Chapter One
"Harry Mortimer Riddle, I'm going to kill you!" Aerin shouted at the top of her lungs, which really was not all that loud considering how tiny Aerin was. At the moment Aerin was suspended in midair, upside down due to her older brother, Harry, performing the levicorpous spell to wake Aerin up.
"I'm sorry," Harry said while laughing, "but we don't want to be late for lessons again do we?" Harry was grinning ear to ear as he dropped Aerin back on her bed.
"You're not sorry at all." Aerin mumbled sulkily.
"No I'm not, but hurry up and get dressed anyway." Harry said, still grinning. Aerin stood up, glared with her bright blue eyes at Harry and stuck her tongue out before heading to her closet that was a few feet away. She selected black robes that matched the ones Harry was wearing, and wore jeans and a white t-shirt underneath. Aerin passed Harry in her room, and walked across the dark green marble hallway to the bathroom where she brushed her hair and teeth.
"Alright, I'm ready." Aerin told Harry.
"No breakfast?" He asked.
"I'll have some after." She replied. With that the two children set off through the mansion they called home, past eerie portraits and closed doors. Finally they came to a particular door where they pressed their ears to dark wood.
"My lord, we couldn't do anything, there were to many." Came a terrified voice from the other side of the door.
"Then why didn't you call for reinforcements?" Spat a cold, high voice.
"I thought you couldn't spare anyone." The first voice said.
"Crucio!" Shouted the second voice. There was a scream before the second voice said, "You're dismissed, do better next time." After the footprints faded away, Aerin and Harry opened the door.
"Dad?" Aerin asked. The man looked up, and his face lit up in a way that anyone besides Aerin and Harry would think to be impossible. He had a thick head of dark black hair, like both Harry and Aerin, but unlike Aerin, who had bright blue eyes, and Harry who had vivid green eyes, his eyes wee a glowing red. While Harry and Aerin called him 'dad', the rest of the world knew him known as Lord Voldemort.
"You're early." Voldemort commented. At this Aerin turn to her brother,
"You said we were going to be late!" Harry grinned and said simply, "I lied."
"Moving on, today I thought I'd teach both of you to cast a patonus." Voldemort interjected. Both children immediately looked excited.
"I bet Harry's is a baboon." Aerin said. Voldemort chuckled.
"I bet yours is a squirrel." Replied Harry.
"Enough's enough." Voldemort said sternly, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.
"Aerin, what do you know about patronuses?" Asked Voldemort. Immediately Aerin recited everything she knew.
"Well, you can deliver messages to people by speaking to your patronus, then telling it where to go. It is the only thing that drives dementors away. Each patronus is unique to each person. It can reflect your nature, or someone you admire or love. Your patronus' shape can change if you undergo an emotional change, but usually they stay the same, but it's always an animal. It's made of love and happiness, which is why it can drive off dementors. When checking for someone's identity, it's a good idea to have him or her cast a patronus, because it cannot be faked. Also-" Voldemort interrupted her.
"Very good, you must remember everything you read."
"Dad, what's your patronus?" asked Harry. Instead of answering, Voldemort raised his hand and a silvery version of his pet snake emerged, before fading.
"I want both of you to take out your wands, eventually both of you should be able to do it without a wand, but we're just starting out."
"Remember, several grown wizards can't do this, so don't be disappointed if you can't cast a patonus." Voldemort said.
"What's the incantation?" Asked Aerin.
"Expecto Patronum." Voldemort said. "But not only to you have to say the incantation, you have to think of a really happy memory. Aerin, why don't you try first?" At this Aerin concentrated on her second night at Riddle Manor, and said,
"Expecto Patronum!" A silver mist shot out of her wand. Harry snickered.
"What's that supposed to be, a cloud?" He said.
"Harry that's really advanced for a five year old." Voldemort said. "Why don't you try?" At this Harry raised his wand and shouted the incantation, all that happened was a stream of silver mist that vanished soon after. Harry looked disappointed.
"I want to try again!" Aerin said. "Expecto Patronum!" A curved, slender form was emitted from Aerin's wand, but it disappeared before anyone could see what the form was. Voldemort looked seriously impressed.
"What was it?" Asked Aerin.
"I don't know. What memory were you thinking?" Voldemort asked.
