Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Gargoyles belong to the respective owners, which is not me. I amnot making anymoney off of this story.
Authors note: There was some question over when this takes place in the Gargoyles universe. I repeat my previous author'snote that I am altering the timeline slightly. Instead of the Hunters Moon arc finishing in October, it happened in June. That means that at the time of this story Hunters Moon has already happened. Demona had found a different way of trying to get rid of humanity when Titania interfered.
Chapter 2
Harry continued to run. At the moment he was traveling on all fours. When he had tripped after narrowly dodging a curse, he had found that he moved a lot faster in his new body when traveling on all fours. He continued to run even though he thought he had lost his pursuers several blocks ago. He figured that they must have stopped in order to investigate Number 4 Privet Drive, but he wasn't taking any chances at the moment. He glanced behind him, it was still clear. He was coming up on the woods that were located near the park. Harry figured it would be as good a place as any to hide and try to figure out his next plan of action.
Once Harry decided that he was deep enough into the woods, he began looking for a place to hide. He spotted a tall, sturdy tree and began to climb it. Harry soon discovered that his new talons allowed him to easily climb the tree. He stopped when he was about two-thirds of the way up and sat down on a spot where two branches crossed. After a little experimentation in trying to get comfortable, Harry found that he could fold his closed over his body, like a cloak. He figured that from here he could spot anyone coming without them spotting him. So he settled in to wait and try to sort through the events of the evening.
'Okay' he thought to himself. 'I need to figure out what I know so far. 1. Mum and Petunia were never related, that's a relief, boy am I glad that I never have to acknowledge them as family again. 2. Dumbledore apparently knew this and sent me there anyway. 3. Dumbledore lied about the blood wards, wonder what else he lied about. 4. I went through some type of magical transformation and now have a new body. 5. That wizard called me a gargoyle, thought they were the stone statues on top of churches and other buildings, which was apparently enough cause for them to try to kill me. I've got to find out what gargoyles are and why wizards and witches would try to kill one on sight, better yet I need to find out what happened to me.'
However, deciding that it was best to stay where he was for a while yet so that he wouldn't run into any wizards, Harry decided to make a list of things that Dumbledore said or did that were suspicious. After a few hours this is what he had come up with:
-Why was I sent to the Dursleys? Did Mum and Dad have a will?
-Dumbledore knew how I was treated at the Dursleys, my letter was sent to the cupboard under the stairs.
-Dumbledore lied about the blood wards.
-Three first years were able to get past all of the traps that were supposed to stop the Dark Lord.
-Dumbledore didn't know about the basilisk even after all those years? Why didn't he just ask Mertle?
-Why wasn't Sirius given a trial?
-Mad Eye Moody was supposedly one of Dumbledore's closest friends, why couldn't he tell he was an imposter?
-Let Umbridge have free reign over Hogwarts with that damn quill.
-Didn't tell me why I had to learn Occlumency, just ordered me to do it with Snape.
-Snape never taught me anything, just raped my mind.
-Didn't warn me that Voldemort would try to trick me into going to the Department of Mysteries.
-How did he know when and where to send Hagrid after Voldemort killed my parents and tried to kill me?
Thinking over this list, the only conclusion that Harry could come to was that Dumbledore had been manipulating him and the wizarding world for years. 'He's trying to turn me into a weapon.' Who knew what other lies and manipulations he had done? Harry resolved to not trust or follow Dumbledore blindly. He would have to make plans to get out from under Dumbledore's thumb. That would mean going to Gringott's. 'But I can't just waltz in there looking like this.' He thought. 'I need Hermione. Last I heard before I stopped receiving mail was that she would be staying at the Burrow in order to fully recuperate from her injuries. I need to apologize to them for that and how I acted afterwards. But how am I going to get there. I still haven't gotten my firebolt back yet.' Musing this over Harry began to yawn before dozing off.
He awakened just before dawn. Waking up he looked around, then up at the lightening sky. "Oh man, I can't believe I spent the whole night in a tree and that I actually fell asleep up here! Good thing I picked a spot where the branches intersect or it's likely I would have fallen out the tree."
Just then the sun began to rise, and the first rays of sunlight could be seen filtering through the trees. All of a sudden Harry felt intense agony as his body began to shift again. "...not... a ..again.." he gasped out as he tried to keep himself from screaming. Who knew who was around at the moment that would discover him if he screamed. Thankfully the way the branches were situated kept him from falling. Finally the pain stopped and Harry caught his breath before looking at his body.
