The Shifter and The Weasley

Chapter 5

"Ah no, I don't believe it, I've lost my wand" Harry was patting his pockets Katherine groaned, there was no way they could look for it right now.

"Harry, we have to keep moving, I promise I will help you find it as soon as this madness is over and done with" Harry just nodded at Katherine. Suddenly a rustle in the bushes made the four of them stop as Winky came out of them, she looked like she was struggling with something.

"There is bad wizards about. People high-high in the air! Winky is getting out the way!" then she disappeared into the tree on the other side of the path they were on.

"What's up with her? Why cant she run properly?" Ron asked looking at where the house elf had disappeared to curiously.

"She didn't ask permission to hide, now come on we have to keep moving" Katherine practically whispered. Katherine tuned out what was going on behind her and kept walking, however it seems her sense of direction was off because the four of them ended up in a very quiet area of the woods. Suddenly Ludo Bagman came out of the trees.

"Who's that? What are you doing in here all alone?" Ludo looked at the four teenagers.

"Well, there's sort of a riot going on" Ron explained.

"What" Ludo asked.

"At the campsite Ludo, they had gotten a hold of a group of Muggles" Ludo looked at Katherine before he swore very loudly.

"Damn them" Ludo then disappeared with a pop. Katherine tuned the other three out and sat down. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. "Athena, Elise are we safe?" Katherine waited for a moment, hoping the answer would be yes. "No child, you aren't" Katherine heaved a heavy sigh, she hadn't known how long she was sat there until the sound of footsteps caught her attention.

"Hello" Harry called, "Who's there?". As He got no answer Katherine was about to step in when a thundering voice bellowed out.

"MORSMORDRE" Katherine shrieked at the thundering voice as the Dark Mark appeared in the sky and she clasped her hands over her ears. Suddenly she looked up and saw about twenty wizards pointing their wands at them just as Harry yelled duck, they all cried "STUPEFY". She didn't have time to duck though.

"Protego!" Katherine yelled just in time, though the force of all them spells still had her stumbling.

"Stop, Stop that's my son!" Katherine stood up straight and looked around the wizards present, her eyes quickly landing on Barty Crouch.

"For Merlin's sake Mr Crouch! It is not fire first ask questions later, these are bloody children" Katherine yelled, "You saw that we were teenagers, what are you doing?!" Everyone looked astounded at this small girl basically scolding Mr Crouch.

"Which of them did it? Which one of them conjured the Dark Mark, or was it you Miss Willow?" Barty Crouch asked her. She held up her wand for him to check.

"Go on Mr Crouch check my wand, you will find no spells of the sort have been fired out of my wand, nor will they ever be, Harry lost his wand but please feel free to check Hermione's and Ron's". Katherine took her wand out of Barty's hand and stomped back to the trio and Arthur.

"Where did the mark come from you four?" Arthur asked them quietly.

"Over there" Hermione pointed towards the trees where they had heard the footsteps. "There was someone behind the trees. They shouted an incantation" Hermione managed to tell them shakily.

"Oh, stood over there did they?" Mr crouch asked turning to look at Hermione in total disbelief, "said an Incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that mark is formed missy" Katherine glared at him. However, it seemed he was the only one who believed they had done it.

"We're too late, they'll have diapparated" A witch wearing a woollen dressing gown explained.

"I don't think so" A wizard who Katherine recognized as Amos Diggory said, "Some of our stunners, the ones that didn't hit Miss Willow went right through them trees, there's a good chance we got them".

"Amos be careful" A few of the witches and wizards warned, however he marched right through the trees and into the clearing that lay just beyond them.

"Yes, we got them! There's someone here! Unconscious, but, its, blimey" Amos trailed off.

"You've got someone. Who? Who is it?" Shouted Barty, almost as if he didn't believe him. Katherine watched as Amos came out of the shadows carrying what looked to be a very small body. Katherine's eyes widened as she realised the small body was Winky, Mr Crouch's house elf. Amos laid the small body at Mr Crouch's feet.

"This, cannot, be" He panted out, "No" Barty moved quickly around Amos and headed into the clearing, despite the protests that there was no one else there.

"Bit embarrassing, Barty Crouch's house elf I mean to say" Everyone looked down at Winky's body.

"Come off it Amos, You don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard sign, it requires a wand" Arthur muttered in disbelief.

"Yeah, and she had a wand" Amos stated.

Katherine tuned it out, she didn't believe for a second that the house elf conjured that mark, "She didn't" Katherine jumped slightly hearing Athenas voice but decided not to reply, it was too risky to do that here, she hadn't even noticed Ludo turning up or Amos waking up Winky to hear what she had to say, it was Amos shouting the word elf that made her come back to the present.

"ELF!" Amos called at Winky sternly, "Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!" Winky looked like she was having a panic attack and it was horrible to watch. "As you see elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago, and you were discovered moments ago right beneath it, an explanation if you please" he practically shouted at the elf again.

"I-I-I is not doing it; I is not knowing how sir" said winky shakily.

"You were found with a wand in your hand" said Amos before brandishing the wand.

"Hey that's Harry's wand, he dropped it!" Katherine called out.

"You dropped it?" Amos asked Harry is disbelief, "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the mark?".

"Amos think of who your talking to" Arthur stated very angrily, "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Er- of course not, sorry, carried away" muttered Amos.

"He couldn't have dropped it there anyway; he had lost it earlier than that because he didn't have it when I found them in the woods" Katherine crossed her arms over her chest.

"So, you found this wand then elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it did you?" Amos questioned the frightened house elf again.

"She didn't do it Mr Diggory, for a start the person who had shouted the incantation was male and they were a lot older than a teenage boy. Your looking for a fully grown male". Katherine threw her hands in the air before looking at Arthur, "Arthur please may I go and find the twins" He nodded at her and told her they were at the tent, which she ran off to find. She couldn't be around those people anymore she needed to get away, Athena wanted out but knew it was unsafe, so she stayed hidden. Katherine was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't realised she made it back to the tent. She pushed her way through the tent door and was immediately grabbed by George who crushed her to his chest.

"Merlin Kat don't ever do that to me again, I've been worried sick" Katherine gripped his shirt tightly, not wanting to let him go.

"I'm sorry, I needed to find the others, but then someone conjured that mark and then I had to protect myself against twenty stunners, your dad will be back with the others soon, I just need to lie down for a minute" George hearing this from her, picked her up and carried her over to his bunk.

"Sleep Kat, ill wake you when Dad gets back" George placed a gentle kiss to her forehead before she lay down and very quickly fell asleep.