Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize from canon Harry Potter. JKRowling owns that franchise.

Spread Your Wings

By Ebona Nite

Chapter Eighteen: One Flew Over the Phoenix Nest

After changing the inscription of the memorial statue and helping Sirius dump it in the Ministry atrium – the original unflattering statue had been delivered with their compliments to Irontooth for all his help at Godric's Hollow and Grimmauld Place, to do with as he willed – Harry had headed back to Atlantis looking forward to seeing Luna and his other friends again.

xXxXxXx

It wasn't too much trouble getting back into the swing of things.

In the third week of the Second Term Blaise shocked herself by making another friend, one in her own dorm – a male sphinx named Kamau. He'd introduced himself one morning while she was struggling over Literature homework, an essay discussing Odysseus's use of tricky language in Homer's The Odyssey, and offered his help with the subject. Apparently he was a great lover of riddles, logic puzzles, and layered meanings.

His full name was Kamau, son of Mbwana, in the line of Kafele. Or, in the human way of putting it, Kamau Mbwana Kafele. He told her to just call him Kam.

Kam was large, his head about the same height as Amber's, though of course he was much more muscular being feline rather than equine. He was a dark tawny gold with a dark brown mane and tail tuft, gold cat-like slit-pupil eyes, and feline ears poking up near the top of his head. His face was human, though the rest of him was lion; his brow was heavy and his nose and jaws jutted out a little, a bit like a feline muzzle. When he spoke Blaise could see his teeth were all sharp, just like a lion's. The mostly-human face was the only part of him without fur, and his skin was dark brown though not quite as dark as the near-black color of his mane.

Kam was an Atlantis native, though she guessed he might be of African descent before his ancestors moved to the Island (sphinxes came primarily from Africa, but some had moved around the Meditarranean, especially Greece ad Turkey, and those had developed lighter coloring). Though large, he was quiet. And luckily for him he had near-perfect recall and had no need of notes, he merely needed help now and then turning pages since his paws didn't come equipped with opposable thumbs.

Sphinxes were one of the Races that had the most classes designed specifically for them as they of course could not do written homework and worked almost exclusively orally. Merfolk, harpies, and water-based fae also had similar limitations and specially organized classes. Certain electives that did not have written homework or could make exceptions or were flexible enough to allow choices or changes were open to them however.

Blaise was quick to introduce Kam to the rest of her friends. As it turned out, the sphinx was in Amber's Phys Ed class, the Quadrupeds' Track and Field, which was designed for centaurs, sphinxes, lycanthropes using wolf form (Chad was taking the regular T&F, preferring to run in human form and do events like shot-put that were designed for hands), and four-footed animal fae who wanted to race, jump hurdles, and run obstacle courses. Kam also got along quite well with Orlando, who eagerly traded riddles and logic puzzles with him.

He was a year older than Blaise, though he was in the same year. According to him, sphinxes were one of the Races in which the majority opted not to attend the official schools, learning what they needed from parents and elders in their prides and taking jobs within their own communities. Few decided to branch out, and to take jobs that interacted with other species (such as merchants and ambassadors) or were open to all species, which meant at least a minimum level of education at an interspecies school, either the smaller primary schools or the elite Academy.

xXxXxXx

Harry, Luna, Chad, Blaise, and Orlando were hanging out in the "East Quad" one day in early September, a large open area between buildings with a grassy lawn, trees, some flowerbeds, and scattered benches. There was even a small fountain near the middle, with stone dolphins and merfolk statues. Amber and Kamau still had Q-Track practice, but the others had decided on having lunch out under a large oak tree that day since it was sunny and warm. There were plenty of open benches and even a picknick table, which they had commandeered.

It was nice to take a break from the fast pace of the classes now and then. Just hanging out for a meal, or spending a couple hours at an arcade or in the library together was generally all they had time for unless they all planned to have most or all of their homework done by the weekend so they could go out for Sunday afternoon. Times like this allowed them to relax, have some fun, and maybe just be silly for a while.

Orlando took this opportunity to read as he sipped a thermos of warm goat blood with cracker pieces floating in it (his version of tomato soup apparently). Another fantasy novel, this one The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Sometimes Harry wondered how Orlando managed to keep up with his school work since all he ever saw the vampire reading was novels like that. Though he had to admit, he enjoyed The Hobbit which Orlando had gotten him to read, and had even started on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, though he certainly didn't read nearly as fast or as often as his friend.

As Harry stabbed at his salad, a slice of avocado shot off his plate and disappeared into the grass at his feet.

"Noooo! Not my avocado! Come back my precious!" Harry wailed, lower lip trembling and eyes shining with fake tears.

"It's okay Harry," Luna patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, "If you love it, let it go. If it loves you, it will come back to you!"

