Hermione Weasley led Danny and Hagrid out of the ministry's atrium. They reached the fourth floor via an elevator that reminded Danny more of a roller coaster. The same woman's voice that had already startled Danny in the phone booth announced:

"First floor. Ministry headquarters. Have a nice day."

"Our Hermione is a very tall animal here in the Ministry," Hagrid explained in response to Danny's impressed look as they walked through the corridors of the first floor. "Completely cleaned out the shop here and turned it upside down after the war."

"Oh, stop it Hagrid." Hermione Weasley now seemed clearly embarrassed. "The time was simply ripe for change. Minister Shaklebolt also noticed this. Without his support..."

"The good Kingsley is the best Minister of Magic we have had in decades!" affirmed Hagrid.

"Indeed," Hermione also praised. "Just his support for the house-elf reforms..." "House-elves?" asked Danny, who was beginning to gain some courage. "One of them introduced himself to me. His name is Jakubi and he worked for my mum."

"You don't sound so happy with him?" Hermione inquired kindly.

"I don't like him calling me a master," Danny confessed. I feel like a slave driver."

As a warm smile glided across Hermione Weasly's features, Danny heard Hagrid chuckle in the background.

"Nice one, Danny! Now you've won! Our Hermione has been a fighter for elf rights since her school days at Hogwarts."

"Indeed!" the ministry witch proudly explained. "It was really bad at the time how some wizards treated their house-elves.

However, I also have to admit that I was also quite extreme in my views."

She paused for a moment and looked down at Danny.

"You know... it was your mother, of all people, who helped me to understand the house-elves a little better. She showed me that I, too, had made a mistake. The wizards treated the house-elves as second-class beings as a matter of course. And I believe that the behavior of the house-elves, their submissiveness, their desire to serve and work, was the result of some kind of brainwashing. But it's not like that. House-elves have always felt the need to help. her relationship with the wizards began as a kind of symbiosis. At that time there was no magical community and wizards often fought each other.

Secretly, house-elves began to help wizards by keeping their homes clean and strengthening the mages' defensive spells. In return, they hoped to find protection and safety with the wizzards. Some eventually showed themselves to the magicians and openly offered their service. Thus began the relationship between house elves and wizards.

The whole culture of the elves is designed to serve a strong protector. A house-elf who does his job well and receives recognition from his master rises in the favor of the other elves. Praise and gratitude are a real currency for them.
In my school days, I made the mistake of simply treating the elves like little people. They are not. They are elves. My ideas would have thrown their whole society into chaos.
It had to be about teaching the wizards to appreciate their house-elves again, and I have indeed achieved a lot.

You know, your mum once said to me: The service of a house-elf is the greatest and most valuable gift he can give.
This is how you should look at Jakubi's behavior. Accept what he wants to give, but be thankful for it. After all, he's been taking care of your family's house all by himself for the past few years."

"I own a house?"

Danny was completely surprised.

"Of course," Hermione explained. "Trever Hall. One of the oldest wizarding houses in Britain. When you come of age, it will be waiting for you. And if you want to thank Jakubi for his efforts, maybe you can buy him a gift."

"Just no clothes!" warned Hagrid. "You only give clothes to a house-elf if you want to cast him out. There is no greater shame to his people."

Hermione Weasley nodded in agreement and together they continued on their way.

"When we're done here, we'll have to go shopping anyway," Hagrid told Danny. "We still need a lot for Hogwarts"

Danny nodded and indeed decided to get something for Jakubi. He wasn't sure if he liked having a house-elf, but at least he understood the little man a little better now, and if it was true that Jakubi had been taking care of a house that now belonged to him for more than ten years, a "thank you" was the least.

In the meantime, they had arrived at an office door that Hermione Weasly opened for them. As they entered, Danny managed to catch a glimpse of the door sign.

"Hermione Jean Weasley" was written there. "Senior assistant to the Minister of Magic"

The office they now entered made it very clear to Danny that the witch Hermione was really a high animal.

