Chapter Three

Introductions

It was a full moon later when Wayat saw the little bird again. She was holding another letter, and he wondered why this Mistress would send him another one when the first was so ineffective. Then he saw the strangest thing he had ever seen! It was an ape similar to himself, in that he had no fur, only hair on his head, but covered in some kind blue and yellow material and clinging to a flying stick! What sort of creature was this!?

"Where is that bird?" the creature said, searching, and a bit frustrated.

Wayat looked at the owl. "Is he looking for you?"

"Yes, and through me, you. Little Master has been following me to you, because I know the way."

"What kind is Little Master?"

"Same kind as you." Well that wasn't very informative!

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Professor Flitwick was tired. He'd been flying every day for two weeks following that owl, and now he'd lost it! It must have landed on a branch somewhere, but where?

After a moment, the little professor spotted his quarry, and the naked boy standing next to her. He was lean and well-muscled, his skin browned by constant exposure to the elements, and his black hair hanging in tangled hanks, but there was no doubt that he had Lily Potter's eyes. He wore naught but a woven grass band on each wrist with several stone knives tucked into them. "Ah! There you are. Oh, my, and not a stitch on you. Well, we'll see about that later. Sorry about the unexpected visit, young man, but since you couldn't read the letter we sent, we needed to come to you to read it. Our sources say you were adopted by a tribe called Mangani. May we go to them and speak to your adoptive mother?"

"No. A stranger cannot enter to speak to the tribe without danger. Better she comes to you. The owl is not good with naming things. What are you called, and what is your kind?"

"Well my name is Fillius Flitwick. As for my kind, I'm not sure what you mean. There could be many answers to that question." Had the boy been taught to distrust goblins or part-humans?

Harry pointed to the owl. "Her kind is owl." Then he pointed to the monkey over his head. "His kind is manu, monkey. I am Mangani, but Mother has told me she found me on the beach, that I was not born Mangani, great ape. She called me Tarmangani, great white ape, but I have never seen one. I have once seen Gomangani, who have black skins and wear bright colored coverings. I have seen bolgani and manu, who are like Mangani a little. Are you Tarmangani?"

Working through the descriptions, he realized they had been very wrong about just who had adopted this boy. "Yes, if I understand you correctly, Harry. We call ourselves human, or men and women. Those of us who can use magic also call ourselves wizards or witches. The black men you saw, however, are also human, just of another color. Have you ever seen a wolf pack?"

"Yes. Many colors, but one kind. I see what you mean. You have never seen Mangani, then."

Flitwick nodded. "You are right about that. I do not know of them at all! But I would very much like to see your mother, Harry, at the very least."

"Harry?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

Flitwick blinked, then realized what he'd done. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that your name had been changed to Wayat."

"It must have been. I do not remember being Harry, only Wayat."

"No, of course you wouldn't. You were too young. Now, about your mother?"

"Yes." He turned to the owl which had led Flitwick here and started making owl-like sounds to it. He was a Polymouth! There hadn't been a genuine Polymouth for over six hundred years! But it must have done the boy quite a bit of good being in this jungle environment. "Owl says she can take Rad to Neeta. Neeta will follow owl back to us." And so he gave his small knife to the owl by the dull side of the blade, and took off into the inky jungle.

Then the boy sat down and pulled another of the small knives from the sheath on his left wrist, and sat down on the branch to eat his mango. "How does your stick stay up?"

"With magic. It is a talent you possess in spades, judging by the way you are able to speak to the animals. For that matter, I'd guess you've never heard a human speak since you were adopted, and yet you understand me perfectly."

"How is the speech related to the stick?"

"That's a very complicated question, Wayat, but the short answer is that they're both caused by the same thing, which we call magic. It's a kind of energy, just as light and heat are energy, and it's part of nature as they are, but for a wizard such as yourself, it's something you can actually control."

Wayat nodded his understanding. His ears twitched a tad, and then he said, "Mother comes, Fillius."