"Really?" Harry looked up at her with a hopeful expression, sniffling for affect.

"Well no, not really… it's kinda dirty now."

Chad cracked up. "You two are a hoot!" Blaise rolled her eyes but couldn't help snickering, and Orlando even looked up from his book long enough to grin at the pair. "Yeah, a real riot. But have you finished your math homework yet?"

Chad, Harry, and Luna looked at him with horror.

Birds were startled out of the oak tree at the synchronized "Nooooooo not the algebraaaaaa!" that resounded beneath them.

xXxXxXx

Harry, Luna, Blaise, and Orlando were all taking the Transfiguration elective that dealt exclusively with animagi transformations. Chad had said he was happy with his wolf form and didn't want to try for another. Non-humans like centaurs and sphinxes didn't have animagus potential since they were already primarily animal in body. When Harry asked if this meant they had a humanoid transformation in place of an animagus form Amber laughed and said he had them confused with animal fae, but Kam got a contemplative look on his face as if he'd been posed a particularly hard riddle.

Harry wondered if he'd started something.

Everyone taking the class was very excited. Apparently multiple forms were possible, though not everyone had them or had enough power to manage more than one transformation. The teacher told them it depended on a variety of things, including power, how complex a person's personality was, and at what stages of life a person tried developing a form. When one's personality changed, or new experiences were gained, often the animagus potential would change, which could change or add a new form.

It was rarer that a person had more than one animagus form at the same time though, but that spoke of a very complex personality, and the person would need a very ordered and disciplined mind to access both at the same time. Searching for a form at different stages in one's life could reveal different forms each time. Mostly this meant only one form was seen at a time.

Everyone was started on meditation with the assistance of a potion that was supposed to help reveal the potential form or forms to the hopefuls. No one was allowed to try transforming outside of class without the teacher present to assist in case anyone got stuck. And everyone was warned that the first term would consist entirely of research on their form, while actual transforming practice would not begin until second term. Anyone caught attempting it early would be severely punished, because of the dangers of getting oneself stuck.

Luna was delighted upon seeing herself as a barn owl after a week's meditation. Blaise had figured out she was some sort of serpent quite quickly, but it took her longer to work out the species. It turned out she was a black mamba.

Orlando took much longer than the girls. What had him so confused was the combination of forms; after a month and a half of meditation and research he was finally able to work out that he had two potential forms at this time – a badger and a snow leopard. He was quite proud of himself. The teacher did warn him that he may only be able to achieve a single transformation at a time, and suggested he chose one to work with for the class and work with that form until he had mastered it before beginning with the second. That way his body and magic would be less confused and less likely to get him stuck halfway or in some odd three-way transformation disaster.

The young vampire eventually decided to start with the badger form.

Harry though, was just stuck. Even as it was nearing December all he could get was an impression of wings and an overpowering sense of rushing wind, with an odd sinuous hissing undertone that reminded him of speaking parseltongue.

On the other hand, all that meditation was bringing his passive empathy under conscious control, and he'd unlocked his metamorphmagus ability. He was only able to change his hair length and color though, which was cool enough for him. It meant he no longer had to put up with a bird's nest!

xXxXxXx

On the subject of other classes:

Harry and Orlando had chosen basic hand-to-hand combat class, which included basics of various martial arts, which would after a full year allow them to take intermediate and advanced combat and defense classes in more specific martial arts (such as karate, tai kwan do, judo, tai chi, etc) the following year. Luna and Blaise had opted for the more general physical education classes, Chad had his track and field class, and Amber and Kam had quadruped geared classes to choose from.

Luna had also chosen to take a music class, beginning learning flute. She already could read music and play piano, and had some minor training with a lap harp though she wanted to try a concert harp (the type that stood on the floor and was nearly as tall as a person), learn violin, and maybe try extracurricular choir, as she later confessed to Harry. He advised her not to try it all at once or she'd have no free time to practice and would wear herself out. After all, they had years of school left! Luna told him she'd already thought of that but thanked and hugged him for thinking of her wellbeing.

Harry found himself blushing for some reason.

Everyone had magical defense class, though not all together. Harry, Luna, and Blaise managed to have the same class during first term. They were taught a wide variety of hexes, jinxes, and curses along with their counters, and told that second term would begin the basics of magical dueling. There were exciting rumors that the Patronus charm would be taught third term, though Harry wondered if there was truth to that.

And now, as it got close to Yule break and the end of the first trimester, whenever he was feeling strong emotions his wind elemental potential was beginning to make itself known. Which didn't help when he got frustrated, since he tended to accidentally create tiny whirlwinds and scatter homework papers about. Chasing after them proved to be stress-relieving though.

