Author's Note: I get bit by creative bug. :p Si, I'm writting another story. This one is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Harry Animagus. Harmony. Bad-friend-Ron, Smart Fudge.

1: The Thunderbird Wand

If you were to ask a child or a teenager what their favorite time of the year would be, many would answer that it would be Summer for the lack of school. However, if you were to ask one Harry James Potter, this young man would answer that his favorite time of year would be the beginning of the fall months in which he would return to school.

Why you may ask?

Because young Harry Potter was, in fact, a wizard. A wizard that hated spending time away from school. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was just another student, albeit a rather famous one. At home, he was considered a freak. At school he had friends. Not so at his aunt and uncle's home. Their fat troll of a son usually made it his Summer mission to make Harry's life utterly miserable.

At school school he could use his magic to defend himself whereas at home his uncle would beat him for simply breathing too loudly while his son sounded like a herd of stampeding hippogriffs. He was thankful that those beatings had stopped this last year upon mentioning to his Uncle Vernon that his godfather, a convicted murderer, had been let out.

He was an innocent man, of course, but his uncle didn't need to know that. Now the Dursleys weren't just afraid of him and his freakish powers, but also of his godfather as well.

But it did irk the boy somewhat that he wouldn't be allowed to prove his godfather's innocence due to some in the ministry being as corrupt as they came. Cornelius Fudge and Amelia Bones were two that could help him with proving the man's innocence, however with people like Lucius Malfoy on the board, there was little chance for the young wizard to get a fair trial without the risk of Sirius being attacked on the spot.

But Sirius, even though he couldn't physically be in his life at the moment, hadn't been totally absent from his life since his rescuing him from the dementors' kiss. Thanks to Sirius, Harry now had all of his school supplies in his very own, yet small, bedroom, which included a small desk, and a rickity bookshelf that contained his three years worth of school books from Defense Against the Dark Arts to, ugh, Divination (Harry regretted taking that class greatly).

Now the young wizard didn't have to worry about not getting his Summer assignments down at the last minute, usually about two to three feet worth of parchment per class. Unknown to his instructors, however, the young wizard had something extra planned for his fourth year at Hogwarts.

During his return from school he was alarmed to find out that his cousin Dudley had been put on a very strict diet. He was further alarmed by the fact that his Aunt Petunia had, in the spirit of fairness, decided that they would all be dieting so that Dudley wouldn't feel bad about eating nothing but what his uncle would call rabbit food.

Harry, being already fairly skinny from lack of food already, called for aid immediately. And his friends had answered the call. Hermione, bless her, had sent him several parcels of healthy food. His friend and teacher, Hagrid, had sent him a sack full of his rock cakes. The Weasleys had been the most helpful in his plite, Mrs. Weasley going above and beyond in sending him a huge fruit cake, and several meat and mince pies.

Sirius had answered his call as well, though not in the way he expected. When his godfather's package had arrive, delivered by a very large exotic-looking bird that had Headwig clicking her beak angrily. Inside said package were several boxes of sweets that Harry didn't recognize, as well as a mandrake leaf.

"Harry,

I think it best that we attempt to change you into an Animagus. Inclosed with this letter is a mandrake leaf from a mature plant. Wait for a full moon, then place it in your mouth and you must keep it there until the next full moon. I will be collecting the other ingredients for the potion needed for the spell. Once I have them, I will come straight to you after you owl me the date of the full moon you will be taking the leaf out. We wil then conjure a storm, and attempt the change."

While reading the letter, the bird knocked over the parcel and something clattered out of it.

Harry looked down and saw a very strange sight. It was a wand. A beautiful black and gold wand. He bent to pick it up and felt sparks against his fingers as he picked it up. When Harry had touched his holly and phoenix, he had felt a warm running up his arm straight into his chest that spread through the rest of him like a warm blanket being wrapped around him. Touching this wand...felt like stepping out into a storm.

He could smell the scent of rain and ozone as if the tiny sparks were true bolts of lightning. A small wind picked up around him in a small whirlwind. It was unlike anything he had ever felt in his entire life! Turning his attention back to the letter, he read:

"P.S. You'll find a wand with the food I've sent you. It's a very rare wand considering it's made from ebony wood, and contains a thunderbird's tail feather as its core. It's going to be tricky to master, but aside from wands contain dragon heartstrings and phoenix feathers, this type of core is easily more powerful. You are going to need it in the coming days as I fear that something may happen to you.

All my love,

Snuffles"

Harry smiled. The man was truly trying to make up for not being in his life for the passed thirteen odd years. He looked down at the wand felt that he was already comfortable with it. "Lumos." He muttered most basic spell he knew. Basic, yet the wand tip lit up like a blinding little star, igniting whole room, "Nox!"

