Hermione's jaw dropped in shock as she stared at Harry. Her boyfriend was practically glowing and it took a great deal of self-control for Hermione to not kiss him right then and there. Harry opened the box to reveal the engagement ring and Hermione gasped when she looked at the ring.
The ring was made out of silver and gold. The silver and gold wound around each other to form the band. There was an elegant sized diamond on the ring with a small emerald and ruby on each side.
"This was my mother's engagement ring," Harry explained. "The silver and gold represents two people coming together to make something beautiful. I had the goblins add the ruby and emerald to represent us."
Hermione continued to stare at Harry in shock. "Harry we're still so young." When Harry's smile fell she got down on her knees and took Harry's hands in her own. "Hear me out," she pleaded. "Nothing would make me happier than to marry you, but I just need to be sure that you're positive about this. There are dozens of witches who would be better for a Lord of two houses to marry. When you do go public, there will be protests about Lady Potter-Black being a muggleborn."
Harry's frown turned into a loving smile and he squeezed Hermione's hands gently. "There may be better witches for a Lord, but there are no better witches for Harry Potter. I want to marry you because you love me for me. You don't need to worry about being a poor Lady Potter-Black, because I know that you will be amazing at it just like you're amazing at everything else that you do. I want you by my side for the rest of my life Mione'. Will you, Hermione Jean Granger, be my wife?"
Looking into Harry's loving green gaze erased all of Hermione's doubts. All she could see was the future that she could have with him. She could picture him caring for her, comforting her, being her best friend and someday being the father of her children.
"Yes," Hermione said confidently. "I will marry you Harry James Potter."
Harry's smile, if possible, grew in size. He took the ring out of the box and gently put it on Hermione's ring finger. As soon as the ring was on, it magically altered itself to fit perfectly.
Tears filled Hermione's eyes and she pulled Harry into a passionate kiss. They kissed for a few minutes until Harry pulled away and gently caressed Hermione's face.
"I bet that we have an eager audience waiting for us," Harry laughed. "I think everyone knew that I was planning to propose to you today."
"It still surprised me," Hermione giggled. She looked at the ring and felt her heart warm up. Just as soon as the warm feeling came it went and was replaced with a coldness that filled her whole chest.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked when he sensed Hermione's abrupt change of emotion.
Hermione sniffed and quickly rubbed her eyes. "I just wish that my parents were here. I wish that they could see how happy you've made me. My dad won't be able to walk me down the aisle. My mom won't be able to help me with the wedding plans. There's just so much that I still need them for and they aren't here. I wish that I could talk to them again."
Harry smiled sadly and pulled Hermione into a hug. "You can still talk to them, and I'm sure that they'll hear you. Do you want to visit their graves? This time I'll be by your side the whole time."
"I'd like that," Hermione said softly.
After Hermione wiped her eyes again, she took Harry's hand and let him lead the way out of the trunk.
When they stepped out of the trunk they were immediately bombarded by their friends and the familiars. Luna pulled Hermione aside and laughed happily when she saw the ring on Hermione's finger. Ivy circled around Hermione's legs and looked up at the ring.
"So this ring shows that you're Harry's mate?" Ivy questioned.
Hermione laughed and picked the little fox up. She held the ring out in front of her and couldn't help smiling at the thought of being Harry's wife. "I suppose it does," Hermione said.
"Congratulations mate," Neville said cheerfully while he clapped Harry on the back. "Just in time for our return to Hogwarts. I'd bet that you're going to break quite a few witch's hearts this year."
Harry laughed joyfully. "Hermione's heart is the only one that I care about, just like Luna's is the only one that you care about."
Neville laughed in return and walked over to the door. "I think it's time to see Gran. I've actually missed her criticisms."
"Lead the way Neville," Luna said while she took Neville's hand in her own.
Neville lead the group to his grandmother's office. They passed a couple of house elves on the way who seemed happy at their masters return. When they got to the office, Neville took in a deep breath and knocked loudly on the door.
"Come in," they heard Augusta's voice call irritably.
"I've missed her," Neville whispered to Luna.
With an air of confidence that he didn't have at the beginning, Neville opened the door and walked into the office. Augusta was buried in paperwork at her desk and didn't even look up to see who entered her office.
"Leave my tea on the desk," Augusta ordered.
Neville smirked. "Oh shoot, I didn't know that I was supposed to bring you a present."
Augusta dropped the quill she was holding in shock. Slowly, she looked up at her visitors. Her eyes zoned in on Neville and they grew twice their normal size.
"You're back," she stated.
Faster than anyone, even Neville, thought possible, Augusta got up and ran straight to Neville. Even though Neville had a good foot on her now, she pulled him into a hug. Neville stammered in shock and confusion when he saw that there were tears in his grandmother's eyes.
"Gran what's wrong?" Neville asked in alarm. "Did something happen?"
Augusta looked up at Neville sharply. "Can't an old woman miss her grandson?" she demanded. Her eyes softened and she pulled away. "You look like a man now. Your parents would be proud." She turned to Luna and her eyes immediately followed Luna's hand to see that it was still intertwined with Neville's. "Why don't you Floo your father and have him come here. Then you can tell us both together how your training went."
Luna nodded eagerly and she went right up to the fireplace. While Luna was calling her father, Harry turned to Augusta.
"What's the date?" he asked.
"You have one week until the train leaves," Augusta told him. "In order to keep up appearances, I'll take you and Neville to Diagon Alley tomorrow."
Harry nodded and took a seat next to Hermione. As soon as they were comfortable, the fire blazed to life and Luna's father stepped out. He had barely brushed the ash off of his robes when he was engulfed in a hug by his daughter. He returned the hug and murmured into her hair how much he had missed her.
"Why don't we sit down and let them tell their stories," Augusta said gently.
The father and daughter reluctantly pulled away and sat down. Augusta called for an elf to bring them refreshments and settled herself to hear her grandson's stories.
Before they could start talking, the door opened and a house elf ran in followed by a very irritated Hedwig. As soon as Hedwig saw Harry, she flew straight to him and shoved Kex off of his shoulder so that she could perch on it. Kex landed in Harry's lap and spat angrily, but didn't act.
"Hi girl," Harry said between winces while Hedwig nipped at his ears. "I'm sorry that we haven't seen each other for a few weeks. Did you enjoy staying here at Longbottom Manor?"
Hedwig hooted irritably and continued to nip at her master's ears. Everyone watched the exchange with amusement, except for Kex. The pine marten looked up at them jealously before he leapt over to Hermione's chair and climbed up on her shoulder.
"He loves you both," Hermione assured him quietly.
