Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived

Chapter 15: Summer of Magic Part 2

The Mitigated Truth
Black Estate, Cardiff, Aug. 5th

Stepping out of the floo, Harry was immediately pulled into a hug.

"Harry," Sirius said happily. "Ready?"

Sirius' grin was infectious, and soon Harry was smiling back at his uncle. "Absolutely."

"Well let's get started." Sirius led his godson into the living room where most the furniture was already pushed against the walls. Taking a seat on a cushion in the middle of the floor, Sirius gestured for Harry to sit opposite him. "Go through your exercises."

Nodding his head, Harry cleared his mind to calm himself. After a few minutes, he held out his arm and took several deep breathes while thinking about his form. He pictured the doberman's strong, muscular, leg. He focused on how the muscles were tight, and always ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. He envisioned himself running through a forest, his speed gathering with every bound.

Slowly, he felt his arm changing. The muscles began shifting while the hair on his arm began to shrink and thicken. As his bones began to rearrange themselves, Harry did his best to keep his mind on the transformation. Mistakes were made when you lost focus, and Harry knew all too well the pain a half transformed limb could cause.

After a moment, Harry opened his eyes and grinned. His left arm had completely turned into one of the doberman's four legs. He ran his hand over the limb and marveled at how seemingly perfect the transformation had gone.

"Well done." Sirius had a huge smile on his face as he watched his godson complete the first step in the transformation. "How did it feel?"

"Less painful," Harry admitted.

Sirius' smile somehow managed to grow. "Excellent. That means you're becoming accustomed to the change. Pretty soon it'll start to feel completely natural. Now, turn the limb back to normal."

Taking a deep breath, Harry focused on the image he had of himself. Far sooner than he expected, he looked on as the doberman's leg quickly shifted back into his arm. "Amazing," he said as the transformation finished, "I didn't feel a thing."

"Well, I think you're ready Harry."

Swallowing somewhat nervously, Harry asked, "You really think so?"

"I do," Sirius said emphatically, "but what did I tell you when you first started?"

"That what you think doesn't matter. It's my body and my magic." Harry felt his confidence rise. "I think I'm ready as well. I didn't feel a thing turning my arm back to normal."

"Okay then, Harry." Sirius stood up. "This will be one of the hardest parts of the transformation, so if it looks like it's going wrong, I'm going to immediately change you back, okay? Don't fight the magic if you feel yourself changing back suddenly. It's likely me forcing you back to normal, and I'll only step in if it's not working."

Excitement built up inside him and Harry did his best to remain calm and collected. He'd been waiting since his first lesson with Sirius to do this, and he couldn't help but feel some anticipation. With the doberman clear in his mind, Harry willed himself to change. He pictured the long tongue, the floppy ears, and the sharp canines. As soon as he thought about the doberman's snout nose, he began to feel the first change. At first, it felt like his head was being crushed, but then he could feel his skull and cartilage start to be reshaped.

His eyes began to burn and his nose felt like it was being ripped off his body, but Harry kept a clear picture of the doberman in his mind. When his jaw unhinged and was reconstructed, he wanted to scream, but all that came out of his mouth was a pitiful sounding whine. Feeling a pain in the back of his neck, Harry fell forward onto all fours and he felt his back crack slightly. Suddenly feeling the need for more air, he opened his mouth and felt a long tongue slip from his mouth.