1. The First Attack of the “Abnomalies”

More Than Meets the Eye

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and related characters are owned by J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Brothers and various publishers. Transformers and related characters are owned by Hasbro, Takara, IDW Publishing, Dreamworks, and various publishers. No money is being made off of this work.

Summary: Having barely recovered from the post Voldemort war, the Wizarding World is suddenly caught in between another war fought between mysterious “abnomalies” who transform into various muggle contraptions. Ignores DH epilogue. H/Hr, R/LL. Harry Potter/Transformers crossover.

A/N: I know crossovers usually invariably suck but I purely and simply couldn’t resist the blasted post DH plot bunny. Some people may think this is rather forced (which it probably is) but I just want to have some fun here. If you want, flame away but I’d much rather have constructive criticism.

Chapter 1: The First Attack of the “Abnomalies”

Peace. Peace was such a precious and fragile word. The Wizarding World hadn’t known peace ever since Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, had made his desperate grab for immortality and had thus waged two devastating wars to achieve it. In the end, the megalomaniacal sorcerer, whom had gone to the point of creating horcruxes for the sake of immortality, was destroyed by his ignorance of Death, namely his ignorance of the Deathly Hallows. In other words, Voldemort may have cheated Death but he had failed to conquer it.

It had been two years since Voldemort and his Death Eaters had fallen. Two years the Wizarding World had known true peace. The scars of the tragic past had yet to be covered over but they were definitely healing. In Diagon Alley, hidden within the depths of London, wizards and witches of all ages hustled and bustled through the stores in anticipation of the next term starting at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Life had generally returned to normal after the horror that was Voldemort had threatened all. Yet, “normal” was such a fleeting thing.

An attractive woman with long, bright red hair walked into one of the shops lining the alley: a shop called Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. As soon as she spotted a red haired young man standing behind the counter, she smiled and made a beeline toward him.

“Ginny Weasley as I live and breathe,” said the young man. He stepped out from behind the counter and the two hugged and kissed each other on the cheek. “Has my favorite sister doing?”

“Yeah right, George, I’m your only sister,” replied Ginny. “Where’s Percy?”

“Yo Perce!” yelled George. “Come say hi to our long lost sister!”

Percy Weasley stuck his head out from the back of store: he had apparently been restocking some of the merchandise. “Ginny!” he exclaimed. He ran over and gave his sister a hug. “You’re back! How did the internship go?”

“Pretty exciting actually,” replied Ginny. “Do either of you have time? I want to tell everything.”

“Eh, we’re on lunch break anyway,” said George.

Percy frowned. “No we’re not...”

“We are on lunch break,” declared George, making his point. “Come along to the back and we’ll catch up.”

* * *

Up high in the sky over London flew two planes. To wizards and witches there was nothing unusual about that aside from the regular questions of how muggles managed to fly such contraptions. However, a muggle on the other just may have noticed something strange about those two planes.

The two planes were an F-22 Raptor and an F-117 Nighthawk: two types of stealth fighter jets of the United States Air Force. A muggle may have wondered why two USAF jets were flying alone over London of all places. A muggle may have even questioned the sudden nose dive the two jets made toward the city. However, to wizards and witches, nothing unusual was happening beyond the regular mysteries of how planes flew in the first place.

* * *

“Seriously, how long has it been? That internship dragged on for months, didn’t it?” asked George. The Weasleys were sitting in the back room of the store, drinking tea.

“I suppose it dragged,” said Ginny. “I loved it though. The Quibbler’s overseas internship is definitely one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever done.” She sighed and said, “I don’t think I’m going to accept it though. I’ve already told Luna as much.”

“What? Why is that? Especially after all the enthusiasm you expressed,” exclaimed Percy. Ginny merely shrugged noncommittally.

“Oh lay off of her Perce, you ole stick in the mud. None of that’s going to matter once ‘green eyes’ places a ring on her finger,” said George with a chuckle.

Both brothers were taken aback by the withering glare their sister gave them, a look tinged with sadness, anger, and frustration. Swallowing a lump in his throat, George asked, “Er, trouble in Paradise?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Ginny with a tone of finality in her voice. She glanced at clock hanging on the wall behind George. “I should get going. I want to visit Fred’s grave before I go back to the Burrow. Mum expects me to help out at home now that I’m back.”

She stood up just before the entire store shook with the sound of an explosion.

* * *

The two planes had dived downward closer and closer, and then just as they flew over Diagon Alley itself, the two planes started firing missiles straight into the magical buildings. Wizards and witches started screaming in terror as explosions rocked the alley. Debris started flying all over, raining over the crowds. A few wizards and witches managed to retain enough cool to form Protego spells around them to avoid the debris but most were too panic stricken to do anything but run in terror or duck under cover.

Just as the smoke was starting to clear up, the two planes swooped down again, firing their explosives and this time the rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat of machine gun fire as well. The bullets sparked along the pavement as the explosions continued tearing away at the buildings.

The Weasley siblings emerged from Weasley Wizard Wheezes just as the building was starting to collapse. “What is going on?” demanded Ginny.

“The muggles are attacking! The muggles are attacking! Muggle flying contraptions are attacking!” screamed one panicked wizard as he tried to escape toward the Leaky Cauldron: one of the few buildings to escape destruction.

“That’s not possible!” exclaimed Percy. “Diagon Alley is covered to the gills in muggle repellant charms three times over. There’s no way a muggle ‘airplane’ could get anywhere within three thousand feet from the air much less attack...”

“Look out!” exclaimed Ginny as the two planes came down for another dive. She managed to pull her brothers out of the way just as the missiles and bullets came raining down.

Percy was completely overwhelmed by panic, shouting, “Oh my God! The muggles are attacking us! The muggles are attacking us!”

“Yo! Snap out of it!” yelled George as he slapped Percy in the face. “Keep your cool and we’ll think of something.”

Ginny looked up to notice that the planes were swooping down toward them again. “George, they’re coming back! Move Percy out of...” Ginny stopped midsentence as she saw something that she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Just as the F-22 Raptor was about fifteen feet from the ground a change came over it. The Raptor flipped over and just as it did the rear portion of the plane took on the shape of metallic legs. The plane’s wings moved to a position over a pair of shoulders that had just formed as a pair of metallic arms emerged right underneath them. The nose folded over the torso region to reveal a black, metallic head. Ginny’s jaw dropped and her eyes goggled as the F-22 Raptor transformed into a twenty foot tall metal humanoid which landed in the alley itself, shaking the very ground.

“Um, I don’t think those are muggle planes at all,” she said.

George goggled at the humanoid and muttered “Bloody Hell.” Percy was completely speechless.

“RUN!” shouted Ginny just as the metal humanoid drew forth its right arm firing rounds like a machine gun. The rounds caused vast damage to the surrounding buildings and pavement as wizards and witches fled in panic.

The humanoid let out a high-pitched cackle. “That’s right! Flee! Flee pathetic humans!” it exclaimed, its voice unusually high-pitched and arrogant sounding. “Flee before the power of Starscream!”

Most of the populace attempted to flee to shelter but some faced the creature and started firing curses and hexes: stunners, inpediment jinxes, disarmers, even one or two patronuses. To their horror, the humanoid who referred to himself as Starscream merely shrugged them off.

“You call that a defense?” he cackled. “Why, that’s nothing more than a light show!” Starscream aimed one of his firearms toward the defending wizards and started blasting at them. As he was doing so, he looked up toward the F-117 and yelled, “Get a move on it Soundwave! We have a job to do!”

The F-117 also transformed into a humanoid and landed with a tremor. This one, identified as Soundwave was primarily dark blue in color. What appeared between a cross between a radar and a canon was mounted on its right shoulder and the chest region looked as if it had the the ability to open up, like a cassette deck.

“Commencing mission. Acquire information,” blurped Soundwave. In contrast to Starscream’s high pitched cackle, Soundwave spoke in a monotonous, metallic voice, much like an old computer. Soundwave strode over toward Gringotts Wizard Bank shrugging off the curses fired at him like they were nothing. Just as the giant humanoid had stepped up to the gleaming marble building, Soundwave’s chest flew open and out popped out an electric guitar, a stereo system, and a boombox. Only they didn’t remain in that form for long: the electric guitar transformed into a mechanical vulture, the stereo system transformed into a mechanical black jaguar, and the boombox transformed into a four foot tall, blue and silver mechanical humanoid.

“Laserbeak!” sqwaked the vulture.

“Ravage!” growled the jaguar.

“Frenzy!” cackled the humanoid.

The three smaller mechanical beings charged up the steps toward Gringotts just as the goblins in charge of the bank started pouring out. “Stop them!” snarled the lead goblin. The goblin charged at the creatures brandishing their swords and spears like a wild war-party. The mechanical jaguar called Ravage however merely swept aside the advancing goblin party and leapt on the lead goblin with a snarl. The lead goblin started screaming as Ravage tore into him viciously, ignoring the desperate attempts of the other goblins to get him off.

While Ravage was busy with the goblins, the vulture Laserbeak blasted the doors to the bank down. The mechanical vulture flew straight into the bank with the humanoid Frenzy below him. Once in the building, Laserbeak blasted off another door leading to a room marked Records.

“Communication established. Download database,” said Soundwave as he blasted away some of the goblins surrounding Ravage.

Frenzy let out a stream of triumphant gibberish as he leapt into the records chamber. “Download data...” He stopped short as he came upon rows upon rows of shelves stocked with bundles of parchment. The small humanoid let out a frustrated cry. Muttering, “Primitive! Primitive!” he started looking through the parchment some 47 times faster than the average human could, throwing them all over the place as he was done with them. Laserbeak meanwhile stood guard right outside the chamber

Out in the alley, Starscream took a break from the blasting to yell at his comrade, “Aren’t you done yet? What’s taking so...” The humanoid stopped short as about thirty Ministry Hit Wizards aparated in front of him. “Oh, more play things.”

“Fire at will!” yelled the lead Hit Wizard. The Hit Wizards let loose a whole barrage of curses and jinxes. Starscream merely shrugged them off.

“Ah, you humans never learn,” he cackled. “Didn’t I say that’s nothing more than a light show?” Starscream turned his guns on the Hit Wizards and started blasting away.

The Weasleys were hiding in a nearby shelter formed by some of the rubble. Ginny was starting to grow rather frustrated.

“Don’t those Ministry idiots ever learn anything?” she hissed. Before her brothers could stop her, Ginny leapt out of the shelter and started making her way towards the battle.

“Ginny! Where are you going?” yelled Percy as he and George took off after their sister.

Ginny ran up to behind Starscream whom was too busy firing at the Hit Wizards to notice the red haired witch. Ginny swung out her wand and yelled, “Reducto!”

It worked. Starscream staggered forward as the explosion hit him square in the back of his head, obviously shocked that he had actually been damaged however minimal it was. He turned toward Ginny his eyes glowing maliciously.

“You will pay for that, bitch!” he hissed. Fortunately for Ginny, the surviving Hit Wizards had taken a hint and started firing reductors at the mechanical humanoid. Starscream staggered around as the explosions started taking away pieces of his body.

In retrospect perhaps using so many reductors on the mechanical humanoid was not the wisest of choices for it only served to anger him. Starscream let out a screech of rage and started blasting away at full power: no more toying around. The remaining Hit Wizards screamed as they were either buried under debris or blasted away directly. Starscream then turned his attention on Ginny.

Ginny just barely managed an “Oh” before she was thrown back by explosion hitting the ground under her feet. Flying close to twenty five feet, the red haired witch was flung into a far wall and fell to the ground with a sickening crack.

“No!” screamed George, as he and Percy made their way over to their fallen sister. “No Ginny! Not you too! Not you too!”

“Oh God, Ginny,” whispered Percy. “Please be all right. Dear God, please be all right.”

Ginny let out a painful moan before falling into the sweet bliss of darkness. At least she was breathing which calmed her brothers down greatly.

“Found it! Found it!” Frenzy suddenly burst out of Gringotts wielding several rolled up pieces of parchment with Laserbeak flying right behind him. The two jumped into Soundwave’s chest compartment. Ravage flung away the body of his latest goblin victim before jumping into Soundwave’s chest following the other two.

“Mission Accomplished,” said Soundwave. “Objectives met. Retreat and regroup.”

Starscream looked toward his comrade and said, “Hmph! Fine, let’s get out of here!” Saying that, Starscream transformed back into an F-22 and Soundwave into an F-117 and the two flew off into the air, leaving behind the smoldering devastation that had only an hour ago been Diagon Alley.

A/N: Well? Like it? Hate it? I’m going to assume that most of the people here have seen the recent Transformers feature film but I have no idea how many are actually familiar with the G1 continuity. Whichever way the Harry Potter bits will stick to the canon, the DH epilogue being the exception. Transformers on the other hand, will be predominately G1 continuity but will also feature my own additions and influences from other continuities.

2. The Immediate Consequences

A/N Seeing how people appeared to like the first chapter warms my heart. So far the chapters are being churned out rather quickly so there will be frequent updates. Hopefully I’ll remain on this momentum and keep the ball rolling.

Chapter 2: The Immediate Consequences

Not too long afterward recently permanently elected Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt called for an immediate emergency meeting of all Aurors, including all of those in training. The Aurors shuffled into one of the courtrooms where they could easily see the proceedings. Most of them had no idea why the meeting was taking place.

Many of the Aurors stepped aside in reverence and awe as Harry Potter entered the courtroom. Harry for his part looked rather embarrassed by the attention he was receiving. It had been two years and people still insisted on treating him like the chosen savior. Harry for his part was convinced that he really hadn’t done anything all that great: it was the Elder Wand that destroyed Voldemort, not him. Still, to the vast majority of the Wizarding World the Deathly Hallows were nothing more than a fairy tale meaning Harry got the credit whether he wanted it or not.

Harry let out a “humph” as he plopped right into the seat next of his best friend Ronald Weasley. Ron smirked at his raven haired friend saying, “I am to be graced by your awesome presence today oh so powerful savior of our world?”

“You can put a sock in it Weasley,” grumbled Harry prompting Ron to laugh. “What’s this meeting about anyway?”

“Beats me. Must be something big for them to call in us trainees as well,” replied Ron. “But hey, nothing could be worse than You-Know-Who right?”

Harry let out a frustrated groan. “Ron it’s been two years. Just call him ‘Voldemort’ already.” At the sound of the name, nearly half of the Aurors in the room jumped. Harry rolled his eyes: the guy has been dead for two years and people still jumped at the sound of his name.

“Sorry. Old habit,” said Ron. He might’ve said more had Kingsley Shacklebolt not walked into the courtroom at that time. The Aurors quieted down as the Minister took his place in front of the assembled crowd.

“Aurors, I am afraid I have horrible news,” said Kingsley, his deep voice booming courtesy of a Sonorous charm. “At approximately 1012 hours, about an hour and a half ago Diagon Alley was attacked. Although we cannot assess the full extent of damage yet, we have so far accounted for at least fifty two deaths and many more wounded.”

The silence in the courtroom was horrifying. Finally, one young trainee asked the question that was on everyone’s mind: “Was it done by the Death Eaters? Those few that managed to escape?”

“I almost wish it were,” muttered Kingsley. “That way we’d know what we were dealing with. No, I’m afraid the culprits behind this travesty were not Death Eaters; or even human for that matter. Toppham, is the pensieve ready?”

“Yes sir.” The ministry aide called Toppham rolled out a silver pensieve in front of Kingsley.

“We have created a series of images from the minds of the survivors. Ladies and Gentlemen, what you are about to see is nothing the likes of wizard kind has ever seen before.” The room darkened as the pensieve displayed a three dimensional projection of the F-22 Raptor and the F-117 Nighthawk.

“There’s nothing unusual of those. They’re just muggle planes!” said one snide sounding Auror.

“Wait a minute! You mean we were attacked by muggles?” exclaimed another outraged Auror.

“Quiet!” boomed Kingsley. The Aurors instantly shut up. “If you will be patient a little longer you will see that there is more than meets the eye!”

Kingsley tapped the rim of the pensieve with his wand. Instantly the projection of the planes transformed into the two mechanical humanoids causing the Aurors present to collectively gasp.

“Diagon Alley was attacked by these ‘abnomalies’,” declared Kingsley. “While many of us may not know the extent of muggle technology we do know that these ‘abnomalies’ are far beyond their capabilities. They’re...”

“Robots!” The Aurors collectively turned toward Harry, surprised to hear him speak.

“Something you wish to say, Trainee Potter?” asked Kingsley.

Harry blushed and ran his hand through his messy locks. “Er, well you see. My cousin Dudley used to watch on TV... that is television... well anyway, what you’ve been calling ‘abnomalies’, the muggle term is ‘robot’.” He then added as an afterthought, “Though I’ve never seen any this advanced before.”

Kingsley nodded in acknowledgement. “Well, whatever you wish to call them they’re intent was to steal certain records from Gringotts Bank. With some seventeen goblins dead and the records room trashed we have no idea what specifically it was they stole. Gringotts has temporarily shut its doors, all transactions to be conducted by owl. Even with magic it will take several days before we can identify the stolen documents.”

Kingsley turned his attention back to the projections. “The ‘abnomalie’ on the left identified itself as ‘Starscream’, the one on the right as ‘Soundwave’. All Aurors are hereby placed on priority one alert and stay on the lookout for another possible attack from them. It should be noted that of the thirty Hit Wizards dispatched to Diagon Alley, only seven are still on active status. The rest are in St. Mungo’s: five of them in the hospital’s morgue. Various curses and hexes were used against them but the only one that had any effect on them whatsoever was the reductor.”

“Well I suppose that makes sense,” said Harry. When all eyes were trained on him he groaned, “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Would you care to elaborate, Trainee Potter?” said Kingsley.

Harry was obviously uncomfortable being the center of attention but started speaking nevertheless. “Well, think about it,” he said. “Most of the common curses and hexes are designed to impair human activity in some way. ‘Stupefy’ for one renders the brain unconscious. ‘Inpedimenta’ immobilizes the muscles. ‘Expelliarmus’... well by the looks of things these robots seem to have their weapons built right into themselves: kinda impossible to disarm that.” He stopped to think for a minute and said, “The Unforgivables wouldn’t work either.” At the shouts of outrage, Harry continued, “Well its obvious isn’t it? The Imperius affects command functions directly in the brain. The Cruciatus turns on all pain receptors in the body while Avada Kedavra causes permanent shut down of all cells. Whichever way, they’re all designed to affect organisms in some way and robots aren’t organisms... at least in the traditional sense. The reductor is for blasting objects out of the way: it affects the physical rather than some bodily activity.” He took a break before saying, “The point I’m trying to make is that we learn Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Well, these guys obviously aren’t of the Dark Arts meaning we need a different approach to defense all together.”

Everyone in the courtroom stared at Harry. Ron frowned and said, “OK, you’ve been spending way too much time with Hermione.” In response, Harry shot him a look.

Kingsley shrugged and said, “If there is nothing more you would like to add, you are all dismissed.”

* * *

“Ginny! How could you do such a thing?” exclaimed Molly Weasley for the third time. Several of the Weasleys: Arthur, Molly, Percy, and George were gathered around the Ginny’s bed at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies. Charlie was still chasing dragons in Romania while Bill was in France, visiting his wife Fleur’s relatives.

Ginny rolled her eyes, a little tired of her mother’s insistent codling. “Mum, I’m fine. A little banged up but otherwise OK. They’re only keeping me in here overnight to make sure nothing too horrible happened,” she said.

“Really Mum, you’re going to smother her if you keep this up,” said George. He quelled under the deathly glare his mother sent him. Molly Prewitt Weasley was usually a sweet and gentle woman but she could really be frightening whenever she chose to be. She had killed Bellatrix Lestrange afterall.

“I agree with your mother, what you did was rash,” said Arthur Weasley. “I am just thankful that you weren’t hurt too seriously. Now, tell me Ginny. How exactly did these ‘airplanes’ fly?” When Molly glared at him next, Arthur grinned bashfully: he simply couldn’t resist asking about muggle machines.

“Your daughter is in the hospital and you’re asking her about muggle planes?” demanded Molly.

“Mum, it’s just a concussion,” replied Ginny. “There’s nothing wrong, really.”

Molly was about to say more when the door opened and Ronald Weasley poked his head inside. “Hey, is it safe to come in?”

Ginny grinned and said, “Well I don’t know. There might be too much of a hazard here for an Auror trainee to handle.” Ron laughed as he stepped into the room carrying a bouquet of flowers. Ginny’s expression turned into a frown when she realized her brother was alone. “Er, not that I’m not glad to see you but... isn’t Harry with you?”

Ron looked uncomfortable a he transfigured a paper cup into a vase and placed the flowers in them. “He uh... decided that since your condition wasn’t serious that... uh... he would... er... start up the investigation into these ‘abnomalie’ attacks.”

Ginny looked incredulous while Ron looked apologetic. The rest of the Weasleys didn’t appear to notice anything amiss however. “Now that’s dedication,” said Percy, “going straight into the job.”

“Well, did you expect anything less from the Chosen One?” replied George with a chuckle. “Always rushing out to save the day!”

“He could take a little time off. We haven’t seen each other in months,” grumbled Ginny. “For that matter, we haven’t contacted each other in months either. Neither of us have owls.”

“Yeah, he’s not about to replace Hedwig any time soon,” said Ron.

“Well dear, Harry is very busy these days. I’m sure if he had time,” Molly said awkwardly.

“That’s what Hermione tells me: very busy, no time. Yet those two always somehow find the time to see each other,” said Ron, a slight trace of bitterness in his voice.

For a second there was an uncomfortable silence in the room. George cleared his throat and said, “So Ron, why aren’t you out there chasing ‘abnomalies’ with Harry?”

“Oh you know how it is. That’s really supposed to be the job of a full fledged Auror. But Harry being the great vanquisher of evil that he is gets to work on the assignment. I on the other hand am supposed to do damage control with the press, make sure they get their facts right. I managed to get the Daily Prophet passed onto one of the other trainees though; no way am I going to that rag,” said Ron. “Hey Gin, since you’re back I’m assuming that Luna Lovegood is back as well right?”

Ginny was somewhat surprised by the question. “Er, yeah. She’s back.”

“Excellent,” said Ron. “Glad you’re all right Ginny but I’ve got to run. If anyone needs me I’ll be at the Quibbler.”

* * *

Back at his flat Harry was studying the contents of pensieve intently. Something was bugging him, something important but he couldn’t figure out what as he closely observed the images of Starscream and Soundwave. “What is it? What am I missing?” he muttered.

Deciding he needed some fresh air, Harry walked over to the window and opened it, glancing out into the muggle suburb of London. He had decided early on to live in a flat in the muggle world, hoping to avoid the celebrity lifestyle that would’ve been forced upon him in the wizarding world.

As he looked out onto the streets, Harry noticed a bright yellow Chevrolet Camaro with black racing stripes circling in front of his building before driving off. The thing that he noticed about it was that the Camaro had no driver. For a muggle a driverless car would’ve been a cause for alarm but for a wizard like Harry it was simply a curiosity.

“I sure hope Arthur’s doing his job right,” he muttered, “can’t have too many wizards bewitching their cars like that and scaring muggles.”

He turned back to the pensieve and the images of the robots. “What am I missing?” he said, “and why am I so convinced that I’m missing something important in the first place?”

On a nearby shelf, the Peverell Invisibility Cloak glittered in the evening sunlight.

A/N: OK, how’s that for chapter 2? I’m kinda worried that last section wasn’t ominous enough but eh, I think it does the job. You will tell me if you like it right? For that matter I’m hoping you’ll tell me if you hate it as well.

3. Happy “Family”

A/N People seem to be demanding more Transformers in the reviews. I can understand that but for the time being I’m trying stick with the whole “Robots in Disguise” concept. No worries though. The Transformers will reveal themselves very soon and the majority of this fic will feature them extensively alongside the Harry Potter characters.

Chapter 3: Happy “Family”

“Harry? Are you in here?” Harry woke up to the sound of insistent knocking. Realizing that he had fallen asleep on his living room couch, he hurriedly adjusted his glasses and made his way toward the door. To his delight he found two of his favorite people standing there: Hermione Granger and Ted Lupin.

“Haaaaawwwwyyyy!” Two year old Ted Lupin waddled over and Harry scooped him up.

“Heeeey! How’s my godson?” said Harry. He cuddled Teddy closer causing the two year old to laugh.

“He’s been behaving like an angel,” said Hermione as she walked into the flat. The bushy haired buck toothed girl had grown into a lovely woman with flowing brown hair and chocolate colored eyes which sparkled with gold. “Haven’t you Teddy? You were an angel for Auntie Hermione right?”

“Yaaaay!” said Ted. Harry had to laugh at that.

“Thanks for looking after him over the week,” said Harry. He sobered. “I’m not sure if now was a good time to return though. You’ve heard about what happened at Diagon Alley yesterday right?”

Hermione frowned. “Actually I haven’t. Attending muggle university at Cambridge sometimes places you out of touch of the Wizarding World. Why? What happened?”

Harry sighed. “I hate being the bearer of bad news,” he said. “Come on. I’ll show you in my pensieve.”

* * *

About fifteen minutes later Hermione sat in stunned silence, the pensieve’s image retreating back into the basin. “I-I can’t... believe it.”

“It’s all true,” Harry said gravely. “Most of the buildings have been repaired and the debris cleared up but nothing can hide all those deaths.”

Hermione nodded solemnly. “And this was done by those... robots?”

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like.”

“B-but robots?” exclaimed Hermione. “How is this possible? There’s nothing on Earth that advanced. The level of artificial intelligence is astounding; I mean it looks like they’re sentient. I can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of RAM required for the DATA processing alone as well as the requirement of a CPU and Operating System that could withstand this much information. This is a level of advanced quantum physics beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”

Harry stared at his best friend incredulously. “OK, you lost me there.” He shook his head and said, “Never mind, I think I get the general idea.” He then voiced another possibility he had considered: “Do you think a dark wizard or witch is behind this?”

Hermione frowned. “It’s possible. I mean, I wouldn’t dismiss the idea. But then, why use robots who transform into muggle mechanics? That just doesn’t strike dark wizard to me. And the level of sentience they displayed seems too advanced, even with magic.”

“Hmm, a sentient robot. Sounds like something out of a Sci-fi movie,” said Harry. “Or maybe like that author. What was it, Asimov?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “This is nothing like Isaac Asimov. He wrote the ‘three laws of robotics’. If these robots lived by the laws they wouldn’t be able to harm the people in the first place.” She paused before saying, “Have they identified what was stolen from Gringotts yet?”

“No. The bank is completely trashed and a lot of goblins were killed.”

Hermione sighed and said, “If we could find out what was stolen, we might be able to figure out what they are after.”

Ted toddled up to Hermione and started tugging on her skirt. “Hewme,” he said, not yet being able to say ‘Hermione’, “Hungwwy. Hungwwy.”

Hermione chuckled and said, “You wouldn’t mind continuing our discussion over lunch, would you?”

“Of course not,” said Harry. “Come on, I know a good place nearby where we can get some Chinese.”

* * *

It wasn’t the first time Harry had gone out on an outing with just Hermione and Ted. In fact it was one of the favorite things he liked to do. During those days just barely after the war had ended Harry and Hermione had spent many a weekend together in Hyde Park with the infant Ted in a stroller. Those were peaceful days, away from the hustle and bustle of the Wizarding World, away from the flashes of magical cameras and Daily Prophet reporters. There, Harry could simply be Harry, not Harry Potter the Boy who lived, the Chosen One, the vanquisher of “You-Know-Who”.

Inevitably, being a young man and a young woman with a baby in the stroller led to various misconceptions. People often came over to them saying what a lovely family they made. Saying they weren’t married in response often led to disdainful or disapproving looks from the patron while saying they were only babysitting led to looks of disbelief. Eventually, Harry and Hermione decided to simply play along and pretending they were married became something of an inside joke and hobby between them. Still, the patrons were sometimes bewildered whenever they noticed neither one was wearing rings.

The number of weekend outings decreased after Hermione moved to Cambridge and Harry joined the Auror Program. Therefore, the two spent almost all of their free time together during these outings. The result of this was that almost their entire relationship now consisted of the flirtatious dialogue and interactions they maintain whenever they were pretending to be a married couple. This had led to many an argument between them and their Weasley significant others.

That day was no exception as the two took little Teddy Lupin out to the nearby Chinese restaurant. Ted was shrieking in laughter as he walked in between Harry and Hermione, both of his hands in each of theirs. Harry and Hermione smiled over Ted’s face. Hermione’s smile however quickly turned into a frown when she saw something on the street. “Are those driverless cars over there?”

Harry looked toward the street and was surprised to see the same yellow Camaro he had seen yesterday, only it was now accompanied by two more driverless cars: a silver Pontiac Solstice GXP and a Ford Mustang Police Car. The three cars drove past Harry, Hermione, and Ted and disappeared down the street. “Yeah, it was,” he said.

“Oh honestly, some wizards just have no sense,” said Hermione, shaking her head. “The stature of secrecy exists for a reason. Charming cars to drive around on their self is just asking to get us noticed, meaning more work for the obliviaters. Furthermore, I think that police car was an American model, not a British one. That’s bound to be even more noticeable.”

“Well, I didn’t quite notice the model of the police car,” said Harry. “The yellow one though: I saw the same car just outside of my flat yesterday.”

“Maybe they’re drawn to magical power,” said Hermione. “Perhaps we should tell Arthur.”

Harry snorted. “Fine with me. But knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who charmed them himself.” This prompted a laugh out of Hermione. Though Ted didn’t understand what Harry and Hermione were laughing about, seeing them laugh was a delightful experience for him and he started shrieking in joy.

Not too long afterward, the three were sitting in a local Chinese restaurant enjoying their meals. Ted seemed to want to wear his food more than he wanted eat it as Hermione gently scolded him for that. Harry was amused by the exchange and chuckled.

“Boy, if you’re like this with him, I wonder what you’ll be like with your own children someday.”

Hermione looked somewhat surprised. “Where did that come from?” she asked.

Harry frowned before saying, “From some strange and weird dreams I’ve been having. Maybe it’s a possible future from a parallel universe or something. But then, for all we know our universe might be the alternate one and that one might be the ‘real’ one. Who knows?”

“What’s it about? Anything horrible?” asked Hermione.

Harry snorted. “That would depend on your point of view. You’re married to Ron with two kids named Hugo and Rose. I’m married to Ginny with three kids: two named after my parents and one named after Dumbledore and Snape.”

“Snape? As in Severus Snape?”

Harry chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. I may have a lot more respect and admiration for him now then in the past but I’m not about name a kid of mine after him.”

Hermione also chuckled before her face turned downcast. “Well I guess that really would be an alternative universe. I don’t think Ron and I will be happening.”

“What? Why?”

“Because we barely have any time to see each other and whenever we do all we ever do is argue. We have practically nothing in common: all he ever talks about is Quidditch and he never listens to a word I say about my studies at Cambridge. The only topic we ever really can talk to each other about is you.”

Harry had never been comfortable with the idea of Ron and Hermione dating due to the possible aftermath of a breakup. Now it looked as if that was only a matter of time and he didn’t know what to say. Deciding to veer the topic off a little he said, “Well if there’s anything that I do want to see happen for real from my dream that may be seeing Teddy here going out with our dear Victoire Weasley.” He ruffled his godson’s hair.

“Oh that would so cute!” said Hermione, a large grin forming on her face. Ted looked up at them with innocent eyes not comprehending the fact that his godfather and his best friend were mapping out his future love life.

Hermione was about to say something else when she stopped midsentence. “Oh my, it’s them again.”

Harry looked behind him to see the Camaro, Pontiac, and police car they had seen earlier drive past the window. He frowned and said, “Do you think they’re stalking me?”

“It... might be possible,” said Hermione. “We really should check it over with Arthur; see if there are any records of somebody charming cars.”

“Good idea,” said Harry. He was about to stand up when a silvery mist shot toward them, invisible to the surrounding muggles. Ted tried to grab at the mist only for his chubby hands to pass through.

“A patronus message? From Kingsley?” said Harry. “I better get to a Flew and contact him right away.”

“All right,” said Hermione. They paid for the tab and left for a secluded alley whereupon they Apparated to Harry’s flat. Harry hurriedly threw some Flew powder into his chimney and stuck his head inside. Several minutes later he emerged with a troubled look on his face. “There’s... been another robot attack.”

“Oh my God!” gasped Hermione. “W-where was it?”

“Well... that’s the thing. I don’t know if you’re going to believe this,” said Harry, looking even more troubled. “Malfoy Manor.”

A/N: Muhahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!! Cliffhanger ending! I mean, you do consider it a cliffhanger ending right? Ah, the lovely thing about cliffhangers is that your readers will scream and yell “bloody murder” for not revealing more until the next installment while the author can display his/her talent with the evil laugh since he/she knows what’s happening next. Muhahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Malfoy in Peril

A/N OK, short chapter, but an intense chapter none the less. I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy this one. Don’t forget to review after you’ve finished reading it.

Chapter 4: Malfoy in Peril

Draco Malfoy was not a happy man. He hadn’t been happy for the past three years, not since he botched up the assassination attempt on Albus Dumbledore. He often wondered how ironic life was. For all of his nineteen years he had been told that one day purebloods would rule. That one day the Dark Lord Voldemort would rule over all and they would have their place at his side. Well now, Voldemort had been dead for two years. His Death Eaters were either dead with him or in Azkaban serving multiple life sentences.

Lucius Malfoy had managed to avoid Azkaban this time around. However, the damage had still been done: the Malfoy name was ruined. In disgrace, Lucius had retreated within the manor in shame almost never emerging from the manor, keeping only his wife Narcissa and Draco for company. Another one of life’s ironies: it was only after the Battle of Hogwarts that Draco realized his father actually loved him afterall.

The biggest kicker of all was the epiphany that the life he had thought he had wanted his entire life wasn’t the life he had wanted at all. Draco shook his head as he stood on his manor’s balcony, sipping a glass of vintage Italian wine. “You are not a killer.” Dumbledore’s words still struck him deeply. It was at that moment in the tower that fateful night that he had truly realized that he didn’t want the life of a Death Eater, of a dark wizard. Why did such epiphanies have to strike him at such inconvenient times?

Draco sighed and shook his head. ‘It would be no good pondering everything’ he thought as he glanced up at the nearly full moon, ‘Might as well just live with what I can get.’

He looked up toward the moon again and noticed two planes flying by. ‘Blasted muggles!’ he thought. ‘Flying straight into our territory! Oh well, I guess it isn’t my business anymore.’ He took a sip of his wine. A second later he was thrown on to the floor as the manor exploded.

“What in the world?” he exclaimed. He looked up to see two F-22 Raptors descend from the sky and transform into a pair of mechanical humanoids: one mostly blue and one mostly black. “What in... what in Merlin’s name...”

Draco had heard about the attack of the “abnomalies” on Diagon Alley: it had been all over the evening’s edition of the Daily Prophet. He had dismissed it as ridiculous. That the Daily Prophet had finally fallen completely into the supermarket tabloid nonsense it had been teetering on for years while the Quibbler was becoming a legitimate newspaper: another one of life’s ironies. Now he decided, in the midst of shock, that perhaps there was still hope for the Daily Prophet yet.

The black humanoid fired another missile, this one causing an explosion that blew Draco straight off of the balcony. He barely managed to cast a protego spell around himself as he hit the ground. The impact still caused a lot of pain and Draco had to fight to remain conscious.

“Hahahahaha!!!!!” laughed the black humanoid as he fired more missiles at the Manor. “Die humans! Die!”

“Skywarp, we have a job to do,” hissed the other humanoid, the blue one. “We need to take him alive! You can’t be as destructive as usual.”

“You can do the job if you please, Thundercracker,” said Skywarp. “I will be having my fun!”

“The boss will not be pleased if the human is harmed in any way,” said Thundercracker.

“Oh, right. The boss,” said Skywarp, immediately ceasing fire. “What’s this human look like anyway?”

“Still a boy,” said Thundercracker. “Pale hair, pale skin, shouldn’t be too hard to spot.”

Draco emerged out of shock long enough to realize that the “abnomalies” were talking about him. Screaming in terror, he tried to make a run for it, completely forgetting that he was a wizard and could Apparate.

“There!” exclaimed Skywarp, spotting Draco attempting to flee. A split second later he completely disappeared. Draco had just made it over a ridge when Skywarp suddenly appeared right in front of him with a crack. Being caught by surprise, Draco plowed straight into Skywarp’s foot knocking himself unconscious. The last thing he thought before he blacked out was ‘These “abnomalies” can Apparate?’

* * *

Draco woke up with a gasp and a shudder. He was lying on something metal and it was uncomfortable as heck. Draco bolted upright and realized that he was lying in some vast and large chamber, far larger than even the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There was light but it was in sparse amounts creating deep shadows around him. Most of the chamber was wide with no furnishings whatsoever save one, a throne: a throne for giants given the size of the thing but clearly a throne. He couldn’t see too many details of the throne as it was in the shadows but he could tell it was made of metal and was of a design he had never seen before.

The next thing he noticed to his horror was that he was surrounded by “abnomalies”. Monstrous “abnomalies” as tall as giants stood in various places around the chamber. But the thing he noticed foremost of all was the metallic jaguar right in front of him growling and spitting, and occasionally growling, “Ravage!” Almost instantly Draco was reminded of Fenrir Grayback.

In fact, now that he thought about it most of the “abnomalies” reminded him of someone, mostly dead ones. Right behind him his abductors Skywarp and Thundercracker were kneeling reverently. There was something about those two that reminded him of Crabbe and Goyle for some reason. Or maybe it was their fathers, Draco wasn’t sure.

Nearby to his right, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed was an “abnomalie” who greatly resembled Skywarp and Thundercracker. Draco recognized him from the Daily Prophet as one of the “abnomalies” whom had attacked Diagon Alley: Starscream. It was strange how the smirk on Starscream’s face reminded him so much of his own father, and to a certain extent himself.

A bit farther away to his left was another “abnomalie”. This one was almost completely purple in color. Instead of a left hand however, this “abnomalie” had what looked like a cross between a cannon and a wand with a long cord running into the back. Aside from a pair of silver horns his head was completely hexagonal in shape with no face save a single glowing dot of an eye. Perhaps it was the single eye but there was something about the cool, unfeeling gaze that reminded Draco about Barty Crouch Jr., possibly because he had only known him in the Mad-Eye Moody guise.

Standing right behind the throne to its right hand side stood the other “abnomalie” whom had attacked Diagon alley: Soundwave. There was something about that one that reminded him of his late Aunt Bellatrix, not with the insanity but rather with the way he was reverently poised next to the one on the throne.

And the last one, the “abnomalie” seated on the throne, there was no denying just who he reminded Draco of. Only one other person had generated that much fear from simply being in his presence.

Everything about the “abnomalie” seated on the throne screamed “Voldemort” at him. The sheer radiation of power, the gripping sensation of terror that clutched at his throat, the presence of regality, the cold gaze of hatred and wrath, and of course those glowing red eyes. Draco couldn’t even really see anything of this last “abnomalie” save the eyes, his entire form hidden in the shadows. But the sheer amount terror Draco felt just from being in his presence was paralyzing enough.

“We got ‘im, boss,” said Skywarp. Thundercracker nodded in agreement.

The glowing red eyes observed Draco coldly. “So this is the one is it?” said the “abnomalie” on the throne. Draco couldn’t tell if the voice sounded like a hissing whisper or a rumbling growl, only that it struck sheer waves of panic in him. “Are you certain Shockwave?”

“All of my calculations have proven correct,” said the purple “abnomalie” with a single eye. Had Draco been familiar with muggle mechanics, he would’ve identified his voice as sounding just like a computer. “He should be the one. In his possession is...”

“He is not the one,” Shockwave was stunned into silence by Soundwave’s metallic voice. “It is not him.”

Shockwave let out a few beeps. “That conclusion is illogical,” he said. “If he is not the one now then he should be dead as he was undeniably the one before. To no longer be the one should only be when he is no longer living, that is the logical conclusion.”

“And yet he is not the one,” said the “abnomalie” on the throne. “Your calculations have proven incorrect, Shockwave.”

“Well, well how wonderful is that?” cackled Starscream. “Brilliant plan oh ‘great leader’: going through all this trouble only to grab the wrong one. Why, what more ‘brilliant’ plans do you have?” The sarcasm in Starscream’s voice was unmistakable.

“You would do well to keep your mouth shut, Starscream,” growled the “abnomalie” on the throne, a tone of warning in his voice.

Skywarp and Thundercracker shuddered in fear. Starscream however merely scoffed. “Why of course my ‘liege’. Anything your ‘greatness’ says,” he said with a mocking gesture. If the one on the throne was offended, he let it slide.

“I cannot comprehend the possibility of miscalculation,” said Shockwave. “It is simply not logical that I could have come to the wrong conclusion. All factors were considered and analyzed. A miscalculation is simply illogical.”

