“Great Scott…” Lupin said under his breath as he picked his way through the rubble. And it wasn’t just rubble from the building in that everything the beast had laid eyes on had turned to stone.
“Best not climb into the pit, Professor,” Mrs Silverwood cautioned from the remains of a stone wall. “The saliva may be venomous. She and Dumbledore were sitting on the wall while she used her wand to piece together the bones in his hand.
“Professor?”
“I made the mistake of presuming too much,” Dumbledore offered.
“Did that… thing?”
“My hand? Ah, no, my hand was Aerie’s doing. Technically it was my doing, that hammer pendant to be exact. I insisted on taking it from her. Damn thing smashed my hand and slapped me into the dirt.”
“Her pendant?” Lupin was understandably bewildered by his statement.
“Whoever shall possess the hammer and be found worthy,” Mrs Silverwood offered.
“Whoever shall possess the hammer?”
“And be found worthy, shall have the power of Thor.”
“Hang on, Thor? Aerie said you dispatched the beast. Are you saying…” He didn’t even want to say it.
“When she activates the enchantment she turns into some kind of demigod,” Dumbledore supplied. “Just don’t say anything. We’d have every two Knut dark wizard after that damn thing.”
“A person would need to be worthy of it,” Mrs Silverwood stated. “Not that want to be dark lords would appreciate the fact or care. But yes, it was Aerie that killed the beast.”
“But we are to give you the credit. Understood. So what is it?”
“To be honest, I’d have thought it a basilisk given the petrifications,” Dumbledore offered.
“Aerie said it was something that had wandered in from the forest.”
“Good for her. Can’t have anyone knowing that thing was under the school, now can we?”
“Under the school?” Professor Sprout asked with a hint of horror. She’d come from another direction and was on the other side of the tumbled-down wall. “Everything is ruined.”
“One of Slytherin’s monsters,” Mrs Silverwood informed her. “A wyrm, a large limbless dragon, and judging by the crown of scale on its head and the deadly effect of the eyes it may well be related to a basilisk. It has the potential to be hundreds of years old. I’m wondering if Salazar Slytherin had found a different way to create one. Not just create it, but found a way for it to procreate.”
“Instead of the usual of placing a chicken egg under a toad, I gather,” Lupin commented. “And I find the procreation thing to be rather disturbing.”
“Indeed. It’s too big and presumably too old. A basilisk produced by normal means isn’t going to last hundreds of years. The one I encountered when I was a first-year had acquired a taste for pegasus eggs and wasn’t this big. Which is why I want this one.”
“You suspect that it wasn’t just eating them I gather,” Dumbledore commented, his eyes going heavenward, his attention drawn to a droning sound. “What am I hearing?”
“That would be the Herakles,” Mrs Silverwood informed him. “It’s an airship. One of our Hercules class ships. It’s a heavy lifter.”
Dumbledore forgot all about what Mrs Silverwood was doing and slowly rose to his feet. The ship was cigar-shaped with a protrusion below the bow, winglets on the lower section not quite a quarter of the way up from the aft, large fins on the back, two enormous engines on either side, positioned a quarter of the way from the bow and a quarter of the way from the aft. Overall it was perhaps a little larger than the Hindenburg and cast a shadow worthy of an eclipse. As it drew near Dumbledore could make out an observation deck on the top, numerous windows along the sides, and the large bump in the front turned out to be a compartment in which several people stood. And then to his amazement, the belly opened up in two enormous doors that ran the length of the midships from which poured forth pegasi who had on strange white coverings.
Mrs Silverwood stood up, held up her wand, and sent up a white flare. They’d but to wait a few moments when a pegasi in a sharp uniform landed nearby, transformed into a man, and saluted her.
“Captain Selkirk, at your service, Ma’am.”
Aerie had gone up to the Gryffindor common room where a party had already begun.
“Dear god… Aerie, your broom?” Wood had been the first to notice.
“The creature did this. I’m going to wrap it up and send it back to the store.”
“But what… that looks like what happened to Knott.”
“Saw the whole thing,” Fred informed them.
“There was this huge monster,” George added. “Smoke and dust were billowing up from the greenhouses and a great big draconic head lifted.”
“She sprouted wings and soared heavenward.”
“We lost track of her, and then the broom dropped like a rock.”
“That’s when we decided to find cover ourselves.”
“When we dared to look again, someone was fighting it. Another Akkadian.” The boys had seen the look on her face. Don’t tell them it was me.
“And then George gets it into his head to try Aerie’s manna dump using our brooms.”
“Don’t remember much after that. Just Aerie waking us up.”
“Don’t know what became of our brooms either.”
