Growing up too fast

Harry had managed to get a tail on the third try before quitting for the evening. Upon arriving back in the common room, Fred and George grabbed him as soon as he entered the room. Fred started, "Harry, we need to find a couple people for the Quidditch team. Oliver is gone of course, but Alicia Spinnet is injured and won't be able to play this year. Also, we need to vote on a new captain, which I think should be me, since I'm much better than George here."

"Shut up you prat," George added "We're going to have tryouts Saturday morning down on the pitch. We need you there to help judge."

"I'll be there. What about Ron, do you think he'll make the team?" Harry asked.

"He has a good chance since we need two players. If we only had one opening, I'd say Ginny would beat him out," George stated

"Ginny is going to try out for the team?" Harry asked sounding surprised.

"Well I would hope so, she's a better flier than we are, that's for sure. She'd make an excellent chaser or seeker. So you better be on your toes Harry or she'll take your job."

Harry walked over to where Ginny and Hermione were sitting. "Where's Ron?" he asked.

"How should we know? Probably looking for the secret to attracting girls," Hermione snapped.

"You know he didn't really mean that Hermione. Ron just says things before he thinks. Actually I have that problem to. But he was just joking."

"Then why hasn't he wanted to come around us?" she asked.

"You two don't exactly look like you wanted either of us around. Ginny, there are tryouts for the Quidditch team on Saturday; you'll be there won't you? I really think you'll make the team."

"I don't know," she said sadly. "Ron would be really mad if somehow I made the team and he didn't.

"Come on, you have to try out. You're an amazing flier. I'm glad that I don't have to compete against you; you could probably take my spot. I'm sure Ron would want Gryffindor to have the best team even if he couldn't be on it. You may both make it since Alicia Spinnet can't play this year we need two new members. Say you'll come, please?" Harry begged

This seemed to lift her spirits and she said, "Ok, I'll try but if I make it and Ron doesn't, you have to deal with him."

"Great. Oh yeah, Professor McGonagall told me that Hagrid would be back before long. I'm anxious to hear how his assignment went." Just then Ron came over to where they were sitting.

"So Ron, are you trying out for the team Saturday? I begged Ginny to try out also," Harry said trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, I'll try out. Not sure if I'll make it or not but I want to try"

"Harry can I ask you something?" Ginny said softly. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's ok. Can you tell us more about wandless magic? Hermione and I have looked in the library and there's almost no information about it. Any mention of it is that it's a myth and could never be controlled."

Ron added quickly, "You don't have to say anything if you don't want."

Harry appreciated his friend's effort. "I'll tell you what I know." Harry told them about the first few time when he didn't know what he was doing and then about the truck. "That's when Mrs. Figg told me she was a witch. All these years I thought she was some batty old lady with a bunch of cats." He went on to talk about how Mrs. Figg helped him practice and learn to control it more. "That's all I really know. I don't know why I can do it or if I can do anything else. We just worked on moving things around."

"Could you do something now?" Ginny pleaded

Harry looked around and then started sending pillows and books all over the room ending up with books in one stack and pillows in the other.

"Wicked, simply wicked. I'm beat though, heading for bed," Ron said with a yawn.

"Thanks for showing us," Ginny said before giving him a hug and heading to bed.

"You know we're really proud that you saved that girl. You don't have to keep anything from us, you know that don't you?" Hermione added seriously.

"I know, sorry that I ever did. Goodnight." When he got up to his room, Ron was already in bed. "Ron, what were you doing in the library tonight?"

"Nothing really," Ron said sounding guilty. "Parvati mentioned that Hermione had seemed to be avoiding me and wanted to know if I'd like to study with her. It was kind of nice actually. She doesn't mess with my head like other people do. Goodnight Harry."

Classes were uneventful the next day and Harry made it to the clearing with the griffin without being noticed. The creature looked agitated again. Harry closely studied the tail and wings. When he was stroking the wings, the griffin spread them widely so Harry could get a better look. They felt very powerful. Harry concentrated and was able to fully transform for the first time ever. He could tell the difference and that he had wings now. He walked around and could smell many things in the forest he never noticed before. He could hear things so much better as well. The real griffin stood in front of Harry and spread its wings, so Harry did the same thing. The real griffin took a couple steps, flapped its wings and flew out of the clearing. Harry was nervous but wanted to try. He tried to do the same thing the real griffin had done.

