Disclaimer : I still don't own anything ressembling Harry Potter apart from a pair of glasses.
Her comes the newly beta-read chapter by Max82. All remaining errors are mine alone.
Chapter 2: From Bad To Worse Without Saying "Go" and Collecting 200 £
Finally done with his analysis and angry like an over-boiled potion, Severus Snape went to loom over the Gryffindor sleeping on his couch under a blanket – courtesy of Madam Pomfrey. Crossing his arms, he frowned at the oblivious teen.
Of course, it has to happen to him. He scowled as he reluctantly admitted, Well, even being the blubbering incompetent fool that he is in Potions, I must admit Longbottom is passable enough an herbologist and would never confuse Instictis herbs for Veelanip. He snorted. And I know who might be able to get his hands on some. I'll let him two days to come to me before Iask him. But I somehow know it is all Potter's fault.
With a last sneer, he placed a monitoring charm on the slightly snoring Harry and twirled on his heels to his bedroom, cursing Dumbledore in his head.
It is for the best, Severus, not to move him... his inner voice supplied in a mockery of Dumbledore's own. You are the best suited to look after him, you have some calming draught on hand and ingredients to make more should it be needed. Nyah nyah nyah... he ended with a grimace.
Severus refused to acknowledge the slight blush gracing his cheeks at such a childish behaviour. It was due to anger, he reflected, anger at being forced to look after him by that crazy old menace to society...and decency, he added as an afterthought, remembering some of the more colourful robes the Headmaster had worn. Slamming his bedroom door made him feel slightly better.
Hum... Harry sighed contentedly as he tested his limbs for pain by stretching sinuously and finding none. No pain! Was it all a dream?
He opened half an eye to survey his surroundings. He closed it again, satisfied, and sighed happily, ready to go back to sleep. Something was not quite…something... He jerked suddenly upright, his eyes wide open and widening some more as he took his surroundings in.
He scrunched them closed and opened them in a quick succession, hoping that what could only be Snape's office would, by miracle, melt into the Gryffindor fifth years' dormitory. No such luck.
He rubbed his eyes with his left hand, nuzzling the thick soft hair growing on it for a few seconds before drawing it back to have a good look at it, well more like a stare...
It was covered with black fur up till mid forearm, but that was not the strangest thing about it. Indeed, it was a cat paw, complete with retractable claws, with which Harry played for a few minutes before bringing his right one side by side to compare. It didn't matter much whether he looked at them from a different angle, or went back to them after a few minutes spent observing his Potions professor's office with unashamed curiosity. Both stayed cat paws.
Sighing, he shook himself out of his slight daze and looked at the rest of his body. Two perfectly formed and functional cat feet were replacing his own and wiggled back to his incredulous stare.
Spying a mirror in a corner near a closed door, Harry turned towards it and studied his reflection. Horrified yet curious, he slowly got up, and once he had a good grip on walking on his new cat feet, he went to confront the horrible reality the mirror hinted at.
Devouring his image with his eyes, Harry felt his jaw dropping open. Black-furred, triangular ears peaked out from the messy bangs where his ears should have been. Sometimes they turned of their own volition when a log snapped and crackled in the fireplace, or towards the bookcase as an old leather-bound book's spine creaked loudly in the still air.
Incredulous, Harry's eyes moved lower to the rest of his face. Nothing seemed changed ... Wait a minute! His glasses were absent but his sight was even sharper than when they had been on. His eyes bulged when he saw his pupils widening to compensate for the dim light. He had slit pupils in his eyes, for Merlin's sake! His eyes were glowing too! Harry gulped, his head was pounding.
Keep breathing! Find out what else is …. He couldn't bring himself to think the word 'wrong'.
He began to slightly hyperventilate. Okay, next was his nose. Inspecting it, he noticed no major change – except it was slightly pinker and pointed ... complete with whiskers ...
Just as he was beginning to get a shaking grip on his rising panic, he finally noticed the presence of a faint jingling sound. He turned quickly, noticing the slightly louder jingle as he moved.
One of his ears flickered backwards, informing him that the tinkling he heard was coming from behind him. He turned back but saw nothing. Annoyed, he began to hiss lightly. Sensing something moving behind him, he let his shoulder slump before reaching with slightly trembling hands to the small of his back.
