Wow you guys and girls seem to really like this story. I feel appreciated! After watching two documentaries on lions my muse has gotten more inspiration for this story. But first I'd like to respond to a few of my reviewers.
The Sinful: Kudos on your thoughts about no partial Veela because of their mono-gender race. I agree with you and after seeing the symbiotic relationship between lions and some small bird species, the ones that pick off bugs from the lions while the lions rest, I've decided to have Fleur as part of Harry's pride. Though their relationship will be slightly different than the one the other girls have with Harry.
texaswookie: You make a few good points and I'll take your suggestions into consideration. Especially Ms. Davis, I think I can do something fairly interesting, and Malfoy humiliating, with her. After all who doesn't like some good old fashioned Draco humiliation, right? Though I may not be able to keep myself from using all three chasers, I assure you it won't be like other stories were one chaser join up and then the other two just automatically jump on the band wagon; those bother me a bit too.
magitech: Wish granted! I was planning to use the less used girls to begin with. No Ginny! JKR pulled that pairing out of her ass and anyone that has a decent understanding of literature and story flow knows it. I'm not entirely sure if Hermione is actually going to be in the Pride or not. She is in the preview as a maybe at the moment. After all I agree that her bossy attitude doesn't mesh well with a lion pride mentality, NO ONE tells the KING what to do. Staying with Tonks might be a possibility.
end (guest): Good luck to Voldemort trying to use Harry's blood for his ritual. The Nemean Lion's hide can't be pierced by blades or spells.
sabery: Sorry but no McGonagall considering she's somewhere around 57 or so at the beginning of second year. I like your profile pic, Rangiku is easily one of the sexiest characters in Bleach. She really needed to have a Bankai, would've been so awesome.
Vimesenthusiast: I know what you mean. Lavender is never really used or explored. I plan to make her a rather intelligent young woman that knows what she wants for herself and her future. Though she will still be big-breasted as will two of Harry's other girls at least, possibly more.
DJ Rodriguez: I think you'll like this chapter and how Aunt Marge gets treated for bad mouthing Harry's parents.
All the reviewers that asked about werewolves and veela having wands: Did you not read the first chapter very well? Werewolves aren't a species unto themselves they're witches and wizards with an infectious virus. Plus Veela born in other countries can have wands because their country is more tolerant of magical creatures. If they were born in Britain they could be denied wands because in my story there is no such thing as a partial Veela. Veela mate with compatible males and ALWAYS give birth to a full-blooded Veela daughter.
Now that all of that is taken care of please enjoy chapter two of Harry Potter the First Nemea Leonthrope.
Also DON'T FORGET to vote on the poll on my profile! It will help me decide on what direction the story is going to take.
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Harry sighed in relief as he sat in a compartment, with Ron and Hermione, on the Hogwarts express headed back to London. After discovering he was now a Nemea Leonthrope and finally having Hermione back from her petrification, Harry thought the last day of his second year at Hogwarts would be a time of welcoming his friend back and coming to terms with his new species classification. But oh no, Harry Potter couldn't get that lucky. Shortly after Hermione had joined them for breakfast, Harry was still confused by that hug she'd given him as he wasn't use to such displays of affection, the morning mail owls had filled the Great Hall with the various morning mail. To Harry's surprise he'd gotten two things today. The first was from a regal looking owl that offered him a letter with the ICW seal emblazoned on the front. The second was from an average looking owl and was a copy of the Daily Prophet. After relieving both owls of their deliveries and offering them bacon and water Harry set the Prophet aside and opened the letter from the ICW.
-The Letter-
Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,
This letter is to inform you that your new species has been officially documented and registered with the ICW as Nemea Leonthrope. As with the discovery of any new magical sentient species all of the major news organizations of the member nations of the ICW have been informed of your new state of being and given the rudimentary details of you and your future people. After your first transformation you will be asked to submit to a few tests and have pictures taken of your forms for the ICW's records. Please send a reply addressed to ICW Headquarters after your first transformation so that our leading experts may set up a meeting to complete your examination and documentation.
Sincerely yours,
Osiris Akil
Grand High Mugwump International Confederation of Wizards
-End Letter-
Harry was still taking in all the information of the letter when he heard Hermione loudly shout out a question.
