Harry had decided Raye was crazy. The pretty girl had met him in the Gryffindor common room after dinner and had kept him up until midnight telling him about the vampire hunter she had been in contact with. She had been writing this person for nearly a year, a hunter without a name. Harry thought the whole thing was really strange and was beginning to find Professor Zephyr less frightening than Raye the Zealot. Now marching out to Hagrid’s hut, he tried to avoid her eyes and struck up a conversation with Ron to keep her off.
Their substitute teacher was an Elmskill professor. Nowhere near as big as Hagrid he was still strapping and sported a grin almost as bright as his bald head. He was dressed in khaki shorts and sturdy boots and introduced himself as Professor Dormire.
“I actually teach Practical Applications of Magic.” he told them happily.” But I’ll do what I can. Now come around to this side.” He lead them around the corner of the hut. “You might want to leave your over robes by the building so nobody gets tangled in them.”
“What is that man wearing??” Malfoy stage whispered to the rest of the students. “What kind of school is Elmskill where a so called professor can get away with dressing like that?”
“We get away with a lot at Elmskill,” growled Jonah, easily the biggest kid out there. “Like beating some sense into idiots who don’t know when to keep their mouth shut.”
“Ooh, don’t so THAT, Jonah,” cooed the Bantling who had pretended to be asleep in Potions. “Haven’t you heard? Draco is from a very OLD, very IMPORTANT family.”
“Which explains a lot when you think about it,” chimed in another. “He’s got those ‘generations-of-inbreeding-to-keep-the-bloodline-pure’ ears.”
Harry had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep in a shout of laughter. Malfoy’s face contorted in a spasm of rage. Ron and most of the Gryffindors were laughing outright. Hermione just looked aghast. It appeared Malfoy had been laying it on thick for his new roommates and they were less than impressed.
Professor Dormire led them away to a field that had several rows of trenches dug about two feet into the ground. At the ends nearest them, there were crates. On each crate a name had been scrawled. Harry found the crate with his name and stood beside it. Professor Dormire went down the line calling the roll. When he got to the end he turned to speak to them all.
"Don't open your crates yet," he said. “Basics first and that means wands out and eyes on me. And by me, Miss Parvati, I mean the handsome man in front of you, not your charming friend there. Very good. Now repeat after me... Concerio."
"Concerio!" They all chorused back. Dormire shook his head. "From the back of your throats," he said
"Kon-SER-ee-oh." he made them repeat it twice more before he was satisfied and then went down the line making them say it individually.
"Magic is like a bucket of paint," he explained. "Easy enough to toss into the air, but not so easy to clean up afterwards. Which is why we want to make as few mistakes as possible. What you have just learned is a capture spell. You can snare anything you can lift with it. I wouldn't advise trying it on anything you can't carry up a flight of stairs. These guys shouldn't be a problem, but they are fast."
He gave the nearest crate a light kick and they heard something scuffle around inside. "Now, Mr. Hagrid was going to have you use these in a later project,so be sure to remember which one is yours. Open the crate enough to put your hand in and no wider. If they get out, we'll be days catching them all."
Everyone looked with suspicion at the crates. Hermione was the first to pry hers open and bravely put her hand in. The students who had experience with Hagrid's creatures before tensed and waited for the screams. Instead though, a pleased expression crossed Hermione's face and she leaned down to peek into the box.
Encouraged, everyone else carefully slipped their fingers into the dark box. The first thing Harry felt was fur, thistledown soft and warm. A gentle musky scent wafted out and a hot little nose bumped his wrist. A tiny set of sharp teeth nibbled on his thumb and like Hermione, he knelt for a better look. A pair of glowing yellow eyes met his and then a fox-like snout stuck itself out to sniff at him.
"Nobody bitten?" Dormire called. "Good! Now grab it by the scruff of the neck and yank it out of the crate. Make sure you have a tight grip because they can run like lightning.
