The Hidden Amaranth
This is the story of Harry Potter but not as you know him. No this Harry is very different to what others would consider normal. The story starts in fourth year. Harry and the Weasley family isn't close, and although there won't be bashing they won't be a major part of the story.
Chapter 1
What is magic?
A relatively simple question, but the answer is not as simple. Magic is so vast that it cannot be localized. However many agree that the foundations are the same, that magic is a force that can create wonders. Those wonders can be accessed by a select group of people formally known as Magi. In modern times the term Magi has been replaced based on gender, Wizards for males and Witches for female. There are other forms of these words depending on their specialties.
What can magic do?
The shorter answer is what magic cannot do. Magic cannot create life, and magic cannot bring a person back from the dead, not completely. Although branches of transfiguration can produce a creature resembling an animal from an inanimate object, it is not a created life. As for bringing back the dead, we all know about the existence Zombies and Inferi, these aren't alive, although they appear that way.
– Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling –
Harry woke with a start. There was a commotion outside the tent he and Hermione shared at the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione's head popped into view and the message was clear, they needed to run. Harry was quite surprised when he received the invitation and there was only one person he would give the other ticket to. He should have known it was just to get him here, evidence was outside.
Taking a sip from the Polyjuice Potion they brought with his features shifted. His dark hair turned blonde and his skin turned paler than it already was. The source was Hermione's cousin Persephone, a muggle, but then magic came from the core and even Polyjuice didn't touch that part. Hermione took a sip too. As a pair they were too recognizable.
Once they were completely changed the now twin girls rushed out and picked up the hearth stone. The tent folded itself up and vanished. The tent was a great find for Harry, who traversed shops selling oddities dirt cheap. It cost him only four sickles because the main tent had several holes that couldn't be patched with magic anymore.
They ran to the wooded area and watched as men in masks floated a muggle family about. They were angry, no doubt about it, but they both had a slight on their name. There was a voice next to them that neither could forget no matter how they tried.
"You two better get out of here," Malfoy said pompously, "A pair of mudbloods like you will be next if they catch you."
"Az ne razbiram?" Harry repeated the phrase he heard that Bulgarian girl said. He assumed it meant that he didn't understand.
"Bulgarian witches? That changes things then." Malfoy frowned. "No idea what you just said, bet my father would know." Going with the act they just stared at Malfoy. He left when he became uncomfortable.
"Smart thinking," Hermione whispered when she was sure Malfoy was far away. "But why not just use French? We know Malfoy doesn't speak it."
"I couldn't go with the little French you taught me. Why would they come to the final of the World Cup if they fell out in the semi-finals?"
"Well it was between a European and UK team, I mean technically we shouldn't support Ireland since we are both from England."
"Touché," Harry said, and as he settled down from the commotion, he finally got a feel for the body he was in. For the first time in his entire life he was comfortable. Hermione seemed to notice as well, but she didn't say anything.
The entire spectacle took just under twenty minutes to play out. Everything ended when an image of a skull and snake appeared in the sky. Harry's body tensed when he saw that. Hermione took hold of his arm and clung to it tightly, Harry could feel her shake and with good reason, the mark in the sky was Voldemort's dark mark.
"You ladies can get back to your parents." It was the Weasley patriarch, Arthur. Hermione answered for them in French.
"On ne parle pas Anglais."
"My apologies," Arthur Weasley said then thought for a bit before adding in a butchered version of French. "Il est à sauver, revenir à votre famille."
"Merci Monsieur," they said together. Arthur beamed and left them to find his children most likely.
Harry and Hermione met the Weasley patriarch the previous summer at The Leaky Cauldron. Hermione invited Harry to spend the holiday with her family and they were just about to go get there new supplies when he stopped them and warned them about Sirius Black. It was against Dumbledore's wishes so the man deserved their respect, even if his youngest son should bake from the inside out.
On the train ride on their first year, Ron barged into their cabin insulted Hermione and tried to wrangle Harry away from his very first friend. In a way he was worse than Malfoy. Malfoy did show his disgust, but he was at least honest about it. Ron tried to hide it.
