"Oh hell…what's he doing here?" A familiar voice indignantly drawled from the corner of the room, making Harry instinctively go on guard and prepare for a fight.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked in resignation. Of course, Malfoy was a member.
"Shut it Draco, you know the rules," a tall, dark-skinned Slytherin berated the blond before walking over to Harry. Harry recognized the teen as a member of the Slytherin quidditch team. A seventh-year chaser, if he remembered correctly. "I'm Graham Montague, in case you don't remember me without my quidditch robes," the seventh-year smiled as he held out a hand to shake. "We all go by first names in the club, so call me Graham."
"Harry," the dementor said with a shaky smile as he shook the older teen's hand and did his best to forget that this Slytherin was known for his violent fouls on the quidditch pitch.
"HARRY!" an excited male voice called out before the Gryffindor was slammed into and a taller student suddenly was hugging him from behind.
Harry repressed a flinch and wiggled around to see who was trapping him in a bearhug. "Neville?" He asked in surprised disbelief.
"Wow, you're really cold," Neville finally let go of him and continued talking quickly like he was on a sugar high. "Hey, what're you doing here? This is awesome! We needed another fifth year in the club! Oh wait, Professor Lupin didn't bite you, did he?!"
"No! Definitely no!" Harry vehemently assured him, not wanting anyone to get Remus in trouble. "I'm not a werewolf."
"Neville, remember the rules," Graham frowned and kindly grabbed the excited Gryffindor by the shoulders and passed him off to Draco. "No asking what our new member is."
Neville immediately wrapped his arms around a resigned Draco Malfoy who glared at Harry like he was daring him to say something about it. "Sorry, Harry," Neville smiled sheepishly from Malfoy's shoulder.
"This is bloody ridiculous!" Malfoy growled out in frustration and jabbed a finger towards Harry. "You'd better stick to the rules, Potter. We don't take kindly to those who don't take the society seriously here."
"Harry," Ginny reminded him.
"Ergh! Fine, Harry!" Malfoy crossed his arms, ignoring the Gryffindor draped over his shoulders like wasn't even there.
Glancing around the room, no one seemed to think that Neville hanging off Malfoy was surprising or even worth a glance up from their other conversations, books, or chess games they were currently involved in.
It was the most comfortable classroom Harry had ever seen with armchairs, couches, bookshelves filled with books, snacks on a low table, and many boardgame options. A couple people looked up and smiled at Harry, but mostly, he was quietly accepted into the room without much comment. Until… "Well…I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Severus Snape commented dryly as he entered the room and sat in a dark armchair that seemed to be reserved for him in the corner. "Did the wolf bite you over the summer?" He threw on at the end with a sneer.
"No!" Harry ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. "Ginny said no one was going to ask me what I am, that's the second time I've been asked if I'm a werewolf! I'm not!"
Snape shrugged at Harry's outburst. "Werewolves are a special case. We have a buddy-system for them. Someone to cover for them in their classes and make sure they get their Wolfsbane at the full moon. So, we do ask about them specifically," he explained in a surprisingly neutral tone.
"He really didn't mean any offense," an auburn-haired, third-year Hufflepuff girl with amber eyes remarked. "My twin brother and I are halfwerewolves," she motioned to a Ravenclaw who was reading a large textbook and taking notes.
Snape sighed deeply. "Why I took over the society from Filius is beyond me. I must have taken leave of my senses. If it isn't teenage hormones, it's magical creature hormones," he remarked to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Harry?!" Colin gasped out in surprise when he finally realized who was in the room. "What are you doing here?"
"Apparently, I'm a member now," Harry shrugged. "Er, Colin…I thought you were muggleborn?"
"We're druids," Dennis answered for his still stunned brother. "Not all druids have magic, our parents don't. So, we're listed as muggleborn."
"Oh…er, so, who do you think your mate is?" Harry asked Colin. "And do all magical creatures have mates?"
"Not all do," Graham answered before Colin could get swept up in explaining how perfect he believed this newest potential mate would be. "Only a few have mates that are chosen for them by magic like magical druids, veela, sirens, and a few others. Many others have mates, but they just pick who they want their mate to be, like vampires, Valkyries, fairies, elves, and so on."
"Wow, I have a lot to learn," Harry remarked as Snape snorted in agreement at the statement, not even looking up from the parchment he was marking.
"Ok, Colin, who is it this time?" Neville asked from where he and Malfoy were now sitting together on a couch.
"Hannah Abbott!" Colin was almost jumping up and down in his excitement. "She's gorgeous! Her hair is like sunshine, and her eyes are as blue as the sky!"