"I'm me again" he sighed in relief. At least he hadn't turned into another creature. The only difference is that his vision seemed to have stayed improved. "Well at least I won't have to worry about finding my glasses. Now how am I going to get out of this tree?"
After a slow and careful climb down, with a few near slips ('it was much easier getting up there in that other body than it is getting down in mine' he thought), he was finally out of the tree. Deciding that the clothes he was wearing were well and truly a lost cause, he took his trunk and prepared to enlarge it. He hesitated, then figured that if the ministry hadn't found him last night he might as well try again. Harry enlarged the trunk, quickly changed clothes and pulled out a black cloak and the bag containing the last of his money from the previous year (a couple of galleons, 25 sickles, and a few knuts). He also removed his invisibility cloak, which he stuffed under his shirt. He then reshrunk the trunk and began heading out of the woods. Harry was careful to stay away from Privet Drive and Arabella Figg's house, he didn't want to be caught just yet.
When he was finally clear of the woods he looked around before donning the cloak and holding out his wand. BANG! A purple triple-decker bus appeared and a man in a purple uniform jumped out.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor --"
"I'd like to go to Ottery St. Catchpole, please." Harry interrupted, trying to deepen his voice a bit.
"'Right, 'at'll be 15 sickles, but for --" Stan began to list options of what he could get if he paid more but Harry interrupted again, handing over the 15 sickles and saying "Just the ride, thanks." He then walked over to one of the beds and sat down.
As the bus travelled along it's route, Harry managed to avoid looking out the window. Soon enough Stan called out Ottery St. Catchpole, and Harry quickly departed the bus. Taking a quick look around, Harry took out his invisibility cloak and put it on. 'No sense taking any chances, and I really don't want to run into any of the order members that might be around.'
He quickly began walking in the direction of the Burrow, or more accurately the field that the Weasley children used as a Quidditch pitch behind the Burrow. Harry decided it would be safer to wait for Ron or Ginny to show up there than to go directly to the Burrow. 'If Mr. or Mrs. Weasley were to spot me, they would immediately tell Dumbledore, and I would just be locked up again.' As he neared the field he slowed as he heard the sounds of an arguement. 'Who is that, it's too early for Ron to be up already, especially in the summer?' he thought remembering how hard it was to get his best friend up in the mornings. He crept up to the field and listened.
"But we can't just sit around here and do nothing, 'Mione, you heard my parents this morning, Harry's missing and a dark creature was spotted near his relatives' place!" Ron shouted.
"I know Ron, and I'm worried about him too. But you saw Hedwig, do you really think she'd have come here and be so calm if Harry was in danger?"
"No, I suppose not. It's just, we have no idea where Harry is or where he could have gone. And everytime one of us tries to contact him, Dumbledore puts a stop to it somehow."
"You'll get no arguements from me there Ron. I have no idea what Dumbledore is thinking, sending Harry back to those muggles and then cutting off communication with all of his friends. He just lost his godfather, the closest thing to a parent he's ever had and Dumbledore locks him away." Ginny exploded out.
"There's something else, you guys. When we got back from the ministry, I think Dumbledore told Harry something, something that really upset him. I mean, I know he just lost his godfather, but there was something else too, I just don't know what." Neville ('What's he doing here' Harry wondered) pointed out.
"It's almost like Dumbledore is trying to mold Harry in some way. I think that's why he sent him to the Dursleys and cut off communication. Look at it this way, Dumbledore sends Harry to the Dursleys where he is treated like garbage and belittled, then when Dumbledore says Harry can leave how do you think Harry will view Dumbledore at the end of the summer? As the one who 'rescued' him from the Dursleys. I just wish I knew where Harry was and what Dumbledore said to him" huffed Hermione.
"I think it's the nargles affecting Dumbledore's brain. They infest a person's beard and hair, then work their way into the person's head where they start sending out orders and telling people to do things. What do you think Harry?" Luna asked as she turned to face where Harry was standing.
The others turned around in shock, and Harry let the invisibility cloak fall off. "Harry!" was his friends' shouted exclamations, followed by "How did you get here, are you all right, what happened, Dumbledore said, the order is out looking for you, where are your glasses" and a bunch of other jumbled questions and comments.
