Harry was staring at his charms essay and it was like he was transported to some other world. He was contemplating all the things which had gone wrong in that year. Like, how his two best friends were not on speaking terms. The silence hung heavy as he looked around. He looked at Hermione who was furiously scribbling on her parchment and Ron, well he was looking bored. Harry got up, gathered his belongings intending to leave.
"I will see you later. I remembered something."
Seeing the looks on his best friend's faces, he decided to leave sooner rather than later. He could not give them any explanation regarding what he wanted to do, considering he had no idea where he was headed.
Walking outside, he saw many students enjoying the nice weather. It was not sunny but a warm day. He walked towards the south of the castle towards the lake. The Great lake looked as peaceful as he had hoped. He settled near a tree. The sky was clear and the water was tranquil. Staring at water did some good to his mood. He took his wand out and cast "Expecto Patronum."He focused and saw the wisp of smoke which appeared every time he practiced. He remembered what Professor Lupin said about the Patronus charm. Resigned, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. There was no point in worrying and thinking ahead when he was so uncertain.
Granted he was calm now, he wished to see the giant squid. He knew there were water demons and some other animals in the lake. He tried to remember how many animals he knew which lived in water. There were the Grindylows, Merpeople, Selkies and of course the Giant squid in the Black Lake.

Seeming satisfied with himself, he started walking along the lake perimeter and saw a pen. He bent down to look at it. It was unusual because the students at Hogwarts used quills to write. He hesitated then touched it. In a whirl of motion, he found himself standing on the forest floor.
Harry gasped. The pen which was a Portkey was lying on the grass. He picked it but nothing happened. The turn of events made his head whirl in dizziness. He was trapped in the forest until he could figure a way out. He looked around for something which could provide some explanation for his predicament. The canopy of trees offered no help. He moved towards the nearest tree and examined his surroundings.
Moving forward for what seemed like five minutes, he found a worn out path. It was really strange. He found a poorly constructed shed at the end of the path. All things considered, something was hidden in that place. And something was truly and really wrong.
He took out his wand and muttered "Aparecium".
There was a disillusion charm in that place and what it revealed was what that shocked him. He did not expect for it to actually work. Who would leave their belongings in a haphazard way for someone to stumble upon them and discover them? Papers were strewn around and there were many torn pieces of them too. It was like something major had happened there before he arrived.
Moving closer, he noticed the papers. Each paper had information about some animal. There were Pygmy Puffs, Hippogriffs, Thestrals, Dragons, Occami and many more. Who was studying animals in the forest?
He turned back and tried to notice anything out of normal. So far, he could not find anything. Now the major problem was obviously how to return to Hogwarts. He had no idea where he was. Come to think of it, he had no clue how far he was. He was beginning to think that it could be the Forbidden forest. It would probably ease his troubles. He certainly had the knack of finding himself in unpredictable situations. Now he could think of only one way to escape. Harry greatly regretted not bringing his broomstick with him.
"Accio Firebolt", he said. It was long shot but trying could not hurt him. Soon the broomstick was flying towards him. He breathed a sigh of relief. He mounted it and rose above the trees. He could see the distant view of Hogwarts. He was right. It was definitely the Forbidden Forest. This seemed like it was his lucky day. He had much to tell his friends.
It was dinner time. Where would his friends be? He started towards the Great Hall when a voice broke his attention.
"Well. The famous Potter walking alone, without his loyal friends. Are you in trouble?"
Harry turned to see Malfoy smirking with Crabbe and Goyal by his side. He was too excited to tell his adventure that he did not want to get riled up by Draco and duel him right there.
"I don't have to explain myself to you, Malfoy." Remembering the task at hand, Harry started walking, leaving them there. He plopped beside Ron who was eating. Before he could speak anything, Hermione was at his side.
"Where were you? We couldn't find you anywhere."
Ron was nodding his head.
"Big, strange story." With that, he told them everything and produced the pen.

"Who uses a pen here?"

"Ron, we cannot say that. Maybe someone had a pen." Hermione said deep in thought.
"You guys made a truce, right?" Harry said looking at both of them. They constantly had a difference of opinions.

They nodded. It was good. Harry did not like "not spending time with both of them."
"It could be a trap, you know. I mean, how did you get that pen, which was a Portkey?"