And moments later, Flitwick heard the sound of her passage, as well, followed swiftly by seeing her visage. She was, indeed, an ape, a species known to the rest of the world as the Tropical Yeti. Completely non-magical, but with some magical properties in their fur, they had been hunted by wizards in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but when some claims were made about them becoming intelligent, such hunting was made illegal by the IWC.

Wayat jumped down from the tree limb he'd been sitting on to the ground below, and Flitwick followed him, dismounting when he touched down. Wayat said, "Don't let go of your stick, Fillius. The manu will steal it."

Nodding in acknowledgement, the teacher kept his hands on his broom. "Thank you, Wayat. Now your mother will not be able to understand me, so I hope you won't mind translating for us?" He nodded, and Flitwick turned to the beautiful Yeti woman. "I am from a school, a place to teach many youngsters together, and at this school we teach them how to use their magic. Your son can use magic, and we would like to teach it to him. It is far away, but he will be able to come back during our celebration times and during the summer."

The language of the Mangani is harsh and guttural, and as much about signs and body language as actual words. Hearing them come from Wayat was not as odd as he expected it to be, though. It was clear that he was fully adapted to this environment. Wayat was Mangani, and not just in name.

Neeta spoke to him, and as she did, Wayat translated for him. "She says, 'Why does Wayat go with you when you can come to him?' "

"Because I am not the only teacher, and we have many students who should not come into your jungle, but whom we must also teach."

" 'He does not know your ways, only the ways of Mangani.' "

Flitwick nodded. It was a valid concern. "I agree. I would place him with a family of our kind who could teach him our ways, prepare him to learn about magic. They would care for and teach him, but they would not take him from you." He was thinking of asking the Weasleys to foster the boy. They were very patient parents, with plenty of experience since they had six boys of their own.

Neeta shuffled on her feet, a little agitated. " 'Why must he learn this?' "

"Because it is a part of him, and as that part grows, without knowing how to control it, it may become dangerous." That was a harsh truth, but it was the truth no less. There had been many cases over the years of parents trying to keep their children from learning magic, who later were injured or died because of accidental magic.

Neeta growled a little. She didn't want to let her son travel so far. "'Show what magic is,'" she commanded.

Nodding in agreement, Flitwick pulled his wand, and aiming at a monkey which was coming to steal from him, just as Wayat had warned him, he fired off a stunner. "Stupefy!" The monkey was stunned and fell from the branch it was hanging from to the ground. To Neeta, he said, "Right now the monkey lives. He's just knocked out." He aimed at the monkey again and said, "Enervate!" and the little beast woke. He shook his head to clear it, then screeched and ran off at full speed, jumping into the nearest tree and getting as far away from Flitwick as he could. The diminutive professor returned his wand to its holster.

Wayat was ogling him, but Neeta's face had cleared. "'Magic is tooth and claw to Wayat?'" Defense and offense was something she understood.

Flitwick nodded. "That's not all it is, but it is definitely that."

Neeta sighed. "'How long is learning for?'"

"Seven years, but with breaks in between for visiting parents and family. There is a break in winter and one in summer. I would personally make sure he got to come home to you at those times."

At this Neeta growled, and started pacing. Wayat had made a decision for himself, though. He got down on all fours and crawled up to his mother, speaking to her privately in their own language. Finally she nodded at him and he hugged her. Then she walked away. Wayat turned to Flitwick. "I will come with you."

He nodded and said, "All right. Please take hold of the owl, Wayat. I'm going to get us back a lot faster than flying would take."

"More of this magic?"

"You're going to learn, my boy, that the uses and expressions of magic are many and highly varied." Once Wayat had hold of the owl, Flitwick said, "Now this is going to feel a little odd." With a crack, the tiny little man, the owl, and the young ape were gone from the jungle, and the only evidence they were ever there was the heaviness of Neeta's heart.

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Flitwick took them to the edge of the wards of Hogwarts. Having no experience with Apparation, Wayat landed on his rump with a squawk. "Maybe fast, but not fun," he said.

