Harry had time to see that the stranger looked very familiar before he was suddenly overwhelmed in an unfamiliar essence. He felt nothing like the sphinx. Though there was nothing of hatred or fear that the Dursleys had stunk of, the man gave off a power and strength that sent Harry cowering further beneath his guardian. It was like being caught beneath a giant ringing bell, when the sound becomes so strong you feel it rather than hear it.

Then Snape's personal essence came between them like a shield, like he had been trying to do all along. Only then could Harry pay attention properly. To his surprise, it wasn't a ferocious monster at the door but someone he knew well. Dumbledore had arrived. Harry had a chance to see the man's blue eyes opened wide at the snarling panther and then another man was at the door, jerking Dumbledore backwards and out of the room. The door closed behind them, but they were still able to hear. There was a lot of shouting between the man and the headmaster. Harry found he could recognize the other man as well now, though Snape's shield kept him from sensing the sphinx as well as the wizard. It was Roo, the clan leader.

“Even we would not enter that room unasked!” he heard Roo growl, “Never approach a newly formed cub and its guardian without warning!”

“I only wanted to see that Harry...” Dumbledore answered calmly, though his voice was not nearly as steady as it normally was.

“And you could have seriously hurt him,” Roo growled back, “He isn't ready. You're lucky you weren't killed by his guardian.”

“Yes, well...” Dumbledore said, his voice sounding even more shaken. Then the voices grew lower and moved away, beyond their hearing. Snape continued to stare tensely at the door, his hair on end. Harry could feel his essence wrapped tightly around him like a blanket, calming in spite of how tightly wound the panther was. When Snape was sure no one would be coming back, he finally relaxed his guard on the door and started to inspect Harry, nuzzling him with his nose in concern. Finally, he changed back into a man so that he could use his hands and check on Harry's wound, unwinding the bandages.

When he was satisfied that the bite was healing nicely, he re-bandaged the shoulder and finally settled down. Harry was over the entire experience by then and was curious to know what that was all about. Unable to ask any questions, he had to settled for a questioning mewl. Luckily, Snape seemed to recognize that Harry would want to know what had happened.

“There is a reason you have not had visitors and the only people you have seen so far are pride,” Snape told him, “You have certainly already noticed your enhanced senses. Perhaps you have noticed some new senses; that you can feel other's emotions or presence. This is part of your sphinx heritage. Because you don't have any control over these senses at the moment, combined with your injury and your youth, you are at the moment completely open to the influence others project. The sphinx know how to shield themselves, particularly when interacting with you. Humans, who don't have these senses and therefore never felt the need to learn control, do not know how to shield themselves. Until you can return to your humanoid form, at which point your new senses will be somewhat muted, or until you can learn to shield against projections, it is not safe for you to be around others.”

Harry could understand that. He never wanted to experience anything like that again. He wondered how much Dumbledore knew about the sphinx. Surely not very much if he was willing to barge in there like that. Yet he knew where Harry was, so he must know something.

“Dumbledore,” Snape snarled, “Is a very powerful wizard who lacks common sense. I told him you could not be seen yet, so of course he takes it upon himself to come anyway. He wanted you to be taken to Hogwarts to be looked after by Madam Pomfrey. I told him she wouldn't begin to know how to treat a sphinx. Potions and salves that would heal a human wizard instantly would likely either not work at all, make things worse, or send the you into a coma. Sphinxes do not react the same way as humans to magic. Perhaps I should have explained to Dumbledore in more detail exactly why his desire to interfere is such a bad idea.”

Then Snape sighed, and finally let go of the last of his tension. “I could have killed the old fool,” he mumbled, “I almost attacked before I saw who it was.” Harry shuddered. That would not have been a happy thing to wake up to, seeing Snape ripping the headmaster to shreds. “I should have explained more clearly,” he continued, now seeming to be talking to himself, “But the sphinx don't like to be known by outsiders. You will find little written in books on them, unless it was written by themselves in languages so old few could even begin to read them.”

Harry considered this. Despite all the changes he had gone through, this was the first time it occurred to him that he really wasn't human. Before, he had been imagining himself to be more like a very long lived animagus. But he wasn't really that at all. Surprisingly, he didn't think he minded. For once in his life, even though he knew he was different he didn't feel like a freak. He didn't know if this was because he had met others like him or if it was because of his connection with Snape, but he liked the feeling. Then there was a knock at the door.

Snape opened it cautiously, but when he saw who was on the other side he let them in. Roo came in first, dragging behind him a very contrite looking sphinx. He was the one who reminded Harry of Percy and Harry had to struggle to remember his real name: Udro.

“ Phuros Rummel, Udro,” Snape greeted them, eyeing the man in the tie coldly.

