Uric the Oddball and the Wild Hunt

Uric was curled up on a couch in the Common Room, reading The Book Of Wild Magic. He would have been out wandering as usual, but both Eustace and Louis had advised him to stay in the Common Room, at least until Headmistress Kurze stopped assigning random detentions to any hapless student who crossed her path. Terry Haribon was still said to be copying every word with double letters in it out of Hogwarts: A History for lingering in the halls. It was common knowledge that it was Uric who had annoyed her, though very few people actually understood why. Uric didn't really know himself, but he was willing to go along with Eustace's and Louis' suggestion, at least for a little while. After all, the badgers wouldn't wait forever.

He was thoroughly engrossed in the chapter on selkie's when he noticed a weight on his feet. Looking up, he saw Mena sitting next to him on the small couch, her robes lying haphazardly over his feet.

"They like that you know," he said. Mena jumped. She had been staring at her feet, but now she turned to look at Uric.

"They?"

"My feet. They like being covered. That's why I wear socks. Can you imagine what they would do if they were uncovered?" he asked. Mena started to answer, but then thought better of it.

"Uric." Her eyes, once again, went back to her feet, and Uric looked there as well. Did she know something he didn't? "I'm sorry I got you in trouble," she said in a low voice. "And I'm not apologizing just because Louis told me too."

"Okay," he said. She looked at him.

"You really don't care, do you?" she asked. Uric thought about it.

"But you're sorry. So everything is okay." She was staring at her feet again. "Want to come exploring with me?" he asked her eagerly, forgetting his friend's advice. She shook her head.

"We can't. If we lose any more points for Hufflepuff, we'll never have a chance of winning the house cup." Uric's face fell.

"Later then?" he asked. Mena looked at him, realizing he truly didn't mind about the prank. Uric could be very annoying at times, but she was very glad she had defended him on the coach over a month ago.

"Mrs. Kurze has to calm down at some point. We'll go exploring then. Okay?"

"Okay." Uric nodded happily and went back to his book. Mena sat there for a moment, expecting him to say something more, than went to get ready for the day.

*****

Dear Uric,

Your father would like an explanation for the letter we received earlier today about your behaviour. He was too busy to read it, but I was able to summarize it for him, while leaving out the worst of Headmistress Kurze's insinuations. Honestly, I have half a mind to come there and give that woman a good scolding of her own. Suggesting that you hexed that girl, than attempted to lie to her about it. I know I raised you right Uric and I know you don't lie, much to our chagrin sometimes. But your father has asked for a full report, so please send one back soon.

Are you eating well there? Drusilla tells me you are fed quite well, but her son Bryton was chubby long before he went there. Your father is very busy with his council work, but I'm sure he would be interested in knowing how your studies are going. Meanwhile, I have been decorating the house for Hallowe'en with the house elves help, but I'm afraid it just won't be the same without you. You must tell me all about your first Hallowe'en at school. Try writing more often sweetheart.

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With Love,

Mum

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ps Uric, this is your father. Try to stay out of more trouble for the sake of the family. -Alastair Beaufolle

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Louis read over the letter one more time, than handed it back to Uric.

"You sure we can't trade parents, Uric? Mine would have crucified me by now," he said. Uric looked up from where he was writing the letter back to his parents.

"I don't think we can do that. It would mean us having to be born over again, and your parents don't look anything like mine, so-" Louis cut him off.

"It was only a suggestion. Never mind." He watched Uric write the letter for awhile, than turned his attention to where Mena was asleep over her herbology text. "Are you going home for Christmas, Uric?"

"Yes. Mum would never let me stay here."

"How about Mena?" asked Louis. He watched Uric write the word 'cockatrice' before answering him.

"I don't know. What do Muggle's do on Christmas?"

"Probably the same things we do, only without magic," said Louis hesitantly. He really didn't know much about Muggle customs.

"Or maybe, they become magical for just one night, and everyone starts dancing on the table tops and performing amateur dramatics." Uric sounded very happy about the whole idea, though Louis was at a loss to explain what being magical and dancing on table tops had in common.