Starscream scoffed and said, “Well obviously you missed some ‘minor’ fact or something. What else could it be?”

“That must be it,” said Shockwave. “I must reanalyze all of the facts once more.” After saying that Shockwave disappeared into the shadows.

“Well now that his annoying chatters are gone,” said Starscream, “What are we going to do with the human?”

Soundwave bent down and whispered something to the “abnomalie” on the throne. The “abnomalie” seemed to consider before nodding. “I suppose this fleshling may be of some use to us still,” he said.

It was finally at this moment that Draco managed to find his voice. “What do you want from me, you ‘abnomalies’?” he yelled. The metal jaguar, Ravage growled at him. Soundwave however beckoned to Ravage and the jaguar gave one last growl before jumping away into Soundwave’s chest cavity.

“‘Abnomalies’? ‘Abnomalies’ you call us?” said the one on the throne. “Oh, so unwise.”

“Oooooh dear, now he’s done it,” cackled Starscream as the lead “abnomalie” stood up from the throne and started walking slowly toward Draco, each step shaking the ground with a deep rumble.

“How little you know, boy,” said the lead “abnomalie”. “We Decepticons have existed for millennia before humans were but a blight in the cesspool of the cosmos. If any creatures are the ‘abnomalie’ that would be you disgusting fleshlings, polluting the galaxy with your mere presence. Your species’ existence is a blasphemy, your very genetics will be purged but before that you will be of use to me and perhaps you may live just a little longer.”

“W-what do y-you want from m-me,” stammered Draco. The lead “abnomalie” was now towering in front of him, still hidden in the shadows. Yet his blazing red eyes glared straight down at the young wizard.

“You think you know fear boy?” said the lead “abnomalie”. “You know nothing of fear. Your Dark Lord Voldemort was merely a shadow of what I am, merely a taste of what fear is. My very name is synonymous with fear and you will have the honor of being the first of the wizards to truly taste it. I am Megatron. And I want you to tell me everything I want to know.”

A/N Dum dum dum! How’s that for suspense eh? Omnious enough for all of you? I hope it was because that was the theme I was going for. Like it? Hate it? Whichever way I’m going to be continuing this. I haven’t had this much fun writing a fic in ages.

5. Ominous Investigation

A/N All right, despite a decently high hit count there were very few reviews last chapter. While the hits were less than previous chapters I do think there should be more. Please review: it really helps reflect on whether I’m doing a good job or not.

Chapter 5: Ominous Investigation

“Thank you so much for coming Ronald,” said Luna Lovegood from the behind her desk. Xenophilius Lovegood had retired shortly after the war, turning over editorship of the Quibbler to one of his senior reporters. One of the first things the new editor did upon gaining the job was hiring Xenophilius’s daughter Luna, fresh out of Hogwarts.

“Well yeah. Auror Department wanted me to oversee the press and I say mix business with pleasure,” said Ron, seated on the other side of the desk. Luna let out a melodic laugh. It was unfortunate, Ron noticed, that her extended stay in Azkaban Prison had left its mark on Luna. For a long time, a shadow of fear and darkness had covered her face and she had been rather thin and gaunt. Seeing her being able to laugh once more so uninhibited was a joy in itself.

“I hope Ginny is OK. I’ll go see her later today.”

“She’s all right. No permanent damage. So I read your article about the attack on Diagon Alley. I thought it was great how you remained so objective compared to the blame game the Daily Prophet’s trying to play,” said Ron. “Off the record though, what do you think of these... Harry called them ‘robots’.”

“Robots? I like that,” said Luna as she shuffled some of the parchments around her desk. “Well my theory is that the robots are from the sky and they’re fighting against some evil planet eater. I’m not sure what this planet eater is called but I think it sounds something like ‘unicorn’.”

“Er... ooooooooookaaaay,” said Ron. If he hadn’t known Luna from their Hogwarts days he might’ve thought Azkaban had unhinged her mind. But then again they had no credible idea about where the robots came from in the first place. For all he knew Luna’s theory might be accurate. Ron shook his head and said, “Well, I guess we should be dealing with facts more than with theories.”

“Good idea,” said Luna absently. She bit on one of the bottle caps of her necklace before saying, “Um Ronald. I want... to ask you something.”

“Yeah? What?” asked Ron, thinking she wanted to ask something about the robots.

“Er... would... would... I got Quidditch playoffs topbox tickets and would you like to come with me?” she asked very quickly.

“What?” said Ron, not believing his ears. “Did you just ask me to go with you to a Quidditch playoff game?”

“Uh-huh. Sunday tomorrow: Cannons against Tornadoes,” said Luna sounding rather nervous. “Whoever wins plays Puddlemore United at the semi-finals.”

Oh that was tempting. This was the first time Ron’s beloved Chudley Cannons had made it to the playoffs in decades. Still, he was dating Hermione (sort of) and he wasn’t sure it would be appropriate for him to accompany another young woman anywhere. And ‘woman’ Luna definitely had become; with gorgeous flowing blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, despite the taint Azkaban had left on her.

“Well... er...”

“They invited me to be a guest commentator.”

“OK. What time do you want me to pick you up?” asked Ron. Chudley Cannons at the playoffs with Luna Lovegood commentating a Quidditch match: how could he resist?

Luna beamed at him. She was about to say something when an official looking owl flew threw her office window and deposited an envelope on Ron’s lap. Noticing the seal of the ministry on the envelope, Ron quickly tore it open and skimmed the contents. “What?” he exclaimed, his eyes bulging, “Malfoy Manor?”

* * *

As Harry Apparated to the location of the latest attack his thoughts unwittingly went back to the last time he had been there two years ago. He would never forget Dobby’s broken form, the life forever gone from his elf friend. He would never forget Hermione’s screams as she was tortured under the Cruciatus.

‘Don’t think about that now. Hermione is safe and sound back at my flat with Teddy,’ he thought, desperately. ‘That’s right. Hermione is safe and sound... standing right next to me...’

“What the... Hermione!” exclaimed Harry, surprised to see that his best friend had Apparated right next to him. “Wha... h-how... where’s Ted?”

“I dropped him off at Mrs. Tonks’s place,” said Hermione. Already Harry could see that she was turning ghastly pale and that her breaths had become shorter.

“You shouldn’t be here!” he hissed. “You shouldn’t have to relive that day!”

“I have to, Harry,” said Hermione, determination laced in her voice. “I have to see it for myself.”

Knowing that it was pointless to argue, Harry instead took her hand for support. Hermione managed a small grateful smile before steeling her expression and the pair made their way over toward the ruins of the Manor.

As soon as they came within view of the ruins Hermione let out her breath she had been holding. There was just about nothing left of Malfoy Manor: only a smoldering husk of twisted debris and wood.

“There’s really nothing left,” she said. She wasn’t sure what to feel about the fact that the source of her nightmares was now nothing more than ruined wood and metal.

“Kind of puts things in an interesting perspective, doesn’t it?” said Harry. Hermione nodded in agreement.

Ministry officials were scouring the ruins with various magical devices and spells. Several of them approached Hermione, annoyed to see a civilian on the site until they recognized her and went back to their business: there were perks to being the best friend of the Chosen One.

Harry was making his own observation of the ruins when he noticed to body bags being carted away via the Mobilocorpus spell. “Hey! Are those...”

“Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy,” said the man whom appeared to be in charge of the site. Harry recognized him as Kingsley’s aide Toppham. “We haven’t been able to get a foolproof identification but we’re confident it’s most likely them. We are going to contact Andromeda Tonks later and see if she can at least identify her sister.”

Harry didn’t know what to feel to hear that one of the last of his former archenemies had finally bit the dust. “What about Draco?” he asked.

“Still unaccounted for,” said Toppham. “He may have escaped or he may still be buried underneath the debris. Finding him is our immediately priority.”

“And this attack was done by the same ones who attacked Diagon Alley?” Harry asked.

“Well, sort of,” said Toppham. “The Manor’s wards managed to gather several images before they were destroyed.” He pulled out his wand and swished it around. An image formed in front of them, not as clear as a pensieve image but still clear enough to reveal a blurred image of a black robot and a blue robot. Though they were clearly the same type of creature, they were not the same ones who attack Diagon Alley.

“Great! Even more of them!” grumbled Harry.

“Why Malfoy Manor? I can’t see what connection there could be between here and Diagon Alley,” said Hermione. “Have they identified what documents were stolen from Gringotts yet?”

“I’m afraid not Miss Granger,” said Toppham. “The goblins are working on it. They should notify the Minister as soon as they have the information.”

Two pops sounded indicating that someone had Apparated to their location. Harry and Hermione turned around and saw Ron and to their surprise, Luna.

Ron’s eyes narrowed as soon as they spotted Hermione. “Didn’t you say you were going to be busy this weekend?” he demanded.

“I am busy,” said Hermione, sounding exasperated. “Do we have to go into this now?”

“Yes we’re going to into this now!” said Ron, completely forgetting the reason why they were there in the first place. “It’s always too busy with you Hermione. You never have time to do anything with me! Yet you always somehow find the time to spend with Harry!”

“Oh honestly, Ron! This has nothing to do with Harry!” said Hermione, her voice starting to rise. “For once, can’t you just understand that I have my priorities?”

“Oh I know your priorities all right,” Ron said, sarcastically. “It’s always Harry this and Harry that. All we ever talk about is Harry!”

“Well maybe that’s because all we have in common IS Harry!” shouted Hermione. Harry groaned, completely uncomfortable at hearing Ron and Hermione argue about him. Hearing Harry groan appeared to snap Hermione to her senses. She calmed down and said in a determined voice, “Ron, we need to talk.”

Ron scoffed. “So talk.”

“In private,” said Hermione. She grabbed Ron’s arm and dragged him away.

Harry groaned and said, “This isn’t going to be good.”

“It was a long time coming,” said Luna knowingly.

“Maybe so,” replied Harry. “But it’s not going to change the fact that things are going to be tense for the next few months.”

“Perhaps you should view this as karma,” said Luna, her voice sounding as dreamy as ever. “Things between Ronald and Hermione were just not meant to be in this universe.”

Harry stared at Luna when she said the bit about “this universe” his thoughts going back to his conversation with Hermione in the Chinese Restaurant. Luna merely smiled at him dreamily as always.

Ron and Hermione finally made their way back toward them, Ron looking grumpy and Hermione looking subdued. Ron stormed off away from the Manor muttering under his breath.

“I will go check on him,” said Luna. She took off after Ron.

“Hermione?” said Harry, sounding concerned.

“We broke up,” said Hermione in monotone.

Harry figured as much but he still felt concerned. “Oh Hermione, I’m so sorry.” He drew her into a firm hug.

“It was a long time coming,” said Hermione. She didn’t sound sad, merely disappointed. “I guess some things just aren’t meant to be.”

“Hey, cheer up,” said Harry. “Why don’t you stay at my place tonight? I’ll even eat ice cream and watch girlie movies with you.”

That brought a laugh out of her. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Harry. But I wouldn’t want to rob you of your manhood with my femininity.”

“Hey, we blokes can handle it no problem,” said Harry. “Throw me any feminine challenge you want.”

“Auror Trainee Potter!” Harry looked up, surprised that Toppham had called him. “I have just received a patronus message from the Minister,” said Toppham, making his way over toward them. “He is requesting that you take this portkey directly to his office.” Toppham handed him an antique brass key.

“He’s asking for me?” asked Harry. Toppham nodded.

“You go on ahead. I’ll be waiting for you at the flat,” said Hermione.

“Well... OK,” said Harry. He took a hold of the portkey and was instantly transported to Kingsley Shacklebolt’s office.

“Harry. Good, you’re here,” said Kingsley. “I’ve just been contacted by the goblins. They have identified the documents stolen from their records vault.”

“Oh?” said Harry, still wondering why Kingsley requested him specifically.

“They were a pair of Household Possessions Inventories. Essentially they are a list of all possessions and heirlooms owned by some of the oldest families in the Wizarding World. Every magical item of significance owned by that family is listed on the inventory. They are kept at Gringotts because those archives are the securest in the world, or at least they were.”

“Let me guess. One of them belonged to the Malfoys,” said Harry.

“That’s right,” said Kingsley. “The Malfoy Household Possessions Inventory was one of the documents stolen.”

“And the other one?”

Kingsley looked at Harry gravely. “I think you’ve already figured out to whom the other inventory belongs to.”

Harry groaned, dread filling his heart. “The Potter family.”

A/N Well then. I guess some light is starting to be shed on what the Decepticons are after. If not, I’ll be coming right out to tell you over the next few chapters. Next chapter we FINALLY get to see some big time toy death matches. Everybody sing with me: “Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of... the Decepticons!”

6. Robot Heroes

A/N OK, I confess. I sped read Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. As such I might get a few facts from the last two books mixed up as a result. I’m sorry. If anybody catches such mistakes I’m going to explain them away as AU (as in this fic the epilogue doesn’t take place). Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 6: Robot Heroes

“Harry, it’s not like it’s the end of the world,” said Hermione. She was enjoying a picnic in the vast plains near Canterbury with Harry and Ted the following day: her suggestion in an attempt to convince Harry, and herself, that everything was going to be all right.

“Hermione, they stole an inventory of my family’s holdings along with the Malfoys’,” said Harry. “Next thing we know Malfoy Manor is attacked, Lucius and Narcissa are dead, most likely Draco as well. That doesn’t bode well with me. If I was actually living in one of my magical estates, like Grimmauld Place, I’d probably be dead now.”

“But you don’t live in one of your magical estates!” said Hermione. “You live in a nice flat in downtown London which isn’t listed in any parchment-work that has to do with the Wizarding World. So if the only information they have is from the parchment they stole from Gringotts then you’re safe for the time being.”

Harry felt quite agitated. He could tell that Hermione was terrified as well and was trying to reassure herself along with him. “Do you think the Fidelius could hide me?”

Hermione thought for a minute before saying, “I wouldn’t bet on it. The Fidelius affects the observational processing area of the brain, telling it that something isn’t there despite the fact that the eyes can see it. To the best of our knowledge these robots don’t have organic brains so they wouldn’t be fooled by the Fidelius, nor by something unplottable.”

“This is just great,” muttered Harry. He pulled out a ham and cheese sandwich and started gobbling it down, trying to get his mind calmed down.

Nearby, Ted was laughing as he chased butterflies around, completely ignorant of Harry and Hermione’s dilemma.

“We shouldn’t be talking about this,” said Hermione. “We came out here today to just forget all of our problems if only for one day.”

“Wish I could,” said Harry, flopping down on his back. “If it isn’t about first evil wizards and now evil robots after my life it’s about my relationship with Ginny and how that’s starting to slide into the mud.”

Hermione contemplated something for a moment before saying, “You know, I think you’re actually avoiding Ginny.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, you haven’t written to her at all while she was away on the internship. You haven’t gone to visit her while she’s in St. Mungo’s.”

“Fine, just list all the reasons why I’m a bad boyfriend,” Harry said dryly.

“Why Harry? What happened?” asked Hermione, truly concerned. “I thought you were happy with her.”

Harry blew out a long breath. “I was, at first,” said Harry. “During the war she was my escape. She was a symbol to me that I could achieve a sense of normalcy away from the horror that Voldemort was constantly raining down on me. Then, after the war things weren’t all that simple as I thought. After everything with the horcruxes, the Hallows, being ‘killed’, being with Ginny just didn’t feel like the right thing anymore.” He looked up at Hermione and asked, “Does that make me a horrible person?”

“No Harry,” said Hermione, laying a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. “It just means that you’re only human.”

Harry sighed and glanced up at the sky. He noticed three planes flying overhead and frowned in confusion. “Hey, I’m not exactly an expert on muggle military aircraft but aren’t two of those planes American while the third one is Russian? Why would they be flying together...” In a split second, Harry suddenly realized the reason for the unusual grouping. “Oh no! RUN!”

Harry just barely managed to grab Hermione and Ted and duck out of the way as the two “American” F-22 Raptors and the “Russian” MiG 35 swooped down and opened fire. Harry managed a silent Protego just as the explosions rocked around them.

“Oh my God! Harry!” moaned Hermione while Ted started crying: both of them completely terrified. Harry pulled Hermione’s head down as the three planes swooped over them again raining down more explosives. Harry’s shield flickered but managed to hold.

“We have to get out of here!” yelled Harry. “Concentrate! We have to Apparate!” Just as Harry was shouting this, the Russian MiG 35 touched down on the ground and transformed. Only instead of a humanoid robot it transformed into an American M1 Abrams Tank. ‘OK, that was unexpected,’ Harry thought.

The tank opened fire on them. Though all three of them were unharmed due to the shield charm, to Harry and Hermione’s horror Ted was blown away because of his light weight. “TED!” they both screamed.

Harry and Hermione tried to pick themselves up and make a run for where they could hear Ted crying. Unfortunately for them, the two F-22s touched down and transformed into the two robots Harry recognized as the ones whom had attacked Malfoy Manor, standing in between them and Ted.

The black humanoid looked down upon Harry and Hermione. “Which one was it again, Thundercracker?” he asked.

“The male,” said the blue one, Thundercracker.

“What about the female and the offspring?”

Thundercracker scoffed. “No need for them. Just do as you please.”

“Excellent,” said the black one as he pointed his firearm straight at Hermione.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Hermione stared up at the barrel of the firearm in shock, Harry desperately trying to shove her out of the way, the click of the firearm as the trigger was squeezed...

WHAM! The black robot was thrown off balance as something rammed itself straight into his legs, the shot firing away into the sky. To their surprise, Harry and Hermione realized that it was the driverless, yellow Chevrolet Camaro they had seen yesterday that was now placing itself protectively in between them and the robots. The next instant, the Camaro literally stood up.

The Camaro too had transformed into an eighteen foot tall robot, this one with bright yellow armor. Various parts of the Camaro’s outer frame formed the robot’s armor, from the front vents on the chest to the two doors sticking out from the shoulders. The yellow robot held his arms out in a battle ready stance, facing up at the black robot. “Think twice, Skywarp!” he said, a youthful and excited voice.

“Bumblebee!” exclaimed Skywarp. “Curse you, Autobot!” Skywarp charged straight at the yellow robot, Bumblebee, knocking him down. The two robots rolled around ramming their fists into each other before Bumblebee managed to gain the upper hand and rolled to his feet while at the same time grabbing hold of Skywarp and slamming him onto the ground. Skywarp leapt to his feet and started swinging his fists at Bumblebee. The yellow robot skillfully managed to dodge each one of the punches before grabbing his chance and ramming his own fist into Skywarp’s face.

Thundercracker and the tank had been momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of Bumblebee. Before they could regain their senses a series of missiles rammed straight into them causing explosions all around. Being in his humanoid form, Thundercracker was knocked down.

Harry looked up and saw the driverless Pontiac Solstice GXP and Ford Mustang Police Car from yesterday. ‘Why didn’t I even consider the possibilities that those cars might be robots?’ he thought. ‘Because all the robots witnessed so far have been planes and I’ve had dealings with enchanted cars before, namely the Weasleys’ Ford Anglica.’

The Pontiac drove straight toward the tank and transformed into a robot. This one had a pair of small horns on his helmet and a visor over his eyes. The front tires and doors formed his shoulders and the back wheels formed his heels while the entire front portion of the Pontiac formed the robot’s torso. Using the momentum of his speed while he was still a car, the Pontiac robot leapt up, flipped forward on his right hand, and landed right on top of the tank. “Come on, let’s dance Blitzwing!” he said, his deep voice sounding like a hip-hop artist’s.

The tank, Blitzwing also transformed into a robot, the MiG 35’s wings forming the shoulders and the tanks’ gun barrel pointing up from the back. “Get off you filthy Autobot!” he hissed as he struggled against the Pontiac robot who was throwing punches onto his head while mounted on his right shoulder.

“Prowl! A little help!” shouted the Pontiac.

The Ford Mustang Police Car also transformed into a robot, having a very similar design to the Pontiac: the front side of the car formed the torso the same way and the front wheels and doors formed the shoulders. The main difference was that instead of a visor, he had a crest on his forehead and a pair of missile cannons on his shoulders. “This did not go as we planned, Jazz,” he said in a calm, clear voice. “The sudden attack of the Decepticons was unexpected.”

“Well then improvise!” yelled Jazz as he struggled against Blitzwing.

“Improvise?” said Prowl as if the concept was utterly foreign to him. When Blitzwing managed to fling Jazz off of himself, Prowl appeared to come to his senses and fired his shoulder cannons at him. Blitzwing tried to draw out his firearm only for Prowl to shoot him straight in the hand. Prowl then shot him in the face for good measure.

“Hey, not bad,” said Jazz.

“Yeah, I guess this improvising thing can work out,” said Prowl. “Still, it’s not quite in protocol.”

“Oh will you forget protocol for once? Just roll with it,” replied Jazz. “And feel it!” As he said the last sentence, Jazz spun around and kicked Blitzwing (whom had been attempting to stand up) in the face.

Harry and Hermione were completely stunned to say the least. “I-I guess robots must have factions as well,” muttered Harry.

“I-it looks that way,” said Hermione. She suddenly came to her senses. “Oh no! Teddy!”

Ted was still in the middle of the field crying. Harry and Hermione hurriedly made their way over toward him. Hermione cradled Ted, gently whispering to him that everything was going to be OK.

“Look out!” exclaimed Harry as he saw a blast of plasma energy flying their way. Harry had just managed to pull Hermione down when Bumblebee leapt toward them in a motion of catching the energy ball, shielding Harry, Hermione, and Ted. Bumblebee caught the energy ball in a catch that would’ve made Baseball Outfielders jealous.

“Whoa, that was close,” said Bumblebee, his right hand singed but otherwise unharmed. “You guys might want to put up that magical shield of yours. Things could get uglier.”

“Uh... right,” said Harry.

Thundercracker had just managed to stand up at this time. “Damn Autobots!” he muttered. He fired at Prowl and Jazz only for the two to easily dodge the projectiles. Prowl fired his own cannons back at Thundercracker blasting him with powerful, well calculated explosions.

Blitzwing had finally managed to stand up. “Urgh, I’ve never received such a severe beating!” he hissed. “Why I ought to... Oh no. No. No! NO! NO!”

Annoyed, Thundercracker yelled, “Blitzwing, get over...” his line of sight faced the same direction as Blitzwing, “No! It can’t be!”

Skywarp took a break from brawling with Bumblebee to say, “Hey! What do you... wha... it’s him!”

“RETREAT!” yelled Thundercracker. He, Skywarp, and Blitzwing instantly transformed into their plane modes whereupon they took off into the sky as fast as their engines could take them.

“W-what in the world was all that about?” asked Hermione.

“I’m not sure,” said Harry. “It was like they just saw something that terrified them so much that...” It was then that they both felt it: the presence of something, pure benevolence and pure strength.

Harry and Hermione slowly turned around in time see to a large semi-truck slowly drive up to them. It was a red Peterbilt 379 semi-truck but the way Bumblebee, Jazz, and Prowl stood around it obviously meant that it was in truth another robot, and a special one at that.

The truck transformed standing up on blue legs with the truck’s tires adorning the outside of each leg. The main red portion of the cab became the torso with the windshield forming the chest. The smokestacks were now on the shoulders of powerful red arms that formed out of the cab. The head consisted of a blue helmet with horns on both sides and vents on the forehead. Blue eyes shined compassionately above a full faceplate: Harry couldn’t tell if the faceplate was covering the lower portion of the face or was the lower portion of the face.

Standing thirty feet tall, the robot kneeled down so that he was closer to eyelevel with Harry. Harry was amazed just how much the robot reminded him of all of the good qualities of Albus Dumbledore without any of the flaws that he had come to learn his late mentor had.

“Are you Harry James Potter, the one they call ‘The Boy Who Lived’?” His voice was deep and strong yet gentle and kind.

“H-he knows who you are...” whispered Hermione, completely stunned.

Harry took a moment to answer, “Er... yes.”

The robot nodded in acknowledgement. “My name is Optimus Prime.”

A/N Hallelujah! Hallelujah! (breaks out into the chorus from Handel’s Messiah) I mean seriously, that’s THE moment of the fic that everybody’s been waiting for wasn’t it? Yeah! Stand by for the next chapter so you know what happens next!

7. Meet the Autobots

A/N This might be a tad early but I don’t care. I just post them as the audience reads them. Warning: Prime has a monologue that may seem off topic. I just wanted to insert the story in there somewhere and this felt like the right place. (innocent whistle)

Chapter 7: Meet the Autobots

“Op... Op... w-what are you blokes?” asked Harry. He may have perhaps come across as rude but he was a little too stunned at the moment for politeness.

Optimus Prime answered, “We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron: Autobots for short.”

“P-planet?” said Hermione. “Y-you mean you’re e-e-extraterrestrials?”

“Hey you can use the word ‘alien’ if you want,” said Jazz with a shrugging gesture, “We actually dig it.”

“B-but how is that possible?” said Hermione. “I mean life forms from another planet?” Harry wondered how it was that in their world of wizards, witches, and magic; where dragons, goblins, unicorns, elves, trolls, giants, fairies, merpeople, werewolves, vampires, centaurs, ghosts, hippogriffs, even the yeti, and other such creatures were everyday topics, that the concept of aliens and robots (or alien robots as was the case) was so incomprehensible.

“There are many things in the world which may be but a fairy tale but have a strong grain of truth in them,” said Optimus. He started introducing his team: “My Head of Special Operations, Jazz.”

Jazz made a pose as if he were ready to break out into a break dance. “Get doooown with it.” He said.

Prime continued, “My Second-in-Command and Head Tactician, Prowl.”

Prowl didn’t say anything, merely nodding his head in acknowledgement.

“And this is my Head of Espionage, Bumblebee.”

“Espio... you mean you were spying on me?” said Harry. He wasn’t being accusatory: he simply wanted to know why.

“Well hey, if it weren’t for that you guys would be dead by now,” said Bumblebee. “Besides, I think ‘protecting’ sounds better.”

Harry simply said nothing for a moment, trying to comprehend what he had just learned. He only snapped out of it when Hermione desperately whispered, “H-Harry, I think Teddy’s arm is broken.”

Realizing that Ted was crying, though quietly, and that his right arm looked a little swollen, Harry started feeling panicked. “Oh no! We have to get him to St. Mungo’s right away.”

“Wait,” said Optimus. “I do not pretend to know much about wizardry and magic but I do know enough to point out that your ‘Apparating’ could further harm the injury, especially for a child. Our method of transportation will be far safer and my Chief Medical Officer is truly efficient.”

“Prime, I am not certain that is a wise choice,” said Prowl. “Wizards have powers far beyond those of ordinary humans. Protocol suggests that we may be compromising our position.”

“I am well aware of the protocols: I wrote them,” said Prime. “Our position is already compromised, but I would gladly compromise all of our secrets if it meant saving even one life form.”

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, words being conveyed through their look. Finally they decided to just risk it and take Optimus Prime’s invitation.

* * *

A few seconds later following a flash of light, Harry, Hermione, Ted, and the Autobots were standing in what looked like a well lit high-tech eco-friendly industrial plant. There were machines everywhere making gentle grinding noises while the sound of computers beeping rang out melodiously. Computer monitors were all over the place displaying data being constantly monitored while gears turned smoothly and gently in various locations all around them.

Bumblebee bounced forward and with a sweeping gesture proclaimed, “Welcome to the Ark!”

Harry and Hermione blinked before they realized that they had been teleported. “W-where are we?” said Harry.

“This is the Ark, our space vessel,” said Optimus Prime.

“S-space vessel?” said Harry. “Y-you mean we’re in outer space?”

“Actually,” said Jazz, “we’re inside a volcano in a mountain range called... what was it... oh yeah, the Cascades.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped. “The Cascades?” she exclaimed. “You mean we’re in the United States?”

Harry’s jaw dropped as well. The Cascade Mountain Range in the Northwest of the United States was far beyond their long distance Apparating range. Anything further he wished to say however was drowned out by the sound of an ambulance siren. Harry and Hermione looked toward their left to see that it was coming from a Search and Rescue themed Hummer H2 driving toward them. It was accompanied by a white Porsche Carrera GT with green racing stripes.

“This is my Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet,” said Optimus just as the Hummer transformed into a robot adorned with red crosses and a laser scalpel in place of a right hand.

Ratchet took a quick look at Ted and said, “His skeletal structure will need repairing immediately. Place him on the bay.” He turned to the Porsche and said, “Wheeljack, I’ll need your help operating the machinery.”

The Porsche, Wheeljack transformed into a robot with a pair of small wings on either side of his head and a faceplate consisting of multiple layers. “You got it. You handle the repairs, I’ll handle the machinery.”

“Wheeljack’s our Chief Engineer,” explained Bumblebee. “He designed the Ark.”

Hermione slowly made her way to the “bay” which turned out to be a futuristic looking hospital bed, just the right size for Ted. “Um, excuse me... Ratchet,” she said as she placed Ted on the bed. “I don’t mean any offense but being a medic for robots... doesn’t that essentially make you a mechanic rather than a doctor?”

“Technically yes,” said Ratchet as he examined a number of his tools. “However, I assure you that I am well versed in the intricate details of the human anatomy. I can mend his bone as easily as I can patch up the circuitry of a damaged data chip.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Bumblebee. “You can trust the Doc more than any other ‘bot on Cybertron... except maybe Prime.”

“Hermione, we’ll have to trust them,” said Harry. “If they meant to harm us they would’ve already done so.”

Hermione’s brown eyes still conveyed worry but as they met Harry’s green ones, they relaxed. Harry waved his wand over Ted and the boy fell into a deep, gentle sleep. Leaving Ted in Ratchet and Wheeljack’s care Harry and Hermione followed after the other Autobots.

As they were walking along a bright red Nissan Skyline drove up to them at a tremendous speed. At the last minute before crashing into them the Skyline transformed into a robot that greatly resembled Bumblebee only it was red in color. “Hey, what’s this about you guys fighting Decipti-creeps without me!” exclaimed the red robot.

“Nice to see you too, Cliffjumper,” Bumblebee said dryly.

“You should’ve let me at ‘em!” exclaimed Cliffjumper, bouncing on his heels like he was a boxer. “You should’a given me the go ahead! Man, I can’t believe I missed it!”

“Cliffjumper!” said Optimus Prime. “Let it go.” Cliffjumper shrugged and transformed back into a car before driving away. Optimus continued to lead a bewildered Harry and Hermione along.

They entered another vast chamber that was clearly the vessel’s main bridge. Standing watch in the bridge was a GMC Topkick Pickup truck which instantly transformed into a bulky, well armed robot as soon as he noticed guests.

Prime introduced him as, “Chief of Security and Weapons Expert, Ironhide.”

“Hmm,” said Ironhide as he looked Harry and Hermione over like he was sizing them up. “You brought a wizard and witch on board.”

“Er, yeah,” said Harry, not sure what to make of Ironhide.

Ironhide sniffed and said, “Well, make yourselves at home.”

Harry blinked. “Er, right,” he said.

Harry and Hermione found a couple of seats that were the right size for them and sat down. The Autobots all crowded around them arranged from their left to right Prowl, Jazz, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Ironhide.

Prime was the first one to speak, “I do believe you have many questions for us.”

Harry snorted. “No kidding,” he said. “First of all, what’s that other faction of robots and what are they after? Why are they attacking us? And why are you blokes here as well for that matter?”

“We are here to keep Megatron from gaining what he seeks from the Wizarding World,” said Optimus.

“Megatron?” asked Harry and Hermione at the same time.

“He is our equivalent to your Lord Voldemort,” answered Prime. “Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons, the faction behind the attacks. He gained something of great value from the Wizarding World and seeks to claim it in its entirety.”

Noticing the blank looks on Harry’s and Hermione’s faces Optimus said, “Perhaps it would be best if I explain from the beginning. From the very beginning:

“Long, long ago there were two brothers of vast power who roamed the cosmos. Their names were Primus and Unicron. Where Primus embodied order, Unicron embodied chaos, and thus it was perhaps inevitable that the two brothers came to clash. For eons they battled, their powers so equal that neither could gain an upper hand. The battlefield shifted from the cosmos to the astral plain and then back to the universe where they both took on the form of vast metal planets. What was unique was that the planets could transform into a humanoid robot form based on the brothers’ images while in the astral plain.

“Primus knew that he and Unicron could battle for all eternity and neither would emerge victorious. Thus, Primus created thirteen sentient beings made in his own image: robots whom could transform into other modes. And though one of them fell and became Unicron’s servant, the rest were able to defeat Unicron and trap him in a dimensional prison. With Unicron defeated Primus chose to be one with the galaxy and thus entered planet mode permanently, eventually coming to be known as Cybertron. What was left of the thirteen, used their Sparks, their spirits granted to them by Primus, to multiply further creating our race. For a time, we lived in peace and harmony, yet it was not to last.”

Optimus Prime paused for a moment collecting his thoughts before continuing, “The taint that Unicron left on our race was not to be easily gotten rid of. While most of our race was content with the peace, there were some who came to embrace the bloodlust of the lord of chaos. In secret, they staged forbidden gladiatorial combats within the shadier parts of Cybertron, where robot fought robot to the death. Eventually, a champion rose amongst the gladiators, Megatron.

“Power hungry, Megatron sought like-minded individuals through the contests with a flair for destruction: gathering them together in a faction called the Decepticons. When the moment was right, he struck killing thousands in those first destructive battles. We were a peace loving race but we learned to fight back. We took the name of ‘Autobots’ for our forces and thus the civil war dragged for millennia and much of Cybertron was ravaged with death and destruction.

“In this way the conflict between Primus and Unicron continued through the Autobots and Decepticons. With most of Cybertron exhausted of resources, Megatron turned his attention to the cosmos, searching the stars for something that could turn the tide of war to his favor.”

“And he’s found something in the Wizarding World that could do just that,” concluded Hermione.

“But what is that?” said Harry. “The Decepticons stole the household inventories of my family and the Malfoy’s. What could he possibly be seeking that either myself or the Malfoys have that...” Harry stopped as the answer became crystal clear. “The flaw in the plan.”

“What?” said Hermione.

Harry looked seriously troubled. “The Elder Wand: it passed down from Dumbledore to Malfoy before it came to me. And the Invisibility Cloak would be listed in my family’s inventory. DAMMIT!” Harry sprang up, completely agitated and started pacing. “Megatron’s after the Deathly Hallows!”

* * *

Hidden within the shadows Megatron sat on his throne, his scarlet eyes glaring at the quivering Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Blitzwing. “So, he has met up with the Autobots, has he?” said Megatron. To the surprise of the other Decepticons, Megatron laughed. “Very well then; that only makes things far more interesting. Let them team up: this time nobody, not even Prime will be able to stop me.” As he said this, Megatron held up his left hand and gazed at the tiny object held delicately in between his thumb and index finger: the Resurrection Stone.

A/N One or two of my readers scared me when they successfully guessed not only that the Decepticons were looking for the Hallows but also that Megatron had the stone. Maybe it wasn’t too obvious but I was hoping it was. Well, now that you know what the Decepticons are after, tune in for more.

8. The Deathly Hallows Once More

A/N Another slow chapter. But I’m hoping it sets up the stage for the next portion of this fic: lots and lots of action coming up. To all my fellow Americans, enjoy Veteran’s Day. I know I did.

Chapter 8: The Deathly Hallows Once More

“But how did they learn about the Hallows in the first place?” asked Hermione.

“That’s easy. By finding one of them,” replied Prowl.

“The Resurrection Stone! They’ve got the Resurrection Stone!” snapped Harry. “Bloody Hell! I should’ve known it wouldn’t stay hidden in the forest!”

“Yep. Laserbeak found it by chance during a routine reconnaissance mission,” said Bumblebee. “He took it to Megatron who discovered that it had the power to manipulate Cybertronians’ Sparks. With it, he could insert Sparks directly into lifeless machines and create an army of countless robots, or so he thought.”

“The ‘troops’ he created were unstable,” said Optimus. “They were only functional for about an hour at best. Not yet giving up on the stone, Megatron sought more information on it and during the process found out that it is but one of three objects. Further research revealed you to be the owner of the cloak, but he was unable to determine which of the two possible candidates owned the wand. He sought more information.”

“Which is why they attacked Gringotts,” concluded Harry. “They were looking for as much information on myself and Malfoy that they could find. Since the inventory didn’t list my address, they attacked Malfoy first.”

Hermione frowned. “I don’t understand. Draco Malfoy may have been the Elder Wand’s owner for a while but he never actually possessed it.”

“The Decepticons lacked information,” said Optimus. “All they knew was that Draco Malfoy had once been the ‘owner’ of the wand, not if he ever had it or not.”

“Hmph, bet it was Shockwave that concluded this Malfoy was the owner,” said Ironhide, his gruff voice rumbling, “probably said that he was the logical one since he was still alive. Look what that led to: more humans killed.”

“Can’t help that,” said Harry. “What I want to know is how did all of you find out about the Hallows? The fact that you were protecting me means that you knew that I’m the owner of the other two.”

Optimus Prime nodded. “When we first learned of Megatron’s plan we thought it necessary to go to whatever lengths required to keep him from succeeding. That could possibly mean getting involved with wizard-kind at some point. While we have had dealings with humans before, wizards and witches were new to us. Therefore,” Prime pulled out of his chest a tiny object held delicately between his fingers which he passed down to Harry, “I sought out a guide.”

Harry glanced down at the object in his hand and frowned in puzzlement. “A Chocolate Frog Card? How exactly did that...”

“Ah Harry! I see that you are looking well.”

Harry’s eyes widened as he stared at the card in complete surprise. “What the... Dumbledore?”

Albus Dumbledore’s portrait smiled from the card, his blue eyes taking on their familiar twinkle. “I do hope Optimus has explained everything to you Harry,” he said. “I must admit I am quite fascinated by his tale. I wish it was my true self that had met with them as being a portrait I am unable to utilize any of the amazing knowledge they have provided for me.”

“You told them about the Hallows,” said Harry in a disbelieving tone.

“Indeed I did,” said Dumbledore. “The Autobots had found a number of Chocolate Frogs while they were searching for information and as soon as I realized from their conversations what it was this Megatron was seeking I offered my help. As I am sure you understand I feel a personal responsibility with the use of the Hallows.” He winked and said, “Do not worry, they are trustworthy: far more than I myself am.”

Harry thought for a moment and asked, “Can Megatron even use the Hallows?”

“To a certain extent,” said Dumbledore. “As the Autobots have said he was able to use the Resurrection Stone to at least temporarily grant life to his undead robotic troops. The cloak would hide him as well though he would require quite a few enlargement charms on it to hide him.” Dumbledore paused before saying, “The question would be the Elder Wand. In normal circumstances a Cybertronian wouldn’t be able to utilize magic. However, unlike muggles a Cybertronian could make a direct connection between a wand and his Spark to access a certain level of magic. For a wand that always wins a duel no matter what, that would be enough.”

“Making Megatron all powerful,” scoffed Harry. “Of course, to be able to even claim the wand he would have to kill me to ensure that it passed down to him.”

Hermione had grown rather pale. “I need some water,” she whispered.

Harry glanced toward her, concerned. Prime seemed to notice that she wasn’t feeling her best as well and said, “Perhaps you are feeling overwhelming. There is a smaller chamber right next to this one which can provide you with water if you would care for a rest.”

Hermione nodded. Harry and Hermione were led into a smaller room to the side. There were several pipes in the room that provided water although they had to conjure their own cups. As there were no chairs, Harry and Hermione sat on the floor leaning against the wall. Hermione simply stared at the water in her cup, not drinking it.

“It just never ends,” she said, looking on the verge of tears. “After everything we went through with Voldemort, now we get caught in another war that by all rights shouldn’t even involve us in the first place. But it involves us anyway precisely because we were involved in our war. Why won’t it end?”

“I wish I had an answer Hermione,” said Harry. He drew an arm around her and Hermione placed her cup on the floor and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“It is as Optimus said when he mentioned how the conflict between the Primus and Unicron continues today between the Autobots and Decepticons,” said Dumbledore’s Chocolate Frog Card. “There is no end to the conflict between good and evil: it will simply continue on in a different form.”

Harry shook his head. “You know, let’s take our minds off of this thing for a just a moment,” he said, hoping to get Hermione’s mind into a more relaxed state. He noticed ripples in the water in Hermione’s cup as the robots’ footsteps echoed through the vessel. “Like, take a look at the water. Didn’t we see a movie recently with an effect like that?”

Hermione chuckled clearly relieved to be talking about anything other than their current problems. “Oh yes, very scary,” she said dryly. “Why, whatsoever shall we do if a Tyrannosaurus Rex decides to show up right now?”

Harry and Hermione burst into laughter at the thought. A second later, their laughter turned to stunned, jaw dropping silence as a silver Tyrannosaurus Rex lumbered into the chamber: 25 feet tall and 42 feet long from snout to tail. The Tyrannosaur lumbered over to Harry and Hermione and sniffed.

“Hmph. Me no like humans,” growled the Tyrannosaur. “Why humans on board ship?” Harry and Hermione were too shocked to answer.

