Unofficial Portkey Archive

Rating: R (rating is for violence, some swearing and a brief moment of minor lime)

SUMMARY: Ever since Harry began dreaming about the Soul Crystal he's become obsessed with it. He's also trying to deal with new feelings for Hermione, an unexpected reunion, Voldemort's deepest secret and the reason why is Harry so powerful.........

Spoiler warning: All books

Type of fic: General, romance.

Other pairings in story: George/OC (Just flirting right now. Becomes something more in the sequal)

Author's Notes: This fic doesn't acknowledge OoTP. None of the sequals to this fic will acknowledge it either. Also please note that the Twins have been held back a year & that's why they're still at Hogwarts.

The only characters/things I own are the bubble sprites, Soul Crystal, flamingo seeds, razorum spell, twindoma spell, Magical Artifacts Throughout History book, Soul Beast, argots, bright spots, Wendy Kitanya, Ardian and Rachel Tigerlilly. Please don't use them in a story w/out asking me first.

Yes there's an origional character in this. But trust me, she's NOT a Mary Sue. I made this character up because Harry needed to have at least on living relative that wasn't repulsive. She's pretty but she's NOT drop dead gorgeous & the Hogwarts boys DON'T go nuts over her. She's good at magic, but she's not perfect. In fact, she puts her foot in her mouth a lot. Even if you're not a fan of origional characters please finish reading the story. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Chapter 1

(Part of the 'Emerald Spellbook' series)

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AMERICA

Professor McGonagall sat down on the rock in front of her. Her cat eyes darted all around the swamp, but the fire salamander she needed for her potion was nowhere to be seen. "I will never understand why fire salamanders live in places where there is so much water." She mentally sighed. "Perhaps I should consult Hagrid. He may have an idea where......" Her thoughts were cut off abruptly as a rotten branch from the tree above came crashing down on her head and front legs.

BRITIAN

The Hogwarts Express lazily wound through the lush, green hills of the British countryside.

Harry felt someone poking him in the side of the ribs and woke up abruptly. Hermione was looking at him with disbelief on her face. "I can't believe you of all people would nod off on the way to Hogwarts."

Harry took a deep breath and shook his head slightly to rid himself of the last traces of sleep. "Sorry, Hermione," he yawned. "I just finished moving my stuff over to Sirius's last night. I'm exhausted." Harry rubbed his eyes.

Hermione nodded to her left. "Well, I woke you up to tell you the food trolley's here."

Harry ordered one of everything. Hermione and Ron looked at him with surprise. Harry hadn't ordered that much food since their first year. Harry caught their stare and shrugged. "I'm free from the Dursleys. I feel like celebrating." Harry smiled again at the memory of being told how the Ministry found Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew confessed to being the real traitor, so Sirius had been exonerated. It wasn't until two months later that the transfer of guardianship to Sirius from the Dursleys was finalized. Harry had cried tears of joy as Sirius drove him away from Privet Drive. Away from his laughable excuse for a family.

Hermione and Ron grinned. After the trio had stuffed themselves they talked excitedly about the dance that Hogwarts was holding for the sixth years. As they spoke Harry suddenly noticed he was staring at Hermione a bit too much. This wasn't the first time either. He'd started to notice her as a woman near the middle of their fifth year. "Stop that!" he scolded himself, "She's one of your best friends!" He kept trying to focus on the conversation but it just wasn't any use. He knew he liked her. Now he just had to figure out what he was going to do about it.

The Hogwarts express came to a halt and everybody piled out. Suddenly all chatter on the platform ceased and the trio stood on their tiptoes to see what everyone was staring at. To their shock Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of the crowd. He had a grave look on his face. Dumbledore spoke in a way that made his voice sound very strange. Harry knew something was wrong. "I have very troubling news for all of you. I regret I must deprive the first years of their trip across the lake. Everyone will join me in the great hall immediately." Dumbledore and Hagrid got everyone into the carriages.

