Uric the Oddball and the Wild Hunt

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long legged beasties

And things that go bump in the dark

Good God protect us.

-Nachtsegen

Mena and Louis exchanged looks and started running. Mena had to swerve back for a second to grab Uric and drag him along, but then they were running at full speed through the forest.

"We have to reach the edge of the forest and Hogwarts!" yelled Louis in the lead.

"Didn't you hear Uric? We can't get out!" responded Mena as she dodged a low hanging branch.

"Beckett probably told Dasha we were here. Maybe she came after us," called Louis over his shoulder.

"Then she's as stupid as we are," breathed Mena, but neither of the boys heard her. Behind them howls split the night, and this time a new noise. The clear tone of a hunting horn rang out across the forest. It was beautiful, but filled with a deep wild call that sent a shiver through their bodies.

They ran for a long time, not realising how far into the forest they had come during their run from Beckett. Hope sprang anew when they realised that the trees were thinning out and the dark became a bit less oppressive. But then the howls sounded again, behind and in front of them. The horn followed and it no longer sounded beautiful. It sounded like it came from all around them. All three of them skidded to a halt.

"They've got us surrounded," said Louis in a resigned tone. Mena was furious with him for giving up, but a loud snapping noise pulled their attention behind them. A woman lay sprawled over a broken log. Her reddish-brown hair was spread out wildly and for some reason her body ended just under her waist. The woman sputtered and spit a leaf out of her mouth, before sitting up. Mena felt, rather than saw Uric grin beside her. He approached the woman.

"Hello! Have you seen Simon? Did you know that you have no legs?" he asked politely. The woman stared at him for a moment, than shook her head.

"Here I am trying to protect you Uric, and you had to go and run off into the Forbidden Forest on the most dangerous night of the year! Simon would have been fine in the forest for the night," she scolded in her strange accent, all the while tugging at something invisible around her legs.

"You don't know that," said Uric. Mena could barely see him in the now waning moonlight, but his voice had sounded serious for once.

"I hate to break up this lovely debate," said Louis from behind her, "But we're in the forest now and there is a Wild Hunt on. Could we worry about surviving the night?" A howl punctuated his request. The woman seemed to come to herself.

"You're right. Uric, you have to take my invisibility cloak and hide yourself." She pulled at something around her legs and a shimmering material appeared in her hands.

"You do have legs!" said Uric. He was grinning inanely and Mena wanted to smack him, but she had a question first.

"Why can't we all hide under the cloak? What's so important about Uric?" she asked. The woman gave her a piercing look that was spoiled only slightly by the leaf that still dangled down one side of her face.

"I was hired by Mr. Beaufolle to protect his son and I intend to fulfil my duty. Alone, Uric has less chance of being scented by the dogs, not to mention we will act as decoys so he can get out of the forest." Both Mena and Louis opened their mouths to protest, but Uric beat them to it.

"I'm not going to use the cloak." He sounded sad.

"Why not?" asked Mena. She was curious to know his reasons.

"If I use the cloak then Simon won't be able to find me. I can't leave him alone out here. Something bad will happen." The woman looked annoyed.

"You're a bit more important than Simon, Uric. How would your parents feel if you died out here tonight? Now put the cloak on," the woman demanded. She flourished the cloak and made to drape it over Uric's shoulders.

"No!" Uric held out his hand, there was a flash of light and the cloak disappeared. The woman muttered some rather nasty curses, then calmed down and glared at Uric.

"I don't know who taught you to banish things, but they have just made my job a lot harder." She stared out at the forest for a moment, deep in thought, than focused on the children in front of her. The horn blew again. It was much closer.

"Alright. Here's what we do," she said. "Don't run, that just excites the Hunt. We stay here and wait for him to come. When he does, let me do the talking. The worst thing we could do right now is insult him."

"What do you mean by him?" asked Louis. He looked calm, though his hands were white where they clutched at his wand.

"The Hunter. The dogs are under his control, therefore we need to reason with him. It shouldn't be too hard." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. A howl sounded in front of them.