He whimpered slightly when he encountered the base of what could only be a tail. To be more accurate, his tail. He followed it on its length, bringing it in front of his eyes, allowing him to examine it. Like all extra or changed appendages, his tail was covered in silky soft fur of the deepest black. Approximately one third before its end was tied in a velvet green bow, the exact hue of his eyes, with two minuscule bells sewn on the knot's free lengths. His eyes narrowed; was this some sort of sick joke by Snape!?
Harry shook his head. Now, that wasn't so important; after all, with the rest of his features altered in the form they were, he should have suspected it. But he was going to have a talk with the Headmaster about Snape's inappropriate joke on his very dazzled behalf. Frowning, he tilted his tail from side to side to catch the fire light on a peculiar place that seemed clumped together. Frowning harder, he brought it to his mouth, smoothing a tangle of his fur with quick and precise licks. The hair in his mouth did not bother him in the least.
Absentmindedly, he went to sit in front of the fire, continuing his soothing grooming. His earlier panic attack was dimmed by the need to get rid of the wretched tangle.
Well, it seems reasonable to think that my inner animal is a cat. He paused to lick his right arm before passing it over his right ear. Maybe I'm a cat because I'm curious, independent and sometimes manipulative ... hiding what I'm really capable of or thinking behind the mask of a lazy, empty-headed and rash Gryffindor.... He chuckled darkly; if only the others knew just how conscious of everything he was... Besides, it was either that or something winged. And I'm not empty-headed enough to be a sparrow, not wise enough to be an owl, or arrogant enough to be an eagle.... He snickered quietly. I guess it fits.
He shrugged before licking his other arm and tending to his other ear. Just as he was finishing, he heard the door near the mirror opening. Harry delicately sniffed at the new scent the air brought. Wonderful earthy scents with a small acidic sharpness and an undertone of smoke equated to the one and only current Potions professor in Harry's mind.
He spied Snape gliding towards him when he paused in mid lick. Something was nagging at his mind... He felt his heart stop before resuming its functioning. The fact that he was naked hadn't bothered Harry in the slightest; it seemed natural, almost right when he was alone, but now, in Snape's presence...
"Potter!" His Potions professor's exasperated tone warned him that his mind had been wandering again. His professor's hand on his shoulder frightened him. He jumped to his feet and, in an attempt to escape, swatted Severus's hand away before he clawed his way up a tapestry hung on the wall near the fireplace. Once settled on the left top corner of a shelf, he hissed and panted, attempting to calm himself.
"Potter!" Snape hissed, and Harry wondered if he had some feline ancestors. "That tapestry is an original Aubusson, you had better not have damaged it!"
Oh sure, Harry thought darkly, all you care for is your damned tapestry!
Harry glanced back at his fuming professor, who had his arms crossed over his chest. He opened his mouth and started to berate the sour man but closed it again in mid meow. He blushed at the sound of it.
Why can't I speak? Maybe I'm too angry to be using words ... yeah that's it ... all over his stupid tapestry! Harry allowed that to calm him for his sudden lack of speaking abilities.
"Potter! Stop daydreaming and come down immediately, without damaging the tapestry! There are some things the Headmaster insisted that I inform you of."
Harry shook his head stubbornly before glancing meaningfully at his naked legs.
"For Slytherin's sake, Potter! You've got nothing I've never seen before! Don't make us lose any more time over your pitiable show of modesty!" He smirked before pointing his wand at a scowling Harry. "Unless you prefer me to help you?" The accentuation Snape gave to the word "help" made Harry shiver. "I will even turn around if that will ease your pathetic fear and promise I will not peek if it will reassure you enough to get down without damaging my tapestry."
Snape smirked sarcastically before turning to illustrate his good will and glaring at an innocent bookcase at the idea of being the one forced to explain the situation to The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-A-Pain-In-His-Side.
The left corner of his mouth quirked upwards at the slight sound of jingling bells padding towards his couch followed by the rustling of the comforter being draped around a body.
Snape's eyebrow rose as he turned to be confronted by the sight of Harry wearing a duvet made toga a little bit crocked to accommodate his newly acquired tail.
He watched Harry settling comfortably on his couch before claiming his armchair.