In second year, when it was revealed that Harry could speak to snakes Ron was the first to shun him. Harry slept in the Common Room on one of the couches for most of the year. That was until Hermione found him one night. They found a room on the seventh floor that could be summoned if you walked in front of a wall back and forth three times thinking what you would need.
In the last year, third, Ron was trying to find Sirius to claim the reward. That led to them trying to stop him, since they found out that Sirius was innocent. He then got mad since they were trying to get his rat, the illegal Animagus Peter Pettigrew, to try and proof Sirius was innocent. Ron punched Harry on the night he caught Peter and the rat got away. When they used Hermione's Time Turner, they couldn't find Peter again, at least they saved Sirius from being kissed by the Dementors and Buckbeak, no Witherwings, from being executed.
The girls headed toward their stand and placed the runic stone in the centre. The tent sprung out and set itself up. They went inside and picked up the stuff that fell over which was anything not nailed down. Since they didn't arrive via port key they got some rest to track to the nearest town and catch the bus back to Hermione's home in Heathgate Hampstead Garden Suburbs.
The next morning at about five, the Ululate Charm woke them up and they made the track to St. Andrew's Prep in Eastbourne. It was thirty minute walk away. There they would eat breakfast before traveling by bus to Hermione's home, a four and a half hour bus ride, if they were lucky enough to catch the express bus. They knew they could summon the Knight Bus, but during the summer they avoided magic as much as possible, thanks to Dobby.
As planned they reached the town at five thirty and bought their tickets back home. The lady at the reception told them the bus would leave at seven sharp and they can get on at any of the stations around town, she also told them which liner would take them to London. They thanked her and made their way to the only open restaurant, The Pilot's Inn. At the restaurant after ordering an English breakfast each, Hermione turned to Harry and just stared at him as if studying him.
"You seemed more peaceful when you wore my cousin's face." She finally observed.
"I was more relaxed." Harry confirmed. "I don't know if it was because I didn't look like Harry Potter or if it was for some other reason."
"Maybe you enjoyed being a girl." Hermione teased, Harry shrugged at that. "If that is the case, we can brew that potion we researched when we we're trying to find a way to get into Slytherin in our second year."
"The Other Me Potion," Harry asked. "Isn't the ingredients almost impossible to get?"
"While we are at school, those ingredients can't be owl mailed. It messes with an owl's sense of direction." Hermione said then began recalling the ingredients. "We have Belladonna and Fluxweed in our extended garden. Honey is a natural sugar so my parents won't object if we make Honey-water. We just need Shaved Troll's Nails, Fairy Wings and Re'em blood. The Goblins at Gringott's trade in it. In my first year before we met, the guy next to us bought some."
"And the other two go for a sickle a scoop each." Harry said remembering the barrels he bumps into every time he buys potion ingredients.
They left the conversation there since their breakfast arrived. After the meal they caught the bus and went back to London. They couldn't really talk on the bus about magic so they left it there until they reached their destination, in hindsight they should've opted to stop at Charing Cross Road. Stop M on the Cambridge Circus Route is close to Diagon Alley. They would just need to go there later that day.
When they were back at Hermione's they went to her room and pulled out the potion book they needed. Harry always made it a point to buy the books that proved potentially useful during their research sessions. The book that has the day potion in was in Potential Potion Mishaps Averted. The book detailed potions gone wrong and their antidotes. The potion that changes your gender was a failed attempt at a Beautifying Potion. It took the inventor, Sachirissa Tugwood, three weeks to come up with a quicker solution than having the potion work through the system. The antidote is just Fluxweed picked at dusk instead of dawn. Without the antidote the potion takes two weeks to wear off, they had three left before school starts. There was another, permanent, potion that replaced the Troll nails with Unicorn horn shavings. The antidote for that one is just to drink the potion again.
When they returned the next day with the ingredients for the potion, along with their other needed purchases for the school year, they set to work making the potion in Hermione's room using a bluebell-flame for the low heat needed for the brewing.
"Crush six fairy wings roughly." Hermione said after adding water to the cauldron. "That goes in when the water is hot." She was sitting reading the method. They both learned that Snape wasn't any help when it came to actually instructing them on potions, so they followed the instructions in the books.
