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Master of Puppets

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J. K. Rowling and Puppet Master is the property of Full Moon Entertainment. I own neither.

Author Notes: So there is a comic series that comes after the movie series, I’m not sure how canon they are but for now I am considering them canon and the fic is now an alternate timeline from the comic series as some of the events from the fic would overlap those in the comics. But the comics does give me a lot of ideas that deals with the Puppet Master side of the crossover and as I am only up to issue 18 of the comics, those ideas could change as more of the storyline is revealed.

This chapter is betaed by Cylon One.

Chapter 3

The inside of Magical Menagerie was filled to the brim with animals, the air filled with the meowing of cats, barking of dogs, the squeaks of rats and the hissing of snakes just to name a few. To Harry the snake hissing sounded like English thanks to his Parseltongue ability. The only sound missing were the sound of owls and other birds as they were sold at Eeylops Owl Emporium next door. Ron walked up to the counter to speak to the clerk, holding Scabbers between his hands. At the same time, a fat orange fur ball jumped onto the countertop startling Ron, Scabbers and the clerk.

“Crookshanks, no!” the clerk said as he quickly picked up the thing which turned out to be a cat with a flat face, bowed legs and bright orange fur. The cat called Crookshanks was quickly placed on the floor and shooed away. “Ruddy cat. So what can I help you with?”

“I need some tonic for my rat,” Ron said holding Scabbers up for the man to see.

“Kinda old isn’t he? How long have you had him?” The clerk said as he took Scabbers from Ron with a slightly disgusted look.

“He used to belong to my older brother,” Ron said with a shrug. “He just started looking like this a couple of weeks ago.”

“Hmmm…. Maybe it’s his time to go. You could replace him with a new rat,” the clerk nodded to a cage on the counter. Harry and Jester looked inside, the rats were a lot more active than Harry had ever seen Scabbers. Their fur color ranged from a normal brown or black to a bright purple color and they were doing flips and tricks, the fur color on some of the rats was either a charm or a magical breed of rodent he never heard of before.

“I don’t want to replace him,” Ron said with a bit of a scowl as he stuffed Scabbers back in his pocket. “I just need some rat tonic.” The clerk rolled his eyes and turned around, taking a small glass bottle off a shelf.

“Here then,” the clerk said. Ron quickly paid for the tonic and started for the door, he stopped as the cat Crookshanks stood in front of them. “Crookshanks! Bad cat! Come here!” Crookshanks flicked his tail then started to slowly walk away.

“Hermione we’re leaving,” Harry called.

“I want to look around a little bit more, I’ll join you in a few minutes,” Hermione called back from one of the shelves.

“Bloody hell, did you see the size of that cat?” Ron asked as soon as they were outside the store. “I thought he was going to eat Scabbers for sure.”

“Are you sure that was a cat? Looked like a small tiger to me,” Harry said jokingly.

“Ohhh,” Jester said in agreement. Harry felt a brush against his leg letting him know Blade was there. A few minutes later Hermione exited Magical Menagerie and in her arms was-

“You bought that monster!?” Ron yelled when he saw the tig…err… cat purring contently in Hermione’s arms.

“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” Hermione said with a grin. “I was going to get an owl but I’ve always wanted a cat. The shop keeper said he’s been in that store for years, he might be part kneazle.”

“Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!” Ron yelled again.

“He was going for Scabbers Ron,” Harry said. “He’s a cat, cats like to eat rats usually.”

“That’s even worse!” Ron said pointing a finger at Hermione’s new pet. “Poor Scabbers is already stressed enough without having to worry about being eaten.”

“Oh please Ron,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. “That’s a cat’s instinct to hunt animals smaller than itself. I’ll make sure Crookshanks doesn’t eat Scabbers.” Crookshanks was currently paying no attention to the quivering rat in Ron’s breast pocket, instead he was staring down Jester who looked back, the cat almost seeming to… judge the puppet. After a few seconds Crookshanks looked away as if Jester wasn’t something to concern himself with. Jester felt like he had just passed some sort of test.

“Well just keep that… that thing away from Scabbers,” Ron said as he patted his shirt pocket where he could feel his pet trembling. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned away from Ron, who she thought was being very unreasonable.

“I should put Crookshanks in my room then Ron and I can finish our school shopping,” she said. The boys agreed and followed Hermione around as they finished their shopping.

***

“Harry-dear, that is an interesting looking… doll?” Mrs. Weasley said that night as everyone met up in the Leaky Cauldron’s dining room for supper. Jester was sitting on the back of Harry’s chair, balanced on the thin back.

“He’s a puppet Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said. “I’ve picked him and some other puppets up this summer, as a bit of a hobby.”

“I think he looks wicked,” George said as he picked up Jester.

“Yeah, looks quite like a court jester,” Fred agreed.

“Think he knows any good jokes Forge?” George asked jokingly. He nearly dropped Jester as the three separate parts of the puppet’s head start to spin then came to a quick stop. “Blimey!”

“Neat trick that!” his twin agreed. “I wonder how that works. Maybe if we-“ Harry rescued his puppet from the pranksters’ grips.

