Advent '10 - December 8th
December 8th - 17 days to go
Harry awoke cold and half hanging off the bed. He jerked as he realised his precarious position and carefully turned over wondering to himself just why he was lying on the edge of his bare mattress.
He came face to face with Ash sitting proudly in the middle of his fluffy pillow. He glanced down to see that the rest of his puffskeins had stolen his blanket and had made a giant nest out of him.
He turned back to Ash.
"You are such a pillow hog." He told the ball of fluff.
It stuck its tongue out at him and wiggled it.
Harry picked it up and grinned as it let out a chirp and wiggled in his hand. "But I forgive you" he said nuzzling it, "Because you are so ador-holy hell!" Harry held Ash at arms length between pinched thumb and forefinger, "You smell absolutely foul!"
Ash chirruped at him and waved its tongue at him, licking his thumb.
"Where the hell have you been?"
Harry caught a whiff of himself and plucked at his shirt to smell it again. He let it drop with a look of disgust. "Oh, right. Me. You've been on me. I smell of river water and swamp."
Harry eyed the other puffskeins taking up the rest of his bed.
"I bet they smell just as bad." He thought for a moment and then turned back to Ash. "I guess there's no other way. It's shower time for all of us."
Ash chirruped again.
"Now," Harry turned musingly to his hoard, "how to get them into the shower without bouncing away from me?"
Ash seemed to understand him and let out a high trill that had the other puffskeins lining up in rows of three on his bed.
Harry stared at them with wide eyes.
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that."
Ash let out a purr and Harry turned to him in contemplation.
"Will they follow me into the shower?"
Ash chirruped again and Harry had the distinct feeling that he had just had eyes rolled at his stupid question.
Harry grinned and placed Ash on his head again. "Well let's go then!" He stood from the bed and walked to the bathroom. On top of his head Ash let out another trill and the rest of the puffskeins bounced after him, still keeping their perfect rows of three.
Harry watched as he undressed as Ash trilled them into the open walk-in shower. When all fourteen of them had passed him he stepped in too and turned on the hot water.
Immediately the puffskeins started to purr and bounce around his feet until they became too waterlogged and ended up shuffling, chasing the falling water droplets.
Harry let the water soak him, watching his pets with a grin, then reached up to rub his hair, making sure it was completely wet before he put the shampoo in.
Ash squeaked at him.
Harry plucked him off his head and put him on the floor.
"Sorry boy," Harry told him, "But I need to wash this smell out of my hair."
Ash let out a sad trill and nudged mournfully at his foot.
Harry did his best to ignore him as he washed his hair three times. Eventually he cracked and reached down to pick up the black puffskein.
"Okay, fine. But first you get cleaned too." He told Ash who was now happily trilling at him. "I don't want you stinking my hair back up."
Ash licked his hand and wiggled his tongue at him as Harry managed to one-handed open the bottle of shampoo again.
"Tongue in." He told Ash. "This may smell of oranges but it sure as hell doesn't taste like them."
Harry snorted as Ash immediately sucked his tongue back in.
Ash seemed to enjoying being washed as it made his fur puff up until he was a ball of bubbles. He squeaked as Harry held him under the spray in cupped hands.
After Harry sniffed him to make sure that he smelt nice again, he placed Ash back on his head and carefully sat down with the bottle of shampoo.
"You think you can get them on my right?"
Ash let out another trill and the rest of the puffskeins gathered exactly where Harry wanted them.
"You're like my little lieutenant aren't you?" He asked Ash with a grin.
Ash replied with a squeak.
Harry washed each of the fluff balls separately, making sure that they smelt nice before they were placed on his left. They all seemed to enjoy the bathing and squeaked and purred at him.
Harry found himself grinning the entire time. At least until he came to Aphrodite who purred at him but seemed to be a little subdued.
He was worried but Ash trilled reassuringly at him so he brushed it off as a girl thing.
After everyone was clean, Harry switched off the shower and opened the doors. Ash let out another trill and the rest of them gathered into rows of three again and squished out after him.
After a quick rub down with a towel, Harry couldn't be bothered to let his hair dry on it's own, especially if Ash was going to persist on sitting on his head for the rest of the time.
He plucked Ash off his head and shushed him when he squeaked at him.
"It's only for a moment." He said placing Ash down on the cabinet by the sink.
