Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any such franchises. The only ideas that I own are my own that I write down here for you all to enjoy. And unfortunately, I've yet to make any money off of these ideas of mine. (T.T)

And now, time for some reviews!

Irish Cris- One of your guesses is actually correct, nice job on that. As for which one it is, I think you'll figure that out when I describe Harry's animagus form in this chapter.

soulofarthur- Yea, unfortunately the first few chapters can't always be action packed and wild. I've gotta get stuff set up first. Once things get set up, though, the story will pick up a bit more and things will get a little bit more interesting. Hopefully you'll stick around by the time we get there.

Skellefte- Well you're getting your wish right now. I won't be saying the name, but most people will be able to get it based off of the description.

A10riddick- I'm glad you like it so far! Here's another chapter for you! And while it would have been fun to have Harry's form be a basilisk, no instakill eyes for Harry in this story. Though I am pretty sure I saw a story one time where Harry actually did have a basilisk as his animagus form.

Smutley Do-Wrong- I can see what you mean, and I do appreciate the advice, but I have my own particular writing style. First person never appealed to me much and I'm not comfortable using it. As for shifts of perspective, there will be perspectives of other characters in the future. But at the moment in the story, Harry is really the only character around with anything notable going on. While I try my best to write a good story, I'm far from an actual author and the style I write with is what I'm most comfortable with right now. If it changes in the future, you may see a change in my writing style. But for now, what I'm comfortable with is what lets me write without suffering any setbacks or writer's block.

I honestly didn't expect so many people to enjoy this simple story I'm making. To know that over a hundred people have already made this story a favorite of theirs seriously means so much to me. I appreciate everyone who has stuck around the last few days and hope that you'll all keep up as I write my attempt at a story.

And with this chapter, the cliffhanger ends. Now, onto A Tale of Wings and Fangs.

Chapter 4

Shock was a natural reaction for a person to have when presented with something they hadn't been expecting. That was even more true when the unexpected came in the form of a towering beast large enough to swallow a human being whole. Thus, it was no surprise that Harry was left completely stunned by the massive creature that had slid its way into the clearing by the crystal-clear lake.

At first glance, Harry found himself looking into the huge, golden eyes of a massive serpent. Immediately he looked away, an impulse he still had from the fight in second year with Slytherin's basilisk. Considering that the serpent before him was larger than anything Harry had seen before, barring only the basilisk itself, the young wizard was impressed.

Once it was fully inside the clearing, the towering serpent curled up slightly, staring down Harry and allowing him to get a proper look at the beast. Unlike the basilisk, Harry's apparent animagus form was only thirty feet long compared to the monstrous sixty of Salazar Slytherin's basilisk. The snake had a vibrant green coat of scales, almost the same color as Harry's eyes. They glimmered in the sunlight streaming in through the tree canopy, putting on a dazzling display for the sole human present. The golden eyes were bigger than Harry's head, watching his every move as a thin forked tongue slipped from the beast's maw. And as that maw opened, Harry could see the long fangs, easily just as long as his arm from elbow to fingertip, if not longer.

It wasn't often that a person got to see a snake thirty feet long and wide enough to swallow a grown adult whole. At the time a part of Harry's mind wandered to the thought of the beast swallowing up his uncle and wondering if it would choke or not. But the marvels didn't end with the snake's size alone.

Around the snake's neck was an almost mane-like gathering of feathers. The plumage was a burnt orange color and grew lighter towards the tips of the feathers until they bled into a cream-like color. It gave the snake a sort of spiked mane appearance despite the mane itself being composed of the colorful feathers. And as Harry's eyes dropped lower his dreams made far more sense. Below the plumage behind the serpent's head were a pair of enormous wings. The wings were feathered, much like the plumage around the beast's neck. Rather than starting out a dark orange, the feathers were mostly cream colored and faded into the same burnt orange coloration near the tips. It honestly appeared like the snake had an angel's wings.

Almost as if knowing exactly what Harry was looking at, the beast before him spread the majestic wings revealing an enormous wingspan that Harry roughly estimated to be around sixty feet, if not even more! The young wizard could have stared at the glorious pair of wings for ages, but he was interrupted as a soft object brushed against his body. Looking down he could see the tail of the massive creature stretched out. At the end was yet even more feathers. They made a sort of arrow shape at the end of the serpent's tail and the feathers had been rubbed against the wizard's body as the tail shifted back and forth in front of Harry. Despite their sharp looking appearance, the feathers were as soft as cotton.

Harry was at a loss as he gazed at the beast that was likely his true animagus form. He had been expecting something like a snake or a bird of some sort, but the beast before him was both and yet neither at the same time. Harry had never seen anything like it in his studies of Care of Magical Creatures, and he was almost certain that the beast wasn't any sort of mundane animal. There weren't exactly flying snakes roaming about in the world.

