Growing up too fast

Back at the castle, a week had passed with no change in Harry. Sirius had been staying at the school to be close whenever Harry woke up. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape had stayed as well. One morning, when Madame Pomfrey went in to check on Harry she let out a loud scream and came crashing out the door. Within moments, Sirius, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore were outside. Snape was just coming up when Pomfrey calmed down enough to say, "There's a lion in there!"

"A Lion?" Sirius and Snape said together. "Is Harry all right?"

"Calm down, calm down. This is a good thing. It is not a lion Madame, it is a griffin and it is Harry," Dumbledore said with a twinkle.

"Harry? I don't understand?" Sirius asked totally confused. Snape didn't say anything but looked as confused as Sirius.

"Sirius, we planned on telling you but when you came to visit, meeting R.J. seemed to be the thing to do. It just slipped our mind. Harry is an animagus," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Potter an animagus? Did he register or is this another of summer studies?" Snape asked.

"He did it by the book," McGonagall stepped in. "I trained him. He was able to learn it in under a month. And he has filled out the registration paperwork but we are holding it until such time as it becomes public knowledge."

"A month! It took me nearly a year," Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes well he had some help. It seems a real griffin turned up before term this year and Harry stumbled upon it. He was able to get some hair and I made a potion that helped the process along. However, even with the potion, he made remarkable progress," McGonagall added.

"Yes, yes, but back to the current situation. He has woken up. Let's see if we can talk to him," Dumbledore said and they walked through the door.

As soon as they were in the hospital room and Sirius started to speak, the griffin let out a huge roar and swatted one of the beds so that it crashed into the wall near them. The teachers quickly backed out of the room.

"Why is he like that? And, why is he so mad?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"That would explain things," Dumbledore mumbled to himself.

"Excuse me Headmaster," McGonagall asked.

"Did you notice his eyes when we brought him in? Yellow. We couldn't understand how he had lived with all of the injuries and why his breathing was so shallow and rapid all this time. You know that griffins are extremely hard to kill. That is why they were hunted so much. My guess is that roar we heard right before the flash was Harry and that all this time he has been a griffin except for the body. As for why he is mad. Well, assume you're a griffin that has a natural mistrust of humans. All you know is that you've been attacked and now you wake up in an unnatural place with five humans walking toward you. What would you do?"

"Let me go in by myself," Sirius offered.

"I'm not sure that is wise. You're a dog in your animagus state. A big dog yes; but no match for a griffin. If he can sense your dog form that would be worse than a human. None of us would be a match for an angry griffin if it really wanted to attack. I'll go in alone."

Dumbledore walked through the door and didn't step any closer. The griffin gave a low growl. "Harry. You're safe here. You're at school and no one will hurt you." The griffin paced back and forth. "Can you change back? There are others who want to talk to you." Dumbledore took a step forward. The griffin roared again, turned and crashed through the window. Dumbledore quickly went to the window and saw the griffin flying toward the forest. The others came in after hearing the crash.

"What happened?" Sirius yelled.

"He jumped out the window," Dumbledore said calmly.

"He jumped?" Snape exclaimed.

"Not to worry Severus. He can fly of course," Dumbledore replied and Snape just shook his head.

"Now what do we do. We've waited weeks for him to wake up and now he's flown away," Sirius said almost panicking.

Dumbledore's eyes lit up and he said, "I have an idea where he is. I'll go by myself and see if I can talk to him. Minerva, could you fill them in on how Harry came to be an animagus please?"

Dumbledore walked down the path into the forest. Approaching the spot where Harry had taken him to see the real griffin he heard the low growl again and then saw the griffin pacing back and forth. "Ah Harry. I thought I may find you here." The griffin kept pacing. "You are really safe now. Nothing here will harm you. You remember bringing me here to see the real griffin don't you?" The griffin stopped pacing and just stood there staring. "Your godfather is here and wants to see you. Everything is ok now."

The griffin changed back into Harry who collapsed to his knees and yelled, "It's not ok! They killed her. She's gone." Then Harry fell to his side crying. Dumbledore came to his side and sat down not saying anything. "Why me professor? I just want a normal life."

"Normal is in the one doing the living Harry. Yes, R.J. is gone, we have seen to her arrangements. You will be able see for yourself. How are you doing though? You had us all worried."

"I just hurt, all over," Harry suddenly straightened up. "Sir, what happened to Voldemort? How did I get back to the castle?"