The wand extinguished itself, a small hum cominf from it as if it was being smug. Harry snorted and placed the wand on his desk as he sat down and wrote back to his godfather.

HP

The next full moon had come two days after Harry received Sirius' care package, and the boy dutifully placed the leaf in his mouth, resisting the urge to spit it back out immediately for its foul taste.

In the days following his long journey to become an Animagus, speaking the incatation, Amato Animo Animato Animagus, twice each day, Harry wrote to his friends, thanking them for their gifts, though he only ended up telling Hermione about the mandrake leaf he was keeping as for some reason, Ron's family wasn't overly fond of Sirius. Ron thought he was alright, albeit a bit sensitive considering that the man had once nearly bitten his leg off in his attempts to capture Peter Pettigrew while mascarading as Snuffles the dog, and the traitorous wizard had been disguised as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers.

Upon receiving his letter, Hermione must have written back right away because Headwig had returned not long afterwards with a return letter.

"Dear, Harry,

I'm thrilled to know that you're attempting the Animagus spell, but please, do be careful as I've read that the spell is deucedly dangerous if you get it wrong. Mum and Dad have asked if you need more food since they know you're quite slim for a boy your age, but I have word from Ron that his mum sent you quite a bit. We're planning to visit Diagon Alley soon so that I can do a bit of shopping for reading materials. I would love it we could meet, though, I understand if you can't make it since your aunt and uncle don't care for magic, or anything to do with it. Please let me know if you need anything, I mean it, Harry.

Love,

Hermione"

Harry felt a strange sensation in his chest. Like that of a rumble of something raising its head and sniffing the air. Shaking his head of the strange feeling, he looked at his faithful owl, "Feel up to one last flight?"

Headwig ruffled her feathers and promptly tucked her head under her wings. Apparently she had had enough for one day. Harry chuckled and wrote back to the girl, placing it on the desk for the next day.

"Harry Potter!" Harry nearly jumped out of his skin at his uncle's roar.

Grabbing his new wand and sticking it in his pocket, the boy out of his room and down the stairs as his uncle only called for him like that when he was upset. Not knowing what he could have done, Harry was easily ready to defend his actions no matter the consequences this time.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, however, all he found waiting for him was a purple faced Vernon Dursley, and, to his surprise, a very distressed Cornelius Fudge.

"Minister?" Harry said in surprise, letting his hand drop away from his wand. "What are you doing here?"

The Minister of Magic shrugged, "Can I not pop in on one of Britain's rising stars in the magical community?"

"I dare say not!" Vernon sneered. "The hour is late, Sir, and I'll not have - AGH!"

Fudge flicked his wand at his walrus of an uncle, afixing his tongue to the roof of his mouth, and effectively shutting him up.

Petunia yelped and went to help her husband as Dudley came waddling down the stairs rubbing his eyes. "Might we have a little chat?" Cornelius asked as he gestured to the door. Harry gave a quick nod. Anything to get him away from the Dursleys.

Another flick of his wand saw the minister walking out the door with Harry hot on his heels. The two of them walked to the edge of the road before the man flicked his wand a third time, which must have taken the spell of of his uncle because he heard the man roaring not a moment later. "I do apologize for that," he said with a repentant look, "I'm not overly fond of muggles like your uncle, though I dare say that I normally don't endeavor to cause them harm."

Harry just smirked at him, "It's really alright, Minister," the boy said, "You have no idea how much I've been wanting to do that."

Cornelius looked at him sharply, "They are your family, are they not?"

Harry shrugged, "Just barely," he frowned, "They hate anything and everything to do with magic, so naturally, they hate me, too."

The minister seemed confused, "Hate you - but why would - Does Dumbledore knows of this?"

"I'm sure that he does, though he tells me that there are wards around their home thanks to my aunt's blood connection to my mother," Harry explained.

"And how are you treated?"

Harry hesitated, "Well - Before I became a student at Hogwarts, I was pretty much their slave." He gave another shrug to which the man grew purple with rage, "But it's gotten better! They don't beat me anymore!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that he had made a mistake.

"THEY BEAT YOU!?" Blustered the man with a small burst of magic coming from him. "And how long has that been going on?!"

Harry didn't want to asnwer. "Sir - er - didn't you want to speak with me about something?"

Cornelius shook his head and compelled himself, "You're quite right, my boy," he frowned, "But we will be speaking of this matter later, you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, lad," he nodded, "Now, as to the reason for my rather late visit, it is to inform you of an odd occurence at Gringotts that reared its head this afternoon." His face flushed with embarrassment, "While a matter like this is important, my paperwork had piled up to near obscene amounts, which is why its taken me so long to come to you about this matter."