He grinned at the boy. "Neither is two weeks on a broom." He held a hand out to help him stand back up. Wayat took it, and once he was standing, he let the post owl go. He watched her flight and the huge stone structure that she winged her way toward caught his attention.

"What is that?"

"That, Wayat, is Hogwarts Castle, the building which houses Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your enrollment in this school has been assured since the day of your birth. You had only to accept it, and now that you have, we have a few things we need to take care of for you." He picked up a couple of spare leaves from the ground and began casting spells on them. First he increased their size, then he transfigured them into a crude tunic and breeches. "These are very simple, and won't last long, but they'll do until we can buy you some proper clothing and some shoes." He helped Wayat into the garments, which he'd made loose on purpose. He didn't want to put him into anything too restricting right off the bat.

But Wayat smiled. "This is warm," he exclaimed. After all, England, even in summer, was no where near as warm as the jungles he was used to.

Flitwick took Wayat up to the castle, noting how observant he was of how things moved. The slightest movement of the wind in the trees garnered at least a little attention from him, until it was dismissed as the wind and not a predator. He wondered if that was normal for him or if the habit was emphasized right now because he was in unfamiliar territory. Well, being in the Weasley household would do nothing to lessen that wariness, not with the twins there.

Professor Flitwick brought Wayat to the infirmary to begin with, and used Madame Pomfrey's fireplace to call Professor McGonagall.

For his part, Wayat was truly astounded. He had learned to make stones into claws and tusks, but he would never have thought build a hollow mountain! Had magic been used to build it? Or had the stones been stacked upon one another by some other means? He thought they were too big to lift with hands. But he had no idea what to expect in this strange place.

In the infirmary, he was met by a female, older, in a white frock and hat. She looked very surprised by him, but told him to sit on one of the flat, squishy, surfaces, which she called a bed. He saw an opening in the wall of the mountain, and went to sit on the one closest to it. He was able to see outside, and it as a great view from there out onto the grounds.

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Professor McGonagall soon came into the infirmary, and was greeted by the sight of a boy with wildly tangled and matted hair dressed in obviously transfigured clothing standing on a bed to look out the window. Professor Flitwick saw her expression and quickly began to explain. "Well we were half right. He was adopted by primitives, but they aren't human. They call their species Mangani, which means great ape in their language. I recognized them as Tropical Yeti."

"The adoption magic will work as long as both parties to it are sentient. But I wasn't aware that any of the Yeti species were so."

"Neither was I. I certainly think someone needs to see if the other two species have developed sentience. Anyway, that's who's had the raising of him. She made her decision to let him come to us quite quickly. And he's a Polymouth, Minerva! That has to have been dead useful being raised like he was. Sentient they may be, but the Book wasn't kidding about no societal norms. The Mangani still live as wild apes. They still have thick fur and live in a jungle that's warm year round, so they haven't developed any need for clothing. I don't think they have much in the way of tool use either. But his mother, Neeta, was quite intelligent. She asked for a demonstration, and when I used a stunner on a little monkey that was trying to steal my broom, she instantly understood that magic is a weapon, that for Wayat magic will be tooth and claw, as she put it."

Madame Pomfrey had run her wand over the boy while he looked out the window, and was surprised to see him grab her wrist. She shouted in surprise.

Professor Flitwick ran over. "Wayat, she's not trying to hurt you. Magic is not only a weapon. I used it to make the things you are wearing. It is what keeps a broom in the air and what allowed Neeta to become your mother, and you to speak to all creatures. It can to great things or simple things. And Madame Pomfrey is concerned with your health. She is using her magic to look at flesh and bone that are hidden from us by skin, to check for illness and injury."

Wayat frowned, but released her.

"Madame Pomfrey, I'd not suggest sneaking up on him again."

Shaken, but understanding, she said, "Of course. My apologies, young man. I didn't mean to startle you. Now, let me take a look?"

Wayat nodded, his face clearing at her apology. She ran her diagnostics quickly, and stepped back.