“They’re guests of Prime.” The Tyrannosaurus looked to the side to see Ironhide accompanied by Cliffjumper. “If you got a problem with that you can take it up with him,” continued Ironhide.

The Tyrannosaurus huffed and said, “Me no like humans on board. But me ignore humans.” With that, the silver Tyrannosaurus Rex made its way out of the chamber.

“Sorry about that,” said Ironhide. “That’s Grimlock. He doesn’t like humans so you should keep clear of him.” Ironhide paused before continuing, “For that matter he doesn’t like Optimus Prime either, but he respects him.”

Harry and Hermione were too stunned to say anything.

“No sweat. Grimlock won’t actually harm you,” said Cliffjumper. “Of course he may eat you if he feels like it but no worries. He’ll probably just end up throwing you up so it’s not a big deal.”

* * *

It was only a matter of time however that Harry and Hermione grew comfortable in their surroundings. With the exception of a select few, most of the Autobots were friendly and they made them feel welcome while those who didn’t, like Grimlock simply kept clear of them.

As soon as Ratchet and Wheeljack had healed Ted, Hermione monopolized their time finding them to be kindred spirits to her.

“So this computer is what programmed all of your vehicle modes?” she asked. She was fiddling around on a keyboard and monitor station connected to the Ark’s main computer: Teletran-1.

“That it did,” said Ratchet, “scanned nearby machines so that we could blend in. But we’ve also got scanners built into our optics as well so that we can scan new modes if the need arises.”

“That’s amazing,” said Hermione. “That would mean that your transformations occur down at the molecular level. Does that mean that each of the molecules that comprise you are alive? Like the cells of an organism? That would suggest you’re also organisms like us, only mechanical organisms.”

Ratchet looked over at Wheeljack before turning back to Hermione and saying, “You know, I never thought of it that way, but you’re right.”

Hermione started typing away on the keyboard. “Oh my. The level of RAM is astounding but so much of it looks just like muggle machines: same hard drive system, similar Operating System, similar memory systems, similar software, just on a far larger and more complex scale. I could download this information onto a DVD-ROM drive if I decided to.”

“True, but an Earth made DVD-ROM wouldn’t be able to hold the amount of information contained in Teletran-1,” said Wheeljack.

“But then, how about your own programs?” asked Hermione. “Theoretically a Cybertronian could download his own program into a powerful enough storage device, whether it’s a DVD-ROM or a flash drive. Then even if the Cybertronian were to be killed their program could be uploaded into a new body and poof, he’s back.”

“Ooooh, I like her,” said Wheeljack.

“So do I,” said Ratchet. “For that to truly work the original Spark would have to be inserted into the new body as well though. But it’s definitely possible.”

“How about cooling mechanisms?” asked Hermione. “With all that activity you do what keeps all of you from overheating?”

“We have a very sophisticated coolant system,” answered Ratchet. “I’m not sure you’ll be able understand the finer details of its mechanics though.”

“Heck, sometimes I don’t even understand them,” said Wheeljack.

Hermione looked up at the two Autobots and grinned. “Try me.”

Meanwhile, Harry was having a discussion with Dumbledore and Optimus Prime. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all,” said Harry.

“I’m afraid this is the only way possible Harry,” said Dumbledore. “I understand it is quite a risk but if we are to claim the Resurrection Stone from the Decepticons, it must be done.”

Harry stared at the chocolate frog card incredulously. “You’re just a portrait! You’re not supposed to have any of those underhanded, manipulative schemes your true self had!”

Dumbledore shrugged and said, “I am who I am, even as a mere portrait. I apologize Harry, but until another option presents itself this is the way to go.”

“Had there been other options I would not have agreed to this,” said Prime. “Unfortunately as we have been unable to locate where the Decepticons are hiding we will have to go with this plan.”

“Great,” muttered Harry. “So I go about everyday like normal pretending that evil alien robots aren’t out after my arse. And then, one day said evil alien robots will attack me only for good guy alien robots to save the day. Evil alien robots will be captured and we find out where Megatron is hiding. Oh, and did I mention that we’ll be placing thousands of innocent lives at risk with this plan?”

“As I said I do not like this plan at all,” said Optimus Prime. “We will be working on the clock for an alternative and hopefully we will be able to implement it before the Decepticons attack again but until then this is all we have.”

Harry shook his head and drawled, “Oh, I am so going to love being Mr. Paranoid again.” He paused before saying, “On the other hand I’m getting a new car.”

* * *

Ottery St. Catchpole at the Southern tip of England was where the Weasley home affectionately known as the “Burrow” was located. If ever there was a house that fit the old nursery rhyme about the crooked house this was it: a significant portion of it was being held up by magic. Despite its dilapidated condition however, the Burrow was a place of merriment and joy, where the Weasleys had always felt at home and where friends had always felt welcome no matter how dark and frightening the days had become. It was a small slice of happiness sitting quietly in the woods. And, it was currently in grave danger.

Three mechanical insects about as large as cars crawled to the edge of the woods observing the Burrow: a stag beetle, a rhinoceros beetle, and a grasshopper. They paid close attention to the various red haired humans coming and going from the crooked building with keen interest.

“The targets have been located-located,” said the stag beetle. “Insecticons commence attack-attack!”

A/N Ah! Finally I got that chapter out of the way. I got brief instances of writer’s block while writing this chapter but thankfully managed to get over them. In fact, it was a few of the reviews from the earlier chapters that gave me an idea of what I should do to fill the gaps. Well my readers, stand by for more.

9. Bugs at the Burrow

A/N Well OK. It’s a bit of a short chapter. It’s still quite packed though. I’m hoping I didn’t cram too much stuff into too little pages but I can’t seem to think up of a way to expand this more. Anyway, I hope this one meets your expectations.

Chapter 9: Bugs at the Burrow

“Wow! I mean that was just wow!” said Ron.

“Ronald, you just said that three times already,” said Luna. They were walking down the path that led straight to the Burrow having just Apparated back from the Pro-Quidditch Stadium.

“I know. But how can I bloody not? This is the first time the Cannons have made it to the semi-finals in ages! This is a cause for celebration!” He grinned at Luna and said, “And of course, I got to once again experience the spectacular commentating of Miss Lovegood here.”

Luna laughed and said, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“You ever consider quitting your job and working full time on Quidditch commentating?” Ron asked, only half jokingly.

“On occasion,” said Luna. “But I love working at the Quibbler so much, I couldn’t give it up.”

Ron shrugged and said, “I suppose.” They stepped up to the crooked house. “Hey, you want to come inside? I’m sure everybody would like to see you.”

“I would love to,” said Luna. Ron opened the door for her and Luna breezed into the house.

Ginny, discharged from the hospital earlier that day, raised an eyebrow when she saw the jubilant expression on Ron’s face. “You know for a bloke who was just dumped by his girlfriend yesterday, you seem to be in a good mood.”

“Nice to see you too, Ginny,” Ron said dryly. “Well Hermione and I,” he shrugged and said, “guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Well glad to see you’re taking it so well,” said Ginny. “Hi Luna.”

“Hello Ginny,” Luna greeted her friend. “I’m glad to see you’re OK.”

“Ronald, are you back?” Molly stepped out of the kitchen carrying a mixing bowl: she had obviously been cooking. “Luna! Welcome. Would you like to stay for supper?”

“If it’s OK, I would like to very much Mrs. Weasley.”

“It’s Molly, dear. Now, now don’t just stand there. Make yourself at home.”

Out in the yard George and Percy were going over their store sales. Or at least Percy was, George was merely lounging on his chair.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have a considerable loss this quarter,” said Percy. “Can’t help that though given how the main store was destroyed in the attack. We need to switch primary operations to the Hogsmeade branch.”

“Man, I am so glad you came to work in the store,” said George. “The numbers were always the big killer for me.”

“Least I could do for Fred,” said Percy with a sobering tone. George nodded.

“Ah, there you boys are,” said Arthur, coming out of his garage. “I’m working on a new project. Would either of you like to help me?”

Percy frowned. “Dad, please don’t tell me you’re trying to make your muggle contraptions transform into ‘abnomalies’.”

Arthur did not look pleased. “Of course not, why would I do something insensitive like that?”

“Way to place yourself on the bad side again, Perce,” said George. Percy had the dignity to look ashamed.

“Come on everybody,” said Molly, levitating their supper in front of her. “Supper time. Clear the table, we’re eating outside.”

“Luna!” exclaimed Arthur, delighted to see her coming out to the yard escorted by Ron. “You’ll be joining us for supper?”

Luna nodded. “Thank you for welcoming me.”

“Why you’re always welcome here,” said Arthur. “So how’s Xenophilius these days?”

Luna frowned and bit her lip. “He hasn’t really been feeling well recently,” she said. “He’s resting at our house: you know the one in Ottery St. Catchpole near here. I just hope he doesn’t exert himself too much.”

Supper was a joyful affair as the Weasleys and Luna tucked in. Ron was inhaling the food at a high pace that would have made starving dragons jealous. “Ron, mind your manners,” said Ginny.

Ron swallowed some food and said, “What can I say? I’m still growing.”

“I think it’s adorable,” said Luna, causing Ron to blush and for Ginny to raise an eyebrow.

“Well, to each his or her own,” said Ginny. All of the Weasleys laughed. A second later, they were screaming as the top floor of the Burrow was blown off.

“What in the world?” exclaimed Ron as all of the Weasleys ducked for cover. The Burrow’s roof went flying across the yard and Ron was even able to make out the remains of the attic’s ghoul flying with it.

“G-giant insects!” screamed Percy. Ron looked up to see a giant stag beetle, rhinoceros beetle, and grasshopper were flying toward them.

“It’s them!” yelled Ron. “It’s the robots!”

“B-but... they’re not planes,” stammered Ginny.

“Planes, insects, they’re still robots!” exclaimed Ron. “Use reductors!”

The mechanical insects surveyed the destruction and spotted the Weasleys as they were preparing their defenses. “Kickback, leave none alive-alive,” hissed the stag beetle.

“I’m on it, Shrapnel,” said the grasshopper, Kickback. He leapt forward, twisted around and kicked straight into the Burrow’s wall, hurtling a large chunk of debris toward the Weasleys.

“Protego!” shouted Ron and Molly at the same time. Molly wore the same furious expression she had worn when she had battled Bellatrix Lestrange. “No one hurts my family! Reducto!”

The explosion of the reductor hit Kickback square in the face, hurtling him back several feet. Seeing that the Weasleys knew how to fight back Shrapnel turned into his robot form, his horns sticking out from either side of his collar region. “There’s a lot more of that coming-coming,” he said. “Bombsell, send them a gift-gift!”

“I’m all for that,” said the rhinoceros beetle, Bombshell. He transformed into his robot form, his horn coming up diagonally on his head like a unicorn. “Here’s a little token.” He fired a projectile from his horn.

“Oh no you don’t! I’m not going back to the hospital!” muttered Ginny. She and Luna simultaneously fired their reductors at the projectile, sending it flying straight back at Shrapnel and Bombshell. The projectile exploded over their head, piercing them with hundreds of shells. The two Insecticons screeched as their armor was penetrated. Bombshell continued firing his projectiles at them yet the Weasleys managed to shoot most of them down.

“They know how to defend themselves,” said Kickback, standing up and transforming into his robot form, complete with antennae and wings.

“Then... we will have to... be smarter-smarter,” hissed Shrapnel.

“I’ll be a distraction,” said Ron.

“What?” exclaimed the other Weasleys and Luna.

“I’ll fire enough reductors at them so that they’ll be ticked off at me rather than the rest of you. After that, I’ll make my escape and draw them away while the rest of you Apparate away somewhere safe!”

The Weasleys were completely stunned. Molly immediately started protesting, “Ronald... you mustn’t...”

“You got any better ideas?” snapped Ron. “I’m the Auror here! So naturally I’ll be the distraction!” Then, before anybody could stop him Ron darted out of their cover. Screaming “Reducto!” as many times as he could, Ron peppered the Insecticons with as many blasting hexes as was possible.

The three insect robots staggered around as they were blasted with the hexes. Amidst the chaos, Shrapnel spotted Ron make his “escape”. “Get him-him!” he yelled.

The three robots took to the air and started firing at Ron. Ron weaved and dodged the projectiles but then lost his balance. Just as one of the projectiles was about to hit him, Ron was pulled out of the way. “What? Luna!” cried Ron when he realized who his rescuer was. “Why didn’t you escape?”

“I’m not about to leave you alone with them!” snapped Luna, for once sounding completely lucid. Ron didn’t have time to argue as the three robots pounced on them. Just as Ron had managed to shield Luna from the attack, an automobile suddenly burst out of the woods and rammed the Insecticons, causing them to scatter.

The automobile was a maroon Dodge Viper with yellow flame highlights and a yellow v-shaped wing on the rear. The Dodge Viper stopped in front of Ron and Luna, opened the passenger door, and spoke: “Come with me if you want to live... Man! That sounded so cliché!”

Ron was stunned to say the least. “W-what in the world...”

“Come on!” exclaimed Luna. She grabbed Ron’s hand and pulled him into the car with her. As soon as they were inside, the door slammed shut.

“Fasten your seatbelts ‘cause this is going to be quite the ride!” Saying that, the Dodge Viper tore off into the woods. Completely angry, the Insecticons turned back into insects and took off after it.

“You’re one of them,” said Ron, on the verge of shock. “You’re a robot!”

“Don’t worry, I’m one hundred percent on your side. Anybody who can face up against Decepticons like that is all right in my manual,” said the car. “The name’s Rodimus. But you can also call me Hot Rod if you want. Any questions?”

“Er... no,” said Ron.

“Are there any girl robots?” asked Luna, the dreamy smile back on her face.

‘What kind of question is that?’ Ron thought idly.

“Yup, there are,” said Rodimus, completely stunning Ron. “In fact we’re going to... Oh, excuse me.”

Ron looked out of the rear window to see that the Insecticons were closing in on them. Rodimus however simply opened his trunk and to Ron’s surprise, fired a series of blue fireballs straight at the mechanical insects. Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback were blasted away by the fireballs.

“That should take care of them for a while,” said Rodimus. “Now, as I was saying...”

“WAIT! STOP THE CAR!” Luna yelled suddenly. Ron couldn’t help but realize the irony that Luna had yelled at the car to stop itself. But then, he started when he saw what Luna had just seen: a burning house. And not just any burning house, the Lovegood residence.

As soon as Rodimus came to a stop, Luna burst out of him. Ron hurriedly leapt out of the car as well and grabbed hold of Luna. Luna was completely hysterical. “No! No! NO! Daddy!” she screamed. “I have to get Daddy!”

The house’s roof collapsed, taking most of the house with it. Luna burst into tears and sank to the ground. Ron kneeled right next to her and held her as she started sobbing into his shoulder. “Oh Luna. I’m so sorry,” he whispered as he gently rubbed her back. Luna only whispered “Daddy,” over and over again in between sobs.

It was then that Ron saw the tracks; large, ominous tracks with a metallic shape to them indicating that the house was on fire as a result of a robot attack. But the thing that struck Ron the most of all was that he had seen similar tracks before. Said similar tracks had been made by the acromantula living in the Forbidden Forest.

‘Oh God, this was done by a robot spider,’ he thought. It was definitely plausible: after all he had just been fighting against robot insects so why not robot spiders? For a moment, Ron’s arachnophobia came forth but he fought it down as he thought of the sobbing girl in his arms. ‘Spider or not, that robot is going to pay!’

Rodimus had also spotted the tracks. He transformed into his robot form, a tall maroon robot with flame highlights and the yellow wing sticking up from his back, and kneeled down next to the tracks, examining them. Recognition dawned on his face as his fists clenched and his expression twisted into anger. “Scorponok!”

A/N That was sad. Maybe it wasn’t long enough but that’s the way things are. I’m trying to convey the seriousness of everything here and the Decepticons mean as much business as the Death Eaters did. Everybody can take out their tissues now.

10. Enter the Scorpion

A/N Personally I’m having a harder time capturing the personalities of the post 1986 Transformers when compared to the pre 1986 Transformers, which is why so few of them come out in comparison. Sometimes I wonder why I even included them in this fic even though they add further depth to the core cast. Still, after this chapter I’m sticking predominately to the core Transformers cast.

Chapter 10: Enter the Scorpion

Rodimus stood up only to hear the treading of tires running down the street toward them. He gazed down the path and recognized something. “Hey, you remember that girl robot I was mentioning?” he said. “Well here she comes, with another friend of mine.”

Ron looked up to see two vehicles driving toward them: a pink and white Buell Firebolt XB12R Motorcycle (very interesting how a motorcycle was running with no driver) and an army green Jeep Wrangler. The motorcycle transformed into a robot, one that was undeniably feminine in shape, posture, even in her stride.

“Rodimus what happened? What’s going on?” Even her voice was female.

“Arcee, I just had a run in with the Insecticons,” said Rodimus. He gestured to Ron and Luna. “Or more like they were having a run in with the Insecticons. I barged in and chased them off but then the girl started screaming.” He glanced over at the remains of the burning house. “It seems that she had a loved one who just died in that fire.”

“Oh my Primus,” exclaimed Arcee. “I’ll go see her.” She made her way over toward Ron and Luna.

Rodimus turned toward the Jeep Wrangler. “Springer...” he frowned when he noticed that one of their party was missing. “Where’s Ultra Magnus?”

The Jeep Wrangler, Springer transformed into his army green robot mode. “Out bug hunting,” he said. “Aside from the Insecticons you’re not going to guess who we’ve got intel on roaming the place.”

‘Scorponok,” said Rodimus, a hint of anger in his voice.

Springer shrugged. “OK, I was wrong. You can guess.”

“Not quite,” said Rodimus. He pointed at the tracks he found. “He’s the one behind the fire; left behind a calling card.”

Luna suddenly sprung up and ran toward Rodimus. “WHERE IS HE?” she screamed.

“What?” exclaimed Rodimus. Luna started beating on his metallic feet.

“Where is he? Where is the one who did this?” she screamed in a very un-Luna like manner. She started beating on Rodimus’s feet getting more and more hysterical. “Where’s the one who did this? Take me to him! I’ll kill him!”

“Luna stop!” exclaimed Ron. He forcibly pulled Luna away from Rodimus.

“Hmm. And I thought female ‘bots had bad cases of emo,” said Springer.

“I heard that,” snapped Arcee, sounding annoyed.

“Come on Luna,” Ron gently whispered into her ear. “The ‘Looney’ Lovegood I know isn’t like this. The ‘Looney’ I know and love is always weaving tales about ‘nargles’ and ‘heliopaths’ or heading out on wild quests for ‘snorkacks’. Where did she go?” Luna started to calm down though she was still crying. Ron suddenly realized he had said the word “love” and spluttered, “I-I-I mean we’ve been f-f-f-friends for quite some time n-now and-and I’ve rather grown fond... yeah fond of you as it is and... er...”

“It’s like I’m a prisoner again. So helpless, not being able to help Daddy,” whispered Luna in between sobs, causing Ron to perk up. “Only it’s r-r-r-real this time. Oh God! It’s real!” She clutched her bottle-cap necklace and whispered, “Daddy.”

The Autobots were meanwhile discussing their next course of action. “Well, I’m going to be the big, bad mean dude here and say that Optimus Prime’s orders were to meet up with his team at Canterbury,” said Springer.

“Optimus will have to wait,” said Rodimus. “I’m not about to abandon those two to Scorponok and the Insecticons. I’ll go scout the area. Arcee, stick with those two. Springer, take to the air and see if you can find Ultra Magnus or the Decepticons.”

Springer smirked and said, “You’re the boss-man!” before transforming. However, instead of a Jeep Wrangler, he transformed into an AH-64 Apache Helicopter. Within seconds the helicopter had lifted off and was flying around over the treetops.

Ron was puzzled. “Wasn’t he a car before? And now he’s one of those helo-thingies.”

“Springer’s a triple-changer. That means two alternative modes,” said Rodimus. “You two, stick with Arcee. And for the love of Primus don’t do anything impulsive!”

Arcee gave Rodimus a look. “Look who’s talking. I seem to recall a certain someone who...”

“OK! I got it!” shouted Rodimus, sounding somewhat embarrassed. “I’m going scouting. If I’m lucky I might even be able to find ole’ stinger ‘n claws.” Rodimus made his way past several trees when he suddenly came face to face with a giant, purple and green, mechanical scorpion. “OK, I didn’t mean that lucky.”

The scorpion swung its tail hitting Rodimus straight in the chest. The Autobot went flying past the trees before he made full impact on of one the larger trees having just passed Arcee, Ron, and Luna.

“Rodimus? Are you OK?” exclaimed Arcee.

“I feel like I’ve just been pulverized by a combiner’s right hook,” muttered Rodimus. “This though, is a tail.”

The giant mechanical scorpion, nearly twice as large as Rodimus sprang out from the woods, claws snapping and tail swinging. The first thing Ron thought was relief: it wasn’t a mechanical spider after all. The next thing he felt was dread: it wouldn’t make any actual difference whether it was a spider or a scorpion.

“Rodimus. We meet again in combat,” snarled the scorpion.

“Yeah, not exactly ideal circumstances to ask you out on a play date, Scorponok,” snapped Rodimus.

“Stand up and fight!” exclaimed Scorponok. “A warrior such as you should not be felled with merely a blow such as that one.”

Rodimus smirked. “Who said anything about standing up? Arcee!” Rodimus instantly transformed back into his Dodge Viper form. Arcee leapt into the air and landed standing on top of the Viper.

“Don’t do anything rash,” Arcee said to Ron and Luna as she pulled out what looked like a cross between a sniper rifle and a crossbow. Ron, somewhat dazed could only nod.

Rodimus started driving circles around the scorpion as Arcee started shooting at it. Scorponok attempted to block the beams with his claws but couldn’t prevent the damage that Arcee was inflicting on him. Whenever Scorponok flailed out with his claws or tail, Rodimus simply veered out of the way.

“This won’t do,” snarled Scorponok. He instantly transformed into his robot form, a large purple and green humanoid with orange horns and pincer claws instead of hands. He started firing missiles at the Autobots only for Rodimus to dodge every one with terrific driving sense while Arcee continued shooting at him.

“Whoa. Freaky,” said Ron, gazing at Scorponok’s robotic form.

Luna stared at Scorponok, the expression on her face unreadable. “That’s the one,” she whispered.

“What?” said Ron, coming to his senses. Before he could stop her, Luna ran toward the robotic battle.

“You killed my father!” she screamed. She whipped out her wand and fired a strong “Reducto!” at the scorpion robot. Scorponok’s head was slammed to the side in whiplash but he was otherwise unharmed. He turned his attention toward Luna.

“If that is a challenge, consider it accepted,” he said, pointing his right claw straight at Luna. Ron barely managed to tackle Luna out of the way of the missile.

Luna seemed to have regained her senses. “Oh God! Oh God!” she whispered. “Did I just...”

“Come on Luna, we have to go,” exclaimed Ron. He turned around just in time to see Scorponok fire another missile at them. “Uh-oh.”

Rodimus suddenly veered in between Ron and Luna. He and Arcee took the full blast of the missile and were blown away. Rodimus managed to change back into his robot mode but was clearly damaged. “Urgh,” he grunted. “Springer, we could use some backup!”

“Kinda busy!” exclaimed Springer. Rodimus looked up to see that the helicopter was trying to fight off none other than the Insecticons.

“Bombshell, Kickback, clear the way. I am unleashing the clones-clones!” hissed Shrapnel. He released hundreds of metal pieces which changed into clones of the Insecticons. Instead of three robot insects, Springer found himself facing an army of robot insects.

“Oh no, no, NO!” exclaimed Springer. “Haven’t you guys ever heard of ‘fair fight’?” Springer started firing the Apache’s machine guns at the clones. The clones fell easily before the bullets but there were so many of them that Springer soon found himself overwhelmed.

“Kill him!” yelled Bombshell. The clones continued crowding around the helicopter.

“Hey!” shouted Springer, “I’ve got better things to do tonight than die!” He started shooting down clones at a more furious pace.

Rodimus and Arcee meanwhile were desperately dodging Scorponok’s missiles, dragging their damaged bodies as much as they could. Eventually however, Scorponok managed to corner Rodimus. “It seems I am finally the victor,” said Scorponok.

Rodimus smirked. “Guess again.” Scorponok suddenly found his legs smashed by the swinging form of the trailer section of a Freightliner Car Carrier Truck. The truck’s cab was white while the carrier trailer was red and blue. Scorponok tumbled over into a heap with a ground shaking thud.

“Thanks a lot, Ultra Magnus,” said Rodimus. “And for that matter, where have you been?”

The Car Carrier Truck, Ultra Magnus transformed into his robot form, a large red, white, and blue robot. His blue helmet had high horns and vents and he had a pair of large, rectangular pillars sticking upward from his shoulders.

“Looking for something ugly,” said Magnus, gesturing to the struggling form of Scorponok. “Lost track of him until my audio sensors picked up the sounds of this battle.”

“Awesome,” said Rodimus. He, Ultra Magnus, and Arcee pointed their firearms into the air and started shooting Insecticon clones down.

Scorponok had finally managed to stand up. “You Autobots! Why I ought to...” a Bombshell clone fell on top of Scorponok’s head. Scorponok stared at the clone until his face twisted into a smirk. “Decepticons retreat!” he ordered. When the Insecticons gave him a quizzical look he said, “I’ve got a better idea.”

That seemed to be enough for the Insecticons. They flew off, taking their clones with them. Scorponok too transformed back into his scorpion mode and scurried away.

Springer touched down and transformed back into a robot. “Remind me to get the extra strength pesticide next time,” he said.

“Where are they going?” asked Ultra Magnus.

“Beats me,” said Rodimus. “Scorponok said something about ‘a better plan’. That does not sound good?”

“What are we going to do now?” asked Arcee.

The Autobots glanced at each other, then at Ron and Luna. Ron was still comforting Luna whom finally seemed to have calmed down.

“Optimus Prime’s orders are to meet with his group in Canterbury,” said Ultra Magnus.

“I know that,” said Rodimus. “But the Decepticons targeted these humans for a reason and until we figure out what Scorponok’s after I don’t think we should leave them alone.” He turned to Magnus and said, “Contact Prime and tell him there’s been a change of plans.”

“What are you thinking, Rodimus?” asked Arcee.

Rodimus grinned. “Something wild,” he said. He walked up to Ron and Luna and asked, “Hey, mind if we talk?”

Ron looked up at the robot, startled. “What?”

Rodimus grinned and said, “I’ve got a proposition for you.”

A/N You know, I originally planned to make Rodimus act more like ‘Hot Rod’ for this fic. But now that I’m actually writing it out, he seems more like ‘Rodimus Prime’. Oh well, I suppose it fits into the story better that way. Let me know what you think.

11. Plan of Action

A/N OK. So here’s a filler chapter. We’re unfortunately going to have a lot of filler chapters in between the action packed ones so I’m hoping people won’t mind that. To all my fellow Americans Happy Thanksgiving. To those who aren’t Americans... hope you have a nice day.

Chapter 11: Plan of Action

The Ministry of Magic had a parking garage. From the muggle point of view there was nothing unusual about having a parking garage. From the magical point of view, it was something to raise eyebrows over. However, the Ministry employed many muggle-borns and Half Bloods and a lot of them tended to prefer driving over Floo, Portkey, the Knight Bus, or Apparation. Magical transportation could be quite uncomfortable for some people while a drive could be quite relaxing. Even the occasional pureblood (those not as prejudiced) couldn’t resist the appeal of a cool car.

Harry pulled into the parking garage “driving” his bright yellow Chevrolet Camaro. Sure it was only a temporary “rental” of sorts but he hadn’t had a vehicle of any sort ever since his Firebolt broomstick was destroyed and was quite enjoying himself.

“You sure you’re fine just waiting here?” asked Harry.

“Hey don’t sweat it,” said the Camaro, “when you’ve got a life span as long as ours a few hours in a parking garage is no big deal.”

“Well OK, thanks a lot Bumblebee,” said Harry. Just as he stepped out of the car a maroon Dodge Viper with flame highlights pulled into the spot next to his. To his surprise, none other than Ron Weasley stepped out of the Dodge Viper.

“Ron!” exclaimed Harry. He hadn’t even known that Ron could drive or even that he was interested in cars for that matter.

“Harry!” said Ron, surprised to see his best friend in the garage. “Er... ah... nice car.”

“Uh... thanks. Er... so’s yours. Where’d you get it?”

“What? Oh... er... near Ottery St. Catchpole. How about yours?”

“Oh? Well... uh...”

“Shall we put them out of their misery?” asked Bumblebee.

“Let’s do it,” said Rodimus. A second later the two Autobots had transformed into their robot modes eliciting Harry and Ron’s jaws to drop.

“Huh! I guess you met up with them as well,” said Ron. Rodimus and Bumblebee smirked at the two wizards.

“Yup, Hermione and I did,” said Harry. Ron gave Harry a curious look though Harry didn’t notice. “How did you meet with them, mate?”

Ron frowned. “Well, I better get the worst bit over with,” he said. “Harry, Xenophilius is dead.”

“WHAT?” exclaimed Harry, “How? What about Luna? Is she OK?”

“Luna is all right. At least physically,” said Ron. “She’s staying at the Burrow for the next few days. Of course, the Burrow needed some extensive repairs as well. As for the how, Decepticon attack.”

Harry seriously looked troubled. “Ron, tell me everything.”

* * *

“This is not good news,” said Optimus Prime. He was conversing with a few of his highest ranking officers on the bridge of the Ark. “The Decepticons seem to have found out who the people closest to Harry are.”

“If Scorponok is involved perhaps we should send for Fortress Maximus,” suggested Prowl.

Ultra Magnus scoffed, “Not likely he’ll even show up. He’s grown far too disillusioned with the war.”

“Well you can’t really blame him that much,” said Jazz. “The guy’s a pacifist, big time.”

“Let’s concentrate with our current forces right now,” said Prime. “We currently have Bumblebee watching over Harry while Ratchet and Wheeljack are watching over Hermione. Rodimus has proclaimed himself as Ronald Weasley’s protector while Arcee and Springer are guarding his family. Jetfire is making consistent air reckon over England in the event of Decepticon activity. Am I missing anything?”

“Why Autobots help fleshies? Me no like,” said the silver Tyrannosaurus near the back of the bridge.

“You know why, Grimlock,” said Prime.

Grimlock transformed into his robot form, a powerfully built robot with a black head and gold breastplate. As a robot he had no visual face save the single, wide-length orange visor like optics. Suddenly Grimlock brandished a red crystal sword and swung it straight down toward Optimus. Optimus didn’t appear surprised however and simply blocked the sword with an orange axe-like blade that formed out of his right hand, the sound of sizzling sparks echoing with the blow. For that matter, none of the other Autobots appeared surprised by Grimlock’s actions.

Seemingly satisfied, Grimlock put away his sword and said, “Me Grimlock no like humans. But me help out.”

Prime retracted his blade. “Any suggestions?” he asked.

“Prowl does have a point. We should at least call for reinforcements,” said Ultra Magnus. “They may not make it here in time for any confrontation with the Decepticons over the Wizards but then again, they might.”

“Let us hope,” said Optimus. “Prowl, signal the Aerialbots and divert them to Earth. Ultra Magnus, send a message to Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Blaster, Kup, and Hound, and at the least try to talk to Fortress Maximus. Jazz, get in contact with Jetfire and see if there’s any Decepticon activity. Keep an eye out in particular for Laserbeak or Buzzsaw. Grimlock, place the Dinobots on standby.”

Grimlock scoffed, “Already done.”

Prime nodded and asked, “Does anybody have any intel on Mirage’s location?”

“None,” said Prowl. “He just literally disappeared into thin air.”

“With Mirage that’s not inconceivable,” said Ultra Magnus.

“You got that right,” said Jazz. “I’m surprised he didn’t pull a disappearing act any time sooner.”

“Ugh, where has he gone?” muttered Optimus. “We’ll have to deal with Mirage’s disappearance later. Autobots, proceed with plan.”

As the Autobot officers cleared out of the bridge, Optimus slumped on his command chair. Wearily he rubbed his forehead.

“You seem like you’ve got the weight of the whole universe hanging on your shoulders,” said a female voice over Teletran-1’s communications array.

“Elita,” said Optimus. “This has been continuing for so long there are times I wonder why the Matrix even chose me. Why did Primus chose me to be ‘Prime’?”

“Because you were created to be ‘Optimus Prime’,” said the voice of Elita-One. “There is none greater for the role, not even your predecessors.”

Optimus scoffed. “My predecessors? Nova tried to implement his racist agenda in a form of galactic conquest. Sentinel failed to prevent the gladiatorial combats that led to the creation of the Decepticons. They made the title of ‘Prime’ into nothing more than a joke!” He placed his hand over his chest. “That corruption is a part of me now.”

“No!” said Elita. “Sentinel Prime didn’t stand even a chance against Megatron whereas you have defeated him countless times. Your compassion for all life makes you better than Nova Prime. Your strength, your compassion, those are what truly make you the first ‘Prime’ worthy of the title since the original Prima of the Thirteen.”

“You said it yourself: I have defeated Megatron countless times. Yet, Megatron still lives to continue his reign of evil,” said Optimus. “Would the war have continued this long had I been more ruthless?”

“Then you wouldn’t be who you are,” said Elita. “Optimus, sooner or later you’re going to have to understand that it’s your compassion that is your greatest strength. It is possible that the war might’ve ended sooner had you been more ruthless but then you wouldn’t be any different from Megatron. You yourself commented on how similar you two really were.”

“I know,” said Optimus. “That’s what scares me the most.”

* * *

“This isn’t good. This is really, bloody well not good,” muttered Harry. He and Ron were hurriedly walking through the Ministry of Magic’s Atrium.

“I’ll say,” said Ron. “If the Decepticons know about the Hallows that means the only reason why they would attack my family or the Lovegoods would be because we’re close to you. That doesn’t suit me well mate.”

“What I want to know is how the Decepticons found out about all of you in the first place!” Harry exclaimed. “They only took the Household Inventories from Gringotts. That shouldn’t have anything to do with how close I am to certain people.”

“Fugitive Death Eaters?” suggested Ron.

“Not likely,” said Harry. “All the big shots who would know details like that are either dead or in Azkaban. Only the juniors and wannabes are out there.”

Ron sighed and said, “We’re going through all this trouble again. Just like old days.”

“Well it’s like I told your dad a long time ago,” said Harry. “I don’t go looking for trouble: trouble always finds me.”

The two friends were about to enter one of the lifts when an enchanted paper plane flew toward them. Harry grabbed the plane, unfolded it, and read the contents. “Kingsley wants to see us right now.”

“Us? As in both of us?” asked Ron.

“Yeah,” said Harry. The two entered the lift as they had planned only, instead of Auror Headquarters they directed the lift to head toward the Minister of Magic’s office.

“Harry. Ron,” said Kingsley from behind his desk. “How’s the investigation on the ‘abnomalie’ attacks going?”

Harry and Ron exchanged glances not sure if they should mention their contact with the Autobots yet. “Er... very progressively,” said Harry.

“Yeah, very pro... progressively,” said Ron, nodding nervously.

Kingsley could tell that they were hiding something but decided to let it slide for the time being. “It will have to hold for now,” he said. “At present time we have a bigger concern: the start of the term at Hogwarts on September 1^st, three days from now.”

Harry and Ron started: they had completely forgotten the date amidst the chaos of the robot incidents.

“There has been a concern over the ‘abnomalie’ attacks about the potential danger the students could be exposed to. In particular during the trek the Hogwarts Express makes between Kings Cross and Hogsmeade.”

“With all due respect Minister,” said Harry, “what does this have to do with us? We’re just trainees.”

Kingsley chuckled. “Harry. Ron. I didn’t summon you here as Aurors. I summoned you here as members of the Order of the Phoenix.”

That was definitely a surprise. “The Order?” both Harry and Ron exclaimed.

“I spoke with Minerva McGonagall,” said Kingsley. “In light of recent events we have decided to officially reactivate the Order of the Phoenix. Auror ranks are spread thin right now. Therefore, a group of Order members will be accompanying the Hogwarts Express for protection. This is unofficial of course but at the least it will mean that I can freely express that the train will be well protected during the journey.”

“So, we’re going with the train?” asked Harry.

“I’m afraid not,” said Kingsley. “I have a different investigation job for you two. Ever since I became Minister I’ve been taking a leaf out of Dumbledore in following the muggle news. Apparently, there have been recent reports about people disappearing. This in itself doesn’t necessarily mean anything if it weren’t for an interesting fact: these people disappeared after claiming they witnessed a certain construction site at the very edge of the French Alps. Apparently, the construction was being worked on by several construction vehicles with no drivers.”

A/N So there you have it. A slower paced chapter: but setting things up for the next phase of the story. And believe me, there’s plenty of action in the next phase. Please provide me your opinion on things and stay tuned for more.

12. Wheeljack’s Gauntlet

A/N It has happened. My most dreaded enemy has struck. One that I had managed to generally avoid or glance over with only miniscule amounts but not so any more. Writer’s Block! Curse you! It’s frustrating when you know what you want to write only you can’t think of a way to put in words. Hopefully, this won’t slow down my every three days posting schedule.

Chapter 12: Wheeljack’s Gauntlet

While the Ark was a bit too far away to Apparate to, Hermione had successfully created several portkeys that would transport them back and forth between the Cybertronians’ vessel and England. Hermione had found the alien technology to be absolutely fascinating and wanted to learn as much about the alien world as she could. As such, she discovered that Wheeljack was every bit as curious about magic for his part.

“It’s incredible really,” said Wheeljack. “The variables required, the amount of energy that’s transferred. Ha! To the untrained mind it would look like it defies logic!”

“It does defy logic,” said Hermione. “Many wizards and witches don’t have a sense of logic at all since magic defies the conventional rules of logic.”

“The conventional rules, yes,” said Wheeljack. He was busy tinkering away at some kind of mechanical device. “But its own rules, that’s different. If you look at it from that context there definitely is a type of logic at work, albeit a wrapped one.”

Hermione thought for a moment and said, “That’s true. There is a set of rules that magic tends to follow, especially when used with wands.”

Wheeljack continued tinkering away on his project. “Well... with this new info... I can... ah ha! Success!” Wheeljack held up what resembled a gauntlet, just about the right size for a Cybertronian. It was designed to fit onto the wrist with metallic connections into the fingertips. There was a tiny insertion on the bit of the gauntlet that covered the palm. “Thanks a lot. I would’ve never finished it without your help.”

“I’m glad I was able to,” said Hermione. “So what is it?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” said Ratchet, entering the bay accompanied by Cliffjumper. “What’s the latest ‘miracle’ device, Wheeljack?”

“Yeah! Will it beat up the bad guys?” asked Cliffjumper. “Oh I know! It increases your punching power, doesn’t it?”

“Not even close,” said Wheeljack as he fitted the gauntlet onto his own wrist. “Now as we know, magic is a realm beyond the capabilities of a Cybertronian. The only way we can wield even a miniscule portion of it is if we make a direct connection between a wand and our Sparks.”

“OK,” said Ratchet.

Wheeljack continued, “Now, using information provided to me by the lovely lady,” this caused Hermione to blush, “I theorized that the wand to Spark connection with the right adjustments could be magnified by a hundredfold: hence this gauntlet.”

“What? You mean we can use magic with that thing?” exclaimed Cliffjumper.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Wheeljack. “First you insert a wand.” Hermione suddenly felt a quick vacuum engulf her as her wand flew out of her possession straight into the gauntlet’s insertion.

“Hey!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry about that, but it’s a little difficult to pick something up that tiny,” said Wheeljack. “Anyway, as of now with some of the information provided to me by the lovely Miss Granger, all I need to do is swish and flick my arm and say ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ and...”

“WHOA!” exclaimed Cliffjumper as he suddenly shot up into the air. He hit the ceiling, ricocheted off of it and hit the wall, and continued bouncing around necessitating that Ratchet and Hermione duck a few times to avoid being hit. Finally, he landed on the ground with a crash. “What did I ever do to you?” he exclaimed.

“Uh... worked a little too well,” said Wheeljack. “Well at least it works. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that the usual curses would work since they’re designed to affect organics. So even if I were to point my arm at you and say ‘Stupefy’ it...”

A jet of light suddenly fired out of Wheeljack’s hand and hit Ratchet square in the chest, sending him crashing into the wall opposite of them. While whenever wizards used curses against them they didn’t work, apparently when Cybertronians used curses with the gauntlet against other Cybertronians they worked fine: Ratchet had been knocked into stasis lock.

“Oops,” muttered Wheeljack. He pulled off the gauntlet as if it were on fire while the wand popped out. Hermione managed to catch her wand while Wheeljack went over to Rathcet’s side and started reactivating him.

“Congratulations Wheeljack, it works perfectly,” Ratchet muttered dryly as he woke up.

