Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 137: Reparifarge

Harry's heart, fulminating between his ears, was making it hard for him to concentrate on anything that anyone was saying around him since Professor Lupin described Sirius Black's animagus form as a large, black dog.

He shuddered remembering Ripper's teeth tearing through his trousers and skin after Marge had stuck the muscle-bound brute on him. Even the memory electrified the hair on the back of his neck.

Why does it have to be a gigantic dog?

He just wanted to get away—from the thought of the beast of a man who had broken out of an inescapable prison, from the gnashing teeth of a rabid dog, from the adults who were hovering around him wanting to know how he was taking this news.

How. The. Bloody. Hell. Do. They. Think. I'm. Taking. It?

He didn't want to think about it right now. He wanted to run and run and run. And not stop. Ever.

Get as far away from here as possible. Could I go live on Mei's island? Isn't it enough that my parents were murdered? That I had to live with the Dursleys? That I can't see a bloody thing?

They were now discussing just exactly what kind of hulking dog form Sirius—mum-and-dad-betraying—Black took when he transformed. Professor Lupin said it was Scottish Deerhound.

Whatever that is!

As Professor Lupin described the size, color, and shagginess of the Scottish Deerhound, it became apparent that it was very likely that the dog Besel had scared away in the alley was Sirius Black in his animagus form. And cool, unflappable Professor Lupin nearly lost it when he learned that Black had been so close to Harry.

Great! A dog I can't even see has already hunted me down! It's just luck that it didn't already rip my throat out. Well, at least it would be a quick death. There's that.

Harry's breaths were coming short and fast. The room was too small, too hot, filled with too many people. He wanted to get out.

"Harry," Healer Jordan spoke quietly to him, crouching down in front of him. "Breathe. In. Out. In. Out."

"No!" Harry gasped, struggling to stand up. "I don't want to. I want to get out."

"Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. I'm going to put my hands on your shoulders. There you go. Keep breathing. You can do it. You are safe here." Her warm hands on his shoulders pressed down and rather than making him feel trapped, he felt as if she'd brought him back to earth just as he was about to spiral off it.

Professor Lupin and Professor McGonagall had stopped talking about how Sirius had come to be an animagus. He was certain that they had stopped breathing, too, and were just staring at him.

I wish I knew a magic that would just open up a hole in the ground that could swallow me up. Ugh, no I don't! Blimey. Why was I born at all?

He reined in his panic... stuffed it back in the small hole in his sternum where he kept it when he had to pretend everything was okay.

"I'm fine," he said, slumping back against the chair, trying to get out from under Healer Jordan's warm hand on his shoulder that now was feeling confining.

"This is a lot to process, Harry. It'll take some time. It's okay to take the time. We will make sure that you are safe here," Healer Jordan said, letting go of him, but still kneeling in front of him.

"Why does it have to be a dog?" Harry said, his voice barely audible as he tried and, mostly succeeded, in stilling his trembling legs.

Professor Lupin let out a ragged sigh.