"Here you go," Harry added the wings to the cauldron, it turned a purplish color.
"Now we add the Re'em blood, it should boil thoroughly for ten minutes."
Hermione left the potion to boil and walked to her closet. She picked out an outfit and scooted Harry out the room to get dressed in it. When Harry returned looking very odd dressed in the girl's clothing Hermione was busy shaving the Troll Nails. When the timer buzzed, she added the nails and honey-water.
"You look – lovely," Hermione said examining Harry. "Crush the Fluxweed, and add it in about a minute. I'm just going to get the fresh belladonna berries. It needs to be added in an hour."
When Harry added the crushed Fluxweed, the potion turned a golden color. According to the open page they were right on track. Hermione came back about five minutes later with twenty berries. Half had to be juiced, and half had to go in whole. She gave Harry the berries that needed to be juiced. Hermione could never get that much juice out of any ingredient they needed to juice so Harry offered a compromise, he'll juice the ingredients and she help him understand the theory behind them. It has worked out for the last three school years perfectly.
"The timer is set," Hermione said as she lay back on the ground. "What is the significance to these ingredients?" Hermione liked to discuss ingredients even if they weren't in class.
"The obvious one is Re'em Blood. It is used to give the consumer a boost in strength, especially if the potion could potentially be poisonous." Harry lay down next to her. "Now since this was supposed to be a beautifying potion, I think the Troll's nails would represent the old you."
"The times the Fluxweed is picked is important, since the time determines their strength, it is used to ease the change." Hermione added, "Didn't work so well in the Polyjuice though."
"The honey-water is a wild card, meaning it should represent the new you." Harry said, "Fairy wings are always used in vanity based potions and so it represents the best you I guess."
"That leaves belladonna. It is used in cheering potions so it is supposed to uplift you. In other words it is only added to make you feel good during the transition. I wonder if it could be used in Polyjuice."
"I doubt it," Harry smiled, "It is the part of the person that gives it the taste. Your cousin's essence wasn't as bad as Crabbe."
"Or Goyle," Hermione confessed. "Who knew you could change genders for an hour with that? It felt odd having that pressed against my underwear."
They lay there in companionable silence until the alarm went off. Harry added the juiced belladonna berries. When the potion turned silver, Hermione added the whole berries. The potion turned to the sky blue it was supposed to. She extinguished the flame and they waited for the potion to cool down. It was suppose to become clear before it is stirred four times clockwise and turns amber.
When the potion was ready it resembled normal tea. Harry took the ladle and took a sip of the potion. Since a dose was a cup's worth, the sip would only last for an hour or two. Even though the liquid was hot, it sent a cold sensation all the way down his throat, but tasted just like normal tea.
There was a tingling that started at Harry's toes. The tingling sensation worked up Harry's legs through his body and into the very tips of his hair. The first visual change was his hair growing longer, stopping at his shoulder blades before turning lighter, it finally settled on a fiery red with blonde natural highlights.
Harry's face thinned and his cheek bones lifted just slightly. His slightly round face became more heart shaped. His normally vibrant green eyes turned more towards hazel. His lips turned a bit fuller and only slightly wider than it was before.
The change moved down his body vanishing the obvious Adam's apple in his throat and narrowing his shoulders. The top Hermione chose for him now looked better on him than it did before. Harry could feel a slight pressure in his chest and knew that it was growing slightly. His waist thinned and his hips widened a bit.
Harry's eyes stretched wide when he felt the shift down stairs. His member became shorter and shorter until it was barely there. He felt an odd sensation as his plumbing shifted and fleshy mounts formed. It concealed the most obvious signs of the change, even if it was also the most obvious of the change. One thing was certain though. The underwear Hermione gave him to wear was more comfortable now.
"How do I look?" Harry's voice sounded a lot like it did before it broke, only slightly gentler and relaxed.
"You look like you could be Hermione's sister, maybe a paternal twin." Mr. Granger said from the door. "When you two came up with this idea, I'll admit I was skeptical but Harry you do look more comfortable than I ever saw you, and you just went through the change."
"It might still be the effect of the potion, Mr. Granger." Harry admitted. He still felt like he was floating.