"Erm, mate, I think she's dating Ernie Macmillan," Neville winced in sympathy.
Colin visibly deflated, and his brother patted him on the back comfortingly. "Merlin, Colin," Malfoy sighed in exasperation. "It'll probably end between them in a couple months anyway. Mate or not, ask her out if you're interested. It's not like you're going to marry someone before you turn 17. You can always break up if you find out someone else is your mate. Or, just break the mate-bond if you don't like your mate. It's not pleasant, but not impossible either."
Colin frowned. "That's strange advice coming from a…" Colin was suddenly unable to talk as Neville lowered his wand.
"Draco doesn't want Harry to know what he is yet," the older Gryffindor explained while Colin silently pouted.
"I'll tell him after he tells me what he is and not before," Malfoy glared at Harry in challenge.
Harry just shuffled his feet. "Erm…I'm not quite…well…"
"It's ok Harry," Montague saved him from his awkwardness. "Draco didn't tell anyone what he was for over a year, and I'm still not really sure what Hestia is over there."
A sixth-year Ravenclaw girl with dark hair smirked at Graham and threw up a rude hand gesture. "Children! 5 points from Ravenclaw," Snape drawled, still not looking up from marking.
"You realize this changes nothing outside of this room, Po—Harry," Draco raised an eyebrow at the new club member. "I still don't like you, and Montague is going to lead Slytherin to slaughtering Gryffindor in quidditch this year."
"And Draco will, as usual, insult my potions skills and intelligence," Neville laughed with a grin.
"So…we don't do any potions in Remedial Potions?" Harry clarified with a relieved grin.
"Severus insists on giving a lecture once a month," a second-year Gryffindor girl remarked with a distasteful wrinkle of her nose.
"Oh, hi, Eir! I didn't see you," Harry grinned at the girl he'd talked to a couple times the year before in the common room. She had a wicked sense of humor and was quite bright for her age. She smiled and nodded at him before rejoining a gobstones game with a fourth year Slytherin girl.
"Where are Brook and David?" Snape finally looked up questioningly, but with also a strange resignation in his eyes.
No one answered him, and they all looked around a little sheepishly. Draco smirked at his head of house, "Probably in a broom cupboard somewhere."
Snape sighed and stood with a glare towards Draco. "Don't kill each other while I'm gone," he sneered before leaving.
Harry sat beside Ginny on a couch and turned to Neville and Mal—Draco. "So…how does this work outside of the club? Weren't you afraid of Snape, Neville?"
"Severus," Ginny corrected as everyone seemed to settle into their normal activities. A few dispelled glamours like Neville had. Ginny's ears were showing, but her wings were still covered, Colin and Dennis both looked like they had dark-druidic tattoos that were visible on their necks and arms, and the first year veela had large, black feathery wings out that she was stretching.
"Yeah, the first name thing is just weird," Harry shook his head and settled into the atmosphere. It was happy, but also calming, much more calming than making him hungry. It was a very pleasant feeling.
"After the boggart incident in third year, Severus sat me down and explained his treatment of me and some things about Potions and high elves in particular," Neville explained. "It cleared a lot up between us. I'm never going to be good at Potions, and we decided it was an acceptable area for him to pick at me to maintain our covers in the school. I mean, if we suddenly started to get along with my abysmal potions skills, then everyone would be talking, right?"
"Neville is scary good at magic, but high elves just can't do Potions," Draco clarified to Harry's shock. He thought he'd die before seeing Malfoy defend Neville to anyone, let alone himself. "High elves need to touch things to connect their magic with it. It's inadvisable to put your hand into a boiling potion."
"And just by cutting up my ingredients, I change their properties," Neville explained with a nod.
"Not all high elves have wizarding magic, but they do have their own brand of elf magic," Ginny continued the explanation. "Neville is powerful because he can do both."
The Gryffindor turned pink and shrugged. "My parents could too, but Gran thought it might have skipped over me. But that's why I'm so good at Herbology; I can touch the plants."
Harry shook his head in amazement. "I feel like my whole view of the world is changing, but I definitely think I like the world better than I did a few hours ago."
"Don't worry, Potter. It'll all go back to normal once we leave this room," Draco smirked evilly.
"Harry!" Graham called out in admonition from where he was helping a third-year boy with his homework.
Harry jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at Graham. "And Montague helping someone with their homework and not trying to kill me is enough to throw me for a loop…not even taking into account whatever's going on here," Harry motioned to the Draco/Neville situation.
"You get used to it," Ginny shrugged.
