…disturbed fur…

Ink was creating a rather inordinate amount of fuss out in the parlour and Severus was about ready to fetch his wand and hex her. Whenever he had a delicate potion to brew he preferred there be only himself in the lab and the kitten didn't like that. She would meow piteously outside the door unless Harry managed to silence her, or Snape had managed to lock her into his room upstairs. She still wouldn't tolerate Harry's presence, though she had stopped attacking him for merely walking past.

Severus added the final ingredient and turned the heat down, watching the potion begin a subtle simmer that would have to be maintained for the next three hours. It was a delicate rose colour, and the steam that drifted across the surface of it was faintly green which was exactly right. He stepped back and tidied his ingredients away, checking the mouse he had used and placing it carefully back in the cage with its mates. It looked a little disgruntled that its once fine whiskers were missing, but they would soon re-grow. Once everything was tidy he turned and strode for the door to the main house. Ink had continued to make a racket, and he was contemplating kneazle-cide as he wrenched the door open and stepped through quickly, closing it behind him to keep the wretched thing out of his lab. He had learned the hard way that she would run into whichever room she had been barred from and her reckless dash often left a trail of detritus in her decidedly ungraceful wake.

The reason for the commotion was immediately apparent. A large panther sat quietly by the fire, trying to read a page that Ink had apparently shredded. Ink was puffed up and hissing and spitting, not to mention yowling and pouncing towards the creature. One swipe of the heavy paws and the kneazle would be killed if not seriously injured, yet the panther was patiently ignoring the little menace and not retaliating when its nervously twitching tail was attacked.

"Harry?" Severus' voice was incredulous, and the panther looked up, a silent plea evident in the startling green eyes. The Potions Master hit the kitten with a mild stunning spell and then scooped it up and put it away in the lined basket that Harry had conjured for him while the boy was still blind. With the noise gone the panther heaved a huge sigh of relief and returned its attention to the page it was trying to read.

Severus approached cautiously, though he was fairly sure the panther mind was firmly under the control of the human within, otherwise Ink would have been in no fit state to make that amount of noise for as long as she had. Harry purred at him, a reassuring rumble that Severus was glad to hear and allowed him to stroke a thickly velveted ear. There was a patch of disturbed fur between the animal's ears and he risked a chuckle.

"Even as an animagus your hair is untamed," he snarked lightly and got a disgruntled growl in reply, "Are you stuck?"

If the boy was then he'd need to call Albus or Minerva for help. Evidently the change had been overpowered by Harry's Magic, which meant the boy was not as well versed in the spells and process as Severus would like. Typical Gryffindor, to rush ahead when Slytherin's would wait.

The panther grumbled and nudged at the page it was trying to read. Severus cautiously reached under the broad nose and removed the page, lifting it delicately to avoid any further damage. He placed it flat on the low table in front of the couch under the panther's anxious eyes and then tried a few delicate repair spells that nudged the paper into something more stable. Harry rubbed his squared head against Severus shoulder in thanks and both of them bent over to look through the instructions.

It did not take long to determine that there were several vital steps missing from the page in front of them and that Harry would need expert assistance to return to his human form. Severus rubbed the repentant head that rested on his knee as he wrote a short message to Albus, requesting Minerva's assistance as soon as possible, knowing that a request for help from the summer house would have Albus in residence as a matter of course.

Flash appeared when called, and from the coldness of the Phoenix' feathers it had been flying in the cool spring air outside. It would be Easter soon, and the weather was slowly warming, even as the days got longer and the heavy snowfall melted. Severus knew that Harry would be pleased to go out again without the vast amount of layers that were mandatory for the teen to wear. He had recovered enough weight that he was now as thin as he had been upon first entering Hogwarts, and as that was still considered to be underweight by both Severus and Madam Pomfrey, Harry was forced to wrap up in many layers to ward off the cold.

"Minerva will be here soon," Severus said bracingly as Flash disappeared with the message and a very smug air. The Potions Master could have sworn that the Phoenix had been laughing at Harry's predicament, and from the disgruntled air that Harry wore the teen thought so too. The panther sighed and padded over to the fireplace, flopping down gracelessly and closing its eyes.

There was a sound from Inks basket and Severus went to let her out, holding her firmly on his lap to prevent her trying to attack Harry once more.

0o0o0o0

Albus wasn't entirely sure what he'd been expecting when Flash deposited them in the parlour of his summer house, but the panther on the rug certainly wasn't it. Minerva exclaimed immediately and transformed to her cat self, bounding over to Harry and rubbing noses with him. Ink, who had hissed indignantly at the sight of yet another cat in her territory stuttered to a surprised halt and watched the two cats greet each other with rumbling purrs and rubbed heads. The black Kneazle wiggled out of Severus' restraining hands and crept towards the two cats by the fire, whiskers quivering.