Harry took a few large steps and focused on flapping his wings. Then it happened, he just took off and flew. It just seemed natural. The real griffin was circling near the top of the trees. Harry approached and it took off over the deeper part of the forest. Harry followed amazed at how free he felt. This was even better than flying on a broom. It was starting to get dark when the pair of griffins landed back in the clearing. Harry stayed in griffin form. The real griffin came face to face with Harry and kind of butted heads with him. Harry pushed back and then turned and went off towards the edge of the forest. He felt more comfortable in the forest while in the griffin form but changed back near the edge of the forest. Harry ran back up to the castle and headed straight to Professor McGonagall's office.

"You're late Mr. Potter. I thought you were taking this training very seriously."

"I am taking it seriously professor; I was flying with the real griffin!"

"You actually flew!" She sounded quite excited. "How did you know you were ready to try?"

"I changed when I was with the griffin and could feel that I had wings. The griffin took off and started flying so I just went after it. It just came naturally."

"Let's see then," she said still sounding unusually happy for her.

Harry changed quickly and spread his wings. The professor seemed to study them for a moment. Harry stretched out his paws and extended the claws before changing back.

"I actually think you've got it Mr. Potter. You picked it up quite quickly. I would like to have our training tomorrow down by Hagrid's hut. The only thing I'd like you to work on when you can be alone is your speed of transformation. The ideal thing would be for you to jump in the air and be fully changed before landing. I'll get the paperwork ready so that you will be official after tomorrow. We won't be filing the papers but you will have done your part. You can go now."

Harry was very happy while heading back to the common room when he noticed Ron and Parvati coming up the stairs. "Hey Ron, what's going on? Hi Parvati," Harry said.

"Hello Harry," she said nicely

"We've just been studying some more." Ron added.

"Parvati, I wanted to apologize for the way I acted at the Ball last year. You were being very nice by going with me and I behaved like a total prat. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve being treated like that," Harry said honestly

"It's ok," Parvati responded. "Thanks for apologizing though. It was nice going to the ball with you anyway. Now Ron here, he was being a worse git than you were," she said while poking Ron in the sides.

"I know, you've told me before," Ron laughed. Harry left them and headed back into the common room. It was weird to see Ron laughing with someone other than Hermione.

Hermione and Ginny were sitting in front of the fire with Crookshanks when he came over. "One more night of detention and then I'm free," Harry said. Crookshanks came and sat on his lap purring loudly.

"Is that all you guys want, to be free?" Hermione slammed her book and left the room.

Harry was stunned. "What did I say?" he asked Ginny.

"She's mad at Ron. He's been spending time with Parvati. He even goes to the library with her. Why would he do that?"

"I asked him about it last night. He said it was nice being around someone who was fun and didn't mess with his head like other people. I think it's getting to him that Hermione is so serious and doesn't show that she likes being around him."

"But Hermione really likes him, how could he rather spend time with Parvati?"

"Well don't take this personally, but girls are impossible for us to figure out. I know he would rather spend time with Hermione but she seems to be playing hard to get or something. Ron would rather have her act like she really likes him and that she doesn't mind him just being himself. I think that he likes that Parvati doesn't seem to judge how he acts."

"You wouldn't rather have someone like Parvati would you?" Ginny didn't know if she should have asked this.

"Not really. It's just so confusing for us to know how to act around girls we like. Sometimes we want to show that we like a girl and then she goes and does or says something that makes us think she doesn't want us to act that way. Then when we don't show that we like them they act angry with us. That's really hard to deal with. I wouldn't want to be with someone like Parvati. She would be ok as a friend to do things with but not as a girlfriend. I'd want someone who acted like they liked me but didn't let me get away with everything. Someone who was honest and didn't play games with my feelings. Maybe we're not supposed to figure girls out. All I know is that we need to find a way to get Ron and Hermione back wanting to spend time together."

"We'll figure something out, they were meant to be together," Ginny added.

"I agree. Some people just fit together. Goodnight Ginny," Harry said as he headed up to bed.

Harry transformed before getting to the clearing the next night. The griffin seemed more relaxed then it had the past few nights. He just stood near it for a few minutes, then spread his wings and flew off. The real griffin followed closely. They flew for a while and then headed back to the clearing. The real griffin was standing next to Harry when it gave a huge roar. Harry did the same thing. He could hear many birds taking flight in the forest. This just felt so natural to Harry. They ran through the forest for a while before Harry needed to get back. Just like last night, the real griffin butted heads with Harry. It seemed to look at him deeply before Harry turned to go.

He walked on the edge of the forest to Hagrid's hut where Professor McGonagall was waiting with Professor Dumbledore. "Hello Harry. Minerva tells me you have made some significant progress. I'm looking forward to seeing how close you are getting." Harry glanced at Professor McGonagall who gave a slight wink. "Whenever you are ready Harry."

Harry ran a few steps, jumped into the air, transformed and took off flying over the forest. He circled a couple times before landing. He then walked over near the professors, spread his wings and roared loudly. Then Harry transformed back into his normal form.

"I see Minerva was holding back on your progress. That was perfect Harry. I think your choice of animal was very wise. Is the real griffin still in the forest?"

"I think so sir. I was with it just before coming here. We went flying over the forest and then we ran around a bit. I wonder why it is staying here though."

"That's a much a mystery as why the centaurs made you a member of their clan I would say," Dumbledore said.

"Potter is a member of a centaur clan headmaster? What does that mean?"

"It means for some reason, they thought it was in their best interests to include Harry in their family. I don't have any real theories on why though. Either way, I'm impressed with your animagus form Harry. Well done. By the way, Hagrid will return before long and will be ready to spend some time in the forest with you after that. Do either of you have an idea how to explain Harry's absences from the common room?"

"Hermione will be really disappointed in me if she thinks I've broken any more rules," Harry said.

"Yes she does take her prefect duties seriously. I would think we could tell your close friends the truth. You don't mind the other students thinking you're in trouble again do you?"

"Not at all professor. I doubt they will have any trouble believing it."

"Then after you stay out with Hagrid the first night you will be caught and punished with detention for two weeks. Is this acceptable to you Minerva?"

"Yes headmaster. We are fortunate the students are used to Mr. Potter serving detention."

They were walking back up to the castle when Harry asked, "Do you think it is still necessary to keep this from Ron and Hermione Professor?"

"I'll leave that up to you Harry. I know how hard it is to keep something like this away from those who are closest to you. Remember that once they know, you can never go back. I would like you to wait until you can see Sirius in person before telling him though. I may have an idea about that."

"Thank you both for letting me learn this and especially you Professor McGonagall for spending the time to help me. I really appreciate all you've done."

"My pleasure Harry," Professor McGonagall said. "It's a fairly rare talent and I enjoy seeing others enjoy the experience. And I dare say you would have found some way to learn it on your own anyway. Your father and godfather both did so I don't know how you could have been stopped. It was safer to teach you the right way to do it."

Harry ran back up to the common room where his friends were talking in the corner. "Are you two ready for Quidditch tryouts tomorrow?" Harry asked.

Both Ron and Ginny said they were ready. Ginny sounded more confident than Ron did.

"Oh yeah, I have something to tell you guys. Come in a bit closer, no one else can hear." They all came in close. "Did I tell you that the centaur said I should get more familiar with the forest?" They said no. "Oh, sorry about that. Well the centaur said I should get more familiar in the forest. Professor Dumbledore agreed to let me spend some evenings in the forest. Hagrid is going to come with me after he gets back. You know Hagrid will like any excuse to go into the forest at night."

"There is no way I'd go in there at night, no way at all," Ron said. "I think you are completely mental."

"I'm surprised Professor Dumbledore agreed to that. You heard him after the sorting; he said it was even more dangerous this year. I wonder what all things are in there?" Hermione said, almost sounding jealous that she wasn't going.

"I wish I could go in with you. There has to be some very interesting creatures in the forest. Not all of them can be bad," Ginny said. "You guys have all been into the forest before and I haven't." Then she remembered about just being in there last week with Harry and Professor Dumbledore.

"It's not like I enjoyed going into the forest Ginny. A giant spider tried to eat me," Ron exclaimed.

"How are you going to sneak out every night, someone will miss you," Hermione asked

Harry laughed. "I'm going to get detention again! I'll sneak out Monday night and then I'll get in trouble for that and Professor McGonagall will yell at me and give me detention. Even you three would have believed that if I hadn't told you the truth."

"That's true, you getting into trouble isn't out of the ordinary at all. Wait, that's what happened to get you detention the last couple weeks. Was that real or fake?" Hermione asked.

Harry had hoped they wouldn't ask this. He looked uncomfortable for a moment before Ginny spoke up, "Harry, you haven't been in detention have you?"

"No, I haven't. But Professor Dumbledore made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone, not even you three. I really wanted to but he seemed very serious about this. Kind of like the Timer-Turner Hermione. Sorry."

"You have been Fred and George's hero by getting into trouble so soon into the year and it was all an act. They'd be disappointed in you," Ron added. "So, what were you really doing?"

"I'm just trying to learn other things that may give me and advantage when I'm attacked again. It hasn't been dangerous this time though. I think that's the only reason they're letting me go into the forest. If I'm attacked they probably think I could escape into the forest. This will get Fred and George thinking I'm even a bigger trouble maker than they do now."

"I guess we need to trust that Professor Dumbledore knows what he is doing. I don't think he would knowingly put you in danger Harry," Hermione added.

They all decided to go to bed when Harry called out. "Ginny, before you go up, can I ask you a question please?" She looked confused but came back. After both Ron and Hermione were out of sight Harry whispered, "I don't really need to ask you a question, I want to show you what I've been learning if that's ok."

"Really! Why don't you want Ron and Hermione to know?"

"I don't think it's time for them to know, but I really want to show someone and I know you would appreciate it the most. Come on; let's go to an empty room." They threw on the invisibility cloak and snuck out to an empty classroom.

"Ok, remember this is me and you don't have anything to worry about," Harry said which made Ginny nervous. She had no idea what was going to happen. She nodded like she agreed but didn't say anything.

Harry stepped away from her a bit so she wouldn't be right next to him after he changed. Quickly he changed into his griffin form and looked at Ginny. She seemed stunned for only a second and then ran over and hugged him. "Harry you're an animagus! This is the best form ever! Show me your wings." Harry expanded his wings to their full width and then retracted them. "Who all knows about it? Can you really fly?"

Harry backed up and transformed back to his normal form. "Only Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore know, and now you do. No one else knows. Yes, I can fly. The real griffin and I have been flying over the forest."

"No one, not even Sirius?" she asked.

"No, Professor Dumbledore thought it would be better to wait until I see Sirius in person to explain everything to him. You won't let it slip to Hermione or Ron will you? I just don't feel like it is time to let them know. I hate keeping anything from them but it just seems like I shouldn't."

"I promise that I won't tell. But, why did you show me? I'm glad you did, but why?"

"I really wanted to share it with someone; I'm so excited about it. And, you like griffins so much I thought you would see the benefits of this form more than anyone. And, I guess in the past we've had secrets from you and I want to make sure you know that I don't want to keep anything from you if I can help it."

She hugged him tightly and said, "Thanks, that means a lot. We better get back; Hermione will wonder where I've been."

They snuck back into the common room and went to bed. Harry was glad he had told her. It felt like a weight had been lifted from him. The next morning Ron was yelling at him, "Get up Harry; I don't want to miss tryouts."

"We've got time, let me sleep," Harry grumbled.

"Come on, I want to practice a bit," Ron pleaded.

The pari walked down to the pitch with Harry carrying his Firebolt and Ron carrying a school broom. Harry watched Ron fly around a bit. He was quite good. Fred and George came down carrying a large package that they gave to Ron. "This is from Bill, Charlie and us." Fred said. "You better do well." George added.

Ron opened the package and saw a 'Nimbus 2100'. "Wow, a new broom. How did you guys do this?"

"Well we thought the investor in our company wouldn't mind us using a little for something like this. And remember Bill and Charlie chipped in a bit. They've got real jobs you know. It's not the latest model but it could fly rings around those school brooms," George said.

"Thanks guys, I can't believe this. I need to get the feel of it before tryouts start." Ron quickly took off. It was obvious that this was a much better broom than the school broom he had been using.

"Harry, we didn't need to use much on this, you don't mind do you? We also did the same thing for Ginny. You're not mad are you?" Fred asked

"Not at all, I would have liked to buy them but neither Ron or Ginny would accept something like that from me. Thanks for doing it," Harry added feeling very happy. Ginny would really be impressive with a broom like this he thought.