Kex didn't answer. He got comfortable and ignored the snowy owl that had taken his spot.
After pleasantries were exchanged, everyone shared their stories and details about their time in the trunk. They spent almost two hours going over everything that had happened from Dumbledore's mirror to all of the magic that they had learned. The only thing that Harry and his friends didn't tell was the fact that they were all illegal Animagi. Before they left the trunk they had all agreed that the fewer people who knew about their forms the better, and that included family.
When they were done exchanging stories, Luna bid them a tearful farewell and gave Neville a passionate kiss before leaving with her father. They all agreed to meet in Diagon Alley the next day to do some shopping. Hermione would go by herself and claim that her parents had dropped her off.
"It's almost time for dinner," Augusta said while she stiffly stood up. "Neville why don't you go unpack and all of you can wash up."
"Actually Augusta," Harry spoke up. "Hermione and I were going to go out to celebrate our engagement."
Augusta's eyes flashed towards the ring on Hermione's hand and she looked at Harry seriously. "That's perfectly okay Harry, but I feel that I must warn you to be prepared for much scandal when you take your two seats and it's revealed that you're marrying a muggleborn. But don't worry about that now, tonight just celebrate. Congratulations you two."
"Thank you," Harry and Hermione said.
Neville went to his room with Sage, Ivy and Kex following him. Hedwig gave Harry another hard stare before she left them too.
Harry took Hermione's hand in his own and apparated them both back to the trunk. They showered and got dressed in their finest clothes. When they were ready, they met in the training room and Harry apparated them to their destination.
They appeared in a dark alleyway in what Hermione guessed was London. Without letting go of Hermione's hand, Harry led the way into a small restaurant. The restaurant had a dark and romantic setting which made Hermione smile.
Before Hermione could even turn her head to comment on the restaurant, Harry looked at her. "I had this night planned for a long time."
It never ceased to amaze Hermione how Harry seemed to know everything that she was feeling before even she did. "So you were confident that I would say yes?" she teased.
Harry smirked. "Well, who wouldn't want to marry the Boy-Who-Lived? Plus I'm a Lord of two houses. Face it Mione', I'm quite a catch."
Hermione rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh yes Lord Potter-Black. How I spent so many years resisting you, I'll never know."
"That hurt Mione'," Harry pouted. He kissed her tenderly and they went to celebrate their engagement.
The next day Harry groaned when there was a scratch on his door. He opened his eyes and immediately found his vision obscured by a mass of bushy brown hair. Harry smiled and he tightened his arms around his fiancé. They hadn't done anything sexual the night before, but neither of them had been able to sleep without their familiars and had decided to share the same bed.
Not surprisingly, the comfort that they found in each other's arms was even more than their familiars offered. Harry took a deep breath and let his mind target in on what his beloved wife-to-be was feeling.
Even though she was still asleep, Harry could feel nothing but love and comfort coming from her. Harry had a talent for reading other's emotions. He found it incredibly useful when Hermione was angry about something, usually about something reckless that he had done.
The scratch on the door interrupted his thoughts. Taking care not to wake up Hermione, he untangled himself and quietly got out of bed. He tiptoed over to the door and opened it a creek.
Staring at him with smug eyes was Kex and Ivy. "Enjoy yourselves?" Kex laughed while Ivy scowled at him slightly.
"Nothing happened," Harry told Ivy. "We just shared a bed."
Ivy looked at Harry for another moment before she turned to Kex. "I guess we'll be sleeping in Hermione's room from now on. Especially when they're married."
Kex nodded in agreement before he looked back up at Harry. "Winky says that breakfast is ready. She wants you to eat before you go to meet Neville and Augusta."
"Thanks, I'll get Hermione up," Harry said.
The familiars nodded and turned to run back towards the food. Harry closed the door and walked up to his fiancé. He gently shook her awake, much to her dislike.
"No," Hermione moaned.
Harry laughed and began pulling the covers off of her. "Come on Love, breakfast is waiting. You're always the early riser."
"Ate too much last night," Hermione mumbled into her pillow. "Still sleepy."
After some persuasive tickling from Harry, Hermione rolled out of bed and stuffed her feet into her slippers. Hand in hand, they walked to the dining room. The table was covered in food, which Kex was eating ravenously while Ivy ate more dignified.
As soon as Harry and Hermione were seated their familiars leapt towards them and nuzzled them affectionately.
"Did you have a nice time last night?" Ivy asked Hermione.
Hermione smiled at Harry and pulled Ivy into a hug. "I had a wonderful time." She held her engagement ring in front of her and admired how the gems caught the light in the room nicely. "Harry, are we going to go public with our engagement when we go back to school?"
"Why wouldn't we?" Harry asked while he helped himself to some scrambled eggs.
Hermione rolled her eyes playfully. "Love, we may be around nineteen physically and mentally, but in the outside world we're still sixteen. And since you haven't announced your titles to the public our engagement might seem strange."
"Do you not want to announce it?" Harry asked quietly.
"I didn't say that," Hermione said immediately. "I'm just trying to think of the best way to do this."
Kex poked his head out of the bowl of food that he had submersed himself in. "Why don't you just wear it once you make it to Hogwarts? You were already planning on revealing us familiars then anyway, so what's the big deal?"
"Hermione wants to keep the uproar about Lord Potter-Black's engagement to a muggleborn to be kept to a minimum," Ivy explained. "I agree with Hermione, it might be easier to reveal the engagement after revealing Harry's titles."
Kex shrugged and went back to his meal. "It's all too complicated for my liking," he mumbled.
Harry looked at Hermione sadly and sighed. "I guess it would be best to wait," he said grudgingly. "We will announce the engagement when it's safest for us."
Hermione smiled and kissed Harry on the lips. "I don't want to keep it a secret either, but if we reveal the engagement it could mean trouble for us. Just think of what Dumbledore would try."
Harry's eyes flashed angrily at the mention of the man who had betrayed his trust. "I'll get you a goblin chain for your ring, like the one I have. At least the people who really matter know, I guess that's what matters."
After breakfast they ran to shower and get dressed. When they were ready Hermione kissed Harry goodbye and apparated away with Ivy while Harry climbed out of the trunk with Kex to meet Neville and Augusta.
He waited patiently in the foyer for his companions. Not long after he arrived, Neville and Sage came running to greet him with Augusta following at a more dignified pace.
"How was your first date/engagement dinner mate?" Neville asked.
Harry smiled broadly. "It was wicked. I can't wait for our second date. Hermione is going to check up on her affairs at Gringotts and will meet us at Madam Malkin's. None of Hermione's school robes fit anymore and I highly doubt that ours will either."
