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Hylian Bloodline

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J. K. Rowling. Legend of Zelda is the property of Nintendo.

Author Note: So there’s this whole type of HP fics, where Harry, and/or other characters from the series, go through some sorta changing because of non-human blood in their DNA, as I’m sure a lot of readers know. Don’t get me wrong, I like these fics, there’s a lot of good fics out there with this theme. But Harry, or so-and-so character, goes through a radical change in looks. Harry becomes more handsome, or he becomes very pretty if it’s a slash fic and he’s the bottom in the relationship, gets all these cool powers, there’s a radical change to his looks depending on what race he turns into. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Like I said, there’s a lot of good fics out there. So I always wondered, what if Harry got a creature inheritance where very little changed about him and it had only a little impact on the story until later in his life. I chose Hylian because, in the Zelda series, there is very little difference between Hylians and Humans, in fact, Hylians are even called human by the other races in the games, most of the time. The only differences between the two races, are the shape of their ears which, according to the games, Hylian ears are pointed so they can hear the goddesses when they speak, and that Hylians have a close connection to magic.

This is not planned on being a long story at all, just one or two chapters after this one. And it’s just a side project, so it’ll be awhile before I work on the next chapter.

This story now has a beta: Tsuyu-the-Hanyou.

Chapter 1

Harry’s hands flexed nervously as he sat by his window in his tiny borrowed bedroom, at his relatives house at #4 Privet Drive. It was the night before his 16th birthday, in a few minutes e would be a year older and he was a bit worried about what was to come, even if it did distract him from his godfather Sirius Black’s death, just before the start of the summer.

You see, young Harry Potter was a wizard, an ability he inherited from his parents, James and Lily Potter, who were a wizard and witch respectively, as was his godfather. When Harry was only a year old, on the night of Halloween, a dark, evil wizard named Tom Riddle, or as the rest of the wizarding world knew him as, Lord Voldemort, had come to his and his parent’s home. Voldemort had killed his parents, then tried to kill him. Harry had never known why the man had wanted to kill him, until the end of his previous school year at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Over 15 years before, a woman named Sybil Trelawney, who is currently one of the two professors of Divination at Harry’s school, made a prophecy, during the interview of the position that she now held, that foretold that a boy born at the end of July would be the downfall of Voldemort.

One of Voldemort’s minions, called Death Eaters, had overheard the first part of the prophecy and had told his master the contents. Harry and one of his friends, Neville Longbottom, had been the only two children that supposedly fit the prophecy, which led to both Harry and Neville’s families going into hiding, under a spell called the Fidelius Charm. The man who kept the ‘secret’ of where the Potters were hiding, Peter Pettigrew, was secretly working for Voldemort and had told the dark wizard where the Potters location was, resulting in the elder Potters deaths. But when Voldemort had attempted to kill Harry, the Killing curse had, whether through something his mother had done or something else entirely, had reflected back on to Voldemort, turning the mad wizard into a dark, bodiless spirit that floated off into the night, vowing revenge. The end result of that night, left Harry an orphan, a cursed scar on his forehead and living with his bitter aunt Petunia, magic hating uncle-in-law Vernon and his bully of a cousin Dudley.

At the end of Harry’s 4th year at his school, Voldemort had used a dark ritual, using Harry’s blood, which gave him back his body. And let’s not forget that Voldemort had tried again and again to kill Harry, one way or another, all the way from when he started his schooling at Hogwarts.

This wasn’t what had Harry so nervous, though it was enough to drive anyone batty. No, Harry was worried about something else completely. On the train ride back home from school, one of Harry’s friends, Luna Lovegood, had absently wondered if Harry would receive a creature inheritance when he reached his 16th birthday. Confused, Harry had turned to one of his two best friends, Ron Weasley, a boy that came from a pure blooded wizarding family, for explanation. Ron had blushed slightly, but explained that sometimes during their 16th to 18th birthday, a magical child, who had enough magic in them, could have long dormant genes from any other humanoid race, from werewolves to elves, become active again. It didn’t happen often and not every wizarding family married someone who wasn’t human. But the Potters did have some non-human blood in their bloodline, but what races those were Ron didn’t know, as it wasn’t really talked about outside of the families.

Hermione Granger, Harry’s other best friend, assured Harry that he wouldn’t turn into a different race and not to be silly as genetics didn’t work like that, but Harry wasn’t as sure as his friend. Harry had seen some pretty wild stuff since rejoining the wizarding world when he turned 11. Not only that, but Harry had the worst luck of impossible things happening to him. He was the only survivor of the Killing Curse, he managed to survive a bite from one of the deadliest magical snakes in the world, and he could create a fully formed Patronus since he was 13. And that was just the tip of the iceberg of things that had happened to him over the years.

So yes, Harry was very worried that he would turn into a completely different race than the one he was born into. And what really scared him is that he didn’t even have a clue on what it could be. Harry didn’t know much of anything about his father’s family other than it was an old Pureblood family. Hell, he didn’t know much about his mother’s family either, except that his aunt was a bitter woman, jealous that her younger sister had magic and she did not.

Harry glanced at the clock on the edge of his rickety desk, it was close to midnight now and Harry didn’t know if the change, if it came at all, would happen right as the clock struck 12 or if it would happen sometime during the course of the day. Glancing out the window again, Harry could see his beloved owl, Hedwig, flying towards him followed by two larger owls and a little ball of feathers that masqueraded as an owl named Pigwidgeon, Pig for short, that belonged to his friend Ron.

