Harry Potter and the Wyvern's Crown

Chapter 13: The Lion and the Raven

Racing to his first COMA class of the new term on a snow-laden January day (of course, the short form for 'care of magical creatures (or animals)' had been made up by Slytherins, but as it had not been rejected by Hagrid, was used by most everyone now), Harry was a pace behind Ron and Hermione. Raven headed the pack. As her robe floated wildly around her, her braid flying away from her back...Harry forgot to look where he was running and tripped over a hard root jutting from the ground. He tripped, scuffing his chin quite miserably, and burying himself in a snowdrift that didn't have the soft texture one would think it should. Ron and Dean hauled him to his feet.

Dean leaned close as the pack left them behind, 'She has that affect on all of us.'

Ron laughed and slapped Harry's cloak a few times to relieve it of snow. He made a slight face at Harry's bleeding chin, and with a wiggle of his wand, chanted a simple healing spell. Harry was relived as the pain dissipated. They caught up to the rest of the group at the stables. Everyone was shocked at the sight.

A group of undeniably attractive witches, clothed in white, were standing around a chained unicorn. It was peaceful at the moment. At another paddock (some area away) was a satyr wearing blinds over his nearly human eyes, guarded by several mail-wearing wizards.

Hagrid was standing beside the satyr's paddock. 'Now t'day we're all goin' t' learn about gender-magic. It's a good time to learn this, so if you DO ever run into any beasties that are violent towards one gender or another, you'll know how to avoid 'em. Also, if you're willing t' forgo relations, some of you gals could work with unicorns. I'll let the handlers speak with ye's now.'

He stepped back as the group was divided by gender. The males could view the satyr close-up because it was unlikely to attack them (though they would keep it chained). Likewise, the girls were herded towards the unicorn's paddock, and were warned that if they were not pure, they were not to enter. Harry noted that some girls were actually forced to remain on the other side of fence. But before he had a chance to identify them, the muzzle and blinders were lifted from the satyr. It's ruddy skin was glistening despite the cold. They were not, as some would assume, truly intelligent (as their relatives, the fawns, were). More like apes, they could emulate human motions at times, but had no true thought process to match. Surrounded by males, this one simply looked from one face to another, confused and rather dull-witted. Its bright eyes sparkled as it showed off a set of dangerous-looking fangs or lifted a clawed hand or scraped a cloven hoof. It was calm now, but once around females (the instructors warned), they would attack without mercy. They lived practically forever, and were near impossible to kill. It hopped forwards a pace, lifting then sniffling at Neville's robe. It grinned wickedly at him, which quite disturbed the young boy. The wranglers pulled it back, and replaced the muzzle-blind. They spoke then of their job, of finding these beasts, and caring for them, always cautious to keep females and anything associated with females (such as pictures, clothes or certain scents) away from them. They were hoping to reform their dangerous status, but most attempts had failed at this point, and 'you-know-who' wasn't helping much, because he had allowed them free reign during his time.

As the satyr trainers spoke of certain defensive spells one could use against them, Harry managed to get a look over at the unicorn paddock and smiled as he spotted Raven waiting her turn in line. The 'pure' girls were approaching the beast carefully, and stroking its silken mane. He wondered why he had managed to get so near a unicorn in his first year. What would have 'tainted' him since then? But his attention was called back to the beast at hand when he heard Malfoy's voice curl into the air.

'If we let it go...say right here...would it kill all of the girls, or just a few of them?'

This question seemed to stun the wizards who were tending the now-docile creature, one finally found his tongue. 'He would...' His lips twitched, 'that is to say there have been reports to the effect that a satyr faced with a group of women...' he swallowed, 'he would attack several, then abuse those he could. If one is particularly catching, he may only attack one.'

'What do they prefer? Younger, older? Pure...impure?' Malfoy's voice had reached a certain violent morbidity. Harry almost wanted to find him and knock him one for it.

'Whatever they can catch.'

Harry's eyes flicked over to Raven, dread making him nauseated. Unaware of his gaze or the dangerous topic amongst the boys, she reached up to pat the flank of the beast. It shied for a moment, then submitted. He breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't aware that he'd been holding.

'So, there's no way to predict who it would kill?'

'No.'

Harry could have sworn he heard Malfoy mutter 'too bad', but it was hard to say as voices erupted around him, asking other questions. But he didn't want to hear about the vicious creature any longer.

Watching Raven and the unicorn together was a peaceful something he hadn't expected. Her crow-black hair and robe contrasted wonderfully with the terrific white hide of the beast, which had calmed now. It's goat's tail swung low, it's head bowed, it was remarkably gentle-looking for all Harry was quite aware what would happen to Raven if she were considered by the beast to be unfit to touch it.

