James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were on the way to Herbology when a shout from over the Forest distracted them.

A girl on a broomstick in hoodie and jeans shot towards them, whooping and laughing. Further behind, an man on a hippogriff, carrying a briefcase, shouted after her.

She looked back, grinned, then spiralled to the height of Gryffindor tower. She stood up on her broom, wobbled for a moment, and dived off.

James and Sirius both went for their wands, but the girl was faster, quickly casting a charm at the ground.

As she hit, the ground twisted, and she bounced up again, catching a hold of her broom before diving it to the ground and landing.

"Whoa," said Sirius. "Moony, when do we learn that?"

Remus looked confused. "That's N.E.W.T. level magic. She's only fifteen."

She overheard. "Uncle Newt taught me it. In case I fell off, as he put it, the 'death trap.' Unfortunately, he forgot to take into account my love of adrenaline sports."

At that moment, Dumbledore emerged from the school.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, I understand you have lessons to be getting to.
Mr. Lupin, a word?"

The girl backed away fast. "Newt will be worried. I'd better.."

Dumbledore glanced over from his conversation with Remus. "Not so fast, Miss Noctem. I need to speak to you about your behaviour." He dismissed Remus and fixed his gaze on her.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. Pulling dangerous stunts in front of impressionable first years. Not to mention Mr. Black and Mr. Potter, who are in their fourth year and still less mature than most six year olds.
Off the record, did you have fun?"

"Always, sir," she grinned. "You know me."

Newt finally landed his hippogriff and apologized to Dumbledore on behalf of his wayward protege.

"No harm done," he said. "Where did she learn that spell, though?"

Newt flushed. "Well, she insists on riding that thing, and I.. I thought.."

Dumbledore laughed.

"Artemis, we need to be getting back. We're several hundred miles off where we should be, and -"

Dumbledore interrupted Newt's ramblings, saying, "Stay at the castle tonight. It's a full moon, so it will be too cold to fly much longer anyway. And I expect Miss Noctem would like to play a pick-up game of Quidditch, before it gets too dark."

She smiled widely. "Would I ever!"

He pointed her in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, where a group of unoccupied sixth years on a free period were playing Quidditch for fun.

On the pitch, she quickly identified the captains, about to start, and offered her services. The Gryffindor team was ready, but the Ravenclaws were short a seeker.
"Can you seek?" The Ravenclaws captain inquired. She nodded, kicking off, her short brown hair fluttering in the November wind. Her silver grey eyes caught the rays of four o'clock sunlight, as she circled high above.

She thought she saw a glint of something, far below, and leant forwards, diving straight down, at first to check it out, and when it turned out to be nothing, for the thrill of it. She spiralled up, noticing the Snitch part way, and gave chase, exhilarated by the wind and sun.

She caught the Snitch only seconds before the other seeker, standing up on her broom to shake hands and pass him the Snitch before flying off.

She had lost track of time, and soon the first star would be out. There was no time to get to the case, she had to make it to the Forest, before sunset. At last, she dived into the trees, leaving her broom by the edge where she would find it.

She was about a kilometre in when she couldn't run anymore, and collapsed against a tree.

Her bones broke, reforming, shaping her into something else, something animal.

A blue tiger, with silver grey eyes. No hint of humanity remained. Only the tiger was behind those eyes.

The tiger stretched, before padding through the trees. It wandered, hunting moths and drinking from streams.

At around mid night, the tiger came across a strange group of animals.
A werewolf, a stag, a dog, and perched on the horns of the stag, a fat grey rat.

The tiger jumped out, purring, and dropped into a half crouch.

Let's play!

The dog wagged its tail, jumping up a little.

Play! Play!

And so when the moon broke through the trees, it saw a strange sight, never seen before or since. A star tiger, a werewolf, a stag animagus, a rat animagus, and a dog animagus, all playing tag under the trees.

Want more Newt and Artemis Noctem, as well as PJO/HOO fanfic?
I'm co-writing a crossover with MissUnicornGirl .
Ten comments on this paragraph, and we'll publish it.