"Mum, what are you doing, Iris needs to spend more time with her family!"

"I know sweetie, but your father and I just need to have a little chat with about something, we won't be more than an hour."

At the exit to the sitting room, Iris was staring, wide-eyed, Miriam and Danny each having grabbed one of her arms, using her as the rope in a game of improvised tug-of-war.

"Muuuuuuum, you can do that later! She needs to get to know us better now!"

"Danny honey, let her go, your father is waiting for us in his office!"

"No mum! I'm not gonna! She needs to spend time with us!"

"Danny! Now!"

"C'mon mum, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee–"

"Danny…"

"–eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee–"

"Alright, ALRIGHT! Well I… I suppose you are right dear. I guess she can spend a few minutes more here, while you finish up talking about Quidditch. But no more than twenty, alright?

"Thirty mum!"

"Alright thirty."

Iris followed a smug Danny back into the den. He graced her with a smirk. "Parents, right?"

"Yeah…" Iris said, sitting back down.

Jesus Christ, she was grateful for him defending her at dinner, but he was even worse than Dudley on Christmas.

Thirty minutes later, Iris was startled out of her daydreams by a knock at the door. Danny hadn't say a word to her, completely lost in talks of the World Cup with Charlie.

"Alright dears, thirty minutes is up! Time to have that talk, Iris honey."

"Mum!" Charlie spoke up this time, "we weren't fin–"

Miriam cut him off, and grabbed Iris's arm a little more forcefully than necessary. "Sorry Charlie dear, but we really do have to go."

Danny chose this moment to interject. "Charlie's right mum, I was almost finished with my story! Come back later!"

Miriam's grip relaxed, and she let out a small sigh. "Well… alright Danny, I'll be back in fifteen. But really, this is it, okay?"

"Yeah mum, alright. Now let me get back to my story!"

Fifteen minutes passed. At least Iris talked this time, asking Cassie if she could pass a blanket. She legitimately wondered if Danny had ever not gotten his way.

Finally, Miriam came back into the room as Danny finished his speech, and Iris left with her step-mother to see James in his study


Miriam was perched on the side of the desk, and James was collapsed into the comfy-looking leather armchair behind it. They were holding hands supportively, seeming to have an entire conversation with their eyes. Miriam looked stubborn, while James looked reluctant. James broke eye contact first, as Miriam turned towards Iris, looking slightly victorious.

"Iris honey," she said, tone serious, "we wanted to talk to you about something that you might find scary. We know that it might be a lot to take in, but we promise, we're here to support you, no matter what you end up deciding to do."

"Wh-what do you mean? Did I do something wrong?"

She could feel her breath quicken. This was exactly like the second time Vernon got demoted.

"Oh no, not at all honey!" Miriam said quickly, taken aback, "it's nothing of the sort! If anything, it's our fault, you didn't have any say in the matter!"

Iris relaxed minutely, but was still incredibly nervous when James started to speak.

"Iris, do you know what metamorphism is?"

"No…"

"Of course she doesn't" James butt in, sending a small glare at Miriam.

He steeled himself, refraining from speaking until Miriam pinched his hand. "Well Iris, metamorphism is a condition that certain witches and wizards are born with. Witches and wizards that have it don't have any one permanent body: their features, heights, and even genders can shift constantly. If they want to, they can control that shifting, and potentially look like any other person on the face of the planet."

Iris waited, confused.

"And well… Iris, when you were born, I saw that you had that talent. Iris, you have metamorphism."

Iris was still puzzled. "But Ja–… dad, that can't be right. I've never been able to change what I looked like, no matter how hard I wanted it!"

Shit, she didn't mean to say that.

James looked at her, confused, but quickly shook it off. "Oh yes, well… that's what this is about. You see, when I thought you were a squib, and had to give you to Petunia and Vernon, I knew you'd never be able to hide metamorphism in the muggle world."

"Y'see, when they're kids, metamorphmagi—that's people with metamorphism—can't really control their powers, and they just randomly shift all the time. You'd never be able to go out in public with your family; I didn't want that for you."

"So basically… I ended up sealing your metamorphism away behind a powerful spell, and Mi–… we wanted to know if you want me to release it."

