TN: this is an authorized translation oft he german Story „19 Jahre später...Die Erben der Rumtreiber" by Traeumer.

The magical world of Harry Potter is the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling. I'm writing this FF just for pleasure and I don't make any money from it.

And now: Have fun!

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Welcome to my first Harry Potter FF. I hope you will like it. As announced in my description, this story takes place according to the well-known seven books. I don't consider the recently published book "The Cursed Child" because I don't see it as an official sequel.
I don't reject the work, but isn't FFs about breaking new ground? Some elements will sound familiar to those who have read "The Cursed Child", but I go my own way for the most part.

Prologue: A nocturnal excursion

Daniel Huntington was a normal boy in many ways. He was of normal stature and height, had green, brown eyes, and loved to rub around in the woods near the orphanage where he grew up.

Yes, he was an orphan. He had never met his parents and he didn't know much about them. He had always been here: St George's Orphanage. It was located in a suburb of Liverpool and bordered a riding stable. Some of the orphans earned pocket money by working in the stables. Daniel had done that before, but never liked it.

The rich kids who came and went there had too much fun looking down on the orphans. Also, these snooty children had loved to make fun of Daniel's name. Not "Daniel" or "Danny", his beloved nickname. No, it was Danny's middle name that caused hilarity.

"Morishi"
Danny liked that name. Sister Augusta, the old director of the orphanage, had told Danny that he had gotten his name from his parents. They had probably been fans of Japanese culture and their son was therefore given a Japanese name as a second name.

But it wasn't just the arrogance of the "normal" kids that made Danny shy away from an encounter with them.
He knew he wasn't normal. When he was angry or afraid, things happened. Once, a boy at the equestrian center had "asked" Danny to get him a saddle. A horse saddle had been really heavy for the boy, who was only nine at the time. When Danny had finally taken him out of the tack room and laid him down in front of the boy, a mischievous grin had appeared on his face.
"That's not the right one!" the boy had said and instructed Danny to get another one.

They had repeated this game a total of six times, then Danny's collar had burst. All six saddles that were lying on the ground in front of the boy had jumped up from the ground at the moment when Danny felt that he had had enough, had knocked over the cheeky boy and nailed him to the ground.
No one had been able to explain what had happened. Luckily, Danny had been in the tack room when it happened, but he had immediately knew, felt, that he was responsible for it.

He hadn't told anyone about it. Not even his best friend. This friend was not another boy. No, it was Taro Isurgie, the caretaker of the orphanage. Danny liked him and vice versa it seemed to be exactly the same.

Perhaps it was because Taro Isurgie was of Japanese descent. Danny's middle name may have reminded him of his old home.

In any case, Taro always had a frank word for his young friend.

Maybe that's why Danny had never told him about these incidents. Wouldn't you think he's a freak? Something abnormal?

The eleven-year-old boy didn't want to risk that. Well... basically, he wouldn't be eleven for another two weeks, but still.

There wasn't much left in St Georgs that felt like a home anyway. Under Sister Augusta, a kind old nun, it had really been a home for the orphans. It had conveyed warmth and security.

A year ago, however, the nun had retired and her successor... Sister Katarina... well, she ran the home from an "economic" point of view. One of her measures had been to remove the carpet from all rooms. In her opinion, this could save on cleaning costs. Children made so much dirt.
The rooms of the orphans had become a lot more uncomfortable and colder as a result of this measure. When two craftsmen wanted to remove the carpet from Danny's room, "it" had happened again. For some reason, the little runner didn't let himself move an inch in front of Danny's bed! Not even when six full-grown men pulled it.
Danny had watched their efforts. With growing panic because he had felt that he was responsible for it.

Suddenly, Taro had stood behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.

Danny remembered well how the janitor had looked at him. The boy was sure that the old Japanese also knew that he was holding the carpet in place.
In the end, the workers had managed to remove the runner and Taro hadn't asked Danny about what had happened. The following day, he even invited him to take part in some meditation exercises. Danny had often watched the janitor do these exercises and had always wanted to learn how to do it.
They hadn't talked about the carpet anymore, but the exercises Taro had shown him had been very helpful to Danny.

He felt that this had brought him into contact with the force that had enabled him to do these "things." It was like an inaudible music playing deep inside him and only Danny could hear it.
After a while, Danny had noticed that this song was not only in him. It was everywhere. Especially in other living beings. And every living creature, human and animal, had its own song.

Danny hadn't told anyone about this "soul song" he was hearing. He felt that he would be considered crazy.
He was particularly fascinated by the songs that sounded in animals. Some felt strange to the boy. Others were familiar.

He had particularly liked one soul song. It had been like a song that you happened to hear on the radio and just wanted to dance along immediately. It had been the soul song of a kestrel who Danny had seen sitting on a tree. He could have listened to this song for hours.
Danny had spoiled the day with a new action from sister Katarina. She had cut funding for the kitchen. Desserts were cancelled and meals were now "inexpensive and extremely nutritious"!
Angry, Danny had been lying on his bed after dinner and wished he could just fly away from this place. Just like the falcon!

He had, without knowing what he was actually doing, listened to the song in his soul and tried to change it until it sounded more like that of the falcon. It had been difficult, but eventually he had been successful.
Just as he was happy about it, Danny had felt a tingling sensation on his head. He had looked in the mirror and had the shock of his life. His blond hair had turned into feathers like those of the falcon and his eyes were no longer green/brown but yellow like those of the bird of prey.
Danny had been terribly frightened and his soul song had changed back again. While this was happening, Danny could see in the mirror how feathers became hair again and his eyes became normal again.

