Login
MuggleNet Fan Fiction
Harry Potter stories written by fans!

Alexandra Quick and the Stars Above by Inverarity

[ - ]   Printer Chapter or Story Table of Contents

- Text Size +

A Gathering of Witches

In retrospect, Alexandra thought that keeping her mouth shut would probably have been smarter than asking –What for?”

She didn't know where Henry Tsotsie went after leaving her sitting uncomfortably on the cold, hard ground wrapped in silver ropes. He'd taken her wand and her pack, and then he'd taken a leather pouch off his belt, turned it upside-down, and dumped a four-foot rattlesnake onto the ground in front of her.

It coiled up and raised its head and immediately began vibrating its tail with a sound that triggered an instinctive reaction. Alexandra pushed herself backward away from the snake, but the Diné Auror stood behind her, blocking her retreat.

–Stay put and don't move. It won't bite you unless you antagonize it,” he said.

–Are you nuts?” Alexandra asked in a low voice.

–I'll be back. Don't worry, if you make it bite you, we'll probably get you an Antivenom Potion in time.”

–Back from where? This is totally child endangerment!”

Her only answer was a pop, and then she almost fell backward. The snake buzzed again.

Alexandra shivered. Tsotsie hadn't taken her boots away. Maybe she could get rid of the snake with an improvised charm, and then - what? Take off across the desert without her wand, arms tied to her sides?

–I like snakes, honest,” she mumbled. The snake's head swiveled side to side, and it gave another warning rattle.

She sat still until the snake stopped buzzing. You should be hibernating right now, she thought. It probably wasn't very happy about being left out in the cold.

Bruised, bloody, blistered, and exhausted, she began to feel like it wouldn't matter if the snake did bite her. She was more worried about what John Manuelito and his fellow witches were up to. Nonetheless, she found herself nodding off. Her head tilted forward and her eyes closed.

She jerked awake when she heard a pop again, and then Henry Tsotsie was leaning over her.

–Well, I'll be damned,” he said.

Alexandra became conscious of a weight sliding against her chest and belly. She gulped, her throat suddenly very dry. The big rattlesnake had slithered beneath the magical ropes and coiled up inside her jacket. She feared it would be disturbed now by the thumping of her heart.

It didn't start buzzing until Tsotsie slid his hand down the front of her jacket.

–Watch it!” Alexandra said, but he snatched the snake out deftly without touching her or provoking it to strike.

–I gave it some of my body heat before I left,” he said, –but it must have liked yours more.” He held open the pouch at his side, and dumped the snake inside.

–I have a snake familiar, too,” Alexandra said. –Except mine's not poisonous.”

–It's not my familiar. We don't have familiars.” Tsotsie looked at his hand and frowned. –You're bleeding.”

–You didn't notice while you were beating me up?”

–While I was deflecting your curses, you mean.”

–I didn't know you were an Auror. I thought you were a Dark Wizard. It was self-defense.”

The Navajo wizard produced his wand and cast a Light Spell. Alexandra was a little disappointed that he used the same 'Lumos' incantation that other wizards used. He took a closer look at her face.

–Why did you leave me here?” she asked.

–We were inspecting your handiwork.”

–You mean John Manuelito's house? The fire?”

His grave expression turned graver. –What do you know about John Manuelito?”

–He's a Dark Wizard.”

–A friend of yours?”

–Hell no! I came here to, uh, arrest him.”

–Arrest?” Henry Tsotsie's thick black eyebrows scrunched up. –What Territory makes children Aurors?”

–I mean, like, a citizen's arrest.”

Tsotsie gave her a blank look in response.

–I was going to capture him, then call the WJD,” Alexandra said.

She didn't think he believed her. He hauled her to her feet and fastened a hand around her upper arm. Without warning, they Apparated. It did nothing for Alexandra's already disoriented and shaken state. She would have fallen to her knees if he hadn't held her up when they reappeared just off the edge of a dark desert highway. A few feet away, moonlight shined down on a large pickup truck.

Tsotsie opened the passenger side door. –Get in.”

–Can you untie me?”

–No.”

She stared at him, but when she saw he wasn't joking, she stepped up into the cab and squirmed into the seat with difficulty. At least it was more comfortable than the desert floor. He slammed the door shut and walked around the truck, then slid behind the steering wheel and started the engine.

–Look, I'm really sorry,” she said. –I told you, I didn't know you were an Auror.”

–What are you doing here?”

–I told you - I was looking for John Manuelito.”

–To arrest him.” Henry Tsotsie's expression was neutral, but his tone was skeptical. –How did you know where John Manuelito's hogan was?”

–An elf told me.”

Tsotsie turned on the headlights, then rubbed his head as they rolled onto the highway. He'd done that several times now. She supposed Disarming him and dropping him on his head might explain some of his unfriendliness.

–Do you know how much trouble you're in?” he asked.

–You have no idea.”

–I think I do. John Manuelito had a witch's heart even before he went to Charmbridge Academy. Then he came back, and now he consorts with Navajo and belagana witches. You think just because you're in the Indian Territories you can get away with practicing witchcraft here?”

–What's wrong with being a witch? Do Indians only let men practice magic?”

Tsotsie glanced sideways at her. They passed a sign that said Orange Rock was ten miles ahead.

–I don't mean 'witch' the way you do,” he said. –We call anyone who practices evil magic - 'Dark Arts', as you belagana call it - a witch.”

–What do you call a belagana girl with a wand, then?”

–Trouble.” The Auror shook his head. –You're a fool if you think Manuelito won't cut out your heart the moment it suits him. And when I turn you over to the Wizard Justice Department, your fate won't be much better. Help me find him, and I'll speak for you as best I can.”

