Harry was only just done with eating his breakfast when he felt the Mandrake leaf fall down from the roof of his mouth. Finally! The leaf was almost as disgusting as the Polyjuice potion back in their second year. It tasted the way the Gryffindor boy changing rooms smelled, just a bit more slimy. He immediately called for Kreacher to take him to the potion lab of Black Manor where the Animagus potion was brewing.
He put the Mandrake leaf in the cauldron with perhaps a bit to much glee to see the slimy thing disappear, stirred a few times and watched the potion turn into the color it was supposed to be according to the book Sirius left him. Only then he took it of the fire and poured it in a vial.
Harry went to the living room where Andromeda, Ted and Tonks were sitting. Harry was surprised to see that Tonks had a slight pregnancy bulge already. But he supposed it wasn't that strange, his cousin was around three or four months along now he thought. She looked happy, Harry was glad to see.
He explained what he was about to do. Andromoda immediately asked, no demanded that they be there with him in case anything went wrong. Harry didn't see an issue with having a trained healer with him while taking the Animagus potion and went to sit on the couch so he could take the potion.
Andromeda stood up from the couch so that Harry could lay down on it as recommended in the book. His aunt would be monitoring him since it was normal for the potion to knock out the taker and give them a vision in which they would meet their animal. Depending on the animal, people could have strange things happening while they were having their vision.
"Good luck, Harry!" Said Ted encouraging from the other couch. Tonks nodded at him before voicing the words Harry had expected from his cousin, "Lets hope your inner animal is something cool, right? It would be such a shame if our dear savior was something uncool like a common goat or bunny or something." She was clearly having to much fun imagining it.
Sticking his tongue out to her, he laid down on the couch, knocked back the utterly disgusting potion and went to lay down completely. It wasn't long before he got the feeling of falling asleep. Closing his eyes he thought he felt Andromeda's hand gently treading through his hair.
He opened his eyes to see a forrest around him. It was beautiful and full of all kinds of trees, a fish filled creek, flowers and a few berry bushes. It looked like a great place to camp for a while. For a moment Harry feared that Tonks teasing proved to be right, that the fish in the creek were his inner animal. But no pull was felt and Harry let out a sigh full of relief.
When Harry was done looking around him, he waited for a while but there was still no animal to see. He decided to take a walk. Maybe his inner animal was shy or wanted him to come find it?
It wasn't long before he could see a lake in a distance away. Did this place exist in the real world, and if so, he wanted to travel there. It was unreal how beautiful this place was. The colors, the smells and even the shape of everything was perfect. He could stay here forever.
It was there at the lake where he could see a dark shape moving from the edge of the forest. Probably planning on drinking the water or maybe even swimming or eating fish? Harry really didn't know what his inner animal would be. He hoped it would be some kind of mammal or a bird. Parhaps a deer-like animal in honor of his father? Or a dog for Sirius? Or perhaps a bird for just for himself? Harry didn't know but he couldn't wait to find out.
Though a bird seemed unlikly judging on how the shape moved.
While he was carefully walking closer to the lake and the animal he could make out a bit more of the dark shape that was indeed drinking the water of the lake. He felt the pull pulling him towards that dark shape. This was it. His animal half.
The animal had a dark fur and four paws. It seemed to be some sort of canine or big cat. Harry walked out from the tree line and it was then that the shape looked up from the lake and looked directly at Harry. It was a wolf. A big one.
The wolf had a black, soft looking fur coat and was a bit bigger than Harry thought wolves would be. Maybe it was a magical wolf? Not that he had ever seen a wolf in real life. He never got to the wolf enclosure all those years ago in the zoo for Dudley's birthday.
The wolf had the same green eyes as Harry had and the combination looked very striking with the black fur. Fierce. Honestly, the wolf looked very intimidating even from the distance Harry was standing. The wolf reminded him a bit of Padfoot, Sirius Animagus form. Just less menacing and scruffy.
Dignified. The wolf looked very dignified and Harry was wondering how this beautiful creature could ever be his inner animal. Harry was anything but dignified if you asked him.
The boy and the wolf looked at each other and started walking toward each other in sync. They met in the middel, staring at each other. He felt the need to touch the wolf but afraid for a bad reaction, Harry carefully put his hand on the top of the wolfs head.
It was like Harry mind and body disappeared into the wolf. Harry was a wolf now, with all the instincts of one. He wanted to run, hunt and frolic through the woods. It took a little while for Harry to get control of his instincts. The instincts of a wolf were stong but Harry was stubborn. The wolf was clearly smart and had excelent instincts. Harry knew what he had to do, for he had excellent instincts too.
