AN: My frustration with spending hours researching the exact dimensions of Tam's Cerberus form is mirrored by Harry's frustration. Because while initially it was one brief elated transformation, I had spent actual hours figuring out how it would work feasibly. So Tam gets a nice big description again because damnit I worked hard on that!

As always, reviews are appreciated.

Harry

After Tahmryis decides to be a Cerberus, Harry's comfortable fringe-life in Slytherin is shattered. Where previously only Androktasia and Marcus Flint felt any need to communicate directly (Draco had been polite, of course, but reserved and distant), now the entire House felt the need to offer their services and advice and thoughts on anything and everything he did.

Tahmryis grows edgier the longer it goes on which only makes him remain a Cerberus rather than convince him to change. Braith worriedly queries after them only to be snapped at by all three heads in unison. Professor Snape asks Harry and the young boy replies cordially that they aren't considering it; it's just interesting.

Most of Slytherin are purebloods and so they often have letters or supervised visits with parents to discuss future fortunes in Professor Snape's office (not that the rest of the school is aware of the latter) and so when Draco's father appears in the common room, no one is surprised. Professor Snape stands beside Draco and dips his head politely. Tahmryis has two of his heads down in an apparent nap but one looks up and nudges Harry gently.

"Mute swan. Black variant colour - unnatural," he informs him.

"Explains Svenia," he says in response – flipping the page of his textbook and peering at the table on the seven uses of dragon's blood. Draco's dæmon is a trumpeter swan today – vaguely greyish in her adolescence with a shiny black bill.

There's a sudden silence in the common room and Harry becomes aware of someone standing before him. His dæmon is silent on the matter but he knows that Tam is upset but busy remaining aloof. He memorizes the table he'd been examining and then turns the page, affecting a nonchalant demeanour before he peers up through the fringe of his hair at the imperious looking blonde aristocrat.

"Lord Malfoy," he says politely and then immediately turns to the swan beside. She's trying to get Tahmryis' attention and making soft noises to demand acknowledgement. Tahmryis opens one eye and then snorts – getting up and turning around to resettle with his back presented to the pair. Lucius's eyes tighten but that is the only outward sign of his displeasure at their slight. "Your name, dæmon?" Harry asks and expects to be answered.

The dæmons always answer when he directly addresses them. He suspects it's something to do with being in shock at the blunt manner. "Zitomira," she says archly.

"Greetings," he says rather than the formal and clichéd 'pleasure' or 'delighted' that he'd almost used. Then he meets Lucius's stare with a polite smile. "May I help you?" he asks. It's neither a tacit admission that he will do the Lord Malfoy a favour nor an agreement to hear him out; he says it in a tone that makes it abundantly clear it is just the polite thing to say and so he'll say it for manner's sake.

"I simply wanted to meet the young man my son has written letters about," Lucius says. Harry would describe his voice almost as a drawl but it is too refined for that – too much polish and not enough silk. He smiles at the blonde in purely childish simplicity. The eyes are tightening again and there's amusement from Tam that makes him almost blow their cover. "Your dæmon has a unique form."

"It's a temporary decision," Harry says and tilts his head to peer at the look of distaste on Zitomira's face. Bird dæmons are always difficult to read; there's only so much movement a bill or beak can make and unless one is familiar with the dæmon in question you can only read so much into the way they move their eyes. If they don't vocally show emotion, most people can't tell at all what they're feeling.

But Tahmryis and Harry are special and so Harry is very aware that Lucius is displeased with the use of contractions but won't try to correct them because they aren't his son and so he has no right to adjust their speech the way they do with Draco. Harry won't express his delight in annoying people but Tam makes a low chuffing noise and climbs languidly to his paws.

Harry is aware, of course, that no one had spent much time examining Tahmryis' form after they saw the three heads. So, he's gleeful to see the reaction from someone who's apparently willing and wanting to take the time to actually inspect his dæmon.

