The full black fur wasn't working well, so made it more dobermany.

"I want to go home! Put me back on the train!" Lyra screamed in Dorian's right ear. He felt her terror rushing through their collective bloodstream. "I was happy being a hairdresser! I don't want to be a witch any more!"

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Ophelia growled to his left. She was glowering murderously at the Headmaster. "My father will hear about this! My family dates back generations - how dare you pollute my blood with these mongrels!"

Cartilage snapped in his -their- hip joints, forcing their skeleton into a quadrupedic alignment. A dog's body was ill-suited for sitting like a human, and they teetered on the Reckoning Stool, paws twitching from competing inputs, before crashing hard to the stone floor with a trio of pained yelps. They sprawled, spasming, their limbs trying to do three things at once, like running a three-legged race with six legs. His breasts were crushed beneath him, pressed hard against the cold stone floor. Dorian tried to reach a paw for his chest but Lyra was sprinting for the door -in her mind at least-, making their right limbs pinwheel pointlessly in the air.

"I think I'm female," Dorian whimpered.

"That's your biggest concern?!" snapped Ophelia. "I'm fused to an imbecile. Stop trying to grab our tits so I can get us to our feet!"

The Headmaster cleared his throat politely. "Ogred, kindly take this animal outside. We can't continue the ceremony with it barking."

"Right you are, Professor. One moment," Ogred blushed, patting down the many pockets of her brown coat. "Could 'av sworn I had it in 'ere somewhere. Ah! Here we are! Musta been sat on 'em!"

Groundskeeper Ogred flourished a collar and chain. Her thudding footsteps shook the floor as she approached. With remarkable strength, she seized the trio by the scruff, where their three necks merged into their torso. Ophelia's head twisted around, her jaws snapping for the hand. If Lyra had opted for 'flight' mode, Ophelia had taken the other option.

"What are you doing?" yelped Dorian.

"Getting even," Ophelia replied around a mouthful of Ogred's fingers.

"Do you have any idea how to change us back?!"

"No idea. But I'm not going to stand for this," Ophelia replied.

"We're not going to stand at all if we don't work together," Dorian pleaded.

Even with their masses combined into one monstrous body, they resembled a puppy beneath the vast groundskeeper. Ophelia had delivered a nasty bite, though the woman seemed unphased by the blood trickling down her hand. He focused on staying their limbs and found he could reduce their thrashing. "We'll behave," Dorian whimpered.

Ogred chuckled and ruffled the top of Dorian's head. "That's one level head between three at least. You're going to be my favorite. Reckon I'll name you Fluffy. Looks like the other two need a little training though! Now be a good girl and sit."

Dorian did so, sandwiched between the heat of Lyra's humiliation and Ophelia's fury, as the collar was drawn up around his neck in front of the watching eyes of the school. Ogred gave a tug on the leash. They slid across the stone, a tangle of discoordinated legs. "Come on now, it's not too difficult. One paw after the other." She bent to scoop Ophelia's unicorn-bone wand from her torn, discarded clothing and hurled it. "Fetch!"

The three canine heads followed the stick's arc, minds synchronising around a common purpose. They bounded across the Grand Hall. The next thing Dorian knew, he was panting and jiggling to a stop, the wand proudly clenched in his teeth.