"Maybe that's what alcohol is for?" he suggested with a shrug.

"I'll ask my father when I go home. He'll know," said Uric with the certainty of someone whose father had always had an answer. Meanwhile, Louis stared at Mena, debating whether or not to wake her. He finally reached over and prodded her gently with his wand. She didn't even move, so he swished it hard against her hand, quickly hiding it when she awoke and started glaring at them. She looked between them, unable to tell by Louis' calm expression and Uric's, well Uric's usual expression, which of them had awakened her.

"I didn't get much sleep last night." Her tone was dangerous, but Louis decided to ignore it.

"You should go to sleep early tonight, but first I have a question for you," he said. Mena rested her head on her folded arms and stared at him.

"Do you?" she asked in the same tone as before. Louis nodded his head, and found himself leaning in towards her as he spoke.

"Are you staying over the holiday?" he asked. Mena blinked.

"That's it?" Louis rolled his eyes.

"Yes. Will you just answer already!" he commanded. She frowned at him.

"I'm staying here. Father's gone to France on guild business so there'd be no one at home for me," she explained. Louis sat back in the chair again. She was watching him suspiciously. "Why did you want to know?" Louis didn't really want to answer, but knew that Mena wouldn't be satisfied until he did.

"I'm staying here as well. Practically no one from Slytherin does however, not that I'm friends with many of them...I just wanted to make sure there would be someone here I know," he said, trying not to look at Mena.

"You can always go to the badgers," said Uric in a casual tone, never looking up from his letter.

"The badgers?" asked Louis, knowing he was going to regret this.

"Yes. They're very friendly if you know how to approach them."

"I thought you hadn't found them, Uric?" asked Mena.

"Oh no, well, you can only find them when you really need them, not when you really want them, if you know what I mean," he said. Louis and Mena exchanged looks. They doubted that there was anyone who ever knew what Uric really meant.

"If you say so Uric," said Louis doubtfully. Uric nodded his head.

"I do. But don't you worry. If you ever need the badgers they'll find you." He smiled happily at them. Louis found himself smiling back. For some reason he felt a lot better.

*****

Hallowe'en had always been one of Uric's favourite times of year. He would help his mother decorate the castle, and she would tell him the ancient tales of the land, even Muggle stories sometimes. And then on Hallowe'en night, father would come home and they would have a party. Sometimes it was just him and his parents, other times it seemed the whole wizarding world was invited.

This year he spent Hallowe'en admiring Hogwart's rather spartan decorations and enjoying the wonderful feast. The Fat Friar even told them a ghost story while they were eating and Mrs. Kurze seemed to have calmed down enough so that she wasn't taking points off of everyone in her line of sight. After the feast there were games in the common room along with liberal amounts of some strangely flavoured drink that the older students seemed to enjoy. No one went to sleep early that night, though that didn't stop Uric from awakening at his usual time.

He woke up and bounced lightly to his feet on top of the mattress. Experimentally, he tried to perform a standing back flip and ended up in an untidy pile on the floor. He froze, wondering if his dorm mates were going to wake up, but lucky for him, or maybe for them, they were all heavy sleepers.

He pulled himself off the floor, gave a bow to the bed for its help and quickly pulled on his robes before heading out the door. Instead of leaving like he usually did, he made his way across the common room. He was distracted by the badgers in the painting on the wall and would have spent the whole night staring at them except he noticed his robes were beginning to flower so he moved on. Much as he would like to test his theory of plant based life forms, tonight wasn't the night.

The doorway he wanted was up a ladder at the far side of the room. He crept up quietly and entered into a slightly different world than he had ever been in. Hufflepuff's colours may have been black and yellow but in this room, a rainbow seemed to have splashed down. Each bed had its own bright colour dominating it, while pictures of prancing unicorns and frolicking fairies decorated the walls. Uric took a step towards a bright red bed and wondered if touching it would turn him red. He touched it, thinking that spending his life impersonating a tomato might be fun, and was disappointed to find his hands were the same colour as always.

