Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own a mouse… I do not own a cat who thinks himself a louse…
In conclusion, I'm poor.
Pre-AN: Sorry for such a late update. Got a new job and school only leaves me with a total of 2 hours a day in spare time. And I'm no where near my computer during an hour of it. I'll try and do less homework and more writing but I can't promise quicker updates yet.
But do not fret I've taken to writing everything down in pen and paper doing rough drafts when I can. So I'm still writing the story… it will be finished.
Chapter 20 – I refuse to quote R. Kelley
"Hey wait up…"
Turning around Harry spotted the familiar freckled face of his red headed compadre.
Harry stopped his mindless wanderings as he waited for his dorm mate to catch up with him.
"Hey Ron, what's going on…" Harry asked lazily.
He was a little sleepy considering he spent the entire night in the great hall listening to the yammerings of the student body. In the end the professors had chalked the 'incidents' to a cackling Peeves who took great pleasure in egging on all those who believed the school demonically possessed.
In the end, Harry and Luna had spent the rest of the night listening to the excitement and laughing to themselves about the true events of the night before.
One of the side effects of having an entire night confined with ones date with the student body was…
"So you and Luna…" Ron said with a smirk. He nudged Harry's side suggestively while trying to waggle his eyebrows.
Harry shoved his friend lightly but couldn't help the proud smile. Maybe it was the fact that he was starting to hate keeping secrets, or maybe he just wanted to revel in the fact that the girl he liked, liked him back; but he gladly showed his affection to Luna in front of the masses.
Within minutes, the whispers that spread word about the demonic uprising were also relaying information on the confirmation that Harry Potter and Loony Lovegood were dating.
Harry had been receiving ribbings and good natured teasing from many of his friends all morning. His dorm mates in particular were ecstatic in their kidding.
Harry wondered if they had been waiting for this day to come… the amount of innuendo and lurid punch lines lead Harry to believe they had been practicing and preparing long before he considered romantic interests with anyone.
"Me and Luna…" Harry replied back in confirmation.
"I gotta say, I was getting worried there…" Ron remarked in a candid confessional moment.
"About?" Harry asked.
"I thought you had a thing for Ginny a while back… I don't know what I would have done then…" Ron admitted with a shudder. Harry hid his own shudder and frown at the thought. As things were, there was definitely no chance that would happen.
"Not that you're a bad bloke or anything, but you know… sister and all." Ron explained.
"Don't worry; the Weasley's are safe from my advances… I know for a fact that most of them snore like Hagrid." Harry confided with a smirk.
"Oy, I do not snore…" Ron defended.
"Of course you don't, and I'm really Snape's long lost son…"
Both stopped and stared at each other in abject horror… shuddering at the thought in unison. That was a twisted deprived idea, and neither wanted to imagine the possibilities.
Harry and Ron rounded the last corner to the great hall. Harry stopped and smiled at the person he saw outside the intricately carved doors.
Ron spared him an amused glance before patting him on the shoulder and walking ahead.
"Morning Luna… Sit with us today, okay?" Ron invited.
Luna stared at the red head with a smile and nodded her head as he entered leaving the two alone in the hallway.
Harry smiled brightly and walked forward closing the distance between the two. His arms fidgeted at his sides as he wondered whether he should hug her or something in greeting.
"Good morning Luna." He said with an awkward smile. He wasn't sure how to behave right now. The night before had been great, and things had gone smoothly as they spent their time together… but the short few hours they had separated seemed like an eternity. Harry wasn't sure anymore what he would do or say to the girl. He still liked her, and he wanted to go on another date… but was he supposed to suddenly know how to behave around her. Was he supposed to have greeted her with a sultry kiss, or a warm hug… maybe a business like handshake, ala Percy. Was he supposed to tell her how beautiful she looked, or how he missed her even though they had only just seen each other two and a half hours earlier…
...he kinda missed her, but not really. He wasn't that mushy after all.
Suddenly the next few moments seemed like they would define their relationship… it would be the keystone upon which every other greeting would be built upon. Harry wondered for a moment if he was being too neurotic… That thought was never answered as Luna Lovegood stared at him curiously for a moment before taking three steps back.
Squaring her shoulders, she charged.
Harry, wide eyed; put his arms forward to catch the girl but she continued her tackle like run and landed her left shoulder in Harry's chest.
Harry 'oomfed' but caught the girl in an awkward half hug spin that lessened the force of her attack.
Looking down, Harry stared at the innocent eyes of the girl in front of him.
"What was that for?" He asked in confusion.
The girl still wrapped in his arms looked up and stared at him as if it was obvious.
"You were thinking too hard, from now on give me a hug and tell me I look pretty. That's all you have to do." She commanded.
"But why did you tackle me?" Harry asked curiously.
"Your hugging me aren't you?" she asked rhetorically.
"What if I had just stepped aside…" Harry asked curiously
"I refer you to my previous statement." Luna said in a dreamily smug voice.
Harry couldn't help but smile at the odd behaviour. She certainly had a way of easing tensions.
"I'm waiting." Luna sing songed. Her dreamy eyes were amusedly fixed upon the Gryffindor in reprimand.
"… oh right. You look pretty."
Hug
The girl hugged back.
"You look pretty as well. Now come on, I'm hungry." She ordered with a smile, dragging Harry into the hall by his right hand.
"Hey, I'm hansom, not pretty." Harry argued.
"Sure you are…" Luna teased with an innocent smile as she pulled him along to the Gryffindor table.
Harry grinned to himself as he caught up with the girl and nudged her with his shoulder.
"You do look pretty though." He said with a smile. The girl tinted a little red but Harry could tell she was pleased.
"Oh Lord, he's turning mushy…" Ron moaned as he caught wind of Harry's remark. Dean shook his head sadly on the other side, as if Harry had succumbed to some tragic affliction.
… .. … .. …
Breakfast was enjoyable, Lavender and Parvarti were actually genuinely interested in Luna, even though she didn't talk as much about gossip and makeup as the two, they seemed to hit it off well enough. Most of his friends, when not teasing Harry mercioulesly, were quite welcoming to the Ravenclaw; something Harry appreciated greatly.