"Won't it hurt them to be jerked like that?" asked Chloe and Dormire shrugged.
"Kiddos," he said. "These are vulpipedes. They look cute now, but they can empty out a henhouse before you can say 'Shake'n Bake', so don't let them loose or every farmer for a hundred miles will be after us. I'll finish setting up while you get acquainted."
Harry felt around the creature carefully. It seemed to be about the size of Crookshanks and was all fur and legs as far as he could tell. It kept moving around so he wasn't sure where to grab until he felt another light nip on his knuckles. He felt over its head to its neck and buried his fingers in the thick fur. The foxy nose made another try to force its way out of the crate, so he grabbed as much of the neck as he could and whipped it out of the box.
Eight scrambling paws all tried to run at once and if Harry hadn't locked his fingers he might have dropped it from surprise. Its face looked very much like a fox's, but its body was long and thick and had four pairs of legs down the sides. It had not one, but two bushy tails and a pair of large pointed ears it kept flat to its head. It was the color of creamed coffee and twisted and squirmed in his hand. It was cuter than a skrewt but every bit as weird-looking.
The other students had managed to get theirs out as well and when the vulpipedes saw each other they began to yip in a squeaky way that sounded like several rusty screen doors being swung open. All of the feet were constantly in motion, pawing at their captors and swishing their double set of tails. The were very much like a crossbreed of foxes and centipedes. Hermione pointed out that it was probably how they had gotten the name vulpipede in the first place.
"Well, mine is going to be named Leander," said Parvati, cuddling hers. It chewed on her braid. "Good luck," snorted Ron as his tried to climb to the top of his head. "I don't know how we're supposed to tell these things apart. They all look exactly alike." And they did. Everyone had an armful of fur, legs, and ears, all kicking to get free.
"This way!" called Dormire and they all looked to see that he had tethered a rabbit at the far end of all the trenches. "Uh-oh," said Hermione, glancing at Lavender. Lavender clutched her vulpipede tightly to her chest. It immediately began to gnaw on her shirt collar. "What are the rabbits for?" she asked in high-pitched sort of way.
Nobody had to answer because at that moment, the vulpipedes spotted the rabbits too. Every one of them jerked into alertness. The folded ears snapped up to attention and there was a collective gasp from the students as the dainty, fox-like faces suddenly opened into gaping maws of teeth. In addition to their extra legs and tails, the vulpipedes had three rows of tiny, but needle sharp fangs.
"Don't let them go yet," called Dormire cheerily. "They like rabbit as much as they like chicken. These trenches are each 20 yards long, which should give you enough time to stop them from getting the rabbit. If not, the rabbit will keep them busy long enough for you to try again." Lavender gulped and everyone eyed the rabbits with pity. The vulpipedes were now tearing clothing and skin in their efforts to get free.
"Now remember! Concerio, emphasis on the cer, and flick the wand forward like its a spoonful of peas. On the count of three, drop your vulpipede into the trench. Ready? One, two, and three!" There was the scramble of dozens of little paws and in the next breath, shouts of "Concerio!" all down the line. Harry missed on his first cast, but managed to snare his on the second. Spiderweb-thin bands of crimson shot from his wand and quickly cocooned the vulpipede
The rabbit seemed oblivious to its close shave and scratched an ear with its hind leg. The vulpipede moaned pitifully, hungry eyes still on it. Hermione had stopped hers halfway, but Ron had barely managed to save his rabbit. His vulpipede's nose was less than a foot from it. In the end, only four rabbits were mauled and none of the vulpipedes got away. Neville looked so relieved that Harry checked his trench and was surprised to see that the vulpipede hadn't gotten much further than Hermione's had.
"Wow, Neville," he said. "That's really good." "I'm just glad!" Neville seemed amazed too. He brushed his bangs away from his forehead and Harry noticed he was wearing a wide leather bracelet on his wand arm. It was held by a clasp shaped like an eye. "What's that?" he asked and Neville held it up proudly. "I just got it today," he said. "It's from...my mom's old school penpal. She wrote me a letter." He gave the bracer a little pat and Harry felt so sorry for him.
