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Yep, there it is. No surprise the birthday incident has made everyone suspicious of Harry now. I'm almost glad, though, because it gave Harry the chance to teach Draco about friendship, something he really needed to hear. I liked that scene quite a bit; it's something that Draco should learn in Hogwarts, but won't because of his upbringing. I hope he takes it to heart!

Aha! All this time, I assumed the Tome of Avalon dated back to the Arthurian era, because of the name. But it's only from the founding of Hogwarts? Even the title is a lie! It's even less of an authoritative text than I gave it credit for! And I'm not at all surprised it's the result of a bunch of already influential people writing themselves and others like them to be superior.

A painful line to read: "Despite being a first-year, his eyes were already burning with old hatred." It's where prejudice comes from, but it's still painful to see children so warped by it, even in fiction.

Hey, Clearwater gets a moment! I like that; she never got to do much in canon. She almost seems a little too progressive to be interested in Percy, but I guess Percy isn't exactly complete trash either. She can change him. Oh, and even Quirrell gets a little moment! It's impressive to see him stand up to anyone, but maybe he's got a slightly more discerning eye for grifters after last year? Or maybe Lockhart is just so opaque that the rest of the staff are already tired and distrustful of him . . .

Aaaaaand yeah, I like the skeletons, too, though I wonder how they "work" exactly.

—doctorlit is pet-sitting, and is currently being used as a pillow by two dogs

I'm a Year of the Rooster myself. My family has frequently joked about whether me eating chicken counts as cannibalism.

My grandmother doesn't know about you folks, but if she did, she'd probably send her Happy New Year greetings to y'all.

You don't have to share your birth year.

(For what thoughts I have while it's late, the vignette/summary/... style works well especially since it lets you fill in the gaps with canon.)

As soon as Luna told me to run, I had transformed into a horse and left. The tree leaves rustled in the wind, the light rays always shifting, but I had no time to enjoy the scenery. I had to keep going.

When I knew I was going to be safe, I had stopped & grazed on the grass before turning back human, and rested for a while.

I started to wonder about Luna. Had she escaped, or was she caught?

Maybe I shouldn't dwell on that too long.

I got up and started walking in a random direction. I wandered about, looking for subtle clues that provided clear evidence that Luna had escaped.

Eventually, I came across a footprint. It looked fresh, but it was too small to be Luna's footprint--it looked more like a pup's footprint.

Hmm, a pup. There was a pack nearby, but I couldn't be sure if it was the Omega Pack.

I stepped forward--and found no ground beneath my foot.

I slipped, lost my footing, and fell down the sloped shaft.

Half of my brain, the logical side, thought that the shaft I was sliding down could lead me to the Omega Pack.

On the other hand, the primitive half of my brain was thinking OH NO THE WORLD IS ENDING I'M GOING TO DIE!

About two seconds later, the shaft ended abruptly, and I shot forward into a pile of straw. Or, at least it felt like straw. It was pitch-black in here.

In the darkness, I heard a gruff voice say, "It's the shifter. But without her escort."

"You mean Luna?" said another voice. This one sounded friendlier than the first one, and it was feminine, unlike the first voice, which was male.

I heard the first voice say, "Yeah, I know. She could be eavesdropping on our conversation. I don't want that."

"But--" protested Voice Two.

Something hit the back of my head, and I blacked out.

…

When I regained consciousness, I looked around. I appeared to be in some sort of vast cave, dimly lit by what appeared to be glowing worms. There were multiple tunnels branching off from the cave, leading to who knows where. The cave was barren at the moment except for me and the glowing worms.

I tried to shift my body into a more comfortable position, before I realized that my hands were tied behind my back. I attempted to shape-shift into a wolf, a cat, a rabbit. Nothing happened.

I started worrying about what happened to my powers. Maybe I could only shape-shift a certain number of times every week. Maybe my powers required an object to work.

An object.

But what object?

My mind ran through my memory of things that I was wearing when I went out into the wilderness.

The clothes on my back--still there. Not enchanted. Shoes--still there. Not enchanted. My bead bracelet--fell off during the flight from the Shadow. Not enchanted.

My moonstone earring…

It's gone. I can't see it, but I don't feel its familiar weight pulling on my ear.

So where is it?

There was only one answer.

The wolves took it away while I was unconscious…

My mind snapped back to reality just as a wolf emerged from one of the tunnels. Her fur was a pale creamy color, her eyes chocolate brown.

The wolf trotted over to me.

"Where is my earring?" I demanded.

She shook her head. "I don't know. It's probably in the treasury."

I recognized the wolf's voice--the same voice as the female wolf in the dark cave.

I asked, "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm a nobody, from a family of nobodies."

"No, be honest," I said.

The wolf looked uncomfortable.

"My name is Einia. I'm the scribe of the Omega Pack. Someone tells me to put something on the record, I do it. Someone tells me to write a letter to a faraway relative for them, I do it."