Ginny and Hermione on the other hand; Hermione acted her normal self around Luna, she wasn't overly rude, but she wasn't overly friendly either. She congratulated them on their relationship before pointedly ignoring Harry. Ginny on the other hand had vanished. She was one of the first to leave the great hall in the morning when the teachers had given the all clear and Harry had seen hide nor hair of the girl since then. Harry had noted privately to himself that she was less than pleased with the closeness he and Luna shared the night before, and when the gossip started to spread that the two were a couple… Harry was uncomfortable with the way the girl acted after that.
Malfoy had tried to dampen their day with some derogatory remarks, but thanks to the quick intervention of a watching McGonagall, the boy quickly decided to try his turn a little later.
The two had to unfortunately part ways as school work had demanded their time. Harry his Independent studies, and Luna her normal studies. Luna who needed to do some Herbology work quickly headed to the green houses, while Harry the room of requirement.
Harry opened the door to the room of requirement and found himself in his standard working environment. He noted that the feathers were no where to be seen as well.
They had become a constant when ever he entered the room, and he had to always ask the room to be rid of them for him. He started to come up with convoluted explanations that explained the room's behaviour… but when he started to go in circles he stopped before he would confound himself with out a wand.
He started to set up his supplies for potions deciding to get that out of the way first. He was about to start the pot to boil when the door to the room suddenly opened.
Looking up he moaned internally as he spotted his brunette friend.
"Hermione?" Harry asked. 'What's she doing here?'
"Harry…" She said in greeting before walking towards a newly created table halfway in between the exit and him.
She plonked down and started to remove books from her satchel.
When it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything, Harry decided to ask.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Harry asked.
"No…" Hermione answered briskly. Pulling out a quill and her book, while scribbling something on her scroll, she proceeded to read and write.
Deciding that since subtlety wasn't working; he went for the more direct approach.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Hermione huffed, "Trying to study… what does it look like." She answered without looking up.
"I realize that, but why are you doing it here… " Harry asked.
"You don't own the Room Harry, I can study wherever I want to." Hermione pointedly answered.
Harry's face reddened at the insinuation. No one was fooled. This was one of her little spying moves.
"I don't, but I was here first, I come here to study 'Alone', Can't you study in the library like you usually do?" Harry asked as politely as possible.
"I prefer to study here…" Hermione answered while flipping a page in her book.
Harry tried his hardest not to growl in frustration.
Noticing his pot was boiling already he decided to just get started. He'd play it by ear…
Flipping to the set of instruction on the outline he was given, Harry read the description. A headache relief potion. 'I'll probably need this very soon.'
The potion was tricky; he had to add in ingredients within minutes of each other. And many of them were required to be prepared freshly before being added. He would have to work quickly and carefully.
Reading through the instructions, he started to set up his ingredients. He diced the ones that could be prepared before hand, and organized everything the way he thought best. Pulling out his wand, He charmed a set of knives to dice for him, using Flitwick's animation charm. They were already going through the motions of dicing even though there was nothing to cut yet.
After he was sufficiently set up, he started the potion.
Tossing in the asphodel and quickly imbuing some magic into the boomslang, he started to cut the treebor cubes into eights.
"What are you making…" A voice asked. Harry, startled; miss-diced a cube.
Cursing himself for being distracted, Harry quickly grabbed another cube and started to dice it correctly while setting the ruined treebor aside to be salvaged later.
Just finishing in the nick of time, he tossed the cubes in quickly and started to pluck leaves off a knurled little plant he had to borrow from Madame Sprout.
"Harry…"
"I'm making a headache potion…" Harry answered agitatedly.
Looking up Hermione had abandoned her quill and stared at Harry in confusion.
"Were not doing a headache potion until Tuesday… You should do Monday's lesson first you know." Hermione reprimanded.
Harry having tossed his leaves in started to gather the seeds and infuse them in packets of six with magic.
"I did do Monday's lesson, yesterday… if you don't mind, I need to concentrate." Harry said in dismissal.
Hermione didn't say anything until he started to slice his salamander livers.
"You shouldn't use so much liver, the potion will become too thick.
"The instructions say you have to use this much… they make the potion ready for the parsley." Harry said distractedly.
"That can't be right; parsley doesn't have any healing properties… let me see those notes." Hermione argued.
Harry tossed in his liver and let himself relax as he reached a resting stage in his brewing.
Turning an irritated eye towards Hermione who was reaching for his outline, Harry slammed his hand down on top of them. Hermione's hand flinched away from the notes.
"Hermione, will you stop. I know what I'm doing; all you're doing is distracting me." Harry reprimanded tersely.
Hermione looked on affronted. "You have to be willing to accept help Harry, you can't do everything by yourself."
"You can if you're brewing potions that require you to… Now please, will you just let me be, I have to finish this." Harry pleaded.
Hermione huffed and mumbled something about stubborn pig headed something or others and walked back to her table.
Harry noting the color of the potion restarted his brewing.
Every now and then, he noticed that Hermione was observing his work with critical eyes. She shook her head every now and then as if Harry had made some terrible mistake. It was starting to get very aggravating.
Harry started his clockwise half turns of the ladle when Hermione shook her head once more and tutted to herself.
"What…" Harry asked gruffly.
"Your letting too much vapour escape, the potion will loose its potency if you do." She warned.
"The potion is too strong to be swallowed right now; I need to loose some potency…" Harry defended.
Hermione tutted once more but didn't say anything else.
Aggravated, Harry snapped.
'I need to be able to work without interference…' Harry pleadingly asked the room.
Suddenly a solid brick wall started to build itself in-between the two. The last Harry saw of her, was of her scandalized face before he was finally away from the prying eyes.
The rest of the potion went smoothly and Harry was pleased to note that the brew turned out as bright a blue as the notes indicated they should be.
Luckily he brewed many doses, so he stored them away in little vials for later use. He thought he just might need them if today was to be any indicator.
Deciding to leave, he had the room disband the brick wall and came face to face with a ticked off Gryffindor.
"That was very rude Harry." Hermione scolded.
"And you weren't being rude yourself, constantly interrupting me and watching over my shoulders… this is why I study alone." Harry accused as he strode past the girl.
