Chapter 5
Harry and Ron both blinked at Draco.
“HUH?”
“I am sorry I offended you and your friend, and I am sorry that I myself have been a terrible friend so far.” Draco stuck out his hand. “Can we start over Harry? I want to be a better friend to you.”
Behind him Cecilia stood with her arms crossed and was smiling proudly. Just what in the world has she said to him?
“Uh sure?” Harry reached and grabbed Draco's hand, giving it a small shake and letting go.
Draco, who was slightly pink now, cleared his throat. “You may want to get changed; we will be arriving at Hogwarts soon. Sure enough a voice echoed along the train.
“We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken separately.”
Draco nodded and then turned to leave. “See you later Harry, goodbye for now Smith, nice meeting you Weasley.” Just like that Draco left the compartment and made his way down the hall.
As soon as the door closed Rigel let out a whistle. “Wow, what did you say to him?”
“Facts.” Cecilia grabbed her tiny bag and put it on before addressing everyone else. “Put on your robes. We are here!” She then opened the window a tiny bit and stuck her head out, watching the trees, the mountains, and the hamlets roll by.
By the time the train stopped everyone was dressed and they made their way to leave together. There was a lot of pushing and yelling when they finally made their way to the small dark platform.
Hagrid was there once again, calling the attention of all the first years to follow him. Cecilia grabbed Harry’s hand and squeezed. Her excitement and nerves taking their toll on her when he noticed how pale she was.
He squeezed back.
Rigel and Ron followed close behind as they made their way into the forest path that led to the boats.
“You’ll get your first sight of Hogwarts in a sec.” Hagrid said over his shoulder, “Just around this bend here.”
Harry was awestruck once he saw the castle. His first ever home was practically smiling and welcoming him back.
Cecilia let out a gasp and Rigel's jaw dropped at the view.
“Going back in time was all worth it for this view.” Cecilia let out softly. “We’re home.”
Harry nodded and the four of them stepped into a boat. There were many oohs and aahs as they made their way across the lake and into the underground harbor. As soon as everyone was off the boats, they followed Hagrid around until they reached a great set of double doors and Hagrid knocked exactly three times and stood back.
When the doors opened, Professor McGonagall stood proudly as her gaze fell over all the first years. Everyone followed her through the castle, and he heard Rigel mention getting lost and Ron nodding along.
Cecilia shared a look with Harry that said, ‘It is almost not fair how well they knew this place already.’
Soon enough they reached a small room where Professor McGonagall addressed everyone.
“Welcome to Hogwarts.”
As she spoke all the students fell silent and looked her way.
“The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.”
Harry couldn’t help but remember when she made this very same speech to him in his first year. She was definitely the best head of house he could’ve asked for.
“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.”
Will he be in Gryffindor again or will his house change this time?
“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. Please wait quietly.”
With that done she made her way out of the room and Harry glanced around. Many students were terrified, and he let out a soft laugh at how scared he once was as well.
Cecilia smiled alongside him when Ron spoke up. “What's so funny?” Rons voice wavered a little.
Rigel looked at them both and asked. “How do we get sorted?”
“Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking.” Ron replied instead.
“I wonder what kind of test it is, and which spell we will need to use?” Hermione asked very fast to another scared young girl beside her.
Cecilia let out a real laugh at that, almost clutching her stomach with her laughter and Harry then joined in as well.
“Have you both gone crazy?” Rigel asked.
Before either could answer the students in the back started screaming in horror as some ghosts floated through the wall and made their way towards the group, arguing amongst themselves.
One ghost paused and took notice of all the children. “My what are you all doing here?”
Harry’s eyes widened when he could really see them, they were no longer just the clear transparent white he recognized. They each had what looked like a shadow heart still beating in their chest.
“New students!” the Fat Friar exclaimed, all smiles and slowly floating around them. “About to be sorted I suppose?”
He then stopped in front of Harry and Cecilia, His face became even more transparent, and Harry noticed his Shadowy heart beating faster. The Hufflepuff ghost opened his mouth, about to say something when a sharp voice cut in.