"Well, he's really quite healthy. There are signs that food was short some time in the past, but given what you've told us about his background, I doubt this was from intentional neglect. It was most likely from famine. There are some scars, no telling where they came from, and he's only had the first few series of childhood vaccinations. He'll need a dragonpox series, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations. He's also corrected his own vision by transfiguration of the eye's shape. I would think that was accidental magic, but it is a permanent transfiguration so he'll need no glasses. Other than that, he's fit as a fiddle. He just needs a bath and a haircut."

Flitwick said, "Well good. Can you begin the vaccinations tonight?"

"I can, but I'd recommend getting him some better clothing and that bath first. And a haircut. They'll make him a bit sleepy, and better he went to sleep clean and dry."

Professor McGonagall said, "Well why don't I go and firecall Mr. Weasley? He'll be better able to help you with the grooming tasks than I, and they'll be introduced that way, as well."

Flitwick nodded. "An excellent idea. Wayat?"

"Yes, Fillius?"

"The father of the family you'll be staying with while you are here is coming to help us get you cleaned up. I understand that you haven't had any hygiene since your adoption, so we're going to help you get caught up with that, and trim and wash your hair."

"What means hygiene?"

If any of the teachers were shocked, they hid it well. "The practice of staying clean for health reasons. Also, one of the social norms you're going to be learning about is that humans don't like to be able to smell one another easily, nor do they, as a general rule, like dirty things or people. To humans, body smells mean filth, and filth means disease, which disgusts them and makes them afraid."

Wayat nodded slowly, taking in the information. "They recognize each other by other ways than scent?"

"Yes. We recognize each other by face and voice."

"What must I do?"

"Well first we're going to get you completely clean. We're going to take you to a room with a bath, a small pool really, and scrub you down, wash your hair. Then we'll dry you off and see if your hair needs cutting at all. Then we'll get you some clothes that are better made than my poor attempt at Transfiguration, and put you to bed for the night. There are some medicines that Madame Pomfrey wants to give you, as well, medicines you should have had when you were younger to prevent some very serious diseases, and the medicines will make you very tired."

Wayat said, "All right."

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Arthur Weasley was spending a pleasant evening at home with the family, when the fireplace flashed green. He looked and saw Professor McGonagall's head in the flames. "Arthur, may I come through? There's been a major development."

"Absolutely. We were just about to sit down for tea. Would you join us?"

She stepped through the Floo and into their living room, casting an Ash Removal Charm to get the grit off after she had done. "I can't stay," she said urgently, "and I really need you to come with me. We found Harry Potter!"

The table erupted with various shocked statements, and both Arthur and Molly were too shocked themselves to quell it for a moment. Then sense penetrated the shock, and Arthur shouted over the din, "Quiet!" Once a more reasonable volume had been reached, he said, "Please join us for a moment or two. Molly, would you get a cuppa for the Headmistress?"

Shaking herself loose from the surprise, Molly nodded and headed for the kettle while Minerva took a seat at the table. She brought a cup of tea with milk, but no sugar, knowing that was how the tall Scottswoman preferred it. "Thank you, Molly." She took a sip, then said, "As I said, the boy has been found. None of the spells worked, not because he had been killed, but because he had been adopted. Near as we can tell, Harry's own magic reacted to the primitive people he found himself with and it was recorded as a magical adoption. His name is now actually Wayat of Mangani."

"Primitive people? Muggles?"

"Both, as well as not being human. The Mangani is what they call themselves, but our species name for them is the Tropical Yeti. They are a very ape-like species, still quite wild, but they have attained sentience, or whatever portion of the adoption ritual the boy used wouldn't have worked." She shook her head. "Obviously, we're trying to keep the information that he's been found from getting around. We want to get you set as his foster family before the likes of Lucius Malfoy get wind of this."

"Foster?" asked Molly.