"Who was that other wolf in the dark room?" I asked.

"The other wolf… that was Grimpaw, the spy." Einia gulped. "He can turn invisible. He could be watching us at this very moment."

As if on cue, the voice of Grimpaw said, "Yes, I am."

I hear it's Year of the Cat for you, so happy year of the cat!

As I am quite familiar with crossover shenanigans, I couldn't help but think about how Animorphs would interact with Puella Magi Madoka Magica,

In particular: would a Yeerk actually be able to control a Puella Magi's body? For those unaware, a Puella Magi's soul and consciousness is extracted from her body and stored inside her Soul Gem (which sort-of-acts, and is disguised as her transformation trinket) - basically, they get turned into liches and if the Soul Gem and body get past a certain distance from each other the link fails and the body flatlines.

As such, what woudl happen? Yeerk and Soul Gem constantly fighting for control? The Yeerk would fail to override the link as it is implied to no longer require a functional brain to control the body? (In fact, Homura likely did blow a chunk of her brain off during Rebellion with little to no ill effect to herself.). The Yeerk would override, only to suddenly get a dead body if they forget to take the Soul Gem with them?

I've read that badfic before, and it's hilarious. Ditto for Adventures of Dark Yagami.

By the way, AoDY has a spiritual successor called Code Geass: Awesome of the Rebellion. It also features a ridiculous Gary Stu who is related to a canon character as well as an absolutely ridiculous plot featuring super communists and radioactive sharks, among other things. Oh, and the author has admitted to being a troll.

Edit: Figured out how to add links. I'll also warn for violence and references to sex in AotR.

as a “dogfather”? Because that’s what the title makes me think of.

—Ls, on a tangent

The Powers still had to grant wizardry to the Motherboard's children, even sans-Oath, right? As powerful as Dairine was at that time, she couldn't have forced them to do that if they hadn't wanted to.

I think a Yeerk who hasn't been granted wizardry by the Powers would have the same problem comprehending wizardry as any non-wizard, even when they're made aware of it. I think Nita and/or Dairine show their dad some things (spells? Nita's Manual? Spot?), but to him the written Speech just looks like a very pretty script he can't read. He knows magic exists, but even when he sees it happening right in front of him, his brain still tries to look the other way. If he weren't exposed to it all the time, I think he would forget that it's real, just as a wizard who has their magic revoked forgets it ever existed—except, perhaps, as a fun game they used to play when they were younger and happier.

Having direct access to the brain of a wizard may allow a Yeerk to comprehend magic via their perceptions, but supposing the wizard stops being one (ETA: by voluntarily giving it up, is what I mean), and no longer recognizes that magic is a real thing, I reckon the Yeerk is left high and dry. Even if they still remember it's real (and I doubt they would), they never had the ability to command magic on their own, only via their wizard host. If the former-wizard host can't do it anymore, the non-wizard Yeerk certainly can't.

Overshadowing is a thing, though—because, I think, the Powers will never interfere with a person's free will or the consequences thereof. That's why wizardry is given out so sparingly, because the risk of offering it to just anyone who might then go over to the Lone One is too great.

So yeah, I still think a Yeerk's best bet is to talk the wizard into allowing what the Yeerk wants. Threaten their family, convince them it's for the greater good, maybe just let the wizard talk themself into it with "live to fight another day" reasoning. They'll make it up to everyone when they get free. They promise...

~Neshomeh

Hey, do you want to talk via Discord? I'm Linstar#4919

--Ls

Though it's not Year of the Rabbit where I live, let's celebrate with coney stew 🍲

comes The Hunger Note Games, a crossover starring everyone's favorite Death Note Stu that contains this gem (warning for brief mentions of sexuality and bodily mutilation):

"WAIT!" shouted a handsom stranger. He was buff and had tattooes with COOL on one ripped bicep and DUDE on the other. All the ladies swooned and some of them had to run home to get happy in the bathroom. "I VOLUNTEER" he said shoving peeta out of the way and he landed in a pile of bread or something COS HE LIKES BREAD GET IT!

"Stop!" peeta said. "Catniss is my chick!" he picked up too French breads and held them like sords. He slashed around slashing the sexy man but didn't hurt him. Even throwing bread rolls at his head did nothing. The mussely man got a bread of his own and cut peeta's leg off but it was his robot leg so it was ok.

"MY NAME IS DARK YAGAMI AND I VOLUNEETR FOR THE HUUUUUUUUUUNGER GAMES!" he roared like a wrestling commenter.

The news probably shocked Jen as much as it shocked me when I was still a pup and learned that the Shadow was real.

After all, you do not want to be wanted by a dragon.

Dragons were big. They had huge claws and teeth. They could fly and shoot fire from their armpits. (Okay, just joking about that last one.)