A huge black dog bounded into view. Its eyes glowed red and its paws were red as well, as if it had been walking in blood. Reddish foam lined its lips and Louis backed slowly away. The dog focused on them with eyes full of cunning and let loose a long, deep howl. Mena made to run, but the woman put a hand on her shoulder. With a snarl another dog bounded out of the woods behind them, and was joined by two more on either side. They were effectively trapped within the little clearing they had stopped in.

Uric laughed then, and approached one of the dogs, hand out for it to smell. He had never seen a dog like this and wondered what its coat felt like, not to mention what its opinion was on the enchantment of muggle objects. He was jerked backward just before it snapped his hand off.

"Uric!" The woman nearly growled at him. "Just stand in the middle of the clearing and don't do anything. Okay?"

"Okay," said Uric in a subdued voice. The doggie wasn't being very friendly.

A man rode into the clearing and even the trees seemed to lean away from him. He was huge and dressed all in black. He sat upon a black horse with red eyes and red hoofs. Its shaggy mane matched the hair of its master. He rode the horse deeper into the clearing and they could smell the faint smell of decay and old blood. Involuntarily, they took a step back. With a flourish of his cloak, he dismounted and spoke to his nearest hound.

"How goes the Hunt?" His voice was layered in tones, giving it an echoing, inhuman quality. The hound growled a response and the man nodded his head at it. He turned to face them, and the woman pushed herself to the front of their little group. His eyes were as red as his dogs, and looked at them with an alien amusement. "When the prey stands still, it makes for poor sport."

"We are not your prey. There are far more evil creatures in the forest tonight," the woman said, her voice faltering a little under the Hunter's gaze.

"I hunt where I will and all creatures of this world are my prey."

"You hunt well, but as you said, we are poor sport. We are not even enough to feed your hounds," said the woman, gesturing at the hounds surrounding them.

"It is long since they have had human meat and the blood of wizards is tasty."

"We could fight you." She sounded desperate.

"You would lose. None may stand against the Hunt," said the Hunter in what was almost a growl. She opened her mouth to respond, but Uric pushed his way past her. He stood looking up at the huge man who smelled of blood and smoke.

"Please, Sir. Have you seen Simon?" he asked. The Hunter looked confused. People pleaded with him for their lives. They did not ask obtuse questions.

"Uric!" yelled the woman, but the Hunter waved his hand and she was frozen in place.

"Who is this Simon?" he asked.

"He's my bird-lizard and he's lost out here. I have to get him back before he gets eaten." The Hunter began to laugh.

"It is I and my hounds who devour things in this forest tonight!" he crowed. Mena stepped forward then, knowing he would probably kill them anyway so she might as well act.

"Please. How would you feel if one of your hounds was lost?" she pleaded. The Hunter stared at her, than turned to look at his precious hounds for a long moment. Eventually, he turned back to them and they saw he had reached a decision. He reached out a huge hand to ruffle Uric's hair.

"Worry not, child. The Hunt shall find this Simon for you, and we shall be off to better hunting grounds. Time grows short and we must find tastier prey ere the dawn."

"Thank you," said the three of them. The Hunter shook his head and smiled a sad smile at them. It looked strange when paired with his glowing, otherworldly eyes.

"I grow weary of this place. The Hunt shall not ride here again." He unfroze their protector then mounted his horse. The horse reared and a sudden wind caused his cloak to billow out behind him. "Farewell children. You have tamed the Hunter for the night, but do not think I will spare you should you cross my path again." He smiled a wicked smile at them. Then he lifted a black horn, gilded in silver to his lips and sounded it. The sound echoed across the forest as he bounded off, his hounds padding silently after him.

There little group stood frozen on the spot, except for Uric who was cheerfully waving good bye to the nice man in black.

*****

Morning came and a deep orange kneazle made its way along the edge of the forest. It stopped nearly opposite the castle and walked into the trees. In a clearing not too deeply in, it found three students and one woman fast asleep on the forest floor. It recognised one of them and hurried over to nudge at the light brown-haired boy.

