Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Returning to the records room, Albus found an owl still perched upon the window.
“Oh? Aren’t you supposed to be sending the letters for the new year?”

The bird gave a hoot of annoyance and dropped the letter to the table, where the man took it and fixed his half moon spectacles, upon his face. As soon as he read it, his expression morphed into confusion.
“I can see why you didn’t take this, Little One…Where, on Earth, is this?”

He gave the owl a little scratch in its undercarriage, before it flew back off to the owlery.

Bringing the rest of the staff to a meeting, he pulled out the letter.
“This was the only letter that wasn’t sent this year. The address baffled both the owl and myself.” A short man with brunette hair seemed nervous.
“B-But aren’t owls spelled to be able to take letters anywhere they need to go?!”
“Indeed, Fillius, but I’m not so sure this is a real place, despite the quill writing it down…”

He held up the envelope and read it aloud.
“Mr. H. Potter. Weapons room. Alpha Sector, Dr’kir, Yautja-Prime.” He seemed to stumble over that last set of words and their pronunciations.
“Does this place ring any bells?”

They all shared looks, before a pale man with raven hair stood, shakily.
“Yautja-Prime…is a different planet…”

Everyone turned to stare at him, before he took a deep breath.
“Lily asked me not to say anything, but this…It hurts to break that promise…Lily wasn’t human.” He was looked at, incredulously.
“She was part of that planet’s inhabitants, called the Yautja. They have been coming to Earth, since ancient times…having helped the Egyptians build their pyramids. They’re a race of hunters, who use blooding as a rite of passage.”

Minerva put her hands to her face.
“Severus…You’re saying that Lily was an alien?”
“An alien to us, yes. She, Petunia, and their mother all have metamorphmagus blood. Their mother and Petunia only had that, while Lily had magic, as well. They use this ability to make themselves look human. Petunia’s son, she told me, has the same metamorphmagus shifting abilities.”

Pomona scratched her chin.
“Is this the reason she seemed so skittish, when she’d get hurt?”
“Yes. Yautja blood isn’t red. It’s quite a vibrant yellow-green, much like the glowing mushrooms, you see at the edge of the forest. Her human appearance didn’t change her blood.”
“How was she human, when we found her?” HIs expression turned pained.
“The Killing Curse freezes everything. Even magical means of glamour. Her abilities fall in that.”

Albus scratched his beard.
“How, then, are we to send this letter to Mr. Potter?”
“With Fawkes…and some protection wards, just in case.” The older man nodded.
“Have you had any contact with her race, besides her and Petunia?”
“I did. I met her mother, Begonia, as she’s called in her human form. She would be the one to bring her to King’s Cross and the one to take her back to Yautja-Prime…One of those summers, I went with her.”

Albus nodded, again.
“Then, that’s it. You should be the one to go, since you’ve been there, before. You and Fawkes will be equipped with protection wards.”

That room was…metal…for lack of a better term.

As soon as Fawkes flamed them both inside, a blade bounced off the warding that surrounded them.

In front of them was…something…

It looked male and covered in a mottled skin of moss and red clay, as it pierced them with Killing Curse eyes and small, tusk-like, bottom fangs. Mostly humanoid, its brow laid heavy over those eyes and made them more sinister, as long and fleshy tubes draped to its waist. Though it was dressed in netting and sparse armor, it was…a bit short for an adult.

Its body language relaxed and clawed hands came forward.

/I apologize. Do you speak English?/

Severus blinked.
“Ah. Yes.”
“Good. It’s of the two, verbal, languages I can speak. Who are you, Human?” The man swallowed.
“I am Severus Snape.”

It…He…turned to him more.
“Grandmother has told me about someone with your name.” Dark eyes widened a little.
“Are you…Harry?”
“Yes.”
“I was sent here to provide you with your Hogwarts letter.”

Harry’s brow lifted, as the letter was handed to him.
“Sweet…”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Oh…” He scratched his head with a single claw.
“Uh…Six? Years. Grandmother came to visit Auntie and wanted to bring me back with her, when I was five. Said something about me having more Yuatja instincts than human.” He looked at the man, again.
“So…You and my mom were friends?”
“Yes.”