"Oh, yes. His adoption by the Mangani woman is quite legal, and magically binding. In fact, based on what Fillius has told me, she only allowed him to come with the promise he would return on the holidays. Thanks to the regulations that were passed after his disappearance, we have to go through Children's Services, but as long as Malfoy is ignorant, he can't make a counter claim against you. There's nothing he can do legally against Neeta, Wayat's mother, because of the nature of the adoption."

"What about illegally?" asked Arthur. "We both know what he is."

"She's in Africa, and we can keep her exact location secret." She turned to the children. "You must understand, all of you. I am certain that the Mangani are quite capable of defending themselves against lions or wolves and such, but they would have no defense against a dark wizard. I will not, therefore, tell any of you the nation in which their home jungle sits. It's small enough he could probably find them from there. If you somehow learn it later, keep that information close to the chest."

Everyone at the table agreed.

"Now, for tonight, Arthur, we're going to need your help. I'll be going down to Madame Malkins' for a wardrobe for him, you needn't worry about that, but Fillius is going to need your help in getting him clean. We're taking him to one of the Prefects' bathrooms to use the big bathing pool, because it's going to take some room. He's been living like a wild thing, so he looks and smells like it. He is polite for all of that."

Molly spoke up. "If he needs a hair cut, once you've got him clean where you can tell, I'll come in the morning and take care of it."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Very well. Arthur?"

"Right. Molly, I'll see you tonight." He kissed his wife on the cheek, and then he and the Headmistress went back to Hogwarts.

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Meeting Arthur Weasley was pleasant enough. Wayat could tell he was nice, like Fillius, and the Headmistress had already said he was a father. He did, in fact, remind him of his own stepfather, Tazee. But the bath was another story. Wayat liked swimming, but he'd never been scrubbed, and he didn't particularly care for it. Arthur did assure him that with regular maintenance it wouldn't be so hard next time. The worst part was the tugging on his hair, but eventually they got it done. In the end, his hair was trimmed to a more manageable length, and was no longer tangled or matted, which was more comfortable because it no longer pulled against his scalp.

Then came the medicines, and they were given through a hollow metal thorn called a syringe. Madame Pomfrey warned him they would not feel good, and she had to give him four of them. But he had dealt with worse pain in his life and endured it without comment. She then called for dinner to be brought to them. A small creature with very large ears and eyes wearing a black cloth with a gold emblem on it around his middle appeared with a tray of food. There were small bits of meat and fruit, as well as cubes of a yellow, soft substance Madame Pomfrey called cheese. He liked the saltiness of it. He also had his first cup of tea. He'd never drunk anything hot before, and she warned him to sip it to avoid burning his tongue. He decided he liked it.

Soon after the meal, he became very tired. Madame Pomfrey saw this and said, "You should sleep now." He nodded and took the many cloths and soft things that covered the bed, piled them on the stones in a corner made by two walls, and quickly nodded off, Gashom buried in the nest and two Rad in his hand between the fingers.

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Note: I want to thank everyone who reviewed. This story is sometimes slow to write, because Wayat is so much different than Harry, and I have such a long game planned here that I don't want to cause a backfire for any of the later books. There will be at least seven, by the way, if not eight. Much of what J. R. wrote will still happen, because others have not changed just because Harry became Wayat. McGonagall's still McGonagall, and Voldemort's still Voldemort. But Dumbledore's been changed. The Weasleys and Hermione will be changed from their proximity to him. A couple of others will experience personality changes due to his changed interactions. And there are a couple of original characters floating around in the future, people more closely related to the Tarzan part of the universe than the Wizarding part, but the very earliest you'll see any of them is the third book.

And also keep in mind that this is not a Disney story. Jane was a blond from Boston, and Clayton wasn't the villain of the piece. The Mangani are not gorillas. I've called them the Tropical Yeti in this story for that reason. They're related to Himalayan Yeti and Sasquatch, though their fur is not as thick because they live in warmer climes. I hope this helps you to visualize. Most importantly, realize that Wayat of Mangani is not Harry Potter. There are things Wayat will be willing to do that Harry never would have.

I hope you're enjoying yourselves. Don't forget to review!