….What?

"Now Iris, you have to understand that there are downsides to being able to look however you want. I know it might be tempting to make yourself seem more pretty, or lose weight, or something like that. But metamorphism isn't exactly viewed well in our society. It's not bad or anything, it's just that most people don't really trust metamorphagi, even with their marks. Having metamorphism brings a lot of problems, and I want you to think really hard about–"

"Yes!"

"…what?"

Iris blushed. "I mean, yes Ja– dad, I'd like for you to get rid of the binding."

James frowned, ignoring a smug Miriam. "Iris, were you listening to anything that I just said? This isn't a decision to make lightly!"

Iris blushed further. What on earth had gotten into her? "I did J– dad, I promise. It's just that… I don't even know how to really describe it. I just know this is something I need to do."

James scrunched up his nose thoughtfully, in a way Iris could tell made Miriam want to snog him silly. Looks like their argument wasn't going to last long. "What do you mean?"

"Well… I guess I've always felt like my body was… too tight, if that makes any sense? Like my skin was shrinking down around me and trying to trap me in place. It was never really an issue before now, but now that I know the most likely cause, I'd like to fix it."

"Also" she added, figuring it would be something James would want to hear, "I've always thought that I needed to be braver. I think fighting to show that people with metamorphism are just as trustworthy as everyone else will help me grow into my Gryffindor courage."

She was right. James's eyes were suspiciously wet, and she could have sworn she heard him mutter something about "being just like her mother".

Smiling, James turned to Miriam and began to have a whispered conversation. A minute or so later they reached an agreement. Five minutes and a few dozen waves of a wand after that, Iris was watching herself in the mirror, awed as her hair began to shift through a rainbow of color.


"So Iris…" James said, coming up behind the couch she was sitting on, "are you feeling any… different?"

"Oh yeah! Everything feels so loose and free now, thank you so much for unbinding me!"

"Oh, that's great honey! But I meant, y'know, in other ways…"

"…No? What do you mean, J– dad?"

Her clothes? These were just the nicest hand-me-downs she had from the Dursleys, what was he t–

It was then Iris realized that her overlarge shirt and gym shorts had disappeared, and had been replaced with a bright yellow spandex onesie, that was covered with moving rubber ducks.

"HAH, gotcha!" Danny leapt up from the couch and high-fived his father.

"Congratulations Iris!" James said, smiling widely, "you've just experienced your first-ever Marauder prank! Welcome to the grand Potter family tradition of pranking, you'll be getting a lot more of it the more you stay with us!"

"Wow… J– dad, this sure is incredible, it's so funny! Who were the marauders!"

Iris really did deserve some sort of acting trophy after this. Perhaps that award that Petunia always ranted about how Dudley could get if he 'only put forth the effort!' at playing the role of a tree in the school play?

"Why Iris m'girl", he said, wrapping and arm around Danny's shoulder, "the Marauders were nothing less than the greatest pranksters that Hogwarts had ever seen! Me, your Uncle Remus, and your Uncle Sirius, we were kings! We'd pull off such spectacular pranks on our dark classmates, they'd be afraid to slither anywhere in the school!"

Danny was completely entranced by James's speech, despite the rest of the children's bored expressions telling her that he'd most likely heard it dozens of times.

"Yeah Iris!" he said, excitedly. "When I get to Hogwarts, I'm gonna restart the tradition with Ron and Neville! First thing we do, we're gonna find Snivellus, and make all his clothes vanish in the hall! Then we'll find McCreath or Malfoy or Desjardins, and make them only talk by singing opera! It's gonna be so wicked!"

"Wow!" Iris said, "that sounds incredible! You really are carrying on Dad's legacy!"

Danny puffed up, as James patted him proudly on the shoulder.

Suddenly, Miriam cut in.

"Oh dear! James, Danny, Iris, come on, we're almost late for church!"

Hearing that, Iris paled. Quite literally so, thanks to her new abilities.

