Harry Potter, the Apprentice
Summary: A response to DZ2's Beast beneath the Skin challenge. Instead of Harry Potter being left with his muggle relatives, Albus Dumbledore decided that he had to be pro-active. As a result, Harry Potter is raised by one of the most powerful wizards of the 20th century. Eventual Super Harry, although that won't be for a while. Shapeshifter Harry. Metamorphmagus Harry. Soul bonds, HP/HR for the moment. A crossover with the Dead Eye series by Jim Bernheimer.
Challenge info:
Plot: James Potter's Animagus form was a stag, but surely that wasn't enough to make him a leader, was it? No, because there was another secret he had, one that Harry has inherited.
Rules: All affinities are welcome
Harry MUST is a Shifter/Shapeshifter/Multi-Animagus/Skinwalker or whatever you call them (OC names are also welcome)
When the story starts and how Harry discovers this power is up to you
One of his forms MUST be a stag as an 'inheritance' from his Father
From time to time, Harry can 'invoke' his animals to enhance his senses/strength etc.
As a Shifter, Harry can also speak ALL animal languages even if he can't become said animal
The centaurs and/or the unicorns must be allies/friends of Harry's
At least ONE other member of the HPverse MUST be a Shifter as well and offer to help train and/or work with Harry
All pairings are welcome
Guidelines: Crossovers
Harry's power is also tied to the Elemental Forces
Even in his animal forms, Harry leads a pack/horde/swarm etc. of animals
Dark-Lord Harry
Harry becomes the creatures/acquires their forms by eating something of theirs
Harry can become magical creatures as well as non-magical and use their powers too (e.g. Nundu, Werewolf, Unicorn, Centaur)
Slash
Harry acquires a familiar
Bonds
Forbidden: 'Normal' Harry
Harry having just one Animagus form
Others managing to turn Harry away from his powers
Harry being talked out of using/keeping his power because of 'bias' against others
Harry as the only one
Other than that, it's up to you...
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I also do not own the fantastic Dead Eye series, which belongs to Jim Bernheimer.
Chapter 1
When Albus Dumbledore arrived on Privet Drive with a barely audible pop, little did he know that the decisions that he would make in the next few minutes would change the future for the better. He glanced around, and noticed a cat sitting on a garden wall staring at him.
"Hello Minerva." the man said softly.
The cat nodded at him before shifting into the form of a rather stern looking woman.
"Albus, you can't leave the boy here… You just can't!" she began as soon as her transformation was complete.
Albus sighed heavily, and interrupted her.
"It's the best place for him, Minerva. I know that it might not be under the most ideal of circumstances…" he was interrupted by Minerva once again.
"Never have I seen two worse people… Oh, why don't I just show you?" she asked briskly.
Albus felt a slight pressure, almost like a knock on his Occlumency barriers. He opened them just a crack, and his mind was flooded with images.
The first thing that he saw was a rather large man launching a rock at Minerva's Animagus form.
Minerva fast forwarded the memory, and the next thing that Albus saw shocked him.
A rather large young boy was repeatedly kicking his rather harried looking mother, as she dragged him into the house. His cries for sweets echoed after the two as the door slammed.
"Albus. I've been sitting here all day, and Harry's not going here. I'll even resign from Hogwarts and take him if I have to."
Minerva was cut off as Albus suddenly burst into tears.
The woman was shocked, but quickly composed herself. She hadn't seen Albus this emotional for many, many years.
"I hoped that Petunia had changed, but I see that she has not. My thought to bring Harry here was a mistake… A mistake that I'll be sure to not let go any further." He said before composing himself.
"Don't worry about it Minerva, I must take Harry myself, any consequences be dammed." Albus said as he wiped at his red-rimmed eyes.
Minerva let out a sigh before replying.
"Thank you Albus, I will help you as well, as you say consequences be dammed."
"Thank you Minerva, I only hope that the two of us together can do half as good a job as pour Lily and James could have." Albus said.
He then pulled out a strange-looking pocket watch with twelve hands and tiny planets racing around the outside.
"Hagrid's late." He said.
"Ah Albus, as dependable as Hagrid is, he's never been the most punctual. You know that as well as I do." Said Minerva.
"Ah… I must be growing complaisant in my old age." Albus said suddenly before pulling out something that looked like a silver cigarette lighter. He clicked it, and the streetlamps were abruptly extinguished.
Several minutes later, the two of them heard the roar of a motorbike. Minerva looked up and down the street, but Albus just smiled knowingly.
Soon, a flying motorbike landed in the middle of the street with Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts astride it. He was clutching a small bundle.