“Move along now, the sorting ceremony is about to start.” Professor McGonagall said, Rounding up the students. Harry and Cecilia watched as the ghosts this time did not float away, instead they stayed in the small room, whispering to themselves and watching the first years walk away.
Could this have something to do with being the Master of Death somehow?
As they walked out in a line towards the Great Hall Harry put that thought to the back of his mind and focused more on the spectacular view around him. The Great Hall was still just as beautiful as he remembered.
The ceiling was covered with stars and fluffy dark clouds. Harry honestly couldn’t wait to get to bed and occlude. He was so tired.
Once they reached the other end of the stall, Harry spotted Severus sitting next to Quirrell and sent him a smile which Severus only returned with a barely noticeable nod.
While Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting hat onto a stool Harry noticed that there were more and more ghosts coming into the Great Hall to watch. Each of their ghostly hearts beating rapidly.
Once the hat finished singing, the entirety of the First years breathed a sigh of relief Ron mumbled somewhere behind him about killing Fred for lying but Harry ignored it.
As Professor McGonagall started naming people off in alphabetical Order Harry made sure to clap when each student got placed and wait patiently for his turn. He laughed when Neville ran off with the hat still on his head for Gryffindor and rolled his eyes when Draco sent them all a pleased smile when he was placed in Slytherin.
As the number of first years dwindled, he wondered if he was still a Gryffindor with all that he had been through. What if he got placed somewhere else and he doesn’t make friends with Ron or Hermione again?
Cecilia squeezed his hand tighter when Sally-Anne was called and Harry tensed knowing he was next. She sent him a warm smile when the hat shouted Hufflepuff and said table roared with cheers.
“Potter, Harry.”
The Hall whispered amongst themselves like they always do when Harry is involved, and he squeezed Cecilia’s hand once before letting go and walking towards the stool.
The moment the hat fell over his eyes he greeted it with a hello.
“Back again, are we?” the voice in the hat said into his ear. “I see you have grown and matured. Gryffindor was the right place for you.”
It was. Harry thought back
“I can see that you are planning to protect the future at any means necessary, does this mean that you will be willing to be a Slytherin this time around?”
Every house has it’s good and it’s evil. No matter what house you put me in I know that I will be alright. I am not alone this time.
The hat let out what sounded like a laugh. “Yes, still very brave I see. You have always been a true one – Better be – GRYFFINDOR!”
Thank you.
Harry took the hat off gently and returned it to the professor and smiled brightly at all the cheers. As he sat down next to Neville, he noticed how Severus had a barely there smile and he nodded in approval in Harry's direction.
Harry sent him an even brighter smile at that.
Three kids later and Professor McGonagall called out Rigel's name. Rigel straightened his back and walked stiffly to the stool. Once he sat and the hat went over his head Harry wondered exactly what house Rigel will be placed in? He was brave, and plenty ambitious. Maybe Gryffindor or Slytherin? He was also a lot smarter than he looked so maybe Ravenclaw?
“HUFFLEPUFF!” the hat screamed.
Well, that was not what he was expecting, but Harry still stood up and clapped as loud as he could from his table to congratulate his friend.
“Smith, Sally”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
“Snape, Cecilia”
“Snape? Like Professor Snape?” someone whispered, soon most of the older students were whispering and pointing as Cecilia stepped forward and made a show about waving to Severus before sitting on the stool.
Harry rolled his eyes at her antics. How could he have forgotten that Severus had a reputation here at Hogwarts. Cecilia was bound to get some attention and soon enough so will Harry if they find out that Severus is also his dad.
“RAVENCLAW!”
The Ravenclaw house cheered, and Harry made sure to stand up and cheer along with them.
The last four students were sorted like last time and Ron came to sit next to him. Weird how different he felt sitting at the Gryffindor table with Ron to his side and Hermione across from him.
Once the food appeared Harry stacked his plate and listened in to the conversations happening around him. Right as he was about to eat there was a small cough that caught his attention. As he turned to look over his shoulder, Nearly Headless Nick was floating there, fixing Harry with a hard ghostly stare.