With a sigh, he poked at the blanket and its occupant underneath. A hand flailed out and slapped his arm, making him jerk back and fall to the floor. He waited for her to wake up but nothing happened, so he got up and this time, poked her with his wand. The blanket slowly turned green and Mena sat up quite suddenly. Uric took a step back as she looked around in confusion. Her eyes focused on him and he grinned.

"Good morning Mena. Want to go exploring now?" She glared at him, than took the time to look at the magical clock on the wall. She groaned.

"We didn't go to sleep after the feast until midnight, Uric and it's only four now. Couldn't you have waited a bit longer?" Her voice was still full of sleep. She rubbed her eyes and focused on him again.

"What are you doing in the girl's dorm?" Her voice was much clearer now and very angry. Uric smiled pleasantly at her.

"Waking you," he said. She growled at him, and Uric was about to ask her how she did that, since she sounded remarkably like a mother badger, when the pillow smacked full force into his body and sent him flying several feet away to land near the doorway.

"Out," she said. Uric got up and looked at her sadly.

"You're not coming exploring then?" he asked. She summoned her pillow back, though it looked more like she wanted to curse it to pieces instead.

"I'm coming. Just wait outside." She was growling again, but Uric decided to go listen to the badgers and see if they really sounded similar. Mena came down soon and was nearly hit by a plant that was flying lazily about the room.

"You have to duck," said Uric helpfully. Mena just marched over to him and pulled him out the portrait door by his sleeve. She stopped in the middle of the corridor. Uric stopped as well. He stood their patiently and imagined what would happen if all the corridors of Hogwarts were actually rivers. All the students would have to boat from class to class and the doors would have to be magically charmed to keep the water out. Simon wouldn't like the water, though doing potions while floating on top of your chair might be interesting...Mena ground her foot on top of his own and he winced slightly from the pain.

"Now that I have your attention. I thought we were exploring, not staring at the floor all night," she said. Uric shrugged and set off down one of the corridors, following the green zig-zag pattern on one of the carpets. He would have been perfectly happy staring at the carpet all night, but Mena was with him, so maybe he could show her around. Where had he last seen that room made entirely of cheese last?

*****

They didn't find the cheese room, but they did find the room full of useless things (a lot of Muggle stuff according to Mena), the room of leaf piles (fun to play in until one of the piles tried to eat them) and a room full of mirrors, which he hadn't seen before. One of the mirrors kept showing him playing with badgers for some reason and Uric wondered if it was the Mirror of Badgers, but Mena wouldn't tell him what she saw so he couldn't check.

Many hours later, Uric led her towards a certain room on the second floor where a ghostly orchestra was always playing. Before they could reach it however, he heard a noise. Acting quickly, Uric pulled her behind a nearby suit of armour. She glared at him and opened her mouth to speak. He frantically signed for her to be quiet and they both stood behind the armour. Mena froze when the sound of soft footsteps came to their ears.

The footsteps came closer and peering through the arms of the suit, they could see a large pair of dark blue trousers come trotting into view. It came fast around the corner, skipping and twirling like there was actually someone in it, though they could only see air. The trousers performed some sort of sliding step dance than disappeared around a bend in the corridor. Only then did they relax.

"What was that?" asked Mena, confused as to why a pair of trousers would be so threatening.

"Those are the Dancing Trousers." Uric almost looked serious. "Once you put them on, you can never get them off. Well, not never. There are some ways, but it takes an awful lot of effort and it's no fun to be dancing forever."

"Have they ever caught you?" she asked.

"Oh yes. Plenty of times. But I didn't feel like dancing tonight and they don't like most people."

"Which explains why they like you," said Mena sourly. She took a deep breath. "Alright. Where to now?" She yawned as she said it.

"This way." Uric went in the opposite direction the Dancing Trousers had taken. He rounded the corridor and ran straight into Varys Nachleen. The dark-haired boy gave him an annoyed look, than straightened his robes, taking extra time to flick lint off of his Ravenclaw badge.

"Of all the people I could have run into," he said with disgust. Uric looked curiously at him, while Mena spoke up behind him.