Dumbledore held up a hand and said, "You were brought back by a dementor. It seems not all dementors are as bad as I had thought. They have assured me that the prisoners in Azkaban will not be freed. It was quite a shock seeing a dementor gently carrying your body out of the forest. As for Voldemort, he was also taken by another group of dementors. From what we hear, he is in worse shape than you were. I also doubt he has access to as good of care or as many dear friends to watch over him."

"The Unspeakable! Did they find out who it was?"

"Yes Harry, thanks to you they did. It wasn't a currently active member but one with connections inside none the less. The man is in custody now and a man named Fletch told me to tell you thanks and said, 'The offer still stands' He didn't explain this offer though."

"Fletch told me that if I don't play Quidditch after school that I could become a real unspeakable. He'd get me a job in his department."

"That's high praise Harry. Most wizards would do nearly anything to get into that department."

"Did Cho make it out ok? She seemed really scared."

"Miss Chang is fine and delivered your messages perfectly. Your friend the centaur made good time getting her out from what I hear. Are you ready to walk back to the castle? There are some people who are quite anxious to see you up and about, and not in a form that could rip them apart. You gave Madame Pomfrey quite a start."

"I'm sorry sir, I'll apologize to her. I woke up and felt so afraid and confused. Speaking of Cho getting out, I really need to thank Aragog before long. Without his help, I don't think she would have made it."

"All in due time. Let's go back to the school. Before we get back, I'd like to ask you one question without the others present. Did you ever have any doubts about what you were doing?"

Harry thought for a moment and said, "Until Firenze had taken Cho away, yes. I didn't know how to get her out of there safely. After that, no. I didn't know if I would get out myself but I didn't have doubts about what I was doing. It was weird, I can't explain it."

"No need to try. Let's go in."

The others were waiting in the entrance hall. Immediately Sirius ran up and hugged Harry. "I'm so glad you're ok. I was so worried."

Harry hugged him back saying, "Easy, I'm pretty sore." Then he smiled.

Madame Pomfrey approached a little slower than normal and asked how he was feeling. "Fine Madame. I'm sorry about scaring you earlier, I was confused," he said.

"That's quite all right Mr. Potter. I would have just liked to know who was and wasn't an animagus in my care," she glanced at Dumbledore.

After some initial greetings and questions Dumbledore asked, "Would you be up to some questions Harry? We know what happened until Miss Cho left and minor items that the dementor told me but I think details would help us all. Or would you prefer waiting until tomorrow?"

"If I could have answer while I'm eating, I'm ready now. I'm starving!"

"Getting back to normal," Sirius said.

"Professor, is it OK if Sirius comes with us. He'll probably ask later and it would be easier telling the story once," Harry said with a smile.

"Of course Harry, nothing about your state should be kept from him," Dumbledore added.

"Potter. Would it bother you if I were present as well? Some tidbits of information about your confrontation with Voldemort peaked my curiosity," Snape asked.

"Of course not Professor. If any of you want to be there and ask me questions, I have no problem with any of you hearing anything that happened." Harry said, "Does that cover everything? I need food."

They all arrived in Dumbledore's office and the food was already on the table. Dumbledore said; "There was one catch with getting food at this time. You had to agree to talk to the delivery ...um... elf". Dobby was standing there beaming.

Dobby ran over and hugged Harry tightly. "Harry Potter sir is back! We were so worried in the kitchen, it was hard to work. We were surprised no one returned the food. You learned much this year. Dobby didn't know if it would be enough. Harry Potter is a great wizard."

Harry was blushing and said, "It's good to see you too Dobby and thanks for the push to learn new things this summer. Without you I may not be here. I need to talk to these people now, tell Winky I said hello."

"Oh yes sir! It will make her most happy. She has been worried also." Then 'pop' and the little elf was gone.

Dumbledore had a smile on his face. The other's looked like they really wanted to make fun of him. Harry said quickly, "Kind of goes overboard doesn't he?"

"Before you start Harry, why didn't you tell me you were an animagus?" Sirius asked, with disappointment in his voice.

"I planned on it. The first time I saw you after learning, I planned on showing you. But it turned out to be the first time you met R.J. and really, I was more excited and nervous about you meeting her than about being an animagus. I'm really sorry."

Sirius looked at him for a moment and said, "I can live with that. I can still remember when girls were far more important than telling family about any thing else."

"I have a question if you don't mind Potter," Snape said;."What can you tell us about this training over the summer?"

Harry answered immediately, "Sorry Professor, I can't tell you much of anything other than I went through some of the Auror training. I don't mean any disrespect; I haven't told anyone exactly what happened, I do mean anyone. Some of it isn't pleasant to tell but I do really appreciate being able to do it."

"Good answer Potter," Snape said. "One more before you begin. Miss Chang said you told her to mention that friends and family were there. What did you mean by that?"

"Easy. The friends were Aragog and his children. After Voldemort did the Cruciatus curse on the first Death Eater, I thought I head the clicking of them talking. Then after the second, I was sure. This was when I felt confident about getting Cho out of there. The family was the centaurs. They have kind of adopted me into their clan. I knew that Professor Dumbledore knew this and would worry about me less knowing I wasn't alone."

"Why are giant spiders your friend?" Sirius asked.

"Well at first they weren't. Aragog tried to eat Ron and me in our second year but since I killed the basilisk, he apologized and said he and his family would help protect me. I'm not going to get in any trouble for any information that comes out here today am I?"

"This is entirely between-term talk Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall stated.

Harry went on to tell the story from his point of view starting with Cho being abducted. The only time he had to stop was when he got to the part about R.J. being caught by the dementor. "Voldemort said if I threw down my wand, the Death Eaters and dementors wouldn't harm her, so I did. When R.J. got to me, we hugged and Voldemort said something about us being alike and both enjoying the friendship of creatures of the night. Then a vampire I hadn't seen just killed her. He cut off her head." Harry stopped for a moment and then described dispatching a tree branch through the heart of the vampire.

"But you just said you threw down your wand. How did you get your wand and then dispatch the branch before the vampire attacked you?" Snape asked.

"I don't need a wand to do things like that," Harry said calmly.

Snape spoke up. "Excuse me, what are you talking about? How could you do that without your wand?"

In an instant, Harry summoned a book off of the shelf and sent it straight at Professor Snape, stopping just in front of his face. Harry never pulled out his wand. Snape's eyes were huge and then Harry returned the book to the shelf never once touching his wand. "Um something else I found out I could to over the summer," Harry said.

Professor McGonagall was smiling broadly.

When Harry got to the point about Voldemort putting the Cruciatus curse on him Snape spoke up. "This is of particular interest to me Potter as you can imagine. I personally know the effects of that curse from him. How am I to believe that you can tolerate it?"

"I learned how this summer sir. Truthfully, I can do more than tolerate it. I can either ignore it or use it as Voldemort recently found out," Harry said.

"Can you be more specific Harry?" Dumbledore asked, obviously interested.

"Not going into details but somehow over the summer I learned to throw off the effects of the curse. It really doesn't bother me at all. Kind of like the Imperius Curse. Then I learned that if I would let in just enough of the pain to not pass out, it could be channeled into an extremely powerful offensive spell. It didn't work as I expected against Voldemort but obviously did something."

"Potter, there are records of wizards being able to throw off the Imperius Curse. It's still very impressive, but it is documented. I haven't heard of anyone who could throw off the Cruciatus curse," Snape said, not in a mean tone, but a questioning one.

"Professor, I really don't mind if someone here tries it out. This same thing happened over the summer when I said I could throw off the Imperius Curse. No one believed me and then I proved it. I've been told this is highly unusual and I'm not offended at all. Before we continue, I insist on proving it. And, if Professor Dumbledore doesn't mind, I'd prefer him to do it. I've only thrown it off from Voldemort and one other person so it would be informative to me." Harry looked at Dumbledore and said, "And please sir, don't hold back, I really want to know."

"So do I Harry," Dumbledore said and then stood, pointed his wand and said "CRUCIO". Harry felt the initial rush of pain, much more intense than Voldemort's had been but he was able to step away from the pain, point his finger at the professor and say, "Bang".

Dumbledore release the spell, smiling and said, "Proof enough Severus?"

Snape was looking at Harry in awe and then asked, "What about this channeling into an offensive spell?"

Harry quickly replied, "Oh, not here, it would cause too much damage."

Dumbledore gave an audible chuckle while the others looked confused. "Continue with the story Harry."

Harry told the rest of the story until the last second that he remembered.

"One final question from me Harry," Snape said. He never called me Harry. "Why do you think it was that Draco Malfoy didn't interact much with you this year? That seemed odd to me."

"Well sir. When we were buying books before term, I wasn't exactly um... respectful to Mr. Malfoy and then when Draco made his usual visit to our compartment on the train I um... told him to ask his father how it felt to be tortured by Voldemort for letting a fourteen-year-old boy escape after the tournament last year. I think I made it clear I wouldn't put up with much this year. But, since term started, I haven't done anything to him at all."