"My second night here." Aerin mumbled. Voldemort smiled.
"I think of that when casting a patronus too." Aerin beamed and said the incantation once more. A dolphin emerged from her wand and swam three laps around the room. Both Harry and Voldemort applauded.
"You try, Harry" Aerin said. Harry looked determined at this.
"Expecto Patronum!" A silver mist emerged.
"It's easier to just think of a person you love." Aerin instructed. Harry nodded, and said again,
"Expecto Patronum!" A more solid mist was emitted.
"Expecto Patronum!" A figure with wings appeared.
"Expecto Patronum!" This time a phoenix flew out from Harry's wand and flew around the room before disappearing. Aerin ran to her brother and hugged him. Harry looked surprised, but hugged her back.
"I'm impressed at both of you, that extremely complex magic for a five and four year old. I want both of you to continue to practice, while I have a meeting this afternoon, and both of you be sure to have some chocolate afterward. We can practice duelling afterward." Voldemort said before he left the room.
"Come on Aerin, let's have some breakfast."
"I'll race you there!" Aerin said.
"Last one there has to play keeper today." Harry agreed, before setting off with Aerin at his heels. Harry arrived at the kitchen first. A house elf saw them and came out with two full plates a moment later.
"Here you are sir and miss. Mica is hoping you enjoy breakfast." The elf said.
"Thanks Mica." Replied Aerin. Both Aerin and Harry dug in. As they ate, Aerin summoned a book, and read. Harry rolled his eyes at this.
"Hey Harry, Do you know what an animagus is?" Asked Aerin.
"Yeah, Of course, why?" replied Harry.
"Do you want to become one?" Asked Aerin with a mischievous smile. Harry smiled back.
"Yeah."
The two children rushed to the potions supply closet. Aerin read the ingredients while Harry found them in the closet.
"Alright, all that's left is bits from seven different animals, and a few of our hairs. For the seven animals, there needs to be two magical animals, one water creature, one reptile, one amphibian, one mammal, and one bird. " Aerin said. Harry nodded, and both of them carried the ingredients to Aerin's room, before going outside. The Riddle Mansion grounds were mainly forest, but there was a pond and a quiditch pitch. Harry and Aerin wandered around the pond.
"Hey Harry, come here." Aerin said.
"What, did you find an animal?" Harry asked. Aerin pointed, but Harry couldn't see anything.
"It's a thestral." Aerin said quietly.
"Oh. I didn't know you'd seen… Will it let you get some hair?" Harry asked.
"I'll try… On second thought, I'll let it come to me. Accio raw meat" Aerin said uncertainly. The Thestral immediately looked up as soon as the meat arrived. Aerin knelt down; her hand outstretched holding the meat. It cautiously came forward. Aerin gave it the meat, a ran a hand on it's shoulder, and took some of the loose hair. Aerin then backed away slowly, and put the hair in her pocket.
By then, Harry had found a small snake. It hissed as Harry picked him up, but stopped as soon as Harry explained in parsletongue what he wanted. The snake allowed him to pluck a scaled from the snake before insisting on being put down.
The next animal they found was a stag. Harry stunned it before collecting hair.
"Enervate." Said Aerin as Harry spotted a frog. Harry cut off one of it's legs before magically replacing it with a stronger one.
"Now we just need a water creature, another magical creature, and a bird." Harry listed to Aerin.
"Harry, look." Aerin said, pointing to a spot right in front of them. Harry looked and was temporarily blinded, by what he saw to be a unicorn.
"You'd better get it's hair, you know unicorns prefer females." Harry told Aerin. She slowly walked forward, hand outstretched. The unicorn allowed Aerin to pet it, and even let her find a loose hair in its mane.
"Thank you." Aerin said, as the unicorn galloped off.
"Come on Aerin, we still need a bird and water creature." Harry said. Both children continued to search before Aerin spotted a mockingbird. Harry stunned it, and they climbed up the tree it was in to get a feather, and then to enervate it.
Not long after, Harry caught a fish, and they took a piece of fin, before returning to the mansion. By this time it was one o clock in the afternoon. Harry and Aerin took turns working on the Animagus potion, while the other practiced the patronus spell. At around five o clock, the potion was done, and both Harry's and Aerin's patronus' were extremely powerful without a wand.