"You'd rather have run into Mrs. Kurze?" she asked. He pretended not to hear her and focused on Uric.

"I think I'll report you to Mr. Kurze," he said.

"Okay," said Uric at the same time as Mena spoke up again.

"You can't, because then you'll have to explain why you're out here as well." She sounded triumphant. This time he glared at her, though she just glared right back. Uric looked from one to the other and wondered if you could bottle stares. He opened his mouth to ask, but Varys broke the stare and assumed a dignified pose.

"Much as I would like to stay here playing. I have better things to do." He gave them a slight bow, as years of social training came to the fore. Uric returned the bow for the same reasons. Mena watched them, a quizzical expression on her face, and didn't even notice when Varys brushed past her.

"For mortal enemies you two are rather polite," she said.

"Mortal enemies?" said Uric in a puzzled tone.

"He doesn't like you Uric, or hadn't you noticed?" Uric looked at her.

"Mum always said to be polite, even if he doesn't like Simon," he said. Mena shook her head.

"The point is that he doesn't like you," she explained. Uric thought about that. He seemed to remember something about Varys not liking him, but he couldn't be sure it was true. He could also remember a giant hamster ice-skating across the Great Hall, which was just as likely, maybe even more so, of being true. He was knocked out of his thoughts by a shout from down the way they had come.

"The Dancing Trousers!" said Mena, her face filled with glee.

"Did you want to try them? I'm sure we can find them again," Uric said. She growled again.

"No. I think Varys is trying them out already." Mena snickered. "I wonder what he looks like doing a country dance. He probably thinks it's beneath him."

"The trousers are beneath him actually," said Uric, trying to understand why she was so happy. At that moment, the Dancing Trousers rounded the corner with Varys wearing them. Mena doubled over with laughter. Varys was doing a passing imitation of an Irish step dancer, and the reason he wasn't yelling anymore was because he was breathing too heavily from the exercise. The boy seemed to be concentrating on getting out of the trousers, but when he saw Uric his eyes filled with anger.

"You," he panted out between breaths, "are going to pay for this." He would have said more, but the trousers switched to taking great leaps and spinning him about on his toes. Uric could have sworn he heard a muffled thump and saw a shoe on the floor for a moment. Mena didn't seem to notice, and continued snickering until the trousers had passed out of sight. Uric looked confused.

"He doesn't like Irish step dancing?" he asked. Mena just shook her head, still shaking with silent laughter. She looked back at the direction in which Varys had gone after the laughter had subsided.

"I suppose we should tell Mr. Kurze about him," she said reluctantly. "But we might be punished." She looked at him where he was drawing a duck on the wall with his wand. "Maybe we'll just send him an anonymous note." She headed off towards the owlery and Uric followed.

"Did you see that shoe?" Uric asked. Mena just ignored him.

*****

"You need to pay careful attention here. We're entering one of the most dangerous parts of the forest. Uric!" Uric looked at Dasha from where he had been watching an orange, spike covered caterpillar rapidly devour a frog.

"Is there pudding here then?" he asked. Dasha blinked. A month of detentions with Uric and she still wasn't used to the boy.

"There are worse things in the world than pudding. For instance, this part of the forest happens to host a herd of graphorns that were transplanted here many years ago. We need to count them and make sure their numbers aren't too high. The Muggles around here might object to angry graphorns running through their fields." Uric perked up.

"Muggles?"

"There is a Muggle settlement on this side of the forest." She was staring in that direction. "There seems to be a lot more Muggles around these days. Some day soon, we wizards will just be a memory and we'll be hiding ourselves from them, and from each other," she said in a melancholy tone. Uric looked worried.

"What about Muggle-borns? They'll still come right?" he asked. He was thinking about Mena.

"That depends on the Council now doesn't it? Come on, we need to be out of the forest before sunset." She headed off at an angle and Uric followed slowly. He was thinking about leaves and wondering if they recognized each other when they were falling, and did they find different colours more attractive than others? Perhaps they had a fashion ball deep within the forest. He knelt down to pick up a brilliant yellow leaf and heard the screaming. He straightened up and stared quizzically ahead of him.

