Chapter 65: The death of Draco Malfoy
“Aerie, what’s going on,” Hoshiko asked at lunch. Everyone had been asked to stay for a head count so she ran over to talk to her even if for a moment.
“I think Draco is still out in the forest.”
“You don’t suppose he’s dead do you?” Ron asked hopefully.
“Ron, give it a rest,” Idda ordered.
“Seriously,” Bill Bones added.
“There’s a rumor Hagrid has been sacked,” Hermione said to add to the conversation.
“Not sacked, just suspended till the end of the year. Well, technically until next school year,” Aerie informed them. "Not much of a difference though, I suppose. He's been dismissed with instructions not to come back until next year. He'll undoubtedly be on probation then."
“Dumbledore must be really mad,” Percy offered. “I only got a week.”
“Be just like Malfoy-”
“Shut it, Ron!” Aerie shouted. “For your information, Dumbledore made the decision before anyone knew Draco was unaccounted for. Draco isn’t off hiding somewhere just to get Hagrid in trouble. He can do that on his own. Thank you very much.”
“I’d better get back to my table,” Hoshiko offered only to get hugged by Aerie.
“Ask Kitsumi if she can go see if she can’t figure out what became of him,” Aerie whispered.
“I’ll see…" Hoshiko found her attention being drawn to a familiar woman entering the hall. "It’s Mrs Silverwood? What is she doing here?”
“That can’t be good?” Aerie replied as they watched their elder counterpart make their way through the hall and up to the head table.
“Professor Dumbledore… Professor Snape, a word in private if I may?”
“Did you find Draco?” Snape asked.
“Not here.”
“Let’s adjourn to the vestry,” Dumbledore offered. A moment later the three made their way to a side room followed by Professor McGonagall who insisted she be included. She was after all the deputy headmaster of the school.
“Professor Snape,” Mrs Silverwood began once the door was closed and a seal placed upon it. “Any chance you have a cure for Salmacis Thorn toxin?”
“Salmacis Thorn?” Oh, he’s heard of it. So had Professor Dumbledore.
“You aren’t suggesting the girl you found… is Draco Malfoy?”
“Afraid so.”
“How bad is it?” Snape asked.
“Total.”
“I’m sorry, Salmacis Thorn?” McGonagall asked.
“Mildly annoying to girls, potentially devastating to boys,” Mrs Silverwood offered.
“The toxin has a transfiguring agent that causes male mammalians to experience some rather interesting side effects,” Dumbledore stated. “Sometimes used by older women as a rejuvenating agency. Its possession is a controlled substance though. Wizards feared it might be used on them.”
“And you said it was total?” Snape asked.
“Well, the evidence is that Hagrid dumped him in the bloody bush. To make matters worse, there was unicorn blood on the bush. I suspect that small amounts entered into his bloodstream so that he, she, now exhibits traits typical of an Akkadian. Nor does she wish her parents to be informed as she is convinced that she’ll just be thrown from her home.”
“Lucius Malfoy is, I’m afraid, a very conservative and stubborn individual,” Snape informed them.
“I must say that coming from you, that’s not very reassuring.”
“I am merely stating the facts. Lucius Malfoy only cares for his son as an heir to the family name.”
“Explain to me how Draco being a girl is a problem. Can’t girls inherit?”
“Only boys inherit in English Wizarding society,” McGonagall informed her.
Professor Dumbledore moved over to one of the chairs lining the walls of the room and sat heavily as though the weight of his years had caught up with him while Mrs Silverwood mouthed some choice words concerning wizardkind.
“There are potions, but they are only effective against partial transformation,” Snape said softly. “Something I feel I should mention, there were a number of boys who were… incensed at the idea that Harry Potter had been a girl all along. Flint was the most vocal. I fear that if I attempt to reverse the effects of the toxin it could kill him, er, her. Or it could leave Draco stuck halfway between, and there is no telling what effect the unicorn blood may have. Does he… she know?”
“About the Salmacis Thorn? Yes. I had to tell him something. I did not tell her about the unicorn blood. The shock that he’d lost his willy was enough.”
