Harry was getting impatient so he tried to ask what he was and ended up making a growling sound.
"Oh right a mirror." James said waving his hand at the wall.
Harry looked up and was a bit shocked himself. Where he had been now stood a rather large black cat like creature. Bigger than a lion but shaped and colored like a panther. The biggest shocker came when he stood up and flexed his shoulders. Large white wings spread out from his back. Harry turned so he could see more of his back. That's when he noticed his long black tail. He gave it a few experimental swishes and then flapped his wings a few times. Finally he felt the change begin again and soon he was back to his human form.
"So what am I?" Harry asked.
"A winged cat." James said, "Most people think they are either a myth or extinct."
"Lame name for such a spectacular animal." Harold Evans said from the door, "How do you feel Harry?"
"Fantastic, Granddad." Harry grinned widely, "Quite a spectacle huh."
"Quite." Harold grinned, "And to think one of my two favorite Grandkids can turn into that."
"Dudley really is doing better." Harry said, "He's come a long way in the last year."
"Yes and I'm quite proud of that boy." Harold said, "Make sure you tell him so."
"I will."
"Ok enough chatter." Sirius said, "Now you need to start practicing the transformation on your own."
Harry worked for weeks transfiguring one part and then another trying to get it to all come together. Before he was completely successful though Lily and her group had a break through.
"Found two more." Lily beamed, "Both at the ministry."
"Ok which ones?" Harry asked.
"The ring which is already destroyed." Lily sobered, "And the Locket."
"Where in the ministry?" James asked.
"The ring is in the Minister's office." Lily stated, "The locket is with that horrid, mean, nasty old hag of a witch."
"Umbridge has it?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Lily nearly growled, "She's wearing it. But she's so vile she doesn't even detect the nastiness of the piece."
"If she's wearing it when we attack, will she see anything?" Harry asked.
"I hope so." Sirius declared.
"Me too." James and Lily chorused together.
"Let's find out." Harry grinned mischievously.
The group went for the ring first. Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting at his desk with several objects lying on the it including a snitch. Several people were in the room with him.
"You don't know what any of these mean?" he asked.
"No sir." one man said, "We believe the snitch might hold something but we can't get it open."
"You only have one more day before you begin to break any laws." another man said, "Thirty days is all you can hold up a will for. Anyway it's really stretching the law by saying Albus Dumbledore is trying to leave a dark object to someone. Especially those three. You won't find anyone who would say Potter, Granger and Weasley are dark."
"Were you able to decipher anything from the book?" Rufus asked.
"It's a book of wizard children's stories. I've got a copy of that book myself." the first man said.
"But he's giving it to Granger for a reason." Rufus stated.
"Maybe it's because she's muggleborn and never read them." the man said.
"What about this drawing here?" Rufus opened the book, "It's clearly drawn in not part of the original book."
"That's the symbol of the Deathly Hollows." the man said, "Albus Dumbledore, like several others I know, believe the three artifacts in the story are real. That's the sign searchers for the Hallows use to identify themselves."
"What do you think the snitch might hold?" Rufus asked.
"I have no idea about what's inside." a third man said, "But you should know that they have flesh memories. It may not be able to open until the person who caught it has touched it."
Scrimgeour's secretary knocked on the door, "Minister you asked me to remind you of your meeting at one o'clock, you have ten minutes."
"Fine." Rufus said, "By the way make an appointment to have Arthur Weasley come to my office tomorrow at five thirty. We'll just pop in and see what those three kids know about Albus Dumbledore.
The three men followed the Minister out the door. Once they were alone Harry walked over to the snitch and picked it up. He was disappointed when it didn't open right away.
"Says here it's the first snitch you ever caught." Sirius said.
"Oh ok." Harry said and the popped the snitch into his mouth. He spit it back out and it opened to reveal the ring. He pocketed the ring and waved his hand over the snitch and it repaired itself.
"You caught it in your mouth?" Sirius asked shocked.
"Long story." Harry said, "It includes a cursed broom so I'll tell you later."
The book had been left open to the story that had the symbol of the Hollows. Harry read though it having never heard it before. When he finished he looked at the ring in his hand and then up at his father. "I have the ring and the cloak don't I?"
"Actually you have all three. You wouldn't be here otherwise." Lily said.
"But I've not killed anyone to get a new wand." Harry stated.
"Dumbledore defeated Grindlewald and got the wand from him. Draco disarmed Dumbledore and got the wand from him. You disarmed Draco and got the wand from him. None of the three of you killed anyone but the wand changed its loyalty to you all the same." James stated, "You are now considered to be the Master of Death. Your body is alive but you're not home. For now anyway you can pass into the realm of the dead without being dead. No one else ever has nor will they. You'll break the cycle, there can only be one Master the power will die with you, which won't be for a long time."
