Harry Potter and the Tails of Change

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I own any of the settings that JKR created in Harry's world.  Any resemblance to anyone; living, dead, or imagined, is purely coincidental, and not intended on my part.

A/N: This is a work of fiction, and I have altered reality from how JKR wrote things.  First off, Nymphadora Tonks is a 6th year when Harry is in his first.  Second, this story starts off in the summer between Harry's third and fourth years, so he has met Sirius, and knows he's innocent.  Third, I'm having Harry be just a wee bit more intelligent, and have something more of a backbone by this time in his life.  This story may include relations between two consenting females, so if that doesn't float your boat, you have been warned here, and can take appropriate action.
Chapter 2: A Fox Amongst Mundanes

	Harry re-entered the house at Privet Drive and cleaned his hands off, glad, for once, not to have his Aunt Petunia hovering over him or his Uncle Vernon acting like an overinflated hippopotamus.  He then helped himself to a glass of water from the tap.

	That is one thing he knew he couldn't ask his friends to send him.  He couldn't risk letting his relatives know he wasn't suffering like they hoped he would.  They had left just enough food for him to survive the month that they were spending visiting another of Vernon's extended family.  Nothing perishable like milk or cheese, but pretty much bread and crackers.

	Remembering the talking to Vernon had given him, Harry smirked, “Won't they be surprised when they come home.”  He then placed the glass in the drying rack, having used the same glass each time, as to minimize the time needed to hide things from his 'family'.

	He then made his way upstairs, to work on his homework, including doing research on his second form, and send letters to his friends, if Hedwig had returned.  Entering his room he was greeted with the welcome sight of his snowy familiar.  “Hedwig!  You made that trip a lot faster than I expected!”  The bird hooted playfully, then turned its attention to another avian that was in the room.

	Harry turned to see the new visitor, who had been hidden by the door, “Fawkes?  What are you doing here?”  The magnificent bird gave a happy call and poked a bundle toward Harry.  He picked it up and then looked at Hedwig, “You had Fawkes deliver my note?”  The Snowy Owl hooted in an affirmative fashion, seeming right proud of herself.

	The young wizard then placed the package Fawkes had delivered on his bed and opened it.  Inside were a bundle of pictures, a battered notebook, and what appeared to be a mirror with a post-it attached to it, along with a small letter.

	He picked up the letter first, and was glad when he did.

	Dear Harry,

	That's impressive news, what you wrote me about.  I didn't know about the problem with the Potion.  The Marauders were a bit rushed when we did it ourselves, as we miscalculated the day of the Full Moon and Moony was the one watching the potion.

	What, no hints, young pup?

	I've messaged Moony as well and he should be able to talk on his next security rotation.

	The mirror that I've included, with the note attached to it, is a communication mirror.  Your dad and I used it to talk when we had separate detentions.  Moony and I did manage to improve it a little, so you can chat with either of us using the mirror.  The note includes the activation and deactivation commands.

	The pictures are ones I found before coming to where I am now.  I found a stash of pictures that not only included your parents, but grandparents as well.  They were hidden in your old house in Godrick's Hollow.

	Best Wishes
	The Loveable Grim

	Harry smiled at Sirius' sign-off and then plucked the mirror out and looked at the note, “To activate, tap the right top corner with your wand then utter the Marauder name you want to talk to.  To deactivate, tap the lower left corner with your wand and utter 'Mischief Managed'.”

	He then smiled, held the mirror in his left hand, and tapped the top right corner of the mirror, then uttered 'Padfoot'.

	There was a moment then Sirius' image appeared in the mirror and uttered, “Harry!  Great to see you again!”  The voice sounding a little tinny, as if it were coming from a tiny transistor radio.

	Harry smiles, “Likewise, Padfoot.  Great gifts, thanks 'Uncle Siri'.”  He then grinned, “One of the books Professor McGonagall lent me was the one you three used.  Still has your handwritten notes in it and all.”

