Title: Wolf Child.
Summary:
As a child, Harry Potter disappeared from the known world. He had been abused, treated poorly and otherwise a miserable child. Now he is sixteen and has been found, but those who cared for him are in for a huge surprise. As the young man they found was not an exactly human anymore.
Warnings: Rated Teen, remake of an old fic of mine, named wolf child. No slash, HP/OC. Just for you to be warned the story will be different from what the first one was though many things will stay the same. It will be darker. Blood, violence and war.
Disclaimer: Lepren are mine, as I once went by the name of Wolfishgrin. (You might want to take a look at Child of Wilderness, a story my own inspired.) If you want to use the concept of Lepren, please email me to get permission, and you have to put the fact that lepren are mine in your disclaimer. I own nothing from the Potterverse though.
Thoughts, "Normal speech", Animal speech.
Chapter One.
The forest was both welcoming and foreboding, depending on whom you would ask. The one that prowled it right now would say that it was his home, the place he felt secure. Of course, he wasn't human, so it was all that easier to do. His form was stretched on the ground, not yet moving, but prepared nonetheless. His body was that of a leopard. Mostly, but you could see his features were nearly that of a wolf as well.
His light reflective green eyes were looking around, waiting for Flame-Snout to come. They had found out some interesting and possibly dangerous facts about the humans living near. Their existence may be in danger that is why he had called for the old lepran, for his council was always valuable. An old graying lepran entered the small clearing the alpha was lounging in; it's nearly blind eyes searching for his.
Chuffing in greeting, the dark black creature stalked gracefully to the not so graceful old lepran.
Flame-snout. He greeted.
Dark-Flame. The older lepran replied.
Sitting down, Dark-Flame let his gaze wander on the ever-graying wolf/leopard hybrid.
Winter has not been good to you I see? The black lepran said.
Sure he knew that Flame-snout would not be with them for much longer, but he had hoped he would have been all right.
Indeed not. But it is not why you have summoned me. The blue-eyed lepran replied.
You heard the whispers of the forest, you heard those wizard roam without a care for the nature around them. Said the alpha concerned. Something comes, something as bad as the first lepren wars…
It was indeed troubling news, as every sensitive creature had been listening to the forest, the trees spoke of a great evil, coming from the magical humans.
I want your council on these dark matters.
It was expected; Flame-Snout was the oldest lepran of the whole forbidden forest, going from pack to pack, giving help and receiving some. The old magical creature seemed to think it over, sitting on the ground, lower than Dark-Flame but still sitting tall.
The pack must be protected at all costs, the forest must remain ours, a council of all must be called. Centaurs, dire wolves, lycans, unicorns, thestrals, amongst others. All those who are old enough to fight must train; I can sense great battles coming.
Thank you Flame-Snout. He replied slightly bowing his head.
Smoothly, he left the old hybrid, his stride taking a faster rhythm with each step. After a few feet in the forest, the part animal dug his claws in the bark of a tree and hoisted himself up. Slinking through the branches, the lepran made a quick way from tree to tree, his graceful form not to be seen in the shadows. He had to warn the pack, he had to make sure all were safe for now, especially Night-feather.
Running from branch to branch, he took a short path to the dwelling of his pack, the night hunters. In but a half an hour, he leaped from the last tree in a clearing, landing in a crouch amongst his brethrens. His abrupt apparition did not really startle them, as it was his usual manner of entering the pack dwelling. He threw back his head, letting a long note glide out of his mouth. It was commanding, summoning all those who were part of his pack. That got the attention of the few wolves and lepren around, heads snapping towards their black leader.
There was a wolf and two lepren, but usually the pack counted more of each. Looking over the pack, a mental brow was raised, where were Night-Feather, Grey-Leaf, Ryna and Bryn. The latter two being wolves. Giving a questioning look to the lepran nearest to him, a tawny brown and grey spotted one with yellow eyes. His name was Swiftpaw, his second in command.
Where are the others?
Night-Feather has gone to hunt at the borders, the others were by the pond the last time I saw them. Swiftpaw replied. They should arrive shortly.