It was lunch time and he felt like a sandwich… or a sedative; preferably for the girl behind him.
"I was just trying to help… I thought you would have appreciated some help considering how much you hate potions." Hermione remarked huffily.
"I don't hate it now when I'm studying on my own; I do alright without people interrupting my work." Harry argued pointedly. He exited the room and started his trek towards the great hall.
"Well how was I supposed to know that?! You don't tell me anything." Hermione accused. She jogged to keep pace with the ebony haired boy.
"You could ask politely, it's not that hard to do… you don't need to try and spy on me to get information. Believe it or not, I don't spend half an hour a day thinking up things to keep from you." Harry argued.
Not waiting for an answer he pulled open the great hall doors and spotted a much friendlier face. Chatting amicably with Seamus and Ron, Luna was waving her hands about animatedly while the other two just as passionately waved theirs.
Seamus seemed to be getting the brunt of their joint dialogues. Walking forward Harry finally caught wind of the discussion.
"It's the wrackspurtles… it's the only logical explanation. They have their practices right next to a meadow of wheat, its obvious they've been influenced by them." Luna argued. The sandwich she was holding in her hand flip flopped as she waved it about wildly.
"See, Wrackspurtles…." Ron agreed whole heartedly.
"Oh that's Bullocks! They just suck, nothing else too it." Seamus explained vehemently.
"The Cannons don't suck. They just have to get de-wrackspurtles…ed?" Ron finished unsurely. His eyes crossed for a second as he tried to make sense of the word he had just uttered. Somewhere, an English teach was weeping as Luna nodded in agreement.
"You support the cannons?" Harry asked while sitting beside the unusually animated girl.
Turning around quickly, just spotting Harry; Luna smiled happily.
"Oh hello Harry…"
"You picked yourself a winner mate…." Ron said approvingly while giving Seamus a dirty look. One the teen ignored mockingly.
"So it's true then…" Harry asked in mock horror.
Luna harrumphed to herself. "And If I do…?" She challenged.
Harry waited a few moments before shaking his head lightly.
"You're lucky your cute." He teased as he took a sip from his pumpkin juice.
She lightly punched him in the arm but the amused stern look told him all he needed to know.
… .. … .. …
The rest of the day had passed relatively quickly. The D.A. was more prepared for Harry's ambush… but were still quickly taken down within a few minutes. They mainly decided to practice from the spells list 'Sir' had given them.
Something Harry had no trouble teaching as he had mastered the entire list already. Something Hermione took suspicious note of.
The day after Snapes short lived stint into defence, Professor Sinestra had entered the room and had them stuck reviewing their theory. It left the class uncomfortably reminded of the year before. Luckily Professor Sinestra allowed them to practice certain spells until her replacement could arrive.
Harry had hoped that Professor Dumbledore would have taken over for the time being, but apparently he was unavailable for the week. All they were told was their new teacher would make an appearance the following Monday, and remain til the Easter break.
Harry went to bed remembering the last 48 hours… All in all, it had been a good weekend.
… .. … .. …
Harry had spent most of the weekend anxiously awaiting this moment. Whether he realized it or not.
The hours had seemed to creep by at an agonizingly slow pace. Every owl, or opened window seemed to only intensify his need for time to go by faster.
Pacing back and forth, he circled the headmaster's office. Dumbledore had had a note delivered to his bedside, informing him to be in his office at 6:00 PM.
It was now 6:02 PM and Harry was getting anxious. That inexplicable urge to release his wings and to take a suicidal dive out a window had grown ten fold. He tried his hardest to not stare at the windows as that only teased his craving. He had already tried to while away the moments preparing for the transformation, Transfiguring his shirt under his robe to have a hole big enough to release his wings with out destroying his clothing, going through calming exercises, going through the memories of his last experience…. After those tantalizing ten minutes were up, Harry went back to pacing the room trying his hardest not to call forth the wings then and there.
Suddenly a soft creaking noise emanated from behind him.
Harry spun around and watched as the headmaster's office door opened to reveal the man he had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity.
"Hello my boy, Sorry to keep you waiting." Dumbledore apologized brightly.
"Hello Professor…" Harry said a little anxiously.
Dumbledore took a look at Harry for a moment, noting the fingers that drummed at his sides and the twitchy behaviour.
"Are you alright….?" Dumbledore asked in concern.
"I'm fine… I've just wanted to, you know…" he finished off lamely as he made an odd gesture of flapping with his hands.
"Ah, of course… well then, I shall not keep you waiting." He said in understanding. Pulling out another set of brass knuckles from his robes, he held it out for Harry to take.
Harry did so with out preamble and found himself being pulled to his destination in a flash of naval pulling chaos.
Using the insights his training had given him and his understanding of his sensitivity to magic, he took a hold of the pulling force and kept himself steady as he was deposited in a large chamber.
He wobbled a bit as his feet made contact, but otherwise he remained standing. Something he planned to revel in at a later date; the urge to bring forth his feathered appendages grew even more as he realized how close he was to finally letting himself be free of his self constraints.
His body was already pumping adrenaline into his system in anticipation in accordance with his excitement.
"Harry before you summon your wings… let me first run a base line scan…" Dumbledore asked unaware how much effort it took to keep from letting them out as he spoke.
Harry grudgingly complied as he waited for the man to get it over with.
In the mean time Harry looked around the room. They were undoubtedly in the citadel, but the room was one of the largest he had ever been in. Like a seven story gym, as long as the largest swinmming pool, and just as wide. Three walls which Harry saw layered beneath the surface emitted tiny lights that danced about. Runes littered the area giving off an unreal light that only he was privileged to see.
The last wall was the exterior glass panneling that he recognized as the standard for the building. Outside was a slightly lower view of the eastern horizon. They were probably somewhere around the 23 floor if the view was anything to go by.
The floor was a glossy burgundy. Not quite as slick as tile, but more so than the linoleum floors of his old school.
Harry having enough of taking in the sights stared at his headmaster impatiently.
Dumbledore took another half a minute waving his wand about in what Harry believed to be stalling tactics, until finally he lowered his wand and turned to say something to the teen.