Neville laughed and scratched Sage behind the ears. Looking down he told the wolf, "Remember, you'll have to be invisible to everyone. Stay by my side."
Sage rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Yet another pain that comes from being the biggest familiar," he sighed. "Even Ivy can catch a ride on Hermione."
"Ivy was perfectly comfortable in Hermione's book bag," Harry pointed out.
Before Sage could respond, Augusta walked up to them stiffly. "Good morning Harry, Kex," she greeted them. "Even though you boys are more than capable of apparating yourselves, I will apparate to keep up appearances."
"Are you sure that it won't be too much strain Gran?" Neville asked in concern.
Augusta scoffed and grabbed Harry's and Neville's hands. "I'm not in the ground yet."
Neville barely had time to grab a fistful of Sage's fur when Augusta apparated them to an alley hidden outside of the Leaky Cauldron.
As soon as their feet were on solid ground, Sage and Kex activated their vests and became invisible. Looking confident, Augusta led them through the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley.
There was the usual crowd of Hogwart's students getting supplies for the upcoming school year. Harry felt Kex stiffen on his shoulder at the sight of so many people and remembered that his familiar had never seen this many people at once before.
"It's okay," Harry whispered so that only Kex could hear. "Just stay on my shoulder. When we get to the robe shop you can go to Neville."
He felt Kex loosen up and continued to follow Augusta to Madam Malkin's. He bumped into Sage a couple of times by accident, but the wolf made no complaint.
When they made it to Madam Malkin's they were greeted by a voice that Harry had not missed in all the years that he had been training.
"Waiting for your pitiful friends mudblood? Or have you wise up and ditched them? Or did they decide that you were too filthy to associate with?"
"Leave me be Malfoy," Harry heard Hermione say. "I'm in no mood for your bigotry. Leave before you embarrass yourself."
The abrupt change of emotion from Hermione was all the heads up that Harry needed. He threw the door open and glared at Malfoy just in time to see the obnoxious Slytherin reach for his wand.
"Get away from her Malfoy," Harry spat. On his shoulder he felt Kex dig his claws into his shoulder at the sight of the prat that Harry had told him about.
It surprised Harry how much Malfoy had changed from how Harry remembered him. Malfoy was, if possible, paler than he was at the end of the school year. He was wearing elegant robes and Harry noticed immediately that he was favoring his left arm.
Malfoy put his hand at his side and sneered at Harry. "Well if it isn't Scarhead. Come to save your mudblood have you?"
Harry didn't know if it was the years of training or the fact that he was notably more mature, but he didn't rise to Malfoy's taunts. "Try to hex her again and you won't need to worry about me. Hermione's more than capable of defending herself and kicking your pompous ass."
Malfoy glared at Harry and shouldered past him to leave the store. As soon as he left Neville came in with an invisible Sage. When the door closed Harry walked over to Hermione who had a sad expression on her face. Judging by the redness of her eyes, she had been crying shortly before.
"Don't let him get to you," Harry whispered lovingly.
Hermione smiled sadly and shook her head. "Malfoy has never made me cry. I just came from my vault at Gringotts. I found a bunch of pictures of my parents and I couldn't help but cry."
If they hadn't been in public, Harry would have pulled her into a tight embrace. Instead he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"We'll go see them after Diagon Alley," he promised quietly.
They waited on Luna and Fay before they purchased their robes. While their robes were getting made, they went to get their other school supplies.
They were about to walk into Flourish and Botts when Harry saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye. It took all of his restraint to not toss the redhead that was crashing into him over his shoulder like Zux had taught him.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed while she hugged him tightly. "I missed you at the Burrow," she added with a glare at Neville.
Behind her Ron was walking towards them. Harry was immediately on his guard. The last thing he wanted was to talk to him, but it wasn't like he could apparate away in the middle of Diagon Alley.
"Hey mate," Ron said cheerfully while he thumped Harry roughly on the back. "Enjoy your time digging through dragon dung fertilizer? It's your own fault; you could have been at the Burrow with us."
Harry scowled at Ron through Ginny's hair and tried to disengage himself from Ginny's tight embrace. "I had fun at Neville's," he said dryly. "What's the matter with you? Neville's right here and you're insulting him!"
Ron's ears reddened and he scoffed scornfully. "Whatever. I don't even need to ask if you did your homework," he snickered at Hermione.
"I don't need to ask if you didn't," Hermione snapped.
An awkward silence fell on them until Ginny took Harry's hand in her own and beamed at him.
"Do you want to go get some ice cream Harry?" she asked flirtatiously.
Beside him, Harry felt Hermione stiffen. Right away he took his hand back and stepped back a step. "Actually Ginny, Neville and I have to meet Augusta at The Leaky Cauldron. Neville and I have a project to get back to, don't we Nev?"
Neville nodded, immediately playing along. "We have to alter the greenhouse temperature and apply more fertilizer. We already got all of our supplies."
Ron glared at him but didn't respond. "Whatever, I guess we'll see you on the train then. Do you want to get ice cream Hermione?"
"No thank you Ron," Hermione said with cold politeness. "I have to meet my parents. We've been here for a while."
"Fine then, leave," Ron snapped.
Without another word, Ron grabbed Ginny's arm and towed her away from the group. As soon as they were out of sight, they went into the bookstore and quickly purchased their school texts and left. Neville and Luna went to meet Augusta with all of the familiars since neither of them could apparate while Hermione took Harry to her parent's graves.
Hermione talked to her parents about everything from training in the trunk to her engagement. She cried when she talked about her relationship with Harry and told her parents that she wished they could have met Harry and seen how happy he made her.
For two hours Harry held Hermione while she poured her heart out to her parent's graves. He introduced himself and promised that he would protect Hermione with his life if necessary. When both of their stomachs started to growl they said their farewells to the souls of Hermione's parents. They were both confident that Hermione's parents could hear them talk to them. Hermione left her parents' wedding rings and molded them to their graves with a wave of her illegal wand.
"I'll come see you guys soon," Hermione promised. She kissed her fingertips and touched them to both tombstones and grabbed Harry's hand.
Harry gave her hand a tight squeeze and apparated them back to the trunk. They had some packing to do for the upcoming school year.
Sooner than any of them would have liked, it was time to board the Hogwart's Express. Harry led the way onto the platform with Hermione with Neville and Luna right behind them. They had all agreed to get to the train early so they could secure a compartment where they wouldn't be interrupted.
