Love and Monster Ch. 13 (Patreon)

“Want a bite?” Lavender held her sandwich out to the others, who begged off. Undeterred, she held it out to Katie, who smiled politely while shaking her head. “I think I'm full, sorry.”

“Is it the fish?” She asked before extending her tendrils outwards once more and sucking out just a few more nutrients from her meal.

“It's the fact that it has fish, pork, chicken, mustard, honey and chocolate, and somehow I'm not even halfway through the ingredients.” Susan said.

Lavender pouted. “It's actually a really tasty combination! Don't knock it till you've tried it!”

“Do you even have taste buds?” Vulpie asked.

Lavender glared at her. “That is like… really insensitive! For your information, I have two sets of taste buds. These are for food.” She waved her little arm tentacles. “These,” she stuck out her tongue. “Are purely reserved for fun.” She winked at Harry, who snorted and grinned as the others rolled their eyes.

Katie had learned to roll with the punches when it came to the Slytherins, who seemed to devolve into overly horny chatter at the drop of a dime. She just giggled along as she took a bite out of her own sandwich, a much more conventional turkey and swiss.

Recently, when they've come down to the kitchens, they've strayed away from the rest of the school's dinner menu. Instead, they started using the leftovers in alternate recipes. Tonight, they'd decided to just place everything they could find on the table and make their own sandwiches, leading to wildly different combinations. Harry himself had (inadvertently, since he knew nothing of american food.) made a sort of french dip, stuffing his sandwich full of shredded beef and roasted veggies, along with a thick, hearty broth to dip it in.

“Here, have a drink of this.” Bethany, an elderly lady with a glass eye, handed Vulpie a glass filled up to a quarter with some red liquid.

“What sort of concoction is this?” Vulpie asked in that snooty tone of hers.

“Just try it, child.” The cranky old woman insisted.

Vulpie's eyes narrowed, but she played along. She made the mistake of not giving it a sniff first, and she threw back nearly half of the drink. Her eyes widened, ears jutting out sideways as she made a face that left the others laughing.

She spit it out onto the floor and coughed. Harry rubbed her back, though she still glared hatefully at him for laughing. “Why would you hand me such swill, woman?!” 

Susan reached out and took the glass, swirling the remaining liquid before throwing it back. Her eyes widened, but there was definite glee apparent on her face.

She slammed the glass down in the table, “It burns going down! Another!”

Bethany and the other cooks looked impressed. “I knew I always liked you, child.” She took the glass and went off to prepare another one for her.

“Uncultured swine.” Vulpie muttered under her breath.

It had been gradual at first, and then all of a sudden, they would walk into the kitchen, and not only would Katie greet them, but the rest of the staff would as well. They had warmed up to them in a way that no group of wizarding adults had before, and it made the kitchens that much more welcoming for them.

They continued to eat, talking and joking and having a general good time. Then, Delphi noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

“Did someone drop a letter?” She asked. She reached out with her tail, coiling it around the small letter that had been lying on the floor for magic knew how long.

“We don't get any mail here.” Katie said curiously, glancing at the girls and Harry, who all shrugged.

“We didn't bring anything.” Harry assured her. 

Delphi picked up the letter, which did not have a recipient nor a sender. She glanced at the others questioningly. Fleur shrugged. “Just open it, if it's something private, you can stop reading it.”

“Ooor we can keep reading.” Lavender said in a sing-song voice.

Delphi hesitated once before choosing to open it. She pulled out a single piece of parchment.

Daphne glanced over her shoulder and noted how chaotic the penmanship was, the script jumping wildly between wide and loopy and thin and jagged, sometimes within the same word.

Delphi began to read, yellow eyes curious at first. Then they began to widen, her face paling considerably as her heart-rate quickened.

Daphne and Fleur noticed it first, sensing the waves of horror and dread emanating from her, but the others picked on quite quickly.

“Delphi?” Katie asked worriedly.

“Delph, what is it?” Harry said, a sense of dread coming down on him as well.

