may call me Susan. Do you mind if I ask what country you come from?"
"We do not come from a country, we live in space as Hunters. Travelling from planet to planet in search of honourable prey. Those of us in Clan Potter are discovering that our way of life may not have been as honourable as we thought. Especially if a R'ka has more honour than our clans did."
"I don't understand."
"Ermione, do you have your computer?"
"I do."
Susan looks confused, "Why did you refer to Hermione as Ermione?"
The door slams open and a red headed boy with a mangy rat on his shoulder looks in, "Has anyone seen Harry Potter, no obviously not." Then leaves the door open as he moves to the next compartment.
After getting up to close the door, Hermione pulls out her computer, "Here you go."
"But what about my question?"
The door slides open again, "Susan, there you are. Why did you get a compartment so far back down the train?"
Susan sighs, "Everyone, meet my friend Hannah Abbott. Hannah these are Hermione Granger, Nestbei of Clan Potter, Ce Jaun of Clan Potter, and I think the sleeping one is Lady Arry Potter."
Ne'stbei flares her mandibles slightly, "Close, my name is Ne'stbei, and the one sitting next to you is Ce'jaun. Miss Abbott would you like some help with your trunk?"
Hannah looks relieved, "Please, and call me Hannah."
Hannah takes a seat while Ne'stbei picks up the trunk as though it weighs as much as a loaf of bread. Susan then gets up so that Ce'jaun can sit in between the two witches, and they stare in amazement as she turns on the computer. They are so engrossed in the device and discussion that they don't notice Susan's aunt looking through the window with a smile, or the train pulling away.
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Arry wakes up after a couple of hours sleep, feeling refreshed and ravenous. Opening her eyes she looks curiously around the compartment they're in. Seeing that there's two non-hive members she deliberately yawns.
"Hey everyone, I think I saw you on the platform, but I'd just laid 37 eggs so I was a little tired."
Hermione looks at her in alarm, "Arry, there were only 32 house elves that wanted to join the hive."
"Huh? I'm sure I counted more non-hive members than that. I was pretty exhausted towards the end though. It's why I always keep a dozen or so eggs laid in my Laying Room."
Susan looks confused, "Sorry about this, but what are you talking about?"
"Oh, hey. Sorry I didn't mean to ignore the two of you. Would you mind terribly if I introduced myself and gave a brief explanation while I eat?"
"Er, not at all."
Nodding, Arry hooks the handle of the picnic basket with her tail and lifts it down to her lap. With a sigh, Hermione lifts the table out of the bracket under the window, and folds it down between the two benches. Arry plops the basket down on the table and lifts one side.
"Oh, cool, it's expanded. The elves really know how to treat a person. Ohh, acromantula yummy. They've even included some of those things with bread. Help yourselves anyone that wants them as I don't particularly like bread."
Arry pulls out a large platter of sandwiches and places it on the table. She then pulls out an acromantula the size of her forearm and pulls a leg off to start eating it with relish.
"Anyway, I'm Arry. Just Arry, it's already rare enough for my kind to actually have names rather than positions. I'm not actually human, despite appearances. If you want to use magical terms, this is my animagus form. Once upon a time I was a human baby called Harry Potter. But that was before I was abducted by aliens. Life was simple until three years ago, I knew who and what I was, and how I differed from the other Queens. Then T'o-Ba'sall came on her chiva a year earlier than she should have done. I knew from my human memories that children were important and should be protected at all costs. So rather than killing her, I used my magic to prevent her from being able to attack me; then questioned her using what little language I'd picked up. I ended up making a new egg so that she would become part of my hive rather than being a host for one of my children. That was three cycles ago, close enough to three of your years. Since then, things have become more complicated. Especially the last 5 tendays. I don't think I would go back now, even if I could, but I'm still trying to catch up with going from hunting pirates, outlaws, and the occasional hive that's threatening a colony; to the complex social landscape of humans. Not interested in sandwiches? There's a few more acromantula in here if anyone wants one."