“I’m afraid that it might be best that Draco Malfoy be declared lost,” Snape declared with an air of finality. “She, with whatever name she might choose, can return next year.”
“And be resorted, do you think?” Dumbledore asked.
“Is that even possible?” McGonagall didn’t sound like she thought it was.
“Oh, it’s possible. The fact isn’t widely disseminated,” Dumbledore informed her.
“I’ve any number of Slytherins who’d like nothing more than to get out of that dorm. Just to get away from the likes of people like Flint, and I’m sorry to say, Malfoy. He didn’t exactly endure himself to his fellow students over the past few months.”
“Which means they are liable to murder the girl,” Dumbledore admitted. “Or at the very least make her life here at Hogwarts a living hell. Severus, you and I will need to go have a talk with Lucius Malfoy. In the meantime, Mrs Silverwood, I hope you don’t mind keeping her as your guest?”
“It would seem I’ve little choice.”
Shortly following lunch, Hoshiko found a moment to talk quietly with Kitsu who in turn found her way to an exit and slipped out. She remained in fox form only long enough to get out and transformed the moment she’d some cover. After all, the last thing she wanted was for prying eyes at Hogwarts to learn her secret. Moments later she was soaring over the Everfree glad that she’d been to the Silverwood community during the winter break. The downside, everything had been covered in snow at the time. Even so, she felt confident she could find it. For a while, she was worried that she might have to turn around and go back, but on spotting a glen gleaming with silver-leafed trees deep in the forest a sense of relief and accomplishment washed over her.
Kitsumi could see more pegasi about now and it reminded her of home. Granted that there was no place in Equestria quite like this village. The style was predominately Gothic Revival with a healthy mix of Art Nouveau styles. The sort of place one might expect to find the High Elves of Middle Earth.
“That was definitely a barrier…” Kitsumi thought as she passed through the outer wards of the village. Such was the enchantment that it had shut off her N-sid ring as well.
She was joined a moment later by a pair of the local guard. Two gray roan stallions, the roan patterning was typical of the English pegasi along with tufted ears and striped wing patterns.
“Princess? We thought you were at Hogwarts?” the lead pony asked as they flew alongside.
“Captain Adair, I was. Undercover. I need to talk to my mom.”
“Did you perhaps cross paths? She went to Hogwarts around thirty minutes or so.”
“I saw her, but I can’t talk to her there.”
“Understandable.”
“Aerie asked me through Hoshiko to come over and ask if you’ve found a boy we are missing?”
“A boy? - oh boy,” The two guards said at the same time.
“Ah, care to explain that comment?”
“We found a girl in a Salmacis Thorn bush.”
“Ummm, is that supposed to mean something?”
“It turns boys into girls.”
“Oh…”
“Mares wouldn't let us near the thing. Sure hope he’s going to be OK with being a girl.”
“I’ve heard that humans can be funny about that sort of thing,” offered the other Guard.
“Explains why the Matriarch ordered our best fliers to watch her house.”
They were deep into the grove now, Kitsumi slowly weaving through the giant trees that made the mighty Sequoia of California look small. The place she sought was at one time the last lonely house of the Forbidden Forest prior to Kitsumi Nova’s arrival. The village had been hard set upon by a Basilisk which her Moonie slew with a halberd out in the yards of Hogwarts' illustrious animal husbandry center. The barns of which were now a shadow of their former glory due to years of neglect. The house itself was made up of multiple dwellings on the same tree each of which had housed different family units. In the years following the demise of the great wyrm, the village prospered with Kitsumi Nova Silverwood becoming the matron, and it was she who spearheaded establishing a colony on a certain group of islands in the Caribbean. The Islands became known as the Akkadian Nation of which Eques was the largest of the islands. One of the more notorious Islands was known as Skull Island from which Aerie had received a vial of a clear liquid only to be used in small amounts under the most dire of circumstances.
Kitsumi’s guards wagged their wings and then pulled up. They cleared the tops of the trees a couple of minutes later, turned, and returned to their patrols. She on the other hand slowly dropped down to a patio on the second tier of what was now the grandest house in the community. Not far away was a young girl sitting in a wicker chair that had been painted a deep forest green. She had on loose-legged white pants over which was a tunic of sky blue with gold embroidered borders and piping. Over that a knitted shawl made from undyed wool.
