Hermione did not know why she was headed back to the forest that she had met the elf Harry in. She supposed she wanted to see the creature again. He was interesting, and he was the only other mage that she had met.
As she made her way through the trees she canceled the invisibility spell that she had shrouded herself in. She did not want a repeat of their last meeting, especially considering the fact that they had met over a year prior and he could have only gotten stronger (that was not to say that she was not training).
"What are you doing here again Hermione?" The voice that belonged to Harry came from high in the trees, and she was unsurprised to spot him standing on one of the branches of a rather large tree. His bow was not on his person, but she was cautious as it could be summoned at any moment.
Hermione held her hands up. Harry did not take her as a threat, but he was perplexed by her being in his territory again. He had assumed that she would not return after the last time that she had been there, but he had apparently been wrong.
"I mean you no harm… I simply wanted to talk." Harry did not think that she was lying, but he could tell that she was conflicted about something.
He gave a sigh and plopped down onto the branch with his legs crossed. "What did you want to talk about? The first time that we met was a long time ago, and I can't believe that you came to talk after so long."
Hermione swallowed thickly. There was something about the bosmer that gripped her heart. There was no fear of him or anything of the like, but there was something that she could not rationalize. It made her act in ways that she had not imagined and it had been the cause of her retreat the last time that they had done battle. It was almost like even though they were different races there was something that was familiar about him.
"Where did you leave that you were a mage?" Harry frowned. He had never heard Siersa refer to him as a mage. In fact he was not quite sure what the word meant.
"A mage? Don't you mean wizard?" he assumed that the word was the same as wizard.
Hermione shook her head. "Wizard?" she asked incredulously. "Wizards are nothing more than clowns with a few tricks. Mages command magic."
She had heard that court mages within certain parts of Tamriel were sometimes referred to as wizards, but she had always found the reference distasteful. To her wizards and mages were like night and day. Wizards specialized in flashy spells that seemed to get nothing done, while true mages were trained in (or learned independently) magic to suit a specific purpose, such as fighting.
Harry noticed the disgust in her voice. "Do you not like wizards?"
"I don't. They're nothing like us. They might use magic, but we are superior." The elf frowned at that. It sounded like what his Uncle would say: he (Harry) was a freak, and he (Vernon) was better than him by being normal.
"Doesn't that make us the same as them?" he did not like the way that these talks were going. He hated it when anyone thought they were better than someone else. It reminded him of the abuses that he had suffered at the hands of his family.
"No it doesn't. We use magic differently, besides they're bound by wands." She did not truly know if wizards had to use wands, but she was going off the top of her head. She had done that with the magics of Elder Scrolls, and that had turned out to be the right decision, so now she was doing the same with fairytales that she had heard as a child.
"Wands?" cocked his head to the side in confusion. He had never used a wand for magic, so why would anyone else need one? "They have to have sticks to use magic?"
She nodded. "Yes they do. Without a wand they can't do magic like us."
"Why do they have to use sticks? I mean we don't."
"I don't know why they have to use wands. As far as I've been told it's just the difference between wizards and mages."
Harry scowled. He had not thought that other people who used magic would need wands. He had simply assumed that everyone could do it like him, and Hermione had been a point to the favor of that theory, but now he wasn't so sure. Maybe the girl was lying to him.
"How do I know…" he trailed off as he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him. Hermione threw her hand up and was covered in a glow before she faded from view. Harry's bow appeared in his hand and he grabbed an arrow.
"Who's there?" he did not fire the arrow as he had done with Hermione. He had nearly killed her, and he was not keen on killing another sentient being just yet.
A woman came from the brush. She was a woman with dark hair and a stern looking face wearing a green dress. She wore glasses that only seemed to make her look even more "no-nonsense".
"I am Minerva McGonagall, and I am looking for one Harry Potter." She did not hesitate as she spoke to the elf. She had not realized that he was an elf, but that was something that one would expect from a witch or a wizard. They had been raised with the notion that the only elves that were alive were house elves, and so to her Harry was just a boy in the woods.
"I'm Harry Potter." She smiled at him. She had been waiting for a very long time, and so had the rest of the wizarding world. Now they had their savior back, and she could see what would become of the son of her greatest student.