“Hello, can I help you?” Harry asked. Before Nick could reply however Ron spoke up, “I know you, you are Nearly Headless Nick.”
Nick looked offended as he replied, “I would prefer if you called me Sir Nicholas de-”
“Nearly Headless? How could you be nearly headless?” Seamus asked instead.
“Like this.” Nick made a spectacle to show them his almost beheadedment while Harry went back to focusing on his food.
Now that literally all of them have been sorted into different houses, they do need to find a way to communicate with each other without drawing attention to themselves.
But how?
As Harry ate and listened to the way Neville describes his home life he frowned. Could it be that Neville was also getting abused?
“Hey Neville.”
Neville turned to face him.
“Do they treat you like that often?”
“They don’t mean any harm if that's what you are asking. It's just fun and games. My Great uncle says so.” Neville said with a smile.
Harry did not believe him.
After dinner and having one treacle tart for dessert, Harry was really starting to feel sleepy. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as the food disappeared and Professor Dumbledore stood up and started his speech. Harry only tuned in during the end of it.
“Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.”
He really is doing the Sorcerer's Stone drama this year. Harry rolled his eyes and got up with the rest of the first years to follow Percy as he led them through the school. He waved a tired goodbye to Cecilia, Rigel and even Draco as each house separated and went their different ways towards the common rooms.
Right before they reached the Fat Lady, Harry saw some walking sticks floating in mid Air and as Peeves made his presence known Harry, being far too tired, shot Peeves a deadly glare. The moment Peeves saw Harry he let out a shrill scream and disappeared below the floor.
Harry raised a brow where the Poltergeist had gone and shrugged to himself, tomorrow he can deal with it.
Finally reaching the Fat Lady Harry eagerly climbed through the hole and waited rather impatiently for Percy to show him where the dorm rooms were, even though he already knew, before finally changing into pajamas and climbing into his bed.
He heard Ron speaking next to him but couldn’t focus past the night sky and clouds in his head before fully falling into a deep sleep.
The next day Harry woke up before any of the other boys and rolled out of bed. He walked into the washroom and got ready for his day early. As he put on his tie, he took a glance at Rons sleeping form and once again saw that rat curled into a ball in its cage.
Now was a good chance.
He could take that thing now. Maybe he could even toss it out the window. No one would need to know.
As he got closer to Rons bed the door suddenly opened, and Percy stood there.
“Alright everyone, get up!” he said, walking around the room with his wand and opening all the curtains.
Fuck!
Harry switched tactics and shook Ron awake instead before turning and following Percy down to the common room.
Only two other first years were there. Alice Runcorn, A small girl with dark eyes and short dark hair. And Hermione.
Harry smiled at them both and offered them a Goodmorning.
“Goodmorning, my name is Alice Runcorn, nice to meet you.” Alice said tiredly but still managed to smile at Harry. Harry knows that Alice truly was in Gryffindor his first time, but he doesn’t remember talking to her before.
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms. “So, you are Harry Potter, I have read about you, you know. You're famous for ending the last wizarding war. I also know that you are friends with that horrid girl from the train.” She gave a long sigh and held her head up higher. “I guess you can’t be that bad if the hat put you in Gryffindor as well. At least you got up at the appropriate hour.”
Wow was she always this bad? Harry and Alice shared a look, and Alice gave an exaggerated eye roll.
“I simply have a dog back home; I am used to waking up early to walk him.” Harry said slowly.
“You have a dog?” both girls said at the same time, however Hermione quickly continued speaking. “You can’t have a dog. I know everything about you, and I don’t ever remember any books saying you have one.”
“Hermione, I don’t know what books you have read about me, but I assure you I do in fact have a dog.”
Hermione gave him a calculating look before asking. “Are you saying that Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century are all wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Impossible.”
“Come on, the rest will follow in a second, I am going to take you all to the Great Hall again for breakfast and there you will be receiving your timetables to start classes.” Percy said and started leading the three of them plus Lavander Brown and Neville Longbottom back through the portrait hole and down some hallways.