Besides the paper chasing activities, he found flying, either chasing a snitch, doing stunts, or just floating around on the wind, to also be quite relaxing. He spent the second half of Yule break touring the Island with Sirius, and flying on his new broom.

xXxXxXx

Harry soared over the snow-covered pine forest one Sunday, reveling in the new Firebolt broom Sirius had gotten him for Yule. It was still snowy in the higher climates of the Island, as it was only early February. He was near one of the Island's two mountain ranges, the ground sloping upward and a timberline only a mile or so ahead of him.

Ahead and to his left, a column of smoke trickled through the treetops, yet when he reached out his developing empathy he felt no disturbance from the trees or animals in the area which would indicate a forest fire.

Curious, Harry banked left and began gliding towards the smoke. The ground steadily rose as he approached the timberline. The smoke came from a craggy outcrop, in a niche in the stone fifteen feet up. He hovered on his broom and found a burning nest smelling of sweet herbs, cinnamon, and the sharp fresh scent of pine resin.

It was then he realized he'd happened upon one of the wild phoenixes.

The fragrant nest burned down to ashes as he watched. Harry floated tentatively forward, peaking into the pile of ashes.

Eyes met, gold-flecked black to emerald green, a recognizing of kindred spirits, and a warm loving feeling spread through his body and mind.

He knew instantly that she was female, and she was his partner.

xXxXxXx

The female phoenix chick grew. She was ruby red with a violet breast, with iridescent green and blue on her swan-like neck, speckles of gold all over, gold tips to her wing and crest feathers, and gold eye-marks on her long peacock-like train of tail feathers. Harry named her Aurora. Hedwig had been jealous for a while, but as she was already as much Luna's owl as Harry's she found any exclusive attention she craved from the dreamy eyed blonde whenever she wanted, and soon calmed down from the appearance of this new avian.

Where Aurora's black eyes had been flecked with gold before, now they were flecked with emerald green. In return, Harry's emerald green eyes were now flecked with gold. He hadn't noticed right off – it had taken Luna commenting on how she liked the change for him to realize it.

Harry had discovered that along with the bond and telepathic connection to the phoenix, Aurora helped stabilize his empathy and wind elemental, and had unlocked his dormant soul reading ability. His connection to birds and animals had grown, and he found he was able to understand the language of birds though he could not speak it, and communicated on an empathic level with birds and animals.

Aurora told him she also helped protect his mind. He would need to study Occlumency on his own though, for complete protection.

The female phoenix also persisted on calling him 'fledgling' for reasons known only too herself, which amused Luna to no end. And Harry swore she knew something about his allusive animagus form, but she remained smugly silent on that point.

xXxXxXx

One fine day in April, while Harry was wandering through a market looking for a nice birthday gift for Luna, he turned and found himself walking straight into a woman.

She was a stately lady. Not a classic beauty though more than just pretty, she was what people would call "handsome." Her hair was iron grey and pulled into a loose bun, but her face was smooth and her hazel eyes were sharp, clear, and bright. She gave him a feeling of serenity, of inner peace and strength of will. She had a sort of ageless quality about her; all in all she could have been any age from 30 to 80 though she looked fairly young despite the grey hair.

"I'm so sorry ma'am, I wasn't looking where I was going." Harry blushed.

She smiled, "It's no trouble young man, I can tell it was an accident. I am Perenelle by the way, but please call me Nelle." (silent –e)

"Oh where are my manners! I'm Harry Potter; it's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine – oh my!" Nelle's last exclamation was for Aurora, who had chosen that moment to appear in a flash of fire and settle on Harry's shoulder. "And this is Aurora, my companion." Harry added. Aurora chirruped politely.

"A pleasure, truly!" Nelle said delightedly with a small bow to the phoenix. "It's rare to see one with a phoenix companion, especially one so young. Such an interesting individual – or couple, as it were. Would you mind terribly if I began a correspondence with you?"

"Of course not, I would love to hear from you." Harry's empathy and minor soul reading abilities were telling him that this woman was kind, generous, and knowledgeable. Someone he wanted to know. Someone who would make a wonderful mother figure, or perhaps grandmother figure…

"Ah, and here's my husband. Nick darling, this is Harry and his companion Aurora."

"Darn it Nelle, I've told you to call me Nicholas!" The man's voice was affectionate and amused, not really angry, and Harry instantly decided he liked him as well. Aurora clearly did as well, which was an even better judgment of character. The man nodded to him, "Pleasure."

Nick – or Nicholas as he preferred – had the same quality of agelessness about him though he appeared a bit older than his wife, maybe in his fifties. He had salt-and-pepper hair that may have once been black or dark brown, and close-cropped grey beard, and warm brown eyes. He was a little on the heavy side though not unhealthy looking, and Harry thought that if his hair had been white and his belly a bit larger he would have made a great Santa Claus.