"Stay here, Uric!" Dasha disappeared into the forest ahead of them. Uric was nearly knocked over by her kneazle, Beckett, when he followed her in an orange blur. Uric stared curiously in the direction they went.

He could hear a strange lowing in the distance and more cries. The ground began to shake and small twigs and leaves came down in a strange shower. A loud groan came, reminding Uric of a banshee with a head cold. Something large and grey barrelled its way in to Uric's view. It had thick skin that was scaled like a dragon's and two sharp horns on the end of its nose that it was using to uproot a tree in front of him. More twigs fell down and Uric was forced to move as the tree crashed towards him.

He rolled, and a branch ripped through his robes, cutting a small gash in his arm. The tree hit with a deafening crunch and Uric found himself crouched in between two large branches, surrounded by a flurry of red and yellow leaves. The graphorn had stopped at the foot of the now dead tree. Its beady, black eyes met his hazel ones and they stood for a moment, as if frozen in time. Shaking its head, the graphorn gave a snort and trotted back into the forest.

Uric stood up, inspected the bloody rip in his robes and frowned. He looked around at the leaves and back at the blood on his robes. The leaves were definitely attracted to the colour red. He wanted to move, to get away from the leaves (who were beginning to worry him) and to find Dasha, but she had told him to stay where he was. He thought about his dilemma for a moment, then realized he had already disobeyed her by moving out of the way of the tree, so it must be okay for him to move now. Right? He started walking in the direction he thought she had disappeared.

*****

Uric couldn't hear screams anymore, and the forest was growing very dark in the deepening twilight. He headed towards where there was still light and soon found himself amongst thinning trees. The sounds of the forest died away, and he was walking on deep rows of dirt. They ran parallel to each other across the gentle slope right up to the edge of the forest. Uric regarded them in delight and without a thought, kicked off his shoes and socks. He ran barefoot over the soft, cool dirt, forgetting about the sting in his arm and everything else except the fresh, new smell of the field of earth.

He laughed and hoped over the rows, or left strange patterns in the dirt that his toes insisted he draw. Eventually the light faded so he could barely see, and Uric began to wonder how a field of dirt came to be near the Forbidden Forest. Was it a Muggle field and if it was, why were they growing dirt? It occurred to him, that if they were growing dirt, he really shouldn't be disturbing it, so he made his way towards his shoes and socks.

"Uric! Get down!" yelled a voice out of nowhere. Uric frowned and felt a body slam into him, pushing his face into the dirt. He sputtered, and turned over to see a white light cross over his face. There were men in black cloaks with their hoods pulled up over strange brightly coloured masks, shaped like dragons and demons standing at the other edge of the field. Something settled over him, and he found himself trapped under a cloth with a very familiar woman. He could hear voices yelling out spells in the distance.

"Hello," he said cheerfully. She gave him a withering look.

"Did you see those men out there Uric?" she asked.

"Yes. They're playing dress up."

"That's so no one recognizes them."

"Why?" asked Uric, as another spell whizzed over them. The woman shook her head and shifted so that the smell of the dirt was overwhelming.

"I'd love to explain it to you, but we really don't have the time. They saw my invisibility cloak, and they're going to start searching the field systematically, which means that we need to move. This way." She grabbed his arm and forced him to crawl along with her. They headed off at an angle and Uric frowned as he crawled.

"What about my shoes and socks? They didn't do anything wrong," he said. She continued to drag him along.

"Believe it or not Uric, you're life is more important than your footwear." The earth began to tremble underneath them and the woman's eyes widened in fear. "Move!" she shouted as she pushed Uric to the right, while rolling to the left. The ground where they had been exploded in a shower of dirt. Uric shut his eyes tight until it was over, than looked for the woman. She was nowhere to be seen. Uric sat up and looked again, ignoring the curses that were flying around him. It was getting dark, but the moon was bright enough to provide some light.

"There he is!" yelled a voice. Uric frowned and crawled towards the last place he had seen the woman. One of the dirt hills was being crushed by something that he hoped was her. He reached the depression and poked the air above it. His finger met resistance and he grinned. His hand found the material of the cloak and pulled some of it off her.

