It was a very dark night, one of those you just know the werewolf is going to pounce from the nearby woodlands and onto your car's ceiling, one of those creepy nights used in horror movies. The trees swayed with a gentle breeze, dark shadows looming and leaning over the small figure. The small roar was empty at those hours of the night, and the car raced across it with tranquil calmness. The roaring of the engine broke the noisy silence in which the forest was immersed. The stars glimmered bright in the sky, and the moon caressed the stormy grey colour of the car. It was beautiful, a Citroen C4, with a sharp back, and aggressive looking lights.
The girl inside maintained a steady speed. It had been a hard day, and she had stayed until late at the 24 hours library, studying for her access to faculty, which was occurring in brief days. The clock strikes 3am, a can of Red Bull is placed on a container, the brownish liquid swaying at the many curves and turns this road had. The girl's rosy lips were humming a song playing at the radio, it wasn't her favourite, but she had heard it so many times she had learnt the rhythm and part of the lyrics. Her brown eyes looked tired, black rings were appearing under them. She let go the steering wheel, holding it steady with one hand, as the other fixed a lock of brown, thick hair which had sneaked mischievously onto her forehead, tickling her eyes and nose.
The girl sighed, letting herself relax onto the comfortable seat of the car. She was so accustomed to this road she could drive across it with her eyes closed and a hand tied to her back. Thoughts of her life at the university made her smile, thinking how wonderful it would be to meet people with the same likes as her own, people with whom she could speak about topics none of her friends knew about. She then thought about Starbreeze, her horse, and moaned lightly with displeasure. It had been a couple of weeks since she had taken him own for a ride, but time was scarce and studying had taken the most of her. He was a good jumping horse, and she didn't let anyone ride him, so she presumed the horse had been locked in the stalls, or allowed to run through the fields. The girl made a mental note to ride him first thing after the exams.
Her attention flashed, and she was suddenly very awake. The road should have been empty at this time, but it wasn't. Her face was illuminated by two pairs of round, large lights, placed higher than her little car's ones. The thunderous roars of engines alerted her. Rosy lips mouthed one word that shook all her senses, all the fibres in her body until the fear crumpled in her stomach exploded and spread through her veins in the form of adrenaline; Truck. Two enormous trucks were driving at full speed across the small road, or as fast as one can drive through this place. It was apparent that the one invading her way was attempting to pass the slower one.
It all happened too fast. The road was too thin, and it had many curves, vision was scarce, and the passing was as incorrect as forbidden and dangerous. The young student knew the truck would not brake in time, the monstruous vehicle being so heavy. The young driver steered right, having decided to fall off the road and hit a tree rather than frontally collide with a truck. The little Citroen flew rapidly towards the woodlands, towards the apparent safety of a minor collision. Luck was not part of the girl's day, however. The truck hit the car's tail with enormous force, making it turn at a dazzling speed and hit the cabin's side with its own side. Being as the truck was still moving, the car was thrown upwards and sideways, making it fly and turn like a log in the water, for a considerate amount of metres, until it finally vanished into the dense woodlands. The girl's world faded to black as consciousness drifted from her body.
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Hermione reached the Gryffindor table at the Great Hall. She looked tired, and black rings were forming around her brown eyes, but she was exultant and full of a proud euphoria. A thick book was being clutched in her hands with such a love and care, as if it was the last book on Earth. Harry and Ron glanced at each other knowingly. Ron raised his eyebrows weakly, and a feeble lopsided grin appeared on his lips. Hermione let herself fall exhausted on the seat next to Harry, facing Ron who was sitting in front of her.
"There, I finished it!" Hermione exclaimed letting the book fall with a dry thud onto the table.
"You haven't slept anything?" Harry inquired very surprised, glancing at the enormous book, and then at Hermione with some kind of renewed respect.
"That's not important, the important fact is that I know how to do it!" She commented dryly, cutting him with a sharp glance.
The girl passed a hand tenderly through the leather cover. There, plastered in silver threads, reads the title; Animagi.
"So we can become Animagi then?" inquired Harry curiously, eager to know how to do it.
"Hush, it's not that easy you know? It takes an awful load of mind strength to manage it, although the procedure is rather easy. The spell chooses those who have potential, if you don't have the necessary mind and body control to become an animagi, the spell will not work." Hermione explained rapidly, in a silent voice, staring at the boy long and sharp as if to make her point clear.
"And what do we need to do?" inquired a tired, weak voice from the other side of the table.
"We need to…" Hermione looked at Ron, then at the book before raising her head again to look at him, "Ron?" she inquired concerned.
Ron smiled weakly, shrugging. He had been toying with his food, which remained untouched in his place. The boy was looking paler than usual, his lips had turned lighter also, making him look like a corpse. Black rings surrounded his shallow eyes, and the brown orbs were looking weary and tired. A weak, lopsided grin appeared in his lips again.
"Not feeling too well this morning…" he commented, placing a hand over his mouth as his body convulsed sharply.
"Been sick all night." Harry commented staring at him severely, "but he won't go to the infirmary, rock headed fool!" Harry snarled at him with concerned anger.
"It's just something I ate, by lunchtime I will be fine!" Ron commented casually, lifting the weight of the matter.
