Chapter fourteen

One by one all the guest left, Harry thanking them again for their gifts. He was able to speak with the Granger's more once it was just a few Weasley's and the Granger's. He found them to be very nice people and had confessed that they believed Harry to be Hermione's boyfriend because of how often she spoke about him. They also said they thought Harry was older and that was why they believed Hermione kept saying friend. Harry smiled at the Granger's and explained that due to his life and Voldemort that it did age him, so he knew he looked older than his friends when in reality both his friends were older than him.

Arthur had taken Harry aside to apologise for his daughter's behaviour, but Harry wouldn't let him go on, that he understood how Ginny might not like someone that is so badly scarred. Arthur went on to explain that all the family were ashamed at the way Ginny behaved mainly because she never told Harry how she felt and just kept making excuses not to be seen with him unless he used his glamour. Both Arthur and Molly thought of Harry as a son and they did admit that when they heard that Harry was dating Ginny that maybe one day Harry would truly be a member of the family. Harry told the two eldest Weasley's that he would always feel part of the Weasley family even if he never became an official member, that he loved them all and would always be there for them in any way he could.

The following morning Harry showered and dressed before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. Kreacher placed a plate in front of him along with a cup of tea and a glass of juice. As he was almost finished eating there was a knock on the door, so Winky went to see who was calling so Harry could continue to eat.

'Sorry to disturb your breakfast Harry.'

'That's fine Severus, I woke later than normal. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?'

'Tea would be nice, thank you.'

'Winky will get it Mr. Snape.'

'Thank you Winky.'

'So all these animagus, to be honest, I never realised that others couldn't do what I did.'

Winky placed a cup on the table in front of Severus who nodded to the elf, 'What you achieved is impossible, yet you did it. Now to the explanation, you were injured directly after the death of the dark lord, yes you did fight those three and you surprised me with how well you were doing. But death eaters are taught how to ambush, so as one or two are keeping you distracted fighting them, the other is going for the kill or injury in your case. Yet you were able to hit all three quite often, it was only loss of blood that caused you to fall unconscious. Now I know you were able to achieve the glamour on your third try, how long did it take you to change the first time you tried?'

'Um, on the second try, which shocked the life out of me. Remus told me it took my father and Sirius three years to learn to change, so I wasn't expecting it to happen so fast.'

'I will explain why I believed you could do it. But first, why did you decide to change from the first animal to another?'

'At first I wanted a dog, like Sirius, sort of my way of keeping him with me, but it ended up being the stag. So even though I liked the fact I could change to look like my father, I still wanted Padfoot, so I tried again and I got him. After I got the dog I went back to the stag then tried others, the doe and a werewolf. I was happy to leave it at those four and kept changing from one to the other. But I wanted to surprise Hermione so I decided to try Crookshanks, when it worked and I could still change back into the others, I tried more, as you saw last night.'

'It seems like you have no limit which has never happened before. Godric Gryffindor invented the animagus spell, he did change into a lion as that was on his families crest. It was a wizard named Garrick Vandells that was able to change into two different animals, that was in the eighteen hundreds.'

'But what about registration, what Kingsley said, you only have to register two. So couldn't there be others out there that can change into more but they just never registered?'

'Yes, that is true, but the animagus spell is very complicated and very difficult to pull off, only a powerful witch or wizard can change. It does take a lot of power to perform the spell which can leave you feeling weak, mainly at the beginning. Once you've mastered the spell then it does not drain you as much as it did.'

Harry's brow furrowed as he thought about the first few times he changed, 'I never felt weak at all.'

'I noticed you were fine last night considering how many times you changed. So yes, there might be others out there that can change into more than two and didn't register the others. If there is I don't believe it would be many, while would most bother with more than one animal form. You chose four forms that meant something to you, your family as you are alone. Minerva has always had a fondness for cats, so naturally she became a cat, same with Albus and the phoenix as he owned a phoenix.'

'If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose a tiger?'

'I was lucky to see a white tiger when I was young. Your grandparents took your mother and her sister to the zoo, I was allowed to go along, Petunia also had a friend go with her, it was her birthday, and that is what she wanted to do. Lily actually did not like the fact that she would see animals in cages, she only agreed to go if I could go with her. We never spent any time watching the caged animals, but we did watch the monkeys as they were in a large open enclosure. As we were walking away, I spotted the white tiger. Your mother whispered to me that a white tiger would suit me as I am dark haired as a human, so I could go white hair as an animal.'

'So opposite in a way. Did my mother learn to change?'

'No, she had no interest in changing, her love was for potions.'

'So even though I fly like my father, I might have some talent with potions for my mother.'

'Yes you do have talent, you made your first pain potion perfectly, even the one you made at Hogwarts was good, not perfect but acceptable. Most children will have traits from both parents, some more than others. You look like your father, you fly like him, you fight like him, but your caring nature is your mother. She always wanted to protect, especially the helpless or anyone that could not protect themselves.'

'Like what I saw that day when I broke into your mind?'

'Yes, you're mother often had a go at your father and godfather when they harassed me. Naturally I played on that because I knew your father had feelings for your mother. I did not want to stop Lily finding love, I wanted her to be happy, I just did not want it with James Potter and that was for selfish reasons more than would he make her happy.'

'Selfish reasons, did you want her yourself?'

'No, I never thought of Lily like that. My selfish reasons was because I thought I would not get to spend time with Lily if she dated your father. We despised each other and hexed each other at every opportunity. Truth though, your father loved Lily very much, he doted on her, gave into her all the time, he just couldn't say no. So he was right for her and that is hard to admit.'

'Thank you, it's good to hear things about them that doesn't make me cry or cringe,' Harry gave Severus a smile, but he felt his face flush and just hoped Severus never noticed.