Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the Harry Potter Universe. Anything else is mine.
A/N: This chapter had been redone and revamped thanks to my lovely beta/best friend DarkAngelFromMercury. She added quite a bit of things to help improve things and I thank her for her help with fixing mistakes and adding to the chapter content. Thanks, Dark Angel.
Hidden amongst humans and many other human-like beings is a secret race known as Gargoyles. Despite popular belief, these creatures are not really ugly and do not spend the daylight hours as stone statues. No, it was quite the opposite to be honest. They were humanoid like creatures that had reptilian wings, along with other wing types, and some even had vampire-like characteristics. They are the protectors of all living things and the innocent. They punished wrongdoers for their crimes without anyone realizing why the people died in the first place. These Gargoyles could control the elements at their leisure and could easily blend in with humankind by willing their wings back into their bodies.
But each kind of gargoyle was different and had different characteristics and forms. Most were the perfect blend of vampires and the gargoyles without the vampirism or even magic running through them. You see, some Gargoyles have magical abilities while others don't, just like not all humans are witches or wizards. If it wasn't vampire-like similarities, it was a number of different types of creatures that some of the gargoyles had characteristics of. That is because Gargoyles can mate with just about any creature and that is where many of their characteristics came from. It is rare for anyone to see a non-magical gargoyle since they mostly lived in forests, mountains, and other such places when people don't normally venture to.
Gargoyles were a carefully guarded secret in the world. They are laws unto themselves and they try not to interfere in the lives of mortals because most of the gargoyles were indeed immortal. Yes, they may be immortal, well, at least their souls are, but that does not mean that their bodies cannot be killed. It is very hard to kill a gargoyle, but it is possible to do. They are the guardians and protectors of life and only interfered with the lives of mortals when it was absolutely needed. It is unfortunate, but in some ways, the gargoyles are a dying race. If a gargoyle is successfully killed their souls do not always become reincarnated into another body in a new life. This is why they are, in a way, a dying race.
Over time, though, the Gargoyles slowly began to merge themselves back into different societies in order to better observe the mortals and protect them when they could. Some were even slowly starting to make themselves known again to some beings that were known to keep secrets. It was important that regular mortals not know about the existence of Gargoyles unless there were mortals that are actually mates to a Gargoyle. Those that knew of the Gargoyles knew enough to keep their mouths shut or risk vanishing and being forced to live in isolation because most Gargoyles would not take an innocent life, if it could be absolutely avoided.
Protectors
A Gargoyle shifts his weight as he prepares to land in a small clearing in the forest near where his home is. He folds his wings slightly inside and gets his feet ready to catch him as he glides to the ground. Once his feet are almost touching the ground, he straightens his body out and places his feet gently on the ground. He walks a few steps and folds his wings gently against his back. He looks around the clearing to make sure no non-magical folks came around as he landed. He smiles when he sees a young man with brown hair and soft brown eyes with a slight glow to them steps out of hiding.
"Ivan, I have been waiting for you." smiles the young man.
"Sorry, Dante, I got held up." smiles Ivan as he flicks a lock of black hair behind his back. "You know as well as I that I have been trying to find young Emerald since his parents went into hiding."
"Of course, I understand, but I do miss you when you are away." speaks Dante walking up to Ivan.
"I am close, he is close. Soon, we'll be able to find him and then everything will be back to the way it was supposed to be." states Ivan as the two walk into the woods and towards their home.
Protectors
Now, many may be wondering right about now what any of this may have to do with one Harry James Potter. Right? Well, it's really simple, to be honest. Harry is about to come into a creature inheritance and learn some things about his parents that he never knew of before. He will also learn things about the people around him that he never knew before either. That's not the only things that young Harry will learn. He'll find out soon that there are people in the wizarding world that have plans for him, plans that may or may not be in his best interests. Harry's life is going to change soon and it may take some time to see if it will turn out to be a good change for him or a bad change.
Eventually, the Protectors will make themselves known to Harry. When that time comes, alliances will be either forged or broken and will have a ripple effect on the war and its participants. Nothing will be the same.