–Wait, you think I'm his girlfriend or something?” Alexandra was so angry that for a moment she couldn't speak. –John Manuelito tried to kill me! He came to Charmbridge Academy and my home town to get at me. I came here to get him!”

Tsotsie didn't say anything.

–I'm not a witch!” Alexandra said. –I mean, I am, but not a Navajo witch! I mean, obviously I'm not a Navajo but - you know what I mean!”

Tsotsie remained silent.

–Where are you taking me?” she asked.

–Orange Rock.”

–What are you going to do with me?”

–First, get some healing potions and burn salve for your injuries. Then figure out what you're really doing here. Why did you set John Manuelito's hogan on fire?”

–I was attacked by some kind of baby mummy with a monster-head that he left there.”

The skin around Tsotsie's mouth and eyes tightened. She didn't think he bought that any more than the mention of an elf.

–Aren't you even going to search the remains of his house?” she asked.

–Other Aurors are there now. If they find a baby mummy, they'll let me know.”

–Why didn't you arrest him already?”

–We've been hunting for John Manuelito and his fellow witches for months. How did you find him?”

–I told you -”

–An elf.”

–Why are you asking me questions if you're not going to believe me?”

He kept driving. They were not heading toward the town of Orange Rock - they were heading for the towering rock itself, the immense landmark that cast a ruddy orange reflection even in the moonlight.

–If you didn't know where John's house was, how did you find me?” she asked.

–The Trace.”

Alexandra was startled. –The Trace?”

–You attacked someone in Farewell, broke into a motel, then cast more spells as soon as you got to Orange Rock. You'd left the library before I got there, but it wasn't hard to figure out who the white girl was that everyone was talking about. Apparently you think the rules about underage use of magic don't apply in the Indian Territories.”

–You Trace underage witches and wizards too?”

–Not ours. But we like to know when strangers come into Dinétah and start waving their wands around. I picked up your Trace from Central Territory.”

–Maybe if you'd been Tracing John Manuelito before he got kicked out of Charmbridge Academy, you'd have known what he was up to,” Alexandra said bitterly.

The Auror was silent for a long time after that. They left the highway and began driving along a dirt road toward the massive formation rising out of the desert floor.

–Is your headquarters under Orange Rock?” she asked.

He slammed on the brakes. Alexandra hadn't been able to put her seat belt on with her arms bound to her sides, and Tsotsie hadn't put it on for her, so her face almost went into the dashboard before he grabbed her.

–Why would you ask that?” he demanded.

She blinked at him. –I saw on the maps and geography books at the library, Orange Rock is like a big sacred site for Navajos, right? So maybe it was a place of power for Indian wizards, before the Confederation, um, sealed it off.”

Tsotsie began driving again. They didn't drive directly to the massive rock, however. When they were about a mile from it, they went off-road and detoured around it, heading toward a much smaller rock formation. It was an impressive landmark in its own right, towering hundreds of feet above the desert floor like the jagged spines of some ancient, petrified monster, but dwarfed in proximity to Orange Rock, it was easy to overlook.

The old, battered double-wide trailer sitting next to it looked entirely out of place, like a discarded beer can. Tsotsie drove right up to it and parked next to the only other vehicle, an old gray jeep.

Alexandra squinted at the trailer and tried to see it as a Muggle, which now that she'd gotten used to seeing as a witch was harder to do. It was not so much a matter of 'turning off' her witch-sight, but looking at what was there if she ignored it. Without her witch-sight, only the jeep stood out in the jumble of rocks.

–That's kind of an ugly thing to use as a wizard meeting place,” she said.

–Yes, it is.” Tsotsie got out of the truck and came around to open her door, and helped her out a little bit more gently than when he'd dragged her into the truck.

–Why don't you make it one of those round traditional buildings?” she asked.

–A hogan.” He gripped her upper arm and led her to the door to the trailer.

Alexandra wasn't surprised when he opened the door and the interior was, in fact, a vast round chamber that was much larger than the trailer outside. They stepped into what seemed to be a mud-walled dwelling of great size with a hard-packed dirt floor and openings leading off to other chambers. Some of these had dirt floors, but in one Alexandra saw sand that didn't match the color of the desert outside. There were men and women moving around between the rooms, all of them Indians, mostly dressed in practical Muggle clothing, though Alexandra saw a few beaded vests and one man carrying a long wooden stick that could have been a wand except that it was too thick and had an eagle's claw at one end.

Henry Tsotsie led Alexandra into a small, round room with a bench and a cot. It took her a moment to realize that it was a prison cell. He gestured with his wand, and the silver ropes around her loosened and fell off, disappearing before they hit the ground.

He stepped back into the larger room outside, and cast a spell that caused a glowing line to materialize across the threshold.

–Age Line,” he said. –Don't try to leave.”

–I have to go to the bathroom,” Alexandra said.

–I'll have a Healer here shortly. Once she examines you, you can use the facilities.” He noted the expression on her face, and for the first time, he showed a hint of a smile. –I suppose you thought you'd have to use a clay pot or a hole in the ground?”

She glared at him, but he was already walking away.

She tested the Age Line, of course. Not that she would try to escape, or even leave her cell. But she had to test it. She held a hand out cautiously, and felt neither pain nor resistance. She could reach outside the room. She tried taking a step, and at the point where her balance would have shifted over the line, she was stopped by an invisible barrier. She leaned against it, and found herself held up by the barrier. It seemed pretty effective.

She couldn't help wondering what would keep her from Apparating out, or trying to go through the walls if she knew the right spells. And if she had her wand. She supposed they had ways to prevent that as well. She lay down on her back on the cot and stared up at the brown mud ceiling. Contemplating escape was just something to occupy her mind anyway. She had no idea what she was going to do now.