"Hmmm," Uric yawned and focused on the creature in front of him. "Hello Beckett. How are you this morning?" The kneazle meowed at him. "We're fine. Look, even Simon is." The boy held a rather ragged looking bird-lizard right in Beckett's face. Beckett sneezed when one of the feathers tickled his sensitive nose. He shook his head at the boy, than turned and ran out of the forest, intent on finding his master. Uric didn't notice, because he was too busy telling Simon all the excitement he had missed the night before.

"That's why you shouldn't run away, Simon. You miss all the fun things, like the really cute doggies." Simon just chirped at him. "It's okay though. We'll go have our own adventure tomorrow night."

"You will not, because you won't be in this school tomorrow," said a voice Uric knew very well. Professor Stewart strode purposely across the clearing and surveyed it with distaste.

"Good morning, Sir," said Uric in a cheerful voice.

"A good morning for me, but not for you. Mrs. Kurze has been informed of your delinquency and is waiting for you and your companions in her office. Who is this?" He gestured toward the prone form of their protector.

"A woman," said Uric, failing to notice that Professor Stewart was beginning to look very angry.

"The other teachers may tolerate your fresh answers, but I will not. If I didn't know Mrs. Kurze was going to expel you, I would assign you detention. Wake them up and go to Mrs. Kurze's office. You should know the way." He shook his head in disgust, than headed back towards the castle. Louis waited until he was gone before sitting up.

"He probably doesn't want to miss breakfast, the fat git," he said.

"You're probably right about that, but that doesn't mean you should be insulting him," said a gruff voice. Louis turned to see Dasha sitting on a nearby log, her long red braid glinting in the sunlight.

"He's going to get us expelled today. So you'll excuse me if I'm not feeling very charitable towards him at the moment," he responded rather irritably. Mena sat up, than put her hands around her knees. She looked up at them, her face full of worry.

"I don't want to be expelled," she said in a small voice. If she went home now, all she could expect was to be taught to sew by her mother and married off to the baker's son, or some other mundane future. At Hogwarts, she had a chance to escape that, but not if she was expelled before she learnt anything. Louis was looking at her a little sadly.

"We did disobey the rules about going into the Forbidden Forest. She is within her rights to expel us." He paused. "It's a good thing I wrote out a will because my father's going to kill me."

"I'll talk to her," said their protector. She looked very determined.

"Well, thank you, but I don't think it's going to help," said Louis. The woman ignored him and turned to Dasha.

"May I use a quill and some parchment?" Dasha gave the woman a hard look before she agreed. They all followed her to the groundskeeper's cottage. There the woman wrote a short note on a parchment, then marched determinedly up to the castle. The three of them followed, curious about what a letter would do to save them. Once they entered, the woman turned to go up one of the side staircases.

"That's not the way to Mrs. Kurze's office," said Mena helpfully. The woman looked at her.

"I know. We need to send this letter first. Just follow me. We'll tell her it took awhile for you to wake me up when she asks why you're late." The three of them looked at each other and Louis shrugged. They followed her up the stairs to the owlrey, Uric still talking softly to Simon. The woman sent off her letter, though none of them could see to whom it was addressed. She headed for the door and they followed her reluctantly to Mrs. Kurze's office.

*****

Snuggly opened as soon as Uric approached. He grinned and petted the gargoyle's head before going up the stairs. Behind him, Louis shook his head, while the woman and Mena stared.

They entered the office, their feet sinking deep into the plush carpet. A fire was burning in the nearby hearth. Uric could see the faint shadows from the flames flickering across the Headmistress' face as she sat behind her desk looking off into the distance. Mr. Kurze was standing in the corner, attempting to look unobtrusive. Uric grinned and waved madly at him.

"Olman," said the Headmistress. "Your presence here is unnecessary." Mr. Kurze glanced between Uric and his wife. He stood up slightly straighter and looked her in the eye.