As expected, they were the first ones on the train; they even beat the lunch cart witch. They loaded their trunks on the racks and sat down. Harry stored Hedwig's empty cage next to his trunk, the snowy owl had decided to fly to Hogwarts instead of being crammed in her cage once again. Hermione took out her ash wand and cast an illusion charm that she had researched in the library on the door and the window.
"Now whoever looks in our compartment will see some random students," Hermione explained while she took her seat next to Harry.
"That's brilliant Love," Harry praised while he put an arm around her shoulders.
"Does that mean we can deactivate our vests?" an invisible Ivy asked from Hermione's book bag.
Without waiting for an answer, Kex deactivated his vest and began climbing all over the seats. Following his example, the other familiars deactivated their vests. Ivy climbed out of her hiding spot and sprawled across the open seat next to Hermione. Fay perched on the luggage rack and tucked her head under her wing. Because of Sage's size, he had to lie on the floor, but he easily took up most of the leg room.
While they waited for more students to arrive, they went over their game plan for the year.
"I think we can trust Professor McGonagall," Hermione said. "She's always done what's best for the students. When we get to Hogwarts, we'll go right to Professor McGonagall and tell her about the familiars. If we get her approval, nobody can object, not that they could interfere with a true familiar anyway."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Neville looked at Luna, his expression somewhat concerned. "What are we going to do about our housing situations? We need to stick together, but Luna is in a different house."
"I can take care of myself Neville," Luna said amusedly.
"I agree with Neville," Harry said, immediately backing his best friend up. "The only place where we're truly safe is the trunk."
Kex agilely leapt back onto Harry's shoulder. "So why don't you just stay in the trunk?"
Before Harry could toss aside Kex's idea, Hermione beamed at the pine marten. "We'll do just that," she said. "I bet I could come up with a solution. Luna will be alright in Ravenclaw for a week or two, she's more than capable of taking care of herself."
Luna smiled in gratitude at her best friend.
Before any of them knew it, the train's whistle was blowing. Hermione practically jumped out of her seat at the sound of it.
"I have to go to the prefect's compartment," she exclaimed while she fumbled through her pockets for her badge.
The year before the thought of being a prefect had delighted her, but now it irritated her. The only reason why she didn't return her badge was because they all agreed that since Hermione was the only one with a badge she should hang onto it.
Before Hermione left, Harry kissed her gently on the lips. "Don't let Ron follow you back," he teased.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It won't take much to fool him." Turning to her familiar she said, "Ivy you stay here, I don't want to risk anyone finding out about you and we can't body merge because my eyes change.
Ivy yawned and nodded in agreement.
Sparing another kiss for Harry, Hermione left the compartment cautiously in case anyone saw her. As soon as Hermione was gone Harry and Neville began tossing a tennis ball between them using their restricted wandless magic. It was a simple exercise that had turned into a game.
While Harry and Neville did their 'exercise', Luna began editing some of her articles that her father had given her before she left. They didn't even realize how long they had been on the train until Ivy suddenly leapt to her feet and began snarling savagely.
"Ivy what's wrong?" Harry asked while he dropped the tennis ball. "Did something happen to Hermione?" he demanded.
Ivy didn't respond. She leapt off of the seat and began furiously clawing at the door, trying to get out. When Sage poked her with his muzzle she whipped around and almost leapt at him.
"Ivy calm down!" Kex cried at his best friend. "What's happened to Hermione?"
Ivy looked right at Kex and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. "I will bite that old fool when I meet him," she snarled.
Before Harry could demand what happened to Hermione again, the door to the compartment opened and an exhausted Hermione stepped in.
She locked the door and practically collapsed on the seat next to Harry. As soon as she was seated, Harry pulled her into his lap and gently pushed back the strands of sweat soaked hair from her face.
"What happened?" he asked.
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but ended up coughing violently. She took a long drink from the water bottle that Luna offered and began taking in deep breaths.
"D-Dumbledore," she croaked out.
Harry stiffened and he tightened his grip on Hermione. "Did he try to use the Confundus Charm on you again?" he asked through gritted teeth.
On his lap, Hermione shook her head and took another drink. "He stepped it up a notch," she said. "He cast the Imperius on me."
The whole compartment was silent for a moment. Harry began to shake so violently that Hermione almost fell off.
"Tell us what happened," Neville said calmly.
Hermione nodded and took in a shaky breath. "After the meeting in the prefect's carriage, I was told by the head girl to patrol the area close to the front of the train. I was almost done with my patrol when I sensed a powerful magic source coming from behind me. Before I could even turn, I was put under the Imperius."
"How do you know it was Dumbledore?" Luna asked.
"His magical signature," Hermione answered. "The magical signature that cast the Imperius on me was the same as when Dumbledore tried to use the Confundus Charm on me."
Luna nodded in understanding and motioned for Hermione to continue.
"The command was to spy on Harry," Hermione continued. "As soon as he cast the spell, Dumbledore left. I struggled against the spell for a bit, it was more difficult to throw off than the Confundus Charm by tenfold. After I threw it off I came right back here."
"You're exhausted," Harry mumbled into Hermione's hair. "I can't believe you managed to overcome Dumbledore's spells. You're amazing Mione', but he's not the one Voldemort is afraid of for nothing."
On his lap he felt Hermione stiffen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ivy look at Hermione and give a small nod.
"There are others more powerful than Dumbledore," Hermione whispered loud enough for everyone in the compartment to hear. "Harry, do you remember the prophecy about the Spiritual Heirs that Zux gave you all that time ago?"
"Of course," Harry said with a confused expression. "What does that have to do with you throwing off Dumbledore's Imperius?"
Hermione shakily got off of Harry's lap and sat down in her seat with an exhausted sigh. "I was going to wait until I had a little more research," Hermione mumbled while she dug through her book bag. After a moment of searching, she pulled out a piece of parchment and opened it to show her friends.
Harry Potter: Goblins- Empathy
Hermione Granger: Elves- Mind Magics
Neville Longbottom: unknown- Forest Speech
Luna Lovegood: unknown- Animal Speech
Everyone looked at the parchment in confusion for a moment. "What do you mean by 'forest speech'?" Neville asked.
"Your gift with plants is more than just a green thumb Neville," Hermione said. "You told me yourself, you can hear them and know just what they need. That's called forest speech. I could throw off Dumbledore's spells because they attacked my mind and I have incredibly powerful mind magic. Harry's ability to know what we're feeling is more than just a hunch, it's empathy. Luna can understand everything that animals tell her, this is called animal speech."
Harry took the parchment and looked at Hermione. "What are you saying?" he asked softly.
