Phuros Rummel led the procession into the meeting hall. It was, in fact, one of the large meeting halls that Neffy had shown Harry weeks before, during their first day of exploration. The room looked expansive and empty but for cushions which had been placed about in a circle and for a pile of logs in the middle. Roo walked in upright form, wearing brightly colored robes and a pointed hat. Severus followed, wearing his usual black robe. He carried Harry, who was dressed in what greatly resembled a white dress. Harry preferred to think of it as a robe, even though it really wasn’t. According to Severus, it was traditional, as was the white hat which flopped over his head in the manner of a bonnet.

After Severus and Harry, the rest of the clan followed in silence. They, like Severus, were mostly wearing black robes though Udro had on a fine business suit and a few of the women were wearing fancy dresses. The procession walked around the cushions until the last person entered. They spaced themselves to form a complete circle. The door closed on its own. Roo gave a slight nod and everyone sat down upon the cushions, Harry in Severus’s lap. Roo gave a mighty clap of his hands, and the entire room plunged into darkness. Harry gasped, grasping blindly backwards at Severus’s robes. A flame sparked at the center of the circle and soon the logs were burning fiercely, casting eerie shadows. The smell of wood burning filled the room and something else, something spicy and sweet that made Harry feel wide awake and sleepy at the same time.

“The circle!” Roo cried, his voice powerful and booming, and two sphinx immediately arose, one carrying incense and the other a large ceremonial pitcher. From the pitcher a dark, thick liquid was poured which behaved similar to wax and turned solid shortly after it hit the ground. The two walked in a slow circle around everyone, until a complete circle was made. Harry could feel the magic in the act, as though a wall was being built around them, keeping them inside. This was ancient magic, as Severus had explained it; they used it sometimes at Hogwarts as well though they called it a different name. It was basically a way to concentrate power and keep it from escaping before they directed it as they willed. It had sounded almost normal and boring when hearing about it in the classroom atmosphere of their room, but now that he felt it in practice, there in the darkened room with fire and incense and magic, there it felt ancient and strange as though he had stepped back into an older world of bloody sacrifices to vengeful gods.

But there was no blood, not really, and Roo did not call upon old gods. Nor did he call upon newer gods. If any religious deity was called to witness their circle, it was done silently as went with the sphinx tradition. They as a people had seen too many religions at odds with one another to enforce any sort of group worship. So they sat in silence, some praying some meditating, and the power filling the circle slowly grew. It wasn’t exactly like wizard magic; there were no wands involved. The magic came from within them, and pulled out from the fire and the earth and air. To Harry, it felt natural yet odd, as though a growing pressure was pushing at his chest.

“We call!” Roo cried suddenly, raising his arms as though to throw the energy out into the air.

“We call!” the sphinx repeated, “We call, we call!” And as one they melted down into panther form. Harry was glad to be able to melt his horrid white robe that was not a dress and hat that certainly was not a bonnet into his skin. For once, he felt almost glad to be naked. And at this point, the entire experience became very strange.

With Severus to guide him, and the smoke of the fire helping somehow to ease the process, the entire circle felt like it was moving to somewhere else. They didn’t move, not with their bodies, but in the same way that they were able to speak with their minds they reached out, only farther and somehow more real than ever before. Harry had never felt anything quite like it. And their circle was joined by other circles.

They joined together all of them, until they were a great sphere. Harry could see them, just as though these stranger sphinx were in the same room, and yet he didn’t really. Strangest of all, he saw them as panthers and as upright people, both at the same time. He saw them at their essence and suspected they saw him in much the same way. They were meeting each other’s minds. Then one prominent mind came forward, her magical signature sharp and powerful. Harry knew at once that she must be Alphurei Aelurus, the leader of the panther pride.

“Phuros Rummel, clan leader to Merlin’s Isle,” she said, her mind’s voice vibrating through the sphere, “You call this Mindmeet?”

“I do,” Roo answered, “I call to present a new cub!” This announcement was met with a soft wave of interest about the sphere; apparently not everyone had yet heard the news though most remained silent and unsurprised.

“Who presents this cub?” she demanded. Severus came forward slightly then, calling attention to himself and to Harry.

“I speak as his phiter,” Severus announced clearly to all. Harry tried hard not to hide within Severus’s cloak as everyone turned to look. It seemed that here, in their mind, Harry was once again robed in white and Severus in black. At the same time he felt furry and naked. It was not exactly pleasant. The woman sphinx’s presence loomed closer to them, until she felt to be directly before them. She spared Harry a gentle caress of greeting before addressing Severus once more.

“Will you care for him, guide him to our ways and protect him from harm?” she asked.

“I will,” Severus answered. She turned towards Roo.

“Will you accept him into your clan, to care for him, guide him to our ways, and protect him from harm?” she asked.

“I will,” Roo answered. She turned outwards, facing everyone.

“Do you witness this cub and hear their oath?”