"Good evening Hagrid," Albus said.
"Thank you for coming all this way, but there has been… a slight change of plan. I shall take the boy, and raise him as I hope Lily and James would."
"That's alright headmaster… I was perfectly happy to make the journey." The rather large man said before blowing his nose with a sound that resembled a foghorn.
"Alright," Albus said.
"Minerva, would you feel up to Apparating Hagrid back to Hogwarts?"
"Of course Albus." She said before pulling out her wand and waving it at the motorbike which shrunk to the size of a toy which she pocketed.
Hagrid then handed the bundle that was Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived to Albus before taking Minerva's outstretched arm. The two of them then vanished with a loud crack which woke up several residents of Privet Drive. The Dursleys however slept on.
Albus smiled down at Harry who was asleep in his arms.
"Now Harry, I know that you can't hear me… I'm not the greatest with raising children, but I'll do my best." He said before clicking his silver device.
The light sprung back to the streetlamps, and Albus summoned his familiar Fawkes.
"Hello my friend," he said giving the red and gold phoenix a smile.
"Would you please get myself and my young charge back to my office?" he asked.
The bird let out a happy trill before they disappeared in a column of flame.
The next few years passed in a blur for Harry Potter. Living in the mystical and magical castle of Hogwarts, which for most of the year was a school provided no end of entertainment not to mention learning for the young boy. Word quickly spread that Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived was residing at Hogwarts, but always the press was turned away by Albus.
As Harry grew older, he began to have more and more interest in learning. Many a time he could be seen standing in one of the teacher's lessons, and most of them were tolerant if not happy for him to watch them teach. Naturally, Harry did not have a wand or any other materials yet, but he was still very interested in what the students were learning.
The one teacher who didn't like Harry was the potion's professor, Severus Snape. He might not have been rude in any way to Harry, but he got the distinct impression that he was not welcome in the man's classroom.
Besides the staff, the ghosts that resided in the magical school also had an interest in the boy who never left. Many times Harry could be seen talking in hushed tones with one of them, particularly the Ravenclaw ghost, Helena Ravenclaw.
Apart from Albus and Minerva, she was the person in the castle who he was closest with by far.
When Harry was ten, something extraordinary happened. He had been sitting in a corner of the place that Helena called the Come and Go room, while she was explaining how people used to be able to separate their spirits from their bodies, and even in some extreme circumstances to take over the physical shells of the weak-willed. Harry then interrupted her.
"Hel, would you like to borrow my body? You're always saying how you would like to be able to do things that only the living can."
"Oh… That's sweet, but I wouldn't dream of inflicting such pain on your spirit." She said while smiling at him.
Helena was the youngest of the ghosts, having been killed by some strange foreign magical disease while only thirteen.
That was when Harry had an idea.
"But what if I separate my spirit from my body? You explained how it used to be done, and I think I understand..." he trailed off as he concentrated.
He then used his magic to reach inside of himself with his left hand and pulled.
"Fuck that hurts!" he swore as he slowly pulled what looked like a ghost image of himself out of his body.
"No!" Helena screamed, but it was too late.
"Told you I could do it." Harry said before reaching out his hand.
Instead of passing through her pale ghostly form as he had expected, Harry contacted her skin.
"I can touch you now?" he said in shock.
That was when Harry's body began to move.
What the hell? Harry thought to himself.
"Hel… That's not me moving my body." He said his voice shaking slightly.
"Fuck it." She swore.
"I'm going in there to see what's going on." She said before her ghostly image seemed to move inside of Harry's body.
"Holy fuck!" she swore.
"There's someone else in here… They're… He's fighting me." She said.
Harry let out a scream as his body opened its mouth and spoke.
"I am Lord Voldemort…. Who dares to defy me?" he asked in Harry's voice.
"Jesus fucking Christ!" Harry swore forgetting all of the times that Albus and all of the other teachers had reprimanded him for doing so.
"Get out of my body you bastard!" he said before entering his body behind Helena.
Harry tried to describe the sensations he felt, but never quite managed it. It felt as if his body was being pulled in two directions at once.
He pushed alongside Helena, trying to force the corrupt being out of his body. It took several minutes, but finally the lightning bolt scar on his forehead burst open and screamed as a black tar-like substance sprayed across the room.
"I think its dead." Helena said while slowly exiting his body.
'Stupid Harry… What was he thinking?' came a voice in Harry's head.
"Hey… I just wanted you to be able to have some fun is all." He said defensively.
"Harry… I didn't say that out loud." Helena said her voice shaking slightly.
"What the hell is going on?" Harry asked.
