Creature of Kinds [1/3] - A Draco Malfoy Love (Harry Potter)

4

Ron's wand dropped to the ground as his form quickly changed into that of a small sparrow. He flew up to the ceiling and perched himself on a crooked nail. "Tweeeet, tweet!" His small peeps echoed as everyone laughed.

"Ron, come back down here," Hermione ordered with a laugh.

Ron did as he was told and landed right back where he stood. Harry turned him back into himself and he sighed, "bloody hell; that was unpleasant."

Giggles erupted from the group again. Then Harry spoke out, "alright, Ron, you're turn. Who do you want to turn into a bird?"

"You mean, I get to choose?" Ron asked in shock. Harry answered with a simple nod. A devious smile crossed the Weasley's face as his eyes scanned the nervous crowd. His gaze stopped, "Jinx."

Jinx felt her heart jump. Her dark blue eyes widened to the size of ping pong balls. Hesitantly, she stepped forward and away from the group. Ron stood about ten feet in front of her, wand held confidently in his dominant hand as he readied himself.

"Avifors!" Ron chanted across the room, his voice echoing in the silence. But Jinx remained standing as herself. The spell had not worked.

Everyone was completely silent for a good sixty seconds, as if they were waiting for the spell to have it's effect. Finally Ron sighed in disappointment, "what did I do wrong?"

Harry looked at Ron in confusion as he answered, "nothing, you did it right, but..." he trailed off as his gaze found Jinx, standing awkward and stiff; she knew something, it was written all over her face.

Soon all eyes were on Jinx and a few people began to ask in wonder, "how did you deflect his spell?" and, "can you teach us that?"

But Harry quickly silenced the group, seeing how overwhelmed Jinx was getting. "It's alright," he called out, "Ron, I think you actually missed Jinx, that's probably why it didn't work."

"What?" Ron questioned in a fluster, "there's no way I missed-" he was quickly cut off by a hard elbow in the ribs, "ow!"

"Oh, sorry about that," Harry apologized as if it were an accident. He then lowered his voice and whispered to Ron, "we'll talk about it later."

Within a few minutes, everyone was turning each other into birds and the incident had been forgotten temporarily. But once the practice was over, Harry had Ron, Jinx, and Hermione stay behind with him.

"Alright, now let's talk," Hermione began, "I know Ron's magic can be disastrous, but he never misses."

"Hey," Ron warned offensively.

Hermione, however, ignored him and crossed her arms, waiting for Harry's explanation. "...Ron did nothing wrong," he finally admitted.

"Then why would you embarrass him in front of all of us?" Hermione demanded. But Harry had no good answer; only one person held the explanation for that.

Jinx, who'd been silent until now, piped up, "because of me." Now Jinx held the spotlight, and she knew she'd have to tell these three everything. So she took a deep breath in and launched into her explanation, "I'm not like other wizards, I can do things that most can't, and technically," Jinx paused and lowered her head bashfully, "...I would be classified as more of a magical creature, not human."

Harry pressed on out of curiosity, "Jinx, what are you?"

"A Creature of Kinds," Jinx replied, still refusing any eye contact, "more commonly know as a Phantom."

"Why a phantom? There's nothing ghostly about you," Ron argued.

"It originated because my kind..we don't hold a single form, like a phantom of sorts," Jinx explained, "see, that spell didn't work on me because it was trying to turn me into something I already am."

"You're a...bird?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

Jinx nodded, slightly amused by their confusion. "And a dog, or lion, or mouse," she listed, "I am anything and everything that is living; thus the name, Creature of Kinds." She then proceeded to change into a dog, a lion, and a mouse.

The three stared at Jinx like she was an alien; in a way she was. "How come we've never heard of you before?" Ron asked.

"I'm not surprised, honestly; no one ever cared enough to write the sad story of how my kind came to be," Jinx answered with somewhat of a frown, "and atop of that, with every generation of my kind, the odds of a Creature being born are cut in half. Until seven generations, then the cycle restarts."

The three wizards gaped at Jinx in confusion. "Could you please..clarify?" Harry asked politely.

"Every female child born of the first Creature was sure to be one as well; they would be the second generation," Jinx began to explain, "the female children born of a second generation Creature would only have a 50% chance of being a one as well. The blood line is cut in half every generation."

"Wow..." Harry remarked in awe.

Ron shrugged slightly, "well, that's not too bad, is it?"

"One would think so," Jinx frowned, "but there's another catch. Every Creature is cursed with immorality until their soul mate is found, and they are infertile to any one other than their soul mate."

"Oh..." Ron replied awkwardly.

Then something crossed Jinx's mind. "Hey, you guys can't tell anyone about this, alright?" Jinx spoke desperately.

"Of course," Harry replied immediately.

"Got it," Ron said with a nod.

Hermione nodded as well and agreed, "alright."

Jinx smiled at the three friends; she finally felt like she would be safe again.