Fighting the wolf for control but also listening to what the wolf inside of him wanted was hard but after a few mishaps he did it. The wolf submitted with a content sigh but didn't completely disappear. Good. That was good. He did it! He had done what both his fathers had done before him and made the wolf inside of him part of him.
Now he was not fighting with the wolf he could finally focus on how to walk with four paws instead on falling on his snout every time. It was strange to be a wolf and not a human but when he finally managed it, it felt amazing.
He started running and jumping and rolling around so that he could get a feel of what his new form could do. It was truly brilliant with how fast he could run and how high he could jump. It was in that very awkward moment that Harry woke up, human again, on all fours and mid jump, from the potion induced vision to see the three members of the Tonks family looking at him with big, almost identical smirks on their faces.
Harry blushed a deep red and went to sit back down with all the dignity he could muster.
"Well, did you find your form?" Asked Tonks after she was done laughing at him. Andromeda and Ted looked curious too and Harry nodded.
"I'm a wolf! He's beautiful and I believe almost fully grown already. I'm not sure what kind of wolf I am but he's big with a black fur and green eyes. He actually looks a bit like Padfoot." He said with a smile. Harry was relieved yes, that he wasn't something dumb but also so very happy that even if it wasn't the same animal form as his adopted father, it was something close.
Andromeda looked kind of smug at his answer and held her hand out towards her husband and daughter. Both Ted and Tonks groaned but gave her a galleon each. Harry was a bit confused at what's happening but his aunt explained it to him.
"We might have made a little bet on your Animagus form, Harry. I thought you would be a canine with how loyal you are and with how much you loved Sirius. My husband thought you might be some kind snake since you are a Parselmouth and Nymphadora thought you would be a bird because of your love of flying."
"Mum!" Exclaimed Tonks when her mother used her full name. Harry didn't know why she didn't just give the issue up. Her mother would never stop using the name she gave her daughter. And it would be very weird if her parents used their shared surname as a first name for their daughter. At least Ted called his daughter Dora.
Andromeda continued after a look at her daughter, "Anyways, we like betting on stuff and the proceedings go to family activities. This time we thought you might like it if we came visit you on a Hogsmeade weekend for a lunch at the Three Broomsticks?"
Harry was so grateful that he was barely able to speak. He had a family now that wanted to spent time with him even if it wasn't truly necessary. They just wanted to be in his life. Like a family.
He nodded and said quietly, "Yes, I would like that very much."
Andromeda gently patted him on the hand and gave him a book with the title Canines of both the Magical and Muggle World. Clearly she had been very sure in her bet that he'd have a canine form. He gave her a hug in thanks. He had gotten lucky with the Tonks family.
After that hug Tonks came to hug him too. She ruffled his hair before she went upstairs to her room. Trying to make his hair as neat as possible again, he heard Alphard calling for him from the hallway for a talk. He gave thanks again to Andromeda and Ted and went to the place Alphard's portrait hung.
Alphard was a kind man who Harry still wished he had met in real life and not just his portrait.
Alphard wanted to talk about Hermione since had had heard that Harry went on a date with her. He wanted to know how it had gone and Harry told him. The man was strangely proud of Harry to hear that the date ended with a kiss.
Harry really shouldn't have been surprised. This was the man that Sirius had looked up to most in his family. His favorite uncle and the one who thaught him everything he needed to know about dating and the other things in life. Still, Alphard gave some good advice if you ignored most things. It was clear that the man hadn't been sixteen in a long time.
Harry told Alphard the news of his Animagus form. While Alphard was very happy indeed to hear that the date with Hermione had gone well and that they were planning another one, he was even more proud to hear about his new nephew's Animagus form. He told Harry that Sirius would have been so proud of him.
Ted found him there a while later and asked if he wanted to stay for a cup of tea. Harry agreed and called Kreacher to ask if he wanted to join them. The old cranky Elf answered with a bow, "Master Harry be very kind to think of old Kreacher. Kreacher be happy indeed with such a kind and good master." Before he popped away. Well, that was an answer he supposed. One of these days he would get Kreacher to sit down with him and just relax.
Then he said goodbye to to Ted and Andromeda and went to the hallway so he could apparate back to Potter Manor.
But before he could leave Tonks called for him and they went to the basement for a moment to talk. She wanted to thank him for protecting her family and for making her write to Charlie. Apparently they have been writing back and forth and the friendship was almost like it was before they left Hogwarts. They were talking again and Tonks was so happy to have her old and dearest friend back into her life.
