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Harry Potter: The Metamorph Files

Chapter 4

The mind-healer interrupted the foul thoughts by clearing his throat, "I suppose I should get started. Mr. Potter, please turn to face me and look me in the eyes." He pulled his wand out of his sleeve as Harry turned to him and pointed it at Harry, "Legilimens."

Andi and Nymphadora watched the tell-tale unconcentrated but rapid eye movement, waiting patiently to see if there were a pair of muggles that were going to have to go missing tonight.

Harry's experience was rather different. Of course, it was supposed to be. He was the one getting his mind read, after all. He heard the gentle voice of the mind-healer speaking to him, guiding him along memories. While they all, for lack of a better word, sucked, they lead him to the current best day in his life. Which was him learning magic was real, he could learn magic, he could already perform magic of a sort and his distant cousin… cousins took him in. Compared to what he was used to, what with sleeping in a small, cramped space, having to purposefully get lower marks than Dudley and having to do most of the chores in that house, this was luxury.

The healer spoke in his mind, "Please stay with me, Harry. I could force my way through but that'd hurt you and neither of us want that."

Harry nodded, going back to listening to the doctor. Healer. Magical terms were weird.

A few minutes passed while Harry and the mind-healer worked before he lowered his wand and reached to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Just give me a second. My head always throbs after I use that spell."

Nymphadora spoke first, though not saying what Andi expected, "If your head hurts after casting that, why become a mind-healer?" She hissed after Andi slapped her arm and gave her the standard 'mom glare', "I rescind my question."

The healer chuckled, "No, it's fine. I'm more skilled in mind charms than other types of spells. That and I have a muggle education in psychology. It not required for the job but it helps with finding hidden issues and with recommending treatments for them. Of course, I only have a lesser education so I don't know everything."

Andi spoke up first. She was a 'pureblood' witch and unbeknownst to her, at least for the moment, the only one in the room that did not have at least a partial muggle education. It was one of the few things Ted was adamant about, however, giving Nymphadora a standard muggle education until Hogwarts started. It also caused a bit of trouble, since she was a metamorph. They had to apply a glamor charm to her clothing so it didn't look like she changed her hair color whenever her emotions were in flux. There were occasions the glamor failed, albeit rarely, or a burst of accidental magic erased the charm but they only happened few and far between, "Why is a muggle education in… what you learned so important?"

The healer answered, happy for the distraction from his throbbing head, "Well, like I said, I can find problems that would otherwise go undiagnosed by other mind healers. Not for lack of trying, mind you. Magic can only teach you so much. Muggles have been able to discover a number of… handicaps that a person have. Not every person, however. Some people have absolutely nothing wrong with them, nothing diagnosable at least, but some people have these issues that affect their way of thinking. If they get severe enough, they can inhibit the person's normal life, making them unable to take care of themself. Sometimes the mental difficulties they have can manifest physical difficulties."

The healer cleared his throat, "Anyway… Harry wasn't abused physically. I admit there were times when he was starved, which caused his minor malnutrition, but it wasn't much more than skipping a day or two every other week, plus reduced portions while he was being punished. The punishments themselves seemed to happen after burst of accidental magic, strange incidents unrelated to Harry or when he got better grades than his cousin, which seemed to be a common occurrence. He was injured by his cousin and cousin's friends a number of times but it was never serious. A black-eye here, some rib bruising there. Nothing we can do anything about. He's surprisingly sound for years of emotional neglect. The only recommendation I can really suggest it to treat him like family."

Dora scoffed, "Should be easy enough. He's already family. Loosely related, sure, but still family." She reached to ruffle Harry's brown hair, "Plus he'll have a teacher to help control his power… I think. His is a bit different than mine."

Harry could help but smile. They already treated him better than the Dursleys ever did. He just hoped that the last member of their family, Tonks' dad, treated him the same.

The mind healer wrote on a piece of parchment, "Take this to the check-out counter. If you tell them it's for Mr. Potter, they'll likely null the bill for you. If not, it's not going to cost you much."

