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Birthday Boy

In a small bedroom of Number 4 Privet Drive, a teenage boy lay in his bed. The boy's
appearance was startling, his eyes were sharp and green, his hair was dark and messy and
underneath his fringe the boy had a lightning shaped scar. The most shocking thing about
his appearance though was his body - he was obviously malnourished, sick and beaten.
Deep blue and black bruises covered his body, his torso was covered in recently made
and partially made cuts, at least one of his ribs were broken and his shoulder was badly
burnt.

The boy lay in bed reflecting upon what had happened since he had returned from school.
The journey back to the house had been quiet, but that had ended the moment the boy
stepped into the house. His uncle had whirled around and began shouting; he was
outraged that those freaks would dare to threaten him and now he was going to take his
anger and his frustrations out on this defenceless teenage boy who had been left in his
care when he was only fifteen months old.

Over the next weeks the boy was regularly beat by his uncle. His uncle even encouraged
his son to do it as well. The problem was that his son was training to be a boxer and his
punches hurt. The levels of violence increased daily until two days previously. The boy
had been cooking dinner and had dropped a steak. His uncle was outraged and attacked
the boy with a heated poker. After this incident the boy had been locked in his room and
had not been allowed to eat.

The effect of his treatment was the current state of the teenager - lying in bed, unable to
move and having strange dreams which he only ever caught bits and pieces of. Finally
after two days of hallucinations one of the teenager's visions was clear. He could see the
lake at his school and beside that lake stood a man dressed in a red and gold robe. In his
dream he young teenager approached the figure.

"Harry," it called out to him. The boy, Harry, thought he recognised the voice but
couldn't identify it. "Harry, do you know who I am?" The voice was deep and melodic,
the person seemed to take his time and think about what he said.

Harry looked at the man, he could only see his back, but he still looked familiar. "Dad?"
he questioned.

"No, I am not your father, but I am related to you. I am your ancestor. I believe you have
heard of me. My name is Gryffindor, Godric Gryffindor."

"Shit."

"That is not quite the reaction I expected."

"You mean to tell me that you are thee Godric Gryffindor?"

"Yes."

"And that I am your descendant?"

"Pretty much."

"That's umm... that's interesting, but why have you decided to tell me now?"

"Because tomorrow is your sixteenth birthday."

"And what does that have to do with everything?"

"Quite a lot. Tomorrow, Harry, you become a man - no interruptions - in my day the age
of magical maturity was sixteen. I trust that you know the history between me and
Salazar Slytherin, but what only a handful of people know is that just before I killed him
Slytherin cursed myself and my heirs. This curse caused me to turn into a dark creature
Harry, which has been supposedly extinct for a long time and on my heir's sixteenth
birthday he or she would also undergo this transformation. Rowena tried to research some
way she could undo the curse, but she couldn't remove it, she could only block it.
However, Harry, I fear that the curse which left you with that scar removed the block or
at least weakened it."

"So what is going to happen to me?"

"You will undergo either a full or partial transformation Harry. It is not all bad though,
your physique will probably change dramatically and there will be more benefits,
although I do not know what. Your ability with weapons and the ease with which you use
magic will likely increase."

"Sooo, this transformation is a good thing?"

"Not quite, if you were to undergo a full transformation your appearance would be
altered dramatically, much like mine was." Gryffindor turned around and Harry could see
the vivid effect which the transformation would have on his appearance. Gryffindor's
skin was a deep blue, almost black and his eyes were red.

Harry didn't move, he just stared at the founder of his house.

"Harry," Gryffindor explained "You will become either a full or partial dark elf. You will
not be the only one though; many dwell within the Forbidden Forest although they have
not been seen by humans for centuries. If you need any help you must go to them. Our
time is nearly at an end and it is time for me to depart. Although before I go I will give
you two warnings. The first is that you must be prepared for the reading of your
godfather's will."

"And the second...?"

"The second is that this transformation will be quite unpleasant."

As Harry watched the vision seemed to flicker and then it disappeared.

Harry woke up for the first time in two days, wondering if what he had seen was real. He
leaned over his bed to examine a clock which Dudley had discarded in his room two
years ago: it said the time was 11:59.

"Just less than a minute until my sixteenth birthday," Harry thought. "I wonder if that
was real or if it was just another hallucination."

The clock struck midnight as Harry Potter tried to scream, although no sound was
produced. It felt as if his magic was trying to fight its way out of his body. As Harry
stared at his body he seemed to become enveloped by a bright light and then darkness as
he fell unconscious back into his bed.


*


In a large estate, just outside Little Whinging, in a large bedroom in the right hand wing
of the house a girl was sleeping. Her light brown, almost blonde, shoulder length hair fell
around her face and seemed to frame her clear blue eyes.

Suddenly the girl sat upright in her bed. There seemed to be something affecting her
magic. She quickly got out of bed and fumbled for her wand. She grasped it in her right
hand just as her mother sprinted into the room, wand held in front of her.

"Daphne, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, but what's going on?"

"There appears to be someone trying to use a lot of magic up at one go and it's having an
affect on ours. I don't know who or what is powerful enough to do something like that
though, or what sort of spells require that much magic to cast. I didn't even know any
other magical person lived near here anyway."

"What are we going to do?" said Daphne, surprised at how calm she was, when someone
was more or less attempting to steal her magic.

"I think we should search for whoever is causing this and help them - using magic this
powerful cannot be good."

"Okay, I'll need to get dressed first though" said Daphne, who had only just realised how
little she was wearing.

"Allow me." Hilda Greengrass waved her wand and summoned some clothes for her
daughter, who had slept in only a t-shirt and knickers as it was a warm night.

The pair sprinted down the stairs and into the car that was parked outside. As Hilda put
the key in the Aston Martin roared into life and shot off down the drive, before Daphne
realised she didn't know where they were going. "Umm, mum," she said "How do you
know where we are going?"

"I'm following my instincts, dear, and hoping that the closer we get to the cause of this
disturbance the more we will feel the effects."

Hilda continued to drive, turning occasionally and doubling back a few times. Seven
minutes and three u-turns later Hilda declared "We are nearly there."

"This is Privet Drive" replied her daughter anxiously. "Look, there, in number four, the
light - that must be whoever is using up all the magic." As she said it the light appeared
to vanish, but the pull on their magic didn't go away. "Quickly, we have to help whoever
that is."

The car was still moving as Daphne jumped out of the car. She stumbled, but managed to
regain her balance and sprinted to the door of the house. Her mother waved her wand and
the door flew open in front of her. The duo ran up the stairs and into the bedroom where a
teenage boy lay. He appeared to be in a lot of pain even though he was unconscious.
Hilda exclaimed "Look at that poor boy. The bruises - some bastard must have beat him!
We have to get him out of here."

From behind them they heard a cry of "BOY! What are those freaks doing in my house in
the middle of the night?"

Hilda and Daphne whirled around, "Freaks, are we?" shouted Hilda "Daphne take that
boy and help him out to the car. I refuse to let him stay here any longer."
Daphne turned round to face the young man and started to half carry, half drag him out of
the room and down the stairs. She found the door to the car open and manhandled the boy
inside before jumping in beside him as her mother dashed out the front door and into the
car.

As they started to drive away they heard a voice call out "And good riddance to you!"
"I'm guessing that was the bastard" Hilda declared. Daphne would have laughed if it
were not for the person lying beside her, but as she watched the injuries seemed to heal,
and the person grew rapidly. It was only then that she recognised the person that she and
her mother had rescued.

"Mum?"

"Yes dear?"

"I think we just rescued Harry Potter."