“Yeah, I’ve really got to tone things down,” said Wheeljack. “Can’t figure out how the curse actually worked though.”

“Um, I have a theory,” said Hermione. She looked a little uncomfortable being under the Autobot’s scrutiny but continued, “Well, the gauntlet channels energy directly from your ‘Sparks’ into the wand converting it into magic right? Well my guess is that whenever a wizard or witch is using a spell against you it’s hitting your exoskeleton or internal machinery which means that a spell used for organics wouldn’t have any effect. With the gauntlet though, I guess that since the spell is drawn out of your ‘Sparks’ it also affects the target’s ‘Spark’ directly rather than the machinery.”

“Nice to know how much of a genius you are, Wheeljack,” Cliffjumper said dryly.

“I scare myself at times as well,” said Wheeljack.

* * *

With the swirl of colors of an activated portkey, two wizards found themselves standing within the hangar of the Ark. “Bloody hell! This place is wicked!” exclaimed Ron.

“Yeah, I agree,” said Harry. “I’ll give you the grand tour later. I want to talk to Optimus first.”

“Hey, lead the way fearless leader!” said Ron as he gleefully followed Harry down the passages of the Ark. “I still can’t believe it though. I mean sentient beings from another planet? I’ve never even heard of the concept!”

“Really? It’s a widespread urban legend in muggle societies,” said Harry. “Interestingly in the same way wizards, witches, and fantastic beasts are.”

“Ha! Well shows how much muggles know,” said Ron. He and Harry turned around a corner and ran into Hermione accompanied by Wheeljack, Ratchet, and Cliffjumper. “Hermione!” he exclaimed.

“Ron!” Hermione started. As the two hadn’t seen each other since their break up an awkward pause came about them. “So... er... I guess you’ve met the Autobots.”

“Er... yeah,” said Ron. “They saved my family from the Decepticons.”

“Oh! So you’re part of the family Rodimus’s taken watch over,” said Ratchet.

“The Weasleys were attacked by Decepticons?” exclaimed Hermione.

“Don’t worry. Everybody’s OK,” said Ron. “Well... almost everybody.”

“Hermione, Xenophilius Lovegood was killed,” explained Harry.

Hermione gasped. “Is... is Luna OK?” she asked.

“She’s been better,” said Ron. “I’m sure she’ll be all right though. She’s at the Burrow.” He looked back and forth between. “So, you two were together when you met them? Hermione and I might be broken up but the last I checked, Harry and Ginny...”

“Let’s just talk to Optimus, OK?” interrupted Harry. “Hermione, could you come with us? We’ve got some interesting news.”

“What is it?” asked Hermione, following her two best friends.

“The Order of the Phoenix has been reactivated,” said Harry. “As we’re now members of the group, we have several assignments to do.”

* * *

“I do find this interesting,” said Optimus after Harry had explained everything to him. “Will you be accompanying the Hogwarts Express during its journey?”

“I can’t,” said Harry. “The Minister wants Ron and myself to investigate this place in Southern France. Apparently people have gone missing in the area after seeing a site being worked on by driverless construction vehicles.”

That caught the Autobots’ attention. “Constructicons,” said Wheeljack.

“We don’t know that for sure,” said Cliffjumper.

“But most likely,” said Ratchet.

“Bad news, eh?” said Ron.

“Very much indeed,” said Prime. “I personally do not want you investigating a possible site of Decepticon activity.”

“Hey! They’re after the Hallows! That means I’m involved in this no matter what!” exclaimed Harry. “I am NOT going to sit out on the sidelines while all of you robots carry out on your own! Like it or not I’m involved now!”

Hermione looked toward Harry with a mix of worry and admiration. Optimus looked impressed. He chuckled and said, “I must admit you are unique amongst the humans I have met, Harry. Aside from Rodimus and Bumblebee I will assign a few more Autobots to accompany you to the site.”

“How about the Hogwarts Express?” asked Ron. “Any students going to Hogwarts is at risk, especially since the Elder Wand is hidden in Dumbledore’s tomb.”

“And they’re not going to find that out any time soon,” declared Harry. “Still, they might attack the train if they find out that it has something to do with the wand, even remotely.”

“Well I’ll accompany it,” Harry and Ron turned to Hermione, surprised by her words. “I’m also a member of the Order now so it would make sense that I’m the one with the train since Harry and Ron aren’t available.”

“Hermione,” said Harry, “it could be dangerous.”

Hermione gently placed her hand on Harry’s cheek and smiled. “You know I’m not one to wait on the sidelines either,” she said. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to be extra careful. And I do think the students will be that much safer if I’m with them.”

Harry sighed. “I don’t know...”

“Trust me Harry.”

Harry let out a breath. “Well, OK then.” Hermione grinned and drew Harry into a strong hug. Ron, feeling awkward, looked away from them.

“Think of her like a sister my arse,” he muttered, quietly so that no one else could hear.

Optimus turned to his medic. “Ratchet, I want you to assemble a team to accompany the Hogwarts Express to Scotland. I’ll be monitoring it from here.”

“Right,” said Ratchet. “But I hear that the train jumps tracks magically. That’s going to be impossible to stay with at all times.”

“You can do it from the air,” said Ron. He turned nearly as red as his hair when Optimus and Ratchet turned their attention on him. “Well... during our second year... Harry and I that is... we er... followed it in my Dad’s flying Ford Anglia.”

“Oh? I’d like to see a car flying by magic,” said Wheeljack.

“I’ll assign Jetfire to accompany the Hogwarts Express as well,” said Optimus. “That should cover everything.”

“OK,” said Harry. “I just hope everything works out fine on September 1^st.”

As this discussion was going on, everybody had conveniently forgotten about Wheeljack’s gauntlet. Furthermore, everybody had conveniently not spotted the silver Sony boombox that was just sitting there nearby.

A/N This is a filler chapter. In fact, I wrote this after I had already written what’s going to be chapter 13. I wrote this chapter as an afterthought because I realized that it would be the perfect place to place the plot development that happens in this chapter. Sorry to disappoint people but I’m still going to wait a few days before I post the next chapter.

13. Express or Shuttle

A/N Woohoo! This is one of my favorite chapters yet. It’s got action! It’s got suspense! It’s got tension! It’s got a cliffhanger!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Read on dear readers. You will enjoy this one.

Chapter 13: Express or Shuttle

In no time September 1^st came and Platform ¾ at Kings Cross was bustling with young students eager to start a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the cheery attitude however there was a generally tense feeling of fear clouding it all. There hadn’t been a feeling like this since the years Voldemort had been in power and the wizarding populace was not keen on having it back.

Hermione was one of the Order’s escorts on the train. She found a compartment at the front of the train and made herself at home pulling out a book. Curled right next to her was her beloved cat, Crookshanks accompanying her on the trip. Crookshanks’s uncanny ability to detect untrustworthy people would definitely come in handy although Hermione wasn’t entirely sure if Crookshanks could detect Decepticons. Of course, he had been acting rather agitated when she had brought him on board the express so he may have sensed something dangerous nearby.

Hermione was reading the last book of a series she had been following avidly for quite some time. Unfortunately, she had to admit that the last book as well as the previous book, were rather disappointing. There was no denying that the plot, setting, background, storytelling, narrative style, and buildup were absolute genius. Unfortunately the character development was frustratingly inconsistent and the romantic subplot downright sucked. And the series epilogue was just plain horrible in an annoyingly clichéd and cheesy way.

“Um Hermione... do you mind if we join you?” Hermione looked up from the book and was surprised to see Ginny and Luna enter the compartment.

“You’re part of the Order’s team as well?” Hermione asked.

“Myself, Mum, Dad, Percy, and George,” said Ginny as she sat down opposite of Hermione. “We’re all itching to get back at them after they blew off the roof of the Burrow and I’ve still got a score to settle with what they did to me back at Diagon Alley.”

Hermione nodded. She turned to Luna and said, “Oh Luna, I’m sorry about your father.”

Luna’s expression was still sad but she managed a small smile. “I’ll be OK,” she said as she sat down next to Hermione. She pulled out her wand, pointed at her forehead and said, “Scourgify.” As the cleaning charm whipped her hair about she noticed the questioning glances on Hermione and Ginny’s faces. “It cleans the miteoads out of your head. You should try it.”

Hermione and Ginny chuckled, relieved to at least see even a sliver of the usual Luna. “So Ginny, how have you been?” asked Hermione, hoping to make some light conversation.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. “How have I been? Let’s see. Well recently between getting attacked by ‘abnomalies’ I’ve been debating on whether to wait for Harry to dump me or go on ahead and dump him myself,” she said dryly. At Hermione’s shocked expression she said, “What? It’s not like you didn’t notice that it was coming. You’re the one he hangs out with all the time.” There was no denying the slight bitterness in her voice.

Hermione’s expression grew troubled. “Ginny. I’m so sorry...”

“Forget it,” said Ginny dismissively. “I’m over it. And besides, this is probably for the best. I don’t think we’re suited for each other anymore: at least not in this universe anyway.” At Hermione’s questioning glance Ginny continued, “I don’t think I ever quite let go of the image I had of him: the Boy-who-lived, the Chosen One, Saviour of the Wizarding World, yadda yadda yadda. I know that there’s so much more to him than those titles but I grew up listening to those stories and they’re hard to get rid of no matter what. I’ve never been able to get rid of them and see Harry for who he really is.” She stared pointedly at Hermione and said, “Not like you have.”

This brought out a blush on Hermione’s face.

The Hogwarts Express whistled and started pulling out of Kings Cross. A few of the parents on the platform couldn’t shake the feeling that something looked a little off with the scarlet steam locomotive but dismissed it. It was a magical train after all; maybe it just wanted to look different that day.

* * *

As the Hogwarts Express chugged along the English countryside a red and white F-22 Raptor flew high up in the air following the train. “Jetfire here, repoooorting in,” said the F-22. “Well really though nothing to actually report. Train’s chugging along fine and no sign of Decipti-creeps anywhere as the optic can see.”

Down on the ground Ratchet, Wheeljack, Arcee, and Springer were in their vehicle modes following the train on some rough terrain. “Keep it in sight Jetfire. I have no idea how long we’ll be able to follow the thing,” said Ratchet.

“Oh? Why’s that?” asked Jetfire.

“Hey! You try following a train that magically jumps tracks at every opportunity from the ground! It’s a miracle we’ve even kept up with it up till now,” exclaimed Wheeljack.

Jetfire sped forward, his jets blurring faster. “Well in that case I’ll just continue surveillance. If I’m lucky maybe... wait... something’s wrong!”

* * *

Hermione was reading another book enjoying the quiet when Crookshanks started hissing and spitting. Confused, she turned to her cat and asked, “Crookshanks, what’s wrong?”

“Expelliarmus!”

Hermione and Luna were shocked as their wands sailed out of their possession into Ginny’s free hand. Ginny had her own wand trained on Hermione and Luna, a glazed lifeless look in her eyes. It looked like Ginny was under a spell similar to the Imperius yet with subtle differences.

“G-Ginny?” asked Hermione and Luna at the same time. Ginny said nothing and merely beckoned for them to step out of the compartment. Outside, Hermione and Luna were met with another horrifying sight: about twelve terrified students around eleven or twelve years old being held hostage by a glazed eyed Arthur and Molly Weasley while a glazed eyed George and Percy Weasley were severing the connections between the front carriage and the rest of the train. “W-what is going on?” demanded Hermione.

“Are they ready yet, Bombshell?” said a voice. To Hermione’s horror, it was coming from the engine of the Hogwarts Express itself.

“All is well,” said a voice from the roof. Luna instantly recognized it as the voice of the Insecticon Bombshell.

“Good. I can finally get rid of this paint job!” exclaimed the voice from the locomotive. The Hogwarts Express’s engine suddenly started shaking itself causing what seemed to be a red shell to be shaken off piece by piece. In the end, what was thought to have been the Hogwarts Express was revealed to be in truth a black and purple British Standard Class Four Steam Locomotive. It would be the last thing Hermione would see for the next several hours as Ginny shouted, “Stupefy!”

* * *

Back on the Ark, Optimus Prime had been observing the events through visual and communications equipment. “Not good. Not good at all,” he said. “Autobots, transform and roll out!”

* * *

“It’s Astrotrain!” shouted Jetfire. “Well have no fear, Jetfire’s here! I’m going down and taking him out!”

“Jetfire wait!” exclaimed Ratchet. “I sense Seekers flying in from the west!”

“Hey, if wizards want to fly around on broomsticks chasing after little gold thingies tell them to do it outside of my turf,” said Jetfire.

“Not those kinds of ‘seekers’ you trademark infringement bootleg!” shouted Springer. “He means the ‘Screamer’s boys’ type!”

“What?” said Jetfire. A second later he was suddenly rammed straight on by a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet. “Ah crud! Ramjet,” muttered Jetfire as he fell to the ground. “And here come Dirge and Thrust plus three more.” Just before he crashed, Jetfire transformed in his robot form complete with wings, visor like optics, and antennae on both sides of his helmet. As he was kneeling, Ramjet transformed into his robot form and was joined by two more F/A-18s and three F-22s Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp who all transformed into robots surrounding Astrotrain and the front carriage of the Hogwarts Express. Ramjet and the other two F/A-18 robots, Dirge and Thrust looked a lot like the F-22 robots, only their nosecones formed their heads.

“Ah, Jetfire,” said Starscream, the leader of the jets. “Long time no see old friend.”

“Starscream!” spat Jetfire, “can’t say I’m happy to see you ‘old buddy’.”

“Now why do you have to say that after all that we’ve been through?” said Starscream, mockingly.

Jetfire scoffed, “Ancient history!” He fired his double-barreled rifle at Starscream. Starscream dodged the attack and fired back.

“Astrotrain, get a move on!” Starscream yelled as he and Jetfire continued firing at each other.

“Yeah, right on it,” said the steam locomotive. He suddenly transformed into a NASA Space Shuttle and flew on top of the carriage. Dirge and Thrust started attaching connecting hooks from Astrotrain to the carriage.

“Stop them!” shouted Ratchet. He, Wheeljack, Springer, and Arcee transformed into their robot modes only to be stopped short by a series of missiles being fired toward them. Scorponok stepped out of the shadows of the surrounding woods, his claws pointed straight at the Autobots.

“So, this is the idea you were talking about huh?” said Arcee. Scorponok smirked before giving them a quick nod.

“It is rather simple, really,” said Scorponok. “As you are all aware, Bombshell has those cerebro shells of his. Stick them in a brain whether robot or fleshling and he can control... ACK!” Scorponok was suddenly shot in the right side of his head and toppled to the side.

“That’s enough of a monologue for now Scorponok.” Optimus Prime stepped out of the nearby woods, his rifle, the ion blaster smoking. Accompanying him were Jazz, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and Cliffjumper.

“Prime! You and your timing!” growled Scorponok, as he stood back up. Shrapnel and Kickback emerged from around him and Bombshell flew over to them as well.

Starscream also noticed the unwanted guests. “It’s Optimus Prime! Wonderful,” he hissed. “Astrotrain, get a move on it! Dirge, Thrust, Ramjet, Thundercracker, Skywarp, destroy them!”

Astrotrain took off into the air carrying the carriage as the Decepticons and Autobots attacked each other straight on. Ultra Magnus went straight for Scorponok, the two starting to battle it out. “I’m not letting you escape this time!” he yelled.

Scorponok smirked and said, “Who said you were going to be the one to face me?” Skywarp suddenly appeared in the air in front of Ultra Magnus and kicked him straight in the face. Magnus was knocked back as Skywarp placed himself in front of Scorponok.

“There’s a lot more of that coming!” cackled Skywarp. Ultra Magnus suddenly veered back and rammed his fist straight into Skywarp’s face, knocking him back straight into Scorponok causing the two Decepticons to tumble down.

“You were saying?” said Magnus.

Ratchet, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper, Arcee, Jazz, and Prowl were all engaged in an all around melee brawl and firefight against Dirge, Thrust, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Kickback, Bombshell, and Shrapnel. “Take that, Decipti-creeps!” yelled Cliffjumper as he jumped on Thrust’s back and started pounding on his head.

“Get off!” yelled Thrust. He managed to throw Cliffjumper off of himself only to find himself facing Jazz.

“Whoa dude. I think you’re going to need a little time out!” said Jazz as he leapt up and landed a twisting kick into Thrust’s face. “What do you say, Prowl?”

“Too much chaos! Shut up! Please,” said Prowl as he was shooting at Kickback and Thundercracker. He seemed to look a tad desperate.

“Hey buddy, chill out man!” said Jazz as he elbowed Thrust behind himself.

“I don’t think a big time melee like this is Prowl’s style,” said Wheeljack as he shot at Dirge. “Then again I guess it isn’t really anybody’s style.” Wheeljack proceeded to smash his left arm with a backward lariat into Ramjet’s torso. “By the way, is someone trying to stop Astrotrain?”

“Kinda busy,” said Jetfire as he was now engaged in a high altitude dogfight with Starscream. “Will someone please get him for me?”

“I will shoot Astrotrain down,” said Optimus, readying his ion blaster. “Springer, you must catch the carriage. We cannot let any harm come to the humans onboard.”

“You can count on me,” said Springer, readying himself into a springing motion to catch the carriage. Prime lifted his ion blaster up, aimed at the fleeing space shuttle and...

WHAM! A silver jet with a distinctly alien design crashed straight into Optimus at high speeds sending him flying several hundred feet back through the woods. Optimus landed with a crash, somewhat dazed as the alien jet flew by and landed in front of him transforming into a thirty five feet tall silver robot. He was truly bestial in appearance from the large, hulking legs, the claws at the end of his fingers, the alien design of his armor, to the glowing red eyes. His most distinguishable features were his vaguely conical shaped helmet, the large silver cannon strapped upward on the right side of his back, and the even larger, twenty-foot long black cannon attached to his right arm. He glanced down at Optimus’s fallen form and smirked. “What’s the matter Prime? Surprised to see me?”

Optimus forced himself onto his feet, his stance ready for anything. “Megatron!”

A/N Originally this chapter wasn’t supposed to be this action packed. It was just supposed to be the “Hogwarts Express” turned out to be Astrotrain and he takes a bunch of students plus Hermione captive (in my original plan Ted was supposed to be with Hermione as well but I dropped that). But then, I decided that it would be a great place to showcase a duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron before the final showdown during the climax as well as a good opportunity to use Bombshell’s cerebro shells. Hence, you get one heck of an action packed adventure here.

14. The Wrath of Megatron

A/N Fair warning. Especially to all of you HP only fans. This chapter is one hundred percent Transformers. While this fic is posted on HP sites it is a crossover meaning that both franchises will be getting equal attention. So if there’s a Transformers only chapter, like this one, so be it. You have been warned.

Chapter 14: The Wrath of Megatron

“It has been far too long since we last met in battle, Prime,” said Megatron as he pointed his fusion cannon, mounted on his right arm, straight at Optimus, “How about a little taste to get things started out?”

Megatron fired his fusion cannon. Optimus spun around in a crouching position, dodging the blast. Prime leapt forward and managed to land a high kick into Megatron’s chin. “Really? I haven’t given the time any real thought,” he said.

Megatron staggered back a little before smirking. “Still fighting for the weak I see. Well, once again, that will be why you fail!” Megatron fired his fusion cannon once more only for Prime to dodge it again. Prime in turn fired his ion blaster. Megatron spun around dodging the blast and used the momentum to transform into his jet mode. The jet flew straight at Optimus intending to ram him once more. Optimus however leapt backward, grabbed Megatron by the wings, and slammed his nosecone into the ground with a suplex.

Megatron grunted and transformed back into his robot form. He managed to stomp on Prime’s chest but the Autobot leader was unharmed as he rolled out of the way of another stomp. Prime pulled himself up to his feet as Megatron drew something out of his right hand: an alien looking flail. “You will face death Prime, like the wizards will, like the human vermin will!”

“Because you bring it on them, Megatron?” said Prime. “Not while I’m around.”

Megatron let out a roar and stated swinging his flail around. Optimus dodged the flail everyway Megatron swung it at him. The flail eventually hit Prime’s right arm as he had raised it in a blocking motion. Megatron tangled the flail around the arm and drew Optimus up to him. “Do you feel it, Prime? Do you feel your death creeping upon you? Why throw away your life so recklessly?”

“Am I?” said Optimus. “That’s a question you should ask yourself, Megatron.” Prime’s right hand retracted and his orange axe-blade sprung forth. Optimus swung the axe-blade downward in a slashing motion though Megatron managed to leap back and avoid the slash. The two combatants started circling each other: Optimus Prime in a semi-crouching position, his axe-blade ready to strike while Megatron swung his flail in a circular motion high above his head.

High up in the air Springer was chasing after Astrotrain. Unfortunately, space shuttles tended to be faster than helicopters and Springer was having a hard time keeping up. “Hey slow down will ya? You don’t want to blow yourself up into escape velocity to you?” exclaimed the Apache helicopter. “Oh wait, you’re a shuttle. That’s what you’re supposed to do.” Springer started firing his machine guns.

Astrotrain screeched as he was pelted by the bullets. “Damn you! If I weren’t carrying this blasted carriage I would’ve shot you to scrap metal!”

“Yeah well tough love is what I say,” said Springer. He continued firing his guns at Astrotrain.

“You will stop now!” screeched a voice from above.

“What?” Springer barely managed to veer out of the way as Starscream came careening past him. “Oh no, you’re not about make me into barbecue crisp that easily! I...”

“GANG WAY!”

“Aw scrap.” Springer hollered as Jetfire crashed right into him. The helicopter and the fighter jet went crashing to the ground in a heap.

Starscream flew by. “Well, that takes care of them. And let’s see: over there we have Optimus Prime and Megatron.” He started circling high above them contemplating his move. “Hmph! If I’m lucky they’ll kill each other. Let’s see just how lucky I am today.”

Prime slashed at Megatron again. The lord of destruction dodged the attack and swung his flail downward. Optimus deflected the flail with his blade. Megatron continued flinging the flail about while Prime deflected every blow with his blade.

“Your reflexes seem to be a little slower, Prime,” said Megatron, “fighting for the weak surely must wear you down.” Megatron struck his flail making full contact with Optimus’s head. Optimus staggered back a little, only to retract his blade back into his hand and ram his fist straight into Megatron’s chest. The force of the blow sent Megatron flying back about twenty feet, crashing into some of the trees.

“And you’re getting desperate Megatron,” said Optimus. “Relying on magic? That’s a realm outside of our race’s capabilities. You’re grasping at straws.” He pulled out his ion blaster.

Megatron smirked as he stood back up. “That’s where you’re wrong, Prime,” he said as he readied his fusion cannon. “Did you seriously think I would implement a plan like this without thinking of all variables? Oh no Optimus Prime, I have a strong grip on magic. Or I will soon enough.”

The last phrase caught Prime’s attention. He decided to forget about it for the time being however as Megatron fired his fusion cannon. Prime in turn fired his ion blaster. Optimus’s blast hit Megatron in the shoulder flinging the Decepticon leader back some thirty five feet while spinning in the air. Megatron’s blast hit Optimus square in the chest, shattering the windshields on it and flinging him back close to fifty feet.

Optimus groaned as he tried to stand up. His systems were damaged but he was still fully operational. Unfortunately so was Megatron. The lord of destruction had made it back on his feet faster than Optimus and had flung himself over his archenemy, his fusion cannon pointed at Prime’s head. Optimus managed to grab Megatron’s right arm and using all of his strength was able to keep the barrel of the cannon pointed into the ground next to his head rather than at his head. Megatron’s left arm had been damaged by Optimus’s blast and he was unable to muster the strength to shove the cannon’s barrel into Prime’s face with just his right arm against Optimus’s two.

“Why... won’t... you... die... already?” Megatron hissed.

“You’ve asked me that so many times, it’s gotten old,” said Optimus. He readied himself for a kick against Megatron when...

“Hiya! Get off of him you overgrown scrapbucket!” Cliffjumper had jumped on Megatron’s back and was proceeding to give him a fierce pounding.

“What?” exclaimed both Optimus and Megatron at the same time. Megatron sprung up, trying to wrestle Cliffjumper off of his back while the feisty Autobot continued walloping him on his head and shoulders. Megatron started flailing about, seemingly desperate to get the pesky robot off of his back.

“Ha-ha! That the best you can do?” laughed Cliffjumper. “Ha-ha! Looks like even the all mighty Lord Megatron can’t...”

“Cliffjumper! NO!” Optimus knew what was coming next. He knew all too well the path the auxiliary cannon on Megatron’s back was moving in. Desperately, Optimus lunged at Megatron. His fist connected to Megatron’s face just as the cannon fired. The blow flung Megatron back close to thirty feet but it was already too late.

What remained of Cliffjumper’s battered body fell with a thud at Optimus Prime’s feet, his face still laughing yet at the same time expressing surprise.

Almost instantly Ratchet was at Cliffjumper’s side conducting emergency repairs. “Come on pipsqueak! You can’t quit on me now!” he exclaimed as he desperately attempted to repair the damage. Prime let Ratchet do his work but they both knew it was too late: Cliffjumper’s Spark had returned to the Primal Source.

Circling high above all of the commotion Starscream cackled, “Aww. How sad. Such a pity he couldn’t do more to Megatron. Boohoohoo.”

“Your antics are quite ‘amusing’, Starscream,” said Megatron as he stood back up. He noticed that Astrotrain was long gone with the carriage. “We’ve got what we came for. Decepticons retreat!”

“Do you think I’m about to let you go that easily?” said Prime, his ion blaster pointed straight at Megatron.

Megatron smirked. “Now surely Optimus you of all robots should know that now isn’t the time when we will be finishing our long conflict. But then, just to show that I care,” the lord of destruction pulled out something tiny held delicately between his thumb and index finger, “here’s a little parting gift.”

Just as the object sparkled, Optimus realized that it was none other than the Resurrection Stone. A second later, close to a hundred rusted up machines: cars, planes, speed boats, motorcycles, helicopters, and other such vehicles, lumbered toward them all on deformed legs with outstretched, twisted arms: grotesque mockeries of the Cybertronians themselves.

“Whoa! Robot Inferi!” exclaimed Jazz.

“Didn’t you refer to them as Robot Zombies last time?” asked Prowl.

Jazz shrugged and said, “Eh! We’re in the Wizarding World. I’m using their term.”

“I wish you all the best of luck,” Megatron said sarcastically. He and the Seekers transformed into their jet forms and flew off into the air while Scorponok and the Insecticons transformed into their beast modes and took off, leaving the Autobots to deal with the undead robots.

The undead robots started attacking the Autobots in their slow lumbering way. The Autobots started either blasting them away with their guns or smashing them with their fists. “Why does everything dead have a taste for the living?” muttered Wheeljack as he shot up one of the zombies.

“Do these things even count as ‘dead’?” asked Ultra Magnus as he tossed away several zombies that were attempting to claw at him. “They were created as soulless machines.”

“Well it’s not like the Resurrection Stone’s like Vector Sigma,” said Arcee as she blasted a few more zombies. “It can’t grant them Sparks like Primus’s computer mainframe can.”

As numerous as the robot zombies were they were mindless and thus easily dispatched. Within no time they were finished off. Ratchet had conducted quick repairs on Jetfire and Springer and the Autobots were gathered around Cliffjumper’s body.

“Well that was one heck of a disaster,” muttered Jetfire. “Not only did we lose the carriage and get crushed by the Decpticons, Cliffjumper was killed as well.”

“Doesn’t sound good for our chances, eh?” said Wheeljack, mournfully.

Ratchet was kneeling right next to Cliffjumper’s body. “Prime?” he said.

Prime kneeled on the other side of Cliffjumper and placed his hand over the face of his fallen comrade. “I will not fail anyone else,” he said. “Autobots, we have lost a dear friend today and met with a sound defeat. No more. We will not fail any more. Wizards and witches shall not suffer any further because of the mistakes I have made. We will not let the Decepticons get the better of us again.”

“Too right!” declared Jazz. The other Autobots murmured their agreement.

Optimus picked up Cliffjumper’s body. “Tonight we mourn a fallen friend. But tomorrow, we put an end to the Decepticons’ activities once and for all! Autobots, never forget: ‘til all are one!”

A/N Maybe that wasn’t mournful enough. Man, I suck at death scenes. Then again I might’ve written it perfectly. I’ll leave that to the judgment of my readers. They seem to be enjoying this so far so I hope this won’t turn them away from the fic.

15. Encounter with Devastator

A/N The chapters are starting to come out at a slower pace. That isn’t exactly good for me or my readers or else my periodic updates may start ending up with major delays. Hopefully, I will soon get over these frustrating bouts of writer’s block I keep getting.

Chapter 15: Encounter with Devastator

Meanwhile Harry and Ron were in Southern France at the base of the Alps investigating the mysterious site where the driverless construction vehicles were seen. Climbing over a ledge, Harry and Ron peered into a ravine and saw the site.

It looked a lot like a quarry from its rectangular shape and sloping hills along the sides. Toward the bottom of the quarry, opening into the mountainside was the entrance to a vast cavern, nearly seventy feet high and wide. About fifty or sixty humans were working in the quarry and the cavern entrance. Harry noticed that about twelve of them were wearing black robes. The most noticeable thing about the quarry however were the six emerald green construction vehicles: a front load shovel, a bulldozer, an excavator, a concrete mixer truck, a truck crane, and a dump truck: all operating without drivers.

“There they are,” said Harry. “That’s them, it’s got to be.”

“Definitely Cybertronians again, right?” asked Ron. “Not a bunch of nutcase wizards charming these things to move about and all that?”

“Oh it’s them all right,” said Rodimus’s voice. Harry and Ron jumped as they suddenly realized that Rodimus and Bumblebee were crouching on either side of them.

“How did you get here so quietly?” whispered Harry.

“When you’ve been fighting as long as we have you learn to operate on a level of stealth beyond silence,” said Bumblebee. He looked down at the quarry. “Yup, Scrapper, Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Mixmaster, Hook, Longhaul: the whole gang’s right here.”

“This is terrific,” muttered Rodimus. “Believe me I really am not in the mood to face up against Devastator.”

“I don’t think anyone ever is,” said Bumblebee.

“So these are the Constructicons you mentioned?” asked Harry.

“Yeah. They’re the Decepticons’ engineers,” said Bumblebee. “They build things.”

“What about the humans? Why would they be working for the Decepticons?” asked Ron. He took a closer look and said, “Come to think of it they look like they’re in a trance or something; like the Imperius though a little different.”

“Must be the work of cerebro shells,” said another gruff sounding voice. Surprised, Harry and Ron looked behind to see that they had been joined by Ironhide and another robot. Although Harry didn’t recognize the other robot at first, several tyrannosaur molded shapes in the armor helped him realize it was Grimlock in robot form. “Bombshell’s cerebro shells allow the Decepticons to control brains whether human or robot and make them their slaves,” continued Ironhide.

Ron frowned and asked, “Did you just say Bombshell?”

“Hey Ron,” said Harry, interrupting Ron’s train of thought. “You notice something about the humans, the ones wearing black cloaks?”

Ron observed them and his eyes narrowed. “Yeah, they’re all Death Eaters! Juniors and wannabes but still Death Eaters.”

“I always thought things were a tad too quiet after Voldemort was killed,” said Harry. “I wonder if they were captured by the Decepticons immediately after the war. It would explain...” Suddenly, the mountain peak immediately above them exploded.

“LOOK OUT!” shouted Rodimus as he pulled Harry and Ron out of the way of the resulting rock slide.

“Leakin’ Lubricant!” exclaimed Ironhide.

“What was that?” asked Harry.

“That!” said Bumblebee pointing toward the entrance of the cavern. At the entrance was a giant howitzer style purple cannon of alien design: it had shot off the mountain ledge. The cannon transformed to reveal itself as Shockwave.

“Do not even consider hiding. It is illogical to do so,” he said in his calm, calculating voice. “You have been detected. The logical thing to do would be to accept defeat and receive termination.”

Grimlock growled. “Me Grimlock, crush Shockwave with teeth!” he declared.

“What the heck is that tin can on?” exclaimed Ron. “I mean, ‘accept defeat and receive termination’? What kind of order is that?”

“One that only Shockwave would make,” said Rodimus. “Oh no.”

Rodimus’s last phrase was in response to the dark blue F-117 that flew out of the cavern from behind Shockwave. The jet flew up in the air, made a sudden dive toward the wizards and Autobots, and transformed into Soundwave as he landed on the other side of them. The group was now surrounded by Shockwave on one side and Soundwave on the other. The Constructicons had also transformed into their various robot modes while the enslaved humans continued working as if nothing was any different.

After Soundwave, a MiG 35 flew out of the cavern and landed next to Soundwave transforming into Blitzwing. “Well, well,” he said, “How nice to see you again, Harry Potter.”

Ironhide and Bumblebee readied themselves facing Soundwave and Blitzwing while Rodimus and Grimlock faced toward Shockwave.

“Hey, you know that trick you wizards use for blocking minds?” asked Bumblebee. “What was it again? Oc... Oc...”

“Occlumency?” said Harry.

“Yeah, that,” said Bumblebee. “You may want to start using it: Soundwave’s a mind reader.”

“Can’t transform to escape with the way we’re surrounded,” said Rodimus. “You two can Apparate though. You should escape.”

“Heck no!” exclaimed Harry, whipping out his wand. “I’m not about to turn tail and run here. I’m a Gryffindor for a reason! If we’re going down I’m going down with all of you!”

Ron pulled out his own wand and said, “Yeah, what he said.”

Grimlock actually looked impressed. “Not bad,” he said.

“Your actions defy logic,” said Shockwave. “Nevertheless, should you desire termination it would be the logical thing to do at the most efficient level. Constructicons!”

“We’re on it,” said the front load shovel robot. “Everyone... Scrapper!”

“Bonecrusher!” growled the bulldozer robot.

“Scavenger!” hissed the excavator robot.

“Hook!” declared the truck crane robot.

“Mixmaster!” cackled the cement mixer truck robot.

“Longhaul!” grumbled the dump truck robot.

“Constructicons,” yelled Scrapper, “form into... DEVASTATOR!”

The six Constructicons leapt up into the air, changing, transforming into forms that Harry and Ron had never seen before: limbs, a torso connecting one by one. Finally, they fell to the ground with an earth shaking rumble, combined into a single one hundred feet tall, monstrous robot: Devastator.

Harry and Ron took a step back. “That would’ve been totally wicked if it wasn’t one of the bad guys,” muttered Ron.

“Do not show any restraint,” said Shockwave. “Finish them quickly and efficiently.”

Devastator let out an ear splitting roar and smashed his fist downward. The Autobots dispersed and avoided the blow which left a large crater where they had been standing. Devastator continued pounding away at the ground as the Autobots speedily dodged the blows.

“Ha! Shows how effective Devastator is!” cackled Blitzwing. He pulled out a large scimitar sword and declared, “Let’s see how well you face against Blitzwi... ACK!” Blitzwing was shot in the face and knocked over into the ravine courtesy of a blast from Ironhide.

“That should shut him up for a while,” muttered the well armed Autobot. He turned his attention back on Devastator whom was trying to smash the other Autobots.

“We’ve got to help out!” exclaimed Harry. “Reducto!” The curse hit Devastator square in the chest. The giant Decepticon however only grew more enraged.

“If you’re going to attack, aim for the joints!” shouted Bumblebee. “If you hit him in the right spot he’ll break up into the six robots.”

“Right!” exclaimed Harry. He and Ron leveled their wands at Devastator only to find themselves needing to dodge a blast from Soundwave.

“Must not allow interference,” said Soundwave in his metallic voice, “Ravage, Rumble eject. Operation Wizard Termination.” His chest compartment burst open and out popped out a stereo system and a bright red Sony Boombox. The stereo transformed into Ravage while the boombox transformed into a four feet tall robot nearly identical to Frenzy, only he was red in color and had pile drivers in place of arms.

“Rumble is here!” cackled the red humanoid, “And ready to POUND!” He pounded on the ground with his pile driver arms causing a tremor that knocked Harry and Ron off of their feet.

“Aw crud,” muttered Ron. He and Harry scrambled to their feet just as a growling Ravage charged toward them. Harry and Ron started desperately fending Ravage and Rumble off with their reductors.

Soundwave was about to come in to lend assistance to his minions when he was tackled by Rodimus. “Oh no you don’t! Not on my count!” snapped Rodimus. Soundwave was not pleased. Within seconds, the two had delved into an all out street brawl as their metallic fists pounded on each other, the echoes of metal hitting metal echoing through the ravine.

Ironhide and Bumblebee took on Devastator. “Come on big ‘bot, show us what ya got!” growled Ironhide. He used a pair of his cannons to launch himself into the air. Twisting in a double helical spin over Devastator’s head, Ironhide started raining cannon blasts over the combined Constructicons. Bumblebee started making high speed dashes around Devastator, peppering him with shots from his own guns at sporadic moments.

“Your efforts may be valiant but they will fail in the end,” said Shockwave. “It is beyond all reason for you to be able to walk out of this situation alive. The logical course of action would be for you to accept termi...” The purple Decepticon suddenly found himself face to face with Grimlock.

“Me Grimlock crush you,” growled the Dinobot.

“Grimlock,” said Shockwave, “Time and time again I have defeated you. Yet you continue to challenge me no matter how much it defies logic. You cannot defeat me: it is illogical of you to not accept this.”

“Me defy Shockwave always!” yelled Grimlock. He swung his fist at Shockwave only for the Decepticon to easily avoid the blow.

“Very well,” said Shockwave. “Since you insist on fighting it seems that it falls to me to finally terminate you once and for all.” Shockwave leveled his cannon arm at Grimlock and fired. Grimlock rolled out of the way and pulled out his scarlet sword. Shockwave scoffed. “You continue to wield your Energon blade against me no matter how useless,” he said. “Though destructive as a blade it is obsolete! Energon is most efficient when use as a fuel source... such as like this!” Shockwave transformed into a cannon and fired.

The blast hit Grimlock square in the chest, slamming him into the rock cliff behind him. Grimlock however shrugged it off and dashed toward Shockwave. He slashed at the cannon only for Shockwave to transform back into his robot form and dodge the attack. Shockwave started blasting away at Grimlock with his arm cannon. Grimlock either dodged the blasts or deflected them with his sword.

“It is always the same pattern with you Grimlock,” said Shockwave. “You have incredible strength and resilience yet your simple mind always allows me to pick you off easily. I can calculate your every move and perform the counter for it before you even have the chance for imploration.”

Grimlock only grew angrier but was still not able to even get close to Shockwave through the blasts. He finally managed to close in within a few feet only to be blasted away by the cannon arm. Grimlock grunted as he struggled to regain his footing.

“Reducto!” shouted Ron as he blasted Ravage away. “There’s got to be a better way to fight these guys than with just reductors!”

“I’m still thinking on it,” said Harry. “Reducto! Maybe something like transfiguration.” Rumble was just about to charge Harry when he managed a complicated transfiguration spell. Ivy sprouts started emerging from Rumble’s pile driver arms.

“What!” exclaimed Rumble. “Oh no you don’t. Transforming...” Rumble started concentrating on his arm as it started fluctuating. Eventually, the vines completely disappeared and were back to normal. Harry however took this time to blast Rumble away.

“To a certain extent,” muttered Harry, “Looks like their transformation technology cancels the transfiguration out though.”

“Yeah, what you said,” replied Ron as he continued blasting away at Ravage.

Rumble stood back up and growled, “I have had it with you pesky humans!” He started pounding on the ground with his pile driver arms.

Harry and Ron managed to keep their balance amidst the ground shaking. However Ron couldn’t help but notice the state of the ground with each pound. “Er... Harry,” said Ron.

“What?” snapped Harry as he continued firing blasting hexes at Ravage.

“Is the ground supposed to be all cracked up like that?” asked Ron. It was just at that moment that their footing gave away. The ground broke apart into pieces and Harry and Ron disappeared into the chasm that had suddenly opened.

A/N OK, I suppose the title of this chapter was a tad misleading. Sure, they encounter Devastator but it wasn’t the focus of the chapter like I made it seem like it might be. Still, I suppose I was able to showcase some of the other characters as the cast continues to expand.

16. Help from the Prince

A/N This is frustrating. While I have no intention of abandoning this fic, this serious lack of reviews on the part of the readers is bringing my motivation way down. Maybe I should post this fic on some Transformers FanFiction sites, I might get a better response. Everybody please review: it only takes a few seconds off of your day.

Chapter 16: Help from the Prince

Harry and Ron fell through the ceiling and landed with a thud on the floor of a vast metallic chamber, managing to avoid getting hurt with a well timed cushioning charm. It was mostly dark inside though they could still make out the forms of various vats and ten feet tall containers. The containers had bubbling liquid inside of them as well as some kind of object though they couldn’t make it out in the dim light.

“Ugh, what is this place,” said Ron as they stood up.

“You know what, I think we’ve actually made it into the Decepticons’ hideout,” said Harry. “That’s what they’re constructing. I wonder if... HIDE!”