Next they made their way to Umbridge's office and waited until she walked in. Once she sat in her chair James did a spell so she could see all of them.
"Potter what are you doing here?" Umbridge squeaked, "And who is that with you?"
"My parents and Sirius." Harry said, "They're not too happy with the way you treated me at school."
"But…"
"No buts Delores." Sirius said, "It's time for some pay back."
"That's right." Lily said, "And you'll never forget this."
Harry started calling for Tom to come out of the locket. Within a few moments he was standing in the room with the group. When Harry attacked he tried to get back into the locket. Sirius blocked him and when he tried to get past him Tom was thrown to the edge of the room. Harry pounced and they fought back and forth. Harry could see the wounds of battle starting to show and with it light was beginning to escape from Tom's body again. Then the three others began to chant and soon there was one more Horcrux destroyed. Harry then stunned Delores and took the locket. He waved his hand and another appeared and he fastened it around her pudgy neck.
"Stand back now." James said, "We're going to make sure she dreams about this as often as possible."
Lily undid the spell that had allowed her see them and woke her up. Just in time too as her door opened and a man walked in. He didn't introduce himself he just started talking.
"He has started the process for taboo." the man stated, "By this time in two days anyone who says his name will be targeted."
"Good what's the taboo going to do to them?" She asked.
"Nothing." He grinned, "It just breaks all protective spells and wards, including a fidelius. Then it sets up a beacon for us to follow right to them. We'll be taking them down a few at a time and they won't know how we're finding them."
"Good they are not worthy to say the Dark Lords name. Not worthy of his attention." Delores nodded.
"Now I'm doubly glad we gave her that nightmare." Lily said.
"Let's go drop these off with Ginny." Harry said.
"Oh goody you get to see your girlfriend again." Sirius clapped as he continued to tease him until they arrived.
As they left Ginny, James shielded his eyes like Harry was a bright light, "You know you're a bit brighter than you were before we saw Ginny. Must be all the happiness shining through."
"We've found another." Elizabeth Potter said before anyone could start teasing Harry again, "It's in Gringotts."
"Dang that's going to be tough."Sirius stated, "We're going to need to do more training."
Harry lost track of time as he trained. He went through the rest of the relatives and learned all they had to teach him. He perfected his animagus transformation. Plus tons of other things that his parents and Sirius needed to show him.
"You are ready for the next one now." James stated, "Gringotts has security in place to protect themselves from spirits. You're not quite a spirit but you can still be caught in some places. You and I will be working our way through the bank and then Lily and Sirius will meet us when we reach the right vault."
"That's fine but why?" Harry asked.
"Because we are spirits. There are some places we can't go. But I'm not leaving you to go through this alone." James said, "I'll come back here when I can't get through and then when you are through I can come back to you on the other side. We can meet you but we can't go without you."
"We can't just open a door into the vault?" Harry asked seeking the easiest solution possible.
"No. Goblin magic can keep us out." Lily sighed.
"Can we just wait until they close and then slip in?" Harry asked.
"No, the walls will be warded against us." James said as the two stood near the door to the bank, "And to make it worse the Goblins will be able to see our light but not form. We'll have to sneak in on someone's back."
"How about pockets?" Harry grinned as he saw Hagrid walking towards the bank.
"Excellent idea." James grinned, "I always liked Hagrid. Even before he befriended you and gave Dudley a pig tail."
They shrunk as James pulled Harry into a pocket as the part-giant walked past. Once in the bank they listened to what Hagrid was doing hoping he needed to go to the vaults. When it was clear he wasn't James peaked out to find someone to jump to. Just his luck Lucius Malfoy entered the bank.
"Found another. We're going to jump to Lucius." James chuckled, "You can tell him later he helped us take Voldemort down."
"You know they were at the house." Harry commented, "Draco saw my hand under the rubble but didn't tell anyone."
"Maybe they've smartened up." James shrugged, "Let's go."
They jumped to the next pocket and rode down to the Malfoy's vault. When the Lucius and the Goblin exited James and Harry jumped out of his pocket and stayed hidden in the cart. Once the Goblin pulled out the clankers they slipped out of the cart and moved away.
"We're lucky they haven't found us yet so they haven't turned on the defenses." James said.
"Now where do we go?" Harry asked as they walked along the tracks."
"We have to find the Lastrange's vault and break into it." James grinned, "And they have a dragon too."
"Can it sense or harm us?" Harry asked.
"Not me. But we're not sure about you." James rubbed the back of his neck, "Here's the first obstacle. This area a spirit will be caught in that sphere at the top of the door. I have to leave, you walk through the door and when you get to the other side I'll come back."