“If you ever get lost you can always ask the ghost, portraits or even some of the older students for help.” Percy said as they walked.
As soon as the doors opened to the Great Hall, they made their way to the seats that they occupied last night and sat down. As Harry slowly built his plate someone from behind said his name.
“Harry! Goodmorning!” Harry turned just enough for Cecilia to hug properly.
“Goodmorning Ceci.” Cecilia smiled happily and sat next to Harry. “I totally knocked out as soon as we reached Ravenclaw tired, didn’t even have time to occlude.”
“Yea? I was definitely tired, but I think I managed it.” Harry responded and put some eggs on his plate only for Cecilia to eat some.
“Um excuse me, this is Gryffindor table.” Hermione said, frowning at Cecilia.
Cecilia turned to her and nodded. “Yes, I know. My apologies. Goodmorning everyone. Hello Neville.”
Neville blinked at her and then started twiddling his fingers again. “Hello, Goodmorning.”
“How is Trevor?”
“He’s good.”
“No, I meant shouldn’t you be over with your house?” Hermione interrupted.
“Not really no, I have my timetable already and I saw Harry. I just wanted to say hello.” Cecilia said, crossing her arms on the table and getting more comfortable. She then turned to the other two girls. “Goodmorning, my name is Cecilia Snape, please call me Cecilia.”
“Lavander, I really like your hair.” Lavender said giving her a small wave.
“Thanks, I like your bow.”
“I am Alice, pleasure.” Alice said softly.
“Pleasure is all mine.” Cecilia said and reached for one of the apples. “Are you guys excited or what?”
“You have your timetable already?” Hermione questioned, curiosity on her face.
“Yes.” Was Cecilia’s simple answer as she took out a neatly folded parchment and handed it to her. “You can look through it if you want.”
Cecilia turned to Harry. “We unfortunately don't have daddy till tomorrow. I also realize that there are only 42 students in our year, how will they separate the classes?”
“Probably Gryffindors with Slytherins and Hufflepuff with Ravenclaws.” Harry said as he took a bite of his food.
“Ok, that does make sense, I guess. Its only 7:30 though, and the first class doesn’t start till 8:30. Think we can go and explore?”
“You can’t do that; you will get into trouble.” Hermione said as she placed Cecilia's timetable to the side.
Cecilia got up then and walked toward the teachers table where Professor Flitwick sat and after a short conversation she returned with a smile on her face. “Professor Flitwick said it was alright if we make it to class on time.”
Harry nodded and stood up as well, grabbing some fruit and putting it into a napkin and tucking it into his robes. “Alright good, I wanted to talk to you in private anyway.”
Cecilia grabbed Harry's hand and led them to the Hufflepuff table where Rigel was sitting and when he saw them, he excused himself and stood up to join them.
“Goodmorning.” Cecilia said to everyone, and she received happy Goodmorning's in return from the Hufflepuffs.
Soon the three made their way towards the gardens and started walking around.
“Peter is a problem.” Harry was the first to say when they were far enough away.
“Who?” Rigel asked, eating a bagel as he walked.
“It’s Ron Weasleys pet rat. It is not a pet at all, it's an Animagus in disguise.”
“Oh, I knew that Rat was weird. It has magic, and a normal creature having magic is unheard of.” Cecilia said as she finished her apple and threw it out.
“Wait you mean that it's actually a person?” Rigel asked
Harry nodded his head. “His real name is Peter Pettigrew, and he is the reason my parents are dead. He betrayed them to Voldemort.”
Cecilia nodded slowly and took out her wand. She made some slow circles with it pointed at her palm and created a mini bag like the one she always carried around. “This has an extension charm on it, capture him and put him in here until we figure out what to do with him.” She said, handing the bag to Harry.
Harry tucked the bag into the other pocket of his robes and nodded. “There is also something we need to do about communication. We can’t just go off alone together when we discover something important. We need to send messages to each other or talk, you know what I mean?”