“You are not taking him apart,” he said as he placed Jester on the edge of the table beside him.

“Fred, George,” Mrs. Weasley said in a warning tone.

“Sorry, we-“
“Weren’t going to take-“
“it apart. We were-“
“Just curious.” The twins said finishing each other’s sentences.

“I think it’s time we all head up to bed, we have to leave early in the morning,” Mrs. Weasley said. There was some grumbling from the Weasley brood but everyone got up and headed for the stairs. As Harry started to walk up them, he realized that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley weren’t following them up. Stepping into the shadows with Jester and feeling another puppet brush against his leg, he looked down to see Six-Shooter with him this time, he listened in as the elder Weasley’s talked about that Black guy.

By the end of the talk Harry was shaking his head a bit, this Black guy had thrown his lot in with Voldemort and had lost everything and now blamed Harry. That seemed to be the normal thing to do. But Harry didn’t see why he should worry about Black, he doubted the man would ever come to Hogwarts with Dumbledore there plus he had the puppets. He didn’t doubt their ability to keep him safe, not after what happened with that mugger.

Leaving the adults to talk, Harry walked up the stairs and headed to his room. He stopped by Hermione’s room and knocked softly on the door.

“Hmm, Harry?” Hermione said opening the door. “Is something wrong?”

“Wrong? No, nothing is wrong. But I do need to speak to you,” he said. “To show you something, so I need you to come by my room.”

“Ohh… well I’ll be there in a moment,” Hermione said. Harry nodded and went down to his room, looking around at the puppets.

“I’m going to properly introduce you to my other friend now,” he said. There were nods from around the room and the puppets climbed onto the desk just as someone knocked on the door. Harry wasn’t surprised to see Hermione on the other side, as well as Crookshanks as the large orange cat slinked in and jumped onto the desk to sniff at the puppets.

“Crookshanks,” Hermione said with a sigh but was smiling anyway as she entered Harry’s room. “Oh… you have more of those puppet things?”

“Yeah, that’s why I asked you to come in here,” Harry said as he shut the door. “Hermione… I wasn’t completely truthful in the alley about Jester being just a puppet I bought.”

“Alright, what is it then?” Hermione said, shivering a bit as she looked at the puppets. It was like they really were looking at her.

“Well the puppets, Jester and his friends here, they’re alive,” Harry said.

“Harry, just because they have some really good charms on them-“ Hermione started to say but stopped as Harry shook his head.

“I’m not joking. These puppets really are alive. They used to be people but a man named Andre Toulon turned them into puppets after they died, during World War II,” Harry explained. “These are Jester, whom you already met of course, Blade, Pinhead, Six Shooter, Tunneler, and Leech Woman. There is another one but I haven’t figured out how to get it to wake up yet and Mr. Toulon didn’t leave much information about it in his diary.”

Hermione gasped as each puppet waved in greeting as they were introduced. They really were acting as if they were alive! She gulped just a little, she used to be afraid of dolls coming to life when she was really small, before she realized how silly that was but the fear itself never fully went away. On the desk Crookshanks appeared to find the puppets boring and curled up on the corner, grooming a paw. He deemed the puppets safe enough.

“Y-you said they have souls in them? Harry, are you sure they are safe to even have around?” She asked. “We should tell Mr. Weasley or somebody just in case-“

“Hermione,” Harry said as he put his hand on her shoulder. “I thought of that too, I really did after what happened last year. So I contacted Professor Dumbledore. He came and checked on these guys himself.”

“He… he did?” Hermione asked. She calmed down then and really looked at the puppets. They were… well most were pretty terrifying looking, like something you might see in a horror movie. One had a blade on one hand and a hook on the other with a bone white gaunt face. Another had a giant drill on its head for Merlin’s sake! Another looked like an American cowboy but with six arms… well that wasn’t as frightening as the other two she guessed. “Alright, tell me more.”

Harry gave Hermione a quick rundown on how he found the puppets and showed her the book with Toulon’s picture inside and about his life as a puppeteer. Wisely, he did not tell her about the outing or about his puppets murdering a man.

“So they come to life thanks to a potion?” Hermione said as she stood in front of the desk. She looked at the big muscle bound puppet with the small head, Pinhead she thought Harry called him. “Oh may I… umm… pick you up?” she felt silly for asking but gasped just a little as Pinhead nodded and came closer. “Remarkable,” she whispered as she picked the puppet up. He was so light!

“I think it’s a potion and spell,” Harry said as he sat on his bed. “Toulon said that all of his puppets used to be friends of his that were murdered by Nazis. Leech Woman was his wife when she was still a person.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this, and this man was a muggle?” Hermione said as she carefully turned Pinhead over in her hands. “These guys seem like something straight out of a movie… granted a horror movie but still.”

“Yeah, I guess they do but they really are great. Professor Dumbledore called me a ‘Puppet Master’ and said these guys would protect me. They’ve been following me around the alley since I found them.”

“No one’s noticed them?” Hermione asked as she put Pinhead back down and picked up Blade next. She looked him over and nearly dropped him when spikes popped out of his eye sockets. “Oh!”

