Disclaimer:
I love you, you love me! We're a happy family...! What? What do you mean wrong...! Oops. Sorry! I don't own Barney the horrid... Wrong AGAIN?
-Watches lawyers inch closer- o.O Fine! Fine! Idonownhawwypottwer! –Pouts-
Harry awoke to the sound of rapid discussion, but the headache he was currently suffering from prevented him from trying to identify the owner of the voices. Instead, he groaned, alerting the people who were gathered around him to the fact that was awake.
"Ah, Harry."
The old wizened face of Professor Dumbledore appeared fuzzily over Harry as he opened his eyes, which he quickly closed to avoid aggravating his headache. "Good morning, Professor," he greeted with as much energy as he could muster. "Why are you here?"
"Don't you remember what happened, Harry?" the headmaster asked in reply.
"Well, I had this little nightmare that when I woke up and went to the bathroom, discovered that I was a girl. I wonder why Tonks was in the dream, though," Harry answered with a smile as he gradually got accustomed to the light and opened his eyes.
"What?" he asked when there was a slight pause of silence, as Professor Dumbledore glanced towards Tonks and Madam Pomfrey. "What's Madam Pomfrey doing here anyway?"
"Harry, I'm afraid you weren't dreaming," Dumbledore finally informed Harry, the smile still on his face.
Harry stared at his barmy headmaster, blinking twice, waiting for the old man to suddenly say 'just kidding!' like he had once seen on television.
Abruptly, Tonks reached out, grabbed Harry's hand, and pressed it against his chest.
The metamorphmagus' action surprised Harry momentarily. As the boy was about to ask the young Auror the reason for that, when he flexed his hand slightly and felt something squashy, as well as a strange feeling on his chest. Slowly and comically like a cartoon, Harry slowly looked down. Just as slowly, his eyes widened. Finally, he took a deep breath, opened his mouth...
And froze.
For several minutes, everyone stayed in their previous positions. If it were an old western movie, the wind would've blown, and a ball of whatcha-call-ems would've rolled across the background.
"Nymphadora, that wasn't such a good way of informing young Harry," Dumbledore finally broke the silence. That in turn caused Tonks to blush and look away guiltily, as the matron went over to the bed and tried to break Harry out of it.
"Professor, how... how did I get changed into a girl? And is there any way for me to change back? There is, right? It's not permanent, is it?" Harry instantly turned to Dumbledore the moment he had snapped back to reality.
The old headmaster sighed. "Harry, I do not know how you changed into a girl. As for changing back... there are spells and potions that can cause one to revert to their normal form. However..." he paused as he considered Harry. "They have not had any effect on you. Worry not!" he raised a hand as the boy (girl?) "It is because they cause the person to be reverted to their original gender. And there seems to be a charm that is registering you as a female."
"Why can't you break the charm, then?" Harry instant demanded. "You're the most powerful wizard alive! There must be something you can do!"
At this point, the old man sighed. "I tried, Harry, but there appears to be nothing to break. It would appear that the charm was able to hide itself, despite the residual magic it has released," he answered. "I believe that it is a new charm, which was created just recently."
"WHAT!" Harry shouted. "Does that mean that I'm stuck like this!"
"Harry, we are doing the best we can to try to break the charm as fast as possible. In fact, Billius has been called in to assist in breaking the charm. He is, unfortunately, working in Gringotts at the moment and is thus indisposed."
Harry groaned, burrowing his face in his hands. "So I'm stuck like this at the moment?" he mumbled. Seeing the sympathetic nods from everyone, he groaned again.
"Well, perhaps this may cheer you up." Dumbledore said a little more brightly. "You're allowed to go to Grimmauld Place today."
Instead of the expected cheer, Harry groaned louder, and made a slight whimpering sound (which Tonks thought made Harry sound like a cute girl, not that she was going to say anything) before looking up at them. "I'm supposed to go there... like this?"
Hermione knocked on Harry's door tentatively, while Ron stood behind her fidgeting. They had missed Harry over the summer, so when they had news that he would be coming over, they had waited for him eagerly. But the moment Harry came through, he had seemingly freaked out, and ran straight to his room without a single word of greeting to anyone.
Of course they had demanded to know what was going on, when the headmaster and Tonks had came through the fireplace. All Professor Dumbledore had told them was that Harry was going through a difficult phrase, and needed some time.
Ron and Hermione had accepted that, but it made them worry all the more when over the next week they continued to see neither hair nor hide of Harry, even for meals. Believing that Harry was still grieving over Sirius' death, the pair had decided to talk to Harry, and try to cheer him up.
In truth, Harry had also missed his friends. But he was worried about how they would take him, and had so barricaded himself in the room. When he heard the knock on the door, he knew that he could avoid them no longer. Knowing Hermione, she'd break down the door if he didn't open it.
"Hello, Ron, Hermione," he greeted, his eyes cast downwards as he opened the door.
Ron, being the ever tactless one, immediately asked, "Harry, what happened to your voice?"
True to her nature, Hermione kicked Ron's shins, inciting a yelp as she glared at him. "Don't mind Ron, Harry. We missed you. How have you been?" she asked.
"I'm... I don't know," Harry admitted. "Things haven't been so great, with what happened..."
"Harry, I know you're still guilty about what happened in the Department of Mysteries, but it's not your fault!" Hermione straightened and told him authoritatively. "It's not your fault that you got tricked into thinking that Sirius was in danger! It was that git Snape's fault!"
Harry blinked, never expecting in a million years that Hermione would call a teacher, even Snape, a git.
Ron, of course, decided that it would be nice of him to bring it up. "Hermione! I never would've though that you would call Snape a git!"