As the effect of the belladonna wore off Harry had to admit this was comfortable. In his entire life he had never felt this way, too bad that it couldn't be permanent until after he left Hogwarts. Hermione furrowed her brow when she saw Harry's face contort in thought.
"Don't you like it?" She asked, she was sure he did, but the scowl was unreadable.
"Sorry," Harry said, "I was just thinking that this can't be permanent until after Hogwarts. It feels, I don't know, like it was meant to be this way."
"While you are here, you don't need to be anything you don't want to be, just no boys in your room with a closed door young lady." Mr. Granger was a kind man.
"I never liked boys that way, Mr. Granger." Harry smiled, "And I still don't. Besides I'm only fourteen."
"Then no girls." Mr. Granger winked at Hermione who blushed deeply at the insinuation. "Remember we need to be at your aunt's place tomorrow."
"That is why I only took a sip, Mr. Granger." Harry smiled, "It should wear off in an hour or two."
As Mr. Granger left the room again after saying he was needed at the office, Harry's hair already was a shade darker. Harry left to fetch the enchanted flask that Remus gave him after the Dementor attack. It was filled, at that time, by a cauldron full of hot chocolate. The flask could hold the equivalent of a size 20 cauldron's liquid and keep it hot indefinitely. Their size 2 cauldron wasn't even half full. They scooped the potion in and Harry took it to his room.
====Scene====
The next day found Mr. Granger, Hermione and Harry, who was back to normal, sitting in the living room at the Dursley's waiting for Mr. Dursley's Lawyer. Since the start of the summer holidays Mr. Granger has tried to get Harry away from his abusive relatives, permanently. Today that would finally happen.
"Sorry I am late. There was an accident close to my offices slowing down traffic." Mr. Dursley's Lawyer said as he waltzed in.
"Traffic can really be a nightmare," Ted Tonks, solicitor in both the magic and non-magic world, commented. He was there by the request of Gringott's to ensure that Harry's adoption didn't interfere with Harry's birth right. Not that Mr. Dursley knew that.
"If we can get this over with," Mr. Dursley strained a smile, "We do not wish to inconvenience Dr. Granger any more than necessary."
"Yes quite, you wouldn't want to anger a dentist, not to mention two." He laughed at his own joke. "Adv. Tonks I believe you have all the paperwork for me to go over?"
"Yes," Ted handed a stack of papers over to the man who made sure that there wasn't any funny business on them.
"Renounced in blood? What an odd line," The lawyer smiled, "Nothing funny on here Vernon. You may sign it and your nephew would be out of this house. "Dr. Granger, I do hope you know what you are getting yourself into. The stories I heard of this boy." He shook his head.
"We are well aware of Mr. Potter's past, and we accept it." Mr. Granger signed the form. With both signatures on it, it went blank and back in a blink of an eye, before a vibration could be heard from Ted Tonks' pocket.
"Probably my wife," he smiled. That was a code word for the all clear from Gringott's alternatively, for a bad result it would have been ringing and the phrase: I need to take this.
By the time the Grangers and Harry left Privet Drive, Harry couldn't be happier. The confirmation from Gringott's meant that the Grangers were accepted by the ancestral blood of the Potter family, a form of mutual aid between the families, a bond similar to marriage, but not quite as extreme, maybe at a later stage.
Hermione handed Harry the flask from her extended hip bag and he took the dose of Other Me Potion. The second shift was a lot faster than the first. In five seconds Harry James was gone and Iris Euphemia sat in the back seat.
"Where are we going girls?" Mr. Granger asked. "We need to celebrate tonight."
"Iris never had real Italian, to her family a wad of spaghetti qualified, maybe La Rugoletta?" Hermione suggested.
"Sounds lovely Hermione, how about it Iris?" Mr. Granger smiled to her in the rear view.
"It really isn't necessary, Mr. Granger." Irish blushed a bit. She liked the name, it had significance to both Greek Mythology, like Hermione's, and it was also a type of flower in tradition with her mother's family.