"And what matter is that, Sir?"

Cornelius looked at him, "Why the matter of your inheritance, lad," he said, "I would have thought you'd have claimed it once you were made aware of your status as a wizard, however this will be the third year, nearly the fourth mind you, that you have yet to claim any of it."

"But, Sir, I've already been to my vault," Harry frowned at him, not knowing what else to do with the massive amount of gold and silver in his vault at the wizarding bank.

The man chuckled, "The vault marked as 687, my dear boy, is your student trust fund," he informed the boy as they walked, "Your parents set that up for you in the unfortunate events of their deaths so that you would be able to attend Hogwarts. However, as the last surviving member of a former Pureblood family of wizards and witches, your inheritance is quite a great deal more than the paltry amount in your trust vault, my boy."

"And there's a problem with it, Sir?"

"Only a small one that can easily be taken care of tomorrow if you wouldn't mind accompanying me to Diagon Alley?" Cornelius asked.

Harry beamed at him.

This was just the excuse he needed to get away from the Dursleys and see Hermione at the same time. The creature in his chest purred with approval. "That would be great, Sir! A friend of mine wanted to meet me there. Is there anyway we can invite her along?"

"Ah, a girl, is it?" Cornelius chuckled, much to the young wizard's embarrassment. "Not the Weasley girl, is it? She is rather pretty."

Harry just shook his head, "Hermione Granger, Sir. She's muggleborn."

"Granger, you say?" Cornelius hummed in thought. Then the man turned to him with a smile, "That would be splendid. What time shall I pick you up in the morning?"

Harry had other thoughts, "Just let me pack my trunk, and I'll hale the knight bus and get a room at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Oh, that won't do!" Cornelius said, "Winky!" He gave a soft call, and Harry jumped not a moment later as a small house elf popped up beside him.

The elf bowed happily, "Yous be calling me, Master?"

"Indeed," the man chuckled, "And thank you for coming so quick, as usual." He pointed his walking stick at Harry, "Please retrieve Mr. Potter's belongings from his home, his owl included, and take them to the Leaky Cauldron. Tell Tom that we'll be along in a moment or two, and to have a room ready for the lad."

"Yessir!" Winky popped away.

Cornelius smiled, "Well, then, shall we continue our talk?"

Harry nodded, "I wanted - Well, there's something I'd like to ask you?"

"By all means, lad, ask away." Cornelius said, "If it's something I can help you with, then I'm more than happy to do so."

Harry hesitated only a moment or two before he launched into the tale of what transpired during his third year. Cornelius listened, though he could see hints of disbelief on his face here and there as he spoke of Sirius Black, and his innocence. "What I'd like to know is if, and this is probably a very big if, if you have someone in the ministry that have look into my memories and see if they've been tampered with."

Cornelius gave a short nod, "Madam Bones is quite adept as memory sorting." He took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh, "I will not lie to you and say that your tale isn't just a tad far-fetched. Though you wanting to verify if your memories of the event have been altered is a very good idea." He frowned deeper, "Sirius Black was remanded to Azkaban Prison as soon as he was caught. The Wizengamott did not even offer him a trial, which is strange, given who is chief among them."

"Who would that be?" Harry asked.

"Why, Professor Dumbledore, of course." Fudge said with a hint of distaste.

HP

Disapparation was not Harry's favorite way of magical travel as when Minister Fudge offered him his arm to do so, it felt as though Harry's stomach might have landed on the South side of the country while he landed in London.

Had Harry's mind not still be reeling from the revelation that Dumbledore had denied his godfather the chance of a trial did not sit well with him. The man he once thought was the most powerful sorcerer in the world now seemed to grow faded in his mind. He knew the reasons behind his being stuck with the Dursleys, but to deny him the faintest chance of having somewhere else to go?

Harry was livid.

As soon as he had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, he had asked to borrow one of their owls, and sent the good news to Hermione post haste, though he was tempted to write another letter to let her know what was happening, and why.

The ebony wand at his side felt like it was buzzing with electricity. His ire with the Headmaster was effecting it somehow. There was also a dull ache in his shoulder where his uncle had once beaten him quite badly. Briefly he wondered if the scar had come open so he walked over to the large mirror in the corner of the room and took off his shirt so he could try to get a look at it.

And that was when the door opened, "Harry, I took the liberty of - MERLIN'S BEARD!" The startled and outraged voice of the Minister of Magic was followed by the crash and shattering of dishes as they hit the floor as Harry whipped around to see the man's face turning purple with rage.

"M-Minister, I can explain!" Harry stammered, but the man was having none of it.