“I just say they are under an animation charm and everyone shrugs them off,” Harry said with a shrug.

“Well… considering how everything runs on magic in the wizarding world, and I’ve looked into their toy stores most of their toys are under charms like that, it’s a pretty good excuse,” Hermione mused as she put Blade back down.

“Right,” Harry agreed.

“Do you think this potion will work on anything?” Hermione asked. Harry tilted his head to the side thinking.

“I… don’t think so. Not really, I think there’s more to it than just the spell or the potion. I think a real soul has to be used too. Also, I don’t think the potion is what Toulon used at first, look at this,” Harry dug around in one of the compartments of his trunk and showed Hermione the scrap of paper he had found among Toulon’s things. Hermione handled it carefully, unrolling it.

“Is this… Egyptian hieroglyphs?” Hermione asked. “This must be papyrus then. Is this why you are taking runes?”

“Yeah, I thought maybe I can learn to translate that one day,” Harry said. “These aren’t Toulon’s first puppets, when he was younger he had other ones that he brought to life with a spell taught to him by an Egyptian wizard but his diary said he only got it to work on the first puppets. It was some other wizard from Egypt that taught him the elixir that worked the same way.”

“Why try to learn the spell? Other than it being a fascinating find that is,” Hermione said carefully rolling the papyrus back up. “You should really get a sealed box for that.” Harry took out the box with the left over elixir inside.

“This isn’t going to last, and I couldn’t find anything in his things about how to make more,” he said showing her the bottles. “He was keeping it secret, the Nazis really wanted this. I thought maybe if I can figure out the original spell, I could use that on the puppets so they didn’t have to rely on the potion anymore.”

“Hmm… I guess I can see that,” Hermione mused then yawned. “I bet the library at school has something, so we can start there,” she suggested through the yawn. “I’ll be heading to bed, see you in the morning Harry. Come on Crookshanks.”

“Night Hermione,” Harry said watching the frizzy haired witch and her orange fuzz ball leave then locking the door behind her, letting out his own yawn. “Well, tomorrow we head to Hogwarts guys.” He said to the puppets as he climbed into bed and doused the lights.

******

The next morning was a flurry of activity as the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione got ready to go to Hogwarts. Well… mostly the Weasleys. Hermione hadn’t bothered unpacking since she arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, just putting her new school items into her trunk after she bought them, and Harry had already packed away his things before his friends had even showed up at Diagon Alley. He would have done it at the last minute except Leech Woman, who tended to mother Harry at times which was really weird coming from a living puppet the size and shape of a doll, had gotten Harry to do so ahead of time.

It was strange but the more Harry spent around the puppets the more he could understand them. Not truly understand them of course, other than the occasional sound the Puppets didn’t speak. But Harry was starting to understand all the little sounds, the gestures, the way they spoke without speaking.

The only puppet Harry knew almost nothing about, had never spoken to, was the one that lay in the separate case. Harry had one day finally taken that puppet out of its case and had taken a good look at it. It wore a short leather black coat and black slacks with a brown turtle neck under the coat and black gloves. What he had assumed was a white featureless head had been a silver looking one instead with a very vague looking face shape on the front. The head had also came off he found and he had found two others inside of the case, one that looked like a robot head and the other some kind of weird device that you might see in an old sci-fi film. Both fit on the puppet’s body.

Harry had tried to bring the puppet to life like the others but had been stopped by Pinhead and Blade. It had taken reading Toulon’s diary to find out why. The puppet had been one Toulon had worked on but had never given a soul to, he had called the puppet Decapitron, Harry assumed the name came from the ability to switch the heads out on the puppet. The other puppets had stopped Harry from giving Decapitron any of the potion simply because it would be wasted on the soulless puppet. Yet…. For some reason the puppets seem almost… he didn’t know… protective of the puppet. Why, he had no idea. He had even caught Leech Woman laying her hand on the side of Decapitron’s head, almost like she was cradling someone’s face, at one time. It was… a very strange action.

Currently Decapitron and the rest of the puppets were sitting in their compartment inside Harry’s trunk. Harry and Hermione were downstairs listening to the Weasleys yell as they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to pack in time to catch the Hogwarts Express. How or why the Weasley children had bothered unpacking their trunks that much when they were only staying one night at the Leaky Cauldron was a mystery for the ages.

“Where’s my rat tonic!?”

“Fred! George! I know you took my Head Boy badge!”

“Do you think we’ll ever have a year where we’ll get to the station on time?” Harry asked as he petted Hedwig through the bars of her cage.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Hermione said. “I’ve made it to the station in plenty of time the last two years. But I know what you mean.”

Finally after more screaming, yelling, and panic over lost items, they were ready to go. The Ministry of Magic sent over a couple of cars to drive all of them to King’s Cross which Harry found a bit odd and chalked it up to being a celebrity and the whole thing with Sirius Black. It was a bit nice, certainly nicer than the Knight Bus, but it still annoyed Harry. Being famous for something that happened when he was a baby sucked, especially when he was convinced it was his mother Lily Potter who deserved the credit.