"And twenty points from Hufflepuff for making my eyes bleed!" Snape was ranting as he pushed two sixth years into the room. "Merlin, you're too young for this, or I'm too old to have to put up with it! Your species aren't even supposed to like each other!"
"Sorry, Severus," the boy remarked as they both scuttled into the room and joined a giggling group in the corner.
"Now, Po-Harry," Malfoy began with an eyeroll at the name. "What in Salazar's name did you do to the unicorns?"
Harry glared at the memory. "The bloody menaces!" He fumed. "They started it!"
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"So, how was your first meeting?" Neville asked as he walked in the fifth year boys dorm with Harry after Remedial Potions. Harry knew it was strange that he now thought Neville looked odd when he wasn't slightly green with pointed ears even though that's how he'd seen him for over four years previously.
"Brilliant!" Harry grinned at him happily. He hadn't been truly happy in a long time, or felt safe, and for some reason the club made him feel both. He could see why having a safe space for magical creatures in a school that was set to discriminate against them was necessary. "I can't get over Snape and Malfoy, but I suppose we're all hiding who we are in some way from the rest of the school. They just go about it differently than I would. I still fully expect Malfoy to hex me in the corridors the next chance he gets."
Neville punched Harry's arm playfully. "Well, I'm happy to have someone else in the dorm to go with. It's been a little lonely the past four years."
"Hey, mate…if you ever need a hug or a cuddle or something," Harry offered awkwardly as he looked at everything except for Neville.
Neville laughed good-humoredly. "Yeah, I hugged you once today, and I can already tell you that would be counterproductive. Whatever you are, it's like the anti-elf. You just keep your hands to yourself."
"Yeah, well, whatever I am, I'm fairly positive curiosity can kill me," Harry grinned. "I'm dying to know what Malfoy is and why you want to hang around him. I'm not asking though," he added on quickly at the end.
"By sitting between the two of you tonight, my guess is the opposite of you," Neville smiled and gave the portrait the password to enter the tower.
"Huh…" Harry thought about that wondering what the opposite of a dementor was. He had been fairly certain that would be a unicorn after their disastrous meeting, maybe Malfoy was something close to them…? That seemed incredibly unlikely though.
"Now you just need to explain to Ron and Hermione how you got roped into taking Remedial Potions," Neville smirked at Harry who groaned in distress.
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Harry was getting low on Essence of Murtlap. Umbridge's detentions hadn't gotten any better, and she always found a reason to give him a detention, even if she had to make it up. More importantly than his wounded hand, Harry was worried that he couldn't keep his dementor instincts in check if he didn't have the excuse of the healing potion to quell his anger at her hurting Jamie. The dementor side of him seemed much more ruthless than the normal Harry side of him from before.
Hermione had been on him, surprisingly supported by Ron and Ginny, to lead a DADA study group. After cutting I must not tell lies into his hand over fifty times in his third detention, Harry decided he was in, even if it was just to stick it to Umbridge. It was a side-benefit that the students would be learning something in his opinion. So, he spent the rest of detention focusing on how to start the new club and how to convince Snape to give him more of the healing cream. He figured that Hermione or Ginny might be able to brew it, or if he were desperate, maybe he could talk to Malfoy at the next Remedial Potions meeting.
The scary part of being injured was that he was getting hungrier. It seemed his dementor craved more to eat when he was in pain. Harry hadn't lied to Dobby though, he was skimming some of the happiness from his classmates at dinner, unnoticeably to anyone around him, and he hadn't killed either Umbridge or Binns yet. It was a small victory, but he was quite proud of himself all the same. He realized something was different in his personality; he felt free and like a weight had been lifted from his mind, so even if he seemed to care much less what people thought about him, he was happier than he had been in his memory, and that led him to worry less about the changes he seemed to be undergoing and just enjoy it more.
"First Hogsmeade weekend," Harry told Hermione when he had her open the almost empty jar that evening. "We'll gather people together and talk strategy for the DADA club then."
"You're in?!" Hermione almost squealed in joy.
Harry rolled his eyes towards Ron as they laughed at their overly excited friend. "Sure…whatever. Hey, you think you can help me make some more of this stuff?" He asked, motioning to the jar.
"Already on it," Hermione remarked, causing Harry to hug her to her surprise.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he sighed in immense relief.
"I still haven't figured out how to get her out of the school, so it's the least I can do," Hermione frowned in anger at the teacher who was torturing her friend.
"I'll talk to the twins about spreading the word about the club," Ron said as he stood to go find his brothers.
"I'll tell Ginny next time I see her," Harry nodded. "Why anyone would want to listen to me is beyond my understanding though."
