Not a Gryffindor - a Harry Potter fan fiction

Chapter 14

I spun around, still in my glowing form, searching for my captor. I spotted a figure standing in the corner of the room, their wand pointing at me, a spell shooting in my direction...

I woke to the sound of low voices. My head pounded but at least I was human again. I sat up and looked around to familiar surroundings:

The lounge of my old house.

What was I doing here? And what had happened to Carrie?

"Zara, you're awake." I looked up to see my dad smiling serenely down at me. I narrowed my eyes.

"You?" I asked incredulously. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dad looked uneasy.

"Ah, yes, about that. You better take a seat."

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"Okay," I snapped. "We've wasted enough time. Why did you abandon me, why did I turn into a leopard before, and why am I here?"

Dad took a deep breath.

"I better start from the beginning.

11 years ago, when you were a toddler, we had a pet cat. You were playing with it one day, and it got scared suddenly, and scratched you in the face. You, only being young, got a huge shock. I waited for you to cry, and to crawl mournfully towards your mother, begging for attention. But instead, you began to glow.

Before we knew what was happening, you were in the form of a leopard and was circling the cat, growling. You lifted your paw and a beam of light shot out. Then boom, the cat was dead."

I stared at him. "I - killed a c-cat?"

"Yes," Dad replied. "But I'm not finished.

7 years ago, I created a time turner that could go to the future. I should have told someone, or showed the Minister. Instead, I got so excited that I decided to try it straight away. I chose to go eight years into the future-"

"Next year," I breathed.

"Precisely. When I arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes. The world was a barren mess, teeming with Dementors.

I hastily went back to the present to show the Minister, but the Time Turner must have been unstable, as it exploded when I arrived back in my office, taking my notes on creating it with it. I was without evidence, but determined to protect my family.

You'll remember how in the Third Volume of Harry's Life, Sirius says that he could survive Azkaban by changing into his Animagus form? Well, ever since then I returned from the future, I have been training Xochital, Remus, Brianna, Nikki, Scarlett, Joel and our outside family to become Animagus'. I was planning on training you, but the first night you were at Hogwarts, Remus took matters into his own hands.

That night, he owled me with urgent news. He said that when he started training you, you began to glow. He had researched it and found out that you were a Qualitas Lux Principium, or more commonly known as a Source of Light."

I stared at Dad in wonder. "What does that mean?"

"Have you ever cast a Patronus?" He asked and I nodded. "What did it look like?"

"It was a Snow Leopard..."

"And what else? Don't be modest, this is important."

"And it- it was the brightest in the class. It was so bright, I could barely look at it. It almost seemed to sparkle. But what does that matter?"

"A Qualitas Lux Principium is a witch or wizard with a strong, determined character. They often have an optimistic outlook on things. They posses an ability to read people and can sense when bad things are going to happen.

Most importantly, they almost have a Patronus inside them. When provoked, a Source of Light will begin to glow and will take the shape of a certain animal. When in their Patronus form, they are almost like a ghost, with the ability to drift through the air. They are the one thing that can completely kill a Dementor once and for all. With power like that, there was no need to train you. But there was still a problem.

You know how Dementors feed off happiness? Well, a Qualitas Lux Principium is like the opposite. They feed off sadness instead. So when they enter a room, the atmosphere lightens.

We needed you to become stronger. And the only way we could do that was to make you feel pain. And so, we abandoned you. And I'm so, so sorry that we had to do that. But tonight, when you saw your friend suffering, you were finally ready. And so, if you want to, you are welcome to rejoin our family."

I grinned. "I would love that!"

"Oh, and there's one more thing," He said uncomfortably. "We knew you would be ready sometime this year, so needed someone to watch you, and make sure you didn't injure anyone with your power. And, because he'd spent so much time with you recently, we hid a shard of Sirius' mirror in Ryder's scarf. But I made a mistake.

Mark my words Zara; Never underestimate a Hufflepuff. I had to learn this the hard way unfortunately."

"What happened?" I asked in alarm.

"Nothing too bad, but Ryder discovered the mirror within the hour. We explained the situation to him and begged him to keep the mirror in his scarf. The only reason he agreed was because it meant he got to hang out with you more and it was on the condition that, should the Dementor attack really happen, we were to protect his family and also, he wouldn't have to tell you about him being 'the spy.'

When Ryder found out that you were going on a mission of some sort, he gave you his scarf because, that way, we could make sure you were safe."

I smiled and stroked the scarf with my thumb. "I'm very grateful."

Dad then went on to explain about Alyssa and Salazar's letter and how when I'd changed into my Leopard form, it had proved the perfect distraction so that he could grab me and come back here.

Something that had been at the back of my mind for a while now suddenly came to light. "What about Carrie? She's still with her parents."

"Well I say you go and rescue her," Dad said, laying a hand on my shoulder. "You can do it Zara, I know you can."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Then I picked up a handful of Floo Powder and stepped in the fireplace.

"The department of mysteries!" I yelled, and watched as my dad's proud face dissolved into the green flames surrounding me.