The cars were of course magical, not only did it hold the 7 Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, their luggage and their pets, but weaved in and around the heavy traffic with ease. But even with the cars, they just barely managed to make it to the train before it left. Before Harry boarded the blood red steam engine, Mr. Weasley grabbed Harry’s arm.

“Might I have a quick word with you?” he said. Harry looked confused but followed the man a few feet away. “Now Harry… ummm… I’m sure you’ve been hearing all about Sirius Black.”

“I… heard something, like he was Voldemort’s right hand man,” Harry said ignoring the flinch Mr. Weasley gave at the dark lord’s name then admitted, “I heard you and Mrs. Weasley talking last night.”

“Ahh… well… promise me you won’t go looking for him,” Mr. Weasley said. Harry looked at the older man like he was crazy.

“Why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?” He asked. Really? Why would Mr. Weasley even think that?

“Ohh… well good then,” Mr. Weasley said. “Have a good year, stay safe. Go on now, don’t want to miss the train.” Harry shook his head slightly and climbed onto the Express.

“What was that about?” Hermione asked.

“I’ll tell you later, let’s just find a compartment,” Harry said with a shake of his head.

As they had gotten to the station at the last minute, none of the teens were surprised to find that pretty much all the compartments on the train were either filled up or had students from other houses that they didn’t get along with, like the Slytherins. At last, after several minutes of searching, Harry and his friends finally found a compartment that was empty… well for the most part.

Curled up on one of the seats next to the window was a man with shabby looking robes and tawny brown hair. He was slouched down, his head bowed in sleep, very soft snores escaping the man every now and then. As this was the emptiest compartment on the train, or at the very least they were tired of looking for one, the Golden Trio quietly entered the compartment and put their trunks up.

“Wonder who he is,” Ron said in a low tone as they sat down.

“Professor Lupin must be our new defense professor,” Hermione said. Ron gave her a confused look.

“How’d ya know his name?” he asked. Hermione rolled her brown eyes and pointed at the bag sitting at the man’s feet that neither Harry nor Ron had noticed. Harry tilted his head to the side and noticed the letters ‘R. J. Lupin’ written in gold lettering on the side.

For the most part, the train ride was peaceful. The only real annoyance showed up in the form of Draco Malfoy and his seemingly brainless lackeys Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabb. Malfoy, Goyle and Crabb were all Slytherins and came from dark Pureblood families. To say Malfoy was spoiled was an understatement; Harry disliked him but would be content to ignore the blond if Malfoy would just leave him and his friends alone. Malfoy on the other hand seem to get some sort of kick out of riling up Harry whenever he could. And also Ron, but Ron was easy to rile up. Ron hated Malfoy with a burning passion, just because the other boy was a Malfoy. Their families just flat out hated each other, for reasons Ron didn’t know and didn’t care.

Luckily for them, Malfoy decided that the Trio wasn’t worth it once he found out that Lupin was going to be their new professor and left before he started any real trouble. It was later after the sun had set and they were closer to Hogsmeade when the real trouble started.

“Are we there already?” Ron asked as the train started slowing down.

“We can’t be,” Hermione said with a frown. “It’s too early to be at Hogsmeade station.” Harry leaned over and used his arm to wipe away the condensation that had built up on the window and looked outside. It was dark and he could barely see anything but he could just make out something moving in the darkness.

“I think someone is boarding the train,” Harry said as he squinted. At that time the lights went out startling the teens and a few minutes later the door opened admitting Ron’s younger sister Ginny and a boy named Neville Longbottom who was in the same house and year as the trio.

“Ron?”

“Ow! That’s my foot!”

“Careful.”

“Quiet,” an unknown man’s voice said and a light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin stood over the students with his wand lit up by a Lumos spell. “All of you stay here, I’m going to speak to the conductor.”

What happened next was a blur, at least to Harry. The compartment door opened again and there stood a figure dressed in tattered robes… he didn’t remember more than that other than thinking the cold he had been feeling the last few minutes was coming from this… this whatever it was and that someone was screaming as he blacked out.

******

As Harry slumped to the ground in a faint, the puppets sprang into action as they quickly climbed out of their trunk. Pinhead jumped on top of the Dementor and started to pummel it with his large fists. Blade and Tunneler jumped to the floor and started attacking the thing’s legs, or what passed for legs anyway, with their respective weapons.

Six Shooter stood by Harry’s head with Jester and Leech Woman crouching next to their master and withdrew all six of his guns, aiming the powerful little weapons at the Dementor. His bandanna came up and covered the lower part of his face as he let loose and shot the Dementor several times. The Dementor, who had no idea just what the hell was going on but decided that maybe it was time to leave, shook Pinhead off and quickly fled. This all seem to happen in a manner of seconds, before Remus Lupin could even get a spell out to force the Dementor away.

This must have been what Dumbledore had been speaking of when his old Headmaster had told him and the professors Harry had gotten a new, unusual form of protection.

“Bloody hell!” Ron yelped as he looked wide eyed at the puppets that had just attacked that… that… that whatever it was. Ron’s voice shook Remus out of his stunned thoughts as he shifted into ‘Professor’ mode.