She'd been to churches in the past with the Dursleys, and she didn't have many fond memories. For much of her younger life, Petunia had dragged her along with them at near the crack of dawn every Sunday, to the local Anglican congregation, with the explicitly-stated hope that she'd find God, and "renounce her unnaturalness". Petunia might not have been a very devout Christian, but she was a very devout believer in "getting Iris to stop being such a freak". She took Iris every Sunday until she was around eight, when apparently it became obvious that Iris was the devil's child to her core, and no amount of church could get her to renounce it.

Seeing Iris's reluctance, Miriam quickly interjected. "Oh you don't have to come if you don't want to, sweetheart, I know that the Dursleys are probably Anglicans, and we're Catholics, so the service might seem strange or weird, and talk about different things. I think you really would benefit from coming with us though: most people in the wizarding world are Magical Catholics, and so it would be good for you to understand the denomination of most of your peers."

"And most of all", Miriam said, "James and I would really appreciate you coming to our family church. It really means a lot, doesn't it honey?" Miriam turned and glared at James, mentally commanding him to back her up.

"Uh… right, yeah. Iris, I know that you might not be used to a Catholic environment, let alone a magical Catholic environment, but we really would like to spend time with you."

Rooted in place, Iris could do nothing more than nod her head, pleasing her father and step-mother immensely. Well, she thought, at least this time, there won't be any pastors taking me aside, asking me to renounce witchcraft and satanism.

A few minutes later, after gathering together the rest of the children, the Potters set off.


Whatever Iris imagined a magical church would look like, this definitely wasn't it. She didn't know what exactly she was expecting, but she knew it should be… well, magical. This looked like every other church she'd ever seen; there was no sign of magic whatsoever.

Well, she did think she saw some sort of water-levitation charm creating a small upswelling in in the baptismal font, and sitting down, she could tell that the pews had some sort of cushioning magic on them. Other than that, though, it was… ordinary. Somewhere that she would find her six-year-old self kneeling on a Sunday.

Honestly, the most magical thing that had happened to her since they left was before they even went into the church, when James cast a spell on her which would translate the priest's Latin to English for the length of the service. Apparently, the rest of the Potter Family were already fluent: benefits of growing up in a magic manor instead of a cupboard, she supposed.

Eventually, the sermon started, and Iris brought out of her thoughts.

"My brothers and sisters", the ancient-looking pastor said, after a few minutes of introductory comments, "I would like to speak to you all today about the virtue of everyday charity."

"Too many of those here today, even those that consider themselves exceptionally charitable individuals, forget this great virtue, one repeatedly spoken of by our blessed savior himself. Too many of you take the model of the Ancient Israelites, and merely dedicate some portion of your income, great or small, to the performance of good works, and then wash your hands of the issue until the end of the next year, when you repeat the process."

"Now do not mistake me, my brothers and sisters, this is truly righteous. When you do this, you follow in the model of Gods chosen people, and our savior himself in his greatest miracle. We know that even with God's greatest gift, we cannot multiply bread and fish; but know that when you give away your gold, you give away bread to the multitude.

"But my brothers and sisters!" the priest said, "this is not nearly the length and breadth of charity. No, in fact, it is the merest portion of it! When considered in its true, Christlike form, charity is not only a great virtue, but the foundation of all virtues!"

"Charity is not only some grand act, it is the stricture by which you should live your daily life. Imagine you are walking in Diagon Alley, when you see a wizard that has lost his coin-purse. Now, while the calling of the darkness is to ignore him, and focus only upon yourself, as children of the light, we are called to charity, to focus on the needs of other before ourselves. So, if you wish to live your life in accordance with charity, you would take an hour from your day to aid him, with no thought or hope of your own reward."

"Consider the vampire, the soulless one who dwells in darkness. They continue their own existences solely by stealing blood, by thieving the life from innocent wizards, witches, and muggles. This is truly what splits the children of darkness from the children of light, the heathens and creatures from those bound for God's loving embrace."

"While the children of Satan live through taking blood, the children of light live through giving blood, the blood of Christ. It is not just our moral imperative to give, or even our spiritual duty, but instead the very central pillar of our existences, the elevating platform of our immortal souls!"

The priest continued on in a similar vein for almost an hour, as Iris gradually began to lose interest. Certainly, the references to magic and magical creatures were new, but even those quickly lost their luster as the sermon continued on in a pattern she'd heard a thousand times. God is good, the devil is bad, and so on, and so on.