"Iris Euphemia Potter-Granger," That was the reason you had a middle name, "We are not going out because it is necessary, it is a celebration. Those people were a poison for you." Mr. Granger smiled again. "And since you are legally part of this family and your blood accepted ours, there would be no more of this Mr. Granger stuff. I understand your hesitation, but you can call me Uncle Bart." Just then his phone rang and he answered with his full name and title, Dr. Barthalomaios Granger.
"And you can call mom Aunt Helena. Utter coincidence that it is also used in Greek legends." Hermione gave Iris a one armed hug. "Anyway why did you choose Euphemia as a middle name, did you think my parents won't use it?" Iris smiled sheepishly. "They called me Hermione, they like complicated names."
====Scene====
Harry sighed as he sat on the Hogwarts express. The last couple of days were the best he ever felt, it was all thanks to Iris. Hermione had just left for the lavatory. Harry put on a brave face in her presence even though they both knew it was faked.
"Where's your Mudblood girl –" Harry slammed the door in Malfoy's face before he could finish talking.
"Go away Malfoy, I feel sick already without adding your face to the mix!" Harry called through the door. Malfoy stormed off spouting about his father and what-have-you. Harry didn't really care.
"Let me guess one half of the IB showed up already." Hermione said as she sat down across from Harry. IB stands for Idiot Brigade, a term that included Malfoy and the youngest Weasley brother, Ron.
"Which means the other one is gonna show up in five –" Harry stopped as there was another interruption. He shrugged, "Looks like he is early."
"It would seem so, what do you think he wants this time?" Hermione asked also ignoring the red haired boy.
"I'm right here you know." Ron interrupted.
"Probably going to ask us why we needed dress robes this year." Harry continued, hitting the nail on the head.
"Doesn't he realize that we live in the non-magical world and any possible information wouldn't be leaked to us?"
"I guess that is true," Ron said before he left. Once he was gone they burst into giggles. Yes Harry Potter was giggling, something he discovered he liked as Iris.
"There must be some kind of dance somewhere this year." Hermione deducted.
"We're going together if that is the case right?" Harry asked.
"Who else would we go with?" Hermione smiled. "But I also want to dance with Iris. Even if she couldn't bring that beautiful dress with." Hermione playfully teased.
"Who says she didn't?" Harry winked at Hermione. She blushed deeply.
Hermione confessed the first summer they spent together that she preferred a softer touch, ever since she could understand what love was. Iris had caught her many times checking her out, but kept the teasing to a minimum, the dress shopping they did together was another story altogether. Sure Harry bought his dress robes in Diagon Alley, but Hermione and Iris shopped together the day before for dresses. Hermione liked how the dress fit on Iris so they bought it. After the two week potion wore off the girls experimented, in the end they discovered that a shot glass was equal to a day's transformation. The inventor clearly hadn't tested different doses.
After discovering that the adoption didn't affect Harry's birthright a lot of things changed. For starters, according to the magical world, when the Grangers legally adopted Harry, he was declared a legal adult and head of house. It also gave the Grangers access to Harry's vaults, plural. He had the Trust Vault which he thought was the only one, then access to both his mother's vault, Vault 113, and the Potter main vault, Vault 1007. With all three vaults combined he was the richest 14-year-old in magical Britain.
They arrived at Hogwarts unaffected this time and sat together at the farthest end of the Gryffindor table. The Sorting hat was brought in followed by the first years. Amongst the first years there was a suspicious looking one. Her eyes, they held a weight to them. When her name was called, Blaze, Pandora, the hat seemed to be arguing with the girl. It sorted her into Gryffindor, but it seemed reluctant. She walked up to Harry and Hermione and sat down.
"My time here is going to be short, if I am discovered. I come with a warning." The girl said. "My true name," she handed a piece of parchment to them. "The Dark Lord is gaining strength. It won't be long before he becomes more than vapor again. The tournament this year will see him back."
"How can we trust you – Pandora?" Hermione asked.
"Just Pan please," she smirked. "Give the Longbottom boy my chosen name to tell his parents. The idiot brothers can't tell the difference between torture and a mind lock, although that is not why I am here. I pledge my house and magic to House Potter, to allow the Heir to use my how they please. I also offer my knowledge to aid the Heir in any hardship he may face. By my visual and chosen name, I bind myself to thee, so it is said so mote it be."
