Last time… Harry sneered elegantly, and then completely ruined the gesture by tripping over his bow and landing in the dirt – again. Adara burst out laughing.

"Smooth," she gasped, holding her sides. "And now to complete the utter humiliation-"

She gasped as she found herself drenched in icy water, and Harry smirked. She growled and retaliated by whipping the winds about Harry until his cloak was torn from his body and hung up in a tree. Harry called up small flames to dance around her feet, and Adara doused them with the same water spell that Harry had used on her. They both ended up laughing and exhausted, and walked back to the castle arm in arm, still grinning from the night's 'workout'.

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The next morning, Harry was on his way to double Defense when he looked at his watch and realized with a start that he was late. He yelped and turned down a narrow, dark hall, taking a rarely-used shortcut. He was only a short way down the long hallway when he collided with someone, and fell over. Instantly, he rolled on his shoulder and came up in a crouch, his hands up to defend himself. He looked down to see one very angry Severus Snape glaring up at him, looking slightly alarmed by the fighting stance.

"Very…interesting, Potter," he said quietly, heaving himself to his feet with a sneer. "Ten points from Gryffindor for not watching where you were going."

Harry nodded and took off down the corridor once more, hoping that he hadn't blown any part of his cover.

He made it to DADA five minutes late, and Adara took off two points from Gryffindor. She shot an apologetic look at Harry, who shrugged. He had overslept. It wasn't her fault.

The class was spent going over shielding charms again, and Harry decided to get it right just before he saw Hermione beginning to grasp the idea. Adara grinned at him and gave Gryffindor five points.

Transfiguration was next, and McGonagall asked if the class would like to continue the study of Animagism. Everyone nodded emphatically, and she smiled slightly, and handed out a potion that would tell the drinker what form his or her Animagus would be. Harry gulped. He wasn't sure that this would work—he had, after all, many forms. He swallowed his potion, and concentrated very hard on the eagle. It was the closest to gryphon he could get without revealing his powers—people were not supposed to be able to transform into magical creatures.

He took a quick glance around him before the potion hit him, and saw his classmates transforming into different animals briefly. Hermione was a cat, and Ron was a wolf. Then the effects of the potion hit him, and Harry focused all of his will on the potion.

He felt himself slip quickly into the form of the eagle, and he flapped his wings a bit. He had a single instant to gaze around with an eagle's superior vision before he felt the potion try and change him into a fox, then a wolf, and then a panther. He held his will on it each time, and finally it faded away and he wearily slipped back into his own form.

He looked up to see everyone staring at him, including McGonagall.

"Harry, what was that?" Hermione asked softly. "You turned into an eagle, and then you just started—shaking all over, and you looked like you were in pain or something. What happened?"

Harry shook his head. "I must have been allergic to one of the potion ingredients or something. I'm fine. Really."

But McGonagall insisted on sending him to the Hospital wing, and Harry was grateful that she did not send anyone with him. Instead, he ran out onto the grounds and transformed into a kestrel, a small, swift bird of prey. He flew out onto the Quidditch pitch to watch the first-years having a flying lesson, and would have chuckled were he able. They were all so clumsy and clueless.

His head jerked up, however, when he head a shriek. He looked up to see a tiny girl falling from her broom, as Neville had done so many years ago. She was very high up in the air, and Mme. Hooch had her hands full of another small boy who had evidently been whacked in the nose with his broom. She looked on in helpless terror as the girl plummeted to the ground.

Harry knew that he had to do something. Quickly shifting into his gryphon form, he sped towards the falling girl and furled his wings tightly, going into a swift dive. He finally drew level with her and swooped under her, catching her deftly and gently in his front claws. She shrieked and struggled, apparently certain that he was going to rip her to shreds.

:Please don't struggle, or I'll drop you: Harry told her, speaking directly into her mind. :It's hard for me to hang on. I'm not going to eat you. I just want to get you back to your class.:

She froze, apparently terrified out of her wits. Harry tried again, in a gentler tone, determinedly hanging on to his grim assumption that she wouldn't know that gryphons couldn't speak, whether telepathically or verbally.

:Just hang on to my legs. I promise I'm not going to carry you off or eat you. I just want to get you to the ground safely, and it's hard for me to balance if you are flailing about. Please believe me. I won't hurt you.:

Finally, she calmed, and Harry began a slow, gentle descent until finally her feet were about two feet above the ground. He lowered her to the ground, and hovered for a moment until he was sure that she was all right. The rest of the class was backing away, most of them looking like they were too afraid to even scream for fear of provoking him. Harry turned to go –

—and found himself suddenly encased in a magical net, and looking at the end of Madame Hooch's wand. She had a scared but set expression, and Harry knew that he was

in great danger.

"Don't move, anyone," Hooch said, in a dangerous voice that Harry had never heard from her before. "It's very dangerous. Adam, go get Hagrid," she said to a scared-looking boy with dark brown hair. He took off across the pitch like a shot.

Harry didn't know what to do. His gryphon instincts were screaming at him to bite through the net and rip her arm off, but he knew that he couldn't do that. He also knew that he couldn't Mindspeak her, because gryphons weren't supposed to be able to understand humans, let alone speak to them. He started to struggle feebly, but he stopped when he saw Madame Hooch open her mouth to speak a spell.

Hagrid came pounding up a few moments later, the small boy running about five meters behind him, struggling to keep up. Hagrid strode over to Harry and stared down at him, open-mouthed.

" 'E's…beautiful," Hagrid breathed, and Harry smiled to himself. He did cut a rather fine figure.

"Hagrid, can you do anything with him? We can't have him loose on the grounds, and I don't want the Ministry to get hold of him," Hooch said, and Harry remembered his current situation. He began to thrash again, but Madame Hooch cried, "Impedimenta!" and he found himself unable to move. Hagrid stared down at him for a few moments before answering.

