The meeting at Gringotts had gone well. After confirming, through a simple blood and magic test, that Harry was indeed who he claimed, he and Hermione released their Glamours, revealing to all exactly what they were now. Bill Weasley took a double-take, realising that these were the two felines who'd saved his only sister's life. He couldn't help but spot their resemblance to certain Ancient Egyptian deities, either, as he had spent a lot of his career delving through the pyramids of that land. And the boy was Harry Potter.
As the oldest of the Weasleys' children thought hard about what was going on, the emerald-eyed catboy explained what brought them to Gringotts this day. "Whoever placed me with the Dursleys has been cheated. Despite receiving compensation for my presence and care, they have close on abused me, certainly neglected me, and claimed to my face that Iwas a burden on their finances," Harry declared. "I had come here today, hoping to be armed with actual knowledge of the appropriate laws, but for some reason, none of the shops in Diagon Alley had any books on law. They have to be purchased through the Ministry, and are never sold to those under-age as laws were pushed through years ago making such sales illegal."
Meredith Twist, a black-haired witch in her late twenties, nodded. "I've looked through the archives on such matters. Those laws themselves push the limits of what our world deems legal. Maybe they don't want anyone informed to decide they don't need the Ministry's lawyers? Or to defend against them?"
The oldest goblin present, Mottlecraw, leaned forward in his chair. "The financial transactions that have taken place so far are in order. A modest monthly sum of 200 Galleons was paid to the Dursleys for your keep in accordance with the laws on maintenance. However, your parents' wills were sealed by the ministry, and have yet to be probated. The papers were signed by a Ministry official in the Heritage Office, one Miss D. Umbridge."
"What about Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. "Didn't he know what's going on? Why didn't he help Harry?" Her tail was lashing back and forth in her anger, and she heard the gulp sound that came from Bill Weasley.
Miss Twist sighed deeply, shaking her head. "He probably would have, but he's hamstrung by not just the laws, which it should be noted he voted against every time, but by the responsibilities of his positions in our society. Sure, he could resign his positions, but the problem there is that whoever replaced him would be much, much worse." She turned to Harry. "If you'd like, we can start the proceedings to transfer your guardianship, but it will likely happen that the paperwork will be 'lost' somewhere along its trek through the Ministry."
"Miss Twist," Bill said, "I might have an idea."
All eyes in the chamber turned to the young curse-breaker. "Before the ministry can declare you Dark Creatures, and a threat to society, you declare yourselves. Not Dark of course, that would be foolish, but there are legends in Egypt of the Mahjai, and the Children of Bast."
The goblins all straightened, and the lawyer-witch looked intrigued. Samantha Granger spoke into the silence. "Could someone explain the significance, please?" she asked as her husband agreed, while the feline couple looked puzzled, confused even, by the reference.
Taking a large tome from his robes, the oldest son of Arthur Weasley began to read.
"In the Two Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt, Bast was the cat-goddess. Where Anubis judged the dead, and Osiris ruled them, her place was as the guardian between the worlds. Even as a cat and a goddess, she still could not be everywhere at once, and so to counter the efforts of the cursed, the dead who yet lived, she asked of Ra and Horus, and received, permissions to call certain mortals to be her Children, and to act in her stead, standing between the cursed and the living, between the evil and the good." As he closed the book, he spoke for himself, in a low voice. "I'm fairly sure they're the only non-human race that isn't listed as being at least somewhat Dark."
Gripsack joined the conversation at this point. "You are correct, young Weasley, but there are certain traits and qualities that Children of Bast must possess, and be verified to possess, before they can be declared such. The test for such abilities is not an easy one."
"How so?" Harry asked, his curiosity rising.
"For a start, Mr Potter, it requires a Mahjai to initiate, and they rarely leave Egypt," the goblin answered. "Second, the tests themselves involve blood and pain, and having curses and other spells directed at you. If you survive, you're a Child of Bast. If you aren't, you won't." Here Gripsack smiled, carefully not revealing his shark-like teeth. "You may want to come back in a few days, we can owl you then. Now, to set your mind at least a little at rest, we have indeed received notification that you are unable to continue residence with your... relatives." A shiver of rage, harder to suppress than he'd imagined, went through him. "We will be able to probate the wills upon receipt of authorisation from either your guardian or yourself, once you have reached the age of thirteen."
Hermione frowned at this information. "Why thirteen? Isn't that awfully young?"
Twist grinned, an almost vulpine smile. "Because that was the age of an aspiring young Death-eater's heir at the time. To get the brat his inheritance, they passed the law, and completely forgot about it when they sealed the Potter's wills. So at the end of July, young Harry gets his estate, a side effect of which, due to said law, is his legal emancipation in the wizarding world. He'll still need guardians, but at least he gets to choose them."
"That's good news, I suppose," said the catboy in question. "Gripsack, you mentioned traits and qualities, what exactly are those?"
The goblin lawyer looked at the boy. "There are rules in place that prevent me from naming them all, although you both match the physical qualities as far as I can tell. However, I can tell you that the Bast'et, another name for the Children of Bast, are all capable of becoming animagi, and that their animagus forms are invariably feline. There are even legends of one Bast'et who could become a nundu, an African wizard named Suleimann. Very powerful, bottled a thousand djinni, by all legends."
Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. It took a moment to recall the term, but considering their Transfiguration professor, the word animagus soon came to mind.
"We'll do it," they said in unison.
