The Beast Within - Chapter 16

~
Apologies for he lateness. My power blinked while I had the file open and I had to dig through the temp files to find the work I had lost. This ruined my mood so I had to take some time away from the PC.
~

Harry looked around the restaurant. It wasn't one he recognized or even thought he had ever seen before. On top of all that, each booth was covered for privacy. The scent of the place was a muddled mess due to the variety of odors from people, their clothing, and various selection of food. For some reason the smell of a beetle was really strong too.

"This place is different," Harry said as the curtain for the booth closed.

"It's for Aurors and Ministry employees," Nym explained. "There are obscuration wards that target anyone without a badge."

"Hm," Harry nodded.

"Yes, very interesting," Susan rolled her eyes. "Now, spill. What happened last year?"

"Let me get this all out before you start asking questions," Harry said before he started. "There will be a lot of questions."

Susan nodded in affirmation. Harry then launched into the tale of third year. Sirius being innocent, Pettigrew alive, Lupin the werewolf, getting bitten, and the aftermath.

"Wait," Susan said as his tale came to an end. "Why would you have basilisk venom and phoenix tears in your blood?"

"The basilisk in second year," Harry stated like it was obvious.

"It was a basilisk?!" Susan stared at him in shock.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I thought everyone knew that."

"I'm pretty sure the school would have been closed down if people knew," Susan shifted her gaze from Nym. "Did you know?"

"It was news to me too," Nym said shaking her head. "They said I didn't have enough experience, so I wasn't included in the investigation of recent events at Hogwarts. That didn't stop them from assigning me plenty of paperwork that came from it."

Harry waited for a moment to see if they were being serious. He shook his head when they didn't break into smiles. Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. His faith in Dumbledore had taken a hit lately. It hadn't been a pleasant realization that the Headmaster wasn't exactly good at the job. The old man did have two important jobs on top of Hogwarts. No wonder Professor McGonagall was always so stressed. She was practically running the school, teaching Transfiguration, and the Head of House for Gryffindor. The previous times when the Headmaster wasn't available made a lot more sense now that he thought about it. He'd cut Dumbledore a small amount of slack for now. Though they had removed him as Headmaster. Harry wasn't sure if they took away his other positions too.

"Is there anything else you should tell me?" Susan asked.

"Do you know about First Year?" Harry asked in reply.

"Pretend I don't," Susan said narrowing her eyes. "And tell me more about the basilisk."

Harry launched into the story of his first two years at Hogwarts. He had a sneaking suspicion that she had no idea, judging by the shocked and horrified reaction. Her face went chalk-white when he told her about Voldemort possessing Quirrell. There was a slight return of color when he mentioned the 'Tom Riddle' part of the story.

"Harry," Susan's voice shook. "I need to tell my aunt, now."

"They already did an investigation," Harry motioned to Nym.

"I doubt they knew about V-v-v," Susan took a breath to steady herself. "Voldemort's real name, or origin. They need to know."

"Make sure you mention that Sirius is innocent," Harry said as she gathered her cloak.

"I promise," Susan replied.

She yanked the curtain open and rushed out of the restaurant just in time for the waitress to arrive. Harry cocked his head to the side when the scent of a beetle followed Susan. He didn't think she'd allow a bug to climb over her. She turned to the table with a slight raise of her eyebrows in a quiet question. Nym shook her head. The waitress shrugged in reply, clearly accustomed to strange happenings and quick exits.

"Read to order?" The waitress asked.

~§~

Harry ate four orders of lunch specials meant for an entire table of people. Nym watched in amusement as the waitress came back to clear the plates. Harry covered the bill. He wasn't usually this hungry. Sure, he ate more than he had before the entire dragon thing, but this was more than that.

The only thing that made sense was that it was close to the full moon. If this was how it would go every month then he would need to figure something out. He had heard some Hufflepuffs talking about getting snacks in the kitchen. That was probably the best idea. It was embarrassing enough to have Nym as an audience, he'd be mortified if the entire student body were witness to his bottomless stomach.

"Enjoy yourself?" Nym asked with a little quirk of the lips.

"I think it's the moon," Harry replied with a small blush.

"Any other issues?" Nym asked, the humor in her voice faded a little.

Harry shook his head.

"The noise isn't too much?" Nym asked.

"No," Harry replied with a tired smile. "I adjusted quick enough. The noise and smells just kind of faded once I got used to them. I've never really liked crowds so, that isn't much of a difference. No uncontrollable urges that I notice."

They stopped talking as the waitress came and cleared the table with a flick of her wand. She flashed them a smile when she put the check on the table. Harry reached for his pouch only to be stopped by Nym.

"This is on the Ministry," Nym winked at him.

She pulled a wax stamp from her pocket and pressed it onto the check. The little slip of paper folded up into a little bird and zipped out of sight. Harry was able to track it up until it left through the window. He forced the little pearl of dread down. Hestia was right, he'd let the officials decide if he was still allowed to play Quidditch.

"Ready to go?" Nym asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "The Floo is fun now."

Nym led him deeper into the building. They stepped into another airlock style room with a Floo connection. The door closed once they stepped inside. Nym tossed a bit of powder into the flames. They took turns stepping through. Harry started toward the basement.

"I'm not… right," Harry said slowly as the Moody joined them. "Please lock the door behind me. I was in control last time, but I'd rather be safe."