"I 'ave a place I c'n take 'im. Its kind o' like a paddock, but with a roof, so 'e can't fly out. I'll take 'im now."

Harry squawked as Hagrid picked him gently up, and began to walk towards his hut. What was he going to do?

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Later that afternoon, Harry found himself in the huge paddock. The Impediment curse had finally work off, and he was pacing restlessly, feeling trapped and claustrophobic in the enclosed, roofed area in which there were no windows, and, consequentially, no breezes or any hint of fresh air. He dared not shift and escape now, or there would be an immediate search – and he did not know when Hagrid would be back.

His head whipped up as the door creaked open, and he backed into the corner as Hagrid walked in. Even in his gryphon form, Hagrid towered over him.

"It's all right, little fella," Hagrid crooned. "I just want a few o' your feathers for Profess'r Snape. 'E makes a right good potion, 'e does. It's all right."

Harry held still as Hagrid gently pulled out a few of his body and neck feathers, careful not to take any that were used for flying, Harry was grateful to see. He then gathered a few of the primaries that had fallen out in his restless pacing, and then stood once more.

"I'll be back later tonight," he said. "You need feedin', you do. I'll be back before sunset."

He left and locked the door. Harry sighed in relief. He would have plenty of time to escape now.

There weren't any cracks around the walls or doors, so he couldn't turn into a mouse and sneak out. He settled down on the floor and began to work his magic, using his Earth magic to soften the ground around an entire section of wall. He then weakened the wooden wall that stood on it, and was satisfied. When Hagrid came to check on him, he would escape, so that Hagrid would know that no one had set him loose.

The time seemed to fly by until Harry heard Hagrid's footsteps outside, and he rose to his feet, readying himself. When Hagrid was right outside of the door, Harry charged at the wall that he had worked on. It collapsed as he hit it, and then he was outside, getting a running start until he was airborne. He looked back to see a look of utter despair on Hagrid's face, and he felt a pang of guilt. Hagrid had lost so many animals that he had considered friends—Aragog, Norbert, the Skrewts, Buckbeak…he must be so sad every time he lost an animal, which many times, were the closest things to friends he had.

Harry turned back to circle over Hagrid, letting out a small screech. He reached back and tugged a primary wing-feather, about a foot and a half long and a pure golden sheen, out of his wing. He dropped it into Hagrid's hands and winged swiftly away, promising himself that he would have to come back in gryphon form and visit Hagrid every so often.

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He finally got back to his room about half an hour later, exhausted. He lay down on his bed and slipped into a light trance, feeling his energy reserves refill.

He was shaken awake some time later by Ron, who was looking at him worriedly.

"Time for dinner, mate," he said. "You've slept all day?"

Harry nodded and sat up, yawning. "Pomfrey gave me some vile potions that tired me out, and I came back here."

They went to dinner, and Harry went through the meal in a daze. Everyone was talking about the gryphon, and the first year was the proud, albeit nervous, center of attention. Harry ignored all of this, eating voraciously, as he had missed lunch. When dinner was over, he went straight to the dormitories and fell asleep.

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He woke in the middle of the night, looking over at his clock to see that it was about three-thirty in the morning. He groaned. Great. Since he'd slept a lot yesterday, he couldn't get back to sleep tonight. So what to do? He was too sleepy to practice, and he didn't have his reserves built back up enough to practice any of his more advanced magics. He looked out of the window, and felt a slight breeze caress his face. Yes. That was it. Transform…and fly away from all of his troubles.

He leaned out of the windowsill and toppled out, enjoying the sensation of the air rushing past his face for a moment before transforming into his gryphon form once more.

He flew out over the grounds, gazing at the lake, which shimmered beautifully in the moonlight. He coasted, not really having any destination in mind. Then an idea came to him, and he turned and headed back towards Hagrid's cabin.

He landed silently outside of the door and gently rested his front claw on it for a moment before scratching on the roughly-hewn wood. Fang began to bark, and Harry could hear Hagrid rousing himself.

"Eh? What is it, boy? Who's at the door?"

Harry looked up just as a bleary-eyed Hagrid opened the door, and watched in amusement as the giant went from sleepy to startled to amazed to reverent.

"It's you," he breathed, and Harry nodded his great golden head regally. "You came back. To see me?"

Harry nodded again, and butted against the giant's leg fondly. He knew that this would make Hagrid happier than anything else ever could.

"Are you going to stay here, with me?" Hagrid whispered, and Harry shook his head. "Will you come back to visit me?"

Harry nodded, and he thought he could see a tear of joy slip out of Hagrid's crinkly black eye. Hagrid knelt and put out a tentative hand, which Harry walked up to and placed his head beneath. Hagrid smiled and scratched Harry's head, which actually felt quite good. Harry pushed his way into Hagrid's cabin and curled up next to the giant armchair, which Hagrid quickly sat in, remembering to pat Fang as he walked by.

Harry spent a rather enjoyable three hours being stroked and talked to by Hagrid, and sniffed and pawed at by Fang. The dog didn't seem to mind him, but was merely curious. Harry smiled to himself at the picture they must make.

He looked out the window and saw that it was nearly dawn. He stood and stretched, his ten-foot wingspan taking up nearly the whole cabin. He then walked over to the door and looked at Hagrid expectantly. The giant seemed sad to let Harry go, but he had enough sense to know that if he forced a gryphon to stay in a place it didn't like, it would most likely force its way out and never return.

"You will come back and visit, won't you?" he asked, and Harry nodded. He took

off into the gray morning sky, and made his way back towards the castle. Today would be a good day.

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A/n: Hope that wasn't too weird for you…..I was just kind of stuck, and I was on a gryphon site and it just kind of worked out.