A rustling of leaves caught the attention of the pack members present in the clearing, their wolven heads snapping towards the sound. Wary, the youngest one of the company strode over to her alpha, seeking comfort from the older lepran. She was about half the size of Dark-Flame, her brilliant red colored coat standing out greatly against the darker fur of her leader.
Fortunately, their worry was for nothing as three very obviously wolven creatures tumbled in the grove. One was a lepran, the other two were wolves. Frowning, the emerald-eyed leopard wolf hybrid waited a few more moments for night-Feather to arrive before starting with his explanation of why he had called them. He was a bit worried it shouldn't have taken Night-Feather so long to arrive. When he was finished retelling his encounter with Flame-Snout, he looked around for any sign of his beloved.
Any of you have an idea where Night-Feather could be? Dark-Flame asked.
Bryn, one of the last two wolves to arrive, a faded brown and dark grey creature, walked up to him and bowed his head slightly.
Last I saw her, she was headed towards the edge of the forest, she said she wanted to hunt pale flesh, whatever that means.
The alpha's eyes took a worried glint, he knew what that meant, it was not good for either parties. Indeed, Night-Feather had had a worst childhood than most children; it left her with and undying dislike of wand waving wizards. He leaped to his feet, barking an order to follow him.
Somewhere else, in a field in front of an old looming castle, a group of small wizard children was walking towards a small house at the outskirts of the forest. An enormous man was waiting there for them, a teacher obviously. All the while that the children were walking towards the giant man, they were bickering, trading insults and otherwise making nuisances of themselves. When the group reached the half giant teacher, chatter died down immediately. The students were wondering what Hagrid would bring as the subject for their class today; it was more often than not some dangerous carnivorous beast.
"Wait here children, I will bring back today's class subject." He said in his overly joyful tone.
The half giant walked behind his hut, many curious whispers erupting behind him. When he returned, there was a relatively large cage in his arms, a furious beast inside growling its anger at being caged. Placing the cage on the ground, he took a step back when a maw snapped from between the bars, wanting to get a piece of him.
"Can any of you tell me what this beauty is?" the half giant asked the children.
The beauty in question was a dark brown leopard wolf hybrid, her underbelly being of a lighter color. Her spots, pointer flower looking leopard spots, were back, while her eyes were of a pure sky blue color. She was pissed; you didn't need to look at the lepran to know that. A small child to the front raised her hand, her long curly light brown hair falling out of her face.
"Is it a wolf?" She asked.
"Not quite, but you were near." Hagrid replied. "She is a lepran, a rare magical creature. They take the form of a leopard/wolf hybrid and possess many magical gifts that have yet to be identified. Some believe them to be kin to werewolves, but not much is known about them, except that they might be of wizard origin rather than simply being creatures. They can transform to a human form but scarcely do so. They usually stray far from humans, especially wizards for unknown reasons."
Another student raised his hand, a blond haired youth with an aristocratic face.
"Yes Dralik?" He asked to the youngest Malfoy.
"Why isn't there more information on Lepren?" The blond child questioned.
"Because most lepren often have a fierce dislike of humans, they are usually shy. There is also the fact that nearly nobody knows where they live or where to find any, if this little beauty hadn't been tracking me, I wouldn't have found her."
As the lesson continued about what little was known about lepren. Unbeknown to them, a greater threat than the irate caged lepran was approaching.
Indeed, the pack had come for its lost member, Dark-Flame leading, Swiftpaw just behind him, the other five following discreetly. They had taken the fastest path, dashing from one tree branch to another. They managed to make their journey unheard, their eyes glowing in the dark. To say they were furious would have been an understatement; pissed beyond belief would be a good word to describe how the leader felt. How dare they caged my mate, how dare they threaten my pack?? It hadn't happened in a while, since lepren were so secretive, a pack hadn't been attacked, threatened or captured in well over a millennia.
Not waiting to see if the others were following, the lepran leaped on the ground as soon as the trees cleared. His powerful stealthy strides carried him towards the gathering of humans he could see in the small distance. Letting out a furious roar, he stopped just a few behind the half giant who slowly turned. The other pack members approached to a more sedated pace, a few steps behind the leader. The children backed away when they saw the angry looking pack, not too sure of what to do, they didn't go far.