Sorrow came over Harry’s face.
“I cannot say that I remember her much, but I know she meant a lot to you. My condolences for her passing.”
“Thank you.”

He opened the letter and skimmed it.
“Seems I’ll need to return to Earth to get all this. Let me contact Grandmother.”

He tapped some keys on the console and started clicking into the receiver. Clicking, grunts, and growls filled the room, from two sources, for a few minutes, before Harry turned to Severus.
“She should be here any minute.”

Those minutes clicked away pretty fast, before a familiar female came through the archway…much taller than him.

She was colored in a red clay and pale earthen brown, speckled into a gradient, her dreads reddish brown and reaching just past her shoulders. Apple green eyes, matching Harry’s, peered at him for a second, before sweeping him up against a strong chest.
“Severus!”
“G-Good to see you again, Begonia…”

Harry’s mandibles chittered a little.
“Grandmother…You’re crushing him.”

She dropped him.
“Sorry.”
“Not a problem…Still as strong as ever…”

He startled, when she touched his hair, before remembering the customs that came with compliments and giving a little smile.

Begonia found the letter being handed to her and nodded.
“I thought he was magic. He’s able to bring things to him and teleport, when he’s stressed, like Lil’an did.”

That was how they came up with names for themselves, on Earth. Their names were close enough, on Yautja-Prime.

Lil’an became Lilian. B’guna became Begonia. And Pt’una became Petunia.

Harry had been named by James, but he had his own, Yautja, name. Hr’ison. It worked that it sounded like Harrison.

Begonia gave a little hum.
“Do you mind if I come with you?”
“Not at all.”

Seeming to have had Earth rub off on her, she gave a little clap of excitement, before her form changed and she stood before them as a human woman.

Her hair was a greying auburn and her eyes that same green.

She looked like a much older Lily, to be truthful.

Harry followed suit, looking a hell of a lot like James, just with a tinge of red to his…hair?

Now looking eleven, for a human, Harry’s hair laid down his back, in dreadlocks. It was a unique look, coupled with the scars that butchered his shoulders and the one that cut his face in half, diagonally.

Begonia saw her grandson’s dreads and nodded, before her own changed to match, only the greyed auburn she had before. She handed him some leathers, which he recognized as those they’d use, when on colder worlds.

When he returned, he was changed into a pair of leather shorts and a skin tight leather shirt, which lacked sleeves.

Even for his age, he was pretty fit and muscled.

Severus’ expression made Begonia chuckle.
“We start training, young, as you may remember. Even us females train, giving us a basis, before we’re old enough to choose to heal or hunt.”

Fawkes gave a little squawk which let them know he wanted to go.

Begonia took Harry’s hand.
“I told the Elders that we would be gone for the day and that you showed the same signs Lil’an did.”
“Ok…I’m ready. Are you?”
“I am.”

She pat Fawkes on the head, remembering him from when he came to get Lily, twenty years earlier.

They went up in flames, leaving the weapons bay empty and silent for the first time that cycle.

They appeared in the back of The Leaky Cauldron, where Severus tapped his wand to some of the bricks, in a specific order.

The wall seemed to unfold, like some kind of complicated door, showing an alley filled with people and lined with shops.
“Welcome to Diagon Alley.”

Chapter Text

As they walked through the alley, Severus led them to a large and pristine building, with lots of columns. Begonia gave a little smile.
“Oh, I remember when Eileen brought us here! I hope Bogrod is still working here…”
“He is. He's the head teller.”
“How wonderful!”

Begonia turned to her grandson.
“When we get inside, don’t stare. They take it as a challenge and challenges get bloody.”
“Got it. Thanks for the heads up.”

She ruffled his dreads, making him give a little laugh.

It made Severus smile, faintly.

Inside the bank, they made their way to the front teller.

“Vault key?”

Severus brought it forward for the goblin to inspect, fixing his glasses.
“The…Potter key?”
“Harry Potter is to start Hogwarts, this year. He is next to me.”

The goblin looked up, a flash of bewilderment flying through his eyes, when he saw Harry and Begonia.