“You lost your brooms?!” Wood sounded as though he cared more about the brooms than about the monster or the two boys. “How could you be so reckless!? We are going to be down three brooms!!!”
Up in the Ravenclaw tower, the windows facing the greenhouses were filled. They were blessed with a birds-eye view of the greenhouses and everyone wanted to have a look. Including Hoshiko who found herself being crowded out when the airship arrived.
“Hang on, where are you going?” Padma asked Hoshiko the moment she started for the stairs.
“Where do you think? We can get a better look from upstairs. Come on.”
“You weren’t thinking of flying down there were you?”
“Maybe?”
“Something tells me the engines on that airship would chew you up and spit you out.”
“I’m not going anywhere near that ship. Besides, Mrs Silverwood knows me. I’d be in deep yogurt if she spotted me. As in she'd chew me up and spit me out. Come on. Upstairs.”
“Fine…” Padma relented and followed her upstairs only to find that they hadn’t been the first to think of going up there, and given that it was midday, all the pegasi were out.
“Would you look at the size of that thing,” someone in the crowd said as the airship maneuvered over the greenhouses. No one present had seen an airship before. Oh, they’d seen Muggle aircraft, but never up close or in context to things they knew the sizes of.
Hoshiko waited for Padma to be distracted, quietly stepped back, walked over to the opposite side of the tower, transformed, and flew off the veranda. A maneuver that hadn’t gone unnoticed by Padma. From there she flew out over the building the Ravenclaw tower was part of, between the dark tower and the middle, over the long gallery, and then ducked into the south bell tower where she discovered Gryffindor’s four musketeers. In human form.
“I can explain,” Sweetie blurted out.
“Relax, it’s only me,” Hoshiko offered and transformed. “Hoshiko. And we are still inside one of the main buildings.”
“Couldn't help it, I feel guilty just being up here.”
“Isolde knew how to get up here,” Scootaloo offered.
“We can see pretty good from up here,” Apple Bloom announced.
“So what is that thing?” Louise asked as she watched teams blast holes under the creature to run straps through.
“Not a clue, short of it’s Slytherin’s monster,” Isolde speculated.
“Hang on, you think that’s what petrified Nott?” Apple Bloom asked.
“If it was from the forest, I’d think that Aerie might have just driven it back.” Sweetie offered.
“Na, she’d want to kill something that dangerous,” Louise suggested. “She is a guardian of the night after all.”
“You’ve got that right,” Aerie said from behind them. The girls jumped and turned to see Aerie and Aurora.
“Relax. You haven't technically broken any rules, and it looks like you have the best spot.”
“Word got out about the airship and the party sort of fizzled out,” Aurora offered as she went to have a look. “That snake thing is huge! How’d it even fit through the doors?”
“Aurora?”
“I can sort of remember. It just sort of fits. That and a lot of doorways are kind of big,” Isolde offered quietly. “The nightmares. Or at least I thought they were nightmares. I know better now.”
“Ya, like last year’s troll in the first-floor Girl’s toilets,” Aerie offered. “I know giants are a thing, but there isn’t a single toilet big enough for a giant in there let alone a troll.”
“There are scrape marks if…” Isolde left off as her friends decided to give her a group hug. Aerie gave her a curious look. “What? They are my friends. Of course, I told them. I knew about this place because I liked to find high places to get away from being Draco.”
“Hey, looks like people from the Ministry are here,” Aurora announced. “Nor did she want to get into why Draco had been looking for high places.
“Kind of looks like they are too late,” Aerie added. Indeed the beast was being slowly hoisted up into the belly of the airship.
“Good by you filthy…” Isolde shouted. There was a part of her that wanted to say mud blood, but that didn’t fit and she couldn't think of anything else.
“Duck!” Aurora commanded as the eyes of the men below shifted toward the tower.
Everyone dropped save Isolde who transformed into a pony and let loose a shrill whistle of defiance. For the people down below, that is the non-Akkadians, seeing a unicorn filly up in the bell tower had them all considerably befuddled.
“Say, Isolde, I know a spell that can give you wings. Temporary.” Aerie offered with a grin.
“But… I can’t fly?”
“Aurora and I can keep the nonfliers out of trouble.”
“Aerie, you’re a brat, you know that,” Aurora declared with a grin on her face.
“A unicorn? In the bell tower?” Dumbledore asked Minister Fudge. Fudge and Bartemius Crouch head of Magical Law enforcement were on scene. “Don’t be silly. More likely a horned pegasus. Now what brings you to my door?”
“Steady, steady!” Mrs Silverwood called up to the ship. “Get another line on that thing!”
