Of Fangs and Fur

Chapter Five: Summer at Hogwarts

Harry woke slightly disoriented.

'Where am I?' he thought, reaching for his glasses. Harry placed his glasses on his face and looked around.

'Okay, my glasses are on, but everything is still blurry.'

Harry removed his glasses and looked around the room in shock. Everything was crystal clear. He could see perfectly. That's when he remembered where he was.

'Oh, that's right. I'm staying with Remus and Sirius in Remus's teacher's rooms. Must be the effects of the attack making me able to see without my glasses. Better get showered and then go see what Remus and Sirius are doing.'

Harry grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower. As he stood under the warm spray, he wondered how much things were going to change.

'Will Ron and Hermione still want to be friends with me? What about the rest of the Gryffindors?' Harry pushed these thoughts from his mind as he finished his shower.

A freshly showered and dressed Harry Potter walked into the living room as quietly as possible. He paused as he heard voices.

"Remus, what are we going to do? I'm not qualified to raise a child, let alone help Harry with what's happened now. I don't know what to do! What are we, oh God," Sirius broke off as he paced back and forth across the floor.

"Sirius! Calm down. I can't believe I am hearing this from the Sirius Black that convinced his friends to become Animagi, illegally, to help their werewolf friend. Relax. We'll take it one step at a time," Remus said, smiling slightly as he tried to calm his friend.

"Harry! You're up. Are you hungry?" Sirius asked, after noticing Harry in the doorway.

"Actually, I am a little bit hungry," Harry replied, walking into the room.

Harry settled in at the table and are some bacon and hash browns and eggs. He was finishing up his orange juice when the food all disappeared and Sirius and Remus stood up from the table.

"Let's go, Harry. We have to take you up to Dumbledore's office," Remus said, with a soft smile on his lips.

Harry ran to the bathroom and quickly brushed his teeth and the three of them walked to the gargoyle that guards the Headmaster's office. Without waiting for the password, the gargoyle turned to let them in and the three of them stepped onto the staircase and went into Albus Dumbledore's office. They were greeted by the sight of Professors' Flitwick, McGonagall, and Snape waiting for them with the Headmaster.

"Sorry, Albus. We had to make sure Harry ate breakfast before we left," Remus said to the Headmaster.

"That's alright. Remus. We haven't been waiting for very long. Well now. Shall we get started? Harry due to the nature of the attack you went through, we would like to test your limits. We need to test your speed, strength, magical abilities, and any reactions you have to things like silver and sunlight. First things first, would you hold your hand in front of the window? If it hurts, move it back right away," Albus said, directing a smile at the young boy he thought of as a grandson.

Harry walked over to the window and held his hand in the warm sunlight pouring through it. He smiled softly feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin. He had always loved being in the sun. When he didn't feel any pain, he turned to Albus and said, "It's fine. Doesn't hurt a bit"

"Good, good," Albus replied, "Step into it fully just to be sure"

Harry stepped up to the window and looked out over the grounds of the only place he had ever truly considered home. He smiled watching the birds flying in the sky and enjoyed the sun's warmth on his face. When he turned to face the Headmaster, he saw something shiny being thrown at him and he automatically reached out to catch it. He held a solid silver brooch in his hand. It was in the shape of the Slytherin House crest. He admired the detailed working of the snake and its beautiful emerald eyes. He looked up at the teachers gathered in the room to see Professor Snape smirking at a relieved looking Remus and an angry looking Sirius. He looked at the Headmaster to see his eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Now Severus. That was not the best way to find out if Harry is allergic to silver. But, as it appears he is not, it's alright. Harry, go ahead and give Professor Snape back his brooch. That's a good lad. Alright, now then, we will all meet in the Great Hall in one hour to test Harry's magical abilities and see if they have been affected at all. Everyone agreed? Alright, I will see you all in one hour," Albus said, his eyes twinkling and a bright smile on his face.

"Alright, since everyone is here, let's get started," Albus said, pulling his wand. Before anyone could react, he sent a stunner towards Harry. Without a thought, Harry raised his empty hands and the spell stopped inches from him. Shocked, he dropped his arms to his side and the spell continued it's course, striking him in the chest. Harry fell to the ground, stunned. Albus watched as Remus ended the spell on Harry and helped him to sit up.

"Harry, how did you do that? How did you make the spell stop?" Albus asked.

"I don't know. I just, felt it coming, and raised my arms to block against an attack, and it stopped. It surprised me. I've never seen that happen before," Harry replied.

"Well, neither have I Harry, neither have I. Let's try some dueling and see how you fair, alright? Let's begin."

For three hours, Harry dueled Albus, Remus and Snape, separately and together. He did fairly well, too. Finally, as he felt him some getting to hungry and tired to continue, Albus called a halt.

"Alright, I think that is enough for now. Everyone go get freshened up and meet back here in another and we will have lunch."

The next few days went on this way as well. Every morning, Harry ate breakfast with Sirius and Remus. Then they met Albus and Snape in the Great Hall and practiced dueling. Sometimes Professor Flitwick joined them and they practiced Charms. Other times Professor McGonagall joined them and they practiced Transfigurations. They found that Harry was much better at dueling. His heightened senses allowed him to feel when a spell was being directed at him and he was able to respond accordingly. His abilities in Charms and Transfigurations hadn't really changed much, though he felt that if he studied and tried the Animagus Charm, he could probably do it. Then the day finally came. When they would find out just how much of a werewolf he was. They only had to wait for the full moon to rise. Unfortunately, the discovered another problem for Harry on that day as well.

All was going fine until about lunch time, when Harry suddenly felt dizzy and sick to his stomach.

"Sirius, what's wrong with me? Why do I feel so sick? I couldn't eat anything at lunch and I only ate a little bit of porridge for breakfast."