Cecilia nodded back slowly, “yea, I see what you mean, yesterday when I saw those ghosts, it was weird to see them look more like real people than ghosts. I wanted to tell you guys, but I couldn’t until now.”
“Hold on what? To me they looked the same but for some reason I think I can see their hearts? I thought Ghosts didn’t have hearts.” Harry let out.
“That might just be because you both are Masters of Life and Death. Ghosts are right in between the living world and the dead one. As for the communication thing, do you mean like a cellular phone?” Rigel said, finishing off his Bagel. He wiped his hands on his robe before turning to look at them both. “Muggles have portable phones nowadays; they allow people to call from wherever and send text messages. They might be useful for when we need to communicate over long distances without drawing attention to ourselves.”
“And how will we get those? Muggle technology and Magic don’t mix remember?" Harry said. It wasn’t a bad idea but the fact that magic and technology repel each other will be a problem.
“Let me figure it out.” Rigel said, nodding to himself as he thought.
“The Castle is as beautiful as ever.” Cecilia commented as they walked for a bit longer and the sun kept rising. “What time is it?”
Rigel looked at the watch he carried and read aloud “8:13, Please tell me one of you have Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning and you know how to get there?”
“If the class is in the same place as 100years ago then yes, Come on. See you later Harry.”
With that said they went their separate ways and Harry found himself at Herbology just in time for the class to start.
The rest of the day went about as normal and as boring as Harry thought it would be. He did realize that he was terribly advanced compared to the other First years. During transfigurations he was able to fully turn the matchstick into a needle first try. Professor McGonagall was so proud, Hermione on the other hand grew angry and by the end of class when she managed to turn the color and make it sharper, she received a nod. For some reason that infuriated her further.
What was he going to do with Hermione this time around? Does he have to wait till he saves her life for her to like him?
By the time classes finished for the day he entered the Great Hall with Ron on one side and Neville on the other. His eyes swept across the room, and he turned to the two boys. “Go on ahead I’ll catch up.”
He then made his way to the Ravenclaw table where Cecilia was eating and took the free seat next to her. “Ceci, what do I do??” He said and practically slammed his head on the table next to her.
Ceci patted his back and excused herself from the table. Taking Harry with her, she walked to the 7th floor corridor and summoned the ROR. When the door appeared they both entered and Harry let out a gasp at the room inside.
It was huge! There was what looked like a sewing station to the right and conjured to the left was a Material Refiner. Directly in front of him was a Vivarium that looked like a Greenhouse.
“Come with me.” Cecilia then led him to the left and down some stairs that he only now noticed. At the bottom of the staircase there was another huge room, to the far left were about three potion stations with some hopping pots in between them and to the far right were flourishing pots with many different plants. The space in the middle was bare but towards the end there were some tables set up and chairs. Rigel himself sat at one of these tables working away on something that Harry couldn’t quite understand, and near was a tray of what looked like half-finished food.
“Wow, what is this place?” Harry asked, stepping over to the plants and noticing the huge venomous tantacula that was growing before backing away a little.
“This was my study.” Cecilia said, stepping up to the big plant and stroking one of its leaves. “I created this place to learn quicker and study as much as I can about anything. It was my favorite place to go to. Today during lunch, I slipped in to see if it was still here.” She picked up a watering can and began to water the Fluxweed and Mallowsweets. “I am very happy to know that this room is exactly the way I left it, even all my creatures are still here.”
“Creatures?” Harry asked. Cecilia nodded and put down the watering can and started walking to where Rigel was. “Let’s eat something first and we will talk.”
Harry sat down in a comfy chair across from Rigel. “Hi Rigel, whatcha doing?”
Rigel glanced up for a moment and sent him a small smile. “I’m looking for clues to get technology and magic working together. I am guessing a machine that connects to each other using Runes and Magic to power, so it doesn’t involve technology for now while I work on a way to combine the two.”
Harry blinked. “You are already working on the mobile phone?”
Rigel nodded quickly and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. Cecilia smiled and then called out a name.
“Deek?”
