Harry Potter & The Thousand Mysteries

7/?

'Right now, you lot,' said Hagrid to the nervous crowd of fifth years, who were standing, shivering beside the paddock where twelve cockatrices were residing. It was their first practical lesson of the year- they had spent the past six weeks making notes on cockatrices and their many (horrific) habits.

Harry looked into the paddock, filled with jittery fear. He didn't much like the look of the horrendous creatures, and, judging by the way they kept snapping their beaks at the class, they didn't much like the look of him either.

'In yeh get,' said Hagrid, shinnying over the wooden fence. The rest of them followed over in trepidation.

'Now, these ones are only babes,' called Hagrid. 'Just 'member yer notes! They're gonnae want to bite yer 'eads off, but you've got tae be masterful!

'Malfoy,' he called,' you're with this one. Her name's Blackie.

'Harry, you can go wi' Mary, that's this one.' Harry walked up to the half-cockerel half-snake creature, which was tethered to a post in the ground. She snapped her beak fiercely, her long lack tongue shooting as she did so, to smell the air.

She was about up to Harry's shoulders, with a long neck like a snake. Atop the neck was perched an unnaturally large cockerels head, with beady snake eyes, and a whipping tongue which shot through the beak every two seconds. Her body was covered golden-brown feathers, which reflected hundreds of different colours of their oily, slimy-looking surface. The huge chicken legs below were offset by a long, snake tail, which was currently thrashing violently.

'Right, first, what d'yeh do?' called Hagrid to the class.

'Subdue it!' shrieked Pansy Parkinson.

'That's right! A point to Slytherin.'

A sudden wave of incantations spread throughout the assembled group.

'Hashish Serenitous!' shouted Harry, turning his wand on the beast. Why, he thought, did Hagrid always have to use half-breeds in his lessons? Half horse half eagle, half crab half god-knows-what, half snake half chicken. What did he have with these horrible mutations?

Mary's eyes began to drift out of focus, and she stumbled about slightly. Harry backed away as she snapped her beak randomly, her tongue hanging limply.

'Now you've got her subdued, now what?' asked Hagrid of the class.

'Capture it!' shouted Lavender.

'Kill the thing!' cried Malfoy.

'NO!' bellowed Hagrid. 'NO KILLIN'! Yeh want to get her immobile. Remember we talked about this! What do yeh do?'

'Esnarius Nettus!' cried Harry, and a spidery web shot from his wand and trapped the beast.

Beside him, he heard Hermione shout, 'Froiden Ouiseaut!' turning the animal beside her as still as stone.

'Now, yeh can stun it,' said Hagrid. Harry heard the class breathe a sigh of relief as the last snake-bird was stunned, and fell to the ground.

'Ten points to Slytherin and ten to Gryffindor,' said Hagrid, as the class pulled off their dragon-hide gloves and boots. 'See yeh all later!' he called after their retreating backs, turning to de-stun the monstrous creatures.

***

'Thank god that's over!' said Ron, as they entered the Entrance Hall. 'I've been dreading it ever since Hagrid told us about it when term started, and that was weeks ago!'

'I'm just worried about what heathenish monster he'll procure for us now,' said Hermione.

There was a small crowd gathered around the notice board in the Entrance Hall.

'What's all the fuss?' Harry asked a passing Ravenclaw First Year.

'The Hallowe'en Ball!' exclaimed the excited, slightly podgy, child. 'It's on Saturday! Dumbledore's going to say more at dinner!'

'I totally forgot about that!' said Harry. 'Another Ball! Oh no!'

'Who're you going to go with this year, Hermione?' asked Ron. 'Any foreign students coming?'

'Ron...' said Harry warningly.

'No, no, Harry, it's all right,' said Hermione, looking pompous. 'Actually, Ron, David Drake, the Ravenclaw Prefect, has already asked me to go with him!' Her smile was full of animosity.

'Oh...' said Ron. 'How nice.'

'Are you going with anyone?'

'Not yet.'

'Oh. That's a pity, but I daresay you'll find someone to go with you, even if it is at the last minute.'

They progressed silently into the Great Hall, where they patiently waited for Dumbledore's speech.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Dumbledore finally stood.

'Hello once again, my dear friends! I trust you have all enjoyed your stay at Hogwarts so far this term! But I have news that is going to make it even better. On the thirty-first of October, this Saturday, Hogwarts will be hosting a Hallowe'en Ball! It will begin at nine o'clock, and end at midnight. It will only be open, I'm afraid, to students of third year and above, and will encompass a few "numbers" by Celestina Warbeck, the singing Sorceress, and a tribute performed by our own Hogwarts Ghosts. There will be a House of Horrors and Pumpkin Garden in the Grounds. A lot of careful time and planning on behalf of the Hogwarts Faculty have gone into this ball, so if you'll be a bit kinder on the teachers this week, Fred and George, that might make up for it!' His eyes twinkled on the Weasley twins.