The lamia's hands were trembling as the letter slipped from her fingers. ‘H-Hermione…Hermione's been kidnapped.”

“What?” 

They all leaned over the table, heads coming together as they angled to try and read what had been written.

Many sets of eyes scanned frantically through the paper, an icy feeling settling in all of their chests as the horrifying truth dawned on them.

There was a moment of intense silence before they all leapt out from the table.

“Where's Fawkes?” Harry asked desperately.

“I haven't seen her all day, probably in the forest.” Daphne said, a sense of urgency managing to worm itself even onto her voice.

“Oh god.” Harry ran his hands through his hair. 

“This thing… we need to find someone!” Lavender said, panic setting into her tone.

“Find whom? The professors cannot be trusted. Clearly.” Vulpie spat.

“Why are we sitting here and talking? We need to rescue her!” Susan screeched.

“You guys… you guys aren't actually going out there, are you?” Katie said.

Behind them, the rest of the squibs were looking at the scene with worry in their eyes. They had no clue what was happening, but they knew it couldn't be good.

Fleur was trying to manage her breathing. “Maybe we should try and find Dumbledore, surely he could-”

“You read the letter, Fleur. We have a time limit. He sees anyone but us… and he kills her.” Harry said.

“That thing's gotta be bluffing. How would it be able to tell that the headmaster's around?” Fleur insisted.

“The more we sit around here and wait, the more likely it is our comrade is being slowly tortured and killed.” Vulpie said.

“You're kids! You shouldn't be going out and having to do anything!” Katie's voice was starting to grow hysterical.

“Let's go.” Harry said, a steely glint falling over his face. His words carried a finality to them, and the girls stood up as they marched their way to the door.

Katie reached out towards them, but Daphne shook her head. “Do not worry, we can take care of ourselves.”

Katie wanted to continue arguing, but Bethany held her back, and the girl was forced to watch as her friends foolishly rushed out into danger.

Katie glared at the older woman. “They're going to get themselves killed!” She hissed.

Bethany shook her head. “And what can we do about it? We can't stop them, that's for sure.”

Katie felt a lump in her throat, irate that after all this time, the older woman could care so little about her new friend's lives.

Then, Bethany smiled. “What we can do is inform a member of the staff, who can keep them safe.”

Katie was taken aback before she returned the woman's smile. Hopefully, they would be able to reach someone in time before something truly terrible happened.

…

“What's the game plan?” Fleur asked as they trudged through the grounds and over to where the letter had said to go.

“Easy. We clobber that stupid thing.” Susan said.

“We meet it head on and we use our numbers.” Harry said. “We keep it distracted. I doubt we can take it down, but we can definitely buy ourselves some time.”

“Buy time for what exactly?” Vulpie questioned.

Harry shot Lavender a pointed look. The girl looked confused, before her eyes widened in realization. 

“I can talk to mum!”

“What?” Susan asked, though the others seemed to quickly pick up on what she meant.

“The plants, I can send a message through them and they'll relay it to her.” She explained.

“So all we have to do is distract it for a bit and our mothers will come take it down.” Fleur said.

“Exactly.”

“But are we sure we can manage that? We don't know what this… this manticore even is.” Delphi said worriedly.

Harry shook his head. “We have to believe in ourselves. Remember, you girls aren't just witches. And I've got some tricks up my sleeve as well.” Harry thought back to before Hogwarts, when he'd learned to use magic to enhance his body, to leap further and run faster. He hadn't tapped into that in a while, but he was confident he could call upon it now. He couldn't afford to be anything but confident.

“We're not witches. We're much better.” Susan said confidently.

They came up on the tear in the wards. Like a fresh wound, it was red and raw, pulsating with freshly severed magic. They stepped through, one at a time, minding the jagged edges. Harry levitated Delphi through, and they were all now back in familiar territory.

They were back in the forest.

Vulpie inhaled deeply. “Much better than a dusty old castle.”