Not taking her eyes off the acromantula, Susan hesitantly takes one of the sandwiches, and bites into it. Cheese and pickle, certainly not what she was expecting. Hannah follows her lead, and, somehow, she's unsurprised when Ne'stbei and Ce'jaun both find an acromantula for themselves.
"Arry, what did you mean things were simpler?"
Arry leans back, thoughtfully gnawing on a leg, "Xenomorphs are animals. They're like, I think Hermione said ants earlier. So they're like ants. They have a Queen that births all of the workers and warriors, and they build hives. They will also ruthlessly exterminate any other hive in the area. Until Minva became part of my hive, the only human memories I had, were from a 15 month old baby. It was enough that it gave me a different perspective on the eons of ancestral memories I have. It also helps that humans are naturally sentient, so as I grew so did my sense of self and identity. According to my memories, those Queens that do gain sentience do so after hundreds or thousands of cycles. The other way that Xenomorphs are different from ants, is that we are all psychic. Non-magically psychic. Because of that all the members of the hive are always connected to me, and I know that there are 33 house elves, and 7 humans as part of the hive. Oh, hey Hermione, your parents are part of the hive. Something about the addition of Ptiana to the hive also means that distance no longer seems to be a concern with the connection. As I can feel the main hive, even though it's very muted."
"What do you mean you have 33 house elves as part of your hive?"
"Oh, right, that's why I was laying so many eggs earlier. They all needed a family, and the hive is one very large family. Ooohh, Apple pie, I love apple pie. They even used the least pastry they could. Anyone want some before I eat the lot?"
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Cornelious Fudge opens the morning Daily Prophet and immediately starts to choke on his mid-morning crumpet. Splashed across the centrefold is a picture of the late Umbridge, with Lord McNair and Mr Tallfellow standing behind her to either side. The picture starts with her reading from a proclamation, before the Late Lord McNair walks forward with his axe, and the Tallfellow fellow fires some spells. Their targets then dodge and swiftly defeat the ministry personnel with lethal results. The crowd in the background cheering tells him that there's no way to spin this now. Recovering from his choking fit, he looks down to read the story.
Lady Potter, inhuman monster or peer of the realm
by Tobius Inkwell
I'm sure that many of you have heard of the events that happened in Diagon Alley last week, from someone that was there. Many more of you will have read Ms Skeeter's article on the front page the day afterwards. The author has since been doing further digging to uncover the background of the event, and to hopefully answer the question: Is the Lady Potter an inhuman monster, or a peer of the realm.
This story starts with the law that the lamented Madam Umbridge was attempting to use. This was passed in 1723 and legalised the hunting of Werewolves on the night of the full moon. Those of you who know of the law will be aware that it specifies that the werewolf must be a clear and present danger to others. What most won't know is that the drafters of the law wrote it in such a way that they could add new creatures to the list at a later date. To be covered by this law they must fulfil the following criteria.
They must be a human at least some of the time
They must behave as beasts when not human
They must be contagious through curse or magical disease.
The Lady Potter certainly seems to have an inhuman appearance, however she was seen shopping for clothes before the confrontation. Indeed, if it wasn't for the inciting event of a man groping the lady and his subsequent dismemberment, there would have probably only been a salacious article talking about her predilection for going about naked.
The author then looked into the laws on inheritance. What he discovered is that the only thing the law says about it is the following
The inheritor must be born a witch or wizard, or of another recognised species. It is interesting to note here that Goblins are not recognised under this law, however Veela and metamorphs are.
The inheritor must be of sound body and mind when they inherit, this has been interpreted to exclude werewolves due to the fact they are by definition not of sound mind during the full moon.
The inheritor must be within 3 degrees of the family they're inheriting from.
What is not mentioned is that they must still be human, witch or wizard at the time of inheritance. With a lot of investigation, the Daily Prophet can confirm that Lady Potter was in fact born Harry James Potter on the 31st July 1980. If you look carefully at the above photo you can see that she is wearing the head of house ring.