Harry didn't even bother to wait as he immediately entered the correct state of mind, and sent all his pent up excitement and frustration toward his jittery core.
Almost immediately, he could feel the change starting to take place. It was subtle and he could see why he never noticed it the first time…
His back relaxed as if his muscles had unclenched, his veins throbbed lightly and his entire being felt just that much stronger because of it. His vision started to become more clear; as if his glasses had been foggy and out of focus his entire life. Now everything seemed just a little more vivid.
His back suddenly started to grow heavier at a constant rate; he felt sensations coming from his new appendages as they brushed the inside of his school robes. He quickly pulled them off and tried to stretch out his growing appendages.
Within moments, the transformation felt complete. The entire process truly took only one or two seconds… but to Harry it felt like an unreal limbo where time ceased to be… for those few moments, he had never felt more attuned to his own body. Not just his physical body, but he could actually sense the more intangible aspects of himself. He could taste the power, smell the magic, and hear the vibrations that were at the core of his very being.
It was as if he was actually making contact with his own soul… it was an experience like no other… that was for sure.
Focusing his eyes, Harry turned to see the slightly agape stare of the headmaster.
"I must say, they're still just as impressive as last time." He remarked a little wondrously.
Breaking out of his self imposed trance, just as Harry was starting to become uncomfortable, the headmaster started to wave his wand about.
Almost immediately he stopped and stared at Harry in confusion.
"That can't be…" he remarked.
Restarting before Harry could ask, Dumbledore waved his hand again going through the motions more precisely while mumbling the incantation.
He frowned once more as his wand stayed un-reactive.
Guiding his long wand away from Harry he gave it an experimental shake and snap, instantly creating a few purple and silver sparks.
"Sir…?" Harry asked in confusion.
"One moment Harry…" Dumbledore said distractedly as he ran his wand parallel to Harry in a sweeping motion, while incanting something that sounded almost French.
"Espirite d'agnos" he said firmly.
A pale blue spell shot at Harry. Startled, Harry twitched away, as the spell made contact with his body.
Dumbledore watched as the boy with the black glossy wings flinched upon contact with his scan, only to have the spell sail right through him and hit the opposite wall.
Harry twirled around on the spot only to watch as the spell vanished through the wall like it had through his own body.
Turning back to stair at the headmaster for an explanation Harry was surprised to note the baffled look upon the mans face.
"Sir what's wrong?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore stared at the opposite wall for a moment seemingly unresponsive to Harry's quires.
Continuing to stare at the wall with an unusual look of surprise Dumbledore finally mumbled.
"The Agnos Verchelle series has never failed to diagnose the physical or metaphysical state of a human since its creation." The headmaster spoke baffled.
"And that means…?" Harry asked in confusion.
"We are truly blind to what is happening to you while you undergo this transformation." Dumbledore spoke worriedly.
Harry had a gut feeling that the man did not like to fly blind; something Harry had been doing most of his life.
"Well, I feel fine. I don't think there's anything wrong with me…" Harry stated in reassurance.
Dumbledore didn't look comforted by Harry's answer.
"I do not understand, I was able to run scans earlier when you had your first transformation…." Dumbledore mumbled to himself.
Focusing his ancient eyes on Harry, Dumbledore stared at him in serious thought.
"Harry, answer me honestly… If I were to ask you to never transform again, to never bring forth this change. Do you think you could do it?" He asked beseechingly.
"No…" Harry answered automatically; he didn't even need a moment to think about it.
Even if the urge that had driven him to obsessively think about transforming had not been there, his own innate curiosity and moments of peril that littered the key moments of his life would be too great a temptation.
Harry knew that he could not keep such a promise, no matter how much he believed he could at the time. The fact of the matter was, he didn't want to either.
He knew somewhere deep down that this was a an important time in his life, it might even be the key to defeating Voldemort once and for all… he could not and would not give all that up, even for the man before him
"Are you sure Harry; I ask you this because for some reason that I am unaware of, if you were dieing right now due to this change, I could not tell you… There is a good likely hood that that could happen as well, considering your situation. The ritual magic was unstable at best due to your connection." Dumbledore warned earnestly.
The worried eyes stared back at the emerald irises begging for a different answer.
Harry thought as much. He had a nagging suspicion that there were going to be consequences to these new powers and abilities. The man had not admitted it but it would have been too convenient to have all the power given too him by his own arch foe without any side effects.
"I'm sorry sir, I can't promise that…" Harry said with regret.
Dumbledore sagged slightly but seemed to be expecting such an answer.
"Then I suppose that all I can do now is help you discover how to safely control your abilities…" The man admitted.
Harry nodded, fighting the urge to try and scratch at his wings.
Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them, in that instant he was a completely different man. The serious frown and saddened eyes, dispersed by the twinkle and affable smile.
"I take it you are as curious as I about your new wings…" Dumbledore said with an easy smile.
Harry was startled by the sudden 180, but realized that he would probably do the same in certain situations... it was sometimes a little easier to do things you didn't want to do, if you were happy. Even if you truly weren't…
"Yes sir… " Harry stated awkwardly. Harry tried to stand confidently and portray a professional air about him but he was finding it a little awkward to do with his new appendages. The strange weight on his back made him feel like he was hunching over when he was in reality tilting backwards.
"Tell me Harry, are you getting any sensations from your wings. Hot cold, hard soft, pain…?" he asked in curiosity.
"Um, they feel like…. wings?" Harry said stupidly.
He didn't really know how else to describe them. They felt like arms except without fingers and covered in feathers.
"They feel a little chilly I suppose, but then again the room is kind of cold…" Harry said unsurely. "And itchy… "
"Can you try to move them for me…" Dumbledore instructed as he started to step back to give Harry room.
Harry nodded.
Feeling odd as if he were a dog at a kennel being asked to do tricks… he proceeded to will his wings away until they were spread as far away as possible. He made and awkward flapping motion.
The wings went up in a slightly curved shape and quickly pushed down. Harry was startled as the sudden force of the giant pairs of wings gave him enough force to feel lighter than a feather. For that single moment, Harry knew that he would be able to fly.
He was thrilled.
Dumbledore seemed to know this as well as he watched Harry's face as it gave off a goofy grin at the realization.