“Um, hello,” The girl offered. “You look like you might be related to Mrs Silverwood, are you?”
“In a fashion,” Kitzu replied and then transformed into her human form. “I call her mother now.”
“Ah, you’re the girl from last night. And now that I see you in the daylight you look remarkably similar to Aerie Potter.”
“Cousins. Draco Malfoy, I presume.”
“The former Draco Malfoy I’m afraid.”
“Does it bother you?”
“It did. At first… I’m not sure now. On the one hand, I’m still me, and yet I’m not me.”
“Aerie is worried about you.”
“Don’t tell her.”
“Considering Aerie she probably knew that this was a possibility.”
“Taking pity on me, was it?”
“Pity? Hardly. If, and I do say if she knew, she’d want you to have a friend who could support you.” Kitzu went over to another chair and sat down.
“What happened? I hear you managed to get stuck in a rather nasty bush, and indeed I can see a good deal of the puncture wounds it left, but what happened to you after we separated?”
“I’m not sure. I heard an explosion, fang bolted, and I turned to see a red flair, Aerie was gone… and I thought she couldn't do it? The flair that is.”
“I think the red flair was an accident. She’d gotten it into her head to destroy an enchanted locket she’d discovered was being used to track her.”
“Afraid my feet grew a mind of their own and I started running down the path as fast as I could. I don’t remember anything past that point. Funny how easy it is to admit that now that I’m a girl. No one is going to tell me I need to grow up and be a man. Are they now.”
“From what I hear of your father he might still.”
“Mrs Silverwood went to inquire on that account.”
“You think there might be a way to reverse it?”
“No idea.”
“Do you want to reverse it?”
“If it’s reversible, I doubt I’ll get a choice.”
“Do you not want to reverse it?”
The two sat in silence for a bit before Draco replied. “I, I don’t know. This place… it’s so unlike any place I’ve ever been. It’s like some kind of fantasy setting where one might expect to find the Fae.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“We thought you’d be fine. That you’d run back to Hagrid’s hut and wait there.”
“Wait there? I’d have made my way back to my dorm by the quickest route possible, been stopped by a locked door where I’d have cried piteously while pounding on the door until my hands were bloody.”
“Something tells me that would have been a far worse blow to your reputation than turning into a girl.”
“Only because people expect entirely too much of little boys. I understand that now. I’ve been sitting here thinking about it. And don’t think I haven't seen the pegasi guards stationed nearby.”
“In case you should fall off.”
“Can’t say I didn’t think about it. Falling off that is. It’s a mighty long way down.”
“Not afraid of heights are you?”
“Not nearly as much as I am of being cooped up in small spaces. Why ever did they put the dorm in a dungeon? There’s a big window that looks out into the lake… it helps. I spend, spend as little time in my room as possible. The room was literally a cell with no exterior light at all. What are the other dorms like?”
I can’t say I know much about the Hufflepuff dorm other than they aren’t much better off. They are below the kitchens under the great hall. They’ve slits cut into the rock to allow light and air, but that’s it. On the other hand, to hear Justin they’ve got ready access to the kitchens and the faculty never go down there to check on them.”
“The kitchens? Do you mean to tell me that they can just raid the kitchens any time they want and get away with it?”
“With impunity. Nothing but House Elves down there and they’ll get you anything you want.”
“And here I thought ending up in Hufflepuff would be a bad thing. No wonder so many of them end up looking so well-fed.”
“Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are in a couple of the big towers. Large rooms, shared mind you, and they have windows that look out over the grounds. Ravenclaw has a wonderful observation deck at the top of the tower.”
“You seem to know quite a lot about it.”
“The pegasi have taken it over.”
Draco burst out laughing and then stopped while gasping for breath.
“Draco?!”
They didn’t have long to wait, a tan mare rushed out and helped her drink down a cup of water.
“Try not to make her laugh, broken ribs.”
“Sorry Mable, didn’t know.”
“Wonder… wonder if I got hit by Hagrid coming the other direction?”
“Hit by Hagrid?” She had to think for a moment. “And carried you like a bucking sack of potatoes.”