"Wait a bit," Hestia spoke up. "We need to get some food down there for you."

Frustration began to spark inside of him.

"DOBBY!" Harry tilted his head back and yelled.

The appeared. He cowered in front of Harry. The sight cleared the young wizards' mind in an instant. He knelt to get on eye level with the elf.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly. "It's nearly the full moon and I'm having a hard time. Please forgive me."

Dobby nodded. The motion was muted compared to his usual.

"Did you hear that I was bitten by a werewolf?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Great Harry Potter was attacked," Dobby replied, a little of his usual tone returning to his voice.

"Yeah," Harry took a deep breath and let it out.

They all stared as a twist of smoke twirled from his mouth.

"I'm going downstairs to the basement," Harry explained. "This doesn't feel like the last time, and I don't want to hurt anyone. Can you please put some good-sized chunks of raw meat around the room?"

Dobby nodded. The elf regained his usual energy now that he was given a task.

"Dobby will do as Harry Potter has asked," Dobby popped away a moment later. The elf reappeared in a matter of seconds. "All done. Plenty of meats around the false forest. Dobby made sure to pay the meat-chopper man for the moos." He shuffled his feet. "Dobby used Harry Potter's gold to pay."

"That's fine, Dobby," Harry closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you. I'll do better in the future. If I get like this every month then you should stay away from me."

"No," Dobby shook his head. "Dobby will not abandon Great Harry Potter."

"Be careful around me, please," Harry spoke softly.

Harry hurried through the house. He was down the stairs and stripping out of his clothes as quickly as he could. The water was incredibly enticing and felt just as wonderful on his skin. There were a couple of places that seemed hotter than the rest. He ran his fingers along his skin. Three easily identifiable marks were obvious to be the source.

The bitemarks from each of the dragons. He didn't understand what was going on. There wasn't any reason he could think of for them to be tender. Oddly enough, the werewolf bite didn't cause as much of an issue. He had been unconscious, so he couldn't really compare the experiences. A quick look at his body told him that he wasn't being enclosed in another egg.

It was a little after noon, but he could already feel the pull of the moon. Harry leaned back, floating in the water and drifting into a half-conscious state. He closed his eyes, concentrated on his breathing, and let his mind drift. The water muffled the sound around him. His world shrunk down to the water in which he floated.

~§~

He must have fallen asleep at some point, and he was thankful for it. Hours passed as he drifted in the water. He could feel the steam rising from his body as his natural heat. Oddly enough, the call of the moon soothed him as the volume grew.

Harry swam over to the shore as he felt the changes start. A fire blossomed inside of him. It started around his chest, rushing hard through his bones. His skin began to pull taut, bones cracked as they shifted to their new placement. A new sensation enveloped his body. The feathered mane hardened into something like bone. He hunched over, dropping to his hands and knees as wings erupted from his back. Harry closed his eyes tight, breathing through the foreign sensation. The muscles in his lower back cramped briefly as a tail emerged. It was as long as his legs once it finished growing.

He stood up straight. The shift in added weight from the wings balanced out with the new tail. Harry idly ran a clawed finger along the trio of bitemarks. He hadn't expected this to happen when he had been with the dragons. Not that anyone knew what was possible with his situation. For all anyone knew, this was completely natural. Maybe the next full moon would turn him into an actual dragon rather than this hybrid form.

No, that didn't make sense. Not even magic could make something from nothing. Transfiguration required similar mass for transformation. Reading that in first year had given him a headache, but it made sense as the years went on. It was interesting how much science there was in magic.

His mood had greatly improved now that he had changed forms. The spike in hunger made sense now. He had to gather enough fuel for the new parts that had appeared. Harry spent the next hour relearning how to walk. Moving on all-fours was easier and faster, but he preferred to stand upright. It made him feel more like a person. Unfortunately, the basement wasn't big enough to see if he could fly. Each wing was nearly twice the length of his arms. He could imagine they made for excellent gliding. There would probably some magic in the flying process if it was possible. He didn't think the wings were strong enough to lift him into the air on their own.

Now, all he had to do was to come up with something to pass the time. Next month he was going to get a stash of books or something. Maybe he could get a TV hooked up down here. The enchantments might interfere with the electronics too much for it to work. On top of that, where would the plug go?

~§~

Harry woke up the next morning ravenous. He put on his pants, not bothering with the rest of his clothes. The floor was nice and cool on his bare feet. It was just now five in the morning, Hestia and Nym were still asleep, and Moody was propped up in a chair in the living room. The old man wasn't exactly sleeping, but he wasn't really awake. Harry was glad Moody had stayed the night.

Hestia and Nym were Aurors, but he didn't think they would be enough to stop him if things went wrong. Their training sessions constantly pelted him with a variety of spells that should have put down a grown man. Instead, he was able to shrug them off and keep going. Bludgeoning spells were most effective. Stunners, cutters, and more elemental based attacks were annoying more than anything.

"Tea or coffee?" Harry asked as Moody returned to consciousness.

"I'll make my own," Moody grumbled as he entered the kitchen. "Going to try to rip my head off?"

"Nah," Harry chuckled. "I'd go for your good leg. Even you out."

"Bug up your ass died, eh?" Moody shot back.

"I grew wings and a tail last night," Harry said casually.

"Makes sense," Moody nodded. "Your body needed more fuel."

"That's what I thought," Harry replied. "How do you like your eggs?"