"Well then Mr. Potter I am proud to present you with this." She handed him a letter. He did not know where it had come from, but he took it.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Head Master Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorc, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump International Confederation of Wizards)
Dear Mr. H Potter,
Epping Forest
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1st September. We await your owl by no later than 31st July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic
by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory
by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration
by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions
by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
Harry looked over the letter several times before he held it out toward McGonagall. "I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. I might be Harry Potter, but I'm not a wizard."
McGonagall was shocked. She could clearly see the scar on the boy's forehead. She knew that he was Harry Potter, but he was denying being a wizard. She began to think the worst for a moment before it dawned on her that he probably did not believe in magic. He had after all not been raised with it.
"I can assure you Mr. Potter that magic is indeed real." She flicked her risk and a long slender piece of wood that Harry recognized as a wand was within her hand.
"I know magic is real Mrs. McGonagall." He said allowing his bow to dissipate into nothingness. She had seen the weapon, but had assumed that he had gotten it from the person that had likely found him (as she thought that no child could survive in the wild on their own).
"How did you do that?" Her voice was soft, and filled with awe. She had never seen wandless magic on that scale even from Albus, and he was the premier expert on it in Britain.
Harry raised an eyebrow, and he heard faint snickering from where he knew Hermione was hiding. "Magic. Is it that uncommon for someone who uses magic to do magic?"
"It is not uncommon for magical people to do magic, but it is very uncommon for them to do so without the use of a wand." She tried to suppress the astonishment that she felt, but she could not keep it from her face.
"You mean there are people who have to use wands?" he would not have been so direct normally, but he wanted to know if what Hermione had said was true. He could not imagine that it was, but what better way was there to find out than from the source.
"Of course all wizards have to use wands."The elf frowned, and he could feel the joy radiating from Hermione. She had been right the wizards did use wands, and it was abnormal for someone to be able to perform magic without one.
"Like I said before Mrs. McGonagall I'm not a wizard." McGonagall looked scandalized at his second denial of his heritage. She had seen him perform magic, but he refused to be called a wizard. To her it was a crime.
"Mr. Potter only wizards can use magic." She needed to get her point across so that she could take him to Diagon Alley for his supplies. She was not going home without the boy who lived.
Her statement was foul with wizard superiority, and she could see that she was ignorant of mages (he mentally noted to himself that wizards and mages were truly two different kinds of magic users)
"Are there not other creatures that are capable of using magic?" the old witch mentally sighed. The boy was too inquisitive for his own good. He should have been ready to go see the magical world the moment that she had given him his letter.
"Yes there are other creatures that can use magic, but only humans can cast the spells that a witch or wizard can, and that is afforded to them by the use of a wand."
Harry left out a low sigh and shook his head. "What you fail to realize Mrs. McGonagall is that I am an elf not a human." He pointed to his ears and McGonagall's eyes widened. She had noticed the tale –tale point before because she had been too enamored by the lightning bolt shaped scar that donned his forehead
"Mr. Potter I assure you that you are completely human." She made to step forward and take him in a hug. It seemed to her that he was delusional, and whomever he had been living with should be take to see a mind healer, but she never made it close enough to the boy as Hermione appeared before her.
The Khajiit bore her fangs, and flexed her fingers as lighting arched between her fingers. "He told you that he is no wizard. He is a mage like me."
.
Minerva recoiled at the sight of the cat girl. She had never seen such a creature outside of failed human transfiguration attempts, and she was sure that she would have known if such a case was at hand (she was the most premiere transfiguration expert outside of Dumbledore who was far too busy to handle such things). She vaguely able to identify the cat creature as a young girl, but it did not make her quell her reluctance in the least.
"What happened to you?" She could only hope that the change that the girl had suffered was reversible. It was not often that a child got into trouble like what she was seeing with their accidental magic and most cases were only able to be reversed when the change had taken place a short while before it was discovered.
Hermione glared at the transfiguration mistress. "There is nothing wrong with me."
"What do you mean there's nothing wrong with you?" Minerva barely held back a yell. How could the child say that nothing was wrong? "You've turned yourself into a bloody animal!"
Before the witch knew what had happened she found a dagger poised at her throat. Harry was the one holding it, and she could only look at him with mute horror. She had never expected the son of James to attack her, but now he had her life in his hands.
Harry for his part would have rather not gotten involved with the witch. It was obvious from the way that she talked that he would have no place with her kind (they denied the existence of elves when he was living proof). If she was anything to go by the wizards most likely thought they were the greatest magic users in the world, and that others were nothing more than trash.