It was to be expected.

Harry was supposed to be eleven and stood at five foot ten, while Begonia stood at seven foot one. Short for her species, but gargantuan for a human.

He looked back, when a voice filled the area.
“Ah. Good to see you, again, Mrs. Evans.”
“Likewise, Bogrod. Please. I told you you could call me Begonia.” He nodded and she put her hand on Harry’s shoulder.
“This is my grandson, Harry.”
“Greetings.” Harry put a hand to his shoulder and nodded. The motion of greetings, when someone was out of reach or did not want to be touched.
“Likewise.”

On the cart ride down to the trust vault, Bogrod flicked his gaze to the woman.
“I have not seen you in fifteen years.”
“I have…not had a reason to return to Britain, after Lily’s death. Even if I did, I wouldn’t have been able to come here, as I’m not magic.”
“Ah. That is right. I forgot that you do not possess magic.”
“My grandson, luckily, inherited his magic from both parents.”

Once he got himself a pouch that was linked to his account, they walked out, where Begonia explained to him.
“A knut is equal to three beads, a sickle to twenty-one beads, and a galleon to a hundred and thirty-six beads.”
“Oh…Wow…That’s a strange conversion rate…”
“Indeed, they will not convert beads to wizarding currency.”

He nodded and they went to Madam Malkin’s so he could be fitted with robes, much to his chagrin.

Begonia went with Severus to get his Potions requirements, wanting to see the Apothecary Master again.

Madam Malkin peered at him.
“Sir?”
“I’m…here for school robes, Ma’am…” She nodded.
“Where’s your son or daughter?”
“They’re for me, Ma’am. I’m very tall, but I’m eleven.”

Her eyes bugged from her head.
“Oh…Oh, dear…the last I fitted someone your height was…around fifty years ago…Come. Come. I’ll need the stool, though.”

He came to the plinth and found her taking measurements in his more sensitive areas…the groin, underarms, neck, throat, and backside…before an enchanted tape came around to take the more general dimensions of his form.

She looked curiously at his hair.
“What lovely dreadlocks, Dear! Clean and well formed!”
“Thank you. My grandmother helped me form them, as a part of a cultural ritual.”
“May I ask if she was that pretty lady that dropped you off?” He nodded.
“Yes.”

Madam Malkin took an additional measurement of the distance between the back of his collar and the nape of his neck, where his dreads were rooted, with a nod and a hum in the back of her throat.

He was just about done, when a pale blonde came in, his hair slicked back and his sickle-like eyes flicking around. They froze on him and the boy’s prim and aristocratic air shattered.
“Merlin! You’re tall!”

He had the decency to, as soon as it came out of his mouth, cover it and turn bright red.
“Er…S-Sorry…”
“That’s alright. My height startles people.”
“May I ask how…” Harry gave a little smile, as the tape measured his wrist.
“I’m nearly 181 centimeters(five foot eleven) and still growing. My grandmother is 216 centimeters(seven foot one) and I was told my mother stopped growing at 221 centimeters(seven foot three).”

Well…Lily had died, not stopped growing.

Twenty-one was pretty young for their race to die…

Once the tape returned to the shelf, the shorter boy held out a hand.
“Draco Malfoy.”

A large, adult-like, hand shook his, strong and covered in calluses.
“Harry Potter.”
“Harry Potter?!”
“Yeah. I was told what happened that night.”

Draco cleared his throat.
“I…wasn’t aware your mother was that tall…”
“Pictures made my father seem taller or the same height.”

“Harry?”

They both looked over to find Begonia stood in the doorway, where Draco took a triple take.
“Wh-Wh-I thought Lily Potter was-”

Begonia laughed.
“Lily was my daughter. My name is Begonia. Harry’s my grandson.”
“O-Oh…Um…Draco Malfoy.”

She shook his hand.
“I remember your father from when my daughter went to Hogwarts.”

Speaking of, a thin man stepped through the door, his hair long and the same color as Draco’s.
“Oh…Mrs. Begonia…I…thought you were Lily, from behind…”

She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s good to see you, again, Lucius.” He nodded and flicked his gaze to the raven.
“Greetings. You must be her grandson, Harry?”
“Indeed, Lord Malfoy.”