Andi waved it off, "No, it's no big deal. I don't want to draw too much attention to Harry. As soon as I do, word'll get out that he was here and then reporters will be around and, knowing them, they'll get the information somehow and make it some sort of publicity shit about how Harry was horribly abused by his muggle relatives, which we know isn't the entire truth. Better to have them think this is just another nobody. If we're lucky, they'll think Harry is Nymphadora's -" She ignored Dora's hair turning red and the mumbling noise she made, "- younger brother, with how his appearance changes."

The healer nodded, "Makes sense. A few of the people in the higher government positions, Minister Fudge for example, have come in with a couple minor problems, if what the rumors say are right, and the Daily Prophet said that he had a case of spattergroit centered on his… unmentionables."

Andi stifled a chuckle, Dora laughed and Harry looked confused. They wouldn't tell him what was so funny, either, just saying he'll understand when he was older.

After another few minutes chatting amiably with the healer, the trio left the hospital in a good mood. Andi because she didn't have to murder anyone today, Dora because she was enjoying her time and was rather pleased that there was another metamorph and Harry because he had a new family that was actually treating him as family.

Once they were back in the 'abandoned' building, Andi grabbed Harry's shoulder and they disappeared with a crack. Dora followed seconds later, once again ignoring the fact that she technically wasn't supposed to, as she hadn't taken the Apparition class offered at Hogwarts, and wouldn't be able to until Hogwarts started again. The fact that her mother was willing to cover for her was a nice bonus. She did teach her, after all.

Harry, unfortunately, still wasn't used to appariating and started dry heaving almost as soon as they arrived, just outside the Tonks household. Wobbles, having gotten used to this when Dora was training, immediately arrived with a small, empty trash can and placed it under Harry. With a quick, temporary enchantment, as house elves were only capable of, she made it so any fluids to come out of someone's face would be captured by the trash can. She couldn't narrow it down to a specific person but, as the household was sort of her domain, she could keep the spell confined within it.

Dora was kind enough to rub his back as he heaved, trying to comfort him.

Harry recovered astoundingly well this time, after throwing up the first few times he 'apparated'.

After thanking Dora and Wobbles, the group headed inside, Harry up to his room to enjoy his room, Dora to her room to grab a few of her books from her previous years at Hogwarts and Andi to the den.

After letting Harry relax for a bit, Dora - she still prefered Tonks but it'd get confusing with her mother around and, soon, her father being around - went and knocked on his door before barging in, "Wotcher mate." She rolled her eyes, however, as she spotted his sleeping form and moved to flick his nose.

She laughed when Harry jumped, his hair literally standing on end from shock. Harry just rubbed his nose, giving Tonks a gentle glare, even as his hair started turning pink to match hers. She sighed, "Right. Before we teach you some magic and get you started with first year spells, we gotta get your metamorph abilities fixed to where you can… mostly control it at will. I still have trouble when my emotions change quickly. Red hair when I'm angry, white when startled and slash or scared, black if I'm… err, never mind that last one. I rather not explain it until you're a bit older."

She shook her head, "Back on topic. Imagine a version of how you remember you look. Now keep that image in your head. Got it?" Harry took a few minutes to get the image in his head and a few extra to keep it in there and, as he did, his appearance changed to match the image. It wasn't a perfect match. People tended to ignore finer details about appearances. Lines on their face, a faint scar, things like that tended to be ignored. Harry did fairly well for his first time but he did get his appearance wrong. His jaw was too feminine, his chin was a bit to narrow and his lips were nearly non-existent.

She smirked, "And that's how you change your appearance. It becomes easier with time. I mean, it took me twelves years to get it and that's with growing up with it. Now, to change some details, imagine yourself with something a little different. Make your hair green, make your nose bigger, anything. Try to stay within reason, however. You don't want to end up looking like too much of a fool. I learned how to not go crazy when I was little. Before I could remember, I think. To get your normal appearance back, just wipe the image from your mind."

Harry tried changing the image in his head, doing as he was told. Lime green hair and bright orange eyes . He didn't feel any different, even if Dora said he looked otherwise. Well, he felt a bit itchy. Like, really, really itchy. Specifically his nose. He sneezed, hurriedly raising the crook of his elbow to his mouth and fell backwards onto the bed.