“Come on, he's left a trail for us.” Harry said, nodding towards the trail of recently felled trees and branches that led deep into the forest.

As a group, they marched on into the tree canopy, disappearing deep into the darkness of the forest.

…

“Oh, Merlin! Please, p-p-please, please d-don't kill me! My father has money… h-he's very influential! He's a member of the wizengamot, he-”

“Temper your tongue, boy, or I will gladly tear it from your mouth.” 

Vincent's mouth clicked shut, though he continued to whimper and shiver uncontrollably.

He was bound against a tree along with the still unconscious Hermione. He felt he could join her at any moment, the sheer volume of terror and panic coursing through his veins making his head spin and his stomach lurch.

Before his very eyes, the man who had been his charms professor was turning into a monster. His skin had been falling off bit by bit the entire way here, entire strips of flesh catching on branches and tearing off completely. 

Now he was hunched over and heaving, pulling at what skin remained on his chest as if he were trying to remove a jumper. 

Vincent watched in abject horror as the skin stretched, and with an inhuman roar, Prewett's body began to expand rapidly. Arms thickened, hands and feet morphing into paws tipped with long, sharp claws. 

When the skin finally tore with a sickening rip, it peeled all the way up to his neck, and as the man turned beast rested on four paws, the skin turned into a mangy lion's mane around his head.

Blood and gunk dripped onto the floor as the transformation became complete. A scorpion tail shot out from behind the creature, its sharp end glistening with a strange, green substance. 

In the end, only the face of Fabian Prewett remained. The rest was now a monstrous, nine foot tall lion's body with a long, menacing tail.

“M-M-Monster!” Vincent mumbled. Hot liquid began to trickle down his leg as he pissed himself in fear. The manticore shook its mane, smiling malevolently over at the boy.

“Now you see, boy. There is no negotiation, nothing for you to bargain with.” The Manticore walked over to them, each steep causing the earth to tremble. “I am a monster. There is nothing I desire but to savor the terror in your bones.”

Vincent screamed, snot falling from his nose as he cried and whimpered as the Manticore approached.

The Manticore slammed its paw on the ground several feet in front of them, the impact enough to bring Hermione back around.

Hermione's eyes opened groggily at first, slowly. When they fell upon the strange creature wearing her professor's face, she didn't react at first, her brain delaying the inevitable for as long as possible.

“Wake up, girl. Your screams will help guide them to me.”

Hermione began to tremble as well, her body stiffening in fear as she took in the horrifying beast before her.

“No need for that, we're already here.”

The manticore grinned maniacally as its quarry emerged from among the trees. Harry and the girls bore looks of grim determination, trying their best not to be shaken up by the sight of the monster before them.

“What do we have here? All of my little toys have found their way to me.” The beast frowned slightly as its eyes searched across the spread out children. “But there is one missing. I will not be satisfied unless I complete the set. Where is the last little morsel?”

“I'm right here!” Susan shouted down.

She had emerged from high above the tree canopy, wings spread wide as she dived down, her face scrunched and her teeth grit as she made her courageous dive down towards the enemy.

“How delightful.” The manticore said as it reared its hind legs back.

Energy began to gather at the tip of Susan's horn, and just as the Manticore took off, she sent a blast of pure dragon energy directly at its face.

The manticore took the blast head on. Susan changed course, wanting to avoid the beast's onslaught. At the same time, dozens of branches stretched out towards the manticore, wrapping around its body to anchor it back down to earth.

As Lavender commanded the trees, the others readied their wands and fired. They used cutting and slicing curses, aiming for the monster's soft underbelly, making sure to avoid severing any of the the branches that now weighed the monster down.

The attacks struck true, five well-cast waves bashing against the Manticore's exposed underside.

They bounced off, leaving not even a scratch as they spun out wildly into the distance. The manticore tore through the branches, continuing his ascent as if they had not even impeded him, and when the puff of smoke from his face dissipated, his face carried not even a single bruise.