He held out a hand.
“Lucius Malfoy.”
“Harrison Potter. Please call me Harry.”

It was a bit trippy, like back in school, to have someone younger than him taller or near his height.

“Begonia. Harry.”

They saw Severus out on the street and went to join him, after bidding the others a good day.

The auburn woman gave the man a little smile.
“Oh…I see…Draco’s your godson.”
“...I will never understand how you know things like that…” She laughed.
“Body language. It’s prominent in our culture and ingrained into each of us as sucklings.” He nodded.
“I see…”

Harry grabbed some books from the bookstore, while Begonia and Severus collected the curriculum texts. He came to the front with some books on politics, customs, laws, and creatures of the magical world.

“Politics?”

He gave Severus a nod.
“If I’m to be in this world for, at least, seven years, I should know how much my family name has for impact and how I am to use it.”
“...Smart.”
“Thank you.”

Harry had a gut feeling that the man didn’t like to be touched, unless necessary, by people other than those he saw as friends.

When they’d finished with the supplies, a shop caught Harry’s eye and he, carefully, took his grandmother’s hand to get her attention.
“Hm?”
“Could we…go see Auntie, after this?”
“I don’t see why not. What made you think to?” He gestured to the shop.
“I saw something I think Dudley would like.”

She smiled and put her hand to his head.
“You’re a good kid, Harry. Of course. Let’s go look.”

Severus returned to Hogwarts, as soon as the three of them stepped back into The Leaky Cauldron, leaving them to navigate their way to Surrey, upon their own request, rather than through apparition.

A knock rang through their front door.
“Petunia?! Do you have someone coming over, today?”
“No…I wonder who it is…”
“I have the door, Sweetheart. Please don’t agitate your leg!”

When the door opened, a man with dark black hair stood there, a mustache, full and fluffy, upon his upper lip. Dark brown eyes went wide, as his mouth popped open.
“What a surprise! How have you two been?”
“Very good, Vernon. And you?”

“Dear? Who’s at the-”

In the doorway to the kitchen, a woman, looking like a blonde Lily, froze, a brace around her ankle and a crutch under her arm.
“...Mum?”
“Hi, Pt’una.”

Tears beaded in grey-green eyes.
“And…Harry…You’ve grown…”
“Hi, Auntie-What happened?”

Petunia looked to her brace.
“Oh…Nothing too bad. Fell off a ladder and twisted my ankle. Nothing to bad for us. More of an inconvenience. Oh! Come in! Come in!”

As they did, she turned to the rest of the house.
“Dudley! Grandma and Harry are here! Bring Fifi with you!”
“Grandma?! We’ll be down in a moment!”

Begonia blinked a little.
“Fifi?” Petunia looked a little pink.
“Um…We had a daughter, too. I found out I was pregnant a couple months after Harry went with you to Yautja-Prime…She…hasn’t gotten a good hold on changing, yet, so I’ll be homeschooling her, until she gets a good grip on it.”

A boy, looking identical to Vernon, only with blonde hair, set a smaller child on the tile, before wrapping Begonia up in a hug.
“You’ve gotten stronger, Dudley!”

He let her go and picked up his sister, who looked a hell of a lot like Begonia’s Yautja form, just with short dreads and amber eyes.
“This is Fiona. We call her Fifi. Fifi, this is our grandma.”
“Grandma?”
“Yes. She’s Mum’s mum. And that’s Harry, our cousin.”

She reached for Harry, who took her and held her against his side, where she touched some of the dreads that hung that low.
“They look like…” She touched her own.
“You know how your mum and brother can change how they look?”
“Uhuh…”
“We can do it, too.”

She watched them change and she started clapping, a little.

Vernon chuckled.
“It’s always something to see you all change. Tunnie hasn’t changed since Fiona was born.”

Petunia looked like she remembered something.
“Oh! Fiona’s magic! It seems it skipped me, but Fifi has it. She can get things off shelves and has teleported around the house, before, when playing tag with Dudley.” The girl giggled, as Harry lifted her a bit higher.
“How wonderful!”

