Unexpected Animagus, Part 3
Care and Feeding of the British Changeling

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).

Personal Note. I am surprised of the amount of support this story has received. I wrote the first part just for fun, but I think it has a nice potential. To be clear, the DCu and the Potterverse won't be interacting in any significant way, beyond Harry having the Changeling/Beast Boy as his Animagus form. I need to reread HP and the Goblet of Fire to plan exactly what will change and how, so once Harry gets back to Hogwarts, I will take a bit longer to write each chapter.

Harry devoured the comic Hermione had sent him. He read it several times during the day. And he had improved the change into Changeling, he barely had to use Gar Logan's form before changing into an animal.

"Sirius. I think I need a lot more space to…"

"Stretch your wings? Swim with sharks?" Sirius grinned like a loon.

"Let's talk about the elephant in the room first!" Harry laughed.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Sirius placated. "We do need to know your actual limits. How big and small you can go, how long the changes last, that kind of things. Dan Granger would know about the character, and Hermione would dissect a lot of the things you can do."

"Well… I still have a couple of weeks before beginning Fourth Year. Can we arrange for a day with the Grangers?"

"I think so." Sirius scratched his head, "We could set a day for a picnic somewhere private and try. But…"

"I see…" Harry's face fell down. "You'd have to stay hidden here."

"Mmmnot necessarily." He signaled Harry to follow, "I may have a way to go out."

Close to an hour later, Sirius had checked and discarded most of the wands of his predecessors, to his disgust, the best suited for him belonged to his late, Death Eater, brother. "I wonder why his wand is here? He should have had it with him when he died, wherever it was."

The old and gnarly Black House elf, appeared, "Kreacher brings wand back after Master dies."

"Wait, where you there?"

"No, Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to go back home." His fist trembled furiously. "Kreacher goes back later, but couldn't bring Master Regulus back. Powerful magic bounds Master. All Kreacher could do beings bring Master's wand." He sounded absolutely miserable.

Sirius shrugged, he didn't really want to know how Regulus had died, the important thing was that his wand worked. "Filthy Master should not use Master Regulus wand." The elf hissed.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Filthy Master not worthy. Brings shame to Black Family."

Harry thought about it, "Well, he is the last Black now, isn't he? He is now Black House."

"Filthy half-blood is…." Kreacher ground the words, "…right."

"Then," Harry reasoned, "he decides now what House Black stands for, doesn't he?"

"Mistress Walburga…"

"She is dead, and a painting's role is to advice, not to order, right?"

Kreacher ground his teeth, and nodded.

"Then, it is Sirius who decides, he is the only one who can make House Black a respected House again."

Kreacher began to sweat. Sirius kept silent while Harry argued with the house elf. It was just like watching Lily Evans dismantle a discussion.

Finally, Kreacher relented. "Kreacher be watching Filthy Master." And disappeared.

"Harry, that was incredible."

"Something I picked up from Hermione." He shrugged. Accepting praise was not something he knew how to do.

"Well. It's not the best fit, but with a few charms, I'll be able to disguise myself long enough to cast a few privacy charms."

A couple of letters later, they had agreed on a location. Hermione's grandmother had left the family a sizeable property with ample space. It was quite remote, so next day, early afternoon, Harry and Padfoot arrived by the Knight Bus to the closest town, where Dan Granger waited for them along with Hermione.

A crushing hug and several introductions later, the four were on their way to the Puckle Farm.

Sirius, inevitably, enjoyed acting like a dog, and spent the whole trip with his tongue hanging out and his head out the window.

Once in the farm, Emma Granger welcomed them. "I have some food in the oven, it will be ready in about an hour. In the meanwhile, we are very curious about what you want help with.

Harry took the comic book from his backpack. "It's this character, Dr. Granger."

"My husband has converted you to the cult?" She asked, with mock outrage.

"Well, no. Not exactly. Thing is, you know about Animagii?"

"Yes, Hermione told us about your godfather and his friends. By the way, Mr. Black, you can change now. There´s no one around, the property is quite large, and all our neighbours are either out for travel, or elderly enough to stay home most of the time." He addressed Padfoot, who changed back into Sirius Black.

"Amazing! I see why the Changeling caught your attention, Harry. Where did you find that cosplayer? He has the face, but the clothes made me think of a wizard."

"I must apologize, Dr. Granger. It was no costume, and it was me."

"I thought you didn't know the character."

Hermione and Emma watched with interest. "Honestly Harry, start from the beginning."

"Well…" he demurred, "Sirius was teaching me the Animagus change, and I was looking for my animal spirit. And when I channeled it to change…" He demonstrated his Animagus form, "I became this."

"You look exactly the way George Perez draws the Changeling!"