"Everybody 'old on," said Hagrid as the carriages moved much faster than any of the students thought possible. Once at the castle everyone was hurried into the great hall. The first years were told to take whatever seats were available. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff were sitting at the main table. Harry noticed that one of the seats was empty and got an awful feeling of dread.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Just this morning we received word that Professor McGonagall....has been missing for two weeks." A torrent of whispers broke out among the students. Hermione looked to be on the verge of panic. "Until she is found, Sirius Black has kindly offered to teach her classes. Please be assured we are doing everything we can to find Professor McGonagall. The sorting ceremony will now commence. Sirius, if you please," said Dumbledore as he surprised the students again by standing up and walking out into the hall. Hagrid followed him and put a gigantic arm around Dumbledore's shoulders.

The sorting ceremony went on in a strangled silence. Afterwards everyone trudged up to their dorms. Harry mumbled the word 'mermaid' to the fat lady and stepped on through to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione immediately fell into one of the armchairs and began to cry.

Professor Minerva McGonagall woke to find herself lying on a cat bed in a small bedroom. The room was pretty unimpressive. A bed was off to one side, a dresser was to the right of it and a small stack of very worn looking stuffed animals sat at the foot. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. A girl of about Harry's age had come into the room. She was five feet three inches. She had dark brown hair that went down past her shoulders, deep green eyes, and a light tanish complexion. McGonagall cursed mentally. A muggle had found her knocked out and now thought she was a normal cat.

The girl smiled wide when she saw her patient was awake. "Oh wonderful!" she exclaimed smiling, "I'm so glad you're okay. I was starting to worry." She knelt down and began to stroke McGonagall's fur. "My name's Wendy. I wonder what your name is," she said as the cat cocked its head to one side. "I'll just call you Tabby for now."

McGonagall wasn't listening. She was staring at the odd shaped birthmark that was half visible under the t-shirt sleeve on Wendy's arm. "Is it possible?" she thought.

"WENDY!!!" came a voice bellowing up the stairs. Footsteps followed the voice and soon a large woman with frizzy black hair entered the room. "Everyone else is at the table. I refuse to have my children wait on dinner because my baby sister is too involved in playing with some mangy cat!" she said as she grabbed the girl by the ear, who let out a screech of protest. McGonagall was about to follow, but as she tried to get up a sharp pain shot up through her right front leg. She sighed. The leg was either broken or severely sprained. She decided to just stay where she was for now. Besides she was very interested in that birthmark.

Wendy came back into the room a half hour later. She looked dejected. She went over to McGonagall and began to pet her. "From parents who don't care much about me to an older sister who hates my guts. What a life, huh, Tabby?" She flopped backwards onto her bed and sighed.

For about a week and a half, McGonagall laid in that cat bed. Every other day she tried to put some weight on her leg. Eventually the pain had subsided enough for her to stumble around the bedroom a bit. Wendy came in the room and was delighted to see her Tabby up and about. McGonagall knew she could leave, but she wanted to know more about Wendy.

Over the next two days McGonagall tried to look at Wendy's mark, but it was always half covered by a sleeve. Finally, just after one of Wendy's showers, she saw her chance to get a better look. Usually Wendy brought her change of clothes into the bathroom but that day she forgot. As she kneeled on the floor to open the bottom drawer on her dresser McGonagall saw it. It was definitely the one. A dolphin shaped birthmark. She couldn't believe her luck. "After 16 years I find her in America of all places. I must get her out of here."

After Wendy was dressed, McGonagall gently put her mouth around Wendy's arm sleeve and pulled. Wendy looked down at the cat with a puzzled expression. "What are you doing, Tabby?" McGonagall pulled harder, then jumped down and headed for the door. She stopped halfway and looked back at Wendy expectantly. "You want me to follow you?" A loud me-yow was her answer. She hopped down off the bed. "Okay. I'm always game for weird stuff," she said as she followed the cat down the stairs and out the front door. Her 'family' were all planted in front of the TV.