They all sat at the table, where Harry passed around the sweets.
“We found a sweets shop, in Diagon Alley. I saw some Jelly Slugs and thought Dudley would like them. We found more that we thought you’d all like…and it gave us an excuse to drop by.”

He pulled out a dense pack and set it in front of Vernon.
“Cauldron cakes. Chocolate cakes with a sweet filling.” The man looked a touch excited.
“I remember Lily bringing me some…” Harry set a packet on the table.
“And some Shock-O-Choc. Spicy chocolate.”

He set two more packages in front of Dudley.
“Treacle fudge-” That made the twelve year old light up.
“-and Nougat Chunks.”
“Woah! Thanks, Harry! I’ll save them for dessert…and I’ll need to hide them from Fifi…”

The little girl, as if she didn’t feel guilty, just giggled.

Finally, two packages sat before Petunia.
“Peppermint toads and crystalized pineapple. I remember that, since you’re full Yautja, you’re not one for chocolate, like Grandmother and me.”
“Thank you.”
“And for all of you, we brought pumpkin pasties and Pumpkin Fizz, in bottles.”

Dudley smiled at him.
“What did you get yourself?”
“Eh…Bloodpops and Bat’s Blood Soup. It smelled fruity, when we were there, so we wanted to try it. Smelled kind of like s’pke to me.”

He tipped his head.
“I forgot to ask Mum, but…What is s’pke? I know it’s some kind of fruit stew, but…”
“It’s made from the blood fruit of Yautja-Prime. It’s slightly meaty tasting, with a sweet, metallic, aftertaste. Sometimes, it’s eaten on its own, but at times, it’s added to cooking meat, much like how a glaze is, here on Earth.”
“Ohhhh! My…My Yautja side longs to try it, someday…”

Harry gave a little laugh.
“Maybe I’ll bring some, the next time I come back for school.”
“Thanks, Man…”
“No problem, Duds.”

Chapter Text

Harry stood in King’s Cross, before following Begonia to Platform 9, where she motioned to a pillar with her head, a smile on her face.

They heard a woman shouting for a group of people to head to Platform 9&¾. It made Begonia roll her eyes and get their attention.
“Please. Keep it down. This station is packed with muggles.”

The shorter woman went the color of her hair.
“Oh, dear…It seems I was too focused on getting everyone in line…I completely forgot about the Statute…”

Harry stepped to his grandmother’s side.
“Everyone makes mistakes, Ma’am.”

She put her hand out.
“I’m Molly Weasley. These are Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny.” He shook it, his hand twice the size of hers.
“Harrison Potter. Please call me Harry. This is my grandmother, Begonia Evans.”

All the redheads stalled, staring at them for a moment, before Harry rubbed the side and back of his neck.
“Yeah. That Harry Potter…”

Molly blinked and cleared her throat, turning to the other woman.
“You’re…Lily’s mother?”
“I am.”
“She looked so much like you…” That made her smile.
“I’m told. Indeed. Come. Come. The train leaves soon. I can see that four of you are of age, while you, Little One, are but a year out.”

That made Ginny look at her with awe.
“How did you know?”

Begonia gave her a little, secretive, wink.
“I’m a mother, too, you know. You’re the same size Lily was, when she was a year out from coming here.”

Ron and Harry shared a look, as they watched the others step through.

The ginger took a running start and phased right through, the raven on his tail, only not running.

A huge, red, locomotive sat at station, as students flooded the entryways, giving their luggage to the workers to keep safe.

Harry gave Begonia a hug, which she returned with a little smoothing back of his dreads, like she always did, when she was needed elsewhere and he was not.

On the train, the helper smiled at the owl he’d gotten.
“Beautiful bird ye’ve got here…What’s’er name?”
“Hedwig.”
“Warrior…Yes. Yes. I see that fight in her eyes. She’ll be let out, as soon as we leave the station. She’ll know where to go. Ye can keep yer cat in yer compartment with ye. Might keep ‘im from gettin’ freaked out.”

The cat had been there, in the garden, when Begonia had picked him up to take him to Yautja-Prime. He’d come with them and became a wonderful companion…as soon as they threatened anyone that would harm him.