"I'd like to stay, Carolyn," he said firmly. The Headmistress looked puzzled for a moment, but seemed to dismiss his comment from her mind.

"Very well," she said, but her grey eyes were already focused on Uric and his companions. She gave them each a hard, evaluating stare. Louis decided he would rather be back with the Hunter about to be eaten.

Uric frowned at Headmistress Kurze. She was giving him that look again that made him so uncomfortable. It really wasn't very nice.

"Well, Mr. Beaufolle. What did I tell you would happen if you got in trouble again?" she asked. Uric thought really hard.

"That I'd be forced to swim naked across a tub of marmalade?" he guessed. Mrs. Kurze's expression got even harder.

"Try again," she practically spit out. Uric became aware that behind him, Louis was chanting the word 'expelled' under his breath.

"Expelled?" said Uric.

"Very good, Mr. Beaufolle." Her gaze once again swept over his companions. "And I see you've brought some others down with you. Mr. Iliescu, what will your father say?" Uric glanced behind him to see Louis looking very contrite. Uric wondered if the dark-haired boy was going to cry now.

"I'm sorry, Headmistress," said Louis in a pitiful voice. Mrs. Kurze nodded to herself.

"As well you should be," she said, than turned her attention to Mena. Before Mrs. Kurze could scold her however, the woman stepped forward. She looked very upset.

"You can't expel these children just for being children!" she exclaimed passionately. The Headmistress looked her over.

"I assume you are this mysterious witch who my husband has been complaining about?" She seemed very annoyed that the woman actually existed. Uric wondered if Mr. Kurze had told her about the badgers.

"That's her," confirmed Mr. Kurze from his corner. The Headmistress looked over at him.

"Thank you, Olman." She sounded surprised that he was still there.

"My name is Hollis Havenward. I work for the Australian branch of Corpus Patronus," said the woman. Mena looked puzzled.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"She's a bodyguard. Corpus Patronus is supposed to be one of the best for personal protection," explained Louis, forgetting that he was supposed to be looking contrite. "Didn't you say Mr. Beaufolle hired you?" he asked. Miss. Havenward nodded. Headmistress Kurze didn't seem impressed however.

"Perhaps you are a bodyguard out there, but in Hogwarts you are just an interloper who has no say in the workings of this school. Uric and his co-conspirators will be punished as I see fit," said the Headmistress. She sounded very pleased with herself. She paused, and her look softened slightly as she regarded Louis and Mena. "I am willing to give second chances to those who understand the error of their ways." She obviously didn't think Uric was worthy of being given a second (or in this case, third) chance.

Mena made a face at Mrs. Kurze's comments once she realized what the Headmistress was implying. She wasn't going to leave Uric alone in order to escape punishment. She opened her mouth to say this, but was forced to close it again to prevent herself from crying out in pain. Louis had ground his foot down hard on hers.

They would have gotten into a fight at that point, but Uric had somehow wandered to the other side of the office while Headmistress Kurze was talking. A brilliant light filled the room.

There was a moment of, well, oddness. Mr. Kurze could have sworn he saw a squirrel in bloomers run quickly across the room to perch chattering on Mrs. Kurze's shoulder. Mena watched as the number of Urics multiplied into infinity to fill up the office, than vanished as quickly as they had come. Mrs. Kurze refused to even acknowledge the fact that the children in front of her had morphed into talking tomatoes. Miss. Havenward imagined that she was an elephant sitting on a sock the size of the whole world, and Louis wisely kept his eyes shut.

The moment ended. Louis cautiously opened his eyes to find everyone blinking. Mrs. Kurze was eying him very suspiciously, while Mena was looking around wildly. He noticed that Mr. Kurze was chuckling to himself in the corner. Meanwhile, Miss. Havenward looked like she had been hit with a stunning spell. Now where was Uric?

