Red's Little Army
"Huff… huff, huff…"
In the Forbidden Forest, hurried footsteps could be heard rushing between the trees with heavy, exhausted strides. Uneven breathing. And a pair of heeled shoes clearly weren't helping her at all, since more than once her ankle nearly twisted, almost sending her crashing to the ground.
The woman running through the forest looked completely panicked. Her clothes were slightly burned, and her handbag, probably one she used to brag about being made of crocodile leather, was now completely ruined. All she had left in her hand was the handle and the upper half of it, ignoring the fact that it was now entirely useless.
She quickly pulled out the wand in her hand and raised it to her head.
But before she could recite an incantation or cast a spell, a ball of red fire shot straight at her, blasting the wand and snapping it in half, barely held together by the inner core like a thin thread.
She turned around so fast she nearly tripped over herself.
From all around her came the sound of quick footsteps circling through the darkness. Small metallic glints. Some feathered ones too. And the entire forest seemed to have gone completely silent except for those footsteps.
"Stop! Please, stop!" the woman screamed in panic, looking all around her in terror, afraid that some beast would suddenly leap out and attack her.
Suddenly, a bush right beside her began to shake violently, making her raise her broken wand and point it toward it.
Even though any spell she cast with it might very well blow up in her own face.
Then, all of a sudden, a little white ball shot out of the bush, making the woman fall backward in fright.
The tiny puff of feathers was none other than a baby hippogriff, which stared at the woman for a moment with tilted curiosity, its little eagle-like eyes locked on her.
And when the woman saw just how small it was, no bigger than a crystal ball, she went completely pale.
Especially when the little one lifted its head and opened its beak.
"No… please, no," the woman said quickly.
But it was already too late.
"SKREEEE!"
The baby hippogriff let out a sharp screech that seemed to echo throughout the entire Forbidden Forest.
And for a brief moment, the sound of footsteps around her seemed to stop.
Before they all started moving at full speed toward that exact spot.
The terrified woman tried to get back up and run.
But before she could even try, what looked like steel birds came diving down from the sky and dropped rectangular objects all around her. The moment they touched the ground, they released metal wires, connecting to each other and rapidly forming a metallic cage around her, trapping her inside.
At the same time, more baby hippogriffs began appearing from the surrounding bushes.
And what looked like several metal beasts too, very similar to the golems used during the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament, though with a few clear differences.
At the center of each one was a glass vial filled with glowing venom, pulsing faintly as it flowed toward their claws or fangs, making them look far too dangerous to be toys.
And all of them swarmed around the cage, making escape completely impossible for the woman.
Meanwhile, the little hippogriffs kept sticking their tiny beaks through the bars to peck at her.
"Stop, stop!" the woman cried, even though the pecks didn't actually hurt that much. It was her fear that made them feel worse than they really were.
Luckily for her, the little ones suddenly stopped and looked behind them.
Then they all ran in that direction while letting out proud little chirps.
The woman followed their gaze as well.
And when she saw what was approaching, her eyes widened in shock.
Or rather… who was approaching.
It was several people, accompanied by a small red dragon proudly walking toward the scene while the baby hippogriffs surrounded him as if they were waiting to be praised.
Behind him…
four very familiar students from Hogwarts.
Harry and his group.
They looked at the woman for a moment with the kind of cold silence that made her panic rise all over again.
"Rita Skeeter," Harry said as he looked at the woman, his voice cold enough to make her flinch. "Honestly, I thought even you would know when to stop. But apparently humiliating Hagrid once wasn't enough for you. You just had to come back and keep pushing, even when the poor man is already having a hard enough time because of you," he added as he stepped closer to the cage, which seemed to tighten slightly as Harry's eyes glowed with a deep crimson light.
"Harry Potter. Is this your doing? What exactly do you think you're doing right now?" Rita asked, trying and failing to sound calm. "Do you even realize you could get in serious trouble for kidnapping someone? And not just anyone, but a renowned reporter who works for the Prophet," she added, trying to intimidate them as if they were children. "You do understand what this could imply, right?" she said quickly.
"Mm. First of all, you're no longer an employee of the Prophet. Not anymore. Same goes for many of the other journalists, and even its editor himself, Barnabas Cuffe. They were all fired," Daphne said with a faint, amused, mocking smile.
"What? When?" Rita asked instantly, utterly shocked.
"It was bought by our families two hours ago. And thirty minutes ago, the editorial changes were made," Draco said calmly.
"Besides, we're not capturing some renowned reporter. We're capturing an illegal Animagus," Hermione added immediately.
"Shut up, you stupid girl, and stop talking about things you know nothing about!" Rita snapped defensively, her face going pale when she saw Harry suddenly pull out what looked like a very familiar journal.
Her personal diary.
She glanced toward her bag for a moment, only now realizing it had been damaged a long time ago and had already lost everything inside.
"She really never learns, does she? After going after our friend Hagrid, it looked like she was about to go after Hermione and Daphne too. I should honestly say you're lucky we found you before this got published. Because if not, the ones coming for you would've been our mothers. And then Azkaban would look like paradise," Harry added as he raised his wand toward Rita, reading what she had been planning to print in next week's paper.
"It's better if you don't read it. I'd rather not witness a murder today. I already have plans later, and they unfortunately involve a certain villainess," Harry said with a faint smile.
Which very likely would have gotten both of his friends insulted, belittled, or maybe even attacked by idiots who would actually believe that kind of garbage.
That only made his anger rise.
Though, obviously, he kept it under control.
Hermione and Daphne leaned over Harry's shoulders, trying to read what Rita had written about them.
But Harry snapped the diary shut and then smacked both of them lightly on the head with it, making them glare at him in annoyance.
"It's better if you don't read it. I don't want to witness a murder. At least not today. I already have a fun date with a villain later," Harry said with a faint smile.
Daphne and Hermione rolled their eyes, while Draco glanced at him slightly with his arms crossed before looking back at Rita, already imagining more or less what this woman might have written about his friends if Harry didn't want them to see it.
"We don't need to talk to her anymore. Let's just inform the adults and let the Aurors deal with this disgusting mess," Draco said, clearly wanting to put an end to the whole annoying situation once and for all.
"Wait. Wait," Rita said in panic.
She already knew that if there was even suspicion that she was an Animagus, there would be plenty of questioning, and the truth could easily come out. Especially for a woman who had made as many enemies as she had.
"I'll… I'll do anything. Whatever you want. Please," Rita said in a state of pure panic.
The four of them looked at her for a moment with a disgust that came from somewhere very deep inside them.
"She's just a poor imitation of a human being. Let's go," Hermione said, giving Rita one last look as the group of four turned around.
Not before Harry raised his wand toward the sky and sent a reddish flare into the air, which would serve as the signal that Rita had been found.
And by now, she had already been under search long before Red, the baby hippogriffs, and the animal golems had started chasing her.
Red proudly walked behind the group, while the little army of hippogriffs marched behind him just as proudly.
Harry turned around for a moment when he noticed that and couldn't help letting out a faint sigh, unsure whether he should be worried or congratulate Red for how he was training the little ones, who clearly wouldn't be the first… or the last.
Maybe it would be best to have someone keep an eye on them from time to time.