"Oh, Harry…" Hermione smiled and rubbed the cream onto his hand. "You'll see. I think you'll be a great teacher."
Harry shrugged and examined his hand. It didn't look as good as it usually did after the cream; it wasn't healing as well. "Yeah, we'll see…" was all he said as he frowned at the bloody words.
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October was always one of Harry's favorite months. Hogsmeade weekends started, quidditch games began again, and new classes settled in. If it wasn't for the bloody cursed day of October 31st, then the month was be the absolute best. This year, quidditch was what Harry was looking forward to the most, and he for once didn't mean playing. It was an easy opportunity for the dementor to eat. He understood completely why the horde of dementors crashed the game in his third year now. They had to have had less access to their food source than they did living in the school, and it was an opportunity to eat and not affect any of the students. If only there had been less of them and they hadn't been so focused on him, then he could almost forgive them for the impulse.
As October finally dawned, Harry had also settled into a new routine. He spent his nights with Hedwig and sometimes Dobby for company, either studying up on magical creatures or exploring the forbidden forest or castle. He loved roaming the hallways invisibly. He couldn't resist making faces at the patrolling professors or prefects on occasion, but mostly he stayed away from people. Umbridge was as evil as always, well, getting eviler in his opinion. Hermione finished the new healing cream just before he ran out of Snape's supply, but it wasn't working as well as it had originally. Hermione's guess was because it was a cursed object he was using.
The Hogwarts Society of Magical Creatures aka HSMC or Remedial Potions, was helping temper his nastier dementor instincts though. Something about being an alpha predator didn't do positive things for his anger issues. Knowing he wasn't the only one struggling was more of a help than any meditation or calming strategy though.
He had looked up all the magical creatures he had been told about in the club, especially vampires (know your enemy and all). DADA had focused on werewolves, so it was the first time Harry had really looked into vampires. It seemed vampirism wasn't a really big deal, unlike in the movies Dudley liked to watch. They couldn't handle direct sunlight for extreme periods of time, had enhanced senses and strength, were much more inclined to mind magic, but they weren't immortal and could be killed, though not by garlic. They could also eat normal food even if they needed blood to survive.
Aceline and Matthew (the seventh year stressing over finding his mate) were both veela, but he actually knew quite a bit about veela from meeting and talking to Fleur the year before. Druids were more inclined to ritual magic and had longer lifespans than a normal wizard. High elves were gifted in all earth magic. And fairies were connected to magic itself as Ginny had already explained. He didn't know what anyone else was though (besides the half-werewolves), and he really had been trying to figure out what the hell Malfoy could be. Harry's first instinct was veela with Malfoy's white-blond hair, but Neville didn't have the same reactions to Aceline or Matthew that he did to Malfoy. He also hadn't seen Malfoy do anything out of the ordinary besides be nice to people. Montague was another mystery. After seeing the chaser in Remedial Potions, Harry was certain that whatever he was had significantly increased strength since he picked up the couch with two third years sitting on it one day. Thinking back on all the fouls in quidditch, Montague wasn't using any of that strength on the pitch though, as dirty as he played, he was holding back a lot.
Harry was pondering over what the other members of the club could be as he stowed his bookbag in the dorm on a Thursday in early October. He was about to head down to the club meeting which Neville had already left for. Harry was dragging his feet because he was expecting a letter back from Sirius at any time, and he was hoping Hedwig would make it back soon. He missed his feathery, midnight buddy. Just as he gave up, a ball of red and white feathers fell through the open window of the tower. "Hedwig!" Harry yelled out in frantic dread. "No, no, no!"
He rushed over, taking in the red blood staining the pure white of his friend's feathers. She gave him an exhausted hoot and seemed to pull into herself more. Automatically, Harry pulled the letter off her leg and shoved it in his pocket before grabbing a discarded towel to wrap gently around her. "Stay with me, Hedwig. I'm going to get you help," Harry sobbed out, staving off panic to try to think clearly. He couldn't handle anything happening to his first best friend. Who could he go to for help? Professor Grubbly-Plank seemed to be the obvious choice, but he didn't know her and didn't trust her. Plus, he didn't know where she would be on a Thursday evening or even if she lived in the castle, not all the professors did. He couldn't chance having to search over the entire castle looking for her, and even looking over the Marauder's Map would eat up precious time.
Harry took a deep breath; someone in HSMC would be able to help, he decided. Between all the magical creatures there, one of them would have some connection to healing magic. If not, Professor Snape might have a potion. Needing to go quickly, Harry for the first time wrapped his shadow magic around Jamie, surprised it actually worked in his Harry-suit. He rushed out of the tower and ran all the way to the dungeons and the meeting room of the secret society.