"Harry! Is this true? Are you something called a therianthrope now?" Hermione questioned looking over the top of her copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Um, yeah Hermione, I just found out yesterday." Harry replied as he reached for his copy of the Daily Prophet to examine the article. He was all too aware of the large amount of noise the Great Hall had broken into once the Prophet had been delivered. Harry noticed that across the front page was a large headline which read.
-Front Page of Daily Prophet-
Boy-Who-Lived now a new species! The shocking story of Harry Potter's transformation!
Late yesterday afternoon we at the Daily Prophet received communication from the ICW that a new species of sentient magical being had been discovered. To the shock of all of the staff the correspondence confirmed that the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, has become a therianthrope. For those of you who may not be aware, a therianthrope is a witch or wizard that through uncertain means has become half human and half magical beast. These individuals differ from the common werewolf in two distinct ways. The first way is that a therianthrope is not affected by the full moon and retains complete control of themselves in their animal state. The second difference is that a therianthrope cannot infect and transform other witches and wizards through a bite.
Young Harry Potter has been classified as the first of a brand new species called Nemea Leonthrope. Mr. Potter's transformation being connected to the XXXXX rated magical beast the Nemean Lion. We here at the Daily Prophet wish Mr. Potter luck as he goes through this trying time. Mr. Potter has not yet been reached for comment and the ICW admits that they don't yet have all the information about Mr. Potter's new state of being but will collect said information as it becomes available and make it accessible to the public through a newly updated edition of the International Book of Magical Beings.
For more information on Nemean Lions turn to page 2.
For more information on therianthropes turn to page 3.
For more information on the ICW turn to page 4.
-End Daily Prophet-
Now Harry, Hermione, and Ron were on the Hogwarts Express back to London. Harry was just glad to get away from all the new stares and whispers for a while. Hermione had found a few books in the Hogwarts library about Nemean Lions and one that had a small section detailing therianthropes and was currently reading through them while Ron was snacking on a few sweets they'd purchased from the trolley lady and looking through the Chocolate Frog cards he'd gotten from the packs. Feeling the need to use the bathroom Harry stood up and put his hand on the door to the compartment.
"Where you goin' Harry?" Ron asked with a Licorice Wand hanging out of his mouth.
"To the bathroom, Ron." Harry replied as he left the compartment and headed towards the bathroom. After finishing up in the bathroom Harry was making his way back towards his compartment when another compartment door opened as he passed it.
"Harry? Could we talk to you for a minute?" Lavender Brown asked as she stuck her head outside of her compartment. Harry was slightly confused but knew Lavender since she was in his House and Year at Hogwarts.
"Sure Lavender, what's going on?" Harry replied as Lavender motioned for Harry to enter her compartment. Harry entered to find that Lavender was sitting with Parvati Patil and her sister Padma Patil. Lavender retook her seat opposite of the twins and patted the spot next to her indicating that Harry should sit next to her. After Harry sat down and exchanged hellos with the Patil twins Lavender spoke up.
"Harry, I know you're probably tired of people whispering about you today so Parvati, Padma, and I wanted to talk to you directly about what the Prophet said this morning if that's all right?" Lavender questioned as Padma and Parvati both nodded in agreement.
"Uh, I guess that's ok. You're the first people besides Hermione to talk to me about it today. Even Ron didn't really say anything about it, though he's been really quiet since this morning now that I think about it." Harry answered before looking at three girls expectantly.
"Well for starters we'd all like to know how it happened if you wouldn't mind telling us." Parvati started gently somewhat worried that it may not be a comfortable topic for Harry.
"It's all right, I can talk about it without too much difficulty." Harry replied before he began telling the three girls the story of the Chamber of Secrets and how he'd become a Nemea Leonthrope. It was close to an hour later, with several breaks for questions that the girls had asked, when Harry finished recounting his tale.
"Well…that's just…wow." Lavender said as she processed the last of Harry's story.
"That's what I thought." Padma said with a look of shock.
"No kidding." Parvati replied to the other girls.
"So, what about you three?" Harry asked with a small bit of shyness. He wasn't use to interacting with anybody other than Ron and Hermione very well. But a small part of him was urging him to branch out and try making a few more friends. Besides after what he'd just told them Lavender, Padma, and Parvati seemed to be nice enough and two of them were in Gryffindor with him.
