Harry had assumed that learning how to switch back and forth between being a cat and being a boy would be extremely difficult. After all, to become an animagus took years and years of difficult study and hard work. And he thought that surely learning to 'mindspeak', as their cat form telepathy was apparently called, would be fairly easy. All he needed to do was think at people. He was wrong.

He awoke one morning curled up in bed as a very naked boy with a very intense pain in his shoulder. A paw reached out with claws extended and a moment later very tight bandages were ripped from his shoulder. As soon as the pain was gone, Harry was suddenly very aware that he was lying on top of the bed without even a sheet to hide him. Snape, still in his panther form, gave him an amused look as Harry frantically tried to wrap the blanket around himself. A moment later Snape stood next to him, wearing his usual black robe, and offered him a smaller one from his closet. He even turned around while Harry pulled it on. Not surprisingly it was too large on the boy; no one had been able to take his measurements while he was in cat form, but it was still a much better fit than Harry's old robe had been.

Once he was decent, he stood in the middle of the room, holding his robe on tightly. Snape turned around slowly, giving the boy plenty of time to shout if he wasn't dressed, until they stood facing one another. Harry was suddenly extremely nervous. He had thought he wanted to be a human again, to be able to have thumbs and speak his mind. But now that it had happened, he was immediately reminded that this was Snape. If there was one thing he had thought he'd known for the past six years, it was that Snape hated Harry. And now that he wasn't a cub anymore, he became afraid. What if the man suddenly remembered who he was and hated him again? He was so caught up in nerves that he shrank back when Snape approached.

But the pale features did not twist into the familiar sneer. They twitched slightly but otherwise remained perfectly neutral. “Let me see your shoulder,” he said, his voice calm and without a hint of derision. Harry nodded and allowed a portion of the large robe to be pulled back. Large hands guided him gently towards the bed. Sitting down, Harry looked up and up at the giant of a man before him. He had half forgotten about how he had shrunk before he turned into a cub. In fact, he had somehow managed not to think about anything of his old life. Now, forcibly reminded, he suddenly remembered his uncle towering over him, raining down putrid hatred, flanked by his aunt and cousin. Harry shrank back again, his breathing quickening. A hand on his good shoulder drew him back, a sudden wave of calm falling over him like a blanket.

“You are safe here, child,” Snape growled, somehow managing to sound dangerous and safe at the same time, and Harry looked up into intense dark eyes. He knew that the danger was not for him.

“You can still read my thoughts like this?” Harry asked, trying not to wince at his own voice. It was a child's voice and, at that moment, weak and trembling. Snape smirked gently.

“Legilimens,” he answered and Harry blushed. “Though once you are practised you should still be able to mindspeak in either form, though you will find many of your other new senses greatly muted in this form. You should, for instance, have less trouble being around those of strong presence like the esteemed headmaster.” Then the potions master turned his gaze to Harry's shoulder, his fingers probing at the wound gently.

“Why does it take so long to heal?” Harry asked, trying not to pull away or fidget.

“We explained the trouble with using the normal healing methods?” Snape asked, though most of his attention remained upon his task.

“Yes,” Harry answered, feeling strangely pleased to be able to respond verbally. It had been really annoying to be full of questions and not be able to ask them.

“That is part of the problem with your healing,” the man continued, as he went to gather new bandages. Harry turned his head down, trying to get a glimpse of his own shoulder. The angle was awkward and all he managed was to get an idea of red and white flesh. “Normally, the sphinx have their own methods of healing,” Snape continued as he returned, bandages in one hand and a salve in the other, “Not least of which is the ability to heal very quickly from most wounds. Unfortunately, like most magical creatures with extreme healing capabilities, the sphinx have a weakness. They are the natural enemy of the nubis'wi.” At Harry's blank expression, Snape explained further, saying, “also known as were-jackals or were-hounds. Even as werewolves.” Then the boy's eyes widened.

“Like Remus?” he asked.

“Not quite,” Snape answered, his face twisting unpleasantly at the thought of the werewolf, “These are not wizards turned to beasts at the full moon. They are beasts with the ability to take a humanoid form at will, much as the sphinx. Unlike the sphinx, their beast is that of canines: wolves or jackals or hyenas. They are vicious and cruel and to the sphinx they can be deadly. Their saliva and blood is venomous to us, and their magic does not react well with ours. This has been passed down, though diluted into all breeds of canine so that even a perfectly normal Muggle pet has the ability to cause serious damage. That is why your shoulder has been so slow to heal.”

“But it will heal, right?” Harry asked, suddenly worried. He was so used to magic being able to fix anything that the possibility hadn't even occurred to him before that moment. Snape's hesitation did not help.