Harry was glad that she had her friend back. He didn't get the idea that she had much friends outside her family so it was great that Charlie was becoming her friend again after all the time that had passed. He thinks that it must have been difficult to be a Metamorphmagus as a teenager at Hogwarts. Children were cruel, he knew and teenager weren't any better.
She looked like she was happy again after all she had been through this year. Harry was proud of his cousin.
After that talk it was time to go back to Potter Manor where there were two nervous Elves waiting for him. What was going on now?
Dobby and Effy were standing close together and holding hands which made Harry happy to see. He wondered what they wanted to talk about as the three of them went to the living room so that they could talk comfortably.
Harry sat down and Dobby and Effy went to stand in front of him and Dobby asked, "Master Harry Potter sir? Beautiful Effy and I'd like to ask permission to bond as mates. Would that be allowed?"
Harry was surprised since they had only known each other for a few days but maybe it worked differently for House Elves?
"Are the both of you sure that this is what you want?"
Both Elves nodded excitingly and Effy said while looking at Dobby, "Elves know when they know. Dobby magic be feeling like a good match for Effy and he be kind, strong and good at all the chores. He be good father for future Elflings and a good mate for Effy."
Dobby blushed but looked like he very much agreed with what his chosen mate was saying. And thus there was only one thing Harry could say, "Alright if the both of you are sure then you have my permission to bond. I wish you both a very happy life together."
Both Elves did a little dance together in happiness and then rushed forward to hug Harry's legs. He laughed and bent down so he could hug both his friends in congratulations.
Wait a minute, did that mean that there would be little Elflings running around the Manor soon? Would that make Harry a sort of uncle?
"Do the both of you require me to do anything for your bonding?" Harry asked. He had no idea how an Elf wedding worked but he hoped that it would be nice for the two of them. They were great friend to him and deserved the best.
Dobby spoke with tears in his big green eyes, "Master Harry be kind Master. Dobby and Effy be saying oath and then we be merging magic. Then we be mates for life. Master Harry not be needing to do anything except giving permission for match."
"Alright, then I will leave you two to it. I'll be at Longbottom Manor until later this evening. Will you tell me if you need anything?"
Both Elves agreed and popped away to get married in the Elf way. By now it was time to go to Longbottom Manor for training with both Amelia and Gran. Which was good timing. Now he could give the soon to be married couple some much needed privacy. Ugh.
Gran had told him he was almost done with learning the etiquette for the magical nobility. Now he just needed to get the politics right and then he was done with training with Gran. Not that he ever thaught he would be ready to leave her teachings. It still seemed daunting to think of accepting his seat in the Wizengamot.
With Amelia they were still learning dueling and how to sense the magic around him. The sparring they did was getting more and more difficult but that showed only how far they'd progressed since starting the training.
He took the Pygmy Puff for Susan with him and when he apparated to Longbottom Manor he was surprised to see that Hermione was already there. And even more surprising, Hannah was also there in the training room.
Apparently Dobby had picked up Hermione before he asked Harry permission to mate with Effy and Amelia had finally managed to get Hannah's father to agree to let his daughter come here for some extra training. All three girls where talking about their summers when Harry and Neville walked in.
Neville, at least looked very happy to see Hannah in his training room. Harry knew his friend had a bit of a crush on the blonde girl. Seeing the look Hannah shot his friend he was sure she felt the same way. Oh Merlin, this was gonna be karma for the 'pining' he and Hermione did, wasn't it?
Shaking his head as to rid himself from those thoughts, Harry hoped that one of the two extra wands he had left were able to work with Hannah.
Harry shot a look to Neville and Hermione before they walked to Susan and asked for a moment with her. Susan agreed and together with Neville and Hermione they walked to a corner of the Training room. Harry explained that they went to Diagon Alley yesterday and that they'd found something that they thought she might like as a birthday present. At least he hoped so.
Susan was looking kind of touched that they had remembered her birthday and had gotten her a present even though they hadn'd known each other for long. She looked so very curious so Harry took out the violet Pygmy Puff they had chosen for her.
To his surprise Susan made a very girly sound when she saw the cute little fluff ball. He gave her the Pygmy Puff and Susan started cuddling with it. Harry was glad that she liked her present. Hermione too looked happy that her new friend liked her gift. She hugged the three of them and went to show her new pet to Hannah together with Neville.
That left Hermione and Harry standing together. Which was handy because Harry needed to ask her a question. A question that Alphard had advised him to always ask if you wanted to date a girl. Harry had learned his lesson of never assuming anything after watching the Yule ball debacle between Ron and Hermione.