"What about us, Harry?" Lavender questioned as the three girls looked back at him.
"Well, I don't really know you three that well and I thought we could talk a bit and get to know each other better." Harry replied in a quiet tone causing all three girls to giggle which just made him blush. After the girls stopped giggling Lavender was the first to start telling Harry some things about her followed by Parvati and finally Padma. Harry was happy hearing about the girls and their lives. Lavender had a younger brother that was five and drove her crazy with his seemingly limitless energy while Padma was interested in following in her father's footsteps and becoming an Enchanter. Parvati wanted to take up a career in fashion and use the Patil family's silk manufacturing business to make future clothing styles with. Lavender also wanted to get into fashion and she and Parvati had initially bonded over their shared love of fashion and become friends in first year because of it.
"It's been nice getting to know you three but I should probably get back to my compartment. I'm sure Hermione and Ron are wondering where I am by now." Harry said after chatting with the three girls for close to an hour.
"Bye, Harry, it was nice chatting with you." Lavender said with a grin as Harry stood to leave the compartment.
"Yeah, let's talk some more later, Harry." Parvati stated with her own grin as harry opened the door.
"Don't forget to write to us this summer, Harry." Padma reminded with a smile. Harry nodded before closing the compartment door and making his way back to his compartment. As soon as Harry opened his compartment door he was asked the same question twice at the same time.
"Where were you, Harry?" Hermione asked with concern thinking someone may have tried to give Harry a hard time about the news in the Daily Prophet.
"Where'd you go, Harry?" Ron questioned tossing an empty Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean package onto the seat next to him.
"I was just chatting with Parvati, Padma, and Lavender for a while." Harry replied as he sat down. Hermione nodded in acceptance before going back to her book while Ron looked at Harry for a second before speaking.
"Malfoy came by looking for you a while back." Ron said with a grimace.
"What did he want?" Harry asked with a sigh and a frown.
"Something about you being a creature, bla bla bla, I'm better than you, bla bla bla, wait till my father hears about this." Hermione summed up with a huff before flipping to the next page in her book.
"So, typical Malfoy then?" Harry replied with a grin getting a nod from Hermione and a snicker from Ron.
*~Two Hours Later~*
The ride to Number Four, Privet Drive was mostly quiet with Vernon grumbling quietly about freaks taking up his valuable time. Harry simply looked out the window during the ride and took his trunk out of the boot before dragging it up the stairs to his room when they got to Number Four. Harry was ordered to have all the meals ready for the family every day for the summer and was given a list of daily and weekly chores to complete by Petunia upon his arrival. Harry took the list without a word and then shut himself inside his room.
"Dobby?" Harry questioned quietly.
"Yes, Master Harry?" Dobby questioned after appearing with an almost silent pop.
"Do you think you can get all these things done and still make sure I get enough food and sleep for the next two weeks until I can leave for the Weasley's?" Harry asked his new House Elf as Dobby went over the list.
"Dobby can be doing this much easily, Master Harry." Dobby replied with a smile looking up towards Harry's face.
"Brilliant, Dobby. You're a life saver." Harry replied with his own smile causing the House Elf to almost dance with joy.
So for the first time since Harry could remember he had a calm and relaxing time at his Aunt and Uncle's. Dobby, disguised as Harry with his Elf magic, went about doing all of Harry's summer chores while his Master slept for nine or ten hours a night and focused on his summer homework and picking out his electives for next school year. It was on the second day that Harry asked Dobby a question he was curious about.
"Dobby, where do you get all this food you make for me?" Harry questioned the elf as he ate another large lunch filled with various meats, fruits, vegetables, with bread rolls and a large glass of milk.
"Dobby be getting it from Hogwarts kitchens." Dobby said with a grin. "Other elves liking to help students even during summer time." He stated matter o' factly.
"Oh, please tell them I said thank you." Harry replied with a smile while Dobby popped away to thank the other elves.