“We, ah…” Fudge was at a complete loss.
“We came to arrest Hagrid,” Crouch announced.
“So what’d he do this time?” Mrs Silverwood asked. She’d not turned to look at the man, her attention glued to the monster being hoisted up.
“The attacks, here at school. The opening of the chamber.”
“The chamber has nothing to do with Hagrid, and there’s no proof it was ever opened.”
“Afraid the writing on the wall was just an ill-timed prank in bad taste,” Dumbledore informed them. As for the attacks, it was that thing.” He pointed up at the Wyrm. “Something created by Salazar Slytherin. Seems to be half dragon half basilisk. The Ministry should have one, I’m to understand.”
“First I’ve heard of it,” Fudge protested.
“It was Voldemort who opened it the last time. Back when he was known as Tom Riddle. Hagrid was innocent of that. His mistake was bringing that damn spider to school. My mistake was not acting when I had the chance. When I think of the lives I could have saved… and that thing is part of Slytherin’s legacy. No idea how many are wandering about. Came in from the forest. Imagine the carnage had Mrs Silverwood not been here.”
“Dear gods above,” Crouch said softly. “And that found its way into the school?”
“No one’s missing so I’m thinking it’d eaten recently and was just looking for a place to hole up. Today it likely had carnage in mind. Attracted by the noise from the game. That or it was a territorial thing. Given its grandsire was undoubtedly bred here, it as likely wanted to claim the school as its own.”
“Fillies,” Fudge announced softly. He’d been watching the tower when a black and white pegasus burst forth, followed by a golden filly with a fiery red mane and tail, and its younger sibling. Another black and white followed by two white-horned pegasi a moment later to be followed by another golden pegasi a moment later. Squeals of delight emanated from several of the fillies as they flitted about the tower. Seven, he counted seven in all. “Seven fillies. A good sign I reckon.”
“That’s got it!” Mrs Silverwood shouted. “Secure it, and let’s get it out of here!
“Gentlemen,” she’d turned to the three men. “As much as I dislike Hagrid I can assure you he is innocent in this affair. The fact that you’d lock someone up with no evidence, without a trial, or even understanding what you are dealing with is something I find troubling. Or are you afraid to bring people to trial? Afraid the Justice enchantment will activate and you’ll be drug into the veil? Or are you just that callous?” She didn’t wait for an answer. She turned away from them, pitched forward transforming as she did, her wings swept out, and was airborne a moment later. The airship began pulling away, and a moment later the local pegasi began to fill the skies.
No one would miss the announcements at dinner that night. Advanced students were tasked with the cleanup and repair of the herbology section. Hagrid didn’t get arrested, and Mr Nott was going to have to wait for his cure. The Mandrakes had been devastated and it’d be a while before they could procure more. School went on, Herbology was relocated to classroom only save those tasked with rescuing any plants that had been spared, and everyone did well on their end-of-year tests. Gryffindor lost the quidditch cup owing to the loss of three brooms. Aerie and the twins had been forced to use the best they could afford at the local quidditch shop in Hogsmeade. And then to add insult to injury, they just missed gaining the house cup which went to Ravenclaw that year. After all, Dumbledore couldn't give Aerie points for services to the School when it looked like Mrs Silverwood had been the one to fight the beast. And yes, everyone knew about the monster. Nearly everyone in the school had ended up watching from a window given they hadn’t been told they couldn’t.
“I hope next year is quiet,” Aerie said as she sat down in one of the compartments on the train. She was followed by Lavender, Aurora, Hoshiko, and the Patel twins.
“You expecting anything to happen next year?” Aurora asked as she sat down.
“Short of Mr Malfoy breaking out of Azkaban and the Ministry overreacting it should be a quiet year.”
“Any idea what you want to do over the summer?”
“Find another pair of daggers for start. Nova Silverwood says that my daggers reverted to their raw state of unrefined ore. They’ll need to be reforged.”
“Damn.”
“I want a way to fight dementors too.”
“Dementors?” Hoshiko asked.
“Part of the ministry overreacting to someone escaping Azkaban. Just in case.”
“Lovely, and they’d do it,” Lavender added. “Oh, a criminal escaped and is putting someone in danger? Let’s put even more people in danger.”
“I’ve got a mind to go home to Japan for the summer,” Hoshiko said softly. “Might be a good idea to pick up a few things. What exactly is a dementor?”
“Undead of some sort. A wraith. That’s about all I know. I don’t think the Ministry knows.”
“I wouldn't worry about it,” Lavender counseled. “No one’s ever broke out of Azkaban. The only way Malfoy is getting out of Azkaban is if someone helps him.”
“That’s what worries me.”