“Welcome, Severus, Harry,” Roo answered, “Udro here has something to say to you.” He pushed the man forward.

“I'm sorry I let in the human and then left him alone to find the phuros,” Udro said, his tone unwavering and polite, but he did not lift his eyes from the floor to look at Harry or Snape, “I did not realize he would wander off to find you on his own. I did not think he could with the shielding on the rooms.”

“Wizard magic works differently than sphinx magic,” Snape answered coldly, “The room wards are meant to shield our senses, not wizard spells. It is assumed the wizard wardings on the outside wall shields would be enough to keep them out.”

“Perhaps we should remedy that,” Roo said, not sounding pleased, “We are not used to allowing wizards into our home. And Udro, what should you have done?”

“I should have left him outside or remained with him and shouted for you to come,” Udro answered instantly, “I should not have left him alone. But I knew he was a friend and I didn't think...”

“Perhaps you should think, next time,” Roo growled, “You will go into service for a month. Report to Helen.” Udro nodded, bowed his head towards Snape and Harry, and then left. Roo's forbidding manner relaxed as he left.

“I am truly sorry, Severus,” he said, “We have spoken with that man, Dumbledore. He will not make the same mistake again.” Snape nodded his head in response. Then Roo turned his attention towards Harry, his features visibly softening into a gentle smile. “And how are you, young cub?” he asked, greeting him with soothing vibes. Harry squirmed slightly, unused to the attention. It felt embarrassing and nice at the same time. He didn't know how to deal with it.

“Harry is doing much better,” Snape answered for him, “He will be ready to begin lessons and explore in no time.”

“That is good,” Roo said, “Get well quickly, young cub. I know that young Neffy is looking forward to having a playmate.”

The following week was spent in much the same way as before. He would sleep, eat, and use the litter box in the room, seeing only Snape, and sometimes he would be taken down to see the others in the large round room. He was even allowed to walk by himself for a little bit, so long as he didn't try to use his left front paw. And Snape or one of the other sphinx would tell him more about what he was. He learned that sphinxes, by nature, tended towards contradiction. They were social creatures and yet fiercely independent. The panther pride was large, as Snape had first told Harry, but they were very rarely altogether at once. The sphinx as a race were divided first by pride, which were distinguished from one another by the cat species, and each pride was further divided into clans. This, of course, implied animosity or conflict between prides or clans. Otherwise, why would they divide themselves up like that? Harry imagined them at best like the Hogwarts houses, constantly competing, and at worse locked in some sort of civil feud.

But there didn't seem to be any such conflict. They divided themselves in this way because they found it convenient. The needs of a panther differed from those of another type of cat. Some sphinx were drastically smaller or larger than others, some more inclined towards heat or cold, and some didn't like to gather into a group at all, preferring to live alone. The house they were currently in was designed specifically with a panther in mind, and the magics involved were in tune with panther magic. Apparently this differed slightly between prides as well.

“Even if we hated each other,” Basta informed Harry during one of these culture lessons, “We wouldn't dare to start fighting. We can't afford to. We are slow to reproduce but we are long lived. If we started killing each other off, our numbers would drop very quickly but rise again very slowly. This is also why we like to separate ourselves from the human and wizard worlds. We cannot afford to be drawn into their conflicts.” Harry wasn't sure if he agreed with that, but he still hadn't mastered speech yet and didn't have any way to argue. But he was certain that people like Voldemort were everyone's problem.

“But we don't hate each other,” Neffy exclaimed happily, “I have friends in other prides. There aren't many who are close to my age in our own. But I don't get to see them very often, just in the mindmeets or during gatherings.”

Basta also went on into great detail about how the different magics interact and how sphinxes heal and why Harry was healing so slowly, though quicker than he would if he were a regular panther cub. Harry understood very little of what she said. Something about how his own magic would fight off potions as though they were poisons, and how this would sometimes cause harm to him unless the person making the potion knew what they were doing. Apparently Snape did know what he was doing.

Mostly, Harry just enjoyed the attention. Beyond feeling safe or cared for, he was beginning to feel actually wanted. Cubs were rarely born and even more rarely awakened out of wizard children, and as such were viewed as something precious. For the first time in his life, Harry truly knew what it was like to have a family, and not just borrowing someone else's like with the Weasleys or only just visiting like he had Sirius. Those visits had been something like this, for a short while, but then his godfather had died. And no matter where he wished he could stay, at Hogwarts or the Weasleys or with Sirius, he had always wound up back at the Dursleys. Snape promised he would never have to go back. People who were able to scare him enough that he transformed into his cat self, and then who set a dog on him, were obviously not fit to be guardians. For the first time in his life, he had a home.

And now his shoulder was almost healed. Soon, he would begin to learn what he really wanted to know. How to be a sphinx.