When he came to himself, he realized that he was standing in some sort of a field. A field covered in flowers of orange, violet, blue and yellow, creating an interesting mosaic that was pleasant to look at. The sun was slowly rising, so he could see how each of the colours came forth in the morning light. It looked beautiful in the teen´s eyes.

But how did he get here?

The wizard tried to recall what happened. He remembered waking up to check on what triggered his wards, going alone to let his familiars and Dobby have some rest. That later turned out to be a mistake when he encountered a werewolf that bit him before he could call for help. A shudder ran through the teen´s body as, the feeling of those fangs sinking into his shoulder and the tearing pain that followed. Afterwards, the burning sensation came and he vividly remembered seeing flames before everything became blurry for him. His next coherent thought was in this field but…

Where was he anyway?

I can answer that.

Jumping, Harry spun around, his wand ready in his hand, only to stare at what was now in front of him. A few steps away from him stood a large black wolf. It was smaller in comparison to the Cerberus the wizard met in his first year at Hogwarts and definitely smaller than his new familiar. But regardless of that, the canine still towered over the young wizard by at least one head, which slightly unnerved the teen. Especially since its green eyes were following his every…

The wizard blinked, and then took a better look at the wolf. The more he looked, the more he started to feel some sort of familiarity with the canine. Its colouring made him feel as if he was looking at some sort of a furry reflection.

But how was that possible?

And where was the owner of the voice he heard before?

I´m standing right in front of you.

"Huh?" he blurted out without thinking, as he realized the wolf can read his mind. Then he thought over it and rubbed his head with a groan. "Please, tell me I don´t have another familiar. Dagian and Hedwig are more than enough!"

The wolf let out an amused noise, before shaking his head. I´m not one of your familiars. I´m a part of you, wizard child.

A part of him?

Perhaps you would understand more, if I answered your previous question – we are in your mind. The place around us is a reflection of your inner world and we are currently standing at the crossroad of the various parts of your mind. By going in any direction, you will find places connected to your memories, your thoughts, your feelings… there are many possibilities of where you can go. The only limits here are the ones created by yourself.

The wolf paused, tilting its head to the side.

Now, can you make a guess about who I am?

The young wizard blinked before he started thinking about it, his head unconsciously tilting to the side too. "If we are in my mind… and you said that you are a part of me… Does that mean you represent something of me? Some part of who I am?"

Correct.

"Okay… are you my animagus form?" Harry guessed, only for the wolf to shake its head.

No. After what happened to you, you will never be able to use it, since it was erased when I was born in your mind. But I´ll give you another hint – my presence has something to do with the attack you suffered before you came here.

"The attack before…" the raven-haired teen trailed off, green eyes widening as the realization came to him. "I was attacked by a werewolf… during the full moon… So I´m now a… a…"

A werewolf, yes. And I´m your inner wolf.

"Oh, sweet Merlin and Morgana," groaned the teen, rubbing his face.

His life, why?

Then he remembered something and looked at the wolf, a frown marring his features. He recalled reading up about werewolves, after finding out about Professor Lupin being one, and none, not even the ones written by members of their own race, mentioned meeting their "inner wolf" like this. Usually, there is meditation and long hours of soul searching involved before they can even make brief contact with the beast. So, unless this is actually a big lie, there must be more to this situation.

And judging by the amused expression that appeared on the wolf´s face, he was right. So he asked: "Why exactly am I here? I doubt this is a social visit."

You are correct in your thoughts. The wolf huffed, then looked around. Certain things need to be addressed, and I thought the best way to do it, would be while your body is recovering from the attack and adjusting to your new form of existence.

I knew it, thought the wizard, then sighed. "Okay, so what do I need to know?"

For starters, you won´t be a traditional type of werewolf. Seeing the teen's surprised expression, the wolf elaborated. Because of two main factors, your body takes differently to the "curse", compared to the other wizards and witches. The first is the basilisk venom still running through your veins. As you know, basilisk venom is a very potent and deadly thing, so very few things survive contact with even the smallest amount of it. With the amount that has been pumped into you, when you were bit, the curse could not survive… or at least, could not remain whole, as it was. You can say that the venom essentially broke it into smaller parts. Second, there are the phoenix tears, which were used to save your life after you were bitten. The tears have a healing property, which is currently working overtime to allow your body to heal and adapt. They are basically re-arranging the broken-down parts of the curse, adjusting your body accordingly and making it more… durable and allowing you to heal much faster, compared to other werewolves. As a result, you will find the transformation between human and wolf easier and far less painful. And since you are becoming more in tune with your inner wolf, you can talk and interact with me without problems, as you can see. But… there are also other factors. Factors I can´t exactly explain, so you will have to contact some healer to give you a proper check-up.

Harry raised an eyebrow at this. "What other factors? And are they dangerous to me?"