"I don't know, Harry. Let's go see Professor Dumbledore. Maybe he'll know what to do."

When they reached the Headmaster's office, they discovered that the Headmaster himself and Professor Snape were there waiting for them.

"Ah. There you are. I thought you might come up here. Severus and I noticed that you didn't eat anything at lunch and that you looked as if you felt sick."

"I do, Sir. And I don't know why?"

"Potter, stand still while I do a spell to determine if our suspicion is correct," Professor Snape ordered, drawing his wand and whispering a spell at Harry.

A beam of yellow light hit Harry in the chest and glowed red as it settled there.

"Just as we thought. You need to feed. The werewolf blood altered that of the vampire and made it to where you only have to feed on the day of the full moon. You need to find a donor."

Harry frowned at the thought of drinking someone's blood but the vampire in him demanded it and brought him to his knees in pain at his denial. Sirius leapt from his chair and knelt in front of Harry, exposing his neck to the young man.

"Harry, I volunteer. You need this. Come on. It's alright."

"I don't want to. I hate this! I'm a monster! Why did the vampire have to be there? I hate this!"

Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry and rocked him gently, side to side. He laid Harry's head on his shoulder so that Harry was facing his neck and whispered soft words of praise, love, pride, and understanding. Harry calmed a bit and then heard the sound of Sirius's heart beating. Unconsciously, he shifted his head and pressed his lips against the pulse point in Sirius's neck. He opened his mouth as his fangs extended and bit into the flesh in front of him. He drank for only a moment, just enough to calm the raging fire within, then pulled away from Sirius and ran out of the room. He ran straight to his bedroom and curled up under his blankets, ignoring the rest of the world around. When Sirius and Remus were finally able to coax out of hiding, it was already evening. They sat in front of the fire and talked about what was to come.

"Harry, if you do transform fully, it will hurt. It always does. With or without the Wolfsbane Potion. We are here for you. I may be in wolf form tonight, but hopefully mine and Sirius's presence will help you. How are you holding up?" Remus asked, gently warning Harry about the event to happen in just another hour or so.

"I'm fine. I think. Just a little nervous. What if the potion doesn't work?"

"It will, Harry. There is no reason to think that it won't. Just remember, if for some reason it doesn't, me and Sirius are here. Between the two of us, I'm sure we will be able to keep you under control and keep you in this room."

At last, the full moon rose high in the sky, and Remus began his transformation. Sirius waited in his human form and watched. In moments, a gray wolf licked his hand and settled at his feet. Together, they watched Harry. Harry felt the transformation start. It didn't hurt quite as badly as Remus had said. He supposed that was because of the vampire in him. When he was fully transformed, a beautiful snow white wolf sat and stared at his two companions, a big black dog, and a gray wolf. He sniffed the air, and howled a greeting to his friends. The three of them chased each other around the room, playing tag long into the night, before settling in front of the fire in a pile of fur and sleeping.

In the morning, Harry, Remus, and Sirius woke and grinned to each other remembering their antics of the previous night. The laughed at each other and themselves before eating breakfast and reporting the night's events to Albus. Then they went back to their usual routine.

Harry spent the rest of his summer happily spending time with Sirius and Remus. They made sure Harry got all his homework done and that he studied ahead for the new school year. Remus took Harry to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies. He kept an eye out for any of his friends, but he saw no one.

A week before school started, Harry was bored. Remus and Sirius were gone. Professor Dumbledore was no where to be found, and Professor McGonagall was busy (she had shooed him out of her office twice already). He and sighed and decided he might as well go and apologize to Professor Snape for looking in his Penseive last year. He slowly walked down to the dungeons. Stopping outside the door to Professor Snape's office, he took a deep breath and knocked.

"Enter," he heard from within.

Harry opened the door and stepped inside. He saw Snape working on a potion with several others brewing away.

"What do you want, Potter?" Snape growled.

"I, um, I just, wanted to say that...that I am sorry I disrespected you and broke your trust. It was childish and selfish of me to look in your penseive like that and, I'm sorry," Harry rushed out in one breath.

Snape stood still, eyes watching Harry's every move. He saw the sincerity in Harry's eyes. Sighing, he set down his spoon and set the potion to cool.

"Your apology is accepted. I am glad to see that you are growing up a little, Potter. It's about time. I am preparing some healing potions for Madame Pomfrey. If you're bored, set up a cauldron and start on one."

"Alright. Um, which healing potion would you like me to do?"

"Grab one of the 6th year textbooks from the storage room. Do the one on page 600. It's fairly simple. If you follow instructions and concentrate, you should be able to complete it. Get whatever ingredients you need from the supply cabinet."

"Yes, sir"

Harry got the book he needed and a cauldron, then found an empty table to work at. He turned to the proper page and memorized the ingredients. After collecting everything he needed, he started working. After he completed the potion, he bottled it and prepared another. Harry and Professor Snape worked together quietly. After a few hours and several potions, a knock on the door startled them both.

"Enter," Snape said.

"Severus, have you seen Harry today? Ah, there you are, my boy. Remus and Sirius have been looking for you," Albus said, his eyes twinkling when he saw that Harry was helping Professor Snape restock Madame Pomfrey's supply of healing potions.

"Let me clean up. I'm done with this one," Harry said, bottling the last of the potions, "Professor Snape, do you think that, maybe I could"

"If you would be willing to continue helping me until school starts, you can come down here for two hours every night after dinner," Professor Snape interrupted.

The rest of the week passed by quickly for Harry, who now had a daily routine worked our. In the mornings, he studied magical defense, charms and transfigurations with Remus and Sirius, afternoons he practiced muggle defense and strength training, and flying, and after dinner, he went down to the dungeons to help Professor Snape make potions. All in all, he felt that this year, he was going to surprise a few people.