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Chapter 22

One thing Harry hadn't counted on was the complete media storm that resulted from his duel. He had expected a few stories in the press and more attention for him, but it was over a week later now and there were still new revelations coming out thanks to the investigation into Umbridge. The woman truly was vile, if the stories were to be believed. One said that she had planted evidence in her former boss's paperwork that he was embezzling funds from the Ministry and then reported him to the DMLE, but she was the one who had stolen the gold and set up her boss so that she could take his job when he was sent to Azkaban for a year. That he was also blacklisted from any decent job when he got out of prison meant that she had destroyed the man's life just so she could get a promotion. Of course people like Umbridge don't go down alone. Cornelius Fudge was denying to any reporter who would listen that he had any knowledge of what Umbridge was doing. But the more you deny something in the press, the more the public think 'There is no smoke without fire', so his hold of his job was slipping.

The public's reaction to Harry was mixed, and it seemed to split right along the blood purity party line. Those that didn't care about blood purity were singing his praises for bringing down a corrupt government official and protecting a school. The blood snobs were afraid of him, despite the fact that the changes Hermione and now Umbridge were left with would not carry on down to their children, something Hermione had been worried about not long after her transformation and had had Madam Pomfrey check. To the blood purists, it looked like Harry had the ability to strip them of the very core of their identity, and to quote a little green man, "Fear leads to anger." The more extreme blood purists, most of whom were Death Eaters if Harry's information network of Sirius, Remus, Tracey, Daphne, and Tonks were in any way reliable, were calling for Harry to be thrown into Azkaban for crimes against magic. Even some of the less extreme on the supposed light side were calling for it to be made illegal for Harry or anyone else to intentionally use that potion on a witch or wizard.

Harry wasn't worried about it, he had spoken with Tonks who had spoken with Director Bones, and there was no chance that he was going to be arrested and thrown into Azkaban. Despite the purebloods kicking up a stink, Harry's actions had too much popularity among the masses. Going after him for defending school children from torture would have the Ministry crucified in the press and could lead to riots. And with the Death Eaters once more active, even if the Ministry as a whole were still claiming it was an impostor who had tricked Harry and the witnesses, more civil unrest was the last thing the Ministry needed right now.

Harry himself was just trying to ignore it all and focus on preparing for his O.W.L.s, teaching his group of students how to cast a Patronus, training for Quidditch, learning to speak French, and trying to finish his Animagus transformation. Hermione was having a lot of fun teasing Harry with her transformation. It wasn't uncommon for her to turn into her cat form and curl up in Harry's lap begging for him to fuss and pet her. She later admitted, "It's amazing, it feels like a full body massage. I could easily spend hours like that." Of course Harry was often more than happy to help, but the more time he spent with her in her animagus form the more he was aware that he hadn't completed his own transformation. His own form was progressing, and according to Professor McGonagall all Harry needed was for it to click into place for him and he would be able to do it. That was encouraging, but also maddening. He knew he was close to a full transformation, he could feel it.

On the other hand, his Patronus lessons were going great. By now all of them expect Ginny were starting to get their mist to coalesce into a form. Unfortunately, Ginny was still having trouble even getting mist. Hermione thought that Ginny was too depressed after the loss of her father to actually feel the happiness you needed to conjure a Patronus, and Harry had to admit her diagnosis fit too well to be ignored. And, at least according to Hermione, there was little that could be done. Cheering Charms might have helped in the short term, but some studies had shown that using a Cheering Charm like that would only delay the patient's healing and could lead to a dependency on the charm.

Harry and Hermione were meeting up with Ginny and Luna for a one on one lesson. Ginny had asked for it as she knew how far she was behind all the others working on the Patronus, and wanted to try without feeling pressured by everyone around her doing better. Despite everything that Harry and Hermione were trying to do, they accepted; they didn't want Ginny to think she wasn't worth their effort. When Harry looked back on his third year, he realised he had been depressed for most of it. Finally letting himself deal with the emotional baggage that over ten years with the Dursleys had left him with, and the Dementors on top of that. had pushed Harry into a depression, and it was only Hermione being there as his rock had kept him sane. Luna seemed to have taken on the role as Ginny's support, but that didn't mean Harry couldn't help out at least a little.

Ginny and Luna were already there when Harry and Hermione arrived, standing in the corner of the classroom. Ginny looked determined, which was an odd contrast to Luna, who as always looked like she was serenely smiling at things that one one else could see.

"Hey Ginny. How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

Ginny forced a smile and said "Great," but it was obvious it was an act. When Harry thought about it, he hadn't seen a genuine smile on the girl's face since before Christmas. Which, he had to admit, given what had happened to her father was understandable. Ron and the twins were doing better than Ginny, but they too weren't as happy and carefree as they normally were. Fred and George had practically given up pranking and were throwing themselves into preparing for their N.E.W.T.s; Harry had overheard them saying they wanted to get to earning money as soon as they left school, as their father had been the one to earn the gold for the family. Ron was focusing on anything that could be a distraction from his emotions.