And so, his correspondence via phoenix mail with Nicholas and Nelle began. To Harry's delight they were very knowledgeable about animals and plants both magical and mundane, potions, herbology, astrology, runes, and a number of other things. He quite liked the two of them and every once in a while would run into one or the other in the market nearest the Celeste University campus – apparently both were professors there.

xXxXxXx

For Midsummer break Harry returned to the Potter Preserve. Sirius had invited his old friend over, a werewolf named Remus Lupin, and Harry had given permission for his friend to stay there with Sirius.

The cottage at Godric's Hollow and Sirius's renovated Black Manor at Grimmauld Place, London would be finished up soon, and the dog animagus would be moving in to one or the other, probably taking his friend in as a roommate too. For now while the property charms (especially the expansion and additional construction inside the Potter Cottage) and new fidelis were still being put into place, they were living at the Potter Preserve manor house. Which still had bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen, but the majority of the inside had turned into a conservatory and various dens for smaller animals and some bird species. It was rather like living in a menagerie, but one where the animals could come and go as they pleased.

Remus arrived two days before the kids, and he and Sirius had a rather tearful reunion in which self-blame and many apologies were thrown around quite often.

Sirius ushered Remus into the kitchen, intent on scrounging up a snack. There were brownies who cooked and cleaned of course, but they were there primarily to take care of the animals and birds which meant any humans who lived there had to cook most of their meals by themselves unless a brownie happened to be free.

"Watch out for the stove." Sirius warned.

"The stove?" Remus raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"Harry's Monster Book of Monsters has taken to nesting under it, and jumping out to attack the ankles of anyone who gets too close. Unless it's Harry of course. Bloody book." Sirius eyed the bottom of the stove in uneasy distaste, "I think it may be in a conspiracy with that bloody dodo."

Remus rolled his eyes at his friend's usage of the muggle term for a diricawl and was about to comment on the ridiculousness of Sirius's conspiracy theory – when the stove gave a suspicious rustling rattle sound. He hastily stepped away.

Just in case.

xXxXxXx

Harry had also invited his friends over. Luna couldn't wait to see all the creatures on the Preserve – the Potter Preserve was pretty famous in England. Blaise had been very regretful that she hadn't been able to come, but her mother was actually coming to Atlantis for the week to visit and she couldn't skip the family reunion. Kam had also declined. Luna, Chad, Amber, and Orlando were all coming though, and Luna was actually going to stay the whole week since it was easier to visit her father from the Preserve than from the Island.

Remus was a tad jumpy at learning two of Harry's friends were a centaur and a sphinx and that the centaur would actually be visiting for three days. He was far more used to interacting with humans and werewolves, and he could even understand Orlando being a vampire, but he hadn't realized that so many different nonhumans went to the Academy, or even that some would socialize outside of their own species on a regular basis.

Once everyone had arrived, introductions were made all around. Harry found Remus very interesting to talk to – the tired old werewolf knew quite a bit of the magical history of Britain, which wasn't a subject Harry knew in much depth yet.

Chad, learning that the man was a werewolf and had been using the Wolfsbane potion for nearly nine months, quickly took it upon himself to instruct the older man in how to make peace with and accept his inner wolf (it was going to take a lot of time and meditation though) and insisted that Remus stop taking the potion coldturkey, which was going to be rather painful for him for the next several months. However Remus, hearing the true dangers of the potion, quickly agreed.

Sirius even said he'd take up meditating with his friend in a show of moral support. Remus privately thought it might help his friend get the haunted look out of his eyes and put Azkaban behind him.

"So, Atlantis…" Remus said, "how are you doing there Harry? The Academy everything it's cracked up to be?"

"Better!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "The majority of students are born on Atlantis of course, but there are some from all over the world, and all species too. So I can learn a lot about just about anywhere – any being, any culture – if I just ask around until I find the people who have come from Outside and are willing to answer my questions. I've answered dozens of questions about non-magical England and even some about humans, especially mundane English culture. And Luna's answered a lot about the magical Britain… although sometimes I have to translate her answers for the uninitiated."

Remus, having now met Luna and her unique way of seeing and talking about the world, understood that sentiment perfectly. "Well I'm glad it's such a diverse campus. How is the education? I've heard it can be pretty difficult."

"Oh definitely!" Harry gushed, "We've got magical and mundane classes all together, and school is practically always in session! If we don't keep up our pace there's a danger of burn-out or flunking. But that's why they choose few Outside students so carefully, and why at least half of Atlantis' population go to smaller primary and secondary schools around the Island instead of the Academy. It's real hard to find lazy kids at AA, they generally don't make it in.