"You really should go to the infirmary, it could be something more serious!" Hermione scolded strictly, "You could have Virical Gastronterithis, I've read it's very bad in Wizards!" she commented, "Or parasites, or maybe…"
"Hermione, it's just something I ate!" Ron cut her sharp, his eyes however were flaring directly at Harry.
"Fine then, do as you wish!" Hermione scowled, "But don't come to me crying when you feel worse!" the girl told him angrily.
"How did you say was the spell?" Harry asked the girl, attempting desperately to avoid an argument between the two.
"Oh, well, we need to make some kind of potion, which will show us our animagi form, as well as if we are capable of overcoming the change. That concoction will be the trigger that will permit us transforming at will!" Hermione said happily.
"And what do we need?" Harry inquired, feeling this would take longer than he imagined.
"Oh, the ingredients are not that rare, they are relatively easy to find, like white willow seeds, green moss, dew drops collected in a starry night, and few other things quiet common in our daily lives." Hermione explained with a relieved smile.
There was an inhuman, unnatural sound, which seemed to come from the depths of the earth. Ron stood up, hand covering his mouth, the other holding his stomach which was aching with puncturing stabs. The boy raced out of the Great Hall, nearly colliding against Ginny, who was coming in right at that very same moment.
"Watch where you're going!" Ginny yelled angrily, "What's with him?" she mouthed at Harry.
"Sick!" Harry mouthed at her, receiving an open mouth and an understanding nod from the red headed.
"He should really go to the infirmary!" Hermione stated angrily.
"I agree." Harry nodded and shrugged it off, thinking it probably was nothing.
"Well, back to this, the hardest thing to get will be the scale of a Kelpie, and that's a must because Kelpies have shapeshifting abilities, which are much necessary in the outcome of the spell." Hermione finished with a sigh.
"Snape must have plenty, and his office is locked for the time being, since he has ran away!" Harry felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart when remembering Dumbledore, "it should be easy to sneak in!" he commented with a shrug.
"Have it your way, I'm not participating in that particular area of the plan, I have broken enough rules already!" Hermione stated stubbornly, and Harry knew better than to argue with her about such matters.
"When will we brew the potion?" Harry inquired lowering his voice, looking at the door briefly when a flashing red head called his attention.
"The potion brews in barely twenty minutes, but the spell will only work during full moon, so the next full moon!" Hermione said feeling the excitement of their plan filling her.
"That is next Saturday, in four days, perfect!" Harry said with a smile.
"Try not to get detention by then!" Hermione smiled with complicity.
Ron then sat heavily at the table, allowing his body to relax and rest a little after the terrible process it had gone through. His stomach was still shaky, but he felt much better now, and the nausea had passed for now.
"You know? You should try to talk a little higher, I think Malfoy hasn't heard you!" Ron said sarcastically.
Harry and Hermione stared at Ron, then their eyes crossed with question. Harry shrugged, drank his glass of juice and stood up.
"I'm off, we have Quidditch practice now!" the green eyed boy said, staring at Ron doubtfully.
"Fine, we'll meet at lunch then, I have Magic Riding." Hermione commented casually.
"Magic Riding?" Ron inquired through an exhausted, breathless voice.
"Yes, I thought it was interesting to work at the ministry, protocol states any High Position must master the various forms of riding, Hippogriffs, Pegasus, Dragons, Thestrals, Griffin, Hippocampus, and the most complicated…" the girl smiled at Ron with an evil, get innocent smirk.
"What?" Ron was curious to know which exciting creature could be harder to ride than a dragon.
"Horses!" Hermione stated calmly, smiling at the boys, turning around and walking off.
Ron stood there, stating the difficulty of riding a horse against riding a vicious, flesh eating monster, with sharp claws larger than cars, and razor fangs as large as a human. He understood the girl had toyed with him, and he ignored whether that made him angry, or simply admirer of the women's terrible faculty of playing with men with such ease.
"Ron, what do you need? A bucket or a bulb?" Harry questioned the boy with an amused smirk in his lips.
"Bugger off! She just pulled my legs, horses can't be harder to ride than dragons!" Ron muttered silently, his pale face becoming illuminated by a bright red blush.
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As Hermione paced towards the back part of the grounds, where the vast fields had been prepared for working with the enormous dragons, she began to consider the difficulty of riding herself. Horses sure could not be that hard to ride, but there was this little thought nagging her at the back of her mind that spoke of a terribly hard work, and a difficulty beyond imagination. She saw them, the horses they would begin with before passing to magical creatures. Colourful wave of colours, stood out the whitest and most magnificent equine Hermione had ever seen.
She suddenly had a memory, something that dawned into her mind, blooming, like a seed that had always been there, but had remained latent.
To Be Continued…
AN: There goes the first chapter. This was an idea that has been nagging me for a long time, and I needed to let it flow. I have a whole ordeal of stories to finish, like Beyond, Genetic Fox and The Last Wizard, but (apart from Beyond) I will try to work on this, because it might turn out fairly ok. Please review, tell me what you think. Oh, and I hope you liked the trailer, I thought it was a funnier way to summarize the story.