"Help!" Harry called out through tears as he rushed into the room, visible once again. "It's Hedwig; She's injured! Please can one of you help?"
Everyone seemed to already be in the room and chatting, working on homework, or playing games. They all looked up in surprise when the distraught teen rushed in carrying a bloody bundle in his arms. "Put her here, Harry," Neville motioned to the low table in front of him as he jumped up and took charge.
"David, help him," Snape instructed from where he was sitting in his normal armchair.
A sixth-year Hufflepuff rushed over to join Neville as the elf slowly unwrapped the towel. "Oh, Hedwig," Neville sighed. He really liked Harry's owl and fed her bacon most mornings when she visited their table in the Great Hall.
"Nev, if you can stabilize her, I can heal her," David, the Hufflepuff instructed as he ran a finger over Hedwig's feathers, causing her to hoot softly. "The injuries aren't deep."
"I'm on it," Neville said as he closed his eyes and placed a pale green hand over Hedwig's head.
"Harry," David took a hold of the dementor's shoulder comfortingly and turned forest green eyes on him. "I'm a Drus or a male Dryad. That means my magic is connected to nature and those who call forests home, like Hedwig. May I heal your owl?"
The dementor breathed out a sigh of relief and hugged the teen he had only just met a few weeks before. "Yes! Please! Thank you, thank you, thank you," he pulled back quickly and motioned to Hedwig in concern.
Harry saw David and Neville's auras both flare. Neville's was a calm orange tinted color, and David's was as green as his eyes. Neville pulled back first and gave Harry a reassuring smile. David's hand replaced Neville's and a sigh of relief seemed to come from everyone in the room when the gashes on Hedwig's torso slowly closed. Hedwig happily hooted and ruffled her feathers when the Drus opened his eyes and tiredly smiled. "Hedwig! I was so scared!" Harry cooed and rubbed her feathers, smoothing out those that had come out of place. "Never scare me like that again! I love you so much!"
Harry turned to David who had been joined by Brook, his girlfriend. "Anything you need, and I mean anything," Harry told him seriously. "You just ask. You too Neville," Harry smiled at his dormmate. "I'd hug you, but you said I'm the anti-elf, so I'll keep my hands to myself."
"Yeah, you're the anti-Dryad as well," David smirked at him. "I'm good with no more hugs. And you're welcome. I'm just glad I could help."
"Well, I see this is a good day for a lecture on healing potions that can be used on animals," Snape stood and cleared his throat.
Everyone, even Malfoy, groaned at that, but Harry could only smile that Hedwig was fine again.
"You ok?" Ginny asked him quietly.
Harry's smile fell as it all sunk in now that the panic was gone. "I'm going to kill her!" He shouted, causing everyone to jump. He stood and rushed towards the door before Ginny grabbed him by the waist to stop him.
"Who may I ask are you planning to murder, Mr. Potter?" The Potions Professor asked with a wary look on his face. He really didn't know what Harry was and didn't want to take any chances.
"Umbridge," the dementor growled as the room's temperature dropped a few degrees. "Who else would be screening my mail and would attack Hedwig?!"
"I hope you're ready to call Azkaban home for a very long time then?" Snape drawled as he moved slightly to block the door.
Though Snape didn't know it, his words reminded Harry of just how much he didn't want to be exiled to guard Azkaban for the rest of his life. He knew he couldn't be incarcerated but made to guard the prison was just as bad in his opinion. It was trapped, one way or the other. "Calm down, Harry," Ginny said, rubbing her hand soothingly up and down his arm. "You don't know for certain it was her, and Hedwig is fine now."
Harry breathed in and out deeply, reminding himself that he was morally against causing harm to others and pushing down his dementor impulses. "You're doing so good, Harry," Ginny remarked calmly. "You aren't your new instincts. You're stronger than they are."
Snape raised a questioning eyebrow at that but didn't ask. "Sit down, Po-Harry," he said in what could pass for a kind tone for Snape anyway. "Listen to Ginny and look after your owl."
Hedwig hooted from the table she had perched on. Harry finally calmed enough to sit between her and Ginny, pulling his aura back in more to raise the room's temperature. "I'm sorry," he mumbled to the room in general.
"Oh please, we've all lost it a time or two. You at least didn't destroy the room like Kara did last year," Montague remarked dismissively while everyone settled back down, and the fourth year Slytherin girl mentioned gave the chaser a disapproving glare. "Creature emotions tend to run high."
"Indeed, now, take notes. There are five good healing potions that will work for humans and animals…" Snape began in his lecturing tone.
A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!