Uric frowned. Her eyes were closed. He pulled out his wand and looked from her to the men in the masks. The one with a red dragon's head was getting awfully close and he was forced to duck as a yellowish coloured curse came his way. He looked longingly at his shoes off to his right, than made his decision. He rolled under the invisibility cloak and pointed his wand at the woman.

"Enervate," he said, pleased that he could remember a spell that he had seen his father use once many years ago. Her eyes fluttered, than opened. She looked straight at him and he smiled. "Hello," he said. She groaned.

"What are you still doing here Uric? You should have taken the cloak and left. They don't want me." Uric was confused. How was he supposed to know that? The woman twisted around to see the forest's edge only a few meters away. "Here is what we do. You take the invisibility cloak and run. Don't stop until you reach Hogwarts. I'll hold them off here. Do you understand me, Uric?" He nodded. "Alright," she said, though she looked doubtful. "You better go now." He looked around and saw that the man in the dragon mask was only three feet away. He wanted to ask the woman whether or not the dragon mask could breathe fire, but she rolled away from him and out from under the invisibility cloak.

The dragon-masked man froze, than pointed his wand at her. "Stupefy!" he called. She rolled out of the way of the spell and used her own wand.

"Expelliarmus!" she yelled. The wizard made a sweeping gesture with his wand.

"Claudiarmus!" The dragon's lips actually moved when he said the spell. The woman's spell hit an invisible shield and the dragon appeared to growl. "You shouldn't get in the way," he said. "He won't be harmed if his-"

"Quassicorpus!" shouted the woman. The man didn't dodge this time and began to shake violently making it impossible for him to aim or use his wand. His fellows had joined him at this point. One was wearing a black demon's mask, while the other wore a golden hippogriff. The woman attempted to curse them as well, but was repelled by some sort of shield.

Uric stared at the pretty masks, whose faces were bared in nasty grimaces, completely forgetting the woman's instructions. The wizard with the demon mask ended the spell on his fellow, while the golden hippogriff gnashed his beak at the woman.

"Petrificus totalus," he said in unison with the demon wizard. They each aimed for a different side of her, so that no matter where she dodged they had her. The woman fell down with a muffled thump and the wizards ignored her.

"He's gotten away," said the demon masked one in a deep voice. The golden griffin just shook his head.

"No. She had an invisibility cloak. She must have given it to him. We just have to find him before he gets back to Hogwarts." He pointed his wand at the ground in front of him. "Imburadventus," he said and a strange mist began to billow out of his wand forming into a line in front of him. "We'll smoke him out." Uric frowned at the line of mist that was creeping towards him. It was sending up puffs of dirt in front of it. He felt sorry for the little men who lived in the dirt, and did not want to share their fate, so he ran.

The line of fog began to sweep faster and it was only a few feet behind him when he reached the forest's edge. Uric winced as his bare feet were prodded by the various twigs and leaves that littered the ground. His feet were not going to be happy.

The forest was quiet, and he could hear strange echoes from the creatures within it and the men following him. One of the wizards shouted and Uric stopped to look. The cloud was rolling across the ground. It covered anything it touched and was creeping up the trees behind him. Soon everything behind him was a foggy ghost of itself. The temperature began to drop as it drew closer and Uric shivered. A bird flew over the cloud and attempted to land on a fog covered branch. It cried out once as it was engulfed, and then its body lost its hold on the branch and plunged towards the ground. Uric began running again.

He ran for a long time, the mist always behind him. He came out into a clearing of trees and remembered to duck just in time. A branch swept through the area where his head had been. Uric took a step back, ignoring the approaching fog and bowed low to the ground. A magnificent oak tree stood at the edge of a dense crowd of smaller trees. Their leaves glowed golden in the faint moonlight. Uric crawled across the ground to a nearby pool of water and cupped some in his hands. Bringing the water over to the oak, he carefully poured it onto the tree's roots.