"I think we need to talk to Albus about this." Helena said before the two friends dashed out of the room and down the hall to the headmaster's office.
The stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office was used to Harry now, so before he had to ask it stepped aside.
Helena, who was very concerned about her friend floated through the ceiling and up to Albus's office. Harry arrived several moments later by way of the staircase to hear the two in deep conversation.
Helena explained what had happened, with Harry throwing in the odd comment.
"Albus, one of the strangest things about this is that we can hear each other's thoughts," Helena said before Albus sat back in shock.
"Lady Ravenclaw," Albus began. He always referred to Helena by her honorific, even though she was no longer alive.
"This is strictly impossible, as the only situations in which this has happened are things called Soul Bonds, a very rare form of magic which hasn't been seen since… since… Your parents, my lady."
Helena ran a hand through her cascade of black hair before answering.
"I… I see. It's been so long that I had forgotten, but it was something that my parents were blessed with."
"But how is this possible Hel?" Harry asked.
"I mean no offence… but you're not exactly alive at the moment."
"I know," Helena responded, adopting a thoughtful expression.
Albus cleared his throat suddenly.
"I have given thought to the other rather strange incident, and it appears that when Tom Riddle killed your parents, he accidentally chained a piece of his own soul to your body. It's a very crude form of immortality." Albus explained.
"One good thing that has come out of all of this is that it is gone, and I have a feeling that your magic may be quite a bit stronger now without the dark magic leeching off it." Albus said, and for the first time during the conversation he smiled.
"I'm still not sure about this thing that appears to be a soul bond, but we shall see what happens." Albus said.
"I know that the two of you are quite… close, which may have had something to do with it. To be brutally honest, I have no idea… but at least it's a start." He finished.
"A… Alright," Harry said shakily.
"Thanks Albus… At least we've both got you to turn to if we need anything."
"Harry, always remember that anything you need no matter how small that I am here." He said with a warm smile.
That was when Fawkes let out a soft trill.
/The school's hatchling need be more careful must he. / Harry heard.
"What?" Harry said in absolute shock as his mouth dropped open.
Helena let out a giggle.
"Before Harry regains the ability to speak, I'll tell you what he's thinking… Somehow, he just heard Fawkes communicating." She said.
"Oh god… what the hell is this?" Harry said almost to himself.
"I can hear animals now… what's going to be next, I wonder?"
"Albus, I'm going to try something… I hope you don't mind," Harry said before turning to Fawkes.
/Can you understand me?/ he asked.
To Harry, it sounded as though he was speaking English. To Helena and Albus however it sounded as if Harry was attempting to mimic the song that made the phoenix one of the most interesting magical creatures.
/Of course, and I'm relieved that I can talk to someone else./ the bird responded.
/Albus is great, and I've been bonded to him as his familiar for almost a century, but still./ the bird finished.
Albus looked slightly offended.
"Albus, can I assume that you can hear the other side of this conversation?" Harry asked.
"Yes Harry, I can."
"Hel, can you hear anything?" Harry asked.
"Not really… The only thing that I can hear is my stupid friend trying to sound like a firebird." She said. The second part of her statement was punctuated by a smile.
"Very… interesting," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Do you think this could have something to do with destroying that soul fragment?" Helena asked.
"Very possibly." Albus said.
The rest of that afternoon was spent talking. Helena pitched some theories, she had after all been around for almost ten centuries, and had seen many things during that time.
They however made very little headway in figuring out what else Harry's strange ability might give him. Albus eventually advised Harry to let him know if anything changed, and Harry and Helena left his office.
Harry headed back to his private quarters on the seventh floor, and fell into an exhausted sleep.
Several months later, Harry's Hogwarts letter arrived. It was slightly pointless, but the automated system that delivered the Hogwarts letters was very hard to alter.
When Harry laid His eyes on the letter, the name was not the one that he had expected.
"What the hell is this?" Harry asked himself.
A/N:
Alright I've been out of writing for a while, but this idea struck me and needed to be written.
The pairing at the moment is going to be Harry/Helena, with some interesting twists.
This isn't a pairing that I have seen before, but I think if done right it can work.
As stated above, this is a slight crossover with the Dead Eye series by Jim Bernheimer.
He is an amazing author, and if you haven't checked his works out I highly recommend them.
For clarification, knowledge of this series is not required as the main thing that I'm taking is the culture of skinwalkers as he writes them.
Also, I'm thinking of adding Tonks to this pairing, as she is my favorite character in HP, and it would be interesting to see in the context of what I have in mind for this story.
Enough rambling, just let me know what you think in a review.
Also, positive feedback is appreciated.
R