"Potter," he began, his black eyes swirling with amusement, never leaving Harry's huddled form, "I will begin by the good news and progress from here." He waited for Harry's nod before going on. "Longbottom is not responsible for this... situation." He scowled at Harry's incredulous air. "Stop looking at me like that!" He stopped to listen to Harry's indignant meows. "You shouldn't accuse somebody without proof, Potter; it is a well-known sign of immaturity." He chose to ignore Harry's next mew.
"Will you let me continue?" He glared at Harry, who was pacing in agitation in front of the fireplace. "As I was going to say before being so rudely interrupted, somebody switched the Instictis herbs you were supposed to use for something called Veelanip. It is an herb used in infusions by Veelas when they come into their inheritance and need to anchor their natural instincts so they can retain enough sanity not to frighten away their future mate while trying to get them to bond.
Your Animagus revealing potion was near completion, as the Instictis herbs are the second to last ingredient to be added. The resulting change in herbs brought forth some physical manifestations of your inner animal and anchored them, as well as your animal instincts. So, now you basically are half human half cat, but with very powerful feline instincts, which are going to overcome and replace most of your human instincts. Would you mind not batting at my robes?" Harry mewled in protest before getting off the floor and away from the loose string on Snape's robes. "Thank you," he sighed at a chastised Harry, who curled up into a ball on the couch.
"See what I mean. Your glasses were found under a stool, broken. But you don't seem to need them, do you?"
Harry shook his head negatively and asked about his wand as he had yet to see it.
"Your wand," Snape answered to Harry's mewl, "was nowhere to be found. Even the Accio charm was of no use. I personally think it has been absorbed into your body, providing the last catalyst needed to anchor the transformation. I will, of course, try to find an antidote, but in the meantime you are stuck like this."
He was forced to stop when mewls in crescendo issued from a rightfully angry Harry that jumped off the couch and started making wild hand motions, talking about being stuck in this form forever, killing the one who made him like this, and other such nonsense.
Snape stood and grabbed the agitated teen-cat and gently shook him.
"Stop that, I never said it was permanent, did I? Because it was Veelanip what was added to the mix, there is a slight chance you will be back to normal as soon as you find your soul mate."
After an incredulous sniff, Harry settled to blink at Snape in silence. Snape sighed. Harry told Snape what he thought of the whole "soul mate" bit.
"I can assure you, Potter, that I am not in the slightest joking. Now you are going to eat breakfast, and after that we will try and find what you are capable of doing."
Harry's eyes started to glow happily as they focused on a specific corner of the office, and his ears twitched as he looked like he was about to pounce. Severus looked in Harry's direction and saw a house-elf bringing in a tray of food. Severus sighed when Harry growled low in his throat at the house–elf, which started shivering in fear at the sudden predatory noise.
Without missing a beat Severus extended his arm just in the nick of time to grab first Harry's tail and, after tugging sharply at it, the back of Harry's toga. Harry hissed in pain and pulled his tail away from Snape's harsh grip. He whimpered and the house-elf squeaked.
"That was not what I meant. You are in no way authorised to jump on house-elves."
He stood up and wrapped one of his arms around a struggling teen-cat who was still trying to reach and corner the cowering house-elf. He effectively pinned Harry against his chest, ignoring his excited meows and waving arms attempting to paw at the elf's big pointed nose.
"Put the tray on the table and leave. It would be best if you came here only during class hours or at night to avoid such occurrences."
The elf couldn't obey quickly enough. Harry mewed softly at the sight of the leaving servant and resumed his struggles. Snape sighed and, using his superior height and the arm he had wrapped around Harry's waist, lifted Harry's entire body until his feet were no longer touching the floor and turned him towards the tray before placing him back on the ground. He let go of Harry once he was sure the Boy-Turned-Cat caught the smell of the meat ... specifically bacon.
Harry ran to the tray, dismissing the tea and bread and going straight for the bacon, attacking it barehanded and completely disregarding the cutlery.
"It's going to be a long day," Snape commented dryly at the sight of Harry collecting bacon slices on his claws before gulfing them down. Harry's tail twitched as Snape saw one ear turning towards him. Harry had heard what he had said, however low, and he flicked his tail once more in annoyance. But, the effect was lost at the slight tinkle of the two bells.
Severus waited for Harry to finish ravishing the bacon; one never came between a kitten and its food. He sighed again as he sat back down in his chair. A slight tug at his chest made him wince. The stupid brat was giving him heart burn, he just knew it.