“What?”
“He had something flung over his shoulder which we took to be another carcass. He went right past where we were and down into a glen where he spotted some sort of snake-like creature. The item he was carrying got dumped and he started blindly firing. Presumably at the creature but his aim was so far off he clipped a couple of my flight feathers.
“That must have been the thing that Aerie and I saw.”
“So what it appears happened is that I went running back and ran into Hagrid coming the other direction so fast that the impact knocked me out.”
“I’d imagine that’s also how you got your broken ribs.”
“And then he picks me up, slings me over his shoulder, and runs headlong never once paying attention to where he’s going.”
“Until he sees the pool of blood where the unicorn had been. It was at that point he encountered a very hostile predator who’d been deprived of their kill.”
“Just exactly what was that thing?”
“Just so you know, right now you are without a doubt in the safest place in England.”
“Somehow I’m not finding that reassuring.”
“The running theory, the person believed to be hunting unicorns is Tom Riddle. That thing is what You Know Who has become.”
“Maybe you might want to talk about something else,” Mable offered as she brought out a couple more drinks, one for each of them.
“Thank you,” Kitsumi and Malfoy offered as they took the glasses.
“So then young miss, have you put any thought into what we might call you, say, for the foreseeable future?” Mable asked.
“In case you are stuck like that I gather?” Kitzumi asked.
“I don’t want anyone using the name Draco Malfoy. If it ever got out…”
“I gather it’s a huge problem.”
“From my perspective, yes. The ponies don’t seem to care. Which is oddly reassuring.”
“In pony culture, Akkadian culture, you are you. Maybe you haven't quite settled on what you will become but what you look like on the outside is superficial.”
“Even genders?”
“Changeable. Gender may be a part of your identity, but it should never be the primary part of your identity. Why Mable can switch back and forth any time she wants.”
“What?”
Mable’s ears went down flat.
“Oh, I’m sorry Mable, was that insensitive of me?”
Mable let out a sigh. “It’s just that there aren’t exactly very many who can tell. But you are your mother’s daughter. Apparently.” The fact that Kitsumi had dropped literally out of nowhere nearly all grown up had more than a few tongues wagging. Mrs Silverwood had told her most trusted advisors, but that’s as far as it went. As for Mable, she was part of a small local changeling hive.
“I don’t understand. How can she just switch back and forth?”
“It’s a special kind of magic she can do. But I’ll say no more on the matter. I just want you to understand that it's the you that you are inside that matters the most.”
“How about we talk names,” Mable reminded. “I’ve prepared a list I thought you might like. Adalinda, noble serpent. I figured that because you have a dragon name you might like another dragon-related name. Alina, bearer of light. Brenna, it’s from the local language meaning blazing light.”
“How about Artemis?” Kitzu suggested.
“What am I, a deer now?”
“You are dear to me,” Mable teased.
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
“How about Narsissa…”
“No, that’s my mom. Maybe as a middle name, but otherwise no.”
“Might be a bad idea if you want a clean break,” Kitsu suggested.
“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t really look all that different. People are going to suspect. But if people think I’m a twin that could work.”
“Calida, basically it means your hot.”
“Sounds like a Marry Sue name.”
“Idalia, behold the sun. Bellinda, this one also refers to a bright serpent. Can be shortened to Bindy. Linda, Lindy, and two more serpent names. How about Enya, it’s an Irish name meaning ember. Although Ember isn’t a bad name either. Isolde, beautiful, regal, powerful.”
“Isolde…” Draco said as though tasting each syllable.
“German Austrian origins but some sources say Welsh.”
“Isolde, I like it. Like some epic hero of old. You sure it’s a girl’s name?”
“Source says yes. Uncommon in the west, more so in Germanic lands.”
“Well then, shall it be Isolde then?” Kitsu asked.
“Yes, I shall be Isolde. Now all I need is a last name to go with it.”
“Not Malfoy?”
“Not if my father doesn’t want me.”
“Well then, Isolde,” Offered Mrs Silverwood. She was still in pony form and had come in for a landing so quietly she’d startled even Kitzu. “Ha, gotcha. - Isolde, Professors Dumbledore and Snape will be going to see your parents this evening following classes. They are to send me an owl when they know their father’s mind. One way or another. In either case, you may stay here. Tell me, would you object to starting fresh next year?”