She didn't nod off this time. She was in too much pain. Her face and hands hurt, and so did the scratches and bruises where the creature in John Manuelito's hogan had clawed and bitten her. When a woman walked into the room, Alexandra turned her head in the newcomer's direction, but barely had the strength or will to sit up, so she didn't.

–You tested the Age Line,” the woman said. She was about Claudia's age. She had lighter skin than Henry Tsotsie, and was wearing a long black dress with a red and white shawl twisted around her shoulders. She had blue cloth wrapped around her wrists and her jet-black hair was tied up in a bun with red string.

–How do you know?” Alexandra asked.

Amused, the woman leaned over her and took a strand of Alexandra's hair and tugged at it to hold in front of Alexandra's eyes. It was white.

–It turned my hair white?” Alexandra groaned. –Is that permanent?”

The woman's smile faded. –Henry just left you lying here covered in blood and blisters?”

–I think I made him angry.”

The woman's expression was serious now. –Consorting with witches will make people angry in these parts. You're a foolish little girl. Do you have any idea what you're messing with?” She put a hand beneath Alexandra's shoulder. –Sit up, please.” She had brought a leather purse into the room with her, which she now unslung and set on the floor. She proceeded to take potion bottles out of it.

Alexandra told her, –I wasn't consorting with witches. I came here to bring John Manuelito to justice for what he did to me and my friends. I don't understand why you're assuming I'm an... evil witch. None of you have even asked me my name.”

–Your name is Alexandra Quick.” The woman smiled at Alexandra's startled reaction. –We went through your pack. Henry is contacting the Central Territory Trace Office now. We'll know all about you soon enough. My name is Billi Tewawina, by the way.” She displayed a long, thin wand with bits of colored paint at the end of it, and conjured a plain, woven curtain that materialized in the air and hung across the doorway without visible support. –I think you'll need to take your clothes off if you want me to heal all those wounds.”

Alexandra peeled off her jacket, and then a little more reluctantly, took off her shirt and her pants, after very carefully sliding off her Seven-League Boots and setting them on the cot next to her. Tewawina sucked on her lower lip when she saw the raw, bloody patch of skin just below Alexandra's navel and the gash in her neck.

–Lie down,” she said, and Alexandra did. Tewawina cast a spell Alexandra recognized as a basic blood-clotting charm on her neck, then poured some oil on the lower wound and rubbed it against her. It stung at first, and Alexandra winced.

–Something evil did this,” Tewawina said.

–No kidding.” Alexandra showed the Healer her wrist, which was bruised and cut from the creature's beak, and then pointed at her knee. –It was this... mummy or skeleton, but it was the size of a child. It attacked me -” She stopped when she saw Billi Tewawina's horrified reaction. –What?”

Tewawina muttered something in a language Alexandra didn't recognize. Then she said in English, –I need to tell Henry about this.”

–I tried to. He didn't believe me.”

The Healer put burn salve on Alexandra's face and hands and used charms and lotions on all the bruises and cuts she'd acquired from ankle to shoulder. –Some of these will leave scars, even with magic,” Tewawina said. –You'll have a scar here.” She laid a fingertip gently on the skin of Alexandra's lower belly. –And here -” She pointed at Alexandra's neck. –And probably here,” she added, holding up Alexandra's wrist, –though the cut is not deep and a Blessing just might rid your flesh of the evil.”

–Like an Indian blessing?” Alexandra asked.

–Like that, yes. Don't worry, I learned the same magical theory and Healing arts you Colonials do.”

–I wasn't worried, and I'm not a Colonial.”

Tewawina looked with amusement and a little sympathy at the nearly naked girl on the cot. –You are one pale paleface. And you're a paleface witch, which makes you a Colonial.”

–Oh.” Alexandra sighed. –You guys really don't like white people much, do you?”

Tewawina laughed. –Some of my best friends are white people.” She waved her wand and conjured a robe, which she handed to Alexandra. –I think this will be more comfortable than these burnt, bloody things.”

–Thank you.” Alexandra took the robe. While she put it on, she asked, –So what's going to happen to me?”

–I'm going to tell Henry about your injuries. I suppose he'll have some more questions for you. I don't know why you came here, but you're a foolish girl.”

This had already been said, and Alexandra had already answered, so she didn't reply this time. Tewawina got to her feet.

–Can I use the bathroom?” Alexandra asked.

Tewawina sucked on her lip again, then nodded. –Don't make trouble. I'm a Healer, not an Auror, but I can still curse you good.” She leaned closer and whispered in Alexandra's ear: –Special Indian curses.” The Healer banished the Age Line and walked her through the doorway.

Alexandra didn't get to see much more of the interior of this strange headquarters, as the restroom turned out to be right next to her 'cell.' It had ordinary tile flooring and plumbing no different from that at Charmbridge. Billi Tewawina waited, then led Alexandra back to her cell and cast an Age Line just as Henry Tsotsie had.

–If you're smart, you'll cooperate with Henry and have nothing to do with John Manuelito or any other two-heart Navajos,” she said.

–Thanks,” Alexandra said.

–When Navajos go bad, they go really bad,” Tewawina said, and left Alexandra alone.

Keeping an eye on the doorway, Alexandra took the map and the scrap of vellum that she had recovered from John Manuelito's house out of her pocket.

The map had been opened and folded to a section of desert to the west of Orange Rock, near the Arizona border. Alexandra studied the map and the charred piece of vellum, trying to correlate what had been on the now-incinerated portion with the features of the topographical map. There was a small range of flattened hills extending in a roughly northwesterly direction that might have been the valley on the vellum map, and the 'tower' she thought John had drawn seemed to be located in the hard terrain north of the hills, at the base of a mountain range that rose up to fold into the Rockies.

