Moving to the next portrait, which was of his grandparents that he had heard so much about, Harry gazed up to see the two couples.
On the right stood a handsome man dressed in a fine suit with an ascot tie and a golden watch that came with it. His face highlighted by the same emerald-colored eyes as him, and a distinctive goatee. He looked like a lot far more modern man than his forefathers who were stuck in the middle ages or victorian time period. Harry finally knew where he got his good looks from, the man was a fine specimen just like him.
Next to him was a woman that shared a lot of similar features to Sirius; black flowing hair, grey eyes, high cheekbones, and a surprisingly happy smile on her face.
"Ohhh, would you look at that, Charlus, our grandson," the woman joyfully cried out. Harry had to point out, she was just like Sirius and Tonks — people far, far too dissimilar to all the Blacks he had met and heard about.
"I can see that dear," the man said with a wry grin, then turning to look at him he smiled down and addressed Harry. "It's good to see you again, grandson. Ah, I remember the day that your mother and father brought you here like it was just yesterday."
"It was yesterday, you handsome oaf," the woman... his grandmother uttered. "Remember we got our portraits done and a piece of our soul places inside of it."
"Ah, look at me and my poor failing memories," the man self deprecatingly mocking himself.
Shaking her head his grandmother pinched his grandfather's cheek and reassured him, "it is alright, you are my handsome oaf."
Feeling a bit awkward about his grandparents acting all lovey dovey before him, Harry still couldn't turn his gaze away since he was happy for them That was the kind of relationship he wanted in the future.
Noticing his slight blush, his grandmother remarked, "Oh, stop it, you are embarrassing our grandson."
"It's alright dear, my boy must have already experienced a few things out at Hogwarts. You know how we were," he whispered near the end.
"You do know I am only 18 right?" Harry asked.
"Unlike muggles, we wizarding-kind mature much faster and hit puberty at a much earlier age than muggle children."
His grandfather was right, wizards and witches grow up much faster than regular non-magical children. For Harry, it did not show much since he was underfed and mistreated for all of his life by the Dursleys but still at just eight years old he started to grow hair down there and start growing erections at the same time as well.
Already Harry looked like he was about)sixteen years old when he was actually just 18. That is why the boys in his year were all gangly and awkward and the girls were growing in places that immediately drew the eyes. It was because they are were turning into young adults. Unlike muggle children like such as Dudley who still had some baby fat and looked very immature.
A wizard's development is a very fascinating topic Harry found about during his reading, and it showed how very much different they were too regular peoples. Harry imagined it was the magic at work, since things did not end there. Once one of his kind hits adulthood at age seventeen, they stop aging at that point for years and years on end, then slowly begin to age up aging after a long period.
For example, Sirius who Harry was sure was in his late thirties or even early forties if he was to judge by comparison to his parents' age, if they were alive.
However, the man looked like he was in his late twenties, living the dream life and everything.
And finally what caught his attention the most was the longevity of a wizard, it was thanks to this fact that it became clear why wizarding-kind thought of themselves as the superior race, compared to muggles. Wizards get to live for twice the amount that the regular man does— that is almost two hundred years. Plus we can even further increase that with rituals, rare potions, legendary magical herbs and plants just like the Golden Apple he ate.
So not only does wizarding kind mature much faster during our adolescence, but they also age slowly during early adulthood, and live much longer than the common man. All around, in every aspect it's good to be a wizard.
"Ow, stop," his grandmother said as she playfully smacked his grandfather's elbow, then turning to face him she conspiratorially whispered towards him like a gossip monger. "Tell your old grandmother, did you find the one?"
"I am not sure," Harry honestly answered as his mind drifted towards Tonks. Although they had slept together, he wasn't sure where they stood and if he would be happy with only her.
"Mm, mm," his grandfather said as he nodded his head sagely, "I see that you are having womanly woes."
"I guess so."
"Well, my advice to you is to wing it till you make it," his grandfather said as he stuck a thumb out. "You can never understand a women's heart, they are strange mysterious creatures completely separate from us men. So don't even try to."
"Is that what you think dear?' his grandmother asked in a very dangerous tone.
"Ahh," his grandfather replied as sweat poured down his forehead. Deciding to come to his rescue, Harry cut in with, "Do you know where my parents' portrait is?"
Coming to a pause at his question, his grandparents shared a look with each other, and then his grandfather spoke up. There was none of the previous levity in his tone, but just sadness, "James and Lily never got a portrait done. They passed away before a piece of their souls could be put into it."