“You mean starting over?”
“The transformation seems to have made you just a tad younger.” Mrs Silverwood explained as she transformed into her human form. She then pulled up a chair and joined them. “The best way to approach this is to start you out next year as a new student.”
“So then, there’s no turning me back?”
“Professor Snape says that given your total transformation, any attempt could kill you. Or…”
“Or?”
“It could leave you stuck in between. And considering what Wizarding society is like I don’t think you’d want that.”
“As odd as this may sound I’m not averse to being a girl. And no, I wouldn't want to be stuck somewhere in between. That might be fine for some, but I’m an all-or-nothing sort of person. Suppose I get that from my dad.”
“And Hogwarts?”
“Why can’t I just transfer in? Like Hoshiko Tsuki did?”
“Afraid Dumbledore seems set on bringing you in as a new student.”
“Maybe you can get into Ravenclaw this time?” Kitzu offered. “You’re certainly smart enough and starting out with nearly a year’s worth of Hogwarts education under your belt people will think you are a genius.”
“I am a genius.”
“Then why do you hang out with those two dunderheads?”
“Muscle. It’s about all they are good for.”
Kitsumi couldn't help but sigh.
“Slytherin is kind of cutthroat.”
“We’ll just have to figure it out tomorrow after we know where we stand,” Mrs Silverwood offered. “I will have to agree that bringing you in with the new meat does make sense.”
“New meat? That’s kind of harsh, isn’t it?” Kitsumi asked.
“Hogwarts has had a bad safety record ever since Dumbledore took over as Headmaster. Hagrid only made things worse. Speaking of which, I’d like your version of what happened last night.”
“As Harmony is my witness, we thought Draco, Isolde-”
“Draco, that was Draco. If my father doesn’t want me back as a girl, well, then Draco died in that forest.”
“Fair enough, I guess. Anyway, we thought Draco was well on his way back and safe.”
“We’ve kind of worked out what happened. Why I don’t remember much of anything.”
Kitsumi then went into an explanation of the events.
“She faked getting shot?” Isolde asked in astonishment.
“What? We all figured that Dumbledore would just cover it up anyway.”
“You aren’t wrong. So long as everyone goes home nothing bad happened,” Mrs Silverwood stated. “And you can bet he’d want to cover up what happened to you. Can’t have you coming back to school as Draco only you’d gone all soft, now can we?”
“Being a girl doesn’t change who I am. Still, though, I never would have thought Aerie could do something so cold-blooded.”
“Like I said, we expected Dumbledore to cover it up, and if Hagrid going crazy with the crossbow just turned into an opportunity.”
“Hagrid’s been suspended.” Isolde and Kitsumi just looked at her with dumbstruck expressions. “I think that seeing Aerie with a crossbow bolt in her must have been one misstep too many, and he took it out on Hagrid. Isolde, that’s why they never bothered to go looking for Draco. They’d forgotten all about him. Not Filch, not Hagrid, not Dumbledore, and Snape wouldn't have missed him until morning.”
“Might this have to do with that individual Aerie had mentioned?” Kitsumi asked.
“More chaos more fun? Curious he picked her, but then again there does seem to be a cold-blooded streak in her that she’s going to need to put an end to Riddle and derail Dumbledore once and for all.”
“I think Aerie wanted to confront Riddle so she’d have an excuse as to why Dumbledore’s tracking spells weren’t working anymore. Only Hagrid messed that up.”
“You can’t tell me she actually wanted to fight that thing?” Isolde asked. “I thought she was just joking. She could have been killed for real.”
“Not really. That fire that happens, it protects her. Riddle can’t touch her.”
“But what could she possibly do?”
“Dumbledore had that tracker on her, and she wanted it gone,” Kitsumi informed her. “She knew how to get rid of it and she’d do something along the same lines that she did. Fake her near demise. And I guess she didn’t care if she had to sacrifice Hagrid to be rid of it.”
“But why carry it around if she knew?”
