Harlequin paced the common room; the quiet of the holidays had already been replaced by the noise of students once more. The witch went over her latest plot as she walked to and fro. It was a good solid plan, at least to get into Moody’s office, if, of course, Moody was of a friendly disposition to members of the feline persuasion. After that, the witch shrugged to herself, she would figure it out from there. Slipping from the common room, Hel found herself a shadowy alcove to transform from witch to cat. Hel-Cat then began to prowl for her prey.
Winding her way through the halls, Hel-Cat was looking for a particular pair of ankles…Well one particular ankle and one substitute ankle. Spying her goal, the black cat scurried quickly through the small crowd, missing the emptiness that had taken hold the halls over break, but thankful that it was late enough that most students had found their place to settle for the evening.
The black cat slipped in-between Moody’s feet, weaving in and out between the professor’s steps, nearly causing the man to stumble, “bloody…” The professor glanced down to see the sleek black cat looking back up at him, blue eyes shining. “Someone get a new pet over the holidays and forget to keep an eye on it?” Moody questioned, bending down to examining the feline intent on winding itself around his feet. “Good way to get stepped on, lose a bit of tail or something, end up looking like me,” he finished with a bit of a snicker as he picked the cat up, scratching around its neck, in search of collar or tag. “Guess we better see about finding your owner, but…” He looked around for a moment, “I have some stuff to attend to first, so you are just going to have to come with me for a bit.”
Hel-Cat purred contently as Moody carried her through the hall, heading towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, and presumably the safety of his office. This, very well, may have been her best idea for getting within the office. Now, she only needed for him to abandoned said office, while leaving the feline behind for a while. That didn’t seem to be something that was going to occur though, as Moody sat down, placing the cat upon his desk, seeming to be ready to settle in for the night.
Laying upon the professor’s desk, Hel-Cat focused her attention on the trunk, while wishing someone would come along and drag Moody off to do whatever it was that professors do while students are busy being non-classroom inhabiting individuals. The hand that had been scruffing the cats fur paused it’s action, and the man it belonged to let out a slight chuckle. “Hey kitty,” Hel-Cat found herself being picked up and sat gently on the floor, “got something for you to do.” It was at that moment she spotted it, the large brown rat that had crept into the office. “Go get ‘im,” Moody snickered once more.
If a cat could be said to shrug, Hel-Cat certainly did, but always one up for a bit of a lark, and as long as Moody didn’t expect her to eat the rodent, there was no harm in a game of chase. Crouching low, the black cat began its stalking, creeping closer to the rat as it seemed to be looking cautiously around office, not cautious enough though, as it missed her and was startled when the cat bound in its direction.
Rat and cat ran through the office, up over the desk, sending several sneak-o-scopes spinning across and tumbling to the floor. It was a spirited chase, with some close calls and many squeaks, and an array of paper getting scattered along the way. The rat scurried off, tripping over the run where it had become upturned, the cat finally catching up with a pounce, both front paws landing on the animal’s upturned stomach.
Becoming pinned, sense returned to the deeper portion of the brain resting within the rat’s body, and under the cat’s paws rodent became man, as Peter Pettigrew panicked over being a potential cat snack. As rat shifted to man, the startled cat flew backwards, transforming almost instantly back into witch, Harlequin’s blue eyes wide as she stumbled.
“Petrificus Totalus,” the spell hit the witch, knocking her the rest of the way to the floor. “Well,” Moody came to stand between the two prone figures, “that was unexpected.”
“B-Barty,” Peter muttered, his own eyes wide as he looked over at the witch.
Moody held up a silencing hand for a moment, before doubling over. After a few moments of twitching and undergoing his own transformation, Moody was replaced by Barty Crouch Junior. “As I was saying,” he glanced over at the witch, “unexpected. Got yourself into a bit of trouble there, didn’t ya?” The man snickered, then glanced over to where Peter stood, still in his own state of shock. “Eh, don’t look so surprised Wormy, not like you and your friends are guilty of running around like a bunch of animals, unbeknownst to everyone else.”
“Wh-what are w-we going to do?” His eyes continued to linger on the witch. “Sh-she knows…”
“For now,” Barty shook his head slightly, “don’t worry about it.”
“How can I n-not,” sympathy seemed to take over after the shock dissipated, “y-you’re not going to…” he made a slicing motion before his own neck.
The disheveled man looked towards Harlequin, his tongue sneaking out between his teeth, a devilish grin in place, a slight panic stirred within the witch. “Naw,” Barty snickered after a moment, “other ways to deal with the likes of her.”
“B-Barty…”
Barty turned to face Peter, “Wormy,” he said in an exasperated tone, “she’ll be fine, okay? Safe and sound and back to her annoying self in no time.”
“Wh-why is she here?”
Barty pointed to the trunk behind where Peter stood, “that,” he replied, “she’s a bit too curious about what may be in it. Guess it makes sense she’s a cat in her secret life,” the man snickered, turning to look back to the witch, “stubborn as they come too. Must be something they are breeding into the Slytherins.”
“Wh-what are y-you going to do?”
“Want to know, so you’ll quit worrying?” Barty turned towards Peter who nodded slightly, “fine!” He turned his back to the man and knelt down by the witch. “Don’t worry, this isn’t going to hurt. Although,” he smirked slightly, “you might feel a bit disoriented when you wake back up.” Placing his wand next to the witch’s head he quietly whispered, “obliviate.” Standing back up he turned to face Peter once more, “satisfied?”
“Sh-she’s okay?”
“She’s okay,” Barty returned. “Like I told her, she’ll be a bit disoriented, but won’t remember anything from right before when I picked her furry self up in the hall.”
“Y-you could of made her f-forget the trunk.”
A smirk crept over Barty’s features, “yeah, I could have,” he nodded slightly, “but where would the fun in that be. She’s keeping me on my toes,” another snicker escaped the man as his tongue slipped between his teeth once more. “So, down to business?”
***A couple hours later***
Harlequin stirred slightly, her eyes slowly blinking open, “where am I?”
Moody stood above the witch, looking down where she lay on the couch in his office. “Seems you got yourself into a bit of trouble Miss LaCroix.”
Hel sat up, shaking her head slightly, “I don’t remember…”
“That,” Moody pointed towards the trunk, “is guarded quite well. I recommend staying away from it.” Red flushed the witch’s cheeks. “Should have known as soon as the New Year dawned I’d have to be keeping an eye out for you.” To punctuate the statement the blue swirling eye came to rest on the witch. “Now, Miss LaCroix, I suggest you get back to your common room, and stay out of trouble.”
“Yes sir,” Hel returned with a nod as she came to standing, “back to my common room it is. But, as far as the trouble,” she shrugged slightly, a small smirk in place, “I can’t make any promises.”
As the witch crossed through the Defense Against the Dark Arts room on her way out, she could have sworn she spotted a brown rat scurrying off into the shadows. With a slight shrug she dismissed the creatures presence, and head towards the dungeons. |
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