A/N – Okies, this chapter is pretty long (for me anyway!) And I hope you like it… There are probably quite a few mistakes/sloppy parts but I've been pretty busy, so be thankful!!! Anyway, r&r and enjoy!…
Harry
found Neville first. He was sitting
right outside the classroom.
"Hi
Neville!"
"Hi
Harry, I was waiting for you." Said
Neville brushing his hair from his face,
"Where
are Ron and Hermione?" Asked Harry
"Common
Room, I think." Mumbled Neville
"Let's
go and get them, I've got a lot to tell you guys."
"Alright."
Neville
followed Harry's brisk pace with a little difficulty and Harry, noticing this
slowed slightly,
"Are
you okay Neville?" He asked,
"Yeah,
it's just…" Trailed Neville
"What?" Probed Harry,
"I'm
so sorry Harry."
"What
for?"
"For
abandoning you that night." Whispered
Neville
"Neville! I sent you away. You aren't at all to blame."
"I
was a coward." Muttered Neville, angry
with himself.
"It
was brave of you to follow me in the first place." Pointed out Harry smiling.
They
finally reached the Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione
and Ron were just coming out from behind the painting.
"Oh
good, I need to speak to you guys." Said Harry.
"Right. You want to go for a walk? We could pop in and see Hagrid
afterwards." Suggested Ron.
"Great."
They
walked out of the castle carefully avoiding the cackling Peeves who was
obviously up to no good by the sound of loud banging in the charms classroom.
"So,
you wanted to talk…" Prompted Hermione.
"Yes. Now I'm sure you guys have been very
worried, like everyone else is, and maybe you're right to be, I'll just tell
you everything I know, and hopefully you can help me."
"Of
course, we'd do anything to help you Harry." Said Neville.
"The
warning that Firenze gave me, I've been researching and it doesn't sound
good. Basically so far I think it means
that if I 'align' with Voldemort, then Sirius will die. But I don't quite know what it means by
'align'. Sirius is being held by
Voldemort. And that brings me onto the
next point."
"Yes…"
"Voldemort
has given me a choice. If I go to him
on the night of the full moon then he will free Sirius and release Dumbledore
from the soul catcher curse."
"Harry! You can't! He'd kill you!" Screamed
Hermione.
"She's
right Harry." Mumbled Ron.
Harry
glared at them.
"I
knew you would say that, but I can't just let him kill Sirius, and where will
we be if he attacks Hogwarts without Dumbledore to protect us?" Harry said firmly.
"Harry's
right, we can't do nothing!" Said
Neville,
Hermione
and Ron turned on Neville in surprise.
"You
can't mean that Neville!"
"Harry! It would be a disaster, how can you trust
Voldemort to keep his word?" Argued
Hermione,
"You
can't!" Yelled Ron.
"I
know. But Sirius is my only family, and
I'm not letting go without a fight!" Said Harry his eyes blazing with hurt and fury.
Hermione
Ron and Neville saw the look on Harry's face and softened.
"We'll
do anything we can for you Harry, but please promise you'll be careful." Said Hermione, tears welling in her eyes.
Harry
stared back at her blankly but nodded.
"We've
got to go to Transfiguration now, I guess Hagrid will have to wait." Said Ron, trying to lighten the mood.
The
four of them trudged back up to the castle in silence.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry was just entering the castle when he heard
Dumbledore's voice return.
I'm sorry to bother you Harry.
'Not at all Professor.'
I thought I'd better talk to you before you meet
Professor Figg.
'It's alright Professor, I already know…'
Know? But how?
'I can't explain how I know, she's Mrs Figg's sister in law
isn't she?'
Harry, how did you find out?
'I just knew, I realised it as soon as I heard her name.'
Most interesting… Well I'll talk to you later Harry.
Harry smiled. He
had an idea why he knew who Professor Figg was. It was some kind of old magic. He thought that maybe there was some kind of history between their
families. And he was pretty sure that
Dumbledore knew about the link and hadn't told him.
He was getting slightly annoyed at things being kept from
him, but he knew that Dumbledore probably had his reasons.
As soon as Harry went into the classroom and came face to
face with Professor Figg, he realised that the link was stronger than he'd
thought. Maybe there was a life debt
or… something...
