Harry felt distinctly uneasy as he settled into Snape’s living-room for the second time. Snape at least looked less nervous than when he had told Harry that he was his father—then again, how much worse could this talk be?

Lyle, as requested by Snape, took up a position to guard the entrance to Snape’s quarters, turning invisible to do so, which seemed to require no effort, Cloak or wand for him. Harry didn’t see the point of this, as he felt that here was probably the last place any killer would think to look for him, but didn’t bother to point this out as Snape closed off his Floo again and sat down.

“This is about Mum isn’t it?” Harry asked before Snape could open his mouth. “How does Lyle know her? How do you know him, who is he?”

“In answer to the question you want to ask,” Snape said with his slight smile, “Yes, Lyle is trustworthy. He knew your mother longer than anyone, save for her family.”

“So how come he didn’t know she was dead?”

The smile left Snape’s face and he sighed. “Harry … Merlin, this is complicated. All right. Try and bear with me here—I have to explain something first, which might seem irrelevant to begin with.”

Harry nodded.

“What do you know about dragons?”

For a moment Harry thought he had misheard. “What? Dragons? You’re joking, right?”

Snape merely frowned at him.

“Okay, not a joke. Erm …” Harry thought back to Norbert. “They’re vicious creatures with too many sharp edges who breathe fire and Hagrid’s obsessed with them. Why?”

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, well, I’m sure I would have said something similar once upon a time … except about Hagrid’s obsession. That is what most wizards believe; although frankly, most have somewhat more knowledge than you just demonstrated.”

Harry glared at him. “I wasn’t aware this was an exam. And what do you mean, what most wizards believe? It’s fact, isn’t it?”

“It’s certainly true, there are dragons who live in mountains, feeding off cattle and would quite happily kill any humans who cross their path,” Snape admitted. “But they’re not the only type of dragon in existence … just the only type most wizards are aware of.”

Harry raised his eyebrows. Though he still had no idea where this was going, it was looking to be more interesting than the average Care of Magical Creatures lesson. “Go on.”

“Most dragons live in communities hidden from wizards. They are a people, who choose to hide themselves from wizards—and Muggles, of course—in a similar way to how wizards hide from Muggles.”

“Dragons are people?”

“All dragons have two forms—the reptilian form you should be familiar with from wizarding literature, or at the very least from Miss Granger. The other form, is not so different from any wizard—save for the wings, of course, although they can be easily concealed. Whilst some dragons choose to live as beasts—they are the ones whom the wizarding world takes it on to control—most prefer to live as people.”

Harry’s mind was boggling, but he still couldn’t quite see where this was going. After a pause, during which Snape gazed at him hopefully, clearly expecting Harry to ask the right question, he sighed, and answered it anyway. “Harry, your mother was a dragon.”

Oh. Now he saw the connection.

“Huh—what?”

“Lily was a dragon,” Snape said, speaking slightly slower. “A rare case of a dragonchild choosing to go to wizard school—dragons have their own educational system of course, but Hogwarts does have a reputation, even up there.”

Harry rubbed his eyes, his head spinning. “Are you …”

“Oh, no—wizard through and through.” There was a pause. “Of course, the same can’t be said of you.”

At that, Harry’s head snapped up and his eyes widened, it suddenly sinking in. “Wait—I’m—”

“Half and half,” Snape said. “Half wizard, half dragon.”

This had to all be some practical joke, Harry decided. Snape was having him on. He forced a laugh. “Well, ha ha. Okay, so if I’m half-dragon, where are my wings? Don’t I get any?”

“Certainly,” Snape said, startling him. “Would you like me to remove the illusion?”

Harry’s mouth fell open. “Please, tell me that was a joke.”

“I could, but I would not be telling the truth. Do you want me to remove it or not?”

Suddenly Harry was trembling. This was becoming very real. He nodded. Snape stared at him for a moment, as if trying to work out if he was sure, before nodding too. “All right. Stand up. There’s a mirror over here.”

Harry moved in front of the mirror. He looked just like his normal self—maybe a bit paler, a bit thinner, a bit more bruised, than normal. His left arm was in a sling and he was still wearing his Hospital Wing pyjamas.

“Ready?” Snape asked softly. Harry nodded.

For a moment nothing seemed to have happened. Harry frowned at the mirror. “Er … have you done it?”

“Yes,” Snape said. “Stretch our your right wing.”

“What?”

“You can do it.”

Harry thought hard, and to his fright a large, dark, bat-like wing unfolded behind him. He yelped.

“Don’t try your left,” Snape said quickly, as if knowing what Harry was thinking. “It’s in the sling.”

Harry blinked, and turned round slightly. The sling was not so much cradling his arm, he now realised, but his left wing, which looked rather the worse for wear.

“Wait … I broke my wing?”

“Yes,” Snape said. “I apologise for the pain it caused; Poppy was not able to see through the illusion.”

“So that’s why she couldn’t find any broken bones,” Harry murmured.

“Quite.”

“But … how can I have had wings my whole life and not known it?”

“That’s just it,” Snape said. “You haven’t had them your whole life. You see, half-fires—that is the technical term—like yourself are born with no external dragon characteristics. Those have to be Unlocked.”

“Unlocked?”

“By coming into contact with dragon fire.”

Harry’s heart leapt. “So when Ron and I found that one in the classroom …”

“Exactly. When you had the fever, you were in fact taking on your dragon genetics—I cast an illusion to prevent you, or anyone else, from realising—you at least, until I could explain to you what it meant.”

Harry sat down hard. “So the dragon … was that a person, then? I mean—one who’d …”

“Yes. It had to be someone who had figured out who you were, and for whatever reason, wanted to Unlock you. It would also explain why they disappeared—whoever it was could blend right back in with the school population, and nobody would be any the wiser because they would still be looking for a beast.”

“You don’t know who it was, then?”

“No. And that worries me, as does the question of how they knew and why they acted the way they did. Then there was the fact that, according to your friend Weasley, the dragon that ‘attacked’ you was an Opaleye.”

“Sorry?”

“What wizards affectionately term ‘breeds’, is to dragons their clan. Unlike their bestial counterparts, nowadays the clans are all mixed up. Lyle,” Snape nodded to the door, “is a pure Opaleye, but pures are hard to find. You, Harry, are part Green, Fireball, and Black.”

Harry shuddered. “Don’t say Black.”

“Ah. Good point. Well then, Green and Fireball. You’ll notice dragons don’t add on the countries like wizards do, since the terms are no longer accurate.”

“Right. What did you mean by being worried because of the Opaleye?”

“Well, pure Opaleyes, like Lyle, can turn invisible naturally.”

Harry gulped. “You mean … you think the one who Unlocked me, and the one who tried to kill me, might be the same person?”

“It seems likely, though I admit to being stumped by their motives to Unlock you first. It seems a very illogical thing to do if they were plotting to kill you.”

“Maybe,” said a voice, “they wanted to check you were who they thought you were.”

Harry and Snape turned round. “Forgive me,” Lyle said quickly. “I did not mean to interrupt you. However, I thought Severus might appreciate knowing that there seems to be a pair of identical twins raiding his office.”

Snape whirled around, suddenly livid. “Those Weasleys! I’ll make them rue the day they were born!” he practically howled, running for his office.

Harry was left alone with Lyle, and it suddenly seemed awkward. Harry was interested to know why the dragon trying to kill him and Lyle both seemed to be pure Opaleyes, which Snape had admitted were rare; but he couldn’t think of a way to phrase the question without making it look like he was accusing Lyle of being the one, so he bit it back. Searching for another topic, while Lyle hovered, he settled on, “So … why are you here, now?”