Of Gryphons and Dragons
Vernon and Petunia were sitting at the breakfast table of number 4 Privet drive, patiently waiting for their nephew, one Harry Potter, to appear and make breakfast. By patiently, I mean, of course that Vernon was calling up the stairs to make sure Harry was earning his keep.
"Boy, you'd better get down here before Dudley does, we don't want him getting hungry; it's his big match today." He was talking about Dudley's wrestling. The boy had toned down over the years, and no longer looked like a blubbery whale, no, now he looked like a hungry whale. Large and imposing, his grades were starting to go up due to his teachers being petrified of him. Needless to say, Vernon was very proud.
"I don't know why we ever kept the boy 'Tunia, he's a waste of space. Never shows any gratitude."
Meanwhile, upstairs, Harry awoke, stretching tired limbs as he clambered out of his bed. For some reason, he felt exhausted. He was surprised when he tried to walk. Was the ground always this far away? He shook his head to clear it, but he still seemed a little ungainly as he walked to the bathroom.
What he saw in the mirror, as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes, made him gasp and fall backwards. In front of him was a tall young man with long black, wavy hair. Harry's hands reached up, and he compared his fingers to those in the mirror. His hands were thinner, more slender than they had been the night before. He let his gaze drift upwards over his arms. His skin was paler, he noticed that. His muscles were more defined also.
The same could also be said of his chest. And then he looked at his face, a fair amount of trepidation in his eyes as he did so. If one were to look closely, they would be able to find some remnants of the old Harry, but these remnants were few and far between. He retained the green eyes that no longer sat behind thick frames, he also still had the scar that brought him his fame, much to his chagrin. His nose was a little longer than it had been, but the rest? The rest could have come from a stranger. His face had lengthened, his lips were fuller. Even his cheekbones had changed, they were higher, setting those burning green orbs at an angle. All in all, he thought to himself, he looked much better like this. But then common-sense flew back into his brain. "What am I thinking?" he asked himself aloud.
Better not to think at all, better to react. Harry knew the one person who he resembled, and he couldn't bear to think of the reaction were he to be seen in this manner. He had to get out of here fast.
His belongings took little time to pack, he shoved everything into his trunk and used a little of the wandless magic that he had learnt over the summer to cast a spell.
"Reducto" he whispered. Soon everything was in order, and he snuck out the front door before his Aunt and Uncle, tired of waiting for their breakfast, went up the stairs and found him like this.
It took the work of a moment to hail the Knight Bus, and he was sure that no-one would recognise him this time round. As Stan the conductor read out the prices, he reached into his pockets to get the last of his wizard gold.
"Here" he muttered, and shoved the coins into Stan's hands.
"Hang on a sec..." said Stan, "aren't you a..."
But he didn't get the chance to finish as Harry cut him off with a glare. "No, no I'm not, and I'd appreciate if you'd mind your own business."
"Well", said Stan, mildly affronted, "no need to be so rude about it, I was only asking a question. Anyway, where is it you were wanting to go?" he asked as the bus took off with a jolt.
Harry paused, he hadn't really thought this far ahead. "umm... The Burrow thanks." Maybe Ron could help him out of this
He spent the whole bus ride worrying. What was wrong with him? Was it a curse? And if so, who would cast a curse on him like this? His lip curled as he thought of who it might be, Malfoy. But Malfoy wouldn't be able to find him during the summer. Perhaps it was a 'Weasley's Wizards Wheezes' prank. And if that were the case, he was certainly headed in the right direction.
The trip didn't take long at all, as their were very few people on the bus. Stan had offered Harry hot chocolate twice, but had been politely refused each time.
Standing at the gate of the Burrow, he patted his pocket to make sure his belongings were safe, and walked up to the door.
Harry stopped at the front door, fist raised to knock. But he paused, what was the reaction going to be? He knocked despite his worries and was immediately relieved to see Mrs Weasley's kind face looking out the top part of the door.
But his relief immediately vanished when he saw the look of polite query on her face.
She didn't recognise him.
Harry revised his plans on the spot.
"Can I help you dear?" asked Mrs Weasley, all concern.
"Erm, yes, ah, could you tell me if you have any floo powder? I can pay, of course."
Mrs Weasley looked surprised, "Well there's no need for that, come in and use our fireplace."
Harry walked into the room, god, he loved this place. Though this time it was quiet, the rest of the family must be out, he thought. "Thankyou so much," he said to the matriarch of the Weasley clan. "I was a bit lost, and I knew that your family lived around here somewhere." His voice was nervous, telling these lies, and he only hoped she would believe them.
She looked somewhat surprised at what he had just said, but paid it no heed. "Here you are dear," she held out the pot of floo powder as she spoke.
Harry grabbed a handful, and walked into the fireplace, grabbing the ledge as he went under, leaving two galleons where he knew Mrs Weasley would find it. He stood in place and threw the powder down as he shouted out, "Diagenellie".
Mrs Weasley looked at the spot where the youth had disappeared, her mouth fell open as she muttered "Harry?"
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, in the tallest room of one of the tallest towers (not THE tallest tower, that was the home to something else that I might write about another time, but pretty tall), Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk counting his lemon-drops. All that could be heard was a slight whistling noise that was Fawkes snoring, and Albus muttering under his breath. "Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three..." His eyes were drawn in concentration when suddenly, a thick envelope appeared on the heap of lollies I front of the Headmaster. "Fifty, sixty, what?" he stopped in surprise. "Well well well, what have we here," He was thankful that no-one else was in the room, it wouldn't do to have one of his staff members or students to see him lose his cool.
Albus inspected the envelope and even cast a couple of charms on it, to see what magic had been placed on it. The only charm he found was a time-delay charm. His interest growing, he opened the envelope and pulled out three more envelopes. One was addressed to him, and he opened it curiosity. As he opened the pages, he gasped softly as he recognised handwriting that he had not seen in fifteen years. Lily Potter's.
Severus came storming up the staircase to the headmaster's office, "First he wants me to make that stupid potion, then he wants to talk to me, then he wants me to make it again. Why can't he just make up his mind?" He growled to himself as the gargoyle leapt out of the way.
He slammed the door open while still grumbling, "What is it this time Albus? Run out of lemon-drops? Need a mission to save your golden-boy? hmm? Well? tell me." And he stood in the middle of the office before actually seeing the closest thing he had to a father. "Albus, what is it?"
The headmaster shook his head sadly. "It seems as though a secret has been kept from us all, dear Severus. I could explain it to you, but it would be easier to show you."
Severus still didn't understand, and said so.
"Severus, you trust me, right?" Severus nodded, "Then let me cast this charm on you. It is not harmful in any way, but it will reveal a secret that was hidden, many years ago."
Snape thought about it, and nodded. No sarcastic remarks fell from his lips, the situation seemed too grave for that.
Albus raised his wand, "Finite Memorium Incantatum"
Severus jolted backwards, the stream of memories hitting him hard, and he whispered brokenly, "What have I done"
Hey peoples, thankyou so much for reviewing the first chapter. Hopefully I won't take so long next time, I have half the chapter written already!
Thanks to: Siren, Makalani Astral, Anna Taure, Priss, Mikee, CassandraD, hatty, and to my first reviewer, Goddess-of-the-Night04.
Cheers guys, you're the reason this kept going! luvya all, Katlyn