“Fuck!” Susan cursed, readying another attack as she continued to fly backwards away from the monster.

It all happened suddenly, surreally. The manticore changed course mid-air, gaining impetus by pushing up from ground that was not there, and before Susan could even react, he was in front of her.

“”Wha-” The redheaded dragon's eyes went wide as the manticore smirked down at her. She only just saw the massive paw swipe at her, which didn't help one bit in keeping it from striking her across the face and sending her flying to the ground.

“SUSAN!”  

Harry wasn't sure who screamed. It didn't matter. It could have been any of them. They watched in shock as their friend crashed against a tree and rolled through, digging a trench on the ground until her broken form settled.

Harry could feel his heartbeat quicken. Susan's arm was sticking out at an odd angle, and from this distance, he couldn't tell just how hurt she was. She was definitely bleeding.

This was not a game.

He didn't have time to run over and check on Susan, because another scream took his attention. 

Fleur, Vulpie and Daphne, who had closed their spread out formation, were desperately sending spells at the monster, who cackled maniacally as it shoulder bumped Fleur and and sent her crashing against a tree before kicking the other two girls away.

“Savor these moments, hatchlings. I am tenderizing the meat.” It took another leap and suddenly it was behind Delphi, who'd barely begun to turn around before it clamped its sharp teeth around her tail and proceeded to whip her around.

Delphi screamed as she was trashed against a tree. Harry watched in horror as his lover took the full impact head on, only managing to shield her face as one of her ribs broke upon impact. The manticore snapped its neck, ready to continue trashing her about like a dog would a garden snake.

Harry felt rage course through his veins as he pushed magic to his legs. He leapt, closing the distance between himself and the manticore in a heartbeat. He cocked his leg back, feeling it swollen with magic and power, and kicked the beast hard in the neck, his leg cracking forward like a whip.

“AAAH!” Harry screamed as he felt his shin-bone give way. The manticore had not budged, though it did release Delphi. 

“What did you think that would do, little human?” The manticore's tail swiped at his side, and Harry felt his ribs break as he was swatted away like a fly.

The manticore turned back to Delphi, tilting its head to the side as it raised its paw to stomp down on the girl's chest.

Another blast of dragon energy came at it from the side, pinging off its head and careening away. The monster turned to look at Susan, who was breathing heavily, barely able to stand up as her right arm dangled uselessly at her side.

Fleur, Daphne and Vulpie were all standing as well, all bleeding and battered and terrified, but still willing to put up a fight.

“Lavender, has your mother received the message?” Vulpie asked through gritted teeth. Her lip was busted and bleeding, she could taste the copper tang of blood every time she swallowed.

“S-She should have, by now.” Lavender, who was still untouched, responded. 

Harry groaned as he got up, his side aching as he felt the broken piece of his rib wanting to pierce through his skin. “So we just need to hold him off for a little while longer.” He said.

“Can we manage that?” Fleur said. 

“We have to.” Harry said.

Tied up against the tree, Crabbe had grown hysterical, openly weeping. “We're gonna die! I-I'm going to die! T-Those beasts!”

Hermione tried to tune him out as the drumbeat of her own heart grew louder and louder. She was terrified for her friends, terrified for herself. She was rattling down to her very core. 

The manticore was basking in it all, the sheer terror that surrounded him, but he wasn't the only one.

Daphne fed off of fear, after all, and with such a massive influx, she felt a surge of power, and while her mother had not yet taught her how to use her dementor powers, she let her intuition guide her hand.

Daphne floated off the ground, the air around her growing deathly cold as her cloak shimmered.

The Manticore had taken a leap towards Susan, who was bracing for impact as she put on the brave face of a determined warrior.

Daphne had shot off towards her, gliding across the air like a phantom. She managed to touch Susan moments before the monster reached her, and when the manticore's paw should have struck her in the chest, it passed through. In fact, the beast's body passed completely through both girls, who remained intangible.