Hermione put her hand on his knee and smiled sadly. "I found out that Gryffindor's Magic was the ability to know just what his troops or enemies were feeling. Godric Gryffindor had empathy. Harry, I was wrong. I think that we're all the Spiritual Heirs of Hogwarts."
chapter 16
Harry stared at Hermione in disbelief for a few moments. After clearing his throat, he shakily asked, "When did you figure it out?"
Hermione rolled up the parchment and put it back in her bag. "I had read a book about Rowena Ravenclaw a long time ago and it mentioned that she had animal speech. Animal speech is even rarer than parseltongue and there hasn't been a reported case of someone having animal speech in centuries. When Luna understood what Fawkes said at Longbottom Manor before our training, it clicked and I've been doing research from there."
"But couldn't it be a coincidence?" Luna asked.
"Maybe, if it was just you with a Founder's ability," Hermione said. "If I'm right, then Harry is the Spiritual Heir of Gryffindor, Neville Hufflepuff and Luna Ravenclaw."
Harry frowned slightly. "But that would make you the Spiritual Heir of Slytherin. Mione' are you sure you're right about this? Slytherin isn't exactly known for its love of muggleborns."
"Based off of what I've found, I'm the Spiritual Heir of Slytherin," Hermione said sadly.
They spent the rest of the train ride going over the details about their abilities. Apparently only Hermione and Ivy knew that their special talents were more than what they appeared. Hermione went on to explain that they had all been marked by tragedy and didn't get their abilities until after. Neville had always been good with plants and had understood more of their unspoken language the older he got. Luna started understanding creatures after her mother had died just like Hermione had gotten skilled at mind magics after her parents had been murdered. The tricky case was Harry. Even though Harry's parents had been murdered when he was a baby, his part in the prophecy hadn't started until after Sirius died. Hermione didn't have an answer for that.
"I'll explain everything when I have the answers," Hermione promised them.
The group didn't even notice that the train had stopped until they heard students running off of the train. Hastily, they got their trunks while the familiars grudgingly turned invisible. They left the train, taking care to avoid Ron and Ginny who might have been looking for them. They got a carriage together and after Luna greeted the thestral that was pulling the carriage, they headed to Hogwarts.
When they arrived at Hogwarts they went straight to the Great Hall for the feast. Hermione had said that talking to Professor McGonagall after the feast would be the best time, until then the familiars had to remain invisible.
Luna kissed Neville softly on the cheek and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. Much to Neville's irritation, as soon as she sat down, Luna's housemates edged away from her, leaving her alone.
"I oughta hex them," Neville growled.
"I'll help you," Hermione said quietly while she leaned most of her body weight on Harry.
Neville smiled in gratitude and led the way to the Gryffindor table. Harry and Hermione sat next to each other while Neville sat across from them. Sage crawled under the table with much difficulty and curled up as small as he could by their feet.
"How long is the feast?" Sage asked quietly.
"Around an hour," Neville said just as quietly. "We have to talk to McGonagall after the feast."
Underneath they all heard Sage sigh sadly. Before the sorting started, Ron and Ginny walked up to the table. Ginny scowled when she saw that the seats on either side of Harry were occupied and settled for sitting in front of him. Ron sat down on Neville's other side and looked longingly at the plates.
"So Harry," Ginny said flirtatiously. "I missed you on the train. I looked for you."
"I was sitting in the back," Harry said in a monotone.
Ginny continued to bat her eyelashes and reached her hand forward so that it rested on top of Harry's. "We really need to spend more time together."
Despite being so exhausted that she could barely sit up straight, Hermione stiffened and glared at the younger witch. Sensing the anger that was pulsing from his fiancé, Harry took his hand back and put it on Hermione's leg discreetly to calm her down.
"She already irritates me," Kex whispered in Harry's ear.
Harry nodded subtlety, agreeing with his invisible familiar.
After the sorting was over Dumbledore summoned the feast, much to Ron's pleasure. Harry kept watch on Hermione out of the corner of his eye. As she ate she managed to gain back some color and she didn't look like she could be pushed down by a faint breeze. During the feast, they all tried to give food to their familiars without gaining attention.
When Harry was done eating, he stood up and walked up to the Head Table, straight towards McGonagall.
"Can I help you with something Mister Potter?" she asked.
Before Harry could open his mouth to answer, Dumbledore smiled at him. "I'm sure that any question that Mister Potter has, I will be able to answer."
Harry looked at Dumbledore coldly. "I need to talk to Professor McGonagall," he said calmly. Turning back to McGonagall he asked, "Can I talk to you in private after the feast?"
McGonagall looked mildly surprised at Harry's cool tone towards Dumbledore, but nodded. "Meet me in my office after the feast."
"Thank you Professor," Harry said respectfully.
Without looking at Dumbledore, Harry went back to the table. As soon as he sat back down Ginny tried to get his attention, but Harry ignored her and looked at Neville and Hermione pointedly.
Hermione nodded in understanding and smiled at Ron as sweetly as she could manage. "Ron, I need to talk to Professor McGonagall about something after the feast. Will you be alright leading the first years to the common room?"
Ron stopped shoveling food in his mouth and looked at Hermione in disbelief. "You want me to lead the munchkins all by myself?"
"There are other prefects besides you," Hermione snapped. "I'm just asking if you'll help pick up my slack while I take care of something. Merlin knows that I've picked up yours over the years."
Ron glared at Hermione, but he agreed with a curt nod and a grunt.
As soon as Ron agreed, the food vanished and everyone turned their attention to Dumbledore who was standing at the Head Table.
"I hope that all of you enjoyed this delicious feast," Dumbledore said happily. "Just a reminder to returning students and so that the first years know, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden and there is a list of banned items posted on our caretaker Mr. Filch's door. I am also pleased to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Griffin."
For the first time, Harry noticed the man who was sitting next to Hagrid. The man had a lean and muscular build, long gray hair that was pulled in a ponytail and a long scar that cut across his face from his left eye to the corner of his mouth on the right. What Harry noticed most about their new professor though was the bright, intelligent and calculating golden eyes that scanned the room.
Harry barely suppressed a shiver when the new professor's gaze rested on him. It was like the golden gaze had touched something in him, but Harry couldn't tell if it was good or bad.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked softly.
"Yeah," Harry assured her. "It's nothing."
Harry could feel disbelief through Hermione's emotions, but he didn't want to talk about it in front of Ron and Ginny.
When Dumbledore dismissed them, Harry led Hermione and Neville out of the Great Hall quickly and headed towards McGonagall's office. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Luna break away from the Ravenclaws and he felt Neville's anger at the fact that they didn't even notice that Luna was gone.