	The image in the mirror beamed, then shook its head, “Any news on the Traitor front?”

	The young wizard shook his head, “No, sadly.  Tho the Ministry has me under surveillance right now.  Moony, Tonks, and Fletcher are amongst those keeping an eye on me.  I learnt your cousin first, as she's still learning Stealth.  Curses like a sailor too.”

	Sirius' image broke into a laugh, “I imagine she would.  Dear Nym always seemed dead clumsy, but her other ability would counterbalance that.”  The image then peers at Harry, “And how'd you discover the other two?  Though with Fletcher, it's not too hard to guess.”

	Harry shook his head, “Nah, man typically takes a nap an hour after he does his first circuit, underneath the rose bushes under my window.”  Harry snorted, “Man might be under a charm to keep his snores silent but he typically smells of either booze or something young men like me are warned against.”

	The young wizard then grins, “Moony left hints.  I take it he's not too happy with our illustrious Headmaster currently and has been doing his best to find me a way out of this house before my relatives come back from vacation.”  Seeing the look of indignation growing on his Godfather's face, Harry chuckled, “Molly's been sending care packages every Sunday at Midnight.  Hermione has been sending treats as well, when she can.”

	Sirius' image lets loose a barking laugh, “Have it all figured out, haven't you, pup?  Well, be careful with the work on your 'special' Summer Homework.  Even though it's essentially Wandless Magic, a lot of things can go wrong.”

	Harry nodded, “I've already worked to the point I can transform my hands and feet.  I took it in tiny steps, working first by joint, then by section of the appendage.  I'm following the book's suggestions and being extra cautious.  I'm planning on having Moony with me when I try the full transformation to my first form.”  Seeing a glimmer of curiosity from his Godfather, Harry shook his finger at the image, “I'll let Moony tell you what it is, and then I'll surprise him with the second when you know the first.”

	The image in the mirror pretended to look outraged, then laughed, “Spoken like a true Marauder, pup.  I look forward to hearing all about it.  Now go look at those pictures, and enjoy yourself, pup.”

	Harry nodded, “Until next time, Padfoot.”  He then tapped the opposite corner with his wand and uttered, “Mischief Managed,” and watched the mirror go blank.  He then carefully secured the mirror in his trunk, creating a pocket for it from a pair of Dudley's old socks.

	He then turned to the thick stack of Wizarding pictures and smiled as the top one showed his father when he was just getting on the Hogwarts Express at the age of eleven.  “Damn, everyone was right, I did look quite a bit like him, though it seems he might have had a few inches on me, back then.  Damn Dursleys.”  Harry then happily spent the rest of the afternoon perusing the pictures, which not only had pictures of his father growing up but his mother as well.  Lilly's pictures stared out as ordinary non-magical pictures, but there was one Wizarding picture from her first day at Hogwarts.  “Bloody hell.  She almost looks to be a twin of Ginny.  That's kind of creepy.”

	Harry then began studying the image more closely and saw several small differences between his mother and the youngest Weasley.  “Dimples are different, and her eyes seem a bit different as well.  Biggest difference I can see is that mum has more attitude showing than Ginny ever has, so far.”  For it was true, even in the small black-and-white image Harry could tell that his mother might have been nervous, but was holding herself ready to take on the Wizarding world and make her place in it.

	The young wizard then collected all the photographs and placed them back in the box that Sirius had used to transport them.  He then got out the album Hagrid had given him in the Hospital Wing while he was recovering from dealing with Quirrel / Voldemort.  Arranging things just right, Harry was able to store both the pictures and the album safely in the box, then package them into his trunk.

	Looking at the things in his trunk, Harry shook his head, and murmured, “I really should find a good use for those bloody Lockheart books.  Ruddy idiot won't be selling many while in St. Mungo's”  The set of seven books foisted upon him and the rest of the school were still in pristine condition, having seldom been opened after the first glance through proved that the books were worthless.