“Is everyone all right?” He asked as he reached into his bag and took out some Honeydukes chocolate and started breaking it into pieces. “Here, eat this. It will lessen the effects of the Dementor.”

“T-that was a Dementor?” Ron asked as he took the chocolate.

“Ohhh,” Harry said with a groan as he started to come around. Remus moved to kneel beside Harry then quickly stopped as Blade hissed and waved his knife at the man.

“It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt him,” Remus said feeling silly as he spoke to the unusual looking doll. “I’m his professor, I’m only trying to help him.”

“Ron, what are those things?” Ginny hissed in fright as she clung to her brother. Blade continued to stare at Remus for a moment longer then finally lowered his blade arm and stepped back as Harry sat up, Pinhead helping the teen with his large strong hands.

“Here, eat this Mr. Potter,” Remus said as he handed the piece of chocolate to Harry. Harry gave it a confused look then looked around.

“Who was screaming?” He asked. Ron and Hermione gave each other a confused look.

“No one was screaming Harry,” Hermione told him. Harry frowned and shook his head.

“I heard a woman screaming,” He said.

“Go ahead and eat your chocolate Mr. Potter, it will help,” Remus said again, sighing softly in relief as Harry finally did. Harry sighed softly as the last of the chill in his body seem to drain away and finally noticed that all the puppets were out of the trunk and surrounding him, looking at him in what he thought was concern. “All of you stay here, I’m going to check on the other students and speak to the conductor.”

“What happened?” Harry asked as soon as Remus left and had shut the door.

“We’re not sure, as soon as that thing entered the compartment you just fell,” Ron said. Harry frowned and rubbed his forehead.

“All I can remember is everything got really cold, I felt like I would never get warm again,” he said. Around the compartment the others nodded in agreement to that statement. “Then I heard a woman scream. Did no one really scream? And what was that thing?”

“Professor Lupin called it a Dementor,” Hermione said. “I’ve read about them, they guard Azkaban.”

“They let those things guard people?” Harry said in disbelief.

“Yes well… they feed on positive energy, that was why we all felt cold like they sucked the warmth right out of the air,” Hermione said. “I believe it would leave the prisoners weak and unable to escape.”

“Yeah, fat good that did,” Ron muttered. “They didn’t stop Black from escaping now did they?”

“What happened then?” Harry asked.

“Those… things there just jumped out of nowhere and attacked the Dementor,” Ginny said pointing at the puppets. The puppets gave various sounds, they were not /things/.

“She’s right, they got out of your trunk and attacked the Dementor head on,” Hermione agreed.

“It was kinda wicked,” Ron said in admiration. Ginny looked at her brother in disbelief.

“Wicked?” She said then shook her head then looked at Harry again. “What are those things?”

“They’re puppets I got this summer. Remember, I mentioned them at dinner last night, I even had Jester with me at the table,” Harry said as he picked up Tunneler and made sure the puppet was undamaged. “Professor Dumbledore charmed them to be my bodyguards, you know since I keep getting into life threatening situations. Guess the charms worked if they chased away the Dementor.” Harry was relieved when Ginny and Neville seem to buy his lie, he had to think of that one right on the spot.

“T-those must be really good charms,” Neville said. He agreed that the puppets were a little frightening looking, some more than others like that one with the drill on its head, but it had saved them. Of course their new professor might have saved them too if the puppets hadn’t jumped in.

“Well of course they are,” Hermione said as she quickly caught onto what Harry was saying. “They were put on by Professor Dumbledore.”

“Huh?” Ron blinked then wheezed a bit as Hermione elbowed him. “Oh! Y-yeah, you know how great Dumbledore is at spells.” Neville and Ginny didn’t look /that /convinced but didn’t question it as the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade station. Harry got his trunk down and let the puppet’s back into their compartment, except Blade who insisted on staying out.

Leaving their things behind so the House Elves could take them up to the school, Harry followed his friends off the train. He could hear Hagrid, a giant of a man who was the groundskeeper and keeper of keys at Hogwarts and one of Harry’s friends, calling for the first years down by the lake. Harry smiled slightly, he liked Hagrid a lot. The man had been the one to reintroduce him to the wizarding world and take him shopping his first year. Hagrid loved animals, especially dangerous ones though according to Hagrid they were just misunderstood.

As they approached the horseless carriages that would take them up to the school, Harry stopped and stared at the strange horse-like creatures at the front.

“What are those?” He asked wide eyed. Inside his robe where Blade was hidden the puppet squirmed so he could peek out and see as well. His mouth dropped open and the spikes in his eyes popped out when he saw the horse-things as well.

“What are you talking about?” Hermione asked as she and Ron stopped. Ginny had left to ride with her friends on another carriage.

“Those, at the front of the carriage,” Harry said pointing. Hermione and Ron looked confused as they glanced at the front of the carriage as well.

“Are you feeling alright Harry?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah, there isn’t anything there,” Ron agreed. Harry frowned, he knew he wasn’t going crazy, and walked over to the horse-like creature. It looked like an almost skeletal horse with its skin pulled really tight over the bones, an almost lizard-like face and two large leathery bat-like wings on its back. Harry took a deep breath and reached out, placing his hand against the side of the demonish looking horse. It snorted, very horse-like, and turned its head but didn’t do anything like bite Harry for touching it.