'We're promising nothing!' shouted Fred, and the Hall exploded with laughter.

Dumbledore wiped a tear from his eye. 'Alas, I suspected as much. Until Hallowe'en!'

***

'Listen, we've got our first match against Hufflepuff coming up in three weeks, and we haven't even selected a new keeper!' Angelina was giving the team the post-practice Quidditch talk. 'I'm proposing we hold the tryouts next week, and decide that night. That'll give the new keeper a chance to practice before the match. Thank god it's Hufflepuff we're up again, I don't know what we'd do if it was Slytherin.'

'Okay, fine Angelina,' said Alicia. 'Come on, Harry, we've got a Prefects Meeting.'

'We're late as it is, Alicia, we might as well skip it,' said Harry. He was exhausted, and had Animagus training with McGonagall at ten o'clock.

'No, Harry, come on!'

'Can we fly up, anyway?' he asked, pleadingly.

'What? Oh, right, broomsticks. Okay, go on then.' They both mounted their broomsticks, and soared up towards the castle.

Harry followed Alicia as she flew right over the castle, and then circled lower and lower down, before flying through a large archway and then across the grassy courtyard in the Southern end of the castle.

Suddenly, she veered sharply upwards, and Harry followed her, flying almost vertically up the side of the Astronomy Tower. They settled on the battlements for a moment to catch their breath.

'Wow,' said Harry, panting heavily. He had never flown like that before. His blood was filled with adrenaline, and his heart was pumping madly.

'That was exciting,' said Alicia, putting it mildly. 'Ready?'

Harry nodded, and they both kicked off.

The room where the Prefects Meeting was held was situated on the thirteenth floor of the Astronomy Tower.

Harry and Alicia flew down, peering in the empty windows, dropping by a floor each time. Most of the lights in the rooms were extinguished, and it was Alicia who discovered the Prefects Meeting first.

'Harry,' she shouted up to Harry, who was hovering two floors above her. 'Here!'

She pulled at the window, but it was stuck. 'I can't get it open!' she called.

Inwardly, Harry praised Hermione's bookishness.

'Let me,' he said, dropping slowly and stopping outside the window. Inside, he could see the Prefects sitting round a long, wooden table. None of them had noticed Alicia or him.

'Alohomora!' he said, tapping the glass, and it sprang open.

'Ahhh!' said Alicia, taken by surprise, and dropped her wand. Harry saw it plummet below them. Without thinking, he dived after it.

The hair was whipping through his hair, his cloak flying out behind him, when he finally grabbed hold of it, just above the Black and White corridor. He pulled out of the dive, and sped upwards once more, to the Prefects Room, where Alicia had clambered inside.

'Here,' he said to Alicia, as he handed her wand to her, after climbing inside.

'Sorry,' she said, blushing, as they sat down at the table. Nobody had even looked up from the deadly dull of the table to see them climb in. Typical of bureaucrats, thought Harry, as he settled himself in the large chair.

***

When the Prefects Meeting had finally ended, it was ten past ten. Harry made his excuses to Ron and Hermione, before clambering through the window and speeding off once more on his firebolt towards the South Tower. When he clambered through the window, Professor McGonagall was sitting, in her cat form, curled up beside the fireplace, which was filling the room with a warm glow.

'Potter,' she said, changing back into her human form. 'I have some good news.

'Professor Dumbledore and I were discussing your progress this year on the animagus front, and we both agreed that it was time for you to start deciding what type of animal you want to become.'

'You can choose what kind of animal you want to become?' he asked. He had always assumed it had nothing to do with the person's decision.

'Certainly you can choose!' said Professor McGonagall. 'But you have to have some logic in your decision. You must become an animal with similar characteristics to yourself, and an animal that you are fond of.

'For instance, I chose to become a cat, because cats are quiet, comforting creatures. However, they are merciless animals- rather like myself when it comes to House Points. Some people might say that cats are cold, cruel, mirthless animals. And indeed they are, but so am I.

'You see, Potter, being an animagus gives you the perfect chance to reflect upon yourself and show the true person underneath. Animagi is not about becoming something else, but magnifying what you already are. I know I am in danger of becoming as nauseatingly sentimental as the Headmaster,' Harry chuckled, 'but becoming animagus gives you the chance to look into your soul, and decide what you are, and what you want to be.