They quickly made their way to McGonagall's office. When they arrived, Harry knocked loudly on the door.
"Come in Mister Potter," they heard McGonagall call out.
Harry opened the door and led the way in. He saw McGonagall raise her eyebrow when she saw the rest of the group walk in.
"I thought that only you needed to talk to me Mister Potter," McGonagall said with an amused expression on her face.
"I'm sorry for not informing you that we all needed to talk to you," Harry said honestly. "But we have something that we need to run through the Deputy Headmistress."
McGonagall sat down behind her desk. "What is it Mister Potter?"
Harry nodded and the familiars instantly deactivated their vests. Harry had to fight back a smile at the shocked look on McGonagall's face. "This is Kex," Harry said while he scratched the pine marten's chin. "He's my true familiar."
Hermione stepped forward and took the now visible Ivy out of her bag. "This is Ivy."
Neville and Luna introduced their familiars and they all waited for McGonagall's reaction.
After a few moments, a small smile graced McGonagall's face. "I won't ask where you four got familiar eggs, but I will ask why you needed to talk to me about them."
Hermione smiled and put Ivy on the desk. The small fox immediately walked up to the professor and bowed her head in respect. "We know that some professors might not react well to the fact that there will be animals in their classes. We can't leave them in the dorms because true familiars get incredibly anxious when they're without their witch or wizard. If we got your permission as Deputy Headmistress to bring them to class, then no teacher will be able to get us to send them away."
McGonagall smiled and tentatively scratched Ivy behind her ears. "I know about the bond between true familiars and their wizards Miss Granger. As long as they don't attack anyone and don't disturb classes then I give you my permission."
"Will anyone be able to override your permission?" Hermione pressed.
To quench Hermione's fear, McGonagall took out five pieces of parchment and wrote on them. She handed one to each of them and kept the last one for herself.
When Harry looked at the parchment he smiled when he read the written authority and felt the magical authority.
I, Minerva McGonagall, do hereby give permission for this true familiar to walk with his wizard, Harry Potter. Any attempt at forced separation will be dealt with by the magic of Hogwarts. So I declare as is my right as Deputy Headmistress.
"Thank you so much Professor," Hermione said happily.
"You are most welcome Miss Granger," McGonagall said with a smile. "Now if a teacher tries to take your familiar away even after reading my note, Hogwarts will prevent them. I am trusting you four not to abuse this privilege. If I feel that your familiars are acting out or are a danger to the other students then I will revoke my permission and Hogwarts will not protect you."
Harry carefully pocketed the precious piece of parchment. "Can Professor Dumbledore revoke this?"
McGonagall looked at Harry with an almost suspicious look before she shook her head. "This is my word to Hogwarts, even though he is Headmaster; he will not be able to cancel my word with her."
"That is some impressive magic," Hermione said in awe while she too carefully put the note away.
"Hogwarts' magic runs deeper than any of us know," McGonagall said fondly. "Now go to your houses, it is almost curfew."
They all thanked her and left the room. The familiars were happy that they didn't need to remain invisible and stick to their wizards like glue. They all walked together until they got to the crossroads where Gryffindor and Ravenclaw split off.
Luna looked at her friends sadly. "I guess this is where we separate. I'll see you tomorrow."
She kissed Neville and walked away with Fay flying after her.
Neville stood rooted to the spot for a moment. His face was a mixture of longing and grief. It was like his heart was being torn out of his chest more and more with each step that Luna took away from him.
"She'll be okay," Sage said comfortingly. "We'll see her tomorrow."
Neville nodded miserably and followed Harry and Hermione to Gryffindor tower. When they got there Hermione gave the password and they entered the common room.
Kex, Ivy and Sage gaped at the sight of the common room and quickly ran over to explore their new surroundings quickly. While they were exploring, Harry said good night to Hermione and gave her a very tender kiss on the lips.
"I'll miss you," Harry whispered in her ear. "I can't wait until you figure out how we can stay in the trunk, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep without you."
Hermione giggled and kissed Harry on the cheek. "I'll meet you bright and early for our run."
Harry groaned and watched while Hermione walked up the stairs towards the girls dormitories with Ivy on her heels. Once she was out of sight he turned to Neville and smiled sympathetically. "I know how you feel mate. It sucks to be away from them. I can't imagine how hard it is for you with Luna in another house."
Neville smiled sadly. "I'll have to hold on until Hermione comes up with a solution. Knowing her it'll be done within a week."
Harry laughed in agreement and led the way upstairs.
When they got in their dorm they were immediately ambushed by a flash of red hair. Ron was still in his robes and had a huge scowl on his face.
"What did you guys have to do that was so important that Hermione had to bail on her prefect duties?" Ron demanded. Then his eyes drifted from the pine marten on Harry's shoulder to the large wolf that was standing next to Neville. "What the hell are those? You know that wild animals aren't allowed!" Ron made a move for his wand while staring anxiously at Sage.
Before Ron could draw the wand, Neville drew his quicker than Ron's eyes could follow. Neville pointed his wand at Ron steadily, but his eyes betrayed his anger.
"These are our true familiars," he said coldly. "And drawing a wand on a wizard's true familiar is grounds for a duel. Seeing as you didn't know that Sage was my familiar, I will let it slide. But, if you even attempt to hex Sage again, Madam Pomfrey will be picking pieces of your wand out of your arse."
Ron's ears grew red, but he took his hand away from his wand. Still scowling, he stalked over to his bed and began angrily taking his robes off. Seamus and Dean looked at them with bemused expressions on their faces, but they didn't object to their new roommates.
"They aren't used to you standing up for yourself," Harry noted happily.
"They better get used to it though," Neville remarked just as happily.
Harry laughed and went over to his bed. He quickly changed out of his robes and into his pajamas. He took the shrunken trunk out of his pocket and moved his school trunk under his bed instead of keeping it at the foot. He then put the trunk on the floor and deactivated the shrinking charm. Once the trunk was its usual size, he activated the security charms. Nobody was going to get in or move it, not even Dumbledore.
"You already didn't have everything so you went to buy a second trunk?" Ron sneered.
Harry shrugged and ignored him. He got in bed and moved to pull the curtains closed when he noticed with amusement that Neville and Sage were arguing over sleeping arrangements.
"I don't want to sleep on the floor," Sage whined.
"You take up the whole bed," Neville said exasperatedly.
"I'll stick by your feet," Sage promised.
"Fine," Neville groaned.
Sage barked happily and leapt on the bed. The bed and Neville groaned under the weight, but Sage curled up at the foot of the bed, trying his best to not take up the whole bed.