Tahmryis hadn't seen a Cerberus before but figuring out the configuration of three heads hadn't been supremely difficult once they'd perfected the base form. They'd started with a grey wolf as it was the largest breed Harry could find during their intense scouring of encyclopaedias. Of course, a grey wolf didn't have the necessary musculature to support three heads and maintain the speed and length of leg required to still be properly wolf-shaped rather than dog-shaped.

Harry had suggested an extinct breed – the canis dirus commonly called the dire wolf – to fill out the body more. They could have used a dog but Harry had been adamant that if Tahmryis was going to do a three-headed wolf that they would do it properly. Of course, this subtle shifting from the initial transformation with Neville hadn't been noticed by anyone else so only they really knew about the extent of Tam's oddity.

What it resulted in was the form Tahmryis is currently lording over Zitomira's small swan shape. He's larger than a grey wolf and his legs are sturdier and shorter than a grey wolf of the same size would have (not that a grey wolf would be as large as Tam is now). His teeth are longer and sharper than a grey wolf and he's adapted the jaw to have a moderate bone-crushing strength – more than a dire wolf but not as strong as a grey wolf. His ears are pricked forward and they look small against his large heads with the thick foreheads and long blunt snouts. His fur is pure white with absolutely no shading of any other colours and is coarse to the touch with guard-hairs and his eyes are liquid gold rimmed heavily in black.

He's approximately two metres long from tip to tip, his shoulder measures at about a metre, and he most assuredly weighs at least three times Harry's slightly below average 30 kilograms. Overall, he's definitely the largest dæmon in the school and he so rarely gets the chance to properly lord his size over anyone (what with his dedicated disinterest and all).

Harry keeps Lucius enough in his peripheral that he appears to still be politely peering at the pureblood all the while he watches the man's dæmon react to Tahmryis quite suddenly staring her down.

She holds up remarkably, hissing at him sharply, but they can see the tremble that means she's terrified (not that she doesn't reek of terror to Tam anyway). Harry's dæmon drops all three heads so he creates one line straight back to the tip of his perfectly still tail. His ears are pricked forward and his pink tongues lazily thrust around gleaming white incisors as he continues to stare silently.

Harry delights in the way he sees Lucius abruptly take a step backward. Professor Snape doesn't move and Braith has her eyes trained on Tam for any sign of movement. It's wonderful to have such attention paid to their actually quite detailed and complicated form and Harry would preen openly if he weren't pretending that Tahmryis isn't doing anything at all threatening.

"If that is all, Lord Malfoy," Harry says happily while tucking his book beneath his arm and rising. He threads his hand into the scruff of the nearest head and Tahmryis blinks lazily up at him while the remaining heads turn up their noses in disinterest and his tail drops. "I must return this book to the library before Madame Pince grows upset at us."

"Of course," Lucius recovers with remarkable aplomb. "Do not let us keep you," he adds with an almost deferential air. Harry only notices because Draco's eyeing his father as though something strange and horrible has happened and Svenia is looking uncomfortable in her swan form but unwilling to change.

"You aren't," Harry assures him and this time Zitomira doesn't so much as blink at the contraction. He smiles at the swan graciously and she looks surprised – looking up at Lucius briefly before dipping her head a little. "Hello, Draco," he looks past them and lets another smile bloom briefly. "Lovely to meet you, Lord Malfoy," he says over his shoulder as they walk toward the exit.

"Black is not a colour I enjoy," Tahmryis addresses Zitomira abruptly before moving to follow his wizard. She doesn't visibly recoil but she does arch her neck a little. "It suits you though."

In the corridor, Harry doesn't remark on Tam's decision to speak. Tahmryis knows he's wondering and so explains, "I know her."

"Where?"

"In the Alley," he says. "But not just the Ally. She is familiar."

"Puzzle," Harry muses delightedly.

Tahmryis wags his tail a little. "Puzzle," he agrees cheerfully.

end.