The Rat-like Beetle

The next day I couldn't go set up my dementor's at Malfoy mansion yet since I have my meeting with Rita tonight. Uncle Ted had to work today so Auntie and I are out shopping right now. So far I've only gotten a new owl cage for Shy since his old one is only the low-quality one you get for free when you first buy an owl.

****

As Auntie and I are walking down the main straight of Diagon Alley I look up to her "Hey Auntie, how would you feel if your sister wanted to reconnect with you."

Her smile twitches a bit "Honey, that won't happen."

"But what if they did?" I ask pushing the matter.

She sighs "Why are you asking Soren?"

"I may or may not have been talking with Uncle Lucius. And we may or may not have talked about him and Auntie Narcissa coming to visit giving you two an apology to try and repair your relationship." I say not meeting her hard gaze.

Auntie looks around before grabbing my arm "We shouldn't talk about this out here." She says pulling me towards the Leaky Cauldron.

I follow behind closely with her holding my hand as we go. There are a lot of people around but once the doors to the leaky cauldron open we are met with a nearly barren hall. She lets go of my hand as she sits at a table and I sit across from her.

She sighs as I sit down "Soren, I'm sure you know this but your uncle was a Death Eater. The atrocities he helped commit against muggles? I can't forgive him." She says in a loud whisper.

I hold up a finger "Keyword is 'helped'. He hasn't actually murdered any muggles, besides he isn't that bad of a guy."

She rolls her eyes "He is a racist."

"He is family… and also chairman of the Board of Governors at Hogwarts," I say with raised brows.

She bites her lips as she realizes my plan "You want me to pretend to forgive him so that you will get back into Hogwarts."

"Bingo," I say giving her a small smile.

"I'm not going to shake his hand though." She says with a sour face.

I laugh a bit "It's fine, I wouldn't either. When can I tell him that he can visit?"

She takes a deep breath and slowly breaths out "Wednesday. That's the only day this week that everyone is free. Tell him around two would be best."

I nod "Shall we eat while we are here?"

She nods as I raise a hand to the barkeep "Two butterbeer and three smoked turkey leg meals please."

Auntie looks back at the barkeep "Make that one butterbeer and a water."

I look at her confused "Are you not planning to drink?" I ask.

"No, you aren't." She says giving me a glare

I flinch a bit in shock "What, why?"

She tilts her head at me "You, are, twelve."

I give her a dull look "Yeah, that's fair."

****

Later that night I 'went to bed' early to go out to the forest to see if Rita had actually shown up. I make sure my way past Luar's pen slowly as I scan the forest edge to see if I see anyone. After I reach the edge I close my eyes and look for souls finding one only fifteen feet to my northwest.

I scan the tree not far from me for beetles, once I spot it, it seems to lock eyes with me "You can come out now."

I feel as though the beetle is glaring at me as it flys a few feet in front of me. It quickly grows shifting into a dark red, white, and black blur of color until it finally forms into the woman Rita Skeeter. She is wearing a dark red jacket with a black blouse and pants with heels. She has circle glasses and curly blond hair with pale skin and a sharp face.

She hugs her body as she steps carefully on the fallen leaves "Couldn't you have chosen during the day. Or somewhere less dirty?" She asks shivering as she looks at her now dirty heels.

I roll my eyes "You broke your promise." I say coldly.

She pulls her body away offended "I didn't write the article."

"Oh please, everyone knows Wigglewade doesn't write hit pieces, he only covers cases that are currently in court. You are the only one who covers gossip pieces, you ghostwrote the article didn't you?" I ask with an edge to my voice.

She looks offended "We do no ghostwriting at the daily prophet, thank you very much."

I roll my eyes "I would prefer you don't lie to me miss beetle, you know the punishment for unregistered animagus? 10 YEARS in Azkaban. I'm really starting to wonder why I don't rat you out."

She holds up her hands defensively "Hold on boy, there is no need to be hasty. I can fix this."

I roll my eyes "Of course you will. Otherwise, we will get a new beetle friend in Azkaban."

Seeing her scared look I bite my cheek "You know, I may have some juicy news for you to get the heat off of me. Something that would break the news cycle if you managed to prove true."

A smile grows on her face as she grabs a notepad and quill letting them both float next to her "Continue. Please."

"A little birdie told me that the houses that the Death Eaters that were let off of Azkaban time have been active lately. It seems to oddly correlate with the recent rise in crime." I say with an innocent face as I lean against the tree.

"The rumor goes that Voldemort isn't actually dead and the death eaters are trying to help him regain power." She noticeable flinches as I say Voldemort's name. The quill furiously writes as she looks at me skeptically.

I smile seeing her skeptical gaze "Just follow a former death eater for a few days I'm sure you'll get the information you need. I heard Gregory Goyle Senior is one of the now active members just take a look for yourself."

She nods as the quill finishes writing. She strokes her chin "I will investigate the matter, it may take me a bit to get the article written and published. Editors and stuff you know."

I give her a smile "You have until this time next week."

She gasps "That's not nearly enough time to write the article up to my quality."

My eyes narrow "You wrote an article about me in one day. You have one week. No more."

She huffs as she steps back about to leave and I step away as well. "Oh, and Rita?"

She looks at me with a bit of concern grabbing her quill and notepad. "Yes?""I don't want to see you in similar circumstances in the future. Is that understood?" My voice turns cold as the frigid autumn night air seems to quiet.

She gulps as she nods "Understood."

She quickly pulls out her wand as she disappears in a twist of air. I sigh seeing her gone. I look up towards the dementor that has been watching us. It's the oldest of the three, the one that I assigned to Auntie.

My eyes meet the dementor as I look at the body it is holding "Come here." I order the dementor with a tired tone.

It slowly floats down and drops the unconscious man in front of me only a few feet in front of me like a sack of potatoes. I kick the man onto his back to see his face. He is around 40 to 50 years with tan skin and a weasel-like face. I slowly shift into my dementor form growing a few feet as my skin dries and my black shroud covers me like a light blanket softly growing over me.

My shadows softly lift the man up to me as my large hand grabs him by the neck putting him against the tree. He wakes up as his eyes slowly flutter open looking at me finally snapping open in shock.

"AHH-" His scream is cut off as my shadows cover his mouth causing him to gag hard.

My dead voice echoes in his head 'Who sent you. The vampires?' His expression is confused so I continue 'Was it Voldemort?' His eyes widen in shock. If I could I would sigh, the shadows slowly retreat from his mouth.

He gasps regaining air "Wait, I was only here for the woman. I didn't mean any ha-" He is cut off as I tighten my grip in anger.

I bring him closer as my gaping mouth is a few inches from his. The shadows cover his body leaving him helpless as I slowly devour his soul. His eyes watch in horror as his soul leaves his body and moves into my mouth.

Once it enters my mouth he begins to spasm hard in my hand and suddenly stops with a jerk. I drop his now lifeless body as I turn to the dementor.

'Your name is now Prota. There is no need to spare any of these men from now on.' My dead voice says with seriousness as I stare into the dementor's sockets.

The dementor now known as Prota lowers his head as I shift back to human form. "Throw his corpse in the sea," I order as I step away walking to the house in a bad mood.