"Oh," Harry simply said. He did not know why, but a sudden wave of grief passed through him, it was like he had lost his parents for a second time. The only reason why he was truly interested in this place was a chance to meet his parents for the first time. But now...
"It's alright," Harry said as he put on a false smile on his face.
"Are you sure?" his grandmother asked as the worry was clearly evident on her face.
"Yes," Harry said with a vigorous nod of his head. Then deciding it would be best to change the topic he asked, "Do our Griffins live in the mountain?"
"Mmm, I see you want to visit The Roost," his grandfather uttered as recognition bloomed in his face.
"Yes," Harry replied with a nod of his head, "Can I?" Harry asked.
"Of course you can, dear," his grandmother said with a nod. "Though be careful," his grandmother added, "some of the creatures living there might have gone stir crazy with no one visiting them in a while."
"Also," his grandfather butted in, "visit the Venerable Royal Gryphon, he lives at the very top of the mountain. It is a tradition that we Potters like to keep."
"Will do, grandfather," Harry said, this was exactly what he needed some time away and left along with his thoughts.
"Tobry," Harry called to the house-elf who stood back while he conversed with all the Potters of the past.
"Yes, Master Potter?" the chamberlain asked.
"Prepare some warm clothing for me, I will be going to The Roost."
-----------------------------------------------------
"I heard you going to visit The Roost?" Sirius called out as he came to him at a passageway that led from the castle up to the mountain. In his hands was a steaming mug that Harry had no clue where he had got it from, and in his other was some baked treats.
Tobry was packing everything he would possibly need for the journey and put them into his magical spatial folding camping bag. Whether that be a toothbrush and paste, winter clothing, skis, foodstuff that would last him days on end, or climbing gear and robes. The house-elf was going above and beyond what was really necessary for a trip that would last him a few hours to a day at most.
"Yep," Harry slowly answered, "and it will..."
"Just be you," Sirius finished for him as he took a sip of his drink.
"Are you okay with it?" Harry asked in confusion.
"As much as I want to come with you," Sirius replied, "this is a journey that you need to undertake on your own."
Narrowing his eyes at him in suspicion, Harry quizzed, "Are you sure it isn't because you are lazy and don't want to trek up the mountain?"
"Come on," Sirius said in a hurt tone, "do I look that lazy and careless to do that?"
Giving him the look which said it all, Sirius waved his hands and said, "wait don't answer that. Just go already," he said as he turned around then mumbling under his breath he whispered, "I really should bring Buckbeak here to live with his own."
"Alright," Harry said as he slung the bag over his shoulder. "Wish me luck," he shouted as he headed on his way.
Rearranging the bag, Harry walked into the early afternoon light, it was a nice day with the sun shining down brightly and a pleasant breeze blowing about. Harry took in a deep puff of air as he smelled the flowers and took in the sights all around him.
Following the trail that must have been laid out by his ancestors, Harry looked ahead at the vast distance he had to cover. The mountain was a massive place with a plethora of creatures about from large mountain goats, bleating sheep, bounding deers, slow moving yak, sneaking foxes, and hopping rabbits.
To move things along Harry took out his wand from his holster and muttered a few Latin words under his breath and gestured with his wand. Suddenly he was encompassed with a slight green wind and instantly he felt the effects take hold.
In ten quick breaths, Harry covered the massive distance of 30 meters without breaking a sweat or exerting himself at all. The sudden swiftness he gained was all thanks to the new spell he learned over the summer. One called Haste, which boosted your speed and reflexes.
Thanks to the very useful spell the journey that would usually take a couple of days was now massively shortened. With it, Harry traveled up the mountain like a snow leopard at a speed that would beguile any man.
Just as Harry was about to take a short break and let a bit of his magic restore, Harry caught something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look in that direction, Harry saw nothing but a massive boulder off to the side and grass patches.
Thinking of it as a trick of the eye, Harry was about to settle down until something bounded out from behind the boulder. With his training kicking in, Harry cast a powerful Protego around himself that could withstand a rocket launcher at point-blank range, then followed it up with a Baubillious that struck the creature in a pure white electric arc before it could even cross half the distance.
Not letting up he stunned it with a Stupefy then used an Incarcerous spell, silvery ropes appeared out of thin air and started to bind the creature.
Finally being able to catch a breath, Harry nearly did a double-take as he gazed at the bound creature and then at his own hands. At long last he realized he did this, he took down an enemy in less than 5 seconds and was still rearing to go.
It seem like all that hellish training Sirius put him through had paid off.