Soon the others came down. He noticed Ginny grinning broadly and talking quickly to Ron as they compared brooms. A couple third years and a few fourth years besides Ginny had come for tryouts. It wasn't a sure thing that either Ron or Ginny would make the team. Harry would rather have them on the team even if that didn't make the best team and wondered how Fred and George felt. He knew that Angelina would vote only based on talent. The current team members gathered together first and Angelina spoke up. "I think we need to vote on a captain first."

Harry quickly added. "But what if one of the new members would make a better captain?" He could see the shock on Fred and George's faces.

They all three agreed to wait until after the tryouts to vote on a captain.

They went through the first round and made cuts so that only Ron, Ginny and two other fourth year boys were left. They were all quite good and would fit on the team well.

"Now we're going to be a little harder on you. You really need to do your best in this next competition. We will vote for the two best after this round," Angelina said.

Fred and George were hitting Bludgers at them quite hard. Angelina and Harry were trying to get the quaffle through the goals and they had to stop as many as they could. Then the swapped and the competitors had to try and get the quaffle past Harry and Angelina. Harry wasn't very good at being a keeper and he only stopped the most basic shots.

"That's all. You all did very well and any of you would make a good addition to our team. We only need two new players so we will go vote now. The two of you who don't make the team should try again next year," Angelina told the group.

They all went off so the others couldn't hear them. "So what do you think?" Angelina asked.

"They're all really good," Fred said. "With any of them we should have as good a team as last year. I really think Ron would make the best keeper. He's a good flier but he was awesome blocking shots."

"I agree. He wouldn't make the team as a chaser right now but he should be able to live up to Oliver's legacy as keeper," Angelina said.

Then George added, "And, he knows more about Quidditch technique than any of us. He's really the biggest fan of the game. We like playing and watching, but Ron really understands the game."

"Ok, so does everyone agree that Ron is the new keeper?" And everyone agreed.

"Now the hard part. Which one of the three will be our new chaser?" she asked.

They were all quiet and then Harry spoke up, "I vote for Ginny. Even though she's been flying the least amount of time, she is at least equal to the other two. If she can get some real practice and playing time, she could really be awesome."

"I'm kind of worried about having her on the team though," Fred added, "it can get kind of brutal out there. Mom would kill us if we let something happen to her."

"Are you saying that a girl can't take care of herself Fred Weasley?" Angelina exclaimed. "We had three girls on the team the past few years and we won the cup. And none of us ended up in the hospital."

This hurt Harry. He had wound up in the hospital twice before. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to Ginny either, but that can't be a good reason to vote against her. Do you know how mad she would be if she found out that's why she didn't make the team? And, my vote for captain is Ron. Except for Angelina he is the most responsible one of us. He will make sure we actually get to practice."

"Everyone will think we just voted for those two because we're related. But when have I cared what people think of me?" George joked. They walked back to the group of competitors who were all looking very nervous.

Hermione was alternating between Ron and Hermione saying, "You did very well no matter what happens."

"All four of you did well, but here are our choices. The new keeper will be Ron Weasley." Angelina announced. Hermione and Ginny both hugged Ron. The other two fourth year boys shook his hand and then he ran over to the rest of the team. "The new chaser will be Ginny Weasley." Hermione hugged her and the fourth year boys were being very good sports and shook her hand also before heading back up to the castle.

"We should just change the name to Weasley's team," Harry joked. "Shouldn't you announce the new captain now?"

"Ah yes. It looks like my dreams have been shattered and I won't be captain this year," Angelina said somewhat joking. "We have chosen Ron to be our new captain."

"You're joking!" Ron yelled. "I'm the Quidditch captain."

"The rest of us didn't want the responsibility to get up early and get everyone to practice. We have more important things to be doing," Fred joked.

"Congratulations Ron, I think you'll do great," Ginny said genuinely happy for her brother.

Ron couldn't remember being much happier. "I get a new broom, make the house team and get to be captain, all in one day. To heck with your luck with the ladies Harry, I'll take this any day." Even Hermione smiled at this.

They spent the rest of the weekend just having fun. Harry was so happy for Ron. It was great that he was finally getting some recognition of his own. At his house, everything was about his older brothers or his only sister. At school it was usually about Harry, but now he was the house Quidditch captain. All his family would be very proud of him.