After a moment with nothing said Dumbledore asked, "Any further questions for Harry? No? Then if you wouldn't mind excusing us, I have a personal matter to discuss with him." The other teachers and Sirius left the office and Dumbledore continued. "Harry I want to talk to you about Miss R.J. if you don't mind." This wasn't what Harry really wanted to talk about. "I mentioned that we took care of her arrangements and that you could visit when you were ready. Sirius will accompany you whenever that is. I have a letter that she left in my possession just in case something like this happened. She was a very practical, intelligent woman Harry. She always planned for the worst case." Dumbledore handed Harry a letter from R.J. "I don't know the wording Harry, but I do know the specifics of what this letter is saying. Would you like me to leave while you read it?"

Harry thought and then said, "No sir. I'd rather you stay if you don't mind." Harry read the letter;

Harry.

If you're reading this, that means things haven't gone well for me. I wanted to put down some thoughts and feelings just in case something like this would happen. These past months with you have been the happiest I can remember since becoming a vampire. Since I am not around anymore, I want you to know that every minute I spent with you were precious and I wouldn't give it up for anything. Something obviously has happened to disrupt our being together and for that I am truly sorry. You are a unique person and someone who I hold the utmost respect for. I hope that this will be a bit outdated and I would have told you that I love you before you read it in this letter. You have treated me better than I could have imagined and given me so much enjoyment. Please don't mourn me. My only regret is that I couldn't spend more time with you. I won't miss being alive, just being with you.

At the time of writing this, I hadn't told you my last name. I promised I would when you asked about the handle of the sword. It is Veganos. The same as the ruby you gave me for Christmas. My family owned the land where this stone was first mined. Ready for another shock. I was a princess in my youth. My relatives ruled the land near my home. I am the last of my family so there is no one left to take care of my home. As you can imagine, I had no family. This is a more personal letter describing a legal letter in Professor Dumbledore's possession that gives you full ownership to my property and assets. I only ask one favor. There is a family that has cared for the grounds of my home for many years. They are good people and know all about me. Please let them continue to provide their services. My assets, which are now yours, will cover any expense for them. I have written a letter for them also describing you and my feelings for you. They will understand. By the way, he made the sword I gave you for Christmas.

Please don't mourn for me Harry. You are an extraordinary person and I am fortunate to have known you before my long life ended. I am sorry for not being around longer. I hope that the conditions of my passing were worthy and made you proud.

I love you.

Rebecca Jane Veganos.

Harry just started crying again. After a few minutes, he asked, "What does this really mean Professor?"

"It means Harry that you have inherited the Veganos castle and grounds. That is where we have buried her, near her ancestors. I will place some protection around the grounds and if you would like, you can now call that place home. You do not have to return to Privet Drive if you don't wish to."

Harry sat in silence for a minute and said, "No one understood me falling for R.J. Even my friends asked why I didn't go for Cho instead. R.J. treated me differently. She didn't seem to care about the history or anything; she seemed to like just me. I didn't care about her past or her being a vampire. She treated me better than anyone I've known. I just can't believe she's gone. I can't imagine feeling that way again. She died because she got so close to me."

"Do you think it would have made any difference in the outcome Harry? I think she would have done her job the same if she had never met you. R.J. took her responsibilities very seriously. Trust me when I say I understand what you're feeling Harry. However, I can assure you from knowing Miss R.J. for a long time that I know she would want you to try again. Imagine how long she's lived and what happened to anyone she's loved in the past. She would outlive any person she cared for. When I first met her, she swore to never care about a person again. Look how that turned out. Deep inside, she knew the joy of loving someone and you gave that to her. If she hadn't met you and the same fate happened, she would have died not knowing that feeling. I doubt she would change a thing. I know it's hard now, but remember to open your heart again. There are a few very special people out there who would love to be a part of your life. Make sure you give them a chance."

Dumbledore had written Harry's friends; who had been sending daily owls asking about his condition; telling them that Harry was awake and was going to be leaving the school but not going to Privet Drive and that he wasn't ready to talk to anyone or answer questions. Harry really just wanted some quiet time.

A couple days later, Sirius and Harry were ready to make the trip to Harry's new home, the Veganos Castle. He wasn't looking forward to leaving Hogwarts but it wasn't as bad as going back to the Dursley's. Harry had received a letter early that morning:

Mr. Harry Potter.

As per the last request of Princess Rebecca Veganos, we have transferred ownership of her assets to you account. In doing so, we have transferred the contents of your exiting vault to her old vault. The next time you are in our branch, please return the key to your old vault. Your new vault will not require a key.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you require any assistance.

Head Goblin,

Gringotts, Diagon Alley.

Before departing for Hogsmeade, Harry said goodbye and thanked all the professors who stayed until he recovered. He and Sirius (in his dog form) walked into the Three Broomsticks, straight toward the fireplace, threw in some powder, said "Veganos Castle" and then stepped in.