Between them was nothing but high desert.

She put the pieces back into her pocket and lay back on the cot. She rolled her singed jacket, still smelling of smoke, under her head and fell asleep.

She woke when someone kicked her cot. She roused and sat up, and found herself looking up at the unfriendly face of Henry Tsotsie.

He dumped some clothes in her lap. –These should fit you, more or less. Get dressed. You won't really fit in wearing robes on the Reservation - not that you're going to be here very long.”

–Where am I going?” Alexandra asked, looking at the jeans and long-sleeved pullover, both of them a little large for her and faded with wear.

–Back to Central Territory.”

–What?” Alexandra couldn't read the Auror's expression.

–Apparently you're well known back home. A Special Inquisitor Diana Grimm will be waiting to pick you up at the Portkey Station personally. I'm guessing you know her, since she obviously knows you.”

–Yeah, I know her.” Alexandra's fingers dug into the clothes on her lap. –So, just like that, you're going to send me back by Portkey? What about John Manuelito?”

–John Manuelito is our problem.”

–He's not just your problem. He's -”

–Yes, we appreciate you coming to Dinétah to catch Dark Wizards for us. We Indians can always use help from fourteen-year-old white girls. But we'll take it from here. Come on.” Tsotsie turned his back on her and walked out of the room. She followed him, and he pointed at the restroom. –Use the facilities if you have to and change. We have a long drive ahead of us and I don't plan to stop.”

Alexandra went into the restroom and put on the pants and shirt under the robes Billi Tewawina had given her. As she expected, they were loose on her. When she emerged, the Navajo Auror walked outside. She followed him sullenly.

The jeep was gone, but his pickup truck was there. The sun was up, and high enough that Alexandra realized she must have slept longer than she'd thought. She'd been able to wash her face in the restroom, but she hadn't had a shower since the previous evening in the motel room. She felt grimy and sweaty. Her stomach rumbled when she smelled cooked food upon opening the door to the truck. Tsotsie gestured at a paper bag sitting on the divider between the front seats. –Breakfast. Enjoy it. We won't be stopping to eat along the way.”

She got into the truck, and asked, –What about my backpack and my wand?”

–Your backpack is back there.” Tsotsie gestured with a thumb at the truck bed behind them. –Minus a couple of the illegal items. I have your wand. I'll give them both back to you just before you take the Portkey back to Central Territory.”

The paper bag contained a fat breakfast burrito wrapped in foil and a cup of hot tea. Alexandra unwrapped the burrito and said, –Thank you. For the food, I mean.”

Tsotsie grunted as they headed away from the trailer. Orange Rock cast a long shadow over them. Seen up close in the daylight, it was even more magnificent than it had been at night, with enormous spurs of rock thrusting hundreds of feet out of the ground. Most of its upper ridge was made up of jagged, toothy stone formations along a quarter-mile profile, except for a slightly flat area at the very crown of the monument, with a straight lip overlooking the desert between it and the town named after it.

Alexandra thought she could feel power residing in its stony heart, but she wasn't sure that wasn't her imagination. It was such an impressive natural wonder, standing alone here in the desert, a million-year-old sentinel, she supposed Muggles, too, would feel something in its presence.

–This was a place of power for you once, wasn't it?” she said.

–It still is.” But Tsotsie barely glanced at the rock, while Alexandra continued staring at it until it was behind them.

–Does that mean you can still use it to... do magical rituals?” Alexandra asked.

–You think like a wizard,” Tsotsie said.

–Isn't that what you are?”

The Navajo shrugged.

–Not every Indian can do magic, right? You've got wizards and Muggles just like we do.”

–We don't call people who don't do magic 'Muggles.'”

Alexandra frowned and ate more of the breakfast burrito. They seemed to be heading northeast, getting on a state highway that bypassed Farewell and headed for the Colorado border.

–How far away is this Portkey, anyway?”

–A little over a hundred miles.”

–There's no Portkey anywhere closer?”

–We don't like Portkeys in Dinétah. They make it easier for wizards to visit us.”

No Automagicka either, I'll bet, Alexandra thought. She waited until she had finished her burrito before asking, –Have you found John Manuelito?”

–I told you, leave that to us.”

–How about the thing that attacked me? Did you find bones or anything?”

–There was nothing left in the ashes. I don't know what sort of creature you fought, but it's burned up now. Maybe it was an elf.”

Alexandra almost choked on her tea. –I wasn't imagining it, and Ms. Tewawina wasn't imagining my injuries when she treated me!”

–I didn't say you imagined it. When we catch John Manuelito, we'll ask him what it was and let you know if you need any additional treatment. I hope Billi didn't fill your ears with stories about corpse sickness and Nemesis Spirits. She believes anything dark and evil where Navajo witches are concerned. As if Hopi witches are any better.”

Alexandra would very much like to have asked about 'corpse sickness' and 'Nemesis Spirits,' but she was certain the Navajo Auror would not answer, so instead she said, –So you haven't caught him.”

The Auror didn't say anything, and looked angry at having given that much away.

Half an hour later, they were on a lonely desert highway with no other vehicles or signs of habitation in sight. Every now and then they passed a road sign or mile marker, and sometimes Alexandra could see small dwellings, wooden fences, or sheep in the distance, but it was an empty, sparsely inhabited land they were driving through.

–I don't want to go home,” Alexandra said, looking out the window.

A minute passed. Then Tsotsie said, –Dinétah is not a destination for runaways. We don't need outsiders coming here causing trouble.”

