A/n: Some more Hedwig!
*+ovo+*
The room stared at the baby bird in a quiet shock of a different kind than what they had been previously experiencing with the memories. There was a quiet murmur from various members who were guessing as to the species of the baby bird and from others expressing relief that he had a new familiar. None of them had known of the Snowy Owl Hedwig or her recent death so no one but Harry's new family made the mental jump to guessing this was her reborn form.
"Harry... where did the egg come from and how do you know that that bird is Hedwig?" Voldemort asked very carefully. "For that matter what species is she? I can't quite tell."
The Auror who had given him the egg appeared as though a shadow behind Lord Slytherin for just long enough to catch Harry's eye. He then quickly morphed into the easily recognizable form of the Grim Reaper. Death grinned at Harry with a bony finger raised to his non-existent lips for silence before disappearing into nothingness.
A blink and the entity was gone. Barely a breath or two had passed before Harry once more focused on his family lord. Holding up Hedwig so that they could get a better look at her baby form Harry heard the breath of his Slytherins catch. So greatly resembling her previous owl form it would have been easy to mistake her for an owl chick except for the threads of metallic silver. Lacing her various feathers with veins of what appeared to be liquid silver were catching the light of the room and reflecting it back in a glitter effect. Her eyes glowed a golden that was slightly deeper than her original color but the intelligence and lively personality were unmistakable to anyone who had been introduced to her as an owl. It was the threads of silver, golden eyes and touch of purple at the tips of each father that gave away her magical origins as an Ice Phoenix in this her bird form.
Chirruping smugly Hedwig quickly bit her chick just enough to draw blood and then licked up the blood. In front of the two elder Slytherins but shielded from the rest of the room she shifted, for the first time, into the smaller version of her Nundu form. A small mostly blue-black kitten with a red-brown chest patch that, in her larger version of the form, would swap coloring. Only the white paws and golden eyes would remain the same. She would remain as a baby in all of her forms until she managed to reach adulthood in at least one of them.
"She couldn't do that before," Harry said with a blink of surprise. Hedwig shifted back before the rest of the room could see and chirruped happily as her human-chick held her close, petting her as he cradled her small form.
"Liquid luck for blood," Severus groused as he watched Harry handle the icy baby bird.
"The bond was formed in front of everyone. There isn't any point in trying to change it and taking her away would just hurt him," Voldemort pointed out just as grumpily. Inside he was pouting a bit that Harry hadn't received a snake even if the Phoenix was perfect for the imp's love of flight and how often he tended to need healing through no fault of his own. The Nundu form could take out entire armies or towns if necessary in its larger size and the smaller size could fit in a pocket or let Harry cuddle with his familiar. It really drove home to the Dark Lord how badly Harry needed his familiar if the rebirth was so specific to his needs and so quick despite the level of power the imp had added to the process.
"Which memory do you guys want next? Harry asked absently, absorbed in playing with Hedwig in his lap. Petting her soft feathers was really soothing and calming for him.
"The Graveyard duel and anything else that put the school at risk or you personally at risk," Voldemort instructed with a resigned sigh.
"So Graveyard, Norberta, and the Dead Unicorns in the forest... I'm not sure if you want my view of the Tournament tasks but with the way I had to out fly the Dragon in the first task I think the entire tournament counts as putting the school at risk," Harry pondered out loud.
"I'm not sure my heart can take this," Severus muttered before raising his voice and properly addressing Harry. "Give us the tasks in order and then the Graveyard. I suspect that we will need the context. Norberta and the dead Unicorn or rather how you came to be anywhere near a dead Unicorn should probably go first, however, as I am almost completely unfamiliar with those events as a staff member."
"Norberta, Dead Unicorn in the Forest, the Tasks, Graveyard, and Barty Jr. Getting kissed..." Harry decided firmly and proceeded to give over the selected memories.
The room watched in indignant shock as the baby Norwegian Ridgeback was born in a wooden hut. They were even more upset when they realized the baby dragon was within biting distance of several eleven year olds and within shouting distance of hundreds more underage children. Harry had been somewhat uncomfortable choosing this memory, knowing that it would get Hagrid in trouble, but also knew it fit the criteria of a potential risk to the school. Glancing up at the projected memory he watched as Norberta hissed at his younger self in a threatening manner only to jump in shock and look down as Hedwig shift in his lap and hissed back.
"~Stupid fire hatchling! You do not promise to bite my Harry-hatchling!~" Hedwig hissed at the memory. The fact that her hissed words were understandable shocked the three parselmouths, including her Harry-chick. "~He doesn't want your bloody meat! He has me to hunt for him if he can not find his own food!~"
The room turned to look at the new, slightly higher pitched, sound of hissing only to stare in amazement at the baby eastern serpent dragon in Harry's lap. Hedwig had a long serpentine body that was a rich bright purple with a pale lavender underbelly. She also had baby horns at each side of her head starting just where a human hairline would be, angled to flow along her body and easily match her streamlined form in quick movement. There were also the beginnings of the flowing tentacle-like whiskers common on most Asian dragons. The equally well known Asian mane or ruff was not yet in evidence, possibly due to her young physical age. Her silver claws flashed in the torchlight as her five fingered paw-hand clawed at the air in the direction of the memory dragon. Jumping slightly into the air they all watched as she flew, without wings, and slid or swam through the air to hover a few feet in front of her Harry-chick. Largely unnoticed the memory ended and Hedwig opted to land on the stone floor of the room. Switching to her kitten-Nundu form she sauntered back over to Harry with everyone watching only to revert to her Ice Phoenix form once she was firmly settled back into his lap. Her glare of challenge and warning told the room that she would not suffer to be separated from her human as she had been previously be it by being in the Owlery or by death its self.
"Definitely a mage at minimum," someone muttered. The beginning of the next memory distracted everyone.
The remaining memories passed by with minimal commentary aside from Hedwig occasionally scolding Harry until they got to the Graveyard duel. They were, after all, mostly public knowledge and the forest detention didn't appear as bad as some of the memories they had already watched. The Graveyard duel was a different matter entirely. Intense interest was paid to the rebirth ritual and the duel its self as it quickly went from a mockery to something entirely different.
"So that's how you managed it. I had wondered how you got away, the trophy portkey aside," Voldemort commented thoughtfully.
"Its not like I knew what I was doing," Harry shrugged, cuddling the currently kitten shaped Hedwig. "I was just doing everything I could think of to stay alive and run. I don't actually try to attack you. Mostly I just try to escape and stay alive when something tries to kill or eat me. No matter what everyone else thinks I know I am not a match for you. The way Barty Crouch Jr. went after me once I got back to Hogwarts was a bit uncomfortable though that probably had more to do with Fudge bringing in the Dementor to KISS him so fast instead of his rough handling. Uncle Vernon does worse and I kind of liked Barty... even if he was trying to kill me for you."
"I think we could do with another 15 minute break," Madam Bones said shakily. There was a murmur of agreement as they all numbly allowed more of the astonishing information presented today to settle into their minds. Voldemort and Severus stayed protectively close to Harry as he mostly sat there and cuddled his returned familiar. Their imp would not be leaving their sight for the foreseeable future.
*+ovo+*
A/n: I have maybe one last chapter for memories unless Musey opts to say we need to go somewhere else NOW. So ideas on the next step are good. I am afraid that I delved so deeply in the memories that I honestly forgot what the next step was supposed to be. So yeah, Ideas?