“Interesting.” The manticore muttered as Daphne let go of Susan, who turned solid. A mass of vines reached out and grabbed the girl, pulling her away towards Lavender.

Daphne flew towards her opponent, who jabbed at her with his tail, which phased through her completely. Daphne ended up over its back, where she turned solid and pulled her sleeve back, revealing her hand.

Her hand, so smooth and youthful, had withered and dessicated. It was blackened and bony, resembling the hand of a long-dead corpse, with overgrown nails that looked jagged and brittle.

She put her hand to the beast's spine and a circle of dark energy irradiated outward. The hairs on the beast's back dried off and fell, its tough hide turning purple and necrotic.

Daphne could do it. Dementors were creatures of decay, creatures of pestilence and despair. She could channel her power to flashrot this beast, leave it nothing more than a bursting, fetid corpse. She just needed to pierce through the final layer of its magic resistant hide. Puncture through and turn its organs into putrefied mush.

She had plenty of fear. She was surrounded by it.

But it was so much, and she had never tried to channel it in this way before. She could feel it leaking out, unable to harness it, unable to reign it in.

She hit a wall, her lack of experience proving her doom as her hand turned back to normal, and her connection to the wellspring of terror around her broke.

The manticore felt it. And Daphne's eyes widened as she saw the monster turn, paw swiping at her, as she tried and failed to make herself intangible once more.

Just as her chill dissipated, it was replaced by burbling heat. A prism of white flame smashed against the manticore's side. It only sent it back a few inches, but it was enough for roots to pull Daphne back to safety. 

Another mess of roots wrapped tightly around the manticore's paws in an attempt to keep in it place as Fleur struggled to keep her footing as the purified veela flame blasted from her halo. She'd never even thought of attempting this, as her mother had warned multiple times of the dangers of tapping into her veela power before she matured fully.

A migraine was already splitting her head open, and her beam sputtered before it faded away completely. The manticore let out a huff of smoke, its face crisped but otherwise unharmed. It easily broke through its bindings, taking in a deep lungful of air and letting out a mighty roar, visible shockwaves rushing towards the blonde.

Vines and branches stretched out to cover Fleur. They were blasted to pieces, but they blunted the force of the blast just enough to only send her flying, twisting and turning in the air as she crashed against a tree.

The manticore spun around, searching rapidly for the plant girl that had proven to be such a nuisance, a thorn lodged deeply in his paw. When his eyes finally settled on Lavender, the girl was freeing Hermione and Crabbe.

“I see that I must break you first, my little twig.” 

He pointed his tail skyward and a spray of venom shot up from the stinger, rising high up into the sky. The venom then began to rain down over the clearing, little droplets of putrid death ready to fall over them all.

“No!” Lavender screamed, holding her hands out wide as she stretched the trees to their limits, extending their branches and leaves, warping their very trunks to cover them from the deadly rain.

She just about managed it, protecting everyone from the rainfall as the droplets that did fall hit empty patches of grass.

The trees hissed in agony as they absorbed the poison, and Lavender, who was already strained to her limit, felt their pain, heard their death cries as they began to melt down into nothing, she received microscoping amounts of the deadly poison from the roots she shared with them.

Shr had to relinquish her control, swaying in place as her leaves dried out and turned yellow, the flower on the side of her hair turning pale as she collapsed onto the floor.

The manticore chuckled. “Now let us pluck the flower.” 

A spell bounced off of the side of his head. He turned it lazily to see a battered lamia glaring up at him defiantly.

“But first, I will happily indulge those who are eager to die.” 

He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, moving faster than any of them had time to process.

Delphi gasped as the monster towered over her. Fabian Prewett's face stretched to its limits into a grotesque mask of flesh. 

The manticore quirked its tail and brought out its claws. The time for play had ended, it was now time to smite.

“The terror is so evident in those eyes of yours, it's quite exquisite.” He crooned as he leered down at the wide eyed girl.

Delphi gulped, her fists clenched, “Why don't you get a better look?” 