–You know, I could actually be helpful.”

–You've been very helpful. Vandalizing cars, burning down houses, attacking Aurors.”

–That's not fair. You don't know the whole story, any of it. And if I were just a clueless outsider, how did I find John Manuelito's hogan?”

Henry Tsotsie gave the appearance of thinking that over, then said, –So how did that turn out for you?”

–I didn't know John wouldn't be home -”

–You mean you came all the way from Central Territory to Dinétah to track down a Navajo witch in the middle of the desert and it never occurred to you that he might not be sitting in his hogan waiting for you to show up?”

–I was going to wait -” she said, but Tsotsie cut her off again.

–You were going to wait, but since you're young, you chose not to, and instead you decided to go into the hogan of a Navajo witch and trip every ward and curse he left behind. And because you're such a talented young witch, you survived, but not without burning down the hogan and destroying every piece of evidence we might have used to find out where John Manuelito is and what he's up to.”

–I didn't know there was a Dinétah Auror Authority to contact -”

–Just like you didn't know we had a Trace Office. I suppose you would have contacted us, if you'd known?” Tsotsie looked at her, but then his eyes moved past her shoulder. Alexandra turned her head and something gray blurred past in the scrub along the side of the road. –So the result of your adventure in the Indian Territories is that after assaulting someone in Farewell -”

–He assaulted me!”

–How about that, a fourteen-year-old runaway running into trouble. So after assaulting someone and breaking into a motel room in Farewell, you came to Orange Rock and destroyed someone's car.”

–They were assholes! I was minding my own business and they -”

–They what? Teased you? Made fun of the white girl?” Tsotsie turned a narrow gaze on her. –You seem very familiar with 'Muggle' tools and culture. Did you grow up with non-magical people?”

–Yes.”

–Have you ever been picked on by Muggles back home?”

Alexandra opened her mouth, but wasn't sure what to say.

–So, when that happens,” Tsotsie went on, –do you use your wand on them? Or do you only feel entitled to do that in Indian Territory?”

Alexandra closed her mouth.

–Do you have any idea how much it costs to replace a car engine?”

Alexandra looked away.

–If it were up to me, we'd put you under an Enemy's Bane and keep you here as punishment. But Special Inquisitor Grimm wants you back. I hope she's got special plans for you.” Tsotsie sounded bitter, almost spiteful - though Alexandra wasn't sure whether it was directed at her or Diana Grimm.

–I think the Dark Convention is going to do something tonight,” Alexandra said, thinking about the map in her pocket. –I think John is planning something for the full moon.”

–Witches often gather and perform rituals beneath a full moon. We know how to defend against them.”

–Do you know where? Because I think I know where they're planning to gather.”

–Did an elf tell you this, too?”

–No.” Alexandra folded her arms. The Auror obviously wasn't taking her seriously.

Something came flapping at them, a black bird that dove at the truck and swerved away just in time to avoid being flattened against the windshield.

–Alexandra!” screeched the bird, and then it was beating its wings furiously to try to keep up with them.

–Charlie!” Alexandra shouted in disbelief.

–What?” Tsotsie looked in the rear view mirror.

–Stop the truck! Stop!” Alexandra almost grabbed the wheel, before the Auror seized the front of her shirt and nearly slammed her against the passenger-side door.

–Don't you ever do that while someone is driving, you crazy girl!” he said.

She pried at his fingers. –That's my familiar!”

–What?”

–My familiar! My raven! Please - please stop!”

–You never told me you had a familiar with you.”

–I - I didn't. I left both my familiars back in Larkin Mills. I have no idea how Charlie got here, but it's Charlie, I know it is. Please, you wouldn't force me to leave my familiar behind, would you?” Charlie was still flying after them, but a raven could not keep up with a vehicle on a highway, even if it wasn't the Automagicka.

–You just said you did leave your familiar behind.” But Tsotsie put his foot on the brake and pulled over to the side of the road. He drew his wand. –Stay in the truck.”

–It's just my familiar!” Alexandra said.

–I don't care what you think - ravens are deceitful creatures, and that may not be your familiar. Stay in the truck!” He snapped the last order out as Alexandra was about to open the door. He pointed his wand at her. She took her hand off the latch.

–Please don't hurt Charlie,” she begged, so earnestly that the hardness around his eyes softened, just for a moment. He stepped out of the truck, and Alexandra watched fearfully as the Navajo faced the raven, who flew in a circle around them.

–Alexandra! Alexandra!” Charlie called, and it was all Alexandra could do not to open the door and jump out. It was Charlie - she could feel it.

–I'll be damned,” Tsotsie said, after chanting a few words quietly under his breath. –Well, it's a raven all right.”

Alexandra didn't wait; she opened the door, ignored the Auror's scowl of annoyance, and stepped onto the shoulder of the road. –Charlie!”

The raven landed on her outstretched arms, but pecked her as she tried to pull her familiar closer to her. –Wicked! Wicked! Wicked!”

–Missed you terrible,” Alexandra said.

–Big fat jerk!” Charlie took off and circled her again, cawing angrily.

–Talkative bird,” Tsotsie said.

Alexandra knew Charlie would be angry at being left in Larkin Mills. She had assumed that her mother (Claudia! she corrected herself angrily) would at least feed and water her pets, not simply let them outside. She'd felt guilty every time she'd thought of them. That Charlie could find her, even in New Mexico, didn't surprise her that much, but she was mystified by the bird's agitation. It wasn't just the resentment she had expected. Charlie was disturbed by something. It was almost as if the raven was trying to warn them -

–Something is wrong,” she said.

–Wicked!” Charlie said, and landed on the hood of the truck and cawed. –Fly, fly!”