Before she knew it, the service was over, and everyone was standing up and performing the leaving rites. Copying the others robotically, Iris eventually managed to leave the pews, and leave the church with the rest of the Potters.

"Wow!" Marietta said, almost as soon as they'd left the building. "I knew Pastor McClure was great, but today's sermon was just exceptional! Did you guys hear that part about how giving to others can actually help us be better people? I just felt so inspired!"

Danny nodded along, just as eager. "I know! I felt like he was talking right at me! Hey mum, do you know if I could give some of my allowance away to the werewolf reservation where Uncle Remus lives?"

As the two continued to ramble about the service to an equally-excited Miriam and Charlie, Iris fell to the back of the group with her father and half-sister.

"Not really your thing, huh kid?" James said, smirking at Iris's bored look.

"What!" Iris startled, "No, no, it was very interesting! Th-thank you so much for taking me with you, sir, it was exceptional!"

"Hey now," James said with a chuckle, "not liking those weekly services isn't a bad thing. I really don't care for them that much either. Miriam's the religious one in the family".

"Most of the kids have gotten into it—and more power too them—but it was never really my cup of tea. Cassie here understands me, don't ya' Cass?" He nudged the quiet younger girl next to him, who gave a little nod, and then immediately blushed and looked away.

"Yeah," James continued, "I know that Father McClure can be pretty intense, believe me, but he runs the lightest church this side of the channel. I promise, you don't have to be as enthusiastic as Danny or Marietta there, we're not gonna turn you into some bible-thumper, if that's what's you're worried about."

Overhearing their quiet conversation, Miriam looked over her shoulder. "And what's so bad about being a 'bible thumper', James dear?".

"Nothing, honey, nothing!" James said, gasping with exaggerated terror.

Miriam chucked, and pulled James in for a peck on the lips, smiling. "That does it mister, you're spending a whole week on the couch!"

James began waving his arms in the air, his face morphing into a comical look of horror. "No dear, anything but that! Please, I'll walk Stompy for a week, a month! I'll do all your paperwork! Just don't make me sleep on the couch!"

As the four children—even Cassie—chuckled at the elder Potters' antics, Iris trailed further and further behind, in a daze. She knew what a proper, loving family was supposed to look like from Petunia's daytime dramas, but somehow, seeing it up close made her childhood just a little bit bleaker.


Iris spent the remaining half-year back at the Dursleys, James and Miriam re-assuring her that they didn't want to "take Vernon and Petunia's place in her life." Amazingly, the Dursleys were actually treating her halfway-decently now, believing that her fully-trained wizard father had begun checking in on her. By the time she had returned from her initial trip to Potter Manor, they had cleaned out Dudley's second bedroom, and bought a bed to fill it.

Strangely enough, even though she was no longer required to, Iris still found herself making breakfast every morning, and performing most of her other chores, albeit at a highly reduced rate. She knew, intellectually, that no matter how terribly Vernon ranted and yelled, he couldn't lay a hand on her anymore, but some habits were too hard to break.

Besides, she thought, when she was allowed to eat some of the results, even if she had to take it back to her cupboard before Vernon's face turned purple, cooking became an enjoyable activity. She knew that the next time Danny asked one of those difficult questions about hobbies, she'd have an answer.

However, even as her daily life improved by leaps and bounds, her nights were a different story. She lay awake at night in Dudley's second bedroom, tossing and turning, thinking about the revelation that she had a family all this time.

On that first day, after her trip to Potter Manor, some part of her had hoped that they would ask her to stay with them, take her away from the Dursleys forever. Even if James had a horrible temper, and Miriam was a self-admitted "bible-thumper", she had admitted to herself that the Potters were miles better than the abusive shite-hole that was Number 4 Privet Drive. Surely, they'd save her from the Dursleys?

She should have known better.

She thought those naïve hopes had died long ago at the lash of Vernon's belt.

No, even when it was revealed she was a witch, they still cast her to the side without any consideration. James and Miriam had sent her back to the Dursleys without a second thought, giving their meaningless platitudes, and promising further visits that never came. They hadn't changed, they weren't any different.

