Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series and make no money off this fanfiction.

Spread Your Wings

By Ebona Nite

Ch 14 Outline: Living In Atlantis

"Heya Harry!" Chad came bounding into the dining commons. "So! Year Two! Thinking of trying out for any sports?"

Harry rolled his eyes at the werewolf's – that is, lycanthrope's – enthusiasm, and smiled. "Um, I don't know. I like flying, but I'm not so sure about Quidditch or Quadpot. Maybe I'll try out for football, I like running…."

Chad considered this. "Huh… you're a little small for football mate. You seem more like a soccer kid to me. Or maybe track. Yeah, track and field! We can do that together!"

Harry blinked in confusion, and then smacked his forehead. "Soccer, not football." He mumbled, "I keep forgetting the Americanisms. Sorry Chad, I meant soccer… I'll think about track. I'm not so sure I want to do lots of sports, especially with all the practical magic classes starting this year."

The spiky-haired lycan gave Harry a shocked looked. "Not do a lot of sports?!"

Harry laughed. "Spoken like a true sporty athlete!"

Luna, Amber, and Orlando opted to join them for breakfast then.

"Good morning everyone! Oh look, the heliopaths are dancing. There must be wind today."

"Good morning Luna." Harry squinted at the fireplace but, seeing nothing, quickly gave up. "Does that mean I should bring my jacket?"

"Well that depends. There shouldn't be rain, or they'd be agitated and throwing sparks and pushing embers around. The sylphs haven't been out this morning, at least none that I saw, but I did see some air sprites. The wind shouldn't be too bad, but then, the moojies might tangle your hair in spite."

"I don't think the moojies would have much work to do with my hair."

"That true." Choosing some raspberry yogurt and a banana, Luna sat next to him and started eating her breakfast.

Amber trotted over with a platter of wheat cakes and jam. "Okay, sylphs are air elementals right? So what's the difference with air sprites? And what on earth are moojies, cow sprites?"

Luna laughed. "Oh, moojies live in nests of hair, preferably still attached to one's head. I named them "moojies" because they are particularly fond of making cowlicks in people's hair as they sleep. Bedhead is all their fault. Well mostly, some of that is how you sleep on your pillow…. Also they don't like a lot of wind, so they tangle hair in spite. Wearing a hat generally tames them, though you can get hat hair just from the hat, which makes the moojies happy."

"And the sylphs and air sprites?"

"Oh there's lots of different types of sprites for all the elements, its just only a few of them are known so they tend to be called "elementals" as if it makes them special… they just happen to be the most common, not the most powerful, so they are seen and known. Sylphs are common air sprites. A lot of the others don't have individual names."

"Naiads were once mistaken for water elementals rather than a race of nymph," Orlando chimed in, without even looking up from his book, "because of their ability to camouflage underwater so completely they look like they are melting into the water and becoming part of their surroundings. And mundane literature often calls gnomes earth elementals even though they're really just creatures. An elemental – or sprite, which is pretty much the same thing though usually "elemental" is used for the more powerful ones and "sprite" is used for the weaker but more abundant ones – has to be made up of the element and magic rather than flesh and blood, or else it is designated a creature (or beast)."

Harry had been listening to all this so intently he'd finished his breakfast without even tasting it. It was rather a shock to feel his spoon scrape the inside of the owl, look down and find the oatmeal (with honey and strawberries so sweeten it) all gone.

This seemed to be the signal for the end of the breakfast; as Harry got up and reached for his book bag his friends were all finishing up and standing as well. They left the dishes – in most dorms the students had to take their dishes to the kitchen, though there were staff that did actually cleaning, but the brownie students in the Thunderbirds dorm had been most insistent about "helping out" and so had called dibs on that chore, as well as the dusting, vacuuming, and generally tidying of the public areas. But they didn't do windows.

************

"My brain hurts." Chad moaned. And that was the end of his study period that night. There was only so much studying a person more inclined to run around a track jumping hurdles could take.

Chad was not a studying type person. He was great at sports, and loved most of them (except table-tennis aka ping-pong, which he didn't get the point of), and he loved going on long hikes, often with camera in hand. But when it came to actual classes… well the best that could b said for him was that he was trying, and not skipping any of his classes. Though that may have been partly because Orlando had the room across the hall from him. Nothing like a bookworm vampire dragging you out of bed before dawn to get you going.