Ignoring the Headmistress he walked past her to the other side of the office. Collapsed half way behind her desk was Uric. It looked like he was asleep, except for one little thing. His robes were now inside out. The seams of the robe stood out and Louis could no longer see Uric's Hufflepuff badge. Simon was cradled in his hands and chirping softly.

"Uric," Louis said urgently. Uric was just sleeping right? Simon's chirping grew more insistent. "Uric! Wake up!" He finally stirred. Simon squawked as he was pressed too tightly. Uric opened one eye.

"Chirp?" he said. Simon eagerly responded with a barrage of chirps that Uric listened to without getting up.

"What did you touch?" demanded the Headmistress in a cold voice. Louis looked behind him and blanched. Mrs. Kurze towered over them and she looked ready to kill.

"Chirp. Chirp," said Uric.

"Mr. Beaufolle, if you do not start speaking English at this very moment..." she trailed off. Louis reflected that she probably couldn't think of a punishment worse than expulsion. Uric stared hard at Headmistress Kurze. She didn't seem happy with him. Simon chirped again.

"I'm sorry," he said, hoping that he had chosen the right thing to say.

"That won't get you anywhere this time. What did you touch?" she asked in a sharp voice. Uric suddenly felt cold. He looked at the low case behind the Headmistress' desk. It was full of strange and interesting knick knacks.

A tiny model of a dragon paced back and forth between a model of a castle that had a little sun and moon spinning around it, and an odd stone that seemed to change shape when you weren't looking at it. A strange box with glowing orange runes sat next to a beautiful magenta flower, frozen forever in time. Spread in between these things were smaller muggle objects like keys, a compass and thimbles. It was strange to think of the Headmistress keeping those sort of things on her shelf.

"I touched everything," said Uric slowly. He couldn't remember the last few minutes. However, that wasn't too unusual for him. "The dragon bit me." He held up his finger, and they could see the blood welling up from a small gash.

"That doesn't explain your clothes being inside out," pointed out Louis. Uric looked down at himself. Where was his badger? He did a panicky search of his robes and finally found the badge in the left pocket of his robes. He sighed in relief. A look up at Mrs. Kurze revealed that her mouth was pressed into a thin, hard line.

"I do not know what just happened in here," she said. "But if I find out that you were behind it Mr. Beaufolle-"

"You will give him detention and send him on his way," said a man's voice.

"Father!" exclaimed Uric, jumping to his feet. Everyone else looked around to see where the voice was coming from. Uric headed unerringly towards the fireplace. His father's head was hovering in the flames. His dark hair and beard contrasted strongly with the brilliant fire.

"Hello, Father. How are you? How is mother? Do you know what would happen if someone flooing crashed into your neck, or is that even possible?" said Uric in a rush. Mr. Beaufolle regarded his son with resigned amusement.

"Both your mother and I are fine, and I'll send you a book on floo travel later," he said. He smiled at his son. "I'm glad you are okay as well. I hear you had some excitement?" He sounded puzzled, and perhaps a touch angry. Uric nodded solemnly.

"Simon got lost in the forest and we had to rescue him."

"Among other things," added in Miss. Havenward.

"I expect a full report in my hands by noon," said Mr. Beaufolle in a commanding tone, staring straight at the woman. The good humour he had shown towards Uric had disappeared from his face. Miss. Havenward straightened.

"Yes, Sir," she said. Mr. Beaufolle seemed to think the matter was settled, and turned his attention to Headmistress Kurze. She had been watching Mr. Beaufolle with an annoyed expression, but knew better than to interrupt the man while he was talking with his son and subordinate. He was on the Council after all.

"Headmistress Kurze, I have heard some disturbing rumours regarding my son." Louis and Mena took this opportunity to cross the room and join Uric.

"I wonder what rumours he means?" whispered Mena. The two adults continued to talk about the school and Uric, but they didn't really seem to be saying anything.

"Is it the one about the fish, the goblin and the windmill? Because that wasn't me," said Uric. They both stared at him.