He sat down next to Neville and Hermione who were both
still eyeing him anxiously as if he were about to leap up and run off into
danger.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Arabella Figg also felt the connection with Harry. She however knew what it was. Her family had strong links with the Evans
family, she had even been Lily Potter's godmother, and she had been there the
day that Harry had been born…
************
"Lily! He's…
amazing!" I cried
"We know! He's
already tried to hex Padfoot a couple of times!" Said James proudly stroking the tiny baby's head, which was
already showing signs of the unruly black hair that ran through the Potter
lineage.
I looked at the tiny boy and felt the inexpressible joy
that comes with any new life, but there was something else. It was like feeling incredibly safe and I
was in no doubt that I was in the presence of a very powerful wizard.
"He's already shown signs of magic?" I asked in awe.
"Yes, he managed to make Sirius' hair fall out, it was
hysterical! Poor old Padfoot was
running around in a frenzy yelling something about his good looks… Can't
imagine why!" Said James laughing.
"I'm just glad Harry's okay. I was so worried when he came early, wizarding children hardly
ever come early." Said Lily, holding
Harry more closely.
"He must have been impatient to get out here and start
hexing Sirius." I said trying not to
laugh.
"Do you want to hold him Arabella?" Asked Lily smiling at me.
The question sent a shiver through my spine. I nodded and reached out. As she placed the tiny bundle in my arms I
felt the powerful aura of magic from the child and I almost gasped, it was as
though I were holding the entire world in my arms. I looked down and the bright green eyes that twinkled up at me
brought out a gasp,
"He's got your eyes Lily! The Evans' eyes and the Potters' hair! What a combination!"
Lily and James looked at each other smiling and
hugged. I was struck once again at what
a perfect couple they made.
And now they had a perfect son.
Lily suddenly looked at me and cried out,
"Arabella! Your
hair!"
James looked up and started laughing uncontrollably,
pointing at my head.
I looked down at the baby and saw his innocent looking face
but noticed the unmistakeable glint of mischief that shone so frequently in his
fathers' eyes.
"He's definitely a Potter!"
I said, passing Harry back to Lily and returning my hair
from the bright pink that Harry seemed to prefer, to it's usual raven black…
***********
Professor Figg was brought from her memories by an
impatient grunt from Draco Malfoy, a rather snobbish looking Slytherin.
"Sorry about that, right, let's just begin shall we? We're looking at Animagi I believe. On page 334 you will find a description of
Animagi abilities, copy it down and then you can start on your homework which
will be to write a foot of parchment on what you think it would feel like to be
an Animagi, and two feet of parchment on how an animagus' abilities can be
helpful."
She said quickly.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry thought about how his father and the other marauders
had used their animagi forms to help Moony as a werewolf and how Sirius had
escaped Azkaban by transforming to a dog and sneaking past the dementors.
He absorbed himself in the book, in a similar way to
Hermione, ignoring the ongoing looks he was getting from Neville and Ron.
'Animagus usually have to work very
hard to develop the ability to transform, it is a long process involving hours
of practice, however throughout the years some wizards have been known to have
the ability naturally…'
Harry stopped reading and looked up realising that Hermione
was looking at him intensely,
"What?" He
whispered.
"I know you've read it too. So? Do you think that
maybe?"
"Hermione! What
makes you think that I'm a natural animagi?"
Said Harry, struggling to keep his voice down.
"You've been showing a lot of new abilities lately is all."
Said Hermione huffily going back to her book.
Harry thought about it for a while, maybe she was
right. But how would he know if he
could do it or not?
Harry's mental question was answered by Neville…
"You'll never know unless you try it." He whispered timidly.
Harry felt a ripple of excitement go through him and went
back to the book eagerly.
'Animagi can transform into any animal although it is
extremely rare for them to change into magical creatures. They usually change into an animal that
displays their own characteristic traits…'
Harry looked up and noticed that Professor Figg was staring
at him. On noticing this he blushed and
looked back to his book realising with relief that she had also looked
away. He saw the next line and decided
suddenly that he would try and see if Hermione was right… After all, she
usually was!
