Nature's Keeper

Chap 2 - Gringotts

Harry ran through the forest laughing as a small red fox chased him. He jumped into a tree that opened its branches and picked him up.

"I win" Harry said cheekily to the fox who gave a wolfish grin. Harry pondered whether it would be a faux pass to comment about foxes having wolfish grins.

"As was sure you would, young master" Harry stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"I told you to stop that, Ryten." He pouted at the fox who was siling evilly and obviously about to spring into lecture.

"Young master, I have informed you before, I am an animal who has had the honour to be you familiar. I shall protect you till I die, and if that doesn't qualify you as a young master I don't know what does!" Ryten smirked and said, "also my mum would curse me to the grave if I treated you with anything less than the upmost respect."

Harry shivered as he remembered the fox hat followed his aunt around. Tessa worshiped the ground he and his aunt walked on; after she was saved from getting run over by Petunia.

"Your right" Harry said and shuddered as he jumped out of the tree, small branches catching him as he neared the ground. "Let's Go. My aunt will be making dinner around now" Harry set off not the Even forest in search of the small cottage his aunt had.

Aunt petunia had been awesome but also weird. The woman had gone from forcing him to do the dishes to fretting over his health. He understood that she had been despairing that she was going to be the last of her kind, but the complete 180 she took was still disconcerting.

Harry sprinted through the forest, energy pumping through him as the earth gave him power. One thing that he had noticed was that he could receive energy from nature and could send the energy of others into nature. His aunt had described it as a type of energy manipulation that was exclusive to their kind.

He sensed Ryten at his left, running as fast as his body could allow. Harry let out a loud whoop as he jumped over a fallen tree, the air ruffling his ears and whisking around his antlers. His aunt wasn't wrong when she said he would get used to his inheritance. He took to it like a fish to water. Absent friends, he now had an entire world of creatures to socialise with. Bad at herbology, he could sense what the plants needed. Can't sleep, nature will whisper him to sleep (he was still confused at how that one worked though).

Harry reached the cottage and skipped in the door, a loud 'wipe your shoes' sounded from the kitchen. "I will aunt Petunia" he said, wondering if she actually had super hearing or if it was just a woman thing. Ryten wiped his grassy paws on the doormat as he trotted inside and took his place on the cushion next to the fireplace.

His aunt walked in with Tessa on her heels and placed some veges and mash on the table in front of him he thanked her and eat it all and wondered how he had managed to eat so little before, 'you didn't run around like an idiot' came Ryten's amused voice in his head.

"are you all packed yet" his aunt asked from the other side of the table. Harry let out a sad smile as the inevitable return to the other Dursleys came up.

"Yes, I finished this morning" he tells her as she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Can drop you off at the entrance to Diagon Ally if you want" He gave her a grateful smile.

"Yes please. That would be so much better!" Harry thought about Hogwarts and started to worry, what if his friends wouldn't like him because he was a creature? What if he couldn't get into the forbidden forest?

"Harry, what's wrong?" Petunia asked, worried about Harry. He looked up with tears in his eyes and her protective instincts flared up to find what was hurting the boy.