"So… You're what I've been looking for?" He asked, sitting down slowly in the soft grass and staring down the towering serpent. As Harry moved to sit, the beast had coiled around itself and rested its head atop a length of its body. The wings folded close to it's back, carefully draped over a portion of the creature's body.

Surprisingly enough, the snake actually nodded in response to Harry's question. It's eyes never left the young boy-who-lived and it never tried to move away or get any closer. For the time, Harry was simply able to watch the stunning creature as it lazed by the lake and observed him like he was watching it.

'It's judging me.' Harry realized, noticing the way that the snake would follow his every move. There was a clear display of some intelligence behind the bulk and size of the beast, but the question was how much there really was.

Unfortunately for Harry, he wasn't able to ask any further questions as the world around him started to fade. He tried desperately to hold onto the dream, to stay asleep, but the waking world was calling. As Harry faded away, he was able to feel an odd surge of emotion at the last moment. A small amount of satisfaction and a short nod from the serpent sent him off.

"Wait!"

Harry shot up in his bed, groaning loudly as he saw the usual bedroom around him instead of the bright and sunny forest. Seeing that he was awake once more, the young boy sighed and fell back into the bed. Despite being rather upset about not being able to stay asleep and question the seemingly intelligent beast, Harry couldn't help but smile. He knew what his animagus form looked like, but he was left with more questions than he'd had before.

"What are you?" Harry mumbled as he thought over what he had seen. The creature was obviously magical, but that also went against everything that Harry had learned from Remus about the animagus transformation. The book Sirius had gotten him listed nothing about magical creatures ever being seen as animagus forms, so Harry was thoroughly confused. Merlin was rumored to have been able to turn into a dragon, but almost everything about Merlin was rumor and myth, stretched tales that could have been honest truths or fanciful lies.

On the bright side, Harry had a new goal to work towards since he knew of the animal his animagus form had chosen. He wasn't foolish enough to try a full transformation, but he had far more options to work with for partial changes than just a pair of eyes like he had been stuck with previously. Harry wanted so badly to focus on the wings of the serpent. Being able to fly on his own, without any sort of broom would be like a dream coming true for the young Gryffindor. It was that thought that pushed Harry on to practice for the next full week on his next partial animagus transformation.

Harry never really thought there would have been a day that he would be thankful for the abuse that he'd suffered at the hands of his uncle. But despite those thoughts, the years of getting beaten by the older, larger man had led to Harry having an incredibly high pain tolerance. It was only that pain tolerance that kept the young wizard from screaming out loudly in pain. Had Harry started screaming and yelling, the Dursleys would have investigated and found him in a vulnerable position. Immediately all of his hard work with his bluffing would have gone to waste and things would have gotten worse than ever before.

Harry was laid out on the floor, resisting the urge to curl up into a ball since it would only make his pain worse. The young boy was shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts and he was drenched in sweat. Sprouting from Harry's back were a pair of small, malformed wings. The wings weren't properly formed and weren't fully free from the boy's back. It didn't look pretty, and it was causing Harry a massive amount of pain.

If it hadn't been for the heavy amount of meditation that Harry had done in the past, he would have likely been unable to focus enough to undo the transformation before falling unconscious from the pain. With the small amount of focus that the wizard was able to muster, Harry managed to pull the wings back slowly and painfully into his body and revert the failed attempt at a partial animagus transformation. Wings, as it turned out, were far more difficult to do than changing how his eyes looked.

Even if he wanted to be able to fly on his own, Harry knew that he was going to have to wait until he got better at the animagus transformation before he ever attempted wings again. Panting, sweating, and feeling incredibly weak, Harry decided to stay on the ground for a while to rest and recover. Thankfully he didn't have to worry about his aunt or uncle checking up on him, since the two still avoided Harry like the plague.

After half an hour, Harry's rest was interrupted by a sharp tapping at his window. Sluggishly the dark-haired youth got to his feet, moving to the window to accept the message from Ron. But as he opened the window Harry was instead greeted by a salt and pepper colored owl instead. The bird was unfamiliar to him, but Harry did notice the letter tied around its leg. Grabbing some owl treats from a small bag near his bed, the boy offered the messenger bird a small amount of food while he undid the bindings and looked over the letter. Surprisingly enough, it was a letter from Hogwarts detailing the necessary school supplies for the coming year.

Harry had been so busy with his fervent practice and studying that he'd not even noticed how much time had really passed. The summer was nearing its end and the sixteen-year-old student would soon be going back to the place he would have preferred to call his home. By the time he finished reading over the letter, the Hogwarts owl had already left. A good thing too, since Hedwig was often rather possessive of her human.