“Hello Hedwig.” Harry whispered as his owl landed in front of him on the desk, letting him detach the birthday gift from Hermione, then unloaded the two large owls that had come with her, recognizing one of them as a Hogwart’s school owl.

“Shhh Pig, you’ll wake my relatives!” Harry said as he caught Pig next, the little owl was fast but he wasn’t as fast as a Snitch.

“Hoot hoot!” Pig said happily.

“Shh!” Harry hushed him again and removed the package from Pig’s feet. “Try to keep him quiet, will you Hed?” He pleaded with his owl as he placed Pig in the cage with her until he sent the tiny owl back with an answering letter to his friend.

“Kryeee.” Hedwig made an agreeing noise, bopping her wing on top of Pig’s head when he started to hoot again. The school owl flew off once it was free of its burden while the other owl flew over to Harry’s wardrobe, resting on top. Harry quickly discovered that the owl belonged to Neville who he had become closer to during the previous school year. Neville’s birthday was today and Harry had sent the other boy a book on Herbology that he had found in an owl order catalog.

Harry,

Thank you for the book, I’ve been looking forward to reading it since it came out. I heard what Luna and Ron said on the train about a possible creature inheritance so I sent a book on difference races, just in case. It might be a fun read either way, the author is as far from the pink toad as possible.

Neville

Harry smiled to himself as he read the letter and opened the package that Neville sent which was, as he said, a book called ‘Magical Races 101’.

Harry,

I hope you’re having a nice birthday, or as nice as it can get for you with those horrible relatives of yours. If they do anything to you, let somebody know so they can get you out of there. How are you coping? Have you talked to anyone about Sirius? It’s not good to keep your feelings bottled up inside. And don’t forget, none of what happened was your fault! I’m sure Sirius wouldn’t want you to beat yourself up over what happened. Hopefully you’ll be allowed to leave that awful place soon and I’ll be seeing you soon.

Love, Hermione

“Same old Hermione.” Harry whispered as he opened her gift with a sad smile, it was a book on defense spells. Really powerful ones too, by the look of it.

“Caw!” Harry startled and looked over at his window again. In his window sat a white coloured crow, or maybe a raven, he wasn’t sure. The bird made another cawing noise and hopped closer, holding out a foot with an envelope attached. He breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized Luna’s loopy hand writing.

“Only Luna would have a white crow.” Harry said with a soft laugh.

“CAW!” The bird protested loudly, making Harry jump. Hedwig made a barking noise at the other bird, telling it to be quiet. Harry glanced back at his bedroom door, afraid that the noise had awakened his uncle. The snoring coming from down the hallway paused for a second, then resumed just as quickly.

“Sorry, sorry, a raven then?” Harry asked softly once that scare was over.

“Caw.” The raven seemed to nod its head, then flew up to sit beside Neville’s owl. Harry shook his head, then turned to the envelope that had been attached to the raven’s foot. It was a tiny bit heavy, like something other than a letter was within it.

Dear Harry,

I do hope the Nargals are leaving you alone this summer. Daddy and I were in America, tracking the elusive ‘Jersey Devil’ for an interview with the paper…

Harry stopped reading for a moment and shook his head, he didn’t know what a ‘Jersey Devil’ was, but Luna and her father seemed to look for the strangest things to write about.

No luck so far, but we have met a very nice group of muggles that call themselves ‘Devil Hunters’, that have given us a lot of information. I found a nice little shop that sold a neat array of items and found something I think you’ll like.

Happy summer,

Luna

Curious, Harry reached into the envelope and took out the other item inside. It was a small, round pendant, roughly the size of an American half dollar coin. One side was decorated with a golden triangle made up of three smaller triangles on top of a silvery blue background. On the reverse side was the same background but had a red bird emblem instead.

/‘I wonder what made her think to send this to me?’ /Harry wondered as he stroked the triangle emblem with his fingertip. He yawned, suddenly feeling very, very tired. He just managed to stumble over to his sorry excuse for a bed, falling down onto it with little to no grace. Harry glanced over at the clock on his desk, seeing it was just after midnight as his green eyes drooped closed and the last thought he had, before falling into a deep sleep, was that his ears seem to be burning. The pendant that Luna gave him stayed clutched in his fist as Harry slept, watched over by three owls and a raven.

****

When Harry woke the next morning, he blinked sleepily as the sun shone through the window into eyes. He sat up, fixing his glasses that had become askew on his face while he slept and looked around his tiny bedroom. He jumped slightly as something fell to the floor with a small clank and the birds in his room ruffled their feathers in irritation when awoken from their naps.

“Caw!” Luna’s raven scolded Harry.

“Sorry.” He mumbled softly as he leaned over to see what fell to the floor. It was the pendant that Luna had gifted him, picking it up by its chain off the floor. He gazed at it for a moment or two, then unhooked the clasp on the chain, putting it around his neck. The pendant, with the golden triangle side showing, rested just under the hollow of his neck. Harry then drug himself out of bed and stretched as he tried to determine if anything was different about himself.

‘Hmm… I don’t really feel any different. I don’t suddenly have better eyesight and I’m still short and skinny as ever,’ /Harry thought. /‘I didn’t suddenly grow wings or horns or claws… I guess Hermione was right, nothing happened.’ Well, maybe not nothing, Harry could feel /something /around him and in him but there didn’t seem to be any physical changes. Smiling happily, Harry quietly left his bedroom and headed down the short hallway to the loo. He could hear his relatives moving around downstairs, Vernon already likely gone to work by this time. His aunt and uncle had mostly left him alone since the Order of the Phoenix had threatened them at the train station. Harry was glad as he had been worried that Vernon, who hated all magical people, who he saw as freaks and hated being threatened, would take his anger out on Harry.