A quick flick of his wand later and a drying charm had turned his green hair in a static mess.
"This is why I hate drying charms." He grumbled to Ash as he flattened it down until it resembled his usual crows nest.
Then with a grin he turned his wand onto Ash. A flick of his wand later and Ash was dry and had poofed out to three times his normal size.
It took Harry five minutes to stop laughing.
When he was relatively calm again he placed Ash back on top of his head and turned around to face the rest of his squeaking pets.
Ten minutes later and Harry was surrounded by fourteen balls of brightly coloured fluff chirping at him.
He grinned and opened the door, letting them follow him back into the bedroom where Fred and George were already up.
"Finally!" Fred called, brushing past Harry and into the bathroom where the shower was immediately turned on.
Harry forwent the bed as it was smelling a little funky and instead sat down on the floor. He was immediately jumped on by his pets. Picking up Aphrodite he started to stroke her.
"So I was thinking," he told George who was sniffing himself and staring longingly at the door to the bathroom.
"Yeah?" he asked, preoccupied.
"Maybe I could plan the prank tonight?"
George turned to look at him. "You got something planned?"
Harry grinned evilly, "You still know those spells for the anti-gravity hats?"
Three hours later and Harry was under heavy disguise in the middle of the were bar. Right now he was just your average blond haired, blue eyed tourist.
Fred and George had had a hell of a time trying to hide his scent.
They weren't going to be so naïve as to think that this Savitar guy had not spread the were's that they had come into contact with throughout the rest of his bars.
There was going to be one person who knew what they smelt like and a glamour charm wouldn't help them. However, normal defensive charms had them wiping a person's scent completely.
Which was great if you were travelling under an invisibility cloak, but to walk into a bar full of were's with no scent was just as much as a giveaway as if he hadn't tried to hide who he was in the first place.
Instead the twins had spent the time coming up with a spell that would replace his scent. The only downside was that it could only last an hour at most.
Some of the people there were giving him weird looks but Harry just hoped it was because he was a new face, had come in alone and was sneakily casting cushioning charms on everything, rather than them recognising who he was and were busy planning an ambush.
He finished off his soup and drink and headed over to the loos.
For his prank to work he needed to get every area of the bar. That included the women's toilets.
Unfortunately his disguise was male so he had to make do with looking as inconspicuous and creepy as possible as he nudged open the door and, without looking, fired as many cushioning charms into the area as possible.
"What are you doing?" A male voice sounded behind him.
Harry startled and jumped about a foot in the air, spinning around to come face to chest with a very muscular man.
He squeaked and backed up a couple of paces, almost walking backwards into the women's toilets.
The man reached out and grabbed him before he could fall through the door. He had brown wavy hair that reached his shoulders and was staring at him suspiciously.
"Sorry," Harry said, mentally cursing the translations charms. How was he supposed to sound lost if he could speak the language perfectly? He took a deep breath and tried to butcher the language in such a way that made him seem touristy. "I…watching for? The male washroom? I not read language so well."
He was relieved to see the suspicion die in the were's eyes and be replaced with humour.
"Good thing I stopped you then! That's the women's bathroom."
Harry tried his best to look confused.
The man looked around and pointed at a woman standing at the bar and then back at the door. "Women's." he repeated chuckling.
Harry blushed and hoped the were would take it as embarrassment.
"Oh. So sorry."
"Nah, no problem. Here," he directed Harry to the male bathroom, "this is the men's."
Harry started to panic when the guy didn't immediately disappear. Was he going to follow him in?
"Er, thank you?" He offered nervously.
The were chuckled again and Harry felt it travel straight down his spine. "I'll leave you then." He said with a grin.
Harry slipped into the empty bathroom and sighed silently in relief. After a moment to calm his fluttering stomach he pulled his wand out of his sleeve where he had hidden it and quickly cast the charms on the bathroom.
He splashed water on his face and looked at himself in the mirror. It was always weird wearing glamour's. He quickly looked at the cheap windup watch he was wearing to find that he only had about five minutes before the charm wore off.
Cursing he dried his face and hands and tried to quickly make his exit.
He was stopped at the front door by the were that had directed him to the bathroom.
"Hi again." He said with a smile, holding out his hand. "My name's Alex."