A trip to Diagon Alley was needed, and the timing worked out conveniently. Harry would be able to get his school supplies, as well as some other books that could interest him. Without the Weasleys around he could even grab some books about magic that the Weasley matriarch wouldn't normally approve of. But most importantly he would be able to try and find some books about magical creatures. One of them could potentially help him discover the real identity of his animagus form. The only question was how he would be getting to The Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley.

While Harry didn't know how to drive, he did know a particularly fat man who did. Moving downstairs, the young Potter found his aunt and uncle sitting on the couch watching TV. A small grunt got the attention of the pair and Harry once more felt a small surge of spiteful glee from his animagus form at the fearful look in the eyes of the two adults. And for once, Harry shared the sentiment. Something about seeing Petunia and Vernon flinching back in fear from him and not the other way around felt like some proper payback for all the pain his relatives had inflicted upon him.

"I need to go get school supplies today. Either I need you to drive me, Uncle Vernon, or I need money for a cab to and back from where I have to go." Harry explained, offering only two options and no alternatives. The way that Vernon squirmed and turned red made it incredibly difficult for Harry to hold back a grin.

"I'm not driving you anywhere I don't have to. You can get a cab and I'll pay for it if it means you'll be out of our hair for the rest of the day." Seeing Vernon bluster and act tough had become a common sight as the man tried hard to act like Harry didn't utterly terrify him. Unfortunately, Harry had become proficient in telling the mood and thoughts of his aunt and uncle based off of their facial expressions since he had been a young child. He could see the desire to have Harry just be gone clear in his eyes.

"That will do. I'll be back later then." Harry replied. Taking the offered pounds from Vernon, Harry was soon well on his way towards Diagon. Calling a cab hadn't been hard at all and with the payment given, Harry simply sat back and enjoyed the ride through town.

Upon getting to The Leaky Cauldron, Harry was quick to head through the gateway and into the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. Many young children could be seen roaming about with their families and Harry assumed that many others had gotten their letters and were trying to beat the crowds. Reaching into his pocket, Harry pulled on a classic mundane baseball cap to help cover up his scar before vanishing into the crowds. He had to get some galleons first before he could buy any of his supplies.

Thus, a trip to Gringotts was required. Knowing that his trust vault refilled each year, Harry planned to empty it out and grab everything he would need. With the rush for school supplies, though, it meant that Harry first had to endure a rather long line inside the marble walls of the bank. Every minute left the boy-who-lived more and more tense. The last thing he wanted was for someone to recognize him and cause him any trouble.

Eventually Harry managed to get to one of the tellers, getting their attention as a gruff voice asked but a single word.

"Key?"

Harry balked as he realized he didn't actually have his vault key on his person. Mrs. Weasley was the one who had been holding onto his key up until that point and he wasn't willing to let the woman know of what he was doing. "I… Um I forgot mine." He admitted in a small voice, looking embarrassed at the admission.

The goblin, obviously annoyed at Harry's response, growled and rolled his eyes. A few words were mumbled in gobbledegook that the boy assumed were insults and curses before the short creature pulled out an ornate silver knife.

"Prick your finger on the knife. Just enough to get some blood on it. Then I'll have a new key made." The goblin explained. Handing over the knife, the goblin actually looked somewhat surprised when Harry showed no hesitation and pricked his thumb hard enough to draw blood. After a few drops had caught on the blade, Harry handed the knife back and the teller allowed the drops to fall into a small silver basin.

For a few minutes following the action, the goblin and wizard stayed silent while waiting for the new key. In a small flash of golden light, a new metal key had appeared in the same basin and was handed over into Harry's waiting hands.

"Don't lose this one." The goblin growled out in annoyance. "Now, what do you need wizard?" He asked.

"I'd like to empty out my trust vault. I need all of the galleons inside." It was a simple request and one that the goblin likely got often. The teller barely even blinked and nodded his head in agreement. Within a few minutes Harry was walking out of the bank with a mokeskin pouch full of a large amount of gold.

The next step was for Harry to head to Flourish and Blotts. The small bit of disguise work that he'd done with the baseball cap worked well for Harry and most wizards just say a young muggleborn walking around and getting school supplies. None of the wizards or witches wandering about ever noticed that the famous boy-who-lived was wandering about in clear view. Inside Flourish and Blotts, the store was busy and the Gryffindor seeker could see a long line of people waiting to check out.

Gathering up the necessary books that he would need for the next year, Harry then began looking for some more interesting books to read. He didn't find any other bits of writing about animagus transformation, but he did find a few books of interest in the back of the shop. A particular book was something he'd never heard of but seemed right up his alley. Battle Transfiguration: Basics and Advanced Tactics and Spells was a book that brought up a particular memory. Professor McGonagall had mentioned early in his time at Hogwarts that Harry's father had been one of the best Transfiguration students that the older Scottish woman had ever seen.