"Got it." Harry said.
Harry walked through and James came back. A few minutes later James stopped him again. They went this way for a some time stopping and Harry going through or around one trap or another. Finally after working their way through the tunnel for a long time James spoke again, "This is the one."
Harry peaked in and saw a very large dragon staring back at him. He eased around the corner and made eye contact with it. The dragon slowly pulled back. The closer Harry got the more it tried to hide in the corner.
"One step down." James said, "Now the vault."
Harry raised his arms and began to chant quietly. He located all the wards and spells on the door and began to unlock them. He felt like it had taken hours when all but one spell was removed.
"Wait before you take that one down. It will detect if a spirit is present. I have to leave you now. When that spell is gone just push open the door. Then we'll come to you. Don't start until we get there."
"Ok."
Once inside Harry waited for the others to show. He had already located the cup up on a high shelf and had moved it down to a pedestal in the center of the room. When Harry felt them arrive he started to call Tom out. The fight happened just like the others and soon Tom was sent on.
"Just one more left." Harry sighed as he turned to face them.
"Not quite." Lily said, "Let's go talk before you drop this one off with Ginny. She's asleep right now anyway."
They stepped through the door and left the vault and its contents, minus one cup, behind. The room they stepped into was one Harry had not been to yet. He glanced around and noticed several lion statues and other things that pointed you to believe that courage, bravery and honor were important to the creator of the room.
"Your thoughts are right." the red headed man said, "Those things are important to me. By the way my names Godric. Nice to finally meet you Harry."
"Likewise sir." Harry replied shaking the man's hand, "I like your décor, reminds me of the Griffendor common room."
"As it should." Godric answered, "I am a Griffendor myself. And I built that particular tower."
"The founder then." Harry grinned, "Why on earth did you all bring Slytherin in on the school?"
"Well it was his idea and we couldn't leave him out completely." Godric cocked his head, "Beside's he wasn't as bad as everyone is led to believe. The final fight was over a quidditch game his students lost. He couldn't take losing to Hufflepuff again and so he left the school embarrassed by his students. For all their cunning and ambition they were horrible at quidditch. He yelled at me because Gryffindors were the best at the sport. He said I made the rules to suit the Griffs and left everyone else out. Such a whiner."
"Did you?" Harry asked.
"Of course I did." Godric laughed, "I thought the game up so you had a chance to show your bravery and daring without getting killed, most of the time. The game has changed some over the years and the Slytherins have figured out how to use cunning in the game. If Sal would have just been patient and let them figure it out he wouldn't have needed to leave. The next year they beat Hufflepuff for the first time."
"I've never heard that one before." Sirius was laughing, "My favorite is the time Slytherin tried to push you into the Hippogriff dung during Care of Magical Creatures class."
"That is a good story." Godric agreed, "But today we need to talk about something a little less fun."
"Harry remember when I told you we protected your body from more than you could imagine?" Lily asked.
"Yes." Harry drug the word out not really wanting to know what was coming next.
"It's like this." Godric said, "He made one more Horcrux than you know. He doesn't even know he made it. When he attacked you and the spell rebounded a piece of his mangled soul dropped off and attached itself to the only other living thing in the room. You."
"So I have to destroy the piece in me then I can have my body back." Harry surmised.
"Exactly." Godric said, "We didn't want to tell you before…"
"Because I would have freaked out thinking I wouldn't be able to do it. Now I've proved that I can several times and I know I can do it again and I won't freak." Harry said, "I wonder how my friends will take this?"
"Don't worry they'll still love you I promise. Especially my Great Granddaughter." Godric smiled.
"Ginny's your Granddaughter?" Harry asked.
"Direct descendant. You are related to me too but not directly." Godric said, "You're actually a direct descendant of Helga's."
"Really." Harry grinned, "I didn't meet her. Do I get to before I leave?"
"When you get back from delivering that cup to Ginny you can. She doesn't even want to be in the same room as it. She's very upset at what he did to it." Godric added.
After they left Ginny again Sirius said, "See he told you she'd still love you."
"Still nerve wracking. Now we need to get the snake. Where is it?" Harry asked.
"First I want to talk to my Grandson, then you can find that icky snake." A woman said from behind him.
"Grandmother Helga?" Harry asked as he turned to find a taller woman with coal black hair and blue eyes.
"Yes, thank you for cleaning my cup." she hugged him.
"Glad to do it." Harry said returning the hug then they sat down to chat.
"You know that's not my only relic left." Helga said, "I left the house cup, Godric left the Quidditch cup, Salazar left the Headmasters Chair and Rowena left her office."
"What about the Hat?" Harry asked.