Then a very old house elf popped in, a few hairs and all wrinkled looked up at Cecilia with big, watered eyes. “Oh my, Deek is so happy to see the young miss. Welcome back to Hogwarts.”
Cecilia smiled wide and bent down to embrace the little elf. “It is so good to see you too Deek. Thank you again for preserving my study.”
“Oh, Of course I would young miss, anything for a great witch like yourself.” Deek stepped back from the embrace and rubbed his hands together. “What can Deek be doing for you?”
“Deek, this is my brother Harry Potter.” Cecilia introduced.
Deek looked over at Harry with wide eyes. “Harry Potter? What an honor it is to have you here. How can Deek help?”
“We are a little hungry, some food would be nice.” Cecilia said with a smile. Deek bowed and popped away.
“You know that elf?” Harry asked, trying to wrap his head around it.
“Yes, I told him everything so he knows, don’t you worry, you can trust him.” Cecilia said as a big tray with a section of food on it appeared. “So, what is your dilemma today brother?”
Oh, right. “Hermione.”
Cecilia sighed into her cup of tea. “Why exactly is she a problem now?”
Harry picked up a sandwich before answering. “In my last life it took saving her from a troll for us to become friends, I wanted to avoid that if possible. How should I become friends with her this time?”
This time it was Rigel who answered. “Harry, you do know that this version of Ron and Hermione will never be the same as the past Ron and Hermione. Just like you are no longer the same Harry you once were. You can’t keep viewing them as the same people, you will only get hurt. You need to let them go.”
“Rigel is right. Hermione, as I know her now, is very studious and a know it all. She takes great pride in being number one academically. She also has a curious and sharp mind. If you want to befriend her you might need a different approach, sit down and have a conversation with her.” Cecilia said softly.
Harry sighed and nodded. “Yea you guys are right, she is different. But I still want her as a friend.” Cecilia nodded back and they ate in silence. When they were finished the trays disappeared and Cecilia stood up. “Wanna see my creatures?” Cecilia asked with a smile.
“Hell yea.” Harry said standing up and following her across the room and up the stairs, there were footsteps behind him, and he turned slightly to watch Rigel follow them with curious eyes.
Once they reached the top Harry noticed that besides the greenhouse Vivarium there were three others, each one a different shape and little signs sticking out. One said swamp and the other said coastal. She entered the closest one and both Harry and Rigel looked at each other uncertainly before following her through it.
It was a Forest. A huge forest. Clear skies and a couple tents in the far corner. Off to the side there were what looked like Magical automatic feeders and a box stuffed with toys. To the far left there was what also looked like a breeding pen. Harry and Rigel were shocked as they noticed the Puffskeins first different sizes and colors all rolling around and making weird animal noises.
Next, they noticed the birds in the sky, some large and some smaller, the bigger birds were all brightly colored and the smaller ones in shades of blue and green. Harry was so entranced with the way the birds flew, like they were dancing in the air, that he almost missed Rigel's voice calling his name.
When he looked in the direction that Rigel was pointing at there was Cecilia, stroking the main of a flipping Unicorn. Now that he looked there were multiple Unicorns, and the younger ones were still golden in color. Cecilia was smiling and talking to them softly. She then waved them over.
“Come here.” Rigel and Harry made their way slowly towards her to not scare the animals around her. She was holding a brush in one hand and waving them over with the other. The unicorn made a soft noise and backed away slightly.
“Easy now, they won’t hurt you.” She said softly. Grabbing Harrys outstretched hand she laid it flat onto the snout of the unicorn. “See? They are friends.”
Harry couldn’t believe this was happening to him.
Cecilia sent him a smile and walked away.
The unicorn was locking its gaze onto Harry and for a moment, Harry thought it would dislike him and run away. It surprised him however when the Unicorn nuzzled into his hand and stepped back a bit, bending its neck to start nibbling the grass.
“Woah.”