Grabbing the book, Harry added it to his pile and moved to buy his purchases. If the book proved to have some good information and spells, it would be a good way for Harry to feel closer to his father, maybe even find a way to surpass the man. As he stood waiting, Harry thought back to classes and realized that Transfiguration class had always come to him rather easily. He had never tried too hard since it would have bugged his friends, but maybe it was time for a change?

Shaking the thoughts away for later, Harry quickly paid for the many books he needed and stepped back out into Diagon Alley. Following the books and other supplies that he needed, Harry ran to a new shop that he'd seen in the area. Tuskan's Terrific Trunks seemed to have something along the lines of what he needed, and Harry was surprised to see the shop rather empty instead of the crowd that he would have expected.

"Hello? I'd like to try and get a trunk?" Harry called out as he entered the shop.

A few moments later a tall man walked out from the back of the shop. He had a dark skin tone and a single, blue right eye. His left eye was a milky white and a long scar ran down from the man's forehead to his lip. The man was bald and wore a set of simple black robes with some gold accents. "Ah, a new customer? I don't recognize you, young man. What can I do for you today?" He asked.

"I see that you sell some trunks. Is there any chance that I could buy a multi-compartment trunk? I've heard about them from some friends, and they sound useful." Harry asked, remembering a stray conversation that he'd heard the Weasley twins discussing one day during a meal at the great hall. They had joked about moving out and just living out of a trunk and Harry had obviously been confused. Learning more about the space-expanded trunks had left him curious about the idea.

"Certainly! I will warn you that those particular trunks tend to be quite expensive, my boy. And I have a few options. I have a three-compartment trunk that has a library, potions storage, and general clothing compartment. Then I have a five-compartment trunk. The five-compartment trunk has a library, a potion storage compartment, a training room, a greenhouse, and a bedroom compartment. It's also my most expensive trunk other than a custom job. The three compartment goes for about a hundred galleons and the five-compartment trunk goes for five hundred galleons." The shop owner explained the wares and Harry knew immediately which choice he would want.

Reaching into the mokeskin pouch at his side, Harry pulled out most of the rest of the galleons he had taken from his vault. "I'll take the five-compartment trunk please. And is there any way to lock some of the compartments separately? If so, I'd like to pay to have the bedroom compartment locked up with a password." Harry requested, setting down roughly six hundred galleons. The man's eyes went wide and he was rapidly nodding his head a moment later.

"I can certainly do that for you. I'll add a lock to the compartment as you've asked. You'll be able to set the password after you get the trunk. Give me about ten minutes and I'll have the trunk ready for you." The owner smiled and vanished into the back once more. Harry was left to sit in an available chair and relax.

An hour later and Harry was back at the Dursley home, putting his new trunk at the foot of his bed. The bedroom trunk had been fully furnished, done with the best stock the shop owner, Tuskan, had. Apparently the six hundred galleons had made a good impression on the man. Instead of a rough bed to sleep on, Harry was excited to have a comfortable bed to sleep on once more.

Getting ready to sleep, Harry had been about to climb down into his new trunk space when he was interrupted yet again by a tapping at the window. And as he looked towards the dark window, he could see the old Weasley family owl. If it was a letter from Ron, he could at least read it before he went to bed. If the letter was anything important he would send a quick response and if not Harry could respond in the morning.

That was the night that Harry learned of the bullet he'd dodged. The next day the Daily Prophet would run the story of an attack on the Quidditch World Cup by people dressed up in Death Eater garb. Harry learned about it hours earlier as Ron informed him of the insanity his family had been stuck in the middle of.

And chapter 4 is done.

I've found I really enjoy writing this story, so I've been churning out chapters much faster than expected. In this chapter everyone gets to see what Harry's animagus form. I'm not going to give the name of the beast just yet, but I imagine that the description will allow most people to figure out what the form is. For those who don't know of what Harry's form is, you'll learn in another chapter, two at the most.

Some notes about this story. While Harry is definitely going to be strong, he's not going to be godly or incredibly OP. Will he be stronger than most witches and wizards, yes without a doubt. Will he be beating Dumbledore in a fight in his fourth year, almost certainly not. This is a Harry that has a knack for DADA but also an incredible amount of skill in Transfiguration. My Harry is essentially going to be a Transfiguration prodigy once he sets his mind to something. It's a style that I don't see often enough, and I figure that it will be fun to play with. You'll see more of what I'm talking about in the future once Harry is back at school and once the Triwizard tournament starts up.

Until next time everybody! Stay tuned for more!