Harry pulled Ron behind one of the vats as Rumble and Ravage leapt into the chamber from the hole in the ceiling. “Come out, come out wherever you are,” said Rumble. He and Ravage started looking around the vats for them.

Harry whispered “Disillusionment Charm.” Ron nodded and with a quick incantation and the sensation of cold eggs being cracked on their heads, Harry and Ron were camouflaged amidst their surroundings.

“What I would give to have your Invisibility Cloak with us now,” whispered Ron.

“Well not me,” Harry whispered back. “I don’t like hiding like this but we’re going to have to do it if we’re going figure out a way to really hurt them beyond the blasting hex.”

* * *

“Grrr, stinkin’ Autobots!” growled Blitzwing as he stood back up. The first thing he noticed was Grimlock and Shockwave battling it out. “Well here’s to being sneaky. EEEAAAYAAAHH!!!” Blitzwing brandished his scimitar and leapt toward Grimlock.

“What?” Grimlock spun around to see the Decepticon triple-changer bearing down on him. He blocked Blitzwing’s sword strike with his own sword. Blitzwing started slashing at Grimlock in a furious rage while Grimlock, caught by surprise, just barely managed to defend himself, the two swords clashing repeatedly with the cackling sparks of Energon.

“See that he is occupied,” Shockwave ordered Blitzwing. He turned his attention to the brawling Rodimus and Soundwave. Shockwave promptly shot Rodimus in the chest, blasting him back about a hundred feet. “The wizards have entered my laboratory where my experiments are being conducted. Soundwave, take care of them,” he ordered as Rodimus struggled to get back up.

Soundwave made his way over to the hole where the wizards and his minions had fallen through. It was a bit too small for Soundwave himself so his chest compartment opened. “Laserbeak, Buzzsaw eject. Operation Wizard Hunt.” The black electric guitar popped out of Soundwave’s chest followed by an orange electric bass guitar. The electric guitar transformed into the vulture robot Laserbeak while the orange bass guitar transformed into a nearly identical looking vulture robot, Buzzsaw. The two mechanical vultures squawked and flew straight into the hole.

* * *

“What are these vats anyway?” asked Ron after they had somehow managed to lose Rumble and Ravage. “There seems to be something inside of them but... Lumos.”

“Ron! No!” hissed Harry as Ron’s wand lighted up. As soon as Ron saw what was inside the vat he barely managed to suppress a scream of horror.

It was a human corpse floating in the liquid in the vat. The corpse had been mutilated to the point where it was nearly unrecognizable as a human but they could still make out the faint trace of Voldemort’s Dark Mark on the arm of the corpse. The quick illumination of the light had also revealed that all of the vats contained human corpses floating within them, a good many of them with traces of the Dark Mark on their arms.

Ron was so shaken up he couldn’t say anything for a while. Harry grabbed his wand arm and whispered, “Nox,” extinguishing the wand. Fearing that Ravage and Rumble had seen the light, he hurriedly led Ron away.

“W-what was that,” whispered Ron once he had recovered his voice.

“They’ve been conducting experiments on their Death Eater prisoners,” Harry whispered gravely. “And not just Death Eaters: I’m willing to bet that all of these vats contain experimented wizards and witches inside of them.”

“But... why?”

“My guess is that they’re trying to figure out a way for the Decepticons to wield magic,” hissed Harry. “Damn them! I’m not going to let that happen any longer if I can help it!”

“Problem with that is you can’t help it,” whispered Ron. “Aside from Reducto, nothing works on them.”

“Perhaps I have someone who may be of assistance,” said a familiar voice from Harry’s cloak pocket. Startled, Harry pulled out Dumbledore’s Chocolate Frog Card.

“Whoa! A talking Dumbledore card,” said Ron. “Where’d you get that?”

“Never mind that,” said Harry. “Albus, are you serious? Who’d you got?”

“Ah, just one moment,” said Dumbledore. He exited the frame of the portrait though his voice could be heard saying, “Now, now no need to be shy. They need your help.” A moment later, Dumbledore reappeared in the frame bringing with him...

“Severus Snape!” exclaimed both Harry and Ron.

Severus Snape’s portrait cocked an eyebrow and said, “So surprised to see me, Potter?”

“When did you become a Chocolate Frog Card?” asked Ron.

“I’m not,” snapped Snape. “My portrait was initially located at Malfoy Manor. When the manor and my original portrait were destroyed I made my escape and somehow got stuck in these accursed cards. And I can’t get out of them unless someone makes a new portrait for me or restores the original one.”

“O... K... So are you going to help us?” asked Harry.

Snape glared at Harry. “And why should I provide my assistance to the son of James Potter?” Dumbledore shook his head wearily.

“Because I’m also Lily Evans’s son.”

“Good point,” said Snape. “During my time in this Chocolate Frog Card I have had the chance to observe the Cybertronians and to listen to their conversations. Through that, I theorized that there may possibly two, that is two types of spells that may be used offensively against them.”

“Two?” said Harry and Ron.

“The first one is a variation of Incendio,” said Snape. “It appears that the Cybertronians seem to be adverse to extreme temperatures whether hot or cold. Of course Incendio on its own would not be able generate the level of heat necessary to harm a Cybertronian. However, if the spell was highly compacted into a small burst and fired in rapid continuation, there is a possibility that it might...”

“Harry!” exclaimed Ron. It was just at that moment that Laserbeak and Buzzsaw had located them. The two mechanical vultures started firing their lasers at them and Ron barely managed to pull Harry away.

Harry however was now prepared. Pointing his wand at the Laserbeak and Buzzsaw he yelled, “Adstringo Incendio!” Compact fireballs of high heat burst from his wand in rapid succession like a machine gun. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were blasted by the fireballs and they both fell to the ground severely damaged.

“YES!” exclaimed Harry.

* * *

Back on the surface the Autobots and Decepticons were still struggling against each other. Ironhide and Bumblebee were still peppering Devastator with shots while the combined robot vainly tried to smash them. Rodimus was now taking on both Shockwave and Soundwave and was barely managing to hold his own. Blitzwing and Grimlock were still engaged in their sword fight. Though Blitzwing had initially caught Grimlock off guard, Grimlock had quickly taken control of the duel with his superior strength. As the two Energon blades clashed, Grimlock shoved Blitzwing and the Decepticon fell to the ground.

Letting out an angry roar Blitzwing transformed into his tank mode. “Take that Bozo!” he yelled as he fired his main heavy-caliber gun. Grimlock however deflected the blast with a sweep of his left arm, the projectile flying upward and hitting the cliff instead. He then, grabbed hold of the tank gun, and to Blitzwing’s horror, lifted the tank up high above over his head by the gun.

“Me Grimlock no bozo! ME KING!!!” he yelled. With a downward swing, Grimlock smashed the tank onto the ground. The ground gave way below the tank and Blitzwing disappeared down another hole into Shockwave’s lab.

* * *

“Ah ha! Got ya wizards!” yelled Rumble as he charged at Harry and Ron. Harry dove to side to avoid the charge. While still in mid dive he pointed his wand at Rumble and yelled, “Adstringo Incendio!”

Rumble hollered as he was pelted by the continuous high heat fireballs continuously. “Aw scrap,” he muttered as he fell into stasis lock.

“I can do this! I can do this!” muttered Ron as he dashed back and forth trying to escape from Ravage. With careful timing he spun around, pointed his wand and yelled, “Adstringo Incendio!” Ravage yelped as the fireballs burned through his metal skin. He fell to the ground occasionally letting out a small whimper.

“All right, Harry!” declared Ron as he pumped his fist. A second later his merry making abruptly ended as a M1 Abrams Tank came down crashing through the ceiling. “Uh-oh.”

Blitzwing transformed back into his robot form and stood up. “That scrapmetal dinosaur! I ought to... aaaah, wizards.” He brandished his scimitar and started making his way toward Harry and Ron.

“Fine time for us to shut off the disillusionment charm,” said Ron. He and Harry pointed their wands at Blitzwing and shouted, “Adstringo Incendio!”

“What?” exclaimed Blitzwing as the fireballs painfully shot through his armor. He started swinging his sword back and forth and deflecting the fireballs. When the first round of fireballs had ended, Blitzwing pulled out his firearm and fired it toward Harry and Ron.

The two wizards dove opposite ways to avoid the blast. Harry pulled out the Chocolate Frog Card and yelled, “What’s the other spell?”

Snape raised an eyebrow at him. “Potter, I would suggest the use of a better attitude in future dealings...”

“Severus,” said Dumbledore’s voice from off screen. Snape rolled his eyes.

“The second spell is one I myself developed,” said Snape. “However, there is no need for me to teach it to you as if I recall, it is a spell you are already familiar with.” At Harry’s blank stare Snape said, “Potter, it’s used for enemies.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me,” he said incredulously. Snape merely looked smug.

Ron was meanwhile desperately firing fireballs at Blitzwing while the Decepticon was making his way toward him, blocking the fireballs with his sword. “Harry!” Ron cried desperately.

“Yo Blitzwing!” yelled Harry. Blitzwing turned to his side to see Harry charging straight for him.

Blitzwing smirked as he raised his scimitar sword. “Foolish fleshling. You rush head on into your death only to...”

“Sectasempra!”

Just as Harry leapt passed Blitzwing yelling the word and swinging his wand in a slashing motion, Blitzwing’s sword was sliced in two at the blade. The Decepticon was shocked to say the least. “You fool! How did you...”

It was just as Blitzwing was turning around that it happened: the top portion of his body literally slid off the bottom portion of his body, diagonally from his left shoulder to his right hip. The last thing Blitzwing ever realized was that somehow he had been slashed in two.

“Whoa! That was bloody wicked,” exclaimed Ron. He examined the two pieces of Blitzwing’s corpse, lying in a pool of oil.

“We’re going to have to get out of here,” said Harry. “We can’t storm this whole base on our own. We’re going to have to side-along the Autobots.”

“Side-al... are you nuts?”

“You got any better ideas?” snapped Harry. When Ron didn’t say anything he said, “OK, let’s go. Oh but before that,” Harry turned to the Chocolate Frog Card and grinned. “Severus, thanks.”

Snape’s portrait was a little startled by that. “Y-you’re welcome.”

* * *

On the surface the Autobots weren’t faring too well. Bumblebee and Ironhide were growing rather weary facing Devastator and it was definitely showing. “Any good ideas?” asked Ironhide as he blasted away.

“None,” said Bumblebee.

Soundwave meanwhile had managed to grab hold of Rodimus and with a giant swing slammed him into Grimlock. The two Autobots collapsed to the ground.

“Finish them now,” said Shockwave. The Decepticons moved in for the kill when...

“Adstringo Incendio!” A series of well placed fireballs suddenly blew Devastator apart back into the Constructicons. Harry appeared right by Ironhide and Bumblebee while Ron appeared by Rodimus and Grimlock. “We’re getting out of here now!” declared Harry. Seconds later, both Wizards had Apparated away, taking the Autobots with them leaving the Decepticons confused.

Perhaps it was rather unfortunate that Harry was so hasty to leave as only a few minutes later, the other Decepticons returned, with a carriage from the Hogwarts Express.

A/N Oh, this was the most ridiculously difficult chapter I’ve had to write so far. Hopefully my bout with writer’s block is over and I’ll be able to start churning chapters out on a regular basis. Anyway, I hope the plot isn’t getting bogged down with too many mundane details. Hopefully things will continue to fall into place.

17. A Desperate Situation

A/N I feel like I owe my readers an apology. Last chapter I was feeling frustrated from this case of writer’s block I’ve been having and I kind of took it out on my readers in my A/N. Note that I have no intention of abandoning this fic whatsoever. OK, on with the show.

Chapter 17: A Desperate Situation

The wizards and the four Autobots arrived at their destination with a crash. Harry groaned as he tried to stand up. “Where are we?” he muttered as he looked around. To his surprise, they were in the backyard of the Burrow. “How’d we end up here?”

“Don’t ask me, I was too busy concentrating on not getting any of us splinched,” muttered Ron. “Good God, what kind of nutcase are you suggesting we each side-along two mega-large robots? If there’s ever is a recipe for splinching time that would be it! And you know I’ve still got issues with my eyebrows.”

Harry ignored Ron’s complaints as he checked over the groaning Autobots. “I’m guessing we both think of this place as a safe spot,” he said. “We probably both desired to escape here subconsciously.”

“Well I know I could use some major CR time,” said Rodimus.

“CR?” asked Harry.

“Cryogenic Regeneration,” said Rodimus. “It’s a medical treatment that rapidly accelerates our automatic repair systems. Like I said, I could really use some.”

“We all could,” said Bumblebee. “That was a major pounding we just took. I say rest here for a bit first though.”

“I’m all for that,” said Ironhide. He, Bumblebee, and Rodimus transformed into their vehicle modes and just stayed where they were. Grimlock transformed into a Tyrannosaurus and let out a humph.

“Me Grimlock no like running away,” he growled. “But me need some rest time. Me go rest.” Saying that he stalked off into the nearby woods.

“I could use some rest myself,” said Harry. “Given how the Hogwarts Express takes nearly the entire day to get to Hogwarts, I doubt your family will be back yet. You think your Mum would mind if I grab a bite to eat?”

“Of course not,” said Ron. “I could use some food as well.”

The two friends chuckled as they walked into the house. They stopped short however when they noticed the Weasley Family Grandfather Clock. While the hand for Ron was pointed at “Home”, the hands for Arthur, Molly, Percy, George, and Ginny were pointed at “Mortal Peril”. Harry and Ron shared a concerned look.

“It... it might be nothing,” Ron said hesitantly. “I mean, back during the war, the hands were pointed at ‘Mortal Peril’ all the time. And we are involved in another war now.”

“True,” said Harry. “But just in case, let’s go to the Ark and see if anything’s up.”

* * *

Only a few minutes later, Harry and Ron received some of the most alarming news they had ever encountered. “WHAT?” Ron yelled. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘CAPTURED’?”

“It is as I said,” said Optimus Prime. “The Hogwarts Express had somehow been slipped with the Decepticon Astrotrain. When we went to its rescue, we were attacked by a team of Decepticons led by Megatron himself. They escaped with the carriage and...” Optimus paused, “we suffered a casualty.”

“Casulty?” asked Bumblebee. “What happened?”

“Cliffjumper,” Prime said gravely.

Bumblebee scoffed. “Cliffjumper? What, he got over overeager and stepped on a pulse mine again?” He started to laugh only to stop at the sorrowful look on Prime’s face. “Wait a minute. What are you trying to say, Optimus? Cliffjumper? He can’t be... I mean really...” Optimus’s nod confirmed Bumblebee’s fear. “Cliffjumper! No! By Primus, NO! NO! Primus, NO!” He transformed into his camaro mode and drove down toward the medical bay.

Rodimus and Ironhide were horrified and even Grimlock looked mournful. “By the Primal Source,” said Rodimus, “Cliffjumper.”

Harry simply stared at Optimus. “Captured?” he said. “Hermione? Ginny? Luna? The Weasleys? Captured?” His grip on his wand tightened and his teeth gritted. “I’m going after them! We know where the Decepticons are hiding! I’m getting them out!”

“No!” said Optimus. “Now is not the time for rash action!”

“Not the time for... they’ve got our loved ones!” yelled Ron. “I’m with you Harry! Let’s go!”

“So am I!” declared Rodimus. “I’m in this as well. Come on boys, let’s roll!”

“No!” said Optimus, standing in front of them. “I’m not about to let all of you run off a on a crazy suicide mission and let yourselves be killed.”

“They’ve got Hermione!” yelled Harry, “And the Weasleys and Luna! God knows what they’re doing to them!”

“Most likely keeping them alive for the time being,” said Dumbledore’s voice. Startled, Harry pulled out his mentor’s Chocolate Frog Card. “Think of this logically,” said Dumbledore. “Why this elaborate and rather public kidnapping? It wouldn’t be for their experiments: they already have plenty of ‘test material’. So for what reason would they go through this trouble?”

Harry started thinking. Finally he concluded, “Ransom. Exchange the prisoners for the Elder Wand and the Invisibility Cloak.”

“Well done Harry,” said Dumbledore. “I see that Miss Granger has taught you well. Naturally, they will keep them alive until the terms are made which I am certain will be arranged at a near future time.”

Harry gritted his teeth and his fist tightened painfully. In the end however he knew what they were all telling him was true. “Fine!” he spat. “I’ll wait till Megatron makes his demands. But if he dares to even touch Hermione in any way I’ll Sectasempra his head off myself!”

“B-but still,” said Ron. “We know how to fight them now! And with the Autobots with us...”

“The Autobots are in no condition to fight,” said Prime. “Cliffjumper is dead. Springer and Jetfire are in CR right now and it looks as if Rodimus, Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Grimlock will be needing it as well. I myself was in a CR chamber until just recently and I’m not quite fully repaired yet. Ratchet and Wheeljack have their hands full taking care of our repairs and our reinforcements are yet to arrive.”

“Hey, I can do this!” declared Rodimus. “Point me to their direction and I’ll... I’ll... uhhhh...” Rodimus suddenly started swaying on his feet. Within a matter of seconds, he had collapsed onto the ground in a jumbled heap.

“This illustrates my point exactly,” said Optimus as he helped the damaged Rodimus back up. “Ironhide, take him over to CR. While you’re at it, you should get some CR time as well.”

“Yeah sure,” said Ironhide as Prime passed Rodimus over to him. “Come on kid, let’s get that turbocharger of yours into a CR chamber.”

“Yeah... whatever...” groaned Rodimus.

With a reluctant sigh Ron relented.

“What I’d like to know is how the Decepticons captured the carriage without any resistance from the Order,” said Harry. “Even with just Reducto the Order should’ve been able to make things a bit more difficult for them.”

“We already know how they did that,” said Ratchet, entering the chamber, “Cerebo shells.”

“The same stuff they were using to control their slaves at their hideout?” asked Harry.

“Right, they’re a specialty of Bombshell,” said Ratchet. “It looks like the Weasley family was infected by them when the Insecticons attacked your homes.”

“What?” exclaimed Ron.

“Hold still for a while,” said Ratchet. He trained his scalpel hand over Ron. A light emerged from the scalpel which seemingly scanned Ron’s head. “Just as I’ve suspected, you’ve been infected as well.”

That was definitely a shock for Ron. “You’re kidding me!”

“I kid you not,” said Ratchet. “It’s a good thing the Insecticons weren’t at the hideout at the time: they probably would’ve taken control of you if they had. Now, hold still once more: this shouldn’t harm organics.” Ratchet’s scalpel emitted a concentrated beam at Ron’s head. Ron felt a tingling feeling at the back of his skull but was otherwise unharmed. “There we go,” said Ratchet, “All taken care of.”

“When was I infected in the first place?” Ron wondered out loud. Thinking back to his family’s fight against the Insecticons, Ron remembered that they hadn’t been able to counterattack all of Bombshell’s attacks. One of those attacks must’ve been the shells.

“I don’t like waiting,” muttered Harry. “Sod it! I don’t like this.” He started pacing back and forth. “There’s got to be something we can do...”

Ron shrugged and suggested, “Teach the Order how to fight the Decepticons?”

Harry snapped his fingers. “That’s a good idea,” he said. “I’m going back to my flat and getting to a floo. I’m going to call for an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.” He looked up at Optimus Prime and said, “And I think it’s about we all took care of all of the misunderstandings between each other.”

“Oh?” said Prime. “What did you have in mind?”

Harry smirked and said, “I say, it’s about time to put an end to the whole Robots in Disguise concept.”

* * *

Back at the Decepticons’ hideout, Megatron and several of his minions were examining the remains of Blitzwing. “Well Shockwave, what do you make of this?” asked Megatron.

“There is only one logical conclusion to all of this,” said Shockwave. “The wizards have somehow figured out a way to harm us.”

“This does place things in an interesting situation for us,” said Megatron. “We just may have lost some of the edge we’ve had against the fleshlings.” He turned toward Soundwave and asked, “Has Frenzy returned yet?”

“Negative Megatron,” said Soundwave in his cold metallic voice. “But I have reestablished communications with him. He is en route.”

“Contact him and tell him to speed it up,” said Megatron. “We’re going to have to accelerate our plans a little.” He turned back toward Blitzwing’s corpse. “Whichever way this changes nothing. We will continue as planned, only at a slightly faster pace.” He turned toward the other Decepticons and said, “Place the wounded in CR: we will be needing them soon enough. See that Blitzwing’s remains receive the proper treatment deserving of him. Alert me first thing when Frenzy returns.”

“Will there be anything else Lord Megatron?” asked Soundwave.

“Yes, we’re going to need reinforcements,” said Megatron. “Send a signal to the Stunticons, Predacons, and Sixshot. Tell them that we will be accelerating our plans.” He smirked and said, “In the meantime perhaps it is time I paid our ‘guests’ a visit.”

A/N I hate writer’s block. It’s slowing my pace down frustratingly rapidly that I may not be able to update as frequently as I do. Plus, I’ve got Christmas shopping to do and I have no blasted clue on what to get my family. Well OK, I guess I have a few ideas. Nevertheless, I’ll try to keep at this fic at a regular pace.

18. Malfoy and Mirage

A/N Warning. This chapter contains snobs. When I say snobs I mean those “old money” types who think they’re above the “common folk” and lord out like so. If you ever have this crazy urge to go out and murder rich people as a result of the snob overdose in this chapter keep in mind that most millionaires in the US are “new money” and are more or less like your next door neighbor. Of course, for all of you who live in Europe however, please remember that murder is a crime and you really don’t want to go around killing rich people. So you have been warned.

Chapter 18: Malfoy and Mirage

Hermione stirred on a cold metallic floor, feeling something licking at her cheek. Her brown eyes opened and saw that it was Crookshanks licking her. Groaning, she managed to pull herself up. “Ugh... what happened?” she asked no one in particular as she cradled Crookshanks. Like a rush, she instantly recalled the events of what had happened on the Hogwarts Express. “Merlin!” she exclaimed as she bolted to her feet.

Hermione immediately registered that she was in a large, dark, metallic chamber. It resembled many of the chambers and rooms on the Ark, only far darker and colder, like the very air itself was sinister. She noted that right behind her was what remained of the Hogwarts Express carriage she had been in. Lying unconscious in huddles within the carriage were several first year and second year students. Also nearby one of the huddles was the unconscious form of Luna Lovegood.

Hermione immediately went to Luna’s side and started shaking her. “Luna... Luna... please wake up.”

Luna let out a small giggle in her sleep. “Oh Ronald, that tickles. Such a naughty thing,” she said dreamily before starting to hum ‘Weasley is the King’.

Although they had broken up, Hermione wasn’t quite comfortable to learn that Luna was having naughty dreams about her ex-boyfriend. Then again even if she and Ron had never dated in the first place she’d probably still be uncomfortable to learn that Luna dreamed about that. “Luna wake up!” she said somewhat harshly.

“Huh?” Luna’s eyes snapped open. Groggily, she sat up. “Were... were we attacked by heliopaths?” she asked.

“By Decepticons,” said Hermione.

“Of course!” said Luna, instantly becoming lucid. Her eyes immediately lost their dreamy quality and even started to tear up. Hermione accurately guessed that she had just recalled what had happened to her father.

“Well, well, look who’s finally decided to rejoin the land of the living,” said a snarky voice from nearby, “the bookworm and the lunatic.”

Hermione instantly recognized the voiced. She and Luna looked toward their right and were surprised to see none other than Draco Malfoy observing them while seated cross-legged on a pile of tires. “You’re alive?” Hermione exclaimed.

Draco scowled. “Nice to see how quick people were ready to declare me as dead mudbl... Granger,” he snarled.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, “Oh drop the high and mighty act Malfoy. Unless you haven’t noticed, we’re all in the same predicament here.” She started attempting to straighten her hair out when she was suddenly struck by an epiphany. “It was you!”

“Huh?” exclaimed Malfoy.

“It was you!” said Hermione as she rounded on Malfoy. “You told them about the Weasleys and the Lovegoods! You told them about the Hogwarts Express! You’re the one who’s BEEN SUPPLYING THEM INFORMATION!”

The guilty look on Draco’s face confirmed to Hermione that her accusations were true. Only a split second later, Luna let out an enraged scream and tried to assault Draco.

“Wha... Luna!” exclaimed Hermione as she tried to hold the blonde girl back.

“You led them to us!” screamed Luna, tears starting to stream down her face. “You told them about us! It’s your fault Daddy was killed!”

“Well what choice did I have?” snapped Draco. “They’ve only been keeping me alive so long as I can tell them what they wanted to know! I had no idea why they wanted to know about Potter’s friends or why they were curious about how the Hogwarts Express worked! It was all a matter of survival.”

“Oh honestly, it was all about saving your own skin!” said Hermione, her voice laced with venom. “After everything we’ve been through, you’re still the coward from our Hogwarts days.”

“And what would you have done differently?” Malfoy said haughtily.

“I would give my life for Harry!” declared Hermione.

Suddenly, a voice from nearby drifted over saying, “As entertaining as all of this has been you’re really starting to induce malfunctions in my audio sensors. So will you shut up?” The tone of the voice was rather haughty and pompous, much like Draco’s usual tone was.

Hermione, Luna, and Draco stopped arguing and started looking around. “Who said that?” asked Hermione.

“Right here,” said the voice again. The very air in front of them suddenly shimmered as if a disillusionment charm had worn off and a twenty feet tall robot suddenly shimmered into view right next to the carriage. He was predominately blue and silver and was currently sitting on the floor, his legs crossed, and leaning back on the wall. Hermione was surprised to see that he had the Autobot brand engraved on his armor.

“You... you’re an Autobot?” asked Hermione.

The robot shrugged. “Well yeah. The name’s Mirage,” said the robot. “And... I guess you could say I’m an Autobot.”

“Well... what are you doing here?” asked Hermione.

Mirage haughtily scoffed. “What’s it look like? I’m a prisoner as well. Though come to think of it, I’m starting to think that the Decepticons have forgotten that they’re holding me down here. Hmph! You’d think they would give a prisoner of my stature better treatment but NOOOOO! They just had to put me in with the commoners. Of course, I work with commoners all the time with the Autobots but you would think that someone of my standing would be placed in a more befitting setting.”

“I agree!” declared Malfoy. “A prisoner of such high stature such as myself deserves better treatment than this! These ‘abnomalies’ have no culture I say!” Hermione was starting to feel nauseous with all the snob talk when Draco said, “I mean, look who they got to guard over us?”

Hermione looked around and saw that the Weasleys were the ones guarding them, each standing in a different corner of the chamber. Ginny in particular looked rather menacing with her wand trained on them though her eyes were still glazed.

Draco scoffed. “What’s up with them? They under the Imperius?”

“Cerebro shells,” said Mirage, “same principle. I’ve got a nasty experience with them myself. Hmph, bad enough to be treated like such a lowlife slave... then again, if Megatron had his way I guess we’d all be slaves or dead. Still, to think that they would actually treat me the same as common folk...”

“I’ll say,” declared Draco. “When my father hears about this...”

Hermione started. “Er... Draco,” she said hesitantly. “Your father... your parents were killed in the attack on the manor.”

Draco’s already pale skin turned pasty white. His eyes widened in shock before narrowing to slits. His teeth started grinding while his fists clenched so tight his hands started to bleed. It was just then that the main doors of the chamber opened and a voice said, “How are our ‘guests’ doing today?”

Draco spun around and screamed, “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

The green light of the killing curse blasted forth from Draco’s wand straight at the intruder. Aside from staggering a little from the curse’s force however, the robot was completely unharmed. Belatedly Draco realized that he had attempted to use the curse on Megatron himself.

“Ah yes, the so called killing curse,” said Megatron, “I’ll have to remember that one.”

So incredible and sudden yet familiar was the terror that suddenly gripped her heart that Hermione had initially thought it was Voldemort whom had walked through the door. Of course, it was a giant robot rather than the late Dark wizard that had walked into the room and Hermione was instantly able to put two and two together to realize that this was none other than the dreaded Lord Megatron. Idly she noted that Mirage had turned invisible again. Draco for his part looked shell shocked.

“Well, well how are our guests feeling today?” said Megatron.

Swallowing her fear Hermione demanded, “What do you want from us?”

“Oh? By that do you mean in short term or long term my dear?” said Megatron. “Nothing of much importance, really; in the long term of course, I want all of you dead.” The casual way he said it placed a sense of dread in Hermione’s gut. “In the short term, you will all serve for ransom.”

“Ransom?” said Hermione. She gritted her teeth and snarled, “Is that all we are to you?”

“And why complain? You humans should be grateful that I’m even keeping you alive for a little while,” said Megatron. “You ‘insects’ are merely a step to my true target, one in a long line of to come. It will be your lives that will lead me directly to Harry Potter and then, his life will merely be the next step: one step at a time, one step closer to the goal. And it appears that you fleshlings have yet to learn your place.” To Hermione and Luna’s horror, Ginny suddenly placed her wand tip on her own forehead. “One command and I can make her blow her brains out,” said Megatron. “Perhaps I should make her do so just to show all of you your place...” Megatron stopped his tirade when the whole hideout shook.

The lord of destruction made his way over to the door and said, “Report.”

“We appear to be under attack by an unknown species, my lord,” said Soundwave from the other side of the door. “They appear to be human, only around the same size as us.”

‘Giants!’ realized Hermione. ‘We must be in the Alps.’

“Now that’s interesting,” said Megatron. “Whichever way, no matter their size, a fleshling is still a fleshling.” He turned toward the prisoners and smirked. “Well now, looks like your friend is lucky. I have just been presented with a much better way of demonstrating my power.” Megatron suddenly transformed into a jet and took off. The doors closed shut as soon as he was gone.

Draco’s shaking subsided and he took a few calming breaths. He turned around and saw that Hermione and Luna were staring at him incredulously. “What?” he demanded, already sounding like his usual haughty self.

“You had your wand all along?” said Hermione, a tone of disbelief in her voice.

“And what would you have expected me to do with it?” demanded Draco as he put his wand away. “Make my escape? Ha! Fat chance with this factory filled with ‘abnomalies’ crawling around. Safer to just stay put!”

Hermione shook her head. “After all these years; still a twitchy little ferret aren’t you, Malfoy?” she said. She ignored Draco’s scowl and shouted, “Mirage!”

“What?” said Mirage as he faded back into view.

“I’ve got a plan,” said Hermione. “But I’m going to need your help. You see...” She stopped when one of the walls lit up like an IMAX movie screen. “What’s that?”

“Visual panel,” said Mirage. “Looks like they want to show us something going on outside.”

The first thing Hermione saw were about twenty giants beating on the edge of the mountain. The mountain clearly looked like something had been engineering something on it and was undeniably looking rather alien. The giants were dealing with it in the same way dealt with anything unfamiliar to them: smashing it with their clubs.

Amidst the chaos, a silver, alien jet suddenly flew straight in between the giants and transformed into Megatron. The lord of destruction landed right in the midst of the crowd and the giants immediately turned on him. The giants were bewildered at first but Megatron was only a few feet taller than them and they far outnumbered him. Furthermore, they had their clubs and boulder axes while the strange creature had no weapons except maybe that weird black tube thing on his right arm.

Relying on their usual tendencies, the giants roared charged straight at Megatron wielding their clubs. As the giants closed in around him Megatron merely smirked.

“See well, the eventual fate of all fleshlings,” he said.

Seconds later, Hermione and Luna were huddled together shaking in horror while Draco vomited in a far corner. Displayed on the screen were the mangled, bloody corpses that were all that was left of a once proud race.

A/N I don’t think this chapter turned out too well. I’ve been having a difficult time writing recently (you know that point that comes in between the main body and the climax that just seems to drag). Anyway, it’s written though. By the way, a few of my readers asked me this: “abnomalie” is a word I made up. It’s supposed to be a shortened form of “abominable anomaly”.

19. Starscream’s Folly

A/N I send a curse to Christmas shopping. My paycheck has balanced out. Grrr. I’ll have to wait another month before I can start saving again. Of course, my own impulsive buying is to blame as well: two days ago I bought a Botcon exclusive Autobot Ratchet off of Ebay. Hardcore Transformers fans should know how expensive those get.

Chapter 19: Starscream’s Folly

Almost immediately after Megatron had returned from the massacre, Soundwave approached him and said, “Frenzy has returned.”

“Is that so?” said Megatron sitting down on his throne. “Well let’s see what he has for us today.”

About a minute later, Frenzy scurried into the chamber dragging an object about as large as himself. “Got it! Got it! Got it! Heeya! Got it!” he screeched. Frenzy soon entered a more lit section to reveal that the object he had was none other than Wheeljack’s Gauntlet.

Frenzy leapt into Soundwave’s chest compartment. “Downloading information,” said Soundwave. When he was finished, Soundwave picked up the gauntlet and handed it to Megatron. He whispered something to his master.

Megatron burst out laughing as he took the gauntlet. “Well what do you know, Shockwave?” said Megatron. “The Autobots seem to have succeeded at something you have been working fruitlessly on for months: a device that allows Cybertronians to wield magic!”

Shockwave looked dismayed. “I cannot comprehend the logic that the Autobots could’ve achieved something that I have failed to do, Lord Megatron,” he said.

“Well perhaps rethinking your experiments would be the way to go,” said Megatron. “Whichever way, I will permit you to continue your experiments. Using this gauntlet apparently requires the use of a wand. And while I do have one in particular in mind, that particular wand is hidden within the tomb at the magical school...”

Before Megatron could complete his sentence, Starscream suddenly zoomed past him in his F-22 mode, snatching the gauntlet straight out of Megatron’s hand and flying off out of the hideout.

Megatron frowned and said, “I should’ve seen that coming. Well, I might as well take care of this business myself.” He transformed into his jet mode and flew off after Starscream.

* * *

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the finest institute of magical education in all of Europe, and arguably the entire world. The school was a castle situated deep within the Highlands of Scotland by a large lake which was home to a giant squid and a colony of merpeople, and a deep, dark forest which housed all manners of monstrous creatures and was watched over by the centaur race. Nearby was the town of Hogsmeade, the only one hundred percent wizarding town in all of Britain.

On that bright, sunshiny early September day, Head Mistress Minerva McGonagall was holding a meeting with the Groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures Instructor Rubeus Hagrid, and the newly appointed Herbology Professor Neville Longbottom. Currently, they were up in the Head Mistress’s office.

“I don’t get it,” said Neville. “What is it that Harry wants?”

“An emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix,” said McGonagall. “He explicitly stated that all current members of the reformed Order were to meet at a location of his choosing.” She removed a magnifying glass from an envelope lying on her desk. “He sent us this portkey which will activate when I give the password.”

“Are you sure it’s wise to leave the school at this time?” asked Neville. “We’ve got classes and the Sorting Ceremony postponed with the new students housed in a temporary dorm. They’ve all been rather scared since their classmates and several Order members were captured.”

“Normally I would agree, Professor Longbottom,” said McGonagall. Neville felt awkward, not quite used to being called “Professor” yet. “However, Harry was insistent and I am inclined to believe that whatever he has to say, it is very important.”

“Did he say what the meeting is about?” asked Neville.

“No he didn’t,” answered McGonagall. “But I would say it is safe to assume it is about the ‘abnomalies’ and our captured students and Order members. Perhaps he’s learned a valuable clue of some sort.”

“Ah, yeh know Harry,” said Hagrid. “He wouldna be callin’ this meetin’ if weren’ somethin’ important. I fer one am ready ta go.”

“I have left Professor Flitwick in charge for the time being,” said McGonagall. “If you are both ready, I believe it is time we left.” She held up the portkey.

Hagrid took hold of the portkey in his large hands. Neville sighed and touched the portkey as well and they were instantly gone.

About fifteen minutes later, chaos erupted.

* * *

From the skies from the south an F-22 Raptor suddenly appeared with the crash of a sonic boom. The jet circled around the vast castle once before firing a series of missiles at the magical structure. The mighty, magical defenses of Hogwarts clearly had no effect on the jet’s technology as the castle was rocked with a series of explosions. Several young students who were caught outside panicked and attempted to make their escape into the castle.

The situation became worse as the F-22 transformed into Starscream and landed with a thud right by the Quidditch Pitch. The panic of the students turned to full blown terror as they realized that the rumored “abnomalies” had easily penetrated even the sanctuary of Hogwarts. Students fled throughout the castle, trying desperately to escape into parts of the school that were thought to be safer.

Several Gryffindor students and a few from the other houses attempted to fire curses at the robot. Starscream paid them no heed as he slowly stalked over toward his target, the glistening white tomb of the late Albus Dumbledore. Standing over it, Starscream fitted Wheeljack’s Gauntlet on his right hand and pointed it over the tomb.

With the sound of suction, a device flew out of the tomb, making a thin hole in the marble, and straight into the gauntlet: The Elder Wand.

“Ha! It’s mine!” declared Starscream. “The wand that can never lose in a duel! Ultimate power is finally mine!” He started laughing, only to stop when a silver, alien jet flew toward him from the south. “Came after me already?” he said, “You’re a fool, Megatron.”

“You’re an idiot, Starscream,” countered Megatron as he transformed into his robot mode, landing right next to the castle. “Did you really think you could actually usurp leadership from me with that silly, wooden fleshling tool?”

“This is no mere tool, Megatron and you know it!” declared Starscream. “This is the Elder Wand, one of the Deathly Hallows. The wielder of this wand will never lose a duel, and with the ability to use magic granted by this gauntlet, I am now hereby all powerful!” He pointed the gauntlet at Megatron. “Now Megatron! For too long I have been subservient to you. No more! My day has come! I am now the master!” He fired a blast out of the gauntlet.

Megatron however merely swiped the spell aside with his arm. The spell instead took off a bit of Hogwarts’s northern tower (where divinations classes were usually held).

“What?” exclaimed Starscream. “How...” Megatron was suddenly standing right in front of him, grabbing his right arm.

“Oh the irony Starscream: to think that you would make the same fatal mistake that foolish fleshling Voldemort made that led him to his defeat,” said Megatron. “Perhaps next time you will have the proper patience to learn the entire story. The Elder Wand only uses its true potential when it is wielded by its rightful owner: in the current case, Harry Potter. If you wish to kill him and claim ownership of the wand, be my guest.” Megatron’s face considerably darkened as he said, “But understand that if you did that, I would have to kill you to claim ownership of the wand for myself. Am I getting through to you?”

Starscream gritted his teeth but he clearly got the message. Grudgingly, he took off the gauntlet and slapped it into Megatron’s outstretched hand. Megatron fitted the gauntlet onto his own hand.

“Now, let me recall,” said Megatron. “I believe the word was... Crucio.”

Starscream suddenly recoiled as the Cruciatus Curse tore into him. The excruciating pain only lasted about a second or two but it was still enough to bring the treacherous seeker to his knees.

“Only a brief moment,” said Megatron as he examined the gauntlet. Starscream glared at him as he stood back up. Megatron glared back and said, “Had I been the proper master of this wand the pain would’ve lasted far longer. At its present state it wouldn’t be wise to rely on this wand.” He jabbed his finger into Starscream’s torso and said, “Remember this, Starscream, and remember to tell all of our forces as well: Harry Potter is mine! I don’t want any of my own troops ruining the next step to my ultimate goal.”

“As you wish, Lord Megatron,” Starscream said grudgingly.

“Well, now that we have established that.” Megatron turned toward the castle. “Tell me: don’t you think these grounds would be a perfect location for our next base of operations?”

Starscream grinned as he pulled out his firearms. “For once, we agree.”

* * *

Back at the Decepticon hangout, Mirage was in his alternative mode, a blue Ferrari F2002 Formula-1 Race Car with the legend “Witwicky Sparkplugs & Spikes” written along the wing and the racing number “26” on the front. Hermione was sitting in his driver’s seat working diligently on the driver’s steering wheel interface while Luna was standing right outside, looking over Hermione’s work and occasionally lending a hand. Draco was in a far corner, sulking. Hermione also had Draco place a spell on the students, keeping them sleeping just a little longer: not quite ready to take care of them yet.

“You sure this is going to work?” asked Mirage. “This isn’t exactly standard maintenance procedure you know. I am so NOT going to be happy if this doesn’t work after I let you mess around with my circuits.”

“Oh honestly, I know precisely what I’m doing,” snapped Hermione. “Wheeljack taught me a lot about your internal machinery, and when combined with a few charms and spells of my own creation... there! That should send out a pulse that only an Autobot can detect. Hopefully, it’ll be someone smart enough to break us out of here.” She looked up to see that Luna was staring intently at Draco. “Um... Luna. I know you’re angry about what he’s done but we really can’t afford to...”

“I’m not angry,” said Luna. “How can I be? He’s lost his parents as well. We’re like a pair of doom-gloom cribblers, nymphs who suffer the same grief.”

Hermione decided that she could understand where Luna was coming from. She climbed out of the F-1 Race Car and said, “OK, I guess all we can do now is wait for an Autobot to answer the distress signal.”

