Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [61]
By the time Harry reached the last few pages, he had his heart set on a dragon. It would be big, powerful, and fast. However, when Harry turned to the next page, a different animal caught his eye: a gryffin. It looked exactly like a lion, except for wings that came out of its shoulders. At first, he thought it was a spelling error in the book. He had heard of griffins before, but never gryffins. He looked at the index in the back and, sure enough, they were two separate beasts.
A gryffin would be perfect, thought Harry, turning back to its page. It would still be powerful and fast, only more compact, and more inconspicuous. The more Harry thought about it, the more he knew that he must transform into a gryffin. It was as if voices were calling him to do it.
Harry flipped through the rest of the pages without really looking at the animals, he needed to be a gryffin. He felt as though all other animals were inferior to it, and that he would only be happy when he would be able to become one. Harry looked around, and it appeared as though Ron and Hermione had made their choice. Each of them had a slight smile, and had notes written down on parchment with most of the names crossed off, and only one or two left.
Then, after five straight hours of doing nothing but looking through books, Professor McGonagall spoke.
“It is now two o’ clock in the afternoon, and I do not wish to keep you here all day. I hope you have had time to thoroughly research your animal. I want you all to practice making your fingers grow and shrink today ant tomorrow. I also want you all to make a decisive decision on which animal you will be copying, and get a piece of it. Fur, hair, teeth, anything will do. Try to get it by our next class, which will be on Monday, at seven o’ clock in the evening. Until then, good-bye and good-luck!” The four of them filed out of the room.
“So, what did you decide on Harry?” asked Hermione.
“A gryffin,” said Harry strongly. Ron and Hermione’s eyes widened.
“Really? Wow, that’s cool Harry,” said Ron.
“I thought that’s what you might choose,” said Hermione. “After all, gryffins are in your blood.” Ron and Harry stared at her in question.
“What do you mean Hermione?” asked Harry.
“Don’t you know the animal of your own house Harry?” asked Hermione.
“Uh, yeah. A lion,” responded Harry, a little annoyed. Hermione sighed.
“Harry, haven’t you ever even glanced at Hogwarts, A History?”
“Nope,” said Harry and Ron together.
“Well, people think the mascot for Gryffindor is a lion, but that’s just because of a mistake. Back when Hogwarts was new, the four founders hired a Muggle artist to paint the banner since wizards were terrible at art.
“When the artist got to the Gryffindor animal on the banner, he thought there was a mistake in the sketch that was given to him. A lion? With wings? Impossible, he thought. So, he painted just a lion instead of a gryffin. By the time he was done, though, Godric Gryffindor had died, and no one knew that he had wanted a gryffin instead of a lion. The original sketches for the banner were discovered just a while ago, and that’s when people discovered the truth, though not many cared. They were used to the lion, and it’s just stayed that way.”
“And what does all that have to do with me?” asked Harry. Hermione gave a deep sigh.
“Harry! Isn’t it obvious! You’re the heir of Gryffindor, remember?”
“What? How could I be that?” asked Harry, amazed.
“Oh come on,” sighed Hermione. “Red and gold sparks shot out of your wand the first time you used it, you pulled Godric Gryffindor’s sword out of its sheath. Harry, all signs point to heir of Gryffindor.”
“Yeah… I guess you’re right,” said Harry, feeling proud of himself.
“As usual…” murmured Ron, Hermione glared at him.
“But then, why didn’t my dad choose a gryffin for his animal instead