And especially not by Drakor--he was the biggest, strongest dragon to have ever lived.

I volunteered to take first watch. While Jen went to sleep, I looked and listened for any dangerous things that could be potentially lurking out there.

After a few hours of staying awake, I heard a rustle. I shook Jen with my paw. "Jen? I heard a rustle."

Jen sat up and rubbed her eyes. "A rustle?"

"Yes, and--"

I heard another rustle. Same as the other one, but louder. The hairs of my back stood straight up.

"Run!" I shouted.

Right then, a black talon shot out of the darkness and grabbed me. I struggled to escape, but the talon just gripped me tighter.

"Escape won't be so easy, little one," said a voice that sounded like ice grinding against stone. "You'll have to get past me first."

I couldn't spot Jen anywhere. Maybe she had fled. Maybe she had been captured by someone else.

I hoped that it was the former.

The talon shifted, and I found myself looking at a dragon. His scales were obsidian black, with hints of purple. Razor-sharp spines stuck out of his back and neck like porcupine quills. His eyes were a crimson red.

The dragon spread his wings, great dark shadows. He lifted off into the sky.

His talon clenched me even more tightly, so tightly that I blacked out.

…

When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a large pit. The walls were nearly vertical, making it impossible to climb out. I looked around, searching for something that might help me escape, and I spotted a grey object on the other side of the pit. Cautiously, I crept closer to the object.

As soon as I got close enough to discern what the object was, I gasped.

It was Ythakor.

He was so thin that I could see his ribs sticking out. He had numerous gashes on his side and face.

Ythakor stood up on shaky legs. His eyes, once a bright blue, were dull.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"It was the Shadow." Ythakor grimaced. "I couldn't kill him. In the middle of our fight, he ran away. Even though I was wounded, I followed him."

"Then how did you end up here?" I asked.

"Well, I would've asked the same question to you," replied Ythakor.

"You go first."

"Alright. Anyway, I followed the Shadow, and found him talking to a dragon. I stepped back, but snapped a twig. They both heard me. I bolted, but the dragon was faster. He caught me and put me here." He sighed. "Your turn."

I recited my story of me and Jen, from the moment I met her to the moment that I was taken. Ythakor listened patiently, nodding every once in a while to show that he understood. When I finished my story, he said to me, "I have something to show you."

Ythakor turned to the ground and pushed aside a slab of rock, revealing a small niche containing a dagger inside. He nudged the dagger. "Mark? You there?"

The dagger floated up to eye level and replied, "Dude! You just--is that a newcomer?"

I gaped. Ythakor grinned.

I had seen plenty of weird things in my life. Once I saw a wolf in a tree. Another time I saw a rabbit adopt an eagle. Then there was that time when Ythakor kissed a tree. But a talking, floating dagger? It made it into the top three.

Eventually, I managed to say, "Uh…"

"Oh," said Ythakor. "Luna, meet Mark, who is a magic floating talking dagger. Mark, meet Luna, alpha wolf of the famed Omega Pack."

My reply: "Um… hi?"

My thoughts: What if he stabs me? He might do that if I say the wrong thing! I can't say too much when he's around!

"Don't worry, I don't bite. But it's not like I have a jaw," Mark pointed out.

"Even if I say something insulting?"

"You're Ythakor's friend. Ythakor isn't evil. Therefore, you're not evil."

Mark had a point. (Oh, sorry. That was bad.) I asked him, "How do you know that Ythakor isn't evil?"

"Well," said Mark, "I can look inside anyone's soul. Ythakor's soul is mostly good, so I--oh, heck no. A dragon is approaching!"

Mark dropped into the niche, and Ythakor quickly slid the slab over the opening just as the morning sun was blocked by an enormous sihoulette.

Glad to see it's still doing the rounds. Seriously cannot recommend this one enough... and maybe it's now time for a reread.

(and I'll say this is both very interesting discussion and a question I don't expect to see myself addressing in my fic, so)

One other thing I thought of (which think I came off of Nesh's point) is that while a wizard-Controller could be rough in terms of knowledge being passed to the Yeerks, there's a solid chance they wouldn't be able to do any wizardry without persuading their host to go with it. As I recall, casting a spell generally requires some intent to do so, so even if you got puppeted through all the words and diagrams and what not, it wouldn't actually do anything unless you wanted the spell could go through.

Or I might be off-base there, I'd have to go digging through books to check for that sort of thing.

The sequel bit from Draco's POV is really interesting, too! Especially the bonding over Tolkien. That's also something I've got planned in my rewrite!

He gets adopted by an OC muggle couple with no children of their own. They are good to him, which makes me happy. More I will not say so as not to spoil it. As far as I can tell, this fic is well-written and everyone seems to be in character.

the dogfather

So far, it looks like the chaos will not abate very soon. My problem is that I get inspired and start a project, but if it isn't a one-shot I tend to run out of steam.