“To be honest, I’d breathe a sigh of relief if he was gone,” Mrs Silverwood replied. “As for the locket, those spells were originally affixed to Aerie. I shifted them to a locket so he wouldn't be able to track everything she did.” OK, it was so the lings could trade places, but Isolde didn’t need to know that. “In order to keep him from knowing she had to carry it as much as possible.”
“I see. It must have been driving her nuts. I’d be kinda pissed.”
Kitsumi finished her drink and set it down. “I need to get back so I can let Aerie and Hoshiko know what’s going on.”
“I’ll send a message flier when we know.”
“Thanks. And Isolde, Aerie does care. Deep down she wants to do everything in her power to help others. The downside is that to help people, sometimes you have to hurt the people who hurt others.” Kitzu got up, walked a short distance, and transformed. “Hope you don’t mind me checking up on you now and then, but for now, goodby, and may Harmony guide your path.” And with that, she spread her wings, stepped off where there was a break in the railing, and flew off.
“Wish I could do that. I mean the whole transform with wings and all.”
“Well, I can’t promise you that, but if you work towards making yourself a decent human being, be kind, courteous, strive to do what’s right whenever you can, and I can promise you a spot at the Eques Academy.”
“What? Seriously? Father, I’d asked him, but he was dead set against it.”
“Given that he was a Death Eater you would have been barred from going. But if you end up as my ward, I can get you in. It’s my school after all.”
“And if I’m not your ward?”
“Prove to me that you can be a better person than your father and I can get you in.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,107 users online
1,645,261 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well it good that Draco is going to try to be better. I am sure forbidden forest detention will be forbidden when Draco dad gets everything but his son is a daughter. Considering he won't be happy that his heir was abandon in the forest where they tell the kids don't go and by the person who was supposed to be protecting them. They might get off some because he was supposedly fired at least for those not in the know.
I am supper happy to see the Silverwood community coming back from the dead.
Isolde Oh i like that.
love this chapter so much good.
Also keep in mind while set in the 1990. The behaviors of the wizarding world and Hogwart's in general their attitudes seem to be stuck in 1800s or earlier. It seems as a school Hogwarts is much like British schools from 1900s
11722308
I think after wizard kind went underground expect for squibs needed for something or other they had as little to do with non magic folks as possible which left them very ignorant about many things especially when you consider that magic and electronics don't mix.
11722337
I've set things up so that Electronics can work if properly shielded. That's how Aerie can have a working cell phone in places like Diagon Alley. It even works across the dimensional barrier.
Squibs are wizarding people who for various reasons can't do enough magic to actually cast spells. It's a genetic disorder that effects wizard kind. Typically caused by inbreeding. They are treated much the same way as many handicapped had been before it was widely accepted that people with handicaps could still be productive members of society. My own take on it is that many of the squibs shifted to Muggle society in order to earn a living and not be treated like failures by their families.
And yes, wizarding society is backwards, patriarchal, and staunchly resisting any form of change. A boy getting turned into a girl is not going to be something easily accepted which is why Dumbledore wanted to restart her next year. That and Draco's grades were abysmal.
11722844
Well at least if they wanted they could learn about the non magic world my guess stupid politics have kept wizards in the dark. Considering all the technology they are missing out on.
Though it gonna be harder on Draco Considering he is homeless now to the point of not even having his name to call his own. So they better have a guardian for him before summer comes because he will be expected to go home but he is now a she and dead officially. I figured squids were disowned by the magic folks considering remember how Neville family reaction to the possibility of him being one. Sure his grandmother tried to protect him but even she couldn't watch him 24/7 and when you are dropping kids out windows it's serious.
11722850
Mrs Silverwood will see to it that Isolde has a place to live. She's not going to kick her out.
11722888
At least someone is smart enough to look out for these kids considering a certain headmaster is too busy with politics to think things through. Hopefully arie can get riddle before he uses his snake to hold a piece of his soul. I wonder how many loyal followers would be left if news about him being a half blood got out. Some might stay in order to make muggles suffer but most can do that without him so they wouldn't stick around. I don't think he had many truly loyal followers in reality. Most were there because they scared or they just wanted the stuff he promised like wizards over all and purebloods over all.