“I know right?” Cecilia said behind him, she was trying to get one of the smaller birds to climb onto Rigel's shoulders. “100 years ago, I started saving animals from poachers thanks to Deek's help. We started keeping them here and breeding them for their safety and protection. I didn’t realize that Deek would continue to care for these creatures in my absence.” The bird finally leapt onto Rigel's shoulder and twitted softly before flying off.
“My question is why do they trust you so easily?” Rigel said as he rubbed his shoulder.
“Best guess is that even though this is the room of Requirement, a lot of the things in these rooms I build using my magic. My magic signature still flows in these rooms and the animals all consider it as one of their own.” Cecilia answered as she dropped some kibble for a passing Puffskein.
“They still see you as a protector.” Harry stated.
Cecilia smiled even more brightly. “Best part is that there are two animals who still remember me. Let me show you.” She waved her wand in the air a little and a toy from the toy box bounced out.
She then turned and made her way out of the Vivarium and took the right staircase up to another Vivarium that looked strangely like Cinderella’s royal carriage. On the side there was a sign that read Coastal.
As the three entered, they were greeted by a strong sun and the feeling of sand under their feet. When Harry’s eyes adjusted, he was able to spot the beach. The first thing he noticed were the Hippogriffs and his jaw dropped. Cecilia let out a giggle and started walking towards the shore. As she walked both Harry and Rigel noticed a huge hump backed creature with golden horns and a tentacle beard, running full speed in her direction.
Harry started running towards her while Rigel screamed her name and pointed at the creature. When she noticed she instead spread her arms wide. Harry did not reach her in time when said creature slowed down and practically plopped its big head into her arms.
“Max! Hello my darling! Oh, you have gotten so big look at you!” Cecilia cooed as she tried to rub as much as the creature could while it let out pleased grunts and showed its stomach.
“Max?!” Harry let out breathlessly. The creature rolled over and fixed its gaze upon Harry.
“Yes, this is Max, the very first Graphorn offspring I had 100 years ago.” Cecilia said as she nuzzled the big creature. “He remembers me from all that time ago.”
She then stepped back and towards some of the Hippogriffs that were watching them and gave them all a bow. One by one each of the hippogriffs bowed in return and then stood to full height and galloped towards her with flapping wings and happy chirps. Cecilia waved her wand around and started brushing all the hippogriffs with multiple floating brushes.
Harry then glanced to the side and watched Max the graphorn slowly walk toward another group of the same species. None of them were as big as Max, but they were all equally as impressive and still much bigger than Harry’s 11-year-old body.
Suddenly Rigel let out a quick scream and Harry turned back to watch him fall onto the ground while what looked like a bright blue dodo bird sat before him. It looked at him for a few seconds before disappearing with a pop and reappearing in front of Cecilia.
“What is that?” Rigel asked as he stood back on his feet.
“A diricawl.” Cecilia answered as she dropped some kibble for it to munch on. “There should be a couple more around here. They are probably sleeping in their dens though.” she petted the one at her feet before it popped away.
“Do you have more animals in those other Vivarium's?” Harry asked, bowing to the closest Hippogriff that was a golden-brown color and waited for it to bow back before stepping up to it and petting it.
“I do! You have met the diricawls, hippogriffs and graphorns here. And the unicorns, puffskein, fwoopers, and the jobberknolls in the last one. How about we visit the thestrals next?” Cecilia said as she finished with a black hippogriff and started to walk towards the exit.
“How many more do you have?” Rigel asked as he took the bucket of kibbles from her to hold.
“About 6 more different species. C’mon.” She led them out and across the arch but did not enter the one that looked like a more regal greenhouse, instead she led them to one that looked like a huge glass lamp that had a sign reading swamp.
“You are going to get wet coming in here, fair warning.” She said as she took off her shoes and socks, scrunched up her robes, and entered. Without missing a beat Harry was quick to follow her lead, toeing off his own shoes and socks and grabbing the ends of his Robes, lifting it as high as he could and entered.
Immediately he sank and felt water rise to his waist. The ground beneath his bare feet was squishy and soft so he held his robes higher to prevent them from getting wet. As he kept walking the water lowered more until he was left standing on moist land. He dropped his robe and turned to watch Rigel make his way through the water behind him.