“There is a horse here with bat wings,” Harry said very calmly. “I am currently touching it.” Hermione and Ron still looked worried while Neville watched Harry with wide eyes, like the Boy-Who-Lived he could see the creatures as well. Hermione walked over and stuck her hand out, yelping as her hand smacked into something that felt leathery and cool to the touch. The horse-thing made a sound that sounded like a cross between a neigh and bird screech and shifted, its snout touching the back of Hermione’s hand.

“Oh god!” Hermione said as she snatched her hand back. “There really is something there!”

“Really?” Ron said as he reached out as well, his eyes wide as his fingers met something solid. “Bloody hell, what is it?”

“I don’t know, you think they’ve always been pulling the carriages?” Harry asked as he started petting the invisible to everyone but him horse, despite its downright monstrous appearance it seemed really calm and dare he say sweet. “These things look like something Hagrid would like.”

“Oh!” Hermione said. “I bet he does know. We’ll have to ask him first chance we get but the other carriages are starting to leave.” Harry gave the horse thing one last pat then quickly climbed into the carriage with Ron, Hermione and Neville.

****

Later that night Harry groaned as he collapsed into his bed. He was so happy to be back at Hogwarts he just hoped that for once he would have a normal year. His bed curtains were closed and spelled to be silent, as loud as Ron snored everyone had quickly learned the Silencing spell just so they could get some sleep.

“Some day, huh,” Harry said to Blade, the puppet next to him on the bed. Blade had stayed with him throughout the whole welcoming feast, hidden under the table. The ride up to the school had been fine, for the most part anyway. When they had passed the school gates more of those Dementor things had been outside and Harry had heard the woman screaming again but he hadn’t fainted this time. Blade had stuck himself out the window of the carriage and hissed at the Dementor, threatening it with his knife. As soon as they entered the school he had been called away to be checked over by the school nurse Madame Pomfrey as Professor Lupin had told her he had fainted on the train. He had barely gotten out of staying the night in the hospital wing.

The fact he had blacked out had gotten around already as Malfoy had made fun of him as soon as the stuck up blond saw him. It didn’t surprise him of course, Malfoy wouldn’t let any chance to make fun of Harry pass up.

The welcoming feast had brought the usual announcements, stay out of the Forbidden Forest, no magic in the hallways, new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher aka Professors Lupin. Everyone had caught on right away that Snape hated Lupin, Harry would say the potions professor hated Lupin almost as much as he hated Harry. Harry wondered what the story behind that was.

Another surprising announcement, one Harry wasn’t sure how he felt about, was that Hagrid was the new Care for Magical Creatures professor… Harry liked Hagrid and Merlin knows the man knew his animals but Harry wasn’t sure if he was teacher material. Guess he would find out soon.

The worse news had been that the Dementors would be guarding the school all year and that no one could trick the horrible things. Harry had caught on pretty quick that they would be able to see through the cloak, or sense Harry under it, when Dumbledore had given Harry a pointed look.

Harry looked up as he felt the bed shift slightly as the rest of the puppets climbed up onto the bed and smiled slightly.

“What do you think of the castle so far?” he asked. The puppets made various sounds that to Harry sounded pleased. “Yes, it’s great. I love it here, this is more my home than Privet Drive will ever be.” The puppets had only seen the room Harry slept in so far and had peeked in at the common room. There were an awful lot of red and gold colors everywhere but it didn’t take away from the coziness of the tower. Harry yawned and took off his glasses to rub his face then climbed off the bed to redress in his sleep clothes, the comfy PJs he had picked up during the summer. “Night guys,” he said as he put his glasses on the nightstand and curled up under the covers.

Once Harry was asleep the puppets quietly exited the bed curtains and snuck out of the room. By now the common room was empty, all the students in their dorms as curfew came and went, tired from their journey and from the experience with the Dementors.

What were those things? Jester asked as soon as they were all alone.

Everyone calls them ‘Dementors’, Blade said.

Looks like some crazy wannabe grim reaper thing, Six-Shooter said. It was like it was hardly fazed when we attacked it.

Well it had to feel something, it ran off pretty quick, Jester pointed out.

I don’t think it expected to be attacked, /Blade said then noticed that Leech Woman was staring into the fire. /Something wrong Leech Woman? The other puppets turned to the only lady Puppet of the group.

Didn’t anyone else… well… Leech Woman grasped around for words. /It was like memories from my human life had come to life in my head, memories I had almost forgotten after being a puppet for so long. /The other puppets thought about that for a moment.

You know, I think I did, Tunneler said after a moment. Just for a moment but I was able to push them back. They were hazy but there.

Yeah like those robed guys dragged up the memories, Pinhead said. Thinking back on it each of Toulon’s puppets realized they had all felt that. Memories, hazy ones, had popped into their heads but they had been pushed away almost as soon as they came. Thinking on it Blade had felt the same sensation when they passed the Dementors at the gate but it had been fleeting.