"But," Harry added, "I think I may want to also go to the Celeste University once I graduate at the Academy. I know I could go anywhere Outside with just Academy schooling and be hired practically anywhere in the magical communities, but I think I want to live on Atlantis and get a job there… though I still want to travel the world a lot!"

"The University? I hadn't heard they had one."

"It's for Academy students only. The smaller schools can attend University anywhere Outside or get into apprenticeships, but CU is very private. It's on a quarter system though and summer quarter classes are optional, so unlike the Academy it actually has a full summer break!"

Harry continued to ramble about the educational opportunities, all the animals he wanted to study and see, and the places around the world he wanted to travel, until dinner time. Padfoot rolled his eyes at seeing Moony completely absorbed by the flow of information from the thirteen year old.

xXxXxXx

Over the course of the week, Harry took up some extra reading. Nelle had recommended several books about the different sentient races, and those he'd picked up along with some he'd been given as gifts made for most of this reading – though with Orlando's prodding he was also intermittently reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. He had to admit it was hilarious; it made a great break from homework.

The most interesting book he read had in-depth descriptions on many of the sentient beings, which the book termed the "Great Races." The descriptions were long but some points stood out more than most to him:

Human: Humans warm-blooded, bipedal with opposable thumbs on their hands, mostly hairless but with hair on their heads, and closest in evolutionary relative to primates…

…Human beings are the most numerous of the Great Races currently living on the planet Terra (commonly called Earth in modern times). The majority have little to no connection to magic. Some have only a little, and these are either magic-locked or have only psychic powers. Those who do have a fully working magic core are commonly called Witches and Wizards in Western society and Sorcerers and Sorceresses in Eastern society, though a number of terms, such as Mages and Enchanters, have also been used, usually in reference to power level and/or the type of magic the human uses…

…Humans form the main species from which two others of the recognized Great Races have evolved; the Lycanthropes and Vampires. Once called 'subraces' of the human race, Lycanthropes and Vampires protested the implication of subhuman nature implied in the term and are now known as 'branch-human' races; races which branched off from the human race to evolve into their own races. Humans can still be Turned into the branch races though they are often considered inferior to those Born into the other Races, by those Races. See Lycanthrope and Vampire entries for more information…

Lycanthrope: One of the two races evolved from the human race. Born Lycanthropes have three forms: the human, the wolf, and the hybrid. Turned Lycans, commonly called Werewolves, have only the human and wolf forms and typically cannot access their wolf form unless by light of the full moon. Lycanthropes can access all three forms at any time, except during the full moon when they must stay in wolf form. Humans can be Turned by Werewolf or Lycan saliva injected into the bloodstream, usually through a bite. They have a severe allergy to silver...

…There is speculation that Lycanthropes evolved from human-wolf fae intermarriage... There have been reports around the world of less common "were-creatures", such as the Were-bear known in Russia and Scandinavia, and the Skinwalkers of North America; these however are animal fae rather than human-animal hybrids…

Vampire: One of the two races evolved from the human race. Their source of nutrition is blood, and while they can subsist on animal blood alone much more must be ingested than if they drink blood from any of the Great Races. Born Vampires can ingests human food, mostly for the taste, but cannot get enough nutrition from it to survive without blood. They are less vulnerable to sunlight, particularly after reaching adulthood, and need fewer hours of sleep than humans…

…Turned Vampires not only find sunlight lethal, but are vulnerable to any objects, blessed water, etc which have the power of religious belief within them. They have a greater need for blood and as a result kill far more often than Born Vampires, and cannot ingest human food and drink as the Born Vampires can. Vampires have heightened senses, which may be where the myth of garlic being poisonous to them came about…

…Most vampires can project a sex appeal similar to the veela allure, though typically not as overwhelming. It seems to be part of their nature, of the Born at least, and after a number of interviews it also appears that the majority of their race leans toward bisexuality, subscribing to the slogan "beauty transcends gender"…

Elf: Elves are mostly human in appearance, with long pointy tapered ears, slit-pupil eyes with a wider are more colorful iris, and typically taller on average than the average human. The elves once were as populous as human on Earth, long before humans spread to far, but when humans began to grow in numbers, spreading through the lands and destroying nature, the elves chose to leave Earth. Stories say they went "Underhill" or to "Faerieland" or "Tir-na-nog" depending on the culture. The elves somehow copied all of Earth minus other beings, linking this new Earth "Gaia" to old Earth "Terra" through certain doorways, the knowledge and locations of which they guard very closely. Gaia likely exists in a separate dimension similar to Atlantis, but on a much greater scale…

…Elves are rather private and thus mysterious, but what is known is that they have heightened senses of sight and hearing, a connection to nature, inherent grace, and the ability to learn just about anything at rates far greater than any other being. Compared to humans and even vampires they have great natural beauty and grace, and can use a hypnotic allure on nearly all beings of both genders, but one that can be 'turned on and off' at will unlike the veela's allure which is always 'on' at some level…