Harry and Kex laughed at their friends before Harry pulled the curtains on his bed closed. Using his alder wand, Harry put up some charms to make sure that nobody would be able to sneak up on him and Kex while they slept. Harry was so wary of Ron and Dumbledore that he even slept with his wands on him.
"What do you think of Hogwarts, Kex?" Harry asked his familiar.
Kex curled up on Harry's pillow and sighed warily. "I miss home," he admitted. "I don't like the feeling knowing that the red head is one bed over. He doesn't smell right. I don't trust him."
Harry petted Kex sympathetically. "He won't get the jump on us," he promised. "I put up some strong charms. Plus, Hermione will come up with something soon."
Kex sighed and closed his emerald eyes. Within moments, the pine marten was fast asleep.
Yawning loudly, Harry followed his true familiar's example and closed his eyes. The next day was going to be dull, but the idea of how Snape would react to the familiars left Harry asleep with a big smile on his face.
The next day Harry woke up to Sage pouncing on the bed. Harry cursed and fell on the floor and glared at the wolf. He was now regretting using spells that wouldn't keep a true familiar out.
"Neville says that it's time to get up," Sage said happily. "He's already getting ready."
Harry groaned and got up to get ready. Once they were ready, Harry and Neville walked downstairs to the common room.
As expected, Hermione was already ready and waiting. She was wearing her sweatpants and a sleeveless with her bushy hair pulled back into a ponytail. Ivy was standing on the floor patiently next to her.
"I've been looking forward to running outside around the Great Lake," Hermione said happily. "It'll be a change of scenery. Luna is going to meet us there."
Neville brightened up at the idea of seeing his girlfriend and led the way out of Gryffindor Tower at a brisk walk.
They were the only ones awake at the ungodly hour of six in the morning. Since they couldn't train anymore like they had in the trunk, they had all vowed to go running every morning so that they wouldn't get out of shape.
When they got to the lake, they didn't see Luna, but they heard a loud screeching. They looked up and saw Fay gliding gracefully towards them. Neville lifted his arm and Fay perched on it as gently as she could.
"Good morning," Fay said happily. "We've been flying around the grounds for almost half an hour."
"I'm glad that you two are enjoying yourselves," Neville said sincerely. "Luna, can you come out? I want to give my girlfriend a good morning kiss."
Fay nodded and glided down to the ground. There was the familiar 'crack' of the body merge and Luna appeared on the ground next to Fay. She took Neville's offered hand and got to her feet. As soon as she brushed the dirt off of her workout clothes, she initiated a passionate kiss with Neville.
"I couldn't believe how much I missed you," Luna said softly. "I couldn't sleep."
"I felt the same way," Neville whispered lovingly.
Giving their friends their space, Harry, Hermione and the familiars began running along the edge of the Great Lake. After a minute, Neville and Luna caught up with them and they ran together for an hour. After an hour and a half, Hermione's magically charmed watch went off, indicating that it was seven-thirty and they needed to head back to the castle.
After they showered and changed into their school robes, they all met in the Great Hall for breakfast. Luna decided to go against tradition, and sat with her boyfriend and her best friends at the Gryffindor table. Some of the few students who were already at breakfast at eight looked at the familiars in shock and awe.
"This is creepy," Fay commented while she sat on the table. "I wish that they would stop staring."
"They're probably wondering why there are unusual animals sitting at the Gryffindor Table for breakfast," Neville said.
Before Fay could respond, a tall shadow fell upon the table. They looked up and saw much to their displeasure that Snape had left his spot at the Head Table to come harass them.
"Potter," he said coldly. "Why are there wild animals sitting at the Gryffindor Table? The rules clearly state that only owls, cats, rats and toads are acceptable as pets, and unless I'm mistaken, you have a pine marten eating off of your plate like a primitive creature."
Kex stopped eating off of Harry's plate and glared at the potions professor.
"That is my true familiar, Kex, whom you are insulting Professor," Harry said just as coldly. "We have permission to have them walk with us. Surely a great wizard such as yourself knows that a bond between a true familiar and his wizard is powerful and they can't be separated?"
Snape sneered at Harry with loathing obvious on his face. "Just because you're famous Potter, doesn't mean that you can bring in disgusting creatures and claim that they are true familiars. Ten points from Gryffindor for lying to a professor."
"Ten points to Gryffindor for getting an early start to the day," came a sharp voice from behind Snape.
Everyone looked around Snape to see McGonagall standing there holding schedules looking angry.
"These four have already come to me about their true familiars and I have given them my permission to let them walk with their wizards," she told Snape, her Scottish accent thick.
"These are disgusting creatures that belong in the woods," Snape protested.
Harry had to keep a firm hand on Kex to keep him from leaping at Snape.
"Regardless of your opinion Severus," McGonagall said tartly. "They have my permission and my word on the magic of Hogwarts. Do not attempt to separate them."
Snape glared at McGonagall and left without another word.
"Here are your schedules," she said almost as if she hadn't come close to cursing Snape a second ago.
Harry, Hermione and Neville took their schedules from McGonagall while Luna went to get hers from Flitwick.
"Double potions first thing," Harry groaned. "And it's with Slytherin."
"We've learned more than enough during training to do well in Snape's class," Hermione assured him. She looked at each familiar with a stern look on her face before saying, "you can't do anything during class. Snape will be looking for any excuse to blame something on you guys and take points away from us. Even though he is incredibly unfair, you will have to remain quiet."
Ivy nodded in understanding while Kex and Sage groaned.
"Great," Kex said sarcastically. "We get to spend a double period sitting still in a stuffy potions dungeon while a bitter old man blames every accident on us. Sounds like fun."
Sage laughed while Ivy scowled from her seat next to Hermione. "We could still learn something," she told Kex.
"How are we supposed to learn Potions when we can't make them?" Kex demanded back.
Before their familiars start fighting, Luna sat back down with her schedule. "I have Herbology first thing with Hufflepuff," she told them. "It's a good thing that Neville taught us Herbology this summer; it used to be my worst subject."
They all laughed and enjoyed their breakfast until a flustered Ron and a glaring Ginny entered the Great Hall. They walked up to the table and scowled when they saw Luna.
"Shouldn't you be at the Ravenclaw table?" Ron asked rudely.
Neville bristled in anger, but Luna looked up calmly and smiled. "There is nothing in the rules that says that the houses can't eat together."
Ron rolled his eyes and was about to sit next to Hermione when a sharp bark stopped him. Looking down he saw a small brown fox taking the spot next to Hermione with a book next to it.