Hearing her words from a distance, Vulpie's eyes widened as she shouted. “Everyone, she's gonna do it!”

Everyones eyes snapped shut as they looked away. Hermione followed their lead while Crabbe was rolled up into a ball, unaware of anything going on around him.

Delphi tore her glasses off her face, staring back at the beast with her gigantic amber orbs, unfiltered, unobstructed.

The manticore froze mid-step as he stared at those big, yellow eyes. Ice coursed through his veins as the thumping of his heart began to accelerate exponentially.

Delphi backed away slowly, shakily, making sure to never taker her eyes off of her opponent.

Her eyes, the curse she had been born with. They were still not potent enough to instantly kill at a single glance, but hopefully, they would be strong enough to stop this monster.

“Delphi!” Harry shouted. He was walking blindly, one arm over his eyes as his other grasped his wand. “Talk to me, let me find him!”

“What will you do to him, you imbecile? Let me claw through him. Let me go and tear him up!” Vulpie shouted. She was stumbling around as well, the nails of her right hand having lengthened and taken on a shiny, metallic hue. She may not be able to tear through the beast's hide, but now that Delphi had it frozen, she would hook a claw in through its anus and eviscerate it from the inside out.

Delphi kept backing away from the beast, sweat pouring down her brow as she kept her eyes on him. She could petrify him, she could break through his magical resistance and render him useless. She knew she could do it.

Her heart fell to her stomach when she saw it. The subtles twitch. It was taking the entirety of the monster's will, but its eyelids moved.

“No! Stay away!” She screamed at her friends. Her backpedaling became more frantic now.

With a mighty effort that caused the veins on its neck to pop, the manticore snapped its eyes shut.

It was as if the world had been in slow motion, only to speed up once more. Delphi turned, screaming out “ITS FREE!” As she attempted to slither away as fast as her broken tail would allow.

The manticore roared, the ice cold grip released from its heart. It kept its eyes closed, sniffing the air as it tracked the lamia's scent.

Instead, it caught whiff of a fox and a wizard rapidly approaching.

Vulpie reared back her claw, already committed to her attack.

From the other side, Harry saw the beast turn towards her, he saw its stinger cock back, and he knew exactly where it was going.

It was aimed directly at Vulpie's heart.

Harry didn't even think. He pushed magic onto his lower body, the pain from his broken shin and broken rib not even registering. He pushed every single ounce of magic he had left onto his legs, pushing off the ground and leaving a small dent on the earth.

He knew that attacking the manticore would do nothing. There was only one thing he could do.

He could save Vulpie, and pray that Gardenia was moments from arriving.

He had to hope. 

He landed in front of Vulpie just as the stinger jabbed forward. The kitsune's eyes grew wild, mouth opening in what would surely be a saucy insult, the ones that Harry always found so endearing, so positively sexy. 

The stinger burned as it entered through his back. When it pierced through his chest, it broke him, severing the the threads that kept his being in place.

His hearing left him. His body turned numb and cold, his eyesight narrowing down to a single point.

“NOOOOOO!”

The shouts came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Harry collapsed onto Vulpie's arms. The kitsune trembled, collapsing onto her knees as she held Harry's broken form in her arms, the gaping hole in his chest growing wider by the moment.

Delphi shouted something, her words suffocated by tears. The manticore gazed down at Vulpie holding Harry's broken body, satisfied with his work, and content to let the girl wallow in her agony.

He had plenty of other hatchlings to kill. The lamia chief among them.

He followed the snake's screams and sobs, and soon he was driving her head onto the ground, paw covering her eyes.

He was finally able to open eyes once more as he had the bleeding lamia under him, body wracked with sobs as his paw wrapped fully around her head.

“Don't worry, child. It'll all be over soon.” He chuckled darkly as he began to apply pressure on her head.

“Y-You idiot! Why would you do that!” Vulpie screamed down at Harry as the boy slowly faded away in her arms. Her best friend, the boy she loved, was fading.