Fae: Fae evolved primarily from animals though there are also plant fae whose origins are unknown. Animal-fae's primary form is the animal they were born as, and as they grow they learn to take on a hybrid-human form. The eldest and most powerful can learn to take a near-perfect human form with little in the way to distinguish them from true humans, and glimpses of them have sprung myths of "Skinwalkers" and "Were-creatures" around the world, confusing them with Lycanthropes. Fae consider animals their lesser cousins, viewing them in a similar fashion as humans might view chimpanzees. Though sentient, fae are closer to animal nature than human nature; therefore those fae of predator animals can and do hunt the prey animals of their lesser kindred, though most do not hunt the fae of prey animals lest they become murders of fellow Beings…

…Human-animal hybrid races such as lycanthropes, veela, selkies, harpies, merfolk, etc are thought to have evolved from intermarriage between fae and magical humans, or fae and elves. The major difference being that some races, like the harpies, have only one hybrid form, and others, like lycanthropes, are born human rather than wolf and have instincts of a mixed nature or closer to that of a human…

…Nymphs, particularly dryads, are thought related to or evolved from plant-fae, though dryads are connected to their tree rather than being the actual tree with two forms as a tree-fae would have. Plant-fae on the other hand are more typically of smaller plant species like flowers, ivy, reeds, and bushes. Not much is actually known about plant-fae, even less than the animal-fae, as fewer interact with other Races and most are extremely secretive…

Veela: Veela have two forms, the human form and the human-bird hybrid form. Their hybrid forms are of birds of prey, commonly hawk though also eagle and falcon variants, and owl is so far unheard-of. They can also throw fireballs in their hybrid form, which typically comes out in times of great stress, particularly anger. Veela have a natural allure, speculated to have come from fae-elf origins (though their origin remains speculative only), which can be controlled to some extent though how much control depends on the individual…

…The majority of veela are female, but the occasional male is also born. Most veela mate with humans or vampires, or the occasional elf or bird-fae. Children can be full blood veela, or full blood of the mate's species. There are no half veela, but the genes can skip a generation or two before turning a grandchild or great-grandchild into a full blood veela…

Centaur: Centaurs are half-human-half-equine beings; they are entirely human down to the navel, just above where the human pelvis would attach to the spine, and entirely equine to just before the neck of a horse, where the two halves meet. Centaurs therefore have two stomachs, that of the human and that of the horse, and can eat the whole range of human and horse foods and drinks except for meat, fish, or fowl. Their human half is slightly altered to include pointed ears which can partially swivel, wider pupils, and hair along the spine just as a horse's mane grows along its neck…

…The majority of their kind are premier astrologers and can read the present and future in the heavens. Centaurs are known to be excellent at archery, though some herds also train in javelins and short swords…

Sphinx: With the body of a lion and a human-feline head, sphinxes originated in Africa though early on some migrated to Europe. Their human-like face is the only part of the body with skin, often similar to or matching the color of their coat. The males have a lion mane while the females grow shorter, half-manes. Their ears are that of a lion, on the top of the head, and they have feline eyes and razor sharp teeth. Their facial features can be entirely human or slightly feline depending on the individual…

…They are primarily carnivores, though some have discovered an enjoyment of fruits and sweets. While in the past some sphinxes prayed on humans, as a species they look down on this barbarity and refuse to eat sentient beings. This does not stop them from attacking and even killing enemies, tresspassers, and betrayers. Being mostly lion, sphinxes live in prides of a dozen or more females with one to three males in leadership roles, and the majority of males, particularly young males, often leave the prides they are born into to become wanderers or start prides of their own, unless chosen by the older male to be the next pride leader…

…Sphinxes have naturally eidetic (photographic) memories, and an inherent love of riddles and logic puzzles. Some are drawn to philosophy. On occasion sphinxes have been employed as librarians, archivists, and historians…

Goblin: Goblins while humanoid in structure, rarely reach heights greater than four and a half feet, have tough skin in shades of brown and olive, long ears, sharp teeth and nails, and large eyes with no whites. They are a very militant race, but also very good at finance. They two main careers are warriors and bankers, and many train as both…

…Goblins prefer to live and work in subterranean places such as caves, tunnels, mines, and underground bunkers. Like dwarves, they mine metals and ores and forge weapons, though they are considered a close second to dwarven-forged weapons and don't branch out into as many areas of metalwork as dwarves, nor do they have much in the way of stonemasonry, preferring to carve tunnels and caverns out of the rock in more natural manners…

There were other Great Races in the book, but Harry paid less attention to them for the time being. Still, it was a fantastic information source and as far as he could tell very accurate, so he decided to keep it on hand as a reference.

