Chapter 5

After having a long shower Harry realized that most of his clothes did not accommodate his tails very well. He had a large wardrobe since finishing Hogwarts he had decided to splurge a little and bought himself anything that caught his fancy and had thrown away everything of his time with his family, but now his new appendages did not let him dress comfortably without putting his pants on too low for comfort.

He had no other option than to spend some time doing magical adjustments to his clothes, which wasn't easy. In the end he manage to alter one outfit and knew he would have to do the same to others if he wanted to be able to use his clothes, the only good thing was that the magical alteration were seamless and if he managed to hide his tails the clothes would still fit him. By the time he was finished is was already lunch time and he was starving, so he made his way to the dining room where he knew Andromeda would be waiting.

###

"Surprise!/Happy Birthday!" Everyone was there, all smiling and welcoming him and despite himself Harry was quite surprised. He had expected them later in the day and it appeared that they had been informed of his new appearance since no one seemed surprised.

Soon he found himself receiving hugs, kisses and well wishes from his group of friends. They weren't all that many but it warmed him to see them there. Luna, Neville, Fred, George, Warren, Bobby, Kitty, Marie, Kurt, Teddy and Andromeda where all there to pass his birthday with him.

After lunch it appeared that the twins could not hold their tongues any longer

"Harry we could"

"Not help but notice"

"That you are looking"

"Incredibly sweet"

"And innocent"

"One would say pretty" at this point Harry was blushing so badly that one would think he was running a fever or had sun burn.

Neville came to his rescue after noticing the byplay, "Hey guys give the guy a break"

"Don't worry Neville I am used to these two knuckleheads and at least their comments are flattering others will not think the same" Harry could not help but dread what the reaction of the world at large would be at his new appearance.

"Not to worry Harry we are your friends and don't care what you look like, plus you do look like a cutie" Marie told him with a smile that held a teasing lilt at the end.

"All the people at the mansion accepted me and Hank, I believe they will have no problems with you". Commented Kurt in earnest.

As everyone added their supporting comments Harry found himself relaxing. He had good friends and they would help him and support him.

The rest of the day was passed amid laughter, they watched a movie, played some games and told stories. All in all it was one of his best birthdays to date.

###

Kitsune

Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of yōkai, or spiritual entity, and the word kitsune is often translated as fox spirit in Japanese. Kitsune possess magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. The more tails a kitsune has—they may have as many as nine—the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. A kitsune can live multiple millennia depending in their power level.

Kitsune are known to possess the ability to perform wandless magic and are known to possess other rare abilities according to their level of power and age. Among these are the ability to generate fire or lightning, willful manifestation in the dreams of others, flight, invisibility, and the creation of illusions so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality.

Kitsune tend to keep to their isolated communities and rarely venture into human settlements unless the pull of a mate drives them to do so and it is known that when it happens the mate usually leaves with the Kitsune never to be seen again. In the rare cases where kitsune intermingle with humans not their mates and have kids the kitsune blood becomes a recessive trait in the family line. Only those with strong magical abilities can inherit the kitsune traits.

There is no such thing as a half kitsune, when a witch or wizard inherits the traits they become full kitsune with all that it entails. When a person becomes a kitsune they have to keep in mind that they will have to relearn how the see magic. A kitsune has no need for wands even if they can use them and are actually more powerful without them.

During the inheritance the witch or wizard will acquire the hybrid form of the kitsune and they will have to dedicate time and effort to learn how to transform into their other forms. A kitsune can turn into a multi-tailed fox, a human form and the hybrid form. While not much is known about these transformations it has been compared with an animagus transformation and can take up to six months to achieve after the individual in question has mastered their new magic's.

Kitsune Mates

A kitsune mates for life. Once a kitsune meets their perfect match they will never find another. The instant kitsune mates meets their mate they will feel the pull, pull that will also be felt by the mate in question even if they do not know what it means. One thing that is known is that a kitsune mate always has their life span expanded to match a kitsune's life span even if they are born before the kitsune in question.

A kitsune mate has to comply with certain characteristics in order for the mating to be successful. These characteristics vary depending of the nature of the kitsune, a kitsune can be submissive or dominant in nature.

To identify weather a kitsune is dominant or submissive one only has to look at their appearance. A dominant kitsune is characterized by their larger size, usually towering over six feet of height and have a stronger built. A submissive kitsune is known for its delicate built and small frame, never surpassing five and a half feet of height.

Submissive Kitsune Mates

A submissive kitsune mate has to prove there are strong enough to take care of the kitsune and any progeny they might have. A submissive kitsune feels the need to be courted and will probably resist initial advances. The courting has several stages thought they might vary between individuals.

There are several points in the courting procedure that are always the same, the kitsune will accept the courting with a kiss, there will be some kind of chase, the mate will offer gifts to the kitsune and if the kitsune accepts the bonding will get consummated at the end of the courting process. Courting periods have been known to last from weeks up to a year.

###

Harry together with his friends had spent the weekend looking for information on kitsune in the Black library and these had been the most detailed descriptions they had been able to find. There really wasn't all that much information on kitsune's known, but at least he now had an idea of what to expect.

There were no guides that said how to train kitsune powers or even where their hidden communities where, all that was known was that they came from Asia. Oh well

"Harry you should talk with the professor, there is bound to be a way he can help and some of the shape shifters might be able to help with your transformations once you have everything under control" said Marie.

"Yea, and you could use the danger room to train" Bobby interjected.

Harry nodded, his friends where right he needed help and the mansion was a good place to start.

"Ok, but let's wait till tomorrow since is already late and we should all get some rest."

After goodbyes where said Luna, Neville, the twins and Harry retired for the night.

###

The information on kitsune comes from wikipedia but some was changed to fit the story.

Thanks for all the reviews, it makes me really happy to know that people enjoy my writings.