In a way, the Weasleys were lucky that this was Fred and George's final year at Hogwarts. Their tuition was paid at the start of the year, and next year Mrs Weasley would only need to find the gold for Ron and Ginny. That wasn't cheap, but compared to the cost of four students it was a lot more manageable. Harry was considering offering Mrs. Weasley the gold for Ron and Ginny's education, but he wasn't sure if he should. On one hand, the Weasleys had taken him in his first summer after starting Hogwarts. However, he had drifted away from them after his third year, and with the new higher tuition for Hogwarts and the five years of education Ron and Ginny would need between them, that was about six thousand galleons. Plus, Ron and Ginny had more older brothers who could probably help, the three of them had full time jobs and presumably three full time salaries.

Ginny's attempts at the Patronus Charm were just as successful in a one on one tutoring session as they were in the group lessons – only able to generate a little mist on average one out of every three times she tried the spell. "This isn't working," Harry sighed out. "We need to approach this differently. Give me a minute to think." After he paced around for over a minute, he had an idea. "You like to fly, right?"

"Sure," The redhead shrugged noncommittally.

"Go get dressed for flying. And trust me." Harry grinned at her as he spoke.

Luna took Ginny by the hand and pulled her out of the classroom, presumably to go get changed. Hermione turned and asked, "Harry, what's your plan?"

"I'm gonna try and get her endorphins pumping by lending her my Nimbus and then taking her for a fly around the school's towers. Hopefully I can get her feeling good enough that she can cast a Patronus and give her a confidence boost, and maybe a nudge in the right direction to start getting herself back on track," he explained. Hermione thought it was worth a shot, so Harry called Sassy and had her bring his Nimbus from the house. Ten minutes later, Luna dragged Ginny out of the main doors of the castle where Harry was now waiting for her.

"Here," Harry said as he threw one of the two brooms he was carrying to Ginny. "The Nimbus is a little more manoeuvrable than your Cleansweep Five. If you can follow me on that, I'll let you try it on the Firebolt." Harry smiled. Maybe it was the challenge questioning if she could fly well enough, or maybe it was the idea that she would get the chance to ride a top of the line broom, but it lit a fire behind Ginny's eyes that Harry hasn't seen since the start of the year when she was trying out for his spot on the Quidditch team. It wasn't the genuine moment of joy he was looking for, but it also wasn't the self-consuming darkness that had held her for weeks now, it was a start. Harry knew it would take more than a few minutes of happiness to help Ginny, but it was a step in the right direction.

He climbed on his Firebolt and challenged, "Follow me if you can," before kicking off and shooting into the air. He looked back and grinned as he saw Ginny climb on the Nimbus and follow him into the air. Harry led her though one of his warm up routes, swerving in and out of the school's towers. Once he was sure that Ginny could handle it, he started making progressively harder runs until he could see that Ginny was just starting to struggle. He kept it at that difficulty for almost half an hour, knowing that the smile he saw on Ginny meant that she had to be living in the moment.

Harry put on a burst of speed looped around and started to fly next to Ginny. "Patronus now," he practically ordered, and with so long of him acting like a professor teaching them something, Ginny did what she was told without thinking.

She pointed her wand forwards and called out "Expecto Patronum!" The thickest white mist Ginny had ever conjured burst from her wand like steam from a suddenly uncovered pot of boiling water. The mist floated around the redhead girl, warding her from any Dementors that may be around. Harry smiled at the grinning Ginny and called over to her for them to land. She landed next to him and was practically bouncing with excitement. "That's the best Patronus I have ever done, thank you Harry!"

True to his word, Harry let Ginny try out the Firebolt next. The youngest Weasley was almost as good at flying it as Harry, and he struggled to keep up with her on the Nimbus 2000. In fact, it was only Harry's now near-instinctive knowledge of the air currents around the towers and his willingness to pull seemingly crazy moves knowing that the wind would push him just right that kept Ginny from speeding off and leaving him behind.

After about half an hour, they landed on one of the open walkways that led to the battlements on top of the castle. Technically they weren't supposed to do that, but it did mean that they would get to walk down three sets of stairs to get to the Gryffindor common room instead of up five.

"God Harry, where did you learn to fly like that? It looked like you were going to crash a half a dozen times but somehow you always seemed to just float into the right spot at the last second." Ginny asked as soon as their feet touched the floor. As they walked down through the castle, Harry explained about the air currents and how he was using the wind to push himself around as well as the power of the broom. He started to go into detail about how each tower affected the winds, including how the wind direction, temperature of the air, and even the temperature of the castle walls affected them when Ginny burst out laughing at him. Harry gave her a questioning look in response.