~~~*~~~*~~~
The class seemed to drag on slightly and there were several
grunts of annoyance and boredom, especially from the Slytherin side of the
room.
Professor Figg noticed this but decided that it was up to
them to do the work and watched them closely.
Her eyes fell once again on Harry, he looked slightly
distracted. It was no wonder really
considering the experiences he'd had with animagi. She saw a look of determination suddenly fall over his face. He then did something surprising.
He stood up and started to tremble, the whole class were
looking at him but he didn't seem to notice, he was concentrating very hard on
something, he suddenly fell calm, expecting him to sit down Arabella stood up
to tell the class to go back to work, but the words caught in her throat when
Harry started to change…
She realised with a start that he was transforming!
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry had stood up. He felt the tingle of anticipation. He knew what he had to do. He
concentrated on himself, he thought about all that he had done in his life all
that he had felt.
He found it hard to harness the right feelings but suddenly
he knew, he knew what he would transform into, he knew something about who he
was. He felt a strange calm descend on
him, he would try a transformation, and it would work!
He concentrated hard on the core of his emotions, the very
simple essence that made himself unique. And he felt himself start to change.
He was tingling all over, and he was… growing! His thoughts became tainted slightly, he
felt strong, strong willed as well as physically strong. He opened his eyes, which had been screwed
shut in concentration. And he saw that
the whole class, who looked strangely small, were staring at him open mouthed,
completely surprised and unmistakeably scared.
Hermione was the first to speak,
"Harry! You're a…
You're a…"
"A dragon! Aaargh!"
Yelled Pansy Parkinson trying to scramble her way to the
other side of the classroom, as far away from Harry as possible.
Harry tried to smile, it felt strange, his mouth had
changed shape, he tried to speak,
"Don't be scared… It's only me!"
But all that happened was that his mouth opened and along
with a low growling noise a few flickers of flame shot out making the whole
class shrink back even further.
Harry looked to Professor Figg who was rooted to the spot.
He realised that he'd interrupted the lesson and felt
suddenly aware of the many eyes on him, embarrassed he closed his eyes and
concentrated hard on becoming human again, he opened his eyes again, and saw to
his immense relief that he had done it right.
~~~*~~~*~~~
The class had ended in turmoil. Everyone had crowded around Harry, now human again, and they were
either completely speechless or babbling incoherently. Hermione however was making some sense.
"Harry! A
dragon! A magical creature! Never seen anything like it! A white dragon! And your scar, and your eyes! A white dragon, green eyes, golden lightening bolt!" She gabbled
It took Professor Figg a full ten minutes to herd the class
(except Harry) out of the door. Harry
sat at his desk dumbfounded. He'd done
it!
And another more powerful thought struck him… The
furnace! It really was him!
Professor Figg was looking at him with a huge smile on her
face, she was about to talk when it happened.
Harry's scar flared with pain, it was worse than ever. He yelled and feel to the floor gasping, he
heard it clear as day, the thing he'd been dreading to hear ever since the
attack…
Voldemort was laughing…
And Sirius was screaming…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay! I know, I'm really evil… But I tried my best to get as much as possible into this chapter! I would have put Sirius into it more, but you'll have to wait for the next chapter I'm afraid!
Anyway,
I hope you liked it…
I
thought for a long time about making Harry's animagus form a phoenix or a snake
or something more usual, but I just kept imagining this gleaming white dragon
with green eyes and a golden lightening bolt on it's head… What can you
do?! Plus it fits in with the story and
everything… I hope you guys like it.
Anyway
I'm really bad at thanks sections but these 2 things really must be said.
- I love you all for
reviewing! I read every review and
often get ideas from them and try to improve my story. I really appreciate the help!
- I have to say that some
of the stories I've read that were done by people who reviewed my story (I
try to read all of the stories done by my reviewers) Are excellent!!! But one of them really deserves a
mention here
'The Fear Evil Brings' by 'Kelzery'
Is one of the best I've read, I would really
recommend it… So please go and read it… if you haven't already!!!!
That's
it! Have a great weekend everyone! I promise to try and write the next
chap. But I've got to revise for my
Spanish exam (on Monday) So please be
patient!
Lot's
of Love
Jona
xxx