"I must say, I do envy you." Dumbledore said in confession.
Harry turned a surprised eye toward the headmaster.
"Pure flight, freedom from the troubles of the ground below, I think we both know you are capable of it…." Dumbledore admitted with his own fatherly smile.
"I imagine the escape of being able to leave your troubles below must be quite freeing…" he said in a reckless longing sort of way.
Harry had to concur. It was what he loved so much about flying. He would often stare wonderingly at Hedwig for hours on end as she soared the skies happily. She never seemed as truly happy as she did when she was free of her cage and above it all, literally and metaphorically.
"Now, the thing to wonder though is how to teach you to take flight…" Dumbledore admitted ruefully.
There was an odd twinkle in the man's eyes… Harry thought that he just might have already thought of that.
"Sir?" Harry asked.
"I would like to introduce you to your new trainer Harry… I fear he may be more of a taskmaster than your last." Dumbledore said with a smile.
Almost instantaneously a familiar music started to surround them, reverberating majestically around the large room.
In a puff of flames a scarlet phoenix appeared, landing on Dumbledore's shoulder.
Fawkes hopped on Dumbledore's shoulder for a few moments, its eyes staring in what Harry assumed to be surprise as it observed the winged boy in front of him.
It trilled a few notes and squawked a few squawks while looking at Harry.
"Hello old friend, I have a favour to ask of you…" Dumbledore spoke out loud.
The bird split its attention between Harry and its master, its wings flapping to keep it from falling off as it kept looking back and forth between the two.
It appeared the bird already had figured out what the favour might be.
"Lo Fawkes…" Harry greeted with an awkward wave.
The bird twittered a few more notes after Harry had inadvertently twitched his new wings while greeting the bird.
"If you could Fawkes… Harry would like to start to learn how to use his wings in flight, if you could help we would be greatly appreciative…" Dumbledore asked the bird.
Fawkes seemed to pause for a moment and stared at his master as if the man were insane… Something Harry often wondered himself.
A few seconds later he warbled an uncertain affirmative and took a few hasty flaps to steady himself as he leaped off the man and onto the floor below.
"Oh this should be entertaining." Dumbledore said in amusement.
Fawkes and Harry both turned annoyed eyes toward the man at his comment.
Dumbledore just smiled benignly and conjured himself a recliner and tea set as he sat to watch the show.
Harry stared at Fawkes uncertainly as he fidgeted under the birds stare.
Squawk
The bird spoke in authority as it wobbled forward with its head tilted up and its wings out wide.
Harry stared in confusion at the bird…
Squawk!
The bird cried once more while emphasizing its wings by flapping it a little more while still keeping them outstretched.
Understanding, Harry stretched his wings out as well
Fawkes thrilled a few notes of phoenix song approvingly.
Harry heard an odd snorting noise coming from the headmaster as he took a few sips of his tea.
Fawkes squawked a few indignant notes at the man whose eyes were filled with mirth.
Turning its head around the bird stared at Harry for a few moments; then suddenly retracted its left wing.
Harry parroted the bird retracting his right wing as the two faced off.
Fawkes released his left wing and did the same with his right. Harry followed along.
The bird then spread its wings out once more.
Harry followed suit. He felt like he was playing a game of monkey see monkey do… and he was the monkey. He tried not to stare in Dumbledore's direction… he knew the man was far more amused with the situation than Harry was.
Fawkes then ever so slowly raised both wings up high while arching them so the tips were pointed down slightly while the elbow like joint pointed up.
Harry tried to mimic the bird.
Fawkes gave an uncertain warble before hoping forward under Harry's left wing.
Flapping his wings, Fawkes hopped/flew up on top of the wing where the joint was; landing on the glossy black feathered appendage.
Fawkes wobbled a little but steadied himself while leaning forward and lightly pecking Harry on the right most side of the joint.
Uncertainly Harry raised that wing a little higher
Squawk!
Taking that as a reprimand Harry instead lowered it. Fawkes hopped onto the other side and started to uncertainly wobble to the very end of the wing tip.
Pecking at the tip, Fawkes did a sort of stomping motion on it. Harry lowered the tip down further.
Fawkes trilled a few notes in approval before flying off and back to the front to face Harry.
Harry feeling ridicules made a motion with his hand to conjure a wide mirror for himself.
He conjured an 8 foot high, 15 foot wide mirror. Harry stared in surprise at the sight before him.
There in his black school trousers and white shirt was a boy who had wings.
He knew he had wings, but he had not actually had the opportunity to see himself with the new additions yet.
He had to admit, he looked quite impressive. The pose Fawkes had Harry in right now was a pose he recognized from watching his own owl take flight so often. It was just odd to see him self in that pose.
His back was sprouting jet black wings, each about as long as Harry's full body length. The wings shimmered a little, there glossy nature almost like that of an otters coat while it lay in the water cracking open muscles…
The reflection of Fawkes in the mirror warbled and struck the same pose.
Squawk
It announced and ever so slowly started to raise its wings from that pose to one where its wing tips were pointed about 45 degrees above the horizon.
Copying Fawkes pose, Harry felt the muscles in his appendages stretch out to their furthest extent.
Fawkes ever so slowly, while keeping the wings at the same length but keeping them slightly bent to keep that curved appearance, pushed down.
Harry mimicked the little bird and felt that same lifting force.
The size and span of his wings gave an incredible lift, overcoming whatever lack in aerodynamics his own body provided him. He had not even been beating his wings very hard, yet he had felt that gust of air and vacuum pressure above each wing pull him up slightly.
Fawkes flapped his own wings to keep steady as Harry unintentionally created a gust of wind below him, blowing the little bird back a bit.
Fawkes instead seemed quite pleased, trilling a few notes he redid the motion a few more times until he started to overcome the force of gravity by beating those wild majestic wings of his.
Squawk.
Fawkes intoned, Commanding Harry to mimic.
Harry bolstered by the phoenix tones did as commanded and bent his knees slightly as if he were about to jump and started to flap his wings while going through the motions the phoenix had had him go through.
Feeling the lifting force increase Harry started to pump faster and faster….