Dudley, on the other hand, except for a couple of half-hearted taunts, seemed to leave Harry alone. Harry caught the other teen staring at him sometimes, but Dudley always quickly looked away if he noticed that Harry had caught his stare. So this had been one of the calmer and more peaceful summers he’d had at the Dursley’s, other than worrying about what Voldemort was up to or mourning for his godfather Sirius, of course.

Harry yawned again as he slid into the bathroom to use the toilet, then stood at the sink to wash his hands. When he looked up into the mirror, Harry nearly gave a startled shout, muffling the noise at the last second.

With a trembling hand, Harry reached up to touch his ears. Sometime during the night, they had become longer, tapering out into a point. It made him look like an elf, or the muggle version of an elf at any rate. As he touched the long narrow lobe, Harry found it to be all too real. He quickly dashed back to his room and wrote out a note on a scrap of notebook paper.

Professor Lupin,

I woke up this morning with pointed ears!

Harry

Short but it was straight to the point and it should get his old defense professor’s attention.

“Hedwig.” Harry said as he walked over to her perch. “I need you to take this to professor Lupin, it’s an emergency.”

“Kyrreee.” Hedwig wasn’t happy about being waked up but seeing the slight panic her owlet was in, she grabbed the note in her beak and quickly flew out the window. Harry let out a slow breath, it would be a while before anyone responded to the note. To keep his mind off of it, he decided to write back to his friends.

****

Petunia looked up from the lunch she was making her beloved son, Dudley, as somebody knocked on the front door.

‘It had better not be another door-to-door salesman.’ She thought as she wiped her hands on a towel and quickly opened the door to answer it. “Yes, can I help- What are you doing here!?” She hissed when she saw the two men on her doorstep.

“Good afternoon Petunia.” Albus Dumbledore said with a smile and a twinkling eye. Beside him, Remus Lupin coughed softly to cover up the laugh that wanted to escape when he saw the outraged look on the woman’s face. “We’re her to see young Mr. Potter.”

Petunia’s first instinct was to tell the old man that her nephew wasn’t there, but she stopped herself, just in time, as Dumbledore knew better than that.

“Get in here before you draw anymore unwanted attention.” She hissed instead, eyeing Albus’s bright and colourful robes then Remus’s shabby-looking ones, hopefully none of her neighbours saw the pair. Another thought occurred to her as she shut the door, turning to her unwanted guests. “Are you here to take the fre-boy off our hands?”

Remus growled softly and Albus gave Petunia a disapproving look as she nearly called Harry a freak in front of him. Petunia cowered slightly under the growl and stare from both men.

“Yes, I do believe young Harry had spent enough time with your family this year. Why don’t you go give Harry the good news, while I keep Petunia company?” Albus said to Remus with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Remus nodded once and took off up the stairs, smirking a little at the strangled whimper that Petunia gave when she was left alone with the elderly wizard. The werewolf walked down the hallway to the door with all the locks on it, growling slightly at the sight of them. He understood the need for the blood wards and why Harry needed to stay at his aunt’s house every year but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Harry?” Remus called as he knocked on the door. The door opened a bit and Remus found himself at wand point, a small sad smile crossing his face. He hated that Harry had to be so cautious at all times, even in the safety of his own home, but everyone was like that now since You-Know-Who was confirmed to be back.

“Why wouldn’t you let me confront the Boggart in my third year?” Harry asked softly.

“I was afraid that it would turn into He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” Remus answered. “You told me that Dementors were your greatest fear.” He watched as Harry relaxed, putting his wand away and opening the door.

“Sorry Professor I-“ Harry started to say.

“Don’t, Harry.” Remus said with a smile, but startled a little at the sight of Harry’s ears. The boy wasn’t kidding, he really did have pointed ears. Not slightly pointed, as he had thought when he got the letter, but long slender ears that tapered off into points. “It’s sadly a truth that you have to make sure of who we are. And remember, I’m no longer your professor, you may call me Remus or Moony if you like.”

“Alright… err… Moony.” Harry said with a slight smile. “And I know my ears are… well…”

“I’m a little surprised, I’m not going to lie, Harry.” Remus said as he entered the boy’s room and sat down on the sorry excuse for a cot in the corner. “When your letter came, my first thoughts jumped to the Elven blood that I knew runs in James’s family but an Elf’s ears, a real Elf’s not a House Elf’s, aren’t quite that long.”

“So it’s another thing I’ve done differently.” Harry said with a sigh and a slump of his shoulders. Remus stood and placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders.

“Don’t despair Harry.” Remus said softly. “We’ll figure this out. Pack up your things, Professor Dumbledore and I are here to take you away for the rest of the summer.”

“Alright.” Harry said happily as he knelt down on the floor and started to pull out his things, hidden under the floorboards. Remus smiled and opened Harry’s trunk, waiting until the boy had his things out before casting a packing spell. “Profess- Moony, I’m not going to stay /there /am I?” Harry asked softly.

“No, Dumbledore thought it would be safer for you to stay at Number 12, but Molly and I convinced him that it would be better for you to stay at the Burrow this summer.” Remus assured him. Harry gave Remus a grateful smile. The house in question was Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the family home of his godfather’s family. Sirius had hated the house, having all sorts of bad memories from living there in his youth, and being stuck there all year did nothing for the man’s mental health. Harry had hated it as well, hated how it affected his beloved godfather, but there were also so many recent memories attached to the place, it hurt just to think about it.

A few minutes later, the Elven eared wizard and scarred werewolf came down the stairs with Harry’s trunk between them. They found Albus in the living room with Petunia and Dudley, both of which were huddled together on the couch.