“Fair enough,” said Mirage as he transformed back into a robot. “Really though what do you plan to do if the rescue comes down for a fight for our lives. Sorry to say this but if we’re going against the Decepticons you guys are on your own.”

“We’ll have to figure out a spell that we can use on them other than Reducto,” said Hermione. “If only I could think of something...”

Draco cleared his throat. “What about that cutting spell Potter used on me back during our sixth year?” he said.

Hermione frowned. “Sectasempra?” she said. It wasn’t a spell she was particularly fond of (far from it actually as it had caused a large falling out with Harry) but when she actually thought about, it was one curse she could actually see working on the robots: Sectasempra dealt with the physical in a similar way to Reducto. “Well... I know... how to use it...” she said hesitantly, “and I do... think that just might work... so I guess I could teach everyone...”

“What about them?” said Draco, gesturing toward the various Weasleys stationed around the chamber, “We going to fight them off as well if it comes to it? I already tried a stunner and disarmer on them and they just used Protego to block all of my spells.”

Hermione was outraged to say the least. “You used curses on... oh never mind!” she snapped. “I think I know just how to take care of them.” She turned to Luna and said, “You were with the Weasleys when they were infected yet you aren’t under their control. I was wondering why that was the case.”

Luna was a little surprised that she had failed to note this fact. “Er... because I recite the ‘Creed of the Dwarf Patties’ three times a day?”

Hermione grinned. “No. I think this rather has to do with the ‘miteoads’.”

“What?” said Luna. Hermione however instead sauntered over to Draco.

“Malfoy, could I borrow your wand?” she asked.

Draco scoffed. “Hmph, yeah right. Like I’m actually stupid enough to disarm myself while being held prisoner in an ‘abnomalie’... EEP!” Hermione had suddenly, yanked Draco up by his collar, her face right in his.

“GIVE – ME – YOUR – WAND!” she snarled, heavy emphasis on each word. She then said in a sugary sweet voice, “Please.”

A little shaken up, Draco wordlessly handed Hermione his wand.

Gripping Draco’s wand, Hermione walked over to Ginny. Ginny simply stood there, glassy eyed with a vacant expression on her face. “I’m willing to bet that the Decepticons only ordered all of you, aside from keeping watch on us, to protect yourselves from curses,” said Hermione. “But, what about charms?” Hermione waved the wand back and forth and said, “Scourgify!”

The effect was instantaneous. Ginny’s eyes immediately sparkled with their usual brown color. She blinked several times before swaying. She managed to keep herself from falling down as she looked around the chamber, confusion on her face. “What in the world...” She looked up at the brunette witch before her and asked, “Hermione? What’s going on?”

“Ginny! You’re back!” exclaimed Hermione. “Give me my wand. Help me cure the rest of your family: we don’t have much time.”

A/N Well at least I’m managing to stay on schedule. So now that we’ve got the moment where Starscream acts like... well Starscream, we’re ready to move on into the last legs of this fic. Hang on to your seatbelts everyone ‘cause we’re getting ready to ROLL OUT!

20. The Chosen Ones

A/N All right! Here’s another chapter. It felt like the old days in how easily the words of this chapter flowed out onto my keyboard and screen. Maybe that means I’m finally over my writer’s block. Let us hope anyway.

Chapter 20: The Chosen Ones

Around the rocks of Stonehedge, a barely walking one year old Victoire Weasley toddled after young Teddy Lupin, the two toddlers blissfully unaware of the tension amongst the adults with them.

“Things are not looking good,” said Kingsley Shacklebolt. “My office is being bombarded by owls demanding better protection or more information on the investigation on the missing students. Aurors and Hit Wizards are overworked. Diagon Alley is practically deserted these days and with Gringotts still closed, the economy is suffering. There’s a deathly silence at the Ministry that is really nerve wrecking.”

“The situation is similar at Hogwarts,” said McGonagall. “The classes haven’t started yet and the new first years haven’t even been sorted; they’re living in a temporary dorm. Parents are concerned, wondering if they should be pulling students out of the school but even after the last war there are still some who insist that Hogwarts is the safest place in our world. But then, who knows how well Hogwarts’s defenses would work against the power of these ‘abnomalies’?”

“That’s exactly my point!” exclaimed Kingsley. “Death Eaters and Dark Lords we can deal with. These ‘abnomalies’ however, they’re nothing like anything we’ve encountered before!”

Meanwhile, Neville was with Hagrid. He looked around and saw that Harry was standing on one of the stone pillars looking out over the horizon. “What’s he looking for?” asked Neville.

“He wouldna’ tell me,” said Hagrid. “I fer one am startin’ to get worried. I’m ‘fraid that he mighta lost ‘is mind wi’ Hermione and Ginny kidnapped an’ all.”

“No, he’s stronger than that,” said Neville. “But there’s something suspicious about all of this. I feel like he’s hiding something.”

While Fleur Delacour-Weasley watched over Teddy and Victoire, her husband Bill Weasley and brother-in-law Charlie Weasley were sitting with their brother Ron. “So Ron,” said Bill, “You know what this meeting is about?”

“Yup,” said Ron. Bill and Charlie waited for Ron to elaborate but were only met with silence.

“You going to explain it to us?” asked Charlie.

Ron grinned and said, “And miss the looks on your faces when we show you? Sorry but you’re going to have to wait.”

Standing up on the stone pillar, Harry surveyed the witches and wizards whom had showed up. Close to sixty people were there: old veterans of the war and past members, new members who were itching to get back at the “abnomalies”, a full company of Aurors accompanying Kingsley, and a number of Hogwarts professors both recognizable and unfamiliar. Still, Harry sadly couldn’t help but remember those who were not there nor would they ever be: Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Alastar “Mad-Eye” Moody, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Fred Weasley, even Severus Snape. Harry prayed to God that nothing would happen to the others that were missing: Hermione, Luna, and the rest of the Weasleys. If anything were to happen to Hermione... he didn’t know what he would do.

Harry looked out over the horizon again and saw an entire convoy of recognizable trucks and cars headed their way. He leapt off the pillar and said, “OK everyone, I’m calling this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix into session. Please take your seats.”

Stonehedge magically morphed into an amphitheater, not too different from the Wizengamot courtrooms. The Order members took their seats amidst the theater (Fleur wrestling an antsy Ted and Victoire into their booster seats) while Harry stood in the field in the center of the amphitheater. “Now, I’m certain that everyone here is aware that this meeting was called to discuss our strategy about this new enemy we’re facing,” he said. “To start off with, I am pleased to announce that I have met with a group of allies who will fight with us during the upcoming battles.”

The Order members started murmuring amongst each other. It was true that they needed the help but they had no idea who could possibly help them against these “abnomalies”.

“Here they come now,” said Harry. The convoy of trucks and cars entered the amphitheater led by a red Peterbilt 379 semi-truck. The amphitheater magically expanded to accommodate the automobiles as they parked in a row, the Peterbilt in the center. “Everybody, I present to you our new allies,” said Harry.

“Cars and trucks?” said Neville. “Muggle cars and trucks? You’re saying these muggle machines are going to help us?” He and Hagrid shared a look: perhaps Harry had lost his mind after all.

Harry grinned and said, “That’s your cue.”

The Peterbilt semi-truck suddenly stood up. Before the shocked eyes of the members of the Order of the Phoenix the Peterbilt semi-truck transformed into a 35 foot tall robot as the other automobiles shuffled to the side to allow space for the robot’s massive feet.

Harry gleefully pranced out in front of the robot. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Order, allow me to introduce all of you to my friend,” he said, “Optimus Prime.”

The wizards and witches stared at the robot with expressions of shock and disbelief. “I am pleased to finally meet the famed Order of the Phoenix,” said Prime. The Order for its part was speechless.

One by one, the other cars and trucks started transforming as well. Harry introduced them as they changed into their humanoid forms: “Jazz... Ironhide... Rodimus... Bumblebee... Prowl... Ultra Magnus... Wheeljack... Springer.” He looked up and saw an F-22 Raptor fly over the amphitheater. “Oh, and one more,” he said as the F-22 transformed into a robot and landed right next to Prime, “Jetfire”.

The robots all stood around Optimus as Harry came forth before them. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Order of the Phoenix,” he said, “I present to you the Autobots!”

The awkward pause was finally broken when Kingsley’s aide, Toppham said, “B-but, aren’t they ‘abnomalies’ as well?”

Harry frowned. “Same species yes but different faction,” he said. “It would be unfair to lump them all as our enemies. That’s like a muggle getting attacked by Death Eaters whereupon he decides that all wizards are evil, regardless of allegiance.”

When faced with that analogy, the Order members could see Harry’s point.

“Hey, Harry and I are going to vouch for them, OK,” said Ron. “We’ve already been through a lot with these blokes and believe me when I say that they know what we’re facing.”

“I will vouch for them as well,” said a voice from Harry’s pocket. Harry pulled out a Chocolate Frog card and magically expanded it into a full sized portrait of Albus Dumbledore, to the surprise of the Order. “I am already well acquainted with the Autobots I will assure all of you upon my very word that they are our friends and allies,” said Dumbledore.

That finally got the Order listening. The word of Albus Dumbledore, even as a portrait, held much weight. Still, there was still quite a bit of tension amongst the wizards.

“I understand all of your concerns. If I were in your places, I would most likely face the same doubts,” said Prime. “We are the Autobots from the planet Cybertron. Our common enemy is the Decepticon faction. They seek several artifacts of magical origin in an attempt to turn the tide of our war to their favor and have thus involved you. For that I apologize gravely. Not too long ago, we have had the pleasure of getting ourselves acquainted with Harry Potter and several of his friends. They have been of indispensible help to us and...” Prime stopped his speech when he noticed that Harry had wandered away. “Excuse me but I have a quick matter to attend to. Prowl: take charge.”

“What?” exclaimed Prowl as Prime wandered away. “Er... uh yeah... um... hello everybody... um... we are gathered here today... er... that is...”

“Oh move aside, Prowl,” said Jazz, brushing Prowl away. “If you can’t do it with style don’t do it all.” Jazz faced the assembled Order and held up his hands in a pair of ‘aloha’ signs. “Yo, what up jee?” he said. His casual attitude almost immediately caused the Order members to relax and some of them even chuckled. “Now let’s get down to it as I lay out the situation to all of you chums.”

* * *

Harry sighed as he made his way over to a hill nearby the amphitheater. He plopped down on his back and gazed at the stars shining high above.

“They look up to you,” said Optimus’s voice. He turned his head to see the Autobot leader make his way toward him.

“It’s highly misplaced,” Harry replied dryly. Optimus sat down next to him, taking up much of the hill.

“I doubt that,” said Optimus. “No matter what the situation was, you were the one who defeated Voldemort. They have good reason to look up to you.”

“I guess,” said Harry non-committed.

“You’re worried about Hermione,” said Optimus. “I can relate. When Elita One was once captured by Shockwave, I recklessly charged straight in to save her. In the end, she was the one who ended up coming to my rescue, at risk of her own life.”

“Elita One?”

“She’s an old... friend of mine back on Cybertron.”

Harry could tell that there was more to it than that but decided to let it slide. Instead he said, “You know they call me the ‘Chosen One’. That’s one title that’s accurate but not in the glamorous way people often think it is. Do you know how I became the ‘Chosen One’?” He pointed at his scar and said, “I was chosen by Voldemort himself when he decided that I, a half-blood like him, was the one prophesized to defeat him; he killed my parents and unwittingly stuck one of his horcruxes into my head.” He sighed and said, “And the horcrux wasn’t all that connected us. Our wand cores both came from the same phoenix: Fawkes. We’re both orphans and half-bloods raised by muggles. During my sixth year, Albus showed me Voldemort’s life through his pensieve: it struck me that the life of one Tom Marvolo Riddle was like a twisted parody of the life of one Harry James Potter. We even resemble each other a little. How can you relate to something like that?”

“A lot actually,” said Optimus. “There are many parallels between myself and Megatron as well.” At Harry’s disbelieving look Optimus continued, “There is much Megatron and I have in common. We both have the same convictions, we both share the same determination, we both have the strength to carry through much hardship. We even both came from rather lowly backgrounds: him an Energon miner turned gladiator, myself a data archivist who worked part time on the docks. The only real difference between us is our vastly conflicting ideologies.”

“Ideologies?”

“Megatron believes that it is the destiny for the Cybertronians to rule over all other forms of life. He vehemently believes that Cybertronians were meant to be the rulers of a vast empire with Cybertron as a mobile warworld and capitol, which will end the chaos of much of the universe wrought by Unicron. ‘Peace through Tyranny’ he calls it. He believes that that is Primus’s will, or at least that’s how he justifies it.”

Harry sat up and looked toward the Autobot leader. “And what do you believe?” he asked.

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings!” declared Optimus Prime. “For me that has been my one uncompromising belief. No matter what, I cannot go against it.”

Harry looked up at Optimus Prime as if looking at him in a new light. Prime turned toward Harry and said, “They call you the ‘Chosen One’ you said.”

“Well, yeah,” answered Harry.

“Let me tell you something. When we first introduced ourselves to you and we gave you our designations, we told them in approximate translations of our Cybertronian names: most of them in English but some in other languages.”

“O... K,” said Harry, not sure where Prime was going with this.

“The designation ‘Optimus Prime’ is Latin for ‘Chosen One’.” At Harry’s stunned look Optimus chuckled. “Of course, in my case the one who chose me was Primus.” He placed his hand over his chest and continued, “Within my chest there is an object called the ‘Matrix of Leadership’. It is a gateway to the Allspark of Primus where the Sparks of our race first emerge and where they eventually return. Cybertron may be Primus’s physical body, his consciousness the operating system of the super computer Vector Sigma. His very essence however, is contained within a sphere about the size of a scooter in my chest.”

“Talk about a lot of pressure,” said Harry.

“You have no idea,” replied Optimus.

The two “Chosen Ones” lied down on the hill, Prime’s large body covering a rather significant part of it, and looked up at the stars. “Where’s Cybertron?” asked Harry.

“It’s around there,” said Optimus pointing at the sky. “You can barely make it over...” He stopped when he spotted something over the horizon.

“What is it?” asked Harry, sitting up. He soon spotted what Optimus had seen: three jets flying toward them. One was an F-22 Raptor, one was an F-117A Nighthawk, and the last was a jet of a distinctly alien design Harry didn’t recognize. “Are those...”

“Yes,” said Prime as he stood back up. “Let’s go back to the amphitheater. There’s going to be some trouble.”

A/N Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve really written a chapter I’m proud of and flowed out rather smoothly. Hopefully, this means my long bout with writer’s block is over. If not, well I’ll still try to remain on schedule. Whichever way, we’re heading into the climatic sections people. Lots and lots of intense action to come!

21. The Decepticons’ Ultimatum

A/N Ah yes. Here’s my Christmas update. I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday and spending their time with their loved ones. Merry Christmas everybody! God bless us, all of us.

Chapter 21: The Decepticons’ Ultimatum

Back at the amphitheater, the Order and the Autobots were just starting to get to know each other when the three jets flew by. The Autobots instantly recognized them and got into battle ready mode. The wizards and witches also realized that something was wrong and pulled out their wands, ready for anything. Just as Harry and Optimus had returned, the jets touched down and transformed into Soundwave, Starscream, and Megatron.

Being in Megatron’s presence for the first time Harry couldn’t help but immediately note the near identical feeling he had to the fear he felt whenever he was near Voldemort’s presence. This was Megatron, the Cybertronian counterpart to Voldemort and he didn’t need a horcrux laden scar to tell him that Megatron was bad news.

Looking around, Harry could see that all of the Order members were feeling the same sensation of fear as him as well. They of course recognized the other two “abnomalies” whom had attacked Diagon Alley, but it was Megatron whom they were truly terrified of now. He also realized that all of the Autobots (with the possible exception of Optimus Prime) were also terrified, though they were bravely putting themselves before the wizards and witches.

Megatron looked around the assembled Autobots and magical humans and smirked. “Well, well, isn’t this cozy?”

“You have a lot of nerve showing up with such a small force,” said Prime, pointing his ion blaster at Megatron.

“Well naturally we’re not here to fight, Prime,” said Megatron. “And if you value the pathetic lives of our fleshling hostages, you would put your rifle down.”

“The humans you abducted from the Hogwarts Express,” said Prime. “Where are they?”

Megatron smirked. “Oh not just them,” he said, “The entire population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“WHAT?” exclaimed all wizards, witches, and Autobots assembled.

“As of now the school is officially occupied by Decepticon forces,” said Megatron. “My troops are stationed all over the grounds even as we speak. Of course, with our previous hideout having been infiltrated already, we will be needing to transfer our current prisoners to Hogwarts as well.”

“Why the honesty and sincerity in all this?” said Harry as he pointed his wand at the lord of destruction. “Why make it easier for us?”

Megatron turned to Harry and grinned. “Aaah, Harry Potter. At last we meet.”

“I know what you want,” declared Harry, “the cloak and the wand. You want to trade them for the hostages!”

Megatron started laughing. “Close! Oh so close!” he said. “That’s true about the cloak. The wand however, is already in my possession!” He displayed Wheeljack’s gauntlet on his right hand, the Elder Wand firmly placed within the palm slit.

“What the!” exclaimed Wheeljack. “How did... oh no, not again!”

Prime shot Wheeljack a look that said we’ll talk later.

‘He’s got the Elder Wand! Damn it!’ thought Harry. He could see that the Order members were confused by the exchange and he decided that they were better off not knowing about the Hallows unless absolutely necessary. ‘At least I’m still the wand’s owner which means Megatron won’t be able to use it properly. Hopefully, he hasn’t figured out that bit yet.’

“Now listen well as I make my demands,” said Megatron. “Tomorrow, at the moment when the sun is at its highest point, the time you humans call ‘noon’, Harry Potter will be at the gates of Hogwarts with the cloak and with all Autobots on Earth present with him. If any of you wizards wish to be with him, be my guest. However, if they are not there, all fleshlings within a mile radius, to use a human measurement term, will perish.”

“You’re being generous,” said Prime, “All Autobots plus the wizards with him? What’s the deal with that?”

Megatron smirked. “Don’t misunderstand me Prime; this is no prisoner exchange. This is the set up of our final battle!” He grinned as Prime’s optics narrowed. “I want all Autobots in one place to make sure that none survive. As for the cloak, that’s merely a bonus. What I really want is Harry Potter’s life! After all, it wouldn’t work unless I’m the master, right?”

Harry gritted his teeth as he instantly grasped the implication: Megatron knew about the ownership situation of the Elder Wand. ‘Blast! That means he’s not going to make the same mistake Voldemort made!’ he thought. ‘The only reason why I’m still alive right now is because he wants the Invisibility Cloak as well! Not to mention I’m standing right next to Optimus.’

“Why wait till tomorrow?” hissed Starscream. “Why not finish the job now?”

“Oh, want to finish it now?” said Jetfire, pointing his rifle at Starscream. “Give me the word and I’ll finish it right here for you.”

“Why even bother to try?” snarled Starscream as he pointed his Null Ray firearms back. “You know you don’t stand a chance.”

“What’s up with those two?” whispered Ron as Starscream and Jetfire attempted to glare each other down.

“They used to be best friends,” Bumblebee whispered back. At Ron’s stunned look, Bumblebee continued, “I’m serious. Jetfire even had a brief stint with the Decepticons before he joined the Autobots.”

The two F-22 robots looked about ready to carry out their grudge match when Optimus ordered, “Jetfire, stand down.” At the same time Megatron snapped, “Do not question me, Starscream.” Grudgingly, the two backed down.

“You seem to be rather confident,” said Prime. “Unless my sources are messed up, I was under the impression that Blitzwing was killed by magic. That would mean that with the Autobots and wizards uniting, your forces would be at a severe disadvantage.”

“Oh it’s really quite simple Optimus,” said Megatron. “You’ve got your new allies. We’ve got ours.”

Prime’s optics narrowed further. “What?”

“What kind of creature would team up with you blokes?” exclaimed Ron.

Megatron smirked at Ron. Hit with a sudden wave of fear, Ron took a step back. “That young fleshling, is tomorrow’s surprise.”

Soundwave stepped up to his leader and said, “Message received. Motormaster and his team have completed preparations.”

“Excellent,” said Megatron. He turned to Optimus and said, “As I’ve made my intentions clear, it is time for us to leave. I will see you tomorrow, Prime!” With those last words the three Decepticons transformed into their jet modes and took off into the air.

All Autobots and Order members instantly relaxed. “My God, it was like being back in the old war again,” muttered Charlie. “And here I thought those days were over.”

“I’m bringing every available Auror and Hit Wizard with us tomorrow,” declared Kingsley. “We are not going to let them encroach upon us any further!”

“But how are we going to fight?” asked Neville. “Reductors aren’t going to be enough to take back Hogwarts and you heard what he said: they’ve got allies. We can’t just rely on the Autobots.”

“Well if you would use that miniscule organ in your head called a brain, Longbottom, you would realize that Prime mentioned that magic has already killed one of them!” snapped a familiar voice. Neville instantly froze up in fear while the other Order members looked toward the enlarged Chocolate Frog card in surprise. Dumbledore had moved to the card’s background while in the forefront stood none other than Severus Snape.

“Severus? Is that you?” asked McGonagall.

“Isn’t it obvious, Minerva?” drawled Snape.

“Do not mind his tone, Minerva,” said Dumbledore. “He’s just been rather sour after his original portrait was destroyed.”

“It’s no different from the way he was back when he was alive,” McGonagall said dryly.

“Now listen up all of you!” barked Snape. “The spells that I am about to teach will do some true damage to the Cybertronians. Listen carefully, because many of you know how much I hate to repeat myself. Now, SIT DOWN!” Even as a portrait, Snape was employing his usual teaching techniques: bully into learning.

While Snape was lecturing the Order about his spells, Harry took Ron aside and said, “We need to come up with a strategy for tomorrow.”

“Strategy?” said Prowl, coming up to them. “That’s my expertise.”

“You have anything in mind?” asked Harry.

Prowl grinned. “I might have a few ideas.”

* * *

Back at Hogwarts the Decepticons were fortifying the grounds. It really didn’t concern much aside from reshaping some of the structures surrounding the castle but the presence of the numerous Decepticons was bad enough, especially for the terrified students and faculty hiding within the castle’s walls.

Most of the fortifications were being worked on by the Constructicons but other groups were helping out as well. At present time, the Quidditch Pitch was being converted into a make shift throne by a maroon Porsche 987 and a white Lambourgini Diablo. Suddenly, the Lambourgini stopped in its tracks.

“Did you hear that?” said the Larbourgini as he transformed into his robot mode. “I tell ya Dead End, this place has eyes! They’re everywhere! Especially in that forest! I’m telling you something’s watching us from that forest, Dead End.

“Oh it all doesn’t matter anyway, Breakdown,” said the Porsche, Dead End as he transformed into his robot mode. “In the end it’s all just pointless anyway. We’re going to die, they’re going to die. We’re all going to die out anyway so why bother worrying?”

“They’ll never take me alive do ya hear? Never!” declared Breakdown, clearly having not listened to a word Dead End had said.

“Eh, why do I even bother speaking?” muttered Dead End. “No one ever listens anyway.”

“What’s going on here!” boomed out a hollow, deep voice. Dead End and Breakdown instantly perked up in fear as a black Kenworth T660 Truck drove up to them. “What’s this? Resting on the job?”

“No! No! Of course not Motormaster,” said Breakdown as he and Dead End immediately went back to their jobs. “Everything is going along fine and dandy.”

Motormaster transformed into his black robot mode and glared at Breakdown and Dead End. “Well don’t go about skirting off! Our new allies are just dying to find out if Cybertronian Sparks taste as good as fleshling souls. We wouldn’t them to have an early snack now do we?”

“I’d like to feed your Spark to them,” muttered Dead End. Breakdown quickly nodded in agreement.

“What was that?” snapped Motormaster.

“Nothing!” said Dead End and Breakdown at the same time.

Motormaster was about to say more when two cars sped past him, a black Enzo Ferrari and a yellow Tyrell 026 Formula One Race Car. “Ha! Like you could ever beat me, Wildrider!” snapped the F-1 Race Car.

“Ehhehehehe!!!! Speed! More speed!” cackled the Ferrari, Wildrider. Suddenly, both cars had their front ends smashed into the ground by Motormaster.

“What’s this, Drag Strip?” snarled Motormaster. “Racing on the job?”

“O-of course not Motormaster,” stuttered the F-1 Race Car Drag Strip as he and Wildrider transformed into their robot modes. “W-we’re just testing our engines to see if they’re ready for the A-Autobots tomorrow. W-we’re going to WIN of course!”

Motormaster simply glared at Drag Strip and Wildrider. “Maybe ya’d like to get a kiss from our new allies?” he snarled.

“We’re getting back on the job!” shouted Drag Strip as he and Wildrider transformed back into their vehicle modes and drove away.

Around different spots of the grounds of Hogwarts, shadowy figures glided about, hissing, rasping, leaving a trail of frozen death as they covered the grounds.

A/N Whew! Got that chapter out of the way. This fic is getting kind of more difficult to right as the climax draws nearer and nearer. Well, I know people are anticipating it yet but there’s still going to be a few more chapters before the big ones. Stand by because I’m going to give you guys quite a ride. And once again, Merry Christmas!

22. The Twins, the Old Geezer, the Tree Hugger, and the Music ‘B

A/N OK. Longest chapter title yet. And one that may require a little TF knowledge to get. If you don’t quite understand the chapter’s title feel free to ask in the review: I’ll explain it to you. This will be, the last update of 2007.

Chapter 22: The Twins, the Old Geezer, the Tree Hugger, and the Music ‘Bot

Back at the hideout, the Weasleys had all been cured of the Cerebo Shell and were back to normal. The first thing George had said when he was cured was, “Hey! What’s that twerp doing here?” referring to Malfoy.

“Look, not now George,” snapped Ginny. “We’ve got bigger problems now so deal with it.”

The group of humans quickly organized themselves. Molly took care of the finally awakened Hogwarts students, reassuring them and making sure they weren’t too frightened. Meanwhile, Hermione was teaching the others how to perform Sectasempra.

“Its borderline dark magic,” commented Percy when he saw a demonstration.

“It was developed by Severus Snape while he was still a teenager,” said Hermione. “He was especially fascinated with the Dark Arts back then.”

Luna was staring at her wand, held in her hand. Finally she said, “How do we know this is going to actually work?”

“We don’t,” said Hermione. “Not without a test run.”

“Hey! No way am I allowing any of you to test something like that on me, OK?” snapped Mirage (who had been watching the training).

“Yeah. Wouldn’t dream of it,” Ginny said dryly.

Luna stared at her wand again and her grip tightened. “Scorponok,” she said. “If I can use this against him...”

Hermione and Ginny shared concerned looks. Hermione was about to say something when Draco perked up and asked, “Scorpo-what?”

Luna suddenly whirled on Draco. “Do you know of him?” she demanded.

“Er... no,” said Draco. “I-it’s just that... well...” he actually started to blush, “I always thought that if I ever... have a son... I would like to name him ‘Scorpius’.”

All of the humans, even Luna, stared at Draco as if he were mad. “What are you trying to do: traumatize the poor kid?” exclaimed George, voicing everyone’s opinion. Draco scowled and turned away.

“What’s so bad about ‘Scorpius’?” muttered Mirage, though no one heard him.

“Luna,” Hermione turned her attention back to the blonde girl. “I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through. But revenge can’t be the answer.”

Luna’s eyes were downcast but Hermione could actually see a conflict in them.

Hermione was about to say something more, hoping to discourage Luna from thoughts of vengeance when suddenly the wall to the prison exploded.

“What in the world?” exclaimed Ginny. All of the humans, even the students, pulled out their wands and trained it at the settling dust and debris of what had previously been the dungeon wall. Though the dust was too thick to make anything out, Hermione could see five automobile silhouettes.

Mirage appeared to instantly realize what was going on. “Hmph, they couldn’t do it with better style,” he muttered.

Soon the dust settled to reveal four automobiles. There were two Lamborghini Murciélagos, one red and one yellow, a gray Dodge Ram Pickup truck, an Army green Jeep Rubicon, and a red and gold Toyota Scion xB. To Hermione’s delight, all five of them had the Autobot brand.

Mirage didn’t look too pleased but then, Hermione figured he wouldn’t be pleased no matter who showed up. “Oh, wonderful it’s you.”

The yellow Lamborghini transformed into his robot mode and observed Mirage coolly. “Wouldn’t have come if I had known it was you we were breaking out, Mirage,” he snarled.

Mirage rolled his optics. “You would say that about anybody, Sunstreaker.”

“What you got a problem with that?” said Sunstreaker.

The red Lamborghini transformed into a robot mode nearly identical to Sunstreaker. “Bro, please,” he said. Sunstreaker scoffed but quieted down. The red Lamborghini turned to Mirage and said, “Hey Mirage, you doing OK?”

“I’ve been better. Thanks anyway though, Sideswipe,” said Mirage. Hermione noticed that he was somewhat more amicable. “How did you get here, anyway?”

“We were on our way to rendezvous with Prime,” said Sideswipe. “On the way, our unit commander detected the distress signal you sent out and we came here.”

“Unit commander?” asked Mirage. “Wait a minute, who’s in charge of this unit?”

“That would be me,” said the Scion xB. He transformed into a tall red and gold robot with back pointing red horns, a clear visor above his optics, and a gold lined chest compartment that seemingly opened outward.

Mirage was rather surprised. “Blaster? That you?” he exclaimed. “I didn’t recognize you.”

“It’s the alt mode. It’s rather different from my usual,” said Blaster. “Not as good for listening to some fine tunes mind you, but good reception. I detected your signal easily.”

“I can’t take the credit for that,” said Mirage. “That would be her doing,” he said, gesturing toward Hermione.

“Really?” said Blaster. “Whoa! This magic stuff must really be the bomb!”

Hermione’s expression was priceless. “I’ve never heard it described that way.”

“This is so incredible!” exclaimed Arthur, barely able to conceal his excitement. “How do you manage your transformations? Your resemblance to muggle tech... tech... tech-thingy is astounding!”

“You haven’t seen even half of it,” said Hermione.

Mirage next turned to the Jeep Rubicon. “Hey Hound,” he said. “You’re the one guiding this troupe around?”

“Naturally,” said Hound as he transformed into his robot. “My holographic powers come in quite useful when sneaking around, although this hideout seems mostly abandoned.”

“What’s with that, though?” asked Mirage, pointing at the demolished wall. “Crashing through walls isn’t your style, especially in an enemy hideout.

“That would be the work of, to use a human expression I heard over these radio signals, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum here,” said Blaster gesturing toward Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

“Hey, who’re you calling Tweedle-whatever?” snapped Sunstreaker.

“Ugh. Let it go bro,” said Sideswipe. Sunstreaker glared at his twin.

The assembled wizards and witches all stared at Sunstreaker. “Um, you are one of the Autobots, right?” asked Ginny.

Sunstreaker scoffed, “Hmph! Slag yeah!” he said. “Purple is soooo not my color.”

“Uh right,” said Ginny.

“This planet is amazing,” said Hound. “I’ve never seen a place with so many colors. The beauty of this place is absolutely astounding.”

“I prefer Cybertron,” Mirage said dryly. He turned to the Dodge Ram Pickup whom had already transformed into a grizzled, old looking robot. “Kup.”

“Mirage,” said Kup. “What’s the matter, young one? Found yourself in a spot of trouble?”

“Kind of obvious isn’t it?” said Mirage.

“I would say that,” said Kup, “This reminds me of the time Hot Rod and I were trapped in a Quintesson death pit. Let me tell you how...”

“How by the Primal Source does a Decepticon hideout on Earth remind you of a Quintesson Death Pit?” exclaimed Sideswipe.

Kup scowled. “If you would listen to the entire story lad, maybe you would learn.”

“Ugh. Not now Kup,” said Sunstreaker.

“Autobots really have their personality quirks don’t they?” said Ginny.

“I’m starting think Optimus made sure that only the more pleasant Autobots came with him as his initial team on Earth,” Hermione said quietly. She then added as an afterthought, “Except Grimlock.”

“So, we going to blow this joint?” asked Sunstreaker.

“I say tear it to pieces, from the bulkheads to whatever Decepticons still within these corridors,” said Sideswipe.

Sunstreaker grinned and said, “I like your way of thinking, bro.” The two brothers rapped their knuckles together and gave each other high fives.

The sign brotherly companionship between the twin Autobots struck a chord in the Weasleys. George especially looked wistful.

“We all miss him, George,” said Percy.

“I know,” said George, “Doesn’t make it easier though.” He shook his head and said, “Well, if Fred were here I’d know what he’d say. So we going to blow this joint like these Autobots are saying?”

“Wait,” said Hermione. She turned toward Hound and said, “You mentioned that you have holographic powers.”

“Um, yes,” said Hound.

“Have you ever fooled Decepticons with them?”

Hound scoffed. “Only, all the time.”

Hermione was lost in thought. “Whoop-dee-doo! There she goes again planning something wild,” muttered Draco.

“Unless you’ve failed to notice her planning is what’s going to save your sorry little hide!” snapped Ginny.

“Planning. Planning is good,” said Kup. “It reminds of the time I ran into an Ick-Yak on Nebulos. That was quite a trying time and if it wasn’t for some quick planning...”

“Ick-Yaks aren’t native to Nebulos,” whispered Hound.

“Try explaining that to Kup,” Sideswipe whispered back.

“OK, I’ve got it!” said Hermione. “Everybody listen carefully. This plan is going to be quite risky.”

A/N OK, countdown to Final Battle starting. Do you want to do them by chapters or days? Well never mind that, the Final Battle is about to start! Next chapter! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

23. The Dementor’s Kiss

A/N Oh crud. I only realized sometime after posting that the opening A/N of the previous chapter sounded just like ‘Wheelie’. AAARRGGGHHH!!!!! Anyway, enough of such unpleasant thoughts. Happy New Year everybody. Let’s hope 2008 turns out to be a good year.

Chapter 23: The Dementor’s Kiss

Amidst the early fog of the morning, a boat slowly sailed along the waters of the Hogwarts lake. What was unique about the boat was that it was a US Navy Riverine Patrol Boat, sailing in a Scottish “Loch”. The boat continued observing various points of the lake before finally sailing toward the side of the lake farthest from Hogwarts. Waiting at the shore were Ron, Prowl, and a blue Ferrari F50.

“What’s the word, Perceptor?” asked Prowl.

The patrol boat, Perceptor transformed into a robot with a cannon-like scope on his shoulder as he walked up on shore. “The situation is not one of the most optimal outcomes perceivable,” said Perceptor. “Decepticons have stationed their forces in strategically optimal stations. I am unable to calculate the variables required for your strategy to proceed for the most efficient outcome.”

Ron stared at Perceptor trying to figure out what he had just said. “Er... hi, I’m Ron,” he finally said. “So... I guess you’re a boat... huh?”

“I am obliged to confess that being a watercraft was not my ideal option,” said Perceptor. “Ideally I would have preferred to have been a microscope: I find much fascination in the layouts of the microscopic dimensions. However, to accomplish such an alternative mode, there would be a necessity to remove the excessive mass somewhere, an action that is by the laws of physics an impossibility. Therefore, I have elected the choice of watercraft for I calculated that it would be the most value to the Autobots.”

Ron stared at Perceptor. “Bloody Hell! Are you speaking in English?” he exclaimed.

Perceptor handed Prowl a CD-ROM. “I have downloaded all tactical options to this compact disk,” he said. “I calculate that the information will be most valuable... although...”

“What?” asked Prowl.

“A point of interest,” said Perceptor. “Certain locations of the topography had considerably lower temperatures in isolated areas. I was unable to come to any logical conclusions as to why such a phenomenon is occurring.”

Prowl looked down at Ron. Ron replied, “Don’t look at me: I’m still trying to figure out what he’s saying.”

“We’ll have to figure that out later,” said Prowl. He turned to the Ferrari F50 and handed it the CD-ROM. “Blurr, deliver this information to Optimus Prime.”

The blue Ferrari transformed into his robot mode and started rapidly stating, “Right away! Right away! You can count on me Prowl. I mean really, really count on me. I’ll get it done in a jiffy. Straight away. I’m going, going, going. Leave it to me Prowl. I’ll be done in no time at all. This will be done very quickly. Do you think I could do this very quickly? I think I could do this very quickly. Do you think so Prowl? Huh? Huh? HUH?”

“Blurr!” interrupted Prowl. “Just get on your way!”

“Right! Right! Right! I’ll be on my way now. I’m going, going. OK, let’s go. Going now. Later. I mean later.” Blurr took the CD, transformed back into a Ferrari, and zoomed away faster than any car or any broomstick Ron had ever seen.

* * *

Back on the Ark, Optimus Prime was sitting in front of Teletran-1’s computer console. “This is it,” said Optimus. “This could very possibly be the last time.”

“Will it really end this time?” asked the voice of Elita One.

“With Megatron there’s no way to tell,” said Optimus. “But there is definitely a good chance that this could very well be the end. Primus help us.”

“Prime,” said Ironhide, stepping into the bridge. “It’s time.”

“Understood,” said Prime as he stood up. “May it all end today.”

“Good luck,” said Elita One.

“Elita?” said Ironhide. “Erm... how’s Chromia doing?”

“She’s here with me, Ironhide,” said Elita One, sounding amused.

“Tell her I said ‘Hi’,” said Ironhide.”

“She says ‘Hi’ as well,” answered Elita One.

Optimus Prime walked out of the bridge and faced his assembled forces. “Autobots, transform and roll out!”

* * *

Harry threw a pinch of Floo powder into a fireplace at the Three Broomsticks only to be rebuffed. “It’s like we feared,” he said. “They’ve somehow managed to block the floos. Probably discovered what frequency the magic is on and having that Soundwave bloke jam it.”

“One of these days, I’d like to ask them how they manage to do stunts like that,” said Neville.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Harry. “We wouldn’t have enough floo to evacuate the entire school anyway. The key to this plan is getting as many students out as possible through the passageway underneath Honeydukes.”

“Tha’s goin’ ta take time,” said Hagrid. “Even wit’ magic.”

“We don’t have a choice,” said Harry as he walked out of the Three Broomsticks. “We had to schedule the evacuation during the battle so that the Decepticons would be distracted and wouldn’t realize what was going on under their feet.” He was pleased to see that the Autobots had joined the Order in Hogsmeade. A blue Autobot was just handing Prime a compact disk.

The blue robot rapidly rambled, “I did it! I did it! I did it! A job well done! Most well done! I did a well done job right? I mean I’m sure it’s a well done job but if any job is a well done job I did it right? I mean it is...”

“Thank you Blurr. It was a job well done,” interrupted Prime. He inserted the CD into a slot on his shoulder. “Prowl and his team are in position,” said Prime. He turned to Harry and said, “We are ready on our end.”

“OK, that’s our cue,” said Neville. He and the other Hogwarts professors that were with him made their way over toward Honeydukes.

McGonagall turned to Harry and said, “We’ll make haste and evacuate the castle.”

“Good luck,” said Kingsley. He turned toward Harry and said, “Aurors are in position.”

Harry glanced at his watch. “Its 11:45 now,” he said. “Let’s go. And everybody, remember what ‘Mad-Eye’ always used to say: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”

* * *

The assembled forces of the Order and the Autobots slowly made their way over toward the gates of Hogwarts. Harry and Optimus were leading them, Harry’s Inivisibility Cloak firmly hidden underneath his black cloak. As he approached the gates, they magically opened and the Order and Autobots silently streamed through.

The first thing Harry noticed was the missing Hogwarts Express carriage perched high up on one of the castle’s ramparts. “The carriage! Hermione!” he exclaimed. He was about to dash forward when Prime suddenly fell to his knees. “Huh? Optimus? What’s wrong?”

“I... I don’t know...” said Optimus. “I feel like... like something isn’t right... like...”

To Harry’s horror, he saw all of the Autobots start to quake, many of them also starting to fall to their knees like Prime had. Whatever was affecting the Autobots was affecting the Order as well, as many of them were starting to look rather weak.

It was only then that Harry started to feel it as well: the crushing, depressing, sensation that nothing was ever going to be right again; the overwhelming feeling of despair. Harry instantly recognized the sensations. He mentally cursed for not having noticed the eerie mist that covered the grounds nor the sudden drop in temperature.

“W-what is happening...Doc?” said Bumblebee as he too fell to his knees.

“I... I don’t know...” muttered Ratchet, already sprawled out on the ground.

“It’s them!” exclaimed Harry. Within the seconds the air was filled with floating wraiths dressed in black cloaks and rotted hands: Dementors. They gleefully glided around the Autobot forces, sucking up the feelings from them as the Autobots started growing weaker and weaker.

“Most fascinating aren’t they?” said the voice of Megatron. Harry looked toward the Quidditch Pitch to see that it had been converted into a throne for the lord of destruction. “They feast upon your positive feelings, leaving nothing but the negative ones: a most torturous existence for you Autobots but perfectly at home for us Decepticons.”