One week into the summer Harry got a rather distressing piece of mail from Ron. Mr. Weasley had won a lottery at the Ministry and the whole Weasley family was going to be spending all but the last two weeks of summer in Egypt with Ron's eldest brother Bill. Harry replied back congratulating Mr. Weasley but was internally annoyed that he'd have to spend the whole summer with his relatives. The best times Harry had that summer were the letters he exchanged with Lavender, Padma, Parvati, and Hermione. Lavender was helping her mom take care of her soon to be six year old brother while Parvati was learning more about fashion and weaving silk from her mother and grandmother. Padma was being taught some of the basics of Enchanting from her father while Hermione was revising her summer home work and preparing for her family's trip to the beaches of France. Harry reassured all four girls that he was eating well and getting plenty of sleep thanks to help from Dobby, though Hermione still seemed a little off put by the lives House Elves lived.
It was a good summer for Harry over all. Until one day in late July when Harry's body finished growing and changing. Harry instinctively knew what was going to happen that night at close to ten pm. With only a small sound of bones popping and another sound like something stretching tightly Harry Potter transformed into a two meter tall man lion hybrid. Harry only had a few moments to try and get used to this new form before the same two sounds were heard again and in Harry's small bedroom stood a Nemean Lion. This Nemean Lion had a scruffy mane that wasn't fully grown in yet, probably due to Harry only being thirteen and not having been a fully grown man. The lion was also twice the size of a full grown African Lion. But considering full grown Nemean Lions could often exceed the size of bull African Elephants, Harry's current size was appropriate for his age. It took well into the night before Harry learned to how to shift between his forms. By focusing on the need for a certain form over the others Harry was able to change between human, hybrid, and lion by dawn. Harry promptly fell asleep and only awoke for meals before going right back to bed.
It was the second week of August when Harry was finally forced to interact with his relatives again. Aunt Marge was coming for a visit and Harry didn't want to risk Marge's horrible little dog, Ripper, possibly sniffing out the fact that Dobby wasn't Harry. So with tight control of his emotions Harry served his relatives, minus Dudley, glasses of alcohol that night while Marge went on her usual tirade about Harry and his lack of 'good breeding'. It was only after Marge had bad mouthed his mother and father that Harry's control snapped. With speed he wouldn't have possessed if he hadn't become a therianthrope Harry dashed across the living room of Number Four and grabbed Aunt Marge by the face with his right hand. If anybody had been walking down Privet Drive at that time of night they would have noticed a rather peculiar sight. That sight being a large, heavy set woman smashing head first through the living room bay window of Number Four and landing face down on the front lawn.
"You freak!" Vernon yelled as he stood up and reached for his nephew with murder in his eyes. Harry's newly enhanced senses easily alerted him to this new threat and with a quick spin he was face to face with his Uncle. "I'll teach you, boy!" Vernon roared as he advanced on Harry. The fact that Harry felt no fear from his Uncle was attributed, in the young wizard's mind, to his new found status as an Apex Predator. With a quick grabbed of his Uncle's wrist Harry tossed his Uncle over the back of the couch were the large man crashed into the floor.
"Sign this." Harry all but demanded as he set his Hogsmeade permission slip down in front of his terrified Aunt. "I'll be leaving as soon as you do." Harry stated. Petunia was quick to sign the form and Harry quickly made his way up to his room. Dobby, having already heard the commotion downstairs, had Harry's belongings packed and ready to leave when the wizard walked through the door. "Let's head for the Leaky Cauldron for tonight, Dobby." Harry said to his elf. Dobby simply nodded and holding on to Harry with one arm and Harry's trunk with the other popped them from Number Four to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry thanked Dobby before walking into the pub and requesting to rent a room from Tom the old barman. Tom was quick to give Harry a room for the night. Harry thanked the barman before going up to his room and collapsing onto the bed with a tired sigh. Dobby quietly popped into the room and locked the door for his master and set about cleaning the mostly clean room until it was spotless.
Harry awoke the next morning to the smell of food. Sitting up from the bed he noticed Dobby with a tray of food. Dobby quickly set the tray over Harry's lap and let his Master begin his breakfast. After breakfast and a shower Harry was heading down into the Pub. When he got to the bottom of the stairs he was met with the sight of Cornelius Fudge and Albus Dumbledore along with two other people he didn't know. The first unknown was a grizzled older man that was scarred heavily and appeared to have some strange fake eye in place of his real one he was dressed in what appeared to be some type of uniform robe. The other unknown was a very attractive young woman with pink hair and the same uniform robe.