“Ah, there we are.” Albus said as he calmly put down the cup of sweet tea he had been nursing. “We’ve taken up enough of your time Petunia, we must be on our way.”

Petunia didn’t answer him, staring at Harry’s ears and thinking to herself that the boy had made himself into even more of a freak. Dudley also looked at Harry’s ears in wonder, reminded of characters from a few of the games one of his mates from school liked to play. Dudley himself didn’t play the fantasy games, at least not at home since his parents would have had a fit. Any other game was ok, in fact the more violent ones seemed to please Vernon Dursley as it didn’t contain any ‘rubbish magic’, in his own words.

Albus, Remus and Harry stepped outside and around to the back of the house. Harry’s trunk was shrunk down to a much smaller size, so Harry could slip it into his pocket, then was offered a Portkey. Eyeing it with distaste, Harry grabbed a hold of it and allowed it to whisk him away to the Burrow.

****

“Blimey, mate!” Ron said as soon as he saw Harry. “Guess Hermione was wrong.”

“Yeah.” Harry said with a blush as he reached up to touch his ears. “It’s kinda unreal. So, I’m staying in your room?”

“Yeah, Mum already put the extra bed in.” Ron said as they walked up the rickety stairs to his room. They each had a hold of Harry’s trunk that had been un-shrunk by Dumbledore before the man had left. “So, anything else different about you? I mean you’re an elf! Shouldn’t your eyesight be fixed too?”

“Other than my ears, nothing else has changed.” Harry said with a shake of his head. “I guess my hearing is a little better but otherwise I seem normal.”

“Monie is going to go off when she sees this.” Ron mused as he pushed open the door to his room and dropped the trunk at the end of the bed Harry was going to use.

“Where is she, anyway?” Harry asked.

“On holiday with her parents, she’s coming here when they get back.” Ron explained as he sat down on his bed. Hedwig gave a greeting sound, cooing contently as Harry walked over and started to pet her chest feathers.

“Well, at least I have a little time before she sees this.” Harry said with a touch of amusement.

A few days later, Hermione arrived to spend the rest of the summer with her two friends and glared when she saw Harry’s newly shaped ears.

“That isn’t funny, Harry. You shouldn’t have had somebody transfigure your ears like that!” She said.

“Sorry Hermione, but they did this all on their own.” Harry said with a shake of his head.

“But genetics don’t work like that!” Hermione cried in disbelief.

“What can I say? Magic seems to go beyond all logic.” Harry said as he shrugged his shoulders. Hermione sighed, then reached up to touch one of the ears, with Harry’s permission.

“What are you going to do at school?” She asked as she studied Harry’s ears.

“Don’t know, but I don’t fancy walking around like this.” Harry said. “They aren’t too bad but I get enough of getting stared at as it is. I’m hoping I can have a glamour put on them so they appear normal.”

“That may be best.” Hermione sighed. “As fickle as everyone is, not being human anymore would rankle someone’s chains.” Harry nodded, he was used to the public treating him like a god-like hero one moment, only to turn around and treat him like he was the next ‘Dark Lord’ in the next. He hated it with a passion.

****

Harry fumed silently to himself as he lay back on his bed, in the sixth year dorm in the Gryffindor tower at Hogwarts, as he thought back to the rest of his summer and the train ride to school. For the most part it hadn’t been too bad, Dumbledore had provided a glamour charm, that would make his ears appear like a normal humans, that Harry could take on and off. After getting used to his newly pointed ears, Harry found that he sorta liked them, even if they did make him stand out. Everything else about him didn’t change at all, except he found that magic came a bit easier to him. Harry and Hermione had gone through the book Neville had given him, trying to pinpoint which Elven race he now belonged to, but Harry didn’t fit into any of them. The Elven races listed in the book, didn’t have ears as long as Harry and their eyesight was said to be perfect while Harry’s hadn’t changed at all. He didn’t know what to make of it, other than once again he was different.

A few days after arriving at the Burrow, Dumbledore had taken him to meet and convince a wizard named Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts to teach Potions. That only meant that Snape had kicked the bucket or had finally gotten the position of professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. While he would prefer the former, Harry knew he wasn’t that lucky. He didn’t like the way the headmaster told him that Slughorn would ‘collect’ him, like he was a bloody action figure. Then, during the yearly trip to the magical alley called Diagon Alley, Harry and his two friends had seen their fellow student and Harry’s rival, Draco Malfoy, entering a store in Knockturn Alley, an alley with a dark history, named Borgin and Burkes with a group of shady men. Malfoy had bought a strange cabinet, Harry vaguely remembered it as the one he hid in, the summer before his second year at Hogwarts when he accidently flooed into the store, and what looked like a necklace.

Harry was /sure /that Malfoy had been marked as a follower to his enemy Voldemort and was up to something. But his two friends, Ron and Hermione, and everyone else told him not to worry about it. Bloody hell, they were at /war! /Why did they brush off his worries? Couldn’t they at least be on their guard?

The young wizard sighed softly and turned on his side, glaring at the curtains that were drawn close around his four poster bed. He was having a hard time falling asleep, and even if he did, Harry was sure that he wouldn’t sleep for long. He was plagued with nightmares of death or visions sent to him by Voldemort, by the mental connection they shared, sometimes Harry could tell the difference. It was rare when he got a good night’s sleep.