The floor below was experiencing a wind that rippled Harry's dress pants and blew his forgotten robe away. Even Dumbledore's own dress robes rippled upon contact with the strong gust as he sat meters away.
Feeling as if he was almost there, Harry raised his wings high for one final strong push and using his legs leapt up in sync with his downward thrust.
For that brief moment, Harry knew what it meant to fly.
He beat his wings quickly and fervently while looking down and seeing the floor below him getting farther away.
'I'm flying…' Harry thought in wonder.
Hearing a clapping noise he looked down; he spotted the amazed eyes of his headmaster as he joyously clapped for the teen's success.
That was as far as Harry got before Harry experienced the next sensation.
Gravity
Harry beat one of his wings a little too strongly and the other a little too weakly, his balance shifted to the right. Trying to compensate Harry tried to beat in reverse.
Suddenly he over compensated and he found his body suddenly in a 70 degree angle to the ground. Beating fervently Harry tried to correct his mistake, but was too late…
Harry fell from the 4 foot high he had attained and landed in a heap of wings and arms.
"Ow…." Harry moaned as he experienced pain from the awkward landing. He had landed on his wing joints, and the back of his head. His neck felt stiff and he knew he was going to have a crick in it for a while.
Trying to stand up, he found it was harder than it appeared.
The added weight meant he couldn't really sit up, let alone turn over. It was like he was a turtle except instead of his shell preventing him from righting himself, his wings were doing it instead.
He beat his wings slightly trying to get them to help him in his endeavour to stand… it was no use, all it did was make him look like he was having a seizure of some sort.
"Harry…" a voice asked amused. Stopping his attempts he looked up into the upside down face of his headmaster.
The man's hand went out in an offer of assistance and Harry decided to save himself the embarrassment and grabbed the man's weathered limb.
He took a firm hold and pulled the youth up while twisting to get the two facing each other as Harry was upgraded to an upright sitting position.
"That was a valiant effort my boy. I dare say I shall not forget this moment for a long while." The man said with a crooked smile.
Harry tried to ignore the blush that creeped up the sides of his face, that and the squawking that sounded a little too much like laughter.
After being subtly teased by the bird and school administrator for a few minutes they decided to try again. Harry managed a solid few feet and this time awkwardly landed on his feet. It wasn't as instinctive as riding a broom was, but it was much easier than Harry assumed it should have been for someone who wasn't born with wings.
Dumbledore said that Harry would have time to practice the following Sunday but felt it was time to experiment some more with Harry's other abilities.
Dumbledore conjured a series of weights and asked Harry to lift each one.
Harry did so with little effort until he reached the 160 lb bundles.
In the end Harry found that he could lift 4 times his own body weight and could leave impressions in the handles if he squeezed hard enough.
Something that gave Harry quite the ego boost, considering he was still a little scrawny, even if he was at least now starting to develop some muscle on his meagre frame.
The next thing the man tested was what startled both of them.
"Harry, please fire into the ball as you had before." Dumbledore instructed after pulling out another ball with three sets of concentric rings.
Harry waved his wand lazily while incanting a mined Lumos inside the ball.
There was s crinkling noise before suddenly the ball exploded in a flash of light.
Startled Harry and Dumbledore both waved their wands forward in a motion to create a shield to protect themselves from the bright explosions.
When Harry opened his eyes it was only to stare at the pieces of glass that lay embedded in his foot thick shimmering shield. A shield that was supposed to be 3 inches thick, max…
A shield that had enveloped both wizards and had cut a hole into the solid floor.
Dumbledore's own shield was inside reinforcing Harry's shield needlessly; the same type of shield, that was exactly 3 inches thick and stopped at the floor without passing through.
After that, Harry had cautiously handed the man his wand and reattempted his Lumos with his wandless magic on a spare ball…
The ball filled with the gaseous magic at once as expected. Harry tried to recreate the shield wandlessly… it worked as expected as well.
Cautiously, Dumbledore asked Harry to perform a wingardium with his wand.
Dumbledore brought forth his weights he had conjured and placed them at the end of the room. His instructions were to gently lift them with his wand.
Harry carefully pulled out his wand and swished and flicked, while pointing his wand at the weights.
Almost immediately, the weights lifted up….off the floor in a jerky motion.
Harry sighed in relief.
Then the weights were gone, right through the window out and away like a bullet straight into the sea before them. Harry watched the massive splash that shot up in the projectiles wake; a good 7 or 8 feet…
"Whoops…" Harry remarked.
"Indeed…." Dumbledore said as he walked up at his side. He stared through the newly created opening. Spider webbed cracks shot forth in all directions and some of the framing for the windows themselves were distorted if not in pieces.
Harry squinted at the rippling water that was visible from their position in the tower… something that exemplified just how strong a force the weights had been shot at; considering their distance...
As the remains of the window pain fell, Dumbledore rhetorically spoke…
"Needless to say, I do not recommend you using your wand while transformed."
Harry just nodded dumbly, wondering how many fish he had just massacred…
… .. … .. …
Dumbledore and Harry had spent most of the rest of their time together piecing together Harry's limits with his wand when transformed. Dumbledore said that eventually, Harry would be able to regain the use of his wand when transformed; it would only take some practice.
Dumbledore said that now that he was so attuned to his own magic in his transformed state, the wand was too sensitive for use. Harry would have to learn to use an impressive amount of conscious control when using his wand. Luckily transforming back took little to no effort at all and the wand sensitivity did not transfer over into Harry's normal state.
Something that did transfer over though was Harry's own awareness of his core. Dumbledore had taken Harry through some drills and exercises with his wandless magic until he could feel himself reaching his limits.
It wasn't so much tapping his magical well dry, as it was becoming too saturated with his own magic as it consumed his entire being. Harry thought of it like being a sponge and being unable to carry anymore water.
Harry was pleased to note that his limits were well beyond anything he could think of reaching unless he was in an overly taxing fight.
Something odd though was the eagerness to which Harry's magic worked.
When Harry had taken to conjuring objects or substances he had barely had to think about them before his magic had willed them into existence. It was different than conjuring, where Harry had to consciously build the object up from nothing. Harry's magic somehow just created the objects right away. Something Harry and Dumbledore were both mightily impressed with.