"Oh it's nothing, but I can see why your Animagus form is a Peregrine Falcon. You really were born to fly," Ginny answered after she stopped laughing.

"How did you know what my form is?" Harry asked, a little surprised.

"Professor McGonagall had us do a paper on Animagi at the start of the year. I looked up the Animagus registry for a bit of extra background information and found both your and Hermione's names on it with your forms," she explained. "Is becoming an Animagus really that hard?"

"Well, both no and yes. To be considered an Animagus, you just need to make a potion that is annoying to make, because it takes a long time, and then drink it during a thunderstorm. That will unlock your form, but just unlocking your form and being able to obtain it are two different things. Learning to take your form is difficult and I still can't do it."

That got Harry thinking about his falcon form and how he just couldn't quite get it. Sure, both Hermione and Professor McGonagall had said he needed to 'be the falcon' and that he would only really understand when he got it that it couldn't be explained easily. But it was still frustrating knowing he was so close. Then, like a perfect storm, it hit him. Harry stopped walking and said to himself, "Oh, I can't believe I have been so stupid!" It probably would have taken him months more to get it, but as he was thinking of flying, including playing in the air currents, and about his animagus form at the same time, it finally clicked.

"What?" Ginny asked in a worried tone at what to her looked like Harry suddenly acting crazy.

"I just worked it out. I had to be the falcon, just like professor McGonagall said. The key is flying, that's my bridge to finishing my Animagus transformation. Here, hold these. I need to try this right now," Harry said as he handed her the brooms. He pictured not not only his falcon form in his head but also focused on what it was to fly; the joy, the freedom, the feeling of the wind rushing past as you swooped and dived. That was what he was missing. The Animagus transformation, like the Patronus, was a magic that had an emotional component, but the trigger was different for everyone as no two people turned into the same animal in the same way. Even two cats like Hermione and Professor McGonagall probably had very different parts of themselves that connected with what it was in then that linked to their inner cat.

Harry felt the change wash over him, and a few seconds later he was looking up at Ginny who looked like she was suddenly a giant. Harry let out a cry of joy and tried to start flying, but promptly fell forward on his face. It looked like flying was going to take a little bit of practice, but it was practice that he was looking forward to. He was sure as soon as Hedwig saw him in his new form he would have a very enthusiastic teacher.

"Can you change back?" Ginny asked.

Harry concentrated for a few seconds and he was quickly able to transform back, the constant returning to normal after attempting and failing to reach his falcon form all year made it so that this transformation was relatively easy. Excitedly, he declared, "Let's see if I can do it again!" and transfigured himself once more into his falcon. He tried once more to fly using his wings, and while he was able to get off the ground for a few seconds, as soon as he tried to flap for more height he plummeted like a stone and ended up going tail feathers over beak as tumbled along the floor. Luckily he hadn't even gotten a foot off the floor, so the only thing that was hurt was his pride.

"You really need to stop that before you hurt yourself. I don't want to have to carry your unconscious bird ass to Hermione if you knock yourself out. Hermione might hex me before I can tell her you did it to yourself," Ginny joked. After getting back to his feet and returning to his normal form, she continued, "Besides, it's against the school rules to fly in the corridors." Harry laughed at that, he was happy to see Ginny doing better even if he knew it likely wasn't going to last. It would take far more than an afternoon of flying for someone to get over a loss as profound as losing a parent. Hell, Harry himself wasn't completely over the death of his parents and he had barely even known them.

One back in the common room, Harry found Hermione sitting by herself off in one of the quieter parts of the room, working on what looked to be her Arithmancy homework. He gave her a nod and a smile and went up to put his brooms in his trunk and change out of the sweaty clothes. He considered taking a shower as well but settled on a quick self-cleaning charm instead. It wasn't as good as a proper shower, but it was good enough that he wouldn't need to worry about the shower until that evening. Besides, he was eager to run down and tell Hermione that he had figured out his transformation. So, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and rushed back down to where Hermione was sitting and waited for her to finish the section she was working on.

After a few minutes of finishing working her way through a bunch of complicated probability-affecting vectors that she would need to work out the next section of the problem, Hermione looked up and was just about to greet Harry when she saw the massive grin on his face. "What happened? You look like you've been hit by about a dozen Cheering Charms."

Harry decided to draw it out a little. "Well, it is fun to just fly, I haven't done that for a few weeks. Ginny seemed to have fun as well, so my plan was a big win. I even had Ginny try her Patronus half way through and it was definitely the strongest she ever cast. It was a lot of fun and I think it really helped Ginny."