"Now we take two cups and put our own hair in it, then drink it." Aerin explained, as Harry conjured tow cups. Aerin ladled the potion into them, and then both Aerin and Harry plucked a few hairs out before tossing them into the cups.
"Cheers." Aerin said.
"There can't be any way this will taste good, so let's get it over with." Harry replied. They clinked their cups together, and then Aerin downed the contents of her cup. Aerin gasped, and then with a pop became an animagus. Several minutes later, she returned to her human form.
"Well, what was I." She asked. Harry was gaping at her.
"First you were what I assume to be tiger, and then you turned into a phoenix, sphinx, then a horse." Harry said.
"But that's impossible, the book says that you can only have one form that displays your dominant characteristic." Aerin said, frowning.
"Let me see the book." Harry demanded. He flipped the pages slowly, scanning the books contents.
"Ah ha, it says that if someone is, or will be stuck in between more than one life where they are forced to switch dominate characteristics, they may have more than one form." Harry explained. Aerin frowned.
"Why don't you try?" She said.
"Alright" Harry said before draining his cup. He then popped into his animal form. When he returned to his human form, he looked up at Aerin expectantly.
"An eagle, lion, and snake. It seems I'm not the only one with split lives."
"So what do we do now?" Asked Harry.
"We practice going into our forms, but not now, since we need to practice duelling with Dad." Replied Aerin "In fact we're late"
The two children rushed down to the training room. Their father was there pacing.
"You're late." He commented.
"Sorry." Harry said.
"Did you both practice performing a patronus?" He asked.
"Yep, do you want to see?" Aerin replied. Voldemort smiled at her.
"Sure." He said. Both Harry and Aerin raised their hands and shouted,
"Expecto Patronum!" A phoenix and dolphin met each other head on and swam/flew through each other turned around and did it again before fading.
"Bravo. Now I want both to conjure a shield." Said Voldemort. Both Harry and Aerin did a nonverbal protago, and let their shields hover in front of them.
"The protago shield, while very effective, is hard to hold for long, plus it only blocks your front. I have invented a new spell, and I want both of you to promise that you will never teach it to anyone else." Voldemort looked both Aerin and Harry in the eye as he spoke.
"We promise." Harry and Aerin said in unison.
"Whenever you use it, do it nonverbally, but today you can practice it verbally. All right, the incantation is Erium Engulia. Try it while summoning all of your magic." Voldemort instructed. Both children concentrated. As always, Aerin went first.
"Erium Engulia!" A clear light blue tinted bubble engulfed Aerin. She touched the surface to find it as unbreakable as iron.
"What do I do to get rid of it?" Asked Aerin.
"Say Monoree" Voldemort told Aerin. She repeated the word and looked expectantly at Harry.
"Erium Engulia!" He shouted. A golden prism surrounded Harry. He could still see through it, but no one could see inside.
"Monoree." Harry whispered. Both Harry and Aerin looked at Voldemort. He answered their unasked question at once.
"Each shield is unique."
"What does yours look like?" Aerin asked. Silently Voldemort cast the spell, and what looked like a mini swirling hurricane surrounded him.
"Wow." Harry said. The shield vanished.
"Now both of you practice using those in a duel. I'll watch." Voldemort said.
Aerin started to fire silent curses. An expellamus shot toward Harry and he conjured his shield just in time. He released it to fire a nonverbal petrificus totalus. Aerin's bubble was formed almost before Harry fired the spell. Aerin replied with a temporary blinding spell. Harry dodged it, and then shot an expelliamus. Aerin once again summoned her blue bubble. Immediately after the shield had done its job it was dropped and a stun, jelly legs jinx and impedimenta were sent toward Harry. He blocked the stun, and impedimenta but the jelly legs jinx hit Harry. He quickly sent a rope-binding spell towards Aerin. It caught her by surprise, but she managed to jump out of the way and send an energy loss charm which his Harry squarely in the chest. Harry sank to his knee, but continued to fire spells at Aerin, she blocked them with her blue bubble, and retaliated when necessary. Eventually she got Harry with an Expelliamus and his wand flew into her outstretched hand. Voldemort clapped as Aerin handed Harry back his wand.