–Get in the truck,” Tsotsie said. –I don't like ravens. If it's coming along, you'd better silence it.”

–Ravens are wise birds,” Alexandra said. –I think Charlie is trying to warn us about something.”

–Fly, fly!” Charlie said.

To her surprise, the Auror didn't scoff at her or order her into the truck again. Instead, he studied Charlie, then reached for his leather pouch. He turned it upside down, and Charlie screeched and took off as the large rattlesnake slid out onto the metal hood, coiled, raised its head to taste the air with its tongue, and then began shaking its tail.

Tsotsie looked down the road in the direction the snake was flicking its tongue. Alexandra could see only more highway and endless desert, and mountains on the horizon.

–Something is wrong,” Tsotsie said.

–Duh,” Alexandra said. –How come you believe your snake but not my raven?”

Tsotsie eyed her. –You don't know the kind of magic I'm using, and you sure don't know how to talk to snakes.”

–How do you know? Maybe I can talk to snakes.” Alexandra had taken a few steps back, because she didn't like being within striking range of an agitated rattlesnake, but she watched it with interest. –You have a link with it, just like I have a link with my familiars -”

–It's not a familiar,” Tsotsie said.

–Whatever.”

Tsotsie grabbed the snake as if unconcerned that it might strike, but Alexandra noticed that he grabbed it behind its head before pushing it back into his leather pouch.

–Get in the truck,” he said. –Now.”

She got in, and pleaded with Charlie: –Come on, Charlie.”

She was worried Charlie might not come, either for fear of the snake or anger at her, but the raven landed in her lap and pecked at her arm. –Wicked, wicked!”

She slammed the door shut before Charlie could take off again, and to her surprise, Tsotsie jerked on the wheel and kicked dirt up as he swung the truck around to point back the way they'd come.

–Where are we going?” she asked.

–Do you know how to cast a Silencing Charm?” He floored the accelerator, throwing her back against the seat. Charlie's flapping wings buffeted her face.

–Quiet, Charlie,” she murmured, holding the raven against her despite the bird's protests.

Tsotsie slammed on the brakes again, almost sending Alexandra pitching into the dashboard. She still hadn't fastened her seat belt.

Someone was standing in the road ahead of them. Two, then three more people materialized out of the air. One was a woman, the others were men. All of them were Navajos, dressed in rugged outdoor wear: coats and jackets, hats and headbands, boots and leather shoes. Except for one man. He was bare-chested except for a silver necklace beneath a brown cloak of animal pelts. He wore leggings, deer-hide wrapped around his calves and tied in place with bandanas, and moccasins. Standing among the other Indians who were dressed more modernly and practically, he seemed completely out of place, but the cold didn't seem to bother him.

–Alexandra Quick,” the bare-chested man said, grinning with feral delight. –It is you!”

Alexandra's blood ran hot and cold. –John.”

–Wicked!” Charlie cried.

–Stay in the truck,” Tsotsie said.

–What are you going to do?” Alexandra saw that all of the Indians were holding wands, and wished desperately that she had her own.

–Stay,” he repeated, in a tone one might use to order a dog. Alexandra bristled and held Charlie close to her while the Auror got out of the truck and faced the group.

–Have you all taken up the Witchery Way?” he asked. –You've joined this ’Ánt’įįhnii?” He gestured with contempt at John.

–You call any magic your grandfather didn't teach you Witchery,” John said.

–Is this the witch who's been cursing people all over the reservation?” one of the men asked, pointing at Alexandra.

–No,” Tsotsie said. –She's just a white girl who wandered off her own reservation.”

–Why are you protecting this belagana?” the woman in the group demanded. She wore pants and a cotton shirt beneath a long duster, and she held her wand in a gloved hand. There were streaks of silver in her long black hair and she might have seemed grandmotherly except for her vicious expression.

An argument in Navajo commenced. Alexandra couldn't understand any of it, except that she was obviously the topic being debated, and while Henry Tsotsie tried to reason with the yelling group, John Manuelito said nothing, merely folded his arms and regarded them all with a look of smug satisfaction.

She glared at him, wishing she had her wand. He gave her a slow wink.

Charlie flapped and beat wings against her face again, shrieking, –Wicked! Wicked!”

–I know, Charlie,” she said.

Charlie pecked her ear, and when she yelped, the raven pecked the little glass window looking out the back of the truck's cab. She turned, and what she saw made her grow cold. A gray, yellow-eyed coyote and two black owls were sitting on either side of the road behind them. The coyote crouched low, and began padding toward the truck.

Alexandra slid across the seat to the driver's side.

–Hand her over!” shouted one of the men in English. –Let us put an end to the evil she's responsible for!”

–She's not responsible for any evil,” Tsotsie said.

John spoke up for the first time since the argument began. –Don't you get tired of protecting white people and following their rules?” He said this with the smirk of someone standing at the edge of a fire and poking it with a stick.

–This is the boy who went to the white man's school and brought the white man's evil back to us,” Tsotsie replied. –All of you are letting this two-heart poison your minds. He's the one performing Witchery Way ceremonies - stop listening to his voice whispering in your ears and listen to the truth!” Then he switched back to Navajo, but when Alexandra stepped out of the truck, he hissed at her: –I told you to stay in the truck!”

–Behind us,” she said.

–Do you think I didn't notice?” He grabbed her roughly and started to shove her back into the truck, but at that moment, one of the men on the road raised his wand. The Auror blocked the black bolt that shot from the other man's wand, but the silver-and-black-haired woman whipped her wand in a circle, and all four tires of the truck burst. One of the other men cast a Levitation Spell that flipped the truck onto its side. Tsotsie bellowed, –Protego Totalus!” and hexes and curses rebounded off his golden shield and struck the road, melting holes in the asphalt or shattering into black beads.