These two things then beg the question, how was she able to inherit if she is only 11, despite looking at least 17. The answer lies in her first appearance at Gringotts with the then Professor McGonagall. [See page 36 for speculation about Albus Dumbledore and the various positions he holds] The author expected that it would be hard to discover what had transpired on that day. Instead the Goblins seemed to be eager to share the story. Lady Potter was left to wait for a manager to become available, and the guards had their customary sneers. The Lady Potter is then reported to have said, "You can either stop showing teeth or I will make you." As any pure or half blood can tell you, this is a sure fire way to get into a fight. And so they exchanged words. Those words ended up in the Arena, where the Lady Potter faced 5 guards at the same time. After an epic battle she defeated them with only her natural weapons.
We at the daily prophet can only conclude that the answer to the original question has to be no. For while the Lady Potter is indeed now the head of her house, she does not yet fulfil the other requirements necessary to take up her peerage, namely being of age and having completed a ministry accredited course of magical instruction. To quote someone that was there while the Lady shopped for clothes, "She's no more a monster than a Hag or Lamia, and we don't try to slaughter them." She may well end up being the last of her line unless she can persuade the Ministry to add her new species to those who are allowed to inherit under our laws.
"Deloris, what do you…" Cornelious trails off as he remembers his chief advisor is now dead. Maybe Albus will, no he's healing. Making up his mind, he folds up the paper and heads down to the DMLE, Madam Bones should be back in her office now.
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It's late afternoon when the first interruption occurs since the train left the station. A blond boy pulls open the door and pokes his head in. Behind him stand two other boys that look like bruisers.
Ignoring everyone else in the compartment, he says imperiously, "Heir Bones, have you heard whether Harry Potter will be attending this year?"
Arry bristles, "I can categorically state that nobody by the name of Harry Potter will be attending Hogwarts this year."
The boy looks her up and down, "Oh, it's you. Did you finally pull enough tricks to afford the tuition? And your monstrous companions are here too. My father says it's the only reason you'd have been walking the Alley dressed as you were."
Arry gets a slightly glazed look on her face as she accesses specifics of her hives memories, then she goes bright red and Ne'stbei, Ce'jaun, and Hermione all lunge for the boy. Fortunately for him, Arry is faster as she grabs his wrist and disappears in a flash of fire. Just after she disappears, Minerva and Pomona appear in the compartment with a flash of fire, along with T'o-Ba'sall.
The other two boys quail as the three members of the hive, that were in the compartment, are still murderously angry.
Minerva pushes away the anger she's receiving and turns to survey the compartment. Seeing that there's only 2 people that aren't currently looking for a target, she turns to Susan Bones, "Miss Bones, I'm the Head Master. I felt Arry's anger, can you tell me what happened to cause it?"
A bewildered Susan and Hannah both respond to fill in the gaps, though fortunately neither of them are aware of what pulling tricks means in an adult sense. While she's getting the story Arry reappears with a flash of fire, without the blond boy.
"Arry, where's the boy?"
"He's alive if that's what you're asking. I took him somewhere that will look after him until he's not likely to die as soon as I turn my back. Where did he get off calling me a prostitute anyway?"
And there goes that bit of innocence, "I understand. Pomona, if…"
A new boy interrupts her, "Excuse me Professor, w…would you be able to help me find Trevor?"
Minerva turns around slowly to look at the boy who starts quailing, "Certainly, what is Trevor?"
"He's a toad."
With a flourish of her wand, and a quick, "Accio Trevor the Toad" The problem is solved.
"In the future, please wait until the conversation finishes."
"I'm sorry, it's just I was waiting, but you seemed like you were going to disappear again."
"It's ok, no harm done. Now run off back to your compartment, and try not to lose Trevor again."
"Yes Professor."
"Do any of you know the name of the boy that almost got himself killed?"
One of the bruisers says, "Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
"Thank you Mr…"
"Gregory Goyle."