My poor child… Harry sat up in alarm. He could have sworn that he had just heard a soft female voice ghosting in his ears. Peace, my lost child… come lay down and rest. I will guard your dreams…

Harry swayed slightly, yawning as he suddenly felt extremely tired. He knew he should be worried that he was hearing a voice in his head, but his mind was so fuzzy now, he couldn’t keep his eyes open. As Harry fell into a deep sleep, he could have sworn that he heard a soft lullaby.

****

Harry was hearing voices. Four voices to be exact. Four voices that seemed to belong to four different women and Harry didn’t have a clue where they were coming from. He wondered if everything was getting to be too much for him. After all, he had his school work on top of private lessons with Headmaster Dumbledore; Harry had no idea what the hell all these memories were supposed to be showing him. He had heard of the saying ‘Know thy enemy’ but other than the fact Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as he was known as in the past, had a habit of stealing stuff, Harry really wasn’t learning anything important since he already knew the man was evil.

On top of that, Harry was now the Quidditch Captain of his house team, so he had to manage all the practices after the hell that was tryouts, and he was doing his best to keep an eye on Malfoy. He still couldn’t believe /no one /was taking the threat of the blonde seriously. During the last Hogsmeade visit, Katie Bell had been badly cursed by a necklace she had gotten somewhere, and Harry swore that it was the same one that Malfoy had been looking at during the summer.

Then there was the tiff between himself and Hermione over potions. Harry had found, at the start of the year since Slughorn was the new potions professor, or returning professor anyway, that he had been accepted into the class as had his friend Ron. Not having bought a book for the class, he and Ron had been allowed to take one of the books left over from older students. Harry had ended up with an old, raggedy book that had belonged, at one time, to someone called ‘The Half Blood Prince’.

Whoever this Prince person was, he or she had known their potions. Harry had been excited about learning to brew potions before he started school when he was 11. He had read all of the potions books he had bought at Diagon Alley but that passion had died that very first potions class, when Severus Snape belittled Harry and asked him questions that weren’t even taught to first years. The previous owner of the book had written, to the side, the proper or at least better ways to brew potions and Harry found his love of brewing coming back. But since he now was doing better than Hermione in the class, the two of them had been fighting over the book. He had even offered to let her use it, but she had refused, telling him over and over to get rid of it.

And speaking of Slughorn, Dumbledore had been correct about the man trying to ‘collect’ him and had even encouraged it since he wanted Harry to get something from the man. Harry didn’t like it and he /hated /being used as a pawn piece.

And let’s not forget the crazy, evil dark wizard out to kill him.

So yes, Harry was stressed and now he was hearing voices.

/“I am going completely crazy.’ /Harry thought to himself as he tiredly sat down in an empty desk in an old abandoned classroom. He took out the Marauder’s map, a magical map his father, godfather, Remus and that traitor Pettigrew, had made during their school years at Hogwarts that showed almost all of the school and everyone in it. Saying the phrase that would activate the magic of the map, Harry stared blankly at it for a few seconds.

/Why /was he hearing voices? Was it all in his head? He was afraid to tell anyone he was hearing them, Harry was sure he would be either in the hospital wing under Madam Pomfrey’s care or in St. Mungo’s quicker than you could say Quidditch, if he said anything. And the thing was, he didn’t feel threatened by the voices. They were either encouraging or comforting when they spoke to him, ghosting over his pointed ears like a soft breeze. Speaking of his ears…

Harry checked the map and, seeing that no one was near, then canceled the glamour spell that made his ears appear like a normal human’s. Glancing at the map again, Harry tried to locate Malfoy’s name and sighed as he noticed the blond wizard was down in the Slytherin dorms.

Patience /one of the voices ghosted in his ears, reminding him of cool gentle water. /Have patience, young one

Patience for what? For Malfoy to slip up? For the other wizard to complete whatever it was he was going to do? Harry sighed again, he didn’t know anymore.

/Don’t give up! /This time it was another voice, one that was almost child-like and cheery when it spoke to him. Harry sighed softly, the voices were encouraging and almost mother like, but Harry didn’t know if it was in his head or a trick of Voldemort’s via their connection. Harry’s sharp hearing picked up the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside the room, he glanced quickly at the map and relaxed when he saw it was just Luna.

“Good morning Harry.” Luna said in her dreamy sort of way, as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. She smiled and tilted her head as she gazed at Harry’s long, slender ears. “I think you look better this way.” She said as she closed the door.

“Hmmm, it took a bit of getting used to.” Harry said as he touched one of his ears.

“You shouldn’t be afraid of them.” Luna said as she sat down on top of a desk across from Harry.

“Huh?” He asked as he looked up at the blond girl.

“The voices.” Luna said. “You don’t have to be afraid of them. Only you are able to hear them here on this world.”

“Luna…” Harry’s voice trailed off, he wanted to know how the girl knew he was hearing voices, how she knew it wasn’t a trick of Voldemort’s. And what the heck did she mean by ‘this world’?

“You’ll see in all good time.” Luna said with a nod. “For now, they’re watching out for their lost child.”

/Oh I like her /Another voice chimed in, sassy and powerful sounding.

/She’s a clever one /The voice that sounded like cool water said in amusement. Harry looked over at Luna again, she was staring at a spot on the wall and giving a tiny smile, as if she was watching something. Harry squinted his eyes and tried to see what Luna saw but the only thing he could see was a hole between the stones where only something as small as a mouse could fit through.

“What do you see?” Harry finally asked.

“It’s a Minish.” Luna said with a dreamy smile, unlike Harry, she could see a tiny being with a mousey face and a long feather like tail, wearing a tiny blue robe and red hat. “They travel to, and live on, several worlds. They like to make people happy and they like to hide what they make or find under stuff, for people to find.” (1)

Harry looked at Luna, amused, he didn’t know if Luna was being truthful or was making all this up. With the dreamy blond, you could never be too sure. His friend seemed to know things other people didn’t but when it came to the creatures she talked about, Harry didn’t know if she was really seeing them or if it was all her active imagination.