They’d named him Vor’mekta…Stalker.

He found a compartment and opened it, finding that ginger…Ron…and a few others inside. A girl with bushy and frizzy hair, a boy with dirty blonde hair and a chubby face, and two twins, which he recognized as Fred and George.
“Er…Sorry…”

Ron waved, when the door started closing.
“Why don’t you sit with us? The other compartments’re packed.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Nope!”
“Is…anyone allergic to cats?”

That was an odd question, but they, then, noticed the orange Persian on his shoulder.

The girl shook her head.
“I’m not…”

The guys all agreed and Harry was about to step inside, when a familiar voice reached him.
“Oh! Hey, Harry!”
“Draco…”

The blonde motioned behind him, to a raven girl with a long bob.
“This is Pansy. She’s been my friend for…a long time…Pansy? When did we meet?”
“Er…I think we were four or five?”

Harry held out his hand.
“Harry Potter.”

Startled, she shook his hand, hers so small and dainty in his.
“Pansy Parkinson…”

Harry looked into the room.
“Do you mind if they sit with us?”

Ron looked a little nervous, until Draco peered in.
“Oh! You’re…Weasleys? Oh, Merlin, I’m probably wrong…It’s…”
“The ginger hair?”
“Yeah…”

He laughed.
“We’re Weasleys, so you got that right. I’m Ron and these two are my older brothers, Fred and George.”
“Draco Malfoy.”

The three sat with them, as the raven girl peered at the slightly chubby boy.
“Are you…a Longbottom? You look familiar.”
“Oh…Yes. Neville Longbottom. I remember you from those formal get-togethers.”

The two purebloods turned to the final occupant of the cabin. The brunette girl.

She looked a little nervous, her voice small and soft.
“I’m Hermione Granger…”
“Muggleborn?”

She nodded and Draco gave her a reassuring smile.
“The Wizarding World needs new blood and magic. You’ll find no prejudice from my family and from her…Sadly, her family has it, though.”

Pansy let out a sigh of despair, as she put her face in her hands.
“I’ve been trying to fix that…It’s like talking to a wall!”

That made Hermione laugh, throwing the frizz away from a pretty face, set in pale mocha skin. She had a faint spray of freckles and slightly buck teeth, which she’d tried to hide by ducking her head.

Harry put out a hand.
“Why do you hide your face?”
“My…My teeth are…”
“You hide, because of your teeth?”

She looked back up.
“My parents are dentists…um…They’re healers, specifically, for teeth. They said that, even braces, won’t fix them…”

Harry gave her a little smile.
“I find them charming…and quite cute, on you.”

She went bright pink, making her hair seem to fluff up, like a cat.

It made a paw pad at her leg, until she looked and found a ball of fluff stood half on her thigh.
“Oh…Is this your cat, Harry?”
“Yes. His name is Vor’mekta. It means Stalker, in my culture.”

Draco blinked at him.
“Your culture? I thought you were British?”

Harry took a breath.
“I can feel that you all are a special kind of trustworthy. I know you won’t believe me, unless I show you, so please draw the curtains over the door.”

Ron did so and they all watched him shed his cloak to show the leather clothing, underneath, like how Draco had met him, only with netting over it.
“Before I do this, I need you all to understand that I’m not, fully, human.”
“F-Fully?”
“I’m half human, on my father’s side. On my mother’s, to you, I’d be an alien. I’m bipedal and humanoid, but that’s where similarities change.”

They all watched him return to his true form, eyes bulging from their skulls.

Harry sighed and spoke again, his voice sounding like he was straining his vocal chords, a little.
“I’m half Yautja, a race of warriors. We hunt for sport and for status. We have a language of our own and have been to Earth hundreds of times. Many of these times it was to hunt the ultimate prey, but there were some human hunts, in the past.” He sat and let Hermione look over his hand, stunned that he was colder and clammier than she was.
“When my mother started showing signs of magic, Grandmother brought her here, to Earth, since she’d once known a woman that could do the same. They stayed here for many years, allowing my mother and aunt to gain human friends. When Mum went to school, Grandmother would return to our planet, Yautja-Prime. Most summers, she’d return for them and take them back with her.”