"Somehow, I think he is my animal spirit." Harry said, to the incredulity of the Grangers. "Watch." And he changed into a dog, a cat, a raven and a beetle. All of them the same vibrant shade of emerald green.

Dan Granger was the first to recover as Harry returned to Logan's shape. "I can't believe! Harry, you are a super-hero!" He pulled the lad into a crushing hug, Harry thought that was from where Hermione got it.

Hermione looked deep in thought. "Harry, can you do magic when transformed?"

"Uh… I don't know. My wand disappears when I change to Logan."

"Hermione is right, if you can do magic in animal form, you could have a tremendous tactical advantage." Sirius noted, rubbing his chin.

She added. "For you to be able to use your wand, it would have to be an ape or a monkey, any animal with human-like hands."

"Wait, why the distinction? A monkey, an ape. It's same thing, isn't it?"

Emma and Hermione exchanged a look, and recited in choir, "A monkey has a tail, an ape does not."

Dan snickered. "I did ask that once. Once."

"Well, let's see then." Sirius gave Harry his wand, "Use this one, your own wand and Hermione's are traced. Reggie's doesn't. It won't set any alarms at the Ministry."

Hermione fumed. "So we Muggleborn can't practice magic during the holidays!"

"And so you won't breach the Statute of Secrecy. Officially." Sirius shrugged, "But as most laws enacted by Purebloods, it also has the unfortunate side effect of curtailing your practice."

Harry looked at their exchange, and finally said, "Let me see if it even works for me." It did, he transfigured a blade of grass into a button. "Okay, changing…"

The Logan form did the same thing, and Harry examined the button carefully, along with Hermione. "It's about the same." He changed into an orangutan, a gorilla, a chimpanzee and a spider monkey. All of them animals with a size that allowed Harry to wield his wand comfortably.

Hermione smiled at the incongruous sight of a great ape waving the wand and doing the spells. The orangutan shape seemed placid and slow, while the gorilla was heavy and powerful, the chimpanzee fell in the middle.

Harry commented. "I have the impulse of hanging from my tail as I do the spell." The green spider monkey did so, taking advantage of a nearby tree. "You know, it's really comfortable this way. It feels really natural."

Dan Granger looked like he had hit the jackpot. He had a camera with him, and snapped picture after picture.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"Documenting things, of course!"

"How do you plan on explaining things when the film is developed?"

For a moment, he seemed crestfallen. "You know… I suddenly have the impulse of taking a photography course and convert a dark room at home."

Emma facepalmed. "Down at the basement, install a ventilation system for any fumes."

Hermione left her parents to discuss things. Money was not a big problem, as their dental practice was quite popular. "Harry, I've been reading the comics, and it seems there are some limits to what the original character can do." (1)

"What limits?"

"I'd rather not tell you now, so not to influence you. What's the biggest animal you can turn into?"

"No idea." The spider monkey scratched his head. "I could try for a blue whale."

"Don't, you'd probably hurt yourself unless you are at sea. Can you do a…" she thought for a moment, "an elephant?"

Harry dropped down from the tree, and put some distance from his friends. A moment later, a green elephant swayed its trunk, idly picking at the grass.

"Easy! Now, what do I do?"

"Turn into…a wooly mammoth!"

Harry grew even larger, and a shaggy coat appeared over him. Hermione took a note, while Dan and Emma looked at him with their mouths open. Next to them, Sirius smiled like a loon, and seemed like he was about to dance in happiness.

Hermione set down a note on her clipboard, and passed it to her father. He nodded, and began to write at a furious pace.

Sirius exchanged a look with the green mammoth. The creature seemed to shrug.

Author Notes

(1) The power of the Changeling has been handled more or less consistently through the years, with some very noticeable exceptions. Basically, he can transform into any type of animal he can visualize. It had been established that he spends a lot of time watching nature documentaries, so he can add more animals to his repertoire. Usually, he is limited to living animals of planet Earth; though occasionally, he changes into extinct animals, like mammoths or Tyranosaurus Rex. Any and all animals he changes to, will be the same green colour he is, not even changing into a chameleon would change this. The larger the animal, the more he taxes his powers. Changing into small animals is no problem, and he can do it for as long as he wishes; but changing into say, a Godzilla-sized creature would be exhausting, and he would lose the use of his power for several days. Also, if he is extremely angry, he can change into creatures that never existed! So, Harry has the potential to turn into any animal he knows, mundane or magical, living or extinct, from Earth or other planets; plus any fantastic creature he can visualize well enough. If you are curious about the character, look for the original run of New Teen Titans, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. There are also a few animated versions, in the Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go and Young Justice animated series; plus several animated DCU Movies with the Teen Titans. The character is called by his original name Beast Boy, is younger than the version I'm using here, and tends to be vegetarian by choice.