Chapter Two- Silver Hair

Harry woke the next morning to see a blurry figure sitting in a chair beside him. He grabbed his glasses and put them on to find the figure to be Dumbledore. "Good morning, Professor," he said.

"Good morning, Harry," he replied, looking at Harry over his glasses. "Madam Pomfrey told me about yesterday."

"Do you know why I'm growing a tail? Can it be stopped?"

"I do know and I'm afraid it can't be stopped. Harry, you are one of a rare group of people. You are a half-unicorn."

"Half? What, like a centaur with a horn?"

"Not exactly. You won't have hooves, for one. More likely, you'll have the tail, mane, ears, and horn of a unicorn. Your eyesight will also improve as it'll be difficult to wear glasses with unicorn ears."

"I can imagine. Professor, is there a way to hide it?"

"Unicorns are highly magical creatures and can conceal themselves, but half-unicorns cannot."

"Oh," Harry said quietly. Great; as if people don't stare at me enough as it is.

"Harry, if I may say so, your tail has gotten longer during the night."

Harry craned his neck to see a long length of silver hair flow down to lay beside his legs, the end of it came to just above his ankles. He felt behind him to find the tail had put a hole in the pants.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, making him look back at him. "I was told that you felt an urge to run before lunch yesterday."

"Yeah. I felt it after I patted a foal's neck in class."

Dumbledore smiled. "Ah, I see. By touching the foal, it triggered your half-unicorn recessive gene and is causing you to change."

"Is there anything else I should know, sir? Like how long will it take to finish changing?"

"I believe you'll be done by Friday. You will experience unicorn instincts such as running, preferring a girl's touch, and intense romantic interests. Another thing is just brushing up or touching another half-unicorn will trigger their change. But, of course, the odds of another half-unicorn is very small."

Harry left the Hospital Wing a few minutes later dressed and heading for breakfast. He had reached the second floor landing when he heard Hermione call, "Harry!" behind him. He turned to see his best friends come up to him.

"Feel better, mate?" Ron asked. "I mean…did Pomfrey get rid of the tail?"

"I still have it and…well," he pushed his robes back and turned to show the long tail poke out of a hole Pomfrey put in. It swished slightly.

"Whoa," Ron breathed. "Harry, what's happening to you?"

"Dumbledore told me this morning that I'm half-unicorn." Harry turned and saw Hermione's eyes lit up with recognition, but stayed silent. "He reckons the changes will be over by Friday. I'll have the tail, mane, ears, and horn as well as some instincts. Plus, my eyesight will improve and I won't need my glasses."

"Is that why you haven't tried to hide the tail?" asked Hermione.

"I wanted to, but it tickled my legs when I was dressing and Pomfrey pointed out that hiding the other changes would be impossible."

"Yeah." Ron nodded. "Hiding a horn would be hard."

"I'm hoping that comes last," Harry said as they continued to the Great Hall. They entered it and Harry was aware of his tail swishing slightly again and wondered how was going to sit and keep it concealed from sight for he wasn't ready for his classmates to learn about his hybrid state. Perhaps his tail picked up on this, for he felt it curl around his leg as he sat down.

"Hey, Harry," said George as Harry pulled some food toward him. "Ron said you had a headache before dinner."

"Yeah, I did. Pomfrey cured it instantly, but wanted to keep me overnight. It wasn't necessary, but I know she means well."

Harry went through his day curling his tail around his leg whenever he sat down. It was easy to conceal it under his robes, but tried to figure out how to hide it when getting ready for bed and when he'll be getting dressed in the morning. I think I'll have to tell my dorm mates. It'll be impossible to hide it before too long, anyway.

"Guys, I've got something to tell you," he said to Seamus, Dean, and Neville that night.

"What's up, Harry?" Dean asked.

Harry took a deep breath. "Dumbledore visited me in the Hospital Wing this morning and told that I'm half-unicorn." He saw them exchange disbelieving looks and he sighed. "I'll prove it. Look." He removed his robes, revealing the tail.

There were gasps from the boys and Harry saw astonished looks on their faces. "I'll end up a mane, ears, and a horn by Friday according to Dumbledore. It's okay if you want to tell other people; it'll be impossible to hide it later this week."

"I think the whole school's gonna know real soon," Seamus said. "I'm talking tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Harry repeated. "Why?"

"Your hair's turning silver, mate," Seamus answered with a grin.

Harry's hands flew to his head before heading to his vanity and staring into the mirror. Seamus was right: There were streaks of silver in his black hair. As he stared, he saw more black hair turn silver. He turned away and gathered his pajamas before getting into bed and changing his clothes behind closed curtain, putting a hole in the pants. He brushed out his tail before sliding out of bed to put his clothes away. He was aware that his dorm mates were staring at him, but it didn't bother him; he would stare too if one of his friends was gradually becoming half-unicorn.

He got back into bed, put his glasses on his bedside table and said, "Night, everyone," before closing the curtains and lying on his right side. What a day, he thought. I wake up with a long tail and Dumbledore telling me I'm half-unicorn. I successfully conceal it, but I tell my dorm mates and good thing too as my hair's turning silver. I'm getting a unicorn's mane, or at least a human version of one. I wonder if it'll be all silver in the morning and maybe a little longer, too. Harry yawned as he closed his eyes and fell asleep, feeling oddly comfortable with the changes occurring to him.