This had all been a mistake. They had thought it was all a game, and they were now paying the price.

“Vul-pie.” Harry whispered raggedly, eyes glossing over as he reached out and touched the kitsune's face. “K-kiss.” 

Vulpie wanted to weep even harder, but in the chaos and terror that surrounded them, she wished to give in to one final moment of bliss, one final moment of happiness, where she could pretend like this had all just been a terrible dream. 

Vulpie dipped down, her still bleeding lips brushing up against Harry's, her blood mixing with her tears as they dripped down the boy's mouth.

She pulled back, “H-Harry… I love you… I'm s-sorry.”

Harry lifted his head, looking as if he was going to say something to her, rasp out some final words.

Then, his body began to glow.

“What?” Vulpie chocked back her sob as she was startled. The glow was faint, at first, then it became blinding, forcing her to close her eyes. 

Waves of warmth began to pulsate outward from him. Vulpie felt safe in their embrace, as if nothing could harm her.

She risked it. She peeked her eyes open to see a figure bathed in light, though it was no longer blinding. 

“H-Harry?”

The figure warped away in a gust of wind. One moment, it was right in front of Vulpie, the next it was gone.

“Come on now, dear, I promise I can still hear you scream!” The manticore shouted down at Delphi as he took his time crushing her head, relishing in her desperate thrashing.

The blows came down like roaring thunder, striking so fast that at first, he saw only the lightspeed flashes, followed by the cannon blast that followed each one.

And then, after some delay, the pain finally arrived.

“AAhhh!” The manticore screamed as his front limb was severed clean off, taken halfway down to the elbow by pinpoint-accurate strikes. Two two sever it, the others to mangle it.

He counted nine in total.

Delphi felt someone pick her up, and then she was taken away in a gust of wind. 

She found herself being gently laid down next to a bushy white tail that could only belong to Vulpie, but she didn't have the energy to try and lift her head. 

“H-Harry, is that you?” Vulpie asked, completely speechless.

She could recognize her best friend's face, but the rest of him had been transformed.

He had silver hair reaching down to his mid-back, along with a pair of tufted white fox ears. His body was slimmer and taller, adding many new tears to his already ruined shirt and pants.

The wound from the manticore's strike had healed, leaving not a trace. And behind him, spread up above his head, Harry now sported nine white fox tails. 

He reached down and touched her face with a clawed hand, the glint coming off his long nails betraying their sharpness.

“Vulpie. Safe.” He said.

“What in the fuck are you?!” The manticore shouted as it hobbled around to face his back.

Harry vanished from Vulpie's view, leaving swirling currents of wind in his wake.

The manticore tensed its muscles in anticipation, digging its stump into the ground as it prepared to take this newcomer's attack head on. He'd been taken unaware beforehand, but now he was ready.

A breeze blew by him before he had time to react. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he turned once again.

The nine-tailed fox had crossed to the other end of the clearing, lifting Susan up onto his arms while he carried Daphne and Fleur on each shoulder.

“H-Harry?” Susan squinted up at him, his emerald green eyes having turned a sharp gold.

“Safe.” He whispered, carrying all three girls as if they weighed nothing at all.

“You dare ignore your opponent?!” The manticore screamed as it prepared to charge at Harry. 

Another whisk of wind and the boy had dissapeared. The manticore was forced to pivot around once more.

Harry was gently placing the girls down on the ground, next to the shellshocked Vulpie, the passed out Lavender and the half-conscious Delphi, in front of the catatonic Crabbe and Hermione, who was staring at him in awe.

The manticore had had enough of being ignored. But more than that, this new creature inspired something in him that was unusual, something he had never felt before.

Fear.

He took in a deep lungful of air, putting all his energy into this attack. The fox had placed all his morsels in one convenient spot, and he would take advantage of it.