Harry could feel a tingle running down his spine, and it seems that Hermione felt the same. Pan just arched her brow at that. It was at this time that Pan looked back to the hat and nodded. It was only then that Harry realized that the entire hall was suspended.
"Hi my name is Pan." She held out her hand to shake both Harry and Hermione's hands as if the last minute didn't happen. However she did wink at them.
The rest of the dinner Pan recounted her past, or at least the crafted one. The story spoke of growing up with a cousin that was a real rebel and how she would do anything for said cousin even seemingly betray him to He-with-a-stupid-title. Harry felt that she already went through this. It happens that he knew said cousin of hers, if she could be trusted. After the meal was done Dumbledore stood up to give the start of term notifications.
"Mr. Filch, out caretaker has asked me to inform the students that the list of forbidden items now include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees and Ever Bashing Boomerangs. The full list of four hundred and thirty seven items can be found outside his office.
"I say this every year and yet there is still those who do not know this, the forest on the ground is forbidden to all students and only third years and above may visit Hogsmead Village.
"Sadly it is also my duty to announce that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup is cancelled this year," he stopped for the expected outbreak, "This is due to an event that would take up most of the teachers' time and energy starting October and continuing throughout the year. I do believe you would enjoy it immensely."
Just then a loud clap of thunder echoed through the hall along with it a man appeared. He was missing many chunks of his body, it was clear he has been through the blender a few times. What stood out most of this man was not what he was missing, it was his eyes. One was normal, albeit beady. The other was large and electric blue. Harry didn't know why but this person made him wanna scrub every inch of his body with a cheese-grater.
"Shit," Pan said from where she sat. Her face morphed back to the smiling girl she pretended to be. "Watch out for that man. He isn't who he appears to be."
"May I introduce this year's Defense against the Dark Arts teacher: Prof. Moody." There was even more murmurs around the hall after revealing the name of the mangled man.
"Now as I was saying, this year we will play host to an event that hasn't been held for over a century: The Tri-Wizard Tournament." He then went into detail on how the tournament was dangerous and how it was stopped because the death toll got to high. However all Harry heard was:
"Three galleons I end up in that tournament even though I can't enter my own name." Harry's shoulders slacked.
"I –" Pan started before Hermione shook her head.
"Fool's gambit that one," she said. "The better bet would be on what the challenges are. Since Ronald's older brother Charlie was at the station, I'm thinking Dragons might be involved."
"You two don't look so good. I already told you about the tournament. Why so glum?" Pan asked not really knowing much of their school life."
"First year Voldemort leeched on a professor and tried to steal the philosopher's stone. Second year the memory of Voldemort's 16-year-old self possessed a student and Harry had to fight a Basilisk. Third year there were Dementors hunting for Sirius Black, they developed a taste for Harry. He fought off over a hundred to save his and Sirius's lives."
"Sirius didn't tell me that when he shoved me through the time sand." Pan sighed. "This complicates things a bit – no! No it doesn't, this is perfect."
"Mind filling us in?" Hermione couldn't see the benefit.
"In the Common Room – Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Hermione and I don't sleep in the Common Room anymore, we haven't since second year. Prof. McGonagall knows about it."
"The room is down the Hall from Gryffindor across from Prof. McGonagall's quarters. It originally was a room for wedded students. We changed it into a two bedroom suite. Harry slept in the living room and I took the bedroom last year." Hermione continued.
"I knew it, you two are married." Pan whispered.
"No!" they exclaimed together.
"It is a bit more complicated than that." Hermione said. "You see this summer we discovered something."
"And since a week before returning to school, we shared a bed at Hermione's house."
"Can't be a loyalty bond," Pan asked. "I did that and now I basically made myself Harry's slave. Soul bonds are only true in fiction and I know a muggle family won't –"
"Harry is more comfortable as a girl." Hermione whispered, knowing that Pan couldn't reveal it or lose her magic.
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Hi everyone, thank you for taking the time to read my story.
What did you think, was it lacking in some places or was there something you wanted explained? Want to guess who Pandora "Call me Pan" Blaze is? What does Iris look like? What dress made Hermione blush? Leave me a review. I will answer each and every one.