"Perhaps they'll teach her some manners," Severus complained as Albus sat in the chair beside him, making the elder Sorcerer chuckle.

"What happened?" Albus asked, fascinated by Harry's powerful form. His boy was handsome and sleek, though even as an Animagus he seemed a little thin.

"I believe Harry was rehearsing the Animagus spell while I brewed in the next room; it appears that he had a surge of magic which caused the spell to be overpowered and Harry transformed. Ink panicked and shredded the instructions that Harry was using. There are several steps missing, and neither of us were willing to experiment with this particular spell," Severus murmured softly.

"Quite right," Albus agreed. You didn't want amateurs playing around with this particular spell, as the results could be fatal. Harry abandoned the two smaller cats to pad over to Albus, looking at him plaintively, a very untypical expression for such a powerful hunter. The Headmaster beamed and leaned forward to pet silken fur, earning himself a deep purr and a gentle nudge.

"Very handsome, dear boy," the white haired man approved, "Now, lets teach you to control the change and reversal, hmm?"

Harry nodded as McGonagall popped back into her normal shape, startling Ink who ran to hide in Severus robes. The Headmaster watched his deputy as she talked Harry through the finer points of the spell and the visualisations that would go with it. She demonstrated it once and then turned into a human once more and folded her hands expectantly. The panther sighed softly, stepped back and turned into Harry's familiar form, a very sheepish look on the well known face.

"Harry, you're a menace," Severus' low statement was coloured with relief, and Albus was well pleased to see that Harry took the comment in the intended spirit, rather than taking umbrage and scowling.

"Sorry Severus," he mumbled, "But it was Ink's fault."

"Rubbish! Ink is a dim witted creature, and you…" Severus trailed off when he realised what he was about to say and scowled thunderously at the teen who was offering a very engaging and shy grin at the unintended praise.

"Ink jumped on me as I walked past the bookcase where she was yowling. She was trying to get into the potions lab through the gap in the top of the door," Harry pointed to the small gap. The kitten would never have fit through it, but that did not prevent Severus from aiming a rather vicious construction spell at the door in question, much to Albus amusement.

"She startled me as I was reading through the instructions for the first change, and shredded the paper in shock when I actually managed it," Harry was undoubtedly proud of himself for achieving this particular goal, and Albus beamed back at the teen.

"Well, it remains to be seen if you have mastered it properly," Minerva stated, "Change again Harry."

There was a small pause and then the panther took Harry's place, the alteration so swift and sure as to be almost instantaneous. Harry complied with various requests to extend and retract his claws and perform other panther like actions before being told to change back again. He changed back and forth on command several times before Minerva and Severus announced they were satisfied, by which point he was hiding behind Albus in the hope of getting a break from his demanding teachers.

"All that remains is to name you, dear boy," Albus patted the couch and Harry leapt up to sit neatly between himself and Severus, his tail wrapped around his front paws and whiskers pointing forward in interest. He looked rather like an over sized house cat.

"Is that really necessary Albus?" Severus groaned and Minerva shot her colleague a dark look.

"All Animagus have names for their form, its tradition," she said sharply, "My cat form is known as Persnicketty."

No one dared to laugh at that, not with the way she was glaring at them, though Harry's tail twitched.

"Pudding," Albus suggested, garnering a proper panther glare for his suggestion, "Pouncer, Stalker, Hunter…"

"Really Albus, why not just do away with all pride and call him P-for?" Severus suggested sarcastically.

"P-For?" Minerva frowned trying to work that one out.

"P-for-panther," Severus clarified and got growled at, with Harry flattening his ears to his head for emphasis.

"Midnight," Minerva had a misty quality to her that was rarely seen, but Harry sighed and shook his head. Evidently plays on his colour were as anathema to him as plays on his ability.

"Nine? Do you even have nine lives left?" Severus appeared to regret the comment the moment he said it though Harry made a noise that was undoubtedly a snicker in reply. He allowed Severus to rub a velvet ear in apology and purred softly in reassurance.

"Hmm, this is more difficult than I thought," Albus mused, "How about… Soot?"

Harry startled them all by purring in approval and even Severus nodded in agreement. Soot rubbed against Albus' shoulder and then turned back into Harry, with the familiar messy hair, bright eyes and happy grin.

"Messy and inconvenient," Severus approved, and Harry blushed as the adults laughed at him.

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