He waited until he had her attention back on him and then he asked her, "Hermione? I really liked our date and so I wanted to ask, do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Hermione looked pleasantly surprised that he even needed to ask her that but she quickly said, "Of course I will be your girlfriend Harry!" Harry was relieved she agreed and hugged her. That was the moment that a squealing Hannah came to them. Soon Susan joined them too and Harry decided to leave them to it.
He walked back to a smirking Neville who told him, "Well done, mate. I'm happy for you and Hermione even if it took forever for you guys to get it together."
Harry laughed, "I know, I know. We were being dumb about it. But what about you and Hannah? I saw the way you guys looked at each other."
Now it was Neville's turn to blush.
Luckily he was saved by Amelia walking in and Harry gave the two wands he had left to Hannah for her to try out. The second wand he handed to her seemed to match well enough with her for her be able to use it and so training began.
Amelia made Hannah and Hermione work together today and the other three were ordered to start meditating again so they could feel the magic being cast by the two other girls while they sparred.
The three meditating had to call out when they could feel which spell was being cast and by who it was cast. It was an interesting thing to do and it went quite well.
After that it was time for a full out spar with the five teenagers agains each other in a five-way spar. Harry won but it was a close thing after Susan, Hannah and Neville started to work together. Luckily, Hermione had his back and they defeated the rest with prejudice.
It was clear that Hannah had some catching up to do but Amelia was willing to teach her for a bit longer after the other four were taking a break from training. They decided to take a walk so Hannah would have some privacy while training.
While they were walking Susan told them that Hannah's father had agreed to let her come to Hogwarts this year if she was able to disarm, stun and bind him before the end of the week. Hannah was determined to manage it. Sharing a look, the four others agreed that they would help her do it.
Harry had offered Hermione his arm and together they walked along the path on the grounds of Longbottom Manor. Neville and Susan walked along next to them. They both seemed very happy for them. Probably because now they didn't need to see them pining for each other anymore.
Harry told them about his experience with the Animagus potion and what it had shown him. They were very happy for him that his form was some kind of wolf and not something lame like a fish or bug or something. Now Harry had to start meditating and Transfigure parts of his body into his wolf, one by one until he was able to do the whole Transfiguration all at once.
Soon it would be time for the other three to find their own inner animal and they clearly couldn't wait.
They walked and talked but soon it was time for lunch where they met with the others. It would be a busy afternoon for the three of them where in they would bring Hannah up to speed with everything that had happened this summer. Then Harry would have his lessons with Gran and Hermione had asked if she could come join them too.
Gran was all to pleased. This way she could teach them together.
Hermione also told him that she had send the letter to Skeeter and that the woman had agreed to start looking into the life of Albus Dumbledore. Harry would have felt sorry for the man if it had been anyone else. But Dumbledore had brought this on himself.
Then they would train some more in the training room with Amelia and then it was time for dinner after which everyone would go home after a long and exhausting day.
It was while they had lunch that Amelia told them what had been happening outside the Manor with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The world still didn't know that he was dead since they still had to find the body. The Daily Prophet was still calling Harry the Chosen One and the one who was destined to defeat Voldemort.
But this morning there was a breakthrough in the Auror department, Amelia told them with a slightly sarcastic smile on her face. The Aurors had found an almost empty Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton where they found the bodies of the Lestrange brothers, Amycus Carrow, Antonin Dolohov, Corban Yaxley, Walden Macnair and most surprising of all, Lord Voldemort himself. The wards around the Manor keeping the Aurors from finding it had been broken when Voldemort died.
Well, Amelia had known that he was dead and how it happened but the rest of the world didn't know that and never would if they had anything to say about it. They had decided together with the goblins that the world would never know just who exacly killed Lord Voldemort. The goblin nation really didn't want the extra attention from the Wizarding World. It was never kind to them anyway.
Harry and the rest had agreed. The public and the Ministry might be grateful for a while but they all knew how quickly that could change.
Both Longbottoms were exatic to hear that the Lestranges brothers who had tortured their loved ones into insanity were dead. Now there were just one left of that family. Amelia did say they found blood from Bellatrix but that she seemed to have escaped. She couldn't tell them how injured the woman was or where she had gone. That was worrying.
This evening there would be an extra edition of the Daily Prophet in which there would be told that Lord Voldmort was dead together with a few of his worst Death Eaters too.
Now that their leader was dead the Aurors would be going after the rest of the Death Eaters in full force. Hopefully they'd soon all be caught so that Amelia and Susan would be able to go home again.
Harry would go back to Black Manor after dinner so he could tell Andromeda in person that her sister had been injured and that they didn't know where she was before she read it in the paper. She might have been insane but at one point Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black had been Andromeda's little sister and she deserved to hear news about her in private from someone who cared about her.