"Whoa, whoa" Harry cut in, "I'm fine. I took the Knight Bus here. I could care less what Dumbledore thinks. But what's going on, why are Neville and Luna here? And what were you guys talking about before, about not being able to contact me?"
"It's all bloody Dumbledore's fault. He told us we couldn't contact you this summer, and when we tried to send owls anyway, the order intercepted them and we were punished. He said some bullshit about you wanting to be left alone to grieve. Neville and Luna are here for their 'safety'. Dumbledore said it was to prevent retaliation against them for their actions in the ministry, but we think it's just to keep an eye on all of us and keep us from getting in contact with you." Ron explained.
"It figures that Dumbledore would be behind it." Harry quickly explained what he had learned about his mother and the blood wards yesterday and the conclusions he had come to. He also shared his list of Dumbledore's manipulations and lies, but left out what had happened to him and why he had left Privet Drive. He then said, "And that's not all. When he sent me back to Hogwarts that night he locked me in his office until he got there. Then he turns around and tells me that a prophecy was made before I was born that says that I am the only one who can defeat Voldemort. It was the prophecy from the ministry. I think you guys deserve to know what it was you risked your lives for, what Sirius died for. It goes like this "THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES...BORN TO PARENTS WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT...AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES...THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES..."
The group contemplated those words for a few moments before Neville suddenly went very pale. Harry, who had been glancing between his friends to see their reactions, realized why and immediately told him "Don't worry, it's not you." The rest of his friends looked up, puzzled and he explained. "Dumbledore told me that there were two candidates for the prophecy, Neville and me. But the prophecy is about me. AND THE DARK LORD SHALL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL. My scar, Voldemort marked me when he chose to attack me and my parents rather than Neville's."
After a few moments, Ron spoke up, "So you have to face and defeat Voldemort, is that all?" When the group turned to look at him like he was crazy he clarified "Oh come on, Harry's been facing him on and off since he started at Hogwarts. Like there was ever any doubt that Harry would be the one to finally finish him off. And who says he has to do it alone, we've been with you this far mate, not gonna quit on you now. And besides Voldemort has his death eaters, you have us, and we're more loyal than they are and fighting for a better cause, of course we'll win." He stated forcefully and with emotion.
Feeling touched at his friend's assertion, all Harry could say was "Thanks, mate."
"Ron, that was oddly touching and well thought out. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Ginny asked teasingly. The group shared a laugh over Ron's grumbled "Hey!" The friendly atmosphere was then broken by a loud rumbling. They turned and stared at a sheepish looking Harry, who was holding his growling stomach.
"Harry, when did you last eat anything? The Dursleys can't have been feeding you too well, you must be starving." Fussed Ginny, resembling her mother greatly at that moment. "It's almost lunchtime, you wait here and we'll sneak you as much food as possible. Maybe we can convince Mum to let us eat out here like a picnic."
"Yeah, mate. We'll bring you back a ton of food. Would try to sneak you into the house but we get watched like a hawk by Mum. They even set wards all over to let the order know if we try to leave the property. Not sure why they didn't go off when you showed up though."
Harry though had a sinking feeling that he knew why the wards hadn't reacted to him. Hermione must have seen something in his face because she said "I saw that look Harry Potter. You know or suspect something about why the wards aren't reacting to you. And don't think I've forgotten that you haven't explained what happened last night. I'll be expecting a full explanation when we return." Harry winced, when Hermione wanted to know something she didn't let go until she had every last detail.
With a last "Don't let the gogglybugs bite" from Luna, the group, except for Harry, trudged back to the Burrow for food. Harry was alternately hoping they returned quickly and slowly. Quickly because he was starving, not having eaten anything in almost two days, and he wanted to pick Hermione's brain about what happened to him last night, and slowly because he was afraid of what their reactions might be based on the ones he received last night.
The others soon returned, Neville and Ron staggering under the weight of a large picnic basket. "We managed to convince Mum that we just wanted to eat outside and enjoy the sun, don't think she suspects anything but she packed enough food for an army. Eat up everyone." Ron said as they set the basket down and he immediately set to work on a large sandwich for himself, causing the group to roll their eyes at him. Thankfully Hermione seemed content to wait until after they ate for her answers, if not a bit impatiently. Though that might have something to do with the glares Ginny sent in her directionas she passed a large sandwich to Harry and encouraged him to eat whenHermione began to open her mouth to speak.