Charlie flew out of the half-open door that was now facing the sky. The owls that had been sitting by the roadside snapped alert. One spread its dark, mottled wings and rose into the air after the raven.

–Give me my wand!” Alexandra said to Tsotsie, as he kept a hand around her arm while countering the spells the mob was casting at them. John remained standing where he was, but the others were circling around them, and Alexandra could see the Auror couldn't deflect attacks from all directions.

–Not a chance,” Tsotsie said. The coyote had almost reached the truck before the vehicle flipped over, and it was now crouching to spring at them. Tsotsie uttered something in Navajo while pointing his wand, and the coyote yelped and rolled to the ground pawing at its mouth, which was suddenly full of fizzy green foam. One of the men threw a Stunner at Tsotsie, having edged around his Shield Spell, and the Auror deflected it back at him, but the man jumped aside. John was raising his arms.

Alexandra pleaded with Tsotsie: –I know how to duel. Don't leave me helpless while they're trying to kill me! At least let me Shield myself so you don't have to!” She watched in agony as the owl continued ascending in pursuit of Charlie, talons extended.

Tsotsie threw both of them to the ground as one of the men conjured a swarm of bees. The air vibrated as they hummed overhead. Tsotsie thrust his arm straight into their midst and rotated it, and a whirlwind roared around them, lifting their hair and blowing the bees in all directions. He rolled off of Alexandra and reached into his jacket with a grimace.

–Protect yourself only,” he said. –These people have been witched.” His fist emerged from his coat clenching her wand, and he pressed it against her chest and thrust her to the ground with a thump. He fixed his eyes on hers for just a moment, even as he made two of the Indian wizards duck a spell from his own wand. –Hurt them, and I swear I will see that you never do magic again.”

Pinned to the ground with the Navajo Auror leaning over her, Alexandra nodded.

He relaxed his grip, and she snatched her wand from his hand even as he rose and spoke something that sounded like a cough. Hot red clouds billowed out of his wand and engulfed the nearest man, who covered his face with a sleeve and began sneezing and choking.

The earth shook, but Alexandra staggered to her feet anyway, pointed her wand skyward, and said, –Barak!”

It wasn't a dueling spell, but one her brother had taught her. Lightning flashed from her wand, and her arm was momentarily ablaze. Throwing real lightning was dangerous, and Alexandra hadn't mastered it. But the owl fell from the sky trailing smoke. Alexandra winced when it turned into a man just before hitting the ground.

Two yards away, the coyote had regained its feet and crouched, growling at her. She pointed her wand, with smoke still rising from her sleeve.

–Run,” she said. The 'thud' of the other shapeshifter hitting the ground echoed in her ears, and her arm hurt as if she had been the one hit by lightning, but her voice didn't quaver and her expression was flat and cold.

The coyote's ears flattened and with a whimper, it fled, tail between its legs. Alexandra felt relief and a small sense of victory before the ground buckled beneath her and rose up, throwing her off her feet and almost throwing the truck on top of her. The highway was rippling as if a great wave were passing beneath it, and then something rose out of the ground on the other side of the road - a massive head, arrow-shaped and blunt-nosed like a great serpent, but made of rock. Stone fangs hung from the roof of its mouth like stalactites, each the length of Alexandra's leg.

Lying on her back, she stared up at it and wondered if a lightning bolt would have any effect whatsoever. She thought of Shattering Spells, Severing Charms, even Caedarus, and was sure none would be sufficient. This sort of magic needed to be undone directly, and all she knew how to undo were minor curses and jinxes. Whatever spell John Manuelito had cast over the other people attacking them seemed to have been broken by the stone serpent's appearance; they, too, were fleeing. She saw Charlie wheeling in the sky.

She cast a Shield Charm. Henry Tsotsie did the same. She sprang to her feet and leaped as the snake struck. The Shield Charms deflected it by an arm's length, and that plus the Seven-League Boots carried Alexandra out of its path before it bit a car-sized chunk out of the road. She almost knocked the Auror off his feet as she sailed into him and rebounded, but she was the one knocked flat on her back. He gave her an odd look, then began chanting as he held up his leather pouch.

Kind of an uneven match, she thought dizzily, as the rattlesnake fell from Tsotsie's pouch to the ground. But as Tsotsie continued chanting, the rattlesnake swelled in size. As the stone serpent slithered sideways, tearing up the road beneath it, the real serpent became the size of a python, then larger than the largest python that ever lived, and then by the time the stone snake had raised its head high above the highway to strike again, the rattlesnake was nearly as large as it was. The two snakes crashed together, their coils wrapping around one another, and the massive rattle of Tsotsie's snake swept them both off the highway just before the stone tail of the other snake smashed into the asphalt.

Alexandra coughed and rolled onto her side. Tsotsie was pointing his wand at her and for a moment she thought he was about to hex her. Then he said –Petrificus Totalus,” and a man crashed to the ground at her feet, holding a knife in one hand and a wand in the other. He looked incompletely transformed, with his head rounded and squat on his shoulders, his neck non-existent and still sprouting downy black owl-feathers, and his hands twisted into gnarled claws. Alexandra stood up and saw John Manuelito watching them from across the highway. The other people who'd come with him - except for the shapeshifters - were stunned or unconscious on the ground. Alexandra cast darts and fireballs at John, but he Apparated out of the way, and when he reappeared, he was even further away. She looked over her shoulder - the giant snakes were still thrashing about in a death-lock and she had no idea which one was winning.