Walking over to whatever he had struck down with his wand raised and at the ready, plus his shield at full capacity, Harry looked down to see what it was.
Before he left Tobry had given him a brief overview of all the Griffin-kin that his family reared up here in this mountain. He was surprised to note that there were just too many fucking variants of Griffins. He wondered what the man upstairs was thinking when he created dozens upon dozens of different kinds of Griffins.
There was the classical kind of Griffins that everyone knew about, half lion, half eagle. Then there was the Minoan griffon, some strutting peacock-like Griffin. There were also the hieracosphinx which were basically Egyptian Griffins. Followed by Keythong, a very bloodthirsty and vicious kind of Griffin. Plus the Lion-griffin which was basically the reverse kind of Griffin.
And from there the list just kept going on. The creature at his feet was definitely a Griffin-kin. It had the head of an eagle with white feathers coving all the way to its chest, and it had the body of a lion with strong, powerful legs, sharp gleaming claws, and a bulky, muscled frame.
Yet what it was missing was the eagle wings that separated it from regular old Griffins.
Trying his best to recall what the creature was, a name appeared in his head.
Demigryph!
They were the favorite land mounts of his family and during their hay day they would use them for very powerful heavily-armored shock cavalry.
Just then his thoughts were interpreted by the creature as it uttered a low whine.
Letting his shield down Harry came to rest at the creature's massive head, "Oh, I am sorry buddy," he uttered as he let the ropes drop to the floor. "I was just surprised and didn't expect you to come right out of nowhere."
Not needing to cast any healing spell on the creature since all his lightning bolt spell did was ruffle some feathers. He just whispered sweet words of comfort and regret. If this magical beast was a regular animal it would have been suffering from cardiac arrest at the very least. Yet here it was perfectly alright with only hurt feelings and wounded pride. Just that alone proved how much more superior magical creatures where to the mundane ones.
Likely it was because he was a Potter and as Tobry had put it, we had a close bond to all the creatures that live in the mountain. So no harm would come to him from them. If he wasn't a Potter then this would have been a battle to the death, and he really wasn't sure who would come on top.
Getting up from the ground, the creature was still happy to see him as it wagged its tail and lulled its tongue at him. It kind of reminded him of a dog happy to see its master.
That is why Harry scratched the Demigryph head and neck, and uttered to it, "Who's a good boy, huh? who's a good boy?"
Crooning in answer the griffin like creature hopped around and Harry enjoyed petting it for a long while. But all good things must come to an end and Harry broke away from the Demigryph.
"Sorry boy, but I've got to be on my way. I have got a journey to complete which will see me to the top of the mountain." Not wanting to see the creature's heart break, Harry turned away with any more words, and started back on his trek.
However, the magical beast did not seem to want to break away from him as it followed him like a lost puppy. Spinning around to face the creature, Harry pronounced with a bit of firmness in his tone. "Down boy, I am sorry but you got to stay."
Whining as it gave him the puppy eyes and made itself look as small as passable, this time Harry's heart nearly broke. However, he knew what had to be done. As much as a hold his family has over all the Griffin-kin creatures that live in The Roost, their nature can never be broken down.
This place is no paradise, here you do not have peaceful and docile creatures, but ones that are both the kings of the sky and land. Only the strong remain supreme.
Griffin beasts battle it out to see who is the strongest.
As much as his family tries to ease it by placing easy game like goats, sheep, yaks, and other wildlife the Griffins still fight and kill each other. This might be a safe and easy journey for him, but the fluffball might attacked by other Griffin creatures.
Steeling himself, Harry commanded in a very severe tone, "Shoo, go away. I do not want to see you. Go!"
Hanging its head, the furball put its tails between its legs and did as its master commanded. Harry's heart nearly broke all over again as it turned its head ever so often and looked at him miserably. Keeping his tongue from spilling out apologies and not giving in to his base instinct and calling the creature back, Harry watched as it disappeared into the distance.
Sighing Harry spun on his feet and firmly carried on his way.
Every so often in his journey, Harry would see a white feathered head and brown-furred body jutting out of shadows. As much as the furball tried to act stealthily it was obvious from its massive size it wasn't built for it.
Sighing Harry knew there was nothing he could do about it, if he chased it, it would take time out of his journey. Plus there was actually catching it, even with haste applied to him, the furball was much faster than him.
Shaking his head, Harry just continued on his way. He was just thinking about calling the Demigryph over since it was so adamantly following him until a few shadows jumped out of the undergrowth.