Snips and Scars In Which Familiars Investigate, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter 53, everybody! Remember the familiars?

So I've had stuff written ahead on this fic with how I thought the characters would handle the situation with the addition of Snips…and then more often than not that version ends up getting dummied out because of character actions prior to when the event is supposed to happen. Still fun. XD

Gardengirl6, thanks for the review! Nora also approves of the teddy bear. :D

Various students had spent the evening and a chunk of the next day partying over the first task being over. Meanwhile, the Secret Order of Familiars (as they were rebranded) were busy doing investigations of their own.

'While I have my own opinions of Moody, why are we breaking into his office?' Snips asked as he picked the lock.

'Because he made Neville cry,' Trevor said—the toad was wearing a little Fedora, inanely enough.

'Moody made everyone cry in that class—we need a better reason.'

'And also since he's one of the new people in the school and we've had wonky Defense teachers before, it stands to reason that he needs to be checked out first,' Mauve said, having also impossibly produced a little press hat. 'Are you sure you don't want a detective hat?'

'I am absolutely positive,' Snips said, finally getting the door unlocked and tugging it open. 'And fine, I have my suspicions as well—I don't like Defense teachers taking too high an interest in Harry.'

'Granted we can't make a case out of one teacher being a Death Eater, but it's a start,' Trevor said, hopping in. 'Look for something suspicious.'

'That doesn't narrow it down,' Mauve pointed out, coiling up in front of the mirror. 'What's wrong with this mirror?'

'That's a foe-glass,' Snips explained, landing on the edge of the desk nearest to it and peering in. 'It's supposed to show your enemies, but only when they're right on top of you.'

'Doesn't sound very useful then,' Mauve opined. 'Anything interesting up there?'

'Yes, there's a note here with "I'm evil" scrawled on it over and over again.'

'Really?'

'No don't be ridiculous.' Let's see, cracked sneakoscope, which by Moody's own admission he had broken himself because theoretically all the students set it off (which, knowing Fred and George, was likely). Root around the desk before finding himself drawn to the foe-glass again. When he had been in here before, hiding in Harry's hood after Moody had caught him passing on information about the first task, some sallow-faced man had appeared in the glass, coinciding with his growing ire towards the teacher. Moody had lamented that the foe-glass was probably going faulty as well, as that man was dead.

Although…Pettigrew had been 'dead' too, and see where that got them?

So now here he was, trying to figure out if the foe-glass was enchanted to only show Moody's enemies, or the enemies of whoever looked into the mirror. Because if that was the case…Slughorn was complaining about a lack of lacewings and boomslang skin, both of which were key ingredients to….

'Well this looks promising,' Mauve said, joining Trevor next to the rattling chest—looked up as Snips flew by. 'You look like you have an idea.'

'Polyjuice potion,' he explained, rooting through several cupboards before flying back out, landing on the edge of the desk nearest to the other familiars. 'No, let me think…if I were a paranoid faker where would I hide everything?...'

As one, they looked at the rattling chest, which had not one but seven locks on it.

'That looks like it'd take a while to pick,' Trevor observed.

'And there's no guarantee that each lock doesn't open a different compartment,' Snips said. 'And I'm willing to bet that he keeps the keys on his person at all times.'

'Oh, where's some useful magic-user when you need one?' Mauve lamented. 'It'd be nice if we could just point at it and go "open."'

'Well we can't use any of our owners, that sort of defeats the purpose of the Order,' Trevor pointed out.

'I doubt we could ask a house elf either,' Snips said. 'I don't think one of the Hogwarts ones would agree to violating a teacher's privacy, nor do I think the Black elf Kreacher would—'

"What is Kreacher assisting with?"

All three of them screeched in alarm and jumped back at the house elf appearing behind them.

'What are you doing here?' Snips demanded.

"Kreacher heard his name mentioned," Kreacher explained.

'I thought that only worked when wizards did it,' Trevor said.

Kreacher waffled a hand. "Snips is technically Master Harry's familiar, Master Harry technically is a member of the House of Black, so theoretically assisting Master Harry's familiar is assisting the House of Black.'

The three familiars took a beat to untangle that logic.

'It checks out,' Mauve said finally. 'Although now I'm wondering if you don't have anything better to do.'

"Until Master Sirius finishes with building the house, there's very little for Kreacher to do," Kreacher admitted. "Silver can only be polished so many times. So Kreacher has occasionally visited Hogwarts to iron Master Harry's socks and make soup, although recently Kreacher has also been trying to convince poor Winky to find new work, as she is a young elf with many years ahead of her."

