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Masking his relief, Harry asked the newly released man.

"Excuse me sir, but... do I know you?" Sirius was not really surprised by the question

"Yes and no, Harry. Unfortunately you were much too young to even remember me. But I was there when you were born. I am your godfather Harry."

Harry smiled and hugged the man he had been missing for years; Sirius always found a way to make him smile even when he was talking in a completely serious tone.

"How about I tell you a funny story about your father?" Sirius said without letting go of his godson. "Sure"

"This is back to when James and Lily were finally and officially dating... you see, once when we were at Hogwarts - that's the school where your father and I studied magic- there was this beautiful redhead - not your mother, mind you - and she had the hots for your father. Idon't know what the Potters have with redheads, but they seem to attract each other like bees to flowers..." Sirius glanced at Harry and smiled "Let's hope not you" Harry blushed "Any way, as I was saying..."

--

Early the next morning, Remus Lupin walked out of the fireplace and into the polished floors of Drakengard's castle. He looked around the unknown surroundings and found a man dressed in an olive green tight suit, with a wand holster on the hip and a gun holster below his left arm. The man clicked his hills and saluted hastily.

"Please follow me, his highness awaits" sparing him no more words, the man opened the door and stepped outside. Remus followed, looking in awe at the richness of the place, the furniture with golden lines, golden drapes, red carpets, marble staircases... hell the place looked like the Versailles palace.

The cadet led him to the Count's study, where he found Sirius too. He looked a few years younger than the day before, but the marks of the abuse he had been endured where still clear on his eyes.

"Snuffles!" shouted Remus, running to his friend.

"Moony!" They shared an embrace.

"Sorry if I didn't believe you before" stated Lupin "It was really stupid of me thinking that you would actually betray them." Sirius shrugged

"Never mind, old friend" he smiled sadly "Never mind. We all made mistakes those days"

Drake smiled in the background, waiting. He didn't intervene until the two adults started cracking jokes about life and other stuff. He cleared his throat to call for attention.

"It's good to see you two have eased your troubles with each other, but as much as I'd like to keep hearing your jokes, I need to be doing something else soon..." both males sobered up and sat on the couches in front of the Count "Now, I am well aware of both of your aptitudes for magic, and dueling. You weren't the brightest wizards in school for nothing, I hope."

Both friends smiled sheepishly.

"What can we do for you?" asked Sirius, causing Drake to grin manically

"Magic"

--

Not a week after his godfather had been finally released from Azkaban, Harry and the other children were surprised by the fact that both Sirius and his old friend Remus Lupin would be teaching them Magic for the next couple of years.

However, that didn't mean they were going to drop any of their other lessons; Drake seemed to be enjoying keeping their agendas full.

They had to practice martial arts with sensei Black, for four hours every morning, starting at the 0500 hrs; then had breakfast, immediately followed by two hours of weaponry (Guns, knives, explosives and such), two more hours of muggle classes (Alternately math, English, history, ethics, and others) and reading; they had then a light lunch just before their magic training that would take up another three hours.

It was these sessions that Harry enjoyed more, since they covered spells and charms that they wouldn't see in Hogwarts; they talked about patronuses, creating portkeys, apparition, enhancing rituals and many other spells that he had no idea existed. But what caught most of his attention was their class about animagi.

"As we have discussed, all magic is, is mind over matter" Sirius started explaining "and Animagus transformation is no different... only that it can't be done by just anyone."

"Why?" asked Liz, who was sitting beside Harry on the carpeted floor of the room, beside her sat Rob and then Mitch.

"Because one must sacrifice a massive amount of magical energy to be able to change one's body at will" answered Lupin from across the room. "It is a one-time-only thing, but most wizards can't afford it" Black picked up on that.

"You see, if you don't have the magic necessary to do the transformation... you'll die." The kids gasped "That is why the ministry of magic is so set in controlling this particular kind of magic; because they know that if a hundred wizards were to try an animagus transformation, it would be quite probable that all of them would die trying...as the percentage of wizards with powers strong enough to do is less than one in every ten thousand" Harry gulped "Another restriction of the animagus transformation is that one must be certain of what you are going to become, because you can't change your mind about it later.

"And if you try to change something in the middle, you would need to make another magical sacrifice... or die trying"

"But then we should pick an animal we are very familiar with, then? Or that we like very much, isn't it?" that was Rob. Sirius shook his head.