“I don’t see anything.” He said out loud.

“I’m not surprised.” Luna said as she finally turned her attention back to Harry. “Usually only children and animals are able to see them. It’s too bad, they really are sweet. They sometimes help me find my stuff when it wanders off.”

/Do you think she has Sheikah blood? /The cheery child voice asked.

/‘What in the name of Merlin is a ‘Sheikah’?’ /Harry wondered to himself. He shook himself out of his thoughts as Luna stood up and headed for the door.

“It’s lunch time.” Luna said. “I do hope they have fried green tomatoes, Daddy and I had some while in America this summer. It was quite good.” Harry chuckled and wiped the map clean with a whispered ‘Mischief Managed’ then reapplied the glamour on his ears.

“Maybe Luna, maybe.” Harry said as he walked out with her.

****

“This plan sounds really, really stupid.” Harry said as he looked at his friends and the Order of the Phoenix. It was the summer following his sixth year at Hogwarts. He had been right about Malfoy all along, the other boy had been under orders to not only kill Dumbledore but to let the Dark Lord’s Death Eaters into a school full of children. Malfoy hadn’t been able to complete the first part of his mission, for whatever reason the blond ferret’s hand was stayed, but it didn’t matter as Snape had done it for him. Harry could still remember hearing Albus say ‘Please’ to the Potions Master before the man had cast the killing curse, sending Dumbledore’s body falling from the tower. All while Harry was trapped under the man’s spell that Dumbledore had cast as soon as they had come back from their mission of retrieving the locket horcrux from a cave Voldemort had visited in his youth as Tom Riddle.

In the end it hadn’t even been the real locket, somebody with the initials R.A.B. had beaten them to the punch and taken the real horcrux. Hermione thought the initials could belong to Sirius’s younger brother Regulus Black, who had been a Death Eater at one point but had died early on in the mad man’s service according to his godfather. After Dumbledore’s funeral, Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermione, had all vowed to hunt down the rest of Riddle’s horcruxes. But first, Harry had to live through one last summer with his relatives. He had already said his final goodbye to them, nothing good to say to either his aunt or uncle but was surprised when Dudley thanked him for saving him from the Dementors, two summers ago.

Harry was surprisingly happy to have made peace with at least one member of his family. He never thought he would get along with any of them after being abused by his guardians for all of his young life.

But now was not the time to think about that, he was surrounded by his friends and the Order whose ‘oh-so brilliant’ plan for getting him out of the house was to use Polyjuice on several people to make them all look like him and use them as bait for the Death Eaters, sure to be on their way.

“It’s the only plan we got.” Mad-eye Moody grunted.

“Then what do you plan on doing about these?” Harry snapped as he cancelled the glamour that hid his ears. Almost all the Order members gasped as moved back in surprise.

“What the bloody hell happened?!” Moody yelled in shock. (2)

“Dumbledore didn’t let anyone know that I’m some sort of elf now, hmm?” Harry deadpanned as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You knew Moony, why didn’t you tell them?”

“I-I thought Albus had said something.” Remus said.

“Well, he bloody well didn’t.” Moody snapped, his magical eye rolling in its socket. “Well, too late to do anything about it now. Yer just gonna have to keep the glamour off so you’ll blend in.”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea.” Harry groused. “Can’t we use a portkey or something?”

“No time.” Moody said as he used a cutting spell on a lock of Harry’s hair and quickly added it to the Polyjuice. “Drink up!”

Harry watched as his friends, one-by-one, twisted into his own shape, finally turning away as it was a little disturbing to watch.

“I wonder if we can market these ears in the shop.” One of the twins said as they touched the long narrow ears they now sported.

“Enough.” Moody said. “Let’s get a move on, you lot. Potter, you’re with Hagrid.”

****

“Wh-where is she?” Harry asked after he came to within the Tonk’s home. The plan the Order had come up with hadn’t worked well at all. The Death Eaters had attacked as soon as they left the house and had quickly figured out which one of the ‘Harrys’ was the real Harry, when he started to attack the Death Eaters back. At some point Voldemort had joined the fray and Harry’s closer connection to his magic reacted with his wand, breaking the one that Voldemort had used against him. One thing Harry did remember, was his beloved owl Hedwig being killed by a stray spell.

“’Arry.” Hagrid said sadly, he and the half giant had crashed into Tonk’s parents’ home and were recovering there until it was safe to leave.

“Please Hagrid.” Harry whispered. “I… I need to say goodbye at least.” Hagrid looked at him, then nodded sadly in understanding. The giant of a man grunted softly in pain as he stood up and led Harry outside.

“Mrs. Tonks said it was a’right to bury ‘er out here.” Hagrid said. “Haven’t gotten ‘round to it yet. She’s there.” He pointed a finger at a small lump under a white sheet. Harry fell to his knees beside the sheet and lifted it, his green eyes filling with tears as he gazed down at his beloved Snowy White Owl.

“Oh Hedwig, I’m so sorry.” Harry whispered as he gathered Hedwig into his arms and cried softly.

My poor child /Harry didn’t even react anymore to hearing the voices. This was the fourth voice. He didn’t hear it as often as the other three but when he did, it was like a mother speaking lovingly to her child. Harry knew it wasn’t Lily Potter’s voice, no it was someone much more soft spoken. /You loved her very much, didn’t you?