He scratched Vor’mekta’s scruff.
“Grandmother returned to Yautja-Prime, after Mum and Dad were killed, to work through her grief. When I was, roughly, four, she returned. At five, she saw my potential and took me back to our planet. This last summer, one of the professors and the Headmaster’s phoenix flamed to me, in the weapons bay. Any questions?”

Pansy cleared her throat.
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Change…”

He nodded.
“Mum, Auntie, Grandmother, both of my cousins, and I are metamorphmagi. We can change our appearances at will. What we use are the forms easiest for us. That means, for me, I look like my father with a touch of my mother. The only things we have issues with are our eyes. These eyes I got from my mother, who, in turn, got them from grandmother.”

Draco raised his hand.
“If…Your mum was from there…How was she named with an Earth name? Did she give it to herself?”
“Good question. They took names that were similar to their Yautja names. Lil’an became Lilian, for example. My Aunt Petunia’s name is Pt’una. Grandmother’s name is B’guna, which turned into Begonia, here.”
“And you?” He gave the Yautja version of a smile.
“I was given two names. The only one of us half humans to have one. Hr’ison. It sounds a lot like my human name. I was told my parents said their ideas for names at the same time, so it was quite a funny coincidence.”

He brushed his hand down the cat’s back.
“Vor’mekta was my parents’ cat. He was there, in the garden of my Aunt’s place, when Grandmother took me with her. He was quite attached and so was I, so we brought him to Yautja-Prime with us. His half-kneazle nature let him use magic to adapt to the atmosphere.”

Hermione looked excited to learn more.
“What’s different about the atmosphere?”
“It’s hotter and more humid. More of a…swampy…atmosphere. More oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane in the air. Very greenhouse-like. It’s why I wear this netting, here. It’s thermo-netting and keeps me at 25 degrees C(~75 F) at minimum. It’s why I’m colder than you are. I may not be fully cold blooded, like Mum and Grandmother, but I still run a lot colder than humans do.”

Returning to human form, the leather of his clothes continued to mold to his body, bringing Fred around to his question.
“How big do-” George came chiming in.
“-your people get?”

Harry nodded.
“2.13 meters(~7 ft) at smallest. Mum was still growing, when she was killed, but stood at 2.21 meters. Grandmother is near the shorter end, at 2.16 meters. At the moment, I’m 1.83 meters(~6 ft) and still growing.” Neville looked curious.
“Do…your people have the same lifespan as humans?”
“We don’t, actually. We have an average lifespan that outlives numerous human ones. Average is around three hundred and fifty Earth years, which are pretty damn close to years on Yautja-Prime. The only major difference is that day and night are swapped. Night here is day there and vice versa.”

Draco cocked his head.
“What’s max age for your kind? If three hundred and fifty is the average…”
“We, actually, don’t know. Nearing or just after a thousand qualifies someone for the title of Ancient, but the oldest, documented, was in his nine thousands, before sickness took him. No other has lived to that age, without being killed, so we have no idea what it would take to die from age.” Silver eyes peered into green.
“Killed?”
“The Yautja are a warrior race. The will of a great hunter is to go on as many hunts as possible and to sire as many young as possible. Ninety-five percent of hunters will die on a hunt, sometime in their life…Most of the rest will be taken by sickness.”

Hermione put her hand to his.
“Harry…In the other form, are you…blind?”

He shook his head.
“Not really. Our default vision is basic infrared. We can see inverted heat signatures in reddish pink and dark blue. Dark blue for heat. After some time, we can switch to detailed vision and color vision. I was able to switch easier, due to being half human. As of now, pups are being taught to switch over younger and younger. When I go between forms, I default to that basic vision, before I get my senses back.” He scratched the back of his neck.
“Right…When I’m in my other form, if you need to grab at my dreads, do so roughly. They’re complex sensory organs and, like if you’re ticklish, will be very sensitive to a light touch. Just…in a different way…You’ll understand when you learn more about things…”

Well…That was cryptic…

Fred and George, though, went pink, but started laughing pretty hard.
“Oh, we-”
“-get it! What else do-”
“-they do?”