"Sorry, but no. It's pretty much like with wands, for they choose their wizard, not the other way around."Harry's eyebrows furrowed

"Then how do one know what you're becoming if you can't choose?" Sirius met his gaze and was about to answer when another voice did

"You must perform a ritual to find your totem"everyone looked back to find Drake on the door "Sorry to interrupt, but the class was over almost ten minutes ago and I was wondering where you lot were."Drake lowered his eyes on Harry and he smiled "but I guess you could as well finish your explanation before we go out" Harry glanced questioningly at Liz, who returned his gaze with the same question: 'Go where?'

"Well, as your father was saying" Harry frowned at his godfather's comment; he still had some trouble picturing Drake as his father (although he had to admit that the idea was growing on him) "one must search for his totem. A totem is sort of the animal representation of who you are; for example, my totem is a dog because I'm loyal and friendly"

"And hairy" added Lupin making them all laugh.

"And when you laugh it sounds like you're barking" Harry added.

"And you probably got fleas too" that was Drake the kids doubled in laughter

"And make a mess of the bathroom when you're taking a shower" Lupin again, unable to hide his smirk

"Ok. Ok, you get the picture" Sirius relented

"But then how do we find our totem?" Liz asked

"One must perform a ritual" was Drake's answer"preferably with a more than competent wizard, leading it. Someone who is adept in totems, or who is an animagus himself; which, fortunately enough for you lot, is right in front of you" the noble winked at Sirius who blanched, his eyes very wide.

"You can't be serious! They are too young!"gasped Lupin "And you want them to-"

"To become animagus?" Drake asked calmly "Yes." The kids looked at each other, half happy, half frightened; it was one thing to talk about animagus, and probably fantasize about it... but to actually be presented with the opportunity was another thing. Drake turned to the four boys. 'For a father'Harry thought 'he's extremely bold'"It is their lives they are risking, let them decide."

Yet, as the good Gryffindor he was, Harry already knew his answer: "I'll do it" he answered with more conviction that he felt; then he turned at the others "I'll become an animagus"

"Then so will I" Harry was startled to hear Liz's voice instead of the boy's, as he had half thought. Rob and Mitch looked at each other

"I don't think I've got what it takes, but Iwant to know my totem" was Rob's answer

"YOU ARE ALL MAD!" screeched Mitch, blanching; he looked about them with fear written all over his face. Then, without a word, he ran out of the room.

"As are you" Lupin growled, facing Drake and staring daggers at him. Harry had never seen him so enraged. The werewolf crossed the room in five long strides and grabbed Drake by his upper arms, raising him from the ground. "I won't let you risk their lives for your stupid pride"

"Oh, and you are just going to threaten me with your wolf's strength then?" Drake smirked "because I'll have you know that..." he grasped Lupin's hands with his own and pried them off with what appeared to be very little effort. Remus gritted his teeth, while the other man forced him to kneel with sheer strength."I'm stronger than that." He finished letting go "And just so you know, unlike other parents I'm not all about protecting my children" he spoke with conviction, looking at Harry, Rob, and Liz in the eyes alternately"I believe that they are strong, talented andsmart enough to make the right decisions by themselves."

Lupin was still staring daggers at him, but knew better than to lose control like he had done before, he stood up slowly, easily towering over the nobleman who didn't falter, he stared directly at the shapeshifter's eyes with a small smile tugging in his lips "I know you are worried, friend" he said, never taking his eyes from the other "But you must understand that they are not your pups" his smile broadened "they are mine."

Harry saw the exchange of gazes and heard the words, barely believing them.

The boy frowned; during his stay at the castle he had witnessed many strange things happen around Drake, his inhuman strength not being on top of the list.

Once he caught him having an argument with Lady Silver... a very heated argument apparently, since they were fighting with claws and fangs. 'Claws and fangs' his mind repeated, the look on Drake's face that time had been fiercer than whatever he had faced before on either lifetime, nails had elongated into black-coal claws, and his fangs were almost an inch larger than normal. Lady Silver exposed the same changed features, but she did look less threatening than the male. Apparently Drake hadn't noticed him peeping, because they hadn't talked about it later.