	Taking the mirror out again, Harry smiled and tapped the correct corner and called out, “Moony?”

	The mirror vibrated in his hands briefly before Remus Lupin's image came into focus and smiled, “Heya pup, good to finally be able to talk without using notes.”

	Harry smiled, “Aye.  Padfoot's package arrived, as you can guess.  I just finished going through all the photos he found at Godrick's Hollow.”

	Moony's image smiled, “Figured as much.”  Then he looked directly at Harry and tried to look stern, “Padfoot let me know of your special studies this summer.  I'm astounded that you would undertake such a thing without any assistance.”

	Harry laughed, “Ah, but I have assistance.”  At his former professor's intrigued look, he held up the book that his father had used, “The Marauders have been holding my hand all the way.”

	Remus' image laughed, “That the same book James used?”  At Harry's nod, Remus shook his head and placed his hand over his eyes, “Did it still have our notes in it as well?”

	The young wizard chuckled, “Of course it did.  Professor McGonagall was extremely thorough, plus it appears that no one used that book after they did, from the amount of dust on the bloody thing.”

	The werewolf looked through the mirror and smiled, “You taking things carefully, pup?  I know you said you wanted to talk in person a couple times, and I'm going to guess one of those will be for when you try the full transformation?”

	Harry nodded, “Did Padfoot also tell you the other surprise I told him about in my letter?”  The young man's eyes sparkling with mischief as he glanced at the mirror.

	Remus shook his head, “No … and why am I suddenly wanting to both throttle your Godfather and have a glass of Firewhiskey?”

	The young wizard smiled, “According to my first form, all Animagi have two forms, but typically they don't do the potion as accurately as they should, though I think it's because they don't use Muggle methods to prepare it, like I did, so they never learn about the second.”

	The image in the mirror is staring at Harry with a gob smacked look, which draws a belly laugh from Harry, one of the few happy noises Remus had heard from him before this conversation.  “You mean that you know both your forms?”

	Harry nodded, “The first is Vulpine in nature, but it's magical...  As for the second, that's going to be a surprise for both you and my Godfather, Moony.”

	Moony gazed into the mirror at the image of Harry within, his mind racing a mile a minute, “Vulpine, yet magical?  No … It Can't Be!  That's Impossible, isn't it?”  He then looks at the young wizard and smiles, “I'm sure that there'll be a Tail to tell when we meet in person, right Harry?”

	The image of the young wizard just shakes its head at the pun, “I'm certain that you can come up with an appropriate nickname when you see it, Moony.”

	Remus simply shook his head, “We'll talk again, young man, but it's getting on my 'bedtime' and I can feel myself getting grumpy.  You have a good night's sleep, for both of us.”

	Harry nodded, then smiled, “Be safe, Professor.  And I look forward to talking more with you.  Need to do a bit of research on my second form, though that may have to wait until I get back to Hogwarts.”  He then de-activated the mirror and put it away in its hiding spot.  He then gazed out at the night and the full moon rising above the horizon.

	Harry then got out the Monster Book of Monsters, which after a quick soothing 'pet' of its' spine, allowed itself to be opened.  Murmuring to himself, he flipped through the pages, “I wonder if there will be any new tricks that I can pull off, once I master my forms?  And once I discover what they both are, as well.”  He stops, briefly, on the listing for Kitsune, reading what's written down.

	Kitsune
	-Fox Spirits known both as good omens and tricksters, malicious demons, and kindly souls.  The number of tails they possess is an indication of their power.
	-It is said there are two 'classes' of kitsune; Zenko, which typically are seen in the role of protectors and teachers, and Yako, which take the role of scoundrels and free spirits.

	Taking more notes on what he reads, to see if he notices any of those manifesting once he makes the full transformation.  He then pages through the book further, seeing if he can find out what his second form is, finally falling asleep after not finding anything that triggered his memory.

~~ Please R&R ~~