"Well, that was nice of her," Harry said lamely. It was awkward to know how miserable Neville was about his parents without being able to let on that he knew about them. Dormire gave Harry a shout and he was glad to be called away to put his vulpipede back into the crate. Once all the little terrors had been boxed back up Dormire called the students around.
"That was very good," he told them. "Let the rabbits go and practice on them awhile. I'll put the crates away." It was much more fun to chase the rabbits around the grounds. Every now and then one would be snared in the spell, but most of them just tore around. The Bantlings found it more amusing to snare each other and soon everyone had some part of their body wrapped in glowing red cords. Professor Dormire just shook his head when he saw them.
"And now we'll learn the Release spell," he chuckled. "Someone with a free wand hand point at the nearest cords and say "Libeximo." It took another half an hour to get everyone untangled while Dormire herded the rabbits back to their hutch. Then, they gathered up their robes and headed back to the castle. Harry broke into a jog, eager to speak to Sirius, but slowed again when he saw Snape standing like a gargoyle by the door. A list of possible disasters flickered through Harry's mind. Had Sirius been discovered? Did Professor Zephyr suspect him as an accomplice in Raye's plot to put a stake through her. Snape, however, just gave him the usual look of distaste and fastened his eyes on Hermione. The Potionsmaster was still looking sickly, but a healthier sneer than they were expecting twisted his lip.
"Miss Granger," he almost purred. "Argus Filch has something he'd like to discuss with you." Hermione looked puzzled, but nodded and thanked him before going around him. Harry saw Snape step back to allow the rest of the students to pass. "Why would Filch want to see YOU?' Ron asked. Hermione shrugged and trotted down the hallway to Filch's office. Harry and Ron stopped further up the hall to wait for her, keeping enough distance to avoid the custodian's wrath themselves. Filch was there, holding Crookshanks at arm's length. Hermione went up to him and he all but threw the cat at her. Then he grabbed her shoulder and leaned in to chew her out.
It was odd-looking from a distance. Filch's lips were moving but his teeth remained tightly clenched. He held his voice at a hissing whisper so they had to try and read Hermione's expression. First, she looked puzzled, then her eyes widened and her hand flew to cover her mouth. By the time, Filch had worked himself enough to be waving his arms around, she looked mortified. Finally, Filch seemed to run out of steam and stormed back to his office, slamming the door. Hermione made her way back to them. She was blushing red from her hairline to her collar. Crookshanks was looking pleased with himself and purred noisily in her arms.
"Well?" asked Harry. "What was that about?" "Its Mrs. Norris," Hermione said, looking like she didn't know whether to laugh or be embarrassed. "She's going to have kittens." Ron and Harry blinked at her, then slowly swiveled their heads to stare at Crookshanks. He swished his bent tail and smirked back at them. Ron snickered and that set them all off. They burst into giggles and had to run before Filch heard them.
"That will be the ugliest, scruffiest litter of kittens EVER!" Ron laughed. "They will NOT!" snapped Hermione, sounding indignant. Harry agreed with Ron but didn't want to say so in front of Crookshanks. Besides that, he was in too much of a hurry to see Sirius to want to start an argument. They rounded the corner and found Neville at the Fat Lady painting, trying to remember the password.
"Polliwog?" he said hopefully. The Fat lady shook her head. "Um, powderpuff?" Harry opened his mouth to tell him the answer, but then his eyes fell on Neville's bracer. The silver eye button BLINKED and a second later a light dawned on Neville's face and he said, "Gollyfluff!"
"Good for you," said the Fat Lady and the painting swung open. "You are having a good day," Ron told him. He nodded happily and hurried inside. Harry hoped he wasn't going up the their room. We wanted to talk to Sirius and they could do that with witnesses. Luckily though, Neville stayed in the common room and they hurried on without him. Sirius was still on Harry's bed. He had been woken up when Neville had stopped by to leave behind the box and letter before hurrying to class with his new ornament. Sirius had recognized it, of course, and had pilfered the letter. It was still on the bed.
