Animal Instincts

Chapter I: Adapting

The next few days of staying in the safe-house of one Tom Riddle; it had opened Harry's eyes to how much the rest of the world didn't really know the man. Didn't want to nor had they ever really tried to; not as a child, young adult, or even as an older and more mature wizard. Didn't seem to want to, and that aggravated him somewhat. Harry knew the rest of the wizard world would abhor him for being able to understand the man; to be able to see why he had done things as he had and could sympathize with him.

To know that he was capable of horrible things and to see why they might be necessary...but, it was still a war. Sacrifices were made in a war and people died too; you couldn't save everyone no matter how hard you tried, and you couldn't have a war...a real one without some sort of tragedy.

War in and of itself was a messy ordeal, after all.

Of course, Harry did not mean to imply that he excused the fact that Tom had gone too far at one point and nearly annihilated all of the magical society.

Harry just didn't know how to separate the man he was seeing now to the one who tried to end his life while looking like a snake hybrid only two years ago. The man who had violently tried to possess his mind only a year ago. Harry didn't understand yet of how all these drastic changes in Tom had occurred or why.

Part of it was probably because Harry was a cat right at the moment; Tom hadn't harmed him once with evil intent and didn't seem to want to. Harry hadn't seen nor had a reason to suspect otherwise. Tom didn't outwardly show cruelty to other animals like he had once might have been inclined to believe or like he might have before these new changes; not unless he had to for some reason, so he had no reason to be violent to him.

Honestly, Harry was more than a bit confused right about now.

He had expected that his absence would have garnered more reaction right now. But none of the other Death Eaters had come to report his MIA status or the fact no one knew where he was. Tom mentioned that only he knew of this place, but Harry suspected that his followers would have a way to contact him if it became an emergency.

Right now, Harry was lying on large round silken pillow cushion next to Tom's desk as he worked away on his multitudes of put-off paper-work, and he was thinking heavily about all this; how this situation had come to be. He knew now that he had been in some sort of accident related to potions; though he wasn't the cause of the explosion. When Slughorn barked at them all to get down; Harry immediately dropped to the floor and recalled the explosion.

He then remembered the potion flying all directions and some of it happening to get in his mouth; to which he may have accidentally swallowed it in shock. So, the potion either reacted to him on its own...or it had reacted to one of his abilities and then utilized it. Which then caused the transformation.

Underneath the smoke in the classroom, Harry had begun to hear loud sounds and frightened voices; which for his new ears was overwhelming and highly sensitive. When the door opened; he panicked and bolted out...not realizing he had changed and in his own nervousness...his magic must have transported him.

Which explained how he had landed in the tree, and subsequently been rescued by the Dark Lord from drowning in the pond beneath it. Harry found it ironic that the man wanted to kill him but unknowingly saved his life; Harry owed him now for that though he didn't quite understand how to go about it if Tom refused to listen to reason, and he didn't know how he was to deal with it if he couldn't get him to.

If the prophecy was to be believed; then Harry needed to end his life to restore peace. Yet, Harry had his doubts now that the vision was even real enough to be considered a prophecy. Harry had of late; been noticing his inclination to the darker aspects of magical practices. Sensing his enjoyment to them.