Harry Potter and The Jade Dragon

Chapter 13 ~ The Truth About Shan

The dragon stood there for a few moments, gazing at Harry. Then all at once it lowered its head, and began to change shape and shrink. Before long, Shan was standing there again, looking rather anxiously at him.

Harry found his voice.

"You're an Animagus!"

She continued looking at him for a moment, then gave a small sigh. Turning, she went over to the edge of the cliff and sat down, letting her legs dangle over the edge.

Harry went over, and stood looking down at her. "What's the matter?"

She was silent for a moment, then looked up at him.

"I didn't want anyone to know about this," she said, sounding rather depressed. "To the Chinese, the dragon is a sacred creature. They consider it presumptuous, for someone to transform into one. That must be why Liu Pei never told anyone about it."

Harry looked at her. Was this why she had been so cold to Jeanne lately?

"Are you a shape-shifter too, like Jeanne?" he asked.

She was staring down into the gorge. "Not really."

Harry was thinking. Dragons usually sleep at night. That night, when the old male Bronzeback came after them...why had the second Bronzeback appeared? It should have been fast asleep.

"That was you, that night, wasn't it?" he said. "You were the second Bronzeback...you chased the old male away!"

She looked at him solemnly, then nodded.

"Then you are a shape-shifter," Harry said, trying to get things clear. "You can transform into more than one type of dragon!"

She shook her head.

"Not really," she said, looking down into the gorge again. "I'm only a partial shape-shifter...I can only change into a few types of animal."

Harry was surprised. "Which ones?"

She hesitated, before replying.

"Well... any type of dragon," she said, not looking at him, "And..." she gave him a quick glance, then stopped.

Harry was beginning to feel very puzzled.

"And – ?" he prompted.

She fidgeted a bit, tugging at the right sleeve of her robes.

"And, any type of snake," she said in a small voice.

Harry glanced at her pocket, from which LeafSong normally peeked. He looked down at his Invisibility Cloak, which was still in his hands.

"Shan," he said, "That night, when I met LeafSong on the stairs, she said you went to see the dragons."

She turned to look at him, her face expressionless.

"But I only went over to the Caverns much later," Harry continued. "You should have flown whatever wild dragons there were, roosting in those caves, by then."

Her face was still expressionless. Her lips, however, twitched slightly.

Harry sat down next to her, and looked at her.

"But you were still standing at the entrance when I got there," he said.

Her eyes were twinkling now.