: High Mindspeech:

The morning dawned cold, crisp, and clear.

With the possibility of Rocs overhead, they decided to continue with the journey on foot. Hermione and Harry shifted to their full feline forms, and leaving the Navigation in Kyra's hands, trotted along on all fours.

Soran tried to follow on two before giving in and joining them as four footed. Kyra smiled, shook her head, before allowing her tail out and slithered along, following the needle on her Wayfynder.

Just short of Noon, they were passing through a high pass between two mountains, when the wind shifted, and Harry smelled something… unnatural.

Shifting to human. "All stop." he whispered.

Three 'humans' and a Lamia peered down along the goat trail…

"There… the third cave below… I just saw a shadow move." Harry pointed.

Soran focused his eyes… "Oh Shit!" He pulled back. "A Chimaera."

"That's the Lion, Goat and Snake headed beast, correct?" Harry looked at Hermione.

"Correct, killed by Bellerophon." Hermione nodded. "So… Now what?"

"We made good time." Kyra sighed. "I say we go around."

"Seconded." Hermione was quick to chirp.

"Well, I only go against Hermione when I have a good reason to." Harry shrugged. "To add a new monster to my kill list is not a good reason."

"I will admit that being this close is too close." Soran grinned.

"So…thick, not stupid." Harry grinned, slapping his shoulder.

"Oi!" Soran laughed as he led the way out the way they came.

A trio of wolf faced people were climbing the trail to the pass. The smallest sneered at them. "We were the lead team!"

"And you will be again." Hermione sneered back. "We are just resting for lunch." Her ears popped up. "You know how we are."

The trio of wolves snorted and moved past them.

"Wolfen." Kyra Sneered herself. "How did you know what to do?"

"Pack Politics." Hermione flexed her ears in a shrug. "Spent a month with a Grim, a werewolf and a SAS Major. When they were measuring themselves against one another… let's just say… there are a few things you can NOT unsee."

"Your Father in the Speedo…" Harry shivered along with her. "And we can't obliviate each other because of how the spell works."

"That Bad?" Soran adjusted himself.

"I have seen Hippogriffs smaller." Harry returned.

"So…" Kyra wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"No, I was not worried." He huffed. "But they had no need to fly the Union Jack!" He tried to not picture the three men in Britain's Flag printed Speedos.

Hermione tried to dislodge a hairball.

Soran snapped around. "They found the Chimaera." Sounds of spell fire and roaring echoed through the pass.

"Fly over?" Hermione asked. "Hit Kyra with a feather light like the cliff and the plane?"

Harry held out his hand. "Dobby. One of my spare Vests." He then handed the vest to Kyra. He hit her with the charm as she was putting it on. Three owls took flight, as the Drakon ran into the vale, and the Lamia followed. The Great Horned Owl caught her vest-covered shoulders in his raptor talons and lifted her into the air.

From the Air they saw that the chimera was winged… Bird… Goat… and three serpents … The Goat had a lava breath, the Bird had Lightning discharge, and the snakes had three plasma beams. The Wolfen were slinging spell orbs, hitting with tooth and claw and cartwheeling away.

The four flyers poured on the power and ran like ferrets from Buckbeak.

An hour later, they landed and reverted to Human…ish forms.

"Yeah… and if the Wolfen make it…" Harry looked behind them.

"Buy them a round of Strong Ale and Hail them as Great Warriors." Kyra huffed.

"Every night for a week." Soran sniffed.

"I want to be as far as possible from that Vale when the sun sets." Hermione checked her Wayfynder. "Kyra… take five steps to the right, Soran, five to the left. Harry five forward. Point where your hand is pointing.

Hermione scored their lines. "Good news … I have a rough idea where we are going. Bad news… we are three to five days out, and that's if we are going in a straight line."

"Straight line it as long as we can." Kyra huffed, before looking back the way they came. "And let's pick up the speed if we can. Soran, Harry, four legs and hunting. Don't lose sight of us." Looking at Hermione. "I am going to be running… or the snake equivalent. That said… I am going to be needing a bath at sunset."

"Tag… you're it!" Hermione poked the blonde, turned, took two steps and embraced Mynx.

Storm was half a step behind her.

Soran looked between his friend and the two cats vanishing into the forest. "Did she… did they…"

"Yeap." Kyra smiled, "I am getting me some pussy." She shimmered and vanished into the bush.

"And now I am just sitting here holding my tail!" Soran dove forward and a blue winged lizard followed the others into the green.

SPRB

As the sunset, the party of four ended their run on the sandy beach of a mountain lake. The two males had proven their value with more than a few lizards, birds, and a couple of monkeys. Shortly after the animal died in their jaws… it would vanish.

When Soran complained, Harry just laughed. "That would be Dobby. He is skinning, dressing and marinating our kills." Harry pulled out the tent and popped it up.

Soran was through the door flap before the tent was fully set.

"Ladies. Go Soak it out. Something is telling me that we don't want to be out here come the nightfall." He drew Holly. "I am going to craft a raft…"

He turned and lashed out with a ribbon cutter… dropping fifteen trees.