Soon both animals were put into stables (quite as far away from each other as possible) and the students were gathered back in the middle for the introduction of a mutually dangerous beast. The Satyr handlers, for all they had been calm with their charge seemed disturbed by the appearance of this new thing. A smallish imp-like creature was enclosed in a cage, a device attached to it's head which forced it to look downwards.

Hermione, who had returned from her time with the unicorn hrumphed in protest at the sight of the sad-looking creature. Raven shook her head beside her and whispered low, 'That's a kappa. If it's head weren't bowed, we'd be in trouble.'

And so it was. The single handler was a witch of Japanese descent. The kappa she handled was vicious to the young or very old. If it felt the individual was weak, it would attack. But it mostly preferred young children, or seniors. They were vampiric in nature drinking the blood of their victims, but their one weakness was the 'water bowl' on their heads. If they were forced to bow, they would lose all their strength.

She allowed people to get a good look at it and explained several charms that worked to either dislodge the creature, or better yet, to cause it to bow before it attempted to attack. Finally someone (of the Slytherin house) asked the question what it had to do with 'gender' and with a particularly wicked smile, the woman beckoned him forward and explained softly in his ear. His face turned an extreme shade of red, and he nodded, before she was done. She laughed, but then the class was done.

As no one could force the Slytherin boy to speak, the Gryffindors who knew her best, turned to Raven. With a similar smile, she explained how kappa, being long of tongue, but short of teeth had to bite humans in particularly sensitive areas of the body. Dean, upon realizing what she meant by this, took on a similar expression to the Slytherin boy who walked ahead of them.

When they reached the courtyard, they were caught up in a throng of sixth years from every house. Soon crushed it took Harry a few moments of confusion to realize what was going on. Lists of potential sixth years, who had marks high enough, were to come to the main hall for a special ceremony. Harry was delighted to find his name along with Ron's and Hermione's, but sadly, as his eyes traced down the seeming short list of names, he didn't see Raven's name on the parchment for Gryffindors. Within a few more seconds, he realized that both Cho and Malfoy were to be included as well. With a certain pain in his heart he turned to tell Raven the news (cursing Snape inwardly, for there was no doubt in his mind that he had caused her marks to fall so low) but he found her missing. Of course, not being the tallest of individuals was a liability. He pushed back through the crowd, headed for the main hall, where many others were going as well.

There was a ward on the entrance, Harry realized with a start, as a pair of Slytherins attempted to enter. They were thrown backwards with a snap like a whip cracking. They rubbed their faces and muttered angrily. Harry hoped that the lists had been accurate, but he felt nothing as he walked around the boys and entered the main hall. The room was devoid of it's usual long tables, and there were seats set for less than fifty. On the dais there was set a clothed statuette of some sort, rounded at the top, almost as tall as it was wide. Harry licked his lips, uneasy and alone as he headed for the seats. Some of them were already taken, and he wasn't sure whether sitting near the front or the back would be best. He took a seat in the second row and was quiet as others nearby chatted excitedly about what was to come.

Others piled in around Harry, and Ron, Seamus and Hermione took places beside him. It seemed as though there were seats enough for everyone, and as soon as the last person entered, the doors were closed. There was a hush over the crowd that fell without warning and Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, Flitwick, and Albus Dumbledore himself, proceeded to the dais. McGonagall took the fore, with Sprout on her tail.

'Now, I do suppose you are wondering why you have been summoned here today. Most of you are quite aware that this has to do with marks, but that was only half true. You might recall that I had said at the beginning of year to each transfiguring class that if, and only if, you had the burgeoning talent of a transfiguring genius, would you be able to continue on to the hardest and the most potentially dangerous of transfiguration abilities.'

The whisper erupted from the crowd in a silent wave. They were going to be Animagi.

'Now!' McGonagall's voice yelped over the sudden chatter. 'Just because you are sitting here does not been that you will have the innate talent, or indeed the intellectual stability to turn yourself into an animal and back into yourselves again. And it also doesn't mean that those who were NOT on those lists have no ability to become Animagi! It means that I am only willing to take on a class of so many students, and I have no desire to work with those who have not worked well with me before. I am the only Animagus teacher on campus (Lupin's lycanthropy not withstanding) and therefore it is my prerogative to teach whom I will.'

Most students seemed content with this, and those that dared to speak out, received a bone-chilling look from McGonagall.

Once the room was silent again, the severe looking teacher waved a hand, not noticing Snape's look of boredom. Sprout jerked to sudden life and pulled the sheet from the statuette on the dais, revealing it to be an odd, completely round, mirror-like disk, supported by two legs. I say mirror-like because it reflected nothing, but was a matte grey-green in colour. It had a border of ornate vines and four pale white stones, set at odds to another.

