Awakening into a new reality

Harry's eyes fluttered open, his vision slowly coming into focus.

Immediately, he noticed the previous swarm of colours from before and closed his eyes, not wanting to worsen his skull-splitting headache.

His mind felt foggy as he struggled to remember what had happened.

Soon enough, the memories of the ritual came back, as did all that followed.

"Oh shi-" he managed to curse before his brain started registering all the magical signatures nearby.

"Harry?!" Sirius exclaimed as he rushed to his godson's bedside.

Before Harry could respond, the overwhelming sensory knocked him off once again.

Sirius watched helplessly as Harry slipped back into unconsciousness, noting the anguish in the youth's face.

The situation was becoming increasingly worrisome, and Sirius knew he needed to find a way to help Harry.

When Harry came to for the second time, Sirius was ready.

"Harry! Thank Merlin, you're awake," Sirius exclaimed, relief evident in his voice. "What's happening?"

Harry groaned, his eyes closed shut against the onslaught of his sensory input.

"Everything's... too much," he managed to rasp out, "I can see and feel magic everywhere, it's overwhelming."

Sirius frowned, his concern deepening.

He had never heard of such a side effect from an Animagus transformation, albeit he hadn't heard of anyone becoming a magical creature either.

And Harry became a dragon…

Then, there was the ritual Harry had performed, which Sirius knew nothing about.

"Alright, pup. Is it your feeling magic that makes you faint?" he asked gently, trying to gauge the situation.

Harry managed a slight nod, that made Sirius' heart crack a bit.

Sirius's mind raced, trying to think of a solution.

His thoughts flashed from tome to tome that he had studied, searching for any little tidbit of information that could help his godson, and to his own experiences.

Suddenly, a memory surfaced.

It was a charm he suspected McGonagall knew by heart and one he should have probably gotten familiar with as well.

James, even, used to tease him about it.

"An Animagus with a mammal form who inherits their animal's heightened sense of smell in human form could face several challenges. Everyday environments might become overwhelming, as the subtleties of scents that go unnoticed by ordinary humans would become pungent and unavoidable. The smell of perfumes, food, or even unwashed clothing could be distracting or nauseating. Navigating public spaces like crowded streets or subways might become a sensory overload…" and so droned on the dry text of "The Beast Within" by Elias Selwyn.

Next to that page though, was a spell, meant to help an animagus who found themselves in such a situation.

Sirius remembered how when he first transformed back, he was lucky to have inherited a heightened sense of smell.

It had caused some annoyance in the start but since it wasn't too strong, he managed to mostly ignore it until he got the gist of it.

While this wasn't exactly the same situation, he wondered if the spell could help Harry.

"Harry, I want to try something," Sirius started slowly.

"I'm not sure if it will help your case, but I'm confident it won't do anything to worsen your situation," Sirius explained and waited for Harry's approval.

"Anything that will take the pain away," Harry mumbled weakly, his eyes still tightly shut.

"I'm going to cast a charm on you now. I know that spell temporarily reduces the intensity of an animagus' sense of smell while human. I hope it works for every trait inherited from the animal instead of just the smell. Just stay still and let me know if you feel better."

With that, Sirius raised his wand and prayed that the spell would provide some much-needed relief for his godson.

"Sensoria Minora," Sirius intoned, waving his wand in a precise motion.

A soft, shimmering light enveloped Harry, and for a moment, nothing seemed to change.

That was just for a moment though, as Harry's tense expression relaxed and his breathing became more even.

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry said gratefully, his voice still a bit hoarse.

"That's so much better. I can still feel the magic, but it's not overwhelming anymore," he added as an afterthought.

Harry slowly opened his eyes, ready to shut them close at the first sign of discomfort, and blinked as he adjusted to the new sensations.

The overwhelming flood of sensory input and magical awareness had subsided to a manageable level, allowing Harry to focus on his surroundings once more.

He still saw splashes of colour where they shouldn't be and weird patterns dancing across his vision, but it was no longer overwhelming.

With a sigh of relief, he turned to Sirius, a weak smile forming on his lips as he slowly sat up.

"Thanks," Harry said again, prompting the older man to frown.

"I'm your godfather kid. That's what I'm here for. You don't need to thank me for taking care of you," Sirius said seriously and Harry just nodded, not showing just how much Sirius' words moved him…

Harry glanced around the chamber, taking in the now-muted display with fascination.

"So, what now?" he asked, suddenly feeling so exhausted that he could barely keep his eyes open.

Sirius noticed Harry's fatigue and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Now, you need to relax," Sirius said sternly and paused for a moment, "You've been through a lot, and your body needs time to adjust. You can figure out those new abilities of yours later, but for now, just rest."

He conjured a glass of water and handed it to Harry.

"Drink this and try to get some sleep. We will talk more when you wake up and I can teach you that spell I just used."

Harry nodded and took ahold of the cup.

A wave of relief washed over him as he sipped the cool water.

'I wonder if I could replicate the spell myself,' he mused, his mind drifting back to the magical input he'd sensed when Sirius cast the spell.

As he settled back onto his bed, Harry's thoughts drifted to the spell.

'Sensoria Minora,' he tried in his thoughts.

A sudden inexplicable and deep need to cast the spell filled his being, prompting him to take out his wand and cast the spell…

However, exhaustion soon overtook him, and he found himself drifting off into Morpheus' realm.

.

STONES?

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