Little by little, the Decepticons started emerging from different places: behind the Quidditch Pitch, behind the castle, from the Forbidden Forest. They all gathered around Megatron seated on his throne.

Prime was barely holding himself together. “How... did... you...”

“Recruit them?” finished Megatron. “Easily: by offering them the tastes of Cybertronian Sparks.” Megatron started laughing as some of the Dementors started swirling around him. “You see, the Dementors feast on human souls, their equivalent to Sparks. When I learned that they have the power to affect Cybertronians as well I offered them a taste: they simply couldn’t resist the possibility of feasting upon something new yet similar to what they usually consume.” He glanced over at Optimus’s fallen form. “And now Prime, perhaps you would like a kiss.”

One of the Dementors drew closer to Prime, its hood pulling back to reveal a hideous mouth. Optimus felt as if his very Spark was being ripped from his body as the Dementor drew closer...

“Expecto Patronum!”

A silver stag suddenly galloped forth chasing the Dementor away. Prime almost instantly recovered as Harry directed the stag around, driving forth the Dementors. Soon, other wizards and witches started releasing patronuses and the Dementors were banished by half formed animals or silver mists. Harry was delighted when he saw amongst the patronuses a familiar otter, and was surprised to see that it didn’t come from the carriage.

“Should’ve done your homework, Megatron!” Harry declared.

Megatron did not look pleased. “Astrotrain,” he said.

“As ordered, Lord Megatron,” said Astrotrain (now in his off white and violet robot mode). He fired his rifle straight at the carriage, only for it to pass through empty space. “What? A hologram?”

“Mind if we join in!” exclaimed a voice from the direction of the forest. A group of automobiles suddenly drove out of the forest at high speeds. They stopped right by the main Autobot forces and a good number of humans emerged from the cars.

“Hermione!” exclaimed Harry.

“Harry!” likewise exclaimed Hermione. Before either one realized what they were doing, the two had leapt into each others’ arms with their lips locked together. For a few moments Harry and Hermione were all that existed in their little world as the two reveled in being together once again. Absence tended to make the heart fonder and these two felt as if they had finally found each other after so long...

“Hem-hem.” Harry and Hermione broke apart from their kiss to face Ginny (and her disturbingly dead on impression of Delores Umbridge) whom had an unreadable expression on her face.

Guilt immediately started racking up in Harry’s mind, despite the fact that he had failed to realize that he was still holding Hermione in his arms. “Um... Ginny... I...”

Ginny placed each of her hands on Harry’s and Hermione’s shoulders. “We’ll talk later,” she said. “We have more important things to deal with right now.”

“Luna?” exclaimed Ron, as he came upon the others.

“Ronald?” said Luna. Soon, the two were holding each other in a strong embrace.

“Oh Luna, thank God you’re OK.”

“Er... hello Ron,” said Percy. “Remember us? Your family? We were captured as well.”

“Forgetting about us that quickly?” said George, though he was smirking.

“Oh, let him have his moment,” said Arthur, an approving grin on his face.

“Oh everybody. As touching as all of this lovey dovey reuniting is... WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLEFIELD!” exclaimed Draco.

Harry and Ron let go of the girls and stared at Draco. “What’s that ferret doing still alive?” asked Ron. Draco scowled at him.

The extra automobiles transformed to reveal themselves as Blaster, Kup, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Hound. “Sorry we’re late,” said Blaster. “We ran into some extra trouble not to mention we also had to deposit the student hostages that were with them at a safe location nearby.”

“Better late than never,” said Prime. “That was some fancy holographic display there, Hound.”

“They shot it a lot sooner than we expected,” said Hound. “We were hoping to use it a bit more effectively.”

“Effectively?” asked Bumblebee.

“Miss Granger here came up with the plan to trick the Decepticons,” said Hound. “We let them take the carriage to Hogwarts while we trailed close by. Then, at the right time we slipped the carriage with one of my holographs. Didn’t expect them to shoot it though nor did we expect those Dementor things nearly taking us out.”

“Those Dementor things ruined my strategies as well!” lamented Prowl. “I didn’t calculate any of this! I don’t know what to do now!”

“Hey Prowl, how about this for a new strategy?” said Jazz, placing his hand on Prowl’s shoulder. “Beat the scrap out of every Decepticon you come across!”

Prowl stared Jazz incredulously for a moment before cocking his rifle and saying, “Let’s roll!”

“This changes nothing,” declared Megatron as he stood up. He would’ve continued speaking if Motormaster hadn’t suddenly leapt forward.

“You’re mine, Prime!” he bellowed as he leapt at Optimus Prime. Optimus merely swung back and smashed his fist into Motormaster’s face, sending the Decepticon flying through the air and crashing straight into the castle’s walls.

“That was a poor rhyme, Motormaster,” said Prime.

Megatron glared at Prime as the Decepticons rallied around him. He looked toward the fleeing Dementors and sighed. “Never trust dark creatures to do a robot’s job,” he said, “Decepticons – ATTACK!”

“Autobots!” yelled Optimus Prime. “Prepare for battle!”

A/N Hmm. I’m afraid that chapter was a little rushed. Not to mention that I crammed in a lot of stuff into a single chapter just so that I could get to the big battle scene. Oh well. Next chapter... the FINAL BATTLE BEGINS!

24. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 1

A/N The next few chapters consist of multiple parts. Given who’s featured in them maybe I should call them ‘Parade of the cameos’ or something like that. And that applies to ‘Harry Potter’ as well as ‘Transformers’.

Chapter 24: The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 1

With a crash heard all around the grounds, the Autobots and Decepticons clashed straight on with bits of robotic pieces flying everywhere. Optimus Prime had tried to charge Megatron from the get go only to be kicked in the face by a different robot. As Prime staggered back the green, purple, and white robot with straight up wings and high wheeled shoulders, whom had just kicked him landed with his arms crossed. “Do not think you will get away from me so easily Optimus Prime,” he said. “It is my assignment to send you to the ‘Great junkyard in the sky’.”

“Sixshot,” said Prime as he drew out his orange axe blade. “Just call it the ‘Allspark’ like everyone else does.” Sixshot leapt straight at Prime and the two robots rolled away in a no holding back all out brawl.

Ramjet lead the Decepticon charge transforming into his jet mode and ramming himself straight into Jazz. “Oh no, not likely,” snarled Jazz as held his fists together and pounded downward. He then grabbed Ramjet by the tail-end, spun around, and held him in front of himself like a shield. “NOW!”

“Adstringo Incendio!” Hundreds of magical fireballs, courtesy of a good many Aurors, pelted Ramjet painfully while Jazz was safe behind the Decepticon’s body.

“Urgh... Dirge!” yelled Ramjet.

“Fine, I’m on it!” snarled Dirge as he transformed into his jet mode and flew straight toward Jazz. “Death comes to he who crosses me...”

“Nooot gonna happen!” said a voice from above. With unbelievable stunt driving, a Porsche had managed to launch itself into the air and crash land right on top of Dirge. The Porsche instantly transformed into Wheeljack who shoved some kind of mechanical sphere into Dirge’s back. “Hit it!” he yelled.

In response Ron waved his wand and yelled, “Initium!”

Dirge instantly blew up, the two pieces of his corpses flying off in different directions. “He-hey! How’d you like Wheeljack’s custom created magic bombs? Detonates with one spell,” said Wheeljack, not minding the fact that he was now in a free fall.

By this time the magical fireballs had done their damage on Ramjet and the Decepticon seeker fell down, never to rise again. “Now that’s what I call a chill out time,” said Jazz. He turned to the last of the conehead seekers, Thrust.

“No! NO!” screamed Thrust as he transformed into a jet and tried to fly away.

Jazz shrugged and said, “Wheeljack.”

“I’m on it,” said Wheeljack, having landed safely. He threw one of his magic bombs straight at Thrust. A well timed spell courtesy of Ron caused the bomb to explode taking Thrust with it.

Jazz, Wheeljack, and Ron barely had time to celebrate as another army of hundreds of robots started lumbering toward them from the Forbidden Forest: robot zombies created by the Resurrection Stone.

Hermione looked toward the zombies and said, “Are those...”

Harry nodded and replied, “Looks like he’s been putting Gaunt’s ring to good use.” He readied his wand ready to take on the mechanical zombies when...

“Me Grimlock think robo-zombies need tailpipe whooping!” declared the mechanical tyrannosaurus. “Dinobots attack!”

Out from the darker depths of the Forbidden Forest burst out four more mechanical dinosaurs: a triceratops, an apatosaurus, a stegosaurus, and a pteranodon.

“Slag!” declared the triceratops.

“Sludge!” bellowed the apatosaurus.

“Snarl!” grumbled the stegosaurus.

“Swoop!” trilled the pteranodon.

The mechanical dinosaurs charged the robot zombies, blowing away slews of them with the initial charge. They transformed into their robot modes and started bashing the robot zombies away and slashing them with Energon swords.

“All right! Way to handle robo-zombies!” exclaimed Harry.

“Er... what’s a ‘zombie’?” asked Ron.

“It’s the muggle term for ‘inferi’,” answered Hermione.

Ron looked perplexed. “Robots have ‘inferi’?”

Thundercracker landed a scissor-kick on Sunstreaker. “Take that, Autobot!”

“Hi-ya!” Thundercracker was suddenly bashed in the back of the head by a kick from Mirage. “Saved your exoskeleton,” he said.

“You did no such thing,” said Sunstreaker as he stood back up.

“Hey you two, would you mind lending me a servo?” shouted Sideswipe as he desperately tried to fight off a combined assault from Astrotrain and Kickback. Mirage and Sunstreaker rushed to his aid.

“Let us join this little party-party!” said the voice of Shrapnel from one of the castle ramparts. A few seconds later, hundreds of Insecticon clones started flying down from the castle roof augmenting the Decepticon forces. “Ha ha ha! How does a taste of constant forces sound to you-to you?”

“Aurors!” yelled Kingsley. “On my mark... FIRE!”

“Adstringo Incendio!” Hundreds of magical fireballs fired straight at the Insecticon clones, blowing a good many of them out of the air.

“Blast these wizards-wizards!” exclaimed Shrapnel as he and Bombshell landed on the ground in their robot modes. “I will take of them myself-myself!” Shrapnel started gathering electricity in his antennas and with sound like thunder, blasted a good many of the wizards away with a lightning strike from them. Shrapnel continued blasting both Aurors and Autobots with his lightning strikes. One of the blasts knocked Bumblebee back to where Harry and Hermione were.

“Bumblebee,” exclaimed Hermione. “Transform into vehicle mode!”

“Vehicle mode?” exclaimed Bumblebee. “What good will that...”

“Your tires are made of rubber!” explained Hermione.

“Right! Insulation!” Bumblebee transformed into a camaro. Hermione and Harry stepped inside the car.

“Well, not really but I’ve got some spells that will boost their insulation. Now drive!” said Hermione. Bumblebee drove out straight into the path of Shrapnel’s lightning attacks. Due to the rubber insulation and some extra spells of her own making, Hermione, Harry, and Bumblebee were unharmed. Hermione waved her wand and yelled, “Stella Speculum!”

A magical mirror formed in front of Bumblebee reflecting the lightning straight back at Shrapnel, catching him right in the chest. Shrapnel screamed as the lightning fried the circuits in his central processor. As Shrapnel fell to the ground Bombshell went up to him and asked, “Shrapnel, you OK?”

Shrapnel stared at Bombshell in a daze. “Shrapnel? Waspinator think Horn-bot is confused,” he said. “Waspinator is Predacon! Here to kick Maximal hine...” An errant blast from Bumblee, Harry, and Hermione blew Shrapnel into pieces. The last thing his head said before fading out was, “Waspinator blown... to scrap... again. Why universe... hate... Waspina... tor?”

“Waspinator? Why does that designation sound so familiar?” Starscream mused out loud. Before he could ponder further Jetfire flew toward him blasting away. Starscream ducked the blasts and growled before transforming into jet mode and taking to the air. Soon, the two former friends were engaged in a fully fledged aerial dogfight.

Before Bombshell could contemplate the destruction of his fellow Insecticon, Ginny Weasley ran by him screaming, “Sectasempra!” To Bombshell’s horror, his horn was sliced off. One by one George, Molly, Percy, and Arthur ran by him yelling, “Sectasempra!” dismembering Bombshell piece by piece until he was nothing more than a pile of sliced up metal parts.

Harry stared at Hermione. “You didn’t...”

“I did,” said Hermione, resignedly. “I taught them that curse.” She spat out the last word.

“Don’t get so cocky,” yelled Scrapper from near the greenhouses. “Constructicons! Form into Devastator!” The six Constucticons leapt into the air and formed into the hulking figure of Devastator.

“This is going to be tricky,” said Bumblebee as he let Harry and Hermione outside. He transformed into robot mode and ran off to join Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Blurr whom were already engaging Devastator.

“They need my help!” exclaimed Ultra Magnus. He started rushing toward Devastator when Skywarp suddenly teleported in front of him.

“Nuh-uh. You’re mine Magnus!” declared Skywarp. He rammed one sucker punch into Ultra Magnus’s face. When Ultra Magnus tried to retaliate, Skywarp teleported right behind him and kicked him in the back. Magnus was sprawled out on the ground while Skywarp laughed.

“Don’t think I’m going down that easily,” growled Ultra Magnus as he stood back up.

Soundwave meanwhile was busy shooting away at the Autobots when he heard something. Momentarily confused Soundwave stared at the ground. Something was moving below him. Something...

* * *

“Now, now. Move along nicely. Don’t want anyone to get hurt now do we?” said Horace Slughorn as he hustled the students through the Honeydukes passageway. “You never know which one of you might grow to become the next Minister of Magic or Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.”

“He never gives up, does he?” muttered Neville.

“Heh! Tha’s Professor Slughorn fer ya,” said Hagrid as they guided the students through the tunnel.

It was at that moment when the roof of the tunnel started shaking. “Merlin!” exclaimed Slughorn “Look out!” Reacting quickly, Slughorn shoved a group of students out of the way as the roof was blasted down.

“Professor Slughorn!” exclaimed Neville and Hagrid. They hurriedly tried to move him out from below the debris but it was too late: Horace Slughorn had been crushed, his indirect ambitions coming to an abrupt end.

Neville and Hagrid considered magically removing the debris but soon had something else to worry about: Soundwave peered into the hole he had just made and saw the hordes of evacuating students.

“Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw eject,” he said, “Operation Wizard Extermination.” One by one, all five of Soundwave’s minions leapt (or flew in the case of Laserbeak and Buzzsaw) into the tunnel.

“Oh no! Slag no!” yelled Blaster. He slammed a twisting kick into the back of Soundwave’s head and sent him staggering forward. “Steeljaw! Ramhorn! Eject! Rewind! Let’s rock this joint!” Blaster’s chest compartment burst open and out popped two boomboxes, an orange electric guitar, and a maroon bass guitar. The boomboxes transformed into humanoid robots Eject and Rewind, the electric guitar transformed into a mechanical lion Steeljaw, and the bass guitar transformed into a mechanical rhinoceros Ramhorn.

“Let’s do it!” declared Eject. Blaster’s troops leapt into the hole after Soundwave’s minions.

Inside the tunnel, Neville was busy blasting most of Soundwave’s minions with the compact fireballs while Hagrid was desperately trying to hold off Ravage from tearing out his throat. Some of the students had tried to help them but Neville had ordered them not to as a misplaced Reductor could possibly bring the whole roof down. He instead told them to run ahead and get the other professors.

“I... fer... one coulda... use some... help,” hissed Hagrid as a struggling Ravage came closer and closer to his throat.

Steeljaw suddenly leapt from the side and rammed Ravage off of Hagrid. The two mechanical felines started circling each other, growling and spitting before leaping at each other in a fully fledged cat fight.

“Mind if we lend a hand!” said Rewind as he, Eject, and Ramhorn came to Neville’s aid. Rewind immediately tackled Rumble as Eject and Ramhorn faced off Frenzy, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw.

“Oh... a thanks,” said Neville.

“Not a problem,” said Eject. “Just so long as you teach me how to play this ‘Quidditch’ after we’re done here.”

“I’ve already memorized the rules,” said Rewind as he fought off Rumble. “Did you know that the sport originated in this place called Queerditch Marsh...”

“You memorize everything,” said Eject. “Ramhorn, if you would.” Ramhorn used his horn to toss Eject into the air right on top of Laserbeak. Eject started pounding on Laserbeak’s head while also using Laserbeak’s guns to shoot down Buzzsaw. Ramhorn meanwhile charged at Frenzy.

Back on the surface, Soundwave and Blaster were engaged in a slugfest for lack of a better term. Blaster finally managed to knock Soundwave onto his back whereupon he proceeded to straddle him and start pounding away into his face and torso.

“Not bad for one rockin’ robot, eh?” he yelled as he continued slugging away. “This will be the last time we hear from ole creep face Soundwa...” Blaster stopped pounding when he felt something being shoved into his chest. He looked down and saw that Soundwave had managed to shove his firearm into Blaster’s chest region. “Oh scrap...”

Soundwave fired. Blaster was blown away. He collapsed to the ground into a mechanical pile as his Spark faded.

A/N There’s part 1 for all of you. As I’m sure is obvious, that means this battle is going to go on for some time! I hope everyone will be able to follow it as it covers a wide range of things. And keep an eye out for part 2, coming soon to a fanfiction site near you.

25. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 2

A/N I may have described these chapters as ‘parade of the cameos’ in the previous chapter’s A/N but to be honest, it’s really more like ‘slaughter of the cameos’. Eh, that’s what you get when you want to build up a considerable body count.

Chapter 25: The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 2

“Grr! Slag that Prime!” snarled Motormaster as he slowly stood up. He surveyed the scene and was dismayed to see that the battle had already started while he was knocked out. “Stunticons! Come to me and form into Menasor!” Dead End and Breakdown started grumbling while Wildrider and Dragstrip ignored Motormaster and continued firing at the Autobots. Fed up, Motormaster bellowed, “NOW!” That caught the attention of the Stunticons.

“Uh... right!” muttered Dragstrip. All five Stunticons leapt into the air and, like the Constructicons before them, formed into a single, colossal robot: Menasor.

Draco, who had been busy firing curses at Devastator groaned out loud. “Oh no! Not another one.”

“Stop groaning and start shooting!” snapped Mirage.

Menasor started thrashing everywhere around himself: even at fellow Decepticons. Whereas Devastator was lashing out at his enemies in instinct, Menasor was going fully berserk against both friend and foe.

“This is not going well!” muttered Ironhide as he and his fellow Autobots tried to evade attacks from both Devastator and Menasor.

“Oh it’s about to get a lot worse!” said another voice. The Autobots barely managed to get out of the way as Scorponok fired a volley of missiles at them. The wizards managed to avoid the blow with careful use of shield charms but a few of the Autobots were damaged. Scorponok entered the scene laughing. “Such a pity that Autobots are so easily killed: you weren’t even worth the challenge!”

“Everybody!” exclaimed Ultra Magnus. He tried to run to the aid of his fellow Autobots only to be sprawled onto the ground as a result of a kick to the back of his head from a teleporting Skywarp.

Ironhide barely managed to look up as Scorponok pointed his left claw at his head ready to fire a final missile. Scorponok smirked and said, “Farewell Auto... ACK!”

A colossal laser blast had suddenly hit Scorponok in the back, sending him sprawling forward. The same laser blasts shot at Devastator and Menasor, knocking both of them off of their feet as well. “What?” exclaimed Ironhide and the other Autobots as they looked up to see what had fired the laser blasts.

A gigantic space vessel slowly descended from the sky armed to the rim with firepower and a tall tower proudly displaying the Autobot brand. “It can’t be,” muttered Ultra Magnus. “Fortress Maximus?”

The space vessel transformed into a giant robot, the largest one seen yet, over fifty feet tall. He was mostly blue and silver in color, with horns on his helmet, and was bursting to the gills with firearms. “Sorry I am late,” said Fortress Maximus, “But I am here now!”

“We didn’t think you would show up!” exclaimed Jazz, speaking for the other Autobots.

“I am an Autobot, and I go anywhere to battle Decepticon tyranny,” said Fortress Maximus. “And besides,” he glanced up at the sky, “I had to bring them here as well.”

Five jet airplanes suddenly zoomed downward flying straight by Hogwarts Castle. They were a Boeing 737, an F-22 Raptor, an F/A-18 Super Hornet, an F-16 Flying Falcon, and an AV8 Harrier II. The five jets transformed into five silver and red robots and touched down near the castle.

“Silverbolt!” declared the Boeing 737.

“Air Raid!” proclaimed the F-22 Raptor.

“Fireflight!” said the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

“Skydive!” blurred the F-16 Flying Falcon.

“Slingshot!” yelled the AV8 Harrier II.

“Aerialbots are here!” proclaimed Silverbolt. He looked over toward Menasor as the berserk combiner was getting up and said, “And looks like just in time. Aerialbots, form into Superion!”

The five Aerialbots flew to the air. When they landed, they had combined into a single robot: Superion.

“Now that’s cool,” said Ron.

As soon as Menasor stood up he bellowed and charged straight for Superion. Superion huffed and flew to the air before smashing down a flying kick straight onto Menasor’s chest. Menasor grew even further enraged and started beating on Superion. Superion started brawling back.

Fortress Maximus stepped up to Scorponok brandishing a large ‘Master Sword’. “You’re mine, Scorponok.”

“Fortress Maximus,” said Scorponok. He held out his claws and snapped them twice. “You should’ve stayed away like the coward you’re supposed to be!”

“A desire for wishing to give peace a chance is not cowardice,” said Fortress Maximus holding his sword out before him. “However, I now understand that true peace will be never be achieved so long as the Decepticon threat exists.”

“Then find peace in your death!” snarled Scorponok. He flung his claws toward Maximus as the colossal Autobot swung his sword at his enemy. The two clashed in a mighty blow that shook the very grounds of Hogwarts.

At the edge of the forest nearest to the Whomping Willow, Rodimus and Springer were busy firing upon anything with the Decepticon insignia on them. From behind them they suddenly heard a voice say, “What’s this? Autobot prey on the loose?” Rodimus and Springer spun around to see that words were spoken by a large mechanical lion. It was accompanied by a mechanical eagle, rhinoceros, tiger, and bull.

“Ah great, Predacons,” grumbled Rodimus.

“Well better sooner than later,” said Springer.

The five mechanical beasts transformed into their robot modes. “Come my fellow Predacons, the hunt is on,” said the lion robot. “Razorclaw!”

“Divebomb!” screeched the eagle robot.

“Headstrong!” grunted the rhinoceros robot.

“Rampage!” growled the tiger robot.

“Tantrum!” bellowed the bull robot.

“Predacons!” yelled Razorclaw, “Form into Predaking!”

The five animal robots combined into a single large robot complete with wings and a large sword: Predaking.

“Wonderful,” grumbled Rodimus.

Predaking leapt toward the two wielding his large sword. Springer pulled out his own helicopter blade like sword and blocked the strike. So powerful was the blow that Springer’s feet were pushed into the ground. Springer desperately tried to hold Predaking back but the combiner was just too much: “Can’t... hold... him back... any...”

Predaking was suddenly shot in the face by two blasts and knocked back. Rodimus was surprised that there had been a second blast accompanying his when a familiar said, “Need another servo, Hot Rod?”

“Kup? That you?” said Rodimus as the familiar grizzled robot joined him.

“Still getting yourself in over your head ‘ey, kid?” said Kup.

Rodimus grinned and the Autobots started blasting away at Predaking, giving Springer the leverage he needed to escape.

“Get at him, lad!” exclaimed Kup as he continued firing his musket at Predaking. “This reminds me of the old battle fought at Tyger Pax. That was a major turning point during the Great War and let me tell you...”

Suddenly, Predaking zoomed forward at high speed. With a sudden slash he swung his sword at the Autobots. “Look out!” exclaimed Kup as he shoved Rodimus aside. The sword struck Kup full on.

“Kup!” yelled both Rodimus and Springer. In a burst of rage Springer lashed out at Predaking the metallic sounds of the two swords striking each other echoing about. “Kup! Kup! Pull it together!” yelled Rodimus as he cradled the body of the old veteran.

“Heh... Hot Rod...” chuckled Kup, “I don’t... recall anything... like... this...” With those last words, Kup’s Spark gave out.

“Kup!” yelled Rodimus. Intense grief filled him but it was soon replaced with rage. “Predaking!” Rodimus grabbed Kup’s musket in his spare hand and took off to where Springer and Predaking were dueling it out.

* * *

Underneath the ground within the tunnels the battle was still raging. Eject had brought down Laserbeak and Buzzsaw permanently and was rushing to aid Rewind take on Rumble.

“I’m not about to finished easily you puny losers!” snarled Rumble. His pile driver arms smashed straight into Eject and Rewind’s chests knocking the two of them back. “Ha, like you’ll ever be able to mess with me!”

“Tha’ so?” said a voice from behind. Before Rumble could comprehend what was happening, he was picked up by Hagrid’s vice like grip.

“What?” exclaimed Rumble, unable to comprehend the fact that he was caught by a human over four times larger than himself. Not letting Rumble get a chance, Hagrid slammed Rumble on the ground and crushed his head with a mighty stomp, finishing off Rumble once and for all.

“Urgh... thanks,” said Rewind as he and Eject stood back up.

“Notta problem,” said Hagrid.

Frenzy meanwhile was being tossed about by Ramhorn. Fed up, Frenzy let out a sonic vibration that scrambled Ramhorn’s circuits. Not missing his chance Frenzy fired razor sharp CDs at Ramhorn, slicing up the mechanical rhinoceros once and for all. “Yes! Yes! YES!” Frenzy cackled gleefully.

“Hold it!” yelled Neville racing toward them. Frenzy spun around and fired his CDs at Neville. In response, Neville used a spell that reflected the CDs straight back at Frenzy. Caught by surprise, one of the CDs slashed Frenzy’s head in half, his last words being, “Oh shi...”

Steeljaw and Ravage were still engaged in their little duel when Steeljaw lost his balance. Not missing his chance, Ravage went straight for Steeljaw’s neck only for Steeljaw to reveal his feint. Steeljaw’s fangs tore out Ravage’s throat and the Decepticon cat whimpered before fading. Wounded yet victorious, Steeljaw lumbered over to where Eject and Rewind were taking care of Ramhorn’s body.

“I-it’s not just Ramhorn,” said Rewind. “I-I think something’s happened to Blaster.”

“I sense it too,” said Eject. “We need to get back to the surface.”

* * *

Back up on the surface, the duel between Fortress Maximus and Scorponok was still going on. Sword and claw continued to clash and the two duelers also fired their firearms at each other on several occasions, neither one managing to gain an upper hand. Finally, Maximus managed to corner Scorponok into a corner of the castle.

“Never again will you harm another sentient being,” said Fortress Maximus. He raised his sword to strike.

“Wait!” screamed Luna. She ran toward them with Ron and Arcee. “He’s mine!”

Fortress Maximus looked down at the tiny (compared to him) form of Luna and said, “You cannot possibly...”

“He’s mine!” Luna said again. “Please.”

“Luna...” said Ron.

“Ronald, it’s not about vengeance,” said Luna. She smiled wistfully at him and continued, “It’s about honoring my Dad.”

Fortress Maximus realized that Luna was serious and took his sword down. “Autobots to me!” he declared as he left to make a charge at the main Decepticon force.

Scorponok turned to Luna. “I accept your challenge,” he said. He snapped a claw. “It will be over with one strike.”

“One strike,” said Luna nodding. She turned to Arcee and asked, “Could I borrow you for a moment?”

“OK. Be careful,” said Arcee as she transformed into a motorcycle. Luna climbed on.

“Duel now!” declared Scorponok. The giant Decepticon charged as Luna started up the motorcycle. With a blast of magic, the motorcycle was flown into the air. Scorponk swung his claw out as Luna readied her wand...

“Sectasempra!”

The effect was instantaneous. Scorponok’s head was sliced off and the Decepticon warrior came crashing down shaking the ground in the process. Arcee landed safely and Luna dismounted. Ron was by her side in an instant. “Luna?”

Luna stared at Ron for a moment before breaking down. Falling to her knees, Luna started sobbing hysterically. Crouching down, Ron drew Luna into a comforting hug as the blonde girl continued to sob into his chest.

A/N There’s part 2 for you. I’m really cramming a lot of stuff into these climatic chapters. Originally, I was planning to make these chapters a three-parter, but now it’s officially becoming four. Part 3 will be coming soon.

26. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 3

A/N You know I’m starting to feel a tad guilty. I’m bringing out all these cameo appearances by both ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Transformers’ franchises only to kill them off straight away in blazes of glory. Basically, I’m bringing out all these characters for the sole purpose of killing them. I hope that doesn’t offend anyone. For HP, I blame ‘Deathly Hallows’ for killing off so many characters to begin with that it limits who I am able to kill off in fanfiction. For TF, well I guess they’re just plain out of luck.

Chapter 26: The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 3

The silence of the Forbidden Forest was shaken up as a large scarlet truck drove through knocking trees into the air as it tore through the forest. The truck occasionally swerved out of the way of blasts fired from an alien jet that was chasing it.

Fed up the truck constantly dodging its blasts, the jet touched down and transformed into a mechanical wolf. The large wolf growled and gave chase after the truck before leaping once it was in range. Just as the wolf was about to sink its teeth into the truck’s roof, the truck launched into the air, transformed into Optimus Prime, and spun around to land a kick straight into the wolf’s face. The wolf fell onto its back and whimpered before transforming back into Sixshot.

“Don’t get cocky, Prime!” snarled Sixshot. He next transformed into an oversized laser pistol and fired. Prime fired back with his Ion Blaster, counter-acting the shot.

“I wouldn’t intend to,” said Prime.

Sixshot transformed back into his robot mode and fired his pistols at Prime. Optimus transformed back into a truck and swerved about dodging the blasts. Sixshot next transformed into an armored car and gave chase.

As Optimus sped along, he started hearing a distinct yelling from nearby. Just as he popped into a clearing, he suddenly found himself surrounded by an entire cavalry of half human, half horse creatures. “What in the world?”

“Intruders! More intruders upon our forest!” yelled the lead centaur. The centaurs all hollered and started firing arrows at Prime. Although the arrows had no effect, Optimus didn’t want to get the centaurs involved into his fight and tried to drive away. Unfortunately, he ran into Sixshot in his armored car mode.

“Not so fast!” snarled Sixshot. He transformed into a ramming tank and rammed Optimus straight on. Prime was blown over on his side and unfortunately, Sixshot and the centaurs spotted each other.

“What?” exclaimed Sixshot as the centaurs started firing their arrows at him. Annoyed, Sixshot transformed back into a robot and started shooting his pistols. As the centaurs were blasted away, they instantly realized they were outmatched and tried to make a run for it though a few futilely tried to collect their dead only to be killed themselves. Not giving them a chance, Sixshot continued shooting at the now terrified centaurs, killing scores of them.

“No!” exclaimed Optimus. He hurriedly transformed back into robot mode and with a sweep of his legs knocked Sixshot off of his feet. This gave the centaurs the chance to escape as Sixshot turned his attention back on Prime.

“This has dragged on long enough, Optimus Prime,” said Sixshot. “It is now time to finish you with my secret seventh mode.”

“Seventh mode?” said Prime as he stood back up. “Last I heard you were famous for having six modes.”

“Which why it’s a secret seventh mode, Prime,” said Sixshot, “My most powerful and the one that will undeniably spell your doom: none who have seen it have ever lived to tell other about it. My final form: Winged Wolf!”

Sixshot transformed into a mode similar to his wolf mode only with jet wings. He howled and flew straight at Prime ready to strike. However, at the last minute Optimus feinted to the left and stabbed his axe-blade straight into the wolf’s chest.

Sixshot howled before falling to the ground. His last words were, “In... credible... you truly are... the great... est... Optimus... Prime.”

Optimus laid his hand on his fallen enemy before standing back up. Realizing that he had come quite a distance from the castle he transformed into his truck mode and hurried back the way he had come.

* * *

Back at the castle the dog fight between Starscream and Jetfire continued to rage across the skies above the castle. The two jets weaved and ducked around the towers as they tried to shoot each other. “Hold still you cretin!” snarled Starscream as Jetfire dodged yet another blast.

“Not likely,” said Jetfire. He finally managed to lock on to Starscream when...

“Aaaarrgghhh!!!” Jetfire was suddenly shot by a jet mode Thundercracker from behind. He crashed in the main courtyard of the castle.

“Hmph! To think I had to save your sorry tail-wing,” grumbled Thundercracker.

“Stop grumbling and continue firing,” snapped Starscream. The two jets circled around the castle once before zooming straight down toward the Auror forces. This immediately caught Kingsley’s attention. He summoned a patronus and said, “Call forth the Broom Squadron.”

The patronus sped away and within seconds a squadron of wizards flying broomsticks zoomed in toward the battle. “Talley Ho!” they cried as they flew straight for the seekers. “They vill pay for the miser they haff brought on vizard kind!” cried a familiar hawk-nosed flyer who was leading the squad.

“Viktor?” exclaimed Hermione looking up at the flyers.

“Viktor Krum?” said Harry, echoing Hermione’s surprise. “I didn’t know he was in Britain!”

“Neither did I,” said Hermione, shaking her head.

The broomstick flyers zoomed past Thundercracker unleashing a legion of fireballs. Thuindercracker screamed as the the magical flames tore through his body. Finally, they burned through his key systems and the lifeless shell of the seeker went crashing down into the lake in a torrent of flame.

“Ve haff prevailed against one!” exclaimed Krum. “Ve vill prevail against the other!” The broomstick squad cheered before flying in tactical Quidditch maneuvers against Starscream. They zoomed closer intending to finish Starscream the way they had defeated Thundercracker.

“Tsk! Amateurs,” scoffed Starscream. He zoomed forward breaking the sound barrier just before the squad. The resulting sonic boom threw almost all of the flyers off of their broomsticks. “Vat?” exclaimed Krum, barely managing to hang on.

“You haven’t seen nothing yet!” snarled Starscream as he transformed into robot mode. With a blast of his null ray firearms he finished off the Broom Squadron. Viktor Krum barely managed a scream as he was vaporized along with the entire group.

“Viktor! No!” screamed Hermione. She tried to make her way over toward the site where Viktor was vaporized, or at least the ground below it. Harry barely managed to tackle her out of the way of Starscream’s null rays.

“Hermione! You can’t!” exclaimed Harry as he pulled her behind one of the trees on the outskirts of the forest. Hermione started sobbing into his shirt. Harry realized that Hermione was in no condition to fight right now but he was loathe to just abandon her. Flinging his trusty Invisibility Cloak over them, Harry held Hermione hoping to calm her down.

“Ha! Such pitiful beings,” said Starscream as he landed in the courtyard. Before he could move, Starscream was suddenly tackled by a highly damaged yet still operational Jetfire. The Autobot managed to take his former friend down and blast him in the chest. Unfortunately, Jetfire was too damaged do any serious harm to Starscream and the seeker was still alive though no longer in any condition to fight. The two were unable to do anything further than to glare at each other, lying on the ground as their internal repair systems raced to make the necessary repairs to continue fighting.

* * *

Grimlock was busy smashing away at the robo-zombies along with his fellow Dinobots when he sensed something from behind. The mechanical tyrannosaur barely managed to get out of the way as the blast blew away a good many zombies.

Grimlock looked up to see that the blast had come from a laser cannon which instantly transformed into Shockwave. “It is a pity I was unable to finish you,” he said. “It was logical to assume that you would eventually challenge me during this battle, Grimlock. Therefore, logic dictated that I try to take you out first.”

“Shockwave,” snarled Grimlock. He transformed into robot mode and slashed at Shockwave with his Energon sword. Shockwave stepped out of the way of the downward slash as the sword struck the ground.

“Indeed, still challenging me after all,” said Shockwave. “You still cannot comprehend the illogicalness of such an action as it will only lead to your demise.”

“Me Grimlock always challenge Shockwave ‘til you’re nothing but scrap metal!” snarled Grimlock. He slashed downward once more, his sword hitting the ground as Shockwave dodged the blow again.

“Fool! Why can’t you comprehend that you cannot beat me?” said Shockwave as he fired some blasts at Grimlock. The Dinobot merely grew further enraged and continued slashing.

* * *

Back near the Whomping Willow Springer was engaging Predaking in their swordfight while Rodimus continued circling around them firing his and Kup’s firearms. The combined assault of the two Autobots was enough give trouble to Predaking but not to the point where he was on the defensive. Predaking managed to grab Springer by the throat and flung him at Rodimus, knocking them both off of their feet. “Scrap,” groaned Rodimus.

Predaking raised his sword to deliver the death blow when something struck him in the back. Curious, Predaking turned around only for the Whomping Willow to pummel him in the face and torso. The willow didn’t do any true damage to Predaking but the sheer idea of an attacking tree was enough to disorient the combiner.

This was a chance Rodimus and Springer didn’t miss. “Do it!” cried Rodimus as he and Springer leapt forward. Springer twirled his sword like helicopter blades at Predaking’s legs, slicing Headstrong and Tantrum. Rodimus meanwhile climbed up on Predaking’s shoulders and used his and Kup’s firearms to shoot up Predaking’s arms: Divebomb and Rampage. All that was left now was the torso Razorclaw as the former combiner slumped down. “H-how did you...”

“Let’s finish this,” said Rodimus as he placed his hand over Springer’s sword. The two Autobots thrust forward and stabbed Razorclaw, ending the Predacon threat.

“You in any condition to continue?” asked Springer as he slumped to the ground.

“No,” said Rodimus as he too fell to the ground. “When this is over, I’m requesting leave.”

Nearby, Predaking’s sword lay on the ground, forgotten.

* * *

“To me Autobots!” cried Fortress Maximus as he led the charge. “To me!”

Kickback attempted to kick at Maximus’s leg only to be crushed under his foot. Astrotrain also made a feisty assault against the mighty Autobot only to be disintegrated by Fortress Maximus’s considerable firearms.

“This will end today, Decepticons!” declared Fortress Maximus as he pummeled what was left of Astrotrain. Devastator roared and made a stand before Fortress Maximus. The colossal Autobot swung his Master Sword and with a few slashes, the six components that made up Devastator were completely sliced up. Fortress Maximus triumphantly raised his sword. “Autobots! We have seized the day!” He turned around and found himself staring down the barrel of Megatron’s fusion cannon.

“Hmph. Such heroic nonsense,” said the lord of destruction. With one powerful blast, Fortress Maximus’s head was blown off and the mighty Autobot fell.

The Autobot charge instantly came to a halt. Megatron stepped toward blasting away with his fusion cannon. The Autobots barely had time to find cover before they could be disintegrated. “That’s right! Flee Autobots! You all know you stand no chance against the mighty Megatron!”

Megatron stopped in his tracks when he heard a cry coming from his left. He looked up and was surprised to see an angry giant charging toward his way. “Another one? Well, no matter.”

“There we are. Th’ surface,” said Hagrid as he and Neville pocked their heads out of the hole in the ground. He climbed out just in time to see Megatron grab the giant but his throat. “Grawp? No! No Grawp!”

With a sickening crack, Grawp’s neck was snapped and the giant fell in a dead heap. “Nooooo! Grawp!” screamed Hagrid. He tried to make a run for his brother only to be held back by Eject and Rewind.

“You can’t! That’s Megatron!” exclaimed Rewind.

“Grawpy! Grawp! Meh brother Grawp!” wailed Hagrid. Unfortunately, Hagrid’s wailing caught the attention of Megatron who turned on them.

“No!” exclaimed Neville. With a quick banishing charm, he barely managed to get Hagrid out of the way of Megatron’s blast. He managed to coax Hagrid with Eject, Rewind, and Steeljaw’s help into an area a bit removed from the battle.

Skywarp meanwhile was still pestering Ultra Magnus with his teleporting powers. “What’s the matter? Can’t grab a hold of me?” said Skywarp with a laugh.

“Skywarp. It’s an impressive power,” said Ultra Magnus. “Unfortunately,” he suddenly swung his fist at an empty space only for Skywarp to appear in it just as Magnus swung forth. The resulting punch caught a surprised Skywarp right in the face, “it gets old.” Not missing his chance, Ultra Magnus slammed Skywarp on the ground and crushed his head with a stomp from his foot.

His adversary dead, Ultra Magnus turned his attention to someone else whom was blasting Autobots and humans away. “Megatron!”

Megatron looked up as Ultra Magnus came forth before him itching for a fight. “Ultra Magnus,” he said with a smirk. With a delightful grin, he beckoned Magnus toward him. Ultra Magnus dashed forward and started slugging away at Megatron.

A/N OK, looks like the death toll is continuing to mount. I hope no one’s angry at me for this whole scale slaughter I’m engaging in here. Part 4 is next and it’s the last of these multi-part chapters. After that... oh come on! Like you can’t figure out what’s coming next.

27. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 4

A/N Well, finally here’s the last chapter of the slaughterfest. I know some people have been complaining that the previous chapterswere a little hard to followwith all the chaos and everything but frankly, that’s the way it is on a battlefield. I do admit I probably got a little carried away with all of it but I still loved writing it. So there!

Chapter 27: The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 4

By this time, most of the Autobots had been knocked offline by Megatron’s blasts before Ultra Magnus had engaged him in their duel. Highly damaged, Jazz crawled over to his allies. “Hey Prowl. You alive?”

“Barely,” said Prowl as he managed to pull himself up to a sitting position. “Anyone else?”

“I’ll... manage,” grunted Ironhide. Although damaged himself, Ratchet was working on Ironhide’s repairs.

“You’ll live,” said Ratchet, “Can’t say much about the others though.” He turned to the side to start working on Hound’s repairs.

“The situation has taken a turn for an unfavorable outcome,” said Perceptor as he worked on Bumblebee’s and Sideswipe’s repairs. “I cannot calculate the possibilities of a victorious situation. As it is, I cannot help but speculate the possibility that these repairs may prove to be irrelevant in the end.”

“Enough pondering, more repairing,” snapped Bumblebee.

“What about the humans?” asked Wheeljack as he took a break from repairing Blurr and Sunstreaker. The Autobots looked toward the battlefield to see that the Order was still valiantly taking on the few remaining Decepticons despite their losses.

“They’ve really come through, haven’t they?” said Sideswipe. “If it weren’t for them, we’d all be part of the scrap heap by now.” All the remaining Autobots acknowledged this fact.

Mirage looked around and asked, “So where’s Cliffjumper anyway? I’ve just been waiting for him to use my MIA as an excuse to accuse me of being ‘traitor’ again.” Mirage started chuckling only to stop when he noticed how solemn the others looked. “Er, did I miss something?”

* * *

Superion and Menasor were still engaged in their struggle. Although generally equally matched, Menasor’s sheer ferociousness was enough to place Superion on the defensive. With Superion finally cornered into a section of the castle wall, Menasor roared and slashed with his Ionizer sword at the Autobot combiner. Superion was unable to dodge the strike and the sword slashed thourgh his right arm, killing Slingshot.

Having lost one arm, Superion desperately charged at Menasor. Menasor however stabbed downward, his sword striking Superion’s left foot and thus finishing off Air Raid. What was left of Superion collapsed on the ground. Looking down on his fallen enemy, Menasor lifted his sword ready to strike when...

“Adstringo Incendio!” Hundreds of magical fireballs pelted Menasor. The Decepticon combiner screamed before turning his attention on the Aurors.

“Do not let up!” yelled Kingsley. The Aurors continued firing their spells at Menasor.

Furious, Menasor pulled out a series of firearms and started blasting away. “Minister!” yelled Toppham as he dove in front of a blast intended for Kingsely. Unfortunately, it was all for naught as the blast completely disintegrated Topham, Kingsley Shaklebolt, and a good many Aurors with them.

Seeing the slaughter, something snapped in Superion. Burning his jets, the Autobot combiner blasted forward and tackled his Decepticon counterpart straight into one of the walls of the castle. So powerful was Superion’s jet tackle that all five components that made up Menasor were crushed in the assault.

The three components that remained of Superion, Silverbolt, Fireflight, and Skydive, detached and collapsed on the ground. “I’m completely wasted,” said Fireflight.

“Better wasted than scrapped like Air Raid and Slingshot,” said Skydive.

Silverbolt nodded solemnly. “They’re avenged now,” he said. “For now, we must rest.” With that, the three of them lied down and went into shut down mode.

* * *

While most of the combatants had been killed or were far too damaged or injured to continue fighting, Grimlock and Shockwave were still engaged in their duel. Grimlock continued to slash at Shockwave with his sword, constantly striking the ground instead while Shockwave continued to take shots at Grimlock from slight distances. Grimlock managed to dodge most of the blasts but some of them still hit and the tough Dinobot was showing signs of serious damage.

“How many times must I remind you that your stubborn persistence defies logic?” said Shockwave as he took another shot at Grimlock. Grimlock huffed and slashed once more. Again, Shockwave dodged the blow and the sword hit the ground instead.

“Keep trying,” Grimlock snarled. “Me Grimlock known for being stubborn type.”

“Illogical fool,” said Shockwave as he fired at Grimlock again.

The cycle continued on for a while longer. Grimlock continued to slash at Shockwave only to miss and strike the ground instead while Shockwave continued to take pot shots at Grimlock, damaging the Dinobot further and further. Finally, Grimlock looked to be beaten as Shockwave held him at gunpoint amidst the ruined grounds.

“It is over, Grimlock,” said Shockwave. “Your Energon rations are seriously depleted and your exoskeleton is being held together by a few mere molecular bonds. Logically, how could you possibly defeat me in your current status?”

Grimlock suddenly transformed into a tyrannosaur. “Like this,” he said with a smirk. The tyrannosaurus leapt and came down on the ground with a mighty stomp. To Shockwave’s horror, the very ground below his feet suddenly gave way and Shockwave sank into a sudden sinkhole that had appeared in the ground.

“H-how is this possible?” he exclaimed. “It is illogical that the ground could have given away with such impractical timing! How did...” Shockwave’s logical mind soon gave him the answer: Grimlock hadn’t been striking at Shockwave whenever his sword had hit the ground. He had been calculating the striking spots to weaken the very earth they were standing on and only made it look like he was missing. “This is illogical! How could you have possibly come up with such a plan with that feeble mind of yours?”

“Feeble?” said Grimlock as he transformed back into robot mode, “Fooled ya!”

Desperately, Shockwave scampered out of the hole and lunged at the Dinobot. Not missing this chance, Grimlock thrust his sword forward and stabbed it right through the right portion of Shockwave’s chest. Shockwave barely had time to scream as Grimlock once again transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and clamped his jaws around Shockwave’s cannon arm. With the grinding sound of twisting metal, Grimlock ripped off Shockwave’s cannon arm literally by the teeth. He then transformed into robot mode, grabbed the hilt of his sword that was still stuck in Shockwave’s chest, and yanked it out by slashing upward, taking a significant portion of Shockwave’s right shoulder with it.

“It is illogical for you to defeat me!” screamed Shockwave. “This is not possible! It is illogical for you to defeat me!”

“Me Grimlock... NO... LIKE... LOGIC!” yelled Grimlock. One final powerful punch straight in Shockwave’s face sent what remained of the Decepticon Military Commander flying straight into the castle wall. Shockwave fell to the ground with a crash and his Spark faded with a cackle.

“Me Grimlock – badass!” said Grimlock as he hit a fist on his chest. He picked up Shockwave’s severed cannon arm. “Ooooh, trophy.”

* * *

Over near the Quidditch Pitch, Ultra Magnus and Megatron’s duel continued. Magnus’s sheer strength was enough to give Megatron a run for his money and the mighty Autobot was able to match the Decepticon leader punch for punch.

Soundwave, one of the few remaining Decepticons, noticed that his leader was having trouble taking down his opponent. Silently, Soundwave crept up toward the two combatants, hoping to come to Megatron’s aid by taking Ultra Magnus out from behind. He wasn’t too far from them, still unnoticed when a voice from behind him said, “Oh Soundwave.”

Surprised, Soundwave turned around and exclaimed, “Prime?”

“Time for a stasis nap.” Prime slugged his fist straight into Soundwave’s face. So powerful was the blow that Soundwave was knocked offline.

“It’s over Megatron!” declared Ultra Magnus as he beat down on the lord of destruction. “Your reign of terror ends now!”

“Wrong on all counts!” snarled Megatron. “You seem to fail to realize that I now have on my side this! Crucio!”

Ultra Magnus recoiled in pain as the Cruciatus struck out from the Elder Wand and coursed through his body. It only lasted for about a second but it was enough for Megatron to shove the barrel of his fusion cannon into Magnus’s chest.

The blast was instantaneous. Megatron had failed to take into account the sheer dexterity of Ultra Magnus’s armor and the blast ended up flinging him back close to a hundred feet and knocking him into a daze. Still, his fusion cannon had done its job: Ultra Magnus had been fatally wounded.

“Ultra Magnus! No!” exclaimed Prime as he rushed to the damaged robot. He cradled Magnus’s body and held his hand.

“O... Optimus,” whispered Ultra Magnus, “Have... have I served... you well?”

“Yes. You’ve always served us well,” Optimus said reassuringly.

Ultra Magnus chuckled weakly. “I... I suppose... I can deal... with that... now,” he said, “Optimus... ‘til all... are one...” With those final words, Ultra Magnus’s Spark faded.

“Til all are one, brother,” Optimus said mournfully. As he laid Ultra Magnus’s body down, he noticed that his arch-nemesis was just getting up. “Megatron,” he growled.

“Prime,” snarled Megatron. He pointed his fusion cannon at Prime just as Prime pointed his ion blaster back at him. The two shot simultaneously. Instead of damaging each other however, Prime’s ion blaster was blown to pieces while Megatron’s fusion cannon was blown apart at the barrel.

“Fine! I don’t need my cannon to take you apart,” said Megatron as he shut away what remained of his cannon. “My own strength will be enough!”

“Then bring it!” snapped Prime. Before Megatron could react, Prime held his hands together and slammed both of his fists into Megatron’s jaw, sending him stumbling back.

“That will be the last time, Prime!” snarled Megatron as he drew his flail out. “Let’s finish this, once and for all!”

“Very well then,” said Optimus Prime as he drew out his axe-blade. “By the end of this day... one shall stand... one shall fall!”

A/N And thus, the four part chapters come to the end, and the one true climax begins! You know you’ve been waiting for this moment! I’m sorry I confused the heck out of everyone with the previous four chapters but I personally enjoyed writing all that. Stay tuned, we’re on the last stretch.

28. Optimus Prime vs. Megatron

A/N This is the first chapter which I hadn’t finished writing yet when I posted the previous chapter. Given that there are only two more chapters left after this one, I suppose that’s a decent record: I managed to stay ahead of myself for most of the fic. Enjoy.

Chapter 28: Optimus Prime vs. Megatron

Optimus Prime charged at Megatron with an unmatched ferocity, slashing at him with his axe-blade. Megatron started backtracking as he deflected Prime’s strikes with his flail. The Energon weapons stuck each other releasing small cackle of energy with every hit, lighting up the grounds in several locations.

“Why the Hallows Megatron?” demanded Optimus. “Why by the source are you trying to claim them?” He slashed downward only for Megatron to dodge the strike by feinting back.

“And why shouldn’t I, Prime?” said Megatron as struck at Prime’s head with his free hand, “The power to be the ‘master of life and death’! Why let it go to waste?”

“It’s a power that belongs to the wizards!” declared Prime as he too struck at Megatron with his free hand. The two fists struck each other, the force of the blow sending a minor shockwave throughout the Hogwarts grounds.

“Humans don’t deserve this power!” snarled Megatron. He twirled his flail once before striking it down on Prime’s shoulder.

“They deserve the right to choose that for themselves,” said Optimus. He leapt up and rammed a kick straight into Megatron’s torso.

“And what did they choose to do with it?” said Megatron. “Ignore it! Bury it! Treat them as nothing more than ancient relics and fairytales! Great power gone to waste!” He flung his flail out forth, striking back Prime’s axe-blade.

“For good reason,” said Prime. With a tug of his blade, he yanked Megatron closer and walloped him in the face with his free hand. “In the end, power of that sort will bring nothing but misery!”

“Yes,” said Megatron, “Misery brought by me!” He managed to grab Optimus by the connections around his neck and flung him over his shoulder, sending him flying in to the castle wall.

Before Megatron could attack Prime’s prone form, he sensed a presence behind him. He barely managed to spin around in time to use his flail’s chain to block Grimlock’s sword strike. Though Megatron managed to protect himself, his flail’s chain was snapped in two by the force of Grimlock’s titanic strength.

“Megatron! Me Grimlock crush today!” snarled Grimlock. He readied his sword for another strike.

“Perhaps someday, Grimlock,” said Megatron as he retracted what was left of his flail. “But it won’t be today!”

Grimlock charged at Megatron slashing his sword. Megatron caught Grimlock’s sword arm in his left hand, holding his sword above their heads. He then jabbed with his right arm into Grimlock’s torso. Already severely damaged by his duel against Shockwave, Grimlock was shoved back and collapsed on the ground. One strong kick in the face from Megatron knocked Grimlock out of the battle.

Optimus had regained his footing and charged at Megatron. The lord of Destruction transformed into a jet and zoomed away only to fly by the Whomping Willow and grab Predaking’s discarded sword while in midflight. Transforming back into robot mode, Megatron slashed at Optimus with Predaking’s sword. Optimus blocked the strike with his axe-blade. Megatron however grabbed Prime at the back of his head and shoved him down into the dirt. He stomped on Prime’s axe-blade and snapped it in two.

As Megatron struck down with the sword, Optimus transformed into a truck and dodged the strike by swerving away. He then circled around and rammed Megatron in the torso at full speed. He further transformed into robot mode and used the momentum of his ramming to land a powerful dropkick into Megatron’s chest. He rolled back backward as the lord of destruction fell onto his back. Regaining footing, Prime ran toward Megatron and leapt toward him.

Using what little strength he could muster, Grimlock tossed his Energon sword at Prime. Optimus caught the sword in mid-leap and slashed downward at his opponent just as Megatron was standing back up. Their swords met in a mighty clash.

“The Hallows will mean the end of you,” snapped Prime as he shoved his sword against Megatron’s. “They will destroy you just the way they destroyed Voldemort!”

“Voldemort was a fool who tried to obtain a power he couldn’t comprehend!” snarled Megatron as he shoved his blade back against Prime’s. “I’ve heard the prophecy! ‘The power he knows not.’ Voldemort was destroyed because he failed to understand the true power of the Deathly Hallows!”

“And what makes you so sure you understand?” said Prime. “Your only source comes from legends and fairy tales! For all you know, you could be making the same mistake Voldemort did!”

Megatron pushed Prime back with his sword and managed to shove him onto his back. He slashed downward only for Optimus to roll away and stand back up. Optimus spun around and slashed his sword at Megatron. Megatron blocked the strike and slashed back, the blow also blocked by Optimus.

“You dare to presume that I would make the same mistake a cowardly fleshling made, Prime?” snarled Megatron. He swung his sword at Optimus continuously. Prime managed to block each slash.

“You’re not infallible, Megatron,” said Prime as he struck back. “I know that better than anyone!”

“And neither are you!” hissed Megatron. He slashed at Optimus with an intense fury and the Autobot leader was barely able to block or dodge each blow.

* * *

“Are you feeling better?” asked Harry as he gently cradled Hermione.

“I... I think I’ll manage,” said Hermione. “I’m sorry I broke down. But it’s just...”

“I know,” said Harry. He gently kissed Hermione’s forehead and held her close.

“When will it be over?” asked Hermione. “Are our lives going to be tainted with violence forever?”

“I don’t know,” said Harry. “All I know is that every time violence does rear up, I’m going to use everything in my power to put a stop to it.”

He stood up and looked over the grounds and was surprised that there were only two combatants left: Optimus Prime and Megatron. “I need to help Optimus!”

“I’m coming with you,” said Hermione, standing up.

“No you’re not,” said Harry, whirling around facing her. “It’s too dangerous.”

Hermione did not look pleased. “Oh honestly, Harry,” she snapped. “That excuse might work for Ginny but you’ll have to do better for me! If it’s too dangerous than that’s all the more reason for me to go with you!”

“Hermione...”

“I’m not Ginny, Harry!” said Hermione. “I won’t let you rush off headlong into danger alone!” Harry sighed. “Yeah, I figured as much. I’m sorry.” Hermione suddenly collapsed onto the ground, caught by surprise from a non-verbal leg-locker jinx. Before she could even had a chance to undo the jinx, Harry had ran off intending to help out Prime.

* * *

Megatron slashed downward and struck Optimus deeply in his right shoulder. Optimus grunted in pain and backed off, transferring Grimlock’s sword into his left hand, his damaged right arm now hanging limply. Megatron smirked and gloated, “Finished already, Prime?”

“Not... likely,” said Prime. He threw Grimlock’s sword at Megatron, knocking Predaking’s sword out of his hand. Prime next charged straight at Megatron and smashed a direct forward kick into Megatron’s torso. The force of the kick was enough to send Megatron back about a hundred feet.

Megatron roared in anger and charged at Optimus. Prime calmly crouched low and landed a low jab with his left hand into Megatron’s already damaged torso. “Looks like I have a few tricks left,” said Prime.

“Oh, do you?” snarled Megatron, “Reducto!”

The sudden shock of the blasting hex coming from the Elder Wand caught Optimus by surprise. Prime was knocked on to his back, his windshields shattered and his right arm even further damaged.

Megatron smirked and strolled over toward his fallen enemy. At the right timing however, Prime swept his feet and knocked Megatron down. “You still don’t command any true power over magic, Megatron,” said Prime as he stood back up. He attempted to stomp on Megatron. Megatron rolled away and avoided it.

“We will see about that,” said Megatron as he stood back up. “Once I kill Harry Potter, the Elder Wand is mine!”

Prime shook his head and said, “Megatron, Megatron. Why do you always say these things that bring out my best?” He dashed straight at Megatron and took him by a left arm lariat to the torso. He then spun around and slammed a high kick into Megatron’s face. Before Megatron could regain his bearings, Prime slammed a high knee kick into his chin.

Megatron staggered back as Prime attacked him again. Megatron smirked however and shoved his gauntleted hand into Prime’s chest and yelled, “Crucio!” Prime was unprepared for the sudden searing pain of the Cruciatus curse as it ripped through his body.

Megatron wasn’t done however, grabbing hold of Prime’s damaged right arm, Megatron used all of his strength and ripped it right off. Severely damaged, Prime fell to his knees before his enemy.

“Hmph, disappointing,” said Megatron as he tossed Prime’s arm onto the ground. Prime however clearly wasn’t finish yet as he suddenly grabbed his severed right arm and used it to whip Megatron in the face. The force of the blow was strong enough to knock Megatron back about fifty feet.

“Still disappointing?” hissed Prime. His armor was cracked and smoking. His windshields were shattered and pieces of his chest covering had fallen off revealing his internal machinery. And he was holding his severed right arm in his left. Yet, Optimus Prime was not defeated.

“Optimus!”

“Harry?” exclaimed Optimus. To his surprise, Harry appeared out of thin air: he had come close to the battle with the Invisibility Cloak.

“Optimus! Your arm!” said Harry. “I can fix it!” He raised his wand intending to perform the Reparo charm.

“Harry! No!” yelled Optimus. The warning came too late; Megatron had readied his auxiliary cannon and fired.

Harry felt only pain as his prone body was flung through the air. Optimus managed to catch Harry’s form and cradled him to his chest. “O-Optimus,” whispered Harry. “I... I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” said Optimus. “I should be the one apologizing. If only I could’ve defeated Megatron...”

Megatron was laughing hysterically. He held up his gauntleted hand and proclaimed, “Yes! It’s mine!” Lightning blasted forth from the Elder Wand, striking down everywhere upon the Hogwarts Grounds. The sky above started to blacken and the ground started to shake.

“W-what’s going on?” exclaimed Ron from nearby the surviving Autobots.

“I-I don’t know,” whispered Luna.

“Megatron,” said Prowl. “Oh no.”

Hermione, having undone the leg-locker looked over toward the source of the lightning. “The Elder Wand?” she exclaimed. She gasped and tears started forming in her eyes. “Oh God, Harry!”

“I feel the power!” exclaimed Megatron. “It’s coursing through me! Power like nothing I have felt before!” He closed his gauntleted hand into a fist, the light of the Elder Wand shining from within it. Nearby, Prime was on one knee, his remaining arm cradling Harry’s body to his chest.

“So it has come to this,” Prime said solemnly. “Megatron, Master of the Deathly Hallows.”

“Yes, most appealing,” said Megatron. “As of now, I am the master of all life and death... although, it is kind of irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?” hissed Prime. “All these deaths? All this destruction? For a purpose you consider irrelevant?”

“Ha! You still don’t get it do you Prime?” said Megatron. “Yes, the appeal of control of all three artifacts was certainly a strong motivation. But it pales in comparison for my true purpose. You see Prime, what I really wanted was the weapon that could lose no duel: the Elder Wand. But, that could essentially mean that I could very well end up making the same fatal mistake Voldemort made! Therefore, it was necessary to make sure I claimed all three Hallows so that I could cover my tracks! But it all boils down to this very moment! The battle! The wizards! The Dementors! The Autobots! The Decepticons! Harry Potter! All merely stepping blocks to achieve my true purpose: to use the weapon that can never lose a duel against the one being whom I have never been able to win in a duel against! From the very start, this whole plot had but one ultimate purpose: the death of Optimus Prime!”

Megatron held his gauntleted hand outstretched toward Optimus and Harry. “I would’ve waited an eternity for this moment,” he snarled, “It’s over, Prime!” A green light started gathering in his gauntleted hand, at the very tip of the Elder Wand. “Avada Kedavra!”

A/N Whew! Finally got that chapter done. That was intense. And left you guys with quite the cliffhanger, didn’t I? No worries, I’ve been updating this fic rather regularly and the last two chapters will be coming just as fast. And next, the conclusion!

29. The Matrix Opens

A/N OK, for all you Transformers geeks out there who have this thing for 80’s music. If you’ve got a particular song called ‘The Touch’ (TF fans should know what I’m talking about), prepare to start playing. The sentence to start at is the one that reads ‘And it opened’. OK good. On with the show!

Chapter 29: The Matrix Opens

Harry was back at Kings Cross. Over all it didn’t look any different from the last time he had been there. He really had been hoping that it wouldn’t be for a long time until he had to return here but alas, here he was. And, he was not alone.

Standing right next to him, towering above him was Optimus Prime, his armor as good as new and both arms attached. “Is this the Well of Allsparks?” he said.

“I’m not sure,” said Harry. “Though, I have been here before.”

“So have I,” said Prime. He looked upward and saw something. “Harry, take a look.”

Harry also looked upward and was surprised to see something that hadn’t been there the last time he was there. The blanketing whiteness of Kings Cross was giving away to a starry sky. And within the sky, closer than the moon was to the Earth given their size, were two planets.

One of the planets was a metallic sphere of a bluish, silver color. Its surface was littered with deep canyons and tall spiraling towers, surprisingly visible despite the planet’s size. Harry instantly realized what it was: Cybertron.

The other planet was of a hellish yellow, gold color also made of metal. Two, large horn like towers jutted out from the planet’s axis like the horns of some demonic creature. A metal ring formed around it like a forcefield that could destroy anything that dared attack the planet itself. And the overall feeling coming from the planet itself was vastly terrifying.

“Unicron,” muttered Optimus.

Harry’s attention wasn’t on Unicron but rather, the being he saw standing in between Unicron’s horns: someone who should’ve been so tiny from the size of Unicron yet was clearly visible to Harry as if he were standing right next to him. Someone Harry knew all too well.

“Voldemort,” said Harry.

From his vantage point in between Unicron’s horns, Voldemort smirked. “Potter, the irony is astounding. To think that’ you’ve survived me only to end up back here so soon. I knew you wouldn’t last that long.”

“Shut up!” snapped Harry. “You don’t have any say over me! You’re defeated!”

“And now ssssso are you,” hissed Voldemort.

“NO!” declared Harry. “I’m not done yet! I got through seventeen years against you! I can survive Megatron!”

Voldemort laughed. “Why the stubbornness Harry? Why not accept it? Why not accept yourself for being the failure that you are?”

Harry smirked. “I defeated you didn’t I?”

Voldemort scowled. “Don’t think you’ll escape from here thissss time!” he snarled. “You’re dead!”

“Wrong!” declared Optimus. “Our role in this story is far from over! Be gone dark ones! Your times are finished!”

“Yeah! So get the blasted hell out of here!” yelled Harry.

As Harry yelled those words, Voldemort and Unicron faded out of sight. Surprised, Harry and Optimus looked upward trying to see where they had gone to when a voice said from behind, “Indeed.”

Harry and Optimus spun around to see that in placed of Cybertron, there was now a colossal planet sized robot. It was silvery blue in color with massive cannon like structures forming out of the shoulders and body parts that looked as if they could fit into a sphere. The robot’s head somewhat resembled Rodimus’s but had vents on his forehead like Optimus.

“Primus!” exclaimed Optimus.

The mighty creator of the Cybertronians looked down upon them. “I see that you were not swayed by the illusions,” said Primus.

“Illu... you mean Voldemort and Unicron weren’t really there?” exclaimed Harry.

“They were a test: to see if the Well of Allsparks would be receiving another Spark or the human afterlife another soul,” said Primus. “Your Spark and soul are strong: it is not time for them yet to make their journey, as Albus Dumbeldore once described it, the next great adventure. You will awaken soon.”

“Wait!” said Harry. “What about Megatron?”

Primus looked down at Harry and said only two words: “Unleash me!”

* * *

When Harry came to, he was holding something which he had just pulled out of Optimus’s chest. It was a spherical object with two handles on either side, about the size of a scooter, yet light enough for Harry to carry easily. With Primus’s words still echoing in his head, Harry held the object above his head and tugged on both handles.

And it opened.

A white light spilled out from the object, bathing all the Hogwarts grounds. The green light of Megatron’s Avada Kedavra was absorbed and dissolved in the light.

“What?” exclaimed Megatron as the white light overtook him. It was apparently too bright for Megatron and he screamed as he covered his optics.

Harry held the sphere, the Matrix of Leadership over his head, standing in Optimus’s palm. Prime raised Harry above his head as the light, the essence of Primus spilled out over the grounds and proclaimed, “Light us in our darkest hour!”

The essence of Primus covered all: damaged Autobots were repowered and injured and exhausted humans were rejuvenated. “My God, what is this?” Hermione wondered out loud as she felt power coursing through her.

“It’s... the Matrix,” said Bumblebee in wonderment.

“By the Source!” exclaimed Rodimus. “He opened it!”

“That’s a big deal?” asked Ron.

“Oh yeah, believe us,” said Jazz, “Big time!”

Megatron was still writhing, holding his optics. Harry pointed his wand at him and yelled, “Accio Gaunt’s Ring!” The Resurrection Stone came flying away from Megatron straight into Harry’s hand. With the Matrix levitating above them, Harry leapt off Prime’s hand as Prime made one last charge at Megatron. Optimus Prime slammed one final, powerful punch into Megatron’s face just as Harry shouted, “Expelliarmus!”

Megatron was flung back about a hundred feet as Harry’s disarmer shot the Elder Wand out of the now destroyed Wheeljack’s gauntlet. The Elder Wand landed in Harry’s hand with him once again the wand’s true master.

“By the Pit!” snarled Megatron as he struggled to get back up. “If I could...” He stopped when he saw Prime standing over him. At Prime’s feet was Harry pointing both his own wand and the Elder Wand at him. Not only that, but Megatron found himself completely surrounded by all of the surviving Autobots and wizards, all rejuvenated by the Matrix, all of them training their firearms or wands on him.

“It’s over, Megatron,” said Prime. “Even you should be able to tell that this is the end of the line.”

Megatron growled but he knew that he had lost. “This is not finished yet, Optimus Prime!” With those last words, Megatron transformed into a jet and took off into the sky. Soundwave and Starscream, having come to and rejuvenated somewhat by the Matrix, also transformed into jets and took off into the air after their leader.

“For wizard-kind, it is,” said Prime.

“Harry!” yelled Hermione. She barreled straight into Harry and flung her arms around him. “You idiot! You could’ve been killed! Oh God, thank goodness that you’re OK!” she said, crying and laughing at the same time. “Oh Harry! Why if I didn’t...”

“Hermione,” Harry said gently as pulled back a little from her. “I’m OK.”

“You’d better be Harry James Potter,” said Hermione with a tearful smile. They leaned in, their lips coming closer when they abruptly stopped. Both of them turned toward Ginny looking sheepish.

“What? You’re concerned about me?” said Ginny, a frown on her face. “Well I can take care of that.” She made her way over toward them and said in a completely straight face, “Harry, I think we should see other people... it’s not you, it’s me... it obviously wasn’t meant to be... I hope we can remain friends. There, did I cover everything? Now, START SNOGGING!”

So forceful were Ginny’s words that Harry stood up rigid and said, “Yes, Ma’am,” before pulling Hermione into a deep kiss.

Luna timidly walked over toward Ron whom was staring at Harry kissing Hermione. “Um... Ronald... are you OK with... them?”

“Huh?” said Ron turning toward her. “Yeah... yeah I’m OK with it now. Guess things really do change in a matter of a few years.” He smiled at Luna and said, “Besides, I’ve got my eye on someone else now.”

Luna smiled back at him. Gently, their hands curled together.

Soon, the surviving Autobots and Order members fanned out over the grounds take care of their dead, wizard, Autobot, and Decepticon alike. Harry was in a far off corner with Hermione and Ron. In his hands he was holding his family’s Invisibility Cloak, Gaunt’s ring and former horcrux, and the wand that had passed down from the likes of Grindelwald and Dumbledore: the three most powerful magical artifacts in existence.

Optimus made his way over toward them and quietly asked, “What will you do with them now?”

Harry sighed and replied, “Exact same thing I did last time. The ring will be lost somewhere in the forest again.”

“And this time we’re going to make sure it stays lost,” piped in Ron.

Harry nodded and continued, “The cloak will stay in my family,” he gave Hermione a meaningful look and added, “for all future generations.”

Hermione raised her eyebrows and said, “Well, I sure hope they’ll know how to use it responsibly.”

Harry smirked and said, “I’ll have you to teach them that.” Hermione grinned back at him. “As for the wand, that’s going back to Albus.”

“We’re going to add some modifications to make sure it stays there as well,” said Hermione.

“That can wait though,” said Harry. “There’s one last thing I need to do with it before its shut away forever.” He pointed the Elder Wand at Prime and said, “Reparo.” In an instant, Prime’s severed arm reattached itself to his shoulder, good as new.

Delightfully surprised, Optimus tested his reattached arm by swinging it back and forth. “Why thank you,” he said.

“Always my pleasure,” answered Harry.

A/N And that’s a wrap! Well OK, there’s still one final concluding chapter to tie everything up that’s pretty much the whole story! Thank you everybody for sticking with me throughout all of this. I probably did get a little too cameo crazy toward the latter chapters and jumbled things up too much but I’m still highly satisfied by the way it all worked out. Once again, thank you for reading.

30. ‘Til All Are One

A/N You know, I’m not really a crossover author. Yet, the last several fanfictions I’ve written have all been crossovers of some sort. Maybe I should try to break the habit. Well, if I ever do write another fanfiction, it most certainly won’t be a crossover. It’ll be an AU.

Chapter 30: ‘Til All Are One

For an event that had been billed as the ‘Wedding of the Century’, the actual event was a small affair. One year after the events involving the Cybertronians, the wedding of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger was being held on the grounds of Hogwarts a bit of a distance from the castle itself. There were very few guests consisting solely of the Weasley family, Hermione’s parents, a few Hogwarts faculty such as McGonagall, Hagrid, and Neville, and a few select others. The only representative of the press attending was Luna Lovegood whom herself was part of the guest list.

The deaths of Minister Kingsley Shaklebolt, a good many of his staff, and a significant portion of the Auror Corps was a huge blow to the magical side of Britain. Still, it wasn’t as bad as the way things had been after Voldemort’s reign and the new Minister of Magic pledged to continue Kingsley’s legacy of rebuilding their world after the terror of the war.

Hogwarts was a different affair all together. The fact that the castle had been so easily penetrated again (albeit by alien robots this time) was a huge blow to the reputation of the school. An inquiry was made to determine the condition of the castle after the occupation by Decepticon forces. Luckily, despite the deaths of a number of the faculty and staff, no students had been killed. This fact managed to keep the faith on Hogwarts’s safety and by mid-November, the school was up and running again.

Severus Snape’s portrait received a new frame, placed in the Hogwarts Headmaster’s Office alongside the rest of the Headmasters and Headmistresses. Dumbledore’s Chocolate Frog Card never displayed Dumbledore’s portrait again and Harry strongly suspected that it was in fact Dumbledore’s portrait in the Headmaster’s office itself. For his part, Dumbledore never said a word on the subject although his eyes did give off an interesting twinkle every time it was mentioned.

Draco Malfoy used the aftermath of the “Abnomalie Affair” to reestablish the Malfoy name. He spent a good portion of his wealth rebuilding damaged buildings, fund charities to care for those whom had suffered in both wars, and organize fundraiser parties as a general morale boost. He also completely overhauled Malfoy Manor’s architecture when it was rebuilt, making it more welcoming and accessible or as Ron put it, “party center central”.

If there was one thing good that the Decepticons had done, it was rounding up all of the fugitive Death Eaters for Shockwave’s experiments. Quite abruptly, the Death Eater threat had been put to an end once and for all. While there was still the possibility of Voldemort fanatics committing terrorist crimes in his name, it was doubtful that the Death Eaters would ever be a credible organization again.

Shortly after the conclusion of the “Abnomalie Affair” Harry was offered the position of Minister of Magic which he politely declined. He instead dedicated most of his resources to reestablishing the Auror Corps. Due to the decimation of their ranks, a good many of the trainees had been appointed full-fledged Aurors including Harry and Ron.

However, as dedicated as Harry was to the Aurors, his true calling came in the form of something else entirely. About a month and a half after the Decepticons had been defeated, Harry called a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix at the rebuilt Burrow. Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Hagrid, McGonagall, George, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Arthur, Molly, and even Draco to the surprise of many were amongst those who showed up.

“Albus Dumbledore once told me that the truth is a wonderful and terrible thing,” said Harry once everyone had gathered. “The truth that I eventually learned from Albus was indeed complicated tapestry, all hidden under a veil of half-truths and dark secrets. However, while truth can be complicated, it can also be quite simple. Not too long ago, another good friend of mine reminded me of a universal truth: that freedom is the right of all sentient beings!

“The Order of the Phoenix was initially created to counteract the Death Eaters of Voldemort. Thus, when Voldemort was defeated, the Order disbanded. However, the Decepticons showed us that evil doesn’t just end with the death of one Dark Lord. Evil is forever present and it is up to the forces of good to fight against it lest it spread. Therefore, I am hereby establishing the Order of the Phoenix as a permanent independent establishment to come together whenever the great threat of evil should ever come forth again to threaten the freedom that is the right of all of us. The Order won’t get involved in everyday petty crime and stuff like that, but should another Voldemort or Megatron level threat should arise the Order will rise upon from the ashes like the creature it was named for.”

On the day of the wedding Hermione was a radiantly beautiful blushing bride. The couple had opted for simplicity during the ceremony with its very few guests and relatively tiny wedding party. Ron’s relationship with Luna was going only steadily enough where he had no qualms filling the role of Best Man. Ginny, on the other hand still felt a tad awkward and had therefore passed the role of Maid of Honor over to Luna. Of course, everybody had to agree that Ted made one very adorable Ring Bearer as did Victoire as a cute little flower girl.

Hagrid was already sobbing hysterically both the ceremony had even began, saying how he had transported little baby Harry to Surrey all those years ago and look at him now. Ginny and Neville had quite a time trying to keep him quiet as the ceremony proceeded.

The vows were exchanged and before the vicar could finish the sentence, “You may kiss the bride,” Harry pulled Hermione into a large kiss, bringing out a whoop from George Weasley. As Harry and Hermione kissed, Ron looked over toward Luna and mouthed something to her. Luna smiled and mouthed the words back.

As such, the simple ceremony came to a close. Or it at least seemed simple enough. If there was anything strange about the wedding, it would be the large number of automobiles parked around the seats of the guests as if the Hogwarts grounds were a parking lot rather than the setting of a wedding. Even more unique was there weren’t just civilian cars parked there but also specialized automobiles such as a police car, a F-1 racecar, a Hummer ambulance, and a red Peterbilt semi-truck just to name a few.

As an ecstatic Harry and Hermione Potter made their way down the aisle amidst all the rice being thrown, several jets flew by overhead releasing fireworks in their wake. The cars all parted and started driving toward the lake where the couple and the guests were making their way toward the lake.

Once they were out of the general vicinity of the castle, Harry turned toward the cars and said, “Hey guys, thanks for coming.”

The cars all transformed revealing that the entire gang was there: Optimus Prime, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, Rodimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Springer, Hound, Blurr, and Arcee. Up in the air, the jets Jetfire, Silverbolt, Fireflight, and Skydive flew past once more. Perceptor emerged from the lake and even Grimlock arrived with his Dinobots in tow.

“Hey, always our pleasure man,” said Jazz. “It’s not every day we get to hang at these Earth culture events.”

“It’s... unique,” said Prowl. “That’s all I can really say about it.”

“The educational merits are impressive,” said Perceptor. “Although, it piques my curiosity as to the reason for such ceremonies to be of relevance. While the one we just partook was of a simple nature, I am under the assumption that most such affairs are of an extravagant nature.”

“Eh, if they want to go the simple route let them go the simple route,” said Rodimus. “Isn’t that right ‘Harrimus Prime’?”

Harry cringed and said, “Let’s just leave it with ‘Harry’, OK?” Rodimus grinned, knowing full well that Harry didn’t like the nickname he had given him after opening the matrix.

“Thank you for coming everybody,” Hermione said sincerely. “I know it wasn’t easy to make the time to do so.”

“It was our pleasure,” said Optimus. “For us, reasons to celebrate are too far apart.”

“How are things going on that front?” asked Harry.

Prime looked solemn. “Megatron has been lying low for quite some time now,” he said. “It’s understandable given how much he lost during the Battle of Hogwarts. But he’s still out there rebuilding his forces. He will strike us again.”

“And when he does, we’re going to be ready for him!” declared Sideswipe.

Mirage looked bored as he said, “Yeah... well I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m ready to head back to Cybertron.”

“Agreed,” muttered Sunstreaker.

Ron whispered to Luna, “Do we have to invite them to our wedding?”

Luna shrugged and said, “The Spark of Convoy obliges us to do so.”

“Yeah, great,” muttered Ron. Luna grinned and kissed him which instantly put Ron in a better mood.

“We should be going as well,” said Harry. He grinned at Hermione and said, “We’ve got a honeymoon waiting for us.”

Hermione grinned back and said, “Yes, can’t wait for that.”

“Well then, your royal carriage awaits,” said Bumblebee as he transformed into a Camaro. “You two better fasten your seatbelts ‘cause it’s going to be quite a ride!”

“Don’t forget to contact me after you get back Hermione,” said Wheeljack. “We still need to go over that Quantum pulse accelerator theory.”

“I’ll remember that,” said Hermione as she stepped inside the Camaro. “And try not to blow yourself up while we’re away. Ratchet has his hands full as it is.”

“You can say that again,” muttered Ratchet.

“Harry,” said Prime as he kneeled down in front of them. “I haven’t thanked you enough for the aid you gave us while fighting the Decepticons.”

“They threatened all of us, we can be quite tough in cases like that,” said Harry. “Optimus, if the war ever down come to an end, I want you to know that the Wizarding World, at least my circle of it will be welcome to all of you, the Transformers.”

“You have shown to me Harry that you and your kind, like us there’s more than meets the eye,” said Prime. He offered Harry his index finger. “Til all are one, Harry Potter.”

Harry smiled and shook the finger. “Til all are one, Optimus Prime.” With those words Harry Potter stepped inside Bumblebee with his new wife, and they drove off into the sunset ready to face whatever direction their lives would now take them. As soon as they were out of sight, Optimus Prime turned to his assembled forces.

“Autobots, transform and roll out!”

The End

A/N That’s it! That’s the end of this fic! Thank you a million times over for reading this fic. Thank you once again for sticking with to the end. And one last thank you out there to all H/H shippers and their eternal stubbornness. No matter what the ‘canon’ is, we keep the ship sailing for as long as we’re around.

More Than Meets the Eye

1. The First Attack of the “Abnomalies”

2. The Immediate Consequences

3. Happy “Family”

4. Malfoy in Peril

5. Ominous Investigation

6. Robot Heroes

7. Meet the Autobots

8. The Deathly Hallows Once More

9. Bugs at the Burrow

10. Enter the Scorpion

11. Plan of Action

12. Wheeljack’s Gauntlet

13. Express or Shuttle

14. The Wrath of Megatron

15. Encounter with Devastator

16. Help from the Prince

17. A Desperate Situation

18. Malfoy and Mirage

19. Starscream’s Folly

20. The Chosen Ones

21. The Decepticons’ Ultimatum

22. The Twins, the Old Geezer, the Tree Hugger, and the Music ‘B

23. The Dementor’s Kiss

24. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 1

25. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 2

26. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 3

27. The Battle of Hogwarts Cybertronian Style Part 4

28. Optimus Prime vs. Megatron

29. The Matrix Opens

30. ‘Til All Are One

31. Author's Note