Then there was the time when they were at the shooting range a few days before that, Drake had dropped to see the progress of his youngest two, unfortunately his voice had broken Liz's concentration and her aim jumped to him while pulling the trigger. Harry had seen the entire scene in slow motion, her jumping and her hand moving away from the intended target to his chest, then a slight movement in the back of the weapon, a flash of light and then a booming sound; he could even swear that he had seen the bullet fly out of the barrel.

Fortunately for him a shadow moved with lighting speed before him, pushing the bullet aside, so that it would collide with a wall; he looked up, following the lengthening shadow and found it connected to Drake's shoulder... He had used his hand to deflect the bullet; the boy-who-lived had stared in shock as the nobleman retrieved his bleeding hand and looked at him with worried eyes "Are you ok, Harry?" the boy then looked at his parent's bleeding palm and blacked out. When he came back, he was resting on his bed, with Liz holding his hand and her eyes red and puffy from crying"I'm so sorry" she said time and time again until he embraced her, to quiet her fears. He was ok... amazingly; Drake had done the impossible to save him.

Harry's mind returned to the present when Liz took his hand in hers, probably guessing what he was thinking about. Since that day they had become very close, which gave them both a kind of link that wasn't there before... somehow they now could read each other's most superficial thoughts. He felt her give his hand a little squeeze, and he was completely back to earth.

Lupin had returned to his place at the opposite side of the room to where Drake was.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, his face was slowly regaining its color

"Absolutely" Drake answered nonchalantly, as if Lupin's attack had never happened. "I'm sure that between the three of us shapeshifters, we can cut the process to a few weeks, instead of the years it took the marauders."

"Well" Sirius considered his options, he had wanted Harry to learn about animagus transformations, that was precisely why he had introduced the topic during class, but he was still unsure whether the boy should attempt to become one at such a tender age. Yet, Drake had been the one teacher who had offered to help them when both James and he had decided to become animagus. But as they hadn't had their parents' permission, Drake could only give pointers and advice. "I do agree that they would have much more advantage to James and me, with the three of us to help, but..."

"Wait, hold it." Harry interrupted the grownups"You mean that all the three of you are animagus?" Lupin, Sirius and Drake looked at each other.

"I don't think it would be so bad for them to know..." Sirius said, as if answering to an unspoken question.

When Lupin talked, however, he answered to Harry's question "I don't know about Drake, but Sirius is... and as for me, I'm aFenris." Liz, and Harry looked at each other.

To say that Harry was confused would be an understatement. He was shocked dumb. He remembered hid old life, where Remus had admitted to be a werewolf, albeit ashamedly, yet this Remus sounded very proud of the fact that he was ashapeshifter.

"A what?" She asked.

"A Fenris" the man repeated "We are a proud race, similar to werewolves, only that we are not a virus" he spit the words as if they were poisonous to him "Our race is faster, stronger and live longer than any lowly werewolf - which in fact we use as servants - and unlike them, we can perform the change at will; Plus we have not one, but twotransformations. One is our feral form... commonly known as the meta-human form, where we are both wolf and human; the other form is the Lupus. We become a wolf in all senses, unlike animagus who retain their human mind."

Harry stood there dumbstruck 'There's something wrong here!' his mind rebelled 'This is not my world... but... but I did go back in time to my sixth birthday...' he mused over this for quite some time until he acknowledged that he hadn't enough information to clarify anything at the time. He would need time to investigate time traveling in greater depth... but that had to be later, right now; he needed to focus in what was going on so that he could gather much more information.

Still amazed, both kids looked at Drake with bulging eyes. Harry was about to open his mouth and ask, when Drake answered.

"In my case, I too can alter my physical form at will; but I will say no more." He looked at Harry, who frowned; the lack of information was getting annoying.

"So... when do we start?" Rob asked, breaking the tension that had formed around them. Sirius looked up to the calendar on the wall, totally oblivious to Harry's predicament.

"If we are going to do it, we should start as soon as possible... but with the holidays coming that would be by January." He diverted his gaze at the nobleman "Will that be enough time for all the preparations?" the other man smiled.

"They are already" Drake said

Lupin growled, the bastard had it all planned from the very beginning.

Just then, the Count glanced at his watch"Well, as much a pleasure it was to talk to you two gentlemen, we should get going, we have a plane to catch." He waited for the children to pick their things before encouraging them to run to their rooms and leave their books and wands there for when they came back.