Not exactly… at least one of them is not an immediate danger for you. It is more like a form of energy that I have trouble identifying. It awakened when the wolf bit you, though I can tell one thing – a part of it is meant to heal you, so it is definitely not harmful to you. The other one, however, could have been a serious danger for you, but something already took care of it, as I can no longer feel its presence. You will find out more if you talk to a healer.

"…okay," the wizard said slowly, mentally making plans to contact his bank, since going to a hospital, as he is now, would be a suicide. But he didn´t like these unknowns, so seeing a specialist would definitely be a necessity. "Anything else I need to know?"

The wolf nodded. Some of my characteristics will bleed through to you, but I can promise you that it will be nothing harmful. Your senses will be sharpened and you will probably no longer need glasses. You will also possess a strong desire to build a pack around yourself. Your familiars might provide some satisfaction in that regard, but I would like to have more… humanoid… companions. They don´t have to be other werewolves, but I would still like someone to be there for me like that. After all, as a man once wrote: "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.*" And I would like a strong pack to hunt with and to trust them to have my back.

"Sounds good to me," the raven hummed before he turned serious. "But I would like some say in who will be a part of my… pack. I don't like the idea of being in one with people I can´t stand."

Naturally. While our instincts might guide us to potential packmates, it is ultimately upon both of us, if they are worthy of joining our pack. But you should head that you will probably attract strong individuals, so there will be no shortage of candidates… in fact, I can feel two already forming, but I´m unsure with who…

"Maybe Hermione and Ron?" wondered Harry.

No, those two I know from your memories and I believe I would know if it was them. These two bonds feel… different.

He did not like the sound of it. "Different… how?"

Human, or once human, but now something else. Not werewolf, that I´m sure, since you killed the one who bit you. Actually… these two fledgling bonds feel more like the unknown new energy, so there might be a connection.

"Great, just great," groaned the teen.

The canine was quick to reassure him. But I can tell you that they will not harm you, that much I know from the bond.

"…okay. I will take your word for it," Harry sighed. Taking a deep breath, he finally asked: "Anything else I need to know?"

The wolf paused, seemingly thinking.

That is all I can say and know at the moment about our situation. Other than that, I´m afraid, you will have to discover on your own, during the full moon. As I said, the curse was severely affected and thus we will be different from the other wolves, but I can´t confirm to what extent.

Harry smiled at his companion. "That is still plenty. And at least I did some research about our species before this happened, so I won´t be caught flatfooted."

Hopefully not.

"By the way, what should I call you?" inquired the teen suddenly.

Oh? I didn´t introduce myself?

The wizard shook his head.

My apologies, then. My name is Novilunium. It´s nice to meet you, Harry.

"Nice to meet you too, New moon."

It had been several hours later when the young wizard began to stir, and Bermuda was immediately on alert with Jaeger following his Master´s lead. The two lead Vindice heard the teen´s pained groan and watched as he opened his eyes. Green orbs slowly took in their surroundings, letting the teen relax at the sight of the familiar tent before they landed on the undead duo and stared.

The duo stared back.

There was a moment of silence.

Then the boy raised a hand and rubbed his eyes, before calling out: "Dobby!"

At his name, the house elf immediately appeared beside his wizard. "Master Harry, called?" asked the elf, nervously, eying the two law-keepers.

"Yes, I did. I need you to answer something for me," the wizard lifted his hand to look at the elf before his gaze moved back to the duo. "Do I have a pain inducted hallucination, or there truly is a pair of gothic mummies in the tent with us?"

The duo simultaneously blinked underneath their bandages. That…was the least insulting description and name they ever got from someone who saw them for the first time. It was also quite tame, compared to any of the previous names… most of which were spoken in fear or anger, instead of the weary confusion like now.

It both surprised and pleased the two head Vindice, especially considering that they managed to identify what exactly caused the feelings from before.

"The Honourable Law Keepers are indeed real, Master Harry!" replied the house elf quickly.

A soft "oh" left the boy´s lips before he attempted to sit up. "And where are Dagian and He-" a furry blur cut off the teen as the giant feline familiar appeared and landed atop its bonded human. The bed creaked at the added weight and Bermuda knew the only reason it probably didn´t fall apart was because of strong enchantments.

"Never mind…" groaned the wizard as the feline laid on him, purring and nuzzling him anywhere it could reach. "Dagian… please… get of… I know you are… happy I woke up… but I need to… address our guests… That´s not a nice thing to say… Girl, seriously… Hedwig, help."

The white owl obeyed and flew closer, landing at the head of the bed. She started hooting at the big feline, who was meowing and growling back at her. They seemed to have a small debate, before the feline moved to the side of the bed, allowing the wizard to sit up. He managed it but kept hissing in pain, as every movement obviously reminded the teen of the still-healing wound on his shoulder. "Dagian" moved to rub her head against the injury, as if to soothe the pain away.