They tipped their heads at that. 'You're allowed to do all that?' Trevor asked. 'I thought house elves were mostly tied to their houses, or something like that.'

"As Kreacher said, currently there is no house," Kreacher said. "Also Master Sirius has informed me that I can consider this time as a vacation, where Kreacher can do as he pleases. This pleases Kreacher." Consider. "Also Kreacher has not been expressly forbidden from doing any of these things, so there's some wiggle room."

'I'd ask you to tell Hermione this, but you'd do better avoiding her current tear,' Snips said. 'In the meantime—that chest there, can you unlock it? Theoretically we have the full hour but I'd rather we get this done quickly.'

Kreacher considered the chest. "It may take Kreacher a few minutes."

'We can finish searching the rest of the room in the meantime,' Mauve said. 'Thank you, Kreacher.'

Trevor nodded, looked at Snips. 'You had a suspicion earlier, about Polyjuice potion?'

'Two of the ingredients that Slughorn has been complaining about being missing from his stores are lacewings and boomslang skin, which incidentally are key ingredients to Polyjuice potion,' Snips explained. Tip his head, considering. 'And while I'm not in the habit of giving the mutt more credit than he's worth…he did postulate that a dead Death Eater could still be alive….'

"Barty Crouch, Jr.," Kreacher supplied. "Ah."

The three familiars were immediately over as Kreacher opened the lid. 'How many locks did you do?'

"Just the one for now," Kreacher said, watching as Snips sorted through the books before flying back out. "Shall I do the next one?"

'Preferably.'

The second lock showed clothes, which again wasn't helpful—Snips found more broken Sneakoscopes but nothing really incriminating. The third lock, however, was where things started to get interesting: potion supplies.

'Well?' Mauve asked as Snips sniffed at some of the vials.

'I'm right,' he said. 'Polyjuice. Keep going through the locks.'

Fourth, fifth and sixth were back to not really incriminating, but the seventh….

'Well?' Trevor asked as Snips and Kreacher peered into the chest.

Snips flicked his tail. 'Well I think we found the real Mad-Eye Moody.'

'Wait what?' Mauve asked, leaning back in surprise. 'But if that's—who's been teaching the classes?'

'Obviously someone with a vested interest in sneaking in—Kreacher can you get him out?'

"Kreacher can," Kreacher said, lowering himself into the trunk and sliding gently down to the inert form far below. "Excuse me sir, but we is needing for you to wake up now."

'Might be better to transport him unconscious, Moody has a record of having a short temper—'

All of them started at a distant bong. Snips looked over sharply at the foe-glass—

A shape within was starting to form.

'That was the class bell,' Trevor said.

'We need to go,' Snips said, flapping his wings in agitation, claws scraping on the side of the chest. 'Kreacher! Kreacher just—transport him to the Weasleys or something we have to go NOW!'

"Mistress Weasley will be most displeased," Kreacher muttered before vanishing alongside Moody with a sharp crack. Snips hopped onto the lid, forced it shut again with a BANG!—

'We need another way out of here,' he observed, taking note of the fact that the person in the foe-glass was now identifiable as a person.

'There's a bolt-hole over this way,' Mauve said, slithering for a corner. 'I found it last year when we were looking for Pettigrew.'

It was as good a place as any—flap after her, scamper under a cabinet as Trevor squeezed under, flicking his tongue out to grab his hat—

'Oh bother.'

'What?' Snips asked sharply. 'Don't you say "oh bother" right now is NOT a good time for "oh bother."'

'It is a good time for "oh bother,"' Mauve said, pointing at where a board had been stuck to the wall, possibly with a permanent sticking charm. 'The fake Moody fixed it.'

'Why would he fix it?' Trevor asked. 'There's no reason to suspect—'

'Pettigrew, probably—' Mauve answered—coiled up sharply at Snips shushing them.

Professor Moody, AKA the faker, was back in his office.

"You again," he growled at the foe-glass. "Dumbledore swears up and down that you're dead, and yet there's been at least one Death Eater that didn't stick to. Hmm, last one was an Animagus, wasn't he? Might mean you're still here."

Snips stiffened at the feeling of a detection spell sweeping over them—

Wilfed down to nothing as the cabinet vanished, exposing three familiars to one very angry wizard.

'Oh bother,' Mauve whimpered.