Post by MinnieQuill on Dec 18, 2006 17:16:21 GMT -5
Siren Unveiled
Chapter One:- It was all Seen and Heard from the Tower
Author’s note:- This will follow canon until the moment that McGonagall gets stunned. Then all hell will break loose!
…‘There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people cried ‘Ouch!’ when they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes as they hastened to see what was going out below.
Hagrid’s door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fist, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.
‘No!’ cried Hermione.
‘My dear!’ said Professor Tofty in a scandalised voice. ‘This is an examination!’
But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star-charts any more. Jets of red light were still flying about besides Hagrid’s cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him; he was still upright and still, as far as Harry could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, ‘Be reasonable, Hagrid!’
Hagrid roared, ‘Reasonable be damned, yeh won’t take me like this, Dawlish!’
Harry could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting to defend Hagrid, leaping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground; the man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again. Hermione gasped, both hands over her mouth. Harry looked around at Ron and saw that he, too, was looking scared. None of them had ever seen Hagrid in a real temper before.
‘Look!’ squealed Parvati, who was leaning over the parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where the front doors had opened again; more light was spilling on to the dark lawn and a single, long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn.
‘Now, really!’ said Professor Tofty anxiously. ‘Only sixteen minutes left, you know!’
But nobody paid him the slightest attention: they were watching the person now sprinting toward the battle beside Hagrid’s cabin.
‘How dare you!’ the figure shouted as she ran. ‘How dare you!’
‘It’s McGonagall!’ whispered Hermione.
“Leave him alone! Alone, I say!’ said Professor McGonagall’s voice through the darkness. ‘On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such-’
Hermione, Parvati and Lavender all screamed. The figures around the cabin had shot no fewer than four stunners at Professor McGonagall. Halfway between the cabin and castle the red beams collided with her; for a moment she looked luminous and glowed an iridescent red, then she lifted right off her feet, but remained in the air. Her face was thrust upward and her hair had fallen from its customary bun and now hung to her waist in a dark mass of tumbling waves.
“Look at the lake!” Seamus shouted.
Harry turned his attention to the lake and inhaled sharply. The surface of the great body of water was slowly but surely turning to ice. The water appeared to ripple as the ice spread from the bank until the lake was fully frozen.
“It can’t be,” he heard Hermione breathe, “It’s not possible…”
Harry paid her no heed as the ice began to fracture into long and deadly-looking ice splinters.
“Check out McGonagall!” Dean said breathlessly.
Harry tore his eyes from the ice splinters which were quivering in the air, as if ready to strike. Harry’s Transfiguration Mistress was standing back on the ground, still with her face thrust toward the sky and her eyes closed. Her arms were outstretched with her palms facing upward, in an almost reverential manner. A whirlwind of gold flecks surrounded her, the wind from which made her robes cling to her body highlighting a lithe figure he had somehow never noticed.
The five remaining contingent consisting of four Auror’s and Umbridge stood still as if carved from stone. Their wands were held in front of them, but even from such a far distance Harry could see they were trembling. Hagrid too had stopped flailing his arms about and was watching the scene before him open-mouthed with Fang’s limp form across his shoulders.
McGonagall finally lowered her gaze and looked at the five figures before her with her head tilted slightly to one side. The gold flecks shone brightly sending her face into stark relief against the darkness of the night and a small, almost imperceptible smile flickered across her face as she turned her palms downward. The ice splinters flew across toward her and hovered at her shoulders.
The Auror’s and Umbridge seemed to come to their senses and the air was once again pervaded by the red jets of light that were Stunners. McGonagall’s movement was almost too quick to see as she bent her arms so her hands were level with her shoulders blades and pushed them forward. The ice splinters hurtled through the air as she dove and rolled out of the way of the curses aimed toward her, only to leap to her feet once more in one fluid motion. Harry found himself in awe of his Professor’s agility and poise; even whilst twisting in the air she retained the feline grace of her animagus form. The daggers of ice found their wanted position in the five attacker’s chests and each fell silently to the ground and did not move.
McGonagall moved calmly forward and knelt down at the squat figure that was Dolores Umbridge. She placed two fingers to the side of her neck as Hagrid looked over her shoulder. A short, sharp shake of her head as she reared to her full height once again confirmed Harry’s suspicion.
Dolores Umbridge was dead.
The gold flecks that had surrounded McGonagall in a whirlpool slowly dissipated into thin air, and she turned her attention back to the lake which was still covered in a film of ice. She flicked her hands outwards and immediately the ice melted leaving the lake black and unmoving, with not even a ripple to be seen.
His Professor turned her attention to the limp form of Fang, and she removed her wand from her robe pocket as Hagrid placed him gently on the ground. She must have uttered the counter-curse for Fang leapt from the ground and hurled himself into Hagrid’s arms.
‘Erm, three minutes to go everyone,’ Professor Tofty said softly, also looking over the battlement, in obvious awe at the scene that had occurred below.
Harry paid him no heed as he ran across the open room of the tower, and hurtled down the stairs. From the footfalls behind him, he knew that Ron and Hermione were not far behind, and together they continued their mad dash through the corridors of Hogwarts until they reached the Entrance Hall. Harry motioned for them all to stop as they began to inch forward. They peered around the heavy, oak door and all inhaled sharply.
Professor McGonagall stood with Hagrid talking earnestly. She was gesticulating wildly and flicked her long, black hair over her shoulder irritably. Harry couldn’t stop his mouth from falling open. He’d always thought of his Professor as looking ordinary, but the figure in front of him bore little resemblance to the Minerva McGonagall he knew, and grudgingly respected.
Gone were the square spectacles, presumably lost when she had levitated into the air. Her eyes were a glittering emerald and flashed in the light as she gestured at the five bodies at her feet. Her black hair hung loose to her waist contrasting with her ivory skin which held no blemish or wrinkle. Indeed if he hadn’t known better he would never have associated the woman before him with his Transfiguration Mistress.
He pulled back sharply and turned to Hermione who had a pensieve and calculating expression on her face.
‘Hermione what on earth just happened?’ he demanded in a soft voice.
‘She’s a Naiad,” Hermione said breathlessly, “They’re supposed to be a myth but there can’t be any other explanation.’
‘What does that mean?’ Harry said irritably.
‘A Naiad is a water nymph,’ Hermione said, tearing her eyes away from her favourite Professor. Her eyes were wide and shining as she spoke and he could see that she too, was astonished the events that had just occurred.
‘Why didn’t the stunners have any effect on her? And how did she do that thing with the lake?’
‘A Naiad can control water,’ Hermione said finally looking him directly in the eye, ‘And the reason the stunners had no effect is because they’re immortal. Even Avada Kedavra would not fell a Naiad.’
Harry thought Ron summed up the situation aptly with his next sentence.
‘Bloody hell!’
Author’s note:- This is a challenge from the ADMM board. The prerequisites of which are on my profile. The quotes throughout are from p.636-636 of ‘The Order of the Phoenix.’ As always please review as I need to know the level of interest before I continue seeing as this has the potential to be rather long. Cheers. Minniequill
