The Lost Tales of Beedle the Bard:
No. 2 - Desperate Changes
-by Tuzilla
After reading the first story in the book to the children, Ginny scanned the rest of the book for more suitable tales to read. James had liked the first story, and Albus said he liked it, as well. However, that could have been cover by him trying not sound too much like a little kid. Lily had found it fairly scary.
By the time Ginny had scanned the entire book, it was clear that some of them were left unprinted because they were too violent or adult for young children. She finally decided Desperate Changes was suitable for the family bedtime story.
"Calm down, kids," she said. "Let me start reading."
It took a minute, but once the three children had settled onto the sofa, she began to read the story.
"There once was a young wizard named Marcach O'Brynne who was quickly noted as gifted at Transfiguration during his first year of school. He mastered all of the rudimental spells in short order, moving onto more technical spells while his peers were still struggling with the basics.
By his third year, he became fascinated with learning to become an animagi. This was a difficult feat accomplished by only a few. It would take him quite some time before he found success.
Marcach had found a book detailing how to become an animagi during a secret visit to the Restricted Section of the school library. After reading the details, he began the process. It promised to be tedious and trying, but he deemed it worthwhile.
First, he plucked a large mandrake leaf from a plant in the greenhouse. He would have to keep it in his mouth for one month. If it came out or he swallowed it, then he would have to start over. This would prove very difficult when trying to eat, talk or sleep.
As the days passed, he gathered a sizable quantity of fresh dew that had never seen sunlight or been trod upon. He stashed it away in his trunk to keep it safe from light or tampering. He also gathered the other necessary ingredients.
After what seemed forever, the month passed. The next night was the full moon, part of the next step. Once darkness had fallen, he took his container of dew and went out in the moonlight. He spat out his now disgusting mandrake leaf into a crystal phial and let it rest in the rays of moonlight. To the phial, he added a few of his hairs, a silver teaspoon of the dew, a chrysalis from a Death-head Moth. His potion was now complete. He now needed to store it out of the light until a day promising a lightning storm.
At sunrise and sunset of each day from now on he needed to place the tip of his wand over his heart and said 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus'. He now needed to do this until the arrival of a storm. This could take days, weeks, even months.
School ended two days later and he returned home to Dublin. On occasion, he thought he could feel a second heartbeat when saying the spell. A week went by, then it was July. He guarded his supply until a day when clouds filled the sky.
He was excited when he saw lightning in the distance. All he needed was for it to come closer. One good stroke of lightning would activate the spell and he would be transformed in his animagus form. He hoped it would be something cool.
As the storm came closer he opened the chest where the phial of potion had laid undisturbed since its making. He pulled it out, seeing a blood red liquid inside. He was hoping he had done everything correctly. He thought this was going to be it as he went outside and into the trees behind his house.
He placed his wand over his heart and repeated the spell, Amato Animo Animato Animagus and downed the potion. He felt a pain like he had swallow fire. His heartbeat doubled. A vision of a buckskin stallion filled his mind.
Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash and a resounding clap of thunder. Marcach felt a strange sensation course through his body. He looked down to see that he had long equine legs and hooves. He had changed into the buckskin stallion with a black and tail from his vision. He was delighted.
He spent the rest of the summer learning to walk, run and act like a horse. He was surprised by the amount of time he felt compelled to graze. By the time he returned to school, he could act and behave like a very convincing stallion. He could change from horse to human by visualizing the one he wanted to become.
Marcach was paired with a girl named Phaedra Santee in Transfiguration. She was a beautiful, Ravenclaw girl with dark chocolate brown skin, black eyes and long, braided, black hair. He found her undeniably fascinating.
Over the course of the year Marcach made several attempts, albeit awkward ones, to get Phaedra to go out on a date with him. They became friends, sharing an occasional butterbeer or dance, but his efforts never managed to score an actual date.
More time passed and his passion for her grew. He finally came up with a plan to win her using his transfiguration skills.
Marcach developed a spell Femina et Equus. If it worked properly, it would change Phaedra into a horse. He just needed to find a way to get her alone where he could use the spell unseen by others.
He decided to use schoolwork as a cover. After dinner one evening he convinced her to go down by the lake for some transfiguration practice.
Marcach started his plan working by changing some rocks into frogs and some frogs into dinner plates. As Phaedra tried working the spells, Marcach used a confundus charm to muddy her mind. He then said 'Femina et Equus' with a dipping swish of his wand.
A silvery light flashed out from the end of his wand. A second later, Phaedra had turned into a midnight brown mare with a black mane and a white blaze on her muzzle.
Marcach approached her, talking calmly, trying to get her to let him pet her nose. He conjured some carrots and apples. She happily ate them. After a few moments, he was allowed to pet her nose and rub her neck and mane. He was pleased with the progress.
He wanted to see if she would let him ride her, but she resisted all attempts at being mounted. Marcach had ridden horses in the past but had no knowledge on how to break a previously unridden horse. He was forced to give up on the idea.
A moment later he had transformed into his animagus horse. Phaedra was excited as he approached her. They sniffed each other nervously as they got acquainted. Before long, they were frolicking about on the lakeshore.
After a while, as a full moon began to rise up through the trees and over the hills, they bolted off. The two of them disappeared into the moonlight, two free spirits united in deception.
They were never seen again. Their disappearance was a scandal that caused a great deal of concern over the workings of the school.
As time passed, things eventually calmed down and returned to normal. However, for several years after the disappearance, there were reports by students of seeing two horses, sometimes alone, sometimes with a colt, playing on the distant hills under the light of a full moon. Since those days a full moon at the school is often referred to as Equus Lunae.