The room they entered was generously sized and very tastefully decorated. A soft, burgundy carpet covered the floor and harmonized with the brown-red of the furniture.

The desk was nobly crafted and richly decorated. Behind him there was a panoramic window that looked down into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic.

Danny could see the fountain of new beginnings.

The right flank of the office was dominated by filing cabinets made of the same fine wood, while on the left a comfortable seating area and some ornamental plants loosened up the picture.

Danny had felt quite overwhelmed in the last few hours with all the new impressions that came flooding in, but now he was upset by a skill that he was very proud of. He had trained them to emulate one of his heroes: Sherlok Holmes. He had read all the books about the great master detective that were available in the library of the orphanage, and he had used the little pocket money that was granted to the orphans to continue buying books.

He now deduced from the institution that Hermione Weasly was really a high personality within the ministry. Not only the noble, expensive furnishings betrayed this, but also the seating group from which Hagrid now claimed the corner sofa for himself (and filled it completely).

This part of the equipment told him: this was not just a workplace. Guests were also received here. Important guests who were not only fobbed off with a wobbly chair. No, these visitors were important enough that they wanted to impress them with feudal furnishings.

"I think we'll sit over here," Hermione said, pointing to the armchairs draped around the small table. The corner sofa was already taken. "But first Danny, please touch this up for a moment."

Hermione Weasly pointed to a small golden ball firmly embedded in her desk. It looked like a doorknob, but it had no apparent function on the tabletop. Nevertheless, the boy did as he was told, and no sooner had he touched the golden ball than with a soft pop a thick file landed in the entrance basket on Hermione Weasly's desk.

"So, there we have your file," she said contentedly and motioned for Danny to sit down in one of the armchairs.

"There's a file on me here?" Danny asked as he sat down.

"Of course," Hermione smiled. "You are a son of magical parents and it was discovered quite early on that you had clearly inherited magical talent."

Mrs. Weasly sat down as well and looked at Danny.

"Well, Danny, as I'm sure Hagrid has already explained to you, we decided to contact you before your eleventh birthday because we noticed an increased use of magic in you."

"That's right," Danny replied, a little embarrassed. "But I didn't know you weren't allowed to do that."

"And that's why you're not in trouble now," Hermione smiled. "Don't be afraid, Danny. The Ministry understands your situation and we also know that young magicians in particular do not always have their abilities under control. But I have to ask you to answer some questions. Since the beginning of May, we have been registering outbreaks of magic with you again and again. Mostly at night.

What exactly happened there and did a Muggle see you doing magic?"

"Certainly not!" assured Danny.

"That's good!" Hermione replied. "But let's get down to business. I'm assuming you stumbled upon your magical talent and were curious. You tried to control it."

"And he was successful!" Hagrid smiled. "Hermione, be prepared for a surprise. In front of you sits the youngest Animagus I've ever seen. And he can even transform into two animals."

Hermione Weasley blinked in incredulous surprise.

"Is that true, Danny?"

The boy nodded. "I can turn into a Falcon and a cougar."

"How long did it take you to learn this?"

"For the Falcon... about a month and the cougar... I just learned that tonight."

Hermione Weasley now looked, there was no other word for it, regularly run over.

"A little more than a month?" she asked. "Normally, this takes years! And how did you know the magical rituals you have to go through?"

"I didn't go through any rituals at all," Danny assured uncertainly.

"You haven't been walking around for a month with the leaf of a mandrake in your mouth?"

"I don't even know what a mandrake is," Danny assured.

Hermione Weasley apparently couldn't believe it.

"But how did you perceive the magical harmonies? Yours and those of the animals? You can't do without them."

"By magical harmonies, do you mean a kind of soul song that all beings have? Music that no one else listens to?" Danny wanted to know.