Those Dementors bring up memories, He said tapping his hook against his jaw. If I think on them…. It was when I was shot and killed.

I see my death also, but I also got flashes of those creatures that had been after Toulon and his first puppets, Leech Woman said. The ones that looked human but were dead, like giant puppets themselves. And when I burned in the fireplace.

Yeah, when I died also came into my head, Pinhead said. The other puppets agreed, each had remembered that horrible moment when they were murdered or when something horrible had happened to them as puppets.

Wait, so they bring back bad memories? Tunneler asked.

Not just bad memories but our worst ones, Blade concluded. We need to find out more about those things if we’re going to protect Harry. You saw how he reacted to them.

Yeah, wondered what the kid saw to make him blackout like that, Pinhead said.

We need to start exploring the castle, this place is much larger than the hotel was, Blade said changing the subject.

Tunneler and I can start on this floor, Jester said with Tunneler nodding in agreement. The puppets agreed and broke up their little meeting. Tunneler and Jester found the exit that the students’ cats used to get in and out of the common room while Leech Woman and Six-Shooter stayed to explore the common room and the rest of the tower. Pinhead and Blade went back up to watch over Harry. Now that he was safely back at school, neither puppet thought Harry was in too much danger but old habits die hard.

******

Harry yawned as he took his timetable for the year from Professor McGonagall. His sleep last night had been on the restless side, whatever memory the Dementors had dragged up it had leaked over into his dreams. He couldn’t remember fully what the dreams had been about but he knew whatever it was it was horrible.

The teen noticed that Monday, Thursday and Friday seemed to be his busiest days of the week with Tuesday and Wednesday with the smallest amount of classes.

"Hermione,” Harry heard Ron say, looking up to see his red headed friend frowning as he looked over Hermione’s shoulder, "they've messed up your schedule. Look - they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough time."

"I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall," Hermione said with no concern.

"But look,” said Ron, laughing, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And," Ron leaned closer to the schedule, disbelieving, "look - underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good Hermione, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly,” said Hermione shortly, "of course I wouldn't be in three classes at once. It’s just a typo.” Harry blinked and remembered that Hermione and McGonagall had spoke in their Head of House’s office before he and Hermione had gone to the feast. “Come on, we need to leave if we’re going to get to Divination on time.” She stood up and grabbed her school bag. Ron grumbled and stuffed one last sausage in his mouth as he stood to follow. Harry grinned to himself, since he had dropped out of Divination for Ancient Runes he had a free period this morning.

“I’ll see you guys in Transfiguration then,” he said.

“You won’t get into trouble will you Harry?” Hermione asked. Harry gave her an innocent ‘who me’ look before laughing.

“I’ll be fine Hermione, I’m thinking of visiting Hagrid this morning if he doesn’t have a class,” Harry assured her. “Or go to the library.” Hermione smiled and nodded her head.

“Make sure to check over your summer homework then,” she said. “Come on Ron.” Harry watched as Ron and Hermione, and several of his other housemates, got up to follow. It was nice not to rush off to class this early in the morning and Harry took the time to enjoy finishing his breakfast before standing and heading toward the front doors. He faintly heard the tap-tap-tap of one of the puppets following him through the mostly empty hallways.

Once out of the school and far enough away from the doors that he wouldn’t be seen, Harry picked up Pinhead and carried the strong puppet with him down to Hagrid’s hut. The giant of a man was sitting on the stool in front of his hut whittling away on a piece of wood.

“’Morning ‘Arry!” Hagrid said in a booming voice and a smile was seen in the man’s bushy beard. “Shouldn’t you be in class?” Fang, Hagrid’s boarhound, or as it was more commonly known a great dane, barked happily and came over to greet Harry with slobbery licks. (1)

“I don’t have any first period classes this morning,” Harry said as he pushed Fang back. “I’m not disturbing you am I? Are you starting your classes yet?” Hagrid chuckled and offered Harry a handkerchief to clean off, then stood up after putting his knife and the wood he had been working on away. Pinhead gave a small grunt of surprise as he took in how tall Hagrid was.

“Your class will be me first lesson,” Hagrid said. “Come on inside, I‘ll make us a pot of tea.” Harry followed his large friend inside and climbed onto one of the large chairs at the table. “So where are Her’onie and Ron?”

“They both had Divination this morning,” Harry said putting Pinhead on the table. “I did at first too, but I dropped it in favor for Ancient Runes instead.”

“Divination is rubbish anyway,” Hagrid said as he put a plate of rock cakes on the table and looked curiously at Pinhead. “If you don’t go’ the gift of sight, that class isn’t goin’ to do you much good. Mind if I take a closer look at this?” He pointed at the puppet.

“Oh… sure I guess,” Harry said. He knew Hagrid could be really gentle despite his size and watched as the giant of a man carefully picked Pinhead up and looked at the puppet under the lamp light.

“Very good carvin’ detail,” Hagrid said. “Whoever made this fella was good at working with wood.”

“His name was Andre Toulon,” Harry said. “A book I found with him in it said he made all his own puppets.” Hagrid nodded and handed Harry Pinhead back. “Hagrid, there was something I did want to ask you.”