It was definitely a swamp for sure. The sky was dark and cloudy, and the air was heavy with water. As he looked for Cecilia a huge toad jumped over him and landed a little ahead of him, it let out a loud croak before hoping away.
Rigel, finally out of the water frowned down at his wet pants and sighed. “At least she did warn us. Where is she anyway?”
As they walked around, they saw more of the toads just lazing around and sleeping. There was a shrill over them and they both looked up to see a thestral soar above them and land a little away. It bent down to nuzzle a younger one that was taking small steps.
“What are those?” Rigel asked as he watched the creature huff and take off again in fascination.
“Thestrals.” Harry answered.
There was a sudden cooing coming from around the corner and Harry and Rigel spared each other a glance before walking in that direction. Sure enough Cecilia was sitting in the middle of a bunch of creatures with long necks and big eyes as they moved in strange patterns. It was mesmerizing the way they seemed to dance around.
Harry stepped closer and accidentally stepped on a branch that snapped. Each of the creatures stopped moving and stared at both Rigel and Harry with extremely wide eyes.
Cecilia stood up and walked towards them almost breathlessly. “Did you see that? That was a Mooncalf dance, they are so rare, I have only ever seen it once! Wow!” She wore the biggest smile on her face as she said that and quickly pulled them both into a hug.
“It was pretty cool.” Harry said as she pulled away just as quickly. “These are mooncalves?”
Cecilia nodded her head and pointed behind them. “Those are giant purple toads and those-” she pointed above them. “-are thestrals. They pretty much keep to themselves and don’t really need me around. But I still like to stop by now and again.” she said as a grey mooncalf walked closer and closed its huge eyes while nuzzling her hand.
“They are cute.” Rigel commented. “What about the last three?” he asked as he scooped some kibbles and dropped them for the mooncalves to enjoy.
“They are in that last Vivarium.” The three of them spent a little more time in the swamp before heading out and making their way out and toward the last one.
“It is already 8:00pm.” Rigel mentioned as they dried off with magic and put back on their shoes. “We have to be in our own dormitories by 10.”
“Don’t worry, we are almost done. Are you still stressed Harry?” Cecilia said as she hopped on one foot to put her sock on.
“No, this helped me a lot. Thanks.” Harry said as he tied his last shoe on and stood up. “What are these last animals you got?”
Cecilia stood up straight at last and started once again leading them towards the final vivarium. As the three entered Harry noticed the wind blowing first and the clear sky overhead. They stood on what looked like grassland on a mountain of sorts. Scattered around he saw what looked like cats and some platypus running around or just lying about.
Cecilia walked over to the magic feeder and made sure it was full and then took from the toy box a yarn ball and a golden ball. She threw them both onto the ground and the cats soon started pushing the ball to one another lazily while the platypuses suddenly started tackling each other over the ball. Harry couldn’t help but laugh at their display.
“What are they?” Rigel asked as the golden ball landed near him and he picked it up only to have four platypuses surround him and attempt to climb him. Cecilia laughed as she took the ball from Rigel and chucked it away. “Those are nifflers. They will chase anything shiny and attempt to capture it.”
Each niffler started running after the ball trying to capture it. And Rigel fell over as the ones near his feet tripped him before running off.
“Those cats' kind of look like the cat Hermione got in my previous life.” Harry pointed at said cats.
“Those are kneazles. They are magic cats.” Cecilia said dramatically. “Just like the others I don’t need to stop by here as often because they can take care of themselves just fine.”
“Didn’t you say there were three more? What about the last one?” Rigel asked as he dusted himself off.
“Oh, right.” Cecilia then led them up one of the rocky ledges nearby and whistled. Suddenly there was a loud trill, and a huge bird swooped down and landed on Cecilia’s outstretched arm.
The bird was big with a white and blue color pattern on its feathers. It had intelligent eyes and stood proudly on Cecilia’s arm before bringing its beak closer to her and letting out short coos, rubbing its head onto her.
It was a goddamn Phoenix.