"Thank you, you two should be returning to your compartment too. Pomona, I'll head to the DMLE and fill out the forms, could you head back and keep an eye on the guests."
A few hours after they leave, the 4 hive members have calmed down, and the train pulls into Hogsmeade station.
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Minerva appears in the DMLE lobby, and walks up to the desk, "Good afternoon, would I be able to talk to Madam Bones please?"
Without even looking up, the Desk Auror says, "Do you have an appointment."
"I don't believe I'll need one, as this is a heads up about house business."
The Auror looks up, "Oh, Professor. I wasn't expecting you. Please, follow me."
Amelia looks up as someone is let into her office, "Head Master, I'm surprised to see you here today."
Minerva takes a seat, "To be honest, I'm surprised to be here too. I was made aware of an incident on the train, and I've just investigated. Mr Malfoy gave grievous insult to the Lady Potter."
Amelia becomes serious and pulls out a form from her desk, "What happened?"
"According to your niece, the boy pulled open the door to their compartment before asking if Harry Potter would be attending this year. The Lady Potter then answered to categorically state that nobody by the name of Harry Potter would be attending. He then looked Lady Potter up and down, and said, and I quote your niece, 'Oh, it's you. Did you finally pull enough tricks to afford the tuition? And your monstrous companions are here too. My father says it's the only reason you'd have been walking the Alley dressed as you were.'"
Amelia looks up sharply, "Are you sure?"
"I arrived mere moments after it happened, so as sure as I can be without being there. I'm sure your niece can let you view a memory of the event tomorrow. Hogwarts does have a pensive you can use."
"You do? That's been kept quiet. Merlin, if we'd known there's so many cases we could have resolved."
"My understanding is that when Hogwarts stopped doing apprenticeships, it became something only the Head Master knew about. Prior to that it was commissioned as a tool for Masters to show particularly tricky or dangerous aspects of their craft in."
"When did that stop?"
"According to the portraits, 1792 with the introduction of NEWTs."
"Fascinating, well back on track, I understand the insult given. I have to ask, how did she?"
"May I have your word that this won't leave this office?"
"The office is as secure as I can make it, and I won't say a word unless it's in my official capacity as part of my duty in pursuit of a crime."
"That will have to do. I saw the Daily Prophet, so I'll preface this with: None of us are infectious. You are aware of the fact that the Lady Potter is inhuman in appearance. What you are unlikely aware of, is the fact that's her animagus form. Her natural form is completely alien. Her new species reproduce by implanting young into living hosts. Because of her human heritage, she came up with a way to bring someone into her hive using a variation of her eggs. Her species also has an ancestral hive memory. This means that the Lady Potter has access to all of my memories, and I hers. It's not an automatic process, it's like remembering a book you read. But it's still there."
"I see. So she accessed your memories to understand the insult in that statement."
"Or one of the other hive members."
"What of Mr Malfoy?"
"The Lady Potter removed him from the planet to a safe location. Well, safer than the planet currently is anyway."
"When can we expect his return?"
"Probably when he won't be killed on sight. Or longer if Arry forgets about him."
"I do have to ask, why isn't the planet a safe location?"
"We have a phoenix as part of the hive, and Arry inducted 33 house elves this morning before she boarded the train. All bar one of which wanted it, though Tilly isn't unhappy with the change."
"What are you implying? Wait, no I think I've got it. There's been rampant speculation that Lady Potter and Pomona Sprout have both gained access to a phoenix. But that's not quite true is it. As the phoenix has never been seen. That implies that they can travel like a phoenix, and you have a phoenix in your hive. You've just gained house elves, and house elves… Merlin, Morgana, and Maeve."
"Correct on all points, 1 point to Hufflepuff."
"I'll leave a note at the desk that the Malfoy's are to be directed to my office if they turn up."
"Thank you, I must be off I have a sorting feast to prepare for."
"Thank you for taking the time to bring this to me before it blew up."
As if to just prove her point, Minerva flames out of the heavily warded office back to Hogwarts. Amelia just puts her head in her hands.