Deciding to meet up again next week, the last time before school would let out for the winter holidays, Harry and Dumbledore went their separate ways.
… .. … .. …
Harry hummed to himself pleasantly as he strolled under his invisibility cloak towards the Gryffindor common room. He thought he had made excellent progress that night. He was no longer freaking out about the fact that he had wings, seeing all the advantages they had provided him.
Up ahead in the dark corridor Harry could see that the portrait to the Gryffindor Common room was empty once more of the Fat Lady. Harry wondered where she so often went at night. He amused himself with the thought that maybe she and sir Cadogen shared late night trysts together while the students slept.
Seeing no problem, Harry used his wandless magic to turn the handle from within the Gryffindor common room and pulled the portrait door open.
Still clad under the invisibility cloak Harry slipped past the empty canvas and shut the door gently.
Turning away from the door Harry strolled away and found himself standing face to face with Hermione Granger.
Of course she could not see him, as he was still under the invisibility cloak, but she already knew he owned one. Harry was right to believe that she had watched as the door mysteriously open and close, seemingly of its own volition.
Already knowing it was coming, Harry slid the invisibility cloak of his head to reveal his frowning features.
"Harry Potter, What do you think you are doing out so late…." Hermione lectured immediately, not surprised at all as Harry revealed himself.
Over her shoulder he spotted his other friend who sat fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat by the dieing fire.
He sent Harry an apologetic wince at Hermione's tone of voice.
"I was out…" Harry said unapologetically.
"Where…?" she demanded.
"Not here…." Harry said sarcastically. He didn't feel like playing these games and being apologetic for not telling her. He was tired and he had class tomorrow.
Stepping by the fuming girl he started to head towards the staircase towards his dorms.
"Don't walk away from me Harry Potter….!" Hermione yelled angrily while pulling Harry by the shoulder to face him.
Harry stopped surprised at her manhandling of his person. It was an unspoken rule within the three friend's friendship, to never lay a hand on one another in anger. Hermione had just bent that rule with her roughness.
"Unhand me…" Harry said dangerously as he stared icily at her hand on his shoulder.
Hermione stared at him uncertainly for a moment before the scorn returned to her eyes and she shoved him backwards into the room, following by jabbing at his chest with her index finger as she spoke.
"I am a Prefect…. You will tell me where you have been or so help me I will…" Each word was punctuated by another jab into Harry's chest.
Having enough of that, Harry stopped his backwards momentum and firmly grabbed a hold of the girls hand.
"Do not touch me Hermione…." Harry threatened.
Hermione stared into Harry's angry eyes; something in them must have conveyed the truth of Harry's threat. Snapping her wrist away from Harry's firm grip she leaned forward, without touching him and tried to stare him directly in the eye.
"Where were you…" She demanded once more.
"None of your business." Harry spat back.
Hermione eyed him wildly. "10 points from Gryffindor…." She condemned.
Harry stared at her mockingly…
"Fine, when McGonagall asks, you can tell her why you took 10 points from her own house…. See if it stands." Harry challenged. Already knowing the threat of points were meaningless to him.
Hermione stopped in surprise. "You were with McGonagall?" She asked in surprise.
"I don't have to tell you anything..." Harry stated confidently, neither confirming nor denying her assumption.
She growled in anger…. "Honestly, what's so important that you can't tell us…." She yelled in anger.
"I'm going to bed… I don't feel much like playing 20 questions with you." Harry dismissively stated.
"Hermione maybe you should…." Ron spoke hesitantly.
"What is it Harry; are you doing something you know is wrong…" Hermione accused.
"Hermione I don't think…." Ron started to defend. Harry refused to look back at his friend as she further condemned him within her own mind.
"Are you learning dark magic… are you stooping to Voldemorts level…." She taunted loudly.
"Hermione you know Harry wouldn't…."
Harry stopped, his mind was picking up on something…. Suddenly a stream of thoughts and emotions were being flung at him like a sling shot.
'That pigheaded fool… Just tell me! Maybe if I tell him he's behaving just like the adults were last year, keeping secrets from him, causing him to not have enough information and killing Sirius… maybe then he'll listen to reason.' Hermione's voice fumed in his head. The way the thought ended smugly and the plan to emotionally manipulate Harry were what really sent Harry over the edge.
"What do you think you're doing Harry… Are you going to…?"
"What Kill you all like I killed Sirius, is that what you were going to say!" Harry finished for her. Shocking her by literally finishing her thought for her.
Ron starred agape at the two. Somehow a nagging sensation within him told him that that was what Hermione was about to say.
"I…" Hermione stuttered.
" … thought that maybe you could manipulate my emotions to tell you all my deep dark secrets… thought that maybe you could play on my godfather's death and break me so you could remould me back into the quiet little boy who asked how high when you told him to jump!" Harry finished for her.
"Harry I…"
Hermione stopped, and like Ginny, a flare of anger re-awoke within her. Righteously she puffed out her chest and stared coldly at the teen.
"Don't try and turn this around on me Harry Potter, I'm not the one keeping secrets from my friends… Now out with it, you tell me this instant what you have been doing or…. So help me…"
"What…. So help you what… you'll nag me, tell McGonagall I refuse to give you unfettered access into my personal life, follow me around and try and spy on me some more…." Harry challenged.
"If you don't tell me… were through Harry." She finished coldly.
The ultimatum had been set, And Harry had never responded well to ultimatums.
"Fine then, I'm sorry it had to end this way. Good bye Granger." Harry spat heatedly.
Hermione's and Ron's shocked faces were all Harry saw as he stormed away and up the stares.
Stopping halfway he stopped and leaned against the wall. Pressing his head against the cool stone.
He couldn't believe what had just happened. He had finally done it; he'd pushed one of his oldest friends away. He didn't feel righteous or noble, he only felt lousy and frustrated.
A faint mumbling noise could be heard coming from below.
Seeing a shadow coming, and not wanting to be seen in his emotional state, Harry whipped the invisibility cloak over himself, just in time as Hermione's feet made an appearance at the base of the stairs.
She was about to take a step up towards Harry's direction, her face unrepentant but not angry either.
Suddenly a hand shot out and grasped her by her shoulder.