That, of course, resulted in his having another bruised shin.
Harry laughed a little. "I'm glad to see that you're still the same," he smiled a little. "And thanks for your concern, Hermione, but don't worry. I've gotten over Sirius' death. He would've wanted me to organize a funeral, and then prank everyone who decides to come."
Hermione narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, as though trying to discern if Harry was telling the truth. "Well, if that's not what is bothering you, then what is? Your OWL results? Even if it is, it's not healthy to stay cooped up in a room all day!"
Harry sighed, poked his head out to make sure that the corridor was empty besides them, before he beckoned his best friends into his room. "I don't know how I should say this..." he trailed off, sitting down on his chair.
Hermione stared at the pile of books on the ground and on the table next to the chair.
"Something happened a week ago, on my birthday. I don't know what happened, how it happened, or why it happened. It just did. Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore doesn't know the answers either," Harry told them as he shed his cloak.
"Harry, you're speaking in riddles," Hermione said somewhat crossly. "What exactly happened?"
This time, when Ron stated the first that came into his mind, Hermione was too stunned to kick him.
"Blimey, Harry, are those boobs?"
"That was... unexpected," Hermione said slowly after Harry had told them his story. "Do either you or Professor Dumbledore have any theories as to what happened?"
Harry nodded somberly. "Professor Dumbledore thinks that someone created this new curse to change my gender, because anyone stuck in the opposite gender for long periods of time tend to forget how it was like to be a male, or a female, before the change. That causes gradual insanity as the person tries to hold onto his or her former identity, and yet cannot. Also, since we are tied to our magic, the person's magic will slowly disappear since it no longer recognizes him or her. Even metamorphmagus are no exception to this. That's why Tonks never even thought to attempt it, even though she could."
"But isn't a metamorphmagus' magic the reason why he or she can change their physical body parts?" Hermione inquired. "How can they lose their magic that way?"
"Because, different genders release different amount of different hormones. And if you ever took biology classes, you'll remember what is it that incites hormone generation," Harry informed them, a slight blush on his face.
Hermione blushed heavily, before vigorously shaking her head. "But what has hormones got to do with magic?"
"Well..." Harry frowned, a look of contemplation on his face. "I'm not too sure. That's all I managed to find out. But quite frankly, I'm not too worried about the theory behind why we lose our magic that way. What I'm more worried about is how I can change back," he said, his voice trembling. "Sorry, I've been rather weepy, according to Madam Pomfrey. I think it's one of the effects of my hormonal changes," he sniffed.
"That's horrible," Hermione mumbled, a concerned frown on her face. "Is there any solution so far?"
Harry sighed again. "Nothing so far. If it was a spell, it was, as I quote Bill 'seamless! It looks as though there's nothing to break! Hell, if I hadn't know that Harry was a boy, I'd say that you're trying to pull a prank on me!' unquote."
The trio fell into silence, before Harry realized that Ron hadn't spoken at all throughout the conversation. "Ron, are you alright?" he looked up at the boy.
Unfortunately, Harry and Hermione caught Ron staring at Harry. Then it occurred to Harry that Ron had been ogling at him all this while. Instantly, he blushed and quickly donned his cloak once again, while Hermione started berating at Ron to 'get his sick mind out of the gutter and help Harry instead of making things worse'.
"Sorry, Harry, but I'll be darned. You look rather pretty as a girl," Ron commented, earning another glare from Hermione. "Hey! That's an absolutely innocent complement!" he protested.
"Are you saying that Hermione's not pretty, then?" Harry interjected quietly.
Ron's eyes widened as he realized that he had offended Hermione again. "NO! That's not what I meant!" he answered hastily, his hands waving around as he tried to appease the busy haired girl. "It's just that now that Harry's a girl, guys are going to try to hit on her!"
"..."
"Er... oops?" Ron said when again, neither of the females said anything.
"Fate hates me," Harry mumbled before he slumped and rested his forehead on the pile of books on the table. "Can't my life ever be normal!"
On cue, someone knocked on the door and identified himself as Professor Dumbledore. Once the old wizard had entered the room, greeted everyone and made himself comfortable by conjuring a chair of his own, he went straight to business.
"Harry, I've got bad news, and good news. Which would you prefer to hear first?" he inquired of the unhappy girl, his eyes twinkling as he did.
Harry weighed the options in his mind. "I'll take the good first," he finally replied, hoping to Merlin, or god, or whoever was up there, that he would be able to change back soon.
"The good news is that you can still go to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said jovially.
Harry instantly perked up. "Does that mean that you found a way to break the curse or charm or whatever it is!"
"Well, the bad news is that we still haven't found a way to change you back."
"WHAT!" Harry hollered, his high pitched voice hurting Ron and Hermione's ears. Dumbledore had prudently produced a pair of earmuffs which he took off once Harry had closed his mouth.
"It's not due to lack of effort, Harry. Everyone has been trying to find out what it was that caused your change, and are trying to break it. However, it is an entirely new spell, and it takes time to break them. It usually takes a unit of Unspeakables a month to break new spells. A modified spell takes lesser time, of course. But we are not Unspeakables, and it will thus take us much longer to unravel the spell."
"How will I be attending Hogwarts, then?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.
"You, my dear girl, will be attending Hogwarts... as a girl."
"... Nooooooooooo," Harry moaned, before whimpering, "Fate despises me."
Author's Note:
Might as well update this, since it's probably going to be forever till my next update X.x hope you people enjoy this crazy, spur of the moment story that eventually one of my favourite and best written fics.
Thanks for your help, ne-chan!