Henry Tsotsie got to his feet. –You're a coward!” he yelled at the younger Navajo. –A black, two-hearted coward! You brought contagion and sickness to Dinétah!” He added something in Navajo which made Alexandra think of the times she'd heard Anna curse in Chinese.

John laughed. –Wolves and sheep, Henry Tsotsie. Everyone is one or the other. You rolled over for the belagana wolves like all the other Diné who lick Colonial boots.”

Tsotsie growled. –What do your friends call themselves - the 'Dark Convention'? Tell me about rolling over for belagana wolves, John Manuelito. You're not even a proper ’Ánt’įįhnii - you have to use white man's magic for your witchcraft.”

–Whatever works,” John said. –You and your fellow Aurors can't protect the Diné and you can't protect that little bitch.” He flicked his wand at Alexandra and laughed when she tensed, prepared to deflect a spell. –You can't even protect yourselves. You'll see.”

Tsotsie threw a spell that howled and screeched through the air like a hailstorm, a windstorm, and a thunderbolt all wrapped into a single roaring column of pulsating air, and when it struck, the ground erupted and rained black ice and muddy water for yards around. Alexandra was impressed at the speed with which the Auror cast such a spell, but John Manuelito disappeared an instant before it touched the earth.

–Aren't you a dutiful Navajo?” John yelled, this time from somewhere out in the desert. Alexandra and Tsotsie both turned with their wands at the ready, but the crashing and scraping from the giant snakes' battle made it hard to tell where his voice was coming from. –Protecting a girl who's already dead!”

There was a cracking, crumbling sound. Chunks of stone rained down upon the road as the giant rattlesnake crushed its opponent in its grip. In seconds, the battle was over, and Alexandra and Tsotsie faced a snake the size of a dragon sitting coiled atop a pile of rocks, enormous tail held in the air at the height of a telephone pole, buzzing loudly enough to deafen them both.

A caw distracted it. It looked skyward, where Charlie was still circling overhead.

Henry Tsotsie stepped forward and raised both hands. He began speaking calmly in Navajo and the snake turned its attention back on him.

If that's not his familiar, he'd better be really good at transfigurations, Alexandra thought.

The snake began to shrink, and then as quickly as if it were a mirage vanishing off the highway, it was gone. The snake Tsotsie picked up off the pile of rubble and put back in his pouch seemed a tiny, insignificant thing by comparison.

Alexandra swallowed as she looked around at all the destruction - the overturned truck, the unconscious bodies, the torn and shattered highway, and the owl Animorphmagus she'd blasted out of the sky. It was that body that drew her attention as she looked at her wand and wondered what else she should have done.

Tsotsie went over to the man and knelt by him. He put a hand on the man's back, and waved his wand, chanting a spell she didn't recognize.

–You didn't kill him,” he said. –But not for lack of trying.” He walked back over to her, and his expression was angry. –What did I tell you?”

–You told me not to hurt the people who'd been bewitched. He was one of the witches, and I was defending myself. If he hurt my familiar, I could have been hurt.” The defense sprang to her lips despite her relief at knowing she hadn't killed the man. –They were trying to kill me. Why? I haven't been cursing anyone.”

–John Manuelito is the one stirring up trouble. You made a convenient scapegoat.” The Auror began levitating each of the other Navajos to the side of the road and laying them side by side, except for the men who'd come in the form of owls.

Charlie landed on her shoulder. She scanned the horizon. –The coyote got away.”

–I noticed that.” Tsotsie sounded weary. He pointed at a spot by the truck. –Stand there, and don't move.”

–What are we going to do?” she asked, without moving to the spot he indicated.

He was checking each of the unconscious people, loosening a few of their neck scarves and pouring a little water onto the lips of the woman. –I've already called my fellow Aurors. They'll be here shortly.”

–How did you call them?”

–Smoke signals!” he snapped at her. –Would you just do as you're told?”

She walked slowly to the side of the truck. –John and his friends are going to do something tonight, under the full moon. Whether I'm here or not -”

–You will not be here if I have to personally ride a bus with you back to Chicago.”

–Would you listen to me? I have a map of the Four Corners where they -”

He gave her such a wrathful look that she took a step back. Charlie squawked.

–I don't care if you have a map of the Lands Below,” he said. –One more word and I'll take away your mouth.”

There was something very sinister about the way he said that. Alexandra closed her mouth. Henry Tsotsie turned back to the injured.

–Ssh,” Alexandra whispered to Charlie, as she edged closer to the truck, knelt, and looked under it. Her backpack was lying on the ground amidst all the other things that had fallen to the highway when the truck flipped. She stood quickly when Tsotsie looked at her, holding her hands behind her back trying to look innocent, and hoping it wouldn't occur to him to demand her wand back.

He appeared to be starting some sort of ritual. Alexandra watched a moment, but pushed her curiosity aside. The Auror wasn't going to listen to her, and John Manuelito was still out there, just waiting for another chance to get her.

She extended her wand toward the ground and muttered an incantation, waiting until Tsotsie's voice rose while chanting his own spell. Her backpack came sliding across the ground to her feet. She picked it up and slung it over her shoulders.

–Fly, Charlie,” she whispered. The raven took off, and so did she. In moments, she was out of sight of Henry Tsotsie, fleeing across the desert in her Seven-League Boots.

This is an unofficial site and is not supported or recognized by any of the publishers of the Harry Potter books. The author J.K. Rowling created this world and owns all the names and characters in it; this is a humble fan site run by teenagers who are scared of lawyers and don't wish to break any laws. E-mail us at mnffstaff3 at gmail dot com if you have any questions or concerns.

Copyright © 2015 Artphilia Designs. All rights reserved.