Despite the fact that Chad may have been more happy at a somewhat slower paced school Outside Atlantis, now that he was Inside he wasn't about to give up his spot, be it from flunking out or being kicked out from laziness. You certainly couldn't call him lazy. He struggled sure, he cursed out his math homework yes, he managed acceptable work in history and got Orlando to quiz him senseless in Lantisian language until he learned it from sheer stubborn repetitiveness, and aced any class involving physical training. No, Chad was not lazy, despite hating to do so much hard work with pencil-pushing, but he was definitely stubborn.

On the other hand, he was a "track and field fiend" as Orlando had put it. Not yet twelve, he'd already made the Thunderbird dorm team, and was having the time of his life.

At least he was enjoying the magical defense class he was taking. Though hat might have had something to do with the fact that the first two weeks were devoted entirely to learning ways to dodge, run, sneak, hide, and otherwise evade without magic before getting into defensive magic.

The rest of the group of friends were doing well in their classes, to varying degrees depending on the person and which classes they were taking.

Harry, in particular, was quite enjoying the creatures, beasts, and beings class he was taking with Chad and Luna. It was required for those students who can from Outside, and optional for native Atlantians.

A middle-aged human woman named Mrs. Seika taught the class. The first day was completely about the differences between creatures, beasts, and beings. Harry had understood why beings would be different, but had been wondering what was so different about creatures and beasts – weren't they just two different words for saying "animals?"

However, the community of Atlantis – and in fact, quite a few magical communities Outside Atlantis – used "creatures" and "beasts" to designate different levels of intelligence, along with several other factors. Harry found such varying levels of factors utterly fascinating. Atlantis, unlike many Outside communities, mixed magical and non-magical together, even here.

Flashback to class:

"Good afternoon students, I am your teacher Mrs. Seika. This class is about creatures and beasts and a little about beings, though mostly in how certain species are classified as beings instead of beasts or vice versa. Today I will lecture, and tomorrow will be devoted to questions. Please write down any you have and save them for then.

"If you wish to learn more in depth about the differing species of beings, there are anatomy, culture, and psychology classes more suited, or you can find friendly students of different species and asked them about themselves.

Now, on to our subject matter. While many understand that beings differ from the beasts and creatures due to sentience and the presence of cultures, most do not understand the differences between beasts and creatures, or even why certain species are beasts instead of beings or beings instead of bests. Virtually no one thinks of whether there are variance in designation based on whether the species, race, or individual is magical or mundane. Well, you all will at the end of this lecture.

"Let's start with magical versus mundane.

"Magical means having a magic core and/or being inherently magical. By inherently, I mean having magic incorporated into one's very beings, flesh and blood, mind and spirit, perhaps even being made of magic. Elemental sprites are a good example: they are made entirely from their element and magic, no flesh and blood at all. Without magic, air sprite would not be, they would merely be air or a gust of wind. A unicorn is inherently magical, its horn, blood, tears, and hair are able to be used in potions or foci, and a hoof or chunk of flesh would register as magical; whereas a chunk of a wizard's flesh would merely be flesh for they have a magic core but are not inherently magical. I do not suggest you try testing this by attacking unicorns or mutilating yourself, that is a good way to get killed.

Generally, it is only beings that have certain species with magical cores rather than being inherently magical. It has been noted that humans and human-based species – meaning werewolves and vampires – have magic cores. Werewolves and vampires, though, generally gain a permutation of magic throughout their bodies, especially those born rather than bitten, and after a few decades will register as magically-inherent on scans. Centaurs, veela, sphinxes, merfolk, and nymphs are all inherently magical, for magic is needed to keep their bodies working. Human beings have the greatest number of mundane among our species simply because we are able to go on existing without magic.

"Now, for magical creatures.

"Magic often makes animals more intelligent than their mundane cousins. For example: mundane owls are creatures; magically enhanced post-owls are magical creatures. Studied side by side, the magically enhanced owl is far more intelligent than the mundane owl, able to understand simple instructions and directions, locate mail recipients, and even follow instructions such as "give this person this letter only when they are alone." Mundane owls or other birds can be trained to certain levels, but not to such a complex, relatively speaking, command.

"Kneazles are also much more intelligent than the common house cat. A cat can come to recognize a person and whether or not that person is generally friendly or likes to pull their tail, can learn to recognize the sound of a can opener and associate that with food, and be trained to use a litterbox. Kneazles take this a step farther, recognizing whether a person is trustworthy or not even if the person is a complete stranger, and if their chosen human companion is ill or in danger will often go for help.

"Now, on to beasts. Magical beasts are the animals, birds, fish, reptiles, and insects with some level of intelligence/sentience that allows them to interact with beings, possibly communicate intelligently on some level, but which cannot be a full member of society (i.e. they eat beings, are inherently violent, are ruled by their instincts, etc).

"Phoenixes, manticores, acromantulas, dementors, trolls, and magical serpents all fall in this category. Manticores are, on a certain level, much like sphinxes. Unlike sphinxes they are inherently violent and often eat beings, therefore are classified as beasts. Trolls simply do not have the level of intelligence or ability to be nonviolent for long periods of time to interact with beings. Acromantulas eat beings. Phoenixes are simply too bird-like to participate in a community. Dementors have a sort of society among themselves, but subsist on the emotions and souls of beings. It has been noted that manticores and acromantulas can learn human languages; this however tends to make them more dangerous, as they lure prey to them by talking reasonably before ensnaring and eating, often preferring their prey live.

"This brings us to a point of contention. Hags are a common argument here, for they appear to be human. They have both magical and mundane members of their species, though the magical outnumber the mundane five-to-one. They can be members of communities, have societies and cultures, buy and sell goods, and interact with beings. Some Outside communities count them among beings. We on Atlantis, however, make note that their diet includes human – or beings close to humans, like werewolves and veela – liver and kidneys, and find infants and small children delicacies. Even if we would be inclined to look past these "delicacies" this does not change the fact that they must have human or humanish liver and kidneys. Just as vampires must have blood. Vampires can survive on animal blood; hags cannot survive on animal liver, it must be closer to their own physiognomy to supply them with the proper nutrients they need. It is this which makes us classify them as beasts instead of beings; indeed, it is this that makes us expel them from Atlantis entirely.

"Which brings us to the subject of magical beings. Non-magical beings, of course, are in majorities the mundane humans. Dwarves and elves, who like humans have magic cores rater than inherent magic, have a minority of mundanes within their species, but humans certainly have the majority.

"Magical beings, according to Atlantis charter, consist of: humans, vampires, werewolves, veela (often mistaken for a race of nymph, they are in fact avian-anthro shifting-hybrids much like lycanthropes), giants, nymphs (which include dryads, naiads, and sirens), merfolk, selkies (another shifting-hybrid of seal-folk), centaurs, sphinxes, harpies, satyrs, goblins, dwarves, brownies, leprechauns, elves, and fae. It has been suggested that veela are actually a race of bird-fae, but good luck getting any of them to either confirm or deny such claims.

"And then there are Celestials," Mrs. Seika said, briefly looking starry-eyed before returning to her stern lecture mode. "Celestials are more commonly called angels. There are three tiers: the Angels, the Archangels, and the Seraphim. The difference between each is power-level, represented by the number of wings; Angels have one pair, Archangels have two pairs, and Seraphim have three pairs. The wings are not actual physical feathered wings, though they look similar, but rather are made entirely of magic, often appearing as feathered-wings made of light the color or colors of the Celestial's aura. Celestials can ascend from any Being, and unlike common myth do not just look like humans with wings, but rather like the species they were born as with the addition of wing-like magic, often thought to be an extension of their aura, as I described before.

"Celestials are direct rivals of the Infernals, beings from other dimensions and universes often referred to as demons. The Angels match the Demons in power, Archangels match Archdemons, and Seraphim match Master Demons, as we have come to call them.

"You should all have had the Atlantis History class by now and learned of Gabriel and Raphael who moved out Island Sideways leaving it in its own pocket-dimension only partially connected to the Outside world, so I will not go over Celestials further. Books can be found in the Academy's library if any of you are interested in learning further.

"I will not be teaching much about any of the races of beings, unless it directly relates to beasts or creatures. If any of you have questions concerning the subject of beings, please make note of that and what I said at the beginning of this lecture. I believe that is enough today. Please read the introductions to your two books before class tomorrow if you haven't already. Good day students."

End flashback.

*******************

Amber was in less of the classes that Harry, Luna, and Orlando were taking, preferring a different order to some of her required classes as well as having some that, as a centaur, she either didn't need or needed a different version of. And had some classes specifically designed for the different non-human species (the water-based species – merfolk, naiads, sirens, selkies, and water-based fae – needed classes underwater or near water, after all. There was a reason there were streams and pools throughout the campus, even reaching inside certain buildings).

Chad wasn't in as many classes with them simply because he was taking the less intensive route, aiming for the full 10 years rather than trying to finish after seven or eight, and therefore didn't need so many required classes at a time. Amber was simply taking as many as she felt comfortable with each trimester and seeing where it got her.

Orlando said he was aiming for six years, the absolute shortest route to graduate, but Harry suspected that next year when electives were offered he'd find his schedule lengthened. Then again, being a vampire meant Orlando only needed four hours of sleep every 24 hour period (after a century or two, he'd said, he'd only need four hours every week, then twice a month, then once a month, as he got older). He usually opted to take those hours in the middle of the day and take classes later into the evening, and Harry guessed he was taking some night classes already. So conceivably he could graduate at sixteen if he didn't join any clubs or have a social life. As if his friends would let him get away with that.

Harry and Luna opted to aim for seven to eight years and see where electives and personal preferences got them in the next year or so.

***********************

The beginning magical courses Harry was taking this year, besides the Creatures and Beasts class, were Transfiguration, Defensive Magics, and Spells. Spells was particularly interesting, as it covered charms, jinxes, hexes, and of course all the counters. Curses were strictly part of Offensive Magics, though there was an overlap with Defensive Magics as one needed to know the counter-curses, and Harry was planning on adding the OM course in second trimester. Maybe he'd be good enough to qualify for the beginner's Dueling elective next year!

He'd learned to focus his magic through the feathers in his hair without much effort, though he found it mildly distracting. It seemed like an extra step that just complicated things. He could do it now with no visible effort, nothing to show it was a focus. According to his Magical Theory teacher last year, a focus was supposed to channel one's magic so that it was amplified, and that magic users often found that despite the "extra step" of focusing and channeling the additional amplification of one's magic made up for it… but Harry wasn't seeing much difference, if any. In the weaker exercises and spells, it even seemed to dampen his magic some… although this helped keep things from exploding at times while he was still getting the hang of the spells.

Luna had once suggested he focus on focus-less magic instead. And he did, to an extent. Harry found he actually had somewhat of an affinity for it, which was rare among humans apparently. He'd been told he'd need to learn to "ground and center" before casting without a focus, since otherwise he might find his control slipping. And once he'd learned what that meant and the exercises for it, found he'd been doing something similar already on instinct. He learned the "proper" ways anyway, so that he'd know what he was doing in the future in case the instinct left him or was disrupted by something.

Harry was also taking Herbology, the magical parallel of a horticulture class, because it was one of the two prerequisites for Potions – the other being Chemistry. Harry thought he might manage to get both prerequisites in before the next year.

But of course he also had to take the mundane courses: history, Lantisian language, literature, math (he was up to Algebra 2, having taken first level Algebra and geometry last year), and science (this trimester he had an intro to physical sciences).

Chad had managed to pull him out to fly some more, and he'd participated in a game of pick-up Quidditch as a Seeker. Everyone said he was a natural, both at flying and at Seeking, but he found he preferred not to dodge bludgers and other players and had begged off after the first game concluded. Harry would often go off flying on his own or with Luna, sometimes accompanied by Hedwig, just to relax and enjoy the feel of the wind in his hair and on his face.

Hedwig was a wonderful companion for this, often winging in out of nowhere minutes after he'd gotten aloft, hooting encouragement and gliding beside him or playing a game of tag depending on his mood.

She also would perch on Luna's broom handle when Luna joined them, allowing the dreamy-eyed blonde to run fingers through her soft feathers.

Harry promised himself to get his own broom next time he visited a marketplace. Using the dorm's brooms was okay, but sometimes he had to wait when they were in use, especially during impromptu Quidditch games.

**********************

Luna had been a fantastic friend. She still came off as dreamy and somewhat loony to those who didn't know her, but that only made her more endearing to Harry. She stuck by his side no matter what, and he did the same for her. Amber couldn't fly with him, Orlando often had his nose stuck in a book, and Chad was sometimes too active for Harry to bear. Luna seemed to match him in a way no one else did or could.

Author's Note: Okay, it looks like Draco will be an annoying git but not actually a Death Eater. But most likely he'll get punched in the nose by Hermione and others more than once.

Death Eaters are going to die. Do you want Snape to die? Either he's loyal to Voldemort and dies, is redeemable and gets his Dark Mark removed and doesn't die, or sacrifices himself in the end much like canon, being loyal to Dumbledore but still dying. How do you vote? And if you come up with a unique fourth option I'm open to suggestions!