Besides his extra reading, there was also homework that needed to be done. And so three days before classes began again Harry found himself sitting down with Luna trying to figure out why he'd signed up for pre-calculus so early when he had years ahead of him to do so.

"Question: You are standing in a rowboat in the middle of a lake. In one hand you hold a knut. You drop the knut. What happens?"* Harry stared at the question for a long moment. "…Wha?"

"Oh goody, an easy question!" Luna chirped, setting a dicto-pen (same concept as a dicto-quill, but a modern ballpoint pen) to her paper. "Answer: Standing in a boat is a very bad idea, so the first thing that happens is that I fall over and have to swim to shore. Also I've always been told never to throw away money like that. But I suppose I can't help it if I've been silly enough to stand up in a rowboat and have fallen overboard. So I suppose I could ask a friendly mermaid or maybe a naiad to retrieve the knut for me, if I really want it so badly. I mean, it's only a knut."

Finishing her "math" homework, Luna put away her dicto-pen. Harry was staring incredulously at her. "Luna I think they meant it as a calculus problem, not a logic puzzle."

"Well it sounded like a logic puzzle!" Luna pouted.

"True…" Harry eyed the math book with distaste for a moment and then shrugged, and decided to follow Luna's example since he really had no idea what it was even asking for math-wise, or how to calculate whatever-it-was. "Answer: First, I sit down so I don't fall in the lake. Then I summon the knut with the accio spell." Harry finished writing and sat back with a sigh of relief. "Done!" Luna giggled at him.

*(AN: I've heard this is an actual basic engineering problem. It sounds like it might have something to do with physics calculations, but I'm just as lost as Harry and Luna. /AN)

"Say Harry…."

"Yes Luna?"

"I was thinking of taking French next year. Would you take it with me?"

Harry considered. Latin was taught to many European purebloods, either by their parents or tutors, from a very early age in order to help with spellwork when they began their actual education. Luna had been tutoring him in it though he wasn't taking a class. He was also taking Lantisian, though with the universal language pendant helping accelerate picking up that particular language after this year he'd be fluent in it. But did he want to take another foreign language? Then again this would be a modern language he could use Outside, and he wanted to do a lot of traveling around the world once he'd graduated…

"Alright, sure. I'll sign up with you starting next August when the signups come around again." Luna beamed at him. Her happiness quickly washed away that last vestiges of reluctance at yet another unnecessary class.

Harry and Luna had been getting closer all year and Harry, nearly 14, was finally getting to the stage where he was noticing girls as more than just friends. Luna was his best and closest friend, she was funny, kind, supportive, and understood him, and he was beginning to take note of her developing beauty – gossamer silver-blonde hair, blue eyes, dreamy smile…

He found more and more now his heart speeding up at her closeness or her voice and a blush rising to his cheeks. But Harry still felt awkward and unsure of himself, so said nothing and hid it as best he could.

Neither noticed the knowing looks thrown between their friends.

Everyone had noticed Chad's crush on Blaise. On the other hand, Blaise had adopted Amber's "dingo-boy" moniker for the lycan and delighted at turning him down. She found the whole situation amusing… and Chad was persistent. The others were betting on how long she'd keep him chasing before agreeing to a date.

xXxXxXx

July went by with Irontooth sending Harry and Sirius a letter via Griphook, thanking them for the donation of magically charged bronze (formerly biased Ministry fountain statues) and invited them to the Britain branch of Gringotts at their leisure to see the new bronze statues of some of the goblin race's most famous warriors that now decorated their lobby.

Harry had to spend his birthday in school, but spent the following Sunday with his friends, Sirius, and Remus, on one of the magically created archipelagoes off the southwestern coast of Atlantis. It was rather tropical there, and they spent most of the day at a white sand beach wakeboarding on the warm surf.

As August break came around Harry finally discovered the identities of Nicholas and Nelle, when he introduced Orlando to them one day, and the worshipful vampire informed him that they were Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, renowned 700-year-old alchemist and his wife, who taught alchemy and advanced herbology classes (respectively) up at the University.

This finally prompted Nicholas to explain about his Philosopher's Stone.

Back when he and Nelle had been Harry's age (which was rather mind-boggling) they had attended the Academy, where they'd met, and then the University, where they married. At the University they'd met an angel, and become friends with him.

There were always Celestials in the world, at least one but usually two or even three at different stages of life. Angels were most common, there simply as 'sentinels' and 'to maintain balance'. An archangel might be born once every 2000 or so years, usually just before major upheavals in the world like a new religion or the rise or fall of a new empire. An archangel had appeared soon before the First World War but had been killed some time during the Second. At the moment there were three angels in the world, one here on Atlantis.

Laz, their friend on Atlantis was the reason they had created the Philosopher's Stone, and he was nearing the end of his life.