"That's how you could describe it," Hermione Weasley admitted. "An Animagus can't just transform into any animal. Animals act by instincts. People think consciously, but the level of instinct still exists for us. Through the mandrake leaf one expands one's consciousness until one can perceive one's instincts. This takes up to four months. Then the search begins. You compare your own instinctive harmonies with those of animals, and if there are enough similarities, the transformation can succeed."

"That's basically how it was for me," Danny assured. "The caretaker of our orphanage, who showed me a few relaxation exercises. He teaches many orphans. He also gives self-defense courses. I've been visiting them for four years.
But, anyway, he showed me these exercises and whenever I became very quiet I could listen to some kind of music. It wasn't really music... they weren't sounds or anything, but that's the best way to describe it. At first I only heard my song but then... I like to be in the forest behind the orphanage and that's when I noticed that the animals also have such songs. I was really attracted to a kestrel and once I tried to concentrate and..."

"Adapt your "song" to that of the falcon and transform yourself." Hermione shook her head. "You're basically perfectly describing the final stage of the animagic cycle. But you reached the level in record time without going through the rituals that are actually necessary. Wait a minute..."

The Ministry Witch now opened Danny's file and began to read.

"Well, some explanations can be found here if you take a closer look at your parents," she finally said. "That you have two animagical forms is rare, very rare, but it happens. With you, I think it's because you come in equal parts after your father and your mother.
Your mother's registered Patronus was a cougar. Often the Patronus and the animagical form coincide. Both are an expression of the state of mind. So you got that you can turn into a mountain lion from your mother and father..."

Danny listened intently. He knew so little about his parents. He had already learned a lot about his mother and now also about his father.

"Well, your father was originally from America," Hermione explained. "Our current Minister of Magic, Kingsley Schaklebolt, was a member of the Order of the Phoenix at the time. This was a secret society dedicated to stopping the Death Eaters, black magicians who wanted to take power. Them and their master, Lord Voldemort."

Danny flinched as Hagrid let out a startled moan. no sooner had Hermione Weasly pronounced the name "Voldemort".

"Really Hagrid," the witch reprimanded. "Voldemort has been dead for almost twenty years! I think we should slowly stop freezing in fear, just by pronouncing his name."

"You don't bring new tricks to old dogs Hermione," Hagrid countered.

Danny had to swallow hard. A man who was so evil that his name was not pronounced, even twenty years after his death? It must have been really bad!

"Well, be that as it may," Hermione Weasly continued. "Minister Schakelbolt and your father Danny, William Huntington, were both aurors. He's your dad here in England, in America. Kingsley contacted him on behalf of the Order to recruit him to fight the Death Eaters, and your father agreed. He was assigned your mother as a partner and that's probably how the two of them got to know each other."

Hermione looked up at Danny.

"They were both very decent people, Danny. They were both purebloods. That is, they both came from long-standing magical families. Your mother's family was even part of the list of the holy 28. The oldest pure-blood wizarding families in Britain. They could have lived a good life under the Death Eaters, but they fought against them. Even after Vorldemort had effectively taken over the Ministry, your parents remained loyal to the cause, helping Muggle-borns and others who suffered at the hands of the Death Eaters to flee the country.
Your father's contacts in America were very helpful. The Huntingtons are a magical family that dates back to the first settlers. Many people were willing to help the last son of this proud line and your mother too. They have saved many lives."

Danny literally soaked up this information. He didn't know exactly what Death Eaters were or who Voldermort had been, but the fact that his parents had stood up for the right thing made him proud.

"But let's get back to your animagical ability," Hermione murmured, delving back into Danny's file. "As an American, your dad attended the Ilvermorny School of Magic and Witchcraft. There it belonged to the schoolhouse "Thunderbird". Named after a magical creature that lives in the vastness of Arizona. Essentially a huge bird of prey. I think that's where you got the kestrel from.
Also, your dad was a metamorphmagus. That is, he could basically change his appearance at will without the need for a wand or a magic potion. I think that should explain it. You didn't inherit all of his abilities, but you did inherit what I think is a unique sense of magic. Trust this gift Danny. It will be very useful to you."