Harry smiled tightly at him, offering his own hand, "Harry." After all, there were plenty of 'Harry's' around.
Alex's smile turned into a grin. "So, I was wondering if you're going to heading back tonight?"
Harry swallowed, "Maybe…" he trailed off, wondering if Alex was ever going to let go of his hand and if it would be rude to just wrench it away and run.
"Awesome." Alex chuckled and Harry forgot for a moment just why he had to leave so soon.
At least until a look of confusion crossed Alex's face and he sniffed at the air.
Harry's eyes widened.
Oh shit.
"You smell familiar…" Alex trailed off.
Harry cursed his luck. The guy who was interested in was the one who knew what he smelt like!
He looked at Alex in horror and played the language barrier card. "I smell?" he asked, not having to fake the tremor in his voice.
"No!" Alex's eyes widened and he immediately held up his hands, thankfully letting go of Harry, "I didn't mean it like that!"
"I think I go now." Harry said, opening the door. Sweet freedom!
Alex's hand clamped down on his shoulder and spun him around. "Please, I didn't mean it like that!" he protested and Harry felt a little bad at what he was doing, "Please, come tonight, let me make it up to you."
Harry couldn't resist his puppy dog eyes. The guy had to be a were-dog or something. "Okay." He said with a small smile.
Alex grinned at him again and Harry felt himself blushing. Again.
Stupid animal magnetism.
"Okay." Alex said and held the door open for him. "Tonight then."
Harry nodded and calmly walked out, looking back when he was half a street away to find Alex still watching him. He raised a hand in a small wave and turned the corner into the busy street.
When he was finally out of sight he started to scream and run away.
"Okay." He said when he was safely ensconced back in his hotel room with Acheron perched on his head. "Phase One was completed successfully."
Fred and George grinned. "We've prepared the ward stones."
Harry grinned and stroked Aphrodite, "Perfect. You know the plan?"
Fred and George nodded and Harry started to cackle.
"We have a few hours until we deploy. Fred, I want you to go and get a portkey to our next destination."
Fred nodded.
"George, I want you to pack up. As much as I love the adrenaline rush, I don't like the idea of being caught by whoever this Savitar is. One of the were's at the bar almost figured me out.
"When we pull this off I want as quick a getaway as possible. This means apparition to here and then portkeying out.
"We're playing with bigger stakes right now boys. They know what we look like, what we smell like, and where we could strike.
"Let's stay alive, eh?"
"Aye aye, Captain-General, Sir!" The twins said, saluting him.
Harry grinned. "Whilst you do that I'll mirror call Sirius."
Sirius and Tonks stared at the headline of the Daily Prophet in horror. There, standing boldly on the front page was the headline:
Boy-Who-Lived gone Dark?
"What's going through her mind?" Tonks hissed, bouncing Teddy on her knee.
"I have no idea," Sirius replied, "but I know that this is not good."
They leant over and read the article.
My beloved Readers, I bring you worrying news.
It is of this reporter's firm belief that the Boy-Who-Lived, our very own Saviour, the Chosen One, Harry Potter, has gone over to the dark side.
Whatever reasons he had of doing this are unknown at this time but the results are clear.
When I found out that Mr Potter was travelling the world, I immediately went to the Ministry to try and catch him before he departed to see if he would give an interview.
Just before he disappeared he said that he was going to "rule the world".
Now at first I was sceptical, believing him to be joking. But then the mass revealing of magic to the muggles happened in France. Which just happened to be Mr Potter's first destination!
When I travelled over to see what the situation was first hand, I found out that Harry was seen hurrying from the Ministry having to be supported - obvious magical exhaustion apparent!
When I interviewed the worker who had seen Mr Potter, she commented that "he knew details that no one else did at the time - like the toads!"
Did our Harry Potter really reveal magic to every muggle in France? After just defeating our Dark Lord for us? I needed more information so I gained a portkey to Mr Potter's next destination. Berlin.
As some of our readers may remember, Berlin was recently attacked by muggle animals and Dragons, destroying many of the buildings in the muggle district.
Thankfully the wonderful Wizards and Witches at the German Ministry quickly gained control of the situation and Obliviated all witnesses.
What you will not know is that there were witness statements taken that said that someone matching Mr Potter's description was seen running from the scene of the crime.