"You are right. Why was I the only one to find it?"
"Someone meant it for you to find it. It could not be a coincidence."
"Then, I will go again in the night. Someone is bound to come there."
"Harry, even Ron thinks that is a bad idea. You do not know who you are dealing with. We could get seriously hurt. Not to mention, how will we get out in the night without anyone knowing?"
"But something was definitely wrong there."
"Harry, you may be right. But, we will go tomorrow in the daylight. We could be caught in trouble if we go there without gathering information. It would be like walking in a trap."
Harry decided to do what they suggested.
The next day, three of them were walking through the forest. Hermione had a small bag which could contain some potions or some books. It was hard to tell. Ron was walking in a carefree manner, unlike when he knew, he was to meet a giant spider. And Harry, he was looking forward to finding something new.
They walked for nearly half an hour before they reached their destination. The place was nearly the same as Harry left it, but in addition, the walls were burned.
"It's like when Hagrid had Norbert." Ron was still walking around.
Hermione was still observing when she turned around at Ron's statement.
"You may be onto something. These weren't there when you were here, right Harry?"
Harry shook his head no. "This could be over thinking but I think there were dragons here. I mean eggs were hatched."
"Why would someone carry Dragon eggs and keep them. It is illegal. Animals are not to be kept in captivity. "
"We should catch whoever that is. That person is dangerous. Or persons. We do not know who is involved in this."

"Anyway, we can't catch him without knowing what he does and where he goes."
"So, what should we do?"
"We must wait and see if we can catch him red handed. We cannot just assume the worst and try to charge him."

This incident dragged Harry's focus completely. Harry was thinking about it all of the time that he was zoning out. He was not concentrating on his classes. Ron nudged him when he was thinking again and was about to get detention.
"You can't just keep thinking about that. It may be nothing. Just some old man's shed which was attacked by some fire-breathing animal. Or the old man was crazy and was loose with his lighter."
"I know, Ron. But there is something going on. I can feel it. I was led to that place. Someone's helping me. I can't just ignore that."
"Let's hope so. Just don't be disappointed if it does not work out."
To Harry's dismay, nothing had changed for nearly a week. He was losing hope. Ron and Hermione were not as distraught as him, though. It was like it never happened and Harry would not let it go that easily.
He went to that place, the next morning alone. He decided that if he did not get any lead, he would leave that matter alone.
He was lucky. Harry did find something unexpected. He found a person. Or rather, the person found him.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The person did not know who he was. His scar was hidden by his hair and that was good.
"I was just sightseeing. Who are you? Is that your shed?"He said pointing towards it.
"It is not. Are you a Hogwarts student?"
Harry observed the man. He was tall, black haired, blue eyed with a dark brown cloak.
"Yes. What's your name?"
"I would rather not tell. I am searching for someone. It appears that you know something about this", he said pointing towards the papers.
Harry nodded.
"The guy I am hunting smuggles animals. So I intend to stop him. Don't wander here again by mistake. Let me do my job. I will not let you go easy if I find you again here."Harry got all the confirmation he needed. He did not really need to acquiesce the stranger's request. Regardless, he decided to not tell the man his intentions.
"Fine, mister."
With that Harry left. He now had a confirmation at least.
"Really. Did he say that?"Clearly, Ron was excited to hear that.

Harry was sitting in the library, working on his unfinished Transfiguration essay with Ron and Hermione and had told them everything.
"Yes. We should do something."
"Alright, both of you. We will discuss it later. Let's go somewhere else."
They were in the Common room near the fireplace where no one else was. Hermione cast a Silencing charm for extra security.
"We need to go tonight. The guy came because he was confident of the smuggler's return, don't you think?"
"As much as it is not expected from you, you are right, Hermione."
"We will sneak off in the night."
"We all can't fit in the Invisibility Cloak now, Ron."
"We will have to be sneaky or Harry can make two rounds and take us in the cloak."
"I don't want to get caught now. Two rounds it is."
It was hard but Harry managed without tipping off Filch. It was very dark and they could not light up the path without waking up Hagrid.
When they were out of the castle's surroundings and in the forest, Harry breathed relief.
"Lumos," the three of them said and walked in the light of their wands. They decided to turn the light off so as to not warn the criminal.
They walked with much care and were upon the place, their destination. The sight was entirely unexpected. The guy Harry had met earlier was knocked out. And there was another guy wearing all black with a mask on. He seemed to be meditating.
"Ah, you are here, boy. Thought I couldn't know if someone was in my sanctuary, huh?" he said looking at Harry.
"How did you know?"
"I am not stupid. I could see that you did magic here. It leaves a trace and I can feel it."
"Are those your friends? Well well well, what do I do with you before I kill you for exposing my secret?"
"We don't know your secret. And we have not exposed it or anything," Ron piped up.