Sirius had read it, gone to hunt for Dumbledore, and been forced to return when he realized the Headmaster was behind closed doors. He had made another stop at the laundry room to steal back his now clean robes and then gone back to the dorm room. Once he saw that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were alone, he stood up and shapechanged. Crookshanks squirmed out of Hermione's arms and went to guard the door.
"Are you reading Neville's mail?" Hermione sounded disapproving and he tried not to be annoyed with her. "It's not from his mother's friend," he waved it at her. "The woman I was with this morning wrote it to him and made that leather thing." While that sank in, Harry took the letter himself and sat down to read it. Ron, and after a moment, Hermione moved to read over his shoulder.
"Well," Ron said finally. "That's not so bad." "It's still dishonest," Hermione pointed out. "But what could it hurt really? It does seem to have cheered him up."
"Who was she anyway?" Harry asked Sirius. He sighed and shook his head wearily. "I don't know," he admitted. “She calls herself Esme and she says she's here to deliver something. There's something about her though, something very wrong, and I'm sure she could be dangerous. Whether or not she actually IS, I can't be sure of."
Sirius checked the door again. Crookshanks was still on guard. He sighed again and told them the whole tale, of coming to the Forbidden Forest on a hunch and how Esme had found them and tended him while he was sick. He told them about Buckbeak and the miasma and everything else that had happened since they had snuck into the castle. When he had finished, Harry sat very still.
"She wants to get to Professor Zephyr?" he asked after a moment. "Then...maybe she could be the vampire hunter Raye was telling me about!" They all blinked at him and it was his turn to explain. For Sirius' benefit he started with the Elmskill exodus, the Morthahg, and Professor Zephyr's red eyes. He told them about his conversation with Raye the night before, about the guide book she had given him and the letters she had been writing to try to get something done about Ms. Zephyr.
"She must be the hunter then!" Ron agreed, when he was finished. "It makes sense." "Why is Snape involved?" Sirius asked immediately. "He was playing her chaperone this morning." "Who knows? He's been acting strange since she showed up." Harry shrugged.
"Well we have to tell somebody," Hermione said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We can't just let some tainted stranger go roaming around trying to kill professors."
"How can we tell without mentioning how we found out?" asked Harry jerking a thumb towards Sirius. Hermione sighed and nodded. No one would believe it.
"What should we do about Neville then?" she asked, taking the letter to fold and put back on Neville's bed. "If she is dangerous, should we try to get that bracelet away from him?"
"It seems to be doing him more good than harm," Harry pointed out. "And it sounds like she just did it make her delivery person story look more convincing. Why would she do anything to Neville? Even is she is a vampire hunter.”
Sirius shook his head again. He coughed a little and Harry looked back a him with concern. He gave his godson a smile and sank back into his dog form. He knew very well what he had to do, but he didn’t want to have to talk about it front of the children. He was going to have to find Esme and get the truth out of her, one way or the other. In his dog body, he wouldn’t have to tell them what the way he’d probably use was. I’ll have to go to the kitchen, he thought. Easy enough, I can pretend to be looking for scraps. I can find a good knife there and no one will suspect me as a dog.
Part of him protested, the part that had liked Esme. She had been nice and before he had shifted to Padfoot, he had been curious about her. He hadn’t had anything like a friend since Remus had taken off, but it had been almost fun? tearing around with Esme. But it didn’t matter now. He’d go to the kitchen after dark and then find her. Sirius sighed again, listening to the kids discuss things. Now that he was safely in dog form, Crookshanks hopped up on the bed with him. The cat rubbed his striped cheek against Padfoot’s and settled down next to him, purring. Sirius gave him a nudge back and continued his planning in silence.
Story and art by me!