After another round of snickers, Dora ruffled Harry's hair, "Good enough for now. Just practice that whenever you get the chance and you'll be a master metamorph in no time. Now come down to the kitchen with me and we'll get you started on year one wand movements. If you do good enough, we'll do some spells."

Three Hours Later

A loud crack announced his arrival, as did the closing of the front door. He was home a couple hours early, but it was a slow month in his office. Which was a good thing. No so much for his paycheck but he was still making enough to get by more or less decently. The fact that his daughter, one Nymphadora Tonks, was on her last year at Hogwarts meant that they had one less mouth to feed during her two or so months with her around, and less tuition to pay.

He didn't mean to be rude about her, even if he was thinking to himself. He loved his daughter very much, but with her training to be an auror - it was mainly her trying to practice walking straight, getting her wand up and ready as fast as possible and ducking and covering - she was wrecking things as fast as Wobbles could repair them, including the actual walls of the house, most of the damage coming from her head when she fell. Or to her head. He was glad she had a strangely high degree of sturdiness, despite her ability to alter her form at will.

Wounds, however, were another matter. Nymphadora used to pass out from just a small scratch. At first, he and his wife thought it was because it was the blood and she was hemophobic but as she got older and her pain tolerance grew, they discovered that that was not the case. Since she was so in tune with her body, every scratch felt like a mangled limb. Her pain tolerance was to the point now where she could break a limb before going out of commission.

He stopped in the front hall and sighed as he shrugged off his work coat, hanging it up with the rest of them. He took a quick step forward and looked at the mirror on the wall. He placed a hand on his stomach and frowned. He was getting a bit chubby. If he had his daughters ability, it'd be no problem. He didn't, however, and would either have to deal with becoming a bit more rotund or work it off. With his usually busy schedule, working it off would be a bit of a challenge, so he shrugged it off and went into the den to greet his wife with an 'I'm-home' kiss.

What he didn't expect to see, however, was a black-haired green-eyed boy sitting on the couch, reading Hogwarts: A History. He looked to his wife, who tilted her head towards the kitchen. Being a smart husband, and the fact that she wore the pants in the house, he moved to the kitchen and waited for her to join him.

His daughter Dora joined him before his wife, pecking his cheek in greeting before scampering to grab an apple and leaving the room. It left him slightly confused but he pushed it to the side as his wife came in. Knowing from experience, he kept his mouth shut and let her explain.

Andi walked into the kitchen with a soft smile on her face. She moved to her husband, leaned up and pecked him on his lips. He returned the greeting with a hug and a returning of the kiss. She smirked up at him, "As for who that is and why he is here, that is Harry Potter. Yes, the Harry Potter. He is here because his relatives are terrible people and we're taking him in permanently… and he's a metamorph like Dora."

Ted, for all he was worth, was a bit slow on the uptake regarding on what his wife said. Right away he understood why they were letting him stay. Andi, due to how she was brought up, absolutely despised incompetent or abusive family or guardians. Her own upbringing was a combination of the two, incompetent and abusive family.

It was seconds after his wife had started smirking did his jaw drop, "A- a- amehmeh?"

Andi had to laugh at that. She knew why he had reacted like that and, had she not still had habits that was forced into her by her parents, she would've reacted like that when she learned of his abilities. She reached up to close her husbands jaw for him, "Yes, Ted, a metamorphmagus. It looks like his ability… differs slightly from Dora's, but Dora said he can change his appearance with the same method she uses."

When Ted opened his mouth, she closed it for him again, "Dumbledore has taken care of payments for food and, while he's at Hogwarts, storage. I asked for something else but apparently this was pre-arranged through Gringotts. His Hogwarts tuition was prepaid at his birth and Dumbledore, of all people, took him to get his school supplies."

When he tried again, she closed it once more, "We are going to dinner tonight with Donna, the Welcome-Witch from the hospital. You remember her, right? She was in my year at Hogwarts, in Hufflepuff. Dora can watch over Harry tonight and Wobbles is here to to fix any damage and to keep them from doing anything too stupid."