The teen smiled at her and then looked at the bandaged duo. "Okay, for starters, I apologize for calling you… well… for calling you two – bandaged mummies. After the night I had, I wasn´t sure you are not another hallucination and so it… slipped out without me thinking. I´m sorry."

"Apology accepted," Bermuda said and Jaeger nodded in agreement. "I think we should introduce ourselves. My name is Bermuda von Veckenschtein and this is my right hand, Jaeger, we are members of the Vindice."

"It´s nice to meet you. My name is Harry James Potter and these are my familiars, Dagian and Hedwig," he motioned at each of the familiars, "And this is Dobby, my friend and loyal helper."

The Vindice Arcobaleno raised an eyebrow, while the elf squealed and sobbed from apparent happiness at being held in such high regard by his master. Interesting, but not important at the moment.

"May I ask what business you have with me?" the teen inquired. "What exactly are the Vindice? I´m afraid I have never had the chance of learning about your existence, until now."

"Understandable. Most of the outsiders never heard of us. To answer your question, we came here because we sensed your awakening as a strong Flame User. And we, members of the Vindice, take it as our duty to personally investigate and inform the new members just what community they became members of."

The lead Vindice then launched the explanation about the Dying Will Flames, the mafia and the role their organization had in this society. He tried to remain calm the whole time, examining the reaction of his companion. He wanted to see how will the teen react to everything so he could decide, how should he approach a certain topic. So far, the wizard´s reaction gave him mixed feelings: With each word, the teen´s expression lost more of its emotions, until a blank expression remained on his face. And when Bermuda finished talking, the teen stayed worryingly quiet.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, the teen raised one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. After that, he spoke: "You know, this is not exactly how I imagined… yesterday and today to be like. Yesterday, my supposed guardians locked me out of the house. That I can handle, since I learned to be prepared for such situations – my tent is proof enough. Then I met and got kidnapped to some unknown place by my second magical familiar. An unexpected and somehow worrisome situation, but a welcomed surprise since she is an adorable kitten and I can forgive her for the kidnapping."

Kitten?

"Since I was prepared, I set up the tent and got another pleasant surprise – Dobby became my house-elf. Which was… honestly unexpected, but welcomed, since I trust him with my life."

Cue, the elf squealing and sobbing.

"Today I planned to find out where I was. Maybe ask Dobby to take me somewhere where people lived, if necessary. But then I woke up at someone or something crossing the wards of my tent. Surprise, surprise – it turns out to be a werewolf and he attacked and bit me! I´m now a creature hated by everybody and their mother in this country. But that´s not enough for my bad luck, oh no. Because during my struggle against the werewolf I awoke a power that is coveted by ANOTHER secret society. That wouldn´t be so bad, since I got used to them as a wizard. But it can´t be a harmless society. No! With my luck, it has to be the bloody mafia, of all things!"

Here Harry paused in his rant and looked at Bermuda and Jaeger. "Please forgive me for the following reaction. And please, don´t take anything personally, I´m cursing my luck and not you since you are at least honest with me about my situation."

Again, the duo could only blink in surprise. But they stayed quiet, as the teen let out impressive steam of curses. The duo let him, as they understood the teen´s need to vent his emotions. After all, they did worse than just curse something verbally, after they got "cursed" in the past. So they let him get it all out. Interestingly, he didn´t limit himself to ordinary English only, but used several dialects as well as the French and Italian languages to express his dismay about the situation… And if Bermuda understood right from the words, about several other situations that were similarly screwed up like this one.

Maybe that´s why they have…

"…I needed this," the teen let out a satisfied sigh, once he finished cursing. "I´m sorry, for what you heard, but I had to let it out."

"It´s alright," Jaeger spoke for the first time. "We understand that the situation is a lot to take in. Besides letting such a thing out now, is better than it exploding at the worst possible time."

That made Harry laugh a little. "I supposed you´re right. Besides, with that out of the way, I have several questions I would like you to answer for me."

"Go ahead."

"Okay, I understood that being active with these flames comes with several side-effects… but can it create bonds?"

A red flag rose in Bermuda´s mind as his right hand answered: "Yes, Sky flames, the rarest of all, can create bonds with the other flame types."

"Do I have them?"

"From what we saw before, it is one of your two main flames."

"Okay so… is it why my inner wolf is telling me I have recently created two bonds with someone? Concretely, with people I don´t know," the teen, looking directly at the duo.

Said duo froze, doing a good imitation of a deer caught in the headlights.

"Well?"

This time it was Bermuda who answered him, deciding to keep being honest with the teen, since he seemed to appreciate the sincerity. "You are correct, we did form a bond with you. To be specific, we have bonded to you as your guardians."