Once they were outside, McGonagall led Wendy to a clearing in the woods behind the house. "This looks like a good spot," McGonagall thought. Wendy watched the cat sit down. She didn't see the harm so she followed suit. The cat put a paw on Wendy's wrist and stared into her eyes for a moment before turning back into a human. As soon as the paw had turned back into a hand she grabbed the wrist tight. Wendy's eyes were round as saucers as she tried to scuttle backwards, but it was to no avail. "Please do not be frightened, Wendy. You must listen to me." Something about McGonagall's kind voice made Wendy relax a bit. "I have to take you home."

Harry stood in the doorway of the girl's dormitory. He was watching Hermione staring at a picture of Professor McGonagall. He walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hermione looked at him gratefully. "They'll find her. It'll be okay."

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes and, not for the first time that year, she felt a wave of warmth wash over her at seeing the twinkle that was there. She often tried to push away the feelings that surfaced when he was around, but it was very difficult. It was difficult to ignore the crop of black, unruly hair that fell into his face in such a sexy way; the emerald eyes that pierced her soul, the chiseled body and tan that had been formed out of so many hours of Quidditch, and the deep yet soft voice he now had thanks to puberty.

Since she had used a charm on her hair that made it soft and shiny Hermione was getting a lot more attention from the boys. That and the fact that she now had a shapely body that included a pair of C-cup sized breasts. Most of the girls were B-cups, which meant a lot of them were now distancing themselves from her because of jealousy. They were sick of the way she monopolized the time of the fifth and sixth year male population of Hogwarts and had told her as much. She hadn't meant to monopolize, but she couldn't be rude and completely ignore her callers. She had told them politely that she wasn't interested but they kept at it anyway.

Hermione didn't feel even remotely romantic about any of the boys except for Harry. And even that she tried to ignore. He was, after all, one of her best friends, and she was afraid of what would happen if they went for a relationship and things didn't work out. Her trance was broken by Ron bursting into the dormitory. He looked excited. "They found her!!!" was all it took for Hermione to nearly knock both of her friends over in her rush to get out the door.

The Great Hall was bustling with excitement. The trio quickly made their way to their seats and watched the head table expectantly. Dumbledore rose his hand to silence the crowd. "Thank you all for assembling so quickly. Professor McGonagall should be here any moment." Almost as if on cue a huge round of applause broke out among the students. McGonagall strode in and stood in front of the head table.

"Thank you everyone. It is most pleasing to receive such a heartfelt welcome home," McGonagall said and then waited for the clapping to die down. "I apologize I must make my immediate appearance brief however. Harry Potter. I need to have a word with you in private. Everyone please enjoy the celebration," she said as she left the room and beckoned Harry to follow her. Ron and Hermione looked at him as if to ask what was going on, but Harry just shrugged.

Harry walked down the hall with an air of great curiosity about him. What could be so important that it take McGonagall away from her welcome home celebration. She led Harry down to her office and told him to wait outside for a moment. Harry peered in through the glass in the door to see her talking to a girl about his age. McGonagall squeezed the girl's shoulder and waved Harry in. Harry sat down in a chair across from the girl. He felt like he'd known her all his life. It was strange.

McGonagall sat down and took a deep breath. "Harry. This is a day I have waited for for nearly sixteen years. This is Wendy Kitanya." Wendy nodded nervously. "Like you Harry she'd had no idea the wizarding world existed. She has lived with muggles most of her life." The word 'most' caught Harry's attention. "I was in cat form in America looking for potion ingredients when a falling tree branch knocked me unconscious." Harry winced. "Wendy thought I was a genuine feline. She took me to her home and took care of me till I awoke. I realized by the birthmark on her arm that the muggles she was living with were not her true family and that she was of wizard parentage. Needless to say, I brought her here."

Harry just sat there, not quite sure of what McGonagall was trying to say. He waited for her to continue. "Harry. What I must tell you will come as a bit of a shock. Harry. Wendy is ....," McGonagall was cut off by screams emanating from the hallway.

.........TO BE CONTINUED

Hope ya like it. Lots more ta come. And for those of you who think you know who Wendy is, the answer is...no, she is not a illigitimate child.