'If I may use one more illustration: Rita Skeeter, the infamous Daily Prophet reporter, takes on the form of a beetle when she transfigures. Please don't tell Albus, but it was I who taught her to become animagus when she was my student years ago.

'When she told me she wanted to become a beetle, I was shocked. Rita had always been a most exuberant and theatrical girl while she was at school, I had expected something along the lines of a flamingo or fire crab, but certainly not beetle. But when she explained it to me, it made perfect sense. Rita was, underneath the façade of flamboyancy, a quiet, unassuming girl. But, she told me; she was a terrible one for eavesdropping and gossip. Of course, becoming a beetle gave her the perfect opportunity to satisfy her innate desires and inner-self.

'Until last summer, nobody except Rita and myself knew she was animagus, or suspected anything. Certainly, nobody suspected the beetle on the Divination windowsill was a reporter in disguise, until Miss Granger unearthed her scheme. So you see, even if it is the last thing you would expect yourself to transform into, it doesn't mean it can't be a reality.'

Harry crossed his legs as he sat in the seat opposite Professor McGonagall. He had never thought about what animal he would become before.

***

This gave him plenty to think about as he made his way down the south tower (on foot) and into the Gryffindor Common Room. There was an air of electric excitement in the air, and Harry walked over to Hermione and Ron.

'Hi,' said Harry, flumping into a chair.

'Hi,' said Hermione, not looking up, but instead concentrating on the copy of Curious Curses and Counter Curses, laid out in front of her.

'Harry,' called a voice on the other side of the room.

He turned around to see Lavender calling him, and Parvati, bright red, dashing up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

'Hi,' he said, walking over and sitting on the step beside Lavender.

'How're you?' she asked.

'Fine, how're...'

'Cut the crap! Will you go to the ball with Parvati?' She said.

This had caught him completely off his guard. He hadn't expected anyone to ask him to the ball- he hadn't even had much chance to think about it.

'Er, yeah, I suppose so,' he said.

'You suppose?' asked Lavender. 'I'll go and call the Wedding Planner, shall I, seeing as you're so madly in love!'

'Yes, of course I will, then,' he snapped back. 'Who are you going with?' He knew perfectly well what her answer would be.

'Ron,' she said. 'But I haven't asked him yet. He's not already going with someone else, is he?' she asked Harry anxiously.

'Not that I know of.'

'Excellent,' she said, looking across the room at him. 'Just let me go tell Parvati and put some make-up on.'

She dashed up the stairs, and Harry was walking back across to Ron and Hermione, his face rather red, when another voice called him.

'Harry!' He turned around. George Weasley. 'Ron! Ginny! Hermione!' He called. They all looked around at him. He was sitting in a corner next to Fred and Lee Jordan, the Weasley twins' greatest friend.

'Come hither, dear children!' said Fred, and the four came and sat beside them.

'What did Lavender want you for?' Hermione asked of Harry.

'I'm going to the Ball with Parvati,' he said in return, trying not to turn red. The rest of the crowd all gave a big 'Oooooo!', which did the trick.

'Anyway, if I can tear you away from your loins for a moment,' said Fred, 'George, Lee and I have formulated a plan...'

'A most daring and dangerous plan,' interrupted George.

'Indeed, a plan of the most daring and dangerous nature it is!'

'What does it involve, and why us?' asked Ron waspishly.

'Dear brother, listen, please. On the night of the Ball, wouldn't it be splendid to retire to Gryffindor Tower for a party?' exclaimed George.

'A Party?' asked Ginny. 'Are you nuts?'

'Quite possibly,' said Fred. 'We've figured it out, we just need you lot to help us along...

***

Saturday 31^st October

06.03 am

'Hurry up; we're three minutes late already!' whispered Fred.

'This is so going to go wrong,' said Ron pessimistically.

'Of course it is,' agreed Fred, 'and if you don't shut up, we'll all blame you! Now move it!'

Harry, Ron, Fred, and Lee Jordan were hurrying along the passageway, which led to the cellar of Honeydukes, the wizarding sweet store in Hogsmede. George, Hermione and Ginny were staying in the castle, to keep watch and prepare for the next stage of the plan.

'Shh,' whispered Fred to the others, as they crept into the cellar two minutes later. They tiptoed up the stairs, and Fred knocked lightly on the door to the shop.

'Who's there?' called a gruff voice from the other side.

'Gladys, it's us!' called Fred hoarsely.

A woman in a hair net and a pink, flowery dressing gown opened the door.

'If it isn't the Weasley's and their little friends,' she said, patting Fred and Lee each on the shoulder.

'Did you get our owl?' asked Fred.

'Course I did. I spoke to Rosemerta as well, liked you asked. Hurry along, now, I'll be waiting!' She said, and watched them steal across the shop floor, and out into the street.