"That's brilliant. I know her brothers are all worried about her. I'm glad someone was able to get through to her a little." Hermione said.

"Yes, it was a good step forward for her, we should all be on the lookout for more ways to help her. Then on the way back, Ginny was asking me questions about flying and it finally clicked for me."

Hermione looked confused and asked "What clicked, Harry?"

"My Animagus form. I understand what I was missing now. I figured out how to finish my transformation." Harry's grin widened even more as he said that.

Hermione's eyes went wide as she realised what he was saying and then she got really excited. Jumping up and pulling him to his feet, she gave him one of her hugs. "I knew you could do it Harry!"

The two of them quickly left to go to the Room of Requirement so that Harry could fully show her his transformation. They stopped by the owlery on the way to pick up Hedwig. Harry made the Room to have cushioning charms on the floor and plenty of raptor friendly perches all around the room. He set Hedwig down on one so that she would be able to watch, and he let himself feel the joy of flight again and let it flow into his magic, before pushing that magic around his body. A few seconds later, Falcon Harry was standing in the same space Human Harry had stood a few seconds before.

Hermione was again really excited, and Hedwig was also hooting in congratulations at him. She knew how much her human enjoyed flying with her and she was looking forward to them being able to do it properly, without the magic stick.

"So, can you fly?" Hermione asked, knowing how confusing and uncoordinated it was for her to try and walk on four paws for the first few times and knowing that wings were even more alien to a human mind than four feet were.

Harry knew it wouldn't go well, but he went for it anyway. After all, that was why he had the Room add the cushioning charms to the floor. He spread his wings as high as he could and tried bringing them down as hard as he could. It worked a bit, but the next second he found himself on his back looking up at the stone work that was the default ceiling for the Room of Requirement if you didn't ask for something specific. He rolled over so his little bird feet were under him and stood back up and looked around. Hermione was doing her best not to laugh at him, and Hedwig was hiding her head under her wing in embarrassment. Hermione came over and picked him up and set him on a perch near Hedwig. It felt a little weird for Harry to have Hermione be able to pick him up and carry him around, but he supposed she had had to go through the same thing when he first did the same to her when she was a cat.

"Hedwig, don't be like that. Harry has never had wings before. Why don't you show him how to fly properly? I'm sure Harry would love spending time learning how to fly without a broom from an expert like you." Hermione spoke softly as she addressed Her Royal Owlness.

Hedwig responded well to Hermione's flattery, and Harry spent the next two hours learning the basics from his owl. Luckily his new form came with at least some of the instincts of a peregrine falcon, and by the end he could fly around the room. He had plenty left to learn, and he wasn't sure he would trust himself with anything but a light breeze yet, but he could now fly without a broom and it was amazing.

-ϟϟϟ-

It had been Hermione's idea, but Harry had run with it. Once they were finished in the Room of Requirement and were taking Hedwig back to the owlery, Hermione had joked that Harry could now act as his own delivery owl if he wanted to. Hedwig hadn't liked that idea, but Harry thought it would be hilarious to deliver one letter like that himself, so after assuring his familiar that it would just be the one time, Harry had written his letter and transformed into his Falcon form. Hermione had attached the letter to his leg and he had flown out of the window.

It was a short flight, as Harry was just going from one tower to another. He quickly circled the Head's Office and found the window that was charmed to keep the cold out while remaining open for post deliveries. Lining up for the relatively small opening was a little nerve-racking for Harry but he managed it. He saw Professor McGonagall sitting at her desk, so he landed on a perch next to the desk for delivery owls and waited for her to finish whatever piece of parchment work she was working on.

After almost a minute, Professor McGonagall finished and turned to retrieve the letter. After a quick second of surprise at seeing not an owl but a peregrine falcon she smiled and said, "Well Mr. Potter, it seems that congratulations are in order."

Harry just held out the letter tied to his foot, but he was a little disappointed. He had hoped that his professor wouldn't make the connection until after she had read the letter. But in hindsight it shouldn't have surprised him, apart from Hermione she was the person who was most familiar with his falcon form.

Professor McGonagall,

I am writing to you to share the news that, thanks to the time and effort you put into teaching me, I have finally mastered my transformation into my Animagus form. Thank you again for taking the time to teach both me and Hermione.

My sincerest gratitude,

Harry

"Well Mr. Potter, I can honestly say it was my pleasure. Now, it is getting close to curfew and I know it's not your night to patrol, so off with you. Oh, and use the door." Professor McGonagall said as she slid Harry's letter into her desk drawer, wearing one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen the stern headmistress wearing. Harry shifted back to his human form, and with a grin on his face he thanked the professor again for teaching him before slipping out the door and making his way back to the common room to meet up with Hermione.

A/N

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