Harry nodded his head slightly, he did. Hedwig was his most loyal friend and she had always been there for him. To know that she was dead, at the hands of the Death Eaters, broke his heart. He felt like it was his fault the beautiful owl had been killed, the Death Eaters and Voldemort had been after him after all. Hedwig had just been the victim of a senseless war.

I know she loved you, my lost child /The voice said in a gentle tone. /Then it’s decided! She shall become one of mine and be by your side as your bond!

/‘What?’ /Harry thought, confused, looking up as a large shiny feather floated down from the sky and landed on top of Hedwig. The feather glowed brightly and engulfed Hedwig in its light. Harry yelped as suddenly Hedwig started to grow heavy and larger in his arms, he gently and quickly placed her body on the ground and crawled backwards.

“Blimey.” Hagrid said in awe as the light got brighter and brighter. Edward ‘Ted’ Tonks and Andromeda Tonks rushed out of the house as they noticed the light, standing next to Hagrid as they watched in stunned silence as the light died away as quickly as it came.

“CCCAAAAAAWWWW!”

“H-Hedwig?” Harry whispered in shock. He stood on shaky feet and reached out to the figure that had been left in his owl’s place. The bird was large, larger than any bird Harry had ever seen, with a Shoebill-like face and a long feathery tail curled above the bird’s back. The bird’s feathers were still snowy white with flecks of black, and her eyes were still a golden amber colour.

The bird seemed to coo as she pressed her head up under Harry’s questing hand, letting his fingers bury into the thick head crest.

“Hedwig!” Harry cried as he wrapped his arms around the changed owl’s neck, crying tears of joy against her feathers. Hedwig lovingly preened Harry’s hair and he didn’t know how, but he could feel her love and affection for him.

You are bonded for life, my children /The mothering voice said fondly. /You are both one half of a whole being

/‘Thank you.’ /Harry thought to the voice.

****

“Harry!” Hermione ran across the grounds of the Burrow and hugged Harry tightly as soon as he and Hedwig portkeyed in. “You’re alright.”

“Yeah.” Harry said as he hugged her back. “I’m happy to see you’re ok too.”

“Blimey mate, that is one huge bird.” Ron said in awe as he looked at Hedwig. Hermione stepped back as she looked as well.

“Harry, where did that bird come from?” Hermione asked.

“It’s Hedwig.” Harry said with a smile as he petted the side of Hedwig’s long neck.

“Harry… that’s impossible. Professor Lupin told us that Hedwig was killed in the fight.” Hermione said.

“She… she was.” Harry said softly, smiling again as Hedwig nudged him with her large head. “But then this feather came out of nowhere and landed on her body. It brought her back to life and changed her into this.”

“I’ve never seen a bird like that before.” Ron said as he reached out to pet the other side of Hedwig’s neck.

“I haven’t either.” Hermione said. “Her beak looks a bit like a Shoebill’s but I‘ve never seen a magical bird like this before. Harry, are you sure this is Hedwig?”

“Yes Hermione, I’m sure.” Harry said. “Hagrid was there, he saw her come back to life and change. So did Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, I mean Ted and Andy.” Tonk’s dad insisted that Harry just call him Ted instead of Mr. Tonks. Andromeda, who looked a scary lot alike her sister Bellatrix except she wasn’t stark raving mad, sighed then smiled fondly, telling the teen to call her Andy if he liked.

“Harry, this shouldn’t even be possible.” Hermione said as she finally reached forward to touch Hedwig.

“I know, Hermione.” Harry said with a shake of his head. “But these shouldn’t be possible either and look at me.” He waved a hand at his ears. “Look… I think I should tell you guys something. Something I’ve been hiding since last year.”

Ron led the other two teens into the tree grove, close to the house, that was still within the wards that had been put up. Hermione and Harry quickly threw up as many privacy wards as they could so they wouldn’t be overheard. Settling against Hedwig’s side, letting the changed owl preen his hair, Harry told his two friends about the voices. He told them what he thought of each voice and how they whispered encouraging and comforting things to him, sometimes making quirky little comments about this person or that person around him.

“Harry, why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Hermione asked, once Harry finished.

“I was scared.” Harry said softly, looking down at his lap. “How can I tell people I was hearing the voices of four different women that I’ve never seen? People already think I’m crazy, whether they love me or not at the time. I didn’t want to add to the rumours.”

“But what if it was you-know-who mate?” Ron asked. “You said you still see visions from him sometimes.”

“I had thought that, at least at first, but after a while…” Harry sighed and reached up to run his hand through his hair. “Whenever /he /sends something to me through our link, there’s always pain involved. No matter what, there is always pain. I noticed that these voices, no pain at all. In fact, I’m always soothed a bit by them.” Harry made sure not to say Voldemort’s name like he usually did, Andy had warned him that Riddle’s forces had cast a Taboo on the name that would also allow them to locate anyone who said the name Voldemort. The Taboo had been used in the first war as well, that was the whole reason why no one would say the dark lord’s chosen name. Albus and the Ministry had broken the Taboo before the end of the last war but people remembered the fear and habits stuck. So now, Harry had to be careful not to use his enemy’s name, which really sucked.

“So four random women somehow are able to talk to you telepathically?“ Hermione asked. “I don’t think psychic powers are real Harry.”

“I don’t know how they do it, Hermione.” Harry said with another sigh, scratching the crest on Hedwig’s head as she laid it in his lap, big golden eyes blinking. “But these voices, they seem to chase away /his /voice sometimes. I’ve been in a vision or a nightmare before and one of their voices start to speak and chase it away.”