"I'm sorry Mr. Oak, but I need to pass you and your friends." The tree did not respond, but Uric knew it could see and hear him. "You're leaves are very pretty by the way." There was a pause, than the sound of a thousand creaking's, and the branches of the oak moved out of the way. A passageway formed between the big oak and the smaller trees leading off towards Hogwarts. Uric grinning and bowed to them all.

"Thank you. I'll come back some time and bring you water." He cast a worried glance at the fog. "I don't think the fog will hurt you." He passed under the branches of the trees and wondered if they could make other shapes, like stars and spirals. He nearly stopped and asked them to try before remembering the fog.

Soon he was out from under the trees and running as fast as he could. Uric did what he usually did while running and drifted off into his own world, which is why he was surprised to find himself coming out of the forest and into the shadow of Hogwarts. He stopped running abruptly and pulled back the cloak's hood. There was something he was forgetting.

He reached inside his robe and touched the stone that was hanging around his neck. After a moment he began to giggle. It felt like someone was tickling him. His robes began to extend out in front of him and he giggled more when he felt two hands place themselves on either side of his chest. Soon, Mr. Kurze had tumbled out of the now smoking stone and was standing in front of Uric, the invisibility cloak tangled around him. Mr. Kurze looked down at the cloak.

"What is this Uric?"

"It's an invisibility cloak, Sir. Where did you come from? Have you been living in the stone?" Uric asked. Mr. Kurze shook his head.

"That's just absurd. Did you see the woman, or did you hit the stone accidentally?" he asked.

"I saw her. She even spoke to me," said Uric.

"Where?" Uric turned and pointed towards the forest. Did he see a dragon grin at him from there? Suddenly, Beckett bounded out of the forest followed by his owner. Dasha strode towards them, her long braid swinging back and forth behind her. She looked very grim.

"Where have you been Uric? Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?" she demanded. He ventured a guess.

"Since I disappeared?" Dasha looked very angry, but Mr. Kurze put his hand on her shoulder.

"Not now, Dasha," he said. "I need to know more about the woman while he's still slightly focused." She did not seem very placated.

"Uric is still in detention with me and is in my care. I have every right to demand where he has disappeared to for the last half hour." They both stared at each other and seemed to come to some sort of decision. They turned to Uric.

"Tell us what happened Uric," said Mr. Kurze.

"After I left you in the forest." Dasha knew she would have to clarify if they wanted a straight answer from the child. Mr. Kurze looked sharply at Dasha.

"You left him alone in the forest?"

"There was a herd of graphorns bothering some Muggles. I didn't want him getting in my way, or theirs," she sounded defensive.

"I saw a graphorn," said Uric helpfully. He proceeded to tell them a disjointed tale of his adventures and didn't notice their alternating looks of disbelief and bemusement. He finished his tale and began to tell them about his new theory on pumpkin juice being the key to eternal life when Mr. Kurze held up a hand to stop him.

"So you were attacked by some unknown wizards and rescued by another unknown wizard for some unknown reason?" he asked. Uric nodded his head yes. "And this invisibility cloak belongs to this unknown woman?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Do you mind if I keep this, Uric?" Mr. Kurze asked.

"No, Sir." Mr. Kurze nodded his head.

"Alright then." He looked questioningly at Dasha. "Is there anything you want to say, Dasha?" She looked hard at Uric, than shook her head.

"Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. You should go get that cut looked at Uric." She turned to Mr. Kurze. "What are you going to do now, Olman?" Mr. Kurze looked up at the half moon.

"I'll have to tell the Headmistress about this, though with him involved," he gestured at Uric, "I doubt she will be very understanding." His eyes fell on Uric. The boy was drawing in the dirt with his wand. "What are you doing boy?" Uric looked up and Mr. Kurze saw that the boy was about to launch into one of his long and convoluted explanations. "Get up to the castle. Now!" Uric's mouth closed and he wandered slowly towards the castle, zig-zagging slightly as if in deep thought. Mr. Kurze shook his head and something caught his eye. He bent down and picked up the burnt out stone that had hung around Uric's neck. It crumbled to ash in his hand. The wind blew across his hand and scattered the ashes into the forest.