"You should give me your wands. You do not want me to kill this gentleman here, would you? Your obedience decides his fate."
Soon the three of them found themselves tied up beside their unconscious friend.
"Hey. What is your secret?"
"RON. Don't ask him anything,"Hermione furiously whispered.
"Ah, young lady. I will not harm you now," he said with a sinister laugh.

"Where are the dragons?"
"Mr.Potter, right on track. I just gave them to people who want them."
"You know, it is illegal to breed them. The ministry will catch you."
"Will you tell your father? They could not catch me till now, see him for the example."
"Why do you want to sell animals? It's just wrong."
"I don't care. I want the muggles to know we exist. They brush us off when they are given evidence and get their memories wiped off. Why should we live in secrecy?"
"So, you think using animals will get you to make muggles know us?"
"That's not airtight logic," Hermione said.

"It will help me have an upper hand on ministry. They do nothing. Always hiding."He shook his head.
Harry was so engrossed that he did not realize his bindings were free. Hermione must have done something. And this guy was crazy.
"We wizards do extraordinary things. And no one ever knows that." He was still ranting. They moved together as one and tried to attack the man with the mask. He just swiped his hand and he was off 20 feet from them. Their vision changed and somehow they were facing animals.
Ron was seeing a huge Acromantula in front of him which appeared out of nowhere. He was seeing a boggart. The others could not tell him because they got other problem to deal with. There was a Wampus too.
Now, this was dangerous. It is quite impossible to beat Wampus which could use hypnosis and Legilimency.
"Hermione, what should we do?" Harry asked. The cat was yellow and huge.
"We cannot fight properly. Just try something."
Both of them yelled, Impedimenta. The cat just moved of their way. It moved really fast. Harry cast a shielding spell on him and Hermione. It blocked some of the cat's attacks. Hermione in a bust of energy pointed her wand and said Aguamenti. The cat was drenched and seemed angrier. It tried its powers and Harry was throwing them off. They played the cat and mouse game. The cat sidestepped all of their spells and jinxes very easily. They were running out of their energy and all the spells were intercepted easily.

Another Wampus jumped out all of sudden and joined the fray. It drew the attention of everyone present there. Ron was shaking when he reached and saw what was unfurling before us.
Both cats seemed to be battling their powers. Better other Wampus than us thought the trio. They would be tap dancing if the cat wanted. Ron was shaking when he reached and saw what was happening before them.
"That is scary."
"Yeah."
Both cats were now apparently done the fighting and reached a middle ground. Things became eerily calm. And they turned towards the masked man who was gaping at the Wampus who he thought was his pet.
"Why are you doing this? Your pet is not going to help you. Just stop it."
"I will not till I make everyone equal."
"You are wrong. Whatever you are doing isn't right. People would freak out if they knew there was magic. They would not accept us this way very easily. You need to be reasonable."
"I am just gonna kill you all and do my work."
"Well Harry, your motivational speech did not work, good job anyway."
"Thanks, Ron."
"We are to be killed and you say this?"Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Now if you-"
He fell down. Our mysterious friend had hit him on the head with a log.
"Thanks for holding him out. He did not know when I woke up because his concentration was on you. He was an extremely powerful hypnotist. He made his pet animal attack you."
"Are you going to take him into custody, sir?" said Hermione.

"Yes, and I would rather you not speak about this to anyone."
With their vow of not telling others about the night's incident, he apparatated.
The next day, the three of them were sitting and eating breakfast. They were tired but also happy. The fight was lethal and they could not do much anyway.
"Why do you think he wanted to expose us this much?"
"Maybe Ron, because he hated not being able to do magic in front of Muggles. Some people do not like these kinds of restrictions. Most try to be accommodating but some try to fight. He was fighting in a way he thought correct. He was adamant in that, you saw that, right?"Hermione said looking at both of them.

"But using animals, keeping them captive, controlling them, this is wrong. Animals are not to be treated that way. Using them for magic is also exploiting. It is wrong. He would have sold many and made their life hell."
Harry was so sad about that fact.
"We cannot change that. But now that he is caught, hopefully, nothing of this sort will happen again. Besides we need to discuss something."
"What Hermione?"
"That you guys talk rubbish in stress when we are about to die."
They broke in a fit of laughter.
"Anyway Hermione, how did you remove those ropes?"
She smiled in a secretive manner."A magician never reveals his secrets."

Author's note:
This is my first time writing fanfiction.This is what I wrote with Amarprem p.v.y
Thanks for reading. :)