He didn't try to open his mouth again, knowing she likely had more to say. And he was right, "I already gave her the spiel about not, as she said, 'snogging him til he's just about passed out and then shagging his brains out'. Harry's not even twelve yet and she understands he's still too young for that. I suspect that, when he's fourteen or fifteen, she'll be kissing him like she wants. Sixteen or seventeen and, well, they'll probably officially start dating. I know Dora will try, at least."

She pecked his lips again and swatted his butt as she moved to go up the stairs, "Now go introduce yourself to Harry while I shower and get ready for dinner."

He just nodded and moved off back to the den. As he walked in, he saw Dora teaching him some minor jinxes and hexes, likely enough to make it seem he wasn't totally ignorant about magic and knew how to defend himself if he was attacked first. He spoke up for the first time since he made a fool of himself in the kitchen, "Don't forget to teach him the stinging hex. It should be a go-to spell to dissuade others from casting spells at him again."

He smiled down at Harry and pulled up his footstool. He took a seat on it and offered Harry his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Ted Tonks, Dora's father." He shook Harry's hand, "Andi told me a bit about you in the five minutes I've been home and I would ask if what she said was true but I see that isn't required."

Harry reached up to try to pull his hair down over his eyes, seeing it having turned brown, "Oh. Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to. I'm still trying to get used to… everything really." His hair slowly turned back to black as he spoke but, as he looked between the two Tonks', his hair was hesitating, as of trying to decide whether or not to obey Harry or to obey its nature. Eventually it settled into its usual black coloring.

They talked a little more, mainly about Harry's school life. Ted pat Harry's shoulder, welcoming him to the household before he left the den and went up to his room to change.

Harry didn't really know what to think about Ted. Sure he seemed nice enough, but when he first saw Harry practicing spells, he recommended a spell to use and, from how Dora - he would use Tonks when her parents were around, because he could see how she didn't like her name - explained it, it was a nasty, painful spell. Not particularly harmful, but painful. He thought it might be useful to learn but he didn't want to be like Dudley, who'd use it on whoever was bothering him.

Dora seemed adamant about teaching it to him, so he did start learning the wand motions and the incantation but he didn't try to cast the spell itself.

Ten minutes after Ted had gone upstairs, he and his wife had come back down. Ted was dressed in something similar to his work-wear, only brown instead of gray. Andi was dressed in a business casual outfit. A normal light blue button down shirt, black slacks and a pair of black flats.

Andi walked up to Harry and sat on the unmoved footrest, "Sorry we couldn't stay, Harry. I had just blurted it out. If I don't go, I'll upset Donna and we've been friends for years. I promise that, this weekend, we'll have a nice big dinner and give you a warm welcome."

Harry nodded. While he wanted to get to know the people taking care of him, she made a promise and didn't want to disappoint a friend. Harry didn't really mind because, if he had friend, he'd do his best to keep his promises with them.

Andi reached up to ruffle Harry's hair, like everyone seemed to do, "Thanks for understanding, Harry, and sorry."

Harry and Dora waved them off as they entered the fireplace and floo'd away.

Harry stayed up for a while longer, reading a bit of the potions and year two spells. Wobbles came in an hour or so after the elder Tonks couple left and brought in dinner, dinner being club sandwiches. It was one of the best tasting meals he had ever had. He enjoyed it enough to eat two and a half on his own.

Four hours after the elder Tonkses left, making it roughly nine o'clock, Harry bid Dora good night and went off to his room, taking his books and wand with him.

He got into bed and tried casting the Lumos spell before he eventually fell asleep, wand in-hand and book to the side. While hectic, the past twenty four hours were some of the best Harry had ever had and he fell asleep, the Dursleys all but forgotten and his dreams as peaceful as ever.

I've read several descriptions of the Legilimens spell. Not once do I see anything about having to maintain eye contact. It might be in the book and it might be required for the start of the spell or the wandless spell but I don't see why the subject would have to maintain eye contact while they're -in- your head. So I did it my way.

I'm not saying house elves are the only one capable of performing that enchantment, I mean that they can only perform temporary enchantments and mainly ones for households chores and/or to help with the health and safety of their master(s).

I ended the chapter a little early and I apologize for it, but I couldn't do much more without a time skip. I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter.