…Grounds, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood in front of his school in stunned disbelief. A Gryffindor had turned into a magical snake and was now slithering around the feet of a Slytherin that had turned into a gryphon. He was not surprised that one of Harry Potter's ladies had fallen from the light to the dark as that was what he truly believed was happening to the House of Potter. That he had corrupted a Weasley validated, in his mind, the behind the scenes efforts he had made to bankrupt them and pull them from the Potter influence.
But no matter how hard he tried his mind could not find an explanation for Daphne Greengrass becoming a gryphon. The nicest that could be said about her family was that they were neutral. But that did not mean they weren't dark. It just meant they weren't murderers, necessarily. Before Harry Potter had re-entered the magical world, Albus' goal was to get more Dark families to behave like the Greengrass one, as he did not truly believe that all of them could be turned to the light.
Despite the family representing his best case scenario for the darkest families, it still should have been impossible for the Greengrass heiress to become a creature that was so clearly a light creature. Especially as she was now cavorting with the possible rising dark lord that was Harry Potter. Gryphons were considered noble creatures, possessed by honor and integrity.
The Greengrass daughter should not have it as a magical creature. So determined and stubborn was the man that he started to suspect some dark nature to whatever magic Potter and his associates had discovered to achieve a magical animagus form. As was standard when his mind made this sort of leap, he blamed Sirius Black. "It was probably the same dark ritual he used to get that damn Phoenix." He thought bitterly.
Even with his mind roiling, he noticed the next two. Ron and Lavender stepped forward and everyone looked at them with open excitement. Everyone knew the two were the closest to Harry and likely the closest in magical strength to the boy-who-lived, not counting Neville. If Daphne and Susan could be a gryphon and a grim, what would these two become?
The crowd was not disappointed when Ron gestured for the Guardian of Hogwarts to step forward and go first. Albus Dumbledore did not know why but he expected Lavender to have been a gryphon. She was a Gryffindor and the Guardian of Hogwarts. He had noticed that each new pair were arguably more powerful than the previous. With Daphne, unexplainably a gryphon, he half expected that Lavender would be a dragon.
He only had enough time to dismiss the ridiculousness of his thought before she transformed. He took a step back when he saw what she actually turned into. The entire school had gone quiet in shock. Harry had insisted that this demonstration be done outside and up to that point, all the creatures could fit inside the great hall. Most had just assumed that his desire to be outside was due to not wanting to be cramped when they all turned into animals.
The elephant sized horse suggested different. 13' tall at the shoulders, the animal looked like a Black Abraxan minus the wings and with a lot of fire. The nightmare was a horse that was almost considered mythical in the wizarding world. Lavender galloped into the air leaving floating flaming foot prints before landing and raising unto her hind legs in an impressive display. Albus looked on the creature in fear. All his worst imaginings were confirmed in that moment. The guardian of Hogwarts was a nightmare. A creature of darkness and death.
She had been accepted by Fawkes, a creature of light and life. To Albus it was a confirmation that some terrible and evil magic had been conducted. As an extremist, he could not fathom that there could be value in balance. He also didn't understand that these creatures before him were magical constructs and not actually the animals whose form they had taken. They had all the powers and abilities of the animals they represented but were not them.
Lavender was as close to an actual nightmare as could ever be achieved but at her core she was witch. So even if Fawkes did have an aversion to nightmares or any dark creatures, it was possible that animagi would not be viewed by the immortal bird as such.
None of that was important in the moment. Albus' mind was simply unable to process what he was seeing rationally as everything that was occurring was contradictory to his beliefs. And he considered his beliefs to be facts. He looked again at the large black horse. He forced himself to calm and looked at the terrifying but majestic animal. The Kitsune and the Ifrit had ran over and was running in and out of the fire at her feet.
The students and teachers loved the display they were being treated to. With his mind calm and in the midst of multiple calculations, he could also appreciate the rarity of what they were seeing. A Nightmare was a creature, not even he had ever seen in real life before. They were as rare as the Nemean Lions. The thought hit Albus like a physical punch. His eyes snapped to Ron and Harry. He was convinced one of them would show themselves to be the Nemean Lion that had been regularly spotted at the Potter Castle grounds. It made so much sense.
His mind was split between joy that the deception would help validate his own sin in regards to Fawkes, and fear of the power Potter had already gathered to himself. He knew nothing about magical animagi. The Nemean Lion was supposed to be immortal. "Is this the power he knows not?" Albus' mind raged at his lack of information and control. "And how could a light creature and a dark creature be friends?"
As Ron stepped forward a new thought percolated into his mind as he looked at the arrayed beasts. "Why would you not keep these abilities secret?" The fire breathing bull that Ron turned into was another creature of great power, though it was less rare than the nightmare that still gave him chills whenever he looked at it.
The Khalkotauroi was from Atlantis, even though most people in Europe thought it was from Greece since the most famous one in Europe was used by the Greek wizards who claimed to be gods centuries earlier. A head taller than the nightmare but much broader and with long swooping horns. Albus ignored the near euphoria that had infected the school populous at the sight of Lavender and Ron's forms.
Romilda ran forward and Ron lowered his head allowing her to use his massive horns as a step to straddle his neck. As his head rose into the air carrying her, Romilda could not help notice the many jealous looks she was receiving from some of the girls watching from the castle. Like Luna the year before, plans had been made to become part of the well-known harems and like Luna, the bubbly Hufflepuff had somehow claimed a position without anyone knowing.
None of the onlookers, however, had any plans to try and hurt or discourage Ron's newest girlfriend. First the girl was very beautiful and none could find fault in Ron's choice. Second, she was known to be very skilled with a wand and some who had been extra curious had found out that she was the granddaughter of one of the most famous Aurors from the previous war.
The last and most important reason was the thrashing the girls who had tried the previous year had received. Marietta Edgecombe and the girls that had tried to attack Luna the year previous were still social pariahs in Hogwarts. The girls had vanished into obscurity and seemed to have little desire to re-emerge.
Romilda smiled to herself. The truth was that neither she nor any of Ron's other girls minded adding more girls to Ron's stable. He was very attentive to all of them and his stamina was unyielding. It didn't hurt that they were all as passionately attracted to one another as they were to the boy. These girls had more of a shot than they realized, they just had to be clever and make their own moves.
Romilda's attention was drawn when the unending noise, stopped. Harry Potter had stepped forward. It was time for him to increase his own legend some more. He had considered many animals and could not decide on what to be, he had considered inventing a new animal as a combination of others, but in the end he acknowledged that he was in England and in England, one magical creature ruled the popular opinion above all others.
Harry Potter's form changed into a large Black dragon. Any fan of dragons would instantly recognize Harry Potter's form as a Hebridean Black. A giant Hebridean Black. So giant that Rubeus was not the only one that was able to tell that Harry's form was a lot larger than any other Hebridean Black had ever been. The average size of that dragon was supposed to be about 30' long. The monster Harry Potter turned into was at least 100' long. He was amazing and monstrous and the school sounded as if they were at a Quiditch game when the noise started again, except the entire student body was cheering for the same side.
Unlike Harry's drakes, his dragon form had a long neck that was about half the length of its tail. The tail took up half of Harry's full length by itself. Half of the remaining length was the body held up by four terrifying clawed feet. Each claw was the length of an average sized man. His large head rested on a 25' long neck that moved like a snake. Harry lowered himself unto his belly into a classic "dragon pose".
Out of the castle, strolling as if she did not have a care in the world came Harry's slave, Karli, escorted by Gwilym and Swanhild. As usual she was a walking wet dream. She was wearing scandalously tight high-waisted hot pants that seemed to be made of some type of leather with a pair of matching 6 inch heeled ankle boots. With it she wore a thin white crop top cotton t-shirt that hugged her bra-less chest. The front of the shirt read "Dragon's Whore'D".
She strolled past the, still stunned, professors and up to the gigantic black dragon who opened a massive clawed hand for Karli to climb into. He lifted her and placed her on his snout where she reclined against the space between his eyes as if she was sunbathing. The massively popular "slut" received a massive cheer from the students and she preened under their adoration.
Albus' brain was having trouble coming to terms with what he was seeing. All of the varied animals had arranged themselves around the large dragon including all of their drakes that had come flying out of the castle. That was the moment that the years of stubbornness finally broke within the headmaster. Not only could he no longer fathom how to convince someone who commanded such power, love, and loyalty to sacrifice themselves, he was no longer sure Voldemort could easily beat the child should they face each other in single combat. He had to change all of his plans.
…Gryffindor Tower Battlements, Hogwarts Castle, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
On one of the battlements were students had gathered to watch the latest spectacle, a miracle even more amazing than the one happening below was occurring. Collin Creevey had stopped taking pictures. As the person known to have express permission to document Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts, he never missed an opportunity to take pictures of the hero of the wizarding world.
The pictures he had been allowed to sell to various newspapers had already earned him and his family enough money to pay for his and his brother's entire Hogwarts tuition plus give the brothers some pocket money. His parents were particularly proud of him that they had not had to ask for him to share his windfall with his brother, he had just volunteered.
Now his brother and new friend, Astoria, had to nudge him because his hero had just turned into a dragon. Learning that dragons actually existed had been almost more thrilling than finding out he could do magic. And now there was a monstrous one in front of him. He came to his senses and started to snap picture after picture.
Astoria looked at the older boy fondly. He and his brother had open hearts and personalities that contrasted greatly with the forced control growing up the child of the nobility demanded. She looked over to Dennis and caught him staring at her and tried not to laugh at him when he quickly looked back at the dragon.
He was very sweet and very gentlemanly but both brothers were obviously already crushing on her. It would be arrogant to say out loud but she wasn't surprised, she knew how pretty she was. She had already decided to claim the Creevey brothers and Cecilia as her lovers and was just waiting an appropriate amount of time to tell them. Cecilia's parents would not mind but her grandfather would not be happy with her in a relationship with muggleborns. Astoria was undaunted by that fact.
She smiled at her two friends again as she watched Colin take a lot of pictures. Cecilia who had moved to a separate edge to look at Daphne's gryphon returned. "Your sister is so cool" she exclaimed and then paled. "Not like you…I mean…You are…" Astoria laughed and took her friends hands. "Calm yourself. I think she is cool too and I won't be mad at you for appreciating my sister. Just don't forget about me." The happy girl exhaled and said "never" only loud enough for Astoria to hear.
…Grounds, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
In a flash, the nine students returned to human form and stood basking in the loud cheers. They made their way to the teachers who were equally amazed. Harry greeted them with the understatement "Cool, huh?" It was Professor Flitwick that answered for the group of professors present. "Oh yes. Mr. Potter, that was indeed cool. Will you be sharing the book that explained the process with the world?"
It was a question that had come up during the discussions about revealing their magical forms. With the magical AI's Harry had cataloguing and managing his library, it didn't take long to discover that he did indeed have a copy of the book in question, since the one he found in the Room of Requirements could not be removed.
The process was not an easy one and they decided to release the book. The animagus transformation was already known and the book offered no shortcuts. It was not something the average magical would invest time or effort in. Harry also new that Voldemort had no interest in the process nor did any of his followers. He actually considered Peter Pettigrew pathetic for having gone through it.
Harry answered the diminutive professor in the affirmative and felt as Albus Dumbledore's eyes refocused on him. He had no doubt the man was wondering why he was being so free with information that could have been advantageous to keep secret. Despite having had the same questions he was entertained by the man's confusion and slight irritation.
…Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Ministry of Magic
It was the next day and the first Saturday of the school term and Harry Potter and his "court" had already left Hogwarts to go and register their animagus forms. It was no surprise that it was a media frenzy. It had taken no time for word to leak from the school about their fantastical forms and that they intended to be at the Ministry of Magic to register themselves.
Colin Creevey had made a small fortune selling his exclusive pictures. The Daily Prophet paid extra to get all the pictures exclusively world-wide and the figure the young man was paid was as much as he had made on all his previous pictures, combined. The Prophet had printed all the pictures in a special edition and had sold out 5 printing runs around the world before Harry and his friends had arrived at the Ministry of Magic.
When they arrived they were met with a huge press response. In addition to the two British wizarding newspapers and the Wizarding Wireless, the international magical community had also sent a gaggle of reporters. Harry Potter, his friends, 4 Lycans (for extra protection) and Sirius Black had strode through the atrium and the throngs of reporters and "lookyloos" and were now in the DMLE filling out the paperwork for their animagus forms.
Sirius was speaking to the media, reminding them that he and Harry's father had also completed the animagus transformation at a young age. He expressed how proud he was personally and gushed that he knew James Potter would be ecstatic that his son and friends had surpassed them in such an amazing way. With that done it was time for them to make the change again so that the DMLE official could fill out the form that would describe the animagi's features.
What followed was 2 hours of stunned amazement. Despite the pictures and the fact that the Potter contingent had never failed to impress, it was still amazing to watch each of the young children change and then be catalogued. Pictures were not allowed but the reporters were allowed to stay and witness the proceedings. The Prophet would reprint all the pictures in their special evening edition along with the detailed descriptions of each animal as recorded by the DMLE. Harry Potters form was named a "King Hebridean Black" in recognition of his excessively large size. Along with his description was an op-ed from magizoologist Newt Scamander suggesting Harry Potter was evidence of a until know undiscovered dragon type. The evening edition sold out 8 runs.
…Office of the Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Albus Dumbledore was fuming. Again. He and his son were writing back and forth about the latest developments and what they should do and both were at a loss. The entire point of their current plans was to try to raise the prestige of the school, and by extension his own reputation, and in two days Harry Potter and his allies had completed that task beyond the wildest dreams of the Dumbledores.
First, the school had witnessed a sword in a stone moment and crowned a "Hogwarts Guardian" and then Potter and his friends had showed themselves to be magical animagi. All of them. And all of the forms had been wondrous. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in every paper and on the lips of every person around the world.
Because of that, the negotiations to re-instate the Triwizard competition had pushed forward without restriction when just the day before, Albus and Jason had been working hard just to get people within Britain on board. Despite so many of his plans moving forward, the Dumbledores were unhappy. Mostly because they were not attached, responsible or recognized for any of it.
They tried to comfort themselves that it did not matter what increased the reputation of the school, as the headmaster he would still get great publicity because of it. It was a hard pill to swallow, especially for the older man, but it was true that his approval rating was increasing, if only incrementally.
By the time the weekend was over, they had found their balance once again. Hagrid's use to them had diminished severely since they no longer needed him to help repair the school's reputation. They did not know the extent of the half-giant's relationship with the Potter contingent but they knew he had been invited to multiple events and had even received a drake.
Unfortunately, releasing him or abandoning him would be very detrimental to their cause, so Instead of trying to use Hagrid to help repair the school's reputation, they decided to use him in a simpler role as a spy within the Potter circle and hopefully on Amelia Bones. Getting him to spy purposely would be impossible but despite the haircut and new clothes, Albus was sure Hagrid was basically the same person who could not keep a secret. All that was necessary was to keep a listening charm around the man while he was on campus.
As for Harry Potter, the headmaster did not know what to do about him. The boy was too powerful for his initial plan to work. He was still confident that the dark lord would win in a direct confrontation with Potter but knew he would not be able to convince the boy to open himself to such a sacrifice. Albus shook his head at the selfishness.
Harry Potter would insist on trying to defeat Voldemort and that would only lead to a protracted conflict that would cost more lives and not be guaranteed success. Even killing all his friends and lovers would probably just unleash a vengeful Potter and after seeing the boy's "King Dragon" form, he could not predict the outcome of that.
Jason suggested and the headmaster agreed that instead of plotting against the other houses for the moment, it was time to remind the world of his own power. He still had some unpublished research and other magical secrets he had held back. It was time to show the world who the true light lord was, again.
…Headquarters, Specialty Ingredients, Inc., Potter Industrial Block, Diagon Alley
It was the beginning of the Hogwarts School year and all was relatively calm in the world of the Potter Group. The Longbottoms and their vassals and retainers had joined in the economic renaissance of Magical Britain and even though the Potters and Blacks had lost or had to pay more because of it in some cases, having new capital and innovation in the market had aided other business ventures.
Mytsi was sitting atop one such innovation. She was the chief executive of Specialty Ingredients, Inc. and the company had risen quickly to prominence not only because of the highly potent Basilisk Ingredients it had for sale but because of the part they had played in curing the Lord and Lady Longbottom. Despite showing absolutely no altruism in dealing with the House of Longbottom, the company was still viewed in a very positive light.
The acquisition of the rights to the potion suite developed by the Longbottoms had been a boon to their business and generated a new potential financial stream for the company. Mytsi had found her calling as a high powered executive and she was using some muggle business practices to expand her company.
Owning the rights to the Longbottom potion suite named the Sana Tanabra had presented an obvious option for SI, Inc. They could go into potion manufacturing and make a lot of money selling the potion, but the notion of making money with little effort had appealed to Mytsi. She liked being a deal maker and had no interest in being a manufacturer.
She had, at first, considering, just selling the Sana Tanabra, but the potential long term profits were too appetizing. Then she came upon the notion of licensing. She could keep the patent and instead auction the license to a potion manufacturer and let them worry about manufacturing and distribution. That had led to her considering making more such deals, trading basilisk parts, not just for money but for potion patents and then licensing those patents.
Her idea had blossomed and her company currently owned four potions and was an investor in the development of 3 others. This had happened in the month since the deal to help the Longbottoms had been finalized. She had tapped into the world wide squib population to find analysts and was now the second biggest employer of them, after the Blacks, in Britain.
She was on track to make back all her initial investment in the company's expansion by the end of the second year. The idea of a vampire running the magically equivalent of an investment firm had not been met with as much negativity as one would expect. But that was probably due to the great deal of good will the Lycans, Succubi and Veela had bought in the magical community with their presence in the Grimmauld Commons.
She went to the window of her office and looked over the Alley below her. Warlock Alley was the "upper class" district of English magical society. Private Medi-wizards and witches, solicitor's offices, money managers and exclusive member's only clubs was the norm. The old businesses still existed but now the alley also held the headquarters of Potter Industries, the Longbottom Group and Specialty Ingredients, Inc.
The alley had been so exclusive that most people did not even know of its existence despite its connection on one end to the main shopping area of Diagon Alley, and its connection to Central Alley on the other end. The entrance way on both sides had a wrought iron gate that was not locked, but still did its job of keeping people from entering freely. I brass plaque was on the stone wall, but it had been dull and barely legible until recently.
Despite the alley coming into the general knowledge of the wizarding populous, it was still not very well traveled as most people had no reason to visit the businesses that were located there and the employees arrived by flu or apparition. Her window allowed her to see the entrance to Central Alley and it made her think of her love in the Minister's office.
While Warlock's Ave was only generally known to the middle to upper class members of magical society, Central Alley had been completely lost to the collective knowledge of the Wizarding world. Before Amelia had re-opened it, it had been completely cordoned off. Central Alley had been the true main entrance to the British magical world but had been closed off long ago. In fact it had been last used at a time before Dumbledore's birth.
The Alley held entrances to all the governmental offices within the Ministry of Magic, including having the abandoned original headquarters of the Auror force. Diagon Alley could be accessed from the area and it also held an entrance to muggle London that lead to a shuttered hotel on Whitehall Place, near the old Scotland Yard.
The hotel had been named the Charms Hotel and upon rediscovering its existence, Amelia had ordered the entire area refurbished. A grand re-opening was planned for the beginning of December. The Auror force would be moving back into their original headquarters and many people were interested in being able to explore a new section of magical Britain. The Longbottoms, as part of their support of finding the good in British magical tradition had donated heavily to fund a full a proper restoration as well as funding the opening of a museum in the area.
A knock on the door to her office brought the Vampiress from her woolgathering and she turned to greet her afternoon appointment. The young man had developed a new permanent charm for use in clothing manufacturing and was looking for an investor.
…Office of the Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (again)
Rubeus Hagrid forced himself to remain poker faced as he found himself in the headmaster's office. He had been unsurprised when he learned that the Nott boy had filed a complaint against him because of the incident with Buckbeak. The "little snot" as Rubeus thought of him in his head had demanded that he be fired and that Buckbeak be executed.
Rubeus was independently wealthy and had two beautiful women who loved him at home, so he had no real issue with being fired. What he was not going to allow was for Buckbeak to be killed to satisfy the ego of an asshole student and his larger asshole father. All of the righteous anger he had brought with him into the meeting was almost immediately deflated by the headmaster's open and full support of him.
Since the appearance of his brother and the political storm that was brewing because of it Amelia had been taking his lessons in politics more seriously. She had suspected almost from the start that the whole thing was manufactured by Dumbledore to try and regain his support or gain some type of leverage with him. He had not understood but as he sat listening to the headmaster prattle on about how "close" it had come to him being "forced" to fire him, he started to agree that Albus Dumbledore wanted his loyalty again. Or at the very least wanted him to feel indebted to him.
The only reason Amelia could think of, that would cause Albus to want his loyalty was to get information on the Minister's office. Even a political novice like Rubeus could see the advantage of having the Minister's lover as a loyal underling. It was Mytsi that suggested that Albus might not think he needs full loyalty as the old Rubeus had a habit of spilling secrets. It showed how little the headmaster had been paying attention to his changes as that had not been an issue for him since he got his drinking under control.
Rubeus was brought from his introspection when the professor started to insinuate that Amelia was not doing enough to protect his brother from the machinations of either the Rosier or Barton political groups. Rubeus' eyes narrowed dangerously but the headmaster either did not notice it or ignored it completely. Like Minerva before him, Rubeus wondered if the man had become worse at subtlety and plotting or if he had just been blinded by the man's reputation and his previous admiration.
The meeting was interrupted when Filius Flitwick, Kyler Capstonson and a smirking Minerva McGonagall swept into the office. Professor Flitwick was rambling excitedly and it took a moment for Rubeus to decipher what the man was trying to say. He suppressed a moment of pride when he realized that he had figured out the petite man at the same time the headmaster had but had to admit that the headmaster processed the words a bit faster.
"Impossible" Dumbledore thundered before he could get himself back under control. All the teachers looked at the man, surprised at his uncharacteristic behavior. Rubeus saw Dumbledore control himself before he tried to dismiss the news. "I'm sorry Filius, but wandless magic as you describe is impossible." He said calmer. It was Professor Capstonson that interjected "Actually, Headmaster, while it is exceedingly rare, there has been wizards and witched in the past that have been confirmed to be able to use wandless magic."
Then the professor dropped a bomb shell, "And even if every one of those previous instances where exaggerations, I assure you Mr. Potter is definitely able. The three of us just watched him perform most of the first second year Charms, Transfiguration and DADA spells. It's why we came to get you, he is still doing them in the great hall."
Dumbledore was on his feet and out the door in a flash and Rubeus rose to join the other three professors as they followed out the door. "Is this really true, Minerva" Rubeus asked in wonder. He was not accusing them of lying, he was just in awe of what was happening. The deputy headmistress wrapped her hand around his massive fore arm and allowed him to lead her sedately down the stairs. "Oh, absolutely Rubeus. It's quite extraordinary."
…Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
By the time Albus Dumbledore arrived, practically the entire school was in the great hall watching Harry Potter dueling Neville Longbottom. Albus was struck dumb as he watched the display. He had known that Neville was considered a sword prodigy and that he had received a sword from the Lycan Forges that had undergone some wild change when it came into contact with his family's magic but he had no idea the boy was capable of what he was seeing.
Neville was casting through his sword and using magical forms he had only ever seen done by Japanese magical samurai. He had heard rumors about the fight the boy had in Japan but details were sketchy from the notoriously tight lipped Japanese, especially as whatever fight had happened, Neville had supposedly won. Albus had mostly ignored it as an exaggeration by the Longbottom group to inflate the boy's reputation. But seeing was truly believing.
Seeing the sword prodigy in action would have been already too much for the aging headmaster. But across from Neville was Harry Potter and he was indeed casting wandlessly. Despite his outburst and surprise, Albus did know that wandless magic was possible. He had searched relentlessly for the ability in his youth and had only learned that it was a skill that could be gifted to you.
In truth wandless magic was only special due to its rarity and the lack of information that revolved around its existence. Most people believed it represented a sign of extreme power and magical control. In use, however, it did not really give a user many true advantages. The obvious one was that the user could never be disarmed. But an equally powerful wizard could likely match the wandless wizard if they could dual cast, which most powerful wizards could.
The true value of the ability to cast structured intentional magic without a focus was the instantaneous credibility and power that was assigned the user. And the headmaster was both livid and intrigued as he tried to figure out how Harry Potter had found or been found. He figured that it was his own effort to inflate the boy after his defeat of Voldemort combined with Sirius' efforts to expand the boy's legend that brought the carrier of the secret to the boy.
Just to make sure Albus cast a charm on his glasses. The charm was almost as obscure as wandless magic. He had actually had to hurt someone very badly in his quest to learn it. The charm allowed Albus to see the magic form within a caster. If Harry had just become proficient at silent and movement-less casting, or had gotten a more subtle focus, he would have been able to see it. But all he saw was power pooling in his hands as he used them to direct his magic. It was true.
Looking around at the cheering students and the ever present Creevey and his camera, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop the spread of the latest news of the legend of Harry Potter. The actual duel was obviously a friendly one and despite his petty desire to stop the match, he knew it would only reflect poorly on him. Especially since Poppy was already looking over the fight to make sure it did not get out of hand.
Harry Potter was using two protego shields that he had made visible and were shaped like disks and would rotate around his body to parry Neville's sword strikes and jinxes. The headmaster did not know why the boy did not just wrap the shield around his entire body but admitted it made for a much more entertaining display.
For his part, Neville was using Japanese elemental magic to deform the castle's stone floor to protect him from some of Harry's spells while dodging the others using body movements that should be impossible. The difference between Neville's wandless elemental magic being that it was not structured and was closer to what sailors did with sails to manipulate winds. The highlight of the match was when Neville sent a flame at Harry and he intercepted it with fire breath from his dragon form.
It was a draw in the end when both boys just stopped fighting and shook hands. The entire school erupted before taking their seats to have lunch and talk about the impossible display they had just watched. The headmaster just took his seat at the head table, becoming used to the fact that his presence was easily ignored more and more often. He took a moment to inform his son of the latest happenings before tucking in. He was getting tired.
…Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Neville Longbottom was surrounded by his friends and lovers in his normal place at the Hufflepuff table. The table was boisterous and despite it having been a week, the number one topic of conversation was still his duel with Harry Potter. That was not just among his friends either, the entire school was still talking about it. Neville thought the fact that Harry Potter was a dragon animagus that could do wandless magic would be more interesting to the school but apparently it lacked drama of having him and Harry fighting.
Harry Potter's amazing abilities were being talked about. It was just being discussed as part of speculation about what a real no-holds-barred fight would look like between the Longbottom heir and the Potter one. Neville still wasn't sure if Harry had held back but he knew he had so he was also unsure about exactly how they stacked up against each other. He supposed it didn't really matter as if things ever became serious, they would be likely fighting alongside each other and not against.
The day's discussion had expanded to include the Hogwarts Guardian as part of the speculation. Neville was not surprised. The previous evening Lavender had been found practicing on the Quiditch pitch. It had been magically transformed to have an obstacle course with multiple ranged targets along the course length. It didn't take long before word spread and the stands filled up and her "workout" had an audience.
Neville had been able to make in time to see her final run through the course. Having Padma and Parvati as his first girlfriends had given him an appreciation for warrior witches and Lavender was definitely one. She moved gracefully through the magical course switching between wand magic, hand to hand combat and using her bow to send a devastating number of arrows towards targets. As far as he was concerned she had earned her place as part of the discussion about who would win between her, Harry and Neville.
Thinking of her, Neville looked over to the Gryffindor table where the blonde was sitting with Ron and Harry. He chuckled to himself at how much more gorgeous she was since she wasn't exactly a blonde anymore. She reminded him of an elf warrior from one of the muggle fantasy books he enjoyed reading. Neville had no desire to become an animagus but he had to admit that the partial transformations that Harry's circle kept on themselves made it tempting. He looked at Cho who was curled up at his side reading a potions book and imagined her with hair like Lavender's. She would be "hot" no doubt in both senses of the word.
He looked again at Lavender and saw that as was the new normal, her hair was ablaze. Ever since revealing their animagus forms, the "Guardian" had replaced her hair with fire. The style had remained the same, looking to be in a tight braided pony tail, it was just partially made of a blue fire now. Most people who came close to her reported that the fire was not hot, but it could be, as a foolish Slytherin had learned when they stupidly tried to grab at it.
The permanent fire wasn't what reminded Neville of a warrior elf, though. Some of the characters he had read about, had that trait but it was the ears that allowed Lavender to stand out. She had done a partial transformation and allowed her horse form's pointed ears to replace her own (umamimi). It reminded him of the "elves" that inspired his sword and contributed to her heightened exotic beauty.
The rest of the Potter crew had joined in the partial transformations. Harry replaced his left arm with a black scaled dragon-like one; claws included. His two drakes had clearly approved if their reaction was anything to go by. Neville had to admit it was pretty bad ass. Not as cool as his sword but, still pretty cool. Honestly he preferred Ron's partial transformation for coolness factor.
Ron had replaced both his arms from the elbow to his hands, with bronze versions. But that wasn't the cool part. What was cool was the clockwork gears that he would show off that was behind plates that could swing, flip or rotate open. Neville was pretty sure they were more than just for show but Ron had not used it for anything but style.
Both he and Harry kept the sleeves of their school uniforms rolled up to put their partial transformations on display. In addition they both got in the habit of randomly blowing smoke out of their The two boys were already the most popular boys in the school but the coolness factor of their latest spectacle rocketed them to undisputed status leaving Neville and his sword in third. He did not mind.
Only Lavender went for the full fire hair, Hermione went with a total fox-girl look (kitsunemimi). Along with the fox ears and whiskers she had three bushy tails, where she displayed her fire nature since the had flames dancing in them. Tracey had a similar look (inumimi). Her Animagus form was an ifrit which looked like a dog with a devil's arrowhead tail and so she ended up looking like a succubus with cute dog ears. Neville though that Tracey might be the first human girl to make a succubus jealous if she ever met her while in her partial transformation.
Not for the first time, Neville wondered about the fact that all Ron's girlfriends had fire animals as their Animagus forms. He knew it wasn't a coincidence but did not know how they had pulled it off. He would pay attention to Romilda and see what her form turned out to be. He was pretty sure it would have something to do with fire.
Hermione and Tracey had adopted Karli's attitude and the three girls practically radiated sexuality, naughtiness and impropriety. Hermione's three Kitsune tails would dance beneath her skirt and every so often she would allow them to raise up, showing off her panties to whoever was behind her and Tracey would use the prehensile nature of her tail to caress her own and her fellow lover's bodies.
Neville was pretty sure Ron and Harry were actively encouraging their behavior. He was very familiar with the needs of submissive girls, as he had a few too. He looked over to where Hermione would normally be and smiled when he saw that she had fully transformed and was curled in Ron's lap. He decided to make Cho try the animagus process in hopes that she would become a small animal he could pet like that, she would really like that. Especially if she had a tail that would allow her to flash her panties at his order.
Harry's girlfriends also chose to walk around with partial transformations. Ginny and Luna's were the most interesting. Both girls transformed their eyes into their snake counterparts. The combination of the two innocently cute girls with the dangerous looking eyes was a very sexy look for the two. In addition, Ginny chose to transform her tongue to the snake version as well and would flick it at people. Most boys didn't want to admit how sexy it was when she did that.
Along with the eyes, Luna chose her hair for partial transformation keeping it as multicolored feathers than ran down her back. It was odd and decidedly Luna. She had even given some of her molted feathers to her fellow Ravenclaws for study, but most used them as prized quills or as decorations in their own hair.
Susan and Daphne were the undisputed queens of Harry's harem and thus were the queens of the entire friend circle. Most people would say that they had no partial transformation but Neville though that was not true. Daphne moved with a grace that was not natural and Susan carried with her an aura that was oppressive to people she did not call a friend. Neville believed they were manifesting the magic of their Animagus forms if not the physical forms. It added to their beauty greatly and gave a sense of other worldly sophistication to them. Only Harry and Ron kept their transformations all the time, the girls would show up transformed two or three times a week and hold it for the entire day, except for in classes where all the fires went out.
"Slave" he said and Cho jumped and looked at him. It was rare for Neville to call her that in public and she found herself blushing and her arousal rising as she forced herself not to look around to see if anyone had heard him call her that. It wasn't a secret that she saw herself as a sex slave to Neville, but the minor public humiliation was definitely getting her juices going. "Yes, Master" she answered. She did not shout but she did not whisper either, shivering as she could actually feel some eyes on her.
"I know it is your OWL year but you will get the book The Animal Within and you will gain for yourself an animagus form. Use the longer version and choose something smaller, with elf like ears and that I can pet and put a collar on" Neville said. Cho's eyes widened at what he intended for her and her whole body warmed in excitement. She nodded and said "Yes, Master". He replied "good girl, Cho." The use of her actual name releasing her. She settled back into his side with her heart pumping. She saw that Cedric was watching her and smirking at her and she smiled back at him in contentment.
…Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
It had been a few weeks since the beginning of term and the school was still buzzing with excitement over the many, beginning of term shockers. Ron was not concerned with that because it was the day before Hermione's birthday and he was starting her gift. For her 13th birthday he had given her an intense bondage scene and he intended to do the same again this year with some twists to keep her on her toes.
Since her previous birthday, bondage and submission play had become a regular part of their time together. Hermione was his slave primarily, but Lavender was also her mistress and she had even played with Tracey and Romilda. They had explored various levels of intensity but the public humiliation part was something he was saving only for her birthdays.
He met her in the common room and smiled at the raw excitement that danced in her eyes. He had not said anything about what he had planned, nor had anyone, but his Hermione was no fool and she was vibrating with excitement that she might be in for a repeat of the previous year. He had accounted for this and inverted how he was executing his plan.
Instead of it being a surprise he had tortured her with expectation. For the last three days he had gotten practically the whole school to constantly tease her about what was coming. They would tell her "remember to be a good girl for Ron, this weekend" or "If you're a naughty girl, Ron will be meaner to you". At the same time none of her closest friends would say anything to her about it at all and if she asked they would just say "naughty girl".
It had been driving her wild and by the Saturday she was purposely putting herself in positions to be called a "good girl" or a "naughty girl". He looked over her, she was dressed exactly as he had instructed and he smiled at her decision to be a "good girl" in this instance obeying the instructions he had left for her to the letter.
She stood in front of him in a white sheer cat suit that reached to her ankles and wrists and had a high collar. If not for the fact that it was completely see-through it might have been considered conservative. It was just after dinner and he called her to him and she walked ignoring the fact that the common room still had people in it. She had been exposed countless times and it still sent a thrill through her. She wished she had her tails to wag to give her something to focus on but she had been ordered to stay un-transformed.
They settled on a couch by the fireplace and he just held her as if they were just boyfriend and girlfriend. He would kiss her occasionally and ask her about her day or week. It was the type of interesting conversation that most couples would have and Ron was attentive and engaged. She knew she was still on display because people would stare at her as they walked by.
Every once in a while Ron would ask her to fetch something from the dorms or other students forcing her to walk across the packed common room. The thrill of everyone watching her walk around was intense. Eventually Ron started to kiss her and then his hands started to roam and her already primed body responded almost instantly to him. Then the night really started.
After the first round, she felt her body rise and her sharp mind zeroed in on the structure in the middle of the room. It absolutely had not been there before and she wondered if it was brought by magic or if she had just been too distracted.
It was chair but it looked like the least comfortable chair in history. It had no padding and was just made up of metal tubes welded together. When he put her in it, which she knew he would, her legs would be spread into a split, the curve of it would force her back to arch almost impossibly and her arms would be tied straight down.
What happened next was almost exactly what happened to her the year before. She was floated into position and left to hover over the device. Her legs were already forced open putting her aroused core on display, and her back was already feeling the strain from the beginnings of the extreme bend that she would be forced into. She saw that Ron was holding his wand and then he put it down and she remained hovering. It wasn't wandless magic but she never desired him more than when he showed his ability to do magic that required strong will and concentration remotely through his wand.
Ron pulled a bag from behind the couch and drew from it a red braided rope. She recognized it from the previous year and wondered if it was the same one. All the rope they used was black and she hadn't seen the red one since her last birthday. Since then he had proven time and again that he knew how to use it. And she wondered how he would use it on her this time.
He stepped close to her still floating form and moved to the side and over to her right leg. He hooked the rope behind her ankle and drew her foot up to him till her foot was flat against his stomach. She felt the hard muscle of his stomach, through his thin shirt, against the soul of her feet and, as always, delighted in the feeling. He rubbed the rope from her ankle over her calf and up her thigh.
