You summon a small magical creature from the aetheric realm (or possibly somewhere else) with which you share a telepathic link.
Your familiar gets a turn on the same initiative as your turn. You may have it move and act before or after you.
Your familiar can perform a melee attack.
You may only have one familiar at a time.
You may use your familiar as the point of origin for your spells.
Your familiar does not actually require food to survive.
If your familiar is defeated, it is recalled into the aether, and can be resummoned by casting this spell again. It cannot be revived by conventional means.
Each time you cast this spell, you may choose a different animal form for your familiar to assume.
You may dismiss your familiar as a fast action.
(Improving your mastery of this course improves your familiar’s stats)
No, you cannot eat your familiar.

Bonuses to your weapon or spell damage do not apply to your familiar.
Bonuses to your familiar’s weapon damage do apply to the damage it deals.

Suggested Backfire: You summon a hostile creature instead.

Familiar Armor:
You may equip your familiar with armor which has been modified to be custom fitted for it.
Your familiar may use 10 + the armor’s AC bonus instead of its normal AC.
(Your familiar’s normal AC includes passive bonuses to its AC, but not AC from buffs such as Ward).
Your familiar may use the armor’s physical damage reduction instead of its normal physical damage reduction.
Your familiar cannot bind to the armor, and unless someone is bound to the armor, all of its magical properties deactivate.

When your familiar would take damage, you may take it instead.
Apply your familiar’s immunities, resistances, and damage reduction to the damage.
Then take the damage as it is, do not apply your own immunities, resistances, or damage reduction to it.

Effortless: As long as you are conscious, you may use this reaction. Being disabled or ambushed does not prevent you from using it.