'How do you know the woman in the shop?' asked Ron, as they shut the door behind them.

'Ask no questions and be told no lies!' responded Fred, so like the children they had taken the points off.

***

Saturday 31^st October

06.45 am

They hurried up the street in silence, following Fred. When they reached the Three Broomsticks, the village pub, they wend down a small rutty lane rather than in the main door.

They came to a door at the back of the Three Broomsticks. Lee knocked three times, and they waited. It was early, and the sun was beginning to dawn over the village. There was a small glittering of frost here and there, and their breath hung in the air before them.

The letterbox opened.

'Is that you lot?' asked Madam Rosemerta's voice from behind it.

'It is,' said Lee, and the door swung open. Madam Rosemerta was standing in a fluffy pink dressing gown, offset by fluffy pink slippers and a multitude of curlers in her hair.

'It's in the back room,' she said, and led them into a small sitting room, with a pink floor, pink carpet, and pink couch.

'I've charmed it to be invisible,' she said, 'and to be feather-light. There's two barrels of butterbeer, two of mulled mead, and one of Ogden's Firewhisky. Is that enough?'

'Rosemerta, you're heaven sent!' exclaimed Fred.

'Oh, you!' She ruffled his hair. 'And if it isn't young Harry Potter! How are you? I remember the days when your father, god rest his soul, and those mischievous friends of his used to organise parties and whatnot! Oh, he used to make me laugh!'

'Here you are,' said Fred, handing her five gold galleons. 'That should be enough, and something for your trouble. We'll be off, now, so see you later!'

'Bye, dears!' called Madam Rosemerta, as they set off, each wheeling a feather-light barrel out in front of them.

***

Saturday 31^st October

07.05

'We got it, Gladys, thanks,' said Fred, when they had got inside Honeydukes.

'Right, you lot'll have to hurry, so just take what you want and get out!' she said.

They each whipped the empty rucksacks off their shoulders and began to shovel everything they could lay their hands on into the bags.

After twenty minutes, they paid Gladys the princely sum of twenty-seven galleons, shouldered their delicious burden, and headed off along the passage.

***

Saturday 31^st October

07.39

'Right, here's hoping this works,' said Fred, taking the Marauder's Map from Harry and inspecting it under wand light.

'George is in position, and so are Hermione and Ginny,' he said. 'Here goes.' He reached into his pocket, and fished out a muggle walkie-talkie.

'Dad made us them, they're magically operated. Hermione has one, Ginny has one, Fred has one, I have one, and here's your three's.' He handed them each a walkie-talkie, and checked his watch. The hand moved from 7.39 to 7.40.

'Here goes.' Fred turned on his walkie-talkie. 'Come in, Agent George, Come in!' They waited in tense silence for a moment, before George's voice echoed back through the walkie-talkie.

'Agent George, reporting from just outside the Entrance Hall. Waiting for permission to begin Phase two! Over.'

'Permission Granted!' responded Fred. 'Begin Phase Two- Fire at Will! Over!'

A few tension filled moments passed.

'Phase two has begun, Agent Fred! Phase Two has begun. Evacuating Scene! Over!'

'Good Work, Agent! Over!'

'What did George just do?' asked Ron.

'Oh, nothing,' answered Fred. 'He just let fifty Cornish Pixies loose in the Entrance Hall!'

***

Saturday 31^st October

07.45

They were looking at the Marauder's Map in silence. Small black dots labelled Professor McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Dumbledore and Janney were running throughout the hall.

'Let's go,' said Fred, rolling up the map. They hurried out the hole behind the statue and along the nearest corridor. Fred turned on his walkie-talkie.

'Agent Granger! Begin Phase Three immediately.' He pressed a few buttons on it. 'Agent Virginia! Begin Phase Three immediately.'

After a few moments, during which Fred, Lee, Harry and Ron were hurrying up a set of spiral stairs, carrying five barrels, the reply came.

'Phase Three activated!' came Hermione's voice.

'Phase Three activated!' came Ginny's, mere moment's later.

'Right, let's go,' said Fred, as they rounded the corner and stopped outside the portrait hole.

'Chickens!' He cried to the Fat Lady, who swung open her frame and allowed them entry.

The Common Room was deserted apart from Hermione, Fred and Ginny, all of whom had their hands clapped over their noses. They had obviously dropped a lot of dungbombs to clear the room.

'Quick!' said George.

They followed him up the girls' staircase, and through the door at the top. The door led to the battlements of Gryffindor Tower, and it was here that they dumped their loot.

Fred turned around and addressed them all.

'Mission One Accomplished!'