After everyone had eaten their fill (and then some, Mrs. Weasley's cooking was excellent as always) Hermione started right in on the interrogation...err I mean questions. "All right Harry Potter, start explaining what's going. What happened last night?" Everyone focused on Harry, including Luna who seemed more focused at that point than usual.
With a sigh Harry began, "All right, but I don't understand exactly what happened myself. And before I start I want all of you to promise that you won't freak out on me. And please don't interrupt, this is confusing enough as it is without losing my train of thought." After getting their promises Harry began.
"As I said, I'm not too sure on everything that happened last night but I figure it all started when I entered the house after finishing my chores. But first I think I should explain what the summer's been like so far so that you have an understanding of my state of mind at the time. The Order's warning didn't have much effect on Vernon except to make him even angrier, and then they didn't back up their threats. So I was given more and more chores while Vernon continued to rain down verbal abuse and threats on me. Also, I was getting very minimal portions of food, the last time I ate before today was dinner two days ago and that consisted of a couple of thin slices of cheese on a dry piece of toast with a glass of water. I've also been upset over the loss of Sirius" his voice hitched a bit at the name, but he continued on. "Yesterday I had just completed the long list of chores which included scrubbing all the floors in the house, painting the fence, weeding the yard, mowing the lawn, etc. The last chore that I completed was mowing the lawn. I had spent most of the day outside with the sun and heat beating down on me. I was tired and hungry but when I went inside Vernon immediately started in on me."
Harry quickly described Vernon's words and actions to him, Dudley's appearance, and his own outburst. "I know it wasn't very smart, that I should have kept my mouth shut, but I was tired, hungry and upset, and just couldn't hold it in anymore. That's when Petunia hit me in the head with the frying pan. I had expected Vernon to react violently as soon as I spoke the words, I hadn't been expecting it from Petunia" Harry refused to meet his friends eyes, but several gasps and muttered words of rage made him glance up. The girls had tears in their eyes but all of his friends looked upset. Ron was muttering dark threats against the Dursleys and Hermione seemed to be contemplating ways to hurt the Dursleys, and even Neville and Luna had fierce looks of anger on their faces. Ginny's reaction surprised him though. She had such a look of anger on her face, like a thundercloud, but when she looked at him she just smiled sadly. Harry was touched by his friends' anger on his behalf, and gained the courage to continue his tale.
"That was when she made those revelations about my mum and Dumbledore. I felt so betrayed when I learned of his lies and then she was insulting my parents, especially Mum, and then she brought up Sirius. I felt all the rage, betrayal, and pain, all of it just well up inside me. I could feel my magic inside me, seeming to grow and try to escape. I started to scream out my emotions, and then I felt something inside me just snap. That's the only way I can think of to describe it. All of a sudden I was in so much pain, it was worse than the Cruciatus. It felt like my body was tearing itself apart.
"When the pain finally stopped, I pushed myself up from where I had fallen on the floor and opened my eyes. I was immediately surprised to note that my vision seemed clearer than it ever had, and this was without my glasses. I was further shocked to learn that my skin had turned a pale blue and I had sprouted wings and a tail. About this time Shacklebolt finally decided to investigate all of the screaming, and showed up. He immediately began firing curses and spells at me that I dodged until I got lucky and knocked him out with my tail. I then hurried up to Dudley's second bedroom, grabbed my stuff and sent Hedwig here.
"I rushed out of the house, only to be confronted by the arrival of more Order members. They immediately began to scream and curse me, one of them called me a gargoyle." Harry paused here to observe his friends' reactions. Hermione was frowning in thought, then her eyes suddenly widened but she managed to refrain from asking any questions, though she looked like she was bursting to. Ron, Ginny and Neville had all paled but were still listening intently. Luna didn't even blink, just sat there waiting for him to continue. "I turned and ran. I eventually lost them, and ran into the woods to hide. I climbed a tree and sat there thinking about Dumbledore's lies and manipulations. I think I fell asleep because it was almost morning when I woke up. As I was getting ready to climb down, I felt that intense pain again, and when it was over I was back to normal, only with better vision. I climbed down, left the woods and came here. You know the rest. As for your other question Hermione, I think the wards didn't react to me for the same reason that I didn't receive a letter from the ministry for underage magic. I think whatever happened to me is responsible. Do you guys have any idea what happened? And what is a gargoyle, why did everyone react to me like that?"