He would have told her that he was not interested and let her be on her way, but she had insulted Hermione. Now he might not have known the girl well, but she was a mage like him, and she was not truly human like him, and that put them in the same predicament. If the witch was willing to treat Hermione as sub-human then when she realized that he was truly an elf then it was highly likely that she would do that same to him.
"She is no beast. She is a person just like you." Minerva swallowed thickly. The blade was not pressing hard enough to draw blood, but she knew that it only took one false move to change that.
"I know she is a person…" She began trying to subtly move away a little. "but the girl's going to get herself killed using an incomplete transfiguration like that."
Hermione laughed. "This is not incomplete anything. I am Khajiit, and we are beast people. I can assume a human form if I wish, but this is my natural state." It would do no good to tell the woman that it was vice versa.
Minerva's breath hitched. There could have been no possible way that such a species could have existed. They would have known just as they knew of all other magical species. There was no such thing as this "Khajiit", and the elves that humans prescribed to were nothing more than fairytales; house-elves were the only elves that existed.
"Please listen to me!" Minerva pleaded. "You two are both unwell! You magic has changed you, and you need to be treated!"
Harry's eyes narrowed, and he pressed the blade deeper in her throat finally bringing forth the crimson color of her blood. He had never killed before, but it seemed that she would be his first victim. She was a danger to him and Hermione, and he could tell that if she were to be left alive that she would only let the other wizards know where to find them.
As the elf was about to end the woman's life two red bolts of energy came from the shadows striking him and the Khajiit. They crumpled to the ground not unconscious, but unable to move for the moment.
Minerva was overjoyed to see Serverus step out into the light. He looked at Harry and Hermione, and then to Minerva. "I trust you will explain to me what was going on?"
Minerva nodded mutely the shock of it all was wearing on her. Even during the first war she had never come so close to death, but (as she rubbed her neck) she knew that had the dark haired man been even a moment later she would not have lived to see him.
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"Poppy what have you found?" Dumbledore asked the medical witch as she ran diagnostic charms on Harry and Hermione. The Khajiit and elf had both been bound after it was realized that stunners only caused them paralysis for a five minutes.
"Albus I am afraid there is nothing that I can do about it. Every charm that I've run tells me that they are both non-human. Harry is something called a 'bosmer', and the girl is something called a Khajiit."
Dumbledore began to pace back and forth around the room. There had to be some way that he could return things to the way that they should have been. He needed Harry to be a wizard so that he could study at Hogwarts. If the boy was left to wander around then Voldemort would have no trouble killing him, and destroying the only salvation that the wizards of Britain had.
An idea came to mind. He knew that it was risky, but it was the only thing that came to him. Deftly he produced the elder wand from his robes. He rarely used it outside of battle as his old wand was normally more than enough, but he wanted to take no chances.
He pointed his wand at Harry. The elven boy struggled viciously, but the straps that held him down to the medical cot were charmed to be unbreakable. Dumbledore mutter a spell under his breath and a gold light erupted from his wand washing over Harry. Harry grit his teeth at the foreign intrusion of magic.
Dumbledore watched as his spell began to do its work. Harry's skin began to turn paler to that color that James' had been, his ears rounded, and all of the other changes that being an elf had brought onto the boy were slowly reversed. When everything was (in Dumbledore's eyes) as it should be he turned his wand to the girl. He did not know how she had looked as a human, but he let the magic guide him, and she too was returned to a human form. The elderly wizard let out a sigh of relief.
However that relief did not last long as the changes that he had rot fell away, and once again a Khajiit and an elf were lying in the beds.
Dumbledore turn to Poppy. "Ensure that they do not leave. I will be employing the entirety of my resources to solve this problem."
He walked briskly out of the room. A short while later Poppy went to the bathroom, and that proved to be a mistake. Minerva in had told the other staff that they could use magic, but she had described it as uncontrolled accidental magic, and due to that no one had bothered to ward the beds against magic, and in swift order Hermione had frozen both beds. The straps were resistant to breaking, however the beds were not, and when they froze the legs snapped sending them chasing to the ground and shattering them.
Harry and Hermione were freed, and they both wasted no time diving out of the window and sprinting full tilt toward the forest. When Poppy returned to the room she quickly summoned a patronus to warn the Headmaster and the staff of what had happened.