"I doubt fifth years could duel as well as you two." He said. Harry and Aerin beamed.
"Dad, are we going to go to Hogwarts?" Asked Aerin.
"By the time you're eleven, you'll both be able to pass NEWTs, but every witch and wizard should go there, so… yes, as long as you want to." Voldemort replied slowly and thoughtfully.
"Should we start studying potions and transfiguration more?" Asked Harry.
"I suppose so. I'd have to get you a tutor for potions but transfiguration is easy enough to learn." Voldemort answered. "Alright why don't we all have dinner? You two go wash your hands and I'll tell Mica."
Harry and Aerin nodded as they headed off to the nearest bathroom. Once Voldemort was out of earshot Harry asked Aerin,
"How long does it take to be a master animagus?"
"If we practiced an hour each day we should be able to have all of our forms done in two years at most." Aerin said.
"Really, the book said that, I thought it would take around five years?" Asked Harry, excited.
"No, it said three years for one form, but lets be honest, we're pretty advanced. I looked up patronus' in the library once and it said that it takes about five months of constant practice to be able to produce a fully-fledged patronus; we mastered it in one day." Aerin explained as she opened the bathroom door.
"It takes five months to get a patronus?" Harry asked incredulously while Aerin was washing her hands.
"Yep, personally I think the reason we're advanced is dad gave us a bit of his power." Aerin said thoughtfully while Harry washed his hands.
"So Hogwarts is going to be a breeze." Harry said.
"Yeah, I guess it will be. I wonder if Dad would let me lie about my age so I can go at the same time as you." Aerin said.
"No one would believe you're the same age as me, you're downright puny." Harry said, laughing.
"You're not so big yourself." Aerin said scowling. "Come on, we were late for our lesson, we don't want to be late for dinner as well."
The two kids ran to the dinning room to see Mica carrying dinner onto the table, and their father sitting at the head of the table. Harry and Aerin silently sat down on either side of him. They ate quietly, but before long, Voldemort broke the silence to ask,
"What did you two do today?" Harry looked at Aerin. She shook her head slightly, then said,
"We wandered in the woods for most of the time, and then practiced casting a patronus." Aerin said.
"Did you run into anything in the woods?" Voldemort questioned.
"Aerin saw a thestral," Harry said before he noticed Aerin glaring at him. Voldemort looked at Aerin with a sad smile. Aerin hastily said,
"We also found a unicorn."
"I didn't think unicorns lived in our woods." Voldemort said.
"trust me, they do." Harry said.
"What are you two going to do after dinner?" Asked Voldemort.
"Play a bit of quiditch." Harry said casually.
"You know, maybe sometime next week we can invite Draco Malfoy over. Lucius says he enjoys quiditch as well." Voldemort said.
"Really, you'd let him see us?" Asked Aerin in disbelief.
"You two really shouldn't be denied the social aspect of a normal childhood." Voldemort said.
"Thanks dad." Said Harry.
"See you tomorrow" Aerin said. "Bright and early." She added under her breath. She and Harry headed outside where they collected their brooms and a quaffle in the quiditch shed, and walked onto the pitch.
"Remember Aerin, you're Keeper." Harry reminded.
"Yeah, I know." Aerin said glumly, before zooming up to the goal posts. Harry followed her bringing the quaffle. He energetically threw the ball toward the hoops, while Aerin blocked them. Eventually she got bored and asked,
"Hey Harry, can we try the one on one thing again, without beaters?"
"Sure, I prefer being seeker anyway." Harry said. They both landed and got the snitch out. Aerin released it and she and Harry watched it disappear before mounting their brooms and taking off. Aerin and Harry played until it got dark and ended with Harry catching the snitch. Quickly, they went up to Aerin's room.
"So shall we practice our forms now?" Asked Harry.
"Yeah, but not too late because it's supposed to drain you of energy. Which one do you want to master first?" Aerin asked.
"My eagle form. What about you?" Harry replied.
"I guess I'll try the phoenix form." Aerin said.
"So now what?" Asked Harry.
"Think of an eagle and only and eagle. For starters, concentrate on the size an eagle would be. Imagine yourself to be that size, and remember to include the size of your organs as well." Aerin instructed as she was doing the same. Slowly Aerin began to shrink.