The others shifted uncomfortably for a few minutes as they processed everything Harry had told them. Finally Ron began to speak, "Gargoyles are dark creatures. All wizard children are taught at a young age to fear them, that they're evil and need to be exterminated."
Neville continued where he left off "Many families tell their children that if they're bad the gargoyles will come and take them away. My gran used to tell me that a lot to try to make me remember things better. She'd say that if I misbehaved or didn't remember to do my chores the gargoyles would come and steal me away."
Ginny said "They are the only magical beings that the obliviators won't erase the muggles' memories for. The ministry doesn't care if the muggle world finds out about gargoyles, they figure it will be easier to destroy them if the muggle world is also trying to kill them."
Harry looked horrified at this news. "But why! What did the Gargoyles do? Why are they considered so bad, and what does this mean for me?"
Hermione began "Well, I don't understand how you turned into a gargoyle but I did read about them. It was in one of those supplemental DADA books I read in third year when we were learning about dark creatures. Gargoyles are magical creatures that can only be found at night. During the day they turn to stone, that's where the idea came for the statues that we see on buildings all the time. However, as soon as the sun sets, they awaken, becoming flesh and blood creatures. The history I read was a little unclear on details but it said that hundreds of years ago, before wizarding society separated from the muggles, there was a war between gargoyles and humans. The book says that the gargoyles had gone crazy, wanting to exterminate the human race. The leader, a female, was said to be able to practice magic, and she had a grudge against humans. The gargoyles had gone on rampage, killing many humans, wizard and muggle alike. They were finally stopped and destroyed by a combined group of wizards and muggles. It was one of the few times that the muggle and wizarding populations successfully worked together. After that, the wizarding world decided that they were too dangerous to allow to live and began a plan to exterminate them. Gargoyles have not been seen by any wizards in Britain in nearly a hundred years, and in the rest of the world they are very rarely seen. On a side note, after the group had destroyed the group of gargoyles, the muggles turned on the wizards feeling threatened by them. That was when the Internation Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was established."
Harry considered this information before saying "You said that they turn to stone at sunrise and awake at sunset? I didn't really consider it before, but the transformation occurred at sunset last night and I changed back at sunrise. Does this mean I'm going to keep changing?" He asked, horrified at the thought.
"I don't know, Harry. I can't think of any reason for the change. As for the transformation we'll have to wait until sunset to see. But if it does happen we're going to need to find more information. We can't trust Dumbledore or the Order, and I doubt the wizarding world will be very helpful. We'll need to track down some gargoyles and get answers from them."
"Are you crazy 'Mione! You want us to track down a bunch of dangerous, dark creatures and then ask them 'By the way you don't happen to know why our friend is transforming into a dangerous dark creature, do you?'" Ron exploded.
"What happened to your attitude of 'we'll be with you every step of the way Harry' Ron? Things look hard so you want to back out, is that it?" Demanded Hermione.
"Of course not. I'm right behind Harry, this doesn't change anything. I just don't think you've thought this through. Where are we going to find a gargoyle anyway? We don't even know where to begin. You said it yourself, they haven't been seen in Britain in a hundred years." Ron explained.
"America" the unexpected answer came from Luna of all people. The group swiveled around to look at her, their mouths hanging open and she continued, "All sorts of creatures immigrated to America when the ministry began to hunt them down. They seem to be attracted to certain areas, maybe for the abundance of clovetrops that the government released there to try to control the wizarding population."
Ignoring most of what Luna said, Hermione focused on the location she gave. "I seem to remember seeing a report of some kind on the news right before I was brought to the Burrow. Something in New York, about a group of winged creatures that had blown up a police station. Well, now we have a starting point. All we can do now is wait until sunset, and see what happens. After that we'll have to make plans, I doubt any of you have a passport and we can't just portkey or floo to America."
The group settled in to wait for sunset, each fearful of what they might learn and see. However, while Harry worried about his potential upcoming transformation, he couldn't help but glance at Luna who seemed to know more than she was telling about what was happening to him.