Hagrid turned towards the angry group of canines, and not so canine creatures. A joyful bark resounded from the cage where Night-Feather was being held captive. With a small Nod, Grey-Leaf, a silver hued grey lepran walked up to the caged and simply head butted it gently. At first nothing happened, but soon electricity seemed to run through the cage, making it fall apart around the dark brown female lepran. The lepran female immediately leaped above the remains of the cage, happily bouncing about. Many an eyebrow was raised at that.
The black lepran let out a low growl, his cold gaze locking with the half giant's. He was angry, but to see Night-Feather now free had lessened it a bit. She was one of the only lepren in existence not being able to do magic, for the simple reason that there never had been a muggle lepran before either. Maybe she was a special one, there probably was some creature blood there beforehand or some kind of situation that had caused her transformation. Usually, muggles didn't have enough magic in them to trigger such a transformation.
Stalking up to Hagrid, the black lepran prepared to pounce and give a lesson as to why you should not try and maim, attack, cage or otherwise harm a lepran, especially if the lepran's pack was nearby. He didn't really want to kill, just terrify the giant into submission, yes, that would do as a punishment. Sure, the lepran was forgetting the half giant's view on all dangerous creature, which is that he believes them to all be friendly cuddly creatures. It would be a difficult task to convince Hagrid otherwise.
The members of his pack slowly created a semi-circle behind their chieftain, to cover his back as well as to get a good angle at the fight. You would not want to miss such a show. But before the alpha could engage, a twig snapped behind them in the forest, with sounds of heavy footsteps and human breath. Most of the pack snapped attention to it, knowing somehow that those sounds were more threatening than the half giant and the whole of the class. Slowly, the lepren and wolves turned to the noises. The trees were telling of some unnamed shadow, some small evil coming their way.
Do you hear what my ears are telling me? Dark-Flame asked his second in command.
Indeed my liege. The trees are worried, so are the birds, for they do not sing.
Their conversation was interrupted though as a sickly puke colored spell flew over their heads.
Shit! Was the very 'helpful' comment from the young red lepran.
The night hunters crouched down, looking for the death eaters that had dared attack them on the grounds. They spotted them, a small group hiding just beyond the first line of trees.
The children were running back to the castle with Hagrid, a wise move, as eleven years old children were not trained enough to fight.
Stay out of the lights, let none touch you! The black lepran howled, before leaping towards the death eaters.
The idiots had attacked them, it was only polite to reiterate. As in a single body, all the pack followed their leader, obviously surprising the death munchers by their coordination. They were trying to stray away from the spells as much as they could, jumping away in a rare show of agility.
Pouncing on one of the death eaters, his claws digging in his chest, the wand being swatted away by the force of the tackle. He could not afford to let such dangerous humans to live, so he did what he had always done with those who threatened the integrity of his pack, he ripped the death eater's throat open. Guilt crept in his heart as it always did, but he could not dwell on that fact. Creeping behind a firing dark moron, he quickly swept the wizard off his feet, taking the wand in his jaws and snapping it cleanly in half.
What he did not expect though was the knife that flashed just in front of his face, He winced and let out a pained growl as the blade bit through his shoulder. His eyes caught the wizard's gaze, feral rage getting in their green depths. His magic didn't wait for his conscious thoughts to catch up and lashed out, tossing the death eater rather forcefully in a tree, breaking its neck and causing its instant death. He collapsed to the ground, blood coming out of his wound in a steady flow. A cry resounded from somewhere around him, he knew that voice, but couldn't place it.
Blood was quickly being lost by the lepran, his strength wavering with each passing moment. After a while, he vaguely felt someone pick his limp form up and hurry him towards the castle. Blackness enveloped his mind, and he knew no more.
Author's note:
I would like to know what you thought of this chapter, what I should do better, etc… Flames will be laughed at and used to roast chicken. I don't know when the second chapter will be finished, so I won't put a date on that. Please review, it will encourage me to continue.
Lady idyllic.