Laz had been rather cynical and bitter when they'd met him, teaching flying and potions and refereeing University Quidditch games. He'd seen too many friends and family grow old and die and leave him behind. So it was they spent years researching and experimenting before they created the first Philosopher's Stone.

It had stopped their aging, but prevented them from having more children, only their half-grown daughter from before they had begun using the Elixir.

It had taken them a while longer to make the second Stone. This one gave up its ability to turn base metals into gold to correct the flaw that caused infertility, but Nicholas and Nelle felt it was worth it. Their daughter, now with a family of her own, had declined using the Elixir so she would age with her family.

It was, in fact, the first Stone that had been given to and later destroyed by their daughter's descendent, Albus Dumbledore. No great loss to them.

Laz was nearing the end of his life, extended by a thousand or so years by his ascension to an angel. As they had promised him, they would remain alive as long as he did. But like Laz, they would welcome the coming final rest.

"What about a seraph?" Harry asked, "You said angels were common, even if that means there's only two or three at a time, and archangels are somewhat rare, but does that make seraphim practically mythical?"

Nelle laughed, "I suppose you could say that. There have not been any seraphim in the world since the two who removed Atlantis from it. Angels are there to balance the forces of nature and magic, that is why there is always at least once. They live a thousand or 1500 years longer than the natural life span of their birth-species. Archangels come in times of trouble, to balance the more chaotic forces, and unless killed live 1500 to 2000 years longer than their natural lifespan. Seraphim, who can live 2000 to 3000 years longer, come into the world only when it is in greatest peril, and usually that means an outside force – the infernals. Demons.

"Soon after Atlantis was moved the amount of demon incursions dropped, and around a thousand years ago those dementors are the only one left, really low level infernals, which is probably why there have been no seraphim since then. Only a few low level demons, no archdemons or, thank heavens, master demons so the archangels and angels can handle it."

"How would you tell them apart from veela, anyway?" Orlando asked. He hadn't heard so much about celestials before, the Atlantis history class barely covered them.

"Well first of all they aren't all human – celestials can ascend from any of the beings. In theory – some beings haven't had celestial from their Race before. Humans, vampires, lycanthropes, veela, goblins, elves, and fae all have, as far as I know.

"You should know this part – angels have one pair of wings, archangels two pairs and seraphim have three pairs, which signal the amount of power or potential power they have at their disposal." The two boys nodded. "Right, well they aren't just feathery wings. They aren't even solid, though they can look solid. They are a visible extension of the aura and magic of the celestial, color matching the person's aura. Feathered wings are common, yes, but bat wings are more common for goblins and certain fae, and others have had butterfly and dragonfly style wings, and I've been told there was an elf archangel that had bunches of what appeared to be ribbons or scarves… although Laz could have been having me on about that."

The conversation turned back to her and Nicholas's long lives and experiences at that point, but Harry was left to wonder privately if, since the archangel that had appeared for the World Wars had been killed, another would rise in his place some time soon. After all, hadn't the Dark Lord Voldemort begun branching out from England before his fall in the last Wizarding War? And the horcrux that had been removed from his scar suggested the dark wizard might still be out there somehow, so who knew if he would become the next world-wide threat.

Maybe Harry would be around to see the next archangel ascension. How cool would that be?!

Author's Note: I had a review in response to the Snape poll saying they didn't like it when an author sets up a poll and allows reviewers to dictate big parts of the plot since it takes away from the author's imagination. Just to clear this up: In my story Snape is not a major character! He pretty much just has a bit part. It does absolutely nothing to my plot whether Snape lives or dies, it just helps fill out my Hogwarts chapters mostly and gives me a bit extra to add in, in the later chapters.

Since Snape isn't such a main character as he was in canon it doesn't matter that much – and the suggestions for Neville blowing him up and then later becoming an ingredient supplier were much better than ignoring his existence! Really, stuff with him is a filler. What his presence adds to later in the story would have added in before his death had I chosen (and you all voted) to kill him off, so what happens to him does not affect my plot at all. Therefore I had no problems with setting up a poll involving him. Just to reassure you people offset by the poll. Provided said upset people are even still reading at this point.

This story is now on hold: I apologize for the length of time it took to get this chapter out, but I'm going to do it again. I have several reasons for putting the story on hold. First of all, I have now reached the point where detailed outlines have disappeared and I now have to write with only a few major plot points to guide me. So chapters will definitely slow down from now just anyway. Second, and more importantly, my life has priority over fanfiction and there is Stuff To Do that will take me some time. Not sure how long, I'm hoping only a month before I can get back to SPW. But I procrastinate enough without distracting myself by writing fanfiction, so I'm putting this story on the backburner for the time being. Sorry! Be back when I can!

Please review!!!