The Witcher stood there, watching him lift the trees to the water's edge, then twist them into a ten foot square platform on two, three foot thick pontoons.

"Double check it before you add the tent" Hermione called out to him.

"Please tell me that you are riding that male." Kyra whined to Hermione.

"No… he will be riding me … when I judge him ready for that job." Hermione smirked at the serpent woman. "I will promise you that when he is finished with me for the night, you will be next."

"And I will hold you to that." Kyra hissed.

"You do know that he can hear us, correct?" Hermione smiled at her new friend.

"Can he hear us in the Bath when in the Front room?" krya asked as Harry was lifting the pontoon-ed barge in the air over the lake.

Harry dropped the boat.

"Probably not, but you are giving him ideas." Hermione hissed. "Ideas he is not ready for."

"And why is he not ready yet?"

"Because… I want him motivated to get us to the Academy asap."

Harry turned to her, before he turned to look first at the boat, then for a large tree. Another swipe, and the tree was lifted to the centre of the boat, attached and fused into the wood, as it was transmuted.

The tent was centred, sticky hexed, and he pushed off, easily jumping on. A smirking Harry poked his wand at the new addition and twisted his wand slowly… causing the raft to start moving away the shore.

"Oh…! That cocky git!" Hermione howled, before he turned and pointed his wand at them both, and tugged. "You Bloody Berk!" Hermione screamed as she and Kyra were jerked into the air and followed Harry into the tent.

"What was that!" Kyra shouted from where she landed before the drop into the couch ring.

"A verbless, double Summoning spell." Hermione hissed as she rolled to her feet. She slugged his shoulder twice… with both fists. "Come Kyra, I need that hot bath…"

Harry sniffed as she walked by. "Almonds… or plain?"

"What?" Hermione snapped around.

"Double check your calendar." Harry smiled softly. "I will have Dobby deliver two cocos with marshmallows and whipped cream and two chocolate bars each."

"How???"

"Andi and your mum. They explained why you were so moody that week. Your father had some advice and the Uncles were as helpful as ever. Will you be reading tonight after dinner or would you prefer a bath?"

"She just said that she was going to have a bath right now?" Soran asked from where he was pressed against a wall of air, trying to reach the meat covered in a dark red sauce was cooking.

"It's a cat thing." Harry never took his eyes off the girls. "And give it up. Dobby, show yourself. These People are guests. They have full guest rights. Including Elf Service."

"Thank you Sir." The Elf appeared on a box before the built-in grill in the breakfast bar. "Dobby wash everything but His Grungies. There few things one can not ask an Elf."

This caused Harry to break eye contact with Hermione, to look at Soran. "One… the Elves will wash a Troll if they could and your pants scared him?" He shook his head. "And two, I always took you as a Commando type guy."

"Two…why do you think I am Commando." Soran huffed. "And when she bites, you lose all control of your bowels, and the Antivenom is a bit…"

"Okay, when we reach shore, we burn them." Harry sighed. "Then we head for the nearest city on our trajectory and we get you repants-ed*."

Hermione smiled. "Both… and Dobby. Extra marshmallows." She started up the stairs. "And the bath…"

After the girls were gone, Soran was still trying to press past the wall of air. "So… how is this…"

Harry smirked. "Come sit over here." Harry sat on the bench second closest to the grill. As Soran joined him. "Not even I can get passed that wall. A House Elf takes what they are given by their masters, and multiply it and return it. Dobby is leeching off my Core, and so His Magic is even greater than mine… within the limits of our … contract is the closest word I have. Within that contract, he is free to do as I command. He has to do it, but the interpretation is up to him. Say, for instance I say 'i could eat a dragon'. One thing that he could do is try to roast you on a spit.

"Sall Dobby…"

"No!" Both roared in chorus.

"Dobby. No Roasting Guests. Ask before you roast Friends and Allies." Harry smiled at the Elf.

"Dobby understand." The Elf nodded as he turned the meat and spread another layer of sauce over the meat. "No Roasting Grungy. Never get grill clean afterward."

"Did he just insult me?" Soran looked away from the meat for the first time since he entered the tent.

"More like a joke." Harry shrugged. "Elf humour is an acquired taste. They often have nicknames for the Humans in their lives. Kreature calls me Mean Master, because he finds that I am often having to enforce my will with him in creative ways. My Professors in school were called, Professor Whiskers, Professor Kitty, and Professor Shorty. Hermione is my Grangy, and my other friend was Stinky Feet."

"Was?"

"He turned from me, and when he returned, he pretended it never happened."

SPRB

Through the night, the boat puttered across the lake…

Just before Dawn… a Mana burst lit up the Dawn sky to the North… sending a shock wave through the EAther.

:All Applicants for the Snow Point Academy. A Pack of Wrysa been found hunting in the wilds of Uruguay. A minor suspension on flight artifacts is suspended until Nightfall. Good Luck and Godess Speed.:

TBC

AN: *British refer to briefs and drawers as pants. Harry just declared that they were going shopping.