The next two weeks were busy at the Grangers'. The kitty couple worked hard at their summer homework, and finalised their class choices for the next year. Neither did they slack off with their exercise, as their feline bodies demanded a certain level of activity. They even swam, in the pool in the backyard, and learned the best ways to dry off non-magically through trial and error. It was in the second week that each other's scents became heady, almost intoxicating, once again. Hermione recognised the symptoms right away, and Harry was a few minutes behind. When he caught himself nuzzling at her neck, right in front of her parents, no less, the emerald-eyed catboy struggled with himself, a more difficult fight he could not imagine, and barely managed to pull himself away from the cinnamon and chocolate scent of his mate.
Why'd you stop, Harry? she yowled. I was enjoying that.
Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't, he mewled in return. "I'm not sure, but I doubt your parents would like that. Especially not if they had to see it," he added. A quick glance revealed her parents' agreement. "And I'm not ready yet, no matter what my instincts say," he thought.
Looking towards her parents, the amber-eyed catgirl quietly murmured agreement. "That would be a bit much, I suppose." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Bad enough for us to sit here touching and purring, but- mmph! Mm-mmm." Harry managed to defuse her teasing by clamping his lips to hers, an action that amused Samantha Granger and annoyed her husband.
The young man walked over to Michael, holding out his wand in his hand, as well as Hermione's, that he'd filched while kissing her. "Mr Granger, perhaps it would make you feel better to have both of these? We learned a number of spells at school this year that would be useful for sneaking about behind your back, and I don't want you to think we disrespect your authority." Looking over his shoulder at the now-indignant catgirl, he answered the question in her glare. "I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do, Her-my-honey."
Michael chuckled at Harry's pet name for his daughter and pushed the wands back. "No, Harry, your word's good enough for me. And you might want to find a better nickname for Hermione, that one's a mouthful."
"Yes, Harry," chimed in Sam, "what do you really want to call her?"
Harry suddenly found his toes extremely interesting, and his mate's heart skipped at the mumbled response. "Mine."
Strangely, no-one laughed. Hermione's amber eyes watered a little with joy at the thought of him calling her that, and her parents took the answer seriously. "That might be a 'bit much', as Hermione says," her dad said. "Maybe you should shorten it."
"Mai?" Harry asked it more than said it, seeking his beloved's approval.
"I could live with that," she answered.
The felines weren't entirely certain how they'd managed to come through another heat without going insane. They'd finished off all of their homework in a frenzy of effort, both desperately channelling their tension into action. They'd received owls from the Weasleys, especially Ginny as none of her brothers really understood the fundamental change she'd gone though. The biggest news was the family winning a drawing of some sort, and they'd debated going to Egypt, but with Bill currently in England anyway, the large family had decided to set the money aside for a rainy day. Ginny wrote of Fawkes' tutelage, trying to teach the young girl some of her abilities, starting with her 'phoenix-song'. At the end of the two weeks, a huge owl, a European eagle-owl, if Hermione was right, as she usually was, arrived with the letter from Gripsack and Twist, to a meeting at Gringotts.
Meredith Twist greeted Harry and the Grangers at the door, and led them off to one side. The Weasley twins had managed to replace the collars, with a few extra charms, such as Harry's suggested flea-repelling charm, incorporated into the enchantments, so the kitty couple were under the effects of their glamours today. The chamber they were led to had three people waiting for them. Bill Weasley and two others, clad in the robes of desert-dwellers. The older of the weather-beaten duo sat in a comfortable armchair, while the younger stood behind, and slightly to the left of the elder. As they entered the room, they were joined by Gripsack and a younger goblin carrying a large box of parchment scrolls.
The elder of the two Egyptians (for they could be no other) began to speak in a deep yet weary voice. "I am Yassar, an elder of the Mahjai. You wish for me to verify if you are Bast'et, so I ask that you show me why."
Harry and Hermione flicked there collars, dispelling the glamours upon them. For this meeting, they had both chosen to wear formal robes, tailored to display their tails and other features. On seeing them, Yassar hummed to himself.
"It would seem that you have received the first gift, the form of the Bast'et. Should you wish to proceed, it is possible you may die. Do you so wish?" At the old man's words , the older Grangers swallowed in fear, and clutched each other tightly.
The kitty couple reached for each other's hand, and spoke as one. "We do."
The desert-dweller smiled, and gestured to his younger companion, who placed a glass chalice etched with hieroglyphs upon the table, and filled it with an odd concoction from a similarly etched glass flask. As the bright blue liquid met the open air, it steamed and hissed, although not so much as to escape the chalice.
"Then you must drink of this. The Romans called it Aqua Vera Vitae, the Water of True Life. Sadly, there is no water in the making of it. It is the blood and venom of Apep's children, tempered by the tears of Bennu. If you survive, you will be tested further." Yassar grinned. "Then it will get... interesting."
Shaking, the felines reached out for the chalice, Harry drinking first, then Hermione. "Hmm, tastes sort of smoky, but it's not something I'd drink for a choice..." Then blackness reached up and knocked them to the floor.
A/N: Okay, I'm not certain of the mythology in this chapter, I'm by no means a scholar or expert on the subject. Most of what I 'know' on the subject comes from role-playing games, fictional works and Stargate shows, with a hint here and there of the Mummy movies. None of which are mine, dang it. To sum up a few of the names in the chapter, I include here my definitions thereof:
Bast: Cat goddess, guardian of the underworld, protector of mortals from those cursed to undeath.
Osiris: God of the underworld, king of the worthy dead.
Anubis: Jackal god, judge of the dead, protects Ra through the night.
Horus: Falcon god, god of retribution, son and avenger of Osiris.
Ra: Falcon god, embodiment of the sun, king of the gods.
Apep: Serpent god, father of all snakes, attempts to devour Ra every night. Fails, of course.
Bennu: The First Phoenix, a god in his own right.