'This is a Chinese 'seeing' disk. It reflects the inner animal within. Up until a short time ago, it was only used as a device to find out if dark wizards were Animagi. It now travels to witching schools worldwide so those who have the ability may have a safe way to see what they may become someday, with time and practice!' There was a murmur through the crowd. Now McGonagall's face became quite different, as though she was finding it hard to continue. 'You must understand, and you not take offence, but there is a high chance that within a group this large there may be only one or two of you will be able to become a true Animagus, though perhaps half will see one animal or another here. This is not a curse on your abilities, but not all wizards are suited to be animagi. So don't feel rejected if you do not see an animal, or worse yet, don't see one clearly enough to continue in the study.'

She smiled at her fellow professors before continuing, 'So you know, only I will be able to see what the mirror foretells. But so all of you are accustomed to what you ought to see, I will have Professor Snape here activate it to show everyone and I will walk in front of it.

Without a kind look exchanged, Snape walked before the disk, touching each of the stones in a certain sequence, naming them. 'G'bu to the north, S'zu to the south, S'yu to west and B'ko to east. Open to the sky, and in plain view show us who here is like you,' His spell casting, like his current attitude, was dull and bored. It seemed to Harry that McGonagall drilled him madly, in order to keep him from ruining her presentation. The disk was silent for a moment, inciting a few giggles from the Slytherins. Then, with piercing light that seemed to rip the air open, each of the white stones lit brightly, a Chinese character on each in bright colours. Then, like a swirling pool, the disk itself lit. For a moment it felt as though Harry had gone blind, but then, no, he saw Snape walking away from the disk. Then McGonagall stepped in. It was plain to see what she had meant. There she was as a cat, ginger spectacle-markings and all. But there were other images as well. A black woman turning to a tiger. A little girl turning into a ginger kitten. A large grey-haired man turning into an even fatter grey house cat. But McGonagall's image was clear. There were many dozens of her as a cat, wandering around, sitting before her class, even one that sent a chill through Harry's stomach, as she consulted a map sitting on a brick wall on the corner of Privet Drive. But it was short lived. With a sudden flash, like a torch being turned off, the disk resealed itself. Professor McGonagall looked out on the crowd of mystified students who were rubbing their eyes in silent protest.

'The images that you saw were just that. You may see family, as the older gentleman is to me, or you may see total strangers. Just remember, if you don't see an animal, I'm afraid that you will never be an animagus. And take pride in the fact that you are here. You were at least chosen to have a chance to get into the class. Henceforth,' she flicked her robe, 'in alphabetical order,' Harry heard Ron groan, 'you will come up here one at a time. You will handed a scroll and you will cast the spell on it so that it is active for only you and myself (a transformed animagus). Be certain that you do it correctly, the wrong combination of calls has been known to be quite irritating to the device.' With that and a little pop, she turned into her cat self, with a tiny quill and a scroll before her, to note the names, no doubt. Flitwick read the list of names coolly.

A Ravenclaw girl was first. When she had chanted the spell (which was in the order West, East, South, North) nothing seemed to happen. But her reactions said something different. She seemed to be looking for something. Then, with a soft cry, she bowed her head. She ran from the stage. The next names was called the procedure began again with a Gryffindor Harry wasn't familiar with. He looked towards the girl who had just come back. She was sitting near Cho, crying. Another girl asked her what was wrong. She explained that she had seen people, only people, and they were so distant. She couldn't see any animals, and it had upset her greatly.

The Gryffindor boy walked away, looking just as dejected, though he didn't cry. He walked to the back of the room, but finding the doors sealed, made his peace by sitting away from the group. As others were turned away, even Cho herself, Harry could feel a panic rising in him, his father had been an animagus...shouldn't that help his chances? Then, with sudden joy a boy shouted aloud, 'My God! I'm a DUCK!'

Everyone burst into laughter. The Hufflepuffs were crowing and jumping up and down. He bounded from the stage into their arms. McGonagall's tail flicked and Flitwick paged the next. It was Seamus. With wide eyes, the Irishman bit his lip. Ron gave him a punch for good luck. He managed to get to the stage just as the quacking ended. He performed the ceremony quickly, with shaking hands. He was still until it ended. Then with a mischievous grin, he drilled a fist into the air, 'Jus' call me a toad!'

Harry leapt to his feet and hooted along with the other Gryffindors. Oddly enough, they were all seated around and behind him. Another two rejections went past before it was Hermione's turn. She looked mortified. Seamus' frog-fame had dulled somewhat, but it was his encouragements that drove her to it. That and Ron told her that even if she wasn't an animagus, she'd still have the highest marks in the class. Her return wasn't pleasant. She refused to tell anyone what she had seen and complained that it had been too vague to make out precisely what it was, and it didn't matter because even those people who saw an animal didn't necessarily ever have to become animagi. Harry was quite certain she had seen a rodent or insect of some sort.