"Never mind, Uric," said Louis, keeping his voice low. "He's talking about you being expelled. Mrs. Kurze just refuses to admit it because she knows he will protest. Now that he is here, she isn't so sure about her authority."

"So Uric might be okay?" asked Mena.

"Hopefully all of us will be okay." Louis peered at what he could see of Mr. Beaufolle. "I don't think that Uric's father will let him be expelled." Mr. Beaufolle suddenly turned his head to talk to Uric.

"What did Headmistress Kurze say was your punishment for tonight?" he asked. Mrs. Kurze looked anxious. "This is important, Uric. Concentrate." Uric nodded and thought hard.

"She said she would expel me," he said after a long silence. Mr. Beaufolle gave the Headmistress a triumphant look. She could have denied Miss. Havenward's word or the other students, but she wouldn't dare tell him his son was a liar to his face. She gave Uric a furious look, than visibly composed herself.

"Uric will not be expelled," she said calmly, though her hands were trembling. "However, he and his friends will serve detention with Professor Stewart for the next week." Mena gasped in dismay. Uric just wondered if he would have to run around the castle again. Professor Stewart had been making him run inside ever since the other professors refused to let him serve detentions with them. Mr. Beaufolle nodded.

"That is acceptable." He glanced at Uric and seemed to remember something. "Now that she has been revealed, Miss Havenward will accompany Uric at all times. For his own protection."

"No she will not. There is no reason for your son to have an escort!" The Headmistress looked scandalized. Mr. Beaufolle glared at her.

"I have many enemies, Headmistress Kurze. Until this whole abolition business blows over Uric is not safe. You have already shown that you can not adequately protect him," he said.

"I may not be able to," she admitted, though not without difficulty. "But Hogwarts will keep him safe. The wards here are centuries old and well maintained."

"As are some other things," murmured Louis.

The Headmistress and Uric's father stared hard at each other. Uric nearly clapped his hands in glee. He loved staring contests! And they happened around him so often for some reason.

"If anything happens to my son, I will hold you personally responsible Mrs. Kurze," said Uric's father in his strictest, I'm-on-the-Council-and-will-be-obeyed tones.

"I refuse to let your son go around with a personal servant, Mr. Beaufolle," said Mrs. Kurze primly.

"Servant!" exclaimed Miss. Havenward. "I'm a trained and certified bodyguard, not a bloody maid!"

"I feel it would distract the students from their studies for Uric to be followed around day and night by another adult. Not to mention it would raise the issue of favouritism," said Mrs. Kurze. "You're bodyguard will not be allowed in here. Uric is perfectly safe so long as he remains within these walls."

"Well. I can't remain within the walls," said Uric into the beginnings of another staring war. "I don't fit. The badgers live there though," he said brightly. "And the ghosts like to pass through as well." Everyone stared at him, though he could see Mr. Kurze hiding a smile behind his hand in the corner. Mr. Beaufolle shook his head.

"Very well, Headmistress Kurze. I will leave him in your care, though Miss. Havenward will be staying around the castle to provide extra protection. You will not see her," he said before the Headmistress could protest the arrangement. "Just remember that I know how to expel someone as well." He turned to Uric. "Goodbye Uric. Don't leave the castle again until I come to pick you up. No matter what. Understand?" Uric nodded. "Good." He said his goodbyes, than disappeared into the flames.

The Headmistress surveyed them with distaste. "Olman, would you please escort Miss. Havenward out of the castle. You three may go to breakfast. Report to Professor Stewart after classes for your detention." She rubbed her forehead as if she were in pain. Everyone left as quickly as possible, though the first out the door was Mr. Kurze.

Uric, Louis and Mena followed the adults down the stairs and out past the gargoyle. They were very quiet. Uric stopped walking and reached into his pocket. He took out a stone he had placed there a very long time ago. With a tap of his wand, he transfigured it into a tiny model of a duck. He triumphantly held it up to show Mena and Louis.

"Duck!" he said. Mena sighed.

"Yes, Uric. A duck. Can we go to breakfast now?"