Chapter 116
Harry, though, had other plans. Not to mention a special someone to surprise.
Automatically, his eyes snapped to the Gryffindor table as they entered the Great Hall before he deliberately focussed on the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw. He hadn't even completed his sweep of the table before a boy further down was up and racing down the aisle towards him.
"Teddy!" Harry laughed, catching the lad up in a bone-crushing hug.
"Uncle Harry! You're here! Finally!" Teddy replied
Letting his godson regain his footing, Harry eagerly drank in every part of him. It'd been years since he'd seen more than photos. Yes, there was Remus' chin and inquisitive eyes, shining through Tonks' metamorph ability. His hair may be cycling from brown to messy black to blue and back to black over and over, and his eyes were changing colour to match Harry's own, but his parents were always there for all to see.
"It's so good to see you," Harry exclaimed, dragging him in once more for another hug.
"You keep doing that and you're going to crush him to death," Hermione smiled.
"Not Teddy, there's too much of his father in him for me to be able to do that," Harry replied, feeling the added strength of Teddy's hug threatening to squeeze the air from his lungs.
"Mister Potter," a familiar voice interrupted. "While it is very good to see you once more, you are interrupting dinner."
Harry grinned at his one-time Head of House, now Headmistress, over the top of Teddy's head.
"Sorry, Professor," he said happily.
"Scamp!" she hmphed. "Do you actually have a purpose for making a spectacle of yourself, here of all places?"
"I need to see you, and, after hearing about that article this morning, well, I couldn't let Teddy here think that I'd forgotten to visit as soon as I could," he shrugged.
"Well, take a seat," Headmistress McGonagall instructed. "We can talk after dinner."
"And have a butterbeer together after that," a deep voice finished.
"Hey, Neville," Harry said, releasing Teddy to clasp hands with his friend. "You got it; looking forward to it."
"Come on, Uncle Harry," Teddy said, grabbing his hand beginning to drag him away. "You and Aunt Hermione can sit with me and you can meet my friends."
"Sounds a brilliant idea," Harry grinned. "Lead on, Macduff!"
ooo00ooo
"And how long do you say you've been stuck at this point?" Minerva asked as she considered the half-man, half-bird before her.
Harry's head looked up at her, a frown on his face.
"Couple of months," he replied. "That's why I came to you; there's no one else I'd trust to get me past this."
"Not even Miss Granger?" Minerva asked, her scepticism mixed with amusement.
"Hermione's not an Animagus," Harry pointed out.
"Touché," Minerva replied, with the smallest hint of a smile. "However, if she were, she would know that the problem is easy to identify."
"And easy to solve?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"That is up to Mister Potter," Minerva stated.
"Well?" an impatient Harry asked.
"The problem is completely mental," the transfiguration mistress stated. "You've developed a mental block, refusing to allow your body to change."
"What would cause such a thing?" Hermione asked.
"If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say that it's Harry's unwillingness to be anything but himself, himself as a human that is," she replied. "You know as well as I do that Mister Potter was always one of the smallest in his cohort and how much he detested it. Now his body has identified that he needs to shrink to complete this new form and he's unwilling to allow himself to become small once again."
"That's it?" Hermione asked amusedly. "You're afraid to be small?"
"Laugh it up, fuzzball," Harry retorted.'
"Oi! Leave my hair out of this. And for your opinion, it's much more manageable than it used to be. Unless you think I look like a nine-foot Wookie who can rip your arms off?" Hermione asked, her hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised.
"I won't even pretend that I have any idea what you two are talking about," Minerva sighed. "Now, Harry, what you need to do is to let go. The bird is a part of you, a very natural one I would think, having seen what you're capable of in the air on a broom."
"Minerva's right, Harry," Hermione added. "Just imagine what it'll be like to be flying with just your wings to hold you up; something that can't happen with you this size."
"No matter your size or shape, you will always be Harry Potter, the youngest seeker in a century," Minerva continued. "This new part of you needs to be let loose so that you can be complete, to be the person you have always had inside you."
As the two continued talking and encouraging, Harry closed his eyes and let his mind internalise what they were saying. They were right, he knew, he was always a natural in the air. Even as Mage he used a broom to fly simply because he loved being in the air. And back when he was still in school, it was the flying that he loved the most; quidditch was simply a way to ensure that he had time outdoors in the clouds, flying, rolling, looping, being … free.
"That's it, Harry! You're doing it!" Hermione unexpectedly exclaimed.
Harry felt his head changing shape and, when he opened his eyes, he noted both that everything seemed much bigger, as though it loomed over him, and also that it was in perfect focus. He could count the number of freckles on Hermione's face from here. Or the lines on Minerva's face.
"What type of bird is he?" Hermione asked.
"That's the easiest question to answer of them all," Minerva replied. "I've seen hundreds of them here in Britain over the years. Here, see for yourself."
Harry watched as Minerva summoned one particular book from her shelves before opening it and leafing through it to one particular page.
Hermione's eyes rocketed backwards and forwards as she read the information before focussing on one point – the picture, he assumed.
And then she looked to Harry and back to the book over and over, the edge of her lips curling upwards more and more with each look before she promptly threw her head back and roared with laughter.
His wings may still be brand new, but as had been pointed out, he was a natural flyer and it was nothing for him to flap up to the table to see the book for himself.
.
.
.
📖For everyone who wants to read it in full📖
👇🏼It will be available on my Ko-Fi👇🏼
‼️ko-fi.com/skyarc/shop‼️
—————————————————————
✅Subscribe now if you want to get all the PDFs available on my page.✅