"Let go Ron…." Hermione said with a dead voice as she tugged at her arm. Her face staring past Harry's towards his landing.
"Leave him be Hermione… you've done enough tonight." Runs voice accused.
She stopped and twirled on the spot to stare at the red head angrily.
"Me, What did I do?" she spat back venomously.
"Was Harry right. Were you going to accuse him of that…" Ron said dangerously.
"I… of course not. I would never…." Hermione mumbled back barely audible to the teens.
"It sure seemed that way. I know you've been keeping an eye on Harry for a while now, ever since Snape mentioned training in class…." Ron stated.
"Doesn't that bother you…? He's cutting us out. This could be just like the department of mysteries all over again. We barely survived that!" Hermione shot back in a harsh whisper.
"And he didn't want us to come. That was our choice so don't even try and insinuate differently, you know how Harry is, are you trying to get him to feel guilty about that." Ron said in warning.
"That's not what I meant…" Hermione snapped back, while tugging her shoulder free of the red head.
"Then be careful how you say things because sometimes I don't even know with you anymore." Ron warned.
"What's that supposed to mean." She asked coldly.
"You know exactly what it means, I've noticed how you've been behaving, always choosing your words carefully, pushing Harry's buttons, trying to provoke a reaction out of him. You're causing just as much a problem here as he is…" Ron pointed out.
"I have not… "Hermione defended, while not looking at the teen in the eye.
"Have you been aiming for this moment Hermione, did you think that by pushing him so far he would finally snap and tell you everything you wanted to know…." Ron taunted ignoring her.
"He's up to something dangerous…. You can't deny it Ron. We both know he's keeping secrets."
"Of course he is; so am I, so are you. Were 16 Hermione, we don't share everything that happens in our lives with each other. Look me in the eye and tell me you aren't keeping your own secrets; that you don't have your own skeletons you don't hide from us…" Ron challenged.
"That's different, Harry's keeping secrets about you-know-who. What if he's receiving visions again. He's always so tired and secretive, what if it's like Ginny and Voldemort's slowly possessing him like he did her." Hermione warned.
"Don't use Ginny like that." Ron said in a cold voice that startled Hermione with the venom from the normally easy going lad.
"I know for a fact that Harry's tired mostly from his studies... And you. He trusts me enough to tell me some things because I don't demand it." Ron admitted.
"You know… you've known what he's been up to all this time." Hermione whispered harshly in incredulity.
"I don't know everything but I know enough that I'm not worried. The only thing I'm worried about is the way you've been pushing him. You're lucky he hadn't snapped under pressure you've been putting him under sooner. You should be ashamed Hermione, I certainly wouldn't want my friends treating me the way you've been treating Harry." Ron spat angrily.
Harry deciding that he had heard enough soundlessly wandered up to his dorm room and jumped into his bed without changing. Closing the blinds around his he tried hard to drown out the murmurs and harsh whispers that were travelling up the stairs.
He had to admit, he was grateful to Ron for sticking by him like he did. He had tried his hardest not to drag him into their fight like he did but it was always nice to have backup.
Suddenly the mumbling stopped and Harry heard footsteps approach.
The door gave a groan and creek as his friend entered and walked by Harry's bed.
The moonlight reflected Ron's shadow off of Harry's curtain and Harry could see his looming form hunch over as he sat on his own bed.
"I know you heard us Harry…" Ron said out loud.
Harry didn't bother to say anything; instead he pulled back his curtain to allow the two to stair at each other un impeded.
"Most of it ya I did…." Harry admitted.
"Well in case you missed it, Hermione told me that I should keep a watch out for you, to tell her if you have been behaving out of the ordinary. Basically I'm supposed to be your shadow until you tell her whatever it is you've been doing." Ron admitted out loud without any shame or hesitation.
"Oh…" Harry said in surprise. He had not expected such a frank answer.
"Yea… I hope you know that I don't mind you keeping secrets Harry. I understand that, I really do." Ron asked.
"I know, thank you." Harry said in appreciation.
Ron nodded. As he stood up from his bed and started to pull the covers off his bed.
"Hermione did make one good point though…." Ron said conversationally.
Harry stiffened at that… worriedly he listened to his friend.
"I know your keeping more important secrets from us, things that could be dangerous to you. I'm telling you now….I want in on those secrets; I think I've earned that right. You don't have to tell me now, but one day when you're ready, I want to know." Ron stated.
With that the redhead vanished behind his bed curtains, leaving behind a pensieve teenager to stare thoughtfully at the spot where he saw his friend last.
Harry had a lot to think about…
AN: Not my best chapter but necessary. I kind of rushed the wings bit to give you all the gist of his powers. Credits to firefromabove for one of the jokes I did with Harry and his wings. Too recap and explain further if it isn't clear:
When Harry is transformed… he is super strong, can fly and is practically omnipotent when wielding his true wand. That last bit is important. Clearly Harry can't have too much power as then all he would have to do is think it and Voldemort is dead… end of story.
There are limits and I will cover this aspect more as the story takes shape, but it needs to be said now, Harry plus his phoenix feather friend are a force to be reckoned with when he is transformed. Right now Harry doesn't understand how to wield such power so pretty much he looses control quickly.
Also some of you might point out a plot hole.
Dumbledore did do scans on Harry when he was transformed in his private quarters… why not now. Simply… in my mind, he could only do it the first time, Harry's magic had just undergone the transformation and it was like a mini ritual. When Harry transformed back, the ritual ended and his magic was locked into that standard, which coincidently also changed him significantly while transformed.
Harry is no longer human when he transformed… that's the only reason why the spells Dumbledore was using wouldn't work. I've said too much as is.
I'm thinking I'll be done year six of this story in about 12 chapters… estimate(don't hold me to it)
After that… well lets just say a lot of questions are going to be answered. How the muggles are suppressing magic, where the 78000 came from, muggle inspectors, where are they?, nodes what part do they have in this little tale. All those will be answered and more.
Anyway I'm going to start writing chapter 21 while I still have time. If I'm extremely lucky I might be able to start chapter 22…. That's the one that I hope will leave you all at the edges of your seats.
Till next time.
Quazi