It could just be a coincidence, I hear you cry! But you have to look at the facts. Mr Potter left on a world trip and at each place he has visited so far there has been a mass revealing of magic to the muggles.
The French and German Minister's of Magic have rebuffed the evidence, saying that it is "entirely circumstantial" and commenting that the British are "a bunch of gossipmonger's with two faces" they declared that Mr Potter was "still welcome within our borders, no matter what the idiots in Britain say."
Reports state that Harry Potter is hiding out somewhere in the north of Germany until searches die down.
But we are not so complacent! We did not defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by sitting back and letting others fight, hoping that it would just go away! With evidence like this piling up against Mr Potter, it is becoming more and more likely that our Saviour has become the Boy-Who-Turned-Dark.
The Minister of Magic, our very own Arnold Swing, has put our Auror's on full alert in case Potter turns up in Britain again.
Sightings of Potter - turn to page 5
Events that have Turned Potter Dark - turn to page 7
List of Precautions - turn to page 8
Sirius and Tonks stared at the article with wide eyes.
"That…" Sirius said slowly, "was a load of bollocks."
Tonks nodded, then paled. "Don't let Remus read it!"
"We have to warn Harry. He's got to lie low until we can sort this out."
Tonks nodded. "Until then…" she plucked the newspaper out of Sirius' lax hands and sat on it, just as Remus walked through the door.
"Hey, has the Daily Prophet arrived yet?" he asked, "It's a bit late today."
Sirius and Tonks looked at each other then, as one, shook their heads. "Nope!"
Remus frowned, suspiciously, sitting down. "Okay what's up? I know something's up."
"Sirius, can you take Teddy for a moment?" Tonks asked sweetly.
"Of course, dear cousin."
Remus looked at Sirius warily when he smiled at him, and missed Tonks whipping out her wand and conjuring ropes that wrapped around him tightly, pinning him to the chair. With another quick flick, Remus' wand sailed straight into her hand.
"Not this again!" He said in exasperation as Sirius passed his son back to his wife, the both of them completely ignoring him.
"I'll warn Harry when he mirror calls." Sirius told Tonks.
"Warn him about what?" Remus asked.
"Good." Tonks said, bouncing Teddy on her knee again.
Just then Remus' mirror, that Sirius had commandeered, started to shimmer and Harry's face appeared.
"Harry-" Sirius started but was immediately cut off.
"Sirius! Just calling in to let you know we're all safe!"
"Harry, there's someth-"
"I don't have much time, we're moving out pretty soon."
"Harry." Sirius said impatiently.
"Dunno where we're heading next at the moment-"
"Harry."
"-Fred's just gone to get the portkey."
"Harry."
"We're in Denmark, right now if you didn't know-"
"HARRY!"
Harry startled. "Sirius? Was there something you wanted?"
Sirius sighed in relief, opened his mouth and then spied something on Harry's head. "What's that on your head?"
"Hmm?" Harry replied, "Oh this, this is Acheron. Ash for short. My puffskein. Well, one of fifteen."
"Wait, that wasn't what I meant to as-"
"Oh! Gotta go Sirius! George is almost finished packing up! Call you when we arrive next!"
"Harry!" Sirius called as the mirror shimmered again and turned back to it's reflective state. "Harry!" he called once again for good measure.
There was no reply.
Sirius sighed and turned to see Tonks looking at him blankly.
"Meh, I'm sure everything will turn out okay. Doesn't sound like he's heading back to Britain anytime soon."
Tonks rolled her eyes.
"Will anyone." Remus said slowly and deceptively calmly, "Like to tell me just what the bloody hell that was all about? Is Harry in trouble?"
Sirius and Tonks looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Oh," Sirius said, looking at his bare wrist, "is that the time? I must be going. To the thing. That I was going to at this time."
"Ah yes!" Tonks added, "The thing! The thing I was going to with you!"
"Guys!" Remus shouted.
"Can't be late!" Sirius said standing and helping Tonks up. "Catch you later Moony!"
"Guys! Get back here!" Remus yelled after their rapidly retreating forms.
Harry quickly closed the connection and threw the mirror into the trunk that George had kept open for him, watching him shrink it and place it securely in his pocket with a sticking charm.
Harry grinned evilly at him, still stroking Aphrodite. "Now all we have to do is wait."