Harry chuckled.
“They give us our sense of balance and our reflexes, much like a cat with their whiskers, only on steroids.”

He scratched his chin.
“They’re, also, a display organ.”
“Display?” He nodded.
“Like how some birds display to mates, hunters display long dreads, usually decorated in beads and cuffs. Bone, metal, stone. Things like that. Like this.”

He brought one of his dreads around and showed them one made from bone.
“In our culture, there’s three kinds of beads. Two kinds that go on out dreads. One for aesthetics and one for hunting kills. The third type are for payment and are carved from shells. The one I showed you is a bead Grandmother gave me. This one-”

He pulled another dread around, showing a red bead, which was cylindrical, with spikes above and below it.
“This was made from my first Quatza-Rij kill. A Quatza-Rij is a giant creature of my home world. Very dangerous and territorial. It’s like a bipedal, hostile, cockroach with six arms…just…more humanoid…and scarily intelligent.”

That got him nervous looks, which made him laugh.
“They’re easy to take down, once you know where to stab. Usually, hunters just bull rush into fights. Taking down those beasts is supposed to teach them to observe their surroundings, first. To think with your head, instead of your spirit.”

He fidgeted with the bead a little.
“It’s red, due to their bones being red. We don’t use any dyes on our bone ornaments to keep them as true to our kills as possible. Even if we hunt them, we still respect them, if they give us a good enough fight to take trophies.”
“Trophies?”

Harry nodded.
“Most hunters take the skull and, at least, part of the spine of their kills. Grandmother and I will, sometimes, do that, but we tend to make beads out of their bones. We keep some and sell the rest to make some money. Grandmother cannot go on hunts anymore, due to being needed on-planet more and more, these days, as the other healers keep dying from illness or complications from birth…and since, to our people, I’m too young to go off planet to hunt, I have to get missions that keep me on-planet, as well, to gain enough money.” He gave a little laugh.
“It was a good thing I came here. The Elders and technology sector said they’d send me some scouting missions, since most of Earth’s magical world hasn’t even been seen, let alone touched, by my race. The last two to step foot in it were Mum and Grandmother.”

That was when the announcement to get into their robes came through the speakers.

The girls went to another compartment, leaving the boys to start dressing, turned away from each other.

Turning back, they found that Harry’s uniform was pretty tight on him, which the twins pointed out.
“Did Madam Malkin-”
“-give you a size-”
“-too small?”

He shook his head.
“I asked for a form fitting uniform. She said it will stretch as a grow, for the year, due to the spells and the cotton used. I’m used to little clothing, so this is…not the most comfortable, to say the least. I’d rather have tight clothes than loose, any day. The robes…are as far as I’ll go.”

When the train stopped and the first years were all corralled to the boats, sailing out across the lake, while the other years went to carriages.

The castle came into sight, like a beacon in the darkness, every single window lit up for this day and this day alone.

It was a magnificent sight, he admitted, for something made of brick and mortar…even if that brick and mortar may have been magic.

He towered over the other first years, drawing some attentions and whispers about his age.

But, he blocked them out, in favor of listening to the houses his new friends had been sorted into.

Hermionie went to Ravenclaw.

Neville went to Hufflepuff.

Draco to Slytherin.

Pansy to Slytherin, as well.

Then, it was his turn, getting the woman, calling their names, to look around, almost frantically.

“Harry Potter!”

With all attentions to the front, he sighed and walked forward, sitting on the low stool, as the hat was rested upon his head.

”Ah…Greetings! I remember sorting your parents, Mr. Potter!”

‘Hello…’

”Ah, yes. You have the same attributes as your mother did. Brave and strong willed! Loyal and determined! Though, I sense kindness and wisdom in you, as well as resourcefulness! You know what you want to do in life and that is to hunt and provide for your grandmother. You know the means in which you can reach that goal and are determined to do so…Ah…This will be a hard decision…”

It took a few moments, before the hat seemed to give a mental nod and look up a little more.

“SLYTHERIN!”