"Explain what, Harry?" Cornelius demanded, "You told me that they beat you, but I'm not fool enough to believe that again when can I see those lash marks on your back!" The man was more furious than he'd ever seen him, "Why haven't you told Dumbledore of this?!"

Harry frowned and stepped back as he tried to put his shirt back on, wincing.

"A moment, Harry," Cornelius said as he pulled his wand, "Episkey." A small, sharp pain laced through his shoulder before it returned to throbbing, "Ferula." And then it was gone. "There, that should make it more manageable." The minister said, "Now, explain this to me."

Harry took a breath, "I...I do hate them, Minister," he breathed out, "I hate that house. I hate that they never treated me like...like I was human...but they're the only family I have left." He looked at the man and shook his head, "I don't want to harm them."

Cornelius closed his eyes and tried to reign in his temper, "All of this is supposedly for your protection?"

"According to Dumbledore." He said somewhat bitterly.

The minister sighed, "Dumbledore is not infallible, Harry, you know this quite well," he said, "But, perhaps, after we are done with the issue of your inheritence, you can take your place as Heir to Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter."

"What good would that do?" Harry asked.

Cornelius wanted to feel surprised, but at this point in time, he was beginning to feel as the boy had been deprived of more than just a loving home. "Becoming the heir, or in your case, the head of the house, would mean emancipation." He explained, "Not only would you be able to claim what is rightfully yours, but you would no longer be restricted to the laws of underage magic use."

Now Harry looked interested, "You mean that I could use my magic whenever I wanted?"

"So long as you used it responsibly, then of course." Fudge explained, "It would also mean a place on the Wizengamot, or you could choose someone to act in your stead until you understand the politics involved in our world." He said, "And, being the last of your lineage, you can even attain pureblood status."

Harry frowned, "How is that possible when my mother was a muggleborn?"

Cornelius let out a snorting chuckle, "Harry, my boy, where do you think we wizards and witches came from?" He asked. "Our people didn't just pop up out of the ground like dwarves and goblins, my young friend. We, as a community...came from muggles." He said, smiling at the boy's bewilderment, "When Merlin came to power, he, himself, was born of a muggle family, and his line only became known as a pureblooded family because he married a powerful witch, and they went on to have magical children."

He paused to let it sink in as Harry slowly nodded, "You see? It's all connected," he said, "Those with this pureblood superiority can easily trace their lineage back to at least a single muggle who sired a wizard or witch to begin the magical bloodline of that particular family." He chuckled, "The only reason that no one mentions it is because they feel superior at having such a long line of witches and wizards in the family that they've erased that one muggle from the line, creating the illusion that there was never a muggle in the family to begin with."

"So why to people like the Malfoys keep boasting about their blood being pure?" Harry asked.

Cornelius shrugged, "Pride, disgust, or perhaps both," he said, "However, there's barely any of these pureblooded lines left." He pointed to Harry, "If you were to decide to carry on the name and line of Potter, which has connections to at least two other lines, you could easily have one or more children to inherit your name, and those of the other two."

"And if I decided to marry a muggle?" He asked.

"Your child would be considered a halfblood, as you are now," he shrugged, "Wizarding law and all that." He explained, "However, if there's a certain witch that's caught your fancy, and you were to marry her, she would be considered a part of the pureblood line that you represent, even if she were a muggleborn." He chuckled as Harry's cheeks colored, "Though I daresay that Ms. Granger may yet have a direct line to a wizarding family."

"But she's muggleborn," the boy said before he caught the man's meaning, "And I don't fancy her, sir."

The Minister of Magic just chuckled heartily, "Be that as it may, my boy, the name Granger does ring a certain bell in my mind." He chuckled before waving a hand over the mess that Harry's dinner had become on the floor, and vanished it. "Now, Tom has a lovely stew down stairs, so why don't we dine, since I bungled up your meal here?"

That night Harry dined with the minister, and went to bed full for the first time in weeks since leaving Hogwarts. Comfortable and well fed, he placed the tip of his new wand against his chest over his heart once more before turning in, reciting, "Amato Animo Animato Animagus." He felt the warmth of the spell moving through him as he made sure that the mandrake leaf was secure for the night before setting Hedwig loose for the night to let her enjoy the night. Then Harry fell to sleep, looking forward to what the day would bring next.

HP

Author's Note: I haven't yet decided what Harry's Animagus form will be; I'm leaning heavily toward a red stag since they are native to Europe, or something that flies, not a dragon, though, that's too much. Suggestions would be most welcome. The scars I put on Harry's back will play big part in the romance in this story.

If ya'll want to read more, then you know what to do! Adios Amigos!