“It will heal,” he said at last, “It is already much healed; you would not have been able to change into your human form if it wasn't. Though there will likely be a scar.” Harry nodded, then shivered. No one had mentioned anything about such enemies before.

“You said 'us',” Harry said suddenly, “That they are venomous 'to us'. Can they hurt you, too?”

“It is complicated,” Snape answered, “I am not a full blooded sphinx in the same way you are, but I have enough blood to be recognized as one. If I were merely a wizard with an animagus of a panther, than the nubis'wi would be no more deadly than any viscous beast is capable of being. But because of that sphinx blood, my animagus form has changed me. I am sphinx enough to be hurt the same as you.”

“Is that why you never liked Sirius or Remus?” Harry asked, and then blushed, biting his lip. He hadn't meant to bring up his godfather. But to his surprise Snape didn't start to deride either of the mentioned men.

“That might have been part of it,” he admitted, his voice neutral, and he let the matter drop.

Once Harry's shoulder was tended to, Snape insisted on giving Harry a full medical evaluation, making notes on his height and weight and comparing them to his original human form. Then he brought them both breakfast and Harry enjoyed his first human meal in a long time. It was only when all that was finished and Snape was resizing his robe to fit him that Harry began to consider what would happen next.

“Professor,” he said, his voice wavering slightly because he didn't really know what to call Snape, “What happened to my wand, and all my things?”

“They're safe,” Snape answered, “When I first collected you I informed Dumbledore of the situation and I believe he sent someone to retrieve them. The headmaster then decided bringing you your things was the perfect opportunity to check up on you. I believe you remember the consequences of that action.” Harry nodded, but his mind was still on the Dursleys and not the disaster of the headmaster's visit.

“I don't really remember much about when you came,” Harry said, “Can you tell me what happened, exactly?” Snape considered for a moment.

“What I know is that I was in London when I sensed a cub's distress. I didn't know it was you, but I knew you were alone. So I came as quickly as I could. I must have been the closest sphinx to you because normally a distress call wouldn't reach that far. Or perhaps it is simply that we knew each other and that familiarity affected the call. At any rate, I arrived and found you in the clutches of that...beast. Those....your relatives...seemed reluctant to interfere. So I did. And I brought you here. When we were sure you would be all right, and that you would not wake up any time soon, I left you with Roo and reported to Dumbledore. He, of course, knew the moment you left your relatives' house due to the wards. He had also received a rather curious letter from you, speaking of your changes in a dramatically vague manner. From his own investigation he knew that you had turned into a 'large black beast' and then been set upon by your aunt's dog and injured. You were then kidnapped by a gigantic black panther. From this story he was able to guess what had happened, but he was relieved to hear from me all the same.”

“But what happened to the Dursleys and Aunt Marge? Did you kill the dog?” Harry asked, feeling slightly troubled. On the one hand, they were his family even if they didn't like each other and he shouldn't want anything bad to happen to them. On the other hand, he still remembered the raw feeling of their hatred and fear, he could still hear the screams of 'kill it, kill it!' ringing in his ears. It was distressing to realize that they really did hate him that much; that there didn't even seem to be a small shred of affection directed his way. He had known it before, but he had never really known it.

“The Dursleys have had their memories altered. You will not be returning to them. You have a home here now; we will protect you from any outside threats.” That he would also be safe from inside threats went unspoken. That could never have been said of the Dursleys. Harry felt warmed by this, and for the first time he didn't think it had anything to do with Snape's projected peace.

“Now,” Snape said, “if you are strong enough to take this form then I believe you should practice changing back and forth. This time, see if you can alter the clothes and bandages. I would prefer to not have to fix them every time you change form.”

“How?” Harry asked, frowning slightly. He had been looking forward to being in boy form again. He was afraid to change back into a cub and be stuck again.

“I believe it is a matter of will. I will show you once, and then you try.” Harry was about to ask another question when he felt Snape's presence more strongly in his mind. He felt it as Snape shifted form, the way his robes were an extension of his body. Soon there was a panther standing in front of him. Then there was a man again, his robes billowing around him.

The change back into cub form was infinitely easier than Harry expected. He even managed to shift his robes with him. Unfortunately, he also shifted the bandages, but not in the way Snape had indicated. They vanished completely in the same way his robes did. A moment later, Harry was a boy again, wearing both robes and bandages. He rubbed his shoulder reflexively and Snape sighed.

“Again.” He managed to shift the bandages properly only after Snape bound himself in a similar manner and showed him. From that point on, he had no trouble changing at will, though if he practised at it too long it made him tired and his shoulder achy. He couldn't wait to show the rest of his new family. Now if only learning to speak with his mind was that easy.