“Maybe it’s some sort of goddess.” Ron mused. Both Hermione and Harry turned their full attention to him making Ron flush. “What?”

“Goddess Ron? Really?” Hermione said with a shake of her head. “There’s only one God.”

“Yeah well, that’s your belief.” Ron snipped softly.

“What do you believe, Ron?” Harry asked. Harry himself didn’t really believe in any gods or goddesses, not because he wasn’t religious, but his family had never taken him to church. The Dursleys themselves only went during Christmas and Easter, just to be seen rather than to worship. Aunt Petunia was fond of saying he was a devil child when he was much younger. So Harry had never really put much thought into it.

“Well… every family has their own beliefs, yeah?” Ron said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Some worship the Norse gods, some Greek. I know a lot of muggleborns worship the same god as Hermione. My family… well we used to worship the Celtic gods and goddesses but not so much anymore. Sometimes Mum will say a small prayer but you know it’s never really been a big thing in our house.”

“Do you really think it might be some sort of deity?” Harry asked as it made sense to him in some odd way. The idea just felt right to him and Harry didn’t know why. /‘Are you goddesses?’ /Harry thought to the voices, but didn’t get a reply back.

“Maybe? Anything is possible mate.” Ron said with a shrug. Hermione bit her lip, she had always been taught to be open minded, by her parents, to other’s beliefs, even if she didn’t believe they were right. And sometimes there were things that happened to Harry that just wasn’t supposed to happen. He transformed into some sort of elf overnight, his beloved owl was brought back to life and transformed into this beautiful giant bird and the youth heard voices that no one else could hear.

“I don’t know if Ron is right or not.” Hermione said at last. “My belief says no but go with what you feel is right, Harry. Just be careful.”

“Thanks Hermione, I will.” Harry promised. Hedwig cawed softly in agreement.

****

“WWOOOOHHHHOOOOO!” Harry cheered as he and Hedwig flew through the open sky, pumping one of his fists in the air. The idea to ride Hedwig had come from a random comment Ron made. He mentioned off hand that Hedwig was bigger than Buckbeak, the Hippogriff from their third year Care of Magical Creatures class that Harry had ridden. The last few days had been busy, busy, busy as he, Ron and Hermione helped to prepare for Ron’s oldest brother, Bill’s wedding to Fleur Delacour, a part Veela that had been one of the champions of the Triwizard tournament in Harry’s 4th year at Hogwarts.

Harry had a feeling that Molly Weasley knew that he and his two friends planned on leaving to hunt down the remaining Horcruxes. The mothering woman didn’t want the teens to leave, Harry knew that. She wanted to keep all three of them close and safe, but Harry knew that they would have to leave soon. They had to; they had to end this blood-filled war. All three of them agreed to leave after the wedding, one last happy event before they went to hell. Molly couldn’t stop them, his 17th birthday was in a couple of days. The golden trio would be attending Dumbledore’s will reading that day, the headmaster had left something for each of them.

With all the stress on Harry’s shoulders, he had to get out and fly. That’s why, when he remembered what Ron had said, he looked at Hedwig in a new light. His beloved bond seemed to know what he wanted and leaned down, looking at Harry over her shoulder. He felt acceptance for the idea through their new bond and quickly climbed onto Hedwig’s back. As soon as he was settled, Hedwig quickly took to the skies.

It was nothing like riding Buckbeak. Hedwig’s movements were a lot smoother than the Hippogriffs had been. It wasn’t the same as riding a broom either but for some reason, this felt even more natural than riding his Firebolt ever was. It was amazing to be here among the clouds, Harry felt so at home here, he almost didn’t want to leave.

‘Maybe whatever sort of elf I am, maybe my kind came from the sky.’ Harry mused to himself with a grin. He knew he and Hedwig would have to return to the ground soon, he knew both Molly and Hermione would scold him for taking a risk like this but Harry needed this. Needed to be in the air to clear his mind, he already felt the tension leave his shoulders as he and Hedwig flew.

“Sometimes I don’t want to go back, Hed.” Harry said softly as they lazily floated on the air currents, his hands gently petting the side of her neck.

/Maybe one day, you can go home /It was one of the voices again, speaking like a whisper in his long ears. He wondered again if this was some sort of goddess like Ron suggested. If these voices are gods, why speak to him? And why now, why not before? Was it because he changed into the Elven-like race he was now? He didn’t know if he would ever get his answers.

“Come on Hedwig, we should head back.” Harry said. Hedwig cawed and turned in the air, heading back towards the Burrow where Harry could get his dressing down for leaving.

****

Author Note: So large parts of book 6 were skipped. Didn’t see a reason to go into detail since one of the points was to show how Harry’s new Hylian blood doesn’t really effect what’s going on all that strongly. Just went over the important parts dealing with Harry and his settling in with his new found ‘creature’ status. The next chapter will have large parts of book 7 skipped too, I hope to have more Zelda stuff in that chapter.

The voices Harry is hearing are the Goddesses from the Zelda game. Three of them are Nayru, Din and Farore, who are the main three deities in the series. The fourth one is Hylia, who was introduced during Skyward Sword and was later reborn as the first Zelda.

(1) Minish were introduced in The Minish Cap for the GBA, it’s the only game where you see them though the enemy of that game, Vaati, is also in the two Four Swords games but you didn’t find out that he was a Minish until this game came out. Minish live to make people happy and are a way to explain why you can always find items under pots, rocks and grass in the Zelda series. Since Minish come from a different world, maybe they live on other worlds as well.

(2) We’ll just assume the glamour spell that Dumbledore taught Harry to use, was strong enough to hide his ears from Moody’s magical eye.