He did this at the start of all their bondage play so she could feel the silk material against her skin. Lost in the intimate moment she was sharing with the love of her life, she barely heard the watching people as they murmured around her. He let the rope fall from her before bring it over to rub against the top of her thigh and back down her leg. The entire time he seemingly ignoring the splayed position she was in.
He started to wrap the rope around her ankle and lashing her left leg to the frame she was hovering above. He made 10 wraps before tying a knot and letting the rest of the rope hang. She could actually feel the slight tug from the weight of the end of the silk rope. She was still able to move freely and despite not closing her eyes she had completely forgotten about the people watching as she only had eyes for her lover patiently moving around her.
He pulled a second rope from his bag and moved to her other leg and repeated his actions teasing her leg and then binding it to the frame. Bondage for them was almost ritualistic and he remained silent during the entire procedure, sure in his movements and never avoiding her eyes when she looked into them and giving away nothing about his plans for the night.
She was in a full split and her naked body was flushed in excitement. He went and retrieved his wand and waved it at her. His silent cast lowered her weight unto the oddly shaped chair and increasing the strain on her joints. The increasing pain and his use of skillfully done magic was everything she could want on her birthday as his focus was totally on her.
He put his wand down again and pulled a third rope from his bag. He walked slowly around her naked form. Her eyes followed him till he disappeared out of her peripheral vision. He caressed both her arms before pulling them behind her till her wrists touched and then pulled down till her shoulder touched the thing she was being tied too.
The high curve in the center of it caused her back to bend almost more than she could manage. It was very uncomfortable and slightly painful. She also found it was a little bit harder to breathe. She loved it. She loved that her chest was raised and that her responsive nipples were on display. He held her wrist together and in place which kept her shoulders firmly in place and starting just above where he held her he slowly started to bind he arms together.
He got up to her elbow and then released his hold of her. The compression of the rope not only held her arms together but it kept her shoulders pinned which kept her back against the curve. The compound bonding using one rope appealed to her genius intellect and her body flushed again.
He went back to the bag and pulled out a gag and a blindfold. Her eyes widened and she was surprised, aroused and a bit fearful. She had expected a ball gag like he had used the previous year. But instead it was a replica of his manhood. It was obviously magical as it looked exactly like the real thing and she had no doubt it would feel and taste accurate as well. It was the last thing she saw before being blindfolded, finally.
Then she felt a hand on her thigh. The hand didn't bother her but then she heard a voice that was not Ron's. "Hey Hermione" came Harry's voice and she was once again reminded that she was in the middle of the Gryffindor common room, naked and strapped to a weird chair in a very lude position. The constant emotional shifting from arousal to embarrassment and back was taking a toll on her and she just moaned around the "gag" in her mouth.
"Ron asked me to give you a nice new tattoo for your birthday. It'll say 'Sir Ronald's Slave' and be right above your pussy." He said and she was bounced right back to arousal. Everyone knew that Harry had done Karli and Justine's beautiful tattoos and had intertwined Potter runes in them. Now she was going to have one of Harry Potter's art pieces on her, declaring that Ron owned her. It was a perfect gift.
Unknown to everyone, including his closest friends and lovers, Harry had put a sleeping spell on them all the previous night and completed ninety percent of the layered runes he planned for Hermione. The piece he was completing in front of everyone was the final visible layer and used some of the signature Potter swirls and a few flowers to frame the message of who Hermione belonged too. The tattoo crept up her right hip a bit and was high enough that if she wore a small bikini, the message would be visible to anyone looking.
In appreciation of Harry crafting his art on Hermione's skin. Ron allowed him a small bit of use of her and she was overwrought by the experience. Harry was very good but it was Ron's public example of the power he had over her that had her mind in a daze. As was the habit during her special birthday presents, she was never given a moment to center herself and she felt the tattoo needle touch her skin.
It was a very intricate design but it only took Harry 2 hours to complete. Watching Harry work and apply what most people believed where Potter runes would have been entertaining, the fact that he was doing it to the ridiculously beautiful and naked Hermione Granger made it spectacular. Then it became legendary as Ron removed the gag from her mouth.
Harry finished his work of art and he and Ron stepped away from Hermione's body and the audience applauded. Ron replaced the gag and Hermione barely moved as she was again lost in subspace. He left Athena and Godric, the two drakes, to watch over her and everyone left mumbling about another amazing show. A lot of girls made it into the boy's dorms to help burn off the sexual energy Hermione's present had created.
Hermione remained bound till the evening of her birthday. Once again her entire body had been signed throughout the day while her friends extended her pleasure by tugging on the plug in her ass. Last year she had a series of magical photographs to commemorate what happened to her but this year after her bath with Ron she was presented with a magical painting that replayed the entire event. When Harry's moment arrived, he would turn to the real her and wink. It was another amazing birthday and Hermione went to bed happy and content.
AN1: I will not always explicitly state when one of the girls is in their partial transformation. I will mention a tail or an ear when the story calls for it but if I don't it does not mean it isn't there. As with a lot of what Harry does, the force of his personality has caused the people around him to accept what he is doing. He and Ron, however, are always partially transformed unless stated otherwise.
AN2: In case anyone is wondering, Harry's dragon arm feels like scales but is very soft. Similarly, Ron's bronze arms are soft until he flexes them (like in a fight) and then they are hard.