They still didn't think any more of her than the mud scraped off their fancy dragon-leather boots.

It had been three months, and she had only been over three more times, for dinner. Iris had barely said a word. One of those visits didn't even count, since it was obvious that they were having other guests over—some family called the Weasleys—and inviting Iris was done as an afterthought.

The second dinner she ate at Potter Manor, she had met some guy named "Serious" who made a lot of puns, and was supposed to be her and Danny's godfather, but he barely even spoke to her before he went flying with her twin.

During the third dinner, she learned that Danny and Marietta had both known about her, but never once asked to visit or check in.

They wouldn't even let her go to a bookstore or library, claiming that the central shopping district Diagon Alley was "too dangerous to go to on a whim, wait until we shop for supplies in July honey-bun!" Of course, she thought, why would she need to go to a bookstore? It's not like she had finally discovered her birthright after twelve miserable years without it.

Depressingly, Iris thought, the highlight of her time with her birth family had been meeting the family pet, the one she'd seen on her first day at the Manor. "Stompy" was a strange-looking creature called a Dijiang, with a fuzzy round body with no face, red fur, six thick legs, and four flightless wings. She thought it was an appropriate pet for James, Danny, and Marietta. Not having a face, it didn't know how to take a breath either.

Thinking about pets, her thoughts turned sad. She'd always wished she could have a pet, even thought Petunia would never allow it. The kids on the playground said that pets never abandoned their owners.

Lying there, freezing and close to tears, Iris came to a remarkable realization.

"I hate them", Iris thought. "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them".

How dare they bind her powers, and abandon her to an abusive household, while they lived as a happy family in the lap of luxury? How dare they think that she'd accept them back like nothing had ever happened, after twelve years of hell? As Vernon's actions this morning proved, the Dursleys could be cowed if they bothered to drop by even a single time, but did they?

No, they thought that she wasn't worthy enough for their time, not like their four precious children, not like their spoiled "Boy-Who-Lived". Oh no, Iris wasn't like their children, Iris didn't deserve parental love and affection. Iris deserved insults and stares and universal disdain; canings and whippings and beatings.

Those last thoughts gave Iris pause. Yes, she might never forgive James and Miriam Potter, but they were her ticket out of Privet Drive, into the magical world. She wasn't a freak, she was a witch, and if she'd want to keep being a witch, she'd need the Potters.

…Damn.

At least Cassie and Charlie seemed nice.

With the Dursleys, she couldn't let her feelings show because of the fear and the abuse. Even now, at the distant thought of angering Vernon, she felt her breath start to quicken, and her pulse increase. She might not have had that heart-stopping fear of the Potters, but the situation was still the same. With the Potters, she wouldn't be in danger of starvation or death-by-trauma, but of being thrown back into that starvation and death-by-trauma.

It seemed to be the story of her young life: she had relatives who did awful things to her, and she hated them for it, but she had to smile right in their face and talk about how the sun shined out of their arses.

Iris didn't like it, but she would manage, for magic.

She recalled the wonder and joy she had felt when first touring the grounds of Potter Manor. Magic was the thing that had saved her from freakhood, from unnaturalness. She didn't know what she'd have to go through at Potter Manor to keep her place there, but she knew magic was worth it.

Magic was worth almost anything.

AN: Hey guys, fairly large revision to this chapter, to make it fit in more smoothy with the others I have written.

I don't have any comments this time, but I feel bad leaving this section empty though, so I'll throw in a random fact about the world that I'll probably never get to use.

Did you know that Hinduism is the only major world religion that originated with mages? Most local pagan/polytheistic religions incorporated mages into their understanding of the world and the divine, but they were eventually all run out of their native areas by the rise of the evangelical faiths (Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism).

Those traditions continued on in magical communities, practiced by mages after they secluded themselves away from muggles, but Hindu mages never needed to. Because of this, Hindu mages were some of the last in Afro-Eurasia to seclude themselves, happening around the time of the rise of the Mughal Empire in the 1500s. While muggle Hinduism was influenced by Mughal Islam to an extent, the Old Magic of most Indian mages bears a remarkable resemblance to the rituals used by muggle Hindus today.