Making sure to aim at his opponent’s turned back, he let out the most powerful roar he could muster. Even bracing himself, he was thrown back as the piercing waves of sound cut a deep trench in the ground as they barrelled their way towards the fox, chaotic knives of sound that savagely jostled to be the first to tear through the boy's flesh.

Harry's ears perked up. He didn't turn around. He remained calm, even as Vulpie's eyes widened in fear in front of him.

Thousands of sound blades screeched towards Harry, and with little effort, his tails moved in rapid fire succession, a flurry that turned into a blur as they parried each and every individual slice.

The manticore reared back in fear and horror as his attack was batted back. It was being punched back by the fox's tails, each impact resulting in a spark and a sonic boom. Some waves were completely broken from the impact, while others were sent careening up into the sky. 

And more still were battered back at him. 

He roared as he leapt up into the air to avoid the rebound, but he wasn't quite quick enough, his own waves crashing against his hind legs and knees.

“GAH!” He grit his teeth as he tensed his body as hard as he could muster as deep gashes formed on his legs. He came back down to earth and felt the strain on his tendons as his muscular legs struggled to keep him upright.

He would not dare allow this upstart to think he had him rattled. These were just minor injuries, temprary pain, he would show him.

He cocked back his stinger.

“I want to see you try and parry this!” He yelled out as he thrust his tail forward, another burst of venom ready to be discharged.

His tail would not budge, it would not move. And when he glanced over his shoulder, the reason became apparent.

The fox was holding the base of his tail between his thumb and forefinger, exerting no effort to keep him from moving it.

The fear began to flood him now. “W-What in hell's maw are you?!”

The boy did not respond, he simply moved his arm up, and the hardy exo-skeleton that protected his scale was shucked off as if it had been nothing more than a shrimp.

He screeched now, all composure gone as he was overwhelmed by primal agony and terror. The fox held his torn tail, his stinger limping lifelessly as it dripped its now useless cargo of venom.

The boy tossed the tail aside and looked up at him with those hawkish golden eyes. Eyes that promised no mercy, no space to negotiate.

The manticore shrunk in on itself as it trembled in horror.

Then, the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head. His white hair faded and shortened, his ears and tails disappeared, his aura vanished.

Right in front of him, the boy fainted, falling face first onto the ground.

The manticore dared not move. He dared not approach this creature that had now turned back into a wizarding boy, expecting it to leap back up and tear him to shreds at any moment.

When seconds kept passing and it became clear that the boy was out cold, the manticore let out a shrill, desperate laughter. “OH what twists fate has laid out for us! You gave me quite a scare, boy, but in the end, it was all for naught.”

He turned to look at the hatchlings, wanting to catch a glimpse of their terrified faces before he killed their little mate.

The girls that were conscious were still looking shell-shocked, but they seemed to be staring at something that was over his shoulder.

The manticore turned back around. The boy was still out cold, so what could they possibly be…

There, a few yards away, was a hooded figure, its face obscured in darkness as it floated about a foot off the ground.

The moment he locked in on it, the figure's hands went to the hood, slowly lowering it to reveal a face.

It was a gorgeous female face, smooth grey-blue skin framed by silvery-grey hair. She had a rectangular gem on her forehead made of obsidian, and her eye sockets were completely empty, dark voids that seemed to swirl with a strange, faint light.

The woman's lips, dark purple and tantalizingly full, parted open.

“~BuRst~”

The manticore's body swelled, and then its heart burst, the loud pop followed by a geyser of blood erupting from its mouth. Then the pops continued, one following another as its remaining organs ruptured in rapid succession.

The very earth shook as its body was thrown back violently, exploding in a shower of blood and guts that sprayed all across the clearing.

The manticore's severed head rolled, the face of Fabian Prewett settling to a stop at the feet of Rodolphus Lestrange.

From opposite sides of the clearing, they began to emerge. Lestrange was accompanied by headmaster Dumbledore, while on the opposite end, Gardenia, Amelia, Narcissa, Apolline and Fawkes came out from behind Lady Greengrass.

For one singular moment, silence reigned.