For two days Danny had been in a kind of shock paralysis and had not listened to the soul songs again. Then, however, his curiosity had triumphed.
Could he perhaps transform completely and just fly away? He should have known. Almost a month later and countless nocturnal experiments later, he had found the answer to the question that every little boy asked sooner or later. What a feeling it was to be able to fly like a bird.
Danny grinned as he looked out the window at the sky, which was slowly darkening. It was so...cool!
Of course, he hadn't told anyone about it! Who would have believed him! But curiosity burned brightly in the boy now. Could he transform into other animals as well.
He had listened to every soul song, but quickly realized that most of the songs were so different from his true that he would probably never succeed in changing his own in such a way. Or it would cost him so much concentration that he would not be able to do anything except stand still.

He also ran out of "sources" quite soon. After all, there weren't that many animals in the vicinity of the orphanage.
So Danny had come up with a plan and tonight he wanted to implement it.

He looked at his watch. 11:30 p.m.! It was about time. The boy quickly opened his room window and took one last look at himself in his washing mirror.
Danny closed his eyes and concentrated. By now, he had gotten used to the feeling and didn't fight it. It was as if every bone, every muscle in his body was suddenly made of fine sand trickling into a new place.
It only took a few seconds, then the transformation was complete. In the mirror above his sink, Danny was now looking at a kestrel, whose headfeathers were scruffy, like Danny's hair.
Falcon Danny unfolded his wings and floated out into the night.

For a moment Danny enjoyed the feeling of flying, then he followed the main road towards Liverpool.
He oriented himself to the streets he saw below him. He had taken a close look at the route on a city map. His destination was the Chester Zoo in Liverpool. There he would find animals that did not exist near the orphanage.
He had only visited the zoo once. Two years ago with the rest of St. George's orphans and he found him effortlessly. He knew that there were no surveillance chambers in the zoo and that it was now closed. He would be able to move freely.
He felt a small sting of his guilty conscience when he finally landed in front of the elephant house, turned back and saw the ticket booth in the distance. He hadn't paid an entrance fee! But... how else could he get such an opportunity. Something in Danny said that excursions under Sister Katarina would be rather rare. Besides, he didn't want to steal anything and he wouldn't annoy the animals or anything. He just wanted to listen to the soul songs.
Danny finally conquered his guilty conscience and began to search the enclosures. He quickly realized that he had no friends among the fish. monkeys, rhinos and elephants also exercised little reed.

Eventually, he was drawn to the big cats. Danny had a soft spot for them, but didn't want to do anything with these proud creatures. It would have seemed arrogant to him. Narcissistic. Just like this boy with the saddle.
First, he visited the lions. Excitedly, he realized that he liked her soul song as much as that of the falcon but... Something was missing! It was like when masn heard a song on the radio, but that one last thing was missing to make it a "favorite song".
Danny had a similar experience with the tigers, the jaguar and the cheetah.

Then he spotted a sign. A special exhibition of American mountain lions. Danny had always liked Cougars. Their brown, supple coat.
Soul song or not, Danny was desperate to see these powerful creatures!

Hot enthusiasm filled him when he finally stood in front of the enclosure. There he was! this rhythm of the one simply...
One of the cougars slid right past the window in front of which Danny was standing. The boy followed the migration of the big cat. The mountain lion seemed to look at the young person as curiously as the boy looked at him.

By now, Danny knew what it took to change his soul song. It was important not to be afraid. You had to let go and allow yourself to just be falling.
After just one hour, the boy had made it. He felt the sand of the visitor's path under mighty, velvety paws and in the window he saw that he had turned into a cougar that was very similar to the one in the enclosure. Only the fur on the head of the reflection had this rascal scrub!

"Well, holla! That's something!"
Danny was half startled to death when he heard the deep, friendly voice. He hurriedly looked around. Behind him, as if he had grown out of the earth, stood the tallest man he had ever seen. The stranger had wild white hair and a disheveled beard, in which there were only a few black hairs left on his chin.
Smiling kindly and without shyness, he approached the boy. Danny was confused. He was a cougar! Most people would be afraid of such a big cat. But most of the people weren't as tall as the man who was now smiling down at him.
"Well... that's really a nice thing!" beamed the stranger. "Nice thing really! Most animagi can only transform into an animal. And I don't think there has ever been such a young Animagus! Nice thing, but really. Now understand why they sent me straight to you. But listen... You should transform back. It's a bit weird to talk to a cougar."
Danny hesitated for a moment, but finally his curiosity prevailed. A few moments later, as a young boy, he stood in front of the huge man. The stranger suddenly seemed even bigger to him and he missed the strong muscles of the big cat.
"Sorry sir..." he said at last, but the stranger interrupted him.

"Call me Hagrid. Everybody does."

"Good,... uh, Hagrid. I know I'm not supposed to be here."

The stranger laughed.
"Do I look like I'm working for the zoo? No, don't worry about that. I'm just here to give this to you."

Hagrid reached into his long coat and pulled out a letter, which he gave Danny.
The paper felt weird to the boy. Very classy. Like a parchment!

Danny hesitated as he read the address. There stood, written in green ink:

Mr. Daniel Morischi Huntington

Chester Zoo, Liverpol

In front of the cougar enclosure

Unsettled, Danny looked up at Hagrid. He nodded encouragingly.

Danny slit the envelope and unfolded a letter.
It said:

Dear Mr Huntington,

It is our pleasure to inform you, on the instructions of our headmistress Minerva McGonagall, that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
All the necessary information is contained in their letter. If you have any questions, please contact our teacher for the care of magical creatures, Proffessor Rubeus Hagrid.
He will be available to answer any questions you may have.

Yours faithfully
Filius Flitwick (Deputy Headmaster)

That's it for today.

And before I'm showered with criticism: I know that animagi actually only have one form. I'll explain that later.

Promised!

You just have to read on;-)