Coyote Tricks: A Coyote at Hogwarts

This chapter is mostly exposition and I'm sorry that it does go over some ground already covered but it was important. Things are going to start heating up soon. This chapter is rated G.

Of Foxes and Hanyous

Dumbledore signaled the start of the feast. Huge platters of food appeared around the tables and everyone dug in.
“Are you a Kitsune too?” Ron asked Hanako.
“Yes,” Hanako said. She touched the coyote charm around her neck and a moment later her ears, tail and feet appeared. The attention she received from the girls around the table tripled.

A student came up to the group and handed Harry a note.
“What’s that?” Hermione asked.
“A note from Dumbledore, he wants me to meet him after the feast.”

A short while later as the other students were going to their dormitories, Harry arrived in the third floor hallway indicated in the note to find Professor Dumbledore, Kit, Shippo and Toshiro standing outside a door Harry knew very well.
“Ah, Harry, good. Now we can begin,” Dumbledore said. “But first, Harry this meeting is part of a special project for our visitors. I trust I can count on you keeping it to yourself?”
“Of course Professor.”
“Good. This way gentlemen.” Dumbledore said and entered the door marked ‘Women’ next to them.

The room was large with stalls leading off to their left but directly in front of them was a large pillar of sinks mounted in very gothic structure in the center of the room.

"Harry," Dumbledore said "I think you know what to do."
"Yes Professor," Harry said and stepped up to the sink structure. He started to speak in a strange hissing sound. The structure began disassembling itself sliding outward like some flower opening to reveal a hole in the floor leading downward.

"The doorway only responds to Parseltongue, the language of snakes. Harry here is the only one at the school who can speak it." Dumbledore said as he led them down into the passage below.
The passage ended in a large metal doorway. The snakes that decorated the face moved as Harry once again spoke in Parseltongue and the door opened.
“This is the Chamber of Secrets,” Dumbledore said as they passed the doorway. “It was built by one of the four founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin.”

The room was large and Slytherin seemed to have an obsession with snakes as every square inch was filled with stone figures of giant snakes. Kit sniffed the air.
“Some creature lived here but its gone now.”
“Yes,” Dumbledore said. “A basilisk. Young Harry here, killed it.”
Harry suddenly found himself the focus of everyone’s attention.
“I couldn’t have done it without Fawkes’ help.” Harry said defensively.
“Fawkes?” Shippo asked.
“Yes, Professor Dumbledore’s Phoenix. He blinded the basilisk and healed me when it poisoned me.”
“Still most impressive,” Shippo said.

The end of the chamber was dominated by a large head carved into the wall. Dumbledore led them past this turning to the right and into a passage that ended in a circular inscription in the wall. The inscription took the shape of a Celtic knot with runes and writing in more than one language on it.
“What we have been able to translate of this so far,” Dumbledore said, “is that behind this seal lies a great treasure of the High King Oberon. What that treasure is we don’t know and much of the runes are unknown to us.”
Kit looked at one group of characters.
“These are elvish characters, high elven. They seem to say the same.”
“Unfortunately, there are wards and charms on the seal that have resisted every spell we have tried to open it.”
“Yes,” Kit said feeling around the seal. “And its not just Human magic either, this is the work of magus major of the Sidhe, I’m certain.”