"Sirius, a word?" the animagus nodded and left with the nobleman "I'm taking the kids to France for the weekend, will you be coming?"

"France? Why?" They left the classroom and headed to the Hall, where a maid helped the Count put on his fur coat.

"I need to take Michelle to see his parents, so that we can review his training and possibly make adjustments... something that we have been doing every two years since he got here." Sirius nodded his comprehension "But I believe this would make a perfect excuse to get out and see a part of the world that most of them haven't seen... and I thought that you might enjoy a couple of days with your Godson outside a classroom" the nobleman smiled gently knowing that this would make Harry very happy, even if it would keep preventing the boy from 'adopting' him as his father.

"You know, it actually sounds good. Let me get my stuff." He man ran upstairs leaving the nobleman to his thoughts.

"Even if I don't agree with your methods; that was a nice thing to do" Remus walked the distance to the Count in a calculated pace

"What would you have me do? I pledged to see for Harry's happiness when I took this job."

"To whom did you pledge to?"

"Myself"

"Ah"

Both watched the kids run through the corridors to the ample staircase and down to the hall, chatting all the while. Only that there was a boy missing.

"Michelle" the Count sighed "not again".

Lupin raised an eyebrow

"He's afraid of his parents" was the answer from the nobleman.

"Why? They mistreat him?" The Fenris asked cautiously

"No, quite the opposite, actually" now the werewolf frowned "They expect quite a lot from him, being the oldest and the only male. After him, his parents decided they would only have two more children... and they were both girls. As it is, he's expected to act like an adult at his tender age, that's mostly the reason why he was sent' here." The count departed then "I won't be long." As he passed his children on the stairs he looked at Harry "Make sure you convince you uncle to come with us" he winked at his adoptive son's amazement; even if he was the aggravated, Drake wasn't one to hold grudges.

He walked the familiar path to one of his favorite tenants' quarters, as he arrived he expanded his consciousness to enclose the room. Angst, fear, anxiousness were the most prominent emotions of the boy, tinged with a small mixture of pride and curiosity 'Wait until he meets his newborn sister'. He sighed and knocked on the door "Michelle", he heard a gasp and running feet. After a minute, when he was most tempted to knock again, the door opened to the inside, the kid stood beside the pommel, his stoic-face mask in place once again.

"I'm sorry for making you wait, you highness"Drake almost winced at the name; Michelle had always been so formal with him. An image of another kid in another time and place filled the man's mind, making him smile.

"It is alright Michelle, were you packing?" he asked, knowing differently, but by doing this he gave the boy a chance to lie and feel better with himself for a while.

Michelle blushed, knowing that the man knew that he really wasn't, but he appreciated the effort.

"Not really, sire. I still have doubts about my performance, and Sensei Black's assessment of the last mission..." the boy paled when he remembered the angry tone of his teacher; If it had been his test and not Harry's he would have been demoted to yellow belt... if his parents knew,he wouldn't see the end of it.

"It was not your test" the man reminded him "do not judge yourself so harshly, son. Every small mistake is not a failure, is awindow of opportunity"

"But-"the boy started to protest but the Count cut him.

"Every error you make, Michelle, is a gift from the heavens; the god you believe in sent you to this world to learn, not to be perfect. If he had wanted you to be perfect he would have made you perfect to begin with. As it is, you are only human and humans are well known for making mistakes... and learning from them" he looked intently into the boy's wide eyes,"do not dwell on the past, accept it, learn from it and strive to become better."

The boy tried to fight back the tears but failed, even for all that had happened between both their families, the Count had always kept being nice to him. He had always been there for him, with advice, a joke or pointer that had helped him more than he dared to accept.'But this' he thought, as the man crouched to hug him 'He keeps on believing in me even when I've lost faith myself.' Michelle returned the embrace and cried into his shoulder. He held the boy for another minute until he relaxed.

"Feeling better?" he asked, withdrawing his handkerchief - boarded with his coat and arms - and handed it to the boy; the kid nodded, not trusting his own voice. "Come, I'm sure Elizabeth and Robert are sick worried about you" he winked, making the kid blush.

"Ok" the kid croaked "Just let me get my stuff"

Drake nodded "I'll wait right here."

--