Turning to Hermione he demanded, "You have one of those familiar things too?"
Hermione looked up from her breakfast and gave Ron a cold look. "This is Ivy and yes, she's my true familiar."
"Shouldn't she be on the floor?" Ron demanded.
"Why? She was here first," Hermione said calmly.
Ron's ears turned red in anger and he sat down next to Ivy. While Ron was piling food on his plate, Ginny was sitting down next to Harry and was gently putting her hand on his leg.
"May I hold your familiar Harry?" she asked.
When she reached over to pick up Kex, he turned on her and gave her a cold glare.
"He doesn't like to be touched by strangers," Harry said while he put more food on his plate for Kex to eat.
"Well I'm sure that he'll warm up to me soon," Ginny flirted.
Hermione was too entertained by Kex's rejection of Ginny to get irritated. Instead she stifled a giggle from behind her hand.
A loud chorus of owls hooting made Hermione look up. She hadn't even realized the time until the post arrived. A barn owl landed in front of her with the Daily Prophet. Hermione put a knut in the owl's money pouch and gave it a piece of bacon. The owl hooted gratefully and took off.
"Why are you paying for the paper?" Harry asked curiously. "You know that it's rubbish."
Hermione shrugged and continued to read. "It's good to be informed. Plus, now that the Ministry has to accept the fact that Voldemort is back they Daily Prophet is sure to mention him."
Harry shrugged indifferently but didn't ask again.
After breakfast Harry, Hermione and Neville headed to Potions while Luna headed to Herbology. When they got to the dungeons, Harry, Hermione and Neville grabbed a table together while their familiars sat down together on the side.
When the rest of their classmates began pouring in they all looked at the familiars with questioning eyes. Harry couldn't hope but notice that there weren't even a fraction of students in the NEWTs level Potions class.
"I'm happy that we retook our OWLs during that last week of the holiday," Harry whispered to Neville who nodded in agreement.
"Hey Potter," a cold voice came from the back of the classroom.
Stifling a groan, Harry turned around and gave Malfoy a calm look. "What do you want Malfoy?"
Malfoy was standing behind them and Harry happily noted that Crabbe and Goyle hadn't scored high enough on their OWLs to stay in the class.
"As a student I have a right to protest when another student brings dangerous creatures to class," he said smugly.
Taking care not to get angry, Harry took out McGonagall's permission form and showed it to Malfoy. "These are not dangerous creatures, they are true familiars. And we all have permission to have them with us."
Malfoy glared at the permission slip before he turned to Kex. He sneered when he recognized the emerald eyes that the pine marten was glaring at him with. "So your familiar is a lame pine marten? I guess this proves that you're weaker than everyone thinks you are. It's probably due to the fact that you're a half-blood."
Kex rolled his eyes at Malfoy and Sage laughed. Because Malfoy couldn't understand Sage, the wolf's laughter sounded more like a cross between a sneeze and a growl.
"Kex could beat you in a duel," Harry smirked. "He isn't so inbred that his magical abilities are stunted nearly to the same level as a squib."
Malfoy's face got red with rage, but before he could retort Snape came into the room. Sending death glares at Harry; Malfoy went back to his seat and sat down.
Snape went right to his desk at the front of the class. He glared when he saw the familiars, but knew better than to try anything or else succumb to the magic of Hogwarts.
"Today we will be making a blood-replenishing potion. For some reason some of you managed to pass your OWLs with a high enough score to be accepted into my class but I assure you, I will quickly weed out those with true talent from those who were lucky on the exams." He waved his wand at the blackboard and directions for an extremely complicated potion appeared. "Begin," he said coldly.
Hermione immediately started preparing her cauldron while Harry and Neville went to get the necessary ingredients. By the time Harry and Neville came back with enough ingredients for all three of them, Hermione had their cauldrons prepared.
Despite the blood-replenishing being NEWT level, none of them had any difficulties with it. The blood-replenishing potion was one of the first potions that they had learned to brew while in the trunk mainly due to the fact that they needed to stock up on it.
Halfway through the potion, Harry realized that there were unnecessary ingredients on the board for the potion. He focused on Malfoy and what he was feeling and he only felt satisfaction at the expense of others.
"Did you realize it?" Harry asked Hermione and Neville quietly.
They nodded. "Does Snape inform the Slytherins that they're unnecessary?" Neville asked.
"He does," Harry said with quiet anger. "We've brewed this enough times to know how to do it."
That was when the three of them stopped listening to Snape's personal instructions on how to brew potions.
When Malfoy's potion started smoking towards the end, Snape immediately turned to their table and sneered.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for not cleaning those filthy creatures. One of their hairs obviously fell into Mister Malfoy's potion," he said cruelly.
The familiars looked offended, but they didn't act. Instead they went right back to looking like they were napping when they were really listening to Snape and the other Slytherins with their superior hearing.
When the class was almost over, Snape came over to their table with a cruel smile on his face. When he inspected each of their potions, his smile faded and was replaced with a furious frown.
"These are acceptable," Snape said through gritted teeth. "Leave a sample on my desk and take the rest up to the Hospital Wing."
After the class left their samples Snape assigned a two foot essay on the uses of the blood-replenishing potion. They took their potions to a grateful Madam Pomfrey and went down to the Great Hall for lunch. They warned Luna about Snape's potion instructions before they went to their DADA class.
Not surprisingly, they were the first ones there. Harry and Hermione sat together while Neville took the table next to them with the familiars sitting in the free space next to Neville. The last thing they wanted was for Ron to listen in on their conversations.
Professor Griffin entered the classroom from his office and smiled warmly at the only students in his classroom.
"I was hoping that you would get here early," he said.
"Why is that Professor?" Harry asked skeptically.
Griffin took out his wand and gave it a wave. The door behind them clicked and they felt some privacy charms go up. Griffin laughed when Harry, Hermione and Neville reached for their wands.
"Do not fear," he assured them. "I only do not wish to be interrupted. I have waited long for the Spiritual Heirs to appear."
"How do you know who we are," Harry demanded.
Griffin waved his wand over himself. Instantly, his body started to shift. They watched with wide eyes when their new professor vanished and in his place was a large gray griffin with the same scar and the same piercing yellow eyes.
The griffin stepped up to the stunned students and bowed. "Lord Gryffindor, Lord Hufflepuff and Lady Slytherin, my true name is Goldengaze, and I have been sent here to protect you and Lady Ravenclaw. I wished to make myself known to you as soon as possible."
Harry was the first one to find his voice. "Who sent you?"
Goldengaze looked at Harry and smirked. "Who else my Lord? The Founders themselves."