“We do!” all answered in one great roar. Harry squirmed backwards against Severus’s chest.

“The oath is witnessed and accepted,” she announced, “Then let the cub’s name be known and he will be our senos for all his days. Phiter, present your cub!”

“I present Harry James Potter,” Severus answered, and Harry felt himself lifted to the center of everyone’s attention.

“Harry James Potter,” the woman leader said, and once more her essence approached him, brushing against him gently, “I give you the true name Maahes of the panther clan of Merlin’s Isle under the leadership of Phuros Rummel. Welcome Senos Maahes.”

And Harry could feel the change, the acceptance into the pride. It was a simple tradition and ceremony, true, but the words held the strength of magic and the connection forged within their minds meant that they could feel each other, even greater than their senses usually allowed. The sphere was one entity, of which Harry was a part. Not that they literally became one; Harry was still in his own mind and he could, with Severus’s help, keep from broadcasting his every thought to everyone. But he could also feel them all, their very essence, as they touched him. And each sphinx, from his own clan and every other clan, took the time to greet him. Much as his first meeting of the clan, they rubbed minds together so as to recognize one another. Then, slowly, they withdrew. There was no formal ending to the ceremony. Sphinx after sphinx fell away until Harry opened his eyes, blinked, and found himself still sitting on the cushion before Severus in a dark room. The fire was almost burned out.

“Open the circle,” Roo ordered, and the same two sphinx from before circled again, this time in the opposite direction from before, using specialized brooms to brush away the hardened liquid. It had turned to dust at some point and swept away easily. After that the lights were brought back on, the fire extinguished completely, and the party began.

There was food and dancing and, to Harry’s unexpected delight, gifts. Everyone in the clan had brought him something and according to Severus he could expect more gifts to be sent from other clans.

“And this party is just our own pride,” Neffy said happily, bouncing in time to the music being blasted seemingly from nowhere, “Just think about the winter festival when we all gather for real, not just a mindmeet! You can meet the other cubs too, then.” Harry nodded in agreement, though he was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t just the ceremony or the celebration or being the center of everyone’s attention. It was being a sphinx at all. It was being surrounded by a new culture, a culture that he was meant to take on as his own along with his new family. He wanted the family of course, he had wanted this with all his heart, but he couldn’t stop the strange feelings from creeping in. He felt almost like an imposter, a human wizard boy who someone tricked everyone into thinking he was one of them.

“It does take getting used to, doesn’t it?” Severus asked in a low tone, “At my own ceremony I kept waiting for someone to say it was all a mistake, and a half-breed like me couldn’t possibly be counted among them.” Harry leaned his head back, feeling suddenly glad that it was Severus there. He knew that he would understand. Then Neffy bounded up to him again, dragging Harry away to dance. Most surprising was when Basta urged Severus onto the dance floor; the sight of Severus dancing was one Harry never thought he’d see.

The party went on, until Harry was sitting, blinking, next to his pile of gifts and barely keeping from falling over. Then Severus lifted him and carried him from the room, down the hall, and up the ramp. Even half asleep, Harry could tell that they were going the wrong way. They were, in fact, in the opposite wing from the room where they’d been sleeping.

“I think it’s time,” Severus said, “to say ‘Welcome Home’.” And he opened one of the few doors that hadn’t been on the tour. Harry lifted his head, staring about the new room with wide eyes. It was a family room, similar to the ones Neffy had shown him for her own family. There was a dining space to the right and a living room to the left. Harry got only a short glimpse of the rooms before he was being carried into yet another room, this one a bedroom.

Like Neffy’s room it had a round bed, though a much smaller one. It also had a set of ledges that climbed up towards the ceiling as well as an assortment of growing plants. There was also a desk and a bookshelf, and on the bookshelf Harry saw a row of very familiar schoolbooks. And within a closet, which had its door open to show a low hung row of very small looking robes, there was a somewhat battered looking chest. The chest and the books were his own. Severus set him down upon the bed and stood back, letting Harry walk about the room. Despite being practically dead on his feet, Harry made a full circuit, taking in everything, before turning back towards Severus again.

“This is mine?” he asked, his voice uncertain as though he half expected Severus to take it all away and say it was really for some other little boy.

“This is your room,” Severus answered, “These are my quarters. Our quarters now. This is where I usually stay when I’m at the mansion.”

“Why didn’t we stay here then, before?” Harry asked, “Do you have to go through the ceremony first or something?”

“No,” Severus answered, “At first it was because we needed the warded rooms to look after you. You were hurt. And then, I wanted to finish getting your room ready. We only finished it a couple of days ago.” Harry stared at him and about at the room, still not quite believing everything that had happened.

“Go to sleep, Harry,” Severus whispered, guiding him towards the bed. Rather than having to bother with changing, Harry sunk down into his panther form, curling up in the soft blanket. He only barely noted that Severus was tucking it more securely around him before he was asleep.