'She smells wonderful, strong, and fertile. A perfect potential mother. Mate her quickly, claim her. For the future of the Pride.' 'Where the hell did that come from?' Harry thought as Dumbledore waved him over and he started in the four's direction.
"Harry, my boy, are you all right?" Dumbledore questioned to which Harry nodded. "The wards around your Aunt's home alerted me that you'd left. Tom informed me just an hour ago that you'd checked in last night." Dumbledore explained before motioning towards Fudge who began speaking.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Potter can't have you running around in the dead of night. Especially not during these troubling times." Fudge said with a politician's smile. Harry quickly understood the man was trying to win some points with him after the whole fiasco at the end of his last school year. "That's why, if you'd like to stay here at the Cauldron, for the last few weeks of summer I'm assigning you an Auror detail. These two are Alastor Moody and his current protégé Nymphadora Tonks." Fudge explained while introducing the two in the uniform robes. Harry rapidly noticed that the young woman's hair changed from pink to red as the Minister said her first name. While a part of Harry didn't like the fact that Fudge and Dumbledore were basically telling him what to do, he was the KING after all, he realized that he didn't have much choice at the moment. Plus he needed to learn where the hell some of these base thoughts were coming from.
"I'm all right with this, I guess." Harry responded with a nod to Fudge. "I thank you for taking time out of your schedule to watch over my safety." Harry stated with a slight bow towards the two Aurors.
"Don't mention it, Potter. Its' part of the job and it'll be good training for Nymphadora." Moody replied as his fake eye darted all around.
"Don't. Call. Me. Nymphadora." Tonks practically growled at Moody her hair still a bright red. The growling tone sending a pleasurable shiver down Harry's spine for reasons he didn't understand. "It's just Tonks, Harry." She said as she shook Harry's hand.
"Well I'd best be off now that Mr. Potter is in good hands." Fudge stated as he walked towards the back of the Cauldron heading towards Diagon Alley.
"Good day, Cornelius." Dumbledore said with a wave before turning to Harry. "Now Harry, you're in very safe hands as long as you stay close to Alastor or Miss Tonks. Can you do that until you board the Hogwarts Express?" he questioned.
"Yes, Professor." Harry replied while watching as Moody's fake eye continued to dart from one part of the room to another.
"Very good. Well I'd best be on my way back to Hogwarts. Alastor, Miss Tonks I'll leave Mr. Potter in your care." Dumbledore stated as he headed towards the fireplace.
"We'll keep him safe, Headmaster." Tonks replied as she waved to her old Professor. She didn't realize that Harry was glancing up and down her form as if trying instinctively to memorize her every curve.
'I really have to get these instincts under control.' Harry thought to himself as he tore his eyes away from Tonks and her amazing body. 'I'll write to Lavender, Padma, Parvati and Hermione. That should help me keep my mind off certain things. I hope anyway.' Harry finished his thought with a sigh.
"So how are you going to keep watch on me, just follow me around?" Harry questioned the two Aurors.
"I'll remain down in the pub out of uniform. While Nymphadora, also out of uniform, will simply stay close to you throughout the day. This'll be the first assignment she'll be doing out of uniform so it will give her some practical experience. Constant Vigilance!" Moody explained finishing with a gravelly tone while Tonks stood behind him and glared daggers at Moody's back for using her first name again.
"Well, whatever you think is best." Harry replied before he turned back towards the stairs and headed for his room noticing Tonks following behind several steps. Once he got into his room he noticed Tonks stop at his doorway and pull the door closed while she stood outside to guard the room. "It could be worse, I guess." Harry thought aloud as he stroked Hedwig's feathers while the owl dozed on her perch.
-End Chapter-
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I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as the last. Let me know what you thought in a review. Next chapter we see some bonding between Tonks and Harry and whether or not Harry has a falling out with Ron or Dumbledore or both. Not to mention the possible addition of another potential Pride member. So send me some reviews!
Also DON'T FORGET to vote on the poll I have on my profile. It will help determine the path of the story.