“So,” Dumbledore said with a grin. “You have had contact with the elves?”
“Ahh, maybe,” Kit said realizing he had said too much. “At least with their magic.”
“I see,” Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. “Our Ancient Runes teacher has made a little progress but she will not have time with classes starting, however she has agreed to loan us her best student to work with you on the translation as a semester project. Ms. Granger is exceedingly sharp and I think you’ll find her a big help.”

~~~

The first seminar was the next day. Harry met Ron and Hermione outside the hall.
“They should have included stray dogs in the protection spells,” Hermione was saying to Ron.
“What’s up?” Harry asked.
“Something attacked her cat last night,” Ron said.
“Crookshanks? Is he all right?”
“Yes,” Hermione said. “Fortunately Hagrid scared it off. He thinks it was a stray dog. Madam Pomfrey said he got a nasty bite but she fixed him up ok.”
“Well I’m glad he’s ok.”

They entered the hall and took seats. At the head of the hall sat Kit, Shippo and Toshiro. As everyone settled down Toshiro stood.
“Good Morning. I am Toshiro Kitsune and it is my great pleasure to be here and meet with you. In the next few weeks I hope to teach you much about ourselves and in turn we greatly hope to learn more from you. So any questions to start?”

Ron raised his hand and was recognized.
“Are all Kitsune Japanese?”
“I assume you’re looking at my friend Kit here,” Toshiro said with a smile. “Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox which is what the Kitsune are. We do have cousins in other parts of the world. My friend Kit here, as you can tell, comes from Coyote stock instead of Fox. However, Kit and I are special cases. To better explain that we need to start with my father.”

Shippo rose to stand next to Toshiro.
“The first thing you must understand is that Kitsunes are not human despite their appearance. My father and Kit are in what we call natural forms. The Kitsune are Animal Youkai. Youkai translates as magical or demon in English. Kitsune have three forms: Natural, true and illusion. The true form is what that Kitsune really is. The natural form is a more humanlike form that the Kitsune can take as it grows in magical power. The illusion form is just that, an illusion.”
He picked up what looked like a large magnifying glass from the table and held it up.
“I was given this by Professor Flitwick. Can anyone tell me what it is?”
Hermione’s hand shot up.
“Yes…?”
“Hermione Granger. It is a glass of true seeing. It lets you see through illusions.”
“Very good. Would you take it please and look at Shippo?”

Hermione held up the glass and looked at the elder Kitsune. She let out a gasp.
“He’s beautiful.”
“What do you see?”
“A Fox but big and he has…” she paused to count, “five tails.”
“Yes, that is his true form. As Kitsune grow in power, in addition to developing a natural form, they also grow in size and grow additional tails. Rank in Kitsune society is determined by the number of tails you have. Father, would you let the rest of them see what Ms. Granger sees?”
Shippo nodded. There was a loud pop and puff of smoke filled the space around the Kitsune and when it cleared a Fox, bigger than any dog, with five wagging tails stood there.

After a few moments of ohhing and awwing, Shippo changed back into his natural form.
“The third form is the illusion form. It is a temporary form that the Kitsune takes to hide or blend in. This form requires a material component, a special treated leaf.”
Shippo held up a leaf on which some markings were visible and placed it on his head. There was explosion of smoke and when it cleared, Professor Snape stood in Shippo’s place. The real Snape in the back of the room scowled. The fake Snape smiled and a fox tail wagged behind him.
“You will notice that whatever form a Kitsune takes his first tail is always there. No one is entirely sure why this is. Kitsunes usually either hide the tail in clothing or with practice can make it invisible.”
The tail disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then with another cloud of smoke Shippo returned to his natural form.

“Now Ms. Granger, will you turn your glass on me and tell me what you see?”
Hermione looked at Toshiro.
“You look exactly the same!”
“That’s right,” Toshiro said smiling. “This is my true form; in fact it’s my only form.”
Toshiro’s fox ears and tail disappeared.
“What do you see now?”
“You still have the ears and tail in the glass.”
“Correct. When you see me without my ears and tail it because of an illusion charm.”
He held up a silver charm with Japanese lettering on it.

“I do not have a true Fox form because I am not a true Kitsune. I am what we call a Hanyou or half-Youkai. Shippo is my father but my mother was Human. While I inherit a greater metabolism and strength from my father, I have not inherited his illusion ability.”

Kit wearing a large set of wizard’s robes that completely covered him from the neck down stepped forward.
“Kit here is also a Hanyou but a very special one. As you see from his ears, Kit is not a Fox but a Coyote. However, his father is not a regular Youkai like my father. His father is a Tai-Youkai or Great Demon. He does have the ability to change his appearance but with a difference. Ms. Granger what does your glass see.”
“He looks the same.”
The shadows around Kit shimmered and his ears disappeared.
“And now?” Toshiro asked.
Hermione looked at him through the glass.
“I see him just as he looks without the ears.”
The shadows shimmered again and in place of Kit stood a copy of Hermione enveloped in the now oversized robes. Hermione looked at him through the glass and around the glass several times.
“It’s the same,” she said. “No matter what form he takes he looks the same in the glass.”

“That is because my changes are not illusions,” Hermione-Kit said. “When I change into something else I physically become that person or animal.”
The shadows shimmered again as Kit returned to his normal form.
“As you can also see, since my transformations are not illusions I can’t actually change my clothing like Shippo can.”

Ron raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“Can you transform into anyone?”
“Yes, if I have touched them or had some time to observe them.”

~~~

Darkness had fallen over the Forbidden Forest as Valdune and Wormtail came to a clearing in the heart of the forest. In the center of the clearing were two ancient trees growing side by side.
“What is this place?” Wormtail asked.
“The heart of the forest, a nexus. Did you not wonder why magical creatures tend to gather in certain places? Nexus such as these are the source of magic in the mortal world, the magic of Underhill passes through them. From here it is carried in currents called ley lines around the world. As it moves from the source it is changed and weakens but here near the source it is still strong. There is another in the castle itself. Both are closed so nothing physical can pass through them from Underhill. This is why we needed to get onto the grounds. It can only be opened from this side.”

Valdune closed his eyes and began chanting in the musical language of the Sidhe. Wormtail could feel the power around him flowing faster in time with the chant. As the Human watched the space between the two trees seemed to grow hazy and gradually darkness filled the space until nothing could be seen through it. Valdune’s chant reached a crescendo and then with a visible relaxation he stopped.
“It is done.”

A creature stepped out of the darkness, a Centuar type creature with the torso and head of man atop a lion’s body.
“Master.”
“You will guard the gate until we have gathered our forces for the attack.”
The lion man nodded.

Valdune turned to the Wormtail.
“As promised here is the formula,” he said handing a parchment to the Wizard. “Our allies in Japan have made a request of us that works well with our plans. We find we have more need of your master’s services. If he will assist us we shall reward him well.”
“I will pass on your request, what is it you need?”
“We will let you know as soon as we have consulted with our minion in the castle. He should be here.” Valdune looked around. “You did send the owl as we asked?”
“Yes,” Wormtail answered.
“Ahh,” Valdune said. “Here he comes now.”

A large coyote ran into the clearing. With a shimmering of shadows the coyote transformed, a naked Kit Coyote stepped forward and dropped on one knee before Valdune.
“Master,” he said.

~~~

Author's Notes: Foxfur proofed for me which she hasn't been in some of the more recent chapters. She has been so busy and tired with running the kids for school projects and jobs that I just didn't want to bother her with it. She tells me it fairly obvious too so I'll try to get her to proof more often. I'm also not posting on schedule anymore. Between work and other interests, I'm just not finding the time and creative mode to work the story in order to post weekly. I'm working multiple stories again which while even slowing the posts even more, enables me to post more overall since I can find inspiration to work on one story when I'm stuck on another. Next chapter a new character is tossed in the mix.