“What about ‘Arry?” Hagrid asked as he poured both of them tea. Harry took the normal sized cup and doctored the tea with a bit of cream and sugar. Hagrid’s rock cakes sucked but the man could make a damn good cup of tea.

“Last night when we were boarding the carriages,” Harry said after he took a sip. “I saw… well I saw this horse looking animal at the front but no one else could.” Hagrid’s warm black eyes filled with sorrow and surprise.

“You could see the Thestrals?” the half giant asked.

“Thestrals?” Harry repeated.

“Tha’s what’s pulls the carriages every year,” Hagrid said with a nod of his head. He stood and motioned for Harry to follow him. Curious, Harry put his tea down and picked up Pinhead, following his large friend out. Hagrid lead him down a path into the forest, stopping to grab a bucket of what looked like dead animals at the edge of the tree line. After a few minutes they came out in a section of woods that was plunged deeply into shadows by the trees. Harry gasped as he saw several of the Thestrals walking around.

“Wow,” Harry said with wide green eyes. Pinhead made a soft sound of agreement.

“These are the Thestrals,” Hagrid said. He picked up one of the carcasses out of the bucket and tossed it into the air toward one of the nearby beasties. It let out a very bird-like screech, if it was made by a monster of a bird that is, and snatch the treat out of the hair. “Beautiful, aren’t they.”

“Yeah…” Harry said and in a weird way they really were. He could see more of their appearance here in the low light. The Threstle came closer sniffing at the bucket.

“Away with ya,” Hagrid said with a laugh as he pushed the Threstle’s head away. “This is for the rest of ‘em.” The Threstle snorted then turned to Harry, sniffing at his legs and boots. “You can pet ‘im ‘Arry. This lot is tame, the only tame ‘erd here in this part of the world.”

“Tame?” Harry repeated as he reached up with his free hand to pet the Threstle. It made a noise that was a cross between a horse’s wicker and a bird’s trill.

“Aye, Thestrals in the wild aren’t anywhere near this calm,” Hagrid said as he started to feed the others in the herd. “They’re carnivorous by nature, like the smell of blood you see. Dead clever too.”

Harry looked into the Threstle’s eyes and agreed with Hagrid, he could see the cleverness there.

“So they’re dangerous?” Harry asked that seemed right up Hagrid’s alley.

“Misunderstood,” Hagrid responded. “People think they are ‘ill omens’, rubbish I say. They’re some of the most loya’ creatures in the world. As long as they’re kept fed they’re quite calm.”

“So… why can I see them but my friends can’t?” Harry asked biting back laughter as the Threstle started to nose Pinhead the puppet not looking amused at all. Hagrid looked a bit sad as he tossed out the last of the dead animals to the herd.

“Only a person who’s seen death, and understand what it means, can see them,” he said giving Harry a sorrowful look. “I won’t ask ya who you saw die, that’s personal and all. But it’s why you can see these beasties.”

Harry was so very grateful to Hagrid that the man wasn’t going to pursue the issue, he really didn’t want to have to come up with some sort of lie on where he saw a person die since he wasn’t about to tell anyone about watching some of his puppet friends murder a man.

“I see,” Harry said as he gave the Threstle one last pat on the nose. “Thanks for telling me Hagrid, I thought I was going mad there at first when I saw one of them pulling the carriage.”

“Think nothing of it,” Hagrid said. “Come on, firs’ period is almost o’er, you should get back to th’ school and get ready for yer next class. The Thestrals seem to like you so you can visit them again.”

“Thanks Hagrid,” Harry said as he walked with the giant man back out of the forest. Once back at Hagrid’s hut, Harry turned and faced the man. “Thanks for showing me the Thestrals Hagrid. I think you’re going to be a great Professor… just…”

“What is it ‘Arry?” Hagrid asked. Harry rubbed the back of his neck.

“Just remember that sometimes what’s safe for you isn’t always safe for anyone else. You’re great with animals but…” Harry said feeling that maybe he should give his friend some sort of warning before trying his hand at teaching. “Just remember that sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry. I wouldn’t want you to mess up your big chance at showing everyone what you know. We’re just kids after all. See you this afternoon.” Harry waved over his shoulder and headed back to the school. Hagrid was almost sure that the puppet waved at him as well.

“Hmm…” he said rubbing his chin and looked down at Fang. “Think that maybe introducing my who’e class to a herd of hippogriffs is too much?” Fang barked and wagged his tail happily, drool dipping from his mouth. “Yer right, maybe I should ask for advice. Good thing I can contact Kettleborn, he did say to floo him if I had any questions.” Hagrid smiled happily and headed up to the castle to use one of the floos to talk to the last care of magical creatures professor.

****

(1) I was looking up just what a Boarhound was and turns out it’s another name for a Great Dane. So Fang is really a Great Dane, though he was portrayed by a Neapolitan Mastiff in the movies.

Author note 10-12-16: Fixed a few errors that was missed and corrected the name of the horses. Also I thought I put this out there, if anyone wants to read the Puppet Master comics just search read comics online in a search bar and it should be the first website that pops up. Then just search Puppet Master on the website.