Danny just nodded.

Hermione Weasly pulled a long wooden stick out of her pocket. Danny immediately suspected that it was a wand. She swung it briefly and a Form came flying in from one of her filing cabinets. Another pan and the document was completely filled out. she handed it to Hagrid.

"When we're done here, please go up to the sixth floor with Danny. He must be registered as an Animagus at the animal welfare authority. Shouldn't take long, but..."

She winked at Danny.

"... it could cause quite a stir."

"Sorry..." Danny spoke for the first time. A question burned in him and he was eager to get rid of it. "May I ask something?"

"Of course," Hermione smiled.

"How did my parents die? And do I still have relatives?"

The smile on Hermione Weasly's face died away. She sighed heavily.

"That question had to come." She collected herself briefly. "Your parents were victims of what went down in history as 'The Revolt of the Unquenchable Flame.'"

Danny was confused.

Hermione Weasley continued.

"You already know there was a war. The Second Death Eater Rebellion. When the leader of the Death Eaters was killed by my friend Harry Potter, the uprising ended. Most of the high-ranking Death Eaters had been killed, and the few who were not arrested were not exactly the movement's elite. For the most part, they were primitive thugs who were fanatical followers of their "dark lord", but they were not leaders. They were foot soldiers who were distinguished above all by a very primitive attitude of mind. One of the few exceptions was a man named Rabastan Lestrange.

He, his brother and his fau Bellatrix were fanatical followers of Voldemort and belonged to his inner circle.
He organized the remaining Death Eaters into a group called the "Eternal Flame." They tried to pursue a scorched earth policy. The ministry was still weakened after the occupation by the Death Eaters and so these last Death Eaters were able to spread terror for years to come. But they were cornered more and more. They simply lacked the intelligence to really hide.
Finally, the "Eternal Flame" stood with its back to the wall. In a final, senseless action, they wanted to take revenge on the Auroras who were to blame for crushing their movement."

"My parents," Danny concluded.

Hagrid stared on his hands, embarrassed, while Hermione Weasly nodded.

"They attacked your house. With Dementors as reinforcements. These are horrible creatures that, in the worst case, suck your soul out. A fate worse than death."

A memory flashed through Danny. A nightmare he had had over and over again for as long as he could remember.
"Does that feel very cold?" he asked anxiously. It's like you're being torn apart deep inside?"

"You remember the attack?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"I think so." Danny rubbed his chest just above his heart. "And my soul."

Hermione now put her hands on the boy's shoulders.

"It's exactly where it belongs. Reinforcements have arrived before... Well, you know. And as for your parents, they were unfortunately killed back then, but we can safely say that the Dementors didn't get their souls either."

"Good!" Danny was a little relieved.

"And as for relatives, Danny," Hermione Weasley continued. "Unfortunately, you don't have any blood relatives anymore. Your father and mother were the last of their bloodline. Only a sponsor who has been named by your parents after your birth is registered. A colleague of theirs. A man named Taro Isurgie."

"The caretaker of our orphanage?!"

Danny was stunned.

"But if he's my godfather, why... I mean, did I do anything to him?"

Hermione Weasly took a deep breath.

"He refused custody of you at the time."

"But why is he a janitor at the orphanage where I live?" Danny asked angrily.

Hermione now slid forward in her chair and gave Danny a piercing look.

"I can't tell you that either, Danny. Your godfather also has the right to his privacy but..."

She raised her index finger to underline her words and nip Danny's protest in the bud.

"But through my father-in-law, Arthur Weasley, I know some details. Arthur was a good friend of your godfather before he retired from the magical community. Therefore, I can only advise you: Ask him your questions! Maybe it will be worth it for both of you. Maybe together you will find a new beginning for both of you."

That's it again.

Hope I was able to answer some questions and raise new ones.

I also hope you enjoyed it and see you at the next chapter!