Two cats, a bird, and a lizard went by before a name worth watching came up. Malfoy crossed the stage in the same dark mood he had been in since returning from hols. He performed the ceremony flawlessly. Then with a sudden shout he took a step back. He was frozen that way until the accustomed time had past.

With an angry look on his face, he turned from the disk and walked away from his fellow Slytherins. Harry made a face as Ron called out, rather too loudly, 'what, you see a white weasel?' A few of the students who remembered what 'Moody' had done to Malfoy in their fourth year laughed.

Draco drew his wand, but noting the presence of the house teachers, thought better of it. 'Only the one before me.'

Ron tried to become airborne but was held back by his friends. The process went on. A few had by now seen 'something like an animal' so he was beginning to wonder exactly how sharp the picture had to be. Seamus had explained that it was much like McGonagall's only with lots of other people, some were family of his, though most he didn't know. Harry was so preoccupied with everyone else (and theories on what Malfoy had seen) that he almost didn't hear his own name called.

Soon he was being pushed and cajoled to the front and he mounted the steps with growing anxiety. The paper was placed into his hands, which were damp with sweat. He read it carefully, then reached to the stone on the right. 'S'yu of the western wind, B'ko of the eastern lands, S'zu of southern fire, G'bu of the northern lake, only I and those of yours who know, what there might be within me, if it please you to us show!'

There was a moment of nothing, then blinding light. The disk opened before Harry and he gasped, seeing himself, who was also gasping. The light seemed to be burning within his chest. Then he saw his father, who smiled peacefully at him, and turned into a graceful deer. So Harry would be a stag? But no, the image had left before he had barely seen it, as he stared after his father into the mist, he realized another was looking at him. Harry turned, coming face to face with another green-eyed boy. Gregory smiled softly, and became a lion. With a grin of joy, Harry reached forwards. The lion altered, becoming jet black, starting at the nose, spreading down his mane and flanks all the way to the tip of his tail. Harry gasped as the green-eyed lion blinked almost lazily at him, white marking around its eyes, ears, mouth, and paws, even the tip of its tail. It tilted its head and it was then that Harry saw the mark on the lion's forehead. A lightening bolt stripe of white marked the forehead of the mighty beast. He gasped as the disk closed. He had seen himself in his transformed state. A black lion.

In awe of this wondrous discovery, he was still for some time. He had no idea how he was to announce this to his fellow students. But as he turned, he felt himself shout.

'I'm a lion!'

The Gryffindors burst into howls of delight. The Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws applauded. Even the Slytherins looked impressed. After all, their seeker hadn't seen anything. Harry bounded from the stage and had a mock battle with Seamus, who seemed just as impressed as Harry was.

Soon the call went out and others joined the foray. A sparrow, a wolf, an owl and another cat. Ron, much to his dismay, saw nothing but gads and gads of his family members. He joked to lighten his mood that they had probably stepped on his animagus form and that was why he couldn't see it.

Despite the jocularity, there was still sadness. Only about a third of the students had seen an animal, and only ten or so had seen that animal clearly. McGonagall explained that even those who didn't want to train as animagi still had to attend the first class, to sign an agreement that they wouldn't attempt to train themselves later on.

When the doors were open, Harry was pushed away from everyone, and was kept in the crush for some time. He suddenly realised he was trapped in a group of Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, who were heading in the wrong direction to let him get to Gryffindor tower. He managed to push his way to a niche in a wall and watched as others did the same. He was looking at a group of guys for some time before realizing that it was a group of Slytherin, who had cornered another boy. Harry didn't need to see his face.

'For the last time, I'm not saying what I saw!'

'Are you animagus?' a girl asked.

'I'm definitely going to have to attend the class once. But I assure you, I'm dropping it.'

'Why, Draco? Excuse me if it seems like you're avoiding something important from us.'

'Look, I didn't care for what I saw.'

'You know as well as any of us that any animal is a good thing. Your father...'

'My father? My father would have a FIT if he knew what I saw.'

'Something small and weak? I think your father would be proud of a mouse!' A third growled, 'Come now, I saw nothing! What did you see!?'

'IT-DOESN'T-MATTER! Now leave off or I'll curse you all!' Draco pushed through the group, and as he did, he saw Harry. A moment before he could pull his mask of bitter cold back over his face, there was a look of utter despair and regret in Malfoy's eyes. And it dawned on Harry precisely what Draco had seen.

A crow.