Chapter 8: Somebody Knows
The next morning was a Sunday luckily, which meant they had one more day before classes started. Severus spent the morning altering the wards on his quarters to allow Ebony access in and out without him being present. It was effectively a large cat flap under his entrance portrait, a little demeaning to Harry, but it allowed him free access so he would put up with it. They spent a lot of the day separate, Severus sorting through his lessons plan for the next week, and Harry exploring both the rooms and the dungeons beyond them. He'd manage to avoid students all day, by keeping to the shadows and dodging into alcoves when he heard students approaching. He didn't explore the dungeons for long, not liking being away from his kit for too long, and a little wary of exploring without Severus close by.
The next day approached far too soon for both Severus and Harry. Severus decided that the best option would be to have the kitten in the corner of his office during classes, under a perimeter and privacy spell, so she couldn't explore too far, and wouldn't be seen or heard. Ebony was then free to travel between the classroom with Severus and the office with the kitten. On the evenings, Severus would mark student essays and research more about Basts when he could, before curling asleep with Ebony and Angelica.
One night, he found a passage that seemed to answer their remaining questions. It was Tuesday evening, in a thick book he'd manage to borrow (without Albus' knowledge) from Albus' private book collection, when he'd found himself alone in the headmasters office the day before. It was dusty and worn, with several pages missing in parts and large questionable stains on some of the pages. The title was worn off, but it had a faint image of an Egyptian heirograph on the front.
He'd found the passage about ¾ of the way into the book. It had been highly interesting until then, but also highly irrelevant. Until a couple of pages back, where the author had started talking about cat gods of Egypt.
"Here, Ebony, listen to this.
Due to Basts being thought to have a feline form due to a betrayal curse, there were often reports of Basts being stuck in their feline form. This was believed to be due to the bast being betrayed too many time, and them feeling unsafe in their human form. In terms of descendants , upon their age of inheritance it is thought that if the childe has undergone too much pain and betrayal, often those abused, they will unconsciously revert to their feline form. It has been known that they can revert back when they feel safe in their surroundings, and no longer fear their human form. This has happened rarely, reports stating that it can take anywhere from a couple weeks to years. Usually there is one lone fear that once dissipated can allow the descendant to relax back to human form.
So basically it's saying that you're stuck in your feline form because you're scared of something?" Severus half stated, half questioned.
Harry listened intently, and he recognised that this must be what was wrong with him. His fear of being Harry Potter to the world again, was holding him back. He hated have the wizarding world on his shoulder, of being their 'Saviour' now that the dark lord was gone. It was too much pressure. And he wasn't the person they wanted him to be. He shrugged at Severus question, as well as a panther can shrug, before curling up around his Kit and trying to sleep, to forget.
The days went well, with no problems for Ebony from the students. Albus still looked at him weirdly from under his half-moon glasses during meal times, leaving Harry feeling paranoid and wary. Harry was especially looking forward to the 7th year Slytherin-Gryffindor class on Thursday morning. He got to see his friends again, old and new. It upset him a little when Draco made a disparaging remark to Hermione and Ron about him at the start of the class. But he understood that Draco was covering himself with his mask. He was currently lying down on the classroom floor besides Severus' desk. He had the perfect view of the other two thirds of the golden trio.
Hermione seemed worn out and tired, she had dark circles under her eyes and she seemed tense. She was refusing to help Ron with his potion, which Harry assumed meant that Ron had managed to piss her off somehow. Ron seemed tense too, but in a different way. He was slamming his ingredients on the table, pouring in the needed amounts with no precision, and no care to the outcome. He seemed to be muttering angrily to himself too, but even with his improved hearing Harry couldn't make out the words. Even Neville seemed to be acting weird, constantly glancing at Ron and Hermione from the corner of his eye. Other than that, he seemed to be concentrating more on his potion that he normally did.
At one point, Harry saw Neville was about to put the wrong ingredient into his potion, as no one else seemed to be using leaves in theirs, so he quickly got up, and nudged the leaves from his hands. Upon them falling to the floor, he trod on them, and shook his head at the confused teenager. Severus, having seen his familiar move towards the clumsy boy, saw what happened.
"Good boy, Ebony. I'll take those. Perhaps Mr. Longbottom you should read your ingredient list a bit more thoroughly. 2 Points from Gryffindor." The whole conversation was said at a low tone, and no-body had turned around to look. Neville, red faced from embarrassment, merely nodded his head while looking firmly into his cauldron.
After class cleared out, Neville hung about. "Yes Mr. Longbottom? What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to thank Ebony for helping me, Sir."
The professor raised his eyebrow but nonetheless gestered for Neville to approach the large cat.
"Erm, Hi…" he stuttered, looking helplessly at the Professor. Severus decided to leave the boy to it and went into his office to check on the kitten.
Harry, meanwhile, looked up at Neville interestedly. The minute the professor had left the room his entire countenance had changed.
"Harry?" he whispered.
Harry sat up quickly. He nodded his head quickly then tilted it to the side, in curiosity.
"Thank God. Luna thought it was you, and you know how she is, normally right. But this was so random I wasn't certain, not until you helped me with my potion. I would have felt like a right prat if it hadn't been you and I was talking to a large cat like a loon!" He talked so quickly Harry had difficulty differentiating the words.
The minute Neville mentioned Luna, Harry understood. Luna saw things that others didn't. Harry often wondered if the younger girl was possibly a true seer. But, regardless, whatever Luna said was normally either true and important, or it was gibberish and about nargles. Harry leaned up and gave a large lick to the side of Nevilles face!
"Urgh! Thanks Harry!" Sarcasm tainting Nevilles words, before he sighed, "Listen. Meet me and Luna tonight in the spare classroom on the 2nd floor after dinner, if you can get away from Snape, yeah?"
Harry nodded in affirmation. He'd be there. He was just so glad that